Not such a Merry Christmas as I had hoped for!

This Christmas everything started off fine, but then things started to go wrong! On Christmas Eve, I had to work until 01:00, and then drive home. Earlier in the day I had stopped off at a supermarket and bought my wife some flowers. When I arrived home at 02:30, she was awake and waiting for me. My wife was overjoyed with the gift of the flowers!

On Christmas Day we were up at 07:00, to take my wife's friend home, after an overnight stay. On the way back home we discovered that someone had made a snowman in the form of a polar bear! Back home, we opened our presents, nothing special, as we already knew most of what we were getting already! (That's because we all went shopping together to get the presents!) It was while I was sitting in the kitchen that the first problem started to manifest itself.

I noticed that every time I moved my left knee, it was very painful. It was fine when standing, or sitting. It was only if there was any movement in the joint that it hurt. I decided to rummage in the cupboard, and dig out the bottle of Cod Liver Oil tablets, hoping that they might help improve the situation.

Later in the morning, it was my task to prepare the turkey for roasting. As I had never done this before, I first searched the Internet, and came across Delia Smiths recipe. So my wife and I duly stuffed, and basted, the turkey with butter, and wrapped it in foil, then put it in the oven at a high temperature for 30 minutes.

After the 30 minutes had passed, that was when things went wrong. When I went to the oven to turn it down to slow cook the turkey, I noticed that the legs had stretched, and opened up the foil. I took the tray out of the oven and put it on the side I then got some more foil to seal up the turkey again. It was while I was trying to put the foil on the turkey that the tray decided to slide on the worktop and tumble on the floor. In an effort to stop the turkey ending up on the floor, I grabbed the tray with my left hand! That was when I discovered how hot the tray was. Although I managed to save the turkey, I ended up with blisters on my hand. Because of this accident, my wife banned me from the kitchen, and proceeded to cook a beautiful roast turkey dinner! I only wish that I had managed to cook the dinner as I had promised to do!

This morning, when I woke up, my knee was much worse. so I have included taking Ibuprofen tablets along with the Cod Liver Oil tablets. I am also wearing a heat pack on my knee to see if that will help. Personally, I think my colleague WarrenJoffre has been so generous, he has passed his affliction on to me! I just hope he doesn't pass on his back problems too!

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and a prosperous, fantastic New year to you all.

The Governments plan to make the nation miserable!

I have just read in the morning paper Alister Darling's pre-budget report. His idea is to tax the working population even more than before, borrow more money to shore up the crumbling economy, and worst of all delay any benefits as long as possible.

It doesn't matter who I vote for at the next general election, as these tax changes will still go ahead no matter which party wins. All I have discovered so far is that the Conservatives, might reduce income tax a bit, but have not bothered to reverse any of stealth taxes Labour seem to favour as their way to raise revenue.

If I could discover a politician who would try their best to reward the working population of this country instead of taking more away, I would vote for them no matter which party they belonged to. To give an example - Why is it that if you are ill and require medication you have to pay for the prescriptions in England? I know the Government will say that they have to fund the cost of the medication from somewhere, but I think that I have already paid for any medication I need.

We have been told that all workers will have to make increased NI contributions from 11% to 12% of their income. Now I was lead to believe that My NI contributions were supposed to support the NHS system. So why am I paying 11% of my income to fund the NHS and then have to pay again for medication to help me get back to work, when the Government is quite happy to allow people who are not working, and therefore are not contributing any NI into the Government coffers, allowed to get free medication?

I am beginning to wonder if there will come a time in the not too distant future, where those who work will be unable to provide enough taxable income to pay for all the benefits the government keeps paying out. Already we are told that the Government can no longer find the resources to continue to pay the state pension. What is the next casualty going to be?

The Governments drive to try and improve the NHS system doesn't seem to be working either. I have just discovered this week how it has affected me.

My daughter has been unwell since Friday (7 days) and I have finally managed to book an appointment for her to visit the doctor. Every day I have phoned the surgery, and every day I have been told there was no appointments available. It never used to be this way before. I could always get an appointment, if not today then at least the next day. Now I can only attempt to book an appointment for today. If I want one tomorrow, I have to phone tomorrow, and join the frantic queue of people trying to see their doctor! So tell me how this system is an improvement over the old system!

I have now got to the point where I am totally disillusioned with the political parties, and I am now unsure who I would vote for in the next general election. When the campaigning starts, I will have to discover what each candidate will try to achieve whilst in office, if they are elected. Then perhaps I might have a clearer idea of where to place my vote.

Recently Viewed

An OK film. Had a chortle over some of the antics Jim Carrey got up to.









Very interesting and worrying plot, where a super computer takes on a life of its own and arbitrarily decides who lives and dies in its version of utopia.

Very interesting film if, ultimately, a bit sad at the end.

Currently Reading

Synopsis:
The Industrialist
Henrik Vanger, head of the dynastic Vanger Corporation, is tormented by the loss of a child decades earlier and convinced that a member of his family has committed murder.

The Journalist
Mikael Blomkvist delves deep into the Vangers' past to uncover the truth behind the unsolved mystery. But someone else wants the past to remain a secret and will go to any lengths to keep it that way.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Lisbeth Salander, the enigmatic, delinquent and dangerous security specialist, assists in the investigation. A genius computer hacker, she tolerates no restrictions placed upon her by individuals, society or the law.

