tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2009-11-23:/MokoFeed2009-11-23T07:49:32+01:00tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2009-06-29:/2009/06/29/no-peace-for-wacko-jacko-6418393/itsar2009-06-29T09:38:01+02:002009-06-29T09:38:01+02:00I wasn't a great fan of Michael Jackson. Some of his music was OK but I didn't go rushing down to the record shop to buy his albums - no iTunes in them days. I do admire his success, and though he did appear to go a little off the rails in later life, I've not heard anyone who've met him, describe him as anything other than a very nice guy.<br> <br> It is tragic that anyone dies at an early age, I feel for his family.<br> <br> I think it is time to let Wacko Jacko rest in peace, and celebrate instead the showman who was Michael Jackson. May his music live on.<p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2009/06/29/no-peace-for-wacko-jacko-6418393/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2009-06-28:/2009/06/28/a-warm-sunny-afternoon-6413463/itsar2009-06-28T16:15:42+02:002009-06-28T16:15:42+02:00 <p>So, as the day goes on, I look out of the window into the back garden. The washing is drying on the line. The grass needs cutting and my son is playing with his friend noisily.</p> <p>A BBQ is planned for later. We've been unlucky so far this year, a combination of timing and weather has been against us. So far we have had just one barbecue and my son is pressing me for a second. Yesterday we failed as at the crucial moment the clouds came over and is chucked it down with rain. Now I look to the sky, the forecast says it will remain dry, but those clouds don't look good.</p> <p>My office window is open and the smell of burning charcoal from a neighbouring garden suggests that someone else is having similar plans.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2009/06/28/a-warm-sunny-afternoon-6413463/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2008-09-21:/2008/09/21/another-indicator-marking-the-end-of-the-build-4758405/itsar2008-09-21T17:26:20+02:002008-09-21T17:26:20+02:00 <p>Yes, another landmark event. Do you know, we might actually be at the end, or at least a step closer to it.</p> <p>Today I handed back the key to our storage facility. We had hired a room at a local self storage warehouse to put a lot of our general clutter that we had lying about the house. It gave us the space we needed while the builders were crawling around our house. With the builders almost gone, we decided that we should clear out the store bring all our stuff back. Amongst other things it enables us to stop paying for it. Due to the huge over-run, we had gone over budget with the storage costs.</p> <p>So the garage has filled up again with our stuff instead of the all the builders' stuff. Not everything has found a permanent home as yet. A room is still not finished. The study needs to have a window enlarged to please the building inspectors. All to do with escape routes etc. The window has been measured and is on order. A couple of days ago the builder told me it should be installed sometime this coming week, hopefully tomorrow. Once it is in, we can decorate, fit desk tops and shelves and put in there some of the stuff currently in the garage.</p> <p>We are now starting to look at the back garden. It has always been in the plan to have this done, but the extra costs in the house extension has resulted in us waiting for the build to finish before going ahead. We have had two quotes which have been almost identical. Looking out the back, seeing the garden in a state. I am now wanting to progress on that. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2008/09/21/another-indicator-marking-the-end-of-the-build-4758405/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2008-09-17:/2008/09/17/very-very-very-nearly-finished-4739553/itsar2008-09-17T11:59:16+02:002008-09-17T11:59:16+02:00 <p>So much for the idea of keeping a journal on this site.</p> <p>A few entries and I give up.</p> <p>Here we are it's 17th September over 7 months since the builders first walked into our lives and at last I think we can say they have finished. Well, almost.</p> <p>As with all builds, the odd snag crops up and this morning a guy is up a ladder fixing a gutter. When the upper floor went on over the garage, the gutters were extended and a new down pipe was fitted. OK so far. As the work progressed they realised that they would have to dig a soakaway for this downpipe, and a another one for another section of roof. So they decided to route the rainwater another way, to the other section of roof and so now they only have to dig one soakaway. OK they've saved themselves a bit of work. Except the new section of guttering which started out having a downpipe at the end, now doesn't, but it still slopes that way. So a couple of weekends ago, when we had a heavy downpour. The gutter overflowed.</p> <p>The trainee is now up the ladder re-fitting the gutter. At least I think it is the trainee, he has made a mess of my front door and the dinning room floor. Lets hope he does a better job with the gutter. I think it would have been easier if they had just dug the second soakaway. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2008/09/17/very-very-very-nearly-finished-4739553/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2008-02-01:/2008/02/01/porch_started~3663625/itsar2008-02-01T11:16:42+01:002008-02-01T11:16:42+01:00 <p>Friday</p> <p>Nothing happened yesterday due to the weather, rained all morning and blowing a gale for the whole day. The news had loads of reports of trucks being blown over.</p> <p>This morning and again there is a knock at the door. The weather looks a lot more promising with the wind having dropped and blue sky visible. The porch is being worked on today which means digging up the concrete driveway. My son (7) was excited when he saw the pneumatic drill, as much as he would have liked to stay and watch, he had to get to school.</p> <p>So now the whole house is rattling to the sounds of the drill. It shouldn't last too long, once the concrete is up, it will be spade work. Meanwhile we have moved one of the cars onto the road and are using the back door to get into the house, walking through the dirt and mud dug up last week.</p> <p>The architect contacted me by email on Wednesday. He and the builder wants a meeting on Saturday morning to discuss how to deal with the drain and manhole that appeared unexpectedly while digging up the back garden. Looks like we will have 3 options.</p> <p>1 . Get a specialist company to drive piles around the sewer and bridge over that.