and today i have mostly been...

[Doggy]

Sounds like a good plan Steve. If you buy something cheap expecting it to fail quickly, it often doesn't.

And the next 2 weeks are 4-day'ers lol lol lol lol lol

Unless you're dumb enough to the only one that can do HV switching on Good Friday.

[steve_earwig]

Yo ho ho, to the grinder I go... I think I'm gradually regaining my confidence in the thing, I've also put the guard on the no-no side of it - I couldn't do that on the Bosch because it goes further out than the disk but this one clears it by quarter of an inch. No mishaps so far but I'm still waiting for it to jump out of my hands or explode or something but I'm not actually sweating with fear any more. Presently I'm doing the beams above the stairs, I've done one but the other one is right above the lower steps, I have a ladder jack but the clamp for it's been clamped around my long ladder for, erm, 10 years and the bolts are frozen. Aren't I clever? I'm just wasting some time while it's soaking in WD.

No new pictures because nothing's changed much, Dražen the electrician's been (yet!) again and finished off the wiring, he's meant to be coming back later this week with a list of sockets and switches we'll need to buy and then he'll return once more once the plastering's been done to fit it all and switch it on, although he's run a feed in for the shed and that's already on so I have power up there again.

[Doggy]

It's a relief to hear from you again, I was beginning to worry about you and the Zhe Jiang Safety Anglo Grinder.....

[Welly]

I just thought he'd been dosing on the couch with the Cats

[steve_earwig]

Apologies guys I just didn't want to post "I had a go with the new grinder today but after about 30 seconds the goggles steamed up because I was crapping myself and I gave up for the day".

Max came up with a good suggestion, I'd mentioned there are two sewing machines up here, one foot-powered and one electric, so he suggested using the rheostat off of the electric one to slow the grinder down in tricky areas. So I had a look for it, it was right in the corner behind a load of boxes which I had to move. releasing clouds of dust of course. Opened it up and... bloody Eastern Block cheapskates, no rheostat

Presently sanding the beams across the top of the hallway bit, up a ladder, grinder inches from my face. Well, when I say presently...

[Doggy]

Please be careful.
Just consider whereabouts on the scale of excessive hand/arm vibration, via dust ingestion, burns, cuts, falls etc. up to severing a limb or an artery equates to 'worth it to get the sanding done'.

[steve_earwig]

A bit at a time, as careful as possible. Still no problems with the Ling Lang finger lopper, I think my biggest concern with it now is it dying in a shower of sparks, like the last cheapy I bought from Lidl. Blow the dust out regularly, don't let it get too warm, try not to cover the ventilation holes when I'm using it...

I know I won't get this finished in time and Miloš will end up finishing it off. He doesn't seem to think there's any danger involved but I'd be mortified if he had an accident with it, obviously he's self-employed and his family are skint enough already.

Hallway/landing done, sort of, I've just swept it from the doorways to the bottom of the stairs and collected half a bucket of dust. All that's left now is the front bedroom

Oh crap

[steve_earwig]

It's mostly done, I just need to do the bits I couldn't get to with the finger remover and I haven't done the other side of the last beam as the main tizzy cable is hooked up the other side and I didn't feel like moving it. Oh, and I need to go over it with the orbital sander. And, er, paint it with woodworm killer. So it's not actually done at all really

Meanwhile, Mary-Jane, (probably) our oldest puddy tat (estimated at 14) who suddenly lost a lot of weight. She's been to the veterinary faculty in ZG, lots of tests later they concluded she was just old. However, her teeth weren't the best and it's looking like these might actually be the problem as a big hole has opend up in her gum so she'll need a tooth or two removed. Anasthesia is a worry of course, but she's just been thoroughly tested and deemed healthy enough. We'll see Wednesday.

Also, while I've been going to the vets here with Betty and now M-J they had a dog brought in, mostly golden retard but amazingly underweight. Seems he'd been found wondering somewhere but he only weighed 15Kg (Mary dog is about the same size and weighs 40). Mirela had to clean him up because he was a mess, she put him in with some of the other rescue dogs but he couldn't hold his own at meal times, so he ended up on his own outside.



Mirela named him Debeli ("Fatty")

I was trying to take pictures of him to show to t'wife but every time I went near him he just went bananas.

Anyway, yesterday...








We're not replacing Betty or anything, just this guy needed a home. He's a bit traumatized, it took all afternoon and evening to convince him that coming in the house wasn't a crime, hell, he wouldn't even come on the terrace to start off with. Scooter was quite angry to start off with but he seems to have settled down now. But this guy seems confused and barks rather a lot, oh dear. Oh, and he's very very hungry.

Also, I'm thinking Ollie might be a nicer name.

[highlander]

You, sir, are a god amongst men.

These poor guys get dealt a really shitty hand in life, and I'm glad someone like you is around to show them that us humans aren't all horrible.

Massive high-5 and a pint for you. I hope Ollie gives you many years of joyful companionship; he's in really good hands.

[lozz]

Hi Steve.

He looks a beautiful dog.. Fatty?

A'spose you couid always name him harry or summat..

Sorry to hear about the ' putty tat..ihope she gets well soon.

[steve_earwig]

Me too, hopefully if she gets her teeth sorted she'll be back to have normal (greedy) self. Unfortunately she will have to have general anaesthetic and that's always a risk, especially with older animals, but as mentioned she has a clean bill of health otherwise so she should be ok.

A'spose you couid always name him harry or summat..

Harry would be cool but it looks like Ollie is sticking...

These poor guys get dealt a really shitty hand in life, and I'm glad someone like you is around to show them that us humans aren't all horrible.

Sadly the vet's have loads of abandoned dogs (and cats), I don't think there's much chance of many of them being found homes, Croats just aren't like that. I suspect it's their biggest problem and many times Mirela's asked me if we have room for one more dog.

He's 5 or 6, so middle-aged for a g-r, his teeth are pretty good, just one lower canine is chipped. He's been microchipped but there's no record of the number. Dogs here have to be vaccinated against rabies and they have to get a chip at the same time, it's a legal requirement, but obviously somebody messed up.

[lozz]

Ollie is a cool name for it obviously it's gotta be ' better than 'fatty'.
A 'spose the name 'fatty couid be interesting.mind.
'' Couid just imagine calling a dog in..round here ha..come here fatty..I'd get some abuse off her next door
But 2 for sure..pmsl. ( gotta get me self a new dog now )

[OllieNZ]

Ollie approves ;)

[steve_earwig]

[Doggy]

Doggy does too.