JIMMY WATSON - His mother, Marion, teases her son about his dreams to build a large robot ant with a drawing of her son riding on the ant's back. Then it comes true.

<< CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6 - APPROVAL TO ORDER PARTS, MISSION IS A GO

Finally, after nine months of hard labour, two hundred and seventy early morning starts, scrimping and saving, pulling in his belt on sweets, savoury snacks, sneaky burgers and fried chicken, Jimmy had accumulated enough money, with a prudent reserve of cash as a safety net, that his mother and father, Marion and Tim, were more than just a little pleased to be able say that is was safe for him to order the parts for his DinoBot. They felt comfortable, at last. And, time was marching on, just three months to go before Christmas.

It was a bright Saturday morning. The family were seated at the kitchen table, partaking of cereal for a healthier start to the day. Tim and Marion had agreed the night before that it was time.

"Jimmy, how much have you saved now?"

Marion asked the question, then casually took a spoonful of muesli. Tim was munching on a bowl of high protein granola. He stopped to hear the reply. Jimmy swallowed his blueberry wheats. They tasted so good, just perfectly soaked in full fat whole milk, yet still crunchy. He let that mouthful of heaven go down, then thought for a moment.

"A little over two thousand £pounds, and change."

"And, how much are the parts you need?" Tim asked.

Jimmy pulled out a list from his back pocket. He always carried that around with him. Like a safety blanket, and just in case he needed to note down any late minute additions, or thoughts. He unfolded the well-worn paper, that now had a parchment feel, with shiny surfaces, polished from rubbing against his jeans, from each extraction and deposit. And from being sat on while enjoying TV on the sofa, movement from cycling in all weathers, and being handled by sometimes, less than clean hands.

"The basic kit with all the extras I think will be needed, runs to one thousand three hundred and seventy £pounds. That includes VAT and delivery."

Tim was just about to speak, but was cut off.

"Then, I need some extra alloy tubing. It's not that expensive from Aluminium Warehouse, an online supplier. Allow £100 pounds."

Marion went to speak, and was cut off.

"I'll also need some fixings from Screwfix and Tool Station. I guess about £50 pounds worth. I can play that by ear, and maybe borrow some from you dad." 

Tim nodded to acknowledge, waiting with Marion, before trying to speak, to be sure that Jimmy had finished. He wasn't. He was in full flood.

I'll also need some composites, epoxy resins, woven rovings. Carbon and Aramid fibre, if we can source cheap enough. Not much, but better than glass fibre. If, a good price. Otherwise, fibreglass will do. Allow another £150, to be safe."

Marion was confused. What were woven rovings? She'd heard of carbon-fibre, because Formula 1 cars were made of that. She also knew about fibreglass, because some bathtubs were now made of that, and most sailing and power boats.

"What is a woven roving, when it's at home?"

"Oh, sorry mum, it's cloth made of carbon or glass fibres. You soak it in liquid resin, and when that chemically cures, it becomes hard plastic. That is very strong."

"Stronger than steel, actually," said Tim.

"Oh really?"

"Yes Mum, and you can form it into any shape."

Tim waited patiently.

"I'm going to use it to make the bodywork, look like a giant insect."

"Uh, huh." Marion was genuinely interested, as an artist. "Like fibreglass."

Tim saw his opportunity. He already knew about composites. "So how much then?"

Jimmy knew it was crunch time, he was out of excuses. He had to give a figure, or lose momentum. "Well, with the composites, about one thousand, six hundred and seventy £pounds."

"Thank you Jimmy. Finally. Okay," said Marion, "£1,670 pounds is not as bad as I thought."

"Sorry Mum."

"No, that's okay Jimmy," said his father. "We did put you on the spot."

Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief.

"And, that leaves you three hundred and forty £pounds, as a reserve."

"Yes dad. Plus, whatever I earn from now until Christmas."

"Why Christmas Jimmy?" Marion and Tim asked together.

Jimmy did not want to say exactly why. He felt a bit too old to be believing in Santa Claus. He thought they'd think him silly.

"It's just a target I've set myself."

"Well, in that case you'd better get a move on," said his father.

"Really dad?"

"Yes Jimmy, your mother and I agreed on this some time ago. Didn't we? We said if the project sounded good, and you could afford it, we'd support you."

"I know that's what you said, and to be honest, and although you've never gone back on a promise; I was still nervous about the whole thing."

"How so?" Marion interjected.

"Well, it is a lot of money, and a very big commitment."

"It's epic Jimmy. But we love it." Marion and Tim gave Jimmy a huge hug. Marion as always, holding back that lump in her throat. Even Tim had to cough to stay composed.

Jimmy quickly finished up his 'blueberry wheats,' and rinsed the bowl in the sink. 

