Early Risers.

[PupCam]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear finds that such activities are best carried out when you manage to do it without stickin' the locking wire under your thumb nail

Hmmm......at a guess I'd say that Puppers might just have an Aerospace grade pair of wirelocking pliers.....

 

Yes, they were given me to an old Trials guy I once knew.     He muttered something about wooden spoons and lemon squeezers being of more use to him now than locking pliers.

 

3 hours ago, polybear said:

Are those piccies at Shuttleworth a typical Sunday morning?  Or a special meet?  How have they nobbled the brekkies?

 

It was just a typical Sunday morning gathering of multiple groups of bikers who turn up, stuff their faces with a full English in the cafe, hang about for a bit and then disappear.    

 

It's all gone to Rats now as, due to new entrance arrangements and policies, unless you are a Shuttleworth Veteran Aeroplane Society member (which I am) it costs you £15 to get in the gate.   Makes breakfast kind of expensive!        So tomorrow, subject to weather of course, my mates (who are not SVAS members) and I will be going to Jordan's Mill (where the cereals come from) about 3 miles away on our bikes for breakfast.    

 

Great shame really .......

 

 

Edited August 7, 2021 by PupCam
Typos

[PhilJ W]

7 hours ago, tetsudofan said:

 

Phil.

 

Hope you have a good time at Tinkers Park, I've been there a couple of times, its a fantastic place, plenty of things to do and see.

 

Last visit was as a passenger on the East Kent Sealink AEC Regent owned by one for my friends:

 

 

There are loads of other things to see including some steam rollers which were offering rides:

 

 

and. of course, some things that we are not supposed to talk about here:

 

 

Tinkers Park is located way out in the boondocks and from what I remember was not well signposted, first time I went over there when I was driving I went past the place but once I found it, it was well worth it,

 

Keith

 

Thanks Keith, it also includes a bus rally tomorrow, sadly I will not be able to take any pics as I have had some problems setting up my new smart phone.

[chrisf]

Hello, I'm back, and posting late on Saturday night instead of early Sunday morning.  I am afraid that I need some advice from the computerate amongst us.  When I tried to log in on my return from holiday I was prompted for passwords, which of course I relied on the laptop to remember for me.  Having changed them, I now find that I cannot retrieve any of my own documents or photographs.   I have no idea what to do next except go out and buy another laptop and hope against hope that someone in the shop is clever enough to retrieve everything that is, or was, on my hard drive.

 

By the way, I had a good holiday ...

 

Chris

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Rugd1022 said:

 

I was watching the repeat of the drama 'Lucan' the other night and cast my mind back the tragic event of 1974, it happened on my Mum's birthday 7th November which is another reason why it has always stayed in my memory. Also recall the Falklands headlines and TV reports quite vividly, and John Lennon, Peter Sellers and Steve McQueen's passing in 1980 as though they happened yesterday.

 

The two events that Bear remembers most vividly are:

1. The TV newsflash reporting the 747 attack over Lockerbie, and:

2. The news that Princes Diana had been killed by the media, sorry, died in a car crash.  It was early in the morning and I was building a hardwood Conservatory at the time; I was getting up very early and painting window frames before the temperature got too hot (the wood stain didn't like it).  I had the radio on and they were endlessly playing the most godawful mournful music; then the announcement reporting what had happened was broadcast.  The rest is history....

 

40 minutes ago, PupCam said:

 

Yes, they were given me to an old Trials guy I once knew.     He muttered something about wooden spoons and lemon squeezers being of more use to him now than locking pliers.

 

OLD??  Bitch....

 

40 minutes ago, PupCam said:

It's all gone to Rats now as, due to new entrance arrangements and policies, unless you are a Shuttleworth Veteran Aeroplane Society member (which I am) it costs you £15 to get in the gate.  

 

 

So all the Cafe income that Shuttleworth were making every Sunday morning has now been lost.....

I wonder who the anti-Biker nob'ead was that decided on that policy change?  I s'pose having a car park full of greasy Bikers doesn't meet the "image" they are keen to portray....

 

In other news:

Those paying attention (and with some semblance of memory capacity still intact) may recall that Bear asked some months ago just how long things may safely be kept for in a freezer - namely a couple of sealed Gammon Steaks with a "use by" date of April 2016.  Well today I decided that "today was the day" and defrosted them; both passed the "does it look alright/smell alright" test and one has passed the "does it taste alright" test with flying colours (the other will be tested tomorrow).  The pack does say that, when frozen, they should be eaten within one month of the use-by date.  Seems I'm about five years late.  Oops.....

I'm pleased to report there are no signs of any impending double-enders as yet...

