Early Risers.

[polybear]

1 hour ago, grandadbob said:

Bears should look away now!

 

 

Looks pretty good to this Bear.....

 

In other news:

Notalot this afternoon either, apart from watching Telly....

In better news it does seem that Bear's email is fixed at last 

 

And finally....

Bear has just received an email all the way from South America, informing me that something called a "Peckett" (purchased for a price much, much cheaper than I've ever seen them) and wasn't due until January has in fact just been despatched....

[Coombe Barton]

... finding out about the ghosts in the local manor house ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/11/12/u-turn-ahead-delay-also-inevitable/

[JohnDMJ]

10 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

Have a good POETS everyone.

 

Not awl of us get one!

 

It's just POTS!

[Ozexpatriate]

11 hours ago, Andrew P said:

WET

11 hours ago, Andrew P said:

And breezy

How wet is "WET"? Our 'atmospheric river' has brought us about 3.2" / 81mm of rain in SW Portland in the last three days. (It started raining on Wednesday evening.) It is supposed to stop this evening.

 

Out walking today, at one point the rain was coming down at 45°, so it was breezy too. The floor of my covered patio is wet too so the rain has clearly been blowing in. For a little stretch I walk alongside a small creek, not more than a mile from its source. It was still within its banks but with very high volume and flow.

 

Rain in the coast range was much heavier. One of the usual trouble spots on the coast is about 2' above flood stage.

[monkeysarefun]

3 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Evenin' each,

This one always gets to me.  I think it's been posted here before but doesn't hurt to hear it again.. First heard it many years ago in Polperro performed by a guy called Bob Buckle who was a terrific banjo and guitar player and I believe was a brother in law to Tony of The Spinners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another war that we didnt need to be in, another Australian song but the theme stays the same. 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[PhilJ W]

Thats something we have to thank Harold Wilson for. When Kennedy asked him for British troops to go to Vietnam he said no.

[brianusa]

15 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

The British (or just the English?) are infamous for having bad teeth (whether or not this is supported by the data is unclear).

 

Anecdotally, I have noted that nearly every colleague from Britain who came to work in Switzerland had “bad teeth“ in some shape or form: discoloured, overbite, underbite, deformed spacing, twisted in jaw, cracked… well practically anything dental you could name. Most, but not all, left Switzerland with their gnashers in much, much better shape than when they arrived.

I do remember one British colleague getting very upset because the (Swiss) dentist said his mouth needed attention. The colleague said his teeth were perfectly fine - ignoring the overbite, the falling over unevenly spaced tombstone misshapen nicotine coloured teeth or the halitosis that could strip paint at 50 yards (or metres as we’re in Switzerland). He was so tight fisted (and stubborn) that only other time he saw a dentist was when a rotten tooth broke and he had no choice but to go.
 

It really is about more than just having a nice smile https://www.webmd.com/oral-health/features/oral-health-the-mouth-body-connection. So forking out for the dentist seems a reasonable investment really.

The good news is that in the UK overall dental health is slowly improving and British kids have far less juvenile tooth decay than their US counterparts (though this may change if the US style diet is increasingly favoured by youngsters). Of course, this overall “improvement” could be due to the fact that many of the post war edentulous are now/were elderly and are dying off - affecting the stats.

Certainly a topic to get your teeth into…

One has only to watch enough British TV to verify this situation.  Whilst principals generally have good teeth, some guests need to visit their dentist PDQ!  Another British phenomenon, excess facial hair, up their nose, in their ears and bushy eyebrows!  Surely their barbers must notice this - but the average Brit doesn't seem to mind or perhaps care about such things.  To be kind though, things have got much better as times change.

     Brian.

[grandadbob]

Really sorry that us English folk offend you both so much.

Edited November 12, 2021 by grandadbob

[tigerburnie]

Party is over.......................................G'night all(too much cake and whisky)

[Ozexpatriate]

33 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

another Australian song ...

Haven't heard that in a while. It takes me back.