"Thanks mum and dad." Then he scampered off, upstairs, to begin ordering the parts. There was no time to lose. He'd never set out to spend so much money all in one go. He was trembling with excitement.

"Jimmy, Jimmy", called Marion. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Jimmy rushed back down the stairs, a quizzical look on his face. Marion was holding up her Debit card.

"You'll be needing this, I imagine."

Jimmy gratefully took his Mum's Debit card.

"You'll be needing these as well." 

Marion held up a small square of paper.

"Oh, the codes. Thanks mum."

"Those come straight back down here, once you've completed your shopping spree. Understood?"

"Of course Dad. Scouts honour."

Jimmy saluted with two fingers to his forehead.

THE SHOPPING SPREE

He almost could not believe it. His parents had not only approved, but generously contributed to his project. That made him responsible. What if he fouled up?

Armed with his laptop and a list longer than his arm, Jimmy navigated the treacherous waters of the internet. The mission: procure the necessary components for his dream – a robotic dinosaur. 

This was no small feat; Jimmy had spent weeks meticulously researching, comparing prices, and scrupulously planning his purchases.

He began with the "must-haves": a powerful servo motor for the neck, a high-torque motor for the tail, and a twin rugged drive motors. He found promising suppliers on a website called "Robotica," their prices competitive and their reviews glowing. With a trembling finger, Jimmy clicked "Add to Cart." The page refreshed, and his heart sank. The servo motor for neck and tail, and the twin main drives, his pride and joy, had vanished from his cart.

Frustration gnawed at him. He refreshed the page again, only to find the motors gone. A wave of panic washed over him. Had he done something wrong? Had the website crashed? He frantically searched for the motors again, only to find them listed at a much higher price. Ahhhh.

He started from scratch. Entered the search terms in another search engine. But all the competing suppliers listed the same parts at very much higher prices. Including Amazon and Ebay. Though, Ebay seemed to have more specialist suppliers of hard to find parts. delivery was a bit more hit and miss. Without Amazon Prime, and that cost extra.

His online shopping adventure had only just begun. He spent the next few hours navigating a maze of websites, comparing prices, battling disappearing items, and contending with unexpected taxes. He discovered the joys of "free shipping" only to find that it was offset by exorbitant handling fees if coming from overseas. Many Chinese sellers did not make a delivery charge, though coming from China. That puzzled Jimmy. Banggood, Temu and Alibaba. How was that possible? He learned the art of patience, waiting for pages to load, for orders to process, and for confirmation emails to arrive.

Jimmy ended up back on the "Robotica" website for the main drive motors. After several frustrating attempts, he finally managed to add the motors back to his cart, this time double-checking to ensure it was secure. This time he did not try to check out as a guest. He registered. Another requirement for some sites was to be registered with Paypal. Why was it all so complicated?

He added the other essential components, his heart pounding with anticipation. Then, with a deep breath, he clicked "Proceed to Checkout."

The next few minutes were a blur of entering addresses, selecting shipping options, and navigating a bewildering array of payment gateways. Just as he was about to hit the "Confirm Order" button, a small pop-up appeared: Estimated VAT £167. VAT?

Jimmy had completely forgotten about that! His jaw dropped. Value Added Tax was a significant chunk of his budget.  And then there was the delivery charge. How many taxes were there? He knew about Income Tax. His father was always complaining about that.

Jimmy' heart leapt. Delivery Charge! The screen said to check delivery for your area. Jimmy punched in his postcode BN_____ and waited. Then up came the message: Delivery is available and is free to your area. Phew. Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief. He was getting ready to cancel the order.

After much deliberation, he finally hit the "Confirm Order" button. The page refreshed, displaying a message confirming his order. A surge of relief washed over him, quickly followed by anxiety. What if something went wrong? What if the parts were damaged in transit? What if he had made a mistake?

By the end of the evening, Jimmy was exhausted but exhilarated. In the next day or two his desk was piled high with invoices, receipts, and packing slips. He had secured most of the essential components, but the journey had been far more challenging than he had anticipated. Jimmy printed out the invoices and advice notes, and put them all in a special folder, for later reference. He had a feeling that he might need them.

His total spend was £2,004 pounds. £334 pounds of that was VAT, added to the advertised prices: £1,670. His reserve was almost completely evaporated in one evening. In the shops VAT was already included in the price tag. So much simpler.

As the days went by, Jimmy looked at the growing pile of boxes, a mixture of pride and trepidation washing over him. This was just the beginning. The real challenge lay ahead: assembling his creation, bringing his robotic dinosaur to life.

He knew he'd need more money later for sundries. He'd have to work harder, or smarter.

>> CHAPTER 7

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