Friday Thread

[Mad Ax 9312]

It's Friday again, peeps!  Anybody got anything exciting planned?

It feels like a lifetime since I wrote my last update, this week has been a real dragger.  Plus I've been in holiday mode since Tuesday, thanks to this being a holiday weekend of sorts.  The child went off to school this morning, is being picked up by the grandparents later and isn't coming back until Sunday.  Wife is just doing her final packing before heading out on a solo beach weekend.  So I have the place entirely to myself!

Friday - WFH until 1pm, got a couple of virtual meetings to break the day up (or, more likely, drag it out), then up in the workshop to finish prep on the F150 cab and maybe put on some fine primer.  Then drive up into the hills for a walk.  I managed 7.3 miles last week, would be nice to beat that today.  Then home for a curry, and probably stream a film.

Saturday - workshop day, lots of things to finish on the F150 tow truck, including primer and paint while the weather is good.  Some friends are meeting up near Bristol in the afternoon, I might ride over on the motorcycle to catch up, depending on how I get on in the workshop, as I don't really enjoy breaking up my day once I get started.  Maybe treat myself to a takeaway in the evening.

Sunday - quiet day at home, maybe more workshop stuff, maybe get the Revival cars checked and prepped, or maybe do some creative stuff in the studio.  I still need to design and print a new grille with light buckets for the F150.  Child comes back in the afternoon, so probably chill out at home and play some games with her until bedtime, then cook a pizza and watch Top Gear.

I hope you all have a fantastic one!

[GeeWings 2830]

Friday evening here. I took the day off, stayed in bed drinking tea until 9am which is such a luxury! Had a lazy morning with my son then we all went to a new science play place which was lots of fun. Just had a decent curry and once the kids are in bed me and my wife will settle down to watch the Stranger Things finale with a beer or two.

Saturday I have to work for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Need to do some stuff outside but I think it’s going to pour down. So, I’m hoping to get on with one of my builds in the morning. Not sure which yet though, maybe one of the Wild Ones or a City Turbo.

Sunday. I need to put a new fence up. Luckily it’s a small area so shouldn’t take too long. No idea what else will be in store but we will probably take a family trip to the cinema to see Lightyear.

Oh, and might have to do some other stuff outside as a local fox seems to be sizing up the underside of our house as a den  

[87lc2 2663]

3 hours ago, Mad Ax said:

So I have the place entirely to myself!

Lucky guy!  I love my wife & daughter, but getting a few days to myself would be amazing.

Have one of the biggest RC Monster races of the year tomorrow at the Bloomsburg 4-Wheel Jamboree.  Also happens to be my first outdoor race of the season so looking forward to that.  Not looking forward to cleaning my trucks afterward, but running in dirt is a lot of fun.  Going to enter 4 trucks in Pro Mod and 2 in retro.  In the last indoor race a couple weeks back my new Warpath truck took 1st and my carbon LMT took 2nd, both were unbeaten throughout the day.  Hoping for more of the same there. 

Sunday I hope to get back to my new Jag.  Pulled the cam covers last week and saw the dreaded original plastic tensioners so just layed the covers back on the motor and ordered the necessary parts.  Everything came in this week so hopefully I can get it all buttoned up this weekend.  While I was waiting for parts I removed the rear deck 6x9 speaker for repair since it was rattling.  Being a Jag, I of course had to remove the entire rear seat (upper & lower) and the rear package tray to get it out, that was not the most fun job I've done recently.  Will be nice to get rid of that rattle though.  I don't listen to loud music but poor quality or broken/damaged speakers really annoy me. 

Everyone have a great weekend!

 

[Mad Ax 9312]

1 hour ago, 87lc2 said:

Lucky guy!  I love my wife & daughter, but getting a few days to myself would be amazing.

Yeah, same, it's one of those rare situations where my wife going away coincided with my parents offering to take the daughter (her cousins are staying there too, and they all love playing with each other), so I just sat back and let it work out  

Still, a day of monster truck racing sounds cool too - I'm considering getting the ramps out on Sunday and having a one-man multi-class tournament.

[GeeWings 2830]

Just now, Mad Ax said:

Still, a day of monster truck racing sounds cool too - I'm considering getting the ramps out on Sunday and having a one-man multi-class tournament.

