Morning all, I hope I find you all well. I must admit I’m only dipping in here at the moment to see what’s going on and to update some old posts. I currently have 16 posts in draft and that’s down from 21 a couple of months back, so I am actually starting to clear the backlog if not at an exceptionally slow pace.
About right….
Failure: I deleted one project last night that had been in draft since May of last year, it was a work in progress and I was hoping to complete it last night when I confirmed the issue was terminal and there was no way it could ever be fixed. It’s a shame as it was a big post and I had learned a lot from it but it just wasn’t to be. I’m not happy at spending so much time on a project just for it to be a failure, and you good people don’t need to see that either. So I’ve just put it down to experience and chalked it off. Today the whole project will be dismantled and parts will be salvaged with the absolute minimum going to scrap.
Time wasting: I don’t know if anyone else out there has experienced the estate agent tourist phenomenon. We’ve had our house up for sale about two weeks now and have so far had a number of people allegedly showing interest. I say allegedly as I think the whole estate agent “thing” is farcical. There used to be a time when you had to prove to the estate agent that you had the funds, or your own property was itself on sale before viewing a property on their books.
Well one of those people who “Viewed” opened up to me by saying he had no intention of buying our house, he didn’t want to buy any house, he and his wife have days out where they just pick an area and go and have a nose around other peoples property. Yes, for them it’s a bloody day out, just like you’d visit a stately home or a pub, they just go to nosey around peoples homes, with absolutely no intention of buying.
To say this kind of boiled my piss is an understatement. The estate agents really got it that day. The bloody cheeky sods. I suggested they sell tickets and maybe we could sell ice creams as the clients came through the door. I don’t think he understood my sarcasm…
Apart from all of this things have just been so busy that unfortunately word press has had to take a back seat. I still get notifications, some very annoying, considering some of my posts have taken weeks, even months to put together someone manages to read about 15 of them in about 30 seconds, serial likers, the one thing I find incessantly annoying about this platform.
Hey ho, I need to go now as you can probably tell I’ve not had a lot of sleep and I’m acting a little out of character. Time to go before I become bitter and twisted.
Did you know Arsenic used to be used as a green pigment back in the day? This is an interesting read by the guys at Hackaday. Thousands of books have been quarantined over concerns of the amount of poison in the pigment, this post covers what they are doing to separate the good books from the bad. Do you have any of these green stained books on your shelves? Don’t worry if you do, just refrain from licking them for too long…
You probably do not need us to tell you that Arsenic is not healthy stuff. This wasn’t always such common knowledge, as for a time in the 19th …
Meaning just where the hell have the last six months gone. Sit back and blink and that’s half the year already gone. It’s amazing that once the better weather kicks in just how quick it just all seems to cascade by, if only you could put the brakes on time and just enjoy it a little bit longer.
The garden has bulked up after the perfect mix of rain and sunlight, and is about to abruptly burst into colour, some of them are impatiently exploding already and it’s starting to look lovely. But it will all be over too soon and that barren, bleak lack of colour will soon be on us. Oh for year round colour, if only.
Butterfly in my garden
The house is warming up, and as we are in quite an old house it’s the one time of the year when the environment isn’t controlled by the heating system, allowing a welcome break from the claws of the energy production companies. We now have the windows open.
That’s another issue. Opening windows. If like us you currently live near the intersection of two major road arteries then you will know what I’m on about. Opening the windows means you let every speeding, inconsiderate motoring manifestation into your home, like it or not. And the dirt and dust produced by vehicles throttling past your door 24hrs a day means no matter how much you dust, there will be more for you in a few minutes to remove. Maybe time goes so fast as the amount of toxicity we must be inhaling is controlling just how long we have left? Who knows?
Digitalis in the garden
Well the windows can’t stay open forever as you’d never get a good nights sleep if you wanted to, because of the boy racers and bike demons who constantly insist on revving their two and four wheeled steeds as they race off into the distant night.
We have a lovely family getaway coming up this month when about 18 of us are heading off to the East coast for a few days. The nice thing is that there is a great mix of ages from about 21 right up to the late 70s and that is wonderful, it’s great to know the youngsters want to spend time with us old farts, to be honest it’s pretty much down to them that this holiday is being arranged, oh and the usual organisational craft work of my dear wife.
