Rick's b.log - entry 2024/08/31

A new soldering iron - Parkside PLSD 48 B2

The first one didn't have a sponge in it, so since Lidl isn't far from where I work, I exchanged it for another. I think I should have made some sort of mark on the box. It would be interesting to go back on Monday and see if it's back on the shelf...

Right, so take two. Here's an unboxing and first use video.

A new wardrobe

The chair (on the left).

I'm not really sure why this happens, go Google for a dozen opinions that may or may not be correct. ☺ For my part, I would empty the machine, hang the stuff up to dry, and then have a basket of clothing to do what with? So I put the basket on the chair. And in time, things got added to the basket and the pile grew...

So, when I saw something in Lidl, I decided to get it for a spot of reoganisation. It did, of course, require a bit of assembling. Not too hard, just time consuming.

Lots of pieces.

It actually took longer to figure out what to do with all of the clothing. But here it is. Turns out, I have quite a collection of jumpers.

Whoa! Organisation!

Chronopost again

Yup. At 7.16am the things were checked at the sorting centre in Rennes. At 7.17am the Chronopost site said "Delivery anticipated next Monday", and they told Amazon - yet again - that they need supplementary information in order to be able to deliver.
Usually this means "The address is incomplete". I have a note on my account for delivery instructions that specifically and clearly states that my address as given is correct and if you have any problems than look it up on Google Maps. It's there, it's correct.

The truth is that Chronopost are massively incompetent and simply can't be arsed to deliver to the more remote rural places. But, hey, they'll happily take payment for failing to do their job, right?

I got straight onto the customer service chat, after dealing with the 'bot which basically just parroted the bollocks that Chronopost told them. In the end I ended up chatting to three different people. Because it was early in the morning, because I've had this exact same problem with this exact same company before, and because the customer support people needed to make their own enquiries, the stupid chat system would terminate the connection "due to inactivity". Like, when they say "Please wait a moment" and then are silent for six minutes, what am I supposed to type? Upon reconnecting, I'd get somebody different. Not helpful, Amazon.

Eventually, somebody said that he believes that I will receive my parcel on Monday and as a gesture of goodwill he has added a €5 credit to my account. I won't say no, obviously, but the only thing Amazon did wrong here is continue to use those incompetent twats. This is on Chronopost failing to do their job, not Amazon.
The second person, she was very delicate in her reply when she said she wants to make this right for me, and I said "It's easy, don't use Chronopost any more".

Or, maybe, Amazon should put geofencing into their systems. I would imagine if you live in Rennes or maybe even Vitré, Chronopost will work and parcels will arrive. If you live where the view is wheat and cows, don't expect to see a delivery truck, like, ever.

I fully expect on Monday to have the driver lie to Amazon and say they attempted delivery, and instead have dumped the parcel at a collection point of their convenience (not necessarily the closest to me).

Affaire à suivre, as they say over here.

Lucy's repairs

There's nothing that can be done about the back wiper doing a poor job of wiping. Apparently it's a common problem because the window is too curvy. Hmmm...

Also the salesman was apologetic for the lack of the second USB port as he thought it was there, but was also quite adamant that no, they can't fit one.
Well, I happen to know that there's a wire and small socket tucked back there. I'll have to probe it with my multimeter to see if it is 5V or 12V. I'm guessing 12V. And if it is, I'll take photos of the plug and just get myself a spare part from Amazon or somesuch. It won't have to deal with much current, it'll only be running the dashcam, but I don't I don't want to have everything (the dashcam and my phone) hanging off the tablet's USB port.

Driving there was about 40km and it took a quarter of the battery charge. Apparently the battery indicator is not linear (why not?!). According to the onboard diagnostics, I can get around 117km per charge. Why isn't this sort of information available to the driver?

