Am I finally starting to feel stress?

For the most part, as I build up towards this massive change in my life, I've not really been feeling that concerned.

Stressssss

Mainly this is because I have been really super organised about everything, far more so than I normally am about anything in my life, and so the concerns and fears around "will I be prepared" really have not been relevant nor have they appeared in my head very much (other than those moments in the wee hours of the morning).

Lots of people ask me "aren't you stressed" or "wow you must feel really nervous" and I have to answer in the negative to all these questions as truly I haven't been feeling that at all.

I am sleepy

Today, however, I wonder whether it is finally sinking into my thick skull that yes, something really major is about to occur in my life and maybe it is time for me to react to this. My main reason for thinking about this is I have had a lovely family meal today (blog to follow another day) and have come back to my parents and basically passed out with exhaustion. There is no physical reason for me to be so tired so I am wondering if I am starting to build up that "stress" that everyone has been banging on about for so long.

Looking back over the last couple of weeks I can maybe recognise some other indications; I had a tremendous migraine which flattened me for 36 hours solid (though I do get these) and I also went to bed at 8pm a couple of nights last week and slept right through.

To be honest I'm not too worried about this as I think it would be unusual to not feel any pressure or stress at all about something as dramatic as this. I just find it interesting to try and note down and observe what may be happening.

Three weeks to go and finally it is sinking in.

pahahahaha

This is really happening.

REMOTE WORKING

Very short and very sweet update for today.

As people close to me will know I have been looking for a remote contract for a couple of days a week. My saving has gone well but as always, not quite as well as I hoped and I also want to have something intellectual as a challenge to combine with the physical involved in renovating the property.

DANCING DANCING DANCING CARLTON!

I've talked to a few people and companies about this, and I do have some other options still on the table however I have just signed and returned a contract for a couple of days a week remote working for my current company.

Yes, I'm bringing Carlton out again.

So I'll leave this update here, as I'm busy.

But here's Carlton again!

Everyone join in....

Rambo coming with

It is brilliant just how helpful people are and particularly heartwarming when it is people who you don't actually know in person who provide you with unexpected support.

Puppy Rambo and his handbag

As long-term readers of this blog will know there has been a bit of a saga around whether or not I would be able to take my lovely dog with me. First of all I looked into flying him and the cost was astronomical. Then the thought was that he would be able to come on the drive over and this has bubbled around for quite a while until finally, the weekend before last, it was put to bed as there is really not enough room to give him the space I would need to to be happy with driving him (and this is never mind all the other challenges with having such a large animal with us as we are going across Europe).

Are you gonna throw it, dad?

This left me researching who may be able to keep him for a little while until I may have been able to drive him over in comfort next year (as I am coming back a couple of times potentially in Thomas) however this was a sad decision to have to make.

Rambo on guard duty (watching a pigeon)

This sad decision has now been able to be changed, and changed in the best possible way. A regular reader (who is heading out to Bulgaria two weeks before me; I bet they are SO excited right now!) spotted my decision and mentioned in passing that they knew a person who ran a pet transport between the UK and Bulgaria and charged a very reasonable amount. I was put in touch with this chap and very quickly made my mind up to go for it.

Butter wouldn't melt

So Rambo is booked to leave the country sometime around April 6th and I will pick him up from Smolyan a couple of days later. This means that I have time to fence and prepare the land so he can run as free as possible, and have a little house. It also means that he will be coming over in two days, not seven, and will be with other dogs (I hope) who will give him company.

Happy walking on the sea front

I am really really pleased about this (as you can guess) and am very happy to provide this link to this fantastic company who are very reasonably priced, and friendly to deal with.

Think he'd just woken up

I am sure that Rambo will be super happy in his new home, just like I will be.

That's a HAPPY dog!

A weekend with friends

Four weeks to go...

Four weeks until the leaving party, family meal and then getting in the vehicles and starting the long drive towards Bulgaria...