A Short Autumn Break

On Saturday, we decided to go to Devon to visit my brother for a short break. Before we actually arrived at our destination, we took a small detour via Weston-Super-Mare. When we arrived the tide was out, so we had vast expanses of sand and mud to investigate. The weather was typically British, one moment rain, next moment sunny. What was constant though was the wind! It kept blowing the rain sideways!





We then continued our journey through Exmoor to our destination of Totnes, Devon.







The next morning (Sunday) we had a very early start, and made a dash for the coast at Slapton, in the hope of seeing the sun rise over the sea.



















Unfortunately, the British weather didn't quite allow us to see a perfect sunrise. Although what we did see was pretty impressive.

















As the morning progressed we went exploring along the beach, and my daughter decided to sit on some rocks and watch the waves break on the shore.....

















...What she hadn't realised was the tide was coming in, and she got an unexpected surprise!!













Next, we went for a walk alongside the river Dart. This time the weather was beautiful and sunny. It was very relaxing and peaceful walk, apart from the steep climb up the hill to Dartington College! At least it was an easy walk downhill home again afterwards.











Later in the afternoon we trundled off to Start Point, in the hope of watching the sunset! We took a walk down to the lighthouse, and discovered that there was a path that continued along the coast westwards...













This was some of the most rugged countryside I have ever seen. One mistake with our footing, and we could have tumbled down the slope onto the rocks below! The constant wind didn't help matters either!















We eventually found a small sand cove with rocks strewn around. The rocks were absolutely covered with limpets! Although I searched some of the rock pools, I didn't spot any other interesting creatures there. Again, we were thwarted by clouds of seeing the sunset. We also discovered that there would have been another headland blocking our view too.







The next day, on our way home, we stopped off at the village of Beer, so that I could take a look at the model railway exhibition at Pecorama.







Then we continued on to Charmouth, and walked along the

Jurassic coastline searching for fossils. I think I found a stone that had grass seeds embedded into it. We didn't find any real fossils though, as we hadn't brought a hammer with us to break open the stones.









Finally we stopped off at Lyme Regis to see if we could find a cafe that sold fresh locally caught seafood. Unfortunately, the only place we found didn't open until 5 pm, and we were not prepared to wait another 4 hours! So I set the GPS for home and stopped off at Yeovil for some fuel, and a village near Swindon for some fish and chips. We finally got home about 9 pm that evening.

Currently Reading

Synopsis: In the Micronesian Islands, a top-secret, US government-sponsored undersea lab conducting vital biomedical research on a rare jellyfish known as the Blue Medusa suddenly disappears. At the same time, off Bermuda, a bathysphere is attacked by an underwater vehicle. Stranded half a mile below the surface, its passengers - including Zavala - are left to die. Only Kurt Austin's heroic measures can now save them from a watery grave.

Austin, suspecting a connection between the two mysterious events, puts the NUMA team on the case. He has no idea what he has just got them all into - a hideous series of medical experiments... an extraordinarily ambitious Chinese criminal organization... a secret new virus that threatens to set off a worldwide pandemic... Austin and Zavala have been in tight spots before, but this time it's not just their own skins they're trying to save - it's the lives of millions.

And Pop! Out went all the lights!

Ever since I had the burst immersion tank, I have had problems with my electrics! Because the water had poured through the floor below and affected the wiring to the smoke alarms and the downstairs lighting, I was advised by the boiler engineer to call out an electrician to check the wiring too.

I duly called in an electrician, and he checked the wiring and the fittings, he found that nothing was wrong with them. He did, however, discover that the RCD breaker on the fuse board would not trip every time he tested it. He then replaced it.

That was when my problems seemed to begin!

First it was the iron. I had no problems with it for the years before, now every time I used it, it would trip the breaker! I then called out the electrician believing that the RCD was too sensitive. When the electrician arrived, she did a whole range of tests, and informed me that the iron actually was shorting out, and this was the reason for the RCD tripping. I had to go out and buy a new iron!

On Thursday evening, I decided to clean the oven. First I removed all the metal shelves, and then switched on the self cleaning programme. It takes about two and a half hours to do this. When I open the oven, all that is left inside, is ashes, which can simply be wiped away! It certainly saves on elbow grease!

I discovered the next morning that the light in the oven had blown, so I tried to replace it. That is when I encountered a small problem. The glass cover protecting the bulb wouldn't unscrew! I then sprayed a little WD40 on the thread, and hey presto! the cover came off with ease. I replaced the bulb, and replaced the cover.

I still had not cleaned the shelves and brackets. So yesterday, I started to clean the shelves. It was when I open the oven to replace the clean shelves that I encountered my present problem. When I opened the oven, and the light came on, the RCD would trip! At first,when I removed the bulb, the RCD would keep tripping. At present, I can still open the oven door, without the light in it, and the RCD will not trip. I haven't as yet tried to see if the oven itself will trip the RCD when I switch it on. I was just happy last night to be able to open the oven door without the RCD tripping!

Later today, I will actually test the oven, although I still do not know why there is a problem, with the light. I now wonder if I call out the electrician again, he/she will tell me that there is a problem with the oven, and not with the RCD. I'm not sure if the maintenance contract I have includes repairs to ovens. If not, I then would have to find somewhere that could repair the problem, or worst case scenario, contemplate purchasing a new oven!

