Random Zero's Ramblings

as some of you will know i am currently working for a company based in bracknell as a building estimator.

The Head Honcho has decided to move the office inside of the M25 to Staines

i currently live in swindon.

i have evaluated all the options for commuting the extra distance including the extra distance to staines by motorcycle as i currently commute to bracknell in this way.

I would be required to travel an additional 11800 miles per year. in addition to this extra mileage it will also be an additional 5 hours per week commuting, massive wear on my bike and additional tyres, servicing and bike gear. all in all a non starter. i do enough miles at 112 a day never mind 162.

so i looked at public transport. now the cost is irrelevant as i can get my company to cover this but it means an additional 10 hours per week commuting. that means 10 more hours away from my good lady wife and my lovey bed. this works out at an additional 504 hours per working year. i calculated the additional cost on my current wage (taking into account addition for tax deductions) and it works out to be £12k. now my company is probably not going to offer 12k plus 10k for when i get my supposed promotion. not a chance. but they will offer something.

i could leave the company. have a persistent bugger pestering me to join them and other possibilities. closer to home, same cash ish and better commute. but risk of no job security for 2 years. may not get on with the people. may clash. may not be able to do the work to the standard required.

any advice would be appreciated.

I Have been brewing for a while now and the results are improving dramatically.

have looked into several options for selling the final products and this is what i have come up with:

1. i am permitted to produce 7000L of cider and sell it without paying duty. this would require buying an IBC container and brewing all the fruit i can get my hands on this season. I then have the problem of selling. Do i try to sell to garden centre or local pub??? doubtful.

only other option I can think of is selling from home, this would either mean advertising and delivering or having ppl come to our house. so delivery is the only likely option.

2. wine baskets – i have thought of selling a wine of a particular type with the matching jam and a pack of home made biscuits at the local carboot etc. along woth cider, jams and homemade cheese biscuits.

3. selling the liquers – have had amazing feedback on this lot so will be looking into selling to friends to cover cost plus a minimal margin and possibly offering a bottle depoosit system.

would love feedback on this along with any suggestions

also looking into the possibility of selling a dandelion and burdock beer!!

just bottled batch 2 of liquers and am much happier with this batch.

lovely. used asda double strength squash to flavour this time, equating to a much less sweet product. is a lot more paletable

currently on the brew list  is below

i have another wine to start this week – rose petal wine. then i will have to stop untill elderflower season as i am running out of bottles to put it all in.

having built a chiminea, i have been looking into a ready supply of (legal) fuel.

i have a neighbour who supplies the odd pallet chopped up, and  we have purchased wood from local shops but this is very expensive.

so for an outlay of less than £10 i have acquired a paper/leaf brick maker from amazon.

basic method is
1. Soak old newspapers and magazines for about two hours in water.

2. When the water is thoroughly soaked and soft, tear chunks of paper enough to be pressed into two inches balls.

3. Press out the water.

4. Dry the wet briquettes on the concrete floor during hot and sunny days or leave to dry in airing cupboard etc

5. When thoroughly dried store in plastic bags so that the briquettes will not absorb moisture.

6. Use paper briquettes as substitute for wood charcoal.

as a bag of logs is over £3. a £10 outlay is very little.

i looked into making one but was easier and cheaper to purchase one

i am awaiting its arrival, but considering how much we currently recycle i can see it getting a lot of use!

this is a recipie i am using currently from and thought worth sharing. recipie obtained from Jack Keller

PINEAPPLE JUICE WINE

• 2 pts pineapple juice
• 2½ lbs granulated sugar
• 6 pts water
• 1 tsp acid blend
• ½ tsp pectic enzyme
• ¼ tsp tannin
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• 1 pkt Chablis wine yeast

Dissolve sugar in water. Add remaining ingredients except yeast, stirring well. Cover primary and set aside 12 hours. Add activated yeast and ferment 7-10 days, stirring daily. When specific gravity falls to 1.010, rack into secondary and fit airlock. Rack, top up and refit airlock every 30 days until wine clears and no new sediments form over 30-day period. Stabilize and sweeten to taste if desired. Wait 10 days and, if stable, rack into bottles. May taste after 6 months.

