Saturday, November 10, 2007

An indifference to life in general

Well readers, as you may guess by the title I've been a little preoccupied of late with life in general.
Work is as tough as ever, my health has been suffering a bit of late and family issues seen to be getting more complex and frustrating. Not to mention college which has moved up a gear and left me feeling vulnerable and a little stupid.
The MG has been left well and truly bottom of my priorities, occasionally flapping and waving its errant blue poly cover whenever rain and wind appears.
The weather since my last post has been very good, however my drive and enthusiasm has not, so several weeks have been wasted. I feel I'm going to regret this when winter finally arrives together with enthusiasm, cash and happiness.
However I'm determined not to let the car be one of the many abandoned projects for sale on E-bay. I must say my doppelganger Rick has given me the impetus not to fail as he is restoring a real basket case and is making a good job of it in similar circumstances, if not with a little more cash and garage.
So why the depression Fufferfour ? you ask.
Well I don't know really.
A level physics at college did not help. Full of young kids all able to grasp thirty five ways of transposing formulae, knowing the answer is in Nm, m/s ( -2) Kj or wotsits.
The other evenings are not the same as I feel its a waste of time as they are catering for the newbies ( combined class from the two last year) who are a year behind a small minority in class.
Still Biology continues to be good and I'm beginning to understand how all the body parts work together.
Work wise has not see an influx of machine orders, the ones won have took ages to build and the other side of the biz has seen a few small victories over the competition. Still its a hard and lonely life on the road with such a large area to cover.
Seven days in Dusseldorf working the "k" show proved to be very tiring and not as exciting as previous. Staying with an old couple in the suburbs was really nice but our new French owner had decided to gatecrash over the weekend so all my French colleagues were very tense and very well behaved, almost boring, for my liking. It still took me at least five days to physically and mentally recover. I think this was the start of the great depression.
That and the lack of activity from British industry on the stand.
The wife and kids continue to argue, bicker, winge, demand and generally frustrate any attempts I have of a happy life.
One event of note in our household is the arrival of Ralph and Ruby. Two tiny kittens that look like darkly striped Tigers. How we love the way they frolic with their tiny skinny legs and button noses.
How I hate the smell emanating from the Poo tray in the dining room.
Still, that was a few months ago and now they are turning into whirling dervishes of mass destruction. It's still funny to see their antics though. Unfortunately their poo still stinks the house out. Roll on Feb when they can leave the house for the big bad world outside.
The MG was left with a long strip of about 1" wide cut from the floorpan where it meets the outer sill, and the last 3" of the outrigger cut away. I've since bought a new outrigger and jacking point during a brief diversion to the MGOC last month. Whats difficult is welding the repair panel ( Cut from the opposite sides unused repair panel) in. The steering wheel is in the way. I tried for about 2 hours to bash it upwards from its splines without damaging the soft plastic base. It transpires one of the famous BL service tools ref BL-vb10073 part 6a is required. I say famous because no one has ever seen any of the recommended service tools. There is also two further small holes in the drivers side floor. One near the rear spring hanger, which has for some reason been repaired previously without trimming the excess steel away, and another at the base of the transmission tunnel/floorpan, near where your left foot would rest. I don't think these will present too much difficulty though. ...........................famous last words !
I have a inner rear arch panel to fit ( Birthday present in May) together with a new rear wing and maybe rear sill repair section and complete outer sill ( yet to be purchased). I also need to fabricate a section of about 10" long with two 90 degree bends to repair the window frame base where the wing is welded to.
Then the major bodywork is almost complete....................hehe.....easy word almost !

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fufferfour-
Don't let it get you down, the MG will wait patiently until you are ready to attend to her. You have a lot on your plate without the bodywork.
It is good to take a break from the project sometimes if only to get a new perspective and refresh your creative ability. Working while distracted can be a waste of time, if not outright dangerous.
You only need to work faster than the rust!
I enjoy your blog and your courage in this project.
Cheers, Greg (California USA)

jj said...

Hey - don't worry about the car for now, get everything in order in other areas and come back to it... it won't be going anywhere! I, like you, haven't done an awful lot recently but as Greg says a break now and again is a good thing. When you mentioned my car was a basket case I got a bit protective over her... then realised she is! Keep up the work, and posting on the blog, I wouldn't have been able to done half the stuff without reading your trials and tribulations! Sorry to hear Physics at college ain't going great... I have a couple of degrees in physics so if you wanna ask any questions via messenger feel free... the computer is usually on between 7pm -11pm every night. I can't promise to be able to answer everything you may ask, but should be able to provide general help if you want it. Its the least I can do given the amount of information on your blog I've found useful! The A-level revision guide by Letts is a good port of call. My msn address is richardwsims at hotmail dot com. Cheers for now, Rick.

Anonymous said...

Hi Paul, Just cover the MG up and leave until after the hoilday and the bad snow wind and rain you have up north. Little D Bday went very well and thanks for the card. reading down your blog about the poo you want to be in my shoes at 4am and changing D's poo bum its great honest. Hay could help you out if you wnated with the Bio,etc has she ahs 3 degress and she did these throu OU just let us know. Dad goes in for is op in friday 26th Nov followed by mum later in dec for the same thing, Xams looks great up there this year that why there are going a way for new year. Take it easy matt,hay,daisy & OW

Anonymous said...

Good words.