</p> <p>2 . Dig down and pour in concrete pads, then bridge over the manhole.</p> <p>To my untrained mind, those two options appear very similar, the only difference is that for option 1, the piling company get the extra money, for option 2, the builders do the work and so get the extra, currently estimated at around £2,500</p> <p>Option 3 is to change the shape of the extension to work around the problem, which will mean more work for the architect, and resubmitting the plans to the council for approval, which would cause even more delay.</p> <p>We are going to have to be careful how we deal with this as the architect and builder has vested interest in the decision. If there is more cash flying around, they will want as much as possible flying towards them. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2008/02/01/porch_started~3663625/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2008-01-31:/2008/01/31/roof_coming_off_today~3658250/itsar2008-01-31T09:50:22+01:002008-01-31T09:50:22+01:00 <p>Thursday 31st 0815 and there's a knock at the door, the roof over the garage is going to come off today.</p> <p>at 0830, as my wife is driving off to work and it they say, er perhaps not, its blowing a gale and its now raining. They also said they might start on digging the footings for the porch. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2008/01/31/roof_coming_off_today~3658250/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2008-01-30:/2008/01/30/a_problem_with_the_drains~3654572/itsar2008-01-30T14:40:01+01:002008-01-30T14:40:01+01:00Saturday 26th Jan saw the architect come and have a look at the drains which had been uncovered by the excavation work from earlier in the week. He made some measurements in order to put them on the building plans.<br> <br> We also looked down another access hole to the drainage system and noticed that this was silted up. The architect commented that this will need to be dug out and that he would have a word with the builders.<br> <br> The next day on the Sunday as I was clearing out the garage (still!) my next door neighbour came round asking if we had problems with the drains. It turned out that he and his neighbour on the other side were having problems with the sewage draining away. In fact in his main drain, it was all backing up. Nice!<br> <br> Basically we had a blockage. It was Sunday afternoon and I could not call the builders.<br> <br> I left message on their office answer phone and decided the problem could wait another night until Monday.<br> <br> 9.10 and the doorbell rings. One of my builders has obviously picked up the message and came round. He attacked the blockage with a set of rods and 20 minutes later he had cleared the blockage.<br> <br> BUT<br> <br> Looking down the manhole, it is obvious he has succeeded in spreading the silt and rubble down the pipe. He realised this was going to have to be sorted.<br> <br> That afternoon, he and a colleague went down the manholes and cleared out as much rubble as they could reach. Soil, stones and even bricks. He also went round to our neighbour and cleared out his drain too. When he was done, I had a knock at the door, he explained to me that they had done as much as they could for today and tomorrow a specialist drain cleaner will come along and finish the job off.<br> <br> Tuesday morning and at the crack of sparrows fart we had once again men climbing down holes in the back garden. Looks like they had a few more toys and hoses to ram down the drain. A few hours later and they were gone. Leaving the drains clean, flowing and neighbours happy.<p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2008/01/30/a_problem_with_the_drains~3654572/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2008-01-24:/2008/01/24/and_then_stops~3623577/itsar2008-01-24T01:02:42+01:002008-01-24T01:02:42+01:00 <p>The Building Inspector has had a look at the sewer manhole that unexpectedly appeared under my patio. He has given 3 options.</p> <p>Make the extension smaller and keep the manhole outside. A non starter, the extension would be so small, it wouldn't be worth doing.</p> <p>Dig down to the depth of the sewer, bridge the pipes and fill with concrete. They would have to be dug by hand and the concrete costs would be too great.</p> <p>Sink mini piles around the sewer and build on that.</p> <p>Having spoken to the architect, he says that will cost a similar amount to the traditional method of building foundations, but it will have to be carried out by a specialist. So everything stops while a specialist is sought, they have a look at the job, give a price, then assuming it is accepted, slots us in to their no doubt full diary and then once done, the builders can carry on.</p> <p>In the meantime, we wait.</p> <p>They could always make a start on the porch on the front of the house. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2008/01/24/and_then_stops~3623577/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2008-01-23:/2008/01/23/the_building_work_starts~3620349/itsar2008-01-23T14:24:01+01:002008-01-23T14:24:01+01:00Well it's started. 9am Monday (21st Jan) morning saw the arrival of the builders. The boss man arrived to introduce the two guys who will start the work, one of them being his son.<br> <br> While we are clearing the garage ready for them to take the roof off, they are keeping themselves busy digging the patio to the rear of the house ready to lay the footings for the single storey rear extension.<br> <br> I got home from work after dark and the two guys had long since gone. Well I wasn't expecting them to work in the dark. I looked out the back and noticed they had brought their toys along too. A mini dumper truck and a mini digger.<br> <br> Tuesday morning (22nd Jan) and they were there at 8am. They had a bit of problem getting the dumper truck started but the digger got to work digging up what used to be our patio. I was inside working on clearing the rubbish is the garage when I heard a cry and call from one to the other "you'd better come and have a look at this". I decided it sounded like something I should have a look at too. They had a found a manhole to the dainage system. The problem is that it puts the drains a little closer to where the wall is going to be than we were expecting. A bit of head scratching and the elder of the two announced it was for the building inspector to see. So they removed the small amount of rubble that had fallen into the hole and covered it over. I decided to walk away. It's not my problem but I expect I will have to pay for the solution.