Hello again.
Time is flying by and everything is slowly falling into place. All I need to do is start getting a bit more enthusiasm but my lingering chest infection is still slowing me down... otherwise I would be a wood-working, storage building monster!
From a life perspective, my wife and I are nicely settled now. I haven't started looking for a job yet but my wife starts her job, full time, on Monday. My RAF pension and lump sum have arrived and I am happy to discover that I will only need to work part time in order to top up the monthly pot so I will be able to pursue some charitable concerns and that is REALLY great! It is also great that my wife is supporting that idea and is happy for me to be directing some of my attention towards a little bit of altruistic endeavour.
Last night we had a great evening out our local pub; a pub where the landlords instantly made us welcome when we arrived and is now filled with people we call friends. There was a local band playing and the pub was packed... a great sight and I hope a very profitable one because the landlords work very hard to make that place what it is.
Yesterday, we went to a car dealer's and bought a little car. It was a complete catalogue of errors from start to finish. First we had to wait a while due to the dealer having another person to sort out. Then we asked for a test drive but the battery was dead... so it was power-pack started, but needed petrol so the dealer took it to get fuel and on his return the car had picked up a puncture. So we were offered a test ride in a similar car... the first one had a flat battery, the second had no fuel and couldn't be started and the third one... was fine... so we went for a test drive. We liked the test drive so we bought the car with a dead battery and flat tyre (they will be replaced before we collect it next week). The poor dealer was so apologetic! I then explained to him that the moment 'our' car started being awkward, that was Karma's way of telling us that it needed to come home with us. I got a strange look but he chilled out after that. So next week we collect a little car with a tiny engine to potter around Cornwall in and once our other car runs out of MOT etc, it will be sold on.
The main reason we decided to get the car now was because I have a leaving do to attend in a few weeks and I needed transport and now that my wife is commuting to work I couldn't have the car... so we brought forward the car purchase JUST to get me back to Oxfordshire for a mate's leaving do. How's that for dedication?!
When I left the RAF I wanted to get involved with the local community, change direction with work to something more manual labour oriented and join some charities to help out. I think the community aspect of my plan is going well and once I get a job I will be able to tick the other two boxes because I will have an idea of what the work/spare time routine will be.
So... onwards and upwards.
OK... I'll share my hobby stuff now. First up, I have finished the transport and tank for now (counts-as Leman Russ and Chimera):
Click the Pix!
I say 'for now' because I may revisit them a little, once I have put together a few more. Speaking of putting together a few more, I now have three more Hanomag kits sitting on a shelf with two more Panther kits being delivered at some point. I would rather convert a couple of Panthers first so the Hanomag kits will sit for a while. I think that I will stop at three Panthers because I want my army to be more geared towards infantry and not loads and loads of tanks. With three 'counts-as' Leman Russ tanks, I can fill either one or three heavy support slots, depending on where the army leads me in the future.
As you are aware, I have also been working on my Exo armoured troops, namely the Wolverines. Well, they are now finished:
Click the Pic!
They are pictured above, with my Captain Lysander proxy. I have a backstory for the Wolverines but I will share it at a later date however, they are weaponised mining suits and are worn by a full unit of female Squats (and with Lysader also being a woman, they are her fighting escort).
Now that these are done, I can put them with all the others I have finished:
Click the Pic!
This shows proxies for captain Lysander, a chaptermaster in terminator armour, a squad of five close combat terminators and a squad of ten standard terminators (with a pair of heavy flamers). I still have ten more standard terminators to put together and they will have a pair of assault cannons to go with them. When they are finished, there will be no more Terminators added and I will concentrate my infantry attention on the scouts and the third infantry platoon.
This coming week, I am planning to sort out the legs and see how I am going to put them up for sale. As a result of the interest that I have received, I will be looking at getting more cast up... so I am probably going to have to be a bit clever so that it is all done fairly... which is one reason why I have taken a while to get them up for sale. I must admit to being very surprised at the response and have been overwhelmed by it. Who'd have thought it?
Well... that's it for today and I'll catch you next time... but before I go, here's Sam; rolling about on the patio in the sunshine yesterday:
Click the Pic!
See you from the garage!
