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Hi

Hello all, this will be a short notes this week as things are moving fast and it is difficult to find the time to keep up!
Most important things first in case some of you don’t manage to get to the end before you nod off.
The portacabin will arrive tomorrow late morning. Jim and myself will supervise loading at the Maybury and the rest of you who will be at the shed are charged with keeping the roadway and kerbside clear for the lorry coming alongside. Stewart and Iain are going to Keith’s first to pick up some more slabs so anyone else keep that area clear please until they arrive back. There are cones inside the hall but who else has keys to get in – I have a set which I could pass on tonight if required. RD Anderson want paying before/during uplift, their office was closed this afternoon but they have agreed to take a shed card payment from Lyall tomorrow morning. I’ll talk to Lyall tonight on that but we have got a very good price, even with VAT.
If we manage to get that done tomorrow it will be a job well done. Then it is over to the rest of you to determine the order of work, who is in charge of each section of work and no jumping the gun onto something else or changing the plan until that work is completed.
Regarding materials for the work we may have struck lucky there too as Robertsons a nationwide contractor contacted me regarding work they are going to be doing at Heriot Watt University and where they expect to have surplus materials which may be of use to us as well as leveraging a good price out of their suppliers for other items we may want. As I was busy trying to get this portacabin sorted I passed that on to Stewart. They wanted to meet and to know a bit more about the shed and he is having a meeting this afternoon with then and hopefully Alastair two sheds has been able to go with him as I had to call off to take my wife for broughtforward dental treatment which has to be done and completed before she can start the medication for her osteoporosis. Like I said it is all go.
The slabs we collected from Keith’s last Thursday were laid around the periphery of where the portacabin is going to go last Friday with mesh fabric laid down below them and where the portacabin will sit. Under the portacabin area was also covered in type 2 aggregate to hold the fabric and suppress weeds. Some planting was also done on the downslope where the newly made ground was deposited to help stabilise it.
Iain has started to put together an agenda for the AGM and we need to ensure a full house for that so put the date in your diary and attend if at all possible because we require a quorum for voting on office bearers etc. Hopefully by then we will be under less restriction than we are now but we are organised for social distancing, sanitisation etc but maybe not for tea/coffee as things stand.
Graham has asked if the Mens Shed could install a bike rack at the Scout Hall for them. They are purchasing it so of course I said yes as Shed Members also have bikes which could use it too!
That’s it for now. If all goes to plan tomorrow I’ll see you later in the morning with a shed in tow. If any of you want to get up close to this operation tomorrow two points to note.
1. you may not be allowed to if the hiab operator says no.
2. If you are allowed by the hiab operator you will only be allowed by me if you have a hard hat and safety boots on as minimum PPE. This applies even for taking photos around the area of operation.
The general method of operating around cranes and overhead lifts is to have a toolbox talk before work commences and then only designated people give direction or instruction. Jim and I will learn more about that at the Maybury end and will have a better idea of what will be allowed or not.
That’s it for this week folks.. Hope you are all well and enjoying a little bit more freedom while still managing to stay, (and feel) safe.
Regards to all
Alister

Alister Skinner
Chairman
Pentlands Men's Shed