Zoom G3

I managed to condense my old Zoom G2.1u and my Looper into one pedal. This one is actually pretty good and allows you to emulate 3 separate stomp boxes (or modellers) at any time. Also features a looper and tuner to boot.

The Band!

A work competition - I was not responsible for the costumes of the others!

Heli-Snowing

Blade 450X

Blade have released details of their new 450 heli. This one is a bit special - comes with a beast-x built in to the receiver. I've been hanging off on a 450 size, but this is more than likely going to be the one I end up with. Link in title...

ooOooo - there's a 300X version coming out too!!

Aqualisa HiQu Bath - problems!

Been having some ongoing problems with the digital bath system we installed late last year. Despite 3 engineer visits, and every component being swapped it was still struggling to reach a hot output. About half the time it works fine and you have a hot bath. The other half - it never reaches temperature (red ring never turns white).

So, I decided to try and investigate. I found that by lowering the cold water pressure (turning bathroom taps to full cold) I could coax it to achieve heat. It seems that the system cannot dial down the cold input enough - so that even with full heat output from the combi, it mixes too much cold (we have a 42KW combi so we should have no problems).

So - a cunning fix. I simply turned the in-line tap half off on the cold side. This artificially limits the cold pressure allowing the hot/cold ratio to be hotter. Seems to be working fine now - even with the combi on economy mode (had to be full heat before).

Samsung 900X1B Wifi Problems

I have been having some problems with my new Samsung Series 9 Ultrabook (NP900X1B-A03UK), whenever on battery the wifi performance was terrible when used with a Netgear WNDR3800. After much investigation I finally tracked down a solution. Go into control panel, select the power profile and click advanced - now turn the wifi to max performance when on battery. Has been great ever since...

Xmas Tree

Our Xmas tree is here - sourced from a local farm and 'just' fitting in the house. Cats are a bit too interested....

Another day... another robot!

Earlier today my second robot was delivered. Whilst the trusty Roomba has been hoovering our floors for the past few years, the new Navibot has a few modern tricks up its sleeve that will probably see Roomba banished to upstairs. For starters it intelligently maps the room with a camera, so it cleans more effectively (not just random patterns). It is also quieter, less 'bumpy' to things around it and can cope with a bigger space as it will return to base, charge and then resume where it left off.

TOBvember

It's the last day of Movember - and as such may I present the office Mo-Team. TOBvember (as it is called) has raised nealry £3,000 so far. If you want to donate then hurry along to http://mobro.co/rakh1

Kitchen stools

Bar stools turned up for the kitchen this morning - very easy to assemble - and look pretty good. Luckily the white is the same temp as the kitchen too - phew!

Kitchen - almost there...

Fridge delivered on Sat, table and chairs in from garage. K's bit 'EAT' sticker on wall (Swedish style apparently). This is pretty much the finished item. Tiny bits and pieces left.

Fridge - and free ROBOT!

Ordered our new fridge - Samsung RSG5UUMH - am looking forward to auto-crushed ice for cocktails :) However, it gets better... the site I bought it from has a promotion whereby I get a free Samsung SR8855 robot vacuum cleaner. WIN!

Kitchen approaching the end...

Was sent this last night to show progress (K is at home, I am away on business). Seems we are approaching the end with final touches such as the cooker hood now in place. New bar stools come next week which should finish it all off nicely.

Google Galaxy Nexus

My next phone? I think so - presuming it ever comes out (delay after delay at the moment). Have ordered from Amazon just in case it ends up being physically too big for my liking (an easy return). Should be dispatched early Dec.

Dracula's Castle

The Romanian QA team and I set off this weekend for a road-trip to Dracula's Castle in Bran. After a 5 hour drive we stayed in a rented house and spent the evening drinking palinka (ouch). The castle is quite impressive - despite S, C and I having a sneak preview the evening before ;)

Romania

I am in Romania for the next couple of weeks. So far so good. Beer is very cheap and the apartments are great. Lots of photos on my flickr stream...

EFS 17-55 F/2.8 Broken!!! :(

My EFS 17-55 broke the other day - one shot was fine, and then in the next the IS was going from max deflection to min deflection at top speed. Only way to take photos was to turn it off. Luckily I have a MACK international warranty. Lens is now with Canon UK being repaired.

Flooring

Flooring is mostly in now and for the first time we can imagine the finished look. We were a little unsure as to the colour of the oak, but it turned out to look fantastic.

Movember

You may notice my upper lip becoming 'fuzzy' this month... well, it is all down to Movember - a charity event with the aim or raising awareness of prostate and testicular cancer. Pop along to find out all about it - maybe even throw a few quid its way...

http://mobro.co/Rakh1

Worktops...

Kitchen worktops are now installed. They are a black quartzite with silver fleck. Goes very well with the steel appliances. Sink is now in and working - along with the Quooker (hmm, I can have coffee again). Next step is to finish the island off and then put the flooring in...

Wall units...

Wall units are up - and don't they make a difference! You can really get an idea of how it will look once finished. Flooring goes in next week...

Ovens and templating...

Definitely getting closer - we now have working ovens and the stone masons have been around to template for the worktops. We've even got electricity to the draw servos which has given me hours of fun...

Base units...

More progress - ceiling lights and base units are in and we are working out the final location of the island. Actually starting to feel like a room now!

Painting starts...

Plaster is now dry enough to start painting and to cut out the light holes ready for our massive number of spots. The guys have also started to bring in the kitchen units - and even managed to get the washing machine in. Dryer is however broken from too much moving :(

Plastered!

I spent the weekend in Brighton, and whilst I was there the kitchen was plastered. House now smells VERY damp. Trying to air it out with windows and doors open - but it is not the warmest of weekends... brrrrrr!