and today i have mostly been...

[steve_earwig]

Thanks! Hopefully I'll be long dead before it needs doing again...

That's right, I lived in it for a couple of years but t'wife hated it, too big, too much traffic, no parking for her classes etc. I kept it going for years but it was deteriorating and I just couldn't find the time to fix everything that needed doing.

In other news, one of the kittens, Archie, was missing for 3 days. I spent hours checking ditches and bushes locally, talking to neighbours and asking other cats (really) but we'd given up hope. Then, this morning, there he is, screaming for grub. he's not really old enough to go looking for girls, and I doubt he'd wander off to far. What I think is it was a bank holiday yesterday, most of the locals also took Monday off, so maybe he was shut in someone's garage until they went to work this morning. I wrote about him in the above post, stuff about murdering the stupid neighbour we have, so I had to delete that bit first thing.

They'll be 6 months old on the 23rd

[Bailes1992]

We had two cats which we had to get rid of before Christmas. Our little dude has allergies and his allergy specialist advised that he was most definitely allergic to cats and we should get rid of ours as soon as possible. Well, my Missus went into Mother-Mode and they were dropped off to a local cat charity with a sizeable donation who then rehomed them for us within a matter of days. A week or two later our Son went to see the allergy specialist for results of a blood test and we were told he wasn’t allergic to cats afterall. Needless to say my Wife almost jumped over the table and beat the consultant up!

We gave it 6 months before deciding to get another cat. We ended up buying a little white moggy who turned out to be deaf and a bit er… ‘clay class’. We called him Echo as we thought it was funny and ironic but soon realised that it wasn’t obvious and explaining this to people meant it isn’t actually funny at all. He’s a very loving cat who absolutely loves attention from other people or even animals, he knows no fear and quite happily struts up to dogs 10 times bigger than him without worry.

There’s been several lost-cat posts on Facebook where Echo has followed people back into their house and made himself quite at home, the home-owners think he’s lost. He’s not lost, just an attention whore. Our close neighbours are quite welcoming to him. Our next-door neighbours have 3 cats who all get on with Echo and happily let him in the house, it’s not unusual to find out that Echo has spent the day in their house chilling out. Next door to them are also very welcoming to Echo. They have a spaniel who apparently first time Echo went around was quite hostile to him but soon warmed to him when as he was barking and growling at him started nuzzling his snout and rolled over. One evening the next-door-but-one neighbours with the spaniel shouted for me to come around, there was Echo sleeping with their dog in his bed.

The problem is, he’s totally stupid. He refuses to use the cat flap and often sits outside in the rail and cries with his head through the cat flap so we will open the door and let him in. We have tried to ignore him to force him to use the cat flap to no-avail. This cat also likes to jump in the bath while you are in it, he’s quite happy paddling around while you’re trying to relax. I thought cats were supposed to dislike water? He also sits next to the kitchen sink and tries to paw and drink the hot water coming out of the tap while you’re doing the dishes, you can’t underestimate how wet you can get doing the dishes because of this cat! He knocks glasses off tables and quite often does a running-tackle type thing if you’ve left them on the floor, our wet-vac has had no end of use since getting this cat! Earlier this week he decided our sons ball pit was his litter tray and had a N°2 in it. I ended up throwing the ball pit out. The same evening he licked a cheese grater and cut his tounge so bad he left a trail of blood drips around the kitchen. He’s an absolute nightmare.

We actually went to the same charity we left our last pair of moggys with and adopted another little boy cat, Pepsi. We were hoping Pepsi would show Echo the light and maybe teach him some street-smarts. Pepsi is pure black and has a lovely fluffy long coat. Pepsi is a fantastic cat, he’s never trouble, uses the cat flap and keeps himself out of trouble. In fact while Pepsi is using the cat flap Echo is usually watching him with a worried look on his face, trying to work out how Pepsi has teleported to the other side of the kitchen door. They’ve turned out to be best friends and wherever one is the other isn’t far behind. BUT, it hasn’t helped. Echo is still as dull as dishwater except now Pepsi looks on with a concerned look on his face.

We are not expecting Echo to have a full moggy life expectancy, in-fact we think he’s already on borrowed time.

[frog]

That's right, I lived in it for a couple of years but t'wife hated it, too big, too much traffic, no parking for her classes etc. I kept it going for years but it was deteriorating and I just couldn't find the time to fix everything that needed doing.

Glad you got rid of it. When you hate it, it becomes a heavy pile of bricks that needs ever more fixing. A house does lose its 'spirit' if no-one is living in it any more.

Nice to being able to sell it to a fresh young couple. In our country young people can hardly find an affordable place to live. Most of what is offered for sale is grabbed by "smart" investors, pension funds or whatever, who can lend money for free (or even at negative interest rate!) then ask a horrendous monthly rent. It is the "Mario Draghi" scheme of transferring money from the poor (often young people at the start of their career) to the rich (people who have savings and know their way in the banking/financial system).

