Houston, we have a toilet.......

Yes, Jackie triumphs once more!

I got home from the Hole-Making Shop today to find the macerator loo completely rebuilt and working. Things are going 'whiiiirrrr-whoooosh' in the way their designer intended, there is no longer any nasty over-filling or lingering blow-back, so I think she's cracked it!

Fantastic!

This may mean we no longer need the Vacuflush gizmo. The jury is still out on this one.

However, on other blogs, you may have read some very negative reports of the Rutland 913 wind turbine.

Let us make things quite clear:

Solar panels are bugger-all use in winter. The sun tends not to shine.

If you are lucky, (and we are) to have a mooring blessed by much more than its fair share of steady breeze, then a wind turbine is the way to go. The bang for buck ratio is much, much higher.

Of course, as Spring is sprung (however rusty those springs may be) and the clocks go forward heralding longer daylight hours, then your solar is bound to kick-in in abundance.

If the wind is still blowing when the sun sets, though, a Rutland equipped boat is, still, laughing.

Incidentally, Pippin is blessed not only with a wind turbine, but also with a big solar array.

One is not better than the other. They should augment one another.

When the sun shines, it may be calm. When the wind blows, it may well be raining.

Or dark.

Or both.

Every £ invested in renewables is ££££££ of diesel saved.

End of.

In other news, I blotted my copy-book properly at The Hole-Making Shop today.

When we make holes in the highly reactive and delicate material that presents itself, we are seeking to puncture certain low-pressure conduits and extract the material contained. The problem is that very dangerous high-pressure conduits often run adjacent, parallel, or just too damn close for comfort to the low pressure ones.

Puncturing one of the high-pressure conduits is A Very Bad Thing.

I did this today.

Fortunately, one of the Hole-Makers' Guild Grand Masters was on hand to come to my aid. The delicate material was distressed, but not unduly so.

I was sent away to have a cup of tea while the grown-ups sorted out the mess I had made.

Did ever an apprentice feel plain stupid? More stupid than I felt when sent to the stores to ask for a Long Stand? A bucket of steam? Some sky-hooks? Or best of all, a Whitworth Adjustable?

I feel stupid, sad, annoyed, and sorry for the material.

Damn.