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Fitting headset cups using a threaded rod style bearing press.
Watching an Archimedes Screw lift water.
When the Christmas decorations come down and the room looks really minimalist and uncluttered.
Fitting headset cups using a threaded rod style bearing press.
God yes, the very antithesis of watching some yahoo walloping one into an aluminium frame with a block of wood and a hammer.
My happy is seeing a car driving along while a dopey-looking mutt hangs their head out of the window. I'm sure it's all sorts of unsafe but it makes me smile every time.
In the possibly climate-change-linked absence of any frost or cold weather, I’ve still got a lot of flowers in bloom in November. I’ve just popped out on this typically grey, drab day and as I walked back up my path there’s still plenty of colour in the front garden. Made me smile 🙂
Mountains
That feeling just after you get over a cold when you realise it's gone and you can get back on your bike without risking a coughing fit (or have a beer without waking up feeling like death!).
The looks of utter disgust from the crowd at our Remembrance parade at the drivers who had to turn round at my marshalling point during the silence.
This. Touchscreens have no place in a moving vehicle.
My dog isn't overly affectionate, but there are times when she'll be lying down and just look over at you with nothing on her mind other than a belly rub. It's a simple pure pleasure. 60 seconds later she'll probably get up and walk away as she did last night, but it was worth it.
My 14 year old lad puts himself to bed and even though he is a "cool" kid, he will still call down for me to come up and give him a cuddle/kiss good night.
I walked into his pitch dark room last night, bent over his bed to say good night and was rugby tackled from behind.
"GOT YA !!! "
"Love you Dad"
"Yeah you too boy"
When an STW page finally loads
Singing with Rossendale Male Voice Choir, next to a good espresso, a cuddle with the Mrs and a Sunday morning hack out on the tops of Rossendale, there is not much better.
Porsche Bangernomics thread
Not forgetting the "A Little Long-Term Project" (classic Mini) thread.
Being asleep
Train was busy tonight as the previous train was cancelled, standing room only, a few people huffing and puffing.
The guard worked his way down the train calling out "Tickets, passes and excuses at the ready please!" He uses it quite often but suddenly everyone had a smile and genuinely relaxed despite delayed or cramped journeys.
Following this recipe..
https://www.nigella.com/recipes/chocolate-fudge-cake
Nailed the butter in one cut, down to the gram! it wasn't a pack of butter with measurements written on the packet either!
2 Project Binky videos in one month. The bonkers solder printer is great!
It used to be lots of things, some mentioned already, but currently nothing does. A few things make me happy for a while but nothing gives me that giddy, happy lift that I used to get.
The moment when the hiss of air escaping from a punctured tubeless tyre stops. I had a hole in my rear tyre mid-week that needed plugging (I used a dynaplug). The moment when the air escape stops is a satisfying combination of tech that works and relief that you can carry on without needing to faff with the spare inner tube.
Typing the word "ordered". There's something about typing that loop of dered that just makes me smile.
I recently discovered that the rivets holding the inner metal door surrounds on the oven, (the rivetted-ness of which had prevented me from removing/cleaning the inside faces of the double glass door), in fact just secure some spring clips. Meaning I am able to easily remove said glass for cleaning. We'd had that cooker 18 years before that became apparent to me. It looks like new again now. Very happy!
Loads of stuff, but i do especially like watching dogs play and zoom about for some reason!
I jokingly said last week that I was going to the club AGM rather than the club yoga session because I could get pork scratchings and beer at the AGM.
This week there was a packet of pork scratchings waiting for me at yoga, bless him.
Just had a stunning view of Wollaton Hall outlined against the sunset through the train window.
Made me happy that you reminded me of reading the Wollaton estate's Land Agent's records from the mid 19th century in the Nottingham archives 25 years ago. Reconstructing his life through the letters, orders and other paperwork made me happy then that he could never have anticipated me doing that.
I like having just the right tool for a job when working on a car or bike etc., that time when the spanner/socket is just the right length and angle to get onto the head of a bolt or the hose clip just lines up perfectly to get access to it.
Also when you buy a tool to make a job easier and it actually works, I think this is my peak example of it when working on cars and trying to get to those awkward radiator/coolant hose clips which always seem to be pointing in a direction you cant access. £15 spent that's saved me hours of swearing!:
Ah but the best feeling of all is when you buy a tool and it turns out to be the wrong tool and then you throw it in a box for years and suddenly without any warning at all in the middle of a job you need that exact tool and you go "wait a minute..."
A weekend to myself (despite having to work a few hours on sat)
Wife and daughter have gone to visit my other daughter at Uni so its just me and the cat till Monday night!!!
Already got my 'awful' blues lp's on the stereo and later on the guitar will come out for some badly played rock covers.
Trackleman’s chilli jam. Accept no substitutes. Spread on a scone after a swipe of cream cheese for a spicy cream tea. Always cream (cheese) first!
Visiting the community cafe on a dreary Friday afternoon to find it full of fun and happy people. Here's to you, Cafi Canolfan Mynydd Du 🙂 https://black-mountain.org.uk/
Seeing a kingfisher.
But today was a special treat. Rather than just seeing the flash of blue flying away down the canal, he actually stopped and perched whilst I watched.
And then he started diving for fish and caught one.
Certainly one of the highlights of this year.
Kingfishers are great birds. I saw a pair together for the first time this year and was stupidly excited.
Haven't seen a kingfisher for a few years now, sadly.
