The Night Mail

[polybear]

8 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

It is an ex conservatory because the polycarbonate roof was replaced with a solid one. This allows it to be used throughout the year. 

 

Bear carried out a similar exercise, which involved keeping the local council on-side (the guy sorry, T0sser who owns - but rents out - the house behind Bear Towers got the right 'ump cos' we successfully blocked him from building a bl00dy great house in the back garden, which would've totally screwed the light in our gardens).  Once a Conservatory loses a clear roof its, er, no longer a Conservatory apparently - the Council BCO says it's now a "Substantially Glazed Structure".  One of the very best things this Bear did, whatever they wanna call it.

 

6 hours ago, SM42 said:

 

Hang on

 

As your shed is the size of Lichenstein, I dread to think what equipment you use for gardening .

 

Andy

 

It's the Combine Harvester that takes up the room....

[Winslow Boy]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Bear carried out a similar exercise, which involved keeping the local council on-side (the guy sorry, T0sser who owns - but rents out - the house behind Bear Towers got the right 'ump cos' we successfully blocked him from building a bl00dy great house in the back garden, which would've totally screwed the light in our gardens).  Once a Conservatory loses a clear roof its, er, no longer a Conservatory apparently - the Council BCO says it's now a "Substantially Glazed Structure".  One of the very best things this Bear did, whatever they wanna call it.

 

 

It's the Combine Harvester that takes up the room....

 

The correct technical term is a tractor and multiple trailed gang unit - with anywhere  between five and seven cutting heads. Now if Jamie was really pushing the boat out the heads would be 'floaters' ( make of that as you will but as Jamie will probably have seen the odd floater in his time as a member of the Queens/Kings? Constabulary I'll leave you to think of the f other meaning)

[Happy Hippo]

31 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

......the heads would be 'floaters'.......

We are neither dead or effluent:

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by Happy Hippo

[Happy Hippo]

1 minute ago, Happy Hippo said:

We are neither dead or effluent:

 

But are affluent and flatulent (before any other witty commentator makes it)

[Canal Digger]

23 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

On 25/09/2022 at 22:31, jamie92208 said:

As a former pongo it comes naturally to him. He thinks he's getting ready for bed.

 

Elucidation requested. I cannot relate this to any sense of the word "pongo" either previously known to me or just looked up! Or is it one of your smartphone typos

The response to the use of the term 'Pongo' that I heard was "the Army dig in, the RAF check in", as an ex Civi (aka Strawberry Mivi) I got flak from all sides. Hard hat on and taking cover

[TheQ]

While I have dug in during training... The big advantage of being a radarman, is there is a distinct lack of interest by the authorities in you digging holes where there may be  something important.. Like a power cable supplying a 4 MW radar.

[Happy Hippo]

5 hours ago, TheQ said:

While I have dug in during training... The big advantage of being a radarman, is there is a distinct lack of interest by the authorities in you digging holes where there may be  something important.. Like a power cable supplying a 4 MW radar.

Many years ago,having carried out a pre exercise recce for dispersed storage sites, I arranged with the farmer that the area around the Company HQ could not have trenches dug due to the livestock around the site.  The risk of animals falling in at night with the potential injuries/death to both animals and trench occupants was considered too risky (and this was well before the roll out of  H&S risk assessments became the norm).  The same rules also applied to the use of  blank ammunition and pyrotechnics, not to be used around cattle under any circumstances.

 

All in all it was a bit of a holiday compared to other exercises I've had the misfortune to attend.

 

Going out and being all warry and covered in mud, no sleeping and eating dirt is all well and good when you are young and carefree, but once you have been made into a gentleman, and a REMF to boot, you require a little more decorum and be a little more civilised.

[Winslow Boy]

52 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Many years ago,having carried out a pre exercise recce for dispersed storage sites, I arranged with the farmer that the area around the Company HQ could not have trenches dug due to the livestock around the site.  The risk of animals falling in at night with the potential injuries/death to both animals and trench occupants was considered too risky (and this was well before the roll out of  H&S risk assessments became the norm).  The same rules also applied to the use of  blank ammunition and pyrotechnics, not to be used around cattle under any circumstances.

 

All in all it was a bit of a holiday compared to other exercises I've had the misfortune to attend.

 

Going out and being all warry and covered in mud, no sleeping and eating dirt is all well and good when you are young and carefree, but once you have been made into a gentleman, and a REMF to boot, you require a little more decorum and be a little more civilised.

 

Bit like Mr Hunt then Big H all click and no pong.

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

Bit like Mr Hunt then Big H all click and no pong.

By the time you get to  sense the pong, it's too late.

[J. S. Bach]

4 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

...snip... but once you have been made into a gentleman, and a REMF to boot, you require a little more decorum and be a little more civilised.