Wow; when you start to think about it in those terms it really does sink in just how soon it is, just how soon my life is going to change completely and just how little time I have left (thank God) before this blog can stop talking about what I'm going to do when I leave, and start talking about what I am doing because I have left.

So this weekend, as part of my series of "for the last time" I went down to my old home town of Reading to catch up with people who I love and have been important to me over my life. I had planned on driving Thomas down and sleeping in the back of the truck as my trip was a flying visit; go down on Friday, come home on Saturday night. This plan was scotched by discovering, during the day on Friday, that my MOT had run out on Thomas and so I couldn't renew my road tax.

I was able to book him into a garage next to my work carpark for an MOT that afternoon however two very small things caused a fail and my plans had to change. I booked a train and a hotel for the evening and actually the trip down was quite comfortable; it is pleasant to be able to read while you're travelling as opposed to having to concentrate when you are driving.

Having a whiskey with Neil

I arrived, after several hours on trains, in Wokingham and walked down to the studio where I first learnt my craft as a young teenager. Neil arrived shortly afterwards and we went for a couple of pints and then a curry at a restaurant where we used to go very often, back in the day. This was such a lovely evening, it was like it hadn't been years since we had spent time together, and reinforced just how awesome it is to have met this man and become close to him. I really do hope he will come visit me out there, and I look forward to the next time I can arrange for a curry with him. Cheers Neil!

Welcomed by the TV

I was dropped by Neil at the Coppid Beech in Binfield, just round the corner from where I used to live. Indeed I did some sound engineering once in the venue at the hotel back in the day so it was another example of going back to my roots. When I got into my room I was amused to see my name on the TV welcoming me; suffice to say that the TV was turned off immediately and I started getting ready for bed.

My room

Just as I got into bed the fire alarm went off so it was back on with the clothes, grab my kindle, and out into the corridor to start exiting the hotel; before I'd got too far the alarm stopped again so all of the guests turned round and went back to their rooms. The room was lovely; really comfortable and with an opening window which is a rarity. I left the window open all night and the gales and storms blew rain in but I slept so well with the lovely fresh air and comfortable bed. Breakfast was also very tasty indeed and it was a nice moment for me to sit there quietly, on my table for one, chilling out and watching the world go by.

My next plan was to meet my oldest friend (who I have known since I was eight years old) Wardy and I booked a taxi from the hotel to take my back to Wokingham station however, when I got in, the driver warned me of gridlock due to flooding and so took me the other direction on the line to Bracknell. I really was going on a tour of my old haunts.

My oldest friend

The journey was easy and I couldn't see any flooding and it was another great pleasure to see my old friend walking towards me across the station with a hug and a welcome. Many questions about all this Bulgaria thing ensued in the car going towards his house and then I met his lovely wife and two daughters (three years old, and a few months old) and we spent an exceptionally pleasant afternoon chatting and showing pictures (he of the family, me of the school.... well what else am I going to show off!) and a lovely meal cooked by his lovely wife.

It was during the afternoon that I thought "well I'd better check the trains back" and it was a good thing that I did. It appeared that there were no trains leaving Reading and getting up to Manchester; the furthest north I could make it was Birmingham. A few phone calls and I had arranged for my long-suffering parents to pick me up, put me up, and drop me back for the 9am train the next morning. Also the meal with my best friend and his parents was moved forwards by half an hour.

Wardy dropped me over at the aforementioned friends house and we went straight out of the door to our meal at the Winning Hand. The excitement for the weekend was not over by any means as just after we arrived, as we were sitting with a drink looking at the menus, all the lights went off. Cue much confusion and concern by the staff who flicked all the trip switches they could find but to no avail. My guess is one of the phases coming into the building had died somewhere outside the building as the kitchen did still have light and power.

Best friend

So, we ate our meal by candlelight and the staff did a very good job of keeping us informed and happy (and fed - the food was excellent).

We ate without hurry but managed to get back to the station in time for an earlier train than expected which I managed to make by the skin of my teeth; I am pretty sure that they had locked the doors and unlocked them for me. I was on my way north.

