Water - what water?

Too busy yesterday to make an entry.

My life has been taken over by ##### water, or rather the lack of it.

Since Friday night the block of flat’s I live in has had a problem with the water supply. At 8.30 yesterday morning I checked the storage tank on the roof, and it was full. Now this is a massive tank that can meet all the needs of 100 flats for several days. Relief that we will have water.

In the afternoon the Manager of the flats phoned me to say, an engineer from the water company had come to check the mains water supply pressure, and he wanted me to accompany him to talk to the engineer. This was just as I was settling down to watch the Man United v Aston Villa game on TV. The mains pressure was low. I sent the Manager to check the tank. Empty. That‘s #### impossible. Why? It turns out, during the night there is enough mains pressure to fill the tank, then during the day the mains pressure drops, and the water in the tank drains back into the mains. #*#¤#*# . I was then accosted by a member of the committee who manages the Flats, who wanted me to explain to him the what’s and the why’s. Three hours later I manage to get back to my flat.

The really annoying thing is, four months ago another Flat resident (who is by profession a Consultant Engineer) and myself had warned the Managing Committee that action was urgently required to remedy problems existing in the water supply system, but we were brushed aside as trouble makers. Now they are like a beached whale flapping about helpless and desperately needing assistance.

Wish I lived in a Tepee pitched in a field in the Towy Valley in West Wales. No problem with water supplies - it’s always raining so you only have to leave a bucket outside. Also you don’t have to pay for water you don’t get. No problems with central heating leaking, or the pump breaking down - no heating, well that’s not quite right, throw a log on the fire, “smoky in here“. No commuting every day to work - just go once a month to Carmarthen to pick-up your National Security Giro payment. It’s a great life - if only it stopped raining.

Raining outside but the taps are dry

Went to brush my teeth before going to bed last night, no cold water in the bathroom, and the hot water was cold. Phoned the Manager of the Block of Flats where we live. He had been inundated with complaints, but had no explanation.

Got up at 5.30 am to pay a visit to the bathroom, good news, hot and cold water supplies had been re-established.

Phoned up a number of fellow flat residents, but nobody seemed to know why we had lost the water supply, and how it had been re-established. But everybody was glad the problem had passed.

Noon, no cold water in the bathroom and the hot water was cold. What the #### was happening. Went with the Manager to take a look at the roof tanks - bone dry!!

After a few phone calls the full picture was revealed. The Water Company had reduced the supply pressure, resulting in insufficient pressure for the water supply to reach the roof tanks. Why has the pressure supply been reduced? The Water Company has been fined for losing water from leaks in its supply network. There are too many leaks to repair, so to reduce the amount of water lost, it has reduced the supply pressure. Why are there so many leaks? Simply, since privatisation of the water supply companies, companies have used profits to pay dividends to their shareholders rather than maintain and replace the supply network. So my fellow residents have to suffer.

If that wasn’t bad enough; the flats had been designed to cope with reduced water supply pressure. When the supply pressure drops too low to supply the roof tanks, pumps are supposed to start up to pump water to the tanks. Up to now, there has been no requirement for the pumps to operate. Nevertheless a maintenance company has been paid to maintain the pumps and ensure they are serviceable. Now that they are required, we discover the company hasn’t done any work on them, as a result they are seized solid and unserviceable. So until new pumps are installed we will be without hot water, and cold water in the bathroom.

Meantime it’s raining, so I can’t go for a walk.

Toys for Big Boys

I hear the odd mutter coming from my wife’s direction, to the effect I’m spending too much time on the computer. But if you have a new toy, you must play with it. Since the Broadband was connected yesterday, I’ve had great fun looking up web pages that previously took, what it seemed, an age to download. Photos would emerge jerkily, line by line. Now they pop onto the screen instantly - great.

Thought I would be in trouble and my wife would pull the plug on the computer, then my son-in-law came to my rescue. Previously playing with my new toy, I had created a web page for my granddaughter and had emailed the link to her parents. After seeing the page, they decided to call us on Windows Messenger. As soon as my wife saw my granddaughter she became an instant fan of Broadband - so its big toys for girls and boys. Glad something had a happy ending.

