Shake up

Thurs.30.11.06. There has been co-ordinated dawn raids across England by the police in a joint operation to crack down upon racist bigots and homophobes. The purpose was to hunt out and arrest people who have the habit of making easy fun, cruelly pointing the finger, maliciously deriding persons of an alternative sexual persuasion in either public, social or work places. There have been ten police forces involved, over 200 policemen, 50 community workers and a mixed group of MPs. I telephoned Chris this morning but there was no reply.

Later in the afternoon I visited Danny’s workplace to retrieve the front wings and nosecone. His lack of communication had been a cause for concern over the past few weeks but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he had primed the panels and that they were ready for their final flatting down. Nigel Penk, the owner of the paint shop, employs Danny on a casual basis. He pulls him in whenever the workload becomes excessive. Nigel informed me that Danny had been quite busy with his modelling work in Manchester, London and Portugal (I bet he’s gone through some ‘vaz’) but he would pass on my message and ‘get in touch’. Sure enough Danny contacted me in the evening to reaffirm his enthusiasm for the project requesting that the front wings are brought down to the workshop on Monday to be exchanged for the painted panels.  

I had recently received the latest promotional merchandise from Rimmers, amongst which was a £60.00 deal on a brand new American spec1500 Spitfire head. I foolishly mentioned this to Chris who, like me, began to consider building an alternative to the XRN substandard offering. I did confess that ‘Toby’ of Rimmers actually recommended that this was not a suitable approach as the American version would need extensive as well as expensive modifications to create a stage 2 head. This advice came after he had flagged up our account, perhaps his opinion had been clouded by our decision, back in September, to throw back all of the shite that they had previously supplied. This may still be an avenue that we shall pursue; but Rimmer Brothers are in the fuck off bin for very good reasons; I feel there is little point dragging them out. Returning the head to XRN could lead us into another minefield but, we have been here before, got the “T” shirt and have, unfortunately, seen the movie. 

The month, like many others has been a roller coaster. We have, obviously, missed the deadline of the Beaujolais run; the occasion passing without disappointment or celebration. We shall go to France in the Burlington to retrieve superior Burgundy’s’ but when that shall be is an unknown. The manner in which the car is finished has become the principal issue, nevertheless, when completed our sights will turn towards France and those lovely tree lined sweeping roads.