The journey to Birmingham was pretty easy and I arrived on time to be met by my mother and taken to a nice warm bed for the night; better than I had planned if I was driving which involved grabbing an hour or so in the back seat of Thomas. The morning was efficient too and I was back on the platform in plenty of time for the 9am train. Which eventually pulled out of New Street at about 9.20 and then proceeded to go all around the houses and get into Manchester eventually about 1 hour 20 minutes late.

So to home and a doze off on the sofa watching France thrash Italy; a shame. I am reinforced in my hatred of public transport as it is never available at the time which is convenient for you and when you do get on it, you have to put up with noisy ignorant people (like the Wednesday fans that were singing and roaring on the trip from Reading to Birmingham) and you are dependent on other people turning up on time to drive the thing.

Pack pack pack pack pack *collapse*

This is the final blog about the weekend of major progress; the last weekend (possibly) before I am there and leaving.

This update is about the core activity and focus of the weekend; the practice pack.

This was the first time I was going to do the lot; put things in Thomas and the trailer and see how well it all fitted together. I had been inspired by a question from a twitter follower to re-visit the possibility of Rambo coming with me; you will understand that I really do want him to however it is all about his welfare on the journey. The last time I'd practiced packing I thought that maybe I might be able to fit absolutely everything into the trailer, the back seat of Thomas and the roof boxes which would leave the truck bed entirely empty and therefore give me enough space to bring Rambo. This was the number one priority, therefore, of the practice pack; can I make room for him.

Man at work loading the desk

First things first I loaded the flat items onto the trailer including the desk top and back, and the shelving units which I had taken down. I do still have one other bookshelf to bring over as it is currently Sassy's favourite place to sit and sleep so it's stuck in my front room; this'll be brought over on the 1st however I'm getting ahead of myself.

Man at work loading boxes

I then started loading in things like my two guitar amplifiers, boxes of books, the two desk upright units and drawers (with stuff packed in them again) and as I loaded I realised more and more that my previous effort had been much more efficient. I forgot to put in several items which needed to go in first, and was left in the end with quite a large number of items not yet packed; large things like the generator would not fit in the space I had left and there I'd forgotten to pack the guitar in the hard case.

Trailer with no room for generator

It had become obvious that my wishes to take Rambo in the back of Thomas were just not going to work out; I had entirely too much stuff which I wasn't able to get into the trailer to leave me any chance of giving him the whole truck bed and I was not going to travel with him in the cage in the back. While disappointed in sense it is good to have a real and final decision made on this point. I am not yet totally over the hope of getting him there with me earlier as someone may know someone else who does pet transport to Bulgaria; my fingers are now crossed that this may be a suitable option.

So, I unloaded the trailer. I was so unhappy with the way it had gone that I wanted to start again completely.

The records, TV and pictures in Thomas

This time I began my load by putting what I wanted to into Thomas. The back seat has always been reserved for all my records (going in the foot well) and the TV (sat carefully on the back seat bench) and with the large pictures over the top of it. With all this packed there was still loads of room on the back seat which I may use to put the snow shovel and other items which I need ready access too (getting ahead of myself again, as you'll see).

Amplifiers, hifi speakers and guitar

With these items in I lifted the guitar amps into the truck bed and then packed things around them until I could not easily fit anything else in. I managed to get loads in the back of Thomas and, when I had to take a drive and hadn't unloaded him, nothing moved at all so I am relatively happy with the choices of what goes in there and where. I took loads of pictures so will be able to recreate this quite easily I hope.

The fully packed truck bed

With the truck loaded I had a very nice thought; as I was definitely not taking Rambo maybe I would be able to arrange things so the lovely dining table which I wanted to take but had decided not to, could come with me in the end. I didn't have the table top available to pack (regular readers will remember that I had moved it into a long term storage in the studio ready for either selling or me collecting at another time) but that was just another flat item to go at the bottom of the trailer bed. The chairs were available along the edge of the storage unit with boxes and packing materials stacked on them and they were the sizable items which would take up the most space.

