3 Nov 2017

And Then, To Work...

It’s been quiet as I’ve been organising my little nest of vipers trip to far, far, far away to visit family and  also planning a couple of major projects in the house that I’ll get done while she’s away. It’s so much easier when alone and  without the constant, “Why are you doing...” - “Why don’t you...” – “Why didn’t you...” and so on and so forth.

Anyhoo, as before, if you’re an amateur day trader or occasional dabbler, may I humbly suggest a buy punt on any, possibly all, fast food chains from burger joints to the ‘healthy’ subway folk. And let’s not forget frozen food halls.

While on the subject of frozen food, I mentioned a goodly while ago that I’d ‘discovered’ potato wedges, as opposed to old fashioned chips, seasoned with black pepper and sea salt. Well, while meandering round one such store recently, and after negotiating the two aisles of twenty plus display chests showcasing products clearly illustrating the thousand and one things you can do with a dead chicken, I came to the chip chest. Whoa! What have we here? Sweet potato fries? Got to try ‘em so got me a bag. Oven cook? If you wish I guess, but I go for the healthy deep fry option. There’s no going back now and wedges have suddenly become so, like, last year. Man they’re good and very kind on old teeth – or tooth dependant on your present configuration.

Quote;  J. A. Konrath.

“Sorry to hear about your Dad."
He shrugged. "He was seventy, and we always told him fast food would kill him."
"Heart attack?"
"He was hit by a Pizza Express truck.”

9 comments:

Ripper said...

I hope your major projects are easier than mine Mac - I moved here 6 months ago and have to demolish an outhouse for access for the bike (stuck in son in law's motorcycle dealership since the move), build a new workshop for said bike and tool storage/DIY projects, both bathroom and kitchen have to be gutted and a new floor in the kitchen. All rooms in the house have to be skimmed before any decorating and a wood burner installed in the living room. There's much more but those are the top bucket list jobs, which have already resulted in me owning what must constitute a full woodworking machine shop. Oh, I'm also forgetting the armoured cable that has to be laid for the new workshop. All done by myself whilst working night shifts all week. I don't know about you, but I'm going to be loving it. I've discovered tricks of the trade that I would only dream about doing before - a saw table, for example will also slot, plane and rebate and I have invested in a planing machine, which means that I can buy much cheaper rough cut wood or carcassing timber, or even reclaimed wood, scaffolding planks or pallets. This is the 'new bed' that I'm planning to build:

http://cdn.goodshomedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Glowing-pallet-bed.jpg

"twenty plus display chests showcasing products clearly illustrating the thousand and one things you can do with a dead chicken"

That would be 1002 if you eat the bugger then.

Caratacus said...

Ripper - I recognise that bed; I use something similar for transporting 45gallon drums of R134A refrigerant.

Mac, sweet potato is an oxymoron surely? Potato must have salt and pepper and, in varying circumstances, vinegar or tomato ketchup, or liquor. What on earth is happening to the world ... :-)

Mac said...

Ripper,
And that’s the trick my friend; the right tools for the job!
Thank you for that list of your tasks, you’ve made me feel a whole lot better having dwarfed my projects into insignificance.
Having said that, as sad as it sounds, when you get to my age you suddenly find that even changing a light bulb has become a major project.
Good luck with all your endeavours Ripper.

Mac said...

Caratacus,
It would seem, from my tentative experimentation with these fries, you can add anything and everything to ‘em. Having said that, they do be good solo.

Ripper said...

Mac- that's what I wanted to do.. you know the old saying that someone is always worse off than you - I doubt that you are looking forward as much as I am to tackling the DIY. Besides, I can put a smile on your face when I report everything that's gone wrong, if I'm working with my son in law, its like being in an episode of the Chuckle brothers. I went to his house last week to wire in a new set of sockets for the 'games room' he is planning. I got there to find out that the room was still full - bed in, carpet still down etc. We needed the floorboards up to route the cables so he quickly moved everything to one end of the room and peeled back the carpet. As a result one of the boards we needed up was under the pile, so he got his circular saw out - without checking for water pipes directly underneath. Before I got to the stop tap (right at the back of a corner kitchen unit full of junk) there was a waterfall at the bottom of the stairs. So I ended up doing plumbing as well.

