and today i have mostly been...

[caprixpack]

That's rather poor, I drove 800 miles to visit my parents in central France in my old 1984 2.0 porsche 924 and after working it out was getting 33-34 mpg

[Doggy]

Shameful. Reckon Welly needs to cycle to work this week to make amends.

[Welly]

Worst thing was this morning when I jumped into the Volvo of Doom to go to work, I'd forgotten the fuel light came on last Friday so that demanded a large expensive drink too.

I reckon I'm supporting the economy myself at the moment in fuel-based taxation...

[steve_earwig]

Hope all is ok steve and hopefully whatever it is pestering you will FRO asap!

Me an' all, I'm getting pretty frustrated watching all the jobs piling up and not being up to much. E.g. t'wife says I should be getting the boiler ready which involves sweeping the chimney top down. Dizzy spells + up ladder? Could be interesting... Latest symptom is a pain in my chest, on the right-hand side. I think it's a strain of some sort as it gets worse if I slouch.

We had the fun of tending to 3 x Kittens yesterday for a friend who was away for the day, they're about 8 weeks old and I tell you once they get revved up they're all over the shop

"Awww, aren't they cute?" As they destroy your house. The little guy just wants to play with the other cats but they aren't having any of it. Tbh the golden retards were far worse when they were puppies, knocking things flying (including us) as they continued with their favourite game "Kill the sister".

In other news, I hired a Kia Carens this weekend to ferry Daughter_Welly to Uni in that Middlesbrough:

Don't you have 3 cars already?

fully loaded...an average speed between 75 and 85mph...90mph...
Above all this though, and disappointingly for the class of vehicle, check out the MPG's for the weekend:


Shocking!

Aerodynamics of a brick mate.

[PhillipM]

Ouch, I've got an e-class Merc that weighs about the same as a house (it's about 2.5 tonnes or something ridiculus) and even that will run 40mpg just ambling around town, 60 on a run!

[highlander]

I got similar MPG over the weekend when we went to Skye in the BMW. 620 miles, around 34 MPG, from a naturally-aspirated 3.0 straight-six petrol 5-series.

When my aunt passed away, we went down to Bath for her funeral, and I rented a Hyundai i30 with a 1.6 petrol engine. It was quite a nice car, to be honest. Hyundai and Kia are sister marques, so it doesn't surprise me that the Kia Carens is well kitted-out.

[steve_earwig]

Come to think of it I get about 8.5l/100km (33mpg) mostly short trips around town from yoyoII so yeah, 35mpg is appalling.

Email from my bro:

Pain in the chest. I have had that in the past, the quack tells me it a costal cartilage thing. Apparently it can be as painful as a broken rib.

A brief search brings up costchondritis - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costochondritis I actually feel much better now, now that I know it's not something far nastier.

Tomorrow morning I have an appointment to see the hem.. heam...haem... blood doctor. I can't wait

[Welly]

That might be a better outcome then if it's the same thing, you'll know more after the blood tests etc, I'm sure they can even tell if your heart's dicky from the blood itself etc.

I've been to the quacks today actually; been on high blood pressure meds for about 5 months and they're not working well enough (avg BP is 155/100 ish) from tomorrow I have to double the normal dosage and go for another review/record in 4 weeks time, if that don't work they'll try 'another' medication alongside my one in a sort of experiment to 'see how it affects me' way, that'll be fun.

Whilst at the docs they also put me on anti Barn Dance pills but I'm not allowed to exceed the stated dosey dosage.....

[steve_earwig]

anti Barn Dance pills

Whuh? Are you epileptic?

The pain's on the other side from my ticker, I wasn't worried about that. I do still smoke though, I have cut down drastically but nonetheless...Of course t'wife rushed off to check Google (You could have Fusarium wilt!) but I suspect "my brother had it already" is a far better diagnostic tool.

It's another symptom though, I seem to have all sorts of them at the moment and I have no idea if any of them are related. My blood pressure is usually low but it's been down to 97/60. My pulse is up too, that's usually around 60 but it's been to double that even at rest.

I'm not sure I like the idea of taking more than one medication for the same thing, surely they should stop you on the one that's not working first. Max had high blood pressure, we tested it at the chemist's once and the pharmacist reckoned we should call an ambulance. After his heart attack he's been eating better, cut out the alcohol and is actually exercising and it's come down to around 130. He was at the cardiologist's yesterday and the guy was very pleased with his progress. Wouldn't take him off any of the meds mind, which is what Max was hoping for.

From what I know about you I suspect stress could be your biggest factor. In which case your quack is going in completely the wrong direction.

