Chocolate Cigarellos (cake decorating) most searched for retail related term

I knew Chocolate Cigarellos (chocolate straws) were popular but crumbs and crikey, according to the Independent, they were the most searched for retail related term last week.

Click here to see the Independent's article on popular search terms: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/retail-words-of-the-week-cake-decorat...

Click here to read my recipe article on chocolate cigarellos last week: http://purple13.blogspot.com/2011/01/those-chocolate-cake-decorating-straws.html

Click here to buy Chocolate Cigarellos (chocolate straws / chocolate curls) from one of the finest online chocolate shops in the UK.
(non-affiliate links) - just interesting.

Public Transport does make financial sense - part 3

Hi.

You'll recall I wrote the other week, lamenting the cost of public transport between our new home of Buxton and Derby where I work in the imaginatively entitled 'Public transport doesn't make financial sense'.

See here: http://purple13.blogspot.com/2011/01/public-transport-just-doesn-make.html

A couple of interesting updates for you.

Firstly, my car was written off during the Christmas holidays (it was parked but the 3rd party swerved to avoid a cat and 'totalled' the side of my car).

So I've been forced to use the bus.

I phoned the local bus depot and enquired about their fares - the cheapest I was told was a Zig Zag plus which allows unlimited travel on Trent buses all day - cost £10.00

I was told there weren't any cheaper fare options.

Fair enough I thought - £10 a day, about what I would have spent on petrol - just an extra half hour on the journey each way and a 20 minute walk at the end to where I work.

However, here's the best bit - when I went to use the bus for the first time (an evening home journey after my car had been collected by the repair assessor), I was offered a two trip ticket priced at £8.50 (providing the 2nd journey is on another day).

But wait there's more! Yes, after seeing another passenger use a Frio (ten trip ticket that gives you 3 extra journeys free), I enquired of the driver and yes, they are offered too (despite what the depot chap had said) so I am now the proud owner of a Frio ticket - priced £47.00. That makes each journey a bargain at just £3.62 (rounded up).

Now that's more like it.

Allday saver, 2 trip and Frio tickets are all available to buy from the driver at the time of making your first journey.

*Please note these are NON affiliate links and information. Prices correct as of 22nd January 2011 - Advise you check with your driver or depot before assuming these costs / journey times are still available.

Replacing the door catch and inner handle on a Smeg Dishwasher - Model Number: DF 612 SE

Replacing the door catch and inner handle on a Smeg Dishwasher - Model Number: DF 612 SE

(*please note - all links in this post are NON Affiliate).

 

The video 'how to' made it look easy - a 3 minute job (if you'd got the right spanner/socket set) and with a little help from eSpares, that was pretty much the case.

 

First off, you need to disconnect the dishwasher from the electrical supply. I struggled here because the socket wasn't obvious on the wall. After assuming it was underneath the worktop and pulling the dishwasher out, only to discover the cable snaked through a hole in the side of the drawer unit. Had I known that in advance, it would have saved 10 mins puffing and panting - Smeg dishwashers are surprisingly heavy.

 

Power disconnected - Note* If you're not sure whether you've unplugged / isolated the right socket, try pressing the power button on the front of the dishwasher and seeing if any of the LED's light up. You may find there's just an isolating switch (normally fused) on the wall above the worktop.

 

The procedure is pretty much as per the video how to by eSpares - click here.

 

I decided that I'd fit a new door lock whilst I'd got the dishwasher apart to replace the door handle lever which had obviously broken. I figured there'd got to be a reason for the handle to break in the first place - a stiffening of the lock mechanism perhaps or a complete failure?

 

When it came to re-fitting the control panel to the door, I hit a problem. It was obvious that the panel wasn't going to go back into place. I thought the problem was with the chunky wiring loom behind the switches - it's very tight and not a lot of slack - perhaps it was not re-routed properly?

 

No, that was OK so I turned my attention back to the new door handle I'd fitted - it was definitely the right way round but still seemed to sit very proud, making contact with the door catch long before the panel was in place.

 

Just at the point where I thought I was going to have to call an engineer out, I found the answer. The door handle has to sit / locate over to parallel plastic ridges. This makes it a little trickier to get a good angle to feed the first door handle locating protrusion into its correct hole but once I'd discovered this, it soon fitted together.

 

A tighten of the removed screws and switching it back on at the wall socket and hey presto - one fixed, fully functioning door catch on a Smeg Dishwasher. Completed in a little over 20 minutes (due mostly to locating the power socket and having to fiddle with re-fitting the control panel).

 

When you're first removing the control panel, after removing the screws, the eSpares video shows the control panel easily falling down at a right angle to the door for easy access. I found this quite fiddly and needed a torch to see where the panel may be caught or hung up, preventing it from just falling forward. As I said earlier, the wiring loom is painfully tight (why don't manufacturers leave a little slack?) and the problem was a fixed cable tie catching on the lip of the main door.

 

Go careful because the edges on some of the ledges and bits inside are quite sharp!

 

You don't want to injure yourself or chaff or cut a wire.

 

So one repaired Smeg Dishwasher - my model number: DF 612 SE (you'll find the model number etc on a sticker on one of the edges of the inner door). You'll need the model number to ensure you get the right parts.

 

The door handle was found on a search for that particular model number but I had to phone eSpares as a similar search for the door lock came up blank. After a few minutes searching, the very helpful person at the other end said he'd identified the right part number - I looked it up and added it to my online basket.

 

Here's a rundown of the parts (and eSpares part numbers) I ordered:

 

Dishwasher Door Handle Lever (ES969873) £4.59 (inc vat)

 

Dishwasher Door Lock (ES1241535) £28.75 (inc vat)

 

£3.95 standard delivery

 

So for around £37, I've saved on a Engineer call out fee (or worse buying a new dishwasher).

