A place to have a chat.

Our village newsagent operated from premises which resembled a large garden shed. In the winter it was surrounded by huge puddles which made it look like an Ark. He used to put planks on bricks for customers to walk on and keep dry. He used to sell individual Woodbine fag's to school kids. He was a bit like Fagin.

One of the paper rounds was a real posh avenue about two miles long and many of houses had driveways that were nearly as long. I was employed by the large bully boy who had that round, he 'subcontacted" me. 

He'd ride there on his bike I'd walked behind and do all the delivering. The round took ages and he only paid me six old pence, a tanner! He's probably an entrepreneur now making a fortune exploiting workers.

Yes it does, I was told this by my urologist when I had urinary retention which eventually led to the cancer diagnosis. There is a physics experiment called the two balloon experiment which counter intuitively proves a partially deflated balloon has higher pressure than a fully inflated balloon. This means it is easier generate pee pressure from a partially empty bladder than a full or in my case overextended one.

You've been a grafter all your life Phil. No wonder you still like keeping busy.

I always wanted to end up doing a worthwhile career. A job that would help the community. A job that would make our society a better place to live in. An honest occupation, free from dishonesty, fear and prejudice.

But I joined the police instead. 😁

Edited by member 28 Aug 2024 at 09:00  | Reason: Typo

I'm a bit late to the paper round party.. been DIY-ing.

I had round number 9, Sunday was always a heavy lift because of all the Sunday supplements. The people with the smallest letter boxes always seemed to go for broadsheets 🤷🏻‍♂️

My earnings went towards my first motorbike. The old paper shop is now a cafe.

cheers. 

Kev.

Mine was a Triang tricycle.

Kev, I remember the Suzuki 250s. My mate had a Ramair one and another had a Yamaha 250. But I stuck with my BSA till I built an Ariel 350 bitza flat track when I was 17 . Then I bought a new DT400 which was good fun. A Ducati 500 Desmo then a Suzuki GS1000 as it had a nice seat for my girlfriend 🤣, wicked bike . Then had a few Enduros and trials bikes over the years and the last was a Bandit 600 but I didn’t like it much.

I have my Kawasaki 350 triple I rebuilt recently but soon as it’s running properly it’s going up for sale. I don’t feel strong enough anymore and I don’t think my mind is working as quickly as it used to. 

My youngest did his CBT with his missus and bought a Yamaha 125 racy thing. I rode it back from Margate a couple of years ago. But they didn’t complete their tests and so he can’t ride it now … 

Phil

Hi Kev. 

Knew a kid with a Kawasaki 250 triple and he couldn’t get between petrol stations if he tried to ride with the big boys. 

I definitely wouldn’t want to pick up a downed GS 1000 they were heavy beasts. Hope he was ok?

The GS was a brilliant bike though they were very easy to wheelie with so much torque and with a pillion. It could kick the back wheel out going into 3rd at 70. Fastest production bike you could buy at the time I had mine (1979). I had lower bars and a bikini fairing on mine.  😁Surprisingly my girlfriend said she never felt I rode dangerously 😳. She did end up marrying me.

I put an MGA piston in my Ariel which raised the compression ratio by a silly amount and increased performance quite a bit but I ended up busting the conrod with my mate on the back. Lucky it didn’t wreck the engine… or us… 

The Haynes museum is on my list to visit. Sounds great. Gonna have to make an effort to get down there. My mate is over from Spain and he wanted me to go up to the National Motorbike Museum in Birmingham but I didn’t think I could manage the walking at the moment so we didn’t go. 

cheers

Phil

Kev,

Love the stories Kev, great memories 👍

I remember when I was 16 I had a girlie and her Dad made me an electronic ignition for my 250 BSA . Never did work properly 🤷‍♂️..

Never had a Dad who worried about me taking his daughter out on a bike. Plenty of other things they worried about though 🤦‍♀️ 

Phil

Hi Guys. Yes Pubs have certainly changed over the years, especially with regard to the food, and of course the strippers… There was no age checking then. Remember one Pub we went to where there were kids doing their homework. That’s a good chat up line ‘ can I help you with your homework’ 😉. We also used to go to the nightclubs in Southend at 16 , mostly TOTS or the Goldmine on Canvey and lots of the girls in there were only 15. I worked in the Pub above the Goldmine when i was 16.

