Achievement!

So - it's just a fence.

I'll give you that. But built to my own design. In spite of all the adverse weather, tree-roots and my own lack of ability!

It may not be perfect but it has come out the way I designed it and imagined it to look - although the mechanics of it changed regularly as I went through the job.

And I did it! Not some cowboy "landscape gardener" Not to anyone else's specifications.

And a neighbour even commented how good it looked.

I feel a sense of achievement - justifiably.

They're all here

So we went to hear Offspring Senior's final recital.
The Missus, Offspring Junior and me that is.
Senior did his best and we now await the results from the adjudicators.
Then we had to do the rounds of the local hostelries with various of Senior's friends wishing him fond farewells and getting him more and more drunk.
Finally the drive home - which was lengthened considerably by the fact that a section of the motorway was closed because of a major fatal accident.
So now we are four.
A family once again.
Offspring Senior has offered - under pressure - to help me finish the fence tomorrow.
Yeah, right!
Once again I wait with bated breath . . .

The Continuing Saga

Thursday has unexpectedly turned into a good day.
The sun was out and the temperature was quite reasonable. So, it was with a fresh spring in my step that I tackled the dreaded fence once again.
The post went in - no problem.
The main cross-spars were duly screwed in place. Yes screwed - with non-rust screws so that I could dismantle parts if necessary and replace when the wood goes rotten (now that's forward planning not normally associated with Mac!).
Time is now getting on but I consider all the options and then decided that it would be a good idea to screw the feather edge boards instead of using nails for the same reason as above. Off I go to purchase non-rust screws of the correct size.
Then . . .
Just as I got back the heavens opened.
Really.
Heavy rain, a few flashes of lightning and rolls of thunder.
I thought it would pass over - as many sudden thunderstorms do. But no, it just turned into incessant heavy rain.
Oh well, tomorrow we go to Birmingham to watch Offspring Senior's final recital and bring him home so I'll just have to finish the fence on Saturday.
I'll be bloody glad when it's finished. I'll probably post a photo of it in this blog and you will all wonder what all the fuss was about.

When you've gotta go . . .

An emergency mission has just taken off heading for the International Space Station. It is carrying vital spare parts upon which the whole fate of the Station relies.
Is it some new-fangled electronic space telescope?
A new computer?
Navigation system?
Solar panels?
Nothing so mundane.
No, they are making an emergency delivery of . . .
Spare parts for the toilet.
Apparently the loo has not been working quite as it should. It can still handle solid waste but the liquid stuff ain't being sucked in properly. A spokesman is quoted on the BBC News as saying the toilet has to be operated "manually" (the mind boggles!).
With seven visitors arriving shortly it is essential that they can have a piss without trying to catch it in plastic bags while it floats around them.
As the spokesman said - you can't be expected to hold on if you're on a six-month journey to Mars!
After all, when you gotta go, you gotta boldly go!

Superb Secrecy . . .

Since my post about HMS Superb yesterday I have received one comment from "Anonymous" which you can read in full if you click on "Comments" on the post. Essentially it states that their partner is on board and no-one was injured - thank goodness for that.
He or she could not confirm the Afghanistan link and stated that the MoD would not confirm this either. Having seen that the BBC has edited out any reference to Afghanistan in the story, I wonder if the MoD has had a hand in this.
True, secrecy is paramount in protecting our strategies and our personnel. But if this is the case, why release the story of the incident in the first place?
I wish the responder's partner and the whole crew of HMS Superb a safe return to British shores.
I also applaud their bravery in defending the cause of freedom and democracy across the world.
But I am now more than a little afraid.
I am now looking over my shoulder to see if a shady character from the MoD or MI6 will be knocking on my door accusing me of some kind of treason for bringing this to general attention.
I wait with bated breath . . .

