FastFreddy2

At this time I'm waiting for Euchrid to get back to me with his preferences. It's possible I could (and would) do both, but I need some indication of if/when he is about. He has two pairs of boots I'd like to try for size, but I don't expect him to carry them around all afternoon. Consequently, I am looking to meet him at the venue he prefers. It could be we meet at Westfield, and then we move on to the West End, as they are only about a 15 minute drive apart. Possibly less for someone using the Underground.

That's the second time you've mentioned that injury? What happened? Sounds like it could be serious?

I've not lived in a house with studded walls, but I used to mount phone equipment on some from time-to-time for a living. I used these: Only ever had two fail, and that's because they don't work well when you try to screw them into wooden studding... as the tips tend to bend. You can see from the end, a Philips screwdriver (aka crosshead) is used to turn the insert which is self drilling, self tapping. When the insert is installed, the (supplied) screw is used to complete the job. These are light to medium weight fixings. Hanging a fridge off a stud wall might need something a little stronger. I always felt screwing into studding was a good thing, as it has to be more secure than plasterboard alone. Plasterboard might be okay for shear (downward) strength, but studding must be more secure for any push/pull force which I imagine could produce a nice large hole in plasterboard? Sounds like you've had a very busy weekend.

The Friday plan for the new loo came and went. Saturday saw the permanent removal of the old avocado pan and cistern. (Yippee!) Offering up the new pan and the cistern together, not previously possible because temporary removal of the old cistern was possible either, I found the location of the new supply pipe was out by 30mm. Too close for additional pipework, not close enough for a little light 'bending'. Plan B (though more likely K or L) had me watching 5 or 6 You Tube DIY 'how to' video's to see if there was something of a solution out there. Seems just about everyone uses a braided flexible connector to make off the last 300mm of pipework. I'm guessing, this allows for changing the toilet, without the need to change any other plumbing. To use this method, required the removal and re-cut of the my newly installed supply pipework. The loop I made, needed to be positioned lower, to accommodate at least some of the proposed 300mm flexible connector. I really, really, really, didn't want to be doing this. All of the joints I'd made other than the soldered loop, where made with compression joints. I do mine up so tight, they're seldom fit for re-use. The compression joints are used to allow replacement of pipework where the use of a naked flame is either undesirable, or plain dangerous. In this location, it would be both. So a flexible connector was bought, and a nice bit of kit it is too. The completed section of the pipework was made ready for re-cutting, mains water turned off, and most of the upstream circuit drained. A couple of nerve-wrecking hours later, it's all reassembled. I have a horrible feeling one of the joints I didn't remake has a minute leak. Given how pretty the whole thing looks now, I'd be happy to replace that bit of pipe if necessary. The job looked nice before, but looks even better now. If the leak turns out to be a stray drip of water, the toilet gets located tomorrow. I'll happily forgo the warmest day this year, if I can get this job wrapped up. Learning new stuff is a pleasure, especially when the learning cycle is complete. It looks simple in the video's when profession plumbers do it, but this is my first toilet replacement. And worse, I've had to provide new supply, and complete replacement of the soil connection tubing into the stack. [Not so easy with a 500mm gap.] Just call me Bob the Builder.

While shopping for something else today, found another pair in 32W 34L, and took them home to try them. Good start, with 32" waist, but also 32" leg. Tried these on yesterday morning in heels. Very snug from the knee up (as I like them), and hang well with a higher heel. Result. While putting them with 'the others' (in storage boxes), I reacquainted myself with some of the other pairs I own. I have some really nice legwear! Some of them can only be described as 'lush'. If ever I can make the time, and while the weather is bright, I'll have to do some photo's.

As long as you go, yes. Heelman500, who's attendance together with yours the meet date was arranged around, can no longer attend. (Important and unexpected family commitments. ) When we met up last time, there wasn't enough time to visit one end of Oxford Street, and I'd quite like to visit Primarmi, New Look, and maybe Selfridges? Now that my walking friend has offered to have time off, I can park for 4 hours in the West End, without the fear of a parking ticket or need to arrange a mortgage for street parking. While street pavements don't provide suitable surfaces for risking expensive stiletto heels, the place is a lot busier, so easier to lose ourselves amongst a crowd? Plus, there is a greater volume of interesting shops there. If there's time and inclination, it might be possible to include Westfield too? Before, or after?

