SM42

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

Still waiting required paperwork for customs clearance of pieces of mainland Europe. Until that arrives any construction work is useless, so what has been donated is being stored in a secure warehouse near the Gravelly Hill interchange. Depending on how concrete mixing goes this weekend, I may be able to add a bag of sand and gravel to the fund but someone will need to organise transport as I've done enough transporting of the stuff thanks. Its seems so far, we can provide 2 walls, an improvised bifold door and waterproofing for a roof we are still in need of. Of course none of this is of any use until the building plot clears customs. Andy

Nope Ballast for concrete dear boy. Sand and gravel in old money. I do know it was heavy. Needed at least 18 barrow loads before the bag was light enough to drag the rest round. There were some funny squeaking noises during this operation. Not sure if it was me or the wheelbarrow. What I really needed was HH on hand. He used to moving earth about. I think that the volume needs to be reduced by the square of the difference in size. So 0.25 should do it. Andy

Mrs SM42 can now access the drive, all done before she gets home and also just before the heavens opened again. I'd rather be painting. Andy

Only if someone left the lid open. This afternoon's task is to move 1 ton of ballast and 200 bricks off the drive before Mrs SM42 gets home. Andy

Is that for jumping into green bins? Andy

Will that offer come with a free Paciderm Compacting service too? Andy

Much hilarity at SM42 Towers this evening as I am playing with the Alexa that I had for my birthday I have been playing with the announcements function on the app and broadcasting a rip roaring raspberry to Mrs SM42 downstairs. ( I refuse to grow up) Mrs SM42 is wondering why this keeps happening and has asked Alexa " Do you feel alright?" To which it responded " I feel shocked" The schoolboy giggling has just about finished now but it could resurface at the slightest privocation Andy

Our green waste bin is brown. The recycling bin is green. Very easy to get them mixed up. First collection of the year was today. Don't know what we are going to put in it over the next two weeks. Andy

Good job you know how to use a parachute then. I can see it now. HH being ejected from a bin like a champagne cork or a Paciderm Cannon Ball act. Andy

How do you get out again? Do your neighbours have to call out Shropshire's finest and their specialist Hippo Retrieval Team? Andy

Just when you thought it was safe, Mrs SM42 comes home and adds another job to the list that involves measuring, drilling holes and attaching things to walls. All before Saturday. It's bad enough that I have 1 ton of sand and gravel arriving tomorrow that will need moving from the drive to the back garden before the day is out. Andy

Lines of traffic moving in the same direction moving at similar speeds. I reckon you could argue a case. Extra jobs now being dobe that weren't on the list but need doing anyway. Andy

A rather productive day today All jobs done and all before 2. Just 2 jobs remain but these need Mrs SM42 to be present, being computer based they need her password and confirmation codes. I'm now onto Wednesdays list for the other stuff Andy

I found that if you pull out to lane 4 to overtake then that lane sliws down to 50. 🙄 Andy

Busy week ahead for me Sparky is expected tomorrow, but before he arrives I need to source a socket face to match the others in the kitchen. After he has done his thing, I need to order some engineering bricks, a bag of ballast and some sand for work to start on the new garden wall by our man who does. I'll need to move the ballast from drive to rear garden before more visitors arrive Saturday and need somewhere to park. Tuesday will see me trying to blast some tar ashtrays from the sky with buckshot. I've nor been out for 16 months so I need to get my eye in again. Tuesday afternoon will be spent sorting out the house ready for the next painting job Wednesday is a day of catching up with other stuff and tidying ready for our visitors at the weekend. Thursday and Friday will be wasted by going to work. Andy

