What? No data?!

I have not been active online over the last week or so because I managed to use up my monthly data allowance of 20GB.  Up until last Monday I had been using about 14-16GB per month, but by then (17th) I managed to get through 24GB and 3 network essentially cut me off.  My own fault, and I still don’t know how I managed to get through three times my normal data usage!

Whiskey Mac in Slat Mill Lock, bound for Banbury, Oxfordshire.

So, just as I was thinking about a pre-Christmas update on my whereabouts and activities, I got the message “YOU HAVE RUN OUT OF DATA”.  I opened the My3 page and I was still logged in to my account, but when I selected the upgrade option, it asked for my password and then refused to accept the one I know to be correct.  When I tried the reset password option it wanted to verify my email address – by sending me an email that I could not open because I had run out of data!

The following day I was to have a new water pump fitted (more later), so had to move the boat to Tooley’s Boatyard in Banbury and then hang around while the work was done.  After that I went to Druckers, where I could get a table and free WiFi.  I opened the email and responded as instructed.  This enabled me to set a new password, but the next screen was simply an error message with no links.  There was a phone number, but that was not recognised.  That was enough for one day, so I returned to the boat.

There is a 3 shop in town, so I enquired there.  They only dealt with phones, but the helpful lass gave me a customer services number.

The following day I was back in Druckers, and called the number.  The usual menu, then type in dongle (phone) number, date of birth and numbers from post code – thank goodness for Royal Mail redirect!  (Obviously, my boat has no post code.)  Eventually, after being in the queue for about ten minutes a man announced himself as “Dev, how may I help you?”.  He was very helpful, but his Indian accent would lead to an unfortunate misunderstanding.  He said that I could upgrade to 40GB per month for the same £15, so that was good.  He said (or, at least, I heard) it would become active on 21 December, two days away, and that I could purchase some additional data to bridge the gap.  1GB would cost £5 and I thought that would be okay for just two days.  It turned out that what Dev said was not the 21st, but the 24th.  Normally, when I get a new data allowance my dongle resets to zero, so that I can monitor usage, but it was still showing 24.84GB.  To make sure that I had enough date to place some bets on Boxing Day, I kept offline.  Until now.  As I have now passed the additional 1GB, I assume that I now have 40GB available.  Fingers crossed!

On Saturday morning I finally left Banbury, heading north toward Cropredy.  Three locks later I moored just past Slat Mill Bridge, about a mile short of Cropredy.  I wanted to stop somewhere quiet, where I know I would have broadband, good TV signal, and phone connection.  I also wanted to scavenge some firewood.  So that is where I am now.

Tomorrow I will set off early to moor at this end of Cropredy, so that I can take the bus into Banbury to top up supplies.  There is a bus on Saturdays, but otherwise it’s Thursday only, and just one trip each way.  Depart Cropredy 10:23, depart Banbury 13:35.

The water pump issue was annoying.  The first I knew that something was wrong when it kept going.  That could have meant that I had run out of water, but that seemed unlikely.  Then there was a loud banging noise that seemed to be coming from the radiator in the head, but I had not been trying to use it.  I looked outside and saw water being pumped into the cut!  I switched off the pump at the control panel.  So, the accumulator (like your header tank at home) was overflowing.  Next I looked at the water pump itself.  This involved moving the steps from below the front doors, which needed the table and carpet to be moved, and then moving a panel to get into the space below the foredeck, where the water tank is also housed.  Water was seeping out of the pump.  When I switched the pump on again the leak was, no surprise, worse.  I got Tooley’s to order a new pump.  I probably could have fitted it myself, but Tooley’s would take half an hour and me half a day (mostly trying to find the right tools), if lucky, so I waited over the weekend for them to do it.  Touch wood, it is working properly now.  It is also more powerful, delivering 11 litres per minute, rather than 10, which is plenty for a nice shower.

The water pump is behind the steps and to the right. Awkward.

So, belated season’s greetings to one and all.  It’s almost time to go racing, the big meeting at Kempton Park.  And Saints have suddenly started scoring goals, thanks in part to Herr Hasenhüttl.