Gremlin On My Shoulder

LACK OF COMMENTS - NOT MY FAULT !

An unseen gremlin at work

There is a glitch, an anomaly, occurring on-line when I try to leave a comment on some peoples’ blogs. 

This is something which is most annoying and beyond my capabilities to fix. No matter which way I send in the comment, even though my words appear on the blog, they disappear as soon as I log out !

Now, for some reason this problem is not affecting all of the blogs that I correspond with on a regular basis, only some of them.

And I am not alone in this for several of my friends have the same problem when trying to leave a comment on my blog.

Personally it is like having a gremlin on my shoulder who is making decisions for me without making any consultation!

I have tried to contact Google about this problem but all to no avail and my guess is that they are far to busy to make a reply.

So if you my blogging friends have not seen a comment from me in a while it is not that I am ignoring you, it is that my comment has been stopped by the Google Gremlin :)

NEW TO ME

I may very well be a bit quiet for a while for I have just bought myself my first iPhone and I shall need time to get used to it. So am a bit like a rabbit in the headlights at the moment !

Not the first smart phone I have ever had there was a samsung that drove me crazily over the hill and is now lying asleep somewhere in middle England as I gave it to my daughter for her too do whatever

herself wanted to do. 

This time I know in my heart that I shall be safe with an Apple product as am quite able with my iMac and even when occasionally I muck up there is an expert to talk me through a self made mire.

I will catch up with you all before too long!

A GAS TIME !

About month ago our twenty-three year old gas cooker finally gave up the ghost and died. It was no real surprise to us for the grill stopped working last year. We were not too bothered at the time because the oven and the top burners were still working efficiently. 

Sooner or later we would need a new cooker so we visited various retailers to find a good replacement.

In the middle of January we made our choice.

I particularly told the shop to ensure that the cooker was fitted with burner jets suitable for LPG  bottled gas (Butane) which is used here in the countryside as there is no piped gas supply.

I was informed that all of their cookers ran on ‘country gas’ and we arranged the delivery date.

The New Gas COOKER

The new cooker arrived, the defunct cooker was taken away to be scrapped and all that remained was to make the connection to the gas bottle. I had done this a great many times in the past and it had not been an obstacle.  I intended to do the same again, to the chagrin of the retailer, who said I needed a gas fitter to obtain a certificate. 

I competently made the connection without any leaks. Next job was to  the plug cooker into the electricity supply for the oven illumination and the six igniters.

Then came the first test, igniting the rings.

There were long yellow tips to the flames and the same phenomena also occurred in the oven.

Very clearly there was a problem. The burner jets were for the piped natural gas which is supplied to cities and towns.

Next morning I rang my supplier and informed him of my discovery. 

As I listened to his utter nonsense he tried to blind me with suggestions such as having fitted a bottle of ‘dirty gas’ which I totally refuted. Finally I was informed that the cooker had a kit with alternative burner jets, so I agreed to engage a Gas Fitter to replace them. 

 TOP OFF

The fitter arrived and then the real fun started. I don’t think he had ever changed burner jets before or even remove the various cooker parts, such as the top and front access panels. I ended up working alongside him, sometimes advising him on how to do his job. 

FRONT PANEL - OFF

Re-assembly was even more humorous than taking it apart. We did achieve a sense of order eventually and used all of the screws that we had removed without having any left over. 

Then came the first test. Yes, the four top rings had blue coloured flames, as did the oven.

BACK PANEL - OFF

We then ignited the grill. Damn and blast! 

The igniter worked, we could see it sparking. The gas was coming through, we could smell it. But no ignition, we had a banjaxed grill.

I said “ Xxxk it !..... Disconnect the xxxxing thing! ........ The retailer can have it back.”

Our gas fitter was with us for three and half hours, a job that should only have taken an hour.

One week later (last week) a replacement stove arrived along with the Gas Fitter.

More fun ensued, a lot more fun this time. There were gas leaks at the connection and he was mystified. I explained that at the pipe connection union, where there was a fibre washer it had a tapered thread and that it did not need any PTFE tape. So he stripped off the tape and guess what ?  No leakage of gas - Heron was right. I did though ask him for a certificate of worthiness and it is my belief that I had earned it!

Where a Viking Sleeps.

On a recent day out we visited St James Church, Castledermot, Co. Kildare.

The original foundation and dedication of this Christian Church was as the hermitage of St. Diarmada [Dermot] in 812. In later years it became a monastery and was twice raided by the Vikings and was burned down in 1106.

In the present church, now dedicated to St James, there is a list of The Church of Ireland incumbents dating from 1605 to the present day.

