Farewell Rick Wright, for the uneducated Rick was keyboard player/vocalist with Pink Floyd, Rick wasn't the best keyboard player in the world in fact he started off as a trombonist in a Jazz band! but Rick style of Keyboards added to the Floyd sound.

YouTube - Pink Floyd - The Great Gig in the Sky
  

Ah spent yesterday clearing my workshop filled 2 bags with stuff to take to the dump with more to follow, I found 2 plastic bags one contained the parts for the snare drum, the other part for my bass guitar. That's a load off my mind I'm still desperately seeking a name plate for my drum, I found a web-site belonging to a guy who renovates stuff for a living so I have emailed him to see if he can help out, fingers crossed. Its not essential I have the name plate its just me and my attention to detail. Well the morning is brightening up and I plan to spend another day out there clearing the workshop I will then break up the cracked flooring dig out the loose stuff and mix some levelling compound and pour it in. I then need to acquire some sheet flooring from work to lay, well you see our contract to refurbish bathrooms has come to a close so the flooring is surplus to requirements so destined for the skip.

Sorting through my outbuildings i found my old bass guitar and one of my drums i had started to renovate many moons ago, the Bass guitar is a "Shergold Marathon stereo" bass guitar circa 1970's my drum is a Hayman wood shell snare again circa 1970's.

The bass guitar was bought from a dealer in a poor state i stripped the body down and had it refinished in white put it all back together time passed and it stuck me i should of had it refinished in its original cream colour so i stripped it down again and prepped it, and got side tracked... eventually it went under the rest of the stuff that migrated into my workshop.

  As my guitar should look

The drum was found in a skip by one of our window teams who knew i was a drummer so dropped it in with me, the Hayman snare was a much sort after drum and in good condition could reach up to £300! sadly this one had seen better days and some idiot had stripped off its original finish (leaving the glue on) and gave it a piss poor coat of varnish, along with the loss of its Hayman badge. Again i took it home and stripped it down rubbing it down to the original wood finish shell, again i got side tracked and lost interest.

 As my drum would possibly have looked before someone stripped it

Clearing part of my workshop uncovered these 2 unfinished projects, the guitar body i have continued to rub down in readiness of its re-spray, the drum has been rubbed down stained in light oak and lacquered it needs another coat of lacquer then levelling and final polish then all the parts can be re-fitted! if i can find them!!!

Same applies to the bass guitar, i have the neck and scratch plate, i need to locate the pic-up, control panel, neck plate and jack plate. Oh possibly find a wiring diagram for how to wire up the electrics. For the snare drum i need to track down a name plate, on eBay there's only 2 kits and a pile of bits for sale i have emailed the guy selling the pile of parts to see if he has one i'm tempted to email the 2 others sellers with the kits to see if they want to commit the ultimate sin and remove one of the name plates off their drums for me to buy.

I have a great idea for a TV show we will trawl round the mental institutions and care in the community refuges and get people who are clearly mentally unstable to perform it will be so funny, we can all take the piss out of them rather like the freak shows that used to tour the country or back in days of old when rich people used to go laugh at the inmates of bedlam mental asylum but this will be televised .... SHIT they beat me too it, X Factor! Yep i have never made any secret about my disdain for the so call talent programs such as X Factor, Pop Idol so on and so on. I saw a brief snippet this morning where some poor Scottish woman went before the panel of judges "i want to be bigger than Whitney Houston" she said with a strange and scary shaped mouth that contained a collection of broken grave stones she called her teeth, she claimed to be a singer but sounded like a dog with its balls trapped in the door, the judges don't even bother to hide their laughs anymore and burst out laughing at this poor misguided soul or fool. Every year its the same haul out the mentally unstable and parade them on TV for our entertainment, families are as much to blame its fine to lie to your kids when there little "ooh your very good" when they've just shouted along with the latest record but there needs to come a time when u tell them the truth, let them down gentle, but it seems some make it to their teens and the family still lie or think their little angel has what it takes but no they let them stand up in front of 4 so called talent spotters and get laughed at and make a bloody show of themselves on TV. Who knows what damage it could do to someone to queue up all day to walk in give it your best and be laughed out of the room then realise "that may end up on TV and everyone in the country will be laughing at u as well". I think it was last year a singing bell tent shown up, a teenage girl who was grossly over weight dressed in something resembling a bell tent that made her look 1000 time worse stood there with her family looking on as she gave her best which was piss poor get laughed out of the room. Its sick entertainment we laugh about it when these people should be protected, how long before one of these poor souls walks away and gets pushed over the edge and either tops themselves or takes a knife to someone .... now that's something we could televise ..... Roll up Roll up see the loony top themselves!

Just love it walked round to our window and door unit today, spotted 3 doors lined up, Tony said "you want a door Paul?" ok whats the catch? there was none, Shaun said "you'll need handles and a lock" no problemo, i phoned home my son measured the opening for the shed, spot on, in the meantime Tony had a mooch round and found handles, lock even a letter box, ok a bit excessive for a shed well not really its built of breeze block and i fitted double glazed uPVC windows years ago when they too where heading for the skip. So i got it home tonight and set to work ripped out the old one and set about fitting my new uPVC composite door. Wifey despairs "the bloody shed has better windows and doors than the house" is her saying. 

