Steve_M

In 1970, my parents moved to the village of Aldridge in the West Midlands. I was working in Walsall and had started making friends with a few lads. They suggested I turn up to the community centre on the weekend. I hadn’t had much of a social life outside scouts and judo, so this was a whole new experience, and not a bit unnerving. I can’t remember what I was expecting but it turned out that it was quite a venue for local acts. What an eye opener for a shy, nervous kid. One band that appeared was Slade. One question that gets asked is which band would you like to see (again?) at their peak. Slade, for me, are among the best I’ve seen. This came up on my iPod ... Cum on Feel the Noize

And your bikes?

Godiva?

Nope. Some cracking puns there, mind.

Will do. Thanks.

They also raise tickover considerably. I’ve heard of one Japanese guy who has modified his ECU so he can flick from standard tickover to 6,000rpm tickover.

Are named?

Don’t do this on your Mod 1 ... Awesome riding.

Calm day? This is Cumbria y’know. Calm is a rare event. Thanks for the advice. I’ll check all is good and compliant.

Thanks, that’s useful information. I think the sleeve is plastic pipe. I’ll recess the plaster around it as it won’t be visible due to the boxing, and seal the pipe inside as you suggest. Smelling the gas outside might be tricky as it’s about 7m off the ground as it exits the building.

It’s the LPG pipe. I’ll make sure it’s got a little clearance for movement. I’ll be boxing it in, mind, as it looks a bit rough and ready as it is. Holes filled ready for plaster.

Good afternoon. What a glorious day. Shame I’ve been indoors making good a stone wall prior to lime plastering it.

I’ve seen a few of those. I had a go at Motogymkhana on my GS. It’s bloody tricky. All credit to their skill levels.

This looks fun. On a R1200RT

That’s fairly predictable. My good lady was looking at the possibility of a stay at Kylesku (probably her 2nd favourite hotel, and do-able in a day’s riding from the daughter’s house just outside Glasgow). Very few dates left, none of which would work for us.

Yup. £600 is not a few quid. The EU solvency laws (which still apply. For the time being) provides a degree of security that they won’t go bust on you, as happened to me in the early 1970’s.

As a former employee of an insurance company, I would consider reviews on how good they are at customer service when considering your choice. Not just price, nor whether they’ll pay a claim, but the service you get should you have to claim. Do they keep you informed on progress on any claim, how easy are they to deal with etc. In my view it’s worth a few quid for decent customer service.

Ah, yes, the brother in law had that little challenge. Luckily he’d boxed the connector in so they didn’t get into the house proper.

Mice! We had our central heating replaced and the guy said it was the first all copper system he’d done in years, but he wouldn’t risk plastic pipes in our place as we do have mice intruders now and again (but not for long).

Ooh. Nice idea. I still haven’t found the stop cock in the house. Bodgit and Scarper fixed up the house for a previous owner and we think it’s beneath a cupboard. The stop cock at the service from the main is 300m away and that’s proving to be a right royal pain in the 4rse. I put in temporary full bore isolation valves so I could just turn off the water to the bathroom. Made life much simpler. I’ll do that with each toilet/bathroom as we work our way through the renovation.

We used Knauf aqua board rather than plasterboard. Primed to improve its moisture resistance. Slightly more expensive but a better product. We always put support battens in to support the first row of tiles. My good lady will spend many hours measuring to ensure the best possible layout of tiles(so no nasty 10mm strips in odd corners).

We had a stroll down to the postbox. The views across N Cumbria to the Pennines with the snow on the fields were glorious.

We finished a bathroom a couple of weeks ago. It’ll be our fifth in as many years. 1). Prepare (the six P’s spring to mind). I think it was Eisenhower who said “Plans are worthless but planning is everything”. E.G. list everything that you need to do, double check that the products you’re using are the right ones and you have enough materials. Finding yourself in need of a particular specialist item just after the shops have closed and the toilet isn’t working... 2). Have the right tools and materials for the job. It makes life so much easier than workarounds. 3). Delegate those tasks that need specialist skills. For me that’s anything electrical, and tiling. I pay a sparky, my good lady is an expert with tiles. 4). Measure twice, thrice, as many times as you need before cutting any material. 5). Allow at least 30% more budget and time to complete than you first thought. 6). Review plans and lists regularly. Postscript. Rest / take a break when you need it. Working tired leads to mistakes. Sometimes stopping for a cuppa to consider if what you’re doing is right can save a lot of grief.

I popped down to the local town yesterday evening. The road approaching it is a long, moderately steep downhill slope that hadn’t been gritted and was quite icy. At the bottom of this slope were the guys who’d been working on trees in our garden. One was driving a Nissan Cabstar pickup while towing a big wood chipper. The Nissan is two wheel drive and, being a pickup, had no weight over the driving wheels. It had been an unnerving experience, they told me, as the trailer pushed the motor downhill.

We’re doing a David Bowie. A simple cremation, no funeral. We’ve put a small amount of cash in trust for the kids to organise a family gathering - meal, piss up, whatever. My good lady’s ex-husband did this, and it was far, far better for all concerned. In case you’re wondering, their divorce was civilised and she was the executor for his estate so had to organise all this.