<br> <br> As I left for work, The digging was on going.<p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2008/01/23/the_building_work_starts~3620349/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2008-01-04:/2008/01/04/things_are_moving_at_last~3530004/itsar2008-01-04T23:13:14+01:002008-01-04T23:13:14+01:00 <p>So having had planning permission to go ahead with our extension for well over a year (13th December 2006). It looks at last that we have found a builder who is able to do the job for us.</p> <p>His price is a little higher than I would like it. It does appear that we underestimated the price since several builders have put in similar prices. So I now need to revisit the finances. a few cut backs here and there, also go and visit the nice man at the bank. Should be OK on that front, I've had promotion and we still not borrowed anywhere near the current value of the house. That said, I don't want to borrow so much that we can't manage the repayments.</p> <p>Before I do all that, a potential show stopper needs to be dealt with. We need to confirm the depth of the foundations under the garage. The plans show shallow foundations which is bad news. The plans also show a single skin outer wall, but looking at it, it is quite obvious that it is double skin. So we are hoping that someone decided it would be a good idea to build the garage thinking that someone might want to build above at some time in the future. That time is now.</p> <p>A shallow foundation and it is back to the drawing board.</p> <p>The hole is being dug tomorrow morning. We shall see then...... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2008/01/04/things_are_moving_at_last~3530004/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2007-12-05:/2007/12/05/the_nightmare_of_modern_supermarket_shop~3400706/itsar2007-12-05T20:42:35+01:002007-12-05T20:42:35+01:00 <p>Grumpy old man time.</p> <p>Shopping, you either love it or hate it. I’m not talking about wandering along the new style shopping malls buying clothes, DVDs, books and gadgets. No I’m talking about food shopping.</p> <p>My Dearest now chooses to shop on-line and a van from Sainsburys or Tesco turns up at the door with crates of produce. It all stems from our young son (now 7 years old) who was, in want of a better word, a little sod whenever he was taken around the aisles of supermarkets. So My Dearest decided instead to buy on-line.</p> <p>Anyway, the point of this moan is that a few items got missed off the list, so instead of waiting until next week, I said I would pop into the supermarket next time I was in town. Which was today.</p> <p>My local town has a HUGE Tesco, its enormous, and it doesn’t just do food, while I was there I walked pass a display of engine oil and bicycles. In my opinion it’s too big, when you’re down at the drinks section and you realise that you’ve forgotten the toothpaste, its a long old walk. As I was thinking this must be one of the larger Tesco, I then thought of those old fashioned department stores with lifts. The floor space in those shops must be similar to this huge Tesco. On balance I think I preferred the old way of doing things.</p> <p>So having spent my time with my basket picking up all the items on my list I decided to go to the checkout. I know, I thought, I shall try one of these self service tills, the queues not too big. I now know why, they are a nightmare. I was behind a lady who was struggling with trying to tell the computer about some fresh produce. Eventually a member of staff had to be called over to assist. Judging by the way this member of staff threw the bag of green leaves down the conveyor belt I could tell she was getting a bit fed up. Also while all this was happening, the customer’s shopping was all piled up at the end of the conveyor belt yet to be bagged up. So when I arrived at the computer screen, if I was to send my shopping down the belt, it would be mixed up with the previous customer’s.</p> <p>At this point I notice that had I joined the longer queue of a manned till, I would be on my way to the car park by now.</p> <p>So scan first item. bleep! send it down the belt. Send second item down belt, oh hang on I didn’t scan it. Scan second item, no response, scan it again, still no response. I stand there waving my shaving gel over this bit of glass like a demented orchestra conductor yet it still will not be recognised by the system.</p> <p>It’s it at this point I loose it. I grab my shopping, and walk off to find a proper till where I can deal with a real person. I realise later that the system now probably thinks I have walked out of the shop not having paid, but I am past caring. I do feel for the poor person behind me in the queue who is going to have to tell someone that this crazy guy has stormed off leaving the system waiting for him to pay.</p> <p>I find a checkout and set out my produce onto the conveyor belt. As I wait for for the customer in front of me to pay for their shopping. This involves a debit card, but now the chip and pin keypad has decided not to cooperate. At one point the 3 button popped out and rolled across the floor. Eventually the customer decides instead to pay in cash. The supervisor then turns up and tells the checkup operator what to do when this happens again. The supervisor was probably harassed from dealing with a problem down at the self service checkouts (whoops!).</p> <p>So when it comes to my turn, I decide to pay in cash. I was even able to give him the exact amount. I just wanted to get out of there as fast as I possibly could.</p> <p>Do you know, these on line supermarkets are not such a bad idea after all. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2007/12/05/the_nightmare_of_modern_supermarket_shop~3400706/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2007-07-26:/2007/07/26/normal_service_will_be_resummed_as_soon_~2708162/itsar2007-07-26T23:38:29+02:002007-07-26T23:38:29+02:00 <p>November? Was it really November when I last wrote on this Blog?</p> <p>I'm surprised I could remember the user name and password.</p> <p>Just looking at the last entry. I mention we have got the planning permission to build the extension. Here we are at the end of July, and nothing has started yet.</p> <p>We had decided to give the job of sourcing the builders to the Architect. Theory being that he has been round this loop so many times, he would know the right sort of people and how to deal with them. So off he goes to sort it all out and we hear nothing. A few weeks later we give him a call or send him an email asking how are things going and it is so bloody obvious that he has done nothing, and it was only us prodding him that has made him do something.