What Did You Do Today (2016)

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

How do I persuade a hawk to nest in the tree in my front garden. It might scare off the pigeons which **** on my car all summer

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Get a plastic one and set it up in the tree.

Clive

[NJHParticipant @njh]

mix-post

sorry

Norman

 

Edited By NJH on 16/03/2016 18:32:59

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by martin perman on 16/03/2016 11:15:24:

Neil,

You maybe interested in this site then http://upp.hawkandowl.org/norwich-peregrines/norwich-cathedral-peregrine-live-web-cam-2016/

I have the 'Peregrines of Derby Cathedral' DVD

I used to work at the Wildlife Trust in Brum, as well as buzzards nesting in the middle of the Black Country there were several sites for peregrines and although it didn't nest we had a regular visitor roosting on the block opposite our car park. below is my attempt at a photo using my phone with a mate's spotting scope. The dark patch to the right is a dead pigeon, which should please Duncan

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Dentist.

Needles stuck in me. Irradiated with x-rays and UV. Bits chipped off my body.

The Spanish Inquisition would have done it for free!

Neil

[Steven VineParticipant @stevenvine79904]

Not today but a few days ago. I hydrolocked the engine on one of my Peugeot 306 Hdi's. I drove slowly through a ford of water, water got sucked up through the air filter ducting, entered the combustion chamber, and because water does not compress, it locked the engine solid. After getting relayed home, I've removed the lock, it turns over, but it just won't start. I'm still testing things out, but I think it is a write off.

Never in all these years of motoring have I heard this type of thing mentioned. Now I know, when it's too late.

So, just a heads up. Avoid deep pools of water!

Steve

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Neil – I sympathise!

I still suffer from the fear of the dentist brought on by the "butchers" of my childhood.

My present dentist though is a star. She and her assistant keep up a constant, and amusing, conversation during treatment – I might almost say that visits are a pleasure. I have to warn her though that telling jokes when her fingers are down my throat is a bit risky should I find them particularly funny!

The other thing I did today was to take our dog (see my Avtar) , who had ripped off a toenail, to the vet. Despite Staffies having a reputation as a fearless breed this does not extend to visits to the vet and she, as usual, acted like a real wuss. Whilst the wife and I struggled to hold her on the table the vet administered three injections into the dogs neck – she didn't even notice it happening!

I suffered more though – over £50 poorer now!

Norman

Edited By NJH on 18/03/2016 15:25:05

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Steven Vine on 18/03/2016 14:54:43:

Not today but a few days ago. I hydrolocked the engine on one of my Peugeot 306 Hdi's. I drove slowly through a ford of water, water got sucked up through the air filter ducting, entered the combustion chamber, and because water does not compress, it locked the engine solid. After getting relayed home, I've removed the lock, it turns over, but it just won't start. I'm still testing things out, but I think it is a write off.

>ouch< If it's bent con rod(s), it may not be irreparable Use a stick in the spark plug hole and see if all the pistons rise up to the same point.

Neil

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Well, yesterday actually. For some time have been thinking that the secondary belt on my lathe will have to be replaced, 'cos it seems to have stretched, and sometimes slips. The lathe is an Engineers Tool Room BL12-24 (Similar to the Warco BH600 or Chester Craftsman).

Eventually stopped chewing metal and lifted the Headstock cover, and found that the lever from the belt tensioning link was a bit slack on the shaft, and tightening the Allen Capscrew did not seem to improve matters much.

Removed the lever and the operating shaft to find that the dimple in the shaft was rather shallow. Unscrewed the Handlever, into Mill/Drill and deepen the dimple with a 8mm End Mill. Reassemble, notice that the female threaded end of the link fouled the lever, so decided to swop ends. Removed the shouldered bolt at the lower end, and since the male thread of the link was a little marked, cleaned it up with a M12 die. Ran a M12 Tap down the female part and tried to refit. Very little room between bolt head and headstock , so difficult to restart the thread. Filed a small chamfer on end of thread, wedged a screwdriver between bolt head and Headstock casting wall, and rotated bolt with 18mm spanner. (Used a piece of M12 sudding to hold the female threaded part, for better control) When thread engaged, removed screwdriver and tightened fully. Screwed in Male threaded end to where it seemed "about right" and reconnected to the lever. Too tight to go "over centre". Shorten by one turn; a bit too slack. Extend by half turn; just goes over centre, and can now run without belt slip!

If I were a pessimist would be waiting to find the next thing to go wrong, but can now return to metal mangling.

Found that the studs on the 3 jaw on the Conquest were loose (Screwed out of the Chuck, instead of nuts running along them. Finally rermoved chuck. Screwed studs fully home, to find only about 2mm protruding behind spindle flange. So removed and investigated. The studs are actually M6 grubscrews 25mm long. Made up three M6 studs 30mm long and screwed into place, refitted chuck. Enough stud now protruding to let nuts engage fully. Another minor bodge completed. M2Z's Widget does work!

Howard

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Hydraulic locking diesel, or petrrol, engines not a good thing. If Con Rods are bent, the pistons are now too low at tdc, so compression possibly too low to cause ignition.

