Okay folks, I hope you are all hale and hearty. This is another one of my blogs where you can put the kettle on for a cup of whatever you fancy and treat yourself to a custard cream or Garibaldi while putting your feet up and entering my nutty world for a while, where I might share just a few of my hopes and fears.
As my earlier attempt to build a time machine from a lawn mower and an old Honda 50 didn’t seem to break through the space-time continuum, I decided to have a crack at building a nuclear accelerator to punch a hole through reality this side of the Galaxy.
I thought “well it can’t be that difficult” so off I trotted to Bert Haynes scrapyard to pick up a few bits and bobs. The only thing I’m looking for now is a long broom handle to gingerly operate the “On” switch.
Of course, if I did attempt such a project it’s highly unlikely I could find any of the parts I wanted straight away so I would have to accept alternatives.
And I think that in all walks of life we sometimes can’t always get what we want and have to accept a compromise.
Well that’s another small gem of philosophy from Chairman Ted for this month.
And now for something completely different. I feel a bit guilty cos I didn’t cover anything electrical on my blog last month so I’d better show willing. For the non-electrical, you can just skip over the next few paragraphs. Although the H&S bods might appreciate it.
PAT Testing is a function that is often undervalued by candidates, employers and trainers alike. Many fail to realise it is the MOT test for electrical equipment. Some organisations think they can contract out their responsibility for safety but that is nonsense. The Managing Director or CEO will always bear ultimate responsibility.
And many people believe that PAT is just about portable appliances “Anything with a plug on” But its not. Don’t forget it covers desk wiring and racks of IT equipment. The latest Code of Practice for In-Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment covers just about everything we connect up to the infrastructure wiring of buildings. It covers Boilers, Air Conditioning, Compressors etc etc.
At the end of the day ANY item of electrical equipment in the workplace must be safe for all. In closing this segment, apparently "PAT Testing" is a Redundant Acronym Syndrome cos you're saying testing twice.
I like little silly things like that in a sometimes dark world.
I moved into this current house with my wife in 1989. I must have completely restored/rebuilt the place now about three times over that period, because if you stay in the same house over that kind of time span you must have maintained it and redecorated it umpteen times.
My next door neighbour reckons I have “replaced every bit of wood in the house” and he’s probably not far wrong.
I am a bit peeved though because I have just had to have the double glazing replaced. The first lot only lasted thirty years!
On reflection, I probably would have been better off redecorating, selling and trading up every few years.
Now where has Teddy B been working this month? How about:
Winchester – Satellite Ground Station
Dorchester (Dorset) – Industrial Robotics
Had a “Mini Cruise” to Amsterdam this month as I was missing the sea and felt like a little over-indulgence and pampering (particularly after having hole drilled in my head).
My family keep telling me to “slow down and take it steady” but if I had a “Staycation” I’d only end up painting the house or doing other odd jobs.
A cruise is great for me as I get to visit different places, I don’t ever have to worry about booking a restaurant for my dinner and I get that sea air. And as for the “People Watching” - more than enough to raise an eyebrow or two from behind my kindle. And I’m not allowed to take my toolbox on board.
Anyway, 4 days at sea was just the tonic after having a bit of surgery on the old lug hole. The hardest work I had to do was deciding whether to have cocktails before or after Dinner. I eventually went for a Mai Tai before, snuck in a Cuba Libre after with a coffee and brandy nightcap. I went right over the top and slept like a baby!
When I’m at home I don’t get much time to sit down and watch TV as I’m mostly doing lesson prep or research. But if I do, I tend to fall asleep because it’s all so boring. I like “Death in Paradise” and “The Chelsea Detective” but they don’t make enough episodes.
I think they made something like three hundred episodes of “Magnum”! That’s the kind of thinking I like, if you’re going to do something make a proper job of it.
In my last blog I mentioned films from the 1980’s, I do have a few old favourites from other eras and one that frequently pops into my mind is Morecambe and Wise in “That Riviera Touch”. It has a relatively simple plot that is delivered with great professionalism by Eric and Ernie when you bear in mind they didn’t train as actors. And it shows a time when Europe was beginning to open up for intercontinental travel.
Morecambe and Wise Star in 1966 Comedy - That Riviera Touch | ITV Retro
I have said in previous blogs that I don’t pretend to be something I am not.
I don’t pretend to like films because they depict the struggle of blah blah blah.
I prefer escapism, I like adventure and I like a happy ending. Life can be hard enough as it is, a little escape from that is therapeutic (well it is to me).
Some of my favourite films are Back to the Future, Raiders, Ghostbusters (the Feminist one was crap, but “Frozen Empire” is formidable), Romancing the Stone, Vanishing Point and many more. The original “Flight of the Phoenix” was brilliant, apart from Dickie Attenborough’s hammy acting. And my all time favourite is “Moon over Parador”.
Moon Over Parador trailer (1988)
But I am a great admirer of the “Carry On” series. Lets face it, they were produced on a shoe-string budget but with actors that were superb. Scripts that were seaside postcard humour but had hidden depths. And what I liked most of all, they could be watched by all the family. No swearing, no disgusting imagery.
Yet at that same time, plenty of social comment appropriate for that period. For example, look at “Carry on Abroad”
Carry On Abroad (1972) | Classic Film Trailer
In the 1970’s we arrived at the point when many Brits were able to go to travel abroad without being in the military.
Unfortunately my family was too poor to go to Benidorm but many did. But us as tourists and the Spanish as providers were still finding their feet. I personally think the Spanish have got the right sort of mentality to deal with a service industry now.
I can’t say the same for the Portuguese.
Nevertheless, “Carry on Abroad” is both funny and a marker in time. If nothing else the scene where Kenneth Connor jumps onto June Whitfield in bed always reduces me to tears of laughter.
Enjoy, don’t read woked up BS into it and try to find offence, just enjoy.
Carry On Abroad (1972) Full Film | ITV Retro
After my earhole surgery last month I had to go back for fitting of the “bug” that plugs into the stud and I must say it seems to work pretty well. It feels a bit weird and everything sounds a bit tinny, but apparently it will until my brain gets use to dealing with this different input. I’m willing to give it a go.
For the last part of the month I delivered training at:
Letchworth – Display Equipment Manufacturer.
Cambridge – Quarry Equipment Supplier.
That then, takes me up to the end of July so its Hasta luego from me. I hope you have enjoyed this little chat.
And happy trails peeps, just remember “You may have a cowboy hat, spurs, chaps, and a horse but you’re not a cowboy till you can ride like one.".
That reminds me of something funny that once happened to me, but a gentleman never kisses and tells.