</p> <p>Mega GRUMP <img src="/img/smilies/grayupset.gif" alt=":##" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>Anyway, big meeting this Monday, Architect, and the builder who is currently in the frame. Apparently the builder has not provided the Architect with the pricing information that he is asking for, so he wants us to be there to in the hope we might convince him. I've met the builder a few months ago when he came round to look at the house initially. I sensed he doesn't have much time for Architects. If he does or doesn't is immaterial, his price is too high and if he wants the job it will have to come down. Not trying to be mean or anything but there is a budget and his price blows it away. Some adjustment will have to be made or the job wont happen. This is why the Architect wants pricing information. It is not because he wants to be difficult. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2007/07/26/normal_service_will_be_resummed_as_soon_~2708162/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2006-12-13:/2006/12/14/permission_granted~1435702/itsar2006-12-14T00:25:53+01:002006-12-14T00:25:53+01:00 <p>Mid november (yeah I know, I'm late) our gracious local council granted us permission to extend the house.</p> <p>You may think I am being a bit harsh on them, but when you realise they closed down the only shopping area in our village, forcing the post office and chemist into a couple of potacabbins. Promising us a brand new shopping area to be built in its place. That was 2 years ago and they are only just knocking down the old one. The new one won't now be opening for another 18 months. You can tell our councillors don't live in the village.</p> <p>Anyway, sorry about that outburst. We are now allowed to extend the house. We now have to decide on the fixtures and fittings and layout, draw up a precise specification, then go get quotes from builders.</p> <p>Our architech thinks we will start to see bricks being laid about April. Yes it could go faster, but would probably not be able to get the builders we want if we wanted to do everything now. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2006/12/14/permission_granted~1435702/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2006-10-11:/2006/10/11/planning_permission_applied_for~1210331/itsar2006-10-11T17:48:20+02:002006-10-11T17:48:20+02:00 <p>You can't do things quickly can you.</p> <p>It's been a quiet summer on the extension front. I've come used to the fact that during the months of July, August and September, people go on holiday, and since everyone go away at different times, everything just slows down. You just have to accept the fact.</p> <p>So here we are in October. still warm for the time of year but it is raining a lot more. I've given the grass what I hope is the last cut of the year but looking out the window it does appear to be growing again.</p> <p>A couple of weeks ago our architech came round with the drawings of our extension. They looked no different than the last time we saw them, so what was he doing in meantime? Well OK, I think the external drawings were new.</p> <p>So, having given him the go ahead, the planning application is now in with the local authorities, they sit on it for a while, they have written to the neighbours telling them we have applied for planning permission, but in true local authority style, they don't tell anyone what we have applied to do. To find that out people have to go to the local council offices and request to see the drawings.</p> <p>Well we decided to make things a little easier for the neighbours by inviting them around a week or so ago, have a drink, a chat and a look at plans. Find out if any of them have objections and try to sort them early. That way hopefully no one will object to the council. Our architech, who does this all the time, says that if the plans are sensible and are in keeping with the surrounding houses (and we think they are), as long as they don't get any objections from the neighbours, it becomes a rubber stamp job and the plans are passed.</p> <p>Well thats what he says. Up the road we heard of a planning application being turned down.</p> <p>We looked it up on the council web site. From what we can work out, they were reducing the number of car parking spaces on the property and increasing the number of bedrooms. apparently there is a ratio of bedrooms to car parking spaces that must be maintained. We have space for 3 cars and according to the plans 4 bedrooms* so we think we are OK on that one.</p> <p>* I say 4 bedrooms, we've since decided to turn one of the bedrooms into a bathroom and the old small bathroom into a study, but the architech has told us, that sort of detail does not matter at the local authority planning stage. Building regulations stage it will matter, and that comes next.</p> <p>So we wait some more.</p> <p>I can tell that a brick will not be laid until after the new year, which is probably a good thing. The thought of having Christmas on a building site does not appeal </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2006/10/11/planning_permission_applied_for~1210331/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2006-10-11:/2006/10/11/5_days_too_late_the_usual_story~1210140/itsar2006-10-11T16:50:32+02:002006-10-11T16:50:32+02:00 <p>It always happens to me.</p> <p>I've just been browsing the FAQ on this blog site and found that all members who signed up on or before the 1st July 2005 are given "Founding Member" status.</p> <p>When did I sign up. 6th July 2005.</p> <p>OK there must be people who signed up between the 2nd and 5th who have a right to be more cheesed off than me. but hey for all the achievers in life, there are the ordinary folk who get the shit.</p> <p>You can tell I'm not having a good day can't you. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2006/10/11/5_days_too_late_the_usual_story~1210140/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2006-07-19:/2006/07/19/the_money_side~971399/itsar2006-07-19T13:21:35+02:002006-07-19T13:21:35+02:00 <p>Yes, it is all very well to have grand ideas about how to improve your house, the painful fact is that somehow you are going to have to pay for it.</p> <p>Since we have not won the lottery and Great Aunt Maude has failed to leave me a fortune in her will, I am left with the boring process of going to the bank and asking to borrow the money.