That sounds great. Somehow I still think I would come in last place 😵‍💫

[87lc2 2663]

3 minutes ago, Mad Ax said:

Yeah, same, it's one of those rare situations where my wife going away coincided with my parents offering to take the daughter (her cousins are staying there too, and they all love playing with each other), so I just sat back and let it work out  

Still, a day of monster truck racing sounds cool too - I'm considering getting the ramps out on Sunday and having a one-man multi-class tournament.

Doesn't happen to me often, I'll get a day here or there, but a weekend would be a dream.

Go for it, I do it all the time for practice.  I set up a track in my yard, get 5-6 trucks out and have a little bracket race.  Best part is I always win    Since I run all of my trucks on one radio I've learned to mount the power switches in easily accessible places so I can turn them off/on easily.  I learned this quickly after I started racing.  I'd have multiple trucks in a class and removing bodies to turn on trucks started to become a real hassle. Especially when the bracket is moving quickly and Im trying to make adjustments between rounds.  Just one less thing to worry about. 

[Willy iine 18805]

Dang, I failed to post yesterday.. I was kind of tied up with WFH, and whenever I had some spare time between work, I was busy making a snake plant..   

Saturday.. took my STI out for a nice weekend drive, filled her up on the way home.  Seems gas price came down slightly..  This afternoon just taking it easy in my pretend RC shop as I want to make a bike stand for my new cheapo Maisto 1:12 Ducati 1199 Panigale I got yesterday.  Going to also check my AAA battery condition for Mini-Z's as I bought a new 1:10 Optima Mid and a Mini-Z version yesterday.   I should have both  in the coming days.  I'm going to have to think of where I'm going to display the car.

This evening going continue relaxing while streaming a movie.

Sunday..  weather permitting, another fun morning drive in my STI, and will clean her up after the drive.  Then finish up the bike rack if I can, and afternoon will be spent mostly in my music room relaxing and ad-lib playing cajon/keyboards.    I think I'm going to pickup some delicious cake from a Japanese bakery in my area and have a nice coffee break with the family late afternoon.   Evening will be spent streaming another movie.

 

Have a great weekend, everyone!!   

[87lc2 2663]

Just got back from racing, what a long day...Had to leave at 6am to get there (about 2.5 hours away), but it was worth it.  Track was loose dirt and I was a bit worried at first, but after a few adjustments post-practice my trucks were absolutely dialed in.  I've been running so much on carpet lately that my trucks were all setup way too tight for the loose surface so made some sway bar, shock, and throttle curve adjustments which really helped.  

The Pro Mod field was 41 trucks and I entered 4.  Didn't lose a single race and my trucks all made it to the semi-finals and I had to choose which truck moved on and the rest went into the losers bracket.  In the end my LMTs took 1st & 2nd in pro mod which was very cool being that there were so many trucks there.  

Retro was not as busy and my USA-1 Regulator took the win easily.  

2wd had a good amount of trucks (~20 or so) and my Stampede took the win.  I was surprised it did so well being a basically stock truck with stock tires, but by the time the 2wd trucks ran the big trucks had torn up the track a lot so it was all about just keeping it smooth and staying on your line.  

 

What a fun day.  5 straight hours of racing on dirt, couldn't ask for a better day.  Now hours to clean up the trucks and get them ready for the next race which happens to be next weekend.  Another outdoor race but this one is on hard clay so I'll have to adjust the trucks a bit to get them right for the surface.  

 

[87lc2 2663]

Some more of the dirty trucks...

[GeeWings 2830]

@87lc2Congrats! It looks like you had a fun AND successful day. Can't beat that.

 

[Wooders28 4723]

Dayshift weekend...again.

12hrs working in 24° heat (can hear people mumbling, about it being that temp in winter...😏), not a cloud in the sky , but I'm off Wednesday,  when it's due to rain......

[Willy iine 18805]

A bit ahead of the game this week.   

Friday.. WFH, however, I have 2 meetings early morning nearly back to back so not looking forward to that.  I hope to do some house chores in between the meetings if possible so that I can get that out of the way.

I am still waiting on USPS to deliver my servo for my Optima MID ...its now a week late stuck at a local USPS hub for some reason.  I shall decide whether to start the build or not without the servo..   Usually I have several 1252MG's in my parts bin, but knowing my pretend RC shop is too full to display any more cars I stopped buying spare electronics. 

Besides that, I plan to relax in my music room after-hours, and stream a movie in the evening after playing some cajon.

