Early Risers.

[Ozexpatriate]

7 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

Near the end he refused to see people as he found his condition too embarrassing,

Hopefully the attention brought to the disease by actor Michael J. Fox will help 'normalize' the experience for those diagnosed with it.

[Flanged Wheel]

Quick update from your intrepid correspondent in Southern California.

 

Pleased to report that it was all a damp squib in our area (and I think more widely). The storm dissipated fairly rapidly when it met the land, the topography and the dry air to the east. We’ve had rain here on and off all day and some high winds but nothing concerning. Of course, any rain in the high desert in August is unusual but amounts were much less than feared. It looks like we should be able to continue our journey tomorrow to meet friends in Las Vegas. Hurrah!

[Ozexpatriate]

42 minutes ago, Flanged Wheel said:

Pleased to report that it was all a damp squib in our area (and I think more widely).

Glad to hear it - there were three reported swift water rescues in Palm Springs. 

 

The north end of the LA basin got hit hard, including areas like Palmdale. It seems highly localized.

 

Local TV KTLA reports totals here. Leona Valley* (north of LA in the high desert) and close to Palmdale got >6".

 

* More than 100 miles roughly WNW of Yucca Valley, assuming you are on the north side of Joshua Tree NP.

Edited August 21, 2023 by Ozexpatriate

[polybear]

Bear here.....

Today?  Well I was pondering doing some of the dreaded G word as it's hugely overdue - but I can't be ar5ed.

So instead I've decided that it's about time I did some serious cleaning inside Bear Towers - the no-holds-barred difficult, dangerous, technical stuff that involves dusters 😱 n' all that.  Scary.

I'll start gently though - the Conservatory is first on the list.  I may be some time.

 

In other news.....

Harry was spotted again last night - just before Bear climbed the Little Wooden Hill I put the shed spotlight on for a few seconds (remotely - Puppers will be impressed) and there he was, scoffin' his crunchies and having a wander.  He's cr@pped on my newly cut lawn though.  Git.

 

BG

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl,

Another poor nights sleep this time because the lower side became painful after a while. I'd change sides that an hour later the next lower side would be painful.

 

Just before Ben the now sleeping Collie took me for a patrol we had an unscripted short shower of rain.. I'm expecting heat and sunshine later.

 

Ben's dew claw has fallen off. He's more comfortable with that paw now, he's still got a bandage on to keep it clean, but in a couple of days he'll be able to go without that.

 

During yesterday brain was considering reefing, observing various pictures of such systems, I have chosen a method that is cheap, quick to use, and easy to implement . It won't be implemented until the winter as some of the fittings will go on the new mast step/ chock.

 

Of that, that took up much of last night's unable to sleep time. 

Dinghies often have flexible masts, and Blue Moon's certainly is.

Those with flexible masts, often have something to stop the mast bending forward too much at the gooseneck.

In the dinghy That normally has the type of mast BM has , it is prevented from moving by the foredeck being in a U round the front of the mast, and chocks being dropped into the U to get the exact position right.

 

Some boats use these chocks ,

Some boats use a mast ram, mounted below or above the deck, this may be a screw activated ram , or a rope pulled mechanism.

Some boats use stays from the mast at the front of the gooseneck going back to the side stay mounting points.

None of the above will work on BM.

There is nowhere for those chocks to press against, the rams would be too low, and the stays would prevent me going on the foredeck to leave BM when we are moored bow first, a common occurrence.

 

It also has to clear the sail Infront of the mast, the halyards behind the mast, and the future reefing mechanism.

So at the moment I'm looking to fit something at the top of the new mast step, that I can move forwards or backwards with the mast inside. It only needs to be moveable, rather than adjustable.

 

I'm sure Puppers Engineering, could come up with some fabulous micro adjustable, Arduino controlled, metal mechanism. But I don't have the facilities, but I do have fiberglass. So I'm thinking of a fiberglass collar round the mast with some drop in pins, that go into the top of the new mast step to control position.

 

Time to, go make some breaky

Edited August 21, 2023 by TheQ

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Off to the Mary Celeste.. back later (I hope!l

 

Baz

[polybear]

33 minutes ago, TheQ said:

I'm sure Puppets Engineering.................

 

🤣

Love it.  I'm sure Puppers @PupCam will too.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

It's rather dull out but it should be a warm and dry day with plenty of sunshine later. 16°C now and could reach 26°C.

