I WILL TRY AGAIN
Posted by MIKE on October 9, 2026, 10:08 am
Ima Fangler .
It was 6am Thursday and I was prepping my morning cuppa when I heard the neighbours weekly Mercury delivery sending his dog mad which meant it was my turn next.
My droid George somehow managed to retrieve my own paper then started beeping to indicate 'mail' which was unexpected as it was too early. It was a white envelope, unaddressed, which contained a plain business card stating in large bold face:-
Ima Fangler
To which the sender had added a large red ? on the opposite side along with a phone number that I was disinclined to call until later on, maybe noon.
Still its a good sign of a healthy curiousity that might lead to a well paying job.

Posted by MIKE on October 10, 2026, 6:45 pm, in reply to "Re: new story"
Part 2
On the other hand I mused, the ? more likely indicated a query as to the meaning of 'fangler'. Is it a job title or a surname, this might be a misprint and if not what the hell does such a position mean because some traditional surnames like 'smith' could describe ones occupation.
After all the latter is my case unlike my unfortunate friend Mike whose business 'Mikes Minis' earned him the soubriquet Mr SMINIS thanks to callers misled by his small ad typo in the local free sheet Pennysaver which was the right small size and paper type to be used in every local business bathroom as perfect for wiping asses.
In my painful and protracted progress from adolescence to adulthood I had ricocheted from one occupation to another in search of a satisfactory career starting out as a hot metal printer then as a layout artist then a toolmaker and in light engineering and so on. Add a few more and to cut a long story short I used my varied experience to qualify as a Jack of all trades.

Posted by MIKE on October 11, 2026, 11:57 p
PITTLER TURRET LATHE PART 3
My mentor was Emil Molnar a Hungarian whose light engineering firm would take on almost anything but who specialized in parts for racing Manx Norton singles. Emil had the most esoteric Soviet machine tools which he bought at auction for a song before renovating them.
Clumsy inelegant, ugly lumps they were fitted with solenoid controls which were a bugger to repair. However despite the ugly heavy nature of these tools they were really excellent and turned out lovely work once you got used to their clumsy nature.
Another oddball machine, not Russian, was a Pittler turret lathe an amazingly accurate albeit weird design which boasted a vertical faceplate into which many tool bits can fit to carry out a sequence of operations. This was my baby because its so precise you can make watch parts and those are naught compared to the nuts and bolts the thickness of a hair used to fasten circuit board components to satellite electronics as the cold of space can otherwise cause copper traces to lift off the boards.
So dithering my way through a leisurely breakfast, I flipped my mental Rolodex, organising my assets until there was nothing left but to dial the enigmatic number provided and hope the result would be worthwhile as funds were getting a bit low and I had bills to pay and resources to acquire

Posted by MIKE on October 17, 2026, 5:12 pm
I had moved to a cottage in North Wales several years ago because the location was ideal from both a romantic as well as a practical viewpoint with the emphasis on view.
Isolated on the mountainside though it was, with a splendid view of Bird Rock, the narrow gauge Talyllyn Railway connected me to the seaside resort of Towyn and the BR mainline service.
This ideal and yet isolated place made my business immune from casual visitors whilst providing me with fast and easy access to the facilities or services needed to satisfy any demands my business might require.
Which is why my business adverts lacked any address other than the head offices in London and Manchester staffed by a secretary who existed to answer the phone and set up any meeting needed with the elusive Mr. Fangler.

Posted by MIKE on October 19, 2026, 10:35 pm, in reply to "e"
TILE B
My name is Arthur Weasely, I'm a member of that large human minority the magic users of the Isles, (not the entertainment variety) and along with a few of us from the Ministry have been getting worried about interference from the electronics of the Others which lately have grown from being a mere nuisance to a downright menace.
Magic is simply another form of energy to which a few of us are sensitive and the Others are not although the truth is that many of them are but either don't recognise it as part of the electromagnetic spectrum or attribute it to a nervous or physiological condition.
When your lot started investigating high energy physics especially microwaves and radar, fascinating stuff by the way and the cavity magnetron, clever intuitive leap but it gave my department no end of problems.

Posted by MIKE on October 24, 2026, 1:16 pm
ARTHUR AT DOLGOCH
The Tallylyn is not a line noted for its predictability, after all it was originally built to serve the slate quarries but wandering sheep and various other random rural events make a train ride an adventure.
Neither Arthur nor myself wanted to discuss business until we were unencumbered by curious ears, besides I wasn't sure why we were meeting to discuss what? I assumed he needed my services but it might be that he was here to point out some problem facing us, normal people.
We detrained at Dolgoch from whence a footpath leads to my lair and that is a comical term that my secretary applied after her first visit in high heels with the predictable result. Bloody women! Who in their right mind goes off road dressed for the city?