Category: Human Interests

  • Not Enough Gift Wrap For That Gift? Wrap It Diagonally.

    Not Enough Gift Wrap For That Gift? Wrap It Diagonally.

    Introduction You start off with a nice roll of Gift Wrap, when you wrap those gifts for that festive occasion, and afterwards you have a small rectangle of unused paper left over. Eventually another small gift needs wrapping so you look through the small left-over pieces of Gift Wrap only to find several are nearly…

  • How I Repaired A Dualit Milk Frother Model DMF2

    How I Repaired A Dualit Milk Frother Model DMF2

    Introduction My wife pressed the start button on the Dualit Milk Frother (Model DMF2) one day in the summer of 2017 and it no longer worked. This persisted so we had to heat the milk in the microwave oven for a week or two until we got a new frother. Of course, me being me,…

  • My Weight Is Reducing Slowly But Surely

    My Weight Is Reducing Slowly But Surely

    Introduction Since my last post on body weight (Excel Templates for Body Weight Records) I have continued to try and lose weight. Well slowly but surely my weight is reducing and I have my latest graph to demonstrate it below (select it to enlarge it): I have struggled to lose 35 pounds (2½ stones) over…

  • Postures And Movements To Test Agility

    Postures And Movements To Test Agility

    Introduction As people grow older they often lose their agility and so lose their ability to take up certain postures and movements to test agility. This article offers a list of postures and movements to test agility which I have concocted and tried. I would expect these postures and movements to test agility to be easily formed by…

  • Bionic Prosthetic Hand For The 21st Century

    Bionic Prosthetic Hand For The 21st Century

    Introduction I listened to the BBC Radio 2 Jeremy Vine show on 23rd June and heard a great article about a young woman who had been given a bionic prosthetic hand. A 21st century creation. Her name is Nicky Ashwell and here she is in the following video tweet being interviewed by Jeremy Vine who…

  • Using Bread Maker Panasonic SD206

    Using Bread Maker Panasonic SD206

    Introduction I made this video of myself using a bread maker (Panasonic SD206) in 2001 but had no means of publishing it back then. So I have decided to publish it now so that the effort wasn’t completely wasted. I hope it helps people who are considering getting a bread maker but are not sure how one…

  • Cleaning A Nespresso Aeroccino Milk Frother

    Cleaning A Nespresso Aeroccino Milk Frother

    Introduction I’ve had a Nespresso Pixie since June 2012 and at the same time I acquired a Nespresso Aeroccino milk frother (Aeroccino 3 to be precise). These devices are very nice to have and work well even after 2½ years continual use. The coffee is very nice too. NOTE: The Nespresso Aeroccino 3 has been…

  • Oh No! Not Square Plates Again!

    Oh No! Not Square Plates Again!

    Introduction Controversy rages over what shape of plate food should be served on: Square plates are an ‘abomination’ according to a report about MasterChef judge William Sitwell’s view in the Telegraph. Apparently Mr Sitwell is to hold a ‘Square Plate’ amnesty at the Towcester Food Festival on the 7th and 8th of June 2014. He doesn’t plan to…

  • After 40 Days My Merrell Boots Let In Water

    After 40 Days My Merrell Boots Let In Water

    Introduction I bought a pair of Merrell MOAB boots for £115 (see featured image) from Millets in Derby 40 days ago and this morning I came back from walking my dog, Leo, and found my left sock was wet because those Merrell boots let in water. They were sold to me as waterproof. Every day I walk a…

  • One Pint Glass Tankards Seen In Dalston

    One Pint Glass Tankards Seen In Dalston

    Has a new era begun now One Pint Glass Tankards have been seen in Dalston? “One pint glass tankards seen in Dalston pubs in East London such as The Shacklewell Arms.” ― BBC A lengthy report from the BBC tells that these drinking vessels may be returning to some pubs frequented by young people in London.…

  • Flash Mob Opened New Forecourt at Derby Train Station

    Flash Mob Opened New Forecourt at Derby Train Station

    The Flash Mob Danced on The New Forecourt On 16th April 2013 Derby celebrated by way of dance to an appropriate tune “The Loco-Motion”. The dance was performed by a Flash Mob at the opening of the new Derby Train Station Forecourt. This happened after months of disruption and a lot of money spent. See the short portion…

  • CycloCable Gets Bikes Up That Hill

    CycloCable Gets Bikes Up That Hill

    CycloCable We all know it’s a bit of a pain cycling up steep hills especially on our journey to work, but CycloCable gets bikes up that hill in Trondheim, Norway. This latest version installed in 2013 replaced the prototype Trampe Bicycle Lift installed in 1993 by Jarl Wanwik. This is how the Norwegians do it.…

  • We Make Earwax? What’s That All About?

    We Make Earwax? What’s That All About?

