SM42

Mrs SM42 is in Boney M mode again. I'm sitting it out this time. Andy

When I was in the exhibition management game, whinge was great collective noun for traders 😁 for much the same reason. Perhaps it's just a modelling thing. Good job I'm not a horse isn't it? Andy

I went to bed 39 and woke up 40 and thought " that didn't hurt yesterday " The back gave out at 36, Rugby started to hurt at 18, now at 53, shoulders, knees and occasionally random other bits object at random intervals about any given activity too If I was a horse they'd have shot me by now. Andy

Well that was a fun trip home from work. Started in white town with clear wet roads, proceed to outskirts with white roads with two black bands then out to white over roads and back to clear roads with very little snow. In fact there is more snow about 1.5 miles away than here. Time for some kip. Till later Andy

Well I have awoken to find ghat SM42 Towers is an almost completely snow free zone. Just a couple of small clumps remain here and there Very disappointing really. I was hoping for the snowmageddon that they have been promising over ghe last two days. Not even enough to build a snowman. Pah! Andy

Roundels? Roundels? I don't think they're in the manual, so you should revert to not crossing the solid white line. Or are they way stop lines. Maybe priority to the left is the name of the game. Who knows? Confusion. Just what you need to improve road safety. Andy

I could but I've got 200 bricks to move and I've got a bone in my leg. Andy

A roundabout not far from SM42 Towers was considered the main cause of congestion on one of the roads attached to it. After many years of wrangling, hand wringing and soul searching the local authority came up with the solution of adding traffic lights at 3 of the entrances and none at the previously congested road's entrance. Part of this process was to make the middle smaller, add lanes to the roundabout and increase the number of approach lanes. The result of all this work is that traffic wishing to turn right, from the road opposite the unsignalled one, can do so from one of two lanes. Those in the left most of the two (which is used for straight on and right) can also, when part way round and by dint of the road markings continue round to do the full U turn. The problems is that when turning right, following a lane round, most think that indicating the right turn intention is no longer required as they are just following the arrows and lanes and thus we should all know where they are going cos of the road markings. Now as those in the left most lane approach the unsignalled entrance, the road marking force them to go quite deep and turn quite sharply, making it look like they are exiting the roundabout till the last minute and with no indication as to where they are going, it is no wonder they find people entering the roundabout across their bows. It doesn't help that two cars or a truck waiting at a set of lights use up all the space so anyone diving in find themselves faced with stationary traffic preventing any deft manoeuvering by use of the accelerator to get out of the way. The lack of indicators was never this bad before. Before it was the opposite. Indicate left and then pick any exit of the four Andy

Still snowing, but not settling yet on the SM42 Towers Estate. Bricks found ordered and delivery expected before the end of the week. Cheaper than expected too as a bonus. All other jobs listed for today completed too and so to bed to prep for more night shifts. Andy

Pada snieg! Pada snieg! Snow is falling upon SM42 Towers. Fun and frolics ( and the great brick search) predicted for today Andy

Some of the rescued bricks quite literally have a 2mm square chip on a corner. I wouldn't see it if it wasn't pointed out by the brickie. Good enough for a garden wall if not for the house. I've rescued around 100 at a rough guess., or about £200 + VAT's worth. Andy

I've hoarded the bricks the brickie discarded with the plan to use them to build a garden wall. He wouldn't entertain using them due to some minor imperfection. I still need another 200 odd and they are not the easiest to find and hence not the cheapest. Mrs SM42 did wonder at the time why I was skip diving. Also retrieved some useful bits of timber and insulation. Andy

It was one of those things declared normal the other day by the doctor. Having lost my father to it 20 years ago it is an annual test for me, which is tagged onto the diabetes screening test. ( he had that too) I still can't understand why there is not a national prostate cancer screening program like there is for the various cancers our female friends get. It all relies on us fellas getting out there and asking and we know how good we are at that Andy

