I must be better

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While my throat gets quite sore if I don’t drink regularly (and, relatively speaking, a lot) it feels (and looks) a hell of a lot better. Although I forgot my antibiotics at lunch time – I’ve just spent about 20 minutes staring and going ‘did I take 2 doses the first day, or one’?

Having finally settled on the fact that I did take two doses it became apparent that I didn’t take my lunchtime dose today; which is presumably why I feel postively much better than I did. I’ve just downed it. Better late ‘n never. I’ll just shuffle the dinner ones to somewhat later. Maybe eat a crunchy bar with it.

Anyhow, I know I’m feeling better because I’m bored and antsy. I can see the car sat outside, but I promised not to do anything taxing today. And I’m off sick from work so I should rest (I keep telling myself that). *But* I did have some dink-jobs to do. The Technics amplifier that used to be my dad’s which was swapped out a while back because the volume control was nadgered? Well, I realised that I finally have some pseudo-contact cleaner in the house, and while I’d love a new Cambridge Audio amp – but since they don’t offer it with a universal power supply I am saving myself for when we go to Canada – and I was missing my vinyl.

I know, I’m a weird old freaky woman who likes her music on vinyl. I listen to MP3s just fine, but when I want music, pure plain music, music to *listen* to, then I want vinyl. Or of course crushed beetles and excreta – there’s nothing like a crushed beetle and goo as a music storage medium. At any rate, so I wanted to have the record deck working again. And since the Denon MD50 which I have been using (dead CD Changer) is devoid of record-deck inputitude, I whipped the cover off the amp, unclipped the volume slider PCB and gave it a good old clean with brake/clutch cleaner (on the back in small print is the text which says you can use it on electrical connections and components too :) ). The amp is now back in service and you can move the slider without crackles and without, perhaps more importantly, randomly losing one or other channel.

single on a record deck

Feeling positively buoyant after fixing that I stripped down the bread maker. I needn’t have. Had I have been more open in thought when I looked at it, and less set on ‘these screws hold it together’ (they do, but not in the way I thought) – then I’d’ve found (one) of the faults much quicker. It’s obviously been apart before, I’m not quite sure why (which worries me) – but the person who put it together (who I can’t say I’m greatly impressed with, in quality or competence terms) managed to leave the element disconnected.

Neither of these are exactly greatly complex repairs, really. I’m just running the bread maker through a cycle – of course, we’re still short part of the kneading mechanism anyhow… And it’s just finished the cycle. It didn’t burst into flames and only made normal hot metal smells – so I’m guessing it might be worth forking out for the bits to go in it to make it work.

That done I’ve settled in to listen to a selection of singles which I’ve not heard for a long time, and just to generally relax for the rest of the afternoon. Temptation lurks outside the door where Jejy sits with her rusty front end looking hopefully at me, but I am strong. That and my throat’s feeling a little sore after spending a while talking to my mum on the phone.

As a side point, summer very definately seems to be here. It’s warm enough in the house to be uncomfortable – when I’m back to being well I’m going to have to pull down the fan. I’m contemplating bringing down the ’30s fan – I wish I knew how to get that grill repaired, or the grill remanufactured. I also need to dig out a bearing supplier to replace the broken sintered bearing – which while I oiled it and turned it around so that the worn surfaces aren’t in use so much – it’s not really quite right – and the oscillation function doesn’t work. The whole thing needs a more thorough strip down than I did the first time – but the motor still works. I’d also like to know if the motor will deal with 110v/60Hz (because that’s useful information).

[“Come join the revolution, get yourself a constitution; Come join the revolution now!”]

Sorry; distracted for a minute there.

Had a sudden weird moment contemplating the fact that the music in this room spans from 1918 (one of my gramophone records) to 2009. That’s nearly a century of music sat in the lounge. The next single on my playlist was pressed from vinyl in 1961. And the current one from the year I was born. It’s a bit weird, sometimes.

Anyhow; I think I’m done rambling. I think I shall go in search of morphy richards spares (the inside of that breadmaker was one of the most depressing insights into modern appliances that I could have envisaged) and hope that I can get the missing bits… especially now I appear to have ‘fixed’ it.

KateWE

Kate's a human mostly built out of spite and overcoming transphobia-racism-and-other-bullshit. Although increasingly right-wing bigots would say otherwise. So she's either a human or a lizard in disguise sent to destroy all of humanity. Either way, it's all good.