Early Risers.

[monkeysarefun]

5 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Sounds nasty!  Please report to the topic "For those who fear coming to Australia"  

 

Mine starts with a capital S when I am sucking the dirt 😂  Which reminds me ..... 

 

I did raise a  smile at @Barry O using the phrase "Shark Wielding " because as you'd know "Wielding the Shark"  is used here  to describe a young lady who is making it obvious that she doesn't want uninvited male attention.

 

It comes from the actual practice of Shark Wielding that began   when young ladies discovered that they could deter  unwanted advances of the male kind by simply carrying a small shark around with them, since blokes soon found out that even a 3 or 4 foot White Pointer or Grey Nurse can inflict quite a nasty bite, and so gave such shark-equipped ladies a wide berth.

 

Although the  practice did gain great popularity, especially during the war years up until the late '70's , it is largely frowned upon now due to environmental concerns and so other than in coastal Queensland  it is fairly rare to see a girl carrying a shark around these days  except on Valentines Day when a symbolic plastic shark is substituted.

 

The phrase "wielding the shark"  however still lives on, as does its counterpoint:

 

"Gday mate, ho'wd you go with that sheila in the Bunyip And Billabong this arvo - did you manage to get her to drop the shark?"

 

"Nah...."

 

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[The White Rabbit]

19 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

@The White Rabbit Those photos of the Taly-y-llyn area have been absolutely wonderful, thank you for posting them - one of my favourite holiday areas, we visit most years.

 

Thanks for saying. It has been nice to ramble through some happy memories. There should be some more to come once I dig deeper into the archive.

 

Until Covid, I could say the same, we usually had a long weekend or week in Wales each year, often in the spring or autumn and based in the Dysinni valley. 

 

18 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I think we may go one year. I am sure Aditi wouldn’t mind looking at the scenery from small trains as long as there was a nice hotel to stay in. 

 

The Tal y Llyn is reasonably central for the 'Great Little Trains'. I'm a bit out of date but near the TR there's the Tyn y Cornel by the lake itself (near my evening shots of foxgloves), the Gwesty Minffordd by the turn off the A487 and the Dolgoch Falls Hotel. I'm not sure about Tywyn but there are a few places in Dolgellau and Machynlleth. I've not stayed in any of the three for some years, we used Dolgoch Falls maybe 15 or so years ago for a few nights, which was fine for us but it wasn't one of the more luxurious types of hotel - but there's been plenty of time to change. If I was going next year I'd also check Tyn y Cornel as in the past it's been good for meals. With both you are a bit isolated and dependent on the car but there are walks into the Dolgoch ravine and by the lake. Most roads don't have pavements or if they do, they are very narrow. We've also stayed at Hendy Farm (B&B and self-catering) and that's close enough to walk into Tywyn on lanes and paths. 

 

Anyway...

 

[polybear]

Bear here.......

 

Well that was fun.  Not.

I scraped off the remainder of the paint from the first stair stringer; the PS has done it's job.  That's the good news.....

The bad news is the gunge that needed scraping off was just like a very thick, very sticky dark brown Toffee - yet the paint was white.  Huh?  I suspect it's something to do with whatever the stringer was first painted/treated with almost 100 years ago; it certainly wasn't water soluble so I ended up scraping off as much as possible then wiping down with dry rag.  After that it was yet another wipe down with yet more rag, but this time soaked in white spirit.  It seems to have done the job - a paw wipe didn't result in sticky brown fur so that's a good sign.  It'll get another wipe at some point, but this time with Cellulose Thinners prior to sanding.

 

The H, S & L currently stinks of white spirit (I did wonder about using the light switch - just how many PPM of White Spirit makes for an explosive atmosphere? 🤣).  Getting to sleep tonight should be a breeze.....waking up again in the morning could be another matter altogether....

 

Right, the next step is to do the same again on the other stair stringer - which is shorter than the first since there's a 90 degree bend at the top of the stairs and this stringer is on the inside of the bend.  That'll be something to look forward to for tomorrow.

Bear gone.