this is a recipie i am using currently from Jack Keller i thought worth sharingDandelion Wine

• 1 pint dandelion flower petals
• 500g golden raisins
• 1 gallon water
• 2KG granulated sugar
• 2 lemons
• 1 orange

• yeast and nutrient

Pick the flowers just before starting, so they’re fresh. You do not need to pick the petals off the flower heads, but the heads should be trimmed of any stalk. Put the flowers in a large bowl. Set aside 1 pint of water and bring the remainder to a boil. Pour the boiling water over the dandelion flowers and cover tightly with cloth or plastic wrap. Leave for two days, stirring twice daily. Do not exceed this time. Pour flowers and water in large pot and bring to a low boil. Add the sugar and the peels (peel thinly and avoid any of the white pith) of the lemons and orange. Boil for one hour, then pour into a crock or plastic pail. Add the juice and pulp of the lemons and orange. Allow to stand until cool (25-30 deg C.). Add yeast and yeast nutrient, cover, and put in a warm place for three days. Strain and pour into a secondary fermentation vessel (bottle or jug). Add the raisins and fit a fermentation trap to the vessel. Strain and rack after wine clears, adding reserved pint of water and any additional required to top up. Leave until fermentation ceases completely, then rack again. Set aside 2 months and rack and bottle.

My brother and i completed the gas bottle chiminea project all bar the final paining of. Firstly we removed the valve and filled the bottle with water to remove all the gas.

next we removed the top handle.

ground out a hole for the smoke to escape up the chimney.

cleaned the area around the hole and cleaned the chimney ready for wealding.

cut a hole for the door.

welded the chimney on.

drilled holes for air in the back including 3 nr drain holes for water

lit her up!!

COSTS

Gas Bottle 99p

chimney from a local merchant £10 for 2 pieces of 100mm pipe so i have a spare now

weld rods 3p

so actual cost £11.02 with a spare piece of pipe.

paint has been given to us so no cost.

in another dirve to save money i suppose i will be building my own ciminea.

i have looked at the £100 plus options for this and they are flimsey and of poor construction. i saw my neighbours one made from an old gas bottle and a piece of lamp post and will be replicating this with some slight design mods.

firstly i will probably not put a door on it as i think it will look nice without, and i dont intend cutting down any lamp posts so that is out.

initially i needed a gas bottle so 99p with the help of ebay i have this

thank you very much

i will need to remove the valve and fill with water to ensure all gas is gone prior to cutting. will update when i start!

when fitting a fence at a family members house, i struck a cable buried 3″ below the surface. i was thankfully using a wooden handled matic at the time. SSE then came out to repair it. a month passed and i recieved a bill for splicing the cable. this was for £383.00.

i then disputed this invoice see below

I am writing to formally dispute the above and attached invoice.

Firstly the fact that the cable was buried at a dangerously shallow depth (no more than 3”) is cause enough to dispute this. We were removing a stump from the hedge and struck it with a matic. On further investigation it appears the only place the cable was this shallow was at that exact point, as stated by your operatives. Additionally they themselves stated they would recommend no charge be made due to the depth of the cable and  the fact I had actually bothered to report it and not just hid it.

The recommendations from your own installations document for cable depths are as follows:

LV/MV upto 415V
Footpaths/Driveways, etc 450mm
Across Roads————–800mm
Along Roads—————800mm
Agricultural—————-1000mm

Additionally it is stated that Where cable depth cannot be achieved due to other plant in the ground then variations in the route and / or extra protective measures must be in place and that Marker tape manufactured to ENA TS 12-23 will be installed over all mains cables, service cables, ducts and service tubes. The tape will be placed 150 mm directly above the cable or duct. None of which is in place.

