FastFreddy2

It was a bit weird the schools chose different weeks for the mid-term holidays this year? On a selfish note, it meant I've had to contend with children (always more attentive than adults - or less prudent when looking at my footwear) for two weeks rather than one. Was at Bluewater on Monday, felt like I was back at school so many children were there...... Surprising given the weather was so good outdoors? Shame about Mrs Shyguy being a 'party-pooper'? Museums are not my thing either, having had school visits to them thrust upon me. That said, as I age, my interest in things past become more and more interesting to me. It may be that I now appreciate the way the world changes (having experienced some first hand) I enjoy seeing how our lives changed in the past. The audio at the Pawnbrokers was particularly illuminating in that respect. Poor people pawning their clothes during the week, and getting them back for Sunday (to go to church). The comments about "skindles" was it, hot water poured over bread for a meal, were particularly moving. Those red shoes were lethal though..... They were the ones popular with the young lad who was wearing them when we arrived and had them back on when we left. I tried them briefly (while grandson was busy elsewhere) and they have VERY unstable heels. Not sure why they were in such poor condition, but they were a liability. Think we were there for well over two hours, and we barely looked at the shoe exhibit really. Our look around the Northampton history exhibit was quite rushed too. I'd say a 3-4 hour visit would be needed to take it all in. I think we might go back for an afternoon for our own amusement, when the weather improves.

Some older (pre break) photo's ..... Pretty. Leggy. [With heels!] And some photo's only a couple of hours old ....... Dunno about the plunging neckline, but she's still pretty, and wearing very high heels again. All copyrights are recognised. Photo's reproduced for the purposes of commenting, criticism, research and teaching only.

I have reason to reprise this thread (see below). Searching for the thread originally wasn't hard, but finding every link had disappeared was disappointing. So here's the story ... Jessie J, always a bit different when (much) younger, doesn't have a great time during her earlier school years. Gets to a stage school and works hard. Starts to carve out a career for herself as a singer/performer. Has accident, breaking a bone in her foot. Gets herself a slot on a talent show, and becomes a 'household name'. It's only pertinent here because she's a pretty girl that paints up well. Very leggy, and she has history that suggests she likes to show them off - all of them. Until she had the accident at a rehearsal, there was further indication she liked to wear a heel. The broken bone meant this may no longer be possible. See below. The Glastonbury photo's again: Glastonbury 2011 high heeled welly front Glastonbury 2011 high heeled welly back The boots: Louis Vuitton wellies: Further images below. [No space for them in this post.]

Weeeeeeeellllll...... The "two posts per week" initiative ...... Not a staggering success then?

Class! .....

A wise/smart man, might have considered ordering some drill bits at the same time the drilling tool was ordered? I had naively thought all my local DIY type stores would carry these drills? Well, to a degree they do, but not the slightly more specialised drills for successfully drilling concrete. Plenty of poor feedback scores for the ones that are supposedly suitable .... But the more expensive [£5 per drill rather than £3 per drill] types are generally available mail order, or 30 mile each way journey to a Trade Counter. £4 carriage waaaay cheaper, so ordered by post. Hopefully the drill bits will be here for the weekend. Mentioned my new 'supa-dupa toy' to a girlfriend. She immediately volunteered me the job of hanging some new pictures at her home. Is it a bit naughty to practice with my newly acquired kit on someone else's walls?

That is the style that got me to notice U.N. As I've mentioned, I've a thing for metallic heels, and these would catch my eye (for a second look) whenever I saw them on-line. Waaay too expensive, and fairly impractical for my usual needs, so never a runner - even at sale prices. But very attractive/interesting heel. My most recent, preferred style from U.N. is one I've noticed on the well-known auction site priced at £200. >>> clicky << Down to £115 in the end of season sale, but not in my size. (Thankfully). Downloaded piccies:

Sounds like the first person I paid to help me fix up the main bedroom, may have done some work over your way too? My 'mate', at my request opened up a single socket to a double. Not a spur, so no worries from the safety viewpoint. I offered him a drill template [square box with lots of tubes in you pass a drill down to turn the intended hole space into Gorgonzola. Once drilled, you just knock the holes together to remove the brickwork.] He did it with a rotary cutter. More noise, more dust, but quick. What I didn't notice, was when he fitted it to the brickwork he (i) broke all the bricks behind (so no grip for fixings). (ii) Mullered the new box with what could have been blunt snips making an elongated hole to pass the power cables through. (iii) Tore off one of the faceplate retaining lugs - as you have. (iv) No earth connection to the metal box, a legal requirement. I knew none of this until I tried to tighten up the loose faceplate. And I paid him to carry out that work too! With nothing to secure the replacement box to, first job was to dig out ALL the broken brickwork and re-mortar the recess flush for the new box. Correctly cut the new box for the power wires to pass through, without sharp edges (that might otherwise cut hand/cut cable). Fix the box square, and "make good" around the recess. Light switches? I think there are 6 "pairs" of switches here, beside all the single ones. When we arrived, there wasn't a single pair wired up the right side. Meaning, in a bedroom with two lights, (say top or left and bottom or right of the room) had the switches reversed. Turn on the right switch, left light would come on. Turn on left light switch, of course right light would come on..... This house is circa 35 years old, you'd think someone during that time, would have swapped them over? I've replaced 3 sets of these 'paired' switches and they now work the logical way you'd expect. I must get around to doing the ones by the front door though. The light switch closest the door doesn't do the porch light, it does the hall light. The one further in, does the porch light. You wouldn't think so much could be so wrong ...... I've said it many times to people who ask me why the refurb is taking so long. Firstly, I'm not (yet) a builder. And secondly, I could sit someone in a room with pen, paper, and give them 4 hours to write a list of things they could perceive to be wrong with a 'used' house. I think it highly likely the things I already know to be (had been) wrong, would be a longer list. This project has been a real eye-opener. Unfortunately ....