On this holiday all the old fellahs, take a boat to float on the boating lake at Gorleston on the east coast. On the day we travel up, it’s always been a quick stopover and a tradition for two of the older members to float their radio controlled boats they have spent a lot of time and patience on. I’ve always jokingly threatened them that one day I’d build a submarine or military boat that would blow theirs out of the water. This year that veiled threat has been achieved and I will hopefully be joining the ranks of the family boating fraternity when I let my torpedo destroyer loose on the good folk of Gorleston. I’ve been building this boat since it was brought as a present for me by a very good family friend on my last birthday. Its construction has already been touched on, through my blog : PT109 wooden torpedo boat kit – construction and I’m hoping the build and testing of the boat will be completed and published within the next few days. It was always my goal to have it ready for this break. Let’s see what happens.
Pt109 boat kit
About now, is probably my favourite part of the year as I have discussed on here before, May & June, that period when spring kicks in and is a precursor to the oncoming summer. But as I’ve said earlier it is all over too soon.
And what a perfect canvas is currently in place for the ongoing sale of this property, yes that is in full swing now and the footprints of strangers should start being witnessed around this property very shortly….but in a way I’m not really bothered if it sells or not. I love this place apart from the negatives I’ve stated above, and as you can see they are few.
No doubt the Christmas stock is already sailing the oceans of the world to be in all our supermarkets very shortly. As if summer is not already short enough.
Whatever the season is wherever you are on this little ball of rock floating around in space, enjoy it, have fun and always spare a friendly outlook to those looking in. It doesn’t last long, so enjoy it whilst you can.
In a post I put up a few days ago I did mention that the wife had decided to invite some friends and family around for a gathering we usually have at the end of the football season, (Time goes so fast….) to either celebrate our success or to drown our sorrows. This year it was the latter as we were miserably incapable of putting on a decent show as a competitive team this season.
I stated that I had to put up the gazebo, due to the forecast saying there would be rain. I should have known better, as we are in a Bank holiday weekend it was bound to rain, I wasn’t wrong. Everyone had been invited around to help us celebrate/commiserate and to have a drink and something to eat, we also decided to incorporate a darts competition into the evening for a bit of fun.
Gazebo up and connected to the garden pub, bring on the rain!
The gazebo was suitably decorated with some football banners, food was in good supply in the house and a list of people who wanted to take part in the darts competition was drawn up.
The actual competition was a knockout format, and to add a little bit of extra fun I told everyone they had to have their photos taken in the pairs that they would be playing in, for this I had decided to use two of the “instant” Polaroid type cameras that I had recently repaired. My niece that I passed the first one I fixed on to, was more than happy to assist here.
The nights activity in miniature Polaroids
Pictures taken, lots of laughter and a lot of raised voices and joking about the competition began, 18 people took part and it was chaotic to say the least.
Games underway.
We eventually made it to the final with my nephew and cousin in the final, the younger talent shone through and young “J” won the competition.
Final pairing and the overall winner
I now have 38 fantastic little photos that really show the fun and spontaneity of the evening. We are going to get these into either an old style album or put them up on a board displayed somewhere around the house. Good old physical photos, on show just as they should be, not tucked away unseen on someone’s smartphone never to be seen by anyone else. At least people can look at these and say, “that group of people know how to enjoy themselves.”
I fallen in love again with this style of photo.
An interesting aside came from using these cameras. One other young family member loved these cameras so much she went onto a sale site and brought a broken one before approaching me and asking if i could fix it when it arrives. How could I turn that offer down so I had to agree. My brother in law who was there back in the day of the original Polaroid, wants me to get and fix an original one for him, it’s amazing just how young and old alike were totally impressed by this mode of photography, memories were rekindled, and memories were made….and I’ve got myself some work to do so I’m happy.
Another thing that made the wife and I extremely happy, is when one of the guests, our neighbours to be precise, brought us a gift for our pub which is totally Leicester city football club themed.
Our very generous gift from our neighbours
Last week i wrote of our captain and greatest player playing his last game for us : Jamie Vardy’s having his final party they brought us a shirt they had got signed by him and labelled up with the numbers he had achieved. I guess it helps that our neighbour actually works for the club, either way it was a superb gift that is very much appreciated.