Today's drive was excellent unitl we got this side of the channel. The variable speed limits were all over the place. A lit limit on a gzntry loomed ahead so I eased off and needed just a slight dab of the brake to get me down the last couple of mph to 60. This gantry had a camera and it went off at least twice as I approached and I saw at least 5 flashes in the mirror. Seems some can't predict that a lit gantry means slow down as there is something less than NSL showing. Worse still the next 3 gantries showed NSL and then we passed the burnt out car being recovered. Several other occasions of a 60 followed by NSL for no reason happened and at the M25/ M4 junction we had from left to right 40 blank 40 blank 40 blank 40. No wonder people get confused. Of course we then had the usual wombles who insisted on turning a 4 lane motorway into a two lane one by bumbling along in lane 3 at 65mph with nothing to their left. I was quite relaxed leaving the tunnel. Even saw my first new style Eurostar set. I think my blood pressure was at danger levels before Ashford. Andy

Another story told to me by a former and no sadly departed colleague was of a shift at a signal box in the Wednesbury area. A steel train went past with part of the load obviously not where it should be on the wagon. " well" he thought," it's only going a short distance and it'll be in the yard out of the way where it will be unloaded and it will just cause delay to stop it." And so on it went onwards unencumbered by being stopped and examined. This was OK till the wayward load hit an overbridge and not only removed a section of the brickwork also derailed the train. When asked if he had seen anything wrong with the train as it passed his box he replied, " it was alright when it passed me" Apparently the repair to the bridge can still be seen from the Midland Metro Andy

We are back from the motherland and best wishes @Dave Hunt to Jill from all at SM42 Towers 923 miles in 15hrs 49 mins. Second fastest time west bound. We managed to get onto a train 2 hours earlier than our booked and on driving onto the loading area I just followed the green arrows and ended up on a crossing half an hour earlier than the one we were given. @polybear I could suggest Poznan, (but I'm biased) Things to do include . The tank museum, commonwealth war graves of the great escapees, another museum nearby with various artefact and old war birds slowly rusting. A day trip to Wolsztyn ( one hour each way by train and about £14 return. Sitting outside a bar in the old square watching the world go by ( not this year though. Still a building site till autumn.) A task best suited to a summer's day. The views are better and it's warmer Visiting the Rogale museum where the making of the local delicacy of the St Martins Croissant is demonstrated. V tasty. I have one for breakfast tomorrow Visit to Lech brewery The cathedral and nearby museum of Poznan's history. Then there are cake shops. And If you get the chance watch some trains or buy a 24 hours tram ticket and see where the trams take you. Should keep you going for near enough a week. Finally it's about half an hour by bus from the airport to main railway station on the edge of the city centre Andy

Yes they are, but without a double back there will always be a rest day after a night turn. The other alternative is a late or early after nights the following day, but that leaves a rest day between booking off and only lates would give the 32 hrs rest, but there would still be a day without booking on. Most prefer it that way, as it is not compulsory to sleep all day and you get at least 32 hours between turns. More like 56 generally. I tend to get up around 10 and have the rest of day to use on anything that doesn't involve too much thinking. There is also a preference for 12s amongst the majority round our way and the minority mostly warm to them when they realise the benefits . Andy

What you really need is a shed to house the control room for all this. Oh! Andy

Tell em you're digging a fish pond and use the hole as a shaft from which to dig out in both directions. You can then create an entrance out of sight, in the loft for instance, and having completed excavations cap initial shaft with a fish pond. If you are feeling in a meglomanic mood you could make a fake pond that slides open to allow missiles to be launched. ( purely in a defensive mode you understand) Andy Who recently watched You Only Live Twice.

Not next month. After the summer trip. September . Andy

Sister of Mrs SM42 ( who has spent many a summer holiday on Italy) has suggested we fly to Verona and hire a small car as the roads are quite narrow and busy around the area Being out of main season will help with traffic but parking can be a nightmare she says. As she is fluent in Italian, she is on standby to translate parking signs if we send a picture. Of course I may not get the time off. Mrs SM42 may not either. There is some doubt over Mrs SM42's work arrangements at the time of the planned trip, as the nursery school she works at is closing at the end of the school year in July. She doesn't know yet if it will be taken over by the adjacent primary school and she'll be TUPEd across. It's all a bit of an unknown at present Andy