An Amusing act

My daughter showed this to me and my wife. We had a really good chortle over this. It is very un-PC, which is why it was amusing. If you are sensitive to jokes about Jews, Catholics, or muslims, then, don't watch this. You have been warned!

Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday was our second wedding anniversary. I cannot believe the time has gone by so quickly! It ended up being quite a busy day for me, hence writing about it today!

When I finished my night shift, on the way home I stopped off at Sainsbury's and bought some flowers and chocolates for my wife. The look of pleasure on her face as I handed them to her as I stepped into the house gave me a real sense of pride and happiness! Then I went to bed, alone, and slept until 3pm.

Immediately, I got up, my wife and I drove over to Olney to pick up a mahogany office desk, for our daughter to use for her studying. We brought it home about 5pm, and set it up in the spare bedroom for her.

Next, my wife and I set out to go to a Carvery restaurant for a celebration meal. My wife liked the location of the restaurant, and the quality of the food, and she wants to go back there again, only with all 3 of us next time!

Back home, it was gift giving time. My wife gave me a silver tie clip. I gave my wife a bottle of "Guerlain Idylle" perfume, and we received from our daughter 2 wedding anniversary champagne flutes!

We then sat down with a glass of Baileys each, and watched a movie together. I chose the movie "Along Came Polly", but my wife was not very impressed with the movie. I still haven't quite found the type of romantic film she likes to see, but hopefully, I will get it right through a process of elimination. After all, if I stay alive long enough, I should have the next 40 years or so to work it out!

Recently viewed

I managed to watch all three films over a period of 3 days. Having read the book many years ago, I am pleased that these films are a very accurate rendition of the original book.

It is a shame that another series of books have been completely ruined when brought to life as a TV series. I am a great fan of the author Terry Goodkind, and his Sword of Truth series.

When I heard that Sam Raimi had persuaded Terry to allow him to create a TV series of the books, I had high hopes that he would follow the books closely, the way that Peter Jackson did with the Lord Of The Rings, or the Harry Potter films.


Unfortunately, Disney and the ABC Studios offered a deal that was too good to miss, and Sam lost overall control of the way the series would be made.

Because the American writers get bonuses for original work, and not for transcribing the original storyline, they have to change the story to get their pay. Consequently, all the sub plots, and the events that drove Terry Goodkind's first book "Wizards First Rule" at the edge of your seat wanting to know what happens next, was completely destroyed by the screenwriters.


Now all that is left is the names of the characters, and very little else. I hope that one day, someone else will faithfully reproduce Terry's story as it should have been made, and Disney's fiasco will disappear, the way the first attempt at Lord Of The Rings did back in 1978.

The waiting game starts today

After a very restful evening yesterday, cuddled up to my wife on the sofa, I found it a real struggle to go to sleep. Partly this was because I worked a night shift on Saturday, and once home, slept until 4pm. I eventually crawled into bed just after midnight.

Now I don't think it was a very warm night, but I found myself bathed in sweat by 3am! And no, I didn't have a duvet over me! You might think it was because of the wine I drank yesterday, I certainly considered it a possible cause, except I break out in a sweat with the slightest exertion, and the wine was drunk over 4 hours before I went to bed.

I did have some strange dreams though. I dreamt that I had to take my wife to work, and the place where she worked was surrounded by a thick hedge of low gnarled trees and bushes. There was only one way in and we had to duck our heads, and twist our way through the trees to get to the entrance of the Hotel.

Now I wonder whether some of my dreams have any connection to today. At some point today, I have the Electrician coming to fix one of my circuit breakers. When I had the adventure of the burst hot water tank earlier, we had to get an Electrician to come and check the wiring where the water had poured through. There was nothing wrong with any of the wiring that got soaked. He did find that the main RCD breaker didn't always trip when the test button was used. He said it was probably through us not testing it once every 3 months as we are supposed to do. So he decided to replace it with a new one. Now I know this RCD works, because every time we plug the iron in to do some ironing, the bloody thing trips! Suddenly there is no power to the whole house!

I bet that when the Electrician turns up today, that the RCD breaker will NOT trip when I plug the iron in, just to spite us!

Sometime today I hope that someone will come to pay me for my old Landrover Discovery. He was the highest bidder for it on E-Bay on Friday, and he said he would come and pay for it today. It's hard to believe that I have had that car for 10 years, and did 200,000 miles travelling! What is even more worrying, is I never went abroad with it!

My wife is hoping that I will take a piece of the old carpet from our en-suite shower room and put it into the airing cupboard to replace the water damaged one. This is something that needs to be done, but somehow I have got to try and find the enthusiasm to get started. Thinking about what I will need to do is definitely not raising my motivation! Perhaps if I sit here and try to ignore it, my wife will forget to remind me. Then again, I think that will be a very unlikely option!

My patience is almost in shreds!

It all started a few weeks ago. I had a neighbour knock on my door.

"Your hedge round the side of your house needs to be cut back. When are you going to do it?" He said.

"Er, hopefully later this week, if the weather is fine. Thanks for letting me know." I replied.

Of course, every time I had a day off, the weather put a stop to any possibility of making a start, until last Wednesday, 9th September.

The weather was beautiful, I had a couple of days rest from work, so I started to cut the hedge. That's when I ran into trouble. First I found that the hedge trimmer I had had for 20 years, just wasn't up to the task of cutting the woody stems of the hedge. So after searching the Internet, I finally decided to purchase a new on from Homebase, as I would also get an extra 5% discount off my household bills next month.

