Early Risers.

[Gwiwer]

40 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I would definitely go back and perhaps try to stay a bit longer. I don’t feel that about all the cities we have visited. No desire to go back to St Petersburg or any other Russian city. I felt there was a very thin veneer of culture covering something unpleasant. Quite relieved to head for Stockholm on their occasion. 

I have never felt any compelling need nor desire to visit the US with the sole exception of Alaska.  I would be interested in a trek through from the NWT of Canada.  No specific reason why but the scenery and climate would make it a fascinating experience.  Our one-time neighbour who hailed from the Canadian side of the border hasn't kept in touch which - from that point of view at least - is a shame.  

 

My "bucket list" includes Iceland, Norway, Alaska, New Zealand (for longer and travelling far more than the five days I spent there in 2000) and SW Ireland.  Is there a theme here?  Mostly cooler and / or snowy / icy places.  And somewhat volcanic.  I would very much like to see a volcano in eruption.  From a close-enough-but-fairly-safe distance.  

[polybear]

3 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

At the end of the presentation some music started, and every one ............stood and snapped to attention.  

 

Conditioned from an early age.....

 

Bear here....

A diddly bit more sanding, followed by wet-wiping the walls down to remove the dust.  Tick. Buddy from over the road is arriving very shortly as he has problems with his mobile; he's also asked me to assist with regard to seeing how much Gov. Pension he'll get when he retires.

Bear gone.

[iL Dottore]

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

As I have avoided [New York] visiting for the greater part of 66 years there is every chance that I can avoid it for however many years I have left 🤣

 

Dr. SWMBO has been. She arranged a side-trip as part of a business visit elsewhere in the Yoo-Ess. Stayed with a colleague in Westchester in what she described as the biggest house she has ever seen. She had an entire wing of the place to herself for the duration. But felt very much less than safe in the city itself and was under-whelmed by some of the famous sights. 
 

Never been much of a fan of NYC (been there a number of times). The place always seemed dirty and rundown to me. Chicago, I like (and is also one of those US cities that looks exactly like it appears in the movies). Hated Atlanta, enjoyed San Diego.

 

Spent more time in Palo Alto (south of SF) than I care to recall...

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

I love New York, a great city. Though I prefer Washington DC which I think is a splendid place, some magnificent public buildings, world class museums and some lovely walks. I used to prefer San Francisco but now I would rather go to DC.

I would also now go to DC rather than NYC. San Francisco has become a very unsafe place to visit nowadays - as has New Orleans (especially New Orleans)

38 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

I have never felt any compelling need nor desire to visit the US with the sole exception of Alaska.  I would be interested in a trek through from the NWT of Canada.  No specific reason why but the scenery and climate would make it a fascinating experience. 

The American South West is very interesting - I liked both Arizona and Colorado, Texas not so much (Houston, never been to Dallas). I flew into Denver and took a week "mini-break" driving through Colorado. Most Europeans have very little idea of how big the US actually is. I spent 4 hours driving out from Denver (heading towards a National Park) saw a few vehicles and one or two Coyote and when I checked the SatNav, it seemed that I had barely moved on the map...

 

I really enjoyed Canada (as did Mrs iD), British Columbia, Vancouver and Vancouver Island are all worth a visit. Our Canadian friend (who lives on Vancouver Island and who we visited) warned us that in certain parts parts of Canada there are only two seasons: this winter and next winter! 🤣 All joking aside, our friend advised us that - unless we had a death wish - we should avoid the Canadian Prairies during the summer because of the Kamikaze midges.

Got to see some real bears (brown bears - not the LDC scoffing Polybear) and had a fascinating close encounter: heading back to the hotel from a local nature reserve, we had to suddenly stop as the car in front of us slammed on its brakes. A few seconds later - completely chilled out - came a brown bear and passed about 50cm away from my window. He was off for his dinner - as we were for ours.

 

Toronto and Montreal are great to visit, but BC and Vancouver Island remain our faves.

38 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

My "bucket list" includes Iceland, Norway, Alaska, New Zealand (for longer and travelling far more than the five days I spent there in 2000) and SW Ireland.  Is there a theme here?  Mostly cooler and / or snowy / icy places.  And somewhat volcanic.  I would very much like to see a volcano in eruption.  From a close-enough-but-fairly-safe distance.  

