The Heating Saga – Part One

Posted on December 13, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Every year something goes wrong with our heating – like clockwork. It’s something different every year and every time it’s incredibly frustrating. This is our first home, and it’s almost as if the previous owner stuck some tape on some problems, and that tape is starting to lose its stick. We’ve had mould issues, that we’ve fixed. Our first summer here, we had a massive ant infestation in the kitchen, where some really cheap filler had been used to hide the hole and then painted over. We got that sorted as well. Then there’s the little things we’ve fixed like a door thresholds that were broken, a leaky tap, as well as a leaky toilet.

The heating though, really takes the cake. Every year it’s something different and this year started right on cue with the downstairs radiators not heating up, while the upstairs one seemed okay. I don’t know exactly when this issue started, but the heating was definitely on two weeks ago downstairs, and then stopped last week. I think it was gradual as we didn’t notice it getting colder down stairs until I walked through the living room and noticed that the radiator wasn’t hot. I checked the others, and the downstairs ones were as cold as corpses. The upstairs ones were full of life.

We called a plumber, the same one who fixed an issue we had last year, and he seemed to find the issue. The three point valve wasn’t working correctly, he replaced it and the problem seemed to be fixed. We had heating downstairs and all was right with the world. But that was too good to be true, the next morning we woke up and the heating wouldn’t turn on. We called the plumber again, but got no response. It was a Saturday, so maybe he wasn’t working. We also turned the valve to manual, which turned the heating on. So we thought, let’s wait until Monday. Then call again and he can have a look to see what’s up with it.

All was well for the rest of the weekend, and Monday he didn’t reply again. To be honest at this point, was had given up hope on him, and thought we would survive until pay day and then get someone else to have a look at it. For what it’s worth the heating was working alright as long as the valve was in manual. It wasn’t cold in the house. It’s important for the story, to note that our heating is on a timer. At 10pm every night the thermostat turns down automatically to 5 degrees, and that’s been working fine up until yesterday, when while the thermostat turned down, as expected, the heating went into overdrive and started heating the house up faster than it has done at any point in the five years that we’ve lived here and there didn’t seem to be a way to turn it off.

We have a smart thermostat, which wasn’t acting very smart and we couldn’t get the heating to turn off at all. In the end, we turned it all off at the plug, and that did the trick. This morning we turned it back on, and it all seemed okay again. We hoped that rebooting everything fixed whatever happened. It kicked in at 8am, as it’s supposed to, and the day went well, until the heating went into overdrive mode again around lunch time. So this time, we contacted the company who makes the thermostat (they were shut last night when it happened, so we couldn’t contact then). They sent us some troubleshooting steps, then one of their team looked into it, who said it was our connection dropping out last night that caused the issue and it should all be fixed now. I think that’s a rubbish response as it doesn’t explain what happened at lunchtime today, but either way since then we haven’t had any issues and if it happens again I’ll contact them straight away.

So by mid afternoon, I was a little stressed with it all. It’s taken a week, and then the plumber contacts us to ask what’s up, so we told him about the valve not working unless it was pushed to manual. He said that’s not good. Then came round to have a look. After a lot of looking and checking things, he thinks something’s wrong with the wiring. We’re getting a second opinion on that, just in case.

In case the above doesn’t make it obvious, I’m not a plumber and I don’t really understand how our heating system works. I just wanted to let everyone know why the film reviews have been a little sparse over the last week or so. Following troubleshooting steps to try and get things to work, waiting for the plumber to turn up, screaming at the wall about the existence, and googling how cold a book can be without it being damaged (you know the big worries of life), has taken up a lot of my time. Hopefully it’s fixed soon, and at least the heating seems to be working, even if it’s not exactly the way it’s supposed to be. Maybe I’ll get to see Violent Night before Christmas, maybe I won’t. Either way I’ll be back to reviewing regularly, as soon as I can. Until then, look forward to part two (and hopefully the last) of this heating saga that’s going on right now. It’s not that interesting to be honest, so you probably won’t be looking forward to more, but it’s coming. I can promise you that.

