Volvox

A blow by blow account, Month 11 continues from month10

Day	Date	Action
338	16/2	Engineer came to look at the boiler which was running but in response to my description and his observation that the flame was lifting he suspected blockage in the heat exchanger, Not an easy clean but a lot of calcined deposit removed et voila! now operating nicely. On the display cut the perspex to size and fixed the beading, looks quite good. evening taken up with an Events Group meeting on zoom. Almost a full house, 16 in attendance and a constructive meeting. Quite a few think that clubs will be able to begin play by our next meeting on March 16th, we shall see.
337	15/2	Second day of reluctant boiler so booked an engineer from Homeserve. M took the boys to Bluewater while I did the Monday vacuum for my exercise. In the afternoon started building the framework to the Display project. Max helped me do the mitres with my new birthday mitre saw. In the evening played a new game called Pizza.
336	14/2	Last of the cold days in this snap, hopefully. Our afternoon exercise walk on Gravesend prom and the fort gardens got very cold in the end. Followed up by a visit to the GRFC mural to see how it was weathering. Some fading especially of the black colour. Made a large white loaf, excellent crumb! Bubble dinner allowed us to have the home made Christmas crackers and the large black forest gateau which had been lingering in the freezer since December.
335	13/2	Brought our bubble back to Greenhithe so that M can do the mother thing for a few days. Did a little bit on the display project to get the connections soldered to the shield. The 6 Nations rugby saw a better England score their normal 6 tries against Italy and Wales squeak a win against Scotland on the back of another red card for Scotland in similar circumstances to Ireland the week before.
334	12/2	Bread day so made a light rye with caraway seeds. Came out good. M did her course on Whistler and I continued to make the permanent plug in solution for the display using sockets soldered to the shield. Tested and working nicely. In the evening dashed up to Papworth as S had been taken to Hinchinbrooke H. for observation fearing a possible TIA or mini stroke. Turned out to be one of those weird migraines with aura that I have experienced so not serious just very disconcerting.
333	11/2	It should have been my implant fitting today but the dentists called to say they were not back from the lab so I am postponed until next Wedsnesday. My Dupont connector kit aarrived so started the process of soldering sockets to an Arduino shield and creating a plug in solution for the display. Making little plugs with the kit is very fiddly even with the crimper tool! Also reassigning the digital pins which need to be reprogrammed.
332	10/2	Bread recipe today was the very simple, flour, water, salt and yeast, very successful and done by 10.30am. Dug out my big brown boots normally used in winter in Canada! Cleaned up well and we went out for a walk round the neighborhood. A bit slippy in places and a biting wind on the exposed corners. M did comfort dinner, toad in the hole and her Art in Interesting times course while I did some refinements on the operation of my code to get repeat cycles of functions without returning to the main menu.
331	9/2	A big cleaning morning, carpets and all ledges and surfaces. Still ice bound! M had two course lectures and I finished combining all the display modules into one, removing unwanted code and adding essential notation. Ordered some connectors so that final construction can be plug in not soldered and also a backup Arduino Mega. Reading a Rugby Anthology compiled by Brian Levison which I received for Christmas
330	8/2	Still snowy outside, thanks to the mini beast from the east, so made bread and then while M was on her zoom lecture I finished the fastgame programme for the display. All four case modules done now so can start on final togetherness! Got a draft Future framework document off the ground and sent out for further work by others. Watched the Superbowl – life eclipsing art agai as the Brady-Gronk show reprised their Patriot days to see Tampa Bay home by 31 to 9 against Kansas City. Bit sniffly today vaccine working?
329	7/2	Nice Sunday breakfast, boiled egg, toast and croissant. Not quite the blizzard foretold by the weather people ending up with a thin scattering of snow. Did a bit on my programme for the fast game as the use of the ezbutton library was not helping. Also started compiling the ideas that we have for Petanque coming out of Covid and the agenda for next Events Group meeting. Watched a tense Wales – Ireland, for once the luck of the Irish not in evidence. Neither looked as good as France and Scotland had.
328	6/2	Today did a larger (432g flour) bread loaf using programme 2 (french), did sag a bit on exit, 1 tsp of salt probably not enough. 6 Nations rugby, France looked to be continuing on their path to dynamic play, followed by Scotland. England on the other hand are stuck where they were in the autumn with their ‘power game’ going no where. Wake up Eddie Jones! Absorbing pressure and kick -chase is OK for weathering the first 10 minutes of a game but not the 80. Go see how Bristol play! working out how to program the two team switch countdown timer is making my head hurt.
327	5/2	Today the end of Christmas! M had requested a video doorbell and today I got it installed on the front door. Works really nicely and we could spy on the road! For the techies it is from wifi-smart-home who supply items that are not immediately spying on you. Exercise today was a walk around the lakes at Bluewater after which we did the big weekly shop at JL Foodhall. Started coding the last module for the display.
326	4/2	A bread day, tweaked my recipe kept the yest at 3-4g but increased the salt to 1tsp. A nice shaped dome no sinking. M had her u3A art meeting while I sorted and ordered some bits from Amazon with birthday voucher. After many years we decided to do something about the chaos of the saucepan and bakeware cupboard, had ordered a pull out tray which I fitted without incident! Works a treat. In the evening we attended the KPA/KPL AGM on line zoom meeting. None controversial and over in 30 minutes! Did more work on the Round Timer code section.
325	3/2	The main excursion today was to Gravesend to the dentist to get my implants fitted. However, he decided the gum line wasn’t right and fitted some funny posts and then did x-rays and did the sticky impression thing. So, got to wait another week. Got the menu part of my programme working nicely. Sent off some questions to Graeme and Steve. My birthday Arduino Mega arrived and works fine solving the memory problems of the Uno.
