So the Astra went in for a service and all that stuff. They did a reasonable job except for a few things

1. After replacing the rear brake shoes, they tightened the wheel nuts so much that nothing I have will budge them. I just hope I never get a puncture on the road. If I do, I shall have to call for assistance to change the wheel. How humiliating is that?
2. They agreed that the exhaust needed changing, but suggested I go to the Opel dealer for it
3. They didn't change the oil filter, but suggested I go to the Opel dealer for it
4. They agreed that there was no gas pressure in the AC system, but suggested I go to the Opel dealer for it

We had to go for the contrôle technique pretty well no better prepared, except that the brake discs would not now be an issue. Astoundingly, on Wednesday afternoon, the Astra got through its test with only a couple of advisories. So that's that for a couple of years - apart from the jobs that we probably ought to get done fairly soon. They may not be bad enough to fail the test, but we want to be fairly safe on the road. Friday evening the darned thing started pouring smoke from under the bonnet! It doesn't look or smell like oil, and it looks to me as though it is emanating from the alternator. Not a happy car. The trouble is, I don't think I want to drive it for 35Kms to get it to Norauto. I think they should look at it - if it isn't something that was caused or aggravated by their service, it is certainly something they should have spotted!

My PC is no better - I'm not sure where the problem is now. Tuesday afternoon I got it to start but it then failed to recognise its disks and wouldn't let me into the BIOS to check it. I have checked the disks and they are both fine. I may need to go for a professional repair - once I have tried a few more things.

Friday morning the PC repair man came. Before he came I thought I would bring the PC, monitor, keyboard and mouse down to the dining table to make it easier for him. Having got them all down, I connected them up and pressed the start switch. It started perfectly. SH!T. That meant I would have to explain to him that I had called him in for nothing. We unplugged everything, took it back upstairs and plugged it together again. I pressed the start switch and...

Nothing.

For some reason I was pleased.

We tried various different power supply configurations, but still nothing.

The repair man arrived. I explained the symptoms, and that it had worked perfectly downstairs. We tried various tests, looked at various things and ended up, after two hours, taking it downstairs where I connected them up and pressed the start switch.

Nothing.

He has now bundled it up and taken it to his workshop from where he will email me with a repair estimate early next week with a view to returning it to me in working order by Wednesday. He did say that whatever he has to do it will be cheaper than replacing the computer!

In an email on Friday evening he gave his preliminary opinion that the power supply is too low rated for what I am doing (I seem to be pulling more than 350W through a 250W unit). He also said the mother board is grilled - if nothing else, it sounds healthier than saying it is fried!

The popularity of this blog is rising. Since making mention of the apparent scam by Mepco China a few weeks ago [link] the site has been visited more than eighty times by people searching for mepco china. I guess they had all been approached by that august organisation. Perhaps I should write to them and thank them for boosting my hits so much!

The weather was superb at the beginning of the week, although a jet fighter passed over quite low on Tuesday afternoon. Experience seems to show that after they pass over we get a thunderstorm. Do you suppose they are seeding the clouds?

We had the mother of all electric storms on Tuesday night. It went on for at least four hours with almost continuous high-level lightning with very little thunder - rather like the atmospheric disturbances science fiction film makers like to depict, when enormous flying saucers are about to appear (like when the big mothership appears above the crater in Close Encounters of the Third Kind). Additionally, looking through my not-very-large bedroom window from my bed at around 2am, I was seeing clear streaks of horizontal fork lightning about three times per minute!

Another fighter passed over very low just before lunch on Wednesday.

Mild thunderstorm Wednesday night.

No fighter Thursday.

No thunderstorm Thursday night.

Friday evening I went into the workshop to see how the young swallows are doing, only to see the five of them lined up along the top of the band saw. Immediately they saw me, four of them made for the door and one went to the closed window - I helped it to find the door, then went out to see the two parents shepherding them together whilst they made their maiden flight.

I also get my workshop back. Fabulous.


Here they are after they had fledged and come back to the nest for a breather.

I know that Clare's blog is the one that talks about the garden, but I couldn't resist an image of our first bit of fruit harvesting.


Have a good week.

À la prochaine