Rick's b.log - entry 2024/08/16

Doubletake

The drainage pipe

I called the man that gave me the quote (€1,116.30) for tearing out the old and laying a new larger pipe. He sounded like he was eating his lunch (it was half two) so he said it wasn't going to be before September. He would look at his diary and get back to me. Still waiting...

I saw the man in the house near the end of the access lane had a mini-digger. I asked if he could help. He said he'd like to, but he couldn't. He had rented the mini-digger for just under €500 for eight hours of use (including delivery and pick-up) and he needed all eight hours for what he was intending to do. As I hadn't used a digger before, I'd be best with a driver that can operate it for me. Well, there's more than half the price of the quote on digging the trench alone. Hmmm...

Part of the problem is due to the way it is built, I cannot access the outflow (lower) side. There's a square covered channel that goes into another narrower one, and in theory the pipe is just beyond but I haven't managed to find it when poking around with rods. When I get to what I think may be it, I quickly get the rod stuck. I rather suspect there's a tree root that's broken into the pipe and that's a part of (or most of?) the problem. If that is the case (and looking at the traces of the roots that have pushed up the tarmac, it's a pretty solid hypothesis) then pulling out the old pipe is pretty much the only workable option. And with a mini-digger, maybe grubbing up the remains of the tree so it doesn't try it again?

It's like when I was mowing the other day, I noticed that I was having to avoid some places that I mowed in the past because of the brambles. It's a constant battle between me and nature here...

...speaking of which, I went out with the strimmer and cleared out around the buddleia. Didn't I already do this? Yes, I did. Almost exactly a year ago.
I also have to sort out back around the old log from the tree I cut down near the field barn. The weather has helped the weeds grow.

If I win the lottery tonight (which, let's be honest, is right up there with me catching a meteorite in a baseball mitt), I think one of the first things I'd go and buy is a tractor with one of those articulated arm weed smasher attachments like they use to do the sides of the roads. Oh, and obviously lessons on how to actually use it, duh.
And, yes, I know with €17,000,000 I could just pay somebody to come do it... but where's the fun in that?
And, no, I'm not going to get driving lessons and blow a pile of cash on a stupid-arse car with a name like Porsche or Ferrari. To quote Shania Twain, "That don't impress me much". Absolutely effing useless on these little country roads.
My ideal dream vehicle is something with four wheel drive so if the access lane is blocked, no big, I'll just nip across the field...I actually did that with Caoimhe, but I was lucky that the field and road were close in height before and after the stuck tractor. If it got stuck further down, I would be stuck too as the drop would have been too much for a dinky car. And it would be a vehicle driven by dead-dinosaur juice.
I'm not against a hybrid, but I wonder if the use cases of a four wheel drive vehicle might not be a little too hostile for a battery? My car has dire warnings about going through flood waters and what it would do to the battery pack. The fact that it's an aluminium frame with plastic bodywork that weighs around 440kg with driver so you'd very quickly start to float, lose traction, get swept away, and die horribly might be a rather more important consideration than "you'll kill your battery". Unless the battery reacts explosively in which case you'll start to float, lose traction, get swept away, and die really horribly. Either way, toy cars and floods, not a great combination.

Oh, that was a bit of a detour (*), wasn't it?

The Larder system is now properly functional (I hope!)

Here's what's new in this one:

• The annoying message at the start removed as it seems to be working better now.
  The test items are still present. You can ignore them...
• Fixed hang when adding/removing a product and entering an empty date.
• Tweaks to various text positions to look better, and in one case to not write two different things on the same line. Duh.
• Final entry deletion fixed.
• Item loading moved to AFTER creating the fake test entries, so it doesn't create a new set every time the application is started.
  Note: It's probably best if you delete the ItemData file in Choices:HeyRick.Larder if you have multiple copies of the fake items (go to Inventory and List all or List expired and see if the same thing shows more than once).
• Yup - added option to the Inventory menu to list everything in the larder. It won't list every item, it'll list all that are marked as being present in the larder.
• Added Settings in order that...
• ...Added the ability to select whether to see the dates in ISO-like (YYYY/MM/DD) format, or UK (DD/MM/YYYY) format.
  Toggle in the System menu, and it is saved in settings so is remembered. There you go JGH. ☺
• Note that UK format date entry is less flexible. As a year must be entered and it comes at the end, there's no option to assume a month or a day - full dates must be entered.
• I have added three more barcodes to the barcodes file - codes for the products featured in the video that I made earlier (Trigatelli pasta, Chicken stock cubes, and Ritz crackers). You can import from CSV. Don't worry if you have already done this - the importer will only merge in entries that aren't already known to the system (so you can add your own codes to the end of the file as necessary and reimport it).

* - see what I did there?

Your comments:

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jgh, 16th August 2024, 22:35

In my 1.9 litre Corsa when driving through a ford I always worried I'd float off....

A tree-dwelling mammal, 17th August 2024, 00:17

I always thought a Larder was just a Skoda with food in it?    (Say it in a West Country accent - it works better.)

David Pilling, 18th August 2024, 13:44

A man with a mini-digger has lots of friends. I can believe writing down your problems helps, but I doubt what I write in the comments does. Common for them to use TV cameras to debug drains (yes more expense etc). A hosepipe on the end of drain rods often washes away blockages - but if the drain has collapsed, been blocked by tree roots no use at all.  Imagine someone has a power tool that can cut away blockages.    Driving an IC engine car through water is likely instant write-off - insurance companies usually take that route - not some guy removing and cleaning every sprocket.

C Ferris, 18th August 2024, 19:53

Some cars have their air intakes very low - a pint of slurped water can kill a engine :-(

David Pilling, 19th August 2024, 03:45

Hmm Mini diggers can be had from AliExpress, lowest price £264 free carriage - what could possibly go wrong.

Rick, 19th August 2024, 06:52

Ten grand for an actual one on Amazon (https://amzn.eu/d/euwmxZI), though with a 10HP engine...that's less than my mower! 😂    ...and notably less expensive from their own website: https://www.hzc-power.com/en/excavators/miniexcavator-petrolengine-4-wheel/

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