How do tradesmen earn a living?

[T i m]

Well, actually, she saw it as such. ;-)

See, when no previous partner has never had the interest to share such things with you, or trust you to do such a thing, when someone does, see you as a 'person' and a true partner in life, apparently that's a 'good thing'.

It did have some unforeseen consequences ...

There we are, a new couple, just got into bed and she pulls out the 'AA Book of the Car' I bought her and just wants further explanation on something ... ;-(

Soon after we first met we needed to get somewhere quickly (catch a shop) and took my motorbike. She really loved it and *she* suggest we get something bigger, so the CG125 went and in came an XT350, ;-)

Once she had been a pillion for a while (and was still loving it), I suggested she took her test and we got her her own bike and again, no one had given her such an opportunity before. And she really loves (loved, arthritis) riding her bikes ... and has even taken herself off a couple of times a couple of hundred miles to stay with her daughter when she was an entertainer at a holiday camp. [1]

I don't think I've ever bought her flowers or chocolates but have bought her accessories for her motorbike. ;-)

I guess because we have both been married before and been though all that bs (never my idea), we are now comfortable as life partners (although we did get married for 'legal simplicity' reasons).

I don't need to do anything to 'get away from the Mrs' (like play golf, go fishing or go up the pub) because she's my mate. ;-)

And I wouldn't be with her if there was any chance of her being 'She who must be Obeyed', as that's not the relationship we wanted.

Cheers, T i m

[1] When she came back from one trip around her 50th birthday to her said she had a confession ... it was that she's had her first tattoo on her shoulder. ;-)

[williamwright]

Yes, years ago. I'm actually dead now, but I took my laptop to heaven.

Bill

[spuorgelgoog]

That's a bit like sending Red Star Parcels on Northern Rail.

Will heaven forward it on to your ultimate destination?

Owain

[John Rumm]

Oddly the first thing I ever skimmed was a ceiling. It turns out it was not that much different from doing a wall (I figured if I could hack a ceiling the walls ought to be "downhill" from there.

(Although I made very slow progress, and had to do it in two halves. Needed a bit of sanding where the halves met)

Like many such things, it improves with practice. I normally find I am getting "ok" just as the job is about over :-)

[tabbypurr]

Spice racks are silly money for what little they are. And silly sized. If I had no practical skills I'd have a far poorer life.

NT

[tabbypurr]

borax is good

[T i m]

;-)

In this place there seem to be three layers, a sand-cement render, a rough plaster and finer skim? Because it's a Victorian 'Workers Cottage' (or just typical of the tolerances in play in general at the time) that combo can range from near nothing to over an inch thick.

Still sound like a great first go.

Sure, but unlike say wiring, plumbing or basic carpentry where it's really a matter of seeing how it's done and duplicating that process, there are so many variables with full rendering / plastering (maybe not so much with skimming) that any one not being right is likely to cause big issues.

Like, even if you get the cement render on, is it shallow / flat enough to allow for the plaster layer ... and that's ignoring keeping it all plumb!

The render isn't so bad, once you know what constitutes the right consistency as you can generally run a straight edge over it as it's going off slightly and it doesn't matter about the actual finish.

Yup, till you have done enough of it like some of your woodwork you have shared here. ;-)

But I understand that even with that, if you are doing a particular piece for the first time that you wouldn't guarantee you wouldn't make mistakes, simply because it's often easier to make a mistake than not (even cutting the wrong side of a line, making an error in the measuring maths etc).

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

Yeah, that was the feeling I got from daughter but not is such nice words. ;-)

Yup. She bought 1m long x 6mm OD ally tube and first tested (mostly for the S&G's) the rack (2 base tubes, one front tube higher up) by assembling one at that length. Apart from it being too long at that length for anyone practical in her kitchen, it proved it would have required a central support (np with that, just print another end with the holes right though). ;-)

Oh, indeed ... and I wonder how others can cope / survive.