</p> <p>Last week we went to see the mortgage "expert". Of course he was very keen to take my business. He came up with a package that was OK by me. One of those offset mortgages. where the amount in my current account offsets the amount I owe on the mortgage and I only pay the interest on the difference, which is still a sizeable amount but every little helps. The other advantage is instead of being given the whole amount I want to borrow in one hit and pay the interest on it from day one, I only take the amount I want as and when I need it. Ideal when building or extending since everything doesn't happen at the same moment.</p> <p>The deal involved moving our whole mortgage to a new lender, not just the extra bit. So now we have signed the forms we are now going through all the legal stuff, since it involves changing the legal ownership of our house.</p> <p>Yesterday I had a call, a surveyor is coming round to have a look at the house to make sure it really is the value I claim it is. It is all just formalities which we have to go through.</p> <p>Not heard much from the architech recently, he is supposed to be making formal drawings ready for submission to the local authorities for planning permission etc. We are about to go on holiday, so I will wait till we get back and then chase him up.</p> <p>So, back to the waiting game. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2006/07/19/the_money_side~971399/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2006-07-02:/2006/07/02/move_or_improve_no_i_m_staying_put~926756/itsar2006-07-02T12:54:42+02:002006-07-02T12:54:42+02:00 <p>They say moving house is one of the most stressful things a family can do. So I am not going to do that. We are quite happy living where we are thank you very much. The house does need sorting though, so we are going to do the alternative, extend. Or as they say in modern day speak, “improve”.</p> <p>This is a new departure for us; I’ve never done anything like this before, and probably won’t again either. I know of colleagues who have done home modifications, most appear to have done the work themselves which strike me as being foolhardy, specially since they are all sound engineers. I once sat in a pub listening to a conversation between two of my colleagues where they were trying to out do one another, telling stories of ever more complicated DIY projects. Well thanks but no thanks. I am not going to spend the next 5 years tinkering with my house, getting my wife all wound up because yet again she is going to have to sleep in room that has a hole in the wall.</p> <p>It might cost more, but I am going to get the experts in.</p> <p>A few months ago, I found a web site that helps and advises anyone who was looking to modify their own home. Not highly detailed information, but enough to give me an idea as to where to start and what to look out for.</p> <p>I contacted three architects in the area. I got their names and numbers out of the yellow pages, and checked them on the architect’s professional register. I arranged for each one to visit the house on an informal no obligation basis, I told each one what I was looking to do; they asked any questions they felt necessary and then left. Each one passed comment saying that what I was looking to do was possible, one suggested that I could make better use of the space. Another commented that the result would be a very nice house indeed.</p> <p>Each one sent me a quote for their services. They were more or less a similar price though they each chose different ways of calculating their fee. One charged by the hour where another gave a flat rate fee for the work, split into three different stages.</p> <p>It was the latter architect that I chose to go with, he was slightly more expensive and had the dreaded VAT man looming, wanting to register him if he pulled in anymore money in the year, but what impressed me the most about him was he was willing to offer ideas and suggestions. He had an alternative opinion from another perspective.</p> <p>Soon after offering him the work, he came round again to take measurements of the house. I told him again why we wanted to extend in that the kitchen and bathroom was too small, and told him the sort of ideas we were thinking of.</p> <p>That was mid May. A week ago, he came round again and showed us some drawings. He was suggested that we swap the house round. The kitchen becomes a utility room; the utility room is expanded into the garden and becomes the new kitchen. In between the small dining room is extended and combined with a hallway to create a larger living space. The old bathroom becomes my office, which currently shares utility room with the washing machine. We convert our smallest bedroom into a new bathroom, and build a new master bedroom with en suite bathroom over the attached garage.</p> <p>It looked very good, and exactly what I want the architect to do. We kept the drawings, thought about them, discussed them, and measured out how much of the garden we would be losing. I even drew up a three dimension model on the computer using software I had bought to design the kitchen. Last week I sent an email to the architect to tell him we were going ahead, and for him to draw up plans ready for submission to the planning authorities.</p> <p>Money spent so far on architect fees £650</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2006/07/02/move_or_improve_no_i_m_staying_put~926756/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2005-08-16:/2005/08/16/lazy_1/itsar2005-08-16T23:31:19+02:002005-08-16T23:31:19+02:00 <p>I have been quite lucky recently. I have a full time job, but I have been given quite a bit of time off.</p> <p>My hours are irregular. Some days I work a standard 8 hours, often a working day is in excess of 14 hours. A working day averages out to about 10 hours. This is offset by extra days off.... normally.</p> <p>So at the moment, I am having a period of very little work.</p> <p>Great I think, time to cut the grass, re-decorate the loo, replace the kitchen. Washing, ironing, cleaning not to mention all those other little projects that lie unfinished in my workshop.</p> <p>So what have I done? answer <strong>very little</strong>. I don't know where the day goes, but once I am sitting in front of this computer, answering emails, the day just whizzes by and when the rest of the family returns home, I find that I have very little to show for the day.</p> <p>So I have two more days off before I go back to the day job. So I am going to do constructive things. Not sure what yet, but it must be constructive.