The non-payer, didn't pay, despite the intervention of the auction site 'management'. Wonder why people do this, and wonder why/how the jerk gets away with it? [Rather than have his/her membership withdrawn.... ] Not sure I've mentioned it yet, but had a fella contact me immediately after the auction last time, asking me to relist some shoes at a fixed price I would sell them for. Suspecting another time-waster, I said I would relist if he sent £1 to my payment account to cover my listing fees. A day later I got a rather curt message asking if I'd relisted the shoes as he'd paid the £1. I did a screen shot of my account showing he'd not sent anything. Unsurprisingly, I've not heard back since. Didn't get the other shoes on last weekend after all, so maybe next weekend. Thought this week might finally produce the complete selling drought I've been expecting for a while, but it looks like I have someone bid on a non-shoe item. I maybe need to get my act together, and get all my prospective images edited up ready for the next free listing weekend. Spent some time at the shops this week, they weren't very busy. Folk will have their quarterly post-Christmas bills to contend with, and maybe holidays to pay for, so money is thin on the ground. Almost no "sale" stuff around I could see, and few people want to pay the full sticker price these days. Things are slow. One of the places I went to was Brent Cross, a favoured mall. I've seen shops close there, usually when the brand expires, but the shops are quickly let. Not at the moment. I've never seen it there before, but there are two empty lets, and even worse they are next to each other. Hopefully some brands will pick up the empty premises soon. I spoke to one of the exiting brand staff before they went, and word was the shop wasn't making enough to cover the rent. The store next to them were part of a large greeting card group, that went to the wall. No need for further explanation there. Given this continuing situation, I can't pretend to be overly surprised my auction sales are dwindling.

Hopefully that will improve. Not like the rest of us collectors then, always buying for tomorrow?

Made the mistake of going into the same outlet yesterday. Tried on some MORE jeans. No room around the family jewels (apparently left nothing to the imagination) but fitted well otherwise. Fought the temptation to buy, £20 reduced to £12. I checked earlier today. to see how many pairs I already own. "Plenty". More than I will ever need. Didn't stop me though. Popped back in today, half hoping they'd gone. They were there, although they nearly escaped as they were on a different rack. Possibly, I have a problem.

I have that as a 16 mile each way journey. Given the speed you drive, I can't image it would take you long to visit. Didn't check the Luton branch, but not much further? Do you not run up and down the M1 any longer? If you know your Evans size, and have a style in mind, could you not order over the internet? Or get once of us 'more mobile' fellas to purchase for you?

Can't suggest anything for the roof, but sounds like cracked slates? If this is the case, Unibond Extreme Repair Sealant comes highly recommended. I am about to repair (read 'bodge') a venting ridge tile that actually needs replacing and re-pointing. Since I haven't invested in a £200 ladder and £50 for additional accessories to allow my normal ladder to hook onto the roof, nor have I bought any of the safety harness eqipment, prudent to be used when 20-30ft of the ground ..... I am going to glue/patch the tile from inside the loft. My bodges carry 'unlimited' five year warranties though. (With genuine repairs guaranteed for the life of the house. ) I use Fernox LS-X on any water joint except end feed solder joints. Yes. even compression joints get the gooh. It's not cheap, but it works. Last year we had a copper pipe decide to leak. Brought the ceiling down, had the ground floor awash. 22mm pipe, right next to a joist and floor boards. Not supposed to be that close .... But this is the house Bodger Bros and Sons built. So no way of soldiering a joint. Couldn't take the floor up, without moving built in cupboard space above it first. (Days worth of work to gain access.) As the water was indirect, I fashioned a shaped (round) patch from a redundant plastic membership card, that started life looking like a thin credit card. I put a 2 mm layer of LS-X around the hole, and used 3 tie-wraps to keep the patch in place. Well over a year later (I think) the patch is still doing its job. Sadly, it didn't stop another hole appearing 2 months ago, about 2 ft from that! Wasn't as easy, but used the same method. Luckily I hadn't repaired the ceiling, so access was easy. The pipe is going, so the first chance I get it'll be removed or at least blanked off. Did a similar bodge last Autumn with a gutter. Got fed up with water running out of the gutter through a joint (that has been repaired -badly- by the previous owner). Another membership card (or phonecard), LS-X'd it up. Shaped the card around the gap, no more leaking gutter. Did it while it was pouring down too. Wonderful stuff. If I had used a white card, I could leave it there, but it's a dark blue O2 card if I remember, so will need replacing. (Actually looks like a 'scratchcard'? )

