Jack Bolton

Back from Uncle Phil’s; it’s a warm night and moonless. A perfect night for stargazing. And so I sit outside gazing up at this constellation.

You might notice the red cross I n the middle? That’s where a special star is; one named Jack Bolton. I had it registered in your name when you were little. In 2008, to be exact, just before your 5th birthday. I still have one copy of the certificate, the other is/was with your mum. A copy of the certificate is available online.

If you want to check it out, you can look here… http://www.starregistry.net/stars/ShowStar.aspx?id=95e3d097-091c-48d9-b539-178dab48f939

So, every time I see the stars, I look for yours and think of you. We all live under the same sky and it’s a small world.

So small I have noticed you on Twitter. Very manga! 👍😂. Nice to see. My good friend, Obasi (I’ll tell you about him sometime) says I should get in touch. I don’t know what the best thing is? If you’re happy in your shoes then I wouldn’t want to disturb. But I’d love to see you again someday if you want that. Who knows? Time will tell. But don’t ever think you’re not missed, or you have been forgotten. Never, ever.

Got to say it, Norway is one hell of a country. Slartibartfast’s best work was the Fjords and I can see why (if you haven’t read the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, I recommend it. The film wasn’t a patch on the book…)

Oliver and Edward, with Phil and Suzie and Nanna Vicky, are with us. Uncle Phil’s 50th; I may have mentioned. Anyway, Oli is growing up hugely. In every sense; he’s now way taller than me and Edward (not tricky) and catching up with his 6′ dad. Not bad for 15 1/2! And he can now pound his older brother, which is no mean feat given Ed plays rugby rather well.

Oli has a quiet way about him but had a real success last year, when with one other lad he designed a structure that won a Nottingham Trent Uni design competition. And now the winning design has been built and is in Nottingham’s Market Square for the summer break. It’s called the Social Shell. Here are some pics, with all four of the family, plus Nanna Vicky too.

Oscar, 9 years old, pictured with his buddy Garfield, 35, caught chilling on the balcony of their 14th floor cabin on the P&O Ventura, a very big floaty thing with about 12 gazillion people on board. It was Uncle Phil’s idea; we blame him. Difficult to turn him down seeing as how it was his 50th a few days ago.

And actually, not a bad place, Stavanger. The economy was fisheries, (if tinned sardines are your thing, then this is your town 😳). Then it turned into an oil town, from all the North Sea oil. On our way up the North Sea, saw loads of oil rigs and wondered how many are producing anything these days. To some extent the answer was found here, where the oil economy has all but gone. They have a Petroleum Museum, I kid thee not, which tells the story. So these days, the place has gone eco; I’ve never seen so many electric cars. Loads of Teslas, i3s and electric Golfs.

The town itself has charm, especially the old timber buildings. The place was forestry lying on rock, so the houses have rock footings upon which timber houses are built. Bit of a fire risk, but attractive. You can see them in the background of the shot.

Maybe I’m a bit twitchy about fire risk. But then I work for a professional body, IRPM, that is helping government make big residential buildings (blocks of flats, basic) safer to live in, following the Grenfell tragedy.

Lots of walking today, so it’s time for a cup of tea. I’ve not forgotten about Oli’s news. Stand by…

Happy Birthday, Jack. 16!! Wow!

Jack, I’m sending you my love and best thoughts a day early, because as I type this, I’m heading out to sea, for Norway. Tomorrow is a sea day and I’ll have no signal. So I’m sending you my birthday wishes today.

Why at sea? Because Uncle Phil is 50 today! Who knew he was so ancient?

I’ve got some great news about Oliver, which I’ll do as a separate note in a few days when I get a data signal. Meantime, this one’s for you.

Happy Birthday Jack. Make it a special one! You’re always there.