</p> <p>The kitchen is high on the priority list, so I am going to have to do some work in that department. cost probably means that I am going to have to do the work as a DIY project. Fine I'm not exactly looking forward to this, but I think I can probably do it (with the exception of the gas where I am going to have to get a man in).</p> <p>What is holding the kitchen up is that we have not yet finalised the design. It is a small and complicated space, and need a bit of clever design to make it work. The old kitchen's designer did OK, but we think it can be done a bit better. So tomorrow I will sit down and draw out some kitchen plans.</p> <p>Once the plan has been done and agreed upon, then we can start pricing it up, work out what units we need to buy, start looking at appliances. Finally perhaps build the thing. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2005/08/16/lazy_1/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2005-08-10:/2005/08/10/old_pupil_s_day/itsar2005-08-10T17:09:14+02:002005-08-10T17:09:14+02:00 <p>A letter arrived yesterday.</p> <p>It was forwarded onto me by my mother, it had been sent to her from neighbours of her old house. The house that I was born and grew up in.</p> <p>I first thought was who would be writing to me at an address that I have not lived in for nearly 20 years?</p> <p>The subject line at the head of the letter was "Old Pupil's Day - Saturday 2 July 2005" basically it was inviting me to an old pupil's gathering on that day at St. Mary's Westbrook in Folkstone, Kent. Anyone not aware of UK geography, Folkstone is a coastal town on the bottom right corner of the country. The channel tunnel to France drops down underground at Folkstone on its way across the sea.</p> <p>Though the invitation was innocent enough, what confused me was that I had never been to a school called St. Mary's Westbrook. The only possible connection was that I did spend 3 years at Dover College Junior School. The Junior school section was in fact based in Folkstone but not at the address mentioned on the letterhead.</p> <p>I left the school in Folkstone in 1976, and I admit that nothing stays still. Perhaps there had been a bit of reorganising going on and that Dover College Junior School no longer exists. The school had an email address, so I thought perhaps it had a web site. Most schools do nowadays.</p> <p>I found the web site quite easily, and it even had a "heritage" page, great I thought, I'll be able to find out the history. Sure enough the school had formed as a result of a merger, but there was still no mention of Dover College Junior School. The one piece of information I found useful on the web site was an aerial photograph of the school. which was spread across two sites. The main school and the playing fields a little way down the road.</p> <p>This photograph explained a lot of things. I instantly recognised my old school being labelled as the playing fields section. The main school down the road used to be a completely unconnected all girls school. This explained the wrong address on the letter. The main part of the new school was in a different road to that which used to be my school.</p> <p>So having gleamed as much information from the web site, I went looking for information on Dover College. Sure enough, they had their own web site also with a history. The history dealt with that of the main school based in Dover, nothing was mentioned of a junior school in Folkstone, as if they were ashamed of its existence. What I did find out was that a junior and infant section does still exist, and it is now based with the main school in Dover.</p> <p>This little period of investigation has left me with a small dilemma, am I an old pupil of Dover College, or an old pupil of St. Mary's Westbrook, or both!!</p> <p>I have written to the Headmistress of St. Mary's Westbrook asking this very question.</p> <p>My feeling is that the answer is neither. Since the school I actually attended all those years ago doesn't actually exist anymore.</p> <p>The question is of course purely academic, since I have missed the Old Pupil's Day of the 2nd July. I couldn't attend it anyway since I was working on Live 8 at Hyde Park on that day. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2005/08/10/old_pupil_s_day/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2005-08-09:/2005/08/09/the_lego_saga_concludes/itsar2005-08-09T01:15:31+02:002005-08-09T01:15:31+02:00 <p>Despite Son's apparent acceptance of his Lego Knight not having the correct number of arms, I detected a desire on his part to have the complete kit really. After all, He had been waiting patiently for so long, it did appear a tad unfair that due to a mistake on Lego's part that he was unable to enjoy the complete toy.</p> <p>So armed with the incomplete Lego Knight, the receipt and My Goddess' season ticket (in case I have trouble gaining entry to the park), I head off in the direction of Legoland. I arrive about 40 minutes before the official closing time, so all movement is away from the park. I slip in one of the closer carparks, and park in pole position, nearest to the turnstiles.</p> <p>At the entrance I see a member of staff, tell her that I would like to change the toy, she lets me in with no question. I proceed to the shop, find another member of staff, explain the situation. He looks around, possibly looking for a supervisor, doesn't find one and turns back to me and tells me to go and get another one. I return 30 seconds later, replacement box in hand. He places it in a bag, I thank him for his understanding and leave.</p> <p>I consider popping over to the Lego Pick and Mix shop, but decide that I have a little boy at home who is eager to receive his complete Lego Knight. I head for the exit, the car and join the traffic jam heading towards the motorway junction.</p> <p>Upon my return, Son immediately starts to build the Knight. This time not needing any help from an adult. I then get a thought, will he be stumped by the same problem, at the same point in the build? then finding out that he had built the toy incorrectly and the missing piece turned out not to be missing, but just used in the wrong place?</p> <p>My fears were without foundation as a few minutes later my son proudly shows off his newly completed Lego Knight, complete with the full number of arms attached. One happy boy. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2005/08/09/the_lego_saga_concludes/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2005-08-08:/2005/08/08/i_m_sorry_i_can_t_remember/itsar2005-08-08T14:43:57+02:002005-08-09T00:39:14+02:00 <p>Is it me, or do others suffer the same problem. Short term memory loss.