The house had a serious stab at giving me a breakdown over the weekend. June is the month we get the new bathroom suite installed, and before that, I need to get the floorboards in good order, and some basic (re)plumbing done. [EVERYthing from the boards up, is being replaced.] We've always had a problem with a small water leak around the loo. The chief suspect was a pre-made hole used for a flush lever. With one on either side of the cistern, it was possible to configure a left or right handed flush. The leak was suspected to be from a poorly fitted bung in one of these holes. So, this chunk of work ..... Repair some floorboard. Remove toilet and place hardboard to cover to rippling floorboards, install two new mains water feeds (sink/bath and loo) then reinstalled old toilet. Simple? The floorboard bit was awkward but straightforward. It's temporary, as a new loop to supply the new rad has not yet been installed, but it's going to happen. So, the 'final fix' of the boards will be completed after the rad goes in to keep access maximised. Removing the toilet pan wasn't hard, as I'd already installed an in-line isolator, when I repaired the syphoning system some time ago. Emptying all the water from both cistern and pan wasn't pleasant. The seal on the loo outlet came off in pieces. The connector to the soil had to be sawed off flush, then carefully split -with a saw- as it couldn't be withdrawn from the downpipe. Cleaning and disinfecting so it was safe to touch, another unpleasant job. Once the utilities 'shaft' was open, adding the two new pipes was a challenge, but do-able. I must take a picture. Putting the toilet back was easier with the new type of connector joints, along with copious use of silicone lubricant, "Lucky" for me (a phrase I never get to use) the replacement connector system must have been designed for me. No cutting, no jiggling, fitted like the proverbial glove. Had a little moment when connecting the older/original indirect water feed, as the isolator started leaking, but then resealed itself. (?) Connected the water supply, and all seemed well. It wasn't of course ... But seemed it. Firstly, the dilapidated syphon system refused to flush. I'm sure being dried out meant the diaphragm wasn't as well fitting as it was before I started the work, not that it would have been that well fitting before I started...... It took 20 attempts over 10 minutes to produce a good flush. Today, a day later, it's back to its old form. Not great, but you don't need to say a prayer before using the thing either. The worst problem by far, is the return of the drip. The symptom has been a slow but constant droplet loitering on the underside of the cistern. As I'd cleaned off all the old residue, [aka limescale], the new drip was extremely prominent. And damp, obviously. Turns out, the cistern has a hairline crack in it. Invisible on the inside, where a line of silicon sealer would solve the problem, but a finger nail dragged across the surface of the cistern reveals not a thin line of limescale as previously thought, but a hairline crack. This discovery means one of three things must happen quickly. 1. I relocate the cistern from the ground floor toilet - also due for replacement. 2. I spend £24 on a non-matching [temporary] plastic cistern. 3. I install the new complete toilet a month ahead of planned installation. Currently, Mrs Freddy has proposed/seconded Option 3. Not least because she has been looking forward to planting her body on sanitary ware used by no other mortal. Especially not the one previous owner, to who hygiene and cleanliness were absent friends. Having worked out/implemented 'a plan' so successfully, to have an invisible crack thwart me, is really quite trying. Not least because it must have been there when we bought the house. Meaning the (one) previous owner of 35 years, must have known both that it was cracked, likely how it became cracked, and sold it to us knowing there was a problem. More news as it happens...... Hopefully, Friday 3rd.

Gave two of the AEG drills a work out over the weekend. Both performed admirably. The hammer action is not a good as the Stanley Fatmax, but in every other respect the hammer drill is superior. The AEG hammer action isn't bad, but the Stanley is very very good. [And mine will be appearing on an auction site very soon.] The second C Li was swapped today at the suppliers. Chuck wasn't rotating very concentrically on my second unit, and is a well documented problem with hammer drills, though the C Li doesn't have hammer action. The swap was effortless, and this time I checked it before leaving. I'm very happy. The AEG kit I've bought, is highly recommended.

