Ebay & life

I really don’t know about EBay … I mean, whether or not it’s worth all the hassle of trying to sell stuff using it?!!!

 

I’ve managed to find buyers for a few bits and bobs, but by the time I’ve sorted out the packing/postage/carriage and dealt with all the problems with buyers about how they want it delivered, I wonder whether I am really making enough out of it all to make it worthwhile! However, the garage is looking decidedly emptier now, and so that MUST be a good sign, and the small amount of £sterling that I have salted away in my bank must be a sign of benefit eh? Mind you, with banks being like they are at present, I wonder if mattress-money mightn’t be a better bet!

 

I have sold a pair of vintage headlamps, circa 1930’s; possibly a similar aged driving lamp (they all came off Percy’s old Vauxhall [heavy] six cylinder saloon before it was scrapped). Looks as if my wet-darkroom gear is sold too, though am still awaiting payment for that. Pity I didn’t manage to find anyone for the large-format Johnson enlarger (6 x 9 + 4 x 5); or the Gnome Beta II 4 x 5. They’d be good for someone wanting to get good prints off large format negs!

Still have to sell my Jobo motorised neg/photo/film processor, but that shouldn’t be such a challenge at B.O.O. £60.00 should it?!

Then there’s the volumes of collected ‘Tea-Cards’ and collectors models (cars etc.) that need to be sorted and sold. Wouldn’t mind a bulk offer for those two! Anyone interested?

 

Had Kirsten (elder daughter), Neil, Tegan & Jack up at the weekend. They do grow (grandchildren), and not just in size! They’re both so sharp and into everything! I am constantly amazed at Tegan and her knowledge and abilities to envision things and think ahead to solve problems! I daresay Jack will turn out the same too, based on how he is at present!

Tegan’s always wanting to ‘make things’, and with the arrival of the lathe, we thought we’d have a go at something simple together! We chose to have a go at turning a light-pull out of some scrap brass rod and having skimmed it, Tegan quickly learned how to run the tool along the shaft and shape it. Not 9 yet and as bright as a button and able to turn her hand to almost anything! Within an hour or so she’d drilled, counter-sunk and shaped it, before polishing it with some very fine paper.

 

Had a bit of a problem with the lathe (WARCO BV20-1) before this. It wouldn’t start the other day, and I found that the isolator/interlock switch inside the gear cover had simply broken (dropped apart). I have no idea HOW it could have happened, since it’s not been moved since it was installed some seven weeks ago. However, one quick call to the helpdesk and a chat with the workshop and a new switch is being sent!

Then, having made a temporay repair (taped the switch back together), I found it wouldn’t spin up to the top (two) highest speeds consistently, and having investigated, I found that the belt’s too loose and there’s no adjustment left on the motor mount!

Again, a quick call and a nerw belt’s being sent. Really cannot fault them for their after-sales service. So much better than anything I have found (of late) from any other company.

Well-worthwhile remembering when I come to get anything else along this line!

 

Think I might look for a small milling machine. There are jobs that really need something fairly accurate to shape bits of metal (and plastic) that would take ages by hand, and be nowhere nearly as smart. Unsure what to go for though. There are SO MANY on offer both in the UK and for import from India/China and the Far East generally. Import costs tend to reduce the options though, so it looks like having to be a WARCO, Axminster, Chester, or perhaps a Clarke or ARC. Anyone got any ideas or advice to offer?

The prices seem very similar for broadly comparable equipment, though there are some that APPEAR better value than others. The challenge is, I guess, to know what will best meet my needs, and which of the machines that are available is really best value!? Again, any INFORMED views would be very welcome!

 

Am waiting with barely disguised frustration for my Occ Health medical next week so I can get the ‘green light’ to be able to return to work! Ohh please god! This being away from people really isn’t good for me. I do need the repartee and buzzzzz that comes from working in a team and dealing with people in a customer/client-facing environment!!!

 

Had best get on now. Have a number of ‘chores’ to deal with while the weather’s good.

 Bysey bye for now!

A step closer …

So, the meeting with my line manager and a rep., from HR has been and gone and was very positive. Once I have seen, and hopefully got the all-clear from, the occ Health doc., I will be making a start on my return to work. Can’t wait!