</p> <p>I am a memeber of a local health club, nothing intensive, just a means to enable me to go swiming for half and hour at the beginning of the day. I then tend to relax in the steam room and spa bath. During this time, my mind is thinking of all sorts of things. Problems at work which needs solutions, new business ideas, where to go on holiday, internet research that I need to do.</p> <p>It was the latter that went through my mind today. It is a day off from my formal employment, and not wishing to get into yet another DIY project that my Goddess is wishing me to do. I decided to look into a number of business ideas that I have had recently that could prove profitable.</p> <p>So, happy that my day will be a fruitfull one, I get home, sit in front of the computer and.......... nothing. All my thoughts had gone. It is not the first time this has happened, sometimes my plans have come back to me, but more often than not, it tends to be when I am out doing something else, or at 4.30 in the afternoon just before the family are due to return.</p> <p>Suggestions to work round this problem many would say would be to write your ideas down. My response to this is I am in the water having a swim, the paper would get all wet. I get out and my memory stays in the pool.</p> <p>It is not just swimming where I have this problem. I head off to do something, and when I arrive at my destination, which could be just 30 seconds later, I find that I cannot remember what it was I was doing. So I retrace my steps in the hope of reviving the memory. I have this eternal fear that I end up walking backwards and forwards between point A and B, remembering what I needed to do at point B and then forgetting once I have arrived and so needing to return to point A in order to remind myself why I was going to point B in the first place.</p> <p>The next day, not a problem, I can remember exactly what I had to do yesterday.</p> <p>Names is another thing. How many people attend a round the table meeting, the Chair starts proceedings by asking everybody to introduce themselves, so starting at a particular point each person gives their name and job. Is there anybody out there who finds this useful? The names go in one ear and straight out the other. In fact I am not certain some of the names even reach the first ear. </p> <p>"??? ??? Chief Mechanic"</p> <p>Ah! the Chief Mechanic, I need to talk to him, what was his name again, damm I didn't catch it, Oh no! who was the other person sitting next to the chief mechanic, I think I need to talk to them too, but I didn't even chatch their job title let alone their name. My turn next who am I, what am I doing here, am I in the right meeting</p> <p>" er..er...Joe..er..er..Blogs...er...er...Oily Rag"</p> <p>God that was embarrasing. In fact I have spent the entire process not listening to the names and job titles, I try and get the correct phrase together in my mind ready for when it is my turn, including a suitable plausable job title that will make them reaslise that even though I am not on top of my little pile, I am the guy that will be making your project work busters.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2005/08/08/i_m_sorry_i_can_t_remember/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2005-08-07:/2005/08/07/title_15725/itsar2005-08-07T13:12:10+02:002005-08-07T13:12:10+02:00 <p>I wake up completely shattered. Not because of a night of unending passion with my Goddess, No she was asleep by the time I went to bed. Plain and simple I was just not feeling 100% and was tossing all night. I sat up at some dark hour feeling very cold. The bed is in summer mode at the moment so does not provide much warmth. I went looking for an extra cover, but failed.</p> <p>Son woke me up at around 8. Then went downstairs to watch TV or play with a toy. I went back to bed. My Goddess must have sensed that I wasn't feeling too good, She got up and shut the door behind her. A sign between me and her that the one left in bed can stay there as long as they wished. Boy I love that woman.</p> <p>When I eventually came down I found that son had decided that the Lego Knight was going to go into battle despite his disabilities (see previous entry).</p> <p>The unattached arm had been dismantled and the elbow joint became the shoulder, leaving the knight with a short stub of an arm. This was no longer an arm, it was his cannon. Some children would be unhappy that their new toy was not complete, and couldn't do what it was meant to. I was impressed with my lad that he was able to adapt the toy to his satisfaction, to work round the problem of the single missing item. Deep down there is a message for us all in this little story. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2005/08/07/title_15725/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2005-08-07:/2005/08/07/what_s_gone_wrong_with_lego/itsar2005-08-07T01:38:01+02:002005-08-07T01:38:01+02:00 <p>it ain't wot it used to be.</p> <p>Here's the scene, 5 year old son, birthday yesterday, promised him a "Lego Knight". He'd been after one for ages, and it appeared to be a harmless toy so this afternoon we all piled into the car and went off to Legoland.</p> <p>OK there are toy shops closer, but we pass it on the way to my mother in law's house and son and Goddess have season tickets which give a 10% discount in the lego shop just inside the entrance.</p> <p>So I drop them off at the taxi set down point, go and park the car, then wait for them to come out. 10 minutes later they appear with carrier bag. We also find out while we are there that son is now over 1.1m high can now ride on the big roller coaster, as long as an adult goes with him. He's a bit of a daredevil when it comes to this sort of thing but my Goddess is definitely not. So guess who is going to have to come along for the ride next time (so to speak).</p> <p>Anyway I digress. So with Lego Knight now in back of car being held tightly by son, we go to mother in law to carry out family visiting duties. So while we travel all the way there, then all the way home, my dear son does have a peep inside the box but does manage to resist the temptation to have the lego contents all over the back seat of the car.</p> <p>The first thing to happen upon arriving home is the ceremony of the building of the Lego Knight. All the pieces onto the table, instruction booklet opened. Slowly the model comes together.</p> <p>Then</p> <p>we find that a bit is missing. The bit that attaches the knight's arm to the rest of the body. In the box? empty! Hiding under the instruction booklet? No! under the TV/video cabinet? So that's where that cheese sandwich got to! Out to the car, remove back seats (don't worry they are meant to come out) still no luck.