Just a quickie this week, as I have an urgent appointment with a roasting lamb in a few minutes! It’s been a hectic week as expected, as we fit in all the pre Easter deliveries in the rubbish weather. It is always quite a relief to get to Good Friday having completed all the order collations and just got left with a couple of orders to deliver on the Friday. The new comedy van got a good airing, whizzing about on a load of local runs, attracting admiring glances and comments wherever it went which was fun.
The exciting day ended up being Wednesday when the number of deliveries to do out-numbered the vans, so we called into action the old farm van again. I shot out in it on a local drop, got as far as King Somborne and something went bang, followed by clunking and big vibrations. I pulled off the road and called up the farm to rescue me. On arrival the farm mechanical marvel got in it, started it up, pulled forwards and backwards with no exciting noises. It was suggested that perhaps I had picked up something off the road, but we would take it back to the farm for a check over. I followed in the farm pickup and caught the van up a mile or two down the road stopped with hazards on. So it wasn’t my imagination, phew, there was a problem. Luckily we were now on a quieter road but we were now very stuck, the brakes were completely seized on (brake shoe had shed its lining and jammed the other shoe on). Luckily the local bus could squeeze through, so we put some cones out and left it for the garage to sort out. It completely messed up my day with all the waiting around, but in the end I think if we were going to breakdown we couldn’t have done it much more conveniently! The van is back on Tuesday with a complete set of new shoes on all wheels (not worn, but all a bit old and apparently the glue goes in the end) and I met three very nice understanding ladies in the houses nearest to the breakdown sites, who where most helpful despite my slightly grubby, unshaven, hoody wearing appearance!
Had a great day out last Sunday going to see Southampton play Carlisle in the final of the League Trophy final at Wembley Stadium. We won 4-1 which made it easy to enjoy, but the whole day was great, even the trip in & out was pain free. It was the first time I had been to the new stadium and it was very impressive, great atmosphere and we had a great view. I know it’s not quite the FA Cup but all 44,000 Saints tickets were sold which created a real buzz and a very friendly vibe between both sets of supporters. Now it we need a miraculous run to get to the play off’s to go again at the end of the season!
Eco Update
Wind turbine planning application was due to go in at the end of last week, I haven’t had confirmation yet so it may be this week instead, but it’s all getting close, and we will see if there is more reaction than there was to our initial announcement.
Nature notes
Tadpoles swimming about already, although the excess of rainfall has washed a few out of the overflow channel which is just the spot where they seem to congregate! I saved a few and put a bit of debris in the channel mouth to try and filter them out but I’m sure we have lost a few. Good job there are so many this year.
Showing posts with label van. Show all posts
Showing posts with label van. Show all posts
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
Monday, 29 March 2010
Another month gone, and it’s Easter already. It’s great being this busy, lots of things to do and challenges to meet. Most of the time getting on top of those challenges can be very rewarding but I must admit it can get a bit much sometimes, especially when you can’t find enough hours in the day.
This week’s challenge was with the wooden label printer, all week it kept printing a black line where it shouldn’t and despite learning a lot about the little habits and tricks of this printer over the last two years, this one stumped us and we got quite worked up! After a lot of huffing and puffing, head and bottom scratching we did solve it on Friday. It turned out to be a bizarre combination of events involving the magnets in the ink cup picking up some metal bits into the ink which caused some damage and a slightly dislodged magnet position in the cup itself, caused in the same incident. Phew, what a relief and such a joy using the printer again without the frustration element.
When we get a bit pressed it can be quite easy to slip over the edge into doom and gloom, but a few years ago we did a bit of ‘happiness training’ involving identifying how the brain works and how you can influence moods. One of the key bits was recognising triggers which make you feel different things and using them when you need to. A trigger could be a smell, an object , a memory, a song, anything that provokes a mental response. You can use it to get your mood right for any occasion although I tend to use it to make me feel better if things are getting tricky. If I am in the right frame of mind it does make life easier for all around me. Anyway, I got a surprise on Friday with the arrival of a new and very expensive trigger. The new 3.5 tonne van arrived causing quite a stir. We bought it in a bit of a rush after being unable to get a suitable second-hand one having just worked out the minimum dimensions needed to get the trolleys on and minimise the weight. The resulting vehicle is great, quite different and has made several initial observers laugh out loud. It’s like a cartoon van in its proportions, but it goes really well, is super clean and efficient and we will get noticed! We haven’t done the sign writing yet but I’m sure we can come up with something appropriate when we do get round to it. We have parked it up in the yard and it is making a great impact, you just can’t help smiling everytime you look at it!