Caratacus - I've been looking for one of those drums to mix the screed in when I level the kitchen floor. I have a cement mixer and planning to make a wheeled trolley which tips for the drum. I'm also trying to source some Euro pallets but I can't seem to get new ones. The bed is one I found on Google images, mine will be slightly different but I will be using the same principle with underlighting etc.

Mac said...

Ripper,
No surprise there as I could see the water pipe was going to get cut quite early on in your comment. Spookily, a little light plumbing is on my list. Not too much of a biggie, just replacing the kitchen sink mixer tap. Looking at it I believe the ‘easy’ way to do this is to disconnect everything and take the sink out as access, even with plug sockets, would be tricky. Out okay, but new in right and tight? Doubtful. When I say not much of a biggie, don’t all DIY disasters start out like that?
Happy daze ahead and always remember, strong drink at night makes everything alright.

Ripper said...

Mac - plug sockets on a sink? Never heard of that before. I think the easiest way is to use a basin spanner without taking the sink out. The spanner will let you get up there behind the sink, vertically...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Draper-Basin-Wrench-Adjustable-Tap-Tool-Nut-Spanner-Set-Basin-Bath-Sink-Unions/221408701314?epid=1071519445&hash=item338cfcab82:g:VRoAAOSwyQtVz1AI

The taps should be 1/2" fittings and the spanner will get the new one nice and tight (the threaded pipe on the tap which goes through the sink should have a flat on it, to prevent it from turning in the hole.

Then for the future, you might consider cutting the pipes back and fitting a pair of isolator valves then flexible tails to the new tap.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-2-x-1-2-BSP-Kitchen-Monobloc-Mixer-Tap-Connectors-Flexible-Hose-Pipe-Tails/171849711105?hash=item28030a7e01:m:mnwqykQEd0q_zzuHxuHs7Gw

These are also available with one push-in end for monobloc taps, it depends on how your new ones connect to the pipe. Well worth the outlay to save you a world of pain in removing worktops and units, which of course usually leads to re-tiling too.

As for the isolator valves, I buy those in bulk and fit them to everything which has water running through it, especially the main take off from the stop tap - its easier and quicker to get to in an emergency. I discovered that last week.

Anyway, another tip for you - don't try to tighten the living daylights out of the tap connectors - they have a neoprane washer which seals with very light tightening. Over tightening them will damage the connector.

Mac said...

Ripper,
Thanks for your input and time; it’s appreciated. Plug socket? Wrong word used there so sorry for the confusion. Plug spanner was the term I didn’t use. They’re available in a range of lengths and the sizes including that needed for sink tap work;
https://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=20068996&vat_inc=true&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6dbmlLul1wIVChbTCh1xnAi5EAQYAyABEgKrS_D_BwE

I also have one of these but haven’t tried it yet. That would be the one with the green handle;
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tooltime%C2%AE-Plumbers-Adjustable-Wrench-Spanner/dp/B01EXG31XE

As for tails and taps; I’m covered on that as I’m also a believer in stop tap use wherever possible so the mixer has flexi-tails and stop taps.
As a by-the-by, as you go about your endeavors and something goes wrong and you wonder how things could get any worse, imagine waking up, finding that all that had gone before was a dream and you were actually a chicken...

Ripper said...

Mac - I believe those spanners are box spanners, the difference being that plug spanners are single ended, they have a rubber plug in the other end to support the spark plug. When you said plug sockets I thought 13amp electrical outlets.

"I also have one of these but haven’t tried it yet. That would be the one with the green handle"

Its the other one in the picture that you want, that is the traditional plumber's basin spanner and is meant to be able to be used end on, as well as normally. One end is 3/4" BSP for bath taps and the other is 1/2" BSP for kitchen/basin taps. Its a dedicated tool and this is its only purpose.

My experiences with the type that you have, the one with green handle, have not been very good, I've found that the head is too floppy to get onto the pipe nut in restricted space when you have to go more by feel than sight.

I don't know about being a chicken, but I read a comment on another blog which said that the human race are nothing more than apes with smart phones. How true.