johnson

Last December I was in the USA. At that time the PS5 Slim was just released there. Not being able to even pre-order it yet in SA I bought one over there and brought it back in my onboard luggage. At that time I was using a PS4 Pro with an upgraded SSD and all thought there is not a day and night difference, it does run quite a bit better than a normal PS4. My daughter was nagging me for a TV in her room so I donated mine to her and bought a LG 50" 4k unit for my gaming setup. The difference going from a 4 Pro on a HD screen to a 5 on a 4K screen was massive and worth every cent ! The PS5 Pro was also announced a week or so ago with the release date somewhere in November. It looks like it will be an impressive console. I Won't be buying it thought because it looks like it will have a good price increase over the current model and it won't be much of an upgrade for me unless I get a 8K TV as well.

I Hope those pink crocks aren't your Boet's as well

"It's in neutral"

Load shedding really became a problem at my workshop. Years ago when load shedding started I built a 63kva generator. Works like a charm and everything goes on as usual. Fast forward a decade or so and it's become a nightmare running it for 2 to 6 hours a day with the last couple of year's diesel price. I Started using it less and less but that meant loss of income and, and , and........ all the rest of the problems I'm sure everybody knows. So same as at my house I sat down and started doing the math. The estimated saving on the power bill and diesel costs together with no down time in production looked good. So I decided to invest a small fortune in a solar setup. I Already knew the right guy for the installation so that was the easy part. The installation consists of 3 16kw inverters, each one running a phase. A 40kwh lithium battery and 72 545w solar panels. It's been in use for three months now and I haven't regretted it for one second. The panels give me close to 40kw of PV on most good weather days. That is enough to power the workshop and have the battery fully charged by mid day. My diesel supplier is not happy at all and neither my municipality.

You will be happy with that unit. I Have the same one and it works excellent. I Have a solar geyser on my roof but there are some issues for it to be at it's most effective. First is it's location. I Had limited space available on the roof so it's not facing the ideal direction to get maximum sun exposure all day. Second is the climate where I live. I Stay in Middelburg Tranvaal and in the winter months we regularly get sub zero temperatures. So in the summer months it works reasonable good but in winter time I suffer with insufficient hot water. The solar geyser on top feeds into the gas unit and into the house. I Also installed a solar bypass valve. It's thermostat is set at +-45 degrees. So if the water coming down is 45 or above it goes straight into the house, If it's below 45 it goes into the gas geyser to be heated and then into the house. My setup also use two 48kg LPG cylinders. My in-laws was staying with me for a couple of months and with 5 adults and 1 child in the house a 48kg LPG lasted me 11 weeks. Currently we are 3 adults and 1 child in the house, we are on 12 weeks and still going an a 48kg.

The panels are all facing the same direction, they are just on different roofs. They are wired 2 strings of 7 panels. The first string are all together and the second is split over two roofs. It's working fine so far but I will chat to him about it. Total PV is 6,44kw. I Use a gas stove and a solar geyser so the loads in the house is not very high. On most good days around here it's producing around 1.2kw PV at seven in the morning. By 09:00 it's charging the battery's at 3500w and I carry on as usual inside the house.

Hey guys. I'm a little late in joining the conversation because I haven't been very active on bikehub for the last year or so because of health issues. Last year November I finally stripped my moer for Eskom. I Got a local solar installer who is highly recommended and very reputable to install a data logger and give me a quote for a installation. The data logger was in my house for a week to monitor our electricity usage. I Got the quote and started doing the math. The saving I will make on the electricity bill and the petrol for the generator combined is more than the installment I will have for financing the installation. So I pulled the trigger and the solar system was installed early in January. Today marks one month since I've last had loadshedding. My solar system consists of the following; Sunsync 5kw inverter Sunsync 5kw battery's (X3) JA Solar 460w solar panels (X14)

Sony Playstation and Gran Turismo......... my addiction that started in 1999 (because I'm a petrol head ) Here's my PS and GT collection on display in my study at home. Besides the units on display I have 3 additional consoles in use . In my man cave I have a 4 Pro for GT Sport and 7 as well as a 3 Slim for GT 5 and 6 that I still play regularly. In my office at work I have a 4 Slim that gets used once in a while for GT Sport and 7. I'm holding out on buying a PS5 to see if they are going to release a Slim or Pro version. That has been the trend over the years so I'm pretty sure it will happen sometime.

