Daily Record and Noahs Ark

www.microlodge.net

Well, well.

I see we are all over page 18 of todays Daily Record.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/editors-choice/2011/09/26/canny-scots-snapping-up-holidays-with-the-latest-craze-glamping-86908-23448439/

The thing that has taken us by total surprise, is the performance figures shown.  We always knew that the Hobbit houses were popular, but figures mentioned by Noahs Ark Caravan Park, were quoted as having 99.2% occupancy.  Breathtaking indeed.

Noahs Ark in Perth

Meanwhile, in the real world, we are bashing on in the workshop with the latest of our next order of 10 Hobbit houses and are hoping to have 6 of them out on site by Xmas, all ready for the skiing season.

Microlodge gearing up for winter builds

www.microlodge.co.uk

Well, the weather is now most certainly on the turn, so it's time to get the workshop wood burner sorted out for the colder weather. As per last winter, the cutting room, (mine), is going to be nice and toasty, whilst the assembly room, (Garys), will be like an Arctic acclimatisation module.

Had a tiff with the cat this morning, and it brought to mind the classic Rabbie Burns line of:- "Oh the gift that God wid gie us, to see ourselves as others see us.

Cat, (as I see him)

As I see myself...

As Cat sees me...

Ah well, better get back to work and make a living so I can keep the hairy ginger one in the life of luxury that he has become accustomed to.

Dragons Den pods

www.microlodge.co.uk

Well well, I see pods have been on Dragons Den and Theo has invested.  Do we have serious competition?
Well, I think not.
The reason being, is when we were asked to go on Dragons Den 2 years ago, we reckoned that to hand over 30% of our company, we would realistically need to charge 30% more for a unit, and turned down their offer to appear.

Why?  Well, for a start, we enjoy being in our own workshop and not mass producing in some faceless factory somewhere, so it seemed a tad silly to put ourselves under that sort of pressure where doing something we love would turn into a chore.

As we only build 2 to 3 units per month, we found we could maintain strict quality control.

Big business or satisfying occupation?  We made our choices and are more than happy with them.

How it all started...Sheds in a shed.

www.microlodge.net

I had a conversation today, running along the lines of sheds and how we got started at Microlodge, so here's a brief summery of our history.

I had just returned from a year in Sri Lanka where I ended up, a week after the Tsunami, doing relief work in a village (or what was left of it), called Tellwatta, and came home to Scotland as the thought of  returning to live in Spain had lost it's appeal.

By chance, I met up with Gary, who was to become my business partner, when we got talking about picnic tables for his pub of all things.  I reckoned we could come up with some really quirky designs.

So, we built round ones...

Octagonal ones...

ermmm..these ones

and ones that looked like benches...but...

with a pull and a twist...

turned into this.

Soon, other things started to appear in the form of wishing wells and planters etc

A lot our our work consisted of pieces for caravan sites, so when one of them mentioned they were thinking of investing in camping pods, we took it upon ourselves to try to design something quirky, fun to build, yet practical. Therefore, 2 things needed to be done.  First, build a prototype and secondly, how do you build a shed in a shed so to speak.

The first part was done after weeks of sleepless nights doing designs 'in the head' and then model building began.

First a skeleton..

Then the outer skin..

Bunks...

...and a camera case rucksack.

Then the second part to turn this small shed into..

this...

and finally..

...cue drum roll.....Now that's what I call a shed!!!

So, we started on the first full sized prototype, but as we neared build completion, we sussed there was a slight problem...we couldn't get the Hobbit out of the doors, so a bit of demolition was required.

original..with straight sides (note lack of roof space above)

Since those days, we have of course had to move to a larger, and proper workshop, but we still retain the same hands on principals with only 2 of us doing the build start to finish and accompany every unit on delivery. We have also stuck to our guns and only produce a Hobbit every 3 weeks or so rather than trying to just 'churn them out'.

Now, it's more like this,

We still only clear the workshop doors by 2" though

Ben Narnain & The Cobbler

www.microlodge.net

They always say, if you're going to stop smoking, tell everyone as it makes it more difficult to back out of the challenge.

Therefore, using the same philosophy, this Sunday coming, I hope to at last 'thread the needle' of Ben Arthur, or better known as The Cobbler, combined with climbing Ben Narnain.

This is of course weather dependent, and as readers of my blog know, I'm a big girls blouse when it comes to climbing anything higher than Bonos opinion of himself.

I have also come across a weird anomaly.  My super-duper Silva Ranger compass has reversed its polarity and I have no idea why this could happen.  Any suggestions?

It's no big deal as I just need to remember that the big red bit wot says North is in fact South and carry on as normal.

At work, we are designing bike and ski storage units to sit alongside the Hobbit Houses, so having fun.

Then, the weekend after next, with luck I'll be heading back to Kinlochleven Hobbits and, with someone who knows what they're doing, will attempt to tackle the Aonach Ridge.

At this point...there is no going back...

I sometimes think my time could be wasted more productively by learning to Photoshop, stay at home with a beer in my hand... and pasting myself into exotic locations.

The Danger of Currys

www.microldge.co.uk

CURRYS

Boy...and I thought I was in for a tough time.
My laptop hard drive had fried after just 6 months, so I duly took it back to Currys.

There was 2 of us in the queue at customer services, and although I reckoned I was the most aggrieved, I let the customer beside me 'go first' as he was one of the few there older than I.

His tale was a joy to behold.    It went something like this...

Customer:- " Hello, I've come to collect my TV" and produces the receipt.
Customer relations (after 5 minutes search) "Sorry Sir, not one of ours"
Me, "Well, he does have a chitty wot says Currys on it"
Customer relation, " Oh, so it does, I'll check again"
Customer " Wanker"
Customer relations "Ah, it was in for repair...it was goosed and replaced"
Customer "Lovely"
Customer relations, "Yes, you collected the replacement last week"
Customer, "Ermm, I think I saw a large vacant space in my living room this morning"
Me "Gasp...guffaw"

Then...believe it or not...customer replies, "I'll go home and check" and proceeds to walk out of the store.