Thanks for reading and until next time,

Ashley

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Games I’ve Been Playing

Posted on December 12, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

I used to spend a lot of time playing games, too much time to be honest. Recently I’ve stopped playing as much, but there’s still a few games that I’ve played that I wanted to write about. Most of my free time for the last month has been spent playing Fall Guys with Tabby. I know I’m late to the game, but it’s a lot of fun. I was hesitant about starting to play the game as I thought I’d find it very frustrating, which I am at points, but for the most part I’m enjoying it. If you don’t know, it’s an online game where up to 60 people compete in a series of mini-games, where the losers get eliminated until there’s only one survivor. It’s a colourful, silly game, that I’ve been playing mostly on my lunch break at work. I’ve won a fair few games, lost a hell of a lot more. Still it’s been a lot of fun so far and a great way to destress half way through the day.

Something else I’ve been replaying is Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, which I played when it first came out and completed it within a weekend. Now that the sequel has a release date I’ve decided to replay the story, and hopefully get all the collectables this time around before the sequel comes out. I hit a glitch while collectable hunting the first time around that deleted a ton of my progress, and that made me give up. I’m only playing it in bite size chunks, so I’m still pretty much at the beginning of the game. It’s as fun as ever to be a jedi, and deflecting blaster bolts back at enemies will never get old.

Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core Reunion is also out tomorrow, which I’m going to be sinking a lot of time into. I’ve never played Crisis Core before, but I’ve wanted to since it was first released. I’ve heard very good things about it and I think it’s going to be more than worth the wait to finally play it.

There’s plenty of other games that I would like to get around to eventually, like the new God of War, Gotham Knights, The Callisto Protocol, but who knows when I’ll get to play them. I’m also looking forward to the remake of Resident Evil 4.

Thanks for reading and until next time,

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Prom Night – Film Review

Posted on December 11, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Paul Lynch

Writer: William Gray

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Leslie Nielsen, Casey Stevens, Eddie Benton Michael Tough, Antoinette Bower

Rating: ★★★

Prom Night is a cult classic slasher film from 1980. It stars Jamie Lee Curtis (in one of three horror films of the same year, with The Fog and Terror Train) as Kim Hammond, whose sister, Robin, dies in an accident at an abandoned convent. Robin tries to join in with a game of hide-and-seek, which turns nasty as the rest of the children start to tease her, chanting ‘kill!’ over and over at her, while backing her up against a window. She falls backwards, dying and the rest of the children run away promising to never speak about it again. Six years later the group are getting ready to go to prom, and it becomes clear that someone knows their secret and intends to get revenge.

The opening sequence, where the group of children mock and tease Robin and eventually cause her to fall to her death, is the best part of the film. The children are completely unhinged and it’s really unsettling. It’s darker than most of the rest of the film and is the closest it becomes too actually being scary. It also leaves you wondering who you should be rooting for throughout the rest, the bullies who made a mistake of the person who wants to kill them for revenge. It’s a good angle for the story.

Not including the death in the opening scene, which is an accident anyway, it takes over an hour for the first kill to take place. If you miss the opening, then you could mistake it for a high school drama, that just has a dark tone. There’s a little bit of suspense being built, but it’s not a lot, with more focus on dates, pranks, and prom itself. There’s a potential killer on the loose, but it takes a while for the threat to truly become real.

Once it does though, the pace really picks up. The kills are quick, and the ending is brilliant. There’s a twisted darkness to the finale that’s powerful and memorable. Surprisingly, there’s not that much gore and the violence is pretty tame. It’s more implied, which doesn’t really work because there’s not a lot of tension to it. When Wendy (Eddie Benton) is being chased by the killer around the school, it does start to become suspenseful, but it’s all ruined by the stupid decisions she makes. Prom is literally happening in the same building, and yet she finds every place to hide and run to, except the party. It goes on way too long and just becomes annoying.