I am slowly expanding what I attempt to accomplish at home; housework; gardening; further clearing-up in the garage/workshop etc. Looks like I might, finally, have a buyer for my old Myford lathe. The space it frees up will be very helpful! Have also sold (and posted) the two vintage headlamps (from Percy’s old Vauxhall ‘heavy’ six cylinder saloon from the 1930’s) and am currently advertising a load of very good wet darkroom equipment on EBay (see .. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=160293431233, and http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=160293433840).

I now want to find someone who will give a home to my vintage Wolseley WD8 stationary engine, and the old Ruston Hornsby industrial engine. So if you read this and are at all interested in either of them, email me … daveyrogers@talktalk.net.

 

Next Saturday is James’ (Abi’s husband’s) special landmark birthday party and it seems like all the family will be coming too.

 

Had best call it a day for now and get on with the rest of life. Have a nice day now!

 

Back to work … !

So, after around 5 months, it looks very much as if I’ll be able to get back to work and sanity! What’s that saying about not realising what you have until you lose it!? That’s very much how it’s felt about work and my work colleagues!

 

I saw my doc last Friday and explained that much of the pain I had been in was now much less, and suggested that I get back to work. Like his partner (who I usually see), he wasn’t entirely supportive, though as I explained about the need to get back to something approaching ‘normality’, he agreed to sign me back on a ‘Trial Basis’.

 

I meet my boss and someone from H.R. on Tuesday next to discuss the when/where/how, and (presumably) sometime twixt now and then, see the Occ Health doc’., again too, so he and I can talk about how the return should be handled. I appreciate that all this is to make my return easier/happier/more likely to succeed, but it makes it so much more a drawn out event that one wonders!

 

I guess that within a couple of weeks I’ll know better how/whether it’s working!

Going on …

Well, that’s been an interesting few weeks! (NOT). Today I have an appointment at Hospital (BHH) for an x-ray followed (they think) by an MRI scan. Despite the fact that I told the doc’., in Triage that I couldn’t have MRI scans because of the sliver of metal in my left eye, he seems to have booked me in for one. When I received the appointment offer by phone I warned that it would be a waste of time, but was told that they’d do an x-ray beforehand to check that it was still there (bit of metal). You know, we DO have one of the best HealthCare systems in the world, but sometimes one wonders at the ‘clunky way’ it operates! I say that even though I work in the system!

 

Heard from Coz., Tim over the weekend. Seems he has some kind of problem with blood vessels in his head that’s causing him to feel tired all the time. Hope he’s going to be OK. He has found Ernie’s father’s details in the 1881 Census, a farm worker in Kent. Maybe the stories Ernie told me were true after all. Hope he’s able to send me something about what he’s found so I can put it on the family website!

 

Thank GOODNESS Sharron’s OK after her diagnostic tests. They seem able to control the problems she’s suffering through drugs which is a relief.

 

Have received my new lathe and tried it out, though it has an odd noise emanating from the headstock which is rather worrying. Have emailed WARCO to that effect and hope to receive a reply soon. Anyone want an old (but working) Myford lathe for next to nothing? If there’s interest email me at daveyrogers@talktalk.net or call me on 0777 203 4560.

 

Heard on Monday from BCC’s local Planning Control guy. He’s coming out to see me next week … I think. Sounds like the replacement of the old part of the garage will be ‘permitted’, perhaps even with a small extension (less than 10%).

 

The back gate overhead cover is completed and doesn’t look too out of place. The small spotlights (3 x 20w each) look good and provide sufficient illumination to make the transition from the drive, through the gate and up the steps much better!

 

Plan to see if I can ‘turn’ some new saucepan lid handles over the next few days, arm permitting.

 

Yes, the pain’s still there, though thankfully the spasms are much fewer, less intense and less long-lasting. I do so hope that the scan/s (or whatever) find what’s causing the ongoing pain and that there’s something that CAN be done to reduce or alleviate it altogether! Maybe then I’d be able to just have the back pain as a reminder to watch out for spills on the floor!

 

Have to go now to get ready for my hospital trip … have a nice day now!