So far, so good. Then the garden shredder, I had, started to play up. It kept jamming. Every time I switched it off to clear the jam, it then wouldn't start again for another 10 minutes. I was steadily getting more, and more frustrated and annoyed with the machine. I couldn't continue to cut the hedge, without shredding the cuttings, as I only had a limited amount of space left in my wheelie bin!

On Friday, I finally lost patience, and decided to replace the shredder. Again, I searched the Internet, and I found that Homebase had a Sovereign shredder on special offer for only £120. Again I thought the £40 discount from the shop, plus the 5% discount on my home bills was a pretty good bargain. So off I trundled to the local Homebase store and brought home my new shredder. When I first started to use it, it seemed to work alright. Then my wife came out to help me, and that is when things started to go wrong.

This shredder had a capture bin for the waste. My wife didn't notice it was getting full, and continued to add more branches into the hopper. Eventually she could put no more in. Now this machine is supposed to automatically stop when the bin gets full. It didn't. After 10 minutes of clearing out the debris, I started up the machine again. This time, the machine would not shred the material at all! That was when I discovered that the cutting adjuster was broken!

I took the machine back to Homebase on the same day that I had bought it. They immediately exchanged it for a new one. I went home that evening, vowing I would return the next day with the shredder in it's box unopened, and try and get a refund, as I was not impressed with it's ability to do the job. My wife, persuaded me to give this new machine a try, as she thought that she might have been the cause of the previous machine failing. So, the next day, I assembled the shredder, and gave it a try.

Immediately, I discovered that this machine would not shred anything. No matter how much I tried to adjust the cutters, it simply just kept feeding the branches straight through into the capture bin! This time, when I took it back to Homebase, I got a full refund.

Now my old shredder, had been a Bosch model, and it had worked fine for about 10 years without any problems. I decided that I would go for another Bosch model this time. I spent an evening searching the Internet, to find which one would best suit my needs. I finally settled on one of the top of the range shredders, that will be happy to mulch leaves, as well as thick, woody, branches. My only problem was that I could not find any shop that had this particular model in stock. They all seemed to have sold out! So I have had to order it from an online retailer. Hopefully, it will arrive within the next few days, and I can then continue to cut the bloody hedge again!

Currently Reading

Synopsis: They watch you through mirrors.....

'Your mother was twenty-seven when it came to her. Now you're twenty-seven, and it's come to you.'

The skin of Alex's arms tingled with goose bumps. By her twenty-seventh birthday insanity had come to his mother...

Turning 27 may be terrifying for some, but for Alex, a struggling artist living in the mid-western United States, it is cataclysmic. Inheriting a huge expanse of land should have made him a rich and happy man; but something about his birthday, his name, and the beautiful woman whose life he had just saved, has suddenly made him - and everyone he loves - into a target. A target for extreme and uncompromising violence...

Where do you turn when your own reflection spells doom?

This book was a birthday present from my wife, and I am already halfway through the book already! If you have read Terry Goodkind's Sword Of Truth series, you will find this book has some connections to the series. I will have finished this book by the end of this week, and then I will have to wait for another year before I can read the next instalment! Damn!!

Today's a special day for me.

Once again, I have reached another milestone, or is it millstone, in my life. Today is the day when I will be inundated with offers from companies who cater for the more senior end of the age cycle. I HATE being constantly reminded that I am now over 50 years old!

My daughter, once again has completely surprised me with this birthday video clip. I did not realise that the Beatles had even done this. I think it must have been from one of the BBC recordings, or from one of their special records given out to only their fans each year.

I should have a fairly quite day today, just taking my wife to and from work, my daughter to and from school, trimming the garden hedge... Now that is going to take the best part of the day to do! It is a glorious sunny day, so it will actually be quite nice to do. I may even get a bit of sunburn for my efforts!

This evening, I am being taken out to a Chinese Restaurant for a birthday meal. Yum, yum!

Oh and one last thing, yesterday, I have finally completed my en suite shower project, and here's the picture to prove it!

My next project is to wallpaper the hallway, stairwell, and upper landing. I might do this on my next holiday in October, unless we all go away for a real holiday instead!

Golden Oldie Song of the Week

Some light humour!

My daughter found a website that does strange things to pictures! When she showed them to us we fell about laughing. Here are a few of the ones we found amusing, or interesting.



This one is of my daughter.









This is my wife. I didn't realise that she was a time traveller!












This is me during the swinging sixties!






I haven't quite worked out where this advert is in the world, but it looks strangely familiar

Celebration time!

Tonight I am going to have a celebration. I will be taking my first shower!!! This afternoon, I finally managed to get the hot and cold water to work! The problem had been the 2 flexible hoses that connect the shower unit to the pipework. Because they were so short, they kinked and stopped the water flow. So yesterday I purchased longer hoses, and now everything is working fine... Well almost!

I now have a new small problem. One of the body jets has split, and water just pours out. I have not been able to find a replacement cap for it, so I have just had to order 6 new jets. I will simply replace the existing ones with the new ones, and then everything will be in full working order.

I have also just bought a new carpet for the shower room, and I will probably fit it either on Sunday, or next Tuesday, when I have my day off from work.

Almost done!

Yesterday was a very busy and long day. I started the final completion of the installation of the shower and towel rail at about midday, and went to bed at about 23:00 when the work was completed.