I popped into a recently reopened cafe near me, in an old lodge building. Roaring log fire in the small indoor seating area, comfy low sofa to sit and eat my crispy bacon cob, and a gorgeous retriever pup who thought a low sitting bacon eating stranger would make a perfect new friend.
It's been a shit mental health week and I really needed a new furry friend and a roaring fire.
Message popped up on my FB feed from a local cafe/Bistro saying they were closing at 2.30 today as it was their staff Christmas party tonight.......and they weren't opening till 11.30 tomorrow.
That's a great boss giving them an extra couple of hours to recover!
There's a display in the British Museum of Egyptian carvings. One series is of small flat (maybe 5 inches wide) carvings of turtles. They start off properly proportional then get more and more stylised until one is a flat circle with the tiniest blips representing legs head and tail. It made me so happy to think that someone, thousands of years ago, made a joke and I laughed out loud at it.
Any time I've travelled in third world countries to see how different people's lives can be, I've come to realise just how alike we all are.
Oh, and it makes me happy that for all the times I've been to the British Museum (to look at the turtle) I haven't bothered to see the Elgin marbles.
These two threads next to each other
The thought of the loaf of bread I just put in the mixer to have at lunch in sausage sandwich format
And mdma obviously
I went to Tesco last night and paid at the machines. Was waiting for my £5.20 change and expecting the usual massive pile of silvers and coppers when what should pop out but a £5 note and a 20p.
Hallelujah! I screamed, punching the air and then dropping to my knees and sobbing for joy.
...Well not quite. But it was a massive and welcome (disproportionate) surprise.
I meant to post this a few weeks back, but didn't get around to it ...
Out on a solo evening ride, beautiful dry autumn evening. A sudden gust of wind just picked up some leaves from the trail, lifted and swirled them into the air briefly, and then just dropped, and all the orange-brown beech leaves just floated gently back to the ground. Magic.
Walking along the cuddyside in Peebles i was treated to the otter swimming about.
Ah but the best feeling of all is when you buy a tool and it turns out to be the wrong tool and then you throw it in a box for years and suddenly without any warning at all in the middle of a job you need that exact tool and you go “wait a minute…”
Shortly followed by "...when did i buy the second one?"
Oh that's an excellent find Ambrose. Are you a fan of 5000 year old gags too?
(It's the way I carve'em)
Watching Point Break on the big screen* last night as part of the BFI 'action movies' season.
Full of geaky Point Break fans all laughing at the same bits, joyous 🙂 🙂
*have only ever seen it on tellybox
Crispy but not too crispy chips.
Schadenfreude.
Yup, I reckon that's the whole list for me.
My Christmas cactus flowered for the first time in maybe 15 years. I guess it likes its new position (more sunlight)
A solitary quiet pint in a quiet pub.
Finding out that Nick Parks of Wallace and Gromit fame also animated the dancing chickens in the Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer video
Writing a post on the social mediaz and hitting the character count limit exactly. I feel like I've got my money's worth.
Nick Parks
Park.
- those perfect early morning rides, where you can watch the world wake up around you, loaded with flowy single-track and gigggly bits that just make ****ting about on bikes a total joy.
- designing bike things in titanium
- testing shiny things you've designed and finding out that your ideas actually work really well in the real world.
- reading favourite books, with the wood burner pootling away and happy cats all over the place trying to soak up all the heat
- getting home from a rubbish day at work to be greeted by my fave one eyed knobead cat, full of head bunts and purrs.
- waking up next to my favourite person in the whole world
- pickled onion monster munch
Can't get much better than all that ^^
Pulling into the driveway after a very long day at work, opening the door of the van only for my daughter to come flying in head first for a hug before I've even had the chance to get out.
She'll be too big for this soon but dammit I'll miss these welcome homes.
Remembering and putting the correct colour bin out on bin day. Middle aged wins.
Learning that the price of pigs in blankets has fallen by 2% since last year.
I have been looking after my new girlfriend's dog this weekend and watching how happy she is jumping into muddy water made me smile. Not sure I will be looking after her again after getting her so muddy but it was worth it.
On the subject of kingfishers, I used to see them all the time when I lived next to the Basingstoke Canal, particularly kayaking as they’d fly ahead of you, swooping to the next branch. Now living on the Isle of Mull, we were driving along and noticed a bright blue bird swoop and perch on a roadside fence over a burn. Said to Mrs DB “why would I think I’ve just seen a kingfisher?” As they weren’t known to live on the island. She was talking to some knowledgeable birders - apparently kingfishers have been observed at a “secret” location.
Simply getting out in nature is what makes me happy - the mindfulness of simply taking it all in, whether up on the hill or out in my kayak, particularly in an eagle, otter, seal, porpoise or dolphin stops by. It gives you a sense of perspective, sitting there in the majesty of nature and your only worries are the weather and the tides.
Gigs. Getting to see a good artist live with a number of other people is a joy.
Saw Slipknot saturday night, at one point making way for a dad and his 14yo daughter to get to the barrier so she could fully enjoy her first Slipknot gig right up front. Watching them sing lyrics in unison was a beautiful moment to watch. Parenting done right.
Doing the last yoga session of the year with a Christmas playlist quietly in the background. We settle into a nice gentle stretch and in a moment of quiet hear "You scumbag, you maggot...."
Cue 16 yogis bursting into laughter
Dua Lipa at the Royal Albert Hall. Just sublime.