bookmark_borderiTunes / Airplay issues – FIXED

“It just works”, they said.

“Except when it doesn’t” they didn’t say.

What follows is a bit of a rambling post about random playback issues I’ve experienced when using iTunes to stream music to an Airplay. Simply put, for no reason I can fathom, iTunes playback across Airplay will stop. The track is still playing in iTunes but there is no sound passed to Airplay. Searching for this issue has helped me narrow it down to the problem being iTunes, beyond that I’m stuck.

Read on for some lessons learned…

Continue reading “iTunes / Airplay issues – FIXED”

bookmark_borderPlumbed

I keep forgetting. I have conquered (partially) my fear of D.I.Y.

A couple of nights ago I happened to check under the sink for something, and found that the plant tray which, luckily, sits under the sink was full of water. So the sink was leaking. I would have to fix it. I hate fixing things, I hate maintenance of things, don’t mind doing new things, but someone else can look after them (I’m part Resource Investigator, part Implementer).

Undeterred I decide to tackle the problem, after all it’s probably just a minor problem. So I cleared out under the sink, got buckets, cloths, tools etc (Will I need a hammer? Ummm maybe?). I thought the problem was the joint between the U-bend and the drain in the sink. So I undid it, checked for blockages (yeuch), and re-sealed the joint. Even had the right tape. Turned on the tap and saw that the water was actually pouring out through a dud washer that was supposed to seal the drain to the U-bend – following me so far?

I was getting pretty annoyed by this point, and realized I’d need to replace the drain or at the very least get a new washer. More annoyance.

At that point I was close to calling a plumber. It seems that is the answer my generation increasingly uses. We don’t seem to have inherited our fathers ‘skill’ at D.I.Y. (I use the term skill advisedly, my Dad is excellent at making things and doing things, I’ve witnessed others who shouldn’t be allowed to hold a screwdriver even if they were standing in the middle of an open field, just in case…). Why is that? What’s so different about me that causes me to fear this kind of thing? Putting up shelves, wiring new sockets, installing curtain rails – none are really that difficult, and I remember helping my Dad as he crawled about under the floorboards trying to put in another socket (I feel sorry for the people who inherit my parents house, if they decide to rewire the kitchen and shut that part of the circuit down, they will find certain lamps and appliances throughout the house will mysteriously turn themselves off). I am intelligent enough to follow instructions, and intelligent enough to know when not to. Yet I just don’t feel inclined to do any of this. Strange, but I digress (and at some length it seems).

To shorten the story, I replaced the U-bend, drain and overflow on our kitchen sink, and have spent the last 3 days listening to the gurgling of water pouring down the sink that I FIXED. Very chuffed with myself, but feeling ridiculous about it. What a strange world I live in.