First attempt with the chairs laying down

First of all I laid them down on the bed however the amount of space they took up meant that the desk uprights would be too far down for me then to fit the generator on (scientific, huh).

The chairs in and upright (including the table top)

So I stood them up and started packing things around them and wouldn't you know it; everything fit. The were high but I calculate that the laycorn boxes on the front will still be slightly higher than them and anyway my aerodynamics are going to be shot by the bikes on the roof of Thomas. The desk uprights slotted in between the slats on the trailer in a perfect way and after that everything just fitted in.

Strap holding the chairs together

I tied the chairs together using straps bought with the tarpaulin and this had the added benefit of making them easy to lift in and our of the trailer as I rearranged things and fettled with my associated packing.

The books supporting the desk uprights

I had retrieved the table top from the studio and this slid onto the trailer bed easily; judicious placement of some thick leather bound books supported the desk uprights and everything was hunky dory.

 Books in small boxes in the voids

I had a lot of fun working out how to fit as much as possible into the voids in the chairs and I had another win as I was able to split my books up out of the open trays which they had been in, into small boxes that wedged in very well between the chairs.

The trailer with everything packed

From this point on it was a game of tessellations again and I do love that; working out what slots where to make sure nothing moves and the greatest volume is packed. I ended up with the gap at the loading end that I wished for to put the generator, toilet and fuel cans so they would be accessible in the drive.

This snow shovel is not easy to get to

By this point I was starting to get very tired and my thinking processes basically stalled. I strapped down all the items I would need during the journey as part of the same strapping pattern as the stuff I wouldn't want to move at all. This is something I will be revisiting on the 1st (as mentioned earlier) and I will also be keeping the snow shovels out of the trailer somewhere they will be far easier to access.

The super sized tarpaulin being fitted

Anyway, with the trailer loaded fully I got the tarpaulin out. How I wish I had taken a picture of it because it is comedy huge; so large that I left it folded in half down the long axis and it was still too wide after it had been thrown over the entire load. I was exhausted by the point and it was a great struggle for me to keep it under control while trying to apply the ratchet straps in the best place.

The tarpaulin finally strapped down

It took a while but eventually I managed it; at least I know I _can_ do it on my own even if the result is not best. I also compounded my earlier mistake of wrapping the stuff I may need for the journey too tightly so this will be taken off and reapplied, with the help of my business partner, on the weekend of the 1st when I really do complete the final pack of the trailer.

It was then time for me to head home and so I had to unload Thomas, a task which didn't take much time but did cause some anxiety as I carried the TV through the unit.

The trailer is propped on concrete blocks for now

I have rested the end of the trailer on some blocks (having removed the useless legs before starting to pack) which hopefully means I can just back Thomas up and hitch him straight to the trailer. This is a good idea however I'm slightly concerned at how accurate I'm going to have to be to reverse to EXACTLY the correct point for the hitch to drop straight onto the tow bar. If I cannot achieve this (and there is no guarantee that I will) I'll have to unload the trailer until it is light enough to manhandle, hitch, and reload. Not an ideal situation at all.

So there you are; I still have both roof boxes empty (but things to go in them) and obviously the passenger seat in Thomas which is where my tool box will go but there's space there too, and also the Laycorn boxes which I didn't get time to attach and load either.

One really good thing about this whole process is how I have found how long it will take to load and just how exhausting it all was; I'd hate to have had this feeling of exhaustion on that Friday just before a six day drive across the continent!

Plenty more to do and therefore definitely another visit to finish all this off is needed.

Fixing stuff up etc

This blog is being posted late as last night I was hit by a migraine which kept me in bed all day today (yesterday as you read this) so sorry for the delay... I'm still not 100% but at least I can sit up and see without too much trouble now.

So, part two of the blog about the weekend is about all the odds and sods and bits and pieces which I did all aiming towards the fact that this was my last planned extended period of time in Blackpool with Julian and the trailer and all my kit before I am there on the last weekend.