So why are we looking at leaving this area, I don’t know 🤷♂️ our neighbours are just superb people. It’s going to be hard to match them anywhere else.
It’s been quiet in the vicinity today as I suspect there are a few sore heads as the last couple didn’t leave until about 3am this morning, we’ve spent most of the day cleaning up and had to get the gazebo and extra bits down and put away as they are coming to take the photos on Tuesday. I’m working late shifts so I’m not going to be around so I’ve got to do as much as I can to help prior to the full estate agent process kicking in.
Anyway, a great night was had by all, we have some super memories and meeting up with family and friends is always an enjoyable experience at gatherings such as this.
Stick with me on this one, I’ll get there eventually it’s a bit of a ramble but I promise I’ll get there.
It’s 04:45 in the morning and I am awake. I’m beside my lovely wife in a bed in her friend’s house in Sunbury west London. It’s a lovely old house with a beautiful back garden in one of Londons leafier suburbs. I’m awake as I’m listening to a beautiful dawn chorus where the birds have awoken and are obviously discussing avian issues quite vocally and beautifully through birdsong. It s a lovely sound and one of natures most pleasant daily occurrences, by the sounds of it it’s going to be a lovely sunny day.
I’m blessed with exceptionally good hearing. Some may call it a curse but to me it’s a godsend. My wife states that i,”Can hear a fly fart from 50ft away” and she’s probably not wrong to be honest. It’s a godsend, as it seems the female members of her family, yes all of them, have particularly bad hearing and my dear wife is in fact registered as partially deaf, and if it wasn’t for her super duper high tech hearing devices she would more than likely be totally deaf. Therefore, my superb hearing doubles as her safety blanket when I am with her. It’s just one of those strange coincidences in life when you are magically paired with someone to be their help, in their time of need. I’ve already stated in earlier posts how she has helped and nurtured me through our life together. There is truly a mystical tie that binds.
I dropped my wife off at her friends house about 11 days ago, just prior to me heading back north to begin a stint of night shifts. It’s allowed the two of them to have some real good time with each other to catch up and do the things they enjoy doing. Her friend as you would already know, if you follow my journal posts, had some quite serious issues last year with some mental health issues after the passing of her long time partner a couple of years back. The wife switched into full time angel mode to help her, and I remain so proud of them for what they have both achieved. You don’t just suddenly get better from such an episode, but she has improved so much she is pretty much back to the old her we used to know, and have always loved. Thankfully my wife has a constant eye on her, and is speaking to her at least 3-4 times a day, so there is really no chance of her sinking back into the abyss she has just come out from, as my wife firmly has hold of the support rope keeping her back from falling down once again.
The very clock I’m talking about
Now the clock analogy. I love clocks. Good old fashioned clocks that tick mechanically, not the digital versions that silently do their thing within the scope of silence. I’ve stated that my hearing is above par, and you’d think noise would be a curse. Well it is sometimes. In a silent house such as our own that has those very same digital clocks, I do hear everything. It’s an old house that makes noises. Pipes clank, floorboards creak and changes in temperature cause expansion and contraction noises all around. My hearing is such that I’m not at peace until I can associate a noise with the potential creator, yes I overthink even when I am attempting to sleep, i want total silence and that is not possible in an old house.
However at my wife’s friend’s house it is different. It’s an old house, digital clocks do not exist here and all clocks are mechanical, this house has a heartbeat. I have something to focus on and that comforts me into the most peaceful sleep, and awakes me at the other end with the most wonderful birdsong from outside. I love it.
When I delivered my wife here 11 days ago I had focussed on that clock heartbeat in our bedroom only to be mystified as to why, half way through the night the clock had stopped ticking, its heart had stopped. Why?
It became apparent the next morning that I looked at the clock that the hour hand was bent out of shape, and on its journey around the clock face the minute hand had clashed with it and it had come to an abrupt stop. This had occurred, and come to light when her friend had spoken with her step-son and found out that he hated the sound of a ticking clock and had fumbled in the night to hide it away causing the damage to the two hands.
Now as you know, I love fixing stuff and this item needed my help. The hands were very delicate and to be honest I didn’t think they were strong enough to take being bent back into shape. I used some tweezers and gently moved them back into position and I was able to restore that heartbeat.