Hi everybody. I'm looking for some PS3 and PS4 games. Driving games in particular and to be more specific, these one's........ Need For Speed - Most Wanted (PS3) Need For Speed ??? (PS4) If anybody has something they want to sell please let me know. Thanks. EDIT.....Found the GT's

Ok, so a lot has happened in the last 5...almost 6 weeks. My appointment with the neurosurgeon was on 8 December so lets rewind to that day. When I got the hospital the first thing was going for the MRI. Did that and went back to the doc. I Started explaining my situation and problems in detail since everything started around six months ago. He said that some of the things I am saying does not sound good and he thinks there is more going on than meets the eye and sent me to see a neurologist to do some tests on my right leg's muscles and nerves. Did that and went back to the doc. Without looking at any results he started examining me. He immediately diagnosed two big problems. First was that my entire right leg was smaller/skinnier/thinner than the left side due to muscles not functioning properly. The second was that my right knee and ankle had no reflex when testing it with the rubber hammer thingie due to nerves not functioning at all. He then had a look at the report from the neurologist which confirmed the nerve and muscle problem. When looking at the MRI images it was clearly visible that a herniated disk at L5-S1 level of my spine was completely pinching/obstructing my right nerve canal shut. At that stage I could barely walk, had almost no sleep for weeks and was popping pain medication like a drug addict. Remember this was Wednesday 8 December. I Asked him when was the soonest I could get the operation. He said the problem was that Friday 10 December is their last theatre day for the year but my situation is an emergency and they will make it happen on Friday. The operation was done that Friday 15:00 the afternoon. From recovery I went to high care where I remained until Monday afternoon when I was transferred to the normal ward. I Spent the rest of the week there and was discharged on Saturday 18 December. In the high care you get a regular dose of proper pain meds so I didn't experience any pain. I Was measured before the operation for a back brace to be made. That Saturday morning (11 Dec) the physiotherapist came to see me. She helped to fit the back brace and helped me out of the bed. I Started walking literately 16 hours after the operation. Walking with the physio helping and guiding obviously and short distances around the high care ward only. By the time I got to the normal ward on Monday I could get up out of bed, walk around and get back into bed on my own . In the normal ward I was offered pain meds four times a day (every six hours). I Only took the pain meds at night witch also helped to sleep a bit better. I Got home on 18 December and up to now where I'm standing writing this I have had zero pain and haven't needed to take any form of pain meds. Nothing, not even as much as a Panado. I'm wearing the back brace 99% of the day, sleeping with it as well. The only time I remove it is the 20 min it takes me to shower and get dressed in the morning. I Am only allowed to stand, walk or lie down. No sitting, only on the pony and keeping it as short as possible. I Started walking for some exercise as soon as I got home. The physio said that walking is ok and it won't do any harm as long as there is no discomfort or pain. I Started doing 1-2km walks and steadily extended it. At the moment I comfortably take 5-6km walks 3 to 4 times a week. Since the day of my operation I have lost 8kg. Lastly, this is what was done in the operation and I will also attach pics of the after x-ray. The herniated disk was removed. Synthetic spacers were then placed between the two vertebrae. The two vertebrae was then fused using four screws and two rods that is made from titanium. Bone was then harvested from my right hip and transplanted around the screws and rods. At some stage the neve canal and nerves was checked for any permanent damage which luckily was not the case. At The moment everything is going very well and I'm seeing the doc for the first follow up on 26 January. The operation was done at Pretoria East hospital. The neurosurgeon is Dr. Pieter Slabbert and the spinal orthopedic surgeon is Dr. Johan Nell. These are outstanding docks and I would recommend them to anybody who has a similar problem. The total cost of the operation was R223k.

This image is spot on ! Even my right nut is aching !

That's what I suspect from researching my symptoms. MRI will be done when seeing the specialist.

I Didn't know it existed until I experienced it. Your statement is very true. It's definitely no joke !

Thanks for all the feedback. It is interesting to hear other peoples experiences and advice. So this is my story....... I Turned 40 this year. I Have been working in the motor engineering industry from age 16. I Have done a lot of stupid stuff over the years. I Have had a lot of injuries over the years. I Also had a couple of back injuries but recovered reasonable well from them. Lets put it this way, my mind still tells me I am 25 but my body disagrees. I Don't think I'm over weight but I do think losing 5 or 6 kg's would be a good thing. Sometime in August I got up the Saturday morning and went for a 80-somthing km ride, got home and spent the rest of the day as usual. Got up the Sunday morning and went for a 50-somthing km ride, all good. My sister visited me to collect some pot plants I gave her. Three of them was too big for one person to handle but the two of us managed to load them onto a trailer with not too much effort. I Then had a couple of beers while watching Max win the F1 at Spa. Went to bed that night as usual with nothing wrong. In the early hours of Monday morning I woke up with an un imaginable amount of pain. My lower back hurt like hell but it was nothing compared to the pain I had in my right hip and leg. Since then the pain in my lower back has improved a little. The pain in my hip and leg is getting worst by the day. I Don't know how to explain it but my hip and upper leg (above knee) has a lot of pain, but what is funny is that when I touch the area it feels numb. My knee, calf and foot has a tingling needles and pins feeling with much less pain. I've seen my GP and he sent me for x rays. He told my that he is no expert in that field but from what he can see and from the radiologist report there is a problem at the L5-S1 level. He gave me a referral to a neurosurgeon where I have made an appointment and am waiting to see him. I Have done some research and found a lot of info on my symptoms. The severe hip and leg pain seems to be a result of pinched or damaged nerves caused by spine injury that is affecting the sciatica nerve in the leg. I'm not a wannabe doctor but that is pretty spot on my symptoms. I'm using a scary amount of pain medication and hoping for a cancellation to see specialist earlier than my 8 December appointment.

There is a possibility of this procedure happening in my not to distant future. Who has had this done and how is life afterwards ?