OneGuyFromBarlick

Today's exciting job was to lubricate the door locks with graphite powder, what an exciting life I lead

The global warming deposit on the back street has not moved at all David. At the moment I think we are about -6C. Deep Joy.
Today I shall be in the shed at 06;00 working on my bearings and after second sleep I will be cooking veggies for the next week. One thing that struck me.... I ordered some mince so I could make a savoury stuffing for my chicken but then remembered that the last time I did this it threw up a false Creatinine reading in my blood test and caused no end of problems! I was going to make it today but was booked in for a blood test on Tuesday so on second thoughts, I put it in the freezer. It can wait until next week!

More work on the pedestal bearings.... I have ensured there is room to install the crankshaft..... Refined the bottom bearings so that they have witness marks and Match the top brasses. Then Do the same with the top brasses and end up at the stage where I am ready to drill the top brasses for hold down bolts and Oil hole and then mark the bed for the studs and drill and tap for them tomorrow. Lots of small fitting jobs and cleaning up and changing milling cutters on the way. Nice straight edge and no mistakes!

Morning

We arrived home about 4 having had no problems other than the cancellation of our first train and the rush hour traffic in Rochdale as the taxi drove us back to the station. Sadly we were greeted with a phone call for Bob as soon as we entered the front door. The specialists want an MRI scan so appointments have been made this week to get the piece of metal in his arm removed, then confirmation can be made on the diagnosis. We are back to waiting.

Seeing the snow and frost as we came through the hills we could see it was very patchy with hardly any round Edinburgh and getting more pronounced on this side of the country. Its certainly very cold this morning. We will be wrapping up warm for the market and buying some more smokeless fuel for our multi-burner whilst we are there. I have a lot of washing to do but nothing else planned for the day. Have a good day

Go0od! I am glad you got back OK but what a bummer for Bob! As soon as he gets through the door he is plunged into uncertainty. The sooner he gets to know what is happening the better, whichever way it goes it will be an improvement on what is happening now.
Still I'm glad you are back safely, wrap up warm and have as good a say as is possible.

I am back in the world and ready to start on a few hours of veggie cooking. It's still -5C out there so forget the exercise.... I shall cower in the warm and bugger the gas bill! Having a hot drink first.....

First four pans are on so I can have a bit of a sit......

All the cooking is finished so today I can take it easy...... I shall be in the shed with my engine from 06:00 onwards for an hour and then very little after second sleep until the final of the UK Snooker Championship this afternoon.....

The task this morning was to install the holding down studs for the top brasses. First I drilled the brasses 4BA clearance and then drilled for the oil hole and put a cup in the top side. Then mark, drill and tap the horns of the bed to take the studs. Lastly fit the studs and fasten the brasses down. I'm ready now to bore the bearings but that is for tomorrow.

Morning

Well it has snowed and the temperature has gone up several degrees. I doubt Bob will be going to the park today! Yesterday I turned my mind to Christmas things. There has been far too much going on to think about it but time is pressing. We had the zoom u3 a wine meeting last night and the next meeting will be a social here. We have circulated a list of ‘eats’ for people to contribute, so that we can have a balanced lunch . We wrote the Christmas cards during the day which is now a severely reduced list. Most friends will be getting an email and a DIY card image to print off and fold if they want to display it. Christmas presents have been bought online where I feel armchair browsing has the edge over battling with the crowds.

I completed the washing and ironing yesterday so I think today I will transfer files and documents on to my new laptop which is behaving itself beautifully. Once the old laptop is empty we will clear it completely and reload basics to see how it behaves. If all is good it can be passed on to a needy grandchild. So much school and home work is done online now

Thats about it. Enjoy the snow!

Sue wrote: ↑03 Dec 2023, 08:00 So much school and home work is done online now

I am told that almost everything is done on a computer, so much so that some schools have to do handwriting coaching, as kids no longer have the skill. I donated two laptops to my grand daughters, which were useful during lockdown, but when school resumed they had to buy the machine specified by the school, which was was a Chromebook, and cost £500.

I'm not sure how anyone who couldn't afford it went on. The school however is vastly over subscribed, and the catchment area is specified in metres, so people must think it's worth the expense.

Tripps wrote: ↑03 Dec 2023, 13:03 but when school resumed they had to buy the machine specified by the school, which was was a Chromebook, and cost £500.

Not sure how they get away with it, one of my granddaughters had to have an iPad, available through the school, with the pre installed apps she would need.

In comparison, as part of the effort to benefit from digital services an NHS hospital has given 2000 Apple watches to diabetics so they can monitor their blood levels. Apparently it works out cost effective because the cost of doing one foot amputation is greater than the cost of the watches. Perhaps our education minister should look at the cost effectiveness of giving school children computers and other gadgets...and perhaps even books!

