Pink Hair (by sarah)

Finially after hunting high and low for hair dye I decided to just give up and by spray on pink hair spray.

So I now have pink hair:

And so does Jean though she loves pink unlike me and so decided to wear pink cloths aswell:

Of course this was supposed to be done for October 31st but never mind - We did it to raise money for Breast Cancer - so if you sponsered me be aware that I am coming collecting! With a big stick if nessicary!

And if you didn't sponser me it is not too late and I will be accepting late sponsers.

And so here are more pink hair pics:

Mummy Pink and Baby Pink

Daddy confused that his family have all turned pink and thinking that maybe there has been an alien invasion whilst he was in the office.

The van is fixed! (by alaric)

After the van's sad demise, it went off to Sarah's excellent uncle David to be fixed.

Anyway, he sorted it out, and I picked it up last weekend, but I've only had a moment to write about it now!

Basically, the front right wishbone had broken. It's a big triangular metal thing that attaches to the chassis on two hinges, and then attaches to the wheel at the other end, with the shock absorber coming down into the middle. As the van rides over bumps, it pivots on the hinges, regulated by the shock absorber. So it plays an important part in supporting the weight of the van.

However, knowing I'd be interested, after replacing it with a new one, David put the broken one in the van for me to take a look at!

I'd have expected something like this to be a solid casting - but no, it's two pressed sheet steel shapes welded together, making a hollow body. It looks like thick steel, 3mm or so, but near where it's cracked apart, it's more like 1mm. I presume that's due to corrosion over the years.

Here's the new one - in situ, under the van. It's the shinier, blacker, cleaner looking part, although it's already picked up quite a bit of mud.

The old one is now in the little garage, awaiting cutting apart to investigate its construction and exact reason for failure, then WELDING PRACTICE!