Conversely, my step-daughter has a pair of boots she bought when newly single, that she doesn't currently wear, and I would like to re-home. She's not short, and her current boyfriend isn't tall enough for her to wear a heel while she's with him. Hence the boots gathering dust. I had thought to offer her some of my "to dispose of" footwear, but in doing so, there might need to be a discussion of how they came to be offered. I'm shameless, but Mrs Freddy isn't, especially to her family. I've been told; 'in time', but I don't suppose she means anytime soon. I think you are very lucky to have approval/acceptance from your family. I bet many here would love to be in your position.

As previously reported, I have acquired an SDS+ drill for hoofing my way into concrete. I have also spent some time replacing my tired B+D hammer drill. It was a good buy, and I replaced the batteries a while back, by buying an identical kit, and then sold off the drill (keeping the 'kit' batteries). Doing it that way was half the price of buying two replacement batteries.... The drill was a Ni-Cad system, and I'd gotten fed up with always finding the battery flat. I have a fast charger, but waiting 30 minutes to do 2 minutes worth of drilling can be frustrating, so decide at the end of 2012 to invest in a Lithium system. In fact, I decided to invest in two. I spend a lot of time changing drill bits (pilot <> full-size <> countersink) so thought I'g get two cordless drills. Stanley Fat Max ticked every box. Double discount from Homebase meant the system cost me £80 each. That included two batteries too. 3 year warranty, so I bought two of them. Within days I'd somehow broken one of the chucks, and the drill was immediately replaced, no hassle. Since then I realised the other had a wobbly chuck, and by now I'd given up, so got a refund on the second unit. The remaining good kit, I'm going to sell on in bits. Hopefully the batteries will sell for the price of the whole kit? Upshot to this disastrous buying decision, is that I had to look again. Sad really, because the drill I still have works really, really well. But I need two. Decided I'd give AEG a go, over Makita. Have bought two 18v C Li (drill drivers) and one 18v G Li (drill/driver/hammer). Yes, I know, 2+1 equals 3, but ...... The batteries on the second C Li system are probably worth about what I paid for the kit. If I sell them on, I get the drill for nothing. I think there's a fair bit of this going on too. Even the retailers are getting in on it; breaking up kits. People like me need a second drill, especially if they got 2 batteries in with their kit. Some need to replace worn out batteries. Some need to replace chargers. Breaking up a kit makes financial sense. So, I'm hoping to have two drills with a battery for each, for the price of one kit. For when I want to gently drill a hole in brickwork, I have the 18v hammer drill. So I'll have 4 batteries and three drills. I can't imagine a job that'll need four batteries, but if there is one, I'm ready. Incidentally, the AEG C Li is a 'compact' 18v drill driver with 47Nm of torque. Couple of interesting/useful features: Battery charge indicator that works with the battery both mounted and mounted from the drill. And an LED illuminator that actually lights up the job. Although the second drill I bought is going back for replacement (another wonky chuck), these systems come very highly rated. Nice grip, good trigger response. Chuck doesn't undo itself (freeing the drill bit) while in use. Not used the G Li for drilling brick yet, but it performed well today helping me screw down floorboards. I hope to give it some brickwork drilling later in the week.

We are going to offer up the new toilet and sink to pretty much where we expect them to be fitted, so we can see if they both look the part. If "yes", we keep the sink. I've found a couple of styles of basin+bath mixer/shower taps that tick all the boxes, and combined come in at around £110. No saving, but selling the 'supplied' taps would produce a lot more return than trying to sell a sink. Plus we have to sell the bath taps whatever happens, so might as well sell them as a set. I'll be happy if I see £30 back. At this time, I'll be happy to see the back of them.

