duncan

Boot up the arse often works 😂

I may have written about this before, apologies if I have. Many years ago, I was at a uni in the south of England & one of the field athletics clubs hired the student's union minibus, rather than a commercial one for a trip. Unfortunately, the SU one was a 6 wheel Transit with a full length bolted on steel roof rack, rather than a low roof 4 wheel bus. Anyone not guessed what they did ? 😢

That's not a bodge, it's a cold weather engine management system to warm the oil & allow better circulation from start 😂

Happy New Year All I'll start off with a question. I was watching the Italian Job again & noticed some background cars during the garage sequence when the coach is being painted. They look like Triumph TR5 or 6s. If 6s, then they must have been very new. Anybody else noticed them ?

I was honoured to dog sit Murphy over Christmas, at under 2 years he is very well trained, good fun & has a great personality. Next time though, I will put a towel down on the kitchen floor where he sits as I put out his food, couldn't believe the drools while he was waiting for the instruction to eat, but should have expected it. He was not easy to photograph !

If her kids suffered whiplash & concussion, I can't help wondering if she was either travelling very fast, kids not wearing seat belts or trying for a big insurance claim, maybe even a deliberate crash ?

Totally agree Pre GPS days, we were inbound to the Sound of Mull from the north, ie coming south to pass Ardnamurchan to port when the mist decended to less than 10m visibility (couldn't see the other end of the boat) & the wind dropped. We were working from our last known position using depths on the chart. All we could do was continue slowly listening to the fog horn on Ardnamurchan lighthouse getting closer, until we heard another one. A CalMac ferry, probably from Barra heading due east into the sound. We called them up on the radio, asking if they could see our radar reflector on their radar. Whether they heard us, or our wee plea was lost in the fog we will never know. They passed us (we never saw them) & we slowly moved south of the lighthouse which we never saw either & turned into the deep water of the sound & inched east & south. Fortunately we knew the sound pretty well so were never in danger. Once safely anchored, we could relax. Fairly typical in pre GPS days!

Many years ago (pre GPS days) on the boat we often had the problem when the west coast coastguard stations (Oban, Stornoway, Kirkwall or Clyde) were switched out for the night & calls were re-routed to other stations like the big station in Arbroath (?) or far worse down south. Try describing where you are to someone on the south coast who has maybe never heard gaelic names being pronounced & doesn't know the hundreds of islands. Unless you knew the station was switched out, you usually referred to bearing off a land feature, rather than the latitude/longitude.

I think the acceleration of the electric buses might be catching a few people out.

Which is exactly who the current lot are trying to dispose of ( possibly by bullying ) or privatise

Hope it won't be a repeat of the Ferguson's fiasco, putting work to a company without the workers & skills to build them, nor the management experience.

The 707 was a lovely aircraft, I might have mentioned before that I flew from Glasgow to Keflavik in one, many years ago. The hand luggage was incredible, including a Land Rover wheel & tyre. Duty free was as you went into the country & the shouts & signs from those outside to us asking for a crate of Carlsberg were interesting. Can't decide which I preferred, the 707 or Comet, though.

The BIG question, are the coupling rod positions in synch on all the engines ? 😇

I have a photo dated 14/4/86, with red buffer beams & black headcode box. Duncan

The cyclist could indeed have been a Benny Hill sketch, did Melmerby add the music ?

Not railways but horrible, I think it is the latest version of the 39 Steps, set pre WW1, with a 1920s plane & a submarine (?? never in the book) which is 1960s.

To be pedantic, CMAL ( who allegedly mucked up the spec / ordering ) not CalMac ( the ferry operators )

Jist use one of these electric scooters or bicycles, they usually get right of way on the pavement, unless you are carrying a golf umbrella horizontally !!

Wonder if he had a full licence, as I understand you don't (or didn't) to drive a tractor. Given the size, power & weight of modern ones, that seems a bit anarchistic.

One of the student nurses was regularly "persuaded" to entertain us, he should have had his own comedy show. Sister actually ran a very strict ward, but that appreciated patient morale was important. We voted a patient off the ward ( he had foolishly nipped into the toilet as the ward round was being done & we knew he was probably due for discharge ), the consultant looked at him as he jumped back in bed, told him we had voted him out & walked away - his face was a picture. Another patient was brought back after having his appendicitis out about 11.30pm & the first thing he said to the ward was " don't any of you b******* make me laugh".

That could (almost) be an 0 gauge model !!

I appreciate that single bed rooms are the best for infection control, but when I was taken in by ambulance from work, I was in a standard 6 bed room. As I had nothing, no phone, book, clothes or anything, I was grateful for the company, chat & comradery. This was a pre / post op ward so VERY different from a general ward (for those who have not been hospitalised) & the humour was wicked & the staff were just as likely to join in - kept everyone's spirits up. It would have been very lonely & boring being myself.

Not so daft on the old Maltese buses, where the windows were removed in summer, probably other places did this too

From youtube, can't comment as I don't read German, can't see who is driving at 1.09 ! www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-NcvPt56Qw

Maybe it's the photo, but the tyre looks pretty bald. Maybe that's how the driver survived. 🤣