Even taking yesterday nights weather forecast from the BBC proved too early as despite the promise of clear sky for most of the day it turned out to be very much cloud and sun the hardest mix for exposure levels when filming other than 'auto' which is fine for static or very slow moving things but for speeding lorries you need to go to manual or speed sports settings which again are fine if everything stays roughly the same brightness. Anyway I battled on and there were some good periods of sun, on the way home north Lancs and Sth Lakes looked to have the best weather with diffused cloud but warm and bright, back in Cheshire at last a dry mild day but cloudy as ever. The bird seeds arrived and the feeders have all been topped up. The second computer corner table has arrived I'll assemble some time tomorrow but as we've got friend Sue arriving Friday we need to get the small bedroom painted and back to normal as upstairs is full of furniture and the contents of the great old family wardrobe. As previously indicated I intend very shortly to delete the PMP Amazon shop, please use the PMP facuility on this site, UK buyers pay no postage at all and at present this extends to overseas although we may have to ammend that to a contribution. Amazon charge a fortune for postage and dictate the rates we should charge plus they charge us monthly for the shop, other than at Christmas we are lucky to break even even after the small numbers of orders. Most folk are happy to use our shop, the money goes straight to the PMP Film Archive a not for profit company. If you really want to go elsewhere there is also a PMP shop on Ebay but not everything is on it, I may try filling in the gaps although time is always at a premium. We are going to start decorating the spare bedroom first thing tomorrow starting with the ceiling, then to spec savers to pick up Mandys new reading and driving glasses and get mine fixed, I've got three pairs but fell asleep on one lot on the plane coming back from asia in February and bent them! Then home to put on the darker wall paint and then the lighter asap before topping off with the glossing. Then we need to measure the old carpet against the new one sitting in the new showroom and using the old one as a template on the drive cut the new one to somewhere near the right size before I fit it. Somewhere along the line I'd like to get the new computer table assembled and put in place but that takes the best part of an hour to assemble and then sorting all the cables and the two computers out will be fun. This leaves us still with a lot of odds and ends seeking a home. Photos from this morning at Carlisle. The weather outlook for Belfast has put it on hold yet again and the Ireland trip next week is a definate no go as the weather there is looking as grim as ever. I'll have a look for alternatives but we are already booked in for a RNCM at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on Friday but need to get booked in at the Halle restaurant. Although a slight trend to better conditions over the weekend it is set to go to the wall again next week, the days will be drawing in with no summer at all. We were going to try for the Cheshire show tomorrow Mandy would have likes to see the Arab horse classes, its ages since we've been but the mobility scooter hire was all sold out and with the constant rain it may be a bit of a mud bath. We got the DVD orders away then paid some mills via the Nat West in Knutsford and went on to Northwich, bought a carpet for the small bedroom, former editing suite and then called at B&Q for some pain, we had enough of one colour but Mandy wanted another. I've now fixed the ceiling paper which was hanging down, found when I dismantled the units, must date to when we had plumbing problems. This and all the holes and damage due to the units installation and removal have been made good as well plus while I had the caulk out I filled in the holes in the refitted cabinets in the office. I also looked at wood for the first shelf unit I'm going to construct. I'll get one done at a time, finished and filled then do the next as long as drilling etc doesn't send the models askew. The rocking horse from the landing is now in our bathroom and the wardrobe which breaks into sections, an old family pierce is partly on the landing and partly in the bath which is never used, shower preferred. I'm going to seek alternative film locations for this week, the weather is proving frustrating as well as cold and wet. Next door have removed several fence panels to renew but just left huge holes and don't seem to have the new ones to put in, frustrating all this at peak flowering season. I got a few more digital downloads added to the PMP shop and had a go at sorting photo files before we went out, never got much done though. I'm considering scrapping the PMP Amazon shop as it doesn't pay for 11 months of the year albeit is very busy in December but with the PMP shop and Ebay there are two other alternatives and neither charges for UK postage. Just waiting now for the office corner computer table and then nearly two weeks before we get the B&Q worktop for the packing table. With Ireland on hold yet again lets travel back in time and enjoy what I did do back in the day! Carlisle for trucks tomorrow ( Tuesday) I've just managed to get the weeks DVD production covers done and updated the PMP shop on this site plus our Amazon shop I just need to look at EBay some time. The other thing is I need to upload the latest digital versions. We had a trip to B&Q and ordered up the work surface for the office, it will be two weeks but at least it comes to home and I don't need to transport it at 3M it would be a bit of a handful even for the PMP van. We had a trip to the tip, the old freezer from the garage went together with the Meile vacuum which had exploded. I also took the opportunity of getting shot of the old drill which went bezerk with the saw attachment in full pelt. There were several bags of refuse from the great clear outs. We also purchased the support to go with the work surface and some caulk to tidy up the wall units we put up yesterday and also ready for decorating the small bedroom which has now reverted to its traditional role albeit a bed is required.
