yen_powell

Luckily I haven't got a printer!

Just got a whatsapp message from my retired workers group with a pdf attached. I thought it was just a picture until I hit the download button. It seems to be the whole Harry book 'SPARE'. I read the introduction before the first chapter, what a drama queen!

The red ones in Quality Street, followed by the green triangles. Milky Bars

I'm assuming homeless. The Police didn't move him on and he's not in the way where he is. When I got a guided tour of a tunnel under a roundabout, (which is itself under a flyover and around a pedestrian underpass) during it's 6 monthly inspection we had to ask a homeless man to move his bedding temporarily so we could access the entrance plate. He moved back when we were finished. He said he liked it there as he was hidden from other people who might rob him and out of the rain because of the fly over. GSV link of the roundabout. https://goo.gl/maps/QJqfeZkUNEaLj9xz6

Rode to work today, put my leccy vest on for art of the journey it was a bit chilly, but at least it wasn't pissing down today like usual this last month. Met a bloke who has a whole street fenced off whilst they build some flats, we are supposed to be working inside the closed area on the footway next week. I was asked to give the okay by the permitting team for him to extend the closure. They told me it was just for their delivery vehicles, nothing would be in our way and no overhead works so I gave them the green light. When they opened the gates so we could see the footway in question, there are a pair of 2-storey portacabins in the road about 4 feet from the kerb and these have a balcony on scaffolding that actually sits on the kerb stones. They contained their office, canteen, changing room and toilets. I asked him if they would be gone before next Monday and he looked confused and said they would be there till late February. It took me 15 minutes to get it through to him that you can't dig out under a scaffold pole holding a walkway up and even if you could, how could we get a mini digger in and use it if we couldn't swing the thing left or right without hitting his building or his scaffolding, it's a very narrow footway. These people build multi-storey buildings for god's sake. I told him we would do the job when he has moved them and went and cancelled our street works permits. On the plus side as I was heading past Victoria Park on the way to the meeting I saw two rozzers looking curiously at a tent pitched on the grass in there and writing furiously in their note books. On the way back I pulled in and took a blurry snap as the tent was still there. The occupant was looking out of his little flap, poor sod, I'll bet that is cold at night.

Bean in a jar, them was the days!

And yet despite this world beating skill I have only ever had one single Spaniard working with us, the ideal place for a professional shirker. My boss welcomed him with the following words, "This is Carlos, get him a cup of tea, show him how to log on and don't mention Gibralter, I'll leave you with these nice people Carlos mate, good luck." When we had an Iraqi start work we got the same speech but with the word 'Scuds' instead of Gibralter.

His sister is in Eastenders.

I used to get one of those on the side of my finger at school from all the bloody writing we had to do. I helped some children with their home work last year (6 and 11 years old), they had to log on and type it in!!!!!

I still remember the heat in that room when he finally opened the door after putting my bike through its work out for a few hours.

Pub quiz fact for you. Crazy Horse was named Curly in his younger days.

Went ice skating with some mates yesterday at one of those temporary rinks they set up at Christmas, just getting over my own personal cold so still a bit bunged up like you all seem to be. Now I am sure that ice skates used to have a small serrated bit at the front of the blade, but the ones they have given me the last few times don't seem to have it and I struggle to get going properly until about 15 minutes in, or maybe it's just age. I managed 40 minutes upright with people falling over in front of me and occasionally behind me, which is when you speed up so they don't grab you and pull you down. My mate's daughter was having a bit of trouble so asked to hold my hand which was okay as long as I kept telling her to keep her nose over the ice or go over backwards, she'd already fallen over twice up till that point. When they called every body off we were about 3 yards from the exit gate when she went over whilst still attached to me and that pulled me over as well. Of course, break a hip at my age and it's curtains innit. Worst bit was I now had a soaking wet arse for the rest of the day, I looked like I'd pissed myself from behind!

Its also where Stonehenge is.

I've been watching a brilliant youtube channel where this American bloke either blows up his Harleys, drops them, loses his panniers down the road, drops it half way up a ramp into a truck etc. Once he rode straight over some Trieff kerbing onto a roundabout because the sun was in his eyes and then couldn't get the bike back over the high kerb to get out. Even better than that, he has a group of friends on various garishly painted Harley tourers who all do the same. Did I mention all the bikes look like Huggy Bear used to own and personally decorate them? Do they not have a bike test where they live or did they all only decide to buy motorbikes for the first time ever in the last year?

Never, I am a delight.

Eat sprouts the day before hand so you are primed and ready!

I found a small type written envelope in an old cardboard box, I thought it was a reference from my first job, but it turned out to be my school reference. Reading it now, they definitely had me sussed, if I didn't think it was interesting I didn't bother, hence the U grade in Chemistry O Level when I just filled in my name and two joke answers. The man signing it, Ken Drury, my headmaster in the final years, was at school with my Mum, she hated him, told me he was a knob. She reckoned he failed his 11 plus, but he seems to have caught up at some point by the look of his qualifications. He died a few years ago according to the local paper.

Heineken don't build sandcastles, but if they did.....

And now GET THAT WASP OFF MY SANDWICH

This in memory of Cookie, a professional northerner (If Blackburn is properly northern) who was a big Saw Doctors fan and would walk around the office with his t-shirt inscribed with the words GET THAT WASP OFF MY SANDWICH. First song is live and hard to hear but worth straining your ears for the lyrics. Second song is the subject of the first song.

Seeing as he's sadly just popped his clogs, two vids

I did an image search of Gnats and Hawks and the only easily visible difference to my old eyes is the rear tail plane is lower than the main wings on a Gnat, and higher then the main wings on a Hawk. Gnat Hawk

A gnat?

Absolutely cracking.