Tag Archives: late night

Friday 10th June 2011 – I FINALLY MADE …

… it down this afternoon to see this boss of The One That Got Away who had been hankering after seeing me.

And the reason for my visit was quickly unveiled.

It seems that his company has won a contract to supply and fit out a new village hall on the Staffordshire Moorlands, and it all has to be off-grid.

Off-grid is not something in which they have any expertise and so it seems that I’ve been drafted in on this project as well.

I’m not sure what the payment might be, but “panels at cost” is a good inducement for me to become involved in it, if nothing else.

We then spent until some ridiculous time this morning catching up on all the old times that we knew when she worked for me as a kid back in the 1980s, and discussed everything that has happened to us since we last met quite a long time ago.

It was lovely to see her again after all of this time and I was sorry to leave.

Terry rang me up as well during the day. He wants me to go to look at a digger in Accrington or Bacup or somewhere like that tomorrow, and then I need to be in Ilkeston as well to pick up some stuff from Vehicle Wiring Products.

But I’m not going anywhere until I’m reunited with my wallet, which I hope is still at whatsername’s. If it isn’t I am going to be having more than just a few problems.

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Wednesday 8th June 2011 – HAVING LEFT DAVE’S …

alston moor nenthead cumbria ul… last night at … errr … 05:30 this morning in broad daylight, I found a suitable place to park up.

We’re on top on a mountain on the Alston Moor somewhere not too far away from Nenthead.

And when I finally awoke … errr … this afternoon, I had some fun with some locals who were admiring Caliburn’s signwriting with consternation.
“Good place for a dozen wind turbines, isn’t it?”

The speed at which they climbed into their car and shot off, presumably to launch another NIMBY campaign against wind farms, was impressive to say the least.

Say what you like about these NIMBY environmentalists. They couldn’t care less about more nuclear powers stations being built, as long as they are in someone else’s back yard.

Having had a quick coffee, I drove for ages (and it was ages too) through all of the horse-drawn caravans littering the road between Middleton and Kirkby Lonsdale.

You have no idea – or maybe you can guess – how much I hate these after having to negotiate an endless stream of them on some of the narrowest and most winding A-roads in the country.

Horses out of control “driven” by drivers who don’t have a clue. They need tests and drivers’ licences – they need road tax and a minimum speed limit.

And – even more importantly – they need to keep a substantial distance between themselves and the one o front instead of bunching up in impassable lines of 10 and 12 outfits

Failing that, they can p155 off into a field and get out of everyone’s feet. There are plenty of bridlepaths and cartways where they can mill about at their leisure out of everyone else’s way.

I finally arrived in Middlewich just about in time to rescue Percy Penguin from work and give her my fullest attention. But it was touch and go, I’ll tell you.

Now I’m on Sandbach Services and I’m sodding off in a minute to find a place to sleep. Its [gulp] 02:31 and I have a lot to do tomorrow.

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Wednesday 18th May 2011- All I can say …

… is that if the sat-nav is still in Caliburn, then it is doing a pretty good impersonation of another piece of Caliburn’s equipment because all that there is in Caliburn’s cab right now is the passenger seat. Everything else is out.

I suppose that I shall have to write this one off to experience, I reckon. But it’s given me an opportunity to clear out the cab and I’m in the course of cleaning all of the plastic and the fascia and so on – or, at least, I was but I happened to notice the time – 19:24, long after knocking-off time, and so I’ll have to finish tomorrow.

Mind you, there’s a reason why I was still working at 19:24, and that was due in some small measure to the fact that I started at … errr … 11:05 this morning. Yes, I slept through all of the alarms again, but then again it was 03:45 when I went to bed – carried away on the web site again, that’s my excuse. Mind you, the night before it was 04:15 when I went to bed and so maybe that has something to do with it too.

And so tomorrow, assumimg that I wake up, I’ll finish off cleaning and reassembling Caliburn and then I need to check my auxiliary electrical system as that’s not working properly and I want to sort that out before I go to the UK.

I also have to find all the bits for the false floor and I’ve no idea where they might be. A lot has happened in the 2 years since I last went to the UK (apart from the day trip the other week of course).

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Friday 19th March 2011 – I didn’t get my early night last night after all.

I was just on the point of going to bed when someone who I hadn’t spoken to for a while came on line. We had quite a bit to talk about and what with one thing and another it was almost 04:00 when I went to bed.

And so I crawled out of my pit at 08:00 feeling like death, and went to Montlucon. It was a big mistake to get my windows fron Lapeyre. I need an empty van for when I go back to Brussels, and while we got these windows in, getting them out on my own without breaking them – that will be something else.

It was gardening day at LIDL and so I have 6 more fruit trees for the Liz Ayers Memorial Orchard, a pile of seeds, and some onion sets, seed potatoes and seed shallots. I shan’t abandon the garden entirely this year. At Noz I spent a fortune, mostly on DVDs and I now have 5 or the 6 Don Camillo films, starring Fernandel. I really enjoyed the books when I was at school and I saw one of the films once and that was just as good.