Four parcels due today, two for The Boss and two for me, muddling for the use of.  If wegettamoveon we may even have time for a walk before they arrive as we both need the exercise.

Have a good one,

Bob.

Edited August 21, 2023 by grandadbob

[Mike Bellamy]

10 hours ago, PupCam said:

 

A very nice 38 mile chug on the AJ this morning for breakfast at the London Gliding Club (Dunstable).   Seems like they lost a glider and the pilot shortly after take off sometime last week.    The cause of the fatal crash appears to be unknown at the moment.

 

 

Unfortunately not the only recent gliding fatality - another pilot killed on Thursday after a mid-air collision near Melton Mowbray, Leics.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-66544210

.

[The Lurker]

Morning from the southern edge of the Boring Borough ( (c) AndrewC ) . Like the land of Sutt it is grey and dreary here but expected to be nice later.

 

WFH while the rest of the house sleeps.

 

The weekend was busy - the in-laws were down, some to stay, some just for the day. One of Mrs Lurker's nephews is now just a centimetre or two shorter than me. I will soon no longer be the tallest in the family, a record I've held since I was around 14 when I went past my own Dad. Much food was eaten and much wine drunk. Not much walking was done and I hope to ensure that I get a good walk in today at lunchtime.

 

There is currently an advert to the right of my screen for "White House Plumbers" which appears to be a TV series. One of the characters looks like Nigel Mansell

 

 

[Tony_S]

7 minutes ago, The Lurker said:

Like the land of Sutt it is grey and dreary here but expected to be nice later.

Same here. Very quiet though. Only noise (now the radio alarm has turned itself off) is a pigeon cooing. We may get a few couriers arriving later today, nothing exciting. 
Tony

[Erichill16]

Morning All,

Sporadic reading and ratings I’m afraid.

Things starting to hot up around here as Mum’s house and old business premises has had an offer on them accepted. Plenty to do still regarding moving stuff and the deckchair situation is still ongoing. Not sure if some people know the urgency of the situation. Mum and sister are on holiday at the moment so can’t help just yet. Not sure if Mum will be much help physically and sister will have things on when she gets home even though paid employment is a bit thin on the ground.

Need to speak to accountant regarding abysmal trading figures, contact various people regarding outstanding work at the new business premises and sort out the insurance claim for the water leak.

Perhaps I’d better get up and make a start.

 

[tigerburnie]

9 hours ago, The Lurker said:

And you end up buried under a car park in Leicester 

It could have been worse, they could have repaired him and made him live there!

[iL Dottore]

Good Morning All,

 

Having survived The Family Wedding with sanity more or less intact (and having successfully resisted doling out a well deserved clip around the ear’ole to one ghastly little ankle-biter [the only one, thank goodness - the rest were quite well behaved*]) I endured a crowded train back home. 

 

The train at 11:27, although better than the 10:57, was still incredibly crowded even in First. And to make matters worse, some clowns had brought on board big wheelie bins full of camping gear. When I needed to go to the bog I had to negotiate my way past the wheelie-bins (grudgingly moved a millimetre or so by the sullen tattooed yoof to whom they belonged) and by the time I got to the end of the carriage and I tried to get to the WC not only was the vestibule crammed packed,  but they didn't want to move. By that time my tolerance for other people (never abundant) had evaporated. So, caustically, I said "OK, I'll *** here, shall I?"
 

They moved!

 

Upon my return home, the ongoing war between the good, noble and upright (i.e. myself) and the vermin (i.e. the moth infestation) resumed. To my relief, I only found one straggler during my late afternoon “search and destroy“ sortie - who was promptly annihilated. A late night, “just before bed”, sweep took out another straggler, hoping to escape under the cover of darkness.
 

This morning’s early “search and destroy“ sweep failed to find any targets. This has got High Command only cautiously optimistic as remnants of the infestation may still be in hiding. Tuesday week will see the arrival of a highly trained SOE unit of skilled assassins (parasitic wasps) which will be employed to destroy any last stranglers and survivors from the infestation.

 

I shall keep the eager reader posted on the progress of Operation Ragnarök

In bello non homines numerant, sed arma

 

* for the most part, the assorted offspring of distant cousins and cousins-in law were quite well-behaved, although not to the “children must be seen, but not heard“ standard I prefer. In fact, not only were they well-behaved (certainly by the standards of today), but one or two were almost endearing (I must be loosing it….)

