Scoot’s thoughts on all things technology, design, photography and life in general !
Today I was feeling less horse and a bit more in the land of the living. Popped out this morning to go and grab some gravel , concrete, gate and posts after dropping off the compactor at the hire shop.
Is it wrong when the women in Homebase asks were you in the other day buying gravel :-0 thats what happens when you go the DIY store too early in the morning. So eight bags of gravel and two buckets later I was off to Wickes. In Wickes it was a simple task some concrete, a gate, furniture and home. Managed to get all apart from the all important posts and post holders so gate is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Home to drop off the boot full before grabbing a coffee and off to find posts.
Posts secured in Long Acres after much deliberation on whether to get spikes or concrete-in posts, opted for concrete-in one as not sure what is under the surface in terms of services. Dug the holes before lunch and the supports set in concrete in the afternoon ready for the posts to be added once the concrete has set.
Over the weekend managed to get some work on the garden done, but not a lot due to other activities and being a little tired from a long week breaking that damn concrete. I did get a lot more in the skip and its nearly full with so much still to do, oh well. Managed 9 holes at Moore Place in Esher and also got a glimpse of the plans for the new hotel which does look good.
On Monday I did a couple of trips to the DIY stores to pick up concrete and gravel, ironic that after spending so much time removing concrete I have to buy more to set the edging and finish off the trimmings. So 6 bags of concrete and 8 of gravel collected and in the garage.
After these trips off to fix a problematic PC and to see if I could fix an issue with iPhoto on a Mac. So after a couple of hours and several coffees later the PC was fixed but no joy with iPhoto issue. Will do an upgrade tomorrow to see if this fixes the issue.
Moved more earth this afternoon so skip is nearly filled. Will need to see if I can get some edging stones tomorrow at B&Q.
Finished off most of the breaking in the garden today and got on with the clearing of the rubble. Made good progress in between the showers and skips is getting full now. I have marked out the main path to get an idea of what will be grass, shingle or flower beds. Dropped the breaker off this afternoon and booked a vibration plate ready to compact the path and lawn areas next week.
Need to tackle the lower grass area tomorrow to see what is under the soil plus need to get concrete, edging and gravel sorted asap so that I can get the path done in prep for the turfing.
today started at 8am smashing the rest of the patio up after yesterdays hour or sound using the breaker. The morning was cloudy and windy so the risk of rain was high. Started by clearing some of the rubble from the Tuesday and already this was starting to fill the skip up. Cracked on with the area by the garage and discovered some interesting building work to raise the level of the garden, so concerned that there might be more concrete buried under the earth, only time will tell.
During the day I had a few forced breaks due to rain but made very good progress and finished the day at about 3pm due to being over tired and constant showers. I am hoping I can get the rest finished tomorrow so I can drop the breaker back to the hire shop in Bracknell.
Monday was spent in the garden once the skip arrived after a couple of hours the skip was about a third full and now I was starting to worry that maybe one skip won’t be enough 
Only time will really tell as I progress with the garden revamp and with the prospect of picking up the demolition hammer and to really get cracking on the concrete on Tuesday I expect the skip will get filled quickly.
On Friday morning went swimming with LCJ and CJ to their water babies class. It was good fun although I need a bit more practice at making sure I don’t dip LCJ under the water when he is not expecting it. CJ said I need to hold him like a sandwich, she obviously hasn’t watch me eat a sandwich.
After swimming it was back for lunch and then back in the garden for a short while. The concrete is getting tough now so have hired a demolition hammer for next week. This should be fun but lets wait and see….
LCJ was sick in the afternoon so chilled for the rest of the afternoon including doing some reading of Slideology and various news feeds on the web catching up on tech news and other gadget related items.
On Saturday the plan it to relax during the day and then off for Bruno’s second birthday party in Pimlico for tea etc at Pizza Express.
This morning was back in the garden moving the rumble onto the drive to make space for the next lot. Once this was cleared and none was left on the patio it was time to get smashing again. Spent about 90 mins hacking through the stuff at the edge of the garden so that would start to clear one area completely.
Back garden
Around lunchtime I cleared out the HiFi cabinet in prep for the delivery of the new kit. It was a sad day as I am retiring most of the Technics separates that have served me very well over the previous 10-15 years and some bits even longer. At this stage only two pieces will remain in use, these being the Tuner and my old faithful SL1200Mk2 turntable. I wish I had never let the other one go
The tape, graphic equalizer, Amplifier and CD player all being farmed out or put into “storage” for now. It is amazing how empty the unit looked prior to the new kit being delivered and installed.
Once lunch was out of the way it was time to get back to the garden until the door below rang with the delivery from O2 of my wireless router for my new broadband connection. This is what I call service the order was only placed yesterday morning and already migration is scheduled, router delivered, direct debit setup and plenty of emails and texts updating me on progress. I’m likely the service so far so please keep it up 
Managed to get back in the garden for another 20 mins before the doorbell went again and this time it was the deliver from LaserLine HiFi with my NAD components. All checked off and out of the box came the PP-3 Phone Preamp with USB, C326Bee Amplifier and C545Bee CD player.
Now it was time to get the NAD stuff installed and tested to check all was good, so started by getting all the new interconnects out and the new speaker cables. Opted for Chord Crimson RCA interconnects, three of them, and QED Silver Anniversary XT Speaker Cable. Hooked up Tuner, CD, TV, iPod and Turntable to the relevant connectors plus an additional RCA connection set for the USB audio card for my Numark mixer.
So first impressions is the sounds is warm and rich, although some tracks have need a bass boost to really sound good. Have noticed that some of the treble is a bit bright, but I noticed this with the technics setup so I think this is the speakers in use at the moment. I am using an old pair of Kef iQ 10s that I got from a friend many years ago. So it is time to get those B&W 685 I keep promisng myself. A little trip next week will be in order to purchase these babies.
Initially I am very happy with the NAD components and look forward to running in a pair of B&W of the coming weeks.
Tomorrow is water babies with LCJ & CJ and then not sure maybe more gardening or a trip to a HiFi store for those speakers.
Today started with emptying the cupboard under the stairs to have a sort out and make some space. The cupboard certainly has similar properties to the tardis as it just keep coming out boxes, bags, bits and bobs. Eventually I found the floor and walls and the comms cabinet. Now the study and hall floors were covered with stuff and needed to be sorted so I could get the cupboard usable. Plus side of moving all this stuff I found the window hooks that were taken off when the painting was done.
I screwed the alarm control panel to the wall and sorted out the numerous bags of carrier bags to make room. Off went the surplus golf clubs to the garage along with a crate of screws, bolts, sockets and miscellaneous items.
In between sorting out the cupboard contents I ordered new broadband from O2 to replace the service being provided by IBM, so looking forward to going from 2MB to 8MB service next week. O2 very responsive during the ordering process and with my PayAG phone I have got a fab price of just over £7 per month plus the first month free. Roll on next Thursday which is switch over day.
Now all the cupboard items sorted and put away it was time for my next job and rehanging the door in the back bedroom after it decided to fall off the frame. This didn’t take too long and then it was time to look for food.
After lunch I decided it was worth seeing how difficult it would be to break up the concrete in the back garden in prep for creating a more child friendly area. Spent a couple of hours working on this and I managed to clear about 2m, more to be done tomorrow
Will post some photos tomorrow if I get time…
Late breaking news is my new NAD amp and CD should be delivered tomorrow so concrete breaking will be interrupted at some point.