At Brico Depot I set a new world record by buying nothing at all, but I was in tears nevertheless. Door Strips in Brico in Belgium €10.73 – same one in Brico Depot here €3:49. White Spirit there €3:89 – here €2:09. And it was all like that. I don’t know how they can get away with it in Belgium, I really don’t.

But I’ve made a conscious decision that now that I’m a little more financially sound, first thing that I’m going to be doing is to improve my diet. And to that end I bought a few things that I wouldn’t normally buy such as half a kilo of grapes (which I munched on the way home) and a little packet of sugar-free sweets.

I didn’t go swimming – I was too early and in any case I was whacked. So back here to crash out for a couple of hours. And it was a mistake to eat the grapes and the sugar-free sweets so quickly as I was in … errr … some discomfort for a while.

I went to the footy too this evening. Pionsat’s 3rd XI playing the league leaders so you would normally expect a hammering, but the 2nd XI have no game tomorrow and so there were several … errr … discrete changes to the team line-up, And although they had yet another makeshift goalkeeper (who did really well and I was surprised by that) they had a 2nd XI centre-half playing and it was amazing how much it stiffened the defence.

fcpsh fc pionsat st hilaire bromont lamothe puy de dome ligue football league francePionsat actually won 2-1, with two disputed goals. One was scored by three players cantering off down the pitch while everyone else was waiting for the offside flag. I was in no position to judge but one of their spectators thought that the ref got it right.

I’ve been saying all along that there isn’t much wrong with Pionsat’s 3rd XI that a real goalie and a couple of decent players in key positions can’t put right, and it was proved right tonight.

fcpsh fc pionsat st hilaire bromont lamothe puy de dome ligue football league francep>Pionsat’s second goal was a penalty – a clear foul, no mistake about that, but as to whether it was in the area, all I can say is that I was almost level with the area and the Bromont players had some of my sympathy. After that, the match became a little naughty and we had a running feud down each touchline for a while.

Still Bromont should have buried the game and they only have themselves to blame for losing it. Clean through on goal three or four times and one shot round the post, one off the bar, and two straight at Stephane (and didn’t he do well to hang on to them with forwards charging in and he’s never played a real match in goal before?)

But now I’ve had a doze this afternoon, it’s 04:00 and I can’t sleep at all. Crazy. 

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Wednesday 19th January 2011 – Just by way of a change …

… I was awake before the alarm clock this morning. Surprising too, because it was after 03:00 when I went to bed – rather busy on the computer was I last night.

And this non-seasonal weather is still here – light cloudy skies and plenty of solar energy, and thus electrically-heated water too, but the temperature has dropped. At 21:00 it was -2°C and falling, so winter is still with us.

I’ve had another good day working on the bedroom roof and that is making progress. Slowly, it has to be said, but at least it’s one of those tasks where you can actually see how you are getting on. I’ve probably done about a third of it and it seems to be making something of a difference up here with all of the extra insulation and then the tongue-and-grooving on the bedroom ceiling, which is of course the floor in here.

But I think that I have made something of an error in that I started with the tongue-and-grooving by the window, which means that I am having to do all kinds of contortions around the framework of the fitted wardrobe. It would have been easier to start at the wall by the fitted wardrobe and then continued out to the window. However, where you start is much neater than where you finish and by finishing over the top of the wardrobe, no-one is going to see how it all ended up.

The days are lengthening too. It was 17:48 when I finished work in the bedroom due to fading light, and I went outside to do some more but the drop in temperature drove me in at 18:10 when it was still light . enough to carry on for a short while. Give it another month and I’ll be outside working at 19:00. I’ll need to be too, as I have this greenhouse to build and some new plots and raised beds to deal with. Wherever does the time go to?

And in other news, CREFAD – this Government-sponsored business networking thing that gives lectures and advice to small businesspeople in the Auvergne – rang me up. There’s a meeting on 1st March at St Gervais on the subject of auto-entrpreneurs – this new system of taxation for small informal businesses – and they need a speaker for it. would I be free by any chance that evening? Magali (the girl who runs it) clearly remembers me from 9 months ago when I did a talk on eco-construction.

As it happens I am free that evening and even if I wasn’t, I would be. There’s no payment or anything involved of course which is a shame, but it gives me a chance to meet some more potential clients and talk about my business. An opportunity not to be missed. And they must clearly be impressed with my command of the French language otherwise they wouldn’t keep on asking me to speak at these public meetings, and that is something that pleases me greatly.

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Sunday 5th September 2010 – One thing that I promised never to do …

franglais translations moulin de braynant gorges de la sioule puy de dome france… was to criticise anyone else’s attempts at foreign language translations. And for two reasons –

  1. people ought to be congratulated for making any attempt at doing their best to make themselves understood/li>
  2. of course, the stuff that I do is nothing to write home about and I wouldn’t like mine to receive the same kind of criticism

But be that as it may, my imagination isn’t half working overtime about the condition third from bottom on the list on the right, and all kind of images are floating through my mind.