The mechanic left the car on charge for a while so I had plenty of power to get back home. Afterwards I went to the big Leclerc supermarket and got four tins of St Mamet peaches. Plus some other stuff. I then swung by Picard but there wasn't much that interested me. Well, there was, I'm always up for cheesecake, but at €16 or so each they can remain in the freezer. I know Picard is pricey, but still.
That being said, I did spot bags of ice cubes selling for €2,50 or €3,50 (I think) depending on... I'm guessing size? Or premium mineral water? Or...? I dunno. Really, how hard is it to drop some Evian into your ice cube tray?

Then a drive home, mostly in the pouring rain, which eased off to be "did it even rain here?" when I got home. I almost enjoyed the journey as I knew the way back, it's a fairly quiet back road with more soggy cyclists than cars, and Epic Rock Radio played a good selection of music. It was only marred by my mind being fuzzy from the chaos of the supermarket. I had my noise cancelling headphones and some L'Âme Immortelle to zone out with, but even with the noises mostly cancelled out, it was so bloody bright. They were, sadly, getting rid of the "Cultural Space" and rejigging everything. The far end is now the fruit and veg on one side with the freezers on the other side, meat along the back wall by the freezers and the bakery stuff along the back wall by the fruit and veg. That entire area was more open plan than the traditional aisles, you can see right across it, and it is very brightly lit. In fact, the entire supermarket was bright to the point of being like a stereotypical near death experience. I should have worn my sunglasses...

Shortly after I got home, the guy who is doing the work next week came for his initial cheque, €334. I had asked him mother to ask him about how he wanted it, and since he lives in the next town over he popped around after his work.

...and he was totally blown away by Lucy. "It's huge, almost as big as a Twingo!", "It has a tactile screen!", "...and a reversing camera!", and "IT'S COMPLETELY SILENT!!!".

Well, yeah, this thing's list price is nearly 20K, I'd expect a few creature comforts for that.

And, honestly, that was it for me. I made a hot chocolate and took myself to bed and watched the last few episodes of Exploding Kittens. Weird, but my kind of humour. Two thumbs up from me.

I want to finish A Good Girl's Guide To Murder but by the time I get to that, I don't have the concentration. Once I've uploaded this, I'm really not sure if I'll watch something that doesn't require much effort like "Cunk On Earth" or just pop my headphones on and chill out to something like Xandria or...

Power lines

Well, I just decided to follow the line on Google Maps (the hard way!). Going leftwards, it winds around until it ends up at the Bramley Substation (just above Basingstoke). Going the other way, it ends up at the West Weybridge Substation (just above Byfleet and Wisley). For supply, going north from Bramley, almost to Oxford, is the Didcot B Power Station, a gas plant, rated at 1440MW. There are others, as the 400kV backbone is interconnected, but that's the closest generation facility.

That... is not what I had intended to do. But I guess it answers a question I asked myself forty two earlier - where does that line go?.

Why now? Why tonight? God, my mind is weird.

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John, 31st August 2024, 23:59

Wierd seems to be an anagram of wired - just sayin'!

David Pilling, 1st September 2024, 02:08

Soldering iron looks nice enough - seemed slow to warm up. Using lead solder - doomed. Not using a fume extractor - doomed.    Soldering iron thermometers are easy to come by on Ali etc. Hakko knock offs. Non lead solder needs higher temperatures - about 300C. I have one, but hot enough is hot enough unless you're into very serious electronics. A lot of multimeters come with a temp. sensor.    Earthing the iron seems debatable - clearly not if it is a mains iron, but there's a world of irons that run off low voltages - Hakko knock off irons. T12 etc.    You might show us running the hot air engine off the soldering iron - would probably work with hot air soldering iron, doubt LIDL will be flogging those.    Back to the LIDL iron, my experience plastic and soldering irons always end up meeting.

C Ferris, 1st September 2024, 09:42

Nice little burn holes in clothes:-)

jgh, 1st September 2024, 09:53

Chronopost: can't these idiots read maps? Or do they not have maps in France?

Gavin Wraith, 1st September 2024, 13:15

Google Maps and nostalgia. Sometimes I go there too.

owlarrt, 3rd September 2024, 15:24

Oh, Didcot B, I've been inside there, many many years ago!

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