More Frustration

The ongoing saga of the fence . . .
I decided that I would try a metal fence support. This consists of a long metal spike which you drive into the ground with a sledgehammer. On top of it is a cup to hold the base of the wooden post. I dutifully hurt my back swinging the sledgehammer at the spike to drive it into the ground and when it was about two-thirds into the ground it decided to bend!
Shit!
But . . . all is not lost. With a lot of effort I was able to extract the now-useless spike. Then I used the deformed spike itself as a post-hole digger - having loosened the earth and broken through several tree roots.
So - back to Plan A which involves digging a hole, inserting the post and pouring concrete around the base of it.
No problem.
Plain sailing from hereon in . . .
Trouble is, as usual on my holidays, it's pissing down with rain yet again so there's no way I can use concrete because it would all be washed away before it set.
But there's always tomorrow . . .

Submarines in Afghanistan . . .

Yes, it's true. It must be true because I saw it on the BBC, which is always totally accurate.
They ran a story about a submarine, HMS Superb, which hit a rock in the Red Sea. Apparently there was no serious damage and no environmental effect. The only problem now is how to get her home. She cannot dive because her sonar equipment was damaged in the collision.
The report on the BBC News website ended by stating that the boat had recently been deployed to Afghanistan.
No, really?
I always thought Afghanistan was a land-locked country on the Indian sub-continent. I have never seen references to the beautiful beaches of Afghanistan, nor even the rugged coastline, fiords, crested waves or towering cliffs.
Shouldn't someone tell the Royal Navy that visiting Afghanistan in a submarine would cause much more damage than hitting a rock in the Red Sea?
Or did I get it all wrong in my Geography lessons at school . . . ?
Just so that I can confirm that I wasn't imagining the story please go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7422774.stm
so that I can confirm I'm not going mad and imagining this story.
NOTE: Two hours later I notice that they have changed the text to say that she was deployed to the Indian Ocean to support troops in Afghanistan. Just shows that somebody reads this blog. Or does it just mean that someone in the BBC realised how stupid the original story was . . .?
FURTHER NOTE: I have re-visited the BBC story today (May 28) and find that they have further edited it. All reference to Afghanistan has been removed and it is just stated that HMS Superb is in "international waters".
Hmm . . .

Cruisin' Down the River . . .

. . . well, strictly speaking it was a canal. Part of the old Somerset Coal Canal. 'Er Indoors had said she would like to me to hire a boat for her birthday present so, being an obedient hubby, I obliged and today we set off to Limpley Stoke to have our trip.
The boat was an electric powered day-boat. It was so quiet you had to listen hard to hear the motor running. In fact the bilge pump made more noise than the main propulsion motor.
It was idyllic sauntering along at the maximum-allowed speed of about 4 mph just watching the world go by around us. Ducks, geese, mayflies and many birds were spotted in grand abundance - including several broods of ducklings being shepherded by their mums!
We found a place to stop and banged a couple of stakes into the bank to moor the boat while we ate salads and fruits for lunch. We both had great fun trying to steer. At first neither of us could get used to the fact that when you turned the wheel it took a year-and-a-half before you could detect any reaction from the vessel. There were some quite narrow sections to get through but we managed it without bumping (more or less!)
All in all, a beautifully tranquil trip which we both agreed we would like to repeat.
It somewhat makes up for the postponement of my wife's flying lesson. But, as she said, it still leaves her something to look forward to!
Meanwhile - the idyll is about to be destroyed!
Tomorrow the wife goes to Cheltenham to bring Offspring Junior home from university. He's finished his course and is now just awaiting his results to see if he has gained his degree.
Then, on Friday, we all go to Birmingham to listen to Offspring Senior's final recital for his degree and then bring him home as well!
Oh shit!
The peace and quiet will no longer be peaceful nor quiet.
I think it will take both of us a little while to get used to being part of a larger family again.
Don't get me wrong - I'm very proud of both my kids. They've both worked hard and deserve to get their degrees.
But it is going to take some getting used to the idea of being four instead of two . . .

Frustration . . .