[Welly]

Someone's been busy! the Boiler Room looks blooming marvelous now!

Nice to see some insulation on the pipes (that's what we do that is)

Glad you've shifted the old place, it makes sense before it becomes a bigger burden than it needs to be.

Bailes - that's ridiculous the Doc saying he had a cat allergy and then finding he hasn't I'm not sure if some cats are a bit dim or whether they're just damn right stubborn! one of ours is so awkward sometimes; like a spoiled child

One of our cats went missing for 4? days once and came back Hank Marvin, locking in a Garage is a classic cat mistake.

[steve_earwig]

We've had adult cats disappear for a few days before but Archie's not much more than a kitten, I really did think he'd been murdered.

Do you think he's happy to be home?


An allergy to cats is quite common (I probably am) so the quack probably thought it was a safe call. Wrong! Idiot

Domestic cats never really grow up with us looking after them, some use their noggins to some extent but many just coast it. Only 2 of our cats use the cat flap - Charles and Teatime - but the rest have no idea. Srećko only used it when there was nobody about, if there was, why, it's so much more dignified to meow at a door for someone to open it I actually took our catflap off yesterday, so there's just a hole in the front door. I'd been occasionally posting the kittens through it (carefully, don't want to make them afraid of it) but now the weather's turned cold we can't leave doors open for them all the time so they really need to learn. They're actually using the hole but I think I'll leave it like that until t'wife starts complaining.

Someone's been busy! the Boiler Room looks blooming marvelous now!

Thanks! It did look pretty horrible before, black ceiling, grubby walls, hole in the floor. Mind you it doesn't look like that now, there's a big pile of firewood against the wall and a stack of kindling next to the boiler. Oh, and I was thinking of something you said a while back about filling the shed with junk, it was tidy for a while but I still hadn't put the stuff away from doing the boiler house and then all the crap came from my house and it's still sitting in boxes while I find somewhere to put it all

[Doggy]

Nice job on the boiler room, (puts my temporary [1993] efforts thoroughly to shame).

I once 'lost' one of the cats I got landed with when my mate/landlord buggered off to college in Southampton leaving me to find homes for them. Next door neighbour discovered it about 2 weeks later in an old banger he was trying to fix up in his spare time. I'm not a cat person but managed to nurse it back to health earning the privilege of cleaning up the diarrhea and vomit for a week or so until he'd recovered enough to eat properly and crap outdoors.

That was 1980, I can still smell it.

[Welly]

I can still smell it.

Ooh, cat poo does have a 'unique' odor

One of ours can let out a small fart whilst you're playing with him, that is particularly upsetting for all involved.....we've spoken to him about his behavior and he said he doesn't care and will continue to fart without notice and that it is US that have a problem with it not him.

[steve_earwig]

What have you been feeding him? I've not heard or smelt a cat fart in years, dog farts on the other hand...

ext door neighbour discovered it about 2 weeks later in an old banger he was trying to fix up

He was luck to survive that, food isn't so much of a problem but water is, he must have been very dehydrated.

I don't seem to have much of a problem with cat poop, I've no problem clearing the litter tray, clearing up the occasional mistake on the carpet or even finding it while I'm gardening. On the other hand t'wife has to clear up the dog crap 'cos it turns my stomach. And why do they always have to crap where I'm working?

I seem to be ill again, some sort of stomach bug (also again). It started Friday with a sudden need for the loo, followed by an instant massive headache. I think I'm past the worst of it but I'm cold all the time and have no energy for anything.

In other news, because I do a lot of cutting and welding I was needing something that could cut steel tube better than I can with lots of little disks, they do disk cutters here but they eat blades which are all rubbish, so I was looking for a band saw. However they're very not cheap. Then Lidl got their plasma cutters in, I checked them out on line and they were raving about them on the mig welding forum - cheap as chips, standard parts, consumables for cheap. so I splurged out (about 150 quid). They sell those here too, starting about 2 grand Brilliant. First thing I cut up was some 40mm window frames, which I got off our nice neighbour (he had a load of scrap from a house he cleared, steel is only worth about 50p a kilo so he gave me all I could eat). Pfffffft! oh, wow! Shhhhhhhhhht! Nice!

Then, as it's quite small yet cable-y, I needed some sort of box to put it in. I had a big metal tool box but, as it had been sitting under a bench up at my gaff for 15 years, the bottom corners had started to rust out. What I need is some 25mm angle iron to weld on and I could cover all of that. eyes up 40mm tube... pshhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Splendid

[Doggy]

Hope you're over the worst Steve.
Wish I'd learned to do half the things you do when I had the chance, but being an idle sod of an apprentice meant I only really learned electrical stuff, despite British Steel spending half a year trying to teach me. Knowing everything, (like many 16/17 year-olds), I learned virtually nothing.
I've more or less given up on metal bashing, at best I was marginally competent with a stick welder and utterly hopeless with gas, TIG et al. 'Mature' eyesight doesn't help either.