 

Some things never change. The US is to change the Department of Veterans Affairs' criteria for servicemen and women claiming health benefits for illnesses (like cancer) that might be a consequence of toxic emissions from burn pits in central Asian theatres. Very reminiscent of the Agent Orange claims.

 

It's not coincidental when you consider that the POTUS' eldest son, who served as an officer in Iraq, died of brain cancer at 46.

[monkeysarefun]

44 minutes ago, brianusa said:

One has only to watch enough British TV to verify this situation.  Whilst principals generally have good teeth, some guests need to visit their dentist PDQ!  Another British phenomenon, excess facial hair, up their nose, in their ears and bushy eyebrows!  Surely their barbers must notice this - but the average Brit doesn't seem to mind or perhaps care about such things.  To be kind though, things have got much better as times change.

     Brian.

Yeah and the way they come down here with their barmy army and sing cruel songs  about our poor brave cricketing lads! 

Edited November 12, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[monkeysarefun]

36 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Thats something we have to thank Harold Wilson for. When Kennedy asked him for British troops to go to Vietnam he said no.

Was it Kennedy? We were"" Äll the way with LBJ!" as our PM at the time put it.

[monkeysarefun]

10 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Haven't heard that in a while. It takes me back.

 

Some things never change. The US is to change the Department of Veterans Affairs' criteria for servicemen and women claiming health benefits for illnesses (like cancer) that might be a consequence of toxic emissions from burn pits in central Asian theatres. Very reminiscent of the Agent Orange claims.

 

It's not coincidental when you consider that the POTUS' eldest son, who served as an officer in Iraq, died of brain cancer at 46.

When you see the level of  clothing worn by many Australian soldiers in the clip to that song you can see why Agent Orange etc had such an effect.

 

Similarly claims were recently settled here from RAAFies tasked with cleaning out the fuel tanks of the F1-11 bombers who are now  dying of horrible things. Footage of the time shows them in shorts and giggle hats and nothing else, climbing in and out of the fuel tanks.

 

Edited November 12, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[Gwiwer]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

In other news:

The Beary good wishes seem to have had the right touch.  The Fur Lord was duly seen by the vet who pronounced nothing serious was amiss but that he may have a slight touch of flu, bearing in mind his recent stay in boarding school the cattery and that he may be stressed by both being away from us and feeling unwell.  A jab of antibiotic and the insertion of an appetite-enhancing pill brought him back to his usual self within a couple of hours.  And brought me £116 farther away from the ideal savings target certain adverts consider I need for a comfortable retirement   

 

1 hour ago, JohnDMJ said:

12 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

Have a good POETS everyone.

 

Not awl of us get one!

 

It's just POTS!

 

Yeah.  Same.  Being in the passenger transport industry does have its down-sides  Today was a different one though; it is customary to give staff attending medickles the day off.  I was not accorded that privilege and was rostered for work as  normal.  Work as normal was unaware of my appointment until I signed on this morning and showed them the letter.  That placed a feline among the avians as my position had to be covered somehow for a couple of hours.  And because our sign-on book is used as evidence of presence (or otherwise) in the case of evacuations I duly signed on and off twice, with a two-hour off-site period with an Occupational Elf, which might yet have repercussions when payroll try to establish what occurred.   What matters is that I was there at 07.00 and signed off at 11.00 as rostered.  Now I have to email the roster clerk to see if I can get the day off credited retrospectively.  Some chance!  Her mistake but not her job to correct it, apparently. 

 

Two thoughts - neither of which applies at my place of employment - are that "No-one goes before their time unless the boss leaves early" and "I arrived late so I have to leave early to make up for it"

 

G'night all.  

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

20 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Was it Kennedy? We were"" Äll the way with LBJ!" as our PM at the time put it.

A very small number of advisors were sent in 1962 - they were considered more 'expert' in jungle counter-insurgency conditions than US soldiers, having assisted the British in the euphemistically named "Malayan emergency". 

 

Larger numbers of troops were not sent until LBJ was POTUS.

 

Sometime in the late 1960s (possibly very early 1970s) my dad, then a reservist in the RAN, sailed aboard HMAS Sydney (then a troop and supply vessel) in a supply convoy to the then Republic of South Vietnam.

