Now this is a prompt I like. I’m in My late 50s and I’m looking into this seriously. My boss knows i plan to retire 2 years from my next birthday and the planning has already started to be looked into.
I want to retire comfortable, not looking at massive amounts but something that will keep us as we are currently. The mortgage is already paid so we are fortunate there, and outstanding debts will all be realised within the next 18 months so in theory by the time I do retire we will owe no one anything, so the need for a higher Income will not be necessary.
I am paying extra into my pension and we obviously have a small amount put aside for incidentals, to be honest the future looks ok. Touch wood (That’s my superstitious side shining through
I may take a little no responsibility, part time job to keep my hand in, but to be honest we want to travel, and just take it easy. Oh and my hobbies and garden can then get the attention they all deserve.
That’s of course as long as fate doesn’t throw a spanner in the works.
What’s the oldest thing you own that you still use daily?
The old Three pence piece in the UK, other wise know as Thruppence or the Thruppenny bit went out of circulation in 1971 when we went decimal
And that’s when my dear old nan gave me one as a keepsake when I was a five year old tot.
Three pence piece
So I guess that’s the oldest physical thing I have but unfortunately it isn’t used daily so I guess I’ve wasted my time with this post. But then again I do use money daily, and this was money so I guess I might be able to sneak this in on a technicality.
Never mind, it’s nice to hold it every now and then and think of my lovely old nan.
I was very fortunate to see the launch of a space shuttle.
STS-79 mission patch
The date was 16th September 1996 and the launch was the 17th launch of the space shuttle Atlantis as STS-79. Its mission was to dock with the Russian space station Mir, and to deliver equipment and supplies and relief personnel.
I was fortunate that we were holidaying in Florida at the time, so it all blended in just lovely.
Launch pad 39aKSC Shuttle display
We had travelled to KSC a few days prior to launch and did the full touristy thing, we went back a few days later in the very early hours of the morning to watch the launch and were not disappointed. It truly is a moment that will stay in my mind forever.
Here I purchased the toy I most wanted back in my teenage years. Unfortunately I wasn’t available to get the original MB version produced in 1979 so I had to settle for the latter “improved” version made by Zeon Ltd that was made in 2010.
It’s arrived and to be honest dosen’t look too shabby, needs a bit of a clean up and maybe some new transfers applying but we’ll get to that at another time, for now we need to try and get the machine up and running.
I’ve eventually managed to get the lid off. This unit was built to ensure that it was difficult to get into so repairs couldn’t be carried out. Some of the screws are buried under fascia dressings, and if you aren’t careful you could end up snapping some of the body shell.
Big trak body shellBig trak circuit boardDetached speaker wireDetached battery wireBig trak wheels removed
With the two halves of the body shell detached it’s obvious there are some detached wires. One was a battery wire, one was a speaker wire. Oh if this was the issue wouldn’t it be great? But it wasn’t. I soldered these wires back into place, put the three D types in place and it was still dead.
I’ve now desoldered all connections from the circuit board to assist in carrying out checks for continuity and tracing voltage. I can also check the board under the microscope. I may change all the capacitors for SMD ones.
I started checking continuity and tracing voltages and was doing really well until I got to a large section of the main board where everything seemed dead and unresponsive. What the heck was going on here? And then I noticed the wire had detached from the positive probe of my multimeter thus ending any further testing for today. I need to order some new probes. Well, I’ve ordered some nice new probes and croc clip connectors as well, so as soon as they arrive I’ll get back on with the testing. They arrived and were damaged on arrival, so back to the drawing board.
Big trak worn cogsBig trak worn cogs
I took the drive train to pieces and here it became apparent that a number of the cogs are damaged. I believe there is also some issues with the motion detector but I can’t confirm that until I get some power into the motors. I can’t find spare cogs online so I have ordered myself a second damaged unit to use as salvage. To be honest this new unit has all the transfers in place so I will probably use that shell and the guts of my original unit to form one complete Big Trak.
New donor Big Trak – better than my original one
The donor unit has arrived and boy I’m impressed. It’s in far better condition than my original one, so as expected this one will become the working unit and my original one will be come the donor. Any parts left over will be sold on as spares or even used on another damaged one if I can source it.
My new Bigtrak
If you look at the video above you will see the new Big Trak going through the motions. However the one thing it dosen’t do is turn. Could be a wheel sensor issue who knows. Good thing is that the cogs haven’t broken as the drive wheels are both solid and not free wheeling.
There are only two real issues with the donor here. Firstly it will not do the turn command and secondly, one of the drive wheels is damaged. Luckily I have a spare wheel so this was swapped over, some decals were missing but I coaxed these off my old truck with a hot air gun and reapplied them with no issues.
Missing decalsDecals applied
Looking into the drive issue meant opening the gear box. In here we have two magnetic independent gear controls that should have a gap between them, these two were stuck together thus rendering independent motor operations of the turning control useless.
Magnetic sensors joinedMagnetic sensors as they should be
I removed the two motors and repositioned them and the cogs holding the magnetic gear, this gave a gap of about 3mm that now allows the wheels to turn in opposite directions allowing the unit to turn.
Now the Magnetic sensors are adjusted….it turns
Whilst in this gear box I was able to confirm the issue with my old gear box and it really is all down to two damaged drive cogs that I need to obtain. I’m pleased with that as I could now get two good working units for just a small outlay once I can source some cogs. I will have to repair the wheel I removed to replace the one on my new unit however I have an idea how I’m going to remedy this and again it’s a low cost option. But that’s a job for another day.