Things are looking more tidy each day and at last I'm grabbing a little time to catch up with PMP. The weather outlook for Ireland is still pretty grim reading but we are watching and ready to go when it clears. Having got all the latest DVD covers done I need to file the master and the copies and there are many files which need their contents labels making at present with just biro annotations which doesn't look that professional. I think I'll get a cutting list done for my first cabinet in the new showroom, I want to source what I can from the recycles wood which is outside under cover and came from the old display cabinets. Even when everything is done we'll still have our own bedroom desperate for redecorating.. I've not even looked at English weather this coming week, any good weather and I'll take advantage for both bus and lorry filming. Here are the covers for the latest releases. I think it has been about 9 hours work but we have moved much nearer to completion of the existing office to its new format with the units built into the small guest bedroom which had been used as the editing suite dismantled, moved downstairs and reinstalled in the office. This involved some very heavy units and it was a pain getting them apart, worse getting them downstairs and to the office and putting the heavy wall cupboards up a nightmare. Still its done now, still a bit messy as we haven't had time to go to Wickes for the 3M work top , rubbish sacks and surplus material together with the old garage freezer, old vacuum etc need to go to the tip and temporary paste board packing table can go to the shed or in the van. We need to get some builders caulk and a new skeleton gun from B&Q tomorrow which fits in well with going to the tip. We've a spare cupboard and the two units which have masses of negatives and CDs in , a root through these and a bit emptier they could fit under the editing suite desk in the new room, perhaps the other cupboard will go to the tip tomorrow, served us well for many years as has Mandy's mum's old dining table, only a few more days to last but I might retain for a while to use when building the display cases over the coming month. We received the two new office clock with date display but haven't even unpacked so quite a lot on tomorrows to do list. The birds have almost polished off all the sunflower hearts, I've ordered new stock online half the price of Jollyes where we usually get it which itself was a fraction of most pet shops and garden centres. We are both pretty shattered, Mandys getting dinner ready, I've got the latest film downloaded and will get Northampton and Bedford edited just leaving seven DVD covers and various things to list on the shops and digital copies for download option plus masses of photos to file and update to our Smugmug photo file site! Photos this evening of the office as of 6pm and shots from Northampton. A chap I met in Bedford this morning said that they'd had the rain for four days solid, typical soft southerners, I replied we'd had four weeks of the damn stuff up north - which is more or less true. Even when it hit 20C on the way home the sky turned black and it heaved it down again. The M1 and the A50 both had floods, the M6 had two lanes closed, washed away down the sink holes. Anyway I was up a 5 and spent many hours on the motorway but managed to grab a couple of hours filming, tomorrow I'll have a lay in to at least 8am before getting cracking with the next stage of work on the office and showroom/studio. This will see the fitted furniture in the former editing suite dismantled and erected in the office as a base for the new packing table and the cupboards mounted above. Somewhere along the line I need to get yet more bird food, this awful weather has seen the birds desperate to feed their young and with the sparrowhawk seemingly gone the gold finches are in pandemic proportions with the green finches, tits etc not far behind. That's a 30 kilo sack gone in less than two weeks, I say 30 kilo but haven't a clue what a kilo is, perhaps its a race or something, I know it caused me hassle with measuring up the new shelving units, I think I got centipedes mixed up with litres, perhaps if Boris is to lead us out of the EU into the arms of Trumpton we'll get British money, weights and measures back, roll on pounds shillings and pence, rods, poles and perches, I never did take to this decimation stuff, it was obvious when there were 240 pence in a quid how on earth are you meant to add up in hundreds and who over 50 can pick up a 5p on the table let alone the floor. Anyway I digress a little and bring you Bedford this morning, very friendly drivers and just a shame about the two tramps, the Irish one was even embarrassing his pal, I tried to be pleasant after all we are all human beings but it was wasted effort. Shame as these incidents are the memories created from each visit. Bedford had a hopeless car park, the lifts were out of action and one pay machine was marked as out of order when in fact all were out of order unless you paid in cash, on the plus side I didn't have to pay. A day of topping up bird feeders, the flocks are growing daily, then a rush to drop off the post and then to Bromborough near Birkenhead to get the confidential shredding done - we take great care with your documents to ensure safety of data. Next back to Ellesmere Port to get my hair cut, then shopping at Marks & Spencers before the Polio Fellowship meeting. Then home and after downloading the files I've edited the Wigan bus DVD on the suite in the new PMP Showroom. Everything went in fine with no problems so far, just all the display cases to build, anyway a shot as I was just about to edit Wigan then a slideshow of Bolton yesterday. Possibility of filming tomorrow, Friday but need to watch the weather outlook. A brief lull after the latest two days of constant rain and I headed off to film for the first time at the new bus station at Wigan. Well designed for photography with a footpath at either end and other than a few trees which will eventually grow to be a pain like at Gateshead it was fine and no hassle at all. Then it was on to Bolton which also has a newish bus station which we covered last year, a very similar bus scene to then. The nearest to a new bus was a back end 68 reg Streetlite of Diamond. Back home we are still battling away with the refurbished office and the new showroom for my model collection. The desk is now clear in there for the