The old, and very damaged, trailer plug

If you look back a couple of days you'll see the list I put together of tasks I needed to complete for the weekend. The first thing I did was fix the hookup cable from the trailer to Thomas which had become burned out and was causing half the back board to not light up. The only pictures I have for this blog come from this job and the other wiring task (fixing the hookup cable for Julian) so they'll be scattered through the update not carefully placed in the relevant places as normal.

All fingers and thumbs

I am normally really rubbish at fiddly tasks as I have quite fat fingers (as people who I type to regularly will attest to) however I managed to strip off and reattach the new connector without too much problem, something I was very proud of.

The hookup for Julian was less of a success as I was hoping to reuse the connector, and just reseat the wires. This was not possible as the short had caused damage to the joints and as I had not ordered a new plug I was stuck. I have since just ordered a new, and much longer, cable for the hookup in stead of fixing this one however I won't be throwing it away; I can almost certainly make use of it again over there.

Trimming a wire to length

The other bit of electrical work that was needed involved changing the uk style plug off the air conditioning unit and putting an american three pin on, so it would plug into the transformer I had bought. This was done in the dark and cold by Sarah however, when I plugged the unit in the fuses still went, despite the transformer; my feeling is that the unit has been damaged by all the damp from the leaks in Julian's roof and I have decided to not spend any more time or money on it at all.

Talking of leaks, Julian was bone dry when I picked him up on Saturday; I'd gone past to collect him Friday after work but the garage hadn't left the keys out with him so I went early Saturday morning and collected the sizable bill for Thomas at the same time. Ouch. Anyway, I was woken on Sunday morning by the horrendous sound of "drip.... drip..... drip..... drip....." and sure enough water was flooding through the same part of the roof, but additionally in one of the cupboards where there was a blanking plate I'd not seen before (which fell off in my hands) and a bare wire (scarily!).

Proud of my re-wiring

I stuffed a rag into the hole behind the blanking plate, spread towels around to catch the worst of the water, and went back to sleep to think on it; my only resolution was to stop later on Sunday than originally planned and try and find out what had happened on the roof to cause what had obviously been a good fix (it had rained a lot in Blackpool while he was in the garage and he had been outside and no leak had been apparent then at all) to break.

The rags were soaked through very quickly and I had to keep ringing them out and returning them throughout the Sunday as I tried to ensure as little damp as possible got inside.

It wasn't until very late on Sunday that I finally managed to get up to look at the roof and I spotted pretty quickly that there was a section where the sealant I put on appeared to either not have been applied, or fallen off. As I was exhausted I quickly applied the sealant and gave up on the ideas of PVAing a load of plastic right over the top and covering the aircon unit (my biggest suspicion being around that, however there was no water coming through the unit inside so maybe it isn't there) so maybe I'll do that if I get a chance to get back over before the leaving weekend.

The hookup for Julian being worked on

Fingers crossed it doesn't rain on the journey in case I haven't actually fixed the leak; I'll be putting everything that goes in those side cupboards into waterproof containers though for sure. It was only affecting the one side which is a really good thing as the cupboards on the other side contained pictures rolled up in tubes and not all of them inside a tube; they would have been totally ruined if it had come through on the other side.

The final itsy bitsy thing achieved was getting the other bike rack on Thomas which was achieved by comparing and contrasting with the first one, and then finally helped with the instructions which I managed to find as they had fallen through the bottom of the box where it had been stored. I am now fully ready for taking both bikes with me, one of which works the other will be a long project to get back up and running again.

A halogen bulb which went in my lights

Time conspired against me in my wish to put both roof boxes on Julian (partly as I was concerned about the roof again) and doing the removable tray for Sassy with a fixed food bowl however these things won't take long and I will prioritise the Sassy thing for the next time I'm there.

Things which I didn't add to the list and therefore completely forgot about include checking the size of the tires on Julian so I can order the snow chains, and checking the number of passenger seat belts in Pierre as a friend has asked about him (he's still not sold, sadly). I've asked my long suffering business partner to pop out and check these for me so hopefully my forgetfulness won't impact me too much there.

