Dave Hunt

Today was a 'things come in threes' event. First of all thr cistern in the main bathroom wouldn't stop running so I had to turn off the water supply to it then go and get a new outlet seal. I was part way through replacing the faulty one when a friend who is staying with us came to tell me that the cistern in the cloakroom was leaking. I lifted the lid off it and a fountain of water nearly hit the ceiling so it was off with the water (fortunately over the years we have has individual stop valves fitted to all our washbasins, toilets etc.) and back to the hardware shop for a new fitting while SWMBO and friend mopped up. Whilst there I decided to get a new cartridge for the kitchen mixer tap that has developed a slow leak but after changing it there was no improvement and it looks as though a whole new unit is required. I have now decided not to become a professional plumber. Tomorrow promises better things as SWMBO is hosting a bridge lunch/afternoon and I AM BEING BANISHED TO THE SHED FOR THE DURATION!!! Not only that but we are then having fish and chips for dinner. There is a God after all..... Night night everyone. Pleasant dreams. Dave

I was once airborne at low level in a Phantom over the North German Plain when the weather was marginal at best and the back-seater said, "Where are we? I've got a right to know, I'm wearing the nav's brevet." Dave PS - very much pre-satnav days of course

Another Tolkien fan here. I'd heard about the LOTR trilogy from a girlfriend when I was doing my flying training and had mentioned to my Mum that it sounded interesting. The night before I was leaving to start on my first Squadron in Singapore in the autumn of 1968 she gave me a present of the set and I started reading The Fellowship of the Ring in the departure lounge at Brize Norton. By the time I reached Singapore the Fellowship was in the mines of Moria. Since then I must have read the whole thing six or seven times. Reading about wasp stings reminds me of when SWMBO, two friends and I were in a taxi in Crete. I was in the front passenger seat with the window open and my arm resting on the opening when a wasp entered my immediate surroundings via my short shirt sleeve and finding itself in a confined space got quite angry. The taxi driver looked more than a little surprised as I started yelling all sorts of obscenities and frantically pulling my shirt off so he pulled over and stopped, whereupon the wasp, freeing itself from the confines of my shirt, started buzzing angrily about the taxi. After a minute or so of mayhem it departed whence it had come leaving me with six stings and a torn shirt with which to face the rest of the day. And the amount of sympathy I got? On that note, night night each. Dave

And to think I once considered flying fast jets and playing rugby was a dangerous way of life....... Morning everyone. Today SWMBO is out at a reunion with old nurse training colleagues so once the list (short, admittedly) of chores is fulfilled I get to spend some quality shed time. And it's sunny, albeit chilly. All in all the promise of a good day, which I hope all of you have too - thoughts and prayers for those who can't though. Dave

From what I can see Rick was simply stating an opinion rather than cultivating anything; I do hope that providing there is nothing offensive involved that expressing an opinion is permitted? My own opinion, for what it is worth, is that although there is nothing in RMW Gold to attract me, I can understand that it will be beneficial to others and as such I can see no reason why the two 'tiers' of members shouldn't rub along together. The only drawback would be if the two were treated differently by the management to the detriment of the non-gold fraternity. Assurances have been given that such will not be the case and if so, all will be well. If not, there is always the off switch. Goodnight everyone. Sleep tight and may your God be with you. Dave

My latest trip to the vet dentist actually proved to be something of an anticlimax (thank you Lord) as the inflammation has cleared up by itself so she suggested we just wait and see how it goes without resorting to more root canal torture etc. After dinner tonight SWMBO went round to a friend's place to watch some girlie videos so within a few nanoseconds of the front door closing I was in the shed firing up the soldering iron and only exited a few minutes ago - cracking Grommit! My sympathies are with NHN, Chrisf, Rick and anyone else with this coughing lurgy. Mine is only just subsiding after nearly ten weeks and despite various tests the GP hasn't been able to help but it's like the old saw about banging your head against the wall - it's lovely when it stops (or at least fades away). Goodnight one and each and may your tomorrows be bright and cheerful. Dave

Had a very pleasant day out with SWMBO first of all at the national waterways museum at Ellesmere Port where we also had a picnic, then at the Lady Lever art gallery at Port Sunlight where we attended a most enjoyable concert. Back home this evening for bacon & eggs and not a single medical, family or other issue to cloud the day. Terrific! Time for bed as Zebedee says. Goodnight everyone and may you have a peaceful and restful night. Dave