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I slept about six hours last night, not bad but I feel another hour or two wouldn't go amiss. The high atmospheric pressure has also set the arthritis off so pills have been taken.The seaweed wranglers have predicted sunshine and temps up to 26 today, at the moment it's cloudy and 17C, down from 18C earlier.

[grandadbob]

We managed a brief walk after breakfast, about a mile around our local park/recreation ground.  That was enough for all of us - Me, The Boss, The Hip and The Knee.  We may try for 2 laps tomorrow.

Muggacoffee now and then I will head Shedwards.

Edited August 21, 2023 by grandadbob

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

The sun is shining and the wind has gone, here in the northwest corner of England. The temperature is currently 17C and is expected to get into the mid 20’s later. So, another day sanding and painting the workshop window beckons. I know this prepping stuff is boring but it needs to be done and done properly and I want to get it all done before autumn and winter set in. 
 

Back Later.
 

Brian 

[monkeysarefun]

Some things tell you how fast time is passing. LIke today when I saw the headline "War hero dies at 90" And I assumed it was a WW2 vet. Turns out it was a Vietnam one, sheesh.

 

The bloke, Major Harry Smith was a hero of the Battle of Long Tan, which is kind of an Australian version of Rorkes Drift in a way, but in a jungle, and there's helicopters.

 

On August 18 1966 118 men of Delta Company, 6RAR  went out on patrol, searching for the VietCong who had launched an earlier  mortar attack on the Australian base at Nui Dat. Following some cart tracks that they believed were created by the mortar team, they walked into a bamboo plantation where an estimated 2,500 VC were hiding.

 

(The following is  from the Sydney Morning Herald, pasted here due to  a possible paywall:)

 

The first major clash came just before 1600 hours when 11 Platoon was about to cross a clearing, only for them to be  decimated by withering fire. Half a dozen Diggers were killed on the spot. When it quickly became clear that his men were in dire straits, Smith requested that the entirety of Nui Dat’s artillery be trained on the enemy position, to give 11 Platoon a chance.

 

Under the cover of the 4 batteries of 25 pounders and a tropical downpour 11 platoon were able to move back to the position of 10 and 12 platoon that had been giving them covering fire. Ammunition was getting low however and Smith radioed in a request for APC's to come and get them.

 

Smith  chose to make what they believed would be  their last stand near the top of a gentle slope that faced towards the bulk of the enemy to the east. It offered a natural protection to most of the enemy fire which would fly overhead, while also allowing those on the perimeter at the top of the slope to get clear shots at “Charlie”.

By 1800 hours the survivors of Delta Company had regrouped to form that perimeter when, with extraordinary bravery, the crews of two Australian choppers risked their lives and disobeyed serious protocols, to fly over the battle and drop cases of ammunition right on the Australian positions.

 

But things remained grim. As swarms of brave VC soldiers kept getting closer, Smith sent out the order that he became famous for  through to the Nui Dat artillery Fire Control Centre. “Drop fifty, Danger Close, Fire for effect.”

 

 “Danger Close”, the order to drop the shells within a stone’s throw of them, so that all enemy within coo-ee would be decimated, and all of their own with their heads down should likely survive was a recognised artillery tactic, but it had never been used by the Australians in battle.

 

HQ repeated their signal: “Negative, unsafe. Over.” Looking out at the human waves of VC soldiers about to engulf them, Smith did not hesitate. Grabbing the transmitter from his signaller, he barked into it: “Give us the f******* guns where we want them or you will lose the bloody lot of us.”

 

There was a long pause and the answer came back. “Acknowledge, Drop fifty, Danger Close, Fire for effect.” The enemy’s own position placed them at a great disadvantage. “The VC,” Smith noted, “were silhouetted against the smoke, mist, rain and cordite and our riflemen and machine-gunners mowed them down. It was like shooting ducks.”

 

Still, however, they were nearly engulfed. In extremis, Smith got another message through to Townsend, to get the APCs to hurry: “If you don’t send someone out in ten minutes,” Smith goes on, “forget us – we’ll be gone!”