editing suite which will be moved down from upstairs either this evening or first thing tomorrow with the expectancy that Wigan and Bolton will be the first DVDs to be created there. I've just put in the wiring and tomorrow will fix the multi point splitter units to the structure of the table hopefully keeping it all tidy. We have now got all the master covers, the copied covers and the master DVDs on the shelves in the refurbished office and as soon as the new desk for that side of the wall arrives I'll be able to settle in there as well, meanwhile perched on the corner of a table! So tonight some shots of the two rooms and progress to date this evening and some shots from the new bus station at Wigan. Still looking at suitable locations for Friday and we shall very likely be going to Ireland last week in June and back early July. We've turned a corner with the office alterations and have finished all the painting and installed all but one of the shelf units which was one which needed to be removed for decoration behind it, this has also been done and it will be put back in the morning. The weather is horrendous, wet,windy and cold and the poor little birds are feeding like crazy, I'll have to fill the feeders yet again tomorrow. The master DVDs are now in place on the shelf units and by tomorrow all the covers and cover masters will be on the shelves rather than scattered on the floor, a lot of the files need some repair work. We looked at work surfaces in B&Q but its like banging your head against a brick wall in there and their brochure is as much use as a chocolate fire guard. The next moves will be to dismantle the units in the editing suite and bring them to the original office for installation and acting as the base for the new work surface when purchased and also giving cupboard space. We've left about 33% extra capacity for every thing which would take us forward about 10 years by which time approaching 80 I might have had enough. The editing computer and various players and storage drives will come down to the display room where the new computer corner unit is in situ, hopefully the clutter on the desk will be tided away swiftly. There seems to be quite a lot of extra capacity and a lot more working space plus it is fresh, clean and bright. Hopefully the deluge will cease at some stage before we are all taking to boats and we can resume our filming trips. I've finished editing the three Gaydon lorry films and clips are on Youtube, talking of which still no news on re-monetization. Thus we are struggling through each month trying to cover costs as best we can but a huge leap in orders would be required if that were to be our sole income. There are lots of destinations on our to do list, the foul weather has enabled us to get on with the office conversions but we are still in a state of disarray to some extent and certainly wouyldn't be resuming the likes of the bus spot ultra films until more settled with the new layout. I'll put some shots of the latest arrangements later in the week when stuff has found its way back to the shelves and tidiness reigns once more! Yet more shots from Gaydon tonight. There was quite a lot of DVDs to pack up this morning, while Mandy was getting those sorted I caught up in the garden before the long forecast torrential rain arrived, but it never did, turned out a very hot and sunny morning then clouded over and humid. After some errands such as shopping and opticians for Mandy, needs glasses for driving and watching tv. The next job was to get the main shelving racks in the original office emptied, cleaned and moved to the opposite side. Only one of the new racks fitted with them despite my several measuring attempts but it doesn't really matter as we can fit it in to the end of the packing table. The exposed wall has been emulsioned, next the gloss paintwork then dismantle the units in the editing sweet upstairs and bring it down and refit against the bare wall. Later we'll get a full length worktop, need to find a good bargain price. Somewhere along the line we'll refit all the files of DVD covers and the master DVDs which will also leave room for expansion but we might make temporary use of the excess capacity. We are now probably at our worst state for getting DVD orders out although it is not a problem just a bit back and fro from where all the items are presently stashed. I'll take a look at the weather, I looked last night and there seemed to be a good day for my Belfast trip next week, if so I'll try and get Wigan and Bolton together with Bedford and Northants done for buses while looking for an opportunity for truck film work but Thursday is really out as we have the Polio Fellowship meeting plus taking docs for secure commercial shredding and getting my hair cut while we are nearby. I'm about to make a start on the first of three DVDs covering the Gaydon vintage van and lorry gathering. We are still looking at ROI mid to late June. So photos tonight, work today on the office and shots from Saturday after the rain stopped including the Steel Boys charity run arrivals at site, earlier than usual about 3.30pm. We've just got home and had something to eat plus fixed a glass pane in the greenhouse which had slipped, fixed a pot which had broken, fed the birds which had eaten all the food and we have a lot of feeders some enormous. The DVD orders have been downloaded and matched up with those from Friday ready to all go out on Monday. The Gaydon weekend was on Saturday, wet then more wet then less wet again. Sunday started Sunday and remained largely the same but a couple of light showers, I think the weather must have moved north as it looks very wet everywhere in Cheshire. The Inn where we stayed was slightly eccentric as befits attending a vintage lorry do, the room seemed about 1950 Folkestone gone wonky. When we enquired about puddings to follow dinner the chap said no but we can do some icecream, vanilla, strawberry or chocolate - we had indeed entered a time warp. The show produced few customers and failed to cover costs by a wide margin but having a stand was more about having a warm dry spot for Mandy and given the weather it was a good call and the price isn't a lot more than entry for two over two days. I'm not sure how much film I took, I would think at least 3 DVDs worth! Anyway too much to catch up on to linger , here are some shots from the weekend. |
PMP Sponsors the North West Vehicle Restoration Trust at Kirkby.
Categories |