Tools

Today I was due to start work on the stairs, and I did until I realised that I needed an angle-grinder to do a good job of cutting the nails that had held in the old treads. I can't knock out most of the nails, and when I tried with some of the rest, I was damaging the woodwork. My small power saw has a grinding/cutting blade for metal, but I couldn't get the wood blade out.

So I set off for ScrewFix, with the additional task of getting something for lunch. On the way, I spotted that the Pentlands were purple due to the heather being in flower. In Tesco I met a neighbour, who said "yes" when I asked whether he had an angle-grinder he could lend me. Walking back, in the pedestrian area I spotted that the "bike man" had one for sale that I thought would suit me. Its origin was good, it was in great condition, had components that were from a good manufacturer, and the wheels spun "true". It seemed to be such a bargain that I almost offered more than the £40 that he wanted for it! I guess people want "new bikes" so, in Penicuik at least, there's little demand for second-hand bikes.

Hence I arrived home, admitting to A that I'd not bought an angle-grinder, but had got a bike! I then said that W would be bringing his around at 13:30. This turned out to be a large, heavy and massively powerful device that was more suitable for cutting bricks than trimming nails flush with woodwork. It was also spitting out sparks and fragments of hot metal. Fortunately we managed to loosen the bolt attaching the wood blade of my saw, but when I managed to get the guard off so that it could be used as an angle-grinder, I realised that it wouldn't be safe to do so! Hence, once I'd reassembled my saw, I set off for ScrewFix on the bike. 

I decided to go via the old railway, but it was such a lovely afternoon - and the bike was good to ride - so I continued to Bonnyrigg, returning via Loanhead and Roslin. all this took me about 90 minutes, but I did get to ScrewFix before it closed! I also remembered to get blades for the cheap, low-power angle-grinder that I'd bought! 

Coming into Penicuik, the bike's front wheel felt odd, and I feared that I'd damaged it. However, it transpired that the tyre wall had split and the inner tube was bulging out! I took a lot of pressure out of it to reduce the chance of it bursting, and noted that I'd need to buy a new front tyre!