Saturday.. weather permitting, after early morning house chores, I plan to pull out my GR Supra for some relaxing weekend drive.  My garage door opener app keeps track of when the door was last opened and it's been now a month..  time flies.  Summer is half over.. before you know it, it's going to start snowing again. LOL

 Afternoon will be spent in my music room relaxing, streaming a movie at night.

Sunday..  I plan to clean up my Supra after another weekend drive and watch a few car videos in my garage before finishing off some honey-do's in the morning.  Then basically a rubber stamp afternoon and evening.

 

Have a great weekend everyone!   

[Mad Ax 9312]

Today

Fairly quiet one this week.  WFH today, finish around lunchtime.  Looks like my new boss loves to arrange catch-up meetings at midday Friday, just when I'm about to finish, probably so she can make me commit to getting something finished before Monday morning.  I don't know if she's been told that I take Friday afternoons off if my timesheet is filled.

Wife it out this afternoon, so probably work on the F150 tow truck until it's time to get the daughter from school.  Hopefully wife gets back in time for me to go for a late walk, should be a bit cooler by then too.  Try to get 7 miles in.

Tomorrow

Quiet one at home with the daughter, try to keep her occupied, maybe play with the trucks in the garden or go for a walk in the woods.  An old friend is having a barbecue in the evening, so taker her along to that.  She's my excuse to not have to stay late, so hopefully I can be home in time to stream a film, or watch some more Obi Wan.

Sunday

Workshop Sunday.  F150 tow truck, check over the Revival cars (I still haven't done that), maybe paint the headers and finish placing decals on the LMT.  I still need to paint and fit the driver and sponsor plates on the SMT-10, too.

Top Gear is finished now, so I need to find some kind of exciting, funny, hi-octane documentary series to watch on my Sunday evenings while I eat my post-workshop spicy meal.

Have a great one, everybody!

[Wooders28 4723]

Final nightshift!! (should be all weekend, but managed to get someone else to do my shifts for me 😁)

Off for 2 weeks, so heading down south, seemingly there's a heatwave down there in , the UK , so will pack some shorts and sun cream!! 

Planning on getting the 'Mad duke' dt03 beach runner ready ,as its currently in its speed run guise, but we'll see..

Have a great weekend folks! 

[Superluminal 3750]

I did some DIY today that didnt result in catastrophe or personal injury. I replaced the old bent leaky copper overflow pipe from my hot water cylinder with a new plastic one. I used some solvent welding stuff to make a 90 degree elbow on the pipe. Unfortunately it was in the loft which is about 4000 deg C at the moment and mainly full of hideous 100 year old black dust that I had to disturb.

Now need to fill a hole in a fascia board with some wood filler now.

Basically, I'm doing proper geezer stuff!!!!!!!!

[Saito2 6686]

Put my Corvette up for sale today. 

[Willy iine 18805]

So my weekend looks like this..

Friday.. I am off from work, but does not mean I get to enjoy it.    After early morning house chores, heading to my stylist to get my hair cut, then picking up my son at home to go to the eye doc to get our annual eye exams and ordering new contact lenses.  Then in the afternoon I have a contractor coming over to do some repairs on my house.  Then more house chores doing clean up and re-organizing after the contractor leaves.. then perhaps I might have some me-time to do some RC work.  Then enjoy streaming a movie at night.  

Saturday.. weather permitting, going to pull out my GR Supra again for a relaxing weekend drive and get some fresh gas and Stabil360 in the tank on the way home.. will clean her up after the drive.  Before lunch I am going to make some Japanese curry with my chef son as I have this special recipe (in my head) for a paste which makes the curry real tasty;  my son wants to learn it.  Will let the curry sit overnight before having it Sunday night.

Then afternoon will be a rubber stamp of every weekend, relaxing in my music room, play some keyboards/cajon, and then streaming a movie at night.

Sunday.. weather permitting, going to pull out my Golf-R for a nice weekend drive in the morning.  Afternoon I plan to continue working on my vintage 60's gas pump I am making out of plasticard for Billy's lounge, then relax in my music room rest of the afternoon, enjoy the curry that I made the previous day for supper.   Evening will be spent streaming another movie and relaxing.

 

Have a great weekend everyone!   

[lupogtiboy 454]

Well it's Friyay again! I'm working today, though it's my dad's birthday today (happy birthday dad! Though he'll never read this as he doesn't even know this forum exists!) Food shopping later and pizza for dinner, then out dog walking with my best friend.