[steve_earwig]

Me too ta, although I've been feeling a lot more lively today.

Wish I'd learned to do half the things you do when I had the chance

Learned? I'm still learning! I'm ok with the mig, never even tried anything else mind. I'm still pretty crap with wood, I never seem to learn from my mistakes.

Recently the original door I rebuilt on the shed started sagging again, turning into a diamond. SO I thought I'd put a diagonal on it, pinning it top and bottom with a couple of dowels. Lessons I'll probably forget: Wood glue swells wood as part of the process, so finish one thing before you start the next. Idiot. Also, wood doesn't bend very much

Today I was repairing the wardrobe the fireidiots put out in the rain, it needed a top and a bottom, they were only ply so I decided to make frames to give them some strength. Lesson number one NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING IS STRAIGHT AND SQUARE. How many more times?

Anyway yes, mig welding is a doddle, I'm sure it must be the easiest way to weld. All you're doing is squirting wire.

Tips:
Weld doesn't penetrate: Turn up the juice.
Weld makes holes in the job: Turn down the juice.
Wire pushes torch away from the job: Turn down the wire feed.
Wire keeps disappearing: Turn up the wire feed.

[steve_earwig]

...playing with my compost heap. It's not bad really, a few sticks, lots of worms, a couple of beetle grubs and a rat that scarpered before I stuck the fork through it. SO it goes.

Anyone any good at Chinese puzzles?



This one of those cheap 'n' cheerful cordless drills from the DIY store. I'd noticed the shaft was wearing so I took it to bits a while back. Unfortunately nothing can be done but I had to dismantle the gearbox to get the shaft out and I took a quick snap before I lost the plot:

Which was kind of handy when this happened

I guess I put the (tiny fiddly) circlip back upside-down. I thought it was toast until I took it to bits, and then the whole lot fell out everywhere. Oops. As it was in bits I thought I'd give it a clean so I didn't get in too much of a state working out how it went back together again. I tested it before I greased it, it was quite noisy with no grease in it. Apart again, assemble with grease and... it only bleedin' well works

[Doggy]

Brilliant.
I haz an Aldi drill/driver that was really handy until it lost virtually all drive to the chuck and I can't be arsed trying to take it back.
After months of indecision, I impulsively bought a rubbish replacement in Asda thinking I'd then chuck t'other one out.
Haven't got round to it yet and now, thanks to you, I'm countenancing a repair attempt I have neither the time or rational justification for.
Thanks.

[steve_earwig]

Oh, er, sorry about that I can't help you with the time but if you do take it to bits take pictures to help with reassembly. Maybe it's something stripped or worn out but you won't loose anything if it ends up in the bin anyway. And you'll have gained knowledge/experience while you were doing it.

[Doggy]

You're right, I'll get round to it at some point.

Smiling quietly to myself as I appear to have got a bit of result......
Last year I had to fork out £600+ to insure the camper, plus £225 a year for monitoring the tracker.
Tracker started playing up after the winter, (sometimes failing to respond when they pinged it) then died completely a month or two back.
Couldn't get insurance without it last year so rang Vodaphone, "we'll send an engineer to check it out, (for £155), if he can't fix it we'll fit a new one for £550 - if it's a straightforward job"
WCPGW?
Adrian Flux renewal quote, with 1 year NCD and reducing annual mileage from 8000 to 4000 - £635.

I spent a whole day & finally got cover without a tracker for £440 including UK & EU breakdown/recovery regardless of vehicle size.
Then I searched for / found the tracker, traced the wiring finding 3 connections butchered onto the ignition switch loom, unplugged it and the starter wouldn't turn / ignition went off just like it had in half a dozen really inconvenient locations in France & Spain.
Plugged back in - starts OK
Unplugged - won't start
Plugged back in - starts OK
Slapped the tracker around a bit - won't start
Thumped it again - starts OK
It's history

Anybody want a 2008 CobraTrak 5?

[Welly]

Yesterday I was comparison'ing home insurance for the Mother In Law.......A bungalow within 40mtrs of a River on the East Toast, no house alarm, no smoke alarms and she smokes fags my missus had to pull me away from the laptop a couple of times before the internet got hurt.

Afterwards I had a go at fixing our 4-year old washing machine....the 'on' button had pushed through the flimsy-ass control panel front rendering the machine u/s. The button's only job was to poke a microswitch on the PCB but is was 'hinged' on one side to give it a springy action. The 2 pieces of 'hinges' were made from the thinnest plastic I'd never thought possible one small tie-wrap and 2 x 3mm holes drilled above and below the ON switch later and I'd fashioned a new way of pressing the switch but retaining it's location by 'catching' it with the tie wrap, was quite please with myself.

Dear Manufacturers of cheap appliances and stuff: you won't beat me with your designed-to-break 5-year life rubbish....I will bodge it back together