1966 Ex BRS Austin VAK 100 "Noddy" van. Shack building.

Or... ( since you started this project because of nostalgia for the van your dad used as a shed), demote this one from project to shed?


Since it doesn't have a lot of monetary value ( as is, or even when its done), may get limited use if would be done, but has a truly unique aesthetic ( and would get used as secure space/ yard art).

Just a thought...

I feel for you Glen but have no useful advice. All the best.

ordinarily i would have said "don't do it" but having just "done it" myself, that would be a bit two faced.

"CUBE... PLEASE SIMPLIFY THE GAME"

Remember it is a hobby and not a must! What I mean to say is if it becomes a heavy load on your shoulders get rid of it. If you see that you will have joy out of it (and your family also) rethink it.

Work wise I'm a very bad advise being home due to an overload currently. Did two jobs at the same time for the company and saved them day after day a hell lot of money. But even that was not enough and they tried add more work. Then my colleagues asked me if I was crazy and the next one was my beloved wife. So now I first have to recover.

Please be careful with yourself about overloading. A good company/boss takes care about his people so maybe discuss the issue?

Take care!

Thom

Hi Glen,
Just working out a plan of where you want to be is such a positive step. We all get trapped by stuff and kind of forget that it’s just stuff.
Keep looking for options and talking it through with family and friends. Ignoring the elephant does nobody any good.
It’ll be ‘right in end.
James

two astra projects have gone, plus emptying garage of their related hoarding. i keep finding things i don't even remember buying.

improvement in mental health and bank balance.

I am a train driver. I have been doing it now, for fifteen years on passenger work. It’s a fantastic job, and really suits me, but the pressures for perfect performance, coupled with the shift work, are considerable. You really don’t get many chances to make errors, even minor ones, and as you get older it gets harder. I have seen many really good and experienced drivers decide to call it a day in their late 50s and early 60s, earlier than planned, because of the way we are managed, particularly after an “incident”.

Making a change though, is really hard. You don’t drive a train by reacting to what you see in front of you like you do a car or lorry; you have to drive it according to what you know should be happening where you are. A bit like a proper London cabbie has “the knowledge”, and knows exactly where it is you want to go and how to get there, I have about 500 miles of railway line memorised to the degree that I can drive a train along it, at full speed, when visibility is down to a few yards. You can’t just up and go somewhere else and start driving different trains on different routes, it takes literally years to get fully proficient. I am currently benched because of a minor incident and, although this time it looks like I am going to be ok, next time I might not be.

I am working towards standing for election as a full time union representative, but I still need to get through both the current wobble and the next few years.



Ten years ago we were in a situation where my wife’s parents were in a bit of financial trouble, and we decided that the solution would be to combine our forces and buy a large property. At that point, both my wife and I had solid and well paid jobs, our son was pre-school, and the potential looked very positive. We were on track to have the house paid for by retirement, and I was planning on squirrelling away as many future projects as possible. At the point I committed myself to the Austin it really didn’t matter how long it took to complete, or even if it was never finished, it could be a long term thing, even a retirement project.

Unfortunately, the best laid plans can still go awry. The domestic situation with the in-laws can only politely be described as “challenging”, and a surprise redundancy for my wife has definitely derailed the potential of having the house paid for by retirement. Regardless of finances, living here has been far less idyllic than we had hoped, and both my wife and I have no desire to remain here for any longer than we need to. We have significant equity, more than enough to relocate somewhere less expensive to buy and run, so there seems no point in staying here and scraping by if we don’t have to.

Having made the decision to sell at some point in the not too distant future, then the lorry becomes something that can’t be just set aside. It either needs to be finished and capable of moving around under its own steam, or it needs to be gone. Without the lorry, pretty much any reasonable house with a driveway and double garage would be ok for us, and there’s literally millions of those out there, but with it, whether mobile or not, choices are way more restricted.

If I am brutally honest with myself, at 44 I could have done the lorry. At 54 would still be possible, but with everything else going on only just. Another year or so and I genuinely don’t think I will physically be able to manage it.



Yes. That’s pretty much where I am at the moment. Even just mulling it over on here has been a help. I have had a couple of long conversations with mates over the last couple days, and their advice has been very close to that offered here.

I think the decision is pretty much made, really.

Everything about controlling a mainline train is done by the driver. There are no systems whatsoever that “drive” the train, not even a speed limiter or cruise control. How/when/where you accelerate or brake is all dependent entirely upon the driver’s experience. 600+ tonnes, maybe a thousand people onboard.

There are a number of failsafes that can intervene in the event of a driver making an error, particularly one that involves excessive speed, or the possibility for passing a signal at danger. Unfortunately, triggering one of those systems is not something we are allowed to do. The ethos is “you were going to have an accident if the system hadn’t intervened…”

Wish her the very best of luck from me. It can be a hugely rewarding job. But, and I know that I am coming from a position of bias, tell her that she absolutely, unquestionably, needs to be in ASLEF.