Furthermore the fact that for the first hour of their arrival on site had their dinner break that you are attempting to charge for. We took as many precautions as were possible but due to the fact that the cable is only that depth it is unreasonable to charge for damage to it. I dig deeper than that in my garden planting my VEG!

I look forward to your prompt response.

MR ZERO

I RECEIVED THIS RESPONSE 4 MONTHS LATER
Cable Damage/New Connections

Inveralmond House

200 Dunkeld Road

PERTH

PH1 3QA

Direct Telephone: 01738 456307 Facsimile:    01738 455211
Date 23 Marcl
Our Reference: 099396231 Your Reference:

Dear Mrzero

Cable Damage Incident @ Swinbrook Road, Carterton, Oxfordshire – 01.10.11 Invoice Amount – £382.50 Amended Invoice Amount – £321.21

Thank you for your letter dated 21 November 2011. Please accept my apologies for the delay in replying.

The decision to charge for emergency work is made by the depot and our engineers have no authority to decide if a charge is applicable. Therefore, we apologise on their behalf for giving you misleading information.

We lay our cables to standard depths (e.g. low voltage in footpath is 450mm, and high voltage in footpath is 750 mm) and we surround them in sand and place marker on top. After they are laid, we have no control over any future landscaping of the ground due to unforeseen construction work which may take place in the vicinity. The placing of marker tape above all low voltage cables has become standard practice but only since 2003. Cables laid prior to this time may not have marker tape.

Also, taking into consideration your comments over the billing hours we are prepared to reduce the billing hours by one hour and enclose an amended invoice showing the reduction.

Dear Sir/Madam

INVOICE

Damage At:    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Our Reference:    P86656

Invoice Amount:    £321.21

Invoice Number:    099396231

Invoice Date:    14-NOV-ll

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

I enclose the attached invoice to cover the cost of our emergency call out to the above address. I look forward to receiving your remittance.

The invoice is payable now. We reserve the right to charge interest (National Westminster base rate + 4%) on the unpaid amount, if payment is not received within 30 working days.

Our bank account details are: Natwest, 13 Market Place, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 2EP.

Yours faithfully

Donna Cameron

Business Credit Manager

MY RESPONSE

In response to your revised invoice, I am formally disputing this once again.

Firstly more than 4 months is not an acceptable amount of time to respond to a disputed invoice and I expect a response within 10 working days to this email.

Secondly please respond to the above address now as it was me who cut the cable.

The cable was 3” that’s 75mm not 18”/450mm below the soil, there has been no further landscaping since the residents moved in 30 years ago.  there was no sand surround. They were not buried in the foot path but within the grass boarder.

After speaking with the operatives and getting them to check the surrounding cables this was the only area it was that shallow it dropped away substantially either side of the place it was that shallow.

Reducing the time is not an acceptable resolution and I am willing to challenge this further. If you still wish to peruse this matter I suggest we meet to discuss it further and you provide me with evidence the cables were laid to the above mentioned standards to start with. This will need to include plan drawings and cable layouts for the street.

If you are unable to provide evidence that the cables were buried initially to this safe depth I would like an explanation as to why my life was put at risk by this negligence.

If it was not you who laid the original cables, you should be aware that by taking ownership of them, you are responsible for them and if they are not buried at safe depths you are responsible for correcting this.  Please can you also send your H+S procedures and policies for dealing with cables buried at unsafe depths.

I look forwards to your response and expect to hear from you within 10 working days of the above date.

AND THEIR RESPONSE TODAY

Thank you for your email dated 3 April 2012.

There has been changes in my team which has had an impact on my work log, however, this is of not fault of yours therefore please again accept my apologies for the delay in replying.

Our Oxford depot are prepared to cancel this invoice in your favour and would like to contact the new owner so they can lower the cable at the point you stated.  Can you possibly assist by giving me their name and we will contact them about making arrangements to do this.

In the meantime, I apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Yours sincerely

Michelle Cummings
Credit Advisor
CHAMPION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!