A group that’s not feeling so happy is the English Cricket team which was not so much beaten but trounced by Australia 5 tests to 0. The first Whitewash since 1920 -21. Two years ago everybody wanted to be seen with the England team when it won back the Ashes. I wonder whether the Prime Minister will invite the players to 10 Downing Street when they return home? I think not. He’s desparately looking for one success before he resigns as Prime Minister. You never know next year we might see Tony on Celebrity Big Brother.

Broadband Activated

At 3.00 pm with still no sign of an email from Tesco to notify me the Broadband connection had been activated, I thought it was a case of:

Here I sit broken hearted

Paid my money

but the Broadband never started.

Then the email appeared in my inbox. Good news.
But I couldn’t open it. Bad news

Quick phone call to Tesco and was informed my Dial-up service had been automatically disconnected.

Fortunately it wasn’t a case of “the instructions for opening the tin is inside the tin“.

The email didn’t contain information necessary to activating the connection.

Glad to say it all went very smoothly.

Afterwards I did phone up the Technical Support Centre to get an explanation of an icon that had appeared by the clock.

“Hu sorry I don’t know”

So it was a good job I hadn’t had to seek his assistance to install the Broadband connection.

See that > > > > > > > > > fast or what!

But what a difference between Broadband and Dial-up. I had previously attempted to upload a very short video to You Tube, but it timed out after two hours. With Broadband it was completed in minutes.

The trouble is my wife’s prediction is going to come true. She said

“If you get Broadband, you’ll never come off that machine”.

I’ll have to apply some self discipline to prove her wrong. Starting now.

2007 Cancelled

On New Years Eve, there was a series of small explosions in Bangkok. The BBC reporting on events said “The Governor of Bangkok has cancelled the New Year“. Did that mean there would be no 2007? Would they have to invent additional months for 2006 to take them through to 2008?

Just another example of sloppy BBC reporting. In fact the Governor had cancelled the New Years Celebration.

Though if he had cancelled the New Year it wouldn’t have had an impact on Thailand, which will be celebrating New Year 2551 Buddhist Era on 13th April.

What date is New Year? Well you pay your money and you take your choice.

1st January in countries following the Gregorian calendar.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, New Year will be celebrated on 14th January.

The Chinese New Year falls on the new moon of the first lunar month, which can occur between 21st January to 21st February.

The Bengali New Year will start 14th April.

The Coptic Orthodox church celebrates New Year on 11th September.

So if you fail to keep your New Year’s resolution, there are plenty of opportunities to make new ones.

As far as I know 4th January isn’t a New Year, but it is the day my Broadband connection is due to be activated. Keeping my fingers and everything else crossed. If there is no entry tomorrow you will know things have gone wrong.

Tesco Internet Security

I have been dithering for months trying to decide whether to switch from dial-up to Broadband. Every time I got to the point of committing to a contract, I’d read another negative report on the provider I had chosen. There are horror stories of people’s computers being contaminated with spy ware or technical support centres providing incorrect information. Providers failing to meet promised dates for connections. Not replacing defective modems, etc, etc. In reality people are more likely to spend time posting negative reports on the Internet, to relieve their frustration over difficulties incurred; than satisfied customers spending time reporting everything was trouble free.

I’ve had trouble free service using Tesco dial-up, so I finally decided to switch to Tesco Broadband. Within two days of placing the order I was informed the activation date would be 4th January, (the timing is controlled by BT not Tesco). I was due to receive the start-up pack containing the modem and instructions the day before activation, but in fact its come already. So I’m all set up and waiting for the 4th. I’ve been reading and re-reading the instructions. It says before I install the Broadband program, I have to switch off the installed Tesco Security program. Looked and looked but couldn’t see an obvious way of switching the Tesco Internet Security off. Emailed Tesco’s Broadband technical support team and got back ambiguous instructions. Emailed seeking clarification and received contradictory instructions.