We had/have them over here, too! 😰

[Dave Hunt]

Although I've been involved in lots of exercises, apart from during basic training I've never had to dig trenches - the aircraft tends to get bogged down if the nosewheel falls into one. Thankfully I was never in the boy scouts (Harrier pilots) who went in for tents and the outdoor life in a big way. Neither was I ever on those funny things where the wings are on top and spin around, the proponents of which also tend to do the camping thing fairly frequently. Like Q, my service life was largely lived in an indoor environment, either in nice warm buildings or a rapidly moving glasshouse.

 

Dave   

[Doncaster Green]

41 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Thankfully I was never in the boy scouts (Harrier pilots) who went in for tents and the outdoor life in a big way. ..

 

Dave   

But even then they liked their creature comforts.  IIRC the logistics train that accompanied their weekends in the country mustered in excess of 900 vehicles (1991) and included fully equipped bathrooms, not a few barbies and maybe a prefab pub!

 

John

[newbryford]

7 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

 

Going out and being all warry and covered in mud, no sleeping and eating dirt is all well and good when you are young and carefree, but once you have been made into a gentleman, and a REMF to boot, you require a little more decorum and be a little more civilised.

 

Business account at Travelodge?

[newbryford]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

Although I've been involved in lots of exercises, apart from during basic training I've never had to dig trenches - the aircraft tends to get bogged down if the nosewheel falls into one.

 

It doesn't need a trench.....

 

 

[J. S. Bach]

3 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

Although I've been involved in lots of exercises, apart from during basic training I've never had to dig trenches - the aircraft tends to get bogged down if the nosewheel falls into one. Thankfully I was never in the boy scouts (Harrier pilots) who went in for tents and the outdoor life in a big way. Neither was I ever on those funny things where the wings are on top and spin around, the proponents of which also tend to do the camping thing fairly frequently. Like Q, my service life was largely lived in an indoor environment, either in nice warm buildings or a rapidly moving glasshouse.

 

Dave   

Ever land on a carrier? That is a serious question, btw, asked out of curiosity.

[jamie92208]

5 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

Ever land on a carrier? That is a serious question, btw, asked out of curiosity.

Don't know about DavecH but a mutual acquaintance of ours did. Therecis a  video of his first landing on Ark Royal in an F4 somewhere. I'll try and dig out a link.

 

Jamie

[polybear]

28 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Don't know about DavecH but a mutual acquaintance of ours did. Therecis a  video of his first landing on Ark Royal in an F4 somewhere. I'll try and dig out a link.

 

Jamie

 

Huh?

https://thetransportlibrary.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=91041

[Happy Hippo]

9 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

Business account at Travelodge?

Holiday Inn Express (I thought it was a  railway sleeper service).

[Mike Bellamy]

17 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 . . . . once you have been made into a gentleman, and a REMF to boot, you require a little more decorum and be a little more civilised.

 

I needed Google for that one . . . . . . . . 😀

.

[Happy Hippo]

Go for my flu jab, book an  eye test at the opticians, arrange an appointment for a hair cut, pick up some bags of Eritrean ericaceous compost...

 

And that's all before coffee.

 

I'd better get a shift on.

[Dave Hunt]

9 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

Ever land on a carrier? That is a serious question, btw, asked out of curiosity.

 

Yes, but I wasn't driving and it was in a whirly bird. I've done some approaches to carriers myself but always to overshoots. Boy, are those decks tiny! Even the big (relatively, that is) US ones.

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

38 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Go for my flu jab........

 

Although Jill and I have had our fifth Covid inoculation we haven't yet been invited for flu jabs.

 

40 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

.......And that's all before coffee.

 

You mean there is life before coffee??

 

Dave

[SM42]

46 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Go for my flu jab, book an  eye test at the opticians, arrange an appointment for a hair cut, pick up some bags of Eritrean ericaceous compost...

 

And that's all before coffee.

 

I'd better get a shift on.

 

If only I had a list of jobs like that. 

 

Coffee?

 

Who's got time for coffee? 

 

Pure luxury.

 

Andy

Rushed off his feet 

[Northmoor]

16 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Yes, but I wasn't driving and it was in a whirly bird. I've done some approaches to carriers myself but always to overshoots. Boy, are those decks tiny! Even the big (relatively, that is) US ones.

 

Dave

This is why Eric "Winkle" Brown is one of my heroes.  I went to a RAeS talk by him about 25 years ago; he spoke without notes or slides for about 90 minutes and kept us spellbound. 

[polybear]

28 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Yes, but I wasn't driving and it was in a whirly bird. I've done some approaches to carriers myself but always to overshoots. Boy, are those decks tiny! Even the big (relatively, that is) US ones.

 

Dave

 

Bear once worked with a Guy who'd had a back-seat ride whilst serving in the RN aboard HMS Eagle (he was a Radar Tech.).  Not sure what aircraft it was (Phantom?) but he said never, ever, EVER again.....