But hey, I guess if we could all do everything there wouldn't be any tradesmen. Everone to their own etc. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

Thanks for that. FWIW we get 150ug of Boron in our daily multivitamin but the arthritis isn't the only reason why I'm quite happy she's not on a motorbike nowdays. ;-(

Cheers, T i m

[tabbypurr]

If that's micrograms that's nowhere near enough to be useful. I'd have a bike if they weren't donorcycles.

NT

[tabbypurr]

Mine's 5, 6 or 8 feet long, I forget, can't fit em all onto it. I wouldn't know what to do with something that held 12 schwartz jars! Give it to someo ne that's not into spices I guess, someone that pays £1 for 12g of dri ed potplant.

I think they just become fodder. They pay through the nose over & over, can 't solve their problems & can't afford to buy a house.

I found out recently some people I know also had their fridge freezers insu red. So when one dies, they've paid more in premiums than it would cost me to go out & buy one immediately, and they get the added bonus of having to wait several days to receive it while their food all goes off.

It would be a better world. We just wouldn't benefit from free stuff.

NT

[T i m]

;-)

'Little', I'm guessing. ;-)

Hehe.

Yup, for sure that was very much part of the reason I was able to afford this place on my own (just) on a single BT wage. Everything that needed doing had to be done by me or it wouldn't get done. That (of course) meant going to get the materials and disposing of the waste (the latter not being quite so difficult as it is now).

Yup, false economy that, *especially* if you are able to investigate and fix the straightforward faults yourself.

Well, there are some good conscientious / honest tradesmen out there and they are typically the ones who are unavailable and who don't drive big new Mercs when they come round to give you a (free) estimate. ;-)

Yup.

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

That's what we guarantee to get every day as a minimum, plus what we get from our foods etc?

The vast majority aren't and may would rather go that way than in a tin box of boredom and isolation. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[tabbypurr]

?1 for 12g of dried potplant.

can't solve their problems & can't afford to buy a house.

nsured. So when one dies, they've paid more in premiums than it would cost me to go out & buy one immediately, and they get the added bonus of having to wait several days to receive it while their food all goes off.

I checked, it's 8'. Most people just seem to live with what they're offered & told without question. Dunno why.

NT

[tabbypurr]

50mg a day split into 2 doses is more suited to treating arthritis. However I'm not a doc and not advising anything.

I get it. Just not where my fun comes from :)

NT

[T i m]

And is this supposed to treat rather than halt?

Understood.

Has it ever, OOI?

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

Cool.

So it seems.

Insufficient skill / imagination?

Some people look at something and only see it for what it is.

Others might see it for what else it could be or for what it might contain ... or be made of.

Years ago I bought a load of display equipment off the company I worked for when they were having a clear out. I paid less for them than (I knew) the ally was worth on it's own but in the end sold it for more to a local college photography department for a fraction of what they would have had to pay for anything similar elsewhere (inc free delivery) and my preferred outcome. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[John Rumm]

There are ways of cheating with that - like screwing up vertical battens to the wall about 4' apart and getting them plumb and co-planer. Then slap the render on, and rule it off using the battens. Let it go off a bit and remove the battens, then fill in the gaps.

(you can even get metal beads designed for this job that you just leave in place and they become part of the base coat)

Well even then you make mistakes, but you just need to find ways of fixing them as you go. (or turning them into a "feature"!)

[T i m]

Yeah, I have done that with floor screeds and seen 'them' doing it with the galvanised corner beads.

Cool (till you find one when trying to put a shelf up). ;-)

;-)

Cheers, T i m

[tabbypurr]

If you compare soil boron levels versus incidencee of arthritis in various countries, the 2 clearly correlate. One can conclude from that that boron d eficiency is likely a cause of arthritis. And sure enough it often clears i t up completely. It's not the only factor, but it's a big one. Other signif icant causes include a high carb diet & not eating the right fats.

from motorcycles? no

NT