Archive for May 2009

New theme

Posted by on May 23rd 2009 in Site update
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OK, I know it looks pretty much the same as the old one, but this one's easier to adapt and seems to be loading a lot faster than the theme I was using before. Just in case you're wondering, the theme is Mike Little's Journalized Theme Version 2, with a skin that I've copied and hacked to get the colours and placements that I wanted.

There are still a few minor changes to be done before it looks and acts as planned, but I'll have to sort them tomorrow. The "to do" list includes:

  • Add the link to the contact page Done (there's a link in the page nav)
  • Add the Copyright and Creative Commons statements Done
  • Add the Link Badges widget Done
  • Add the IYA link/logo Done
  • Add the Comment Ownership statement Done

For now it should all be working fine, but if there are any serious glitches, I'm sure you'll let me know.

Observatory progress – Phase 5

Posted by on May 22nd 2009 in Astrostuff, Making stuff, Projects
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Construction of the observatory continues apace, mainly due to a complete disregard for the useless instructions included with the parts. Phase 5 is now complete:
 
The sides were double-proofed inside and out before assembly, and the few gaps have been filled with mastic. The walls are now up, square and level, cross-braced where required and fixed with many more than the recommended number of screws. The instructions said to put the walls onto the floor panels, but that's just mad - if ever the flooring had to come up, the walls would have to be taken down first, which would mean taking the roof off (if fitted). Commonsense said to put the walls directly onto the floor-frame (see previous post) and then fit the floor inside.
 
The supplied 9mm OSB floor-sections were dismantled and their boards, along with the 9mm OSB roof-boards, were used to line the inside of the walls.
 
A proper 18mm "waterproof" T&G chipboard panel floor was fitted, complete with a lift-out section surrounding the pier to allow easy access to the fixing malarkey and the concrete foundation beneath it.
 

obsystitch

 

obsmay003

 

The coming week should see the completion of Phase 6 - the fitting of the roof, which should be a masterpiece of timber over-engineering.

Time will tell.

The postman arrived early today

Posted by on May 18th 2009 in Rambling on...
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... about 3 years and 2 months early, by my reckoning:

 

cheeky

Cheeky feckers!

:evil:

Pragmatism versus Purism

Posted by on May 18th 2009 in Lakes Escapes, Wildcamping
Tags: ,

After my failure to subdue the Coniston Fells last month, a rematch has been approved. Sometime during the next few weeks I'll be having another go, subject to the back being given the green light. This time I'll take a roll of gaffer-tape and some nails to hold things together - there's no way I'm going to be forced off the mountains by injury twice in one season, after having kept a clean-sheet ever since I started 35 years ago.

It's a moot point as to whether or not to include Dow Crag again - I'm tempted to be pragmatic and give it a miss, heading for the heart of the group of fells via Levers Water. That should give more options for extending the route on Sunday, which means that the shops of Ambleside won't be so much of a temptation (although the pubs of Coniston may fill that rôle). Then again, I suppose a purist would start again at the place where the previous attempt went awry, which would mean a trudge back up The Cove to Goat's Hause. Hmm... maybe I should just let the weather dictate the terms.

Whatever happens, I'll be taking it easy. These things shouldn't be rushed. I can't see the point of fighting the M6, gravity and the clock 😉

Talking crap

Posted by on May 14th 2009 in Rambling on...
Way back when I was a kid we used to have toilet-tissue that was boxed rather than on a roll. At the time I didn't give much thought to it, and when the stuff became hard to find we moved to "bog-standard" rolls and the memory of it was filed away in the "Obsolete" cabinet. That was way back in the early 70s.   Over the last few years, that memory's been popping back to the forefront of my mind now and again, usually when squatting over a cat-scrape out in the wilds, frantically fighting the elements to regain control of either the uncoiling paper roll or the bag of loose sheets that mark the end of a job well done. The old-fashioned bogroll-in-a-box would be ideal for such duties, I thought - lightweight and simple to pack, less weight and more eco-friendly than wet-wipes, more humane and hygienic than turd-greasing, and safer than using a handful of tick-infested vegetation.   Our searches for said accessory during our weekly supermarket-shopping adventures have always proved fruitless... until yesterday, when Tesco turned up trumps:  

 

I'll give them a try. "Every Little Helps", as they say.

Hopefully they won't cause piles the size of space-hoppers, as has happened to the unfortunate kids depicted on the boxes :shock:

Suckers for punishment

Posted by on May 6th 2009 in A bit of a rant
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Today I had need to visit the infamous shed-losing DIY store again. Just out of curiosity, I had a look around in the yard to see what they'd done with the duff panel that I sent back. Yes, you guessed it - they've put it in with the rest of the bits of the other 7x7 shed, so it's for sale again. I know that it's the same panel, because I marked it with a water-based marker-pen where it wouldn't show. Sometime soon, some poor sod's going to buy that shed and then have to jump through the same fiery hoops as I did trying to get the same duff panel exchanged.

I'd have thought that the staff would have had enough hassle over this item, but they seem ready to start the cycle all over again.

It just beggars belief.

Eejuts.
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