I hate it when people boast about their love lives

Chris, I think that it is. I've had a cough since Christmas that has defeated the medics and has even resulted in x-rays and other tests but in the last week or so it has actually lessened and like you in recent days I've even gone an hour or so without coughing. Hence I think we have probably had the same thing and that the light at the end of the tunnel is not the 6.15 coming the other way. I also wish you well with the eye test and hormone treatment and hope you manage to get some sense out of the pride organisers. Good morning to everyone else too. Dave

Not really what you might call a cracking day. Market time this morning then SWMBO had to go for an MRI scan of her head ( I manfully resisted the obvious remarks) because of some complication to do with hearing difficulty. What it's all about I'm not sure but she says not to worry as it's not because of anything potentially serious. I did ask, "Did they find anything in your head?", which resulted in her giving me a bit of an old fashioned look but I put on my best innocent expression and got away with it. Since we are going out for the day tomorrow we went to church this evening then got a Chinese on the way home. After that I spent an hour on the 'phone to No. 2 son, who is going through a bad time because he has been badly let down professionally by others and and is worrying himself sick that he will be blamed for what could be something of an ocean-going disaster, so much so that he has had to get medical help. I don't know whether I did any good but I just hope that Iwill be able to eventually. For my own sanity I managed two hours shed time though during the day, so it wasn't a total yukfest. And so hopefully to the land of nod. Sweet dreams everybody and may your God go with you. Dave

We really ought ought to have a 'horror' icon to use when reacting to posts. Yesterday was somewhat mixed for me. I woke up in the middle of the previous night with raging toothache - not the one I'm having root treated but another one entirely. Fortunately I was able to get an emergency dental appointment but x-rays showed no sign of infection; the dentist's diagnosis is that it has been caused by the tooth supporting one side of a bridge and the extra strain on it has caused the area round the root to become inflamed. It is slowly improving but I have to be very careful when eating and am mainlining paracetamol. I have to go back on Monday to discuss what happens next but it may involve losing the bridge and more root canal treatment. As a BBC announcer would say, "There's allus bl**dy summat!" However, I then found out that my chest x-rays and other tests of nearly two weeks ago were all clear so it was hooray time I also got in a bit of shed time Finished the day with going to a friend's 50th birthday do and since SWMBO is off the sauce for lent she was driving so several libations of falling over water were in order for me So far I haven't got any further with plans for today than Mug O'Coffee so I'll just wish everyone out there, "Have a good day," and add prayers and thoughts for the less well off. Dave

In 1991 we moved into an old farmhouse in Lincolnshire and I set about remodelling the kitchen, which according to some evidence I found had last been done in 1967, and reduced it to a shell before rebuilding. To my utter horror discovered that the numpty who had done the wiring had taken the lead for the cooker off a light circuit, simply substituting bigger fuses by forcing them in, and the junction box that was hidden on top of one of the old units was actually charred inside. How the house was still standing I don't know. Dave

That is one stunning picture Tim. Dave

AKA trash haulers Dave

The trouble with not changing down as you decelerate is that if you suddenly need to accelerate there is a time delay whilst you select the correct gear. Far better to change down as you slow down, then the power is instantly available. I'm not saying that you have to use the engine for braking, just that it makes sense to match road speed with engine speed wherever possible. I think that anticipation is the keyword. Just for interest, a few weeks ago I had a courtesy car when mine was being serviced and the synchromesh on third gear wasn't working so to avoid crunching the gearbox I reverted to old fashioned double declutching. When I returned the car and told the young receptionist/salesman about it he looked blank and said, "Sorry, double what?" Dave

Absolutely right Bob. At least nobody has mentioned that apalling performance against Scotland.......... damn, I just did. Dave PS, good morning everyone

All chores carried out to management's satisfaction, so much so that mid-afternoon she said, "Why don't you go down to the shed for a while and do some modelling?" On on that happy note, goodnight everyone. Stunned of Shropshire.

The first time I drove an automatic was collecting a hire car at LAX. All went well for about ten seconds until we reached the exit when I tried to brake and declutch. The result? SWMBO nearly through the windscreen. Until I got used to it I then adopted Jamie's instructor's technique. Since then I've switched between manual and automatics quite happily and even use the 'two feet' method in the latter. The only time I've ever got it wrong when switching sides of the road was once when living in Germany but it was coming back to UK that caught me out. Driving out of a petrol station in the early morning I set off on the right-hand side, fortunately with no other traffic about, until it dawned on me that the writing on the road saying BUS LANE was upside down..... Dave

Hippo, How come you mentioned it then? Anyway, flying a Tornado is a doddle compared with getting to grips with Templot Dave

