Posts

"Aurora" - Yes

Image
The last Yes album I bought was back in 2014 with "Heaven and Earth". I had pretty much given up on them after the clowns from the Buggles came and completely f*cked up one of the best bands ever. When Jon Anderson was sacked interest waned more. So why buy this? I heard a couple of minutes played on the radio. At least it sounded like we had turned back the clock. Aurora Tracklisting: Aurora (07:27) Turnaround Situation (05:50) Love Lies Dreaming (06:24) Countermovement (13:48) Ariadne (06:18) All Hands on Deck (03:04) Outside the Box (04:20) Emotional Intelligence (03:30) Jambustin’ (Bonus Track) (04:24) Watching the River Roll (Bonus Track) (04:42) It's a good album. Even those of us that go back to 1969 have been impressed.  Speaking about myself of course. My brother and I went to see Yes at the Royal Albert Hall in 2016. More classic stuff and pretty much the same lineup as today. We Are YES Other Yes blogs: Tales from Topographic Oceans Yessongs

It's Friday...

Image
.... it must be another bloodtest day! This is the third Friday out of four where I have had a blood test visit  This time my quarterly one for prostate cancer and another for diabetes.  At least only one hole this time.

No Bike Today....

Image
I bought this t-shirt a while back from Steelhorse UK. It's XL but when it was a little tight. So today I tried it on, and miracle. It fits. Okay, I am not good at smiling....

Hidden Hearing Test - July 22nd 2026

Image
I cancelled the appointment with Hidden Hearing a few weeks ago. When I was there the last time, the hearing test pretty much proved that my right ear is almost useless.  Their idea was a cross over system that would mean an aid in my right ear would connect by Bluetooth to another in my left ear and trick my brain into thinking I was hearing through both ears.   At £3500 it's a lot of money when my right ear would still be useless. On June 3rd I had an audiology appointment at the William Harvey. I last had an NHS test in 2021.  The audiologist showed me the graphs for both ears. The right showed the same drop off as Hidden Hearing. She also said that the aid I had was a waste of time and shouldn't have been prescribed at all. Imagine a line on the graph that looks like a side view of a ski jump.... Only certain frequencies make it through. When I listen music with my pods or full over ear cans, barely anything can be heard through the right, although it...

Vera Strom First Outing

Image
With the van now at the storage for two weeks, I was able to get Vera out of the garage. Firstly, check tyre pressures; 18psi in the front, 26psi in the rear. They should be 36 and 42 respectively. The "pocket sized" pump has already pumped the four wheels on the van, twice, and now the bike's two. It's really good and quick. There is a review elsewhere. After that I togged up and had a ride to Cheriton Motorcycles to book at MoT . The current one runs out on August 1st.  Unfortunately, I can only book it for noon on the 5th as the earliest.  As long as it is booked with the MoT garage you are legally allowed to ride/drive there from your home,.or where the bike/car/van is parked. That's a Wednesday so I'll have to miss fat club. The mileage when I got back. Not very far but it's a start. Okay. Sixteen miles!!!  On the positive side, it is 16 miles towards next year's Kilometerfresser competition! It actually starts on August 1...

REMIS Rooflight! Update.

Image
We took Malibu Molly to ARC. By 11am they rang to say they had taken it apart. Nothing wrong with it. The cleaned out some leaves etc out of the channels but the gearbox for the winding mechanism is in good condition.  I am flumoxed.  The winding lever wouldn't move at all. They think it was the extreme heat that caused the problem.  We had to endure over a week in 35°C plus heat because it was stuck!!! No ventilation!!

REMIS Rooflight!

Image
When we were away and in the middle of the heatwave we had a problem with the winding mechanism for the main over dining area rooflight. The handle simply wouldn't turn. I couldn't open it. After a few days I decided that as it was closed at least we wouldn't have a problem with it. https://invictamoto.blogspot.com/2026/06/remis-rooflight.html I tried it a couple of times. I didn't want to force it and end up with it not shut properly.  And we still had 12 days of the holiday to go... I contacted ARC to see if they could fix it once we got home. After a few back and forth emails they said they could do the job. I sent them photos of the rooflight and the Remis stickers. Today, I gave it a try. It worked.  Still stiff but started to open the rooflight. It's been stiff to wind since we've owned the van, that's almost 20 months. I didn't think it was a problem until now. It's still going to ARC on Tuesday to check it over. If we ...