old and sad

[electric.mike]

am i old and sad, we have just had a power cut which lasted for an hour,it was great no lights no computer no tv just the coal fire flickering in a dark room and me nearly asleep when the lights came on.
perhaps mandatory power cuts every so often could help us all relax.
mike

 

[HarryB]

Are you reminiscing about the 70's? Maybe a DVD box set of 'Life on Mars' would be good for you. Normally when we have power cuts all you can hear is the sound of everybody's house alarms going off (London!), so not so relaxing.

 

[flecc]

As a result of regular power cuts over more than 20 years, and a renewal of the problem three times more recently, I'm too well organised to experience a slip into the past.

The moment the power goes off, an emergency battery light automatically comes on, and I have substitutes for all the usual home entertainment stuff for radio, minidisc, MP3, plus the laptop with DVD and full TV and PVR facilities. There's also a fully charged car battery to hand with wired on outlets for the laptop power, the flatscreen TV, and a built in lighting panel with two switchable lighting levels for reading or TV watching. And in reserve are the usual torches, candles, camping gaztm lantern, paraffin lantern and gaztm stove.
.

 

[musicbooks]

Hey Flecc,
Have you got tins of food (that can withstand 40 years of fallout) under your stairs as well?
I know where I'll be heading when WWIII breaks out!!

 

[flecc]

Limited tinned stocks, but I do have dried items that constitute enough to keep going for a very long time. This sort of self sufficiency is a legacy of WW2 experience of course, when any eventuality had to be allowed for.

Don't worry, I'm not about to bore with any war stories!
.

 

[keithhazel]

dam, felt sure there was gonna be a story or two about which e-bike was most efficient at getting to and fro from the tremces and which ploughed through the mud the best and where less effected by mortor shock.. .....


low's and hi's for me today with my Quando ....i know its been xmas and new year so not vomplaining...does no good when you do.lol...but having waiteted from 20th december expecting today to get my e-mail about delivery and had not i was desperate for news, patience not being my strong point. ... i have appointments to make this week and go to and as sort of live alone dare not miss a delivery when im out so i waited till 4.30 and rang them up today, was told it had been collected from them today so probably Monday it would be delivered, silently i was glad it was on the move but gutted about Monday.....i got the courier's number off them so i could check on delivery date for certain, my high at last.....after checking it was not oo big she said it would probably be with me tomorrow....if so thank god i rang as if had gone out and they tried it would have gone back as no one else in..feel a bit like a young child now at xmas when i just know i wont be able to sleep tonight...lol....lol....fingers crossed for me....hope it doesnt come in the morning and i then get my e-mail....cos i just love/hate being funny..

 

[flecc]

Hope you get it tomorrow then Keith, but at least in time for the weekend for you to try it out properly.
.

 

[Sav]

Re the power cuts, we are the last on the power line going out of the village and have frequently sat in darkness.

I now have a 2kw Honda standby genny in the garage all set up for the flick of an isolation switch.

Keeps the telly, PC and freezer and most importantly the central heating pump going!!

Chris.

 

[Mandy]

Are you reminiscing about the 70's? Maybe a DVD box set of 'Life on Mars' would be good for you. Normally when we have power cuts all you can hear is the sound of everybody's house alarms going off (London!), so not so relaxing.

I loved Life on Mars! No leccy power bikes though! LOL!
So what happened to the white dog pooh? Does anyone know?
Has anyone here bought the SE from Germany?
It seems like a good price and look forward to recieving it.
Didn't quite work out that they didnt accept Papal though, lol!
I must brush up on my German, :0)
Have to say they are the nicest people to deal with and please don't say it is because they will get my money as I have complete trust in the human race!
Definitely nice people to deal with,
Regards
Mandy

 

[tgame]

mini motor

Dear me - this thread has reminded me of just after Hitler's war and my first powered bike. An ancient upright boneshaker with a Mini Motor two stroke on the back driving the wheel with a sort of knife grinder that one crashed into the tyre once one had pedalled off!! Noisy smelly no power to speak of up hills. WE have progressed in some directions - or rather the far Eastern designers have.

Tony Game.

 

[flecc]

I used to fit and repair these things Tony. Which one did you have? It sounds like the Sinclair Power Pak (nothing to do with Sir Clive Sinclair, he was still in primary school).

 

[tgame]

God knows who made the thing, Flecc, but no doubt he is in for a long spell of purgatory as punishment! It wasn't the PowerPak which came out later and was much better. After a while I seem to remember the PowerPak had a centrifugal clutch added so that graunching the driving wheel onto the tyre wasn't needed. Mine would have made a remarkably fine tyre shredder. The wretched thing was held down with a spring and every bump in the road used to lift it off the tyre! Happy days.

Actually I always thought that if the confounded Transport ministry had used a bit of sense these things might well have really taken off. It was the nonsense of insurance and tax and so forth that put people off.

In my mad youth I wasted eighteen months as a model aircraft fan and always used to feel that those tiny diesels were not used as they might have been. One could imagine them driving a bike along. Of course it would have taken a couple of hours to get it started!