Morgan's Manor - The Off-Topic Chat Thread

American food is even better when someone else is paying.

 

Who was pai mei?

 

I was wondering the same... I think he is the new Hampshire/Merseyside liaison officer.

 

No idea who he was, but he used the same IP address as someone who was previously banned. He has been sent to the salt mines in Siberia.

 

Horrible morning. Ticket machines weren't working at the station and I had to get in an enormous queue, missed two trains, and then missed my bus. Had to get a different bus without any friends on it and showed up to work dead on 9, and now I can't believe how much work they're piling on me. **** today. **** it right in the arse.

 

That is a morning from hell! I'm in a considerably better mood as I go on holiday on Thursday.

 

You won't be laughing when the US security guys don those rubber gloves

 

I'm on a roll this morning. Over the weekend I've put up some huge front gates which I made for a customer 5 years ago and I've secretly done it while he is on holiday. Oh, they fitted like a dream. Shame they look crap now because he stored them onto of damp ground under trees. They did look superb. had to do it because his old gates finally fell off..!
Changed the tax disc on my bike - believe me, that's a work up. You've got to make it very hard to steal, so it's in there with six tiny inaccessible bolts.
Fixed two computers, one of which [a quad core] is sitting next to me gleaming, and the other is sat on my table [just a dual core, but a quickie] without a box to go in but is working beautifully and almost silent. I'm doing this on it now and I kind of like seeing all the bits connected up out in the open. I suppose if I cleared a shelf I could put it up there and just take leads off it.

 

You make gates? Metal or wooden? Standard size or custom?

 

A friend of mine is one of the few female blacksmiths in the country - she makes stunning gates - http://www.bexsimon.com

 

I wouldn't say I make gates, FLT. That sounds like I manufacture anything to order. But, being fairly resourceful, I have, in the past done some research into how to make wooden garden gates and it isn't rocket science, believe me. You just need the space to make them in and the materials. Obviously, accuracy and finish are all important, otherwise I wouldn't want what I've made, let alone anyone else.
So, I have made, let me see, about a dozen custom wooden gates, including two pairs of big double sets. One set of which [the one I referred to earlier] fills a gap of around 9ft 6ins and are 7ft tall. They're driveway gates. They looked absolutely gorgeous when I made them, and now, because they haven't been hung as gates, until now, but have been kept in a damp area under trees, they've been grown into by ivy and roots, and spiders and insects have taken up residence, and the varnish and stain is all fractured and flaking. But they are still solid, so they will brush up nicely. I've brushed them down and removed the plants, but they need a bit of tlc to look their best. At least the bloody things are up. I know his wife will be pleased.

 

Yes, now that's a skill to be proud of.

 

I think I have seen her on the telly on some article once. Is that possible?

 

Hmmm.......possibly, yes. I think she's been featured on something or other.

 

I think I need a bespoke gate built. I have a brick car port that the previous owners didn't finish off and although they had grand plans and have H girder up to link across to the front of the house and a pitched roof done on one side, I want to convert it into a home for the bunnies. In my little mind, all it needs is accurately made and fitted wooden gate on the front. I have envisaged a two part gate that connects at the centre and swings inwards. Would need to be solid, or very small gaps so as to keep bunnies in. I am pitching the idea to my wife.

 

It's funny, but when I was at school, there was no way that I wanted a trade, as one called it. I wanted to work with my brains. Well I did that and it wasn't as fulfilling as I thought it was going to be. So I started fixing things. When I was much younger, my first love was music and vinyl, so I repaired turntables and/or speakers [amps didn't thrill me, only transducers did]. Incidentally, people were far more resourceful just 20 or 30 years ago. Just imagine what they were like 100 years ago or more..? I digress.
The point I'm making is that, although I wanted to work with my brains [I ended up finally going to Uni in my 30s after my parents stopped me in my teens] I never realised how much intuitive brain work is required in a real skill. Nowadays, I see blacksmiths, wheelwrights, thatchers and craftspeople, etc... [I mean really skilled people, not cheap souvenir makers] and I slightly regret that I didn't go down that route, because the skill is something that most people can't even imagine, let alone acquire. It takes years to perfect, and you never do and it's too late for me now. They're analogue skills. You never get quite good enough at them. You can always get better.
So I fix computers, which is a piece of piss believe me, and do things that the average person have no time or inclination to do, but appreciate [with money] when someone can.

It's way better than working in the office.

 

I could show you how to do it..?

 

You been working overtime again, Chilco..?

 

Some guy went on Kickstarter and asked for $10 to make a potato salad. He's currently on $7,798. Wish I'd thought of that.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/324283889/potato-salad