Spannering is good for you....

[CitroJim]

Theswe past few weeks have been dreadful for me. All work, lots of stress and no spanners..

In fact it got so bad this week that I almost went bang - to the extent that I 'must' have next week off to get myself good again. I shall have a near full week of XM-shaped basket weaving therapy with a trip to Aberystwyth in between to take Robyn off to her new life as a University Student in a foreign land...

Truly, I have been feeling very ill and exhausted with no interest in anything much at all and no motivation to get interested. I've not been in my workshop since last Sunday and that was only to drop off some Stratford goodies... Not even this fine forum and Club-XM has raised any interest...

What a difference a day makes... Today I have been for some intensive spanner therapy over at Chris570's where we got stuck into a heater matrix job on his Activa...

What a transformation. I was still feeling rough on arrival at Chris's and now, after a full day at it I feel great Tired but great...

A world of difference to how I feel after a day at work. Exhausted, empty, drained, miserable and with no enthusiasm for anything at all; not even something XM-shaped

I shall see how a week of XM Spannering goes and, well, I already know the answer really...

I do wonder if my job is causing me all this intense difficulty and if the time has come to throw in the particular IT towel I carry and go off in search of occupational pastures new?

[citroenesque]

I do wonder if my job is causing me all this intense difficulty and if the time has come to throw in the particular IT towel I carry and go off in search of occupational pastures new?

sounds like it's got to be considered, mate.

[bxzx16v]

Enjoy your Xm spannering Jim , my therapy is cleaning the car/van which I can quite easily spend all day and more on , I'd really love to be a valeter/detailer but the joinery has served me well for 25 years . Anyway have a good time and get some pics up of the Xm project

Mark

[Paul-R]

Glad you're feeling so much better Jim.

Unfortunately I suffer the opposite nowadays. It's an effort to work on them and my body aches when I pull myself off the floor. It doesn't help that I used to have a full garage facilities some 26 years ago - now I work in the drive and on the road in the pi$$ing rain. Today has been abolutely wonderful dodging the heavy showers.

OK, I've moaned enough. When all said and done, it does give me a great feeling when hard work produces a positive outcome.

[Citroenmad]

I do wonder if my job is causing me all this intense difficulty and if the time has come to throw in the particular IT towel I carry and go off in search of occupational pastures new?

Perhaps set up as a Xantia and auto box specialist Jim

Though you can sometimes have too much of hobbies and they start to become tiring in the same way.

[addo]

...Aberystwyth...

How the heck d'you pronounce that? Is it another name for Bristol? All the Welsh names here have been anglicised.

[Paul-R]

abber-rust-wuth

The "y" is actually half way in sound between an "i" and a "u".

[addo]

Aha! I wasn't sure of the first letter's role.

Then again, Australia has some stellar misspellings like "Clyde" and "Clandulla"...

[CitroJim]

Welsh is a funny old language... It's spelling is something else...

My youngest daughter is called Sian. That's a Welsh name and it's pronounced ''Shaain" with a long emphasis on the a..

Admiral Insurance is based in Cardiff, with a Welsh spelling of Caerdydd, the double d making an f sound

Once, when contacting Admiral and speaking to the operator, as you do, she, being Welsh, told me precisely why my daughter's name was spelt as it is and it's (if I recall) something do do with the compound of i and a making the long haai sound...

Still, just be thankful you don't live in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Actually not far from CitroenXM..

Bet it's fun spelling that out to some off-shore call centre

In everyday use the name of the place is foreshortened to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll which is much easier and for times that's too long or much it becomes Llanfair PG or Llanfairpwll.

By that standard, Aberwysthwyth is a doddle!!!

Back to the topic in hand, this coming week I'll be giving a lot of thought to the future as I spanner my XM and prepare my Activa for the MOT but one thing is sure, I won't be pursuing any paid automotive work. I believe business and pleasure should be kept strictly apart... Cars are my pleasure...

Mark, full reports on XM progress will be appearing very soon, that's if the weather keeps good...

So far I cannot recall a completely dry weekend this summer Doing Chris's heater matrix yesterday saw some showers of quite biblical proportions that slowed work badly...

[DickieG]

I do wonder if my job is causing me all this intense difficulty and if the time has come to throw in the particular IT towel I carry and go off in search of occupational pastures new?

Retirement is working wonders for me, I can now sleep more than six hours for the first time in decades and a couple of late nights now makes no difference at all, having listened to loads of my colleagues who have recently retired I totally agree with them that its the best decision you'll ever make. If you can't retire yet then a less stressful job makes a world of difference, for me having to concentrate 100% for the entire day with eyes out on stalks anticipating someone else's next move has really taken its toll over the years, now at last I can relax

[addo]

You're probably still in the "honeymoon" phase though, and your shift work would have tipped into a nice superannuation fund.

I've seen first hand what happens when people decide to retire at a specific point (eg, age or years of employment) without considering where this leaves them financially for the rest of their life. Sobering stuff, and not so uncommon as one might imagine. Banks love it; look at the growth in reverse mortgage and similar types of deferred liability loan products.

[Paul-R]

my body aches ... When all said and done, it does give me a great feeling when hard work produces a positive outcome.

Well, just finished my latest bit of spannering

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... 993#287993

Knackered but fulfilled.

[Paul-R]

a Welsh spelling of Caerdydd, the double d making an f sound

I'm not Welsh but I believe that the double "dd" is a hard "th" sound such as in "than" and "the". The "th" at the end of "Aberystwyth" is the soft sound heard in "pith" and "bath".

Welsh pronunciation is very logical and follows rules - not like mongrel English!

[Xantidote]

Enjoy your week Jim.

Always remember being surprised by one of the directors where I used to work saying he'd retire early if the chance came up. He'd been told that for every year you retire before age 55, you'll live an extra year longer. Sure there's some truth in that, but there's always the financial aspects to be considered, especially as we're all living longer

Happy spannering

[HDI Dave]

Theswe past few weeks have been dreadful for me. All work, lots of stress and no spanners..

Truly, I have been feeling very ill and exhausted with no interest in anything much at all and no motivation to get interested. I've not been in my workshop since last Sunday and that was only to drop off some Stratford goodies... Not even this fine forum and Club-XM has raised any interest...

I do wonder if my job is causing me all this intense difficulty and if the time has come to throw in the particular IT towel I carry and go off in search of occupational pastures new?

Jim, I was in the exact same state meself, even to the point of near depression! (what with lifes other cross weilding shoulder weights also...)

Hadn't spannered for weeks,not tinterwebed,gone out..off with everyone, just...fed up..I even went to the doctors once and he prescribed me some prozac..So I promptly chucked em in the bin and thought..where the fek is life taking me..

Luck interviened, and I now have a new job

Driving a 7.5 tonner. I'd driven them years ago, and I ALWAYS hankered after going back, or even getting a class 1, or even 2, but I got stuck in bill paying jobs (plus I thought if I was a motor/petrol head/tinkerer, I'd get sick of driving..) not so!
Had to send my prehistoric licence off for a cardy one, and send off for a (now needed) tacho card, but honestly, I wish I'd done it years ago!
Every day the mrs says, so an so says your bloke looks 10 years younger,he's got his glint in his eye back

Might be a dumbass driving job to some, I love it, I'm me own boss,can stop when I want,jukebox on (radio ; ), av a fag, summat to eat,money's good,an no gaffer over me shoulder,wayhey

Now I have me mojo back,back in me old workshop,doin the old diy jobbies,garden etc (cba before, I'd left the garden to grow 2 foot tall! Spannering

S'up to you Jim mate, all I can say/offer my take on life is I shudda changed path years ago,

Good luck pal

Dave