A day of complete frustration.
Yesterday was the day when 'er indoors was to take her trial flying lesson. It was pissing down with rain all morning.
It was hardly necessary to phone to find out it had been postponed. But when she did the earliest it could be re-arranged was in July!
Meanwhile I was supposed to be erecting a new fence. Trouble is that where the new post is supposed to be positioned there is a bloody great tree stump (with the accompanying underground roots). This makes it damned difficult, if not impossible to dig a hole for the new post. On top of that problem it was pissing down with rain (see earlier reference).
Both projects temporarily postponed . . .

Devastation

I have just been watching the BBC news covering the appalling earthquake in China. Tens of thousands are believed dead. Two stories were featured.

In the first a father was seen sitting on a lump of concrete which had once been a hotel. He explained that he had called his son on his mobile phone and heard weak breathing. He had begged rescue workers to search for him. The rescuers broke through the concrete and tried their best to find the son with no result.

The sad pictures of the father still clinging on to hope still sitting on the wreckage moved me to tears.

Then there were pictures of a man trapped - injured but still alive - under the remains of another building. A TV reporter had given him a mobile phone to talk to his wife. He told her he didn't think he had much chance of survival. By the time he was extracted from the rubble it was too late . . .

The hopeless look of frustration and sadness on an army officer's face relates much more than I can ever write.

Because of previous Chinese policies to reduce population many families only have one offspring. Thus whole generations have been wiped out by this tragedy.

How fragile life is. . .

Watch these stories for yourself. Visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7407510.stm

and mourn along with me for those who have died - and those who survived.

Mac plays live!

Well, it hasn't really happened for more than ten years. Mac playing music live - in front of a real listening audience.
Pete, my old mate from thirty-odd years ago, e-mailed me to tell me of a musicians' evening at one of his local pubs in the Forest of Dean. I didn't think much more about it but mentioned in passing to long-suffering " 'er indoors" that I wouldn't mind going along. She suggested we pay a visit to the forest in the afternoon and then go on to the gig to have a listen. So it was agreed - we'd go and have a listen.
Then, on Friday night, the inevitable happened. It happens every time we get a warm spell. Two doors down decide they're going to have a barbecue in their garden. First you get the smell of firelighters. Then the smoke as the charcoal starts to burn. Finally you get the smell of cremated meat ("we must make sure it's really cooked or else we might get salmonella").
I was so moved by this that I sat down and wrote a sarcastic grump-song about it entitled Another Darned Barbie.
Comes today and we make sandwiches, pack my guitar and head for the Forest. The area has changed considerably from how I knew it some 30-odd years ago but we finally found a quiet place to park and had a delightful walk listening to the birdsong and watching the wildlife.
Back to the car and sandwiches - then on to the venue. It's a pub. There's a few locals and some others who have come to listen. The guy running it - goes by the name of Bob - got up and, assisted by a guy called Lefty and the guy who plays drums with the Wurzels and my mate Pete on bass, got the whole thing underway with a few of his own numbers.
Then he called for others to come and do their thing. There wasn't much response so I plucked up the courage and got Pete on bass, Lefty on guitar and the drummer to join me in Another Darned Barbie. As I hadn't had time to properly learn the words my poor wife got deafened acting as music stand so that I could read them.
The song went down well - especially the line which went: "Why is everybody into animal cremation?"
Another young band got up - these kids were something else. Each of them had more talent in their little fingers than I have in the whole of my body. The girl had an amazing voice - and could really play a guitar - and the drums! Not only that she was good looking. I wish I'd asked their names because I would have been proud to list them in this blog. They didn't have a bass player so I picked up Pete's bass and joined them. They seemed grateful for a bit of bottom end.
I continued on bass for most of the rest of the evening - playing for the resident musicians and several of the stand-up musicians as well. Pete said afterwards he was grateful because usually on these gigs he is the only bass player and thus has to play all night.
Meanwhile my poor long-suffering wife had to sit it out. She said afterwards that she enjoyed listening but it was "a bit loud"!
One of the best days off I have had in a long time . . .