| *Ding Ding* last round........... |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|12:03 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  creative | ] |
....... hopefully.
This weekend *should* be the last spent shuffling bloody scaplings around the drive. I have approx. 10m by 20m of ground to cover and the rest can wait until next year as I need the area clear to begin the agricultural buildings. No point in covering that area only to have to scrape it all off again prior to foundation work.
I am also collecting 1.5 tonnes of Caithness stone which is dressed - it has been machine cut and is 20 times more expensive per tonne. Yet again however I have managed to get this lot for free as long as I can pick it up on Sat. That and the other 10 tonne of flagstone which I still have to collect from Watten.
My Mum thinks I am mad and need a haircut, my brother thinks I am a jammy git and I need a haircut, my other brother thinks my repatriation to Scotland has made me so tight I could be disguised as a Yorkshireman and I need a haircut and my eldest brother just thinks I need a haircut ;o) |
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| What's the phrase?............ |
[Oct. 20th, 2009|12:10 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  accomplished | ] |
You cant teach an old dog new tricks!................. I beg to differ.
With various work that has needed to be done on the drive and around the croft, I have been studiously ignoring 70 fence posts and 100m of high tension fencing wire delivered over 4 weeks ago. This was mainly down to other work previously started really, REALLY needing to be finished. It was not, I say again NOT the fact that every time I looked at said posts and wire, I would glance up the driveway and think it was too difficult ,as I had never put up an stock fence before never mind tension it correctly.
However Saturday was such a beautiful day that I pulled my act together, strode out to the hardstanding/driveway and cracked on !! With much nashing of teeth, a few (lots) of swear words accompanied by shreaks of pain from various body parts colliding with the fence maul, I hammered my way up the field. After 6 hrs I had managed 40 fence posts, 6 for the standing fence and the rest up between the field and the drive - and they were as straight as could be. Rory came over to admire my handy work, commenting that for a first time effort it was nearly perfect.
"How did you manage that?" he said.
"Pure determination, blood sweat and tears", I replied lying in the ditch.
Sunday, was touch and go whether I could be arsed to go that pain again but cracked on once more. I whimped out and drove the wire up to the top of the drive in the Jeep (100m of HT Rylock weighs nearly 60 Kg). I rolled out the fencing back down the drive to measure out 65m to be met by Rory with " the tools of the trade". He showed me what to do, how to use the wire tensioner and griplocks, and buggered off to have his lunch. By the time I have phaffed about getting the fencing in the right position and knocking a few marker hooks in, the fence went up, and stayed in position while it was tensioned and the finishing touches was to tack each post with 3 hooks. The next run was only 25 m to go round the hard standing, but had to negotiate 3 strainers with tension being applied on 2 angles (bit like a S shape).
4 hrs after I had started, the top 2 fields were stock proof once more, the top access gate was back together with the wind reducing fencing panels back on and I could look back down the drive with astonishment on how much I had managed to do in such a short period of time and with no prior knowledge of how the chuff to do it.
To finish off the whole project I still need to:
a. Hang a 12 ft and a 4 ft gate #
b. Spread out 32 tonnes of scaplings (arriving Wed/Thu) = 58 tonnes in total for the drive!!
c. Paint all woodwork before winter finally strikes
d. Build access walls around house gates #
e. Wire in the flood light and access lights
f. get drunk - alot....................... |
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 18th, 2009|12:17 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  cold | ] |
A few days ago, there was a huge air, sea and land search for a woman reported missing:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7895146.stm
She was an old schoolmates sister who I remember from school and from being round their house. When I left to join the Navy, she already had a reputation of 'servicing' the local fishermen and any who came into port.
Last time I saw her was at my school reunion where she barged in proclaiming "she had the right to be there because her brother couldnt make it" Pissed and drugged up off her head and after several arguements, she was taken away by the Police.