Thought the only thing to do was to confront Tesco face to face, to get clear and precise instructions on how to switch off Tesco Internet Security. Went to the local Tesco Supermarket, and asked the girl at the checkout how to switch it off. She looked at me as if I was mad. She said she didn’t know, and called the Security Guard. Explained to him all I wanted to know was how to take a security tag off a computer. I was so relieved I finally met someone who knew what he was talking about. He explained the security tags are placed on the computers to stop them from being stolen. They can only be removed at the checkout, using a special gadget, (I’ve seen it been used to remove the plastic security tags off whisky bottles). So all I have to do is take my computer to the supermarket, and they’ll remove the Tesco Internet Security. I wonder if I’ll have to take the monitor, speakers, printer, webcam and scanner. I should have asked him. I told him he was wasting his time being a security guard, he should be working in the Technical Support Centre.

Can’t expect the wife to carry everything by herself, I’ll phone for a taxi.

Happy New Year

2007 has the potential of being a significant year in history.

It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see, during the year the UK will get a new Prime Minister. Tony Blair will probably resign between May and July. And unless a totally unforeseen event occurs Gordon Brown will take over. Although he is seen as the natural successor, he has a number of challenges that might find him wanting.

Brown will have to establish himself as the Leader of New Labour. The Blairits are not going to welcome him with open arms. And to date he has shown himself to be not a team player. His normal, nay his only tactic is bullying, and if that fails sulking. Unless he can become a leader, his tenure will be short lived.

He will also have to establish a connection with the Electorate. Opinion polls indicate the British public see Brown as a dour grumpy Scotsman. Like Ted Heath before him, he is incapable of creating a sense of warmth and understanding. He might be able to win the minds of the electorate but fail to win their hearts.

All eyes will be on the Gordon Brown / David Cameron duel. It is there for Brown to win and Cameron to loose. By that I mean David Cameron has the advantage, as long as he doesn’t do anything stupid, he will be seen to be a charismatic leader, in contrast to Brown's coldness.

The Government will have two objectives to pass laws: to extending to 90 days the period the police can detain a suspect without charging them; and the compulsory carrying of Identification Cards. To achieve the latter, will require a shift in public opinion. This will be achieved by the explotation of fear. Muslims will continue to be demonised as a group to be feared. There will be high profile anti-terrorist exercises, possibly involving the closing or disruption of airports. And they will say:

“If we have ID cards, we would be so much safer, and there wouldn’t be these disruptions”.

If by the end of the year, opinion polls show a consistent swing towards the Conservative Party, New Labour might panic and call an early election - its better to win with a much reduced majority, than wait and loose power.

2007 will be seen as the key year for the Middle East. Either as the year a start was made to establish peace between Israel and its neighbours, or tragically as the year of missed opportunities when the region fell into a deeper state of chaos and aggression. The Civil War in Iraq will get bloodier with no sense of hope. Unfortunately Bush neither has the intellect nor the leadership qualities to influence events. The challenge for him will be either to find a way of withdrawing US troops, or diverting US public attention from the US troops death toll. To divert attention, US could increase the pressure on Iran.

Unfortunately in the USA efforts will not be directed at getting Bush to take leadership, rather politicians will be positioning themselves in preparation to the 2008 Presidential Elections.

In Europe, Russia will continue to flex its “power” muscles. It will use the threat of cutting off gas supplies to blackmail other Countries either to comply with its will or to turn a blind eye to its continued abuse of human rights.

In Asia, China and India will continue, at an accelerated rate, to expand their industrial and technical might. Tension will also increase between the two countries as the competition for energy resources intensifies.

On the sporting front. There will be two World Cups competitions. In September & October the Rugby World Cup will be held in France, which will be won by New Zealand, with Australia or South Africa as the loosing finalists. The ICC Cricket World Cup will be held in the West Indies in March / April. While Australia is the undisputed Champions of the 5 day Test Match game; it is not so dominant in the one day format. Chance plays its part in influencing the results of one day matches, so predicting the ultimate winner of the Cup is not easy. One thing is certain; England will not participate in the final.

Final prediction, it will be a long hot summer.
It will rain in London on Saturday 21st July and Sunday 12th August.