Crawling from the Wreckage....

Just been busy, busy, busy.

Things:
1) The Gnome is OK. He had a trike crash, bust his collar bone and shoulder blade, fractured his skull, but he is up about, and generally being his usual self. Go visit him if you know him, make him tea and ask him if he has finished his triple cylinder mini-loco yet :)

2) He has got the trike back, and it is better condition than I feared. It is fixable, but will need a new frame, rear axle, fuel tank and front forks/wheel, plus misc. bits of fluff, but the engine is (probably) ok, as are the gear boxes and other irreplaceable bits.

3) Our garden is mad. I used to worry about keeping the lawn down, and now we also have to worry about keeping the caterpillars off the veggies. Odd.

4) I don't think I can afford to keep BBB anymore, or at least afford to do the work necessary to keep her sane. I have umm'ed and arr'ed about this on and off for sometime now, and I think it is time to face up to it and sell her. :( I am *not* going to get rid of Cally, no way, no how. Instead, any money I get from the Camaro will go to renovating Cally.

5) Work is good. Busy, weird and sometimes brain-straining (I never was that good at maths and quadratic equations hurt!), but we are making good progress.

6) Looking forward to the next drag racing event, even though it is in September.

7) mainbranch has a new puppy called Bella, and very cute she is too.

Right, that'll do for now...

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Twig

... when I can upgrade my mobile :)

Now I have been on the same O2 contract for the last 18 months, and it has a ridiculous amount of airtime and message that I simply cannot use, plus it is about 25 quid a month for the privilege.

O2 offer a SIM only tariff, with a 30 day rolling contract, a good number of minutes airtime and texts and all for the more sensible price of about £9.50. This is good thing.

However, I have seen a new phone I like (*gasps* from the audience), 'there's a surprise!' I hear you cry. Well, it is rather cool, but not in a ' oh look another IPhone-clone' way. I have had my fill of laptop-phones, I really don't use them enough to be worth my while (a lesson learned over many phones, as some people will testify to). Nope, what I need in a phone is robustness and simplicity. And I think I have found it: The Sonim Enduro XP3.

So I rang O2 and asked if I was eligible for an upgrade (I knew I was, but ya know, you have to check these things). I know they don't offer this phone, but I thought I could get them to provide it by saying I would stay on the higher price contract. The bloke on the other end of the line said, and I quote, 'Nah mate, not worth our while, how about I just put you on the SIM only tariff?'

*blink*

So I have the same phone, same SIM, and lower monthly costs. Ah well, I can always get the phone from Amazon :)

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Twig

( Gremlins, Idiots and Half passes )
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Twig

It's very good. The movie is really lovely, and if some people (*koff* secretia *koff*) don't end up copying certain styles from it I would be v.surprised.

The 3D-ness initially put me off, but that was mainly Disney and their dumb-ass adverts. The actual movie itself, however, used the 3D aspect to good effect. I think there were only a couple of moments of "oh stop doing that, just cos you can", for the most part it was done really well and worked nicely.

I didn't realise it was an adaptation of a Neil Gaiman graphic novel, I'll have to get a copy and see what the original was like.

Ticket prices, on the other hand, are a fucking joke. £9.35 per ticket is taking the piss, putting it in a Saturn V and sending it to Mars. I can't really see the justification for it. Good job Natalya has a Orange mobile, so we only had to pay for one full price ticket.

Anyhoo, twas good.

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Twig

This weekend I drove a tractor, planted potatoes, brushed two dogs and generally had a bloody good time.

Today, a package turned up from Amazon, a pre-ordered copy of Cancertown.

Wow.

Buy it, read it. then read it again. Then just look at the art work. Then consume the words.

Make Cy a happy man.

Message ends.

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Twig

I has an new komplunder for games and stuff!