    What Is Earwax? I’ve often wondered what is earwax (otherwise known as cerumen) all about but never specifically investigated it. Well today I just happened across this article on the BBC News website in the Health section and now I am the wiser. It’s entitled: ‘Secretion secrets: things you didn’t know about earwax’. It discusses…

  • Dry Ice In Water

    Dry Ice In Water

    Observing The Reaction Of Dry Ice In Water I always wanted to try this (put dry ice in water) and last year I got the opportunity. When I bought some meat from Donald Russell it was delivered packed in dry ice. Dry Ice is frozen CO2 i.e. solid carbon dioxide. This dry ice was used to…

  • Teapot Cleaning Methods

    Teapot Cleaning Methods

    Should you practice teapot cleaning or not? Some people think teapot cleaning is unnecessary and that it spoils the flavour of the tea. If they have traditional brown earthenware teapots they probably don’t see all the tannin stains on the inside. With a stainless steel teapot you see them all and they start to form very…

  • How To Open A Wine Bottle Without A Corkscrew

    How To Open A Wine Bottle Without A Corkscrew

    This Is How To Open A Wine Bottle Without A Corkscrew It would appear to be a very simple process to open a wine bottle without a corkscrew. Just look at this video to learn how: Well, if you watched the video you could see that a shoe is used to cushion the blows as…

  • Opening Food Cans By Unusual Means

    Opening Food Cans By Unusual Means

    Introduction The videos here demonstrate some methods of opening food cans without a traditional can opener. If you try any of these methods then be aware that cans have sharp edges where the metal is cut. You could get cut yourself before the can is open. 1st Method of Opening Food Cans This is another method…

  • Heating May Make Us Fat!

    Heating May Make Us Fat!

    The title ‘Heating May Make Us Fat’ has no spelling mistake. Check out this article at the BBC where Dutch researchers at the Maastricht University Medical Centre recommend heating homes to no more than 19°C (66°F) because: Heating May Make Us Fat. Below that temperature (19°C) they say our bodies continue to burn calories to keep…

  • Spilling Juice From Cartons or ‘Tetra Paks®’

    Spilling Juice From Cartons or ‘Tetra Paks®’

    Introduction This post contains instructions on how to avoid spilling juice from cartons or Tetra Paks®, with a rectangular cross-section, while opening or lifting them. It’s quite natural to grip cartons by the easiest method (the broad sides) while opening them, or lifting them when they’re still full, causing the contents to pour or squirt out inadvertently. Cartons with a square cross section are indifferent…

  • Gas Oven Settings

  • Sweeping Car Snow Away Using A Hand Brush

    Sweeping Car Snow Away Using A Hand Brush

    Introduction It’s a nuisance if you get caught out in winter weather without an easy way of sweeping snow away from your car. You might be smartly dressed and have to hurry to your next appointment. So you need to be prepared with a procedure that works and keeps you clean. The scenario when you…

  • I’ve Spilt Paint On My Patio Slabs. What Will I Do?

    I’ve Spilt Paint On My Patio Slabs. What Will I Do?

    Introduction “Oh dear! The spilt paint on my patio slabs created a 20cm dia. puddle when my tin of mahogany paint blew over. It was tipped up by a gust of wind which lifted the cardboard it was resting on.” “There would have been photos but I had to swear first and then get on…

  • Euro Banknote Issuing Country Codes

    Euro Banknote Issuing Country Codes

    Introduction The Euro crisis has caused some people to be concerned as to who is the Euro Banknote Issuing Country for the banknotes that they hold. The concept being that if a country in the Euro-zone goes belly up its notes will lose considerable value while the notes of the other Euro-zone countries will maintain their value. This situation…

  • Durham Cathedral Bungee Jumping

    Durham Cathedral Bungee Jumping

    Introduction It was the second day of our vist to the Durham area. It was a damp morning with missle in the air but we enjoyed our walk along the Wear river bank opposite the castle and cathedral. We crossed the Wear and went to the cathedral where the vaulted ceiling amazed us. Apparently it is the…

  • Dinner At Finbarrs Restaurant In Durham

    Dinner At Finbarrs Restaurant In Durham

    Preface This post discusses dinner at Finbarrs Restaurant. In reality Finbarr’s has an apostrophe before the “s“, but in order to make this post stand out in search engines I have had to make all references to Finbarr’s Restaurant look like this: Finbarrs Restaurant without the apostrophe. Durham In Durham there are lots of narrow…

  • Google’s Employment Applicant’s Hourglass Problem

    Google’s Employment Applicant’s Hourglass Problem

    Ref: March 2012 issue of Wired magazine. It seems the Google job interview process requires a problem to be solved. I’ll take this hourglass problem, “Using only a four-minute hourglass and a seven-minute hourglass, measure exactly nine minutes.” Solution Principle: Use one hourglass to measure out a smaller amount of time on the other hourglass. Repeat until…

  • Rolling Resistance of Bicycle Tyres

    For those who ride bicycles to work, the rolling resistance of bicycle tyres may be of interest. So check out Terry Morse’s web page.

  • Flipping Heck It’s A SmartInversion

    Flipping Heck It’s A SmartInversion

    Revised On 24 December 2021 Introduction It’s an unusual flying object – this SmartInversion – that propels itself by flipping inside out. Created by engineers at Festo in Esslingen, Germany. It was originally reported in a New Scientist blog in April 2012 which is no longer online. I decided to investigate it further and found…

  • The Caernarfon Swing Bridge Across The Seiont

    The Caernarfon Swing Bridge Across The Seiont

    Introduction The Caernarfon Swing Bridge is found crossing the River Seiont adjacent to Caernarfon Castle. The town of Caernarfon is a beautiful clean Royal Town in the summer sun, sitting on the northwest coast of Wales just south of Anglesey. Unfortunately tidal rivers rarely look nice especially when the low tide exposes the mud. If you look carefully…

  • Visiting Market Bosworth

    Visiting Market Bosworth

    Introduction Most of the pictures here were taken on our first visit to Market Bosworth in 2012. We have retuned several times since and will continue to do so because it is such a charming English town in the county of Leicestershire. You can see its relative location on the maps below, surrounded by Loughborough,…