In the foreground is a reconstructed Hibernian-Romanesque arch detailing the original entrance to the old church.

An artists impression of what the original hermitage may have looked like.

The only Scandinavian hog back grave marker slab in Ireland - beneath which is possibly 

a sleeping Viking.

One of two existing 9th century High Crosses, 

there were once three.

Opposite the entrance to the church is a well kept and attractive tree lined walkway 

connecting to a main thoroughfare.

The Pledging Stone.

Similar stones were used by lovers who would place their hands into the hole 

and make their pledge to each other. 

From this practice came about the phrase ‘being set in stone’.

The round tower dates to the 10th century and was the monastery bell tower. 

The tower has some unusual features to other similar constructions. Here the entrance is only slightly above ground level and it is situated to the north of the church, normally towers were built to the west with access 15 feet or more above the ground. 

There are two arched vaults inside the tower, one over the second storey and the other at the top, with the tower itself constructed mainly of granite blocks with small pieces of limestone used as fillers. 

At sometime during it’s history the original stone capping was removed from the top and replaced with a castellated top which looks very odd - I have heard it likened to that of an electric torch stood on it’s end!

For further information :-

http://www.megalithicireland.com/High%20cross%20castledermot.htm

http://roundtowers.org/castledermot/index.htm

A Spring Return

As many of my followers are aware I had a mild TIA - transient ischemic attack,  a few days ago. This put me into hospital for four days and my route there was because my pipe fell out of my hand three times in succession, for each time that I picked it up from the floor and stood up, down it would go again. I became aware that all was not right with me so I trotted down to the studio to sit with her Ladyship and eventually brokered the subject that perhaps a trip to my GP would be a good thing to do.

Arrangements were made and we were given appointment for 4pm that day, not too long to wait, although in the surgery that time spent in the waiting room seemed horrendous - I am not good at waiting, not good at all; you might even think of me as being an impatient patient :)

My BP was extremely high as stated in comments on my recent blog, that being the case my lady GP told us to go directly to A&E at the nearest hospital which was about six miles away. We did as we were told, the waiting room only had two spare chairs and eventually I was seen by a Doctor and returned back to the waiting room, with a warning given to my wife that if I turned a funny colour or started acting oddly to ring the bell. We sat there until eleven pm when I was put on a trolley and given loads of caring attention. I slept fretfully, her Ladyship was given a comfortable chair and at eight thirty a.m I told her to drive home and get some rest.

The rest of my time there was spent in having a multitude of tests done,  he majority of which showed that I was healthy, apart from some clogging in carotid arteries - they supply blood to the brain. That sounded serious and the ward doctor explained to me that there were two procedures that would correct the situation; thus I returned home without having to consider any options because if you choose Life then either method is acceptable and I do choose life.

Today I had an appointment with the vascular specialist who with a big smile on his face told me that the clogging in my arteries was only slight, with a natural age related thickening and that he would not be performing any procedures on me.  He then said he would see me in six months time to do a  re-check and providing all was well he would not see me again.

I am delighted and with a spring in my step we left the hospital in glorious sunshine, revitalised.

A Bad Idea

As election campaigning enters its final days, the Taoiseach Enda Kenny

yesterday launched a scathing attack on some voters in his own constituency !

At a Fine Gael rally in Castlebar, Co. Mayo last night, Enda Kenny described some local 

people as "All Ireland Champions" in whingeing.

He made the comments to a rally of supporters in his home town last night.

He said they refused to recognise that the town was benefitting from the economic recovery.

The Taoiseach told reporters afterwards that the comments were not aimed a national audience: 

“Locals, nothing to do with national politics at all. Obviously, we get this all the time, but sometimes 

I feel that people find it very difficult to see any good, anywhere, anytime.”

© Irish Examiner

Up date: Irish Times reports;
Speaking on RTÉ radio on Monday, Mr Adams said the reality was that people throughout the country were not seeing the benefits of the recovery.

“The Taoiseach referred yesterday to whingers and people who would not see the sunshine on a sunny day. People do not feel the recovery because there is no recovery for them. The reason they are not seeing the recovery is because this Government made the wrong decisions”, he said.

Footnote

It is time Enda took a long holiday and I do mean that. Does he not know that every word that he utters goes before him and is read as a critical marker by everyone on this island and internationally too. 

It is totally naive of him to believe otherwise.

I presume that the benefits to his constituents he mentions include:

Major bed closures in the district hospitals of Ballina, Belmullet and Swinford, the 32,000 hours of assistance cut from the elderly

and disabled, the reduction of home helps and the slashing of welfare support for those in Back to Education which is no longer available 

for those who wish be teachers.