*wheeeeeeeeee*
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Twig

good luck to thargol at the Big Bang this weekend.

fingers crossed that you'll actually get some runs in!
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Twig

my work machine died part way thru a system upgrade. yay for the broken ubuntu update manager :(

so now i'm running debian..

harrumph

At the weekend, we dug our lots of our garden and planted veggies in it :)

This is A Good Thing (TM).

Sunday involved ferrying about a ton and half of Bredon soil from a trailer to our garden and into planter frames constructed for us by William.

So we now have runner beans, rocket, lettuce, radishes, spinach and courgettes planted out. We also have water melon, cantaloupe, another melon variety, celery and leeks as seeds growing on our kitchen windowsill.

Now all we need is a goat :)

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Twig

So Thursday was an early start, 5:30 am to get ot Northampton to then go teh track and start work on teh car.

Which was just a box of bits....

Which no one told us how to put together...

So, frustratingly, we had to stand back and watch as people wandered in, bolted something on or off the car then wandered back out. Eventually, after 2 days, the car was finished, and with a little bit of cajoling, we actually got to work on the car.

Unfortunately, the weather was rubbish, and rain killed off Friday and Saturday. Sunday started oput bad, but eventually we got to race. We knew that we were going to do check out passes, and the track was marginal at best, so unsurprisingly, Jon Webster (our driver) hit tyre shake about 250 - 300 foot out, got of it and brought her home. A very *very* quick service (about 1 hour) and we were back out again. More tyreshake, but further down the track and home again. No damage on both runs, so that was a win.

Monday, and we had so far qualified 3rd, which was good, and even better really as we had qualified best out of the 4 cars our car owner had brought. So, two more runs, fantastic weather and track that was beginning to come around, but still with the shaking, but this time half track and beyond. Still no damage, and a good turnaround time between rounds.

End result was us coming in 3rd overall, so we were pleased, as was the car owner.

i need sleep and more showers than the two i have already had! :)

Well done to thargol for qualifying 3rd, shame about getting knocked out first round.

On to the Main Event in May!
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Twig

So this weekend see the start of the UK drag racing season, and I'm doing something I didn't think I would be doing again, let alone this year; crewing on a Top Fuel dragster.

Specifically, I am standing in a the clutch man, which is a bit of a change from doing cylinder heads and blowers!

I'm off tomorrow morning at bastard o'clock to get to Northampton, and then I guess it is straight to the track and get working :)

Can't wait for the first nitro warm-up...

Good luck to thargol, who is running Trogdor in Sportsman E.T. (now with added roll-cage!). Hope you get the drop on 'em all. Seems funny not doing crew duties for him...

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Twig

( Read more... )

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Twig

You were a great guy, I liked you a lot, and I'm miffed I wont get to talk to you again.

I know your daughter is going to miss you terribly, but you brought her up strong, she *will* survive.

Sorry I broke your car...

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Twig

me, that's who.

tonight to be exact....


*fingers crossed*

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Twig

this is what makes Mr Moore's Beard cry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDDHHrt6l4w

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Twig

Went and saw Judas Priest, Megadeth and Testament on Saturday with mainbranch

The sight of my dad screaming like a cheerleader and singing his head off to "Hell Patrol" and "Painkiller" will definitely keep me smiling :)

Good to catch up with thargol who I could see from my lofty seat narrowly avoiding getting crushed by the mosh pit.

Jolly good fun all round

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Twig

From Rose Hill Cemetery on Church Cowley Road.
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Twig

I have just sent of probably one of the most important forms I have ever filled out....

And it feels good.

:)
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Twig

Right, after the front half of the Potemkin was welded into he back half of my car over the weekend, Cally finally has an MOT!

:)

However, she is going to need two front wings, a new drivers door, new sills and a tail pipe fairly soon.


And in other news, I have remembered how to make bread. Oh yes, once I get my goat^*, self-sufficiency here I come!

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twig

^* - not really, although it has passed my mind, given how big my lawn is...

bugger, another failure.

More welding (there's a surprise), but at least mechanically she is good.

So out with the welding torch i guess...
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Twig