Bargain boast.

Carole

Well-Known Forumite
Thought this was a bit of a bargain. Bought it for a gin lover. 12 gins, 12 tonics, £34.95, that’s just less than £3 for a gin and tonic.
Similar gin advent calendars are double or treble that price. From B&M if anyone is interested.
I also bought the wine one, £25 for 24 bottles of wine. It’s 3 Mills so not exactly the best wine in the world but for £1 bottle I’m not complaining.


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Lucy

Well-Known Forumite
On a gin theme there's a deal with the Craft Gin Club until Monday where if you sign up for £40 a month you get a free bottle of gin. I've signed up and will cancel before they take next month's payment. £40 for 2 bottles of gins and they also send tonics and snacks with the main monthly pack.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
I was so impressed by my mother's watch that I kept an eye out for one for myself.

Hers has lost less than a second a week, which amounts to probably about 18 months before it's a minute out.

The day will stay in sync essentially for ever - as will the time, when the clock changing madness ends. The date will need adjusting five times a year, if it's of any great concern.

I found a nice (and cheap) one on eBay, virtually identical to the picture here.

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It arrived whilst I was away, set to the correct time, day and date - I'm just watching it start to turn over for tomorrow now.

Interestingly, the chap said he was selling it "as I don't wear it very often now", which is essentially the reason that I wanted one. I only wear a watch maybe once a month, and want to be able to just pick it up and put it on without setting or winding it and without wondering if the battery will give out at on unfortunate point...
Having mentioned earlier that I had got myself a Seiko solar-powered watch, I have found myself wearing it more than I expected, having left the mobile phone at home more than I used to. So, I decided that I might get a spare, if a suitable one was to come along.

A slightly chunkier version came along at a nice price, so I have treated myself and it has been running nicely for a few weeks now. The nylon strap makes it better for wearing when working, as there's a bit of an air-space between skin and watch-back.

The 'new' one also has more obvious figures and a larger luminous area. Both watches are still readable in the dark at the end of a long winter's night.

The 'new' watch also has the unusual feature of a luminous marker on the second hand.

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I don't anticipate testing the 100 metres operability.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Early last year, on a whim, I bought an LG mini-bar style fridge that i saw in the KH warehouse for £25. A proper fridge, with a compressor, I expected it to be fairly energy efficient.

It has really come into its own now, in my Chalet.

It has a tiny 'freezer' compartment, but plenty of chilling space. Nothing 'fresh' that I brought with me has spoiled so far and I've been able to avoid using any supplies from the Big House yet. I expect to last into Tuesday before I 'need' some milk. It is also almost silent, a very slight rumble when running and a little rattle when it stops. The cycle is around five minutes on and fifteen minutes off.

OTk0OWY5ZDBlNzlkZmY5NDU5NDFlNDUxMmE3YjNjZGMuzdEOzs-LS2FJShdizDZtaHR0cDovL21lZGlhLmFkc2ltZy5jb20vZjBjZjdlNDI4NDI0ZGQ3YTdhNTJmYjhkMTY1MWI2ZWU5NjFjNjc4MmFkZDQ1YWQ0NzVmZmNiN2IzMjEyMDA0YS5qcGd8fHx8fHw3MDB4NTI1fGh0dHA6Ly93d3cuYWR2ZXJ0cy5pZS9zdGF0aWMvaS93YXRlcm1hcmsucG5nfHx8.jpg


A consumption check over the last few days shows that it does indeed, as claimed, run at about 50 watts. The compressor is running about a quarter of the time, so it'll be using around two units a week, which is well acceptable.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
I have a couple of these rather clever little devices - Krups egg boilers - they will boil 1, 2 or 3 eggs to various pre-selected degrees of 'hardness'. The egg(s) are placed in the holder and a calibrated amount of water is placed in the lower chamber, then the lid is placed on and the device switched on. The amount of water, selected by using a specially-supplied measuring cylinder, both generates the steam that cooks the eggs and, by means of the sudden rise in temperature of the heater when it boils dry, also times the cooking period, this turns the heater off and causes a (loud) buzzer to sound, indicating the completion of the process. A clever thing, with integrated cord storage, it is not a "space consuming pointless gadget" in my experience - the special measuring cylinder also stores within the cover, although the eagle-eyed amongst you will have noted that I managed to leave it behind - Doh!

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Anybody who has bought a steel tool from a Japanese manufacturer will have often found a small piece of kraft paper in the packaging. This will be impregnated with a small amount of Camellia Oil, as an anti-corrosion protection. An example can be seen on the right-hand side of the picture of my recently-obtained
Shinto rasp - http://www.staffordforum.com/xf/ind...ts-about-your-day.11163/page-1197#post-404782 .

