Packing and sorting the roof rack

Well I have taken full advantage of the last weekend free for a month this weekend.

It started on Thursday after work with me going through all the things which I had left in the house and gathering them together. I negotiated (very easily indeed) which of the shared pictures are going with me and there were no disagreements at all over this. I also took the large box of delicate decorations and split it apart into many little boxes, packing them and labeling them clearly as such. I also emptied the last cupboard and went digging under my bed to find anything which I had mislaid.

I didn't get a picture of the pile of stuff in the middle room to take, but Friday morning I was up early and putting it all into Thomas as I would be going to Blackpool straight from work.

Friday passed and I was in Thomas and legging it towards Blackpool with the truck full, the evening ahead full of driving. As soon as I arrived at Blackpool I was running to hook the electric across to the storage unit, unload the trailer (which I had left the previous weekend) and unload everything from in Thomas. I then hitched the trailer up and was heading back to my house within thirty minutes.

I was only collecting a couple of things with this trip however I needed the trailer because the table top had to get to Blackpool for storage. I have firmly decided to not take it with me this trip. I also was collecting my TV and this was unhooked and placed on the back seat of Thomas, with the table top laid down in the trailer. One issue is that the feet (which I observed as slightly bent last weekend) were completely broken; I used a bungie to tie it up on the way to my house but replaced this with a zip tie for the trip back.

The journey back to Blackpool was pretty easy and it stopped raining half way there which allowed the wind to dry the table so it was pretty dry when I arrived. About half a mile away from the studio I heard a dragging sound and stopped to check; yep, the zip tie had broken and the leg had been trailing on the ground for an unknown period of time. It is now completely useless but I was able to hook it back up with the bungie and get back to the studio. I will need to get a wrench and remove these before the big journey.

So about 9:30 I got back to the studio and had a good go at reversing the trailer up to the entrance of the studio however the position of the cars made it too difficult for me; I was pretty happy with my efforts despite failing to get it fully done. A customer was on hand to advise me and Dan on how to best apply the bubble wrap to the TV and, this done successfully, we carried it to the storage.

A pretty sleepless night ensued with the storms blowing the shutter and making a racket however when I woke the storm had broken and it was a clear and lovely day. I had set myself the task today of working out how I could get both the roof boxes on top of Julian however I needed Dan to be there to pass them up and he wasn't due until the afternoon.

The pile of whisky

So I decided "I know, I'll clear the final things out of storage at the studio and start packing Julian" and thus I began dragging the trolley with my boxes of whisky on it across the carpark. I have six large boxes full, and a couple of loose bottles which have arrived since I packed it first, at the studio (not counting the bottles still at home) and they piled up on the blue pallet.

The safe box

This done I started looking inside Julian to work out where I could put it all. My plan with Julian (as previously discussed) is to put things in the back where the shower and toilet is, but keep the body as empty as I can. Above the toilet I saw a cupboard and inside there was a lockable box probably used as a safe by previous users. This was very easy to remove and the space in this cupboard was just perfect.

The whisky, packed in

It took about half an hour for me to drag each box in and unload them while being careful about stacking them to prevent any chance of breakage but the volume I had to fill ended up being even too big for all my (non investment) bottles in. The remaining volume I stuffed with the fragile boxes brought from the house the evening before, and finally used my gig t shirt collection and a few egg boxes, to completely fill the area and prevent all movement. The funny/concerning thing is that after this, as I was moving around in Julian, I could hear the liquid sloshing in the bottles. No clinking though.

The shower cubicle packing space

My investment bottles I decided to leave inside their clear boxes and, usefully, one of them fitted perfectly in the shower tray and the other wedged in between the edge of the tray and the sink. I got all the other fragile boxes, and a few other bits of odds and sods like my pictures and packed them tightly around the edges, to make sure nothing can move. I have also been able to take some of the DVDs and stack them on shelves which would otherwise have been wasted space. All in all I think I could possibly drive Julian as he is without anything being at risk however I will be putting bungies across to stop things sliding. I had to remove the door for the back room to get the boxes in so I will have to take this with me to remount it when I arrive. I also want to get a padlock on the cupboard door, and maybe even screw wood across the back door so it is not accessible and is secure.

I had a bit more time so I pulled together all my small empty boxes and split the large DVD box into each of these, to make packing it easier.

Shortly after this Dan arrived and I clambered up on top of Julian again and he passed the roof boxes up to me. It didn't take long to realise that neither of them would fit in the new positions I was hoping for. After a short discussion I decided to remove some of the struts on the roof rack which were in the way of putting the long narrow roof box on the roof, and that I would put the other box back where it was originally.

My effort with the hacksaw

I started with the hacksaw but that effort lasted about five minutes, and after I only managed about a 2mm deep groove I gave up and Dan kindly picked me an angle grinder up while he was out in town.

Much easier with the angle grinder

Having the correct tools for the job makes such a difference and within a few minutes of cranking the grinder onto the metal I was slicing through it. The weld was really hard to grind through so I didn't waste time on it and moved onto the other strut on the side I was attacking and this was cut through with ease.

Angle grinder, and chopped strut

I then twisted and bent the metal and the weld snapped after a bit of effort, leaving me with only two more pieces to cut through.

No more upright

Another ten minutes and the whole job was completed, I threw the removed metal off the roof with a clang (which I didn't hear that well as the noise of the grinder is amazing, along with the beautiful sparks which fly everywhere makes this job one which overwhelms the senses) and shut the unit up.

What a beautiful Blackpool sunset

After leaving the studio I went along the front towards Pets at Home to get a carry case for Sassy as she is into the vet on Monday, and the sunset was so amazing. I was lucky to stop at the side of the road and get this snap out of my window. Wow, I love Blackpool sometimes.

So the tarpaulin and generator is due to arrive on Monday however I have no plans to be back at the studio for four weeks now. When I get back there I'll only have five weeks until I leave. I may head over one evening this week to play with the generator, and see how big it is, so I can start to consider the packing of it, but I'm not sure.