Hi, and welcome to BMH Online, my little corner on/at/in Neocities [joined 16 June 2020]. I typically list on this page things in my life to share right now. Then, every so often, I add something new to the top of the list, and then eventually file the old stuff away. There are also various sections to explore. Here goes...

  • [1st December 2025] It's that time of year...


Above image partly created with ChatGPT...

Q. What's this all about?

A. The idea is that you create an advent calendar of sorts for your website and each day you put something behind that door for your visitors, it might be some update or addition or other to the website, some waffle about the day, maybe with some Christmassy or wintry slant. [Here are my previous years]

If you're taking part with your own then let me know!

  • [31 October 2025] Happy Halloween Ya'll...

  • [25 October 2025] Finally, my car has its garage...

Walking into this room now gives me a Christmas morning feeling, seeing my car inside, and in what was previously a room (although it was originally a garage). I procrastinate far too long about stuff; I should have set to sorting out the garage as soon as I got the car, and even after I received the garage door it took me two weeks to call my brother round to help take down the wall.

I've now just got to set to doing the head-gasket and whatever else the job might entail...

  • [14 September 2025] Ok, we're halfway into September already (as I write this)...

August was a bust - there was that car show [see below] that I never got to and with another one planned (and paid for) at the end of the month [August] I had to bail out of that one too... luckily I hadn't also booked a campsite spot.

I pretty much determined my car had a failed head gasket and after doing a compression test and probing the orifices with an orifice-probing camera I further determined some further work will be required beyond just doing the head gasket (pistons/piston rings etc - hopefully nothing more). If it had been a clear-cut-case of "oh, it's just he head gasket" I could have pressed-ahead and tackled that in my driveway with the hope of getting to the next car show, but that wasn't to be the case. Oh well.

(I've never done this level of work on a car myself before but being a 40-year-old car, it all seems pretty simple and straightforward to work on, so I'm hopeful...)

I then had to switch my attention to getting my garage sorted, which I should have been doing already, and now September is well under-way. I spent a week shuffling computers and stuff about my house from the soon-to-be garage into other rooms, creating lists of what was going where. Then came all of the little bits and pieces and that has been taking more time than the bulky stuff. Now I'm down to bare workbenches which were once to be home to a model railway that never really materialised... I have a life of unfinished projects, and some barely-begun ones; I try not to dwell on this.

The days are changing now (and skies in the evening [see above]); I had been dreading this (not the nice skies, I like those) throughout the summer I was enjoying - the days of sitting outside in the sun with coffee, a book, and the neighbour's cat, I knew I was going to miss those. Now I'm once again having to grab the sunshine whenever it shines, which today it's not.

With my car off the road I'm back to cycling everywhere like I used to (I had to accept my fate this time, whereas a few years ago it was a sudden decision), which I was already mostly doing anyway, but I covered over a hundred miles the week before, and my legs are getting back into doing the 30-mile supermarket trip, lugging back only enough for the week ahead and nothing more, lest I make it more hard work on myself; I just have to pick the right days.

I want to get back into contributing more here but I feel the pull of other priorities (like the garage), and I find it difficult to prioritise non urgent things, or schedule them, and I resist posting about stuff I feel I should just crack on with, lest I risk this turning into an avoidance tactic.

  • [10 August 2025] A couple of weekends ago, with my car polished and buffed, I set off for a car show some 4-hour-drive-away... check out this view:

...yeah, this is a layby. I was supposed to pick my brother up on the way (from his house, not a layby), but within just 20 minutes my car stumbled and died when I stuck my foot down... twice. I got it going again after an hour, but essentially had to head back home #disappointing

Anyway1, you may recall that my car had an issue back in May that got resolved when I swapped in a new distributor cap... or rather, it seemed to. I'm now thinking that things had just cooled down enough... and that these issues have all been because of overheating *slaps forehead*

Anyway2, that's all a WIP while I procrastinate / wait for some hoses to arrive. I've learned a lot more about what's what and how things work, like adjusting timing and idle, and ignition circuits, I've even meddled with the valve clearances again... I'm just hoping I don't have a head-gasket to replace.

A few other things have also been bothering me lately, like some work stuff, some friends (such as on other platforms) that keep drama-llamaing, and the general state of the internet #0nl!ne$@fty@ct

I'm probably going to have to write a more comprehensive blog post about stuff soon.

  • [04 July 2025] Last month was a good one for me; I had a (rare for me) big job to get stuck into. It seemed simple enough at a glance "move computer from here, to here, and then back again a week later." But a few things went wonky on the last day, namely one of these decided not to work after:


Zebra LP 2824

Basically, the version I had to contend with was a networked one but it had reverted to its serial connection when it was moved for the second time. I tried resetting the 20-year-old piece of tec with a hand-crafted serial cable and my Dell Latitude D610 running Windows XP. But no joy. I acquired a USB version from ebay for cheap (Ethernet versions seem rare) and I tried to set that up for my client instead, but I couldn't figure out how to get it into their software, so I had to give up. It still bugs me though.

