I've done a couple of coving jobs recently, which prompted me to put cyber pen to cyber paper once more...

Before actually fixing coving to the wall/ceiling, it's a good idea to put a few pencil marks along, so that you know where the top and bottom edges should be once they're fixed. Otherwise you can work your way round the room, to find your last piece doesn't meet up with your first piece...

On the day in question, I knew I had to put my pencil marks 83mm down from the ceiling. Unfortunately, I also knew I was going out to see a band that evening to celebrate my birthday. One of their best-known songs is a little tribute to the music of the 1950's entitled "78rpm". So all day I had "78rpm" going round my head. You can probably guess where the pencil marks ended up...

But it doesn't end there. On the way to the gig, I was recounting the tale to my friend/chauffeur, who told me of a friend of his who had bought coving to put up himself.  Noticing it was paper-covered, he assumed (for reasons known only to himself) that this was some sort of protective wrapping, and decided that it needed to be removed. Again for reasons known only to himself, he decided that the best way to accomplish this task was to lay all the lengths of coving in a bath for half an hour. He returned to find what can best be described as plaster soup with soggy paper croutons...