What on earth is going on here…..?

‘In the corner of the workshop, Olli Ragbin sits watching events unfold before him’

This week’s picture run-down is, I have to say, somewhat confusing.

We have 3 pictures which (and I’ve been looking at them for a good 10 minutes) I don’t really understand.

Denizens of the interweb will be familiar with the old meme ‘what’s going on in this picture?’, usually supporting a baffling activity, often, but not always, animal-related.

Now I think of it and scanning back through the archives, there are often CCM pictures which have the capacity to confuse and befuddle. In fairness, tis mostly I befuddled.

A tech will be tweaking something I don’t recognise on a part from a classic I’ve never heard of for a symptom I wouldn’t notice.

Still, that’s probably why I do the job I do. General fetching, carrying and holding. I’ve also perfected the subtle art of ‘watching what’s going on’. It’s taken a while and often the interpretation of what I see isn’t immediately obvious to my eye, but honestly, it’s a lot more entertaining than the telly.

Perhaps I should start a CCM YouTube channel with a running commentary of things as they unfold before me.

“Here’s shrimp eye Justin… doing that thing…. On that whatsit…mending…perhaps…no, adjusting…oh hang on…no….. he’s tweaked it….. why hasn’t he used a hammer yet?”

On second thoughts, maybe not.

So, let’s look at some photos. I sneaked in one from the web to see if you’re all paying attention. Which one is unrelated to CCM and which one is connected to CCM…? it’s hard to tell at first glance, but there are some subtle clues. All things considered though, absolutely no idea what’s happening in any of them.

(your guess is as good as mine......)

Now to something more immediately accessible and comforting. A lovely shot of a CCM grandchild. I imagine we all have our first memories of the wonderment being felt whilst first getting behind the wheel of a genuine adult car. Just great. Warms ya cockles don’t it!

“To tweak or not to tweak, that is the question”

And the answer is always, always, tweak. If something is not quite right, then tweak it until it is. Dr Ray is infamous for not letting ‘good enough’ get in the way of perfect. The occasional downside is that sometimes, rarely, things are not for tweaking. A wee nip on a clamp and a new manifold is suddenly added to the inventory. Still, our customer is measurable better off even if Eric has to now ferret down the back of the couch for loose change. (To be fair, none of us would have it any different way).

As usual, we have a tonne of work in the pipeline. I am battling the way up the list as ‘most prolific customer’. Not content with collecting the workshop rags and perfecting my watching, I’ve got junior’s Fiesta about the be recommissioned following ‘that’ incident, I’ve got the part-owned Aprilia 750 fixed, paid for and awaiting a damn good thrashing (not a straightforward job, replacement of the thermostat requiring the frame to be split in two…! Thanking you Young Chris, can’t wait to see it!). and if I too can magic up some shekels from somewhere, the old 911 Eric and I used to share may be coming in for a bit of love from the Dr!

An expensive month. But as always, moving forward.

Finally, I think I have work to do in patching up my relationship with the lovely Ingrid. Every time I speak to Eric on the phone (and he always puts me on loudspeaker on account of his ears), before we’ve had chance to complete our initial welcoming exchange, Ingrid shouts out from the background ‘he’s not buying whatever it is you’ve found!’.

This week I had no hair-brained schemes at all. No ulterior motive. No plan for shared ownership of anything. I think I have ‘trust’ bridges to build.

(Having said all that, Eric and I have exchanged WhatsApp messages about cheap Bentleys currently available on my favourite car sales website, so she’s probably right to be weary).

The weather is glorious, time to get out in your automotive weapon of choice and enjoy motoring in the sunny British Isles. When it’s like this, it feels like there is no better place to be. Good job too considering ‘all better places’ are on a red list and the likelihood is that we will be visiting them no time soon.

So from the CMM team, Eric, Siobhan, Dr Ray, Shrimp-eye Justin, Young Chris, Izzi and Ingrid have a great week and get those classics out in this green and pleasant land.