Saturday - weekend off! Nothing planned other than picking my son up from work at 3, so I may get round to giving my dad's stand-in car a good machine polish, or I may go down my container for a few hours and do some sorting out. Take-away for dinner (nice healthy weekend!)

Sunday - I may suggest we all go out for a nice meal for dad's birthday. Mum can't walk that far at the moment, she spent 3 weeks in hospital with gall bladder problems (7 hour op to remove it, along with 23 (yes 23!) litres of fluid removed from inside her!) She barely ate any solid food, so she needs to build her leg muscles up a bit. Dad starts his radio therapy for his Prostate cancer soon, so that's all good! 

Just going wait and see what pans out.....

[Mad Ax 9312]

First day of the summer holidays here, plus my wife's work contract ended yesterday, so I've got the whole family at home with me while I work.  It's like being back in lockdown again, only now we're not leaving the house because it's too expensive 

Today

Work from home until 2-ish, then probably go up to the workshop for a bit and check the status of the F150 tow truck project.  I've hit the 80/20 barrier on this truck now, every weekend I seem to get less done and end up with a longer list of things to do.  I might park it for a while and focus on something more important, while I design the 3D printed headlight and grille parts.  Maybe build a little more of the Element Enduro Scale Builder's Kit 2, I can probably fix the issue with the transmission if my new screws arrive today.

Then, drive up to the hills for my evening walk.  I was planning on going further afield today but the weather's looking changeable, if I'm going to be out in the drizzle I'd rather be in a place I know well.

Tomorrow

I was supposed to be at a teddybear's picnic with my daughter in a local village, but the organiser hasn't replied to my messages and there's zero info online about it, so I don't know if it's happening or not.  Otherwise maybe take her cycling, or just play around the house.  My best mate is DJing at a local open-air festival, family friendly and free entry, so I might take her to that.  Work more on the SBK2 if there's time.

Evening - cook a satay chicken recipe, had a lot of TV time already this week (the lounge is the coolest part of the house during our annual heatwave), so maybe I'll eat in the studio and work on the novel.

Sunday

Workshop Sunday again - it's time to take a serious look at the top-secret Element Enduro project I've been hiding from everyone and work out how I'm going to make it happen.  Chassis 2 is nearly assembled now, I've only got 7 Workshop Sundays until the UK Scaler Nationals and I want this to be my main rig, watch out for the big reveal next week  

[Mad Ax 9312]

It's Friday again peeps!  Does anyone have anything exciting planned?

Should be a fairly quiet one again for me.  It's Revival Weekend this weekend, but I didn't make the draw for the July event, so all my buddies are off for a weekend of racing, camping and fun in the mid-summer sun while I'm back home, biding my time for the September event.

Friday

Low-calorie day.  Already had my 200 calorie breakfast and already have hunger cramps.  Still, choosing to have hunger cramps is one of life's greatest luxuries, so I'll endure them with as much humility as I can muster.

Working from home.  Most of my hours are accounted for already but I'm booked into meetings for some time, so I'll probably finish when they're done, maybe mid-afternoon.

Probably get into the workshop and look over the Element Enduro project, or maybe start looking into making a flashing LED circuit for the F150 tow truck, then head out for a walk in the evening.  Try to do another 8 mile circuit.  Last week I took a 200-calorie sandwich to enjoy en route, but the weather turned 10 minutes into the walk and I got soaked to the skin, I was going to stick it out but after an hour it was still coming down like stair rods, so I went back to the van, changed into the spare clothes I keep under the camp bed, and ate my sandwich as the rain stopped and the sun came out.  No rain forecast this week, so hopefully I'll be able to stop at one of the better views and enjoy my ham and mustard while the sun goes down.

Probably play a bit more Wreckfest if I get home before too late.

Saturday

Having a pyjama day with the child.  Watch Disney films, make some stuff, do some drawings, and drive the Outback Mini-X and the Lunchbox around the garden.

Get in the studio once she's in bed and kickstart the next round of heavy edits on the novel.

Sunday

Workshop Sunday.  Probably kick off the Top Secret Element Enduro project by making a jig, maybe mount the seat into the F150 Tow Truck, maybe clean the resin printer ready for recommissioning.

Evening - assuming the novel edit round started well, go into the studio and continue that.  Otherwise, maybe commiserate by streaming a film.