I just completed the task of cleaning up Mrs SM42's e mails. She now has 15 unread e mails ( that may be important I don't know) rather than 1200+. She really needs to unsubscribe from some things and perhaps delete stuff as she goes. Andy Slightly cross eyed now

We the reverse experience in a hotel in Warsaw. We were the only guests not to complain about the noise from the trains ( near a station ) and the planes ( it's a city with an airport) and other general city noises. When we went to check out, the reception said they would need to speak to the manager and called him. He had gone out to buy us a gift for not moaning about the noises one would expect to hear in a capital city We left with a bottle of vodka on the house. Andy

Buses won't run , work places will shut down as everyone is snowed in and schools will be closed ( I bet they won't give the parents £60 each per day) What will we do? Andy

I have given up trying to get to the standards of some modelling I see around. It's not that I don't aspire to such, it's just that life is too short. Sure, I'll try to get to get better and try to find ways to do things better but at some point the effort outweighs the rewards. I'm re- assessing some of my early wagon builds to see if I can drag them up to my current standard, but I'm not going to worry too much if they fall a little short . Simple upgrade to close enough will suffice I have have similar attitude on the clay ground. I'm not going yo win any competitions and of course I would like to improve my scores but my 60 - 65% average is good enough for me. I might get jnto the 70s occasionally, but if I hit something I'm happy and I'm enjoying myself. I believe part of enjoying a hobby is accepting your limitations By definition you will get better with practice, but perfection risks turnng it into a full time occupation rather than a pastime. Andy PS tea and cake have arrived. Yay!

Interesting article fron thr Grauniad has popped up on the front page of a popular internet search engine. The basic outline is that striving for perfection in our hobbies ruins them. We should enjoy the process and not be concerned with failure or shortcomings. It is supposed to be fun, not work. Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I like to get to a reasonable standard in any hobby pursuit otherwise I just find it overwhelmingly frustrating. I can take the initial frustration of trying to get to that reasonable standard but beyond that I am happy to be average. I do find being average annoying at times though and yearn occasionally for fluked perfection. Andy

The milky and sweet bit Is there a hidden camera at SM42 Towers? I awake this morning sporting a Boney M injury. Bobby Farrell had a lot more stamina than me and was undoubtedly a lot fitter. I bet he didn't wake up with aching calf muscles which in at least one instance may be more than just aftershock due to unexpected high intensity use. Andy

This is getting silly We have Disco Polo playing and currently it is a song about brand of German soap: Mydelko Fa 🤪 Andy

Uh oh We are in 70s disco mode at SM42 Towers. Mrs SM42 is drinking my beer and I'm absolutely cream crackered Andy

Frantic cleaning and tidying by hiding things in cupboards is going on at SM42 Towers, even at this late hour, as visitors are expected tomorrow till Sunday. Work is starting on the garden too with foundations for a new wall being dug out and a foundation poured. All this tidying is all I need after a 12 hour shift, so having done the vacuuming I have declared my tasks complete and am taking beer therapy. Andy

The results are in from my annual health check. The doctor has told me I'm normal He obviously has no idea about TNM 🤪 Andy

From what I've heard, to take a photo of your shed you would need to be in space to get it all in shot Andy

Building down is indeed a fine idea, but unless significant mess within the WB domicile is of little concern, then some form of cover story will be required to avoid neighbourly inquisitiveness. This is where Shed Aid can help. A new shed concealing the entrance to the underground lair would not arouse any suspicion with the curtain twitching brigade. Hide in plain sight is a fine mantra for the sub terrainian meglomanic. What could anyone find unusual about a man going into his shed, maybe carrying a few tools, a bit of timber or a quantity of mildly alcoholic beverage as a cover story. Shed Aid is very flexible, (rather like the shed is going to be it seems) when it comes to assisting those in need. A SARS solution will of course make the bifold door already donated a possible liability, so can I put out an appeal for some curtains. Andy