Right, I'm going back to bed now to sleep for another 10 hours in the hope that tomorrow I'll be well enough to get back into the office. I hate migraines.

Making the toilet

Wow, what a weekend. So much achieved, so much exhaustion of body now.

This is the first of a three part blog series describing everything that went down over this weekend as if I put it all into one blog you'd all be asleep before you got half way through.

So first of all: building the Humanure Toilet.

For those of you who aren't aware what this is please visit the link above for an explanation. The design I was working towards is featured in the book which is advertised on that link, and available to read for free on the website. I cannot recommend it highly enough and have actually bought it as well.

My bucket

I ordered four buckets to use as the basis for my toilet and they arrived I could see they were perfect; each came with a lid so when I have filled one I can seal it and carry it easily out to the outdoor collection point. They are white and see-through, however; I may end up painting them in case of visitors with a delicate disposition seeing me carrying them; while in place the box will hide the bucket (as you'll see) so I won't bother unless someone complains.

Caution:: MAN AT WORK!

The plan in book came with rough dimensions but we decided that measuring and adapting was the best idea so out came the tape measure and the correct amount of marine ply was purchased from trust B and Q (along with some brass hinges). I then set to with my trusty jigsaw and cut out the four lengths for the box sides.

Three of the sides for the box

We'd split the work down in half so I would be making the hinged top and toilet seat and Sarah was making the box. Here you can see that three of the four sides are lent against bucket proving that they are not too tall (they actually are, but more on that later) before the complicated task of joining them together into a square box was started. We decided to alter the design from the book slightly by having the legs (made from 2"x1") run right the way through to the top of the box and use these to put screws through. They also helped to ensure a right angle at each corner.

Cutting a hole in the box lid

While the box was being constructed I took the lid and drew around the bucket; the idea is that the bucket can protrude slightly through the hinged lid, to ensure total collection of all fluids while in use (ahem) so after I cut carefully with the jigsaw around the stencil I then widened it slightly again so the bucket could fit through. It didn't take long to do this; a good jigsaw is worth its weight in gold.

Hinges attached and working well

With the hole the correct size I cut an 80mm hinge piece from the lid section and then attached two of the brass hinges to allow it to lift up. The screws I used (not the ones which came in the hinges which were as always dreadful) protruded through so I was then required to hacksaw the ends off; a task which left me with bloody fingers and a frustrated attitude.

Toilet seat fixing (pre-tightening)

Finally I took my lovely (and expensive) toilet seat from its wrapping and looked at the fixings; there was a long brass screw which would go through a hole in your normal ceramic toilet and a plastic wingnut to tighten underneath. I picked a drill bit and found the correct size straight away; I was really careful here as I had to measure and mark the position for these holes to be drilled. Again, I managed this fine and the seat was seated in its position really easily. I had to get my hack saw out again to trim down the super long screws but this time I did it with no blood or frustration.

The completed box

Meantimes to this the construction of the box had been coming on apace and we were ready to trim the legs (deliberately left long) to the correct length to avoid wobbliness. The trusty jigsaw came out and this was achieved very quickly. You can see from this picture how I meant about the legs running through the entire height of the box.

Fixing the hinge lid to the box

The final step of construction had been reached; attaching the two separate items together into one. Within short order the guide holes were drilled, I'd used a counter sink to allow the screws to sit flush, and we had attached the lid to the box.

Very happy first sit

Success; my first attempt at building a humanure toilet was done and I am very happy with it (as you can see).  It is the correct height to sit on however this has meant that I am going to need to (at some point) build a shelf inside the box for the bucket to sit on. I may get this done before I go, or I may leave it til I arrive. It will help the rigidity anyway to have extra cross pieces.

The Thunder Box

A few minutes with the wood stain and here you have it; the thunder box (as labelled by my mate Stu).

Why don't you build yourself one and start making your faeces into something useful, for a change.