@matigo Yep, currently using the writing desk that my parents bought for me almost 50 years ago.
My sister drives a Suburu Outback, a wagon-style SUV. She sent me a text message to the effect that I can expect delivery of an Ikea computer desk on Monday that’s too long to fit in her vehicle.
Needed to caulk around the new cooktop where it meets up with the benchtop. Didn’t need a full 300 gram tube of gap-filling sealant & I also lack a caulking gun. So I tried a different approach, a 170 gram aerosol-type tube of the goop. Crack the locking tab, remove the tip cover, twist the head around to the maximum flow setting & try on an inconspicuous part of the job. It came out a bit thickly so I dialled back the flow rate & this worked well. Minimal cleanup since I’d applied masking tape to the benchtop. Smoothed the result with a wet finger then removed the masking tape after five minutes. Now anything splashed on the bench won’t make its way under the edge of the cooktop.
The old cooktop had a rim of aluminium flashing to do this job.
Porridge for breakfast, the first time I used the new induction hob for that. Worked very well. Started with 2.5 cups of salted water & ½ a cup of rolled oats (normal, not the quick type) and brought to the boil. Reduced heat to a slow simmer and stirred with a spurtle for 20 minutes.
This cooked the starch out of the grains and gave the product a lush, creamy texture without any additives such as milk or cream.
Served with a drizzle of honey, a dollop of custard & a trickle of pouring cream.
And a pot of Daintree Rainforest-grown tea, for without tea, there is nought but darkness & chaos.
@matigo We need lightweight trains made from wood & covered in light canvas, powered by the passengers themselves pedalling along…
Such a device was described in a post-apocalyptic SF novel “Souls In The Great Machine” by one Scott McMullen.
// @sumudu
I suffer from Raynaud’s Syndrome, which is a nerve spasm in my feet that restricts blood flow to my toes. The affected toes are a pasty white colour and feel cold and sort of numb. Sometimes a shower or hot water bath can fix the problem but what works best is a compression foot massager with a heating function.
Then it's a matter of choosing the compression type, intensity & heat (on or off) and letting it run for a 15-minute cycle. The top of the foot is heated while the sole & toe areas are alternately squeezed or pressed firmly then released before being applied again.
At the end of a 15 minute cycle the affected toes are initially still white but blood flow comes back quickly & they return to a healthy pink colour & the painful semi-numbness & coldness are banished once more.
The induction cooktop has four cooking zones, 2 @1200 W & 2 @ 2300 W for a total of 7000 W. If one zone is not used, a 300 W boost for five minutes can be applied to each of the other zones, so it’s possible to boost both 2300 W zones to 2600 W & a single 1200 W zone to 1500 without exceeding the capabilities of the device.
I have a whistling stovetop kettle that holds two litres of water. This amount can be boiled in 5½ minutes on one of the larger zones with boost invoked for the first 5 minutes before it automatically drops back to the normal maximum level.
To adjust individual zones, tough the relevant zone selector then slide you finger along the temperature control sensor. Repeat for other zones as needed.
Very impressive technology.
Electrical work done. I cooked up a very nice meal on the induction cooktop. Thin shin beef steaks sliced into strips & fried in a wok with a little rice bran oil. Remove meat, add frozen stir-fry vegetables, fry until large chunks are tawed. Add korma curry paste & coconut milk. Return the meat strips and simmer gently to distribute the heat and thicken the sauce.
If all goes well tomorrow I shall celebrate my home’s electrical workover by cooking up a stir-fry on the new 7000 Watt induction cooktop. Plus there’s a new rangehood going in & two four-outlet powerpoints being installed in my spare bedroom/office/darts room.
Two of the four elements on the existing ceramic cooktop have failed & don’t work at all, so I supplement them with a cheap single-element benchtop induction cooker. Which means I already have cookware to suit the new device.
Shortages. There are lots of shortages out the but the one affecting me the most at present is the availability of vinyl floor layers. I’ve organised to have the remaining carpet in the corridor & 3 bedrooms removed & replaced with a floating floor thar resembles wooden boards until you strep onto them.
The catch is no-one is available until the 3rd week in September to lay the stuff.