I would just like to say

DevonGuy said:

Arverdernune orl. Us dun an arf dai tudai, tekkin un eezyan bein zenzble. Got tu wurk an us yungess colleague 'Enry ad glued orl us stuff ontu us shelf over bench. Ballpoints, Grease, WD, Glass an upolstry gleaners an wurs uv orl us teebags. Us wundrin ow much diesel us can drip inter is bike fool tank afore it gets dammidgin.....

Click to expand...

Have you upset him, is he having a laugh or is he simply a big richard head?

Stanleysteamer said:

Have you upset him, is he having a laugh or is he simply a big richard head?

Click to expand...

The youngun was probably put up to it by the olduns.

J

marjon said:

That's really bad news and am sure it will lead to a hard year ahead.
Have noticed (in the local gardens) that the grapes/other fruit are not as plump as they could be, maybe our latest drizzle/rain will help them plump up. Cos there are acres of them around here.

I am also sure it will affect the value of French 2024 wine. Get in early Stan.

J

Click to expand...

I think your country or at least you area must have had a different year of rain compared to France. Here everything is ripening early or on time. Our apples were early.

We have visits to three vineyards planned to top up our stock. Nothing unusual there. We know that in bad years the cheap wine is not so freely available, one year cheapish whites couldn't be had for love nor money, they put all the grapes they have into making the more expensive stuff. Makes sense really.

Stanleysteamer said:

Have you upset him, is he having a laugh or is he simply a big richard head?

Click to expand...

He’s very much his own man and doesn’t follow the crowd. We get on really well. He loves old fashioned workshop banter and humour, something I think the PC crowd is trying to wipe out. When I got my cancer diagnosis I told the whole workshop what it was and told them never to treat me differently. I’m happy to say that the soft warfare has continued unabated and his toolboxes will have well-greased handles pretty soon. White grease too,
none of that easy to wipe off black or yellow stuff.

Stanleysteamer said:

You did see the third comment about the vendor?

Click to expand...

What, 'sold elsewhere after I bought it'? Yes, people do that a lot on Ebay. They've probably got it on Gumtree, Autotrader, their local paper and no doubt a card in the newsagent's window too. I've had that when trying to buy cement mixers, dumper trucks and even a chainsaw once. Something better generally comes up eventually. If I'm intending to travel to see something, I try to contact the seller by phone to ask if it's still available first, so I don't waste my time or theirs.

...next instalment in the "Stan hates tech" coming up soon!

DevonGuy said:

He’s very much his own man and doesn’t follow the crowd. We get on really well. He loves old fashioned workshop banter and humour, something I think the PC crowd is trying to wipe out. When I got my cancer diagnosis I told the whole workshop what it was and told them never to treat me differently. I’m happy to say that the soft warfare has continued unabated and his toolboxes will have well-greased handles pretty soon. White grease too,
none of that easy to wipe off black or yellow stuff.

Click to expand...

Love it!
In my first job (in a hotel) the owner's wife had been to art school with Mary Quant, so our uniforms were amazing. We were often better dressed than the guests.
The girls wore very fancy blouses and long skirts, i.e. brushing the ground.
Every now and then the restaurant manager would clip a pair of escargot tongs to the rear of one of the girl's skirts so they would go out into the restaurant with one swinging every time she took a step. Especially a really pretty one. We never had any complaints from a customer!