18.02.2024 Delayed hypothermia?

 ~o~

  Sunday 18th 39F/4C. Rain and wind. A long, very wet day is forecast. Rain until after midnight tonight. 

 Up at 6.30. I was up earlier for an hour. 3.30-4.30. Became too cold sitting at the computer. Despite wearing a fleece jacket over my clothes. 64F/18C in the room at the time. Now dropped to 62F/17C. 

 The online medical advice is for a room to be maintained above 68F/20C. I can only rarely manage that. It takes hours to get the room up to that heat. The young and elderly are most at risk of hypothermia. Being an old fart and childish puts me firmly in both camps! I went back to bed fully clothed except for the jacket. Still felt cold under the duvet. I was literally shivering.

 I am wondering if it isn't delayed hypothermia from my cycle rides. The Endura jacket is almost windproof apart from the full length, front zip. Though not at all warm. Which it should not be for active manual cycling. I can feel the cold on my arms and chest while riding. 

 Perhaps I should wear a warm jumper under the jacket for insulation? Or even two, thinner jumpers for layering. I am not working remotely so hard on the e-bike as I was on the trike. My higher speed is also causing much greater wind chill. So I need to seriously rethink my dress code for colder rides. The two large panniers can easily hold any surplus clothes I might need to take off.

 8.45 I have lit the stove. I have also gone upstairs to fetch some long underwear. I have not been wearing it indoors this year. Because I have moved downstairs. To be nearer the stove. I have put a warm hat on too. The activity has stopped my shivering! 

 Talk about energy poverty! I resent paying 1000kr/£115 per month for logs when I am still not warm enough. I try to make the logs last. Which is probably hindering the stove's heat output. I would probably double my log consumption to maintain 68F/20C. 

 I keep thinking about getting a heat pump but it makes zero financial sense. An air to air heat pump is cheapest but cannot heat my [unused] underfloor pipes in the bathroom and kitchen. So I continue to rely on the oil filled radiators and the stove.

 The Danish TV2 weather website was showing how crazy global temperatures already are. After a record breaking 2023. High temperature records are being broken all over the world and it is still only February. Though this may help those who are struggling to warm their homes. 

 Meanwhile the pampered elite are forcing increased expense on those who cannot afford the latest cars. Pollution charges in cities and passing laws to limit car repairs? This will only hit those on lower incomes. They cannot afford an e-Porsche? Then let them have a Tesla?  

 8.30 64F/18C in the room. Three logs at once on the stove to boost temperatures. I have fetched some more logs indoors from the greenhouse.

14.30 Another rainy day spent on YouTube. Where I came across the channel of a London cyclist. Who actively seeks out mobile phone users behind the wheel. He reports them to the police and presents his video evidence. Resulting in 1000 prosecutions so far. 

 I immediately thought of that lunatic lorry driver. Using his handheld phone on my morning walk. Swerving wide on a sharp, blind bend. Where most vehicles drivers, going the opposite way, cut the same sharp, blind corner. Resulting in a possibly catastrophic overlapping, head on crash. Probably with deep penetration if the collision involved a bus. Collision with a school bus [of which there are many on this road] would probably kill more than half the occupants. Leaving the rest fighting for their lives and suffering a lifetime of PTSD. But hey, it's only worth a 1500kr/£172 fine for phone use while driving.

 Were I to film mobile phone users behind the wheel in Denmark. Then share the videos online. It is I who would be prosecuted and heavily fined. Probably fined more than the absolutely pitiful 1500kr [£172] fixed penalty fine. For illegal phone use behind the wheel. 

 That is, if the police accepted my video evidence of an alleged crime being committed. I would be invading a person's privacy by sharing a video online of their alleged, criminal behaviour. Even if they were a deranged terrorist. Beheading school children outside the village school. It is I who would be prosecuted and my video evidence probably dismissed as inadmissible.

 Meanwhile, CyclingMikey, in London, provides a public service. In filming and appearing in court whenever he catches one of the countless, illegal, mobile phone users. His campaign was instigated by the death of his father to a driver breaking the law. He claims there are thousands of like-minded cyclists using cameras to film alleged criminal behaviour. Sadly the publicity of their activities does not seem to reduce mobile phone use.

https://www.youtube.com/@CyclingMikey

 Dinner was chicken, pasta, peas and tinned tomatoes. There was an odd smell in the kitchen when the recycled, frying pan was heated. If my decomposed body is found in several months then we know what to blame.

