Why do "little" jobs always take a whole day?

[JeffR]

OK here we go....

So last week (Wednesday) some bits of new secondhand body work arrived, got more than I expected, seriously, complete with seized nuts n bolts.  Digs out rattle gun, cant find 13mm socket (I'm sure I own at least a dozen of the so and so's) anywhere, loads of 10, 11, 12 , but no sign of a 13.  Eff it, I'll use a 1/2 inch.  Goes to imperial tool chest (I'm at that age where I've gotta keep things separate or I'll never find where I put it, painkillers do not help - "may cause minor confusion" says the destructions, yeah well that's this centuries biblical scale understatement taken care of), and its locked. No bloody keys to be found anywhere, looks like the sock pixies are getting more militant these days.  By now bad temper and vindictiveness sets in... So out with the drill and cobalt bits. Bit jams and snaps, long period of Anglo Saxon and tool throwing ensues.

Angle grinder is to hand........ but consumables live in , yup, you've guessed it, the bottom of the imperial tool chest, never mind theres what used to be a 115mm wheel on the grinder, except its now closer to 45 mm, but it does the job. did you know that grinding sparks will make a hell of a mess of textured wall covering ?  I did't, I do now though. Wife is seriously unimpressed, she got her Black belt in Judo last month, so have to tread very very lightly. Gets the needed 1/2 inch socket and promptly turn a hex head into a perfect round head.

Angle grinder saves the day

Spends Thursday/Friday removing Artex from wall, along with way more plaster than I expected, a lot more (don't sand artex, cos graded gains really do make finer flower, if you are under40, you will not get the reference). Spends Saturday repairing plaster. 

Today I got the offending body part rubbed down, rust killed and primered, along with most of the freezer, but hey, grey primer really makes the freezer pop. wait till I get the clear coat on it. To add insult to injury I found the missing 13mm socket, same day that the new one arrived from ebay.  

If anyone wants a Wera Zyklop 13mm socket, they are welcome to search the  field behind my house.

So it "only" took 5 days to paint the bulkhead bit of a transmission tunnel for my 110, I give up, I'm defeated, cos the seatbox end of the tunnel is scheduled to arrive tomorrow and will also need painted....How long is that gonna take for Gods sake ?  And No I'm not putting a new lock on the imperial tool chest, no way.

 

 

 

[reb78]

Haha. I know how you feel Jeff. I achieve so little these days its crazy. The 110 is in year 2 of the rebuild and all I have done is move the new chassis. Bloody ridiculous. 
 

Being a silly arse with not enough to not do with the time i dont have, I bought an l322 and then found that it needed more work than I had bargained for. Its sat on the ramp for a month as I contemplate where to start. 

Edited March 13, 2022 by reb78

[JeffR]

I so miss having access to a 4 post lift, everything becomes so difficult when one is flat on ones back in the mud in the garden

[smallfry]

I am a bit confused, so more info is required. Tool boxes and textured wall coverings in the same location ? Tools kept indoors or do you have a snazzy workshop ?

Re the dust, about 20 years ago, I decided the sand down the stippIe effect Artex ceiling in the bathroom, using an electric sander. What a mistake. It was night time and dark outside, and I had the window open, and obviously the light on. I was wearing googles and a double filter respirator. After sanding about four square feet, the new filters were blocked and I could hardly breath. I switched the sander off and stepped off the beer crate. On looking round, all I could see was the light bulb through a swirling white cloud. Nothing else at all. I had to grope for the door to let myself out. I was completely covered in dust. Took ages to clean up the dust and used several hoover bags. Never again, it is too much of a hazard to health. Be aware that old textured covering had asbestos in it, so I'm told.

Ended up taking the ceiling down and re boarding it. 

You experience is almost a daily occurrence here. I have to make a conscious effort now when putting things down to make a note of where I put it. Maybe we should make a forum block booking for anger management sessions ?

[Gazzar]

I've been finding that slowing down here the job done faster.

No good when against the clock, but otherwise it works.

[Mossberg]

I was putting some Lanoguard on the chassis and rear wheel arch. Was wire brushing before spraying.  Started kn the axle. Poking the **** out from the bump stop plate and the crusty top came off - to reveal a crusty axle case under it. Picking up a replacement axle case tomorrow!! So what is swapping all the gear over going throw up????

