One of those days

[N. Thornton]

Oh the fun of diy...

The 2mm bit snapped inside the workpiece, writing off the workpiece. I tried regrinding it but 2mm is so small it was fiendishly difficult and I couldnt get it to work right again.

The nice drill had a chuck seize up, so thats down.

The backup drill worked a few times then died.

The holes in the concrete took 3 goes and 2 people leaning on the drill to do, but did get done in the end.

The glue ran out just before the end of that job too.

And the cable clips had no intention whatsoever of going into the wall. I mean none. Wouldnt go into any part of it.

So written off today was 1 drill bit, 1 piece of metalwork, and both drills. What a day!

Regards, NT

[Lurch]

On 10 May 2004 15:13:19 -0700, in uk.d-i-y [e-mail] (N. Thornton) strung together this:

I had a day like that once. Just to finish it off, on the way home the head gasket went on the van!

[Andy Hall]

It's a b*gger filing the points of the nails on the cable clips as well.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Andy Luckman (AJL Electronics)]

Not DIY but a peeve of *mine* yesterday....

To exit my shop premises in a vehicle, it is necessary to cross the footpath to get out onto the road, just like a private drive really. Last night I had some yob racing down the footpath, screech to a halt and make a point of going round the back of my car in which I was leaving the site. I then got a mouthfull of abuse from him concerning my blocking his progress on the footpath whilst waiting for a gap in traffic. The fact that the road has an expensive brown stripe for his benefit and that cycling on the footpath is illegal seemed not to faze him even slightly. :-)

Then getting the papers on the way home, a delighful 13 year old girl with obligatory nose stud, spitting as she meandered down the footpath.

The sooner I can leave this country the better. :-)

[RichardS]

Well, some days you feel like the bird, some days you feel like the car....

Yesterday I spent the afternoon hanging 2.4m wardrobe doors using screw-in lift-off hinges with finials.

Now, these things are the devil's own work when it comes to alignment and fitting - you get one chance and there's zero room for adjustment in certain axes. However, they fit the bill nearly-perfectly for what I wanted.

Note the operative words "Screw-in". This means that you need sufficient clearance between the frame half of the hinges to be able to turn the whole thing around to screw them in. Guess what I forgot to factor in when marking the positions for the holes for 2 adjacent runs of hinges.... aaaaagh.

So, off to tool shop this morning to buy a small plug cutter to plug the holes I drilled, and move one pair of the doors to the left by 7mm. Fortunately there's space on the frame for this.

you live and learn....

-- Richard Sampson

email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

[Lurch]

On Wed, 12 May 2004 13:33:32 GMT, in uk.d-i-y "BigWallop" strung together this:

I think the why is for customer relations. It sounds better saying "we'll send a proffesional round" rather than " we'll send a totally incompetent f****it with little or no plumbing skills round". Apparently, I was told he tested for gas leaks, because of the electronics in the meter. He informed us that there are no gas leaks in the house. So I enquired as to how he tested for leaks, "he used a manometer by the meter did he", says I. "No, he stood in the middle of the kitchen with a handheld electronic thing"! So from that he ascertained that the gas installation was safe and proceeded to inform the customer of this fact, dangerous and misleading are words that spring to mind.

[BigWallop]

I remember three different gas board engineers with those meters in hand, and over a period of three full weeks, telling people that there was no leak in the building. Then BLAM !!! in the early hours of the morning the building collapsed due to gas explosion. So I to, like you, have every confidence in these meters and the fully trained operators who use them.

[geoff]

In message , RichardS writes

So ... a man of experience then.

Pop round and do mine for me, you nice person.

[RichardS]

I'm available in a consultative capacity... :-)

Things don't happen quickly though, it's taken me nearly a year end-to-end to build these wardrobes (of course it would happen to coincide with my most frantic period of work ever, and replacing the downstairs floors, etc...)

-- Richard Sampson

email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk