So, I’ve been working on my dissertation this morning, and will be back to it shortly for another couple of hours. I guess I’ve really got a bit over a month left, and then it’ll be submitted. I’m terrified. So, in the name of distraction, this is what’s going on elsewhere.
I got my motorbike going!
Thanks to John’s repairs, the previous owner’s really very neat repair to the clutch mechanism, and the GT550’s general hardiness it’s back up and running. It’s a little ‘lumpy’ and doesn’t idle perfectly, but given that it was sat for at least 2 years before I got it running again, that’s not too bad. The garage that MOT’d her and did the clutch (she needed a new clutch) say she could do with a carb clean, but to run her and see if they clean themselves. Which is my plan :)
I filled her up with petrol yesterday… and took it for a little jaunt (about 9 miles) just across Bristol and back. It is a nice bike to ride, I can see why they were so popular. She just needs a name now, and I need some nice weather to take her out for runs…
Having only ever ridden the svelt MZ’s, it’s a bit startlingly heavy, but she has a plantedness that the MZ’s never really had. I think the MZs, being so light, felt very much more throwable. Like they’d take on any landscape and fly. The Kwak feels more like a solid commuter. Hopefully I’ll get some miles under her belt before we depart and I sell ‘er.
I’ve also finally gathered all the ebay bits required for Kathryn’s prezzie. Which is very pleasing. Hopefully I’ll get that done either whilst I’m waiting for the next round of feedback, or shortly after finishing the dissertation. I’ve also found both an anglepoise and an amplifier for the library, maybe, if the auction doesn’t go wildly out of my price range (I suspect it will, since my current maximum bid on the amp is 99p, and the anglepoise is currently at 99p, despite having an expected retail value substantially higher*).
Oh, and I used the vinegar trick to make the taps in the bathroom and the kitchen tap much shinier again. Our hard water had applied enough scale that they were beginning to look a bit sad. A plastic bag filled with vinegar…
And the shininess is back.
Well, sorta. I need to attack them with my dad’s wrap-in-tissue-soaked-in-vinegar trick to get the rest of ’em looking shiny too, but that’s for laters.
And that’s my wild world. The one really good thing about this dissertation? I am actually looking forward to renovating the house, and I’m really, really, really booked up with things to do in my spare time afterwards!
* Irritatingly, I went looking for what we have from my dad, a knock-off 1960s anglepoise. I found vast numbers of ’70s originals, and then eventually became hooked on a 1950s Anglepoise original design. I’ve now spent a long time trying to find a ratty one that no-one wants for me to have.
