and today i have mostly been...

[Welly]

I'm curious and have spotted this a couple of times but half way up your walls the colour changes and in between the door ways it's at a jaunty angle like going up stairs? explain yourself

[steve_earwig]

It's some kind of washable vinyl paint (it's crap actually, I couldn't get it to key very well, despite scuffing the wall and painting some sort of undercoat, so I had to peel off the masking tape before it dried or it took the paint off too). It was t'wife's idea so dirty dog marks and little hand prints don't show up and could be wasged off it they did. We didn't want to paint the walls completely with it, rather have lighter paint further up. I didn't want it to be horizontal so it ended up looking like the school (guess where the idea came from...) so I did it in a kind of spiral that goes all the way around, starting at the top in the corner by a door and dropping off at an angle half way around and back up again.

TL;DR It's modurn, innit.

I've already this morning drilled for the top screws and the bracket is back in place (I've stood on it and bounced up and down this time). I now need to measure for the next bracket and go and make it but I've once again woken up with a headache so I probably won't get as much done as I'd hoped today. Ah well, so long as I do something I'll be happy.

[steve_earwig]

Photobucket's back up - hoorah

You know how some animals, just like little kids, sleep cuddling their favourite toy?

Teatime loves food bowl (the pig)

I managed to make the second bracket yesterday but t'wife had a student come at 7:30pm so I couldn't make lots of noise drilling holes


Up at 6:30 today and already this morning I've drilled all the holes as the students will start coming in 15 minutes or so. All I need to do now is fit it and measure for the height of the next bracket and I can make that without disturbing anyone.

Gratuitous hallway shot for Welly (with bonus kitty cat on bed):

[steve_earwig]

And then there were 3...


Just 2 more to make. The bad news is I've almost worn out the blade on the cutter Goran's leant me, it started life at 355mm and was down to 260 when I pulled it out to try to find one yesterday. Nobody had a clue so I went and asked Goran where he bought them but the place has changed hands since then and he doesn't know if they still do them. I really hope I don't have to cut them by hand...

Oh, and I have another bloody cold. Arse

[Welly]

You're doing well with the shelves considering you're working around the stew-dents. I can imagine it was a bit of effort weldering the cantilevers all the same and all level ready for the shelf? I shall be viewing the finished pics very carefully to see if there's and packers/washers here and there

[steve_earwig]

You're right, they're not that accurate. The top ones are because it's impossible to cock that up but lower down they're up to 3mm astray - not ever having done anything like this before I can add that at the top of my "I should have" list:

I should have:
1. made a jig to space the brackets accuratly.
2. I should have allowed for the thickness of the shelves as now they'll end up 28.2cm apart...

Still, it's only chipboard I'll be using, it's not as if it doesn't have any give... Speaking of which I'm wondering if I should weld supports under the shelves between the brackets, ready for when the chip starts sagging.

Anyway, I've not done anything since because today I have mostly been ill.

This started Saturday with a sore throat, Saturday night I spent waking myself up coughing so Sunday morning I felt like poo with my sinuses complaining. Unfortunately t'wife had arranged to visit her cousin in Ravna Gora (about an hour's drive up into the mountains), it was all arranged in advance and I really didn't want to spoil her plans, so I drove anyway, figuring if I was still feeling bad I could have a kip on her sofa, which is what I did for the most. It was very cold though, despite 2 eiderdowns and 3 blankets, I couldn't stop shivering. We got home about 7 and I was still shivering, despite it being 24C in here, so I got a thermometer stuffed in my gob. 38.4, which is 101F, a personal record.

After speaking to my bro via Skpe I went to bed at 10, taking a sleeping pill. Unfortunately I woke up at 3 because I'd.. well, let's just say I needed a shower. The rest of the night I spent waking up every 20 minutes choking and I was quite relieved to be up with t'wife at 5:30. I had to take her to the boob-o-gram at 7:30, got home and went back to bed until 10, when a chap from the lectrick co knocked on the door - can I move the car because they want to change our rustic wooden service pole for a shiny new concrete one? Then Milpš turned up to measure the loft for materials, so I was helping* him - "Do you want the wall to go here?" "Durrrrr." Needless to say this afternoon I've spent mostly asleep. The phone's rang a few times but, whoever they are and whatever they want, it can't be as important as getting some shuteye.

