Nina's Blog - Friday 26th September 2025
Friday 26th September 2025, 14:32
Been busy all morning. Just checked in to the Laguna Hotel in Bournemouth. The room is clean and has an ensuite loo and shower, kettle and tea, etc. It's well maintained but obviously hasn't been seriously upgraded since the 1960s, it has single glazed steel framed windows! There is also no soundproofing etween the floors and I can hear the floor creaking above me when people walk about.
On the way I stopped at Marlborough. I was going to go to the Coffee Lab but it was so busy tat there was nowhere to sit. So I went to the Polly Tearoom instead which had plenty of space. Had a somewhat overpriced cream tea. The WiFi didn't work there. The service was slapdash and what was delivered didn't match what was on the menu which claimed that berries and extra hot water were included but they were not. The waitress did come to the till to hand me my forgotten sunglasses though.
Next stop was Amesbury to charge my car ready for the channel crossing. While waiting I thought I'd get coffee and cake and use the WiFi at the Holiday Inn which has put notices saying the people charging at the Tesla chargers get a discount on food and drink. So I went in, collected a slice of coffee and walnut cake from the counter and went to the bar to order coffee. I was abruptly asked if I was staying there, when I said no I was informed that I had to wear shoes. It was a curious way of putting it I thought. Did the barman mean that if I had said yes that bare feet were allowed? Anyway I didn't bother saying anything, I just put the cake down and walked out.
While sitting in the car waiting for it to finish charging I mused about the damp. I think the torrential rain in Honicombe must have got into the car because the carpet in both front foot wells is damp and there is a strange watery look to the edge of the instrument cluster screen.
The carpet can be dried just by putting a fan heater in the foot well but it's probably not a good idea to heat the instrument cluster quite so much. Perhaps a hairdryer from some distance might be worth a try.
And of course questions arise: how did the water get in, will it happen again, has it already done some harm, how can it be prevented?
Been busy all morning. Just checked in to the Laguna Hotel in Bournemouth. The room is clean and has an ensuite loo and shower, kettle and tea, etc. It's well maintained but obviously hasn't been seriously upgraded since the 1960s, it has single glazed steel framed windows! There is also no soundproofing etween the floors and I can hear the floor creaking above me when people walk about.
On the way I stopped at Marlborough. I was going to go to the Coffee Lab but it was so busy tat there was nowhere to sit. So I went to the Polly Tearoom instead which had plenty of space. Had a somewhat overpriced cream tea. The WiFi didn't work there. The service was slapdash and what was delivered didn't match what was on the menu which claimed that berries and extra hot water were included but they were not. The waitress did come to the till to hand me my forgotten sunglasses though.
Next stop was Amesbury to charge my car ready for the channel crossing. While waiting I thought I'd get coffee and cake and use the WiFi at the Holiday Inn which has put notices saying the people charging at the Tesla chargers get a discount on food and drink. So I went in, collected a slice of coffee and walnut cake from the counter and went to the bar to order coffee. I was abruptly asked if I was staying there, when I said no I was informed that I had to wear shoes. It was a curious way of putting it I thought. Did the barman mean that if I had said yes that bare feet were allowed? Anyway I didn't bother saying anything, I just put the cake down and walked out.
While sitting in the car waiting for it to finish charging I mused about the damp. I think the torrential rain in Honicombe must have got into the car because the carpet in both front foot wells is damp and there is a strange watery look to the edge of the instrument cluster screen.
The carpet can be dried just by putting a fan heater in the foot well but it's probably not a good idea to heat the instrument cluster quite so much. Perhaps a hairdryer from some distance might be worth a try.
And of course questions arise: how did the water get in, will it happen again, has it already done some harm, how can it be prevented?
61-69, T
