Happy Hippo

A good point It would also explain why my mouth and a*se are interchangeable.

I don't like Gulls, but I can cope with the noise they make. What is not so pleasant is the heavy plant operating in a field nearby, where they are erecting a warehouse. Again I can cope with the engine noise and the rattling of tracks, but what is really annoying is the reversing horn(s) which sounds like an Bullfrog. It's very noisy, and since we can hear it clearly from over 200M away, is probably excessive. Getting it for about 8 hours a day is not amusing.

Like my legs!

I always wear shorts. I know it doesn't look like it, but my legs are vertically challenged.

Thanks Craig, I had a 50% chance of getting it wrong, and I succeeded. My interests are more with vipers and pit vipers rather than elapids.

After a visit to the fang farrier this morning: I have good clean teeth so am not required to visit until Feb 2025, unless I have a dental emergency, it was a Trayne Klubbe morning. Today the emphasis was on 009, which after 7mm scale and 32/31.5mm gauge track, is verging on the microscopic. It not helps when the sample loco we have is a Quarry Hunslet. Still, schematics were drawn, and turnouts were unpacked and laid on the baseboard to get some proportion. The board(s) overall are 8' long x 3' wide, although the plan is not to overfill the area with track. To ease the stress, we ate Stem Ginger butter cookies and drank copious amounts of tea. After Gordon left, I was on lawn cutting and muddy hollow bank clearance duties, which due to the ambient weather today, made me quite hot. NHN's tale of the non existent newts of Fraggle Rock reminded me that earlier in the week, when on another gardening detail Nyda pointed out what she though was a dead newt in rock pile. It certainly looked very dried out, but when I picked it up, it twitched, so I moved it with some urgency to my temporary amphibian tank. To our delight, it suddenly came back to life and is now swimming around quite happily. Although we've had some frogs and plenty of toads in the garden, this was the first newt I'd seen in here. There is a crested newt colony in an SSSI about 15 minutes walk away, but this one was definitely a Smooth Newt. As the garden rebuild continues, we plan to create a bog garden area, and after this latest find, will definitely incorporate a small permanent water 'tank' for the amphibians to enjoy. (With a suitable access/exit ramp)

The Coastal Taipan thoroughly deserves it's other name of the Fierce Snake!

As Monkey's are Fun has already stated, it's a non venomous snake, and looks very much like a Western Whip snake. There are five known types of venomous snakes in France. Asp Viper Northern Viper (our Adder) Orsini's Viper Seoane's Viper. The Asp Viper is the one with the worst bite. The other three are fairly mild, and treatment is often only anti histamine and pain killers. The fifth venomous snake is the Montpelier Snake, which is back fanged and delives a very mild venom if it bites. It can grow to about 6 feet long and looks pretty ferocious, but is very timid and will high tail if approached. You can easily identify the Vipers by their zig zag patterning, and if you get close enough by their diamond shaped pupils! The Montpelier snake, and all the other non venomous snakes in France all have round pupils. The Viperine Snake and Smooth Snake are often mistaken for Vipers due to their scale patterns, but they are harmless. (Please note that the round pupil is not an indicator of a non venomous snake as in other parts of the world, Mamba, Cobra, Taipan, Tiger and Brown snakes all have round pupils.)

I often think that in such circumstances, mist the affected areas with water, which turns the dust to mud. After that you can just shift the mud with a shovel, or decide to live the hippy hippo lifestyle.

Since you will be out and about in MD and not glued to your radar set, I'd best give you an advisory notice: To: Hunt Tower Fm: Hippodrome Subject: Tac Recon Date: 08 May 24 Time window: 1130-1300 Solo Hippocopter C/S Penderyn 66 Operating low level tactical recce in OS Grid 6735. Exclude west of A529 Exclude south of A53 Inbound Not East of A442 Not South of A53 Outbound Not South of A53 Not east of A41

Have you ever noticed how such events coincide with days off or annual holidays?

Blinking Kids! You would have thought he could have had the nous to finish the job and let a poor crippled veteran have a comfortable afternoon? Can you hear my shrieks of laughter?