 

 

 

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[brianusa]

10 hours ago, BSW01 said:

Well this cupboard won't repair itself, 

I can vouch for that, ours has had a door that doesn't fit right for ages!

    Brian.

[leopardml2341]

Goodnight all. 

[Ozexpatriate]

47 minutes ago, polybear said:

The news that Princes Diana ... died in a car crash.

I had just purchased an Apple Macintosh for home use (replete with dial-up modem - probably 28.8k baud) and was demonstrating to my wife (who while somewhat computer literate had been away from computers for several years and never been exposed to the word-wide web) that you could look up the news online.

 

I had loaded the CNN website and by happenstance, the news of Diana's death was splashed across the topline banner. Finding the news shocking (as it was) my wife was incredulous to the point that she thought the whole news on the computer thing was a leg-pull and turned the television on to make sure.

 

It will be 24 years ago in a few weeks.

[simontaylor484]

The night of Diana's crash i had a phone call from my Brother he was on guard duty at Keogh Barracks Ash Vale at that time Dodi Fayed was dead she was described as critically injured. 

 

9/11 I was at work I got a text from my mates wife to say a plane had hit the WTC I waited 5 mins texted back asking for the punch line then I went on the BBC newswebsite

[monkeysarefun]

3 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

... and since Brexit we're celebrating the return of the British Summer ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/08/07/postcards-from-the-periphery-2021-15-romance-of-the-mines/

 

There are  similar ruins dotted around the outback, built by Cornish miners who came out to start  copper mines. Weirdly, most others  came here for the gold mining, but maybe the great copper rush of 1887 or whatever passed everyone else by.  " Theres copper in them thar hills!" just doesnt have the same ring.

 

Some towns in South Australia like Moonta and Burra look like a Poldark set, but in the outback  so  if they ever wanted to develop a Mad Max or Wolf Creek  style plot thread  it'd be perfect and I might  even watch it.

 

Even the cottages were built in the style they lived in in the UK,  little terrace houses like there wasnt enough space in South Australia  to have their own separate little  houses.

 

 

And summer would have been a nice change for them with strings of days of 40 plus and no English  summer rain.

 

 

Edited August 7, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

On September 11, I was driving to the airport in Portland for an early flight, listening to an early morning radio show (not a news programme), and first reports of a "plane crash" were passed along. I had to stop for gas/petrol and asked the attendant* if he had heard anything about it. At that time there were few details.

 

* (For the most part,) like New Jersey, you cannot pump your own gasoline in Oregon.

 

The second strike happened while continuing my drive but I remember watching it in an airport bar shortly after I arrived for my flight. It was a surreal morning being at a US airport that day. By that time, my flight was delayed and of course eventually all flights were cancelled and once it was clear there would be no flights I headed to the office.

 

Some of my colleagues were stranded, out of town. I personally know two people who were in Manhattan and had planned to go to the World Trade Center observation deck that morning and changed their plans at the last minute, and consequently, lived. I had at least one colleague whose neighbour was killed.

 

[Ozexpatriate]

7 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

There are  similar ruins dotted around the outback, built by Cornish miners who came out to start  copper mines.

In Brazil too, along with several other places.

[Barry O]

Diana died the day before the UK Defence Exhibition. No UK bigwigs arrived  for the show so everything went into slow motion after that.

 

9/11 I was in a hotel by the Forth Rail bridge with a load of Americans. It was sad but I suggested that they know knew how we felt when the IRA had been blowing people up...

 

Long day at the office . Blooming rain..  then Duckworth Lewis Stern intervened. A result was obtained ..at 8:20 and then...it chuckeditdarn.

 

Baz

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Was sat in bed contemplating getting up when I heard of Diana’s death. The Sunday before we had taken part in a village open garden event and this particular Sunday,as  entrants,  were going around each other’s gardens. Very somber day despite the beautiful gardens.

9/11- I heard about it during my lunch hour whilst out driving somewhere. 
 

Been down to Newark looking at new motor homes and  Spent the afternoon with mum. Had a migraine sometime during the afternoon and balance went down the Swanee so cut the visit a bit short as I knew when I got home I still had an outstanding VAT return to complete. Didn’t take long, had tea and laid in bed listening to some music, the Toy Dolls, the Clash, the Pogues and Joy Division. Feel much better now.

I have a feeling tomorrow I will be needed by bil and sil so I will say ‘goodnight’

Robert

 

[PhilJ W]

3 hours ago, chrisf said:

Hello, I'm back, and posting late on Saturday night instead of early Sunday morning.  I am afraid that I need some advice from the computerate amongst us.  When I tried to log in on my return from holiday I was prompted for passwords, which of course I relied on the laptop to remember for me.  Having changed them, I now find that I cannot retrieve any of my own documents or photographs.   I have no idea what to do next except go out and buy another laptop and hope against hope that someone in the shop is clever enough to retrieve everything that is, or was, on my hard drive.

