I went to Microsoft Live Local recently to search for something. Buckinghamshire’s satellite images is in much better resolution than Google Maps, and to be honest, I’ve found Live Local to be a bit better to work with.
I got to the site, and started typing in my search term, and this little thing popped up:
So, unless my eyes are deceiving me, it would appear that the GOOGLE toolbar is offering to add a MICROSOFT site to its search locations?!
I wasn’t aware hell had frozen over.
So my AUX input woes have been solved!
I contacted Essex Ford (I highly recommend their eBay store) and they replied quickly and sent out a new part for me. Today I pulled the parts out and changed it over – same problem!
I fiddled about a bit and found the reason for the problem is that the actual connector barrel is in two parts, which click together. It would appear the older unit wouldn’t click together properly. After playing about, I managed to get the new one to click home properly, and I was then blessed with proper sound from my iPod! I was pretty chuffed, I can tell you!
This afternoon I also got my clutch ‘fixed’ as part of the recall ford did. The ‘fix’ is a small washer they fit somewhere onto the clutch rod. I also had a squeaking problem I’d noticed fixed at. Apparently it’s a fairly common problem whereby the bracket the rear seats lock onto when they’re in the upright position needs lubricating a little. With a little oil, the squeak goes away.
My tax renewal turned up this morning too. Today seems to be car day.
You really do have to wonder why? When bad things happen, and they didn’t really have to.
I read a few things on Wikipedia about Columbine and the Texas shootings in the 60s. It’s amazing that such disturbed individuals are able to get hold of firearms, and cause pain and suffering to people who don’t deserve it.
My condolences to all those involved.
The latest ford Headunits in Fiestas include an Aux input, specifically made to take an input from an iPod. It is possible to buy most current Fiestas, Focuses and Fusions with the aux input pre-fitted. It’s a small 3.5mm jack socket which sits down between the gearstick and the cigarette lighter/power socket. Some have it as standard, and some have it as an option. Mine didn’t have one fitted though.
It is possible to have it fitted as an after-market part, but the part is fairly hard to find. I found one on eBay, and it took an age to come as it had to be back-ordered from Ford. It sat on my shelf for another couple of months before I finally sorted out getting it fitting. The fitting is pretty easy, but you do have to pull out a fair few bits to make it work. I was a bit dubious about drilling the dash though, so I got a local company to do it.
Having had it done, it turns out that the part I bought seems to be faulty! The main jack socket that sits on the dash is made of two main parts; an outer plastic cover, and an inner part with the contacts on. The outer plastic cover (which has ‘AUX IN’ stamped on it) holds the jack plug too far out of the socket, the end result being that the audio is a muffled, distorted mess. I pulled it all apart, and had a look, and it seems it has either been manufactured incorrectly, or it’s just a bad design. Having dug around online and not found much, I’m inclined to think the former.
I’ve asked for a replacement, but in the interim I’m using it without the top cap. It doesn’t look very nice, but it DOES work. Even without the top cap, it still doesn’t make a proper connection when I first insert the plug; the right speakers are often silent until I wiggle the lead.
I’m now closer than I was to having some sort of iPod connectivity though!
Well, joy of joys, I received a letter yesterday from Ford. It seems that they are recalling Fiestas and Fusions of a certain age, due to a fault with the clutches! From the letter:
Engineering investigations have identified a potential issue with the clutch control mechanism in some Fiesta & Fusion vehicles. In extreme cases it is possible for a push rod to disconnect from the clutch pedal which then results in the drive from the engine not disengaging the gearbox when the clutch pedal is depressed.
Well hurrah! Not. Looks like I’ll have to get the car booked into the local Ford dealership to have it fixed. According to the letter, it requires a washer fitting to the clutch to stop it drifting. Of course, that means the car will probably be in all day, so I suppose I’ll have to book a day off to have it done. Ho hum!
Until recently, I had a pretty standard fan in here. It was a pedestal thing – about 50cm across the front, three speeds, went side to side – really nothing special. I think it cost about £10 from a local discount warehouse place a few years ago. Every year I would duly store it away under the bed, then un-earth it during the summer.
It worked well enough, but it had two problems. I never really had a proper home for it, so it usually ended up bashing into the headstocks of my guitars when it was sweeping to-and-fro’. It would sit there clicking away as the gears were chewing away. Also, every year, it got a little slower at spinning the blades. It would take progressively longer to spin up every time at power on, and it was getting to the point where it really wasn’t shifting much air.
So I binned it.
So now I had to find a new fan. I knew those column fans were becoming quite popular, so I thought I’d look into them. The thing is, we’re in April, so all the DIY places aren’t really selling fans. I went to Wickes, Homebase, Argos and B&Q, and only the latter had any fans at all (that I could find anyway). Most were selling heaters still!
As B&Q were the only place selling them, my choice was limited, but I had a look anyway. They had two choices – a small unit, about a metre tall, for £19.99, and a larger unit. The smaller one was nice; three speeds, it turned side to side, it looked quite nice. Next to it, was something of a beastie! £49.99, but it was a lot taller, and had a remote control! How’s that for cool! It had to be mine.
After the obligatory exchange of funds, I took it home and put it together. It has some pretty natty features. It has the usual three speeds, but left-to-right oscillation. But there’s some other niceties – there’s a snooze timer, so it’ll power off after a set amount of time. There’s also a temperature gauge, so when the temperature you choose is reached, it’ll turn itself off. Otherwise, it shows the temperature on the front. The oscillation has some different settings, to chose how far it will oscillate – quite a nice feature. There’s a couple of other nice features with how the fan is controlled. Once called ‘nature’ makes the fan spin up and down randomly, to simulate a real breeze, and it actually works quite nicely. The next option is called ‘sleep’, which will do the same as nature, only it will spend longer at lower speeds over time, so as not to disturb you. All of this is displayed on a totally over the top LED display on the front. Plus there’s the remote, which allows you do control EVERY feature on the unit from the comfort of your own chair! It even beeps!
On the whole, I think it’s worth the extra money. The box made lots of noise about how it only costs around a penny an hour to run, which isn’t too bad really. It’s all very well running fans at full tilt in the summer, but they can suck a LOT of juice doing so.