Prom Night is considered a slasher classic, and it is worth watching, if only to see Jamie Lee Curtis in another horror film. It’s not horrific, but it’s not brilliant either. The opening scene is brilliant and creepy, the finale is great, it’s just everything in between is weaker.  

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Black Christmas (1974) – Film Review

Posted on December 10, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Bob Clark

Writer: A. Roy Moore

Starring: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon

Rating: ★★★★½

Before Friday the 13th, and even before Halloween, there was Black Christmas. A horror film with an influence still felt today. The story, which is based on an urban legend, follows a group of college students who are being harassed by a stranger over the phone, who breaks into their sorority house and kills one of the students, Clare. Not knowing what’s happened to her, the other students, as well as Clare’s dad, go to the police to try and get help. At the same time more phone calls are being received that are increasingly weird and creepy.  

Black Christmas is an early slasher film, and it’s easy to see how this is the foundation that a lot of horror classic were built on, with so many things that would become staples of the slasher genre. The first-person perspective as we’re first introduced to the killer, the police dying while outside in the car while keeping watch on the house, the growing tension as you try to figure out who the actual killer is, and the excellent use of music. It’s all here, and that alone makes the film a must watch for any horror fan.

On top of that it’s also just a really good slasher film in its own right. It’s aged a lot better than a lot of the other films of the genre. Clare’s death is built up to brilliantly in the opening sequence, that swaps between the killer moving through the building, and the students having their Christmas party. You know immediately that something bad is about to happen, especially when the first of many phone calls is received. After that there’s a lot of time given to the rest of the characters to process what has happened. At first they believe that she will turn up, but slowly start to fear the worse. It makes everything feel real and grounded.

It all builds a really tense atmosphere that builds and builds as they continue to get more phone calls, and the night draws on. The ending is brilliant, as all that nail-biting tension lingers in the air with a suspenseful finale that leaves a lot of loose threads. It doesn’t solve all the questions, even though the police think they have everything under control. It leaves you with an unsettling feeling as the credits roll. The music, from Carl Zittrer, is minimal and adds to the tension perfectly. It also set a good standard for the music in future slasher films.

The film is an important part of horror history, and it’s also simply a really good horror film that’s stood the test of time. Some of the acting is a little suspect, but that’s easily overlooked. There’s not a lot of gore, but it gives you enough to make something horrific in your mind. What it does have is well written characters, a dark sense of humour, and a brilliantly unnerving atmosphere. A must see for any fan of the slasher genre.  

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DC3 – Manga Review

Posted on December 9, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

DC3 is a one-shot manga story from the creators of The Promised Neverland, which I haven’t read. I chose this story mainly because it was short and I was looking for a quick read. I’m very glad I did because it’s simply awesome. It’s only fifty pages long, but there’s so much story packed into those pages. Saho Kisaki is fourteen years old the most wanted middle schooler in the world. After she accidentally helped her father create robots, she’s targeted by every criminal including anti-robot groups, cults, and money grabbing kidnappers. To tackle the issue Saho’s father develops an invincible robot bodyguard, which Saho isn’t happy about.

As I read the first few pages it felt very much like I was starting a new shonen series, I couldn’t see how a full story would be told in the pages that were left, as the story was going by so quickly. It takes less than fifteen minutes to read, but it’s completely action packed. The characters are introduced, it takes some time to have some jokes about Saho not wanting a robot bodyguard, some great action, and a really great twist. The main elements of a much a bigger story are condensed, without any of the filler, and it’s a completely satisfying story in its own right. The art is really great, and always easy to read and understand what’s going on. The action sequences are really great.

There’s is definitely room for more story in DC3, but I think it really works as a one-shot. It’s quick, doesn’t outstay its welcome, and really entertaining. It’s the perfect manga if you don’t have much time to read something, and want something that’s completely self-contained. It definitely made me want to check out The Promised Neverland.

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