January 2019
10th January 2019
This year didn’t begin with snow, but now we are enjoying some wintry scenes. The evening light on the snow-covered landscape of Lützelsee seemed to me to be particularly full of atmosphere.
And, as you can see, the Tobel Bach, which was completely dried up in July and August, is back to its normal self.
And, as you can see, the Tobel Bach, which was completely dried up in July and August, is back to its normal self.
Compare this picture with the one in my diary entry for 16th August 2018.
Twinkle, twinkle
A few months ago we got a step further towards getting our new flat fixed up. For a long time there was a temporary light bulb suspended on a wire over our dinner table. But then we managed to find a light fitting which suited our needs. Above all I was looking for a system where the bulbs were replaceable and you didn’t have to throw the whole thing away as soon as the LEDs started to become defective.
A friend of ours helped us to install it and we were delighted by the plentiful warm light which lit up our table. But soon we began to notice a problem. Our eyes began to feel tired and every time you passed something (a plate, for example) quickly across the table, the shape of the plate danced around in a disturbing way. The problem was that the bulbs were flickering. Very rapidly, so that you didn’t normally notice it, only when something moved across the grained surface of the table.
I looked it up on the internet. Other people had had exactly same trouble. A few helpful experts explained that the problem doesn’t lie with the LEDs themselves, but with the cheap circuitry that some manufacturers build into them to reduce the cost.
The moral of the story is: don’t try to save on quality, but buy a well-known brand.
So here they are, the offending little components:
A friend of ours helped us to install it and we were delighted by the plentiful warm light which lit up our table. But soon we began to notice a problem. Our eyes began to feel tired and every time you passed something (a plate, for example) quickly across the table, the shape of the plate danced around in a disturbing way. The problem was that the bulbs were flickering. Very rapidly, so that you didn’t normally notice it, only when something moved across the grained surface of the table.
I looked it up on the internet. Other people had had exactly same trouble. A few helpful experts explained that the problem doesn’t lie with the LEDs themselves, but with the cheap circuitry that some manufacturers build into them to reduce the cost.
The moral of the story is: don’t try to save on quality, but buy a well-known brand.
So here they are, the offending little components:
The first thing to notice is that you can no longer really call them light bulbs because they are not bulbous. They are referred to by the makers as LED capsules, a new name to add to our vocabulary.
I’m not the kind of person who likes to name and shame, but in this case I can’t resist it, because there seems to be a certain kind of poetry in the brand name STAR. It reminds me of the old nursery rhyme:
Twinkle, twinkle little star.
How I wonder what you are?
I’m not the kind of person who likes to name and shame, but in this case I can’t resist it, because there seems to be a certain kind of poetry in the brand name STAR. It reminds me of the old nursery rhyme:
Twinkle, twinkle little star.
How I wonder what you are?
Anyway, I’ve now managed to solve the problem by buying a set of new bulbs, er capsules, which have a much more reliable and twinkle-free sounding brand name.
Philips.
Philips.
And they work!
Front page story
Look back to 1665: the Plague Year
Contact
If you’re interested in English lessons or translation and checking services, please feel free to contact me in the language of your choice - English, French, German or even Lingala!
Here are my details:
Here are my details:
Mobile
078 609 56 51
+41 78 609 56 51
+41 78 609 56 51
Location
Tödistrasse 9, 8634 Hombrechtikon
(New address from 24th March 2018)
(New address from 24th March 2018)
If you are travelling from Rüti / Wolfhausen, drive past the Hombrechtikon place-name sign for about 300 metres and turn right into Tödistrasse, just before the Tobel bus stop.
Approaching from Hombrechtikon
If you are approaching from the centre of Hombrechtikon, follow the signs to Rüti. At the Tobel junction (the Methodist Church is on the left) turn left. Tödistrasse is the next turning on the left, just past the Tobel bus stop.
The entrance to our new flat is about 100 metres from the junction with Rütistrasse, on the left-hand side of the road.
The house number is number 9 and we are on the first floor.
There are a few visitor’s parking bays a short distance beyond the entrance, on the left.
There are a few visitor’s parking bays a short distance beyond the entrance, on the left.
Arriving by bus
If you arrive by bus from Bubikon, get off the bus at Tobel and follow Tödiweg until you get to Tödistrasse. Our house is on the right.