 

As the Australians of Delta Company continued to take casualties, and wave after wave of VC kept coming, above the chattering roar Smith shouted to his men: “Shrink the perimeter, and surround the wounded!” The perimeter was shrunk and the wounded, nearly two dozen of them by now, in a ditch being attended to by one frenzied medic, surrounded.

 

Finally, just on dusk at 1900 hours, the APCs arrived like a cavalry force of yore, and the last hope of the VC to overwhelm Delta Company was gone. The Australians lost eighteen men killed in the battle. The estimates for the VC would vary, but it was likely around 250 killed.

 

For most of the rest of Smith’s life, and most particularly after he left the Army a decade later, he fought for the bravery of his men to be properly and more widely recognised. It took until the final days of the Howard government in 2007 for some of the awards to be upgraded, but Smith kept going for another decade until the last of the bravery awards he’d fought for and originally recommended, came through.

 

 

Recently a dramatisation "Danger Close: The Battle Of Long Tan"  (2019) was made. It gives a point of view of the Vietnam War from somewhere different from the usual American one, though it  lacks the usual Doors/Rolling Stones etc on the soundtrack. IT does leave a little bit to be desired though....

 

Netflix has it here, not sure where it is found internationally.

Edited August 21, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[DaveF]

A lovely warm sunny morning so far.  I got up a bit later than usual as I was awake during the night for a while.  The residual cough is now just dry nd irritating.  If past events are a quide I will have it for a few weeks.

 

Breakfast has been eaten, the Shark has had his weekly walk around the house eating up the floor dust, a duster has been used everywhere along with a sweeping brush in the kitchen and bathroom.  So that's the basic housework done for the week.  Half the washing is nearly finished.

 

So now I can relax.  There is nothing very important to do today - as far as I know - so later there might be a walk or a ride in the car followed by a walk.  Or I might just stay at home and potter in the garden or perhaps start to make something from a kit.  I also want to ring a friend who is not very well.

 

David.

 

 

[jamie92208]

Good moaning, just from a rather warm Charente.   It is likely to be up in the mid 30's this afternoon.  A good day was head yesterday at the snail eating  festival.  550 of us were served 32 each and they were delicious as the second course in a much bigger meal.   All for 22 Euros.   It took about 6 hours and we were the only Anglais there.  Then the football was watched after which we turned our phones and tablets back on.  

 

This morning it was a trip to see the Dr for my 3 monthly prescription.   No problems there.   However a molar started causing me grief yesterday.  Paracetamol calmed it down and it is bearable today.  However our Dentist is on holiday till September 4th.  I mentioned this to the Dr and she has given me a prescription .  Now off to do a few minor tasks then not a lot this afternoon.   I believe there is freshly made courgette soup for lunch.   The courgettes have done brilliantly this year.

 

Jamie

[Joseph_Pestell]

12 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Good moaning, just from a rather warm Charente.   It is likely to be up in the mid 30's this afternoon.  A good day was head yesterday at the snail eating  festival.  550 of us were served 32 each and they were delicious as the second course in a much bigger meal.   All for 22 Euros.   It took about 6 hours and we were the only Anglais there.  Then the football was watched after which we turned our phones and tablets back on.  

 

This morning it was a trip to see the Dr for my 3 monthly prescription.   No problems there.   However a molar started causing me grief yesterday.  Paracetamol calmed it down and it is bearable today.  However our Dentist is on holiday till September 4th.  I mentioned this to the Dr and she has given me a prescription .  Now off to do a few minor tasks then not a lot this afternoon.   I believe there is freshly made courgette soup for lunch.   The courgettes have done brilliantly this year.

 

Jamie

 

32 snails seems like rather a lot to me. Are they a smaller breed than is usually served? Usually get 6 or 12 when served as a starter, and that's quite enough for me.

[Tony_S]

9 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

The courgettes have done brilliantly this year.

This year was the first year in what seems like forever that we didn’t plant courgettes as we knew we would be away quite a lot in France and then on the Mediterranean cruise. There must be some from last year lurking in the freezer, probably  in disguise as ratatouille or bharta. 

[Erichill16]

57 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

32 snails seems like rather a lot to me. Are they a smaller breed than is usually served? Usually get 6 or 12 when served as a starter, and that's quite enough for me.

One would be too many for me. 

[southern42]

45 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

One would be too many for me. 

 Agree on that though I did like winkles as a kid - or does that not count?

[polybear]

Currently watching the sentencing.....