Martin Ferrier personal Blog

Transmission judder in BMW 318I

admin
08.24.10
car, Retirement
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I have just had a new flywheel and clutch fitted to my BMW 318i (09 registration UK) after only 15,000 miles. I have browsed the internet and I am not sure if this is a common or re-occuring fault. I would love to hear from anyone who has had a similar problem. It was a judder in the transmission which only appeared to happen at take off from stationary in first/reverse gears after the clutch was warm.

Chateau Tayac-Plaisance Margaux 2005

admin
08.20.10
Retirement
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See www.chateau-tayacplaisance.com. My first attempt at this was 13/6/2010, my second attempt was 16/8/2010 and there was a significant difference. Both were a 2005. The first time I thought it was too early still had a lot of tanin and was harsher than I had expected. I scored it only 13 on the Broadbent-Johnson wine tasting notes chart (3+2+6+2). It was somewhat harsh and smelt somewhat harsh. Having left it for 24 hours the remainder of the bottle was much smoother. The second time I found it far more pleasant especially when drunk 24 and 48 hours after opening. I scored this 14 on the Broadbent-Johnson wine tasting notes chart (3+3+6+2).

Please note the information provided is my own personal opinion. It is not a recommendation. Before trying any of the food and wine mentioned you should verify that it is appropriate for your needs. You should always eat and drink responsibly.

The probate office (wills and letters of administration).

admin
08.14.10
Genealogy
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Yesterday Friday I was planning to take a trip to the Probate office in London to have a look at their indexes to see which of my ancestors left a will (or letters of administration). Last Wednesday I discovered that Ancestry.co.uk (description on my web site) had put the indexes (not the wills) online in a searchable form. Excellent! Saved a trip to London. Now I can browse them at leisure. However will still need to take a trip if I want a copy of any of the wills.

The end of the Thames Path

admin
08.14.10
Thames Path walk
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Writing about the Thames path kinda died. The walk itself didn’t and we completed it. By October time in 2008 we had gotten to Oxford. Having crossed some flooded fields to get there we called it a halt for 2008 and restarted in 2009. The legs to the source of the Thames were harder than earlier ones because of the lack of public transport (many thanks to Lord Beeching). Up to Oxford you could get a train to the start of a leg and then walk to another station and get the train back. This is not possible from Oxford onwards. In all cases we drove to the end of the leg and then got a taxi to the start of the leg. On a couple of occasions we looked at getting a bus but typical journey times of several hours for a 10 mile journey were obviously silly.

The Thames itself had dried out by the time we got to the source which we did on my birthday. So we retreated to a nearby pub for a celebratory lunch.

A worth while exercise.

Creeping cost increases

admin
08.14.10
Finance, Personal
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August is a traumatic time for me as it encompasses renewal of car insurance, travel insurance, house building insurance and house contents insurance. Naturally all had gone up over last year typically in the region of 20-30%. In some cases if you don’t do anything then they will automatically renew using the same credit card you used last year! In several cases (similarly to the mobile phone companies) if you complain they will knock 10% off (or similar number) with no changes. I find it infuriating that I have to spend time and ask for them to say “would you like it cheaper?”. Sometimes you have to threaten to go elsewhere before they give the discount.

Why can’t we have companies with integrity? I know you can shop around and come up with a lower cost (which isn’t always a better deal). Why do these companies have to be so greedy and keep pushing the prices up in the hope you don’t notice. Does loyalty not count for anything?

Thames Path stages 7,8,9

admin
08.14.08
Retirement, Thames Path walk
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Almost half way, at 49.5% of the distance. Satges 7,8,9 were boring. Datchet to Cookham Rise, Cookham Rise to Henley (and was that a long one) and Henley to Reading (we got wet). The only problem we had was the Henley Regatta. The ******* who run the race blocked off the path and wanted to charge us for using it, all for a ****** boat race. We had to take a detour around. So now we have a problem we have run out of rail way stations convenient to the route.

Snooper Strabo

admin
07.26.08
Retirement
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I just replaced my old Road angel Classic with a Snooper Strabo. Firstly the road angel started to malfunction (eventually fully broke a month ago). The road angel people didn’t seem very helpful. Despite this I was on the brink of buying the Road angel 7000 but discovered that had stopped manufacture (albeit temporarily due to supply problems on the screen was what they told me). Seems however the 9000 was still available but that is more expensive especially by the month if you don’t want the extra features. I then discovered and bought from a helpful outfit the Snooper Strabo.

So far an excellent purchase. It seems to have a more comprehensive directory of mobile cameras (so worth the purchase on those grounds).

I did discover one smallish software problem. A helpful email conversation with the technical support people produced a DVD with the June 2008 update. Took over 3 hours to install (which they told you about). Waiting now to see if the bug re-occurs.

Thames Path Stage 06

This seemed a long drag from Chertsey (one mile to river before you start) to Datchett. We avoided the one burst of rain with coffee at the magna carta tea rooms. The houses have become more grandiose and for the wealthy. Not least of all the Queen at Windsor. She has to suffer the noise of planes taking off from Heathow just like much of London. Here are the pictures.

Vacation in France for 2 and a bit days.

admin
04.13.08
exIBM, Personal, Retirement
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This was the third trip to the small seaside village of Audreselles. Whilst a major aspect was drink buying we also went to visit one of the bunkers where the Germans were planning to launch V2 rockets against England. Here are the pictures.

The Thames Path Stage 05

This was on 29th March 2008. It was from Hampton Court to Chertsey. Shame on British Rail for buiding Chertsey Station so far from the Thames. This was about 9 miles. So we have now gone about 40-45 miles. Here are the pictures.