Guess who got a new camera for his Christmas present ??
This is the result of our post Boxing Day lunch walk along the River Lea in Ware, up to Hertford Lock.
Rabbit passed away this morning, aged 14 years.
He was a dwarf rabbit and had been my daughters pet since she was eight.
We never really agreed with rabbits living in a hutch, but it was kind of foisted on us.
Anyway, he was off his food yesterday (unusual for rabbit) and was a bit wobbly on his pins
Apparently, he perked up a bit in the evening and was moving around and took some fresh greens that were given to him.
This morning, he wasn't too good.
He was brought into the house and made comfortable on a bed of hay in a box. Rabbit was just laying on his side, snuffling and his breathing was laboured.
At least, he had human company and was stroked.
Apparently, Blue, our cat, just sat and watched him, as if he sensed it.
As Rabbit wasn't getting any better, they took him to the vets but he died in the car.
He was only a rabbit and rabbits get killed on the road every day or end up in the pot.
However, any life is precious and all animals leave an imprint on your heart.
I often used to feed him some greens or his favourite treat - rabbit yoghurt drops.
He was very tame and would let you stroke his back and ears while he ate them.
Rabbit will be cremated - no flowers please.
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
W.H.Auden
RABBIT 1995 - 2009 R.I.P
Many boaters ask what the technical difference is between the more expensive Pure Sine Wave inverters and the basic Modified or Quasi Sine Wave inverters.
This one is the output from a Maplins cheapy modified sine wave inverter that I use in the car sometimes:
Even without any electronics expertise, you can see that they are very different and the distorted (almost squared) waveform of the MSW inverter is a compromise between a reduced technical complexity, which allows it to meet the price target and its ability to supply many, although not all, mains appliances.
The pure sine wave from the Mastervolt is an emulation of the mains that you get from your household socket. It is achieved with a lot more circuitry, which results in the increased cost.
Most devices with motors or microprocessors, digital clocks, etc struggle with the outputs of MSW/QSW inverters.
As is usual with electronics, you get what you pay for.
If you don't want to spend all that money on a pure sine wave inverter, then the answer is to run as many appliances as possible from 12 or 24VDC and then just use a small Maplins type MSW inverter to charge your phone, camera, etc.
One of my great luxuries in life is soaking in the bathtub.
I rate it so highly amongst life's little pleasures that we had a separate bath and shower fitted on Willawaw at build.
Whilst soaking, my mind tends to wonder to the weird and wonderful.
Heres bathtub thought of the day for today:
Will the archeologist's of the future end up excavating our landfill to learn more about the way we live ??
Most of the plastic items will probably still be there ?
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