The investment in tooling continues..... Had to drill another batch of 5mm holes in concrete last week. Wasn't a nice experience .. .. My usual kit comprises 18v lithium cordless hammer drills and a corded 550w hammer drill. While either of these provide enough 'twist and thud' for mortar and brick drilling, neither is really up to pounding concrete in any meaningful way. For this (it seems) you need more energy ..... and possibly a better class of drill bit. Today, I took delivery of a Makita rotary hammer drill. This will provide at least double the thudding energy of the corded hammer drill, and maybe three times that of the cordless. The main job it's been acquired for, is to put holes in the concrete lintels we Brits use across the top of windows to support the gap in the brickwork left for the window frame. These are notoriously difficult to drill, when wanting to mount curtain rails or blinds above the window. Often, wooden rails are glued to the plasterwork above the window, but ours were removed long ago by the previous owner. [saving me a job.] Modern systems don't rely on these antiquated ideas, but need to be bolted directly into brickwork. We have large concrete lintels that have proved to be as resistant to drilling as any available. [A Google search reveals how common this problem is.] Around a month ago I managed to get 14 holes in two lintels for some blinds. It cost a sore/painful elbow (for about 2 weeks), and the wrong side of £20 in drills. The 4 holes I did last week (managed to re-use another 2 already drilled) cost less in drills (£5) because I used the best drills available, plus I was more careful not to overheat them. Easy done when patience is wearing thin ..... Upshot of the internet research .... Use SDS drill bits, and heavier/more powerful Rotary hammer drill. Then let the tool do the work. Will be a week or two before I put up another (curtain) rail, but I'm positively looking forward to using my new tool. My toolkit looks more and more like a professional builders week on week,

Was definitely a worthwhile visit despite the 90 mile (round trip) drive to enjoy it. My mistake -if there was one- was not getting there earlier. I had grossly under-estimated Northampton's retail area, having only skirted around one end of the Town Centre in my past visits. Not only missed that, but also missed the chance to visit MK, which we passed twice on our round trip journey. I do better with places that stay open later; West End, Brent Cross, Westfield (White City).

The Museum closed at 5pm and was a good time for us. Outside we walked up toward the shops, and I realised I might have missed an opportunity by arriving so late in the day. Place seems to have quite a large retail area with a seemingly endless quantity of cake and coffee shops. Not the place to go if on a rigid diet. Saw some nice boots and shoes too: We had planned to eat out, but quickly realised 14th February aka "Valentines Day" wasn't the best time to have an impromptu meal in a restaurant. With an hours drive home, we left around 6.30pm. Traffic was good, and we back for almost 8pm having stopped at a local store before arriving home. So late we all settled for a sandwich supper, rather than a full-blown meal after all. A great day out, and highly recommended.

The shoes, and their part in the towns existence weren't the only exhibits. There was a Hamtun (or Hamptun?) exhibit showing 2000 years of how the town evolved. Again I would have preferred more time to read and digest. A sculpture exhibition call "Busts", was of little interest. The exhibition of recycled/reused rubbish was excellent. I was taken by most everything there, especially the Lobster made from Coke tins. (At £280. Still very attractive.) Sorry, no picture. The other exhibit there that I liked, was the black-bird 'dawn chorus'. Was really good. Colours are very muted in the photo, and had much richer blacks and yellows in the original. Cameras and walking personnel all over the place, so one had to be discreet.

Some more .....

Some more photo's.

Well ....... I was designated driver, and got up later than the other two in the party. Consequently, the trip up the M1 was a bit quiet because the rest of the party ...... slept while I drove. Arrived after an hours drive, and immediately made to Debenhams for toilet (me) and refreshments (the sleepers). To my disappointment they didn't even have a Miss KG, only their own -usually dull- range. Also, a shop that used to sell fetish shoes, is now a nail bar. Getting to the Museum was easy. Parking for 2pm through to midnight was £3-40 so not very expensive at all. First thing I noticed once inside, was how dark the shoe exhibition area was. The pictures and manufacturing equipment salvaged from the [Northampton] industry were magnificent. The shoes, and details about them were equally of interest, not least because 'shoe-fetishism' is very obviously not a new phenomena. With a 9 year old in tow, it just wasn't possible to linger as long as I might like. That said, he liked the area where different shoes could be tried. The ones with the water and plastic fish in the heel were a favourite until he found they were waaay too big. He tried the 1980 glam-rock silver knee high platforms, and they fitted surprisingly well. [There was a pair of red high heeled platform open toe courts there. A young lad was wearing them when we arrived, and had them back on when we left! Bless!] Here are some photo's. All taken with the natural light, of which there was very little.