  • In other news, I cancelled my broadband service and I connect through my phone instead, saving myself a load of money. The main downside is I have to be frugal with my usage as data is limited, but I quite like the restriction, similar how I try to only use my solar panels for electricity during these summer months.

  • [12 June 2025] This makes me sad...

(Nissan 300 ZX 92/93, as they are known here)

  • [01 June 2025] Happy June Everyone! During a weekly walk of my neighbour's dog we spotted a pile of free stuff, amongst which was this piece of epic:


A Panasonic Microwave Oven Model No. NE-564B.

And it works. I left it alone until the next day, just in case it had been left out in the rain, before plugging it in and giving it a brief test. The internet has little information about this microwave, all I can say it's a lowly 500W model but perhaps from the late 80s/early 90s, hence the aesthetic. It has a little rust on the inside, and lacks the 'ring' my Hinari's platter rotates on, but otherwise it's great. I'll keep it waiting in the wings for when my 'Hinari Lifestyle 800W' gives up for good, saving me the cost of buying one.

  • [25 May 2025] After weeks of next to no rain, things finally changed, and literally on the day my H20 containment system ran out. Just prior to the rain, the wind picked up and blew the blossom off the trees...

  • I'd been enjoying sitting outside each day to read (The Twilight Saga).

  • In other news, I might be changing my broadband service soon from DSL to tethering to a data plan on my phone. By my estimates the speed will double, and the cost 1/3rd. One downside is the data will be limited.

  • [28 April 2025] Greetings all. This month (April) has been one of DIY; my brother bought a house and it needs more work than mine did. We spent a day taking down a bathroom wall...


Can you see where the wall was?!

My brother phoned me the next week to in form me that the wall probably had asbestos in it (I'd looked at the cement boards and just guessed they were just cement...). Oh well, it's not like I don't already have lung issues... #asthmaticandpassivesmokerfor30years

Since we'd been cracking on with his house (we also ripped some plaster off another wall on another day, but we now wore masks for that), I felt spurred on to do my own DIY...


I'd started insulating the ceiling in here 18 months ago...

The ceiling used to go up to the apex but I considered it to be wasted space so, after affixing some wooden batons, I've now filled the void with insulation. I originally ended up procrastinating partly because I realised I needed to get a wardrobe (double) out of the way. That wardrobe is presently on its side beside my bed, with its contents down the other side, so I really have no choice but to finish this task now (which is why I'm sat here writing about it instead).

  • [21 March 2025] I had a morning drive to another neck-of-the-woods (pun intended) this week, and after a quick cup of coffee I stepped out to photograph the 'old Capri' amongst the trees:

I'd given the car a wash that morning but the paintwork needs a buff as the cover I'd had on it during some of the winter hadn't treated it too kindly. I'm still hoping to get a garage sorted out for it later this year, and also, I really need to sort out its section at this here website - I'm repeatedly kicking myself about this.

  • In other news; work computers have been causing me some bother this week; one has an occasional hiccup that I can't explain, someone's laptop was having printer/USB issues and wouldn't upgrade to Windows 11, and another client's computer has been causing me some stress after upgrading. This kind of stuff temporarily knocks the wind out of my sails but I'm also convinced the moon's phases play a part...

  • [06 March 2025] I ended February with a couple of hikes up Snowdon, the first one with my brother, and then a week later I went on my own. With my brother it had been a while and he complained about being unfit and I had to wait quite a few times for him to catch up, but we jogged some of the way down and that wrecked our legs for a few days afterwards, taking us about 5 hours in total. So when I went on my own I got to go at my own pace all the way up and then I made myself jog pretty much all the way down, once below the layer of cold stuff (it was more wintry this time around). I managed it in around 4 hours.

I'd hoped I could compare the Fitbit data but it was confused by what activities were taking place, either mountain biking, running or walking, I suppose because of the ever changing pace. My Fitbit is about knackered; the screen has become so dim it's unreadable and I had to superglue the strap on recently.

  • A couple of years ago I acquired a client's late husband's model railway stuff; I stupidly paid too much money to someone who didn't need it and regretted that and ultimately did nothing with it except sell off the stuff I really only got because I knew I could get money for it (which is why I gave her the money I did because for some reason the amount in my head seemed fair and the right thing to do). I got my money back, but it took months of listing the stuff on ebay. I still have a load of stuff left from the haul but I've not done anything towards progressing with a model railway and the room is now ear-marked for become a garage again.

