Vespasian

LOL, if it stays dry..good luck with that one... You know something, heres me goin on about cuttin grass at this time of year, forgetting that I strimmed the grass on a church I do only last week.. ordinarily on my last cut I do the gutters for em an the church, this last year I left it late and decided I'd come back after the new year, then last week the fella at the church phones me and asks me to come up and do the gutters.. So why I was there I thought I might as well tidy up a bit and ended up cutting the grass... Well more a grass verge than a lawn of any sort... Still, there I was strimming back grass and here I am telling everyones else they must be mad

who in their right mind wants to cut grass in the middle of winter?

And my point being... no one would have to spend time and money on going to her house if the job had bin done already...

I don't think you get it do you!!!.. The complaint ain't about being charged its about being ripped off.. two pound for a slice of lemon, GTFOH.. And I've lost count of the times I've done jobs for next to nothing.. various reasons an all that.. there's the old lady with the branch catching her on the way out the house, "you couldn't do me a favour and cut this branch off why your here would you love". Course I can, now did you mention a cup of coffee. now what have I gained by cutting off this annoying branch?.. first off I've helped someone out.. I was there and why wouldn't I?.. secondly, and in some ways more importantly, I've just saved her from some arsehole who would of turned up and charged her fifty quid for a two minute job Thats worth all the tea in china..

If I go out tomorrow an buy a twenty thousand pound woodchippper, does that mean I should charge two grand for a two hundred pound job?... After all I've invested in machinery and surely every new customer should help me pay for it... Or, should I charge the same knowing I'll get the job done quicker with my new piece of kit... same with that idiot charging a fortune for a slice of lemon... If she/they had any sense, they'd make their money on their reputation for good service and good food. Not on ripping off customers who walk through the door...

I used to love a Bowie song here an there, even bought a couple of albums back in the day.. Then he tried to reinvent himself for some mysterious reason.. never was the same.. Then again for a fella as bright as him, the idea of singing the same old songs night after night might just become something akin to a form of living death.. A creative genius reduced to clapping like a seal for a fish... Suppose I can't blame him and others for moving on.. [ame] [/ame] rest in peace Bowie... [ame] [/ame]

I miss those days before I had a computer or mobile phone... Couldn't go back though, be like asking me to use an horse an cart instead of the van..

I very rarely work in the rain, and I definitely wouldn't cut any trees in the rain.. I've got to that stage in life where a good fire is better than a few extra quid... Being a one man band, I don't worry about keeping others employed, so thats not a concern..

Swinny I got the selecta box out, and found the bolt, its what I said in my piece.. Miker Yes, I was very surprised to find that bolt first dip in if you know what I mean. LOL... I was parked on a muddy patch and didn't fancy taking off the gearbox in a pile of mud... thank god for that...

Funny this turned up today, I've spent most of my day faffing with the gear selecta on my transit.. Thing wouldn't go into third gear so I decided to fix it... Got the tools out and set to work rejigging the selecta cables, half hour later I figured I'd made things worse.. Had to take out selecta box from gearbox.. what a fffing nightmare that was.. looked at the unit to see that a bolt had sheared off and fallen into gear box... The only thing to do, go buy a flexy magnet stick thingy and attempt to fish out the bolt. drive into town, five quid spent then drive home expecting I'd just wasted my money and time.. Got home poked magnet into gearbox thinking I was wasting my time pulled it out and low and behold there it was, sitting proud on the end of the flexy magnet poker stick thingy... The Bolt.....well I never!!!!.. Tomorrow I'll be looking for a replacement selecta, scrap yard or mates who might have one... New, they're close on four hundred quid. I ain't paying that, its close to half the value of what the vans worth...

damn the internet sometimes, after writing what amounted to an essay on what I'm gonna be doin new this year, this thing mucked up and sent nothin... Anyways, I'm gonna be attemptin to give up smoking. roll ups that is, well any sort really.. other than that, its a matter of resolving to knuckle down and try harder, work longer and finish my days later.. I tend to idle through winter and need to focus on getting enough in to last till spring. As it is I'm countin every damn penny till the sun shows up again..