Oh, btw the televidiots are back. I've been quite busy the morning (the chimney is swept!) so I was hoping for a nap. 10 minutes in bing bong! Can I move my car out of their shot? I moved it but I did note that the words "hello" and "please" were entirely missing from the exchange.

[Welly]

Stress? indeed, she asked if I had a stressful job...

I get a lot of sh*t passed my way but I'm not the sort who says "f*ck it" usually but I am coming round to the thought that I might HAVE to let things slip and let people down a bit more, not easy when you're tasked with competitive tendering to keep 10 men working in the construction industry.

With the blood pressure thing it is the meds that do all the work, the 'lifestyle changes' only contribute a few small points towards lowering it (as Max has found). I do know that low BP can be just as bad if not worse in the short term for making you 'meh' or literally pass out, hope all gets back on track soon mate.

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Hope all is ok steve and hopefully whatever it is pestering you will FRO asap!

We had the fun of tending to 3 x Kittens yesterday for a friend who was away for the day, they're about 8 weeks old and I tell you once they get revved up they're all over the shop hanging off curtains, running under furniture, leaping onto each other from chair-height...I was knackered just watching them!

In other news, I hired a Kia Carens this weekend to ferry Daughter_Welly to Uni in that Middlesbrough:

7-seater* 1.7 dizzler, 6 speed manual with 139bhp:


Typical eurobox styling but on the better side of 'meh'.

Interior was high quality with lots of gadgets: heated steering wheel, reversing camera, excellent Sat Nav, bluetool, all that kinda stuff:


Covered 500 miles all in, pretty much all motorways, fully loaded at first but probably an average speed between 75 and 85mph, 1600 rpm in 6th gave 60mph 2500 rpm was showing 90mph so quite high geared. 1st and 2nd gears were hopeless as usual but 4th and 5th worked well with a huge shove of torque between 2000 and 3500 rpm. Gear change had a fairly long throw and kinda grabbed into gear making smooth changes difficult sometimes. All over though it was enjoyable to drive and made long trips a breeze to be fair.

I can see why folk bomb about in these MPV's with a high seating position; you just don't get the impression of speed, the car was also very well insulated from any noise, if you 'felt' like you were doing 60mph you were really doing 70 etc bit weird actually.

Above all this though, and disappointingly for the class of vehicle, check out the MPG's for the weekend:


Shocking! and there was no way I was hammering the thing all day long, I was driving along the motorways with everyone else out there. This hired model was a top spec job with a price tag of up to £24K, the fuel economy would be a disappointment I think. Oh and it don't like side winds at all.

I've just been to Plumstead, Greenwich & back in my 3.0 V6 pezzer coupe at a steady 80 - 85 & got 34mpg on my trip computer

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Ouch, I've got an e-class Merc that weighs about the same as a house (it's about 2.5 tonnes or something ridiculus) and even that will run 40mpg just ambling around town, 60 on a run!

Ahh! & I though your coupe was your daily, not another toy

[PhillipM]

It is, the Merc's just for taking the dogs around

[steve_earwig]

My dad had a Merc that mainly got used for carting the dog about, somebody actually stole parts off of it while it was parked up, he'd left a window open 'cos the dog was in it. Yep, Dib was a particularly useless guard dog...

Anyway, feeling much better now (hooray!) but I still have to face a host of tests because my leukocytes went ballistic. They're usually high with no obvious cause, but the haematologist decided it was time for some investigation. So, on the 4th I will "enjoy" a whole host of tests, including a bone marrow biopsy and have been told that it's probably not a good idea to drive afterwards. Will my wife be driving? Hell no we'll be getting a lift there and a taxi home.

They think I have leukaemia?

And then on the 10th I'll be having another load of tests, x-rays, an ultrasound... There's f*ck all wrong with me! Still, let them have their fun, eh?

Meanwhile.. also on the 10th my bro is coming out for 7 days but this Monday Miloš is back by popular demand! Woo-hoo!! We've just been to a saw mill to order up some wood for the upstairs floor in the batcave, 1st class pne. 3cm thick, 50 sq.m. = 2,900Kn (350 sovs, thanks Dave ). Seems pretty cheap to me.

Why is it I never have a decent camera with me when I see something interesting?




There was also a whole heap of junk outside, including

[Doggy]

Good to hear you're feeling a bit better, hope they get to the bottom of it soon.
Interesting sight that there woodworking kit. Not a hope in hell of being able to operate anything like that legally in the UK, but then we've all got exactly the same rules across the EU to promote fair competition, haven't we?