2:18 of rebuild magic
So if you look at the video above, it’s the full fix that I posted on YouTube. Really pleased with this fix, again I’ve learned quite a bit about these units and I’m going to have immense fun programming it. My wife dosen’t understand my excitement over this toy, but all my old buddies and colleagues understand it as they grew up in the same era. Maybe it’s the male menopause, reliving the past and all that.
But hey, it keeps me occupied and out of mischief so who should worry about that
This one is going on my shelf so when the kids visit I can show them the joys of basic programming we experienced back in the day.
It’s just after 5 in the morning and the only notable thing that has occurred so far today is that I have woken up.
And to be honest for everyone that’s no mean feat. The fact we have awoken from our slumber is something to be grateful for. You have another day on this planet, another go at trying to have a good day, another day to mend relationships and to forgive those little misdemeanours and mistakes.
Another chance to be a better person.
I’ve had my first cup of tea of the day and my next big decision is whether to make another.
Tea – typically British
Start the day with a blank canvas, and go paint a masterpiece.
Hopefully you’ll get another go at it tomorrow. You just never know.
I only ask, as being passionate in anything sometimes makes people question if you are just being obsessive in your actions.
There’s obsession in relationships that can more often than not be one sided, and lead to a number of unwanted and uncomfortable situations and poor behavioural traits such as stalking.
There is passion in your work, that can also lead to you being seen as a person who doesn’t see black and white, there’s no other option it’s your way or no way!
Passion seems to partner obsession in my opinion, maybe I’m looking to deep and need to step off the gas a little.
What am I passionate (obsessed) with then?
I’m passionate about time keeping, and competence. I simply hate incompetence in anything and it is one of my pet peeves.
I guess I’ve woken up in probably not one of the best frames of mind to answer this question. I’m passionate about a good nights sleep though, but that’s about as rare as rocking horse s**t these days.
And I’m not talking Frankie Valli and his pals, neither am I about to burst into song, you don’t deserve that.
Every season has its good and bad points for me, but I have to say Spring is probably my favourite.
My reasoning for each season is listed below:
Spring: crisp mornings but now is the added bonus of the sun poking its head out, the plants are starting to awaken and the birds seem to be singing a different song. It’s all about awakening and looking forward. This is my favourite season, as it’s all about progression, it seems positive to me.
Summer: Sun, heat all the things we haven’t had and have missed for the last five months should now be here in abundance, however here in the Uk in the middle of what should be flaming June, we have single figure temperatures and even more rain than usual. Mother natures clock seems to be out of sync.
Autumn: Nature is about to go into hibernation, the trees put on awesome displays of colour and the last sprinkling of warm sunshine takes a bow. Cold days reappear and Jack Frost starts to make his presence felt.
Winter: warm coats come out of storage, the common cold hits with a vengeance and crisp mornings and more rain appears. And then the slight dusty sprinkling of snow appears that makes the country grind to a halt, and makes us the laughing stock of the world.
A bit of overthinking and triteness here but I can happily live without luxuries of the consumer kind.
Breathing you will say is not a luxury, it’s as natural as night follows day. But when the ability to do it properly is removed, it becomes a luxury.
Asthma inhalers (Internet)
As a kid I struggled with endless breathing issues and chest infections. Bronchitis has featured heavily in my life along with Asthma and they still haunt me to this very day. In fact over recent months I’ve noticed a quite dramatic decline in my ability to control the condition, as well as other unknown symptoms creeping in. But I’ll hopefully get that looked at when I have my yearly asthma review on Tuesday.
There is nothing quite like being able to get your lungs full of fresh air and not be constantly fighting to catch your breath. But that hasn’t happened for a long time and I miss that.
I’ve never smoked but my parents were chain smokers so I guess I was a passive smoker from an early age. I personally hold them both to blame for what I have suffered over the years, and that is why i hate smoking with a passion. I had to watch my brother die from Lung cancer and that wasn’t pretty, it was horrendous. He was a smoker.
So for me breathing is a luxury that I can’t live without, yes I know you are saying that’s the same for us all – you fool! And you’d be right of course. But for me it is the quality of good unhindered breathing I miss, and that’s a luxury I’m probably never going to experience again.
Don’t poison yourself people, your body doesn’t require it, and you will definitely regret it in later life.
Enjoy that deep satisfying breath of fresh air. It really is an indication that life is good for you if you can.
What are the most important things needed to live a good life?
In my honest opinion this is truly an individual choice. However I can only speak for myself when I answer this question.
Enjoy the journey (internet)
What is the good life? Do we refer back to the old tv sitcom of the 70s with Richard Briers and Penelope Keith, when the good life was living off the land and being totally self dependent? Or is it something else?
In modern society I suspect it is something else, even though many would long to have a similar simple existence as the “Goodes” did back then.
Realistically, that life is not attainable by all so we have to resort to what we individually class as the good life. To have a good life and what I personally would class as the good life, there are a few aspects of our own demeanours that we have to make changes to.
Now I don’t have what I’d call the good life, I have a pretty good life and I’m happy with that. I’d imagine the Good life in truth contains a number, if not all of the following, that we strive to achieve on a daily basis but may not be fully versed in just yet:
Financial security
Job security
A steady relationship
A loving family
The freedom to travel
A good attitude
Humility
Kindness
Compassion
Understanding
We are all probably able to say we are fully conversant in a number of these aspects, however we are more than likely striving to attain these goals rather than exercising them on a daily basis. Just looking at these myself I can see where I fall down, and what I need to do to attain a fully “Good life” but a number of factors will probably step in and stop me ever achieving that.
So I guess I’ll just have to be content with achieving my “Best life” and be satisfied with that. And you know what? I’m content with that choice, as I’m sure many others will similarly be.
Foxes Den 
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