Had some shed time with Grandad Norman. Pic here of him machining a component to repair the ignition switch on the Land Rover. He’s doing well to say only 4 months on from his heart surgery! #proud

Considering the games you’ll be playing and the tech you’ll be using, I really need to update the imagery of this site. Can we call it ‘ironic’ until I do? Set it up on WordPress years ago and can’t remember how to change styles now. Need a wet weekend when I’ve nothing to do. Oh wait, when do I get a weekend with nothing to do? Like, ever? So, loving the fish it is for the moment then.

So, Grandad Norman had a heart attack just after Christmas. It was a proper one, he doesn’t do things by halves. One triple heart bypass later, he’s now recovering well (fingers tightly crossed…).

He goes to rehabilitation in a couple of weeks and I’m going to get him a Straight Outta Rehab t-shirt in the Straight Outta Compton style. 😂. Although he won’t have seen the film, which sort of makes it funnier.

Land Rover rehab has therefore been slower than hoped for. But it’s progressing. I spray painted the bulkhead last Easter weekend (awesome weather; tell me you did fun things that weekend!) and have refurbished the dash clocks with Grandad Norman. Light duties you see. So many Land Rover bits are heavy old lumps of iron; it’s more like railway engineering than auto at times. And today I took him for a pint at the local at lunch. It was good to see him getting back to normal.

I’ll pop a couple of Land Rover pics in below, although old motors probably aren’t your thing. Not exactly digital…

Meantime, no point wondering if you’re hitting your marks at school; your mum’ll be all over that one! And you’re smart. No worries there, as long as you’re coping with the pressure and can see a path forward. Not always easy, is it? If not a path, then some options that will take you forward one step at a time.

Thinking of you. 👍

Out in the fresh air for some blue paint

Before…

…and after! Better!

Ooh, the previous post with the Land Rover; looks like that didn’t post until now. Ah well, finger trouble on my part.

Merry Christmas Jack! Hopefully the family gathered and Christmas has been good, with an outrageous excess of gifts, food and fun.

Christmas here has been good, but different. Grandad Roger passed away about 2 months ago. Very old, very frail and very poorly, it was his time. So we’re all up at Grandma Vicky’s house, where she has cooked up a storm.

Now sitting back wondering how to move…

Merry Christmas Jack. With love, Me

Oh, got this silly present. The greatest presidential idiot that ever walked the earth

Okay, do you remember going to see my friend Brian? He had a huge trampoline in his back garden, which you spent ages on. Anyway, he came up to see me and Grandad Norman for a day, to spend some time in the shed fixing the Land Rover.

Now, I doubt you’ll remember the Land Rover, but you might remember the garage in Hickling was very full. Well, it was full of old Land Rover. Then with loads of stuff piled on top, which made it difficult to see.

And what you could see didn’t look much like a Land Rover. Because it was in bits. When it was 27 years old, it failed its MoT road test because the main chassis had rotted. So my dad and I took it to bits to fix it. And we got a long way along the job when dad moved away. Then I moved. Then he moved. And the poor old Land Rover git moved all over the place, in bits and boxes. Anyway, I’ve now got a shed, and Grandad Norman is just down the road. So it was time to restart the project.

Then I realised it was 27 years ago since we took it apart. It has spent half its 54 year life in component form! DEFINITELY time to get it back together again.

So we made a start. And an early job was to see if the engine would actually run after all this time. There are no electrics on the vehicle, and the fuel tank and line aren’t connected either. So we stuck the fuel pipe in a petrol can (don’t try this at home!!!) and ran some temporary wires to give a spark to the engine. Popped a battery in to start her up. And then, holding our breath, we hit the starter button…

Well, she fired and she ran!! Popped a cushion on the chassis and drive here around the field, no seats, no brakes, no lights. But that is a whole other story. Now we know the engine runs, we are carrying on with the build. It won’t be quick, but we will get there, and hopefully it won’t take another 27 years!

So Donald Trump, the USA President, came to London to meet Prime Minister May and the Queen. Some protestors gathered outside the Houses of Parliament and flew a Baby Trump balloon. Rude? Yep. Funny? Yep. But then Trump was rude to London Mayor Sadiq Khan, so it was no surprise when Sadiq gave permission for the balloon to be flown.

All very amusing!