Sadly, I missed out on New Zealand whilst I was in the antipodes - unlike Mrs iD  (that was the long summer Mrs iD spent chasing each other around the Asia Pacific region: I left Sydney, the day she flew in, I left Hong Kong the day before she arrived, etc., etc.) We did try to coordinate our business trips [about 5 weeks away for both of us] but couldn't quite manage it).

 

Malaysia is definitely a favourite destination (as was Egypt)

[iL Dottore]

And whilst on the subject of traveling, whilst researching my trip to Japan I stumbled across this website:

 

https://www.rome2rio.com/

 

Apart from straightforward A to B travel, it can also tell you how to travel from the Hill of Strawberries to Fairbanks Alaska. 😀

[jamie92208]

5 hours ago, polybear said:

 

The Wiki Page included this:

The last shot was fired by Battery 4 at 10:57:30 a.m. on 11 November 1918, timed to land just before the scheduled Armistice at 11 a.m

How f.stupid - hopefully no-one were on the receiving end.

 

 

The Boss had a piccy on his lounge wall of the USS Iowa? (or similar big b*gger) firing all guns simultaneously, with the barrels at 90 degrees to the axis of the ship; I recall him saying the ship moves sideways in the water when they do that - no idea where he got that from, but it sounds feasible.

 

In other news.....

Whoever is presenting Radio 2 at the moment has admitted to scoffing 19 Spam Fritters in one go whilst at school (none of the other kids were keen on them, apparently).  Respect.

There are various books about the last day of fighting on the Western Front.  One artillery officer set up a large barrage that destroyed one German held village at 10.59 on tbe 11th. He later authorised the dropping of the first two atomic bombs.

 

As to broadsides from Battleships, HMS Agincourt, which had been built by Vickets for one of the South American  countries, had 14  14" guns that could all fire to either side.  Apparently  there was a rumour that she might capsize if a full broadside was fired.  During the battle of Jutland she fired several full 14 gun broadsides off to Starboard with no problem..

 

As to the US, I've visited several times and love the country but would not want to walk around some areas on my own.  I have been shown some fabulous hospitality  and also some very ignorant religious prejudice. The latter when I mention that our Baptist Church had a woman as minister.  However  I would happily go back again.

 

Taxes here in France are paid in arrears. Each May I file online in about an hour.  In August I get told how much tax I owe, which I can pay by instalments.  This year the sum was zero as I still pay PAYE on my police pension in the UK and get credits for that. The system is pragmatic. As all our UK income relates to UK financial years they are happy for me to use that. Thus in May 2022 I gave the figures for April 2020 to April 2021.    It works.

 

Back to the present, I spent yesterday afternoon sorting out a puncture on Beth's car.  This morning I went to try and get a new tyre. One place was shut and at the other the fitter had forgotten  his computer login. I then came home and we went to a shop called Gateaux for coffee and cake. This was to spend my birthday present  from young Emily.  The shop is run by an Oxford rowing blue with a degree in molecular  biology. Her inscribed oar hangs on a wall.  The cakes are superb and portions are generous. Emily has been thanked.

 

Jamie

[southern42]

 ' afternoon all from red dragon lans.

Sun and showers, 8C.

 

Yesterday was spent down on the trax though I did skive off for a walk and a visit to a gift shop for some "wrist warmers" (aka fingerless mitts). I had seen them during the week when I went round the shops with family. I did not, however have my bamboo flute on me - what I find is that, while the room can be warm, my hands can be cold which affects my playing. The gloves are wool with fleece lining so they are quite thick and I wanted to be sure they were not going to be too long and get trapped between flute and fingers when playing. I think they will be fine. 

 

It has been a few weeks since I last drove round the trax, so this was the first time I had seen the fallen tree apart from in other people's photos and video. It looked a lot more staggering when I saw it for myself. <<whoa!>>

 

At the junction of my walk round the track prior to running.  The mainline runs north south (right left) beyond the bank of trees in front of the buildings.

There were more branches and logs to the left of photo and to the right!