 

 

 

 

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Frustrating day all round. Waiting to help people and then at the last minute cancelling and now sat outside someones house, just waiting. Hackers seem to be making things difficult on here and now made up with head cowd. At least i had the  valuers in to mums old house.

Anyway when i get in its bath and then bed. Got sone jobs to do tomorrow regarding the exhibition at the weekend. 
So goodnight.

[Sidecar Racer]

8 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I wonder why.

• Top Speed Diesel Maestro = 89 mph*
• Top Speed Typical Scrote Nicked Vehicle** = 95 mph up to 127 mph***

Call me an old cynic, but I suspect some chair polisher in the mid Wales Constabulary headquarters got a big bonus for making “significant savings” by ordering a fleet of Diesel Maestros

 

 

 Normally when people make statements on the way Police Forces work and methods used

I sit here shake my head and stay quiet , but there comes a time ,

 

 I spent 34 and a half years working for the police , all of it in the vehicle maintenance

and preparation  department .

 

 Does anyone really consider that a Maestro diesel would be the only type of vehicle that

would be used . How about different types of vehicle for different uses , that would be a

novel idea .

 

 When I started in 1975 we had Ford Mk2 escorts and Hillman Avengers that filled the role

of town and country village work , there were specialised converted vans for the Dog Handlers ,

for Motorway and A road patrol work it was Jaguar XJ 6 or Triumph 2.5 PI saloons and

Range Rovers .

 

 As years  passed so did the range of vehicles , both in terms of operational needs and

in type . I can list all the variants that passed through my hands over the years , some even

I wish we never used and others that I wanted to own myself , Sierra Cosworth springs to

mind .

 

 So  people, please don't make sweeping statements on subjects that you really know

little about .

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

10 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

Thanks for saying. It has been nice to ramble through some happy memories. There should be some more to come once I dig deeper into the archive.

 

Until Covid, I could say the same, we usually had a long weekend or week in Wales each year, often in the spring or autumn and based in the Dysinni valley. 

 

 

You know, looking at your pictures, its easy to see why Cook named this state NEW South Wales.

 

 

 

[Erichill16]

2 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

or why gas masks …. would necessarily make it "Merry".

 

 

Sprouts.

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by Erichill16

[Coombe Barton]

... Frankfurt Christmas Market was in full swing. I resisted the temptation to look for knackwurst in which to hide a painting ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2022/11/09/less-than-an-hour/

[PhilJ W]

Essex police use or have used some odd vehicles. At one time they had a Subaru capable of 200 mph. It didn't cost them a bean as it had been confiscated under the proceeds of crime act.

[iL Dottore]

14 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

….Does anyone really consider that a Maestro diesel would be the only type of vehicle thatwould be used .

Of course not. Given that in the past I have worked closely with the police as a paramedic, I am very well aware of the wide variety of vehicles available to the police force – some of them are incredibly specialised.

 

It was simply a light-hearted response to the comment below:

11 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

The police in mid Wales in the 90s used to run Maestro diesels. Strangely, they were a little sensitive about that.... 

….pointing out that the top speed of a Maestro Diesel was less than the top speed of the most frequently stolen cars of that period (I checked and I included a reference in my post).

 

As for the “old cynic“ comment, merely a wry observation that the people safe behind the lines often do not provide the staff up at the front end with what they really need - self interest not infrequently coming into play (something seen in all organisations of all types around the world).

[Barry O]

Now feel like someone has hit me on the head with a large tapping mallet. Time for bed methinks..

 

Baz

[Tony_S]

41 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

Tyn y Cornel

Aditi quite liked the look of that one, lake views and high speed jets whizzing about nearby. She likes an aeroplane! So we might possibly go next year. 
I think we are starting to emerge from our post Covid bubble now. We have been seeing family and Aditi had invited a few friends over in the near future for meals. 

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis has been absent all evening and hopefully it will stay that way for the rest of the night. Now to catch up on the goings on on the rest of RMweb.

[Dave Hunt]

26 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

 I am very well aware of the wide variety of vehicles available to the police force – some of them are incredibly specialised.