When i left school at 16 to do an engineering course and resit my Maths, English and Physics CSEs as id messed them up, we used to scoot off to a local pub to see the strippers at lunch time and we were always late getting back so had to work out who had got a puncture on their bike. When i look back it seems really seedy…. And i feel a bit ashamed and embarrassed.

Falling asleep at school , yep remember that too. I moved schools beginning of 4th year and so didn’t get my CSE options. So i got a bit disinterested in the subjects i didn't want to do anyway. I can remember trying to write stuff down and it was just gobbledygook…..

Still struggling a bit with the chemo. Tiredness and the metal mouth. Have a few days after each session where I can’t even eat a dinner as it just tastes so bad. I am drinking loads of water this time and hoping it flushes it out a bit. Still hoping that bloods are ok and my consultant oks 4 more sessions. 

Bread and dripping , yeah that was lovely ! And remember the bags of Crisps with the little salt bag in. No fancy flavours then and us kids had to sit in a little room on our own or the off licence bit.

Phil

No probs Kev. I'll get the virtual Dyson.😁

Morning all.

It's been very quiet in here. Mind you, the entire forum has been very steady for the last few days. There haven't even been any overnight scam posts to report. 

I spent all day in the garden yesterday. Last hedge cuts and cutting back all the dead stuff in the borders. It looks neat and tidy. A couple of days ago I fitted a new u/v light for my fish pond and the water is now crystal clear, as good as I've ever seen it. 

In the suntrap corner, where my bench is, it hit 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I had to have a few beers to ensure I kept hydrated. The wife even had a couple, but they were only those tiny French bottles. One gulp and they're gone. I stuck with my cans of Stella. Apparently we're going to get a bit of heat next week. I hope so. The fridge is well stocked.😁

In the evening I watched the 2nd 20/20 England v Australia cricket match. A good victory for us, making it one game each. Should be an exciting decider on Sunday.

It's my 10 year old grandson's first football game of the season today. I love watching him play. One o'clock kick off.  So I'll have pie and chips from the nearby chippy whilst spectating. "Come on you Lions!"

Going to my daughters tomorrow for Sunday dinner. It should be good, she's a much better cook than her mum. (Only kidding dear)

Hopefully, unless Oli's team gets hammered, and he let's in a dozen or his mum forgets to put water in the veg steamer, which she's done twice before 😲; it should be decent weekend.

Hope you all have a good 'un.

Edited by member 14 Sep 2024 at 07:49  | Reason: Typo

Hi chaps. Seems like you lot have been busy DIYing and gardening. That’s great to hear , keep it up. 
I was a bit crook this weekend with a funny tummy. Started Thursday and I had my 2nd shingles Monday so not sure if it was that or the chemo. We went to an afternoon bbq on Saturday but I only lasted from 3 till 6 and we had to come home. Then yesterday thought It had gone and we had a lovely roast dinner only for it to come back …. Pretty sure it’s not a bug.
Before that we’d cut the grass and edged , and cut back a row of lavender. It had got too big and may well have to come out…I also did all the tyres on the wife’s Mini as the TPS sensor was lit up… Was only 2psi out 🤷‍♂️.

I listened to Spurs get beaten again while sat in the sun then watched quite an interesting F1 later. Crash was definitely Perez’s fault. 

Missus just txt me from work and her pharmacist says I should phone the chemo nurses about my tummy. I just don’t want to jeopardise staying on the chemo…

SpongeBob , my youngest speaks almost fluent Japanese and he loves it there. He has lessons every week. He went to a gaming convention in Tokyo when he was quite young and loved it. He’s now been to Japan, China and even Guernsey and Jersey for work trips. Never would have imagined it when he was at school. He still won’t do cattle class though, people are too close, so it’s PE or business only.

Hope your boy has a brilliant time in Tokyo. No doubt he’ll make use of the full service laundry 🤣 

OK, talking of laundry I have some ironing to do now… 

Take care guys, 

Phil