I have seen con rods with the small end ripped open, and fan blades (every one) torn off from running fast into deep water.

Some vehicles are worse than others for wading. Low placed air intakes are bad news (One car had the air intake behind the front wheel, just a disaster looking for somewhere to happen). The old Austin Champ, used by the Army had the intake at the top of the screen, so could be driven by frogmen through six or seven feet of water.

Wonder how they could see where they were going?

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

Today I spent time catching up on preparing a talk about Hydraulic fracturing for shale oil or gas for my local Model Engineering Society. I just settled down last night to grab some pictures off the internet for inclusion in my Microsoft Presentation when I got a nast warning about my Apple computer being infected with a virus and may be loading porn onto it or some such. This came with a very genuine Apple type logo telling me to ring an 0800 number to get this removed.

I suspected the entire thing to be some kind of scam but no matter what I did I couldn't get it off my screen or gain access to any other site. Even switching off and back on again did no good so in desperation I dialled the 0800 number where I was connected to a lady who spoke with what I believe to bean Indian accent who said she was based with apple in California USA. After a few minutes of delving into my computer she said she would pass me on to a specialist who would install some software, for which there would be a charge, that would remove the virus/threat.

It was at this point that I thought" Bo**ocks to that" anti virus software can be got from the internet for free so why pay for it. The lady was pretty adamant that I would have to get this programme installed but I put down the phone and ended our conversation.

It was only when I remembered that I had already got an Anti Virus programme so I opened this up and carried out an immediate scan of all my files whereupon it found 5 threats which I quarantined.

On starting up the message was no longer on my screen.

In conclusion I think that this was not a virus but a scam to get you to buy an unnecessary piece of software while at the same time getting your credit card/debit card information when you pay for it.

Watch out Apple users you are not as secure as you think.

The whole episode wrecked my plans for the evening and by the time I got it sorted out I was fit for nothing.

[Steven VineParticipant @stevenvine79904]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 18/03/2016 15:50:52:

Posted by Steven Vine on 18/03/2016 14:54:43:

Not today but a few days ago. I hydrolocked the engine on one of my Peugeot 306 Hdi's. I drove slowly through a ford of water, water got sucked up through the air filter ducting, entered the combustion chamber, and because water does not compress, it locked the engine solid. After getting relayed home, I've removed the lock, it turns over, but it just won't start. I'm still testing things out, but I think it is a write off.

>ouch< If it's bent con rod(s), it may not be irreparable Use a stick in the spark plug hole and see if all the pistons rise up to the same point.

Neil

Neil. The stick is a good idea, thanks. Its diesel, so ill see if I can rig something up to detect through the glow plug holes. I don't fancy taking the engine apart, but I'll see what the diagnosis is first.

Howard. Its puzzling me that I don't get any ignition whatsoever. I guess all 4 could be bent. Those Land Rovers with the air intake towering above the windscreen have always attracted my eye. Now I know why they do that! I never knew.

Steve

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

I came very close to being a bit of a plonker last week in Kimbolton, the local river burst its banks at each end of the town and I attacked the first section, in my new less than a thousand mile Renault Trafic company van, thinking I was fairly high up, I noticed that even though I was crawling through I had created a bit of a bow wave when I suddenly thought I didnt know where the air intake was so crept even slower through the water and got away with it, it saved me from explaining to my bosses how I wrecked a brand new engine.

Martin P

[JAParticipant @ja]

Forty or so years ago a friend and I went trail riding during the thaw from a heavy fall of snow. He was on a 175cc Kawasaki trail bike and decided to go through a ford in flood near Thrapstone. The bike came to a halt completely under water and we got very wet dragging it out. I thought it was dead but we took the tank off, turned it up side down, took the spark plug out and cranked it over in gear using the rear wheel until no more water came out of the engine. Back on its wheels with plug and tank fitted it spluttered into life after about five minutes of kicking. Afterwards it did not seem to have suffered from its adventures.

JA

[JAParticipant @ja]

Bob

Next time you have one these merchants on the phone play them for all they are worth. He/she will probably ask you to press an obscure key which will display a number that means nothing. Don't bother, just make up one and he/she will tell you that it shows that your computer is doomed. At this point you have control over him/her and you can have fun telling him/her all sorts of things.

Just remember he/she might get a bonus from the boss if you pass over your bank details so there is a degree of desperation.

JA

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

J A I'm afraid I am not a quick thinker when it comes to stuff like this, I'm just glad that I realised that by continuing they might have gotten my card numbers etc.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Beware Mercedes Sprinter van owners.

The air intake is behind the front bumper. Local hire company found out the hard way, think it cost them 8 or 10 engines.

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Posted by Bob Rodgerson on 18/03/2016 18:00:44:

J A I'm afraid I am not a quick thinker when it comes to stuff like this, I'm just glad that I realised that by continuing they might have gotten my card numbers etc.

Sounds like a variation on another older scam. Somebody (Indian usually) rings you up claiming to be from Microsoft and says your PC is sending them messages informing them that your PC is infected. They then tell you to look at a file and check for a particular text string. Of course it's the same file and text on all Windows machines but this convinces you they are genuine. They then get you to install some nasty software from their site and from that point onwards you are hostage to their scam. The demands for payment start – and escalate. They are utterly ruthless and without any shame. Of course, they have greater success with more vulnerable, less PC-savvy and often older victims.

