A very active hamster right up until the end, but this morning he was found in his wheel as stiff as a board 🙁
We’ll miss you little pal!
Meet Buster
Buster
This post is long overdue!
We had Buster back at the end of January when he was 6 weeks old. He’s loveable, playful and totally nuts!
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Say Hello To Bluebell
This is Bluebell, chosen and named by my eldest daughter Ceri. I was going to leave the photo until tomorrow but I saw her so still on the top level of her cage and totally unresponsive when I picked her up so I started to worry… until my younger daughter, Courtney, mentioned her name close up and she woke up! What a sound sleeper she is!
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Catch up!
I’ve been neglecting this part of my web experience so here’s a catchup.
In the time since I last posted we’ve lost two pets: Bluey the budgie and Caramel the hamster. We won’t be getting any more budgies but we do have a new hamster and she will appear in the next post.
Posted in General, Negatives, Pets
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Waze
I’ve been using Waze since the end of July and while it’s a good idea I’m losing the will to carry on, and here’s why:
Reliability
Since joining, almost every time I actually have the time to edit maps the map editor is down. This was initially due to the Amazon crash which stopped me editing anything for the first 5 days of my week off. It’s down again as I type. Updates are taking far, far too long to go live making testing anything you’ve actually done a very lengthy process.
Roundabouts
There is absolutely no consistence or logic to roundabouts. The ones I’m referring to all look find on the map, with all exits and entries showing the correct in/out paths, yet out on the road (even though the map display shows the correct route) the voice and the action icon shows completely different. Some roundabouts will tell me to turn left, go straight or turn right, while others will tell me to take the nth exit. Some will tell me to turn left, when it’s straight on or right. There’s no rhyme or reason to which one does which. I was about to delete and recreate the local roundabouts to see if it makes a difference, but am unable to do so due to editor problems.
False reports
I’m sure people are using Waze when travelling by bus, giving false speed and traffic reports. I’ve also noticed GPS tracks where someone is obviously on a train.
Base maps (UK)
These are a complete mess. I know it’s just starting out but they really are all over the place. Again, a total lack of consistency throughout. Major examples are one way sections of road crossing over dual carriageways, overlaid roads where the map editor isn’t merging new entries correctly, etc.
Rogue editors
I had to spend over half an hour during the last spell I had editing the maps, due to an editor who completely messed up one junction, meaning it was impossible to be routed the correct paths, and he locked the roads making editing awkward. He even had carriageway ramps for normal left turns!
I know it’s still developing, but the task ahead is monumental! I’m now looking for a good reason to keep using it because I feel like I’m going nowhere.
Meet Jack
Yesterday we were asked if we could adopt a female guinea pig, so we agreed. Today she arrived, only she’s not she, but he!
So, meet Jack. He’s 5 months old and very friendly… especially where Rose is concerned! 😉
Jack
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Meet Ella
Here’s Ella, who joined our family the day Petal passed away… it’s just taken me this long to get a semi-decent photo of the wiggly little madam!
Ella - Female Siberian Hamster
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R.I.P. Petal
Petal the hamster was looking very listless this morning so we kept a close eye on him. Sure enough, almost 2 years since he joined the family, he sadly passed away 🙁
Posted in Negatives, Pets
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R.I.P. Martha
Martha, one of our guinea pigs, died last night. One minute she was fine, next time they were checked, not more than half an hour later, she was still. Only 3½ years old too, such a young age for a piggy 🙁
Posted in Negatives, Pets
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Back on 2 wheels
Today I decided it was about time I got back into cycling, and as I had to visit my mother-in-law and the weather is good I thought it would be an idea time to do so (and it’s about time I made a blog post other than pet arrivals/departures) 😉
I cycled the 13.05 miles in 1:15:37 of actual cycling, at an average speed of 10.35mph and a peak speed of 25.36mph (through a 20 zone – oops!).
My stamina is still OK because I arrived home without being out of breath, but my power is all shot to hell because hills are difficult. I had to drop to the low front gear just to get up Greenway Road!
Traffic lights are worse than ever. Out of 39 sets of normal lights I was stopped at 22 of them (yes I know it’s unusual to see a cyclist stop at traffic lights, but I value my life) and 3 sets of pedestrian lights.
I was pleasantly surprised, almost stunned, when a taxi stopped ahead of me before turning left to allow me to pass! There is hope for us all yet!
There are still idiots out there though, including the one driver who passed me before a narrows just to stop right in front of me because he couldn’t get through.
All in all a pleasant trip, and the free cyclometer I got from Kellogg’s is very well featured, if a bit bulky. I’ll see what the weather’s like tomorrow before doing it again though, I don’t fancy getting all wet in the process 😉
Posted in Cycling, Positives
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