Latest DIY trial ....... We have a new bathroom suite that I have agreed will be fitted by a 'proper' plumber. I have dug out the original (avocado) toilet today, to put some thin board underneath it to help level out the curly floorboards. With the toilet out of the way, we were going to remove a large section of old redundant boiler flue, and offer up the new toilet to see how it looks. Firstly, let me tell you that living in a hard water area provides interesting insights into the formation of stalactites and stalagmites. Not the sort you are used to, but inside the bore of the toilet flushing system. I would say the pipework I moved today hasn't been touch for the 35 years the house has stood here. The 30mm bore of the water outlet to the toilet, (where the water exits before running around the bowl) was barely 20mm in diameter. The supply pipe, had what looked like 15mm of wax laying in the bottom of the pipe, and was actually solid limescale. Disengaging the toilet bowl from the soil outlet, revealed the cause of the 'nasty' drip we've endured for 2 years. The seal is not intact. Looking to reconnect the toilet pan outlet to the soil stack, was also a no-go. Not sure why, but an intermediate -and oversize- piece of pipe has been used, which meant simply replacing the damaged seal isn't going to be possible. Tomorrow, I will spend several hours carefully cutting the intermediate pipe to allow its removal without damaging the branch connector I will want to use to reconnect the toilet pan. Then tomorrow, back to the DIY store for a refund/exchange of the bits I got this evening, for the bits I actually need. If they have them in stock of course..... Not yet looked at removing the remaining part of the redundant flue stack. Looks simple enough, but ..... If it isn't removed cleanly, there's plenty to damage if it gets dropped onto the central heating pipework below, on the ground floor. The (real) reason for the plumber, is I want the soil stack moved to where the old flue used to be, about 250mm closer to the corner of the room. I have no enthusiasm for juggling 3m pieces of 110mm plastic piping, so intend to hire someone with that enthusiasm. Once that's done, the new toilet+basin+bath can be installed. Mrs Freddy is quite excited, as she has been waiting 2 years for the bath we've kept in one of the bedrooms, to be plumbed in. She doesn't get to see the blood, sweat, tears and more blood, these jobs need to be completed. But apparently I'm going to be very popular with her, when it's done. My excitement at the prospect of installation, is (i) freed up space - no bath taking up space, and (II) the hindsight experience of what seems like at least a handful of enigma's. Meaning, at the moment I have a number of problems with no immediate solutions. When the jobs are completed, I'll know how it should be done (having done it) and next time these problems will seem like much smaller hurdles. Can't wait.

Another 'free' weekend for auction style listings on the well known auction site. Hopefully I'll get a few of Mrs Freddy's shoes listed and sold. We both tend to keep our shoes in their original boxes if they come with them, so charity donations or selling them off, usually frees up quite a bit of space. Looks like the one pair of shoe boots I sold last weekend (at £3-49) have attracted a non-payer with some previous non-payment history. This will be his 3rd non-paid bid I can see, inside a 12 month period. I've given him 2 opportunities to 'void'/cancel his bid, but I've nothing back, which is also a symptom of his previous non-payment history. Oddly, other feedback suggests quick payment and good comms? Weird? To get us both out of this situation, he only had to confirm a bidding "mistake" and we could cancel the sale. Instead we've both got to suffer an Ebay dispute case .......

Well...... Mrs Freddy concluded her most recent 'cull' of her shoe collection. I've already taken circa 10 pairs to either the recycling or charity shop, with another 8 or so pairs to go on an auction site. Although she has a reasonable quantity of flat sandals and pumps (she has a thing for Sketchers), her shoe wardrobe has been reduced to 60 pairs. Well over a half of that number have a high heel. There are at least 10 pairs that are unworn. Last night she remarked; "Less than your collection." Which I immediately suggested wasn't true, knowing it was. I'm hoping to find buyers on the auction site. Mrs Freddy is moving on a fair number of 'worn once' sandals that might be easier to sell than my usual ankle boot style. Postage price increases won't be helping though.

Not sure about the actress (don't know her) but this is a head-turning outfit ...... Samantha Barks ...... Big, BIG yessss!! Went out with a girlfriend some 20+ years ago in a similar ensemble. (She even more slender, as hard as it is for me to comprehend the possibility. Though photo's help keep the memory alive. ) Why did we split? She couldn't wear a heel at all. (Duh! ) Or maybe she wouldn't, as she was already 2 or 3 inches taller than me. I still see her from time to time. Still has a cracking figure. Legs up to her armpits. My loss.

Another contender ...... Kate Beckinsale: Lovely example of Louboutin Pigalle, but stripes and checks together? Nope! More >> here <<

Agreed. Her and Kylie Minogue. From all the recent pictures I'd seen of her lately, I thought Kate Hudson could be added to the list of women 'always in heels'. Maybe she could be on that single criteria, but her dress sense took a dive recently. Neither of the other two would make this sort of mistake ......... She must have dressed in the dark? Outfit is a big "NO!" From >> here <<

You can think that, but committing it in writing ....... sooooooooo tempting fate to kick it into touch.

Better look at her heels ...... More >> here <<

Very very very big "Yessssss." More >> here <<