New from the UK

Loneliness, Depression & Relationship Forum

Help Support Loneliness, Depression & Relationship Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Headbolt

Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2020
Messages
21
Reaction score
0
Hello,
I’m Martin from the UK. I came across this forum quite by chance but it seemed ideal for me. I’m a bit of an introvert and not into groups or clubs normally, preferring one to one conversations- in fact, I get nervous when there are more than 3 people in the room (if that strikes a chord with anyone?). :)

Despite that, I do enjoy interaction with others and good conversations.
I am fairly recently divorced and despite the company of my dog and cat I’m missing the human element!
Thanks for accepting my request to join ;)


p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120% }
 
Welcome aboard Martin, I'm sure the things you say aren't unique and I would certainly agree that I'm more a conversation person than someone who enjoys clubs and noisy atmospheres etc.

What interests do you have and what do you like talking about?
 
Yeti1980 said:
Welcome aboard Martin, I'm sure the things you say aren't unique and I would certainly agree that I'm more a conversation person than someone who enjoys clubs and noisy atmospheres etc.

What interests do you have and what do you like talking about?

I find that being a loner can have it's downsides- but as one is alone, nobody else sees it!

I personally enjoy serious subjects (have little time for trivia) and I do have a love of history. I don't have anything to do with the subject directly in my job (I restore old classic cars) but  feel that studying the past tells us how we came to be now.
I have a love of old things though, and sometimes feel I was definitely born in the wrong time! :)
 
I know what you mean about feeling like you were born in the wrong time, I have a passion for historic aircraft and love the collections and museums etc. I could talk about Spitfires all day, it's really best not to let me loose on the subject...:D

It sounds as though you have a very interesting job, what kind of cars do you work on?
 
Yeti1980 said:
I know what you mean about feeling like you were born in the wrong time, I have a passion for historic aircraft and love the collections and museums etc. I could talk about Spitfires all day, it's really best not to let me loose on the subject...:D

It sounds as though you have a very interesting job, what kind of cars do you work on?

Ah- we may have something in common there. Years ago, when I was an apprentice I worked on Meteor engines for a while (and being a Spit. enthusiast, you'll know what they are  
wink.gif
) .

I work on the humble stuff- things like Morris Minors, Austins, Standards etc. Cars of the people as it were. Most of the ones I come into contact with are 50s/60s but tomorrow I'm going to look at a 1934 Standard nine that needs welding, so the job is quite varied. I do enjoy it- but I'll never be rich doing it!
 
A question for you.
How to you find old spare parts?
For eg a car door lock? (If this is what it is called)
Headlights? (And by the way, were they made of glass? Of course. Stupid question. Sorry)
You know, because the material they were made of, probably difficult to find now. Right?
 
Broken heart said:
A question for you.
How to you find old spare parts?
For eg a car door lock? (If this is what it is called)
Headlights? (And by the way, were they made of glass? Of course. Stupid question. Sorry)
You know, because the material they were made of, probably difficult to find now. Right?

Well, in truth there are still many new old stock parts for many things still out there. Depending on the marque of course, but some of the more popular old cars have a good spares back up even now.
If the car is something that was not popular in it's heyday then parts will be correspondingly difficult to find but nothing is impossible. If nothing else then some parts can be re-manufactured or repaired. Sometimes this is what I have to do myself.

Certain models have certain parts which always wore out fast and as a consequence are in high demand. In these cases it's not unusual for some company to start making them again- there are always ways ;)
 
Ah Meteor engines, were you a tank mechanic?

There's a bloke who's built a non-flying replica Spitfire and stuck an affordable Meteor in the front instead of a Merlin, no reduction gear so the prop goes the wrong way but otherwise very convincing. :D

You don't need to be rich to be happy mate, doing something you're passionate about is what it's all about.
 
Yeti1980 said:
Ah Meteor engines, were you a tank mechanic?

There's a bloke who's built a non-flying replica Spitfire and stuck an affordable Meteor in the front instead of a Merlin, no reduction gear so the prop goes the wrong way but otherwise very convincing. :D

You don't need to be rich to be happy mate, doing something you're passionate about is what it's all about.

Yes- I was trained originally as an apprentice VM as a civilian working on military kit. I do regard myself as having been lucky to get that chance as a few years later they changed the whole way that the Army does things and along came private contracts, and later, privatisation of the repair section of the MOD.
They still train, but the numbers are a fraction of what they were, and the whole organisation is much smaller than what it was. It's a different world now.

I guess the Meteor is a good choice for display purposes as the bona-fina Merlins are like gold for aircraft that are still flying. I hadn't realised that even from the outset, Meteors were manufactured with second-hand Merlin parts or components that failed the strict aircraft quality tests. As ground based units the standards were more relaxed- hence the saying: 'It'll be alright- it hasn't got to fly' :)

Yes, I wholeheartedly agree that doing what you want to is the most important thing. This isn't a rehearsal as they say!

What do you do?
 
Headbolt said:
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree that doing what you want to is the most important thing. This isn't a rehearsal as they say!

What do you do?

Well although I have a keen interest in these things, as a career path I've ended up working in Operating Theatres, very hard work sometimes but a very interesting job. 

I used to be a tour guide at an aviation museum but got married, bought a house, moved away etc and don't seem to have the time for that kind of thing lately. One of these days I'll get back hands-on with something...
 
Yeti1980 said:
Headbolt said:
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree that doing what you want to is the most important thing. This isn't a rehearsal as they say!

What do you do?

Well although I have a keen interest in these things, as a career path I've ended up working in Operating Theatres, very hard work sometimes but a very interesting job. 

I used to be a tour guide at an aviation museum but got married, bought a house, moved away etc and don't seem to have the time for that kind of thing lately. One of these days I'll get back hands-on with something...
Interesting! I had an interest in getting into medical engineering some years ago, being a problem-solver in this sense. I liked the idea of developing bespoke solutions for problems.
However-as always- institutions don't accommodate the individual eccentric inventor and you need to be absorbed into the system to play the game.
Also, I understand that many hospitals closed their engineering departments some time ago now and everything is outsourced to private specialist companies- I think that's right?
Then they wonder why everything costs so much...

I think I tend to live in a different world somehow! :)
 
Headbolt said:
Also, I understand that many hospitals closed their engineering departments some time ago now and everything is outsourced to private specialist companies- I think that's right?
Then they wonder why everything costs so much...

I think I tend to live in a different world somehow! :)

Yes things have turned that way these days, for some years now it's been the standard thing to have a maintenance package provided by the manufacturer and included in the purchase deal. Does mean we end up dealing with a multitude of firms, some of whom only have one bit of simple kit in our dept but we have to have it maintained to the set standard and that's that. In the old days there was scope for an in-house maintenance guy to get things wrong and there would then be a mud slinging match between the person, the hospital and the manufacturer each blaming each other. So, in a way it cuts out some of the crud, but then yes it does mean the costs are higher.

As for my role, I'm a bit of a jack of all trades and I have both a clinical and a troubleshooting/IT role. We have a very fancy set of Theatres with touch screens, recording suites and even the capability to live stream for lectures etc. Lovely when it works but then there's also plenty to go wrong! :D
 

Latest posts

Back
Top