I think the mere notion of kids having to pay £500 for a computer is terrible and I agree with Kev, how can they get away with it?
I shall spend an hour in the shed with my castings at 06:00. I expect my new keyboard to arrive by post today, the sooner the better! From the look of the weather forecast I shall not be thinking about a midday walk.....

The target this morning was to bore the brasses for the pedestal bearings but other matters had to be addressed before I got to that. The bed of the crosshead guide had to be refined, the size of the piston and the outside finish on the pedestal brasses. What this meant was that the bed had to be stripped down in order to do these things and I ended up after an hour and a quarter ready to do the final half inch bore of the brasses. All very edgy stuff and any mistakes at this stage would of course be disastrous. I think we are OK so far!

Stanley wrote: ↑04 Dec 2023, 03:03 I think the mere notion of kids having to pay £500 for a computer is terrible and I agree with Kev, how can they get away with it?
I shall spend an hour in the shed with my castings at 06:00. I expect my new keyboard to arrive by post today, the sooner the better! From the look of the weather forecast I shall not be thinking about a midday walk.....

Morning

The lack of computers in Julias household during lockdown was a real issue, they had only one between 4 of them . We donated an ipad and later Briony was given one by the school as she was became emotionally imbalanced and was classed as at risk. In subsequent lockdowns she went to school. When Eve went to High school Julia and Ed gave her her own laptop. In September B went to high school and I think she uses the family lap top. I am not aware of any computer specifications, they just download the school app or whatever it is. It seems to work very well. I gave Erin my old iPad last Christmas, again no computer specifications but we shall see when she goes to High school in two years. As for handwriting, they have all been taught to write beautifully at their various schools doing cursive writing from the age of 7. They all regularly do written work at school, the computers only seem to be needed for homework, and in Eves case now some GCSE coursework

This morning Bob is having an xray on the piece of metal in his arm to find out precisely where it is. I have a telephone voice therapy session with my very pregnant voice therapist . When she leaves in a week or so I will be handed over to someone else. The recent exercises I have been doing seem to be working well and my voice seems to be getting stronger. I also have zoom pilates this morning and yoga at tea time.

No other plans for the day, the snows gone, I will get those last plants in to the conservatory from the greenhouse. Have a good day all

Best of luck to Bob! And you look after yourself as well Sue.....You could be lucky with the weather, I think on the whole it is kinder than was expected. We have very light rain here.

When Alex was 8 - year 4 he had to have an ipad, with an apple pencil and headphones for school. Katie could not afford to buy one so Mick and I bought it, I think it cost us just short of $900.00 so about 450 pounds. I know he needs to have a laptop in the next year or so and I think it has to be an Apple laptop. I think there might have to be a discussion with his dad and stepmum about the payment............

Morning Margaret..... I should think so to.
Today I shall be in the shed for an hour from 06:00 and then after second sleep I have diabetes clinic for blood tests etc..... I'm always glad when I get that out of the way. Not expecting any surprises!
PS. Margaret told me this morning I have to stay alive until at least June because that's when she and Mick are coming over for a visit.....

This morning I finished line boring the bearing brasses, then adjusted the thread length on all 4 studs and installed them in the bed using Loctite. Next I reamed the bearings and fitted the crankshaft. It is oiled and will run in to a nice fit. It's a bit tight at the moment but that's to be expected.

Morning

Bob went off for his xray early yesterday and had continuous phone calls during the day to arrange an MRI . Eventually one caller said he had looked at the Xray and thought the piece of metal was too small to worry about so an appointment was made for 6.15pm at Oldham last night . I stayed, did my pilates class and cooked tea, for what we thought would be a 7.30return. In stead he was back before 7.00pm as they still could not do it, the concern being that the metal would move. So back to plan A, which is a trip to a health centre in Royton this afternoon to see a surgeon who hopefully will remove it there and then. Its a good job the care team decided not to cancel the appointment.

This morning i am at the dentist for a scale and polish, here the SKY man is coming to update our system sometime before 1.00. I have pilates and yoga in the studio this evening and our friend Kath is popping round about 3.30 pm. Its a busy day.

Have a good day all.

That bit of broken drill is causing a lot of bother! Bob will be glad to see the back of it.
I hope everything goes well today Sue. I am back up after second sleep and ready to pop to the surgery for my blood test.....

Woke up this morning thinking about Bob.....
I shall be in the shed from 06:00 onwards and might be on the lathe this morning as I feel it is time to paint the castings black and before I do that I have to finish turn and bore the flywheel. I shall see what it looks like when I get in there.....
As for the rest of the day, possibly a walk as the forecast is dry but apart from that no social engagements or shopping needed. A quiet day, just how we like it!

I started the morning by stripping the crankshaft out of the bearings because I need it for boring the flywheel to suit it. Then I set up in Mrs Harrison to rough turn the flywheel preparatory to painting it. I have decided that painting the castings is the next task and doing the first turning of the flywheel is essential to that job.
I finished up with one side done and ready for boring.