Then nearly 5 yrs on she takes a Swan dive off Holborn Head (300ft shear cliff). She may have been a muppet but is a shame she ended up this way and sadly other than her mother, I have no doubt that she wont be missed.
Rest Fiona - your nightmare is over........................................ |
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| Back to 2 JEEP's |
[Jan. 12th, 2009|12:10 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  relaxed | ] |
The Beast is back - Hooray!!! After a wee stay at the local garage for a spruce up and MOT, the 'old Jeep is back in action. I decided to get her back on the road asap to a) reduce the mileage on the new Jeep, b) to use it on forest runs with the trailer for log collections and c) the odd off-road exercise.
ION the Jones clan are soon to be massing once again for the annual 6 Nations game at Murrayfield and I have had confirmation of the tickets for the Superleague Magic Weekend also in Murrayfield, for which my bruv and I have rented a studio apartment on the Royal Mile below Edinburgh Castle. Its actually only worked out slightly more expensive than a hotel but without the need for taxi's and the horrendous waiting around in q's. Another bonus is we get our own beer fridge and kitchen area but unfortunately the waitress served fat boy breakfast is not included ;o) |
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| RAIB - Update |
[Jan. 21st, 2008|06:34 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | depressed | ] |
The initial reports were wrong .......................
The young lad was 5yrs old, he wasnt dared to cross as first reported but more importantly he was sighted on his own on his bike on a walkway along the side of the track before it joins to a authorised cross over. How far back his mother was we dont know but he was too young to realise how dangerous a position he was in and too young to understand that the Tram was not going to stop. Revenue staff at the next tramstop who saw what had happened managed to run down the track to the scene before she arrived.
The driver was desperately searching for him under the tram with tears streaming down his face, mumbling that he had sounded the warning horn many times but he just didnt stop before crossing. The speed was decreasing from 80Kph when the driver hit the emergency brake to 25Kph at impact The driver was immediately DnA'd and the Tram quaranteened on depot until today. The RAIB has declared the Tram and driver clear of any responsibilities, however ...........................
......................................... as I left, I was informed that the boy also sustained 2 skull fractures as well as the other injuries and he may not make a recovery at all. |
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| RAIB - Rail Accident Investigation Branch |
[Jan. 21st, 2008|01:01 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  aggravated | ] |
1st young lad " Bet you cant get across the tracks before the Tram comes??"
2nd young lad " Bet I can, watch me!!"
No, no he couldnt and now he is in hospital with a broken leg, shattered pelvis and a dislocated shoulder. I have the RAIB all over the depot testing the Tram involved and paperwork coming out of every orifice............ |
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| On TV again :o) |
[Sep. 29th, 2007|09:13 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  cheerful | ] |
We managed to get hold of tickets to watch the first in the series of Bremner, Bird and Fortune last night.
When we arrived the cue was very low and ended up 79th and 80th to be allocated seating. Hence you may well see us to the right of the stage and most likey during the "2 Johns" sketch. It was a really good night and interesting how it was all put together.
Rory was very good and I was impressed how little things were re-took - well apart from the fact that he is a bit of a perfectionist and to his credit his impressions became more fluent as he went on.
Nice Italian supper on the way home and crashed out just after midnight.
Edit:
Forgot to say it's on this Sun 7pm - I think |
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| WARNING ALL DIY'ers |
[Sep. 4th, 2007|12:40 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  blank | ] |
We have just had a monthly safety brief and part of it described how a fatality occured when an maintenance engineer used a EVOSTICK Foam Filler tube. (the ones you put into an tube gun)
As he was shaking it as stated on the instructions, the end cap blew off striking the ceiling and wall causing scoring to the surfaces. Unfortunately the tube also blew from the mans grasp onto his chest above his heart. Although the tube was crushed by 2 inches in length it did not penetrate the chest wall but the force of the blow burst the man's heart and he died within minutes.
He was a fit 20 yr old young man. The HSE are involved but apparantly it has been known for these to blow up sat on the shelf, so pse be aware of a) shelf life and b) storage with regard to temp and c) use something else
Pse pass on to friends and family of this danger |
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| Hooray |
[Jul. 2nd, 2007|12:03 pm] |
Hope you have a really good day mate so ............
Happy Birthday ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) birch_7 |
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| Pro's and Con's |
[Nov. 24th, 2006|01:56 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | excited | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Darkness - Is it just Me? | ] |
Last week I was called into Derby for a very "intense" mtg with the Project Director, who quite literally told me that his arse was on a chopping block and unless Hugh (£1.4M) and I (£0.85M) could reclaim £2.2M before 30th of Nov from our respective customers.
By close of play today Hugh had managed to get back £0.6M and I have managed £0.45M. Meanwhile PD had just returned from Berlin from Big Powwow and is jetting off to Italy this afternoon. Apart from a "f....g good effort chaps" and BZ's all round he drops the a little conference call to us both with - "I'm off to Italy, get the money rolling in and when I'm back your my new best crew to take over Asia".......................................
The line goes dead in Scotland as Hugh legs it to the pub and I look up at the portocabin ceiling and think "Fuck - more travelling, but at least the Airmiles are going to be fanfuckingtastic" |
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| Friend clearout |
[Aug. 7th, 2006|11:22 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Work as usual | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | nostalgic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Day 1 - Deadly Avenger | ] |
After a long drawn out process I have decided to remove a few friends from my list. This is not due to what they have done or said to me but because they have not commented for a long while.
In addition, I was informed many moons ago that old friends had been tagged to remove me from there friends lists in fear of being cleared out themselves. This I fear is a somewhat childish reaction on the person's behalf, to a situation that was of no recourse to those other friends and consequently they should make their own conclusions and not one's given to them on the preverbial plate.
I have kept a few of these friends on my friend list even though I have been removed by them in case they should reconsider - they obviously have not and therefore I have removed them from mine to ease any uneasy feelings left.
Shame - I like them very much and miss them so |
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| Hoorah (ish) |
[Jun. 20th, 2006|07:41 am] |
Well it took a whole day but they have managed to get the engine off the same day this time. It was aided by the fact they managed to hire a forklift that had extended forks and utilised side shift.
We stood back and instructed when it started to get a little scary with the lift but basically my chaps dropped the coolant, hydrostatics and engine oils, pipes etc and the customer lifted the train while the forklift was positioned underneath.
Meanwhile Lee and myself were inspecting the new engine and found a hairline crack in the cooler group - shit.!!!!!!! Phoned Crewe to advise and told that a couple of techs would be down in the morning with a new cooler group - excellent. This meant we could still have the engine up fitted and running by peak service the following afternoon........................ err no!!! Another phone call from Crewe -"Err I dont have anyone that can come down tmrw, how about Friday!" .........."Fri??? Are you taking the piss???" .............."Err no, England play tmrw night and no one wants to come down in case they are not back home in time for kick off "..............................................
After I stopped hovering round the lift shed roof, I decided it would be easier to change out the cooler group ourselves from the engine coming off and I would charge Crewe for the work.
Meanwhile engine ready to drop and was done so with ease. Problem was that the forklift driver was so chuffed he managed to do it so easily he reversed a little too quickly and I have now been informed the forklift is not too well this morning.........................................
Life in the Navy was never this fun...............................................................
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| Advice |
[May. 30th, 2006|02:23 pm] |
Hmm, need to take out my customer and team for a "Bonding" session. Managed to get most of them to agree to a date but need some advice on where to take them.
Point to consider - all work on the railway but range from "little minion" to "depot manager"
Your thoughts pse.......................... |
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| Knackered |
[Jan. 8th, 2006|07:00 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | blah | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Too tired | ] |
Muppet
Spent a very short journey up to my brothers on Fri afternoon. Left Euston stn bound for Crewe and was there in 1hrs 50 mins. Couldn't believe it was so short a journey. Went up on one of our Pendileno's (Voyager Tilting Train) and I was impressed. Normally travelling at 100mph on a Turbostar it's pretty wicked but this.................