Two🖕🖕

I had the stitches removed from what remains of my finger tip this morning: Should have been five, but only three were visible. They are probably under the large scab on top of the finger. After a brief discussion, we decided that I can either go back when the scabbing finally falls off and get the last two removed, or I can do them myself. My preference is to carry out the task myself.... After all, I'm exceptionally good at DIY with my fingers.🤣

They breached it years ago! How do I know? There's never any money in my account🤣.

My son in Law,who insists on sorting out anything to do with the(his) families cars, has continually neglected to heed the advice of changing the cam belt every 5 years or 75k miles (whichever comes first). It is now over 101K miles At the beginning of last week their Ford Galaxy stopped after the brief sound of four gnomes hammering on little tin drums emanated from the engine bay. The belt had expired, and with it all the valves. I've not heard what's happened to the top of the cylinders, but it is not going to be a cheap repair. I have no sympathy for him.

A friend of mine fought for years for compensation after he got his medical records released. He was eventually given a medical pension, and was able to enjoy it for just over 6 months... Before the cancer killed him.

I think this applies to all service personnel. I'm convinced that armed forces medics have a secret file, which is destroyed when you are discharged. It is a forecast of when and where you are going to start disintegrating, and your retirement is planned by the appropriate personnel branch, to start six months before you start falling to bits. Since the file is destroyed, they then claim that you were fighting fit when you left and that any ailment you subsequently suffer from cannot be attributable to your military service, so you don't get any additional pension or cash payout. Fortunately for me, my arthritis of the left ankle kicked in 18 months before I was due to leave, so when I did leave, I got an additional lump sum. It wasn't much, but I was able to buy a couple of cakes with it!

Since we are back onto one of my other favourite subjects, ie reptiles, here is another nasty little one to be aware of: Atractaspis bibronii: The Stiletto Snake. It mainly lives underground, so it has developed fangs that stick out of the side of it's head, so can strike sideways. It means that it is very dangerous to try and hold one by it's neck as it will just turn it's head slightly and stick one with a single fang. It has a cytotoxic venom for which there is no known antidote. Although not generally fatal it will cause severe swelling blistering pain and necrosis, which can lead to the loss of the bitten digit After the Mozambique Spitting Cobra and the Puff Adder, it is the third most common cause of venomous snake bites in Africa. Nasty little blighter. Makes my duel with the old table saw look like a walk in the park! Enjoy breakfast.

You won't hear anything now PB and I have finished Ninja school. We are like Bristol Beaufighters.

Stafford show is always a must do in my railway exhibition diary. One thing the club does so well is getting very large aisles between the layouts which makes the show far less claustrophobic.

If I wanted his cake, I'd position a satellite in low orbit over Idaho, and use my cake hoover.

If you PM your address to me I will send you some sample lengths of: Code 124 Bullhead Code 124 'Bullhead' Peco Code 143 FB Peco Generally bullhead rail in code 124-131 is as it says on the tin. The exception being Peco Code 124 which has an odd foot and is flat bottomed as Bill says. Peco rail does not fit the like of C&L or Exactoscale chairs as it is too narrow, so flaps around between the jaw and the 'wooden' key .

I can report the zero clearance plate for the mitre saw has been completed. As an after task fit, I will invest in a pair of screw down clamps and fit them to the top of the rear fence. This will allow easy clamping of stop blocks either side of the blade which will allow me to make rapid repetitive cuts. The timber for the pillar drill table has been selected and marked out for my next cutting spree. Being as it's a bank holiday, I'll wait until the neighbours fire up their barbeques and are out in the garden before I start cutting. Well, I only think it fair to repay the courtesy of them mowing their lawns at 1830 on a Saturday evening when I'm sitting out having a quiet drink. The broken F cramp handle has been glued back together and the hollow of the u section casting filled with epoxy glue. I've made two strengthening plates out of brass, and fitted them to the outside of the casting, and I need to wait until everything has gone off hard before drilling and pinning through the whole thing. I'll then solder the pins into place. As usual, it would have been much quicker to throw it away and buy a new one, but this rescue mission saved me from having to revert to gardening duties. I will not be so fortunate this afternoon.