Category: Family

Family related posts; generally only of interest to fellow members of the Brown Clan and relations by Marriage into this mad house.

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The AA – the other emergency service

Here in the U.K. We have five main emergency services. Police and Fire Brigade are the main two. Always under pressure and under funded we have the NHS ambulance service, then there is the RNLI a charity that looks after those of us who like to sail and swim off shore, and finally our mountain rescue teams again a charity.

We also have a number of companies that offer roadside assistance when you break down, the AA (Automobile Association) and RAC (Royal Automobile Club) and green flag are the most well known. 

We are members of The AA. I often complain about the yearly fee but the odd time we have needed them it’s been truly worth it. 

Tonight was just such an occasion. The Honda motorcycle has only let us down twice and tonight was the second time when the throttles cable broke, not bad for a seventeen year old motorcycle. 

Caroline was riding the Honda home when it happened. She coasted to the side of the road and pushed the bike a mile to the nearest layby to get it safe. Traffic generally gave her room except for one Sainsbury Petrol Tanker that just missed her by inches. 

The AA where excellence and soon rescued her and got my wife and the Honda home safe. 
Thank You AA you truly are the other emergency services. 

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Give Blood

A bit of a treat for us today.  Lunch time I headed out to my favourite coffee shop to relax, read and of course drink lovely Hasbean coffee.

I left work early today to give Timmy an extra early teatime walk as we were headed up to the hospital as it was time to give blood, my sixty second donation.

When we got home we ordered a Chinese from the village next door which was promptly delivered by them in there nice new electric Nissan Leaf, nice car and with a 107 mile real world range perfect for local commuting and delivery duties.

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Apple Watch

I am now an Apple Watch owner, in the end I went for the Gold coloured aluminum model.  Its proving to be a fun device, definitely not a must have but a nice to have.

If your mildly into fitness and have other Apple devices its a useful device, but for more keen fitness fanatics then a more dedicated device such as a fit bit may be better.

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Family Update

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The garden has done well this year, an excellent crop of potatoes, onions and garlic.  Once again the peas and beans were disappointing I think the pigeons get to them before we do!

Its looking like an expensive week a head, we have the car and Caroline’s motorcycle booked in to be looked at.  The car is now thirteen years old and we have now passed one hundred thousand miles, the Honda motorcycle is now seventeen years old and last week overheated with clouds of steam being given out.

The car we think just needs the ABS looking at and the throttle, the motorcycle I think is just a broken fan so hopefully they will both be sorted soon.

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Apple Watch – Will I, Won’t I

I am having a really good look at AppleWatch OS3 and the new devices.

It’s one of those devices that I want but do not need.  Like the iPad I waited until an app appeared that would make the device useful for Photography, with the watch I’ll be spending the next week looking into the apps to see if its a device I can truly get something out of.  So fitness, walking and possibly sailing, kayaking and swimming.  I can also think of a few uses for work.

If I decide to get one then which model.  I should get the sport model as its the cheapest but I do really like the black stainless steal but I’ll find it hard to justify the cost, so might just go with the black sport model.

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Sailing

On the Pool

While I have done a little kayaking in the past I have never sailed before but it is something I have always wanted to try.

Sailing

This weekend North Hykeham sailing club had a taster session day so this Saturday I visited them and had a go at sailing for the first time.

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We were placed either singly or in pairs with an experienced helm.
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For the first session I went out in an RS Vision.  I was at the front handling the jib sail, while my instructor handled the main sail and rudder.

The basic manoeuvres of tacking and gybe were demonstrated and after a while we switched positions.
Sailing-4

With me in the rear I handled the rudder while my instructor handled both sails, and we practiced the tack and gybe again.  Once I got the hang of that I took over the main sail as well as the rudder.

In total we had three good sessions and I got to try a GP14 and hanging out over the side as you in when people race.

It was a fun if somewhat wet day and I would recommend it to anyone.

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Cafe

Coffee Meeting

This is an old shot from back in February.  I am currently going through my back catalogue and making sure the keywords and metadata is correct before getting finally filed away.

I recently changed my filing system so its a good excuse to check my older photographs.

I try and go for a walk round Lincoln at least once or twice a week and a trip up to the cathedral and Bailgate region at least once every couple of months.

Whitby Goth WeekendIf any of you were up there this August bank holiday you would have had quite a treat as it was the annual steam punk festival.

We decided to take it easy this bank holiday and just potter around the village making chutney and jam from the glut of marrows we currently have in the garden and frequent long walks with Timmy together with the odd trip to the village pub to check out this weeks guest beer.

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1940’s Weekend

Lincoln 1940's Weekend-2Once we hit August it seems almost every weekend there is something going on here in Lincoln.  This weekend just gone was a 1940’s weekend, so lots of people dressed up, vintage vehicles and vintage stalls selling anything from 1940 – 1970.

I am sure that at some point someone is even going to start selling stuff from the 1980’s as ‘vintage’.

We parked up on the outskirts of the city and then had a very enjoyable walk with Timmy the Greyhound along the tow path of the canal.

Lincoln 1940's Weekend

Once in the city we had a look round the stalls before finally heading to the best coffee shop in Lincoln, Coffee Aroma.

Lincoln 1940's Weekend-3 Lincoln 1940's Weekend-4

 

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Working from Home

Austin7 in Large FormatWell the date on this blog post is Thursday but actually I am typing this up on the Sunday night as I have had a Tummy bug for the last few days.

I came down with it and a terrible headache on Tuesday, about 15:00, so I finished up work and did not do much else that day.  Then on Wednesday I attended a meeting with a client in the morning and headed off home.

Since then I have been working from home not wanting to give anyone else this bug.

Actually I find I often get a lot more done at home as there is less distractions but having internet based telephone it still means that project managers can get hold of you to discuss things.

So its going to be a quite few days until next week.  Hopefully I am up to visiting Lincoln on Saturday or Sunday as its the 1940’s themed weekend.