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Hi, Rusty!
Hi, Rusty!
Job done!
The engineer was correct - the modification didn't take long - maybe half an hour by the time he'd trekked out to his car a couple of times.
Apparently the machine is quite safe now!
I'm glad that it was fixable as I've been very pleased with this model.
You are correct about Barking......it did used to be in Essex - then when there was a boundary shift ("they" are fond of this gambit) it became part of Greater London.
Like Croydon used to be in Surrey, and is also now part of Greater London.
Up north, my old home town, Bolton, used to be in Lancashire and is now designated as being in Greater Manchester.
Most locals, quite rightly, completely ignore this!

Hello Rusty, Elle and everyone,

Thanks for good wishes Rusty - I have just completed the Concise and have not yet tried to work out Malone's two clues - or rather the clues referred to by Malone.

Weather very very windy - not so much rain (we, here, are decidedly too dry this year and even our river is lower than average) but winds up to 85/90 km which is a lot considering how much inland we are.

Hi, Pigale!
I've been trying to type around the cat! Not easy, as I can see neither the keyboard nor part of the screen!
I'm sure Rusty is right in that we have had the same or very similar clues only recently - I'm just too lazy to look back and try to find them!
We're having nothing but rain again here ......I wish it would be a bit cooler with it - this unseasonable warmth is just not right!
Our local river (unlike yours ) is very high though.

Rusty, Elle, Pigale ...

I'm glad my feeling of disgruntlement - a word I've just created, I think - has been shared.

I think the first part of the answer to 11 D featured recently and 18 D was also given not so long ago. As well as the Londonisms, we solvers are being served up repeats now. It's 18 D if you ask me!

Good comments, Malone!

... disgruntlement - a word I've just created, I think ...

'dictionary.com' doesn't agree:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/disgruntlement

Hello, all!
With reference to the Barking clue, I looked up "mad" in Bradford's, and barking was there, unsurprisingly, but there was another word in there, too, which puzzles me.
She has "harpic"?
Is Harpic not a disinfectant or a cleaner or something?
Harpic can mean " mad"?
It is not in my Chambers.

Excuse butting in http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=harpic

Welcome, Eirlys!
You are certainly not "butting in" !
Everyone is welcome on this thread. It is good to have your contribution.
I've never heard of "harpic" used in the context of being "mad".
I learn something new every day!

Thank youElle. The joke is said to have originated in the RAF in 1930 or so and surfaced again ca.1945 after the harpic adverts used the slogan