So, Kathryn mentioned (in the nicest possible way) while I was whining about computers that I am, potentially, a little bit spoilt. I am a geek, and in geek terms, I’d say I’m not spoilt. Were I spoilt in Geek terms, the Ent.Mac would be every bit as shiny as possible, and probably a real mac. However, I’m not spoilt to that degree.
But I’m fully aware that I live with a degree of privilege which extends from my parents and my education, and my middleclassity, but that doesn’t necessarily stop me whining (as you’re all very much aware). And while I have had my whine on here (haven’t I?) about wanting to upgrade the Ent.Mac, mostly because it’s incapable of handling Blu-Ray and HighDef Video; not that I have anything to play back high-def video or blu-ray on, because the CRT most definately doesn’t do more than 625 lines. But should I ever *get* such technology I’d like to be able to take advantage of it, and the fact that the Ent.Mac needs new hardware is the kind of excuse that tempts a fading geek such as me to want to take advantage.
I’m currently holding off, perhaps considering the potential expenses and potential shift work, that’s where I should be at. But maybe, just maybe, I’ll switch and have a much nicer machine with OS X 10.6 on it, rather than my aged 10.3 machine with it’s ancient (in computing terms) hardware. Or maybe I’ll just throw a new DVD-Writer in and call it good for the time being.
I’m also wanting a new camera, although as a stand-in for the minute I’ve bought some film for my SLR – which has lain unused for a looong time. My Digital Prosumer model has died, having chomped through another set of expensive NiMH batteries, the zoom lens has died, and I took out my ‘point-and-click’ digital (I suppose point and shoot, really) – today (post to follow) and was quietly depressed by the ‘quality’ of the pictures. I remember it being better than it is, I suspect it possibly was better – because I tended only to shoot in bright light.
Still, I’ll play with my SLR for a bit, and then when I’m screamingly dissatisfied with the quality of the ‘scanning’ service (usually the quality I’ve got back from these services has been depressing) – it seems very difficult to get information regarding the resolution at which they’ll scan the negatives (or in some cases they scan the prints (*sigh*). Still, I’m quite looking forward to it, although lugging the AE-1 up to the Lakedistrict will probably put a crimp in my joy ;)
So, yes, the other way in which I’m spoilt is that I can spend money on restoring a Morris Minor which, well, is frankly way beyond what it’s worth. It’s depressing that I can’t spend as much as would return a car in brand-new condition with e-coated, resprayed shell. But it’s pleasing to see people who care working on her. I spent a very pleasant couple of hours in the company of Jonathon and Martin of JLH, who have stripped out the engine bay and who both seemed endlessly disappointed in the quality of the previous workmanship. Apparently she’s going to be shown as an example to someone else who was asking about the quality of Charles Ware’s restorations.
Things like… the new chassis legs they fitted, they didn’t weld them in correctly, (the tie plates weren’t correctly welded to the chassis legs – in-fact, one long section wasn’t welded at all, they just rested together); the hose that ran from the master cylinder to the brake fluid reservoir just rested on the brake pedal – so every time you braked you wore away the pipe. It would eventually wear through and fill the chassis leg with brake fluid. It’s rust bubbling up along welds which weren’t painted or protected well.
It’s sad, really. It’s sad that they chose to take my dad’s money to do a shoddy job, it’s sad that now 8 years on I look at her and know that the only true solution is way out of my pricerange at the moment, and it’s sad that I’m having to pay a company to rectify things that should have been done properly 8 years ago. What is enjoyable, however, is watching someone who cares. Who points out the minor details and says ‘do you want that fixed’. Who wants you to come to the workshop to see progress, and who takes time to explain what’s wrong and what can be done to fix it.
And frankly, to see a repair section put in to the rusted away tie-plate so neatly done that when she’s painted I won’t remember it’s there.
Hopefully, all the rest of it should come together okay… I’m looking forward to having her back, although without any drama*, Jejy took me there and back. There’s a distinct smell of petrol at idle, which is quite unpleasant, which I need to look into; and I need to sort out the *other* leak, now that one of them seems to be fixed…
Anyhow, since the weather is chosing to be horrifically unkind to me (I swear it said it’d be dry today) I’ll move on and do the abandoned building photos…
* Apart from the near complete descent to flatitude of one of the tyres. Seriously, I pulled off the motorway and was shocked, because it looked fine when I left this morning.
