DOWN CAME THE RAIN!

After the excitement of the weekend, the week started with a deluge which effectively doused any thoughts of going flying. I am running rather behind with the old aviation. Having converted onto the Jabiru 450ULD from the Ikarus C42 (info for nerdfans), I have managed only ten minutes solo flying time in the new aircraft.

Since I passed my test in 2010 I have not been able to keep up with the flying as much as I would like, as various things have got in the way like the weather, and aircraft not being available for hire, and also holidays and various bits and pieces.

One thing that has nothing to do with it is my recent conversion from single to married man. The Dark Lady is very keen and hoping to come up with me at some point in the not too distant future. However, I need to do six hours and fifty minutes solo before the end of September this year, or I will have to take my test again which will be both expensive and inconvenient.

If I was on a satellite TV show like "Ice Road Truckers" or "Wreck Detectives" I would be following the well tried formula of these shows.

1) Potentially dangerous

2) Weather against us

3) Running out of time

4) It all comes right in the end before the credits roll

We will have to wait for the final part but I am optimistic. Just need a spell of decent weather either side of the Olympics, as due to security worries there will be draconian airspace restrictions around London making flying very difficult during that period.

However, I have other more pressing things to concern myself, namely my front door. A couple of years ago I had a new front door fitted as the previous one had rotted away. I rather liked the letterbox so had that transferred from the old door to the new.

Living by the seaside as I do, the salt gets into everything. The other week when the postman arrived, they posted the letter through the door and the flap promptly fell off. The letterbox is made of brass but the spindles are made of steel, so have rusted through which is annoying.

So to the internet, and could I find a new one of the same dimensions as I didn't want to attempt to hack away at my front door.

Back to satellite TV rules once again: this time it's "Salvage Squad" or "Desert Car Kings" with may be a bit of "Camper Van Crisis" thrown in.

1) A wreck: can it be restored?

2) Needs parts: can they be found?

3) Running out of time (as usual)

4) It all comes right in the end.

So after a short search I found a factory in Wolverhampton that sold the exact same letter box. Although as I now know, they are called "letter plates".

The grand fitting will take place on Thursday. Not sure if there will be champagne and bunting, but it's the little DIY jobs that give me the most satisfaction as I am too inept to do larger DIY jobs.