I sit here now writing, getting great comfort from that ticking in the background. I don’t know why, I can only presume that like a child laying against its mothers breast, they gain great comfort from hearing their mothers heart beating. Maybe it’s the same with me? That constant, accurate non stop repetitive sound gives me something to focus on, turning my good hearing away from all the other little distractions that keep me awake.
I know one thing, I’m on the lookout for a good old fashioned mantle clock, or wall clock to have within listening distance of the bedroom at our house, that I can focus on.
I wish I could have been a horologist, working on clocks is tantamount to being a heart surgeon in my eyes. A most fantastic invention, and how I would love to be someone who looks after these fantastic mechanical masterpieces, however my eyesight is what lets me down here. But guess what? My wife’s eyesight is perfect. See, we are truly made for each other!
A title that sounds like an intro into the latest episode of Sesame Street, refers in reality to a question my wife has put to me over the last few days.
How many projects do you have on the go at present?
Now, she wasn’t asking how many types of different projects i get involved in, she was specifically asking due to the amount of deliveries that i am currently getting from online sale rooms and auction sites. I didn’t honestly think about it at the time, I wasn’t aware of the actual number, however i am now very aware.
A selection of outstanding repairs that I have in draft mode
And that number is 21. I have that amount of draft repair posts on this platform awaiting completion. Some are quite complex and demand time that i just don’t have at the moment, others are awaiting components that are needed to complete them. My wife, bless her has pointed out to me that rather than obtaining yet more items for repair, wouldn’t it be better if i just cleared the back log first? She is of course right, and a small selection of those draft posts awaiting attention can be seen in the photo above.
Not only do i have a back log, i also have a number of boxes that are full of now, fully operational items varying from microphones and cameras all the way through to a working music system. I think i need to break away from sentimentality and start to move some of these items on. To be honest this would be the best thing to do as it would release some funding for a few other projects that i wish to look into in the near future, and it would also create some extra space at home.
I love being busy that’s just me, knowing i have a batch of drafts awaiting allows me to spread my focus over a wider area of interest. I do pop into them all occasionally and just add a few lines here and there, or an item of interest that I’ve just remembered, so they are all in fact works in progress. I do need to concentrate on that backlog though, and maybe reduce that backlog to probably 5 or 6 repairs in total.
This whole website/ blog thing has been something that I have really put my heart into, I’m by no means an ace practitioner of blogging practices and I have never set out to be such a person, and will definitely never be one. I started this site purely for my own benefit, an extension to a journal i used to keep at home, that i may have discussed within these pages a few times previously. I’m not trying to teach anything, it’s a personal record of my failures, my learnings and achievements, and it just works just fine for me.
I really don’t understand how it has now gained a good few followers, I never expected that but I am eternally grateful to everyone who reads a post or comments upon them. That said i would still do the same if there was no one paying an interest in what is posted. Again, as stated earlier in this post, it was always set up as a personal journal. And it has worked for me. It has been a good well being tool.
So. I have temporarily agreed to cease any further purchases until I’ve got the backlog under control, and I’ve also agreed to employ a one in, one out policy in regards to all repairs and incoming projects, and believe me there are some quite complex ones to be published shortly.
Got exited originally as I thought this said favourite bands, had to sit back down and rethink my reply, as well as putting away my collection of R.E.M memorabilia.
So Brands it is then. I have no real affinity to brands to be totally honest, I have Apple devices, and Dyson devices at home but to be honest with you I would be just the same if they were Samsung phones or a Shark hoover, as long as they do the job I’m not that fussed.
Lindt shop Wembley
Chocolate though is a whole different topic. I love chocolate, but my go to brand has always been Lindt. I don’t think you can beat or replicate the taste of their offerings. I will actually go out of my way to purchase from their own shops. Some people prefer Cadbury chocolate, but to be honest if you go to any branch of Aldi and try their own brand fruit and nut bar you will be hooked. It actually has fruit within and that is something the Cadburys bar severely lacks.
So it’s Lindt chocolate for me. No contest.
And as for Coffee it can only be this bad boy.