[steve_earwig]

Day 3. I think, it's hard to tell. Last night my temperature was again 101F, so I took one and a half sleeping pills and went to bed at 9. Only to wake up again at 3 for no particular reason. And that was my lot, I got up with t'wife at 5:30 again and moped about until 9, when I started feeling sleepy so I went back to bed and was out like a light. Until 10 that is, when the same idiot rang the doorbell - can I move the car as they need to shovel a load of dry mix concrete in an area vaguely representing the bottom of the new pole, only they're too lazy to walk a few meters

I actually managed to eat lunch today, it was trout which the wife does really well. Sadly it may as well been cardboard for all the flavour I could detect. Eating lunch actually wore me out. After a rest I took t'wife t'work and, halfway home, I received an urgent message from my bowels - "EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! GET TO A BOG PRONTO!". Goodbye fishy

WTF is wrong with me? Can't sleep, no apatite. I didn't have any coordination yesterday either, I couldn't roll a fag, that's better today but now my eyes are shot and I'm having to wear reading glasses to do anything at all.



This afternoon I have made a supreme effort and washed the yoyo, I wouldn't have bothered but it has it's inspection on Thursday and I really don't want to show them a dirty car (they turn cars away of they're too dirty). Just a quicky mind. I also emptied all the mud and stones out of the footwells and washed the mats. Now, for some reason (hur hur) the driver's mat has plastic lugs to stop the mat sliding forward. Of course, all that happens is it tears two slots in the mat, allowing all the mud to seep through into the carpets. So I've just glued this back together with some impact adhesive (moment kleber) and an old inner tube. See? I do care. Sometimes.

[Welly]

Sounds like a Virus or Infection. Give it a week maybe (from day 1) and if you don't improve get down the quacks?

[steve_earwig]

I think I'm improving, I managed to sleep fairly well last night and my temperature's nearing normal, so I think I'm going to live. Apparently this is some sort of cold/flu virus that's doing the rounds, it's supposed to involve lots of vomiting too but I seem to have avoided that one (just). Oddly enough my bro seems to have exactly the same thing back in GB.

The forecast here is heavy rain, so I thought I'd better go up and cover the beams Miloš removed from the loft, which are stacked on the boiler house roof. Go to another neighbour's to retrieve my ladders (ffs), climb onto roof with plastic sheet and... Bing bong! Could I move my car? GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How long am I going to have to keep doing this? Only until Friday

[Welly]

Next time they ring the bell do some vomit at their feet, they won't call again

[steve_earwig]

Now that I'd love to do! Their lorry's making a right mess of it out there too. I put pea gravel down out the front last year but they're churning the mud up again I'd have it tarmacked out there but the amount of heavy vehicles that for some reason need to go around the back of the fire house would destroy it in short order.

Anyway, on the cat scene, I may have some bad news - We've not seen Teatime for 2 days and we're really starting to worry.

[steve_earwig]

I had to take MJ back to the vet's this morning as a follow-up to her sudden weight loss issue (she put a bit back on but lost some of it again) and I mentioned I we hadn't seen Teatime since Monday, Mirela said not to worry too much is it's February, cat mating month, and he still thinks he has his, ahem, equipment, so he might disappear for even a couple of weeks: her only concern was that he might come back damaged again.

So, after that I took the yoyo for it's inspection (it passed) and we just got home to find.. Teatime waiting for us in the kitchen No damage either, just very hungry. He's now stuffed full and kipping on the couch.

On the health front, my temperature's now more-or-less normal, although my guts woke me up at 4 am dancing a rumba.

Our power is now running off the new pole. Or at least it will be when they turn it on again (we're running on batteries obv.). One of the neighbours was complaining earlier about the amount of time they've had the power off while they've been doing this. Oh really? I hadn't noticed meself

[Doggy]

Sounds like things are mostly improving in you neck of the woods, Steve?
Long may it continue.

[Welly]

"What..a..difference a day makes....oooo....twenty four little hours....."

Sorry that'll be in your head all day now.

[steve_earwig]

It's more of a gradual improvement really. I'm still not 100% but I'll do.

What a difference a day makes,
24 lidl hours,
there's a big bunch of flowers
where you once wore your hat.

Hmm, wish I could remember the rest of that, something about being sat on by an elephant.

I think some of it went in the right place:


11:36 this morning and it was all systems, er, stop:


Not sure when they reappeared but they left at about 2, cleverly when they drove off someone had left one of the outriggers out on the cherrypicker so it carved a big furrow in my gravel The odd thing was that, rather than do the expected "just drive off not giving a toss", they kicked it all flat again whilst furtively glancing at the house to see if I was watching (should've looked up guys). I must have scared them when I shouted at them yesterday...