The shed i built myself some years ago i bought 300 breeze block bags of sand and cement and with the only building experience previous of building was an irregular garden wall! i set to work and up it went during a hot summer, wifey was my girlfriend in those days you used to call round with lunch and check on progress. Spook my fantastic tomcat used to walk along each new layer of the wall as it went up, i said he was clerk of works and checking the standard of work as he would pause near where there was a gap in the breeze block and sniff it. Later this year i plan to empty the shed out and dig the floor out and re-lay it as it was back filled with waste mortar/sand/broken breeze which due to the sand content soaks up the water. I then have plans to build my own little workshop for my little hobbies, i told wifey i may move the computer into there and have it my own little hide away. All she had to say was "well make sure u have an intercom as i'm not running out into the yard every time i want to ask you something" good to know i'll be missed!  To tell the truth the more i think of it the more sense it makes.

Tom's funeral tomorrow i've been asked to say a few words and i'm nervous about the idea, crazy really i work as a dj and have done discos to 500 ppl with no problem nervous this time as i'm not sure if i'll be able to keep my emotions in check.

Been a little down lately Tom my ex father in law passed away, Tom was a great guy and like a 2nd father to me. Strange really as i was only married to his daughter for a couple of years i was still treated like one of the family. Lucille was greeted with open arms by Tom and his wife Kath as part of the family and we looked forward to visiting them and enjoying a good old chin wag Tom and me talking of cars and past work experiences, Lucille and Kath having a totally different conversation. The saddest thing of all is after years of struggling to make ends meet as the kids grew up they had just become comfortable and enjoying life. Tom could turn his hand to most things, photography having his own dark room back in the 70's/80's car maintenance, a bricky by trade could could carry out most building works. But was enjoying retirement and getting to grips with the computer and loved printing off pictures he'd taken.

Linda my ex has asked me to say a few words at the service, i have been composing a little something to say, i just hope my emotions hold together while i read it out.

Mooching through a box of memories last night i found some stuff that jolted me into thinking about life.

 1st thing was a picture of my dad taken 1959, my dad passed away age 42 i only had 10 years with him and i felt cheated that this great man should be taken away from me, i recall it hit me again when i turned 42, thinking damn this is the same age my dad passed away. I mentioned it to my brother at the time he's older than me and he confessed he had the same thing pass through his mind.  

I found some old photos of me one as a child, then one as a long haired youth in 1977 looking like i wanted to be a native American (a red Indian for the ignorant).

Other items Premium Savings Bond bought for me back in 1962 for a £1 when a pound was a big investment, what a crock, today its still worth £1 but who knows it may be a big winner in the big draw.

My original NHS medical card with the address changed from our 1st house 20 Farm Road a place i had a few near misses sliced open my hand needing stitches, my brother and sister getting my little finger trapped in a wooden roller mangle and getting knocked off my 3 wheeler bike by a run away milk float, all before the age of 3.

Various tickets collected from clubs i have played in with my band Hard Ground cost of ticket £1 with added "be early night is sure to be sold out" heck how popular where we? I recall one concert secretary saying "i know if you lads are on i can add 50 more people to the room" and we didn't take them along, we where a bloody good hard working club band and we had fun.

Also in the box a mountain of charity pins, u know the type most are still in the packs i did have a photo frame with loads stuck into card backing.

A sticker that tells me i was in room 1013 in the Sinai Hotel Tel-Aviv, this is from 1989 when my Aunt Veronica paid me to visit Israel, i loved it and always said i would return one day.

Train tickets from the 1st train ride i took with Lucille (my wife) we had a day out in Manchester 21/2/96 also here tickets from our 1st concert we went together Blackmore's Night Buxton Opera House24/9/01 and most eye opening item in my box of memories is a pony tail of my own hair cut off when it was still a beautiful auburn brown, natural i must add.

So what's happened since my last update? Well patio furniture arrived and as part of the course the sun hasn't shone since! Luckily it come with a waterproof cover.

In my lock up I've added more shelves as I filled up the ones I built, i try to do an hour or so a day to keep the work ticking along. I need to get some stuff out photograph it and stick it on eBay, loads of car parts etc. I am working my way down the container and can almost see the back wall of it! There are shelves already in there I built when I 1st bought it, these contain surplus disco equipment old hi-fi's, Capri parts its a regular Aladdin's cave or Fagan's den depending which way you look at it. Good thing its secure being made of steel and being designed to spend its life as a site office has a good steel outer door with tamper proof lock box, 2 things I need to sort out is the inner door for on the days I'm working in there and want to have the door shut I have one with glass panels so it lets some light in and the window in the side which due to its age is in a poor state, luckily again it has a steel shutter to keep it secure but i want new unit uPVC double glazed, priced one up £149, not bad. Being converted to be a site office its lined out in plywood with insulation, it also has electrics fitted 2 tube lights and 2 double sockets, regular home from home.

Right time to sign off and get something done.... I'll be back. 

 Just completed a days toil shovelled 2 tonne of chipping's completed the back and had enough to redo the front picked up some more materials; bamboo screen, hose pipe and spray attachment. Took my Capri out on a photo shoot "ah yes the cars the star" gave 406 a wash so it didn't feel left out. Trip to the local skip yard tomorrow with all the rubbish.

The flags are black slate but need a coat of sealant to bring the finish up.

2 days rain this is not helping i have a sh!t load of work to do all on the outside of the house, and rain is not something i need. The great British summertime ... yep the rains a lot warmer.

If anyone recalls the words to "this ole House"  well that sums up this property.