It's probably best to not kill the mechanic

A sweet little car, Porsche 356B

I know, ever since I’ve started writing for magazines and newspapers I’ve been slack as with the blog.  But things have been progressing nicely.

Except with the building of the house, where things haven’t been progressing at all.  We need to have the car’s engine finished so we can flog it, which will in turn finance the rest of the house (most of it). 

But we are still waiting for the wretched mechanic to finish work on the Porsche.  Even though he keeps assuring us there is only six weeks’ work left to do, that counts for nothing when he’s doing precisely no work at all. 

Antique textile woodblocks will be at Collectorama

It’s been over ten years – yes, you read correctly, TEN YEARS that we’ve been waiting.  And now he’s getting all indignant that we’re being unreasonably impatient in wanting it finished right now.

Do I want to throttle him?  Yes.  Yes I do.

But rather than kill the mechanic, we embarked on a hunt to find a new guy.  The challenge was to find someone with the skills and experience to work on a vintage Porsche 356B, because they have special engines that are nothing like those in modern cars. 

Vintage pictures will be at Collectorama

And yay, we have finally found someone.  Unfortunately the new guy, as with all other mechanics working on vintage Porsches in Australia, still has to deal with our current mechanic to get specialist parts.  So there’s no escaping him. 

But at least we can now be reasonably certain that the job will be finished before we die.  And the old mechanic can be reasonably certain that he won’t encounter me in my Ninja Assassin outfit any time soon.

And that means we can recommence building the rest of the house.  Yay!  And maybe even go on a small buying trip, but we’ll see.

Meanwhile, Collectorama at the Nambour Showground is upon us, this coming Saturday.  We’ve got heaps of new things to offer, so I’m feeling excited about putting on a good display with interesting pieces.

French, English, Australian & Indian pieces

We’ve taken a break from the Caloundra Street Fair until the end of March, when we’ll be back with a vengeance. 

But the Yandina Market has just announced that it now wants it’s stallholders to arrive at 4am, so that’s definitely out.  Really, 4am?  It’s not going to happen.  That edict might be cancelled, because the regular stallholders are unhappy vegemites about it, but we’ll find out soon.

Meanwhile, I’ve been enjoying writing a variety of feature articles for newspapers and magazines.  Last week I had half-page newspaper features published on Tuesday and Saturday, and this month I have a two page travel and shopping feature coming up in the magazine Antiques & Collectables for Pleasure & Profit, which is the first of a series they have commissioned.

I'll be in this a lot in 2015

The Antiques magazine has also commissioned another six two-page features from me so far this year, three as part of my travel series and three random subjects of my choice.   

I’ve also got a feature coming up with a travel magazine, I’ve pitched a few more so we’ll see what happens there, and today I was offered the role of media publicist for the King of the Mountain footrace.   

This race attracts international competitors and is ridiculously hard, and I think I can write something interesting about it.  I’m not sure if I’ll take on the publicity role yet, but probably I will. 

So yay, this writing gig is progressing nicely. 

But the big thing this week is the reprieve from Certain Death for the mechanic, and Collectorama on Saturday, 7 March.   

You know I have already written an article on this Fair (which is in the current edition of the Antiques magazine, pictured above), so it’s safe for you to visit without me taking notes and embarrassing photos.  If you can come by to say hello, you’ll be welcome.