  ~o~

 

17.02.2024 Feel the free warmth!

 ~o~

   Saturday 17th [?] A grey start became sunny later.  Up at 6.15. Wasting time on the computer and laundry. 62F/17C in the room. I haven't lit the stove.

 10.30 41F/5C. Bright sunshine but feels cold. The forecast is 7C/44F maximum this afternoon. I should be doing something interesting out[of]doors. Let's start with the trailer. See how much useful firewood is in still in there.   

 11.15 42F/5.6C. Bright sunshine. I split the oversized logs to overfill a wheelbarrow. I am sweating but it probably represents a whole day's worth of logs. Why does the timber yard operator not split these large logs using the power of their hydraulics? Laziness? If an old fart, like me, can split them with a maul. Then they aren't much of a problem. 

 I emptied the trash wood splinters in the trailer into its large container. For possible heating emergencies. Or useful kindling. The real garbage wood dust goes down to the path at the bottom of the garden. Some wildlife might enjoy it.

 It is over 80F in the greenhouse. So I have opened the internal doors to share the warmth. The room is still only 61F/16C but should warm by a few useful degrees. All without lighting the stove. Which is far more important. Full sun all day today. Rain all day tomorrow. Use it if you've got it. 

 13.00 The heat exchange between the 90F greenhouse and the [now] 65F indoors is too weak. I have tried opening a window out to the greenhouse but now it feels like a cold draught. Ideally the greenhouse would have top and bottom vents in the house wall. To form a natural circulation system. This is not possible in this house. A pillar fan in front of the greenhouse door might help. To cause forced circulation into the dividing hall between the kitchen and living room. 

 The white painted house wall does not offer much heat gain or storage. Measures 28C/82F The inside of the same wall is showing 18C/65F. So it is tracking the room's air temperature. The greenhouse floor is bare brick on sand. So must be absorbing some heat. If only a little. Which will probably be released overnight. I cut down the front hedge to shoulder height. To allow winter sun to reach the greenhouse floor. Though the sun is already far too high to worry about the beech hedge now. 

 13.20 44F/6.7C. Both the living room and kitchen are now showing 66F/19C. I have opened more windows in the greenhouse covered, house wall. Even if the warm air doesn't come directly from the greenhouse. The sunshine passing through the open windows will warm items indoors. The carpet is showing 28C/83F! 

 The temperature sensor behind the cardboard is showing 94F/34C. The card itself is showing 34C. I have added a white paper towel in front of the card. The indicated temperature has already dropped 5F. Two layers of paper towels over the white card = a 7F drop. My air temperature measurements in the greenhouse are obviously biased by the sensor's immediate surroundings in bright sunshine. This needs more work.

 13.45 It has reached 67F/19C in the kitchen and living room. Both digital thermometers out of direct sunshine. My LG computer monitor is reading 30C/86F on the screen! Useful waste heat on a cold day. It will also be radiating heat towards my face and bod while sitting around 90cm/3' away. 

 14.00 68F/20C in both the kitchen and living room. Greenhouse sensors reading 85F/29C. 

16.30 Returning from the shops. . I couldn't put the shopping off any longer. Came back the long and hilly way through the forest and into the wind. It felt freezing! Caught up with a chap on a racing bike weaving all over the road. Oblivious to anyone overtaking him. I selected Turbo mode and went past at 42kph. Staying as far away from him as I could. A Dane stopped in his car and asked for directions. 

 I was descending a long hill at 37kph and decided to see how a more streamlined position would help. I hit 46kph with my nose on the bars. Until I sat up again. Back to 36kph. On the trike I used to see 32mph/51kph on that descent when it was still. The road points west in long a straight line. Which usually means a headwind. Only 15km/10 miles today. 

17.00 The kitchen is still at 68F. The room at 66F. The greenhouse at 67F. Despite the sun now being behind the tall shade and wind protection bushes. I have all the cycling clothing hanging up out there to dry.

 The white van is still outside the house next door. So something might be happening after standing empty  for two years. It was already black with mould two years ago. When I had a peak in through the windows. Which can't be healthy.

 18.00 38F/3C. Clear, with the moon overhead. I have lit the stove and brought in the cycling clothing to dry indoors. It is too cold in the greenhouse, at 56F/13C and falling fast, to dry anything properly. I have caught up with the laundry backlog. I know it should be washed soon after wearing something. Another roundtoit.