Skull Crusher it does what it says on the bag
At work where we are fighting fatigue through long hours of working a 24hr Roster, you cannot beat this coffee. Too much and your heart rate is racing and you will be awake for the next millennium, just like a fine wine or good medicine it has to be taken in moderation. But by heck, does it make you alert. Just what you need, and that’s why we have a tea kitty that we all contribute to so we can keep a good stock of it at hand.
So no real fancy brand expense for me, as long as I have good Chocolate and good Coffee, then Dave’s a happy chap.
List the people you admire and look to for advice…
I guess we will all at some time look to a mixture of people for different kinds of advice.
Contentment
For emotional advice there is no one but my wife who I’d turn to in the first instance. I think for her, I’d fit that bill as well, heck, we’ve been together so long we sometimes know each other better than we know ourselves. She’s my confidante and I know anything we discuss stays totally between us. She’s just such an understanding and calm influence for me. I need that sometimes. Don’t misunderstand me, when she cracks she goes full loop de loop, and is known in the family as the Rottweiler, you just don’t cross her. And when this does rarely occur I’m the one that calms her. God, we were truly meant to be together to keep each other at peace. So far so good.
At work I’m in probably the best work team I have known in all my working days. We are always there for each other, there is always support for each other 24hrs a day, and when things get a bit too much, there is always a calming elder figure to talk to. I guess that is why it’s recognised in our organisation that our depot pretty much runs itself, with no issues and no need for guidance, we self manage and are a well oiled machine in all aspects. The guys I work with are just the most fantastic, supportive and caring bunch you could ever work with. And a combined fabulous sense of humour doesn’t go unnoticed.
Work
Outside of these two highlighted above, I look to some older and much wiser friends, elders of my life if you like for that additional advice, that advice that sometimes you just have to run past someone on the fringes of your group, to see if you are thinking it all out correctly, and addressing any issues logically.
I don’t really look to anyone else in my family group for advice, but saying that it is sometimes good to discuss approaches to issues with the younger members of the family to see their reactions and ways of dealing with similar issues. Sometimes they just seem to have a less tangled and somewhat easier approach to problem solving. Some times though they don’t.
So here I guess I am saying, that I can advise the younger generation from an experienced point of view, but at the same time I must be open to learning from them. It really is two way traffic.
Advice must be listened to and acted on, if we are to learn how to deal with a multitude of problems/ issues. Taking advice and not following through with it achieves noting and leaves you empty and confused. And that is where the “What ifs” arise. Good advice can definitely alleviate doubt.
This is going to be quite a short post. Do I vote? Yes I do.
And if apathy has gotten to you and you don’t vote, do you have the right to complain when it all goes wrong? You could have made the difference, but you just couldn’t be arsed, could you?
Many good people died on the way to ensure we all have a right to vote.
Do your duty for you and your fellow citizens, make your voice heard. Kick apathy into touch, then maybe we might not end up with so many half wits in positions of power.
Currently I’m in the west of London in the Sunbury on Thames area. I’ve brought my wife down to spend ten days with her friend as I’m about to embark on a long stint of night shifts. It will allow them to spend good time together. I shall be heading back to the East Midlands later today on my own.
Anyone who reads my posts will know that last year we spent a lot of time down here as her friend went through quite a bad episode of poor mental health. My wife assisted her through that, and helped put her on a care plan and arranged for her to have visits, so she could be checked on regularly to ensure she was receiving the necessary care and attention that she required.
I’m pleased to say all that worked out well, her friend has recovered and is back to her old self, confident and strong willed, you’d have thought nothing had happened. She has been weaned off her medications by the doctor, the welfare visits have ceased and it is so wonderful to see her back to her old self. We all need a little care and attention at times, and it certainly helps. And it’s good to have such a friend as my wife.
Azalea
And the above picture from her garden sums it all up for me. Last year there was none of this, the garden, though well kept lacked colour. This year it is so different and is ablaze with colour. This is what she is capable of, producing things of beauty just like this fantastic Azalea plant.
I’m lucky if my Azaleas get just a few flowers each year. She is so talented when it comes to gardening.
As I’ve always stated, never show envy, always turn that into appreciation and that’s what I have done here, she has such a talent, she is so capable and knowledgeable and I can only appreciate that I will be a better person, a better gardener by listening to the wisdom of those such as her.
Foxes Den 
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