Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 13th February 2026.

Friday, 13th February.

It’s officially: the Tale of the Toaster is ongoing … !

I bought a toaster from Amazon: on Tuesday, just gone.

One that only cost me a tenner, all told: including the delivery charge.

“That’s a bargain,” I thought to myself.

Especially when others on the site were pricier: as were ones at my local Argos.

On my money?

I look for value.

So that price seemed very good*.

Then I say the delivery date.

20th March, this year.

20th March.

When I’d ordered the thing on 10th February!

When Amazon, and the third-party sellers on Amazon, usually take a lot less time!

So?

I’ve sent off an annoyed email to Jeff Bezos.

And, over the course of a couple of emails … ?

Got a solution, and some information.

One?

Apparently, the toaster in question is back ordered!

So?

I’ve cancelled the order.

Two?

Amazon has given me £14·99 in gift vouchers: “as a goodwill gesture.”

Three?

I’m waiting for £10’s worth of refund to go into my bank account.

That’s going to take three to five working days: so will get to me by next Thursday, at the latest.

The day before payday.

Do you know what I’m thinking, right now?

I should’ve gone to Argos in the first place … 

~≈🛒≈~

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 12th February 2026.

12th February, 2026.

OK … did I mention I have a stick?

A USB stick … ?

I’ve got a USB stick.

Several, in fact.

The things are handy forms of portable storage: especially if you have large files you need to transport, files that are too big to send via the usual internet services.

At any rate: I have plenty.

But now have one less.

Some of the ones I have, are double ended: and have both USB-A, and USB-C, connection: that lets me plug them into a variety of different machines.

I had one plugged into my phone, the other day: so I could transfer some video footage from the phone to my Mac.

And … ?

Didn’t eject the thing correctly: you’re supposed to tap an icon on the phone’s screen, to remove the things, safely.

That was a mistake.

As, when I plugged the stick into my desktop, the icon that usually shows up, that tells you the thing was connected … didn’t.

I didn’t get the usual “This Disk is Unrecognisable” message I’d usually expect in these circumstances.

Opening up Disk Utility, and Terminal, to see if they recognised it.

They hung: but worked perfectly when the stick was removed.

But removing the thing gave me the “Disk Not Ejected Properly” message when I did that.

So it was sort of recognised: but not mounting properly.

I tried checking it in my aging Mac Pro tower and back in my phone, and even went to Brentwood Library: to see if their Windows machines would recognise it, and let me format the thing.

Nope: that didn’t help!

So … ?

I asked on Apple’s support community pages.

The communal opinion … ?

Was that the thing was dead, had un up the curtains, joined the Choir Invisible … and should be given a decent burial.

I hate to agree with that: I’d rather be able to do something.

But under the circumstances, it’s been binned.

Anyone who finds it at the landfill it ends up in, is welcome to it.

~≈📸≈~

Just as a final thought … ?

I’ve been having issues with over heating on my Mac: under some circumstances.

That seem to specifically involve Spotlight.

Hopefully … ?

Those issues will be resolved by the update to macOS Tahoe 26.3 that my machine’s alerted me, to.

Here’s hoping: being able to boil my tea on a Mac mini, isn’t a good thing.

~≈☕️≈~

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 11-2-2026 — Leslie Nielsen

11th February, 2026: Leslie Nielsen.

Yes: that’s right.

Today’s introduction video, the one at the start of this post … ?

Is actually vaguely relevant.

I’ve got a cheap toaster on order, from Amazon.

One that cost me a tenner: including the delivery charges.

There’s a problem, though.

It’s something I’ve ordered from Amazon: did you honestly expect me not to have a problem?

At any rate … ?

YouGov sent me a survey, yesterday, which earned me fifty pound (£50): enough to buy a toaster, and have a little left to get some shopping.

So … ?

I order a cheap — seriously cheap — toaster: figuring I’d be able to replace the thing, easily, should I need to.

I order the thing, hit the relevant ‘Buy Now’ button, and get told it will be with me, by Friday, 20th February.

Then get an update, a little later: to tell me the toaster’s been ordered … and will arrive on Friday, 20th March.

Yes: Friday, 20th March.

I’m tempted to say “You couldn’t make it up”.

No, really: I’m sorely tempted to say “You couldn’t make it up”.

Except I’ve got the evidence it’s genuine, sitting right in front of me.

I’ve also got evidence of an annoyed email I’ve sent: to Jeff Bezos.

A thirty-eight day wait seems a bit ridiculous: and tells me I should go to Argos, next time*.

~≈🍞≈~

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 10-2-2026 — World Pulses Day

10th February, 2026: World Pulses Day.

Right … I’ve got the radio on: Radio 4’s Today programme is airing Nick Robinson’s interview with Labour MP, Ed Milliband.

The reason I mention it … ?

Is simply that Mr Miliband is … well … 

Well … is using a lot of weasel words.

Should I be surprised?

Nope: he’s a politician, after all.

~≈🦦≈~

Did I mention I had my weight loss meeting, yesterday?

I had my weight loss meeting, yesterday

And … ?

I’ve lost weight.

Granted, I’ve only lost some seven hundred grams, roughly a pound and a half: but that’s better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick.

~≈7️⃣≈~

Something else I did, yesterday?

Was review of a TV show.

I managed to catch the first episode of Stranger Things 5, on Saturday: and finished the review, yesterday.

I’ve managed to share it on Mastodon, Bluesky and Facebook: but not X, as I’m no longer using the service.

I don’t regret leaving it: but the ability to share these things on it will be missed.

So I feel compelled to ask: would you mind sharing that … ?

It would be greatly appreciated … !

~≈❌≈~

Stranger Things — Series 5 Chapter 1 — The Crawl — A Review

7th February, 2026.

“The Crawl”.

An Introduction.

I’ve officially been putting things off for a while.

Yes: I’ve officially been doing things!

Things that meant finding time to do other things was tricky.

You know, now I see that written down, it occurs to me that it’s not the most informative thing I’ve ever put to paper!

Let me put it this way: I’ve been busy … 

No, that doesn’t work, either … 

Let me put it like this: I’ve not watched a TV show, nor reviewed it, since Christmas.

So … ?

I’m going to remedy that, tonight: by starting on Stranger Things 5: the five and last series of Stranger Things.

Once I’ve had dinner, obviously!

~≈🐙≈~

Just as a thought for newcomers to Nik Nak’s Old Peculiar, or my @MrCuddy2977 YouTube channel?

I’ve been writing this blog since 2008: and in all that time … ?

Done written reviews of the whole series.

But only done video reviews of the fourth one.

When I first got a webcam.

I’m might add more Stranger Things content: but there seems little point doing so respectively.

At any rate, I’ve started this review of “The Crawl” on Saturday, 7th February: and should have it finished by Monday, 9th February.

I’ll hopefully see you then … 

~≈🐙≈~