 

Given Australia's (in)ability to truly defend itself, every Australian PM since Curtin was pretty much "all the way with" whomever is POTUS. Before that it was to defend the King and Empire to "our last man and our last shilling".

 

Edited November 12, 2021 by Ozexpatriate

[TheQ]

Evening Awl,

Just back from the MRC where units of the layout were swapped successfully. Unfortunately problems with the trailer, part of the roof and one of the upper doors failed.. like fell apart.. so called modern waterproof paint obviously wasn't.. soggy plywood.

Tomorrow once the returning layout unit is put away, the trailer is going to have to be covered in plastic till next summer when I'll fibreglass the whole top..

 

In the mean time I bid you good night...

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

Another war that we didnt need to be in, another Australian song but the theme stays the same. 

 

 

That song gets to me every time.  It's strange that very few songs seem to have come out after recent conficts that the UK has been involved in.  There is this one about Northern Ireland which I believe was banned by some broadcasters though it was not written to be political.

It's called, The British Soldier Song by Harvey Andrews.  However Youtube won't let me post a link or even view it at the moment.

 

Jamie

Edited November 12, 2021 by jamie92208

[Ozexpatriate]

16 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

There is this one about Northern Ireland which I believe was banned by some broadcasters though it was not written to be political.

It's called, The British Soldier Song by Harvey Andrews.

There is one by Harvey Andrews called "Soldier" from 1972 - I'm guessing that is the one you mean. It is visible to me here.

 

Google found another called "Go On Home British Soldiers" (by others). It is also on YouTube, but I'm guessing that is not the one you mean, and is NSFW.

 

Edited November 12, 2021 by Ozexpatriate
Correction

[jamie92208]

Just now, Ozexpatriate said:

There is one by Harvey Andrews called "Soldier" from 1972 - I'm guessing that is the one you mean. It is visible to me here.

 

Google found another called "Go Home British Soldiers" (by others). It is also on YouTube, but I'm guessing that is not the one you mean, and NSFW.

Yes Soldier is the one. Thanks.

 

Jamie

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

When you see the level of  clothing worn by many Australian soldiers ...

 

... RAAFies tasked with cleaning out the fuel tanks of the F1-11 bombers who are now  dying of horrible things. Footage of the time shows them in shorts and giggle hats and nothing else, climbing in and out of the fuel tanks.

Not much difference from some of the footage examined during the McClelland Royal Commission on nuclear testing at Maralinga. I recall film of RAAFies working on underwing-mounted collectors on aircraft that flew through the mushroom cloud.

 

Even some of the principals were in direct line of sight of the blast in newsreels (2:28).

 

No different of course from what was going on in the US at the time with "turn away from the blast" instructions given to US servicemen. The footage of soldiers during testing at Camp Desert Rock in Nevada is pretty terrifying.

 

Edited November 12, 2021 by Ozexpatriate

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

I’m now back home, having got home just after 6:30, I was let out early for good behaviour and if you believe that, you’ll believe anything. I’ve not had chance to read all the post from yesterday morning,  till try and catch up tomorrow. 

 

The op seems to have gone well and I’m now to rest for a week or so, so that things can heal properly. So the plan for tomorrow morning is to be like a couch potato and catch up on a few weeks of the Hornby program that I’ve recorded. 

 

 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[Ozexpatriate]

1 minute ago, BSW01 said:

I was let out early for good behaviour ...

Glad to hear that Brian. Hope your recovery is swift and the prognosis good.

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[Dave Hunt]

45 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

There is one by Harvey Andrews called "Soldier" from 1972 - I'm guessing that is the one you mean. It is visible to me here

 

 

There is another Harvey Andrews song that I find very powerful, which is Hey Sandy about the Kent State university shootings in 1973. I once met Andrews at an RAF Germany folk club in the late 1970s and found him a really nice guy. He sang Soldier and Hey Sandy among some of his other songs; a truly memorable evening.

 

Dave