The doors are all done.

In the end for the external door we opted for a mahogany stain, which was a bit of a compromise for both of us.

Slightly more dramatic was the sudden agreement of the two of us on not having a white door into the kitchen but instead giving it a slightly off-clear varnish to bring out the colour of the wood, and also match the colour of the kitchen units.

So yes, the doors are now well and truly done. Apart from the mortice deadlock on the porch door, but we don't have the handles yet for that so it's having to wait.

My next project didn't go so well. Alison has been given an in-car CD player by a friend in one of the bands she plays in, and I was trying to wire this into her car. The wiring diagram in the Haynes manual that was more or less bought for the purpose did not entirely match with the wires that were present behind the old radio. I experimented a little, but was unable to get the damn thing working. As a result, I feel I have to say...

BAH!

Let's talk about the doors again, because they're cool. I mentioned the lovely mahogany stain we both compromised on (well, actually it wasn't really a compromise because both of us decided to reassess the whole issue from scratch). It was quite potent. It had fumes that, were they not already a constituent of a wood treatment product, you'd think could strip paint. Naturally I didn't realise quite how potent it was until I was a) flying (or at the very least, taxiing at some speed down the runway) and b) had a massive headache from breathing in noxious fumes. Needless to say, when doing later coats I took more precautions.

The other door was a much quicker job, but no less hair-raising. The discovery that the frame was decidedly wonky was not a happy one, but a quick go with the electric planer and bish-bosh-bash, Bob's your next-door neighbour. Well, our next-door neighbour.

I saw the Transformers Armada Jetfire in Woolworths yesterday and was very tempted by it. Jetfire always was one of the dudier Transformers and I may yet go back and buy him. Yes, if you look closely enough there is a small boy hiding behind (or inside) my inner geek. I think I'm still resenting the fact that I was a year or two too old to have any Transformers of my own first time around. Anyway, Heh.

Whilst on the subject of Transformers, got the fourth volume of the Transformers UK comics omnibuses. Getting pretty much close to the end of what I remember reading in my brother's comics 18 or however many years ago. Good stuff. Not surprising that it's on a par with the new Transformers comics, given that they're written by the same guy.

Oh, and I appear to have completed the main storyline of GTA: Vice City. Maybe now I'll start finding time to actually write. Maybe I won't let myself get the Transformer until I've done Chapter 16 or something.

Oh, I dunno. I just need some challenges, and to feel less like I'm slacking off.