That Friday feeling.

There is little that is more irksome to a shift worker than an effervescent radio or television personality bleating on about it being Friday and how the weekend is here. Those of us whose working life is spread over all seven days of the week can well do without their exhortations to get out and enjoy the traditional two days off. 

I'd be most grateful if the likes of Chris 'Ginger Twat' Evans on The One Show and Vanessa 'Porker' Feltz on Radio Two would take their stereotyped inanities and shove them them back from whence they came.

Annoying bastards

Likewise the desk jockeys and nine to fivers of this nation. I don't give a shit if its a Friday and you're off out to swill overpriced alcopops down your neck and stuff yourself full of curry or kebab. Keep your Facebook and Twitter updates to yourselves thankyou. 

Shut the fuck up.

I have no desire to hear of your walks in the park, trips to the beach or shopping expeditions whilst I'm working. So please have some consideration for the weekend people, many of whom are making your days of rest that bit better.

Oh so true!

Although you may rest assured that I'll be regaling all and sundry with tales of lazy weekdays and relaxing mid-week trips free from the madding crowds. Whilst you're in the office counting paper clips and shuffling pieces of paper I'll be enjoying queue and crowd free open spaces. Parking spaces will be abundant and eating establishments will not be heaving with obnoxious kids and their parents.   

Can someone shoot Evans and Feltz?

 

Searching For The Good Life

A few weeks ago, in a fit of generosity, I treated Shazzie to a greenhouse. Nothing too elaborate or expensive, just a a basic 6'x4' made from aluminium and polycarbonate. Since it got delivered its been sitting under our rear porch waiting to be erected. So okay I thought, just how difficult can it be? 

How its meant to look

Our garden already had a suitable site, lots of sunshine, level and firm that required no preparation. So I sat down with a cup of PG and read through the instructions. 16 pages and 23 steps later I was still scratching my head trying to get to grips with the odd wording and dodgy diagrams.

I'm going to need plenty of these.

Preparation is the key my old headmaster used to tell me, So I cleared a space in the garage and made sure that I had all the tools needed to hand. Screws, bolts and fixings all decanted into a small tub and the parts laid out ready to be identified as required. Lacking any further reason to delay the start I turned to page 1, the door. If you've read this far without losing the will to live I suspect you may be expecting a tale of twisted metal and cracked panels. Not so dear reader, the door went together fairly well and was soon complete and placed to one side ready for installation when required. What I did realize was that this was not going to be a quick job, more like 2 or 3 days of concerted effort.

Surely it can't be that hard?

Even after enlisting the assistance of my neighbour and chum Keith from over the road, by mid afternoon we only had the base and 2 sides constructed. But so far so good, nothing has been broken or damaged and there are no parts missing.

Dog tired

Day 2 of the big build will commence later. Back to work tomorrow so hopefully it'll be just about finished.

Update: 17.00 and its complete and in situ, all that remains is for it to be fixed to the ground. Better get that done a bit sharpish given the storms forecast for next week! My hands are sore and my back aches but its a good feeling to have done something reasonably well. Shazzie is very happy, already planning what she is going to grow and where the radio is going to be!

The finished item.

Time to get back to this blogging malarkey, hard to believe its been such a long time since I even visited Blogger.

Shazzie and I recently returned to Devizes for a weekend in the motorhome. Amongst other things we did the Wadworths brewery tour. A very pleasant couple of hours that only cost a tenner and was an interesting experience.

We enjoyed the weekend away, especially after Shazzie's recent health scare. Devizes is a nice town with a distinct atmosphere all of its own.

I'm in the middle of a run of late shifts, lots of getting home between 0100 and 0200. Better than having to get out of bed before dawn for an early shift!

Earlier this week we drove out to a place called Echilhampton to do a geocaching trail. We walked 8.4km, found 28 caches and logged a new Trigpoint at the top of Echilhampton Hill. Terrific views across the North Wiltshire countryside.