Lock up your pigs ?... hahhahahah... LOL. my twopennith worth.... allow insurers to insure who they want.. next time planning comes along an says its OK to build there, they can explain to the new owners why they allowed houses to be built on uninsurable land..

Been a bit of a day yesterday down here.. [ame] [/ame] This bridge is about a mile up river from were I live.. houses in the village got flooded as well.. Not a great surprise though, the houses were build on the site of two old mills that were known to flood out here an there...

I know a woman who couldn't wait to get a couple of micro pigs, very enthusiastic at the time.. They looked quite cute as well on arrival, poor little mites.. looked just like puppies... Only trouble is they grew a lot bigger than she expected. Now they look like giant micro pigs.. as big as any pot bellied pig I ever did see.. I thought they were mean't to be micro pigs I said to her. Well they are, she said.. Errm, I thought, I think she's been had..

Hahahah Yes your right, but it can be used to extract oil.. I was thinking along the lines of the American oil fracking industry, something I looked into a couple of years back..

On Monday the government promotes clean energy in regards climate fears, on Tuesday we have talk of Fracking for England... I'd like to know how long a Fracking industry can be sustained in Britain as well. Apparently a fracking well ain't like an oil well were the stuff comes out for years. fracking is, dig an hole start pumping then move on a year later.. Is there enough oil in these wells to make any money?...

I've bin doin Gardening jobs for years and never charge by the hour.. The variables employed are how much hassle is the job likely to be, how long is it likely to take, and a bit of what I think I might get away with.. That way I can turn up crack on and move to the next job without looking at a damned watch..

OK just read a piece by the New York Times to get an idea of whats bein got at.. Apparently the Paris agreement is a none binding agreement. Which is to say any of the detail is nothing more than a list of aspirations... and anyway, would it of been fine for a power station to burn gas, but not a housewife who wants to cook her Sunday joint?.. Madness, we really do need a total replacement of our political class.. the ones we've got aren't up to the job... Come on Trump, get thee the Presidency..

Signs of spring?.. Nothin like that up here, rain and more rain.. grey skys and black skys, a bit of sunlight for light relief.. its grim up north, never was a better description for the climate round these parts..

(Still, the hope is that lessons have been learned, people want controlled immigration).. sure I'm going blind me... Eggs I don't mind tactical voting, it kept Cameron in last time round.. But as a politician, they aught to bear in mind how many people voted NF.. If they know whats good for em, they better try adopting one or two of their policies.. immigration being the cheapest one to tackle.. Now, if they refuse to bend with the times, and constantly thwart a good part of the electorates concerns, then I see trouble ahead..

So it was tactical voting that did it?.... Still, lets the hope is that lessons have been learned, people want controlled immigration..

Apparently Trumps poll ratings have improved..

I took the same attitude some years back, told myself hell will freeze over before I pay that... two years later I was handing over two hundred quid to a woman bailiff in the yard... Better off payin them and damnin em in the same breath LOL

Pity I just bought a good set from halfords. I was in Lidl looking at those today, I nearly bought some for the van.. But I think hundred quid is enough to spend in one year on socket sets..

How many times have I heard that, "theres good an bad in everyone".. hahahah. Most every gypsy I know used that line... And its true, theres some gypsies I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw em, and some the salt of the earth.. Heres the funny thing though, the ones I knew for the most part couldn't stand the Irish Tinkers.. I'd have my friends slagging off Gypsies, and my Gypsy friends slagging tinkers and no doubt Tinkers slagging off everyone else.. I remember out one day with a gypsy and we got talking to some Irish Tinkers, the conversation was going well, everyone having a laugh.. We get back in the van, the first words out my friends mouth. "I ***** hate those Irish ****s.. You couldn't make it up...