As you can now see everything is now connected!. On the towel rail, one of the pipes might have a slight leak, which will mean I will have to tighten up one of the nuts. This is a major improvement from when I first tried it out with running water through it! Nearly all of the joints leaked! What has cured the problems was jointing compound.

Now all that is left to do is to test the hot water flow to the shower on Tuesday, when the new hot water tank is replaced. Then I can consider the last addition to this room, a new floor covering. This will be chosen by my wife, both the colour and the texture. So I have absolutely no idea what it will be! She is already looking through the Argos catalogue for inspiration!

Hopefully, later this weekend, I will make a start in tidying up the shrubbery alongside the house (I had a neighbour politely ask me to cut it back). Perhaps I might even be able to sit down, take a rest, and give myself a small pat on the back for getting this far along with my project. Although I will think long and hard about attempting something like this again!

It sometimes pays to be insured

Today, I had a day off work to stay at home and wait for the plumber to arrive. Eventually he arrived at 13:30, and very quickly informed me that it was NOT a water pipe that had burst, but the water tank itself had split at the bottom! Considering that the tank is only 13 years old, I am very surprised that something like this should happen to a copper tank!

I thought the plumber would disconnect the tank and remove it ready for when the new one arrived. Instead, he spent 3 hours draining the remaining water from the tank (the drain valve wouldn't open properly!) and then told me that he would not disconnect the tank, as he was not allowed to leave the pipes unconnected, in case the valves stopping the water flow failed.

Next, he gave me the news that did not make me a happy bunny. A new hot water tank has to be ordered, and will not be delivered here until Monday! Then on Tuesday morning, another plumber will arrive to remove the old tank, and install the new one. Until then, we have only cold water supply in the house. The only way we can have hot water, is by boiling water in a saucepan on the cooker! So for the next 7 days, I will be reduced to strip washes!

The only real good news out of this disaster, is that I will not have to pay anything for the replacement tank, or the work carried out by the plumbers. I had the good sense to set up a contract with British Gas to maintain, my gas appliances, central heating, plumbing, and electrics. The policy costs about £28 each month, but I have been told that the tank and plumbing work alone would cost over £1000. Then there is the cost of the electricians afterwards to repair or replace the damaged smoke alarm.

My daughter now has a job to do for the next 7 days. She has to use a hair dryer to attempt to dry out the floor underneath the tank, and the ceiling downstairs. I may even decide to call in the house contents insurers to see if I can claim on that insurance to repair the water damage to the downstairs ceiling, and the dining room. I'll have to think about that one, and make a decision tomorrow.

Drip, Drip!

This morning, I came downstairs to find that water is still dripping into the bucket. Also as you can see the ceiling is looking decidedly wet. The dining room has water seeping down in the corners, so God knows how far the water has spread from the initial problem. Even more worrying, how do I dry out such a vast area? Answers on very absorbent material please.

Now I have to decide whether to detach the pipework from the hot water tank, and remove it, so that the plumbers can get to where the broken pipe is underneath. Or do I wait for them to come and do it themselves.

I think I will go and have a cup of coffee, and mull this one over for an hour or two. Hopefully the plumbers will turn up before I make a decision one way or the other!

Disaster!

I switched off the water supply while I connected the shower to the pipes. First I switched on the cold water supply, and everything was fine. It was when I switched on the hot water supply that disaster struck. A pipe burst underneath the hot water tank! This is an area that I haven't been anywhere near! All I can say is it was just waiting to happen, and it was the weight of the water filling up the tank that caused the pipe to burst!

Now I have to wait for the emergency plumbers to arrive tomorrow morning to try and find and repair the burst pipe. Once they have done that, I then have to find a way to dry out the whole area around the hot water tank, before the electricians will then come and check that all the electrics are OK. I know the smoke alarms have shorted out, as I can smell burnt plastic downstairs. I just hope that nothing major will go wrong with the electrics tonight, as the fire alarms are disabled until the electricians can come and fix them again.

I contacted my manager at work, and he has allowed me to stay at home tomorrow to deal with the plumbers, and whatever other problems that might arise.

Things were going so well up until now, I now need to let off steam, so ... BOLLOCKS, SHIT, BUGGER, FUCK!!!!! There, now I feel a little bit better!

At Last, The Tiling Is Done!

After getting way behind schedule, I have finally completed tiling the en-suite bathroom! It looks very nice now, apart from the grubby carpet. I am very pleased with the way I managed to drill holes in the tiles for where the fixings should go. the only thing I am a little disappointed with, was my inability to make the tiles match up at the corners!

The next thing to do is install the shower screen. I have no idea how complicated this is going to be, as I haven't even opened the package containing the screen yet! I will open it tonight and start to read the instructions, and probably make a start on Sunday afternoon.

Currently Reading

Synopsis: Autumn 1541

A giant cavalcade a mile long is wending its way through the Vale of York. Following the uncovering of a plot against the throne in Yorkshire, King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to overawe his rebellious subjects there. Accompanied by a thousand soldiers, the cream of the nobility and his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, the King is to attend an extravagant submission of the local gentry at York, the climax of the greatest Progress of Tudor times.

Also travelling to York at the behest of Archbishop Cranmer are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak. As well as assisting with legal work processing petitions to the King, Shardlake has reluctantly undertaken a special mission for Cranmer - to ensure the welfare of an important but dangerous conspirator who is to be returned to London for interrogation.