Going round a curve at 145mph tilting and just hammering round it was just impressive from an engineers point of view. This technology has been on the drawing board for a very long time and finally they have cracked it. I know people will still complain about toilets being locked out of service and services being delayed but to be frank, if your journey is not disrupted by freight liners going slow across the mainline intercity route you will without doubt, get there on time. I was due back today at 1429 and came into Euston at 1415 - not heard that one before!!
Anyway the weekend. Got to Crewe and my brother was still on his way back from work. So went to the pub he told me to go to except I had deleted his email and headed in that general direction. Bundled across "The Last Drink Inn" and it was warm so went in. Full of smoke that you could hardly breathe but a pint of Fosters was £1.50. So I stayed for a pint - rude not too. Texted bruv to find out where we should be meeting and I was only 50 yrads out. Little did I know 50 yards out to the right and not 50 yards out to the left where I ended up walking down till I got fed up and walked back eventually finding the pub "The Office". Stayed in there for two pints and met him for a big hug.
Back to his house, via the chippy cause he forgot to go shopping and tucked into that followed by a few (lots of beer) and watched Still Game - loads of episodes (Scottish comedy series) pissed ourselves laughing most the night and his partner rolled her eyes and headed for bed. Ahhhh Whiskey time - out came the Glenfiddich one dram each and bottle empty - now what?? He brought out a 12 year old Malt, a 25 year old Malt and a 40 year old Malt. Erring on the side of caution we put the 40 back in its case locked it and threw the key into the garden (we would never find it in the dark). Decided it was too good an occasion to merely open the 12 so opned the 25 and Ooooooooh my gods, the purest Malt Whiskey I have tasted for a long time - no fire just pure liquid perfection. Eventually when the tongue stoppped working we decided best thing is to retire and save the Whisky till after the game tmrw.
Sat - phone call from bruv's mate."What time are you driving to Preston?" Ehhhh - they're playing Plymouth home you nugget!! "No they are away in Preston you stupid idgit!!"............Oh bollocks sorry Mike - shit!!
So we all went shopping and they bought an exercise bike which we built and went down the pub. Came back cooked tea and watched more Still Game. Two lagers later we are both asleep infront of the tv and retire defeated.
All in all a good weekend and have invite back ( he promises to the real game in a fortnight) to Crewe to watch them get stuffed by Plymouth |
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| Bollocks |
[Dec. 24th, 2005|12:05 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | pissed off | ] |
Just got off the phone to my surgative Mum, my bessie mate has gone. He was and will be the best mate I will have ever known and I will miss him dearly. He and his bruv got my through more hassle in Plymouth(Guz) than I would like too. He had MS diagnosised the Gulf and funnily enough when I last saw him he had just been totally taken for a ride and he lost all his severance pay. But the last time I saw him he still slapped me........... wish he could do the same again now *MATE* "We shall always be on Plymouth Hoe"- pasty in hand mate - "Got a light- my pasty has gone out" be to an old and dear MATE ................................. |
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| Life goes on |
[Dec. 17th, 2005|10:10 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  hungry | ] |
| [ | music |
| | DFrkness | ] |
I have spent the last few weeks in hell but have had a wicked night in Brighton courtesy of the company. My mum and family have called me and ground'd me. All I shall is ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
All in BLACK and WHITE is not as is
I'll expect the backlash |
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| This wkend |
[Nov. 24th, 2005|01:27 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | aggravated | ] |
Standby to stand to Port and Starboard Batteries - this weekends weather is going to disrupt all travel needs. So if you need to get out and about by rail just leave enough time to be delayed and stand on the platforms waiting for a train that will not turn up as it has'nt left the deoot on the first place.
Discpilinary ( Read more... ) |
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