Jump to content

What makes you grin? Antidote to grumpy thread


outlaw118

Recommended Posts

In no particular order:

 

1) Seeing the old chap this morning who sold me the '88 Sunny early last year. He was still in good health, hadn't missed owning a car and it was good to be able to tell him I still had it and use it regularly (although it really does need a full exhaust system and a set of new tyres).

 

2) Getting a new job after 17.5 years at the current place. No real reason to move, indeed I'm potentially taking a bit of a hit on money and holiday in the short-term but it should offer me some interesting prospects and new responsibilities (it's best I don't think about the value of the main job I'll be working on too much, it's rather significant). It would've been easy to tread water during the last 10-15 years of a career that I've been in since leaving school back in 1986, but the commercial design work I've ended up specialising in isn't something that many of the local architectural firms do. It was better to make some enquiries and take this job when I could rather then when I had to look for something else, especially if I got to the wrong side of 50.

 

I often read about unhappy/non-existent work situations on the grump thread. Can I suggest those of you who are able to consider or retrain for a new career look at the options available on the design/professional side of the construction industry? Most branches of building design, civil/structural engineering, surveying, planning, contract admin etc are desperately in need of decent people. Architecture, for example, doesn't just mean those people you see on TV who are completely out of touch with real-world budgets and requirements - I work as an architectural technologist which is a much more practical design role needing a good understanding of how buildings actually go together, and in the commercial world where buildings need to make a return then it's not acceptable for them to be twice as expensive as originally suggested. Best to work for smaller firms however, where there's more chance of seeing the big picture and needing to muck-in and help out on all aspects of a job. I can imagine working for some of the big places would be pretty miserable with layers of management etc.

 

Back to the cars.....

 

3) Utilising the Camry estate's USP today, when I needed to ferry the family plus a couple of my son's friends around on birthday treat taxi duties. A third row of rearward facing seats fold out of the boot floor and were perfect for the kids. I do love driving it still, despite the painful bill I had getting it back on the road.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, 2 grins on the same page from me!

 

Today 2 Autoshiters have once again made my day, without them I'd of hardly have achieved what I wanted to today.

 

Firstly Red5; headed down to me and gave me a good battery and can of petrol so I could move the KV6 to another new home for now. I'd jump started it off the BMW and ran it for 10 minutes but as I switched it off it wouldn't switch back on :( so Red5 to the rescue it was!

 

Pillock; Great to see you again and thanks for sorting me out some computer access again, now I can get with application forms and access my extrenal hard drive.

 

Thanks again guys,

 

This place etc... ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't know why this is a grin & not a grump but it cheered me up for some reason.

Traffic stopped for a few minutes at some roadworks, Dirty Yaris pulls up behind, driver a desperate looking bloke. He starts ferkling around, looked like he was pouring something. Coffee from a thermos?

No, a clear liquid - vodka? rum? - into a battered Coke bottle, about a third full, which he then tops up from a large bottle of Coke which is half empty by the time the lights change.

Glad when he turned off, but I felt less threatened by him than by twats playing with phones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Went over to djimbob's today (in the CJ, with the roof down... well, just look at that sky!) to borrow his Kia Sedona for a collection mission, and was greeted by this sight:

 

post-19532-0-38671100-1510441460_thumb.jpg

 

We both reckoned it didn't have another MOT left in it, so why is it a grin? Because it's not off to be fragged, but Nigeria, where it might live for another 30 years!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was in the attic looking for stuff earlier and came across my biking gear that hasn't fitted me for about 10 years.

 

Tried the jacket on and it fits!! (Made the missus cry)

 

Brought everything down and me and the missus spent 1/2 an hour trying it all on which was nice.

 

We then spent a couple of hours looking for bikes on eBay and bike trader.

 

Going to see a cbr600 tomorrow.

 

Happy days!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congrats on the new job SL. I myself have managed to hopefully secure a role within an industry I've long wanted to get into, after 6 and a half years working for telecommunication companies.

 

Also glad your Camry is back in use.

 

Thanks, and good luck to you. I can imagine the comm's world is full of some less-than-useful people and would cause frustration by being involved in it for too long.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was in the attic looking for stuff earlier and came across my biking gear that hasn't fitted me for about 10 years.

Tried the jacket on and it fits!! (Made the missus cry)

Brought everything down and me and the missus spent 1/2 an hour trying it all on which was nice.

We then spent a couple of hours looking for bikes on eBay and bike trader.

Going to see a cbr600 tomorrow.

Happy days!!

Back in the day this was us!

 

My bike.

post-19687-0-31951500-1510484508_thumb.jpeg

 

Missus on her bike.

post-19687-0-51343500-1510484571_thumb.jpeg

 

Fun times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have just replaced the rear indicator that I destroyed last week by reversing the Land Rover into the house. The grin is that for once the nasty scotchlocked rat's nest of towbar wiring was upstream of the bullet connectors and the screws all undid easily so it was actually a five minute job that only took five minutes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

New modern. Spent the morning cleaning it. #suburbia #OLLI #soccermom

 

post-5454-0-58477300-1510510639_thumb.jpg

 

It's gonna be fun when it reaches shite territory. I've never seen so many wires attached to one chair... Everything's electric. But mmm. Comfy. (And it's averaging 28mpg UK so that's not bad either for such a behemoth).

 

Woo family guy.

 

Phil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Noticed water coming back up the drain in the drive just as we were leaving for few days away. Thought, bollocks, blocked sewer, sort it when I get back.

 

Got back, lifted manhole...

 

post-21417-0-78753200-1510520645_thumb.jpg

 

Two hours of proding, jet washing, swearing and I was as happy as a pig in shite. Except the shite was gone.

 

post-21417-0-80753300-1510521044_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...