 Dinner was a bit of a disaster. How badly can poached eggs on toast go wrong? One of the eggs was full of water like a bladder. I foolishly thought it was just the white. It promptly burst onto the toast making it all wet. So I had to start again with the toast. Luckily both eggs were still warm and tasted fine after a change of bedding.

  ~o~

16.02.2024 64km/40 mile ride.

 ~o~

 Friday 16th 47F/8C. Unusually mild, heavy overcast. Possible showers around lunch time. Up at 7.15 after earlier failed attempts at lift off. Strangely hyperrealistic dreams again. I was in an extremely hilly city with lots of traffic and pedestrians. Asking for directions to somewhere which I thought I knew to exist. Though not in this reality.

 8.30 Aching all over when I got up. I now realise it was lifting mattresses and bricks which have probably caused the muscle pain. I thought it was the museum. Now I am going of a walk. The stove can wait. 63F/17C in the room.

 9.15 Back from my walk. The hazel catkins are everywhere. It took longer than normal to walk off my lower back pain. So I couldn't shorten the distance today. The sky was nearly 50% blue as I retraced my steps. The flail tractor had clipped the hedge on one side of the road but not the other. It had left a broad swathe of mud. Which forced me out into the road. With no chance of escape to the muddy verge when cars failed to drive around me. Though most of them did. 

 A huge and long, low loader, with a similar trailer, went wide on a sharp, 80º blind bend. It was obvious why. The drooling moron behind the wheel was using his mobile phone handheld. Lucky there wasn't a school bus going the other way and using half of the opposite lane. As they usually do. Despite the double white lines. Which have recently been restored but are already beginning to wear. Global headlines are only ever a fuckwit's idiocy away!

 9.45. Sunshine? I had better have a ride. I found my waterproof trousers the other day. They can go in a pannier. Just in case I am back too late to miss the promised, lunchtime rain.

 10.15 Finally dressed and ready for a ride. Circling several charity shops I think.

 14.30 61F/15C in the room. Returned from a 64km/40 mile ride to several charity shops. Disappointed to find the last and furthest away is closed on Fridays. I found another Jamie Oliver Tefal frying pan in a smaller size. In good condition by the look of it. I paid 25 kroner. Which is about £2.90.  

 I had been hoping to add a smaller version of my own largest pan. Which has revolutionised my cooking. After struggling for ages with the enamelled pans Which I had inherited from my late wife. Now I can put away the enamelled pans and enjoy my cooking. Oh, dear. The "new" pan is the same size as the other one! Not to worry. Still useful if it has retained its non-stickiness.

 It was raining hard as I left and kept it up for ages. So I had to stop and put on the waterproof  trousers. They were stiff and uncomfortable. So I took them off again as soon as it brightened up. There was even some watery sunshine at times. I was fighting the wind for much of the ride. 

 Flooded fields everywhere again. Riding through the deep puddles on the roads was a mistake. It washed the mud off the tires but soaked my trousers! I ate two small choccy bars but had nothing to drink. The battery charge dropped from 100% to 16%. Which is close to shut down. 

 The B67 saddle was weird. I started feeling some discomfort at 40km. Then it went away. Sort of. I wore padded racing shorts under my thin and stretchy, cycling trousers. The B67 is already showing signs of sagging and shaping itself. This is not a criticism. It is what is expected for saddle comfort. I shall avoid re-tensioning it until I see how it goes.

 A couple of blokes were poking about in the sheds next door as I rode down the drive. I could see them through the bare hedges. They had a white van open at the back and a silver car. There is no way of knowing if they are supposed to be there. There's not much left to steal. Not my place to get involved in the security of an empty home. They could get nasty if they knew they'd been discovered. They might have been tipped off that there was some building materials left lying about. 

 Dinner was sausages, mushrooms, egg and chips. I need not have turned the egg. I used the original [new] frying pan. The recycled one has been washed up and is being further soaked overnight. Just in case of some unwanted residue.

 I reached down for a damp cloth on the bathroom floor and it fell strangely cold. A salamander was sitting on top of it! Both the cloth and the wildlife were black. So it was perfect camouflage. I carried the salamander to the greenhouse. No idea how they are still getting into the bathroom.

~o~