If these are his benefits it was only the Department of Finance that benefitted.

ELECTIONITUS

Electionitus is a serious condition that afflicts most of the adult population at election times. The symptoms range from acute lethargy to fanaticism. What I was unaware of was that many of the election candidates suffer from an egoistical condition which described in great detail by Gerry Adams in his blog Leargas.  http://leargas.blogspot.ie

I have an extract below where he explains the condition:

"Every candidate and everyone else should be mindful of the particular and peculiar stresses and strains that comes with being a candidate. It’s a form of ailment called Candidatitis. It begins with the candidate coming to believe – with a certainty known only to the prophets of old – that they are going to win.

This syndrome is capable of moving even the most rational aspirant or shy wallflower into a state of extreme self belief. It strikes without warning, is no respecter of gender, and can infect the lowly municipal hopeful, the aspiring Parliamentarian, as well as the lofty presidential wannabe.

The late Screaming Lord Sutch, or his Irish equivalent, who stands just for the craic, can fall victim to candidatitis as much as the most committed and earnest political activist. I believe this is due to two factors. First of all most people standing for election see little point in telling the voters that they are not going to win. That just wouldn’t make sense. Of course not. So they say they are going to win.

Listen to Joan Burton the Labour leader. Does she admit that Labour is going to lose seats. Not a chance. Or does Micheál Martin admit that his refusal to consider going into coalition with Fine Gael or Sinn Féin (not that there’s much chance of that) means that Fianna Fáil will not be in government after this election? Not on your nelly. He spent five minutes vainly trying to convince listeners to RTE that Fianna Fáil can be in government. Even though they are clearly not running enough candidates.

That's when Candidatitis starts. As the 'we are going to win' is repeated time and time again it starts to have a hypnotic effect on the person intoning the mantra. By this time it’s too late."

A good example of the affliction see below:

On Thursday 6th Ms Burton said "I'm very confident as ever of our chances. It's a good time for an election"

On Monday 8th Joan Burton said "No seat is safe in this election for any party", but when asked if her own seat was safe, she replied: “Absolutely!"

Today Thursday16th: Tánaiste Joan Burton is facing a massive battle to save her own political career!

A poll result in her constituency shows

According to herself she gave the pensioners a generous increase of €3 per week after having stood by and allowed them to face Water Charges and Property Tax and cuts in their Winter Fuel allowance. The lady is falling in popularity I wonder why ?

A Bird in the Hand

Mr Chaffinch © GettyImage

Yesterday morning when I was sitting at my desk working quietly away I heard a loud bang on one of the front room

windows. Hearing nothing more I continued with what I was doing.

About ten minutes later her Ladyship dragged me out to go on a fuel run and as I was walking to the car she said

“What is that behind you on the path ?”

I turned and lying beneath a window was the crumpled form of a small bird that looked quite dead to me.

My first thought was to scoop it up and throw it into a hedge, but not wanting to waste time in getting a shovel, I stooped down and picked him up in my hands. It was then I noticed that the bird was warm on it’s right hand side and quietly said,

“ You poor little sod.”

The small bird moved feebly in my hand and I placed him gently on the lawn and got into the car.

After about twenty minutes we were home again and unloaded the car of it’s peat briquettes. 

I stepped outside to see if the bird had flown off, but no it was still there. 

I spoke to the bird and he turned his head, opened an eye and looked at me.

Once again I picked him up and held him in both of my warm hands for a few minutes talking away to Mr Chaffinch

and believing that he understood me. I told him that it was was time to take flight and immediately, as I opened my palms, he took off, flew high into the air and disappeared from sight.

Next time that I see a bird lying still on the ground I will check for life before disposing.

France: Canine Casualty

DIESEL R.I.P.

“Diesel, a seven-year-old Belgian Shepherd police dog from RAID, was killed by the criminals/terrorists during the operation in Saint-Denis,” said a statement by the French national Police.

https://www.rt.com/news/322537-france-police-dog-operation/

One Twitter user wrote:

“This dog certainly had more humanity than these barbarians,”

Diesel had been with the unit for five years and is the first dog to die on active service. He was due to retire from Raid in the spring next year.

“His role was to open the way for the rest of us. He uses all his senses to detect if anyone is present and if he can get to them, to go and bite them. If not, he stands and barks to indicate where the person is hiding,” said the handler.

“I had absolute confidence in him, and him in me. Both of us knew how the other would behave in the situation.”

Russia has sent a puppy named Dobrynia to show its “solidarity with the French people and police in their fight against terrorism”.