 

When I was a lad most police transport seemed to consist of pedal cycles. Seems like things have moved on since then.

 

Dave 

[Erichill16]

 

37 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

 I am very well aware of the wide variety of vehicles available to the police force – some of them are incredibly specialised.

 

10 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

When I was a lad most police transport seemed to consist of pedal cycles. Seems like things have moved on since then.

 

Dave 

 

Oh, I’m not that sure.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_army_bicycle

[Darlington_Shed]

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

LA - a great place for two things, coming from and passing through

Reminds me of a lyric: "Home is made for coming from, for dreams of going to, which with any luck will never come true". Internet points for those who know 🤠

[Ozexpatriate]

43 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

... its easy to see why Cook named this state NEW South Wales

Did he though? (Well yes, but not at first.)

 

The actual history of the naming is quite interesting and nothing to do with that tosh about the coastline reminding him of Wales. (I wonder if Cook ever actually saw the Welsh coast. One imagines he was very familiar with the east coast of England and, of course, sailed all over the world but did he sail through St. George's Channel or in the Irish Sea?)

 

I found this paper, on The origins of the name New South Wales to be quite interesting.

Quote

‘It is clear that the name was not given at once, and that in fact Cook took possession of the east coast without naming it at all’. At some time on the voyage between Possession Island and Batavia a naming decision was made and the name New Wales was added to the journal copies. At Batavia the Mitchell Manuscript was despatched to Britain showing this name. Then, at some time during the voyage between Batavia and Britain, New Wales was changed to New South Wales.

 

New North Wales and New South Wales had previously been used for parts of what is now Canada. There was also a New Yorkshire, which also didn't stick.

 

I live in Drake's New Albion but we don't use that name either. There's a spot on the Oregon coast that enthusiasts have put forward as the 'proper' location of "Drake's Bay" but it now appears to be most likely the location of a Manilla galleon (Santo Cristo de Burgos) shipwreck that was carrying beeswax.

[Ozexpatriate]

3 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

Oh, I’m not that sure.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_army_bicycle

I liked this bit:

Quote

In 2012 the Swiss Ministry of Defence, Civil Defense and Sport purchased 4100 units of a new model of military bicycle, officially called Fahrrad 12, at a cost of CHF 10.2 million (approximately CHF 2,490 per unit, including maintenance costs over 10 years) from Simpel.ch, as the original manufacturer of the Model 93 was not available.

 

[Ozexpatriate]

6 minutes ago, Darlington_Shed said:

"Home is made for coming from, for dreams of going to, which with any luck will never come true"

"Home is where you hang your head"* but "You can't go [there] again".

 

* Groucho Marx

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Sidecar Racer said:

As years  passed so did the range of vehicles , both in terms of operational needs and

in type . I can list all the variants that passed through my hands over the years

Pray tell, did you ever have unmarked highway patrol utes, or is that just us?

 

 

[Erichill16]

7 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I liked this bit:

 

Ministry of Defence, Civil Defence and Sport, quite a portfolio.  

[Ozexpatriate]

8 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

unmarked highway patrol utes

There was a period where, in the US, many confiscated* vehicles were used as unmarked police cars, but this seems less common today.  No utes though. 

 

* During drug-related arrests.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well it’s been a beautiful sunny day here today, although it was a little cool first thing. Anyway, I’ve had a good day in the garden moving plants and trees about. The first I dug up was a hydrangea, next was a viburnum, I then swapped them round. I also relocated 2 clumps of geraniums (cranesbill) and 2 clumps of meadow sweet. Of course before moving the hydrangea and the viburnum they were both pruned back. This created another 2 wheelbarrow loads of clippings. Once I’d finished moving plants about, I did a bit more pruning of the hedge, which filled the wheelbarrow once again. The garden waste bin is now full, so it’s a good job it gets emptied on Friday. After dinner I collected some more leaves for the leaf mould bin and that too is almost full. 

 

I then finished off the repair to the printer dispenser tray and I’m pleased to say it now works perfectly. I then knocked off and got changed before having my ears lowered. 

 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.