Ask UK

For the past six weeks I’ve been a lot more away from home than there, mostly for work. I’m away again, but at least this time it’s with wife and the dogs on holiday. Here is hoping North Wales in late September gives us a few dry spells to enjoy the spectacular walks on offer.

Just tested https://www.amazon.nl/toilet-donald-novelty-scubber-bathroom/dp/B07VGX5KQX?adgrpid=1332608556589682&hvadid=83288350019605&hvbmt=be&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=251367&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-83288448758203%3Aloc-14&hydadcr=13854_2272542&mcid=960c6a9a3bcc306c9a61653c66ff3a87
Only use for shit situations.

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DIY

spoiler Garden Neighbour and I telepathically linked and met at the back of our respective gardens power tools in hand. Not a word was exchanged, but I ripped out my back panel and drilled some plywood in place to keep the fox out^[I don't mind fox shit in my garden, but I do mind it repeatedly right on back door step, the smug bastards.], and he started putting animal spikes on the back ledge. Pulled up two small trees there too which had been growing sideways, previously providing them with plenty of cover. :::

Front

Finished the wall after a 6 month hiatus. It was my second go at bricklaying, and I did a neater job this time, but still a pretty sloppy one. Thankfully it was only the posts this time, and I'm just glad it's finished. I gave them a shake this morning and they're holding solid. Didn't fall down the trap shaking the other bricks loose first to establish a "solid base"^[no such thing as a solid base in a brick wall. If one brick is loose, you strengthen the ones around it, and it in turn will be strengthened. You could make a society out of this.]. I'm just glad it's done, and am now thinking about planting some good native hedges to keep the road noise out. I'm thinking a combination of hawthorn, rosehip, and (evergreen) western red cedar.

Chimney

It's started to get cold again and I've got an internal chimney shaft that's blocked off at the top, but still radiates heat away. I shoved some spare fibreglass insulation up there and around the fireplace cavity, and then shoved a chimney balloon up there and inflated it to allow for some air flow ^[spraying expanding foam and blocking off the chimney shaft completely was my first idea, but this can lead to mould and musty smells. Better to allow some airflow, but restricted.], but to keep the warm air primarily at ground level. Then I shoved a chimney sheep above the fireplace and called it a day.

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Electrics

spoiler Printer
The Voron is getting there. I've finally got the damn thing assembled and am now trying to get the components to talk to each other. Having fun with a multimeter, and determining what is ground and what isn't, since the people who make these damn printers don't seem to understand what's useful to document and what's not. I had to pinout the display via I2C just to check the damn thing was working at all, because none of the LEDs or backlights were working and it apparently cannot be directly programmed via USB. I'm now at the stage where I've got most things wired up except two Endstops which seem to be causing shorting, but I'm debugging it slowly. :::

Crimping

Got myself a real nice set of Engineer PA-06 JST crimpers, and Engineer PA-09 wire strippers, and then a cheap ferrule crimper, and oh god I practically jizz myself every time I use them. So satisfying to cut different lengths of wire to custom size, crimp pins and headers on them and shove them into things. Oooooh yeeaeeaaah. Plus learning how to take apart a JST plug by rubbing the contacts, and then strengthening them by pulling their flaps up.

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