Month: October 2016

Why does my cordless Dyson only work for 3 minutes?

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Dyson DC 59 vacuum
Dyson DC 59

I love my cordless Dyson DC 59 which I bought 3 years ago. It’s lightweight, convenient and has great attachments. But recently I have not loved it.

Every time I used it, it would work for three minutes and then cut out, the flashing orange button telling me it needed charging.

This couldn’t be right. It is charged all day so what was going on.

Very simple ( and I feel very stupid that I had not realised). On the head of the vacuum is a large circular button that says MAX. This was lit up in blue every time I held the trigger down. It shouldn’t be. This is the boost button for when you need extra power. Keeping this button operational all the time depletes the battery (obvious) and makes the motor very hot!

Power boosted when blue light on max on cordless Dyson.
Power boosted when blue light on max.

All I had to do was push this button in for a second, when holding down the trigger, and the blue light went out. Normal power was resumed and vacuuming now lasts at least 15 minutes.

Normal power with no blue light showing on cordless Dyson.
Normal power with no blue light showing.

Thank you Beth at livingwithbeth.com. Her site alerted me to the problem and she has some other top tips relating to the Dyson.

Happy vacuuming!

Why did Mark Haddon ‘physically’ attack Amazon?

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WORD OF THE BLOG… PHYSICALLY

(meaning – adverb from the adjective ‘physical’ – relating to the body; relating to, or resembling material things or nature; involving or requiring bodily contact) Dictionary.com

Mark Haddon, award-winning author of ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’, has decided that bookstores will be supplied with more superior copies of his latest collection of short stories ‘The Pier Falls’ than Amazon. They will receive inferior copies. The difference being that illustrations are not included in the inferior copies.

Why has he done this?

Because he feels Amazon is a “merciless commercial machine”. (The Times, J Malvern,17/10/16) Speaking at the Times Cheltenham Literature Festival, he explained that he feels we like bookstores more than we love Amazon because of its ‘physical’ presence. He loves “being in a physical place to talk about books to people in your town” and he prefers physical books, as “eBooks can’t be shared.” He’s not alone in his beliefs. Victoria Hislop (author of ‘The Island, The Thread) also feels “we all love bricks-and-mortar bookshops” and she reckons “most authors spend a lot of time in them.”

Child physically in a bookstore
Physically in a bookstore

She’s right. I love bookstores and bookstores love me, the customer. I revel in running my hand along the rows of glossy dust jackets (Wonder why they are called that?) But most bookstores don’t love me, the indie publisher. The self published writer who dared to take her copies of her book to a bricks-and-mortar bookstore for them to take one look and declare from their pursed lips, “No, we don’t do self published.” Continue reading Why did Mark Haddon ‘physically’ attack Amazon?→

Beginning of a new blog

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WORD OF THE BLOG … BEGINNING 

(meaning – the point in time or space at which something begins, the first part/ earliest stage of something, the origins of a person or organisation)

The picture below shows the first signs of life; a cell dividing and reproducing itself. This is called ‘mitosis’ and is the process of making new body cells. It’s how we all begin.

Beginning of life cell-division (mitosis)
Beginning of life as cell divides (mitosis)

This seems like a good place to start. I am ‘beginning’ a new blog/website to educate and entertain and I’m hoping it will continue to develop and multiply just like the cells until my blog is a fully functioning and interactive site.

‘Beginning’ and ‘cells’ resonates for lots of reasons. I first saw my children as cells under the microscope (IVF). As their cells have multiplied, they have grown and morphed into small humans with abilities, qualities, feelings and opinions! This process of new life still fills me with awe and this wonder inspired me to write a children’s book about ‘cells’.

The beginning of this blog is also very timely with the beginning of my children’s secondary education. Obviously I knew this moment would come but this new beginning has provoked more feelings than I thought it would. Continue reading Beginning of a new blog→