</p> <p>So we now have a one armed Lego Knight, how is the poor thing going to defend himself from the marauding mob of Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninga Turtles, Power Rangers and Bob The Builder. All because of a special shapped piece of lego which has gone AWOL.</p> <p>So what has happened to Lego? Back in my childhood days, Lego came in standard size blocks. You would buy a toy that built into a tractor or a car, then once you have built it using the instructions, so proving that you have all the pieces, it all came apart and the bits went into the big bucket of lego for you to build bigger cars and bigger tractors. Never quite the same colour, if fact who cared about the colour, as long as you found the right shapped brick.</p> <p>Today the idea is not to build a lego model using the standard bricks. No, Now if you want a Knight, Robot or a character from Harry Potter, you have to buy the right kit containing that special new lego piece. That's cheating. How are kids going to compete with that? We don't all have our own injection moulding plastic lego brick making machine in the garden shed, ready to pop out a new shape whenever it gets too difficult to make the model fit together. It's all wrong, the wonder of Lego is to let you imagination build the model.</p> <p>So back to son's Lego Knight, I have a large box upstairs full of lego bricks of all the standard shapes, sizes and colours, dating back over 35 years. Not one of them will fill the gap that will enable the Knight to be united with his arm. already holding it's shield in readiness to defend his honour.</p> <p>Now for the dilema, Do I go back to Legoland, receipt in hand and try and convince them that the vital piece is really missing and hasn't fallen down the back of the sofa just out of arm's reach? Or do I give in and just buy another Knight (£5.99 - 10% discount) in order to get that vital missing bit, and end up with a box of spares for all the other bits that have yet to go missing? Or perhaps I should go to that other shop they have in Legoland, a wonderful shop for traditional lego users everywhere. A Pick and Mix of Lego bricks. All laid out in those clear perspex sweet containers with the lift up lids. You buy a small or large bucket (depending on how much money you have to spend) then go round with a shovel and fill it. Go home, and build your dreams.</p> <p>A lot more fun than a Lego Knight. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2005/08/07/what_s_gone_wrong_with_lego/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2005-08-06:/2005/08/06/the_next_morning/itsar2005-08-06T12:37:55+02:002005-08-06T12:37:55+02:00 <p>11 hours after posting my first blog entry, and I find that 8 people have looked at it already. Well probably 7 plus me.</p> <p>Not that it was a particular intresting entry. I just typed what came into my head.</p> <p>The next morning, and it's Saturday. As usual my son got up before my Godess and I. Yesterday was his 5th birthday, so he went downstairs to watch one of his birthday gifts. A DVD of the Magic Roundabout Movie.</p> <p>Yesterday I tried to show him some of the original "classic" TV episodes of the Magic Roundabout that had come bundled in the DVD package. I tried to explain those were the "Teletubbies" and "Tweenies" when his mother and father were children. He wasn't very interested. I'm not surprised, they were really bad. One of the episodes was the very first, when Mr Rusty met Zebadee. very poor animation and script compared to later episodes. I am surprised it made it to episode 2.</p> <p>Having seen most of the new movie now, I have to say it is very good. When I originally saw a trailer for it in the cinema some months ago (when taking the family to see The Incredibles) I thought Oh No. But if you forget the original 5 minute TV programmes and watch the film without any pre conceived ideas, then it is a lot of fun. Excelent animation, imaginative scenes and clever "camera" moves that doesn't detract from the story. The script is on several levels, so engaging the parents as well (I liked the VERY gentle references to Dylan's drug taking). I wish I had seen it in the cinema now. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2005/08/06/the_next_morning/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk,2005-08-06:/2005/08/06/where_do_i_start_1/itsar2005-08-06T01:09:53+02:002005-08-06T01:09:53+02:00 <p>What is the facination of a Blog? when I first heard about them I thought, why would people want to publish their thougths onto the internet for the whole world to see? You will never catch me doing a thing like that. I felt it would be a bit like standing in the middle of the town square and taking your kit off. Well people do that sort of thing these days, usually at sporting events. They get carted away, told to cover themselves up and not to do it again.</p> <p>Once upon a time I wrote a diary, I think when I was around 13, when my father died unexpectedly. Every evening I would write down what the weather was and what I had done. No innermost thinking, just a log of the events of the day. Later, when I was a bit older, I tried to expess my thoughts as well, but I couldn't get into that. Into my late twenties and I was finding it more difficult to complete the diary every day. My fiance at the time suggested it was because I was feeling happier in myself. I don't know if that was the reason, but soon after I stopped writing the diary and have not do so for over 12 years. The only exception was during a safari holiday in Kenya. So much happened, and we saw so much in a country so very different to our own. I decided to document it on a new PDA that I had bought in the airport.</p> <p>Of course the major difference between a diary and this blog is that a diary is very private. No one has read it. This blog can be read by potentially anybody with internet access. ie millions. Though quite why anybody would want to read these inane ramblings is beyond me. I know I could click on the private option, and then it would be only be seen by me, but what would be the point of that. What I am writing is not obscene. Perhaps somebody out there does want to read this, if so good luck to you.</p> <p>Perhaps in deep down, I have a desire to run naked across the Centre Court at Wimbledon.<img src="/img/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://thoughts-of-jules.blog.co.uk/2005/08/06/where_do_i_start_1/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>