But the murder of a York glazier involves Shardlake in deeper mysteries, connected not only to the prisoner in York Castle but also to the royal family itself. As the Great Progress arrives in the city, Shardlake and Barak stumble upon a cache of secret documents which could shake the Tudor throne, and a chain of events unfolds that will leave Shardlake facing the most terrifying fate of the age...

Progress is slow but sure!

At last I have some progress with the en-suite shower room. At least the most important and difficult part of the room has been tiled. Half the room is fully tiled and grouted. Before I went to work, I managed to Plumb back in the toilet cistern, and the sink. The wall cabinet is also installed. I just managed to find time to continue tiling along the other long wall. I think that I should complete the tiling by next weekend.

Then I will have fun trying to install the shower cubicle frame and panels. That is going to require me to start drilling holes on my nice new tiles!!

Finally, I will then connect the shower up, and hope that when I switch it on, the power pump actually works and increases the flow to the shower! If it doesn't, I will have to admit defeat and call a plumber in to fix it!

The final part to this renovation will be to replace the carpet! I have already told my wife that she can choose what she would like. what material she wants it to be, such as linoleum, carpet, cork, or tiles.

Any one got a time machine?

I am rapidly running out of time every day! After failing spectacularly in completing the redecorating of the en-suite shower room (hence the reason for no more new pictures), I am trying to complete the tiling, whilst also embarking on a month of "Win a Mini" events at various DIY stores.

Also I have had to collect my wife and daughter from the airport last Friday, take my car in for repair, this morning, and find time to take the dog for a walk, take my wife to and from work, go grocery shopping, eat, sleep....

Tomorrow, I have planned to take my wife to work, cut the grass in the garden (subject to it remaining dry), commence tiling the second wall in the en-suite. Collect my wife from work and take her to the doctor in the evening, and finally head off to Northampton for my first appointment with a potential new customer!

I am feeling very nervous about taking my wife to visit the doctor tomorrow, as the problem she has could at best result in a course of ultrasound treatment, or possibly an operation! We wont know until we have gone through the process of seeing the doctor first, then being referred to a specialist at a hospital somewhere before knowing what the prognosis is likely to be.

The Tiles are slowly going on!

I have finally started the tiling in the en-suite! I decided to begin on the wall with the most problems, such as the pipes for the wash basin, the window, and the shower cubicle. Also I will have to relocate the wall cabinet. I am not sure if I want to replace it exactly where it was last time, or perhaps lower it a bit.

I am finding the progress very slow as I have to wait for the adhesive to dry a bit before I can grout between the tiles. So far, I have placed 88 tiles on the wall, and I intend to do another 44 tiles tonight before I call it a day and crawl into bed! I then have just 2 more days to complete this project!!

Can I turn back the clock?

This project, has been very slow and fraught with niggly problems. After finally connecting all the pipes, I first placed the shower tray on the floor and connected it to the waste pipe, then I tried to temporarily connect the shower and see if it worked. No water came out at all!!!

I then searched through my DIY book for an answer, and basically I have an air lock in the system. All I need to do is connect a hose from a tap connected to the rising main and the affected pipe, and then use the water pressure to dislodge the airlock.

So once again I trundled off to the local DIY store and purchased some tap connectors to connect the hosepipe to. I then successfully cleared the airlocks in the piping I created. Even better, it doesn't leak either! I now have another problem though. The hot water tap in the kitchen has an airlock somewhere, and I couldn't get it to shift using the rising main pressure. I seem to remember I had this same problem when I replaced the kitchen tap a few years ago, but I cannot remember how I cured the problem last time.

My next problem was with the shower tray. It came with some panels to go round the outside between the floor and the bottom of the tray. If I tried to lower the tray sufficiently so the panels would fit snugly I found there was no room for the waste sump to fit. If I raised the tray to fit the sump, then there was about a 10mm gap! I decided to fill the gap with silicone sealant, as the other alternative would be to cut a hole in the floor, and completely reroute the waste pipe!

Whilst I was busy sorting out the shower tray last night, right at the end, I got a sudden pain in my right knee. Any movement was sheer agony. I had a long hot soak in the bath, and then limped off to bed.

I was woken up at 06:00 this morning by the pain. So I hobbled downstairs and microwaved a heat bag, hobbled back upstairs and crawled into bed, placed the pack on my knee and promptly went back to sleep.

When I woke up again at 09:00 I found that my knee still hurt, but I could at least move it. Throughout the morning, it has been improving, to the point where it is now a constant ache. I personally think I may have pulled a muscle or ligament somehow, and I should be fully recovered in a day or two.

This morning I have successfully replaced all the skirting boards. This afternoon, I commence tiling. Although it is going to be challenging to mark out the exact spots where the screw holes are to replace the sink and cistern again! I will take a picture of my progress later this evening, and post it on this blog so that my wife and daughter can see what progress I have made so far.

Finished work in the loft!

Trying to sort out the pipes to the water pump has been a slow hard slog. The heat in the loft meant that I had to keep going downstairs every half an hour to wipe away the sweat, and have a drink ow water!

As you can see by the picture, I have finally connected the water pump to the pipes. I haven't tested the connections yet, as I still have to connect the hot water pipe to the extension I made in the shower room. And before I can really test the system, I will need to put the new shower tray in place so that the water can drain away when I turn it on.