 

ESpares also sell the tool kits with the bits you'll need to undo the 'special screws' - they're like a allen key socket but more star shaped. I had access to a set so I didn't need them.

 

A word about eSpares (non affiliate links folks) - Their service was first class - My query was answered swiftly - I could have order whilst on the phone but for the fact I'd already started my online order, I didn't. I got a confirmation when the items were dispatched and when I mentioned them on Twitter, they were very quick to come back offering help etc  (at 9pm in the evening - these people are eager to please). So i've no hesitation in recommending them.

 

photo credit: cushing library

*prices correct at 19th January 2011.

Those Chocolate Cake Decorating Straws are called Cigarellos

 

You learn something new every day - a prime example was the fact that those fancy chocolate straws (or twirls) which you can use to decorate the sides of cakes etc are actually called Cigarellos.

I learnt this after watching the Baking Made Easy programme on the BBC with Lorraine Pascale the other night.

Even more interesting is the fact that, depending on which online retailer you get them from, you can get them in Milk, Dark and White Chocolate.

I was fortunate enough to come across them at The Chocolate Trading Co - amongst their tantalising selection of some of the world's finest chocolates, they do offer the Cigarellos in Dark, Milk and White chocolate, so whatever your taste or decorating needs (a mixture of dark/white chocolate Cigarellos alternating round the side of a cake looks superb), then these guys have what you need.

They offer next day delivery and the goods I've ordered from them before have always arrived well packed and in perfect condition.

(please note - these are NOT affiliate links)

is there still a postal backlog from Christmas?

You hear such contradictory reviews, but the absence of any personal post is no guarantee that there's still a backlog at the sorting office.

However, when you start getting deliveries as late as 5.30pm (by a local 'postie' on his way home), then you do begin to wonder if there isn't some truth in the stories of delayed post.

In our house, we were lucky in that those Christmas orders were delivered (the last few coming on Christmas Eve - Phew!) but of course by then we'd already had to go out and re-purchase some replacements.

However, an order placed with a well known online dvd retailer, on the 29th December has still failed to arrive (as of 14th January) despite claims that the order was posted on the 30th December.

The BBC reported (14th January) of 130,000 undelivered items in a backlog affecting parts of Warwickshire. The Royal Mail have blamed the weather and a change to the way deliveries are being made, whilst in Dundee, there are reports of a backlog of items running to six figures in numbers.

Even the Daily Mail (14th January) ran a story regarding Christmas cards only just being delivered.

The problem could be the result of delivery targets, even though these may be frozen during the busy Christmas postal period, in that once the targets resume, there's simply not enough capacity to deliver the back log and the regular mail.

If you're still waiting for goods to arrive, check with your retailer postal dates and if there is any tracking on your shipment. If you've had to buy something else in the meantime or you simply no longer want the items you're waiting for, then check individual website cancellation and refund policies carefully. There may be cancellation fees or re-stocking fees. If the items you ordered were personalised, then these are usually exempt from any returns policy due to their personalised nature.

Public transport just doesn't make financial sense

My daily commute takes me through 40.1 miles of some of Derbyshire's most beautiful countryside (much of it through the Peak District itself) as I travel from Buxton to Derby. A round trip of over 80 miles a day.

However, with making the move so far from work - a journey time of just under an hour - I thought it only responsible of me to investigate public transport as a cost effective alternative.

Currently, door to door without any timetable restrictions is costing me just under £5 per journey (based on a cost per litre of £1.16) in my very frugal 2.0L, 10 year old mazda.

So first I looked at the train service.

First problem is there's no direct service between Buxton and Derby (and vice-versa). The best way to incorporate the train is to drive half the journey to Whatstandwell (on the A6) and catch the local line service from there. It's a 20 min journey and my office is another 5 minute walk.

The cost for the rail journey alone is £4.30 each way, which by the time I've driven half the journey adds another £2.50.

Next I tried the local bus service. Believe it or not, there's a direct service between Buxton and Derby. Although the journey time's an hour and a half, I'd still arrive in Derby 20 mins ahead of time (but there is a 20 min walk from Bus Station to Office).

Their cheapest fare option is a day super saver type ticket, priced at £10. This would include both journeys.

Now I know you're going to say "Yes but you've got other costs associated with a car - tax, insurance and servicing". Quite so but accepting that I still need a car at least once a week when I go 'off-route' to pick up my children or collect shopping, then those costs are pretty fixed anyway, regardless if i use my car to travel to work or not.

"Ah but fuel costs will rise" - again quite so but any major fuel costs rises will have to be passed on by Bus and Rail companies (in particular) in their own ticket prices (and very often their price rises have been well above inflation).

The positives for using my car are that I can travel door to door (Buxton gets lots of snow - do I really want to be standing around at a cold bus stop or railway platform?) and at exactly the times to suit me - when I get up and if I decide to stay late at work. Plus I won't have to be paranoid about missing a service or being late because a service doesn't run to timetable.

Lets forget about the rail option - I've never been a fan - especially since I learnt that it is cheaper to buy two tickets rather than buy one long journey ticket.. but I did think the bus service would give my car habit a run for its money.

Of course I've still got the bus option if ever my car isn't on the road or the weather turns nasty but for now, for me anyway, public transport doesn't make good financial sense.

Which is a pity.

If I had a motorbike and felt compelled to brave the cold and ride the thing, that would be cheaper still, but I don't.

What's your experience of the cost effectiveness of commuting via public transport rather than using your car (routine running costs not included)?