A dull but calm day here in the northern Salopshire backwoods. Plans for today include finishing proof reading the latest LMS Locomotive Profile on the Royal Scots then down to the market. Tomorrow some friends from school days who spend the winter with their caravan in Portugal are stopping by for the night on their way back to Cumbria and since we are all from Merseyside there is really only one dish to make for dinner - scouse. Hence I'll manufacture a large pan of it this afternoon as it is always best when a day old and reheated served with pickled red cabbage and crusty bread. I also have it on good authoroty that I have volunteered to sort out a faulty cistern and leaking tap so the chances of any quality workshop time are remote. Have a good day everyone and thoughts and prayers for those afflicted and bereaved. Chrisf - I empathise and sympathise wholeheartedly. Dave

I'm afraid that, bizarre as it may seem, I don't find this as surprising as could be expected. Total reliance on and belief in the magic electronic/digital gismos to the exclusion of common sense and the basics of how to fly an aircraft are seemingly common occurrences and reading some of the accident and incident reports are, to an ex-professional pilot, almost unbelievable. I know that nearly everyone at sometime says or thinks, 'It's not like it was in my day', or similar, but at least we were taught the very basics of airmanship and handling to begin with and didn't learn to rely on automatics and software at an early stage. I sometimes wonder what happened to the mantra that, 'When something goes wrong, first fly the aircraft, then sort out the problem.' I can honestly say that has saved me on a good few occasions but in some of the accidents in recent years it seems to have been noticeably absent. I'm not saying that all of today's pilots are poor or anything like it - dealing with the complex flight systems in a modern aircraft is demanding and requires great skill but the training system seems to me to lack some of the basics that I was taught to rely on. Rant over and waiting for the fallout! Dave

Hi Jamie, I haven't been posting for a while for reasons I've spelled out on ERs but I'm glad that now I'm back it's to find that you're achieving success on the silver stumbling front - you're right about the need for good workpiece support and letting things cool for a while before moving them. I'm looking into the 'which way round does a crane go' question but so far without any real progress. All I've succeeded in gathering from contacting several people who work with such things at twelve inches to the foot scale is that modern ones (by which I mean post WW2) at least can be run either way round without restriction but that what I have been told about the old C &S 15 tonners may also be correct - not a lot of help really. I think that it may come down to the old situation that if we don't know after trying to research it, who is going to correct us? Full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes as Admiral Farragut would have it. I'll still do some more digging though. I also have to say that with regard to the Big Boy - you jammy devil!!! Dave

Good morning everyone. I haven't been posting for just over a week as last Monday I had to go for a chest x-Ray and some other tests because of the cough I've had for about three months now as well as chest and back pains and I'm afraid that waiting for the results has been preying on my mind to the extent that I've rather let it take over my life. However, I visited ERs and it made me realise a couple of things. First of all, there are poor souls out there who are far, far worse off who don't let things like that put them down and secondly that engaging with something as constructive and interactive as ERs is in itself cathartic. Hence I'm back and hope to stay that way and stop moping about being fearful and sorry for myself. Apologies for the self-indulgent waffle, I'll try to be a bit more cheerful in future, especially when the results eventually come back to me. For the time being I just want to add my thoughts to Mal's family, to Baz, Debs and others who are suffering bereavements. Dave

Woke up this morning coughing and feeling like sh Mk 1 t with chest and back pains so called the medical centre and managed to get seen by a GP by accepting what they call 'book and wait' which they offer to some patients after a phone assessment by a triage doctor. After three hours I was examined and although the GP said he couldn't find any obvious signs of an infection or worse he then said that it 'has gone on too long for us to ignore it'. Hence I had to go to a walk-in hospital x-ray department to have a picture taken of my chest and I'm on 7 days of amoxycillin. Deep joy! The x-ray results will be sent to my GP in 7 - 10 days. After getting back home mid-afternoon I didn't feel like doing much so just settled for the Telegraph crossword and some low grade schlepping about. I'm hoping that I feel a bit better tomorrow as SWMBO is going to have her hair rearranged in the afternoon so I will have a window of opportunity for workshop time. Now for an early Zebedee I think. Night night everyone. Dave

It's also giving me errors when trying to react to posts; something is definitely going wrong. Took my Dad out for his birthday and we ventured into Wales on the assumption that after last night's undoubted revelries the border guards would probably still be asleep. Like GDB I was thinking of giving up following rugby and resorting to some other pastime but with my track record of supporting teams this season (Leicester Tigers and England) I don't think it would be fair on some other innocent group of sportsmen. The cough and chest is getting worse instead of better so I may see tomorrow of I can get a doctor's appointment this side of hell freezing over. Sleep tight everyone. Special thoughts for the badly afflicted. Dave Hope this gets posted sometime soon