I obtained a supply via eBay and intend to fit my tool storage drawers with pieces of card in the base, each given a squirt from a spray bottle. The bottles, also from eBay, may have other potential uses. The De-Icer stays in the door pocket on the car, in case of returning to it frozen-up when away from home. The Meths is handy for a quick clean-up, or as as anti-viral throat spray...

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Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Thought this was a bit of a bargain. Bought it for a gin lover. 12 gins, 12 tonics, £34.95, that’s just less than £3 for a gin and tonic.
Similar gin advent calendars are double or treble that price. From B&M if anyone is interested.
I also bought the wine one, £25 for 24 bottles of wine. It’s 3 Mills so not exactly the best wine in the world but for £1 bottle I’m not complaining.

View attachment 7620

View attachment 7621
On a gin theme there's a deal with the Craft Gin Club until Monday where if you sign up for £40 a month you get a free bottle of gin. I've signed up and will cancel before they take next month's payment. £40 for 2 bottles of gins and they also send tonics and snacks with the main monthly pack.
Melvin Bragg chats about the Gin Craze.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b084zk6z
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Spent ten minutes trying to get a 20% off code to work with free delivery on the asics outlet, as it was against two different accounts. Not only did I finally manage, but for some reason paypal knocked another tenner off afterwards!
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Back in the 1980s, I bought a couple of these mechanical timeswitches.

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One has been running continuously since then, controlling the kitchen lighting.

About every five years, It starts 'grumbling' and needs opening up, followed by a quick clean and lubrication - then it's OK for another five year stint.

Every time I do it, I am obliged to go through the same learning process.

It appears to be held together by a single screw - great!

But, no - there are five hidden spring catches, which all need to be opened at the same time, to gain access to the insides, to perform the simple task in hand.

The bloke who designed this put great thought into making it unfixable.

But not quite enough thought.

Bastard!
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Having mentioned earlier that I had got myself a Seiko solar-powered watch, I have found myself wearing it more than I expected, having left the mobile phone at home more than I used to. So, I decided that I might get a spare, if a suitable one was to come along.

A slightly chunkier version came along at a nice price, so I have treated myself and it has been running nicely for a few weeks now. The nylon strap makes it better for wearing when working, as there's a bit of an air-space between skin and watch-back.

The 'new' one also has more obvious figures and a larger luminous area. Both watches are still readable in the dark at the end of a long winter's night.

The 'new' watch also has the unusual feature of a luminous marker on the second hand.

View attachment 7957

View attachment 7958

I don't anticipate testing the 100 metres operability.
The watch with the green strap is the one that gets the most use, although it has hardly been worn for the last few weeks.

I noticed last night that it had stopped, despite being left near a window. Investigations found that it would run after a few seconds exposure to a bright light, but stop immediately when the light wasn't available.

I have no idea how old it is and there must be some sort of lifespan that you can expect from the rechargeable battery, so I opened it up to get any details, if I do need a replacement.

There is a plate covering the battery, which also forms a contact to it. When this was pressed down, the watch would run. So, I stuck a small piece of paper to it, to take up any gap when the back was replaced - and all has been well since.

It may just be a low temperature effect which has broken the contact with the battery - I hope.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
A few years ago, I got a nice wooden table lamp in Katharine House, for a fiver, I think.

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It's never really had a 'home', but, yesterday, I decided to set it up in the hall, with a 3 watt LED bulb and a timer.

It seemed a good idea to have it come on at 4:30 and go off at 1 a.m.

Today, upon reflection, I 'decided' that it would be even better to have it come on at 16:30...

Doh!
 

Glam

Mad Cat Woman
A few years ago, I got a nice wooden table lamp in Katharine House, for a fiver, I think.

View attachment 9743

It's never really had a 'home', but, yesterday, I decided to set it up in the hall, with a 3 watt LED bulb and a timer.

It seemed a good idea to have it come on at 4:30 and go off at 1 a.m.

Today, upon reflection, I 'decided' that it would be even better to have it come on at 16:30...

Doh!
My younger sister has bought the majority of her table lamps from KH, She isn't a 'big light' fan.
My nephew (her son) isn't a fan of her table lamps, so he has been buying her Tiffany lamps for the past few years.
One day she will go home to find those everywhere throughout her home and the others consigned to the bin.
 

Trumpet

Well-Known Forumite
Much prefer table lamps and similar rather than having the 'big light' on. Often only have the cooker hood light on in the kitchen too.
Not sure if it's an age thing not wanting bright lights or just latent hippydom.
 

littleme

250,000th poster!
Much prefer table lamps and similar rather than having the 'big light' on. Often only have the cooker hood light on in the kitchen too.
Not sure if it's an age thing not wanting bright lights or just latent hippydom.
Same, we have a salt lamp, and a very dim standard lamp in the living room.
 
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