 

By the way, I had a good holiday ...

 

Chris

Chris, If you use Google Chrome to recover your passwords (assuming you saved them). Click on the three dots at the right hand end of the top bar. Go down to and click on 'Settings' then click on passwords. They show as a row of stars thus ******* but there is a view option.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

The rain continued falling on and off for most of the day, so I stayed inside mostly, venturing out only to either put things back in the shed or workshop, or to get something from the shed or workshop. As the reconstruction part of the cupboard refurbishment is complete, I could put away most of the tools used for this, such as saws, chisels, gauges, jigs etc. I then refitted all the hinges and handles as well as permanently fitting the top. Of course, the hinges and handles will have to removed before I paint the cupboard, but at least everything is not set up correctly and square. 

 

Mike and Sarah arrived later this afternoon at around 4 o’clock and after a quick chat, I went and cooked tea, which went down really well, in fact all that was left was a small piece of cheesecake, which they took with them when the left just after o’clock. It was really nice to both see them and have a nice long chat. It really does feel as though things are slowly getting back to normal. 

 

I forgot to add the photo below, which shows the cupboard ready for painting. 

Edited August 7, 2021 by BSW01
Add photo

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[J. S. Bach]

4 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Still got a few things to get ready for tomorrows day out.  At least I've got the route planned out, I 'drove' it a couple of days ago on Google Earth so it should be OK. The only other unpredictables are the weather and the traffic. I expect delays coming back at the Dartford river crossing as usual but thats on the way back.

Done that a few times myself.

[J. S. Bach]

4 hours ago, chrisf said:

 ...snip... By the way, I had a good holiday ...

Chris

Great! I am glad to hear that.

 

 

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

Chris, If you use Google Chrome to recover your passwords (assuming you saved them). Click on the three dots at the right hand end of the top bar. Go down to and click on 'Settings' then click on passwords. They show as a row of stars thus ******* but there is a view option.

Interesting. I use Firefox and F/F has a similar feature.

 

4 hours ago, chrisf said:

Hello, I'm back, and posting late on Saturday night instead of early Sunday morning.  I am afraid that I need some advice from the computerate amongst us.  When I tried to log in on my return from holiday I was prompted for passwords, which of course I relied on the laptop to remember for me.  Having changed them, I now find that I cannot retrieve any of my own documents or photographs.   I have no idea what to do next except go out and buy another laptop and hope against hope that someone in the shop is clever enough to retrieve everything that is, or was, on my hard drive.

Chris

If PhilJ W's method does not work, maybe the place where you are going to buy a new one can resurrect your old one.

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[zarniwhoop]

8 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

and then in IIRC 1967, listening to reports of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia to depose Dubcek.  It's funny how such things stick with you.

 

Jamie

On that day in 1967 (I was 10 or 11) I went to the public library. My mum asked me to take hers back, and get her something on Czechoslovakia. She was mortified when she later heard the news (and no, we didn't go abroad in those days).

 

ĸen

[monkeysarefun]

2 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

laid in bed listening to some music, the Toy Dolls, the Clash, the Pogues and Joy Division. Feel much better now

Jeez ya must have had a real attack of the sads if listening to Joy Division cheered you up!

Edited August 8, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

As anticipated, there was "measurable" rain at Portland International Airport yesterday - 0.03" (<1mm). At an airstrip closer to me the amount was 0.00".  So "officially" our 51 days of consecutive days without measurable rain has ended, but not really.

 

Today was overcast and muggy and less hot than last week. I observed no precipitation. At around 28°C it didn't feel very cool and while I tried to get the morning air into the house, eventually I succumbed and turned on the air conditioning again by the middle of the day.

 

Later in the week triple digits (°F) / 38°C is still forecast. Even though the drip irrigation is on I will need to hand water the garden again before the hot weather returns, and mow (and weed) the grassy verge fronting the street.

 

I had an enjoyable call with my brother. He filled me in on the latest tribulations my niece and nephew are experiencing. Queensland is under lock-down again with 13 new CoViD-19 cases in the last 24 hours. The seven-day average of daily new cases here in Oregon (smaller population than Queensland) is over 1,000 - more than our "fourth wave" in the Spring (and that is with 56% of the population vaccinated).

 

Queen Anne's Lace seems to have occupied the niche formerly dominated by dandelions. I have spotted what looks like a large growth of hemlock (similar in appearance to Queen Anne's Lace) in the park on my daily walk. It is in an area intentionally planted, but I would be surprised if they deliberately planted hemlock in the park.