yen_powell

The bit I pinched from the centre island column. I think the globe looked good strapped to the back of my bike.

I didn't like it, I'd rather have the squits!

Yes, it always reminded me of the stuff my mum would give me if I had bad guts as a kid. Kaolin or something it was called.

Yes, for two reasons, 1/ it's the quietest day there It's a major rat run during the week and rammed on Sundays due to a food market in the park. 2/ Overtime!!!!! Also we are only allowed to work up till the 13th December then we have to barrier it all up and wait till after Christmas because London's Mayor forbids all work over his embargo period (4th Jan). I couldn't start before Friday because Water or Gas were doing something up till then.

Hmm, when I hit post it puts all the pictures in a random order.

Today was day 1 of my trafficy type scheme. It should have started yesterday but the road was closed for Thames Water to fix a bust water pipe (first picture). After waiting for a nice electrician to disconnect the power supply we smashed out an island to make the road a bit wider to give us working room and me and Jim (Irish Jim) set out my echelon parking bays which I could do now I had the parking suspended. I pinched the white globe and lantern for my mate's garden lighting or a planter. I met the pair who will be doing the building, two east Europeans. The one who could speak English (there is only ever one in each pair) said I was to call him Jimmy and to call his mate Eddie as no one can pronounce their proper names. I was accosted by quite a few locals who wanted to know what we were doing and one lady who wants a bench put back that was there years ago. I promised her a new bench in the Spring, she said it has to be a cast iron one with wooden slats because that is the type she likes?? I was also accosted by 5 or 6 people who wanted to know why they had no water, they thought our JCB had hit a pipe. The angled bays in question are in my drawing below. I set them out and then got one of the contractors electric vans to park in the first one to make sure it fitted. You won't see them in the pictures but I got Jimmy (2) to put small saw cuts at critical points in the road so if the paint wears off we can remark it easily. He will them make his own cuts 500mm outside those so if the JCB smashes too much out when we do that bit he can still put his kerb lines in the right place.

It looks like the stuff you get when oil emulsifies (apart from the grit)

According to Blackadder, the Germans have no word for fluffy.

I agree. It was the one above it till I scrolled down to this one though.

Love the photo of all the old Navy figureheads. Touch of the Aunt Sallys. Also, regarding the picture of The Grapes pub, that is now owned by Sir Ian McKellen who lives next door. He didn't want it being turned into flats so bought it. There was a bit of a hooha a few years ago when some of the regulars got barred. It's not uncommon to see famous faces in there, especially a bald Star Trek captain. https://spitalfieldslife.com/2021/12/02/sights-of-wonderful-london-o/

Splice the main brace, grease the cabin boy. https://spitalfieldslife.com/2021/12/01/the-return-of-sail-cargo-to-thames/

I vote for the picture that makes me go, 'Oooooh'. Sometimes there are two or more 'Oooohs' and then I have to decide which is 'ooooiest' and that's the one I vote for.

I thought he had a part in Excalibur.

That's what he was doing before Long Way Round.

Kitchen fitters?

This picture reminded me of something, took a few seconds then it clicked.

This is about youth culture and violence, not the less fortunate members of society.

My late boss was a Millwall fan. He used to tell me that Danny Baker would turn up to watch a game and get physically impossible filth about Janet Street Porter shouted at him all the time.

Got sent some before and after pictures of my VC stones today. They had a clean up session for them all. Issy has a chip on his M, might have to get the Polyfilla and some paint onto that.

You can't do that with no knickers on, you have to crack the tiles to break the vacuum or they can't stand up again.

My mate rebuilt an old Triumph in his flat's single bedroom. When he moved to a house with a very old very small prefab garage he put his Jaguar in the garage and that stuck out the front so the doors were at 45 degrees open. The Triumph had turned out to be too big to get round the corners of his flat and stair landings so we had just removed the entire front end, forks, handlebar and front wheel all in one piece and taken it down the stairs in two parts. The front end he carefully propped up in his new front porch against the side window. The first time he opened the front door of the porch with a bit of gusto he pushed the handlebar grip right through the glass of the side window. He put the bike back together and stuck it in his kitchen to keep it safe. That bloke's wife was a bloody saint!!

I was once barked at and then snapped at by the littlest cutest dog ever created whilst sitting at a standstill on my DR350. It made me jump so much I dropped the bike in front of all my riding companions who didn't let me forget it for a few years.