Beetle Boards and More...

Thankfully last weekend the van sold, even after the couple who bought it pulled a good sized section of the lefthand sill off. They came to collect it on Sunday and I was told; sat there for around 15 mins trying to find 1st gear (Not an easy task when the gearstick is joined to the gearbox with a 14ft cable). This then allowed Natalie and I to head down to South London to have a look at a nice beetle we had seen. I made sure to check the underside first and all of the structural points before getting too excited about the engine. We bought it. Its an absoloute bargain for what it is, sure the paint works isn't the best and the alloys are scratched, but its pushing 50 years old has no major rust issues and goes like stink. We garaged it at Nat's parents place and headed back to Sheffield for some uni work and a physio apointment.
The physio session went well, I was told that they couldn't really do any more for me given how much movement and flexibility I had and that this was effectively the last session I needed unless I want some after they take the frame off. This is good news in terms of progress but its nice to have something leg oreintated to focus on rather than the removal date which still seems a long way off (given the extra 6 week period afterwards where you're not allowed to do anything).
On Wed night I got an email from Nic which was a forwarded message from Keith Hayman, one of the artists from Heeley Bank School, basically everyone has been told to leave by Nov 07, this is seriously bad news. Personally I would want to re-build the boards somewhere else. I accept that theyre far from perfect and falling to bits but in my mind they are a major piece of climbing history, many hard problems and feats of climbing strength have been carried out on those boards/in that room and it was the footage in the real thing video that inspired me to train when I was younger. Even now after I've had a chance to test myself on those very problems I would still be unhappy to see them go.
Natalie and I headed to the climbing works on thursday for her first visit back since my incident. She did well, ticking the first 15 or so of the green circuit. Talk was of the boards being rehomed to the works but I don't think they could stand up to an hour in that place. Hopefully a new venue is found, and soon.
Right now i'm back down south to bring the hotrod back up on Sunday...In order to drive it you need to keep your eyes peeled for even a slight dip in the road or a twig as the oil cooler is mounted on the underside of the front beam and it is seriously low.

Progress...

Progress with the leg has been reasonably good over the last week or so (after it recovered from the knock I gave it). I can now 'walk' without my crutch although I still trail it for those moments where my balance gives in or I am confronted by a step...tricky things these. One of the pins is being a pain and leaking/bleeding an awful lot but that’s just that.


Progress with the van hasn't been as good. One problem with the VW scene is there are a lot of people who like pictures of shiny vehicles; therefore my inbox has been inundated with people basically wasting time. As well as this my Dad had two real time wasters who's maximum budget was around 50% of the asking price, I don't go to view cars I cant afford it just plain rude. Today I thought it was going to sell, a family came up from Cambridge and spent a good few hours asking questions and looking over the bus, unfortunately they decided not to go for it. Funnily enough they said if it hadn't of had the small sill hole (cost of repair £200) they would of been willing to pay £1500 more! This has left me a tad frustrated, people don't seem to appreciate that these vehicles require ongoing maintenance; the chances are if you find one you think doesn't need any you just haven't looked in the right places. Never mind there are more people viewing at the weekend and the odd genuine person phoning up in between. Found a nice bug on Vzi, it runs the quarter mile in an easy 16s (18's equates to cars with a 0-60 of around 9.5s) so this thing is quick!

Maybe if someone buys the van quick enough I can get myself that lil' hotrod for when the scaffolding comes off my leg...

The Bus

Last weekend Nat and I headed up to the North East to see my parents for a bit and took that chance to check the bus over. The louvered window that wouldn't budge an inch last time was fixed, the battery charged up and then the tyres were flattened in order to remove it from the my parents garage that I filled for the second time (last time it was with a 50 deg board). Removing it from the garage isn't fun at all, there is a one inch concrete lip that means the roof comes painfully close to the garage door (even after wooden panels are removed and it's pushed off its runners!) and the flattened tyres mean steering it is like wrestling a large bear. After about an hour and the help of Natalie and Dad the van was out and the tyres were re-inflated for a run out.



I'm really sad to be putting the van up for sale, it took me a long time to research and find and I've put some hard work in myself on some of the electronics.
I checked it over and everything seemed great apart from the rear hatch. The catch has always been a pain but it just wouldn't budge this time, after a while of trying we decided to drive it down to the local garage while dad booked his *cough* Volvo in for a test and mot, annoyingly the catch had rattled loose on the journey, some prying with a large screw driver (aren't old vehicles great) it was fixed and it turned out the guy (who I didn't really want to touch it as he fudged some electrics on the mini with his fat fingers) was a VW enthusiast, having a rather nice 2000cc beetle, and a buggy which was about to receive a nice shiny 1600cc lump (it was sitting on an engine stand and I couldn't help but think it would look damn nice in the bus).
Now it's on the market and interest seems high although one bloke walked away this morning, I think he was somewhat naive to expect an unpatched front cab floor on a RHD British bus, it rains in this country and we use SALT!!! It isn’t going to be the same as a Californian import. Hopefully whoever buys it will take it on a long deserved trip and take care of it.I've always liked cars, especially older ones and flicking through the VW sites today this caught my eye, its not as if someone my age can afford to insure anything head turning and fun so old might have to be the way, its a 1955 oval beetle with a 1600cc twin carb engine.

I saw some pictures of it at Santa Pod so I bet it can move. I'm currently trying to persuade Nat that we need to attend Bugjam this year, the idea of a great big camper blasting off the line on two wheels doesn't seem to have the same appeal for her.




(ps - Sorry to all the climbers who aren't interested in cars who read this, although it seems a general trend that people who climb hard like cars and drive fast, anyone else had a lift with Simon Lee recently?)

Group Therapy

Today was the first group physiotherapy session for people with fixators on. I went expecting the average age to be around 70 after looking at the people in the waiting room last time but it wasn't too bad. Everything went fine, I'm told that the motion in my ankle and foot is about as good as it gets and anything else I get after this will be a bonus, I think its fairly similar to my other foot so that’s fine. Another bloke was there who has had the frame on for a similar amount of time, he was still heavily on his crutches which I guess illustrates the good progress I was told about however it still seems an awfully long time until my next check-up and the possibility of having it removed.
I also found out today that there is an extra 6 week period after the frame is removed where you have to be bloody careful, this means no running, falling and therefore climbing, that puts me in mid July before I can start training again fully!!!
I ordered a Compex EMS machine after chatting to some people in the know, if it turns out to be a pile of.... then it'll go on Ebay, if not maybe it will help me retain some strength whilst i'm doing less. After testing it briefly over the weekend I can tell you one thing; they're certainly not painless and I'm nowhere near setting 460 that Ru suggested I should be aiming for.