Then this week another client offered me her late husband's tools, but this time she didn't want anything for it, and, feeling like the best thing to do was to "take everything off her hands" rather than pick through the boxes and ultimately leave her still with a garage full of stuff to get rid of, I loaded up my car with pretty much everything she wanted rid of.

There are boxes of random garage stuff (I've already replaced some door seal on my backdoor with some we found), along with various power tools (including a car polisher) and hand tools that I have no clue what they are; I might have to start a blog post to get some help identifying things so I can find them new homes.

  • In other news I climbed into the Top 50 in the UK in my einstein@home efforts. This was predicted to happen and I've already started to power my computers down since the weather has been warming up. Now my energy demands are going down, and due to the weather, my solar generation is gradually becoming my main source of energy once more.

  • [09 February 2025] I had a fun couple of days of acquiring stuff. First, a client gave me her old computer, one of these:

An old Lenovo 3000 J Series. It still works but I had to replace a motherboard capacitor first. It has Windows XP on it, yay. I might just fix it up some more and sell it on rather than make a page about it.

Then(1) next at a thrift store I was given a few things and I purchased a few books that had just come in:

One thing there is a bluetooth speaker/alarm clock thing. I've downloaded some (30+hours) "sounds for concentration" and put them on a memory card and have it playing nearby when I want to get stuff done... I just filed away ~100 files that were cluttering up the root directory off my site which involved editing all of these Log pages, so that music seems to help.

Then(2) my neighbour gave me a stack of (100+) his old (1970s) motoring magazines, some of which, he pointed out, feature Ford Capris:

I also found these guys recently, more waifs-and-strays I find at the roadside when out on my bike:

The weird thing is I found them on two separate occasions at two different locations, yet I now see they are both from McDonalds (c)2024...

I was cat and guinea pig-sitting this week, I always enjoy this:


"weet weet"

[03 February 2025] The lunar new year began, or rather the last one ended, and things got weird for a moment.

Have you ever learned something about someone from your past who had some impact on you, and then it messes with your head? Oh well, all ended up being quite insightful.

  • [27 January 2025] It's another soggy winter, the snowdrops are out in my street and my own daffodils are making their appearance, but where I cleared a channel the other week is now filled up with water.

I also feel bad for my car sat outside in all of this weather; it rained quite wintery last night and we had 70mph winds last week. I was under the weather too recently having caught some bug thing off my sister which immediately made my asthma bad... it was very similar to C.1.0 in that regard and when I took myself off out for a walk I felt quite upset at the thought of this crap being knocked up in labs to ruin the health, over time, of the masses - it is/was like these things are finding the best way to infiltrate each individual; I can literally feel this happening with each symptom type. Anyway, for the most part it's behind me now and I'm just once again intent on building my fitness back up so the next round doesn't have it easy with me.

Another frustration has been with my few online friends; everyone (and I don't necessarily exclude myself from this) seems to have their minds elsewhere and people have been boring the f* out of me. All the while I myself am quiet because I don't know what I can bring to the table that isn't also dull - I even picked ChatGPT's brains about this last night. It's a weird state where part of me wonders if really everyone is feeling the same these days, or if it's just my own perception of things... not helped much by the low oxygen levels I had to put up with recently.

To top this off I had a work situation where I liaised with someone I wrongly assumed was going to be a client rather than only being a potential one since it transpired they were "shopping around" and I over quoted for the job because I took into account the liaising time for a job that might take all of 5 minutes (perhaps my "competitors" didn't factor this stuff in and were selling themselves short for someone who had a grand-and-a-half to spend on a new computer. Being self-employed is a ball-ache when you seemingly have to prove yourself (and your worth) for each new job; I've never been good at it and nor do I care for it - I much prefer the kind and trusting types who appreciate what I do and slip me a little bit extra for my efforts. I was going to suggest the guy perhaps ask his neighbours and local acquaintances for recommendations rather than expecting me to prove myself in some way. I don't have high hopes for him employing me for the job, and I'm not sure why I care, it just left me annoyed.

Oh yeah, here are some of those snowdrops:

  • [05 January 2025] This morning it looked like this outside...

So, having an errand to do, I went for a walk to achieve that and to enjoy the weather some more:

  • [01 January 2025] Happy new year everyone. Here's to having a great one.

I'm trying to get my act together with various things; I feel like I ended the year in good spirits (no not that kind!) and I'm looking to propel myself forward through the next, improving things in various ways: Cycle more miles (I've let this slide a lot over the past few years), read more books and persisting in delving into topics of interest, and generally getting stuff done.

[Click here for July-December]

- BMH Online -