I had a lovely afternoon out this afternoon though, although this morning was something of a disaster. It was about 04:00 when I went to bed, I was dealing with a computer issue for all of Saturday until then – and yet at 09:00 I was up and about and breakfasted. And on a Sunday too.!

“How did you manage that?” I hear you say.
That was thanks to whoever it was who rang me at 08:10 and said “C’est toi, Albert?” And when I told him that he had a wrong number, rang me back twice more until I finally convinced him.

And so with my Sunday ruined, I did some more website stuff for the rest of the morning.

blot l'eglise fcpsh fc pionsat st hilaire ligue football league puy de dome franceAfter lunch I set out for the football at Blot-l’Eglise, a nice village up in the hills at the back of Manzat and Combronde.

FC Pionsat St Hilaire’s 1st XI won 1-0 in a good, enjoyable match played in a very friendly atmosphere in beautiful weather conditions, but in all honesty Blot l’Eglise could still be out there now, all on their own attacking an empty net, and they still wouldn’t have equalised.

moulin de braynant gorges de la sioule puy de dome franceOn the way back I parked up for a while at the Moulin de Braynant (where I saw the above notice) and went for a walk along the Gorge de la Sioule, such a beautiful afternoon that it was. The weather was gorgeous, the scenery was impressive and it really was a pleasure to be out and about.

This is quite a touristy spot here and a very popular place for watersports, as Lee Potty-mouth and Rick Hollyoaks will tell you.

moulin de braynant gorges de la sioule puy de dome franceThey also hire out kayaks (and this is what the notice above refers to, by the way) and one day I’m going to have a go at this. It’s a long time since I’ve been in a boat – I used to canoe for my school back in the late 1960s, which is just as well as there are no lessons on offer here.

I asked them how beginners manage, and the response was that they have to paddle their own canoe around here.

moulin de braynant gorges de la sioule puy de dome franceThey need to make sure that they take all the correct equipment with them otherwise that they can find themselves right up the creek without a paddle.

The notice above, by the way, omits two of the most important rules of kayaking, and maybe I ought to repeat them here.

  1. you are not allowed to light a fire in a canoe. After all, you cannot have your kayak and heat it
  2. it is forbidden to make love in a canoe. After all, making love in a canoe is just the same as English beer – it’s f*cking close to water

And after all of that, I came back here and crashed out for … errrr …. four hours – now I can’t sleep.

In other news, something has happened this evening that I have been waiting 10 months to do. And just like a hurricane, you know that it is inevitably going to happen and you are totally powerless – there is nothing that you can do that will stop it.

Yes, I have finally, at long last, managed to spill a full mug of coffee all over the floor in my nice attic room 🙁

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Thursday 13th May 2010 – "And what kind of time do you call this?" …. ed

6 a side football tournament pionsat puy de dome franceYes, didn’t I say something about an early night? The weather was grey, depressing and miserable and so I wasn’t expecting much but 39 teams turned out for this football tournament. And so it went on until just now – in fact it was 01:20 when I returned home.

And I’m absolutely worn out too because I ended up refereeing the major part of the matches. I have to earn my corn now! I made a few mistakes but I suppose it’s a good sign when you realise it.

Another thing as well – at 15:00 when it all started I was leaping over the barrier onto the pitch. By the time the final came around at 00:50 I was crawling under it on all fours.

Tomorrow is Friday and I ought to be working but I’m tired and exhausted so I’m going for a “Saturday” day tomorrow – a gentle lie-in and then a shopping afternoon. And quite right too seeing as Saturday I should be working on this furniture removal thingy so I need to build up my strength.

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Monday 5th April 2010 – Blimmin’ ‘eck!

I’ve just noticed the time – 03:44! Yes, that’ll teach me. But I’ve made a couple of important discoveries with this 3D animation program and suddenly my attempted animations have come on in leaps and bounds. So I managed to get myself carried away.

I can see that I’m going to have to be careful with what I do with this program, otherwise my spare time will simply evaporate.

So with it being another jour ferie today I did just about badger all again. Coffee in bed, read a book, checked on the garden, worked on the website, wrapped a birthday present for Bill, prepared some entertainment for the Anglo-French group – yes, badger all as you can see.

At the group this evening we had quite a few newcomers – an American couple who have bought a holiday home here; my new Dutch neighbours; two French guys that Antoine knew. And with the welcome return from hibernation of Clotilde and the presence of Heidi back temporarily from Germany we were quite numerous. And wasn’t that a nice change?

But not so good news is that the new owners of the Queue de Milan, being much more businesslike than the previous, have now decided that they want to charge us €30 for use of the room. Well, fair enough – it’s their room and they can do what they like with it. But then on the other hand it’s our bodies and we are quite free to take them elsewhere.

We shall have a little sit-down this week and plan our next move. It’s a pity that there isn’t a club room at the footy ground. But there are plenty of other options – it’s a case of seeing what’s available. Marianne, who is the President of the Amis du Chateau de Pionsat, might even have a little room there that we can use.

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