Have a fab weekend everyone!

[87lc2 2663]

3 hours ago, Mad Ax said:

 

  It's Revival Weekend this weekend, but I didn't make the draw for the July event, so all my buddies are off for a weekend of racing, camping and fun in the mid-summer sun while I'm back home, biding my time for the September event.

 

@Mad Ax - What do you mean by this?  Not anyone can go to the event, you need to be chosen?  Just curious.

[Mad Ax 9312]

2 hours ago, 87lc2 said:

@Mad Ax - What do you mean by this?  Not anyone can go to the event, you need to be chosen?  Just curious.

You are kinda right.  Allow me to explain  

Revival (along with other Iconic events) has been increasing in popularity since it all kicked off a decade or so ago, and every year has been busier than the last.  Since around 2018, booking in opens for one weekend in February and names are drawn from a "balanced hat" - that is, if you're a regular at previous Revivals or other Iconic events, or you do a lot for the Iconic group, then you're more likely to get in.

In 2021, there were so many more entrants (possibly due to people buying re-released buggies while stuck at home in lockdown), that the organiser decided to run two Revivals - one at the regular weekend in July at the Bingham track (where it's been held since 2019), and another in September at the Broxtowe track.  When you put your name into the hat, you can specify if you want to do Broxtowe, Bingham or Either (only a select few get to do both), and if you put either, you get a better chance of getting in.  So, this year I got picked into the Broxtowe event.

It's turned it into a strange year.  It's been a pilgrimage since 2015 to be trekking off across the country in my van, loaded up with cars, food and beer for the weekend, driving past the WOMAD festival (always on the same weekend), watching all the crusties who will inevitably become soggies when the weather turns.  I normally get back from Revival and look forward to the rest of my summer without much going on, because it's the last big event until the Scaler Nationals in October.  We usually do our summer holiday in May or June, too, so by now it's usually all over.

Except this year it's all different - the Revival is in September for me, our family holiday (assuming it happens this year) is in August because of the school term, and I haven't had a proper outing since the beginning of June, so I'm kinda getting cabin fever.

But that is the reason why I'm not currently racing my Top Force around a sunny track in the midlands and looking forward to reheating a beef chilli and cracking open some post-practice Budweisers in anticipation of a weekend's hard racing

[87lc2 2663]

Thanks for clarifying @Mad Ax, makes perfect sense.  Sounds like an awesome event as well, always enjoy seeing your write-ups. 

[Willy iine 18805]

Friday.. WFH, spent most of the morning working, but the afternoon seems pretty quiet.   No RC today again, just taking a break after making my vintage gas pump from plasticard earlier in the week.   Next up is the Optima MID build.   

I already finished up the honey-do's for most of the weekend so I should be free from any other house related work..  going to stream some video's later today and then a few more routine house chores, and going to watch an old movie on Blueray.  

Saturday.. Since my weekend drive got rained out both days last weekend, after early morning chores, going to take my GR Supra out for a nice relaxing drive, (weather permitting) and will clean her up real nice after getting some fresh fuel in her on the way home..given I don't change my mind and take her out again on Sunday.  

Another rubber stamp afternoon with relaxing in my music room, followed by streaming a movie in the evening.

Sunday.. weather permitting, going to take my Supra or Golf-R out for a nice drive in the morning.  Afternoon if I'm in the mood, I will start the Optima MID build for a few hours, then stream some TV shows, relax in my music room.  Will stream a movie in the evening.   

Have a great weekend, everyone!   

[GeeWings 2830]

Back half of the week I have been hit by a cold so Friday was a lazy day mostly in bed watching movies that I reckon my wife won't like! So I watched Men by Alex Garland and The Lost Daughter. I was right, my wife would have hated both of them!

Saturday (today) some chores in the morning and then we are going to a friends place for "Christmas in July". Never done it before but the kids really wanted to so we all relented. Should be a nice afternoon/evening anyway.

Sunday I am travelling up to the Gold Coast for work. I will be there for a few days. This will be fun too as I get to hang out with some of my favourite colleagues and although we will be busy we always get time for a good meal and a bottle of wine and the weather up there will be lovely (20-25c) compared to chilly Melbourne (5-10c). 

The best news is that because I will be working over this weekend and crazy hours for a few days I will take a couple of days back in-lieu and have a nice long weekend next weekend.