Currently we are saving about 17% on our electricity use, compared with last year despite the extra heating costs of the prolonged cold weather and the installation of sodium grow-lights in the microprop weening tunnel. The consumption in the office and print room has dropped 75% since the warmer weather arrived, which just goes to illustrate how much of our energy goes on heating. We will have a look before next winter to see if we can improve the heating efficiency and save in the long term. Maybe we can tap in to some of the grants and loans being used to promote better systems. I did get a call from the local Business Link office to say that they have up to £500 per business to give away on any energy efficiency project which can show savings, so there is help out there encouraging us to do more.
Nature notes
Mad excitement in the pond last Sunday and Monday, with loads of frantic amphibious activity creating loads of frogspawn. I had almost given up waiting for some action but they got there in the end. Because we had to line the pond (on chalk) I was wondering if it was too slippery /tricky for them to get in and out despite the overhanging foliage. I had laid a strip of carpet over the edge to help and it was at this end that all the activity was occurring. I expect it was the combination of an increase in temperature, a lazy Sunday morning, running their toes through the shag-pile and Spring in the air that did the trick.
Don't forget to do your bit. Have a good week,
This week’s challenge was with the wooden label printer, all week it kept printing a black line where it shouldn’t and despite learning a lot about the little habits and tricks of this printer over the last two years, this one stumped us and we got quite worked up! After a lot of huffing and puffing, head and bottom scratching we did solve it on Friday. It turned out to be a bizarre combination of events involving the magnets in the ink cup picking up some metal bits into the ink which caused some damage and a slightly dislodged magnet position in the cup itself, caused in the same incident. Phew, what a relief and such a joy using the printer again without the frustration element.
When we get a bit pressed it can be quite easy to slip over the edge into doom and gloom, but a few years ago we did a bit of ‘happiness training’ involving identifying how the brain works and how you can influence moods. One of the key bits was recognising triggers which make you feel different things and using them when you need to. A trigger could be a smell, an object , a memory, a song, anything that provokes a mental response. You can use it to get your mood right for any occasion although I tend to use it to make me feel better if things are getting tricky. If I am in the right frame of mind it does make life easier for all around me. Anyway, I got a surprise on Friday with the arrival of a new and very expensive trigger. The new 3.5 tonne van arrived causing quite a stir. We bought it in a bit of a rush after being unable to get a suitable second-hand one having just worked out the minimum dimensions needed to get the trolleys on and minimise the weight. The resulting vehicle is great, quite different and has made several initial observers laugh out loud. It’s like a cartoon van in its proportions, but it goes really well, is super clean and efficient and we will get noticed! We haven’t done the sign writing yet but I’m sure we can come up with something appropriate when we do get round to it. We have parked it up in the yard and it is making a great impact, you just can’t help smiling everytime you look at it!
Currently we are saving about 17% on our electricity use, compared with last year despite the extra heating costs of the prolonged cold weather and the installation of sodium grow-lights in the microprop weening tunnel. The consumption in the office and print room has dropped 75% since the warmer weather arrived, which just goes to illustrate how much of our energy goes on heating. We will have a look before next winter to see if we can improve the heating efficiency and save in the long term. Maybe we can tap in to some of the grants and loans being used to promote better systems. I did get a call from the local Business Link office to say that they have up to £500 per business to give away on any energy efficiency project which can show savings, so there is help out there encouraging us to do more.
Nature notes
Mad excitement in the pond last Sunday and Monday, with loads of frantic amphibious activity creating loads of frogspawn. I had almost given up waiting for some action but they got there in the end. Because we had to line the pond (on chalk) I was wondering if it was too slippery /tricky for them to get in and out despite the overhanging foliage. I had laid a strip of carpet over the edge to help and it was at this end that all the activity was occurring. I expect it was the combination of an increase in temperature, a lazy Sunday morning, running their toes through the shag-pile and Spring in the air that did the trick.
Don't forget to do your bit. Have a good week,
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