324	2/2	Bread making day, still working to find the right amount of my new yeast with a 300g of flour small loaf. Used 3.5g and it still dropped a little. It as a lovely fluffy white loaf though. In the afternoon received my Covid Vaccination. Very efficient process at Woodville Halls in Gravesend. Nice sticker! Started work on the display project menu using switch case.
323	1/2	Today’s exercise – the vacuuming! Booked my vaccination and had my letter asking me to book it. Going to the Woodville Halls, Gravesend tomorrow. M had two WEA courses today while I got the Shot Clock and score board function programme working on the display. Started working on the Round Timer function.
322	31/1	A bread day, so tried a light rye recipe with caraway seeds. Nice tasty loaf but some collapsing of the dome – too much yeast? Our exercise walk was round the grounds of Lesnes Abbey only about 40 mins as colder than expected. Watched Harlequins demolish Wasps using the same style as Bristol have adopted – high speed offloading for relentless continuity. On Display got prototype functions for adjust digit and countdown to work – my while statements were causing a halt when I was looking for a Do .. until type.
321	30/1	Too wet to walk! Phone calls done and then some time exploring countdown programming. Developed a function on the spare Arduino and tested fine. Added to the prototype programme for scoreboard. Start value displays but nothing running and no response to the RF in the start adjust function. Debug to morrow. Finished Tim Harford’s book on how to make sense of statistics.
320	29/1	A bread day but only yeast available is marked as hand use only but used it in the machine anyway. Slightly weird shape where there had been some excessive rising and then collapsing back on baking. It was the 50/50 malted recipe and testes very nice with good crumb. The excursion today was the big shop outing to JL Foodhall, no crowding easy distancing and well stocked. Watched most of Bristol – Bath, the high speed offloading game of Bristol is definitely bearing fruit, good for them in persevering with the style.
319	28/1	First and hopefully, my only birthday in Covid lockdown. The best present was M getting her call to vaccination tomorrow! Present list; Corduroy shirt, sweater, a trumpet vine, a battery storage case, amazon vouchers, a cheque, a light ball, a mitre saw and an Arduino Mega on its way. Birthday dinner from Cote brasserrie. Did get out for an wxcursion to Screwfix to change my Oven bulbs that had blown after only 2 months and then to M&S for M tograb a few bits.
318	27/1	Today’s bread experiment was a 50-50 loaf with plain and malted grain flour. Came out A1. Made good progress programming for an RF fob to set a digit value by altering the value up or down. M engaged in an evening course “Art in Interesting Times”. Our exercise today was a bit longer as it was a balmy 10 degrees!
317	26/1	Display project progress, the bitwise now working on all digits! Each pair can be addressed separately which should be helpful going forward. Started to experiment with RF fob using simple four channel system and an Arduino Nano. Changing Led state worked at a better range than previous efforts with IR. M attended her WEA art course on line.
316	25/1	Bread maker day, tested the Allinson yeast which requires activation in the small white recipe. Result was acceptable although it did sag a bit in the middle. Monday morning cleaning exercise. A short walk around midday because of the cold. M started her WEA lecture course on Paris architecture. I worked on ideas for petanque after covid and the display bitwise program. Successfully proved the principle on one pair showing the seconds,
315	24/1	Sunday breakfast, boiled egg and croissant. Still no conclusion as to why the code for digit 7 overwrites digit 1. Started work on storing the segment on off data in a number that is then read bitwise to determine the segment state 1 is on 0 is off. Exercise walk an hour starting at noon. M finished her cardigan project, fits nicely a success.
314	23/1	Tried a much smaller loaf in the breadmaker today, 300g flour instead of 432g. Worked very well on the number 1 programme. Got in a 45 minute walk arounf noon but it was a bit cold. Started to investigate storing my display data in a format that could be read bit by bit. Steve sent his thoughts which tidied up the code but still use ~75% of available memory for variables. Needs further investigation.
313	22/1	An excursion to M&S Foodhall for a big shop. A bit busier than JL but not crowded by the old M&S standards. 100% mask wearing, seemed safe enough. Midday trip to Gravesend for the dental hygienist. I really don’t like it! Then picked up my Statins prescription at the Pender pharmacy on my way from the dentist to the car. Finished a write up of the display project and sent it over to Steve to see if he could provide any insights.
312	21/1	Made bread using the French programme, a bit lighter than the Default programme very successful. Big progress with my programming of the display. Have a problem with digit 7 mirroring digit 1 for no obvious reason. Posted an appeal on FastLed forum.
311	20/1	A momentous day for America and probably the world as Biden is inaugurated and US returns to the Paris Climate accords. Here, storm warnings but we got in a walk up and down the riverfront, just a bit damp! Still no progress with display program, posted an enquiry on FastLED,
310	19/1	A bake bread day, new white flour (Duchy!) best yet of the new machine. M had a Kent EA class while I struggled with programming the display. Learning quite a lot of programming but not making much progress! Interesting watching the US prepare for the inauguration of Joe Biden and the weird final days of Trump.
309	18/1	Morning exercise – vacuuming! Then a click and collect outing to Gravesend to pick up some wool and then Screwfix to get some clamps for the final build of the display project. Tried to combine the two digit programme with the clock and 8 digit without success.
308	17/1	Second use of the bread maker, trying the French programme which should give a lighter fluffier bread. It did a tasty loaf, flour used was 50/50 plain/wholemeal. Our Sunday walk was a bit further, walked to the station, then caught the A bus to Galleon Boulevard, got a takeaway Costa cortado and walked back home via Asda to pick up a newspaper. On the display project, completed the last wiring, adding 470K resistor to the data lines and routing them to the new Arduino Uno+. Finally got a test programme to run a dot round all 8 digits by addressing each pair of digits sequentially.