[Mossberg]

Nothing worse than fighting the weather to slow you down.  Weather promises a dry day, you get all your gear out and start the job, get yourself under the truck and start the job,  come from under the truck to get something  - flecking raining and everything is getting wet, you try pushing everything under the truck hoping to keep it dry but doesn't wort. So, take everything back in, dry it out, pack it away. Wait for the next free day with dry weather only for a repeat.  Then over and over! Arghhh!!!!

[Gazzar]

Solution is to spend years building a workshop. Then fill it with junk and spend years tidying it. Then move house and do it again.

[JeffR]

5 hours ago, smallfry said:

I am a bit confused, so more info is required. Tool boxes and textured wall coverings in the same location ? Tools kept indoors or do you have a snazzy workshop ?

Re the dust, about 20 years ago, I decided the sand down the stippIe effect Artex ceiling in the bathroom, using an electric sander. What a mistake. It was night time and dark outside, and I had the window open, and obviously the light on. I was wearing googles and a double filter respirator. After sanding about four square feet, the new filters were blocked and I could hardly breath. I switched the sander off and stepped off the beer crate. On looking round, all I could see was the light bulb through a swirling white cloud. Nothing else at all. I had to grope for the door to let myself out. I was completely covered in dust. Took ages to clean up the dust and used several hoover bags. Never again, it is too much of a hazard to health. Be aware that old textured covering had asbestos in it, so I'm told.

Ended up taking the ceiling down and re boarding it. 

You experience is almost a daily occurrence here. I have to make a conscious effort now when putting things down to make a note of where I put it. Maybe we should make a forum block booking for anger management sessions ?

My backdoor opens into a small snug (3.5x3.5m), tools (and welder and pillar drill) live there cos its not damp like the garage. Tool trolley/cart lives in my office cos there's no more room in the snug...Wife suggested that if I buy/beg/steal or borrow any more tool storage I will be taking up residence in the said cold, wet garage on a permanent basis.   Mind you she suggested something very similar when my antique fishing reel addiction passed the 175 mark... Yes I do use them for fishing, sometimes.

[elbekko]

I know those days where everything just starts snowballing and you wish you wouldn't have gotten out of bed.

If at all possible, I try to just walk away when that starts happening. Your mindset isn't getting any better, and just helps create more mistakes/work.

Like this friday, I was trying to put up a nice new lamp at the front of the house, because we'd be potentially working into the dark during the weekend. Standing on the ladder, wondering once again how this f¨%£ing house still hasn't burned down ("I'll deal with the wiring another day"), the lamp that had been nicely balanced between the top of the ladder and the wall for 20 minutes, decided to fall down. Of course straight on the glass. I told my girlfriend to take my tools away before I chucked them in a ballistic orbit...

And no, there's still no lamp up. Because now I somehow get to replace the glass. But at least we managed to get good work done on the driveway, despite my operating the digger with a 38°C fever.

Why did I get out of bed again?

[Snagger]

I think we all have tasks like that where nothing goes right.  I ended up taking to a lawn mower with a sledge hammer for a good five minutes “therapy” when it wouldn’t start after a week of days like yours.

Artex is awful stuff.  I stripped a couple of ceilings using the steam stripper I had already used on the wall paper and the textured paper used on some of the other ceilings.  It got most of it off with a scraper.  But o e of the ceilings had much more stubborn stuff, and after a few hours with the steamer resulting in only a few square feet of stripped but now gouged exposed plaster, I decided the best course of action was to have the ceiling re plastered.  I certainly wasn’t going to attack it with the orbital, though some of the other plastering jobs needed that because the first guys I hired were more akin to chimps flinging “stuff” at a wall…

As for suffering weather on an outdoor vehicle job, yep.  I rebuilt my 109 on the front garden in all weathers.  I was at least fortunate enough to have a small garage to build the engine, axles and so on, and it had plenty of lighting, a sink with hot and cold water and a very powerful 3-bar heater, so at least I could do those jobs in the dry and warmth and not have to worry about putting everything away each night.