Vaguely funny to string them along for ages and then tell them you haven't even got a PC, just an Android phone for instance. Rather like telling a double glazing salesman you live in a rented flat. But really you want to just s*** in their eyes.

Murray

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 19/03/2016 08:35:41

[DrDaveParticipant @drdave]

Posted by Steven Vine on 18/03/2016 14:54:43:

Not today but a few days ago. I hydrolocked the engine on one of my Peugeot 306 Hdi's.

A few years ago, driving across Botswana, I wondered why my friend had stopped his Landrover to get a photo of me going through a small stream. It was a bit deeper than I thought, but the Suzuki wadded through without complaint. At the time, it felt a lot deeper than the photo suggests.

Great little beast: much better than the Landrovers that I used to own when I lived "South of the Border".

[Roger Provins 2Participant @rogerprovins2]

Posted by Muzzer on 18/03/2016 20:09:23:

Posted by Bob Rodgerson on 18/03/2016 18:00:44:

J A I'm afraid I am not a quick thinker when it comes to stuff like this, I'm just glad that I realised that by continuing they might have gotten my card numbers etc.

Sounds like a variation on another older scam. Somebody (Indian usually) rings you up claiming to be from Microsoft and says your PC is sending them messages informing them that your PC is infected. They then tell you to look at a file and check for a particular text string. Of course it's the same file and text on all Windows machines but this convinces you they are genuine. They then get you to install some nasty software from their site and from that point onwards you are hostage to their scam. The demands for payment start – and escalate. They are utterly ruthless and without any shame. Of course, they have greater success with more vulnerable, less PC-savvy and often older victims.

Vaguely funny to string them along for ages and then tell them you haven't even got a PC, just an Android phone for instance. Rather like telling a double glazing salesman you live in a rented flat. But really you want to just sh1t in their eyes.

Murray

I had this just the other day.

I wasn't busy so played him along for ages until he was getting quite exasperated with my apparent incompetence.

It was only then I let on I use Linux.

[DodParticipant @dod]

Had the phone call and kept them going for 45 minutes before dropping the Linux card — apparently I am now doomed to rot in hell.

Yesterday i had a call saying there was compensation £3749 waiting for me after my accident at work, so I said "send it to me" , they needed some more information but cut me off when I told them of the paper cut I had

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

It is Spring again, and the Bees are waking up. I had already put tubs of candy on the single box hives to get them through the Winter. On Tues. last I had a quick look and all the candy tubs were empty so I had to get some more, in fact i got the last they had in the Bee shop. All safely fed again but at the rate they take it,  I will be looking again in about a week.

Of interest I have large Bumble bees working around the garden and in the orchard. They will work at temperatures as low as 5 C.

Clive

Edited By Clive Hartland on 18/03/2016 21:46:58

[Another JohnSParticipant @anotherjohns]

For all the "vehicle water guys" – around here, tis the season for "snowmobile water skipping".

You take a snowmobile, a shallow stream or lake where the ice is leaving, and you drive your snowmobile across it. I'd expect that a bit of alcohol is involved.

Why people do it is beyond me – maybe these guys (it seems to be always guys) need to get a real hobby, like Model Engineering?

Anyway, free feel to google "snowmobile water skipping" if you want to waste a few minutes of your precious time!

[Trev67Participant @trev67]

I had the microsoft phonecall played him along a bit then told him I used Linux, this didn't put him off, he still wanted me to go to my PC, so I told him he'd have to wait half an hour until I got home as I was in the car, he then hung up! was it something I said?

The accident ones I ask if I bumped my head, they get all excited when they think I had an accident until I tell them that I must have bumped my head as I don't remember anything about an accident.

I don't know why so many diesel cars have low mounted air intakes, I used to be a bit paranoid with my pug 406 as the intake was low down behind the bumper. Heard about a 306 that inhaled a load of water on the motorway, the resulting hydraulic lock shattered the engine block and dumped all the fluids on the road, causing a pile up and a big court case about who was going to pay.

Range Rovers don't like getting wet either, the starters and alternators aren't designed to go in the water, but seeing as most people only use them in town, it's cheaper for Land Rover to replace some under warranty than to engineer the cars properly in the first place. The suppliers don't mind because they only supply to Land Rover's spec. and it means the sell many 1000's more alternators!

[JAParticipant @ja]

Posted by Muzzer on 18/03/2016 20:09:23:

Posted by Bob Rodgerson on 18/03/2016 18:00:44:

J A I'm afraid I am not a quick thinker when it comes to stuff like this, I'm just glad that I realised that by continuing they might have gotten my card numbers etc.

Vaguely funny to string them along for ages and then tell them you haven't even got a PC, just an Android phone for instance. Rather like telling a double glazing salesman you live in a rented flat. But really you want to just sh1t in their eyes.

Murray

Murray

You are dead right. Don't give the bu***rs a chance.

JA

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