None of us. My 9 year old grandson has no idea I wear heels. That said, he doesn't mind wearing them it would seem. Both me and Mrs F are careful to ensure I don't inadvertently enthuse him, but he does okay as a curious person in his own right. I'd love to share my interest with the rest of the family, but prudence suggests I don't, He tried some heels at the exhibition, though sadly I don't think it fair (to him) I share photo's of him wearing them here. Full details later.

The three of us went today, as planned. Write up and photo's to follow.

Open a Picasa/Flickr/Photobucket account. Upload piccies. Add links. Not possible? This picture >> was a screen shot off a web site, that I then edited using MS Paint. Took about 1 minute to produce before uploading. Not sure why anyone wouldn't illustrate a reference to a style of shoe in this way?

Good. Slightly overdue given you own an iPhone.

Good for me too.

I've not sent you a copy of the photo's? PM sent.

As I've mentioned before, I'm not keen on the content, but I'm happy to 'take one for the team' if it helps produce a situation that means there is a meet. I might even be able to bring a +1. On the downside, I've checked ticket availability for the Monday and Thursday tonight. Unbelievably the bulk of tickets (seem to) have been sold for the stalls already? Only 'back of theatre' or top price (£35 + booking) tickets appear to be available? Ticket prices don't seem to vary much so a top price of £36/£37 isn't that scary. [And certainly wouldn't be if I actually wanted to go.] The gig date should be on one of the warmest days of the year, (3rd week in July) and some consideration ought to be given to how this will affect possible 'dress' codes? Sorry for the luke warm response. I do appreciate this is one of the longest running, best supported UK theatre productions, ever. The visual content was (and still is) of great interest to me. As I write these words, I'm listening to "Uplifting Trance" on You Tube. It's hard to imagine finding a way to get excited about Mr O'Brien's almost Vaudeville score with something like 120bpm thumping away in my head?

The snow came. Not too many counties got it, but of course I'm in one that did. Fortunately it wasn't the fine dry power stuff we got last time, that fell in sub zero temperatures. This was large gloopy wet flakes that fell in circa 2 degrees. It snowed for 12 hours so we had 3 or 4 inches here, but it quickly disappeared off the roads thanks to the warm car engines passing overhead, being able to turn it into slush. If we hadn't been busy trying to sort out curtains and curtain rails, it would have been a great day for some spectacular winter scenes. The weathermen have promised more snow during February, so all is not lost. While out today, managed to get a picture or two with the trusty Olympus Tough 820. So far, I am very very happy with this camera. In fact I used an older Fuji bridge camera the other day to do some auction photo's. Was surprised how much slower the older camera is, which is something I had not noticed during the previous 6 or so years I'd owned it. The G5 is just as quick as the Olympus, if not faster (on paper at least), and will work in even lower light levels. I trained in photography using a film camera. It had a couple of modes, but I mostly chose the taking settings myself. As a general rule, I would propose digital cameras have two benefits. 1: instant results, meaning you can see the picture immediately after you've taken it. 2: almost all digital cameras have a Program mode that enables the camera to take good quality pictures with no input from the operator. Mrs F has a Lumix S3 sold explicitly for folk who want to point and shoot with success. Her camera does this VERY well. If I'm honest, the G5 must have a mode that provides this, and I suspect the "ai" button is for that very purpose. [Takes over full control - other than the composition of course.] Anything other than that setting, looks to need an computing degree. Thankfully, I won't need to waste film learning how to use the thing, but the manual is on CD so no bedtime reading up. I'm quite excited! ......

Looks like things worked out okay. Not sure what went on there, but I must have produced enough evidence to convince the buyer, they weren't misled. They are still convinced the shoes are a small 8 verging on a 7, but they are plenty big enough for me and I'm a loooooong 8. Don't know too many people with feet as slim as mine though ...... If only they were ½" shorter ....

Maine Coons, big 'softie' cats. >> << My personal fav: Bengals. >> << Playing 'fetch' just like our recent ('poorly') visitor..... [Noisy clip!!] >> clicky 3 << Going crazy on the quilt, just like our recent ('poorly') visitor..... This video reminded me that around day 6 or day 7, the cat missed the quilt during one of his bedroom rampages, and stuck a claw in my cheek (close to my ear) while I was laying in bed. It went so deep I had to unhook him. Fortunately, the mark didn't resemble a duelling scar, and has completely disappeared. As have all but one or two of the holes in my lower legs. They are nearly fit enough to model some of my recent shoe and sandal purchases. (Yes, you read right SANDAL purchases. ) .......