The final part of connecting the pump was relatively easy. I had to find a power source to connect the motor to. I found a cable that goes to the immersion heater, and created a 3 way spur. this feed then goes up to the circuit breaker box you see, and then it goes to the pump. This spur has a 5 amp fuse in it as per recommendation.

Again I cannot test it fully, as the pump has to have water going through it before I can switch on the power supply. I am pleased to say that electricity is going to the switch, and is definitely not going any further, as I planned.

Now I am off to have a long soak in the bath, and get ready for bed, as I am off to Kings Lynn tomorrow morning using public transport. It should take about 4 hours to get there!

I am one frustrated Bunny!!!

Today has been a day where nothing has gone according to plan! Yesterday I received a phone call from someone who was looking to join my business. So I had an 11:00 appointment this morning. This meant i couldn't really get started on sorting out the plumbing in the shower room.

The person I met was a young lad, and although he seemed interested, he wanted to discuss the business opportunity with his mum! I do not think he will be contacting me again!

When I got home, I started to prepare some lunch, and start bringing in some more tools from the garage. While I was carrying some of the tools upstairs, our dog, Bonnie, decided to go for a stroll! I received a phone call shortly afterwards from some people who had captured her. So off I went to fetch Bonnie back, which was about half a mile away.

I finally got to work on the plumbing this afternoon. First I had to drill some extra holes in the joists so that I could pass two copper pipes up into the loft, ready for connection to the power pump. That is when things started to get frustrating.

Although I bought a 3 metre length of pipe, there is not sufficient amount left to cut to supply the extra piping to and from the pump! Plus the instructions for connecting the pump state that the flexible hoses must be in an upright position. This meant I had to go and get some more elbow connectors. So off I merrily trundled to buy another length of copper pipe, elbows, and a fused spur connection for the electrics.

When I got home, I thought I would start cutting some of the pipe and fitting some of the elbow joints. Then connect the pipes to the pump. That is when I discovered that the connectors to the pump require 22mm copper tube, not the 15mm that I had! Grrrr!

So once more I had to visit the DIY store, and this time I had to buy 22mm copper pipe. The shortest length I could purchase was a 2 metre length! I then had to buy 4 reducers to get the 22m down to the 15mm the rest of the piping in the house is. Finally I remembered just in time that I only have a 15mm pipe cutter. So I bought a universal cutter that will cut the 22mm diameter pipe.

After all that, all I have managed to do today is fit 2 pipes from the shower room to the loft. Nothing is connected yet. I am now going to sit down, have a drink, and a bite to eat, and relax Tomorrow is when I start reconnecting the plumbing.

Halfway There!

I can now take off my "Wrecking Crew" cap and put on my "Repair Crew" cap! At last all the tiles, wallpaper, fixtures and fittings are out. Now all I have to do is repair the holes on the wall where the plasterboard came away with the tiles, or is completely missing. Then I have to extend the hot pipe upwards to the loft, so I can connect it to the power pump. Then I will have to cut the cold water pipe to divert it through the pump as well.

My next task today is to put all the rubbish into the car, and take it to the Refuse tip. Then I go shopping. Items I need to purchase, are - a power pump, plasterboard, plaster (hopefully ready made to patch up the holes), skirting board, copper pipe, assorted compression joints and bends to attach the piping, and finally a heated towel rail. This last item is going to be an ambitious project, as I do not know how I will connect it to the existing central heating pipes. I will go and ask a few experts on the best way forward.

Problems, Problems!

Today I started to remove the old tiles. I started behind the toilet, planning to work my way across to the shower cubicle. It was while I was removing the tiles that I came across my first set of real problems!

I discovered that when this house was built, the workmen tiled the wall, and then glued the skirting board onto the tiles!! Now I have to decide whether to do the same with the new tiles, and replace the original skirting board (this would require me to remove the entire skirting board around the room). Or since I have to remove the skirting board where the tiles are, which is half the room, I could remove the remainder, and replace the entire lot!

My next problem is where the shower tray is. Over the years, some of the water has seeped behind some of the tiles and made the plasterboard damp. So when I removed these tiles the plasterboard came away with the tiles!!! So before I can think about putting new tiles onto the wall, I have got to attempt to replaster the holes!!!

Finally, I managed to get to the mixer tap for the shower, and remove it from the recess in the wall. My next problem is to figure out how I am going to fit a power pump to the pipes. I think I am going to have to extend one of the pipes up, or down, to be able to connect a pump. All I have to do is decide if I want the pump in the loft, or underneath the shower tray. I will make a decision, when the old tray has been removed and I can look and see what state the wall is like behind it.

My only worry now is that this project seems to be getting bigger and bigger. I am finding that I am going to have to do tasks I have never done before. I am a little scared that I will botch the work to such an extent that I will have to call in the professionals to put it all right again!

Recently Viewed

I don't often sit down and watch a thriller, but this one was quite interesting. I just found it a bit hard to accept Michael Douglas getting the better of Sean Bean!

One amusing aspect of this film was Michael was driving around New york in the same type of vehicle as I own - a Landrover Discovery!! Albeit a different colour, newer model, steering wheel on the wrong side, etc....

Day 2 of the wrecking crew!

When I got home form work today, I decided to continue ripping out more bits from the en-suite!

This time it was the turn of the radiator. After turning off the taps at each end, I losened one of the nuts at the base, and put a small bucket underneath. Then I undid the bleed valve at the top and left it to drain.




Meanwhile, I decided to tackle the shower cubicle. This proved to be my first real problem. I could not see how each segment was attached to each other. In the end I had to remove the

Entire glass panels all at once, and then set about trying to dismantle it! I left the shower tray alone for the time being, as I will again have to turn off the water supply and drain the water to the shower unit. Before I do that, though, I will need to remove the tiles to get at the shower mixer unit and the pipes connected to it. That is a task I will leave until I have more time.

My wife took a look at the pictures of my progress today, and was alarmed at what I had done! Her daughter wants me to promise that I do not go anywhere near the other bathroom! Maybe next year I will send them off on holiday again and secretly go into the other bathroom.....

Day 1 Of My Bathroom Project.

Today, I decided to make a start on the en-suite bathroom. I took this picture, to show what it was like before I started wrecking it!

This Picture Shows how the toilet looked before I got my grubby hands onto it! My first task was to remove the cupboard above the sink, and the toilet roll holder. These were easy, as I had put them up originally.

Next, I attempted to remove the cistern from the toilet. This proved to be easier than I expected, with only one minor problem. I discovered that there was an special tap attached to the inlet water pipe, which made turning off the supply easy. After disconnecting the pipes to the bottom of the cistern, I turned to the two screws attaching the cistern to the wall. as you can see from this picture, the screws had badly corroded. Luckily, the first one came out without any problem, and the other one had corroded completely away and it wasn't attached to the wall any more!

After I removed the cistern, I noticed that they hadn't even tiled the wall properly! Talk about cutting corners!

My next task was removing the sink. This now required me to find a way to turn off the water supply to the sink and shower. After spending an hour in the loft trying to find a tap that would isolate the en-suite, I had to admit defeat, and resorted to turning off the entire water supply to the house.

I then merrily got to work on removing the sink. The most difficult part was trying to cut through the silicone sealant enough to prise the bowl away from the wall.

As I had turned off the water supply, I had an idea to try and cap the pipes off in the en-suite, so I could turn on the water supply to the rest of the house.

I dashed off to Homebase to get some end caps, and came home and fitted them to the pipes. After turning on the water supply, and finding that I have no water leaks, I am very pleased with my efforts so far.

As I am back at work for the next two days, I will probably tackle the next instalment on Sunday. Then I hope to remove the radiator, and the shower unit. Finally I will get to work on removing the shower cubicle. How much of this I will do in one day, I don't know. I am not going to rush myself on this project.

Some Light Entertainment For Me

As the girls are away on holiday, I decided to treat myself and go to the theatre this evening to see this play.

Currently Showing:

Until 18th July
Chalkfoot Theatre Arts
presents

LAUREL and HARDY
by
Tom McGrath

Tuesdays to Saturdays 7.30pm
Saturday and Sunday Matinees 4.00pm


Call the Box Office on: 020 7287 2875

Laurel and Hardy are dead. So how come Stan and Ollie are the last to know?

CAST:
Neil Bromley and Simon Lloyd

Trapped between this world and the next, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy pass their time in a limbo-like waiting room, reprising old comedy routines, swapping gags, bickering and making up.

They will only earn their passage to "The Other Side" by undertaking an emotional journey through their personal lives and screen careers: but are they prepared to re-live the bad times as well as the good?

Recently Viewed

I've watched this film about half a dozen times already, but I still like it. I first saw it on TV, and ended up buying the DVD!

All by myself

After getting home from work last night at midnight, I was up again at 05:00 this morning to take my wife, daughter and a friend of my wife to Heathrow and Gatwick Airports, so that they can start their holidays. After dropping the girls off, I then travelled up to Kings Lynn to look at a new motor vehicle. As it was a dealer, I pointed out numerous faults with the car. The dealer promised to rectify all the problems, so I have left a deposit and will return next week to see if he has made good his promises.

If I do purchase this new car, then I will confuse my wife and daughter, as they will not recognise the vehicle when I go to collect them again at the end of the month!

I arrived home at 18:00 this evening, and fed the dog. For some strange reason I did not feel hungry myself, until 21:00. I then raided the fridge and nuked the leftover food from yesterday. I still have one more day of food prepared by my wife and daughter before I will have to start cooking for myself!!

One step closer to my holiday project!

Just bought 16 boxes of ceramic wall tiles for the bathroom! Nearly broke the shopping trolley bringing them out to the car! The type of tile I bought is a Natural Marble effect. I worked out that I would need about 700 tiles to do the entire room, and each box contained 44 tiles. I may have left myself very little room for any errors or breakages!

I will take some pictures of the en-suite before I start my decorating project, and hopefully I will report on my progress as I go along (my wife and daughter are on holiday abroad for 2 weeks, and they want to know what I am doing while they are away!).

At the moment, I keep thinking of all the things I need to do in the form of preparation, for instance, removing the cupboard, toilet roll holder (these are easy), radiator, toilet cistern, and basin (these involve playing with water pipes!). Then I will have to remove the old shower cubicle, and remove the wallpaper (could get very messy)!

I have a DIY book that I am looking into, to help give me some hints and tips to make my task as risk free as I can possibly make it. The only unknown element in this project is my own ability to do the work! Whatever happens, I will have an interesting couple of weeks ahead of me!