 

Moving round to the left

 

And more to the left

 

Looking back at the fallen branches, from the other side of the young oak wood, the mainline behind me.

 

A couple of months BEFORE on September 14.

 

And to complete my collection of the "walk", a Big Breakfast for the taking in the station sidings! 

 

Polly

 

Edited November 28, 2022 by southern42

[PupCam]

Afternoon All!

 

Yesterday we went to use Mrs Puppers car which hasn't been run for a couple of weeks.     It wasn't the computer that said "NO", it was the battery.    An attempted recharge last night went from flat to fully charged far too quickly for Puppers' liking.   As the battery looks to be original and the car is 12 years old this morning was spent with yet another run into Hitchin & St Evenage to procure a replacement.     Fortunately it takes approximately 5 minutes to replace the easily accessible battery and the hit on the credit card wasn't overzealous either.   Luckily Mrs Puppers doesn't own a Tesla ......

 

Most of my "fiddling about" time over the last couple of days has been spent trying to come up with a workable fixture to machine the telescope tube profile on the Crayford focuser adapter.   When I'd completed the first attempt it became obvious that there was insufficient rear clearance to get the correct radius.    There was also the small matter that the cross slide would have had a nice telescope shaped chunk taken out of it.   Rootling around in the Myfords "Bits Box" revealed a small angle plate which when bolted to the rotated through 90 degrees vertical slide provided the required rear clearance and the added benefit of getting the component clear of the cross slide.     It's a bit "The toe bone's connected to the foot bone, the foot bone's connected to the ankle bone,  the ankle bones connected to ....... well, you get the picture but fortuitously the whole setup seems remarkably rigid.      Very light cuts will be the order of the day though so it will take a while to complete the job.

 

 

I've just got to make a suitable boring bar with a tool set to a radius of ~ 70mm (!) now and I can get on with it.

 

Oh, the editor crashed during the production of this post.    That, the lack of the multi-post quote facility (for me) and the previously mentioned adverts  and even my attempt last week to take up the WOMR Black Friday  offer are now becoming quite tiresome.   If I disappear for a while it's probably not because I've fallen off my perch 🤞 

 

TTFNQ

 

Alan

 

 

 

[Tony_S]

23 minutes ago, PupCam said:

WOMR Black Friday  o

I remember when I first set up a WOMR account, for some reason it took a few goes. Seems stable now but I think it is stricter about what you must have in your password than RMWeb did. The subscription people at the publishers who sorted out the direct debits were very helpful too. 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. 

1 hour ago, southern42 said:

 ' afternoon all from red dragon lans.

Sun and showers, 8C.

 

Yesterday was spent down on the trax though I did skive off for a walk and a visit to a gift shop for some "wrist warmers" (aka fingerless mitts). I had seen them during the week when I went round the shops with family. I did not, however have my bamboo flute on me - what I find is that, while the room can be warm, my hands can be cold which affects my playing. The gloves are wool with fleece lining so they are quite thick and I wanted to be sure they were not going to be too long and get trapped between flute and fingers when playing. I think they will be fine. 

 

It has been a few weeks since I last drove round the trax, so this was the first time I had seen the fallen tree apart from in other people's photos and video. It looked a lot more staggering when I saw it for myself. <<whoa!>>

 

At the junction of my walk round the track prior to running.  The mainline runs north south (right left) beyond the bank of trees in front of the buildings.

There were more branches and logs to the left of photo and to the right!

 

Moving round to the left

 

And more to the left

 

Looking back at the fallen branches, from the other side of the young oak wood, the mainline behind me.

 

A couple of months BEFORE on September 14.

 

And to complete my collection of the "walk", a Big Breakfast for the taking in the station sidings! 

 

Polly

 

The oak looks as if its been coppiced at some time in the past.

 

5 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

As I have avoided visiting for the greater part of 66 years there is every chance that I can avoid it for however many years I have left 🤣

 

Dr. SWMBO has been. She arranged a side-trip as part of a business visit elsewhere in the Yoo-Ess. Stayed with a colleague in Westchester in what she described as the biggest house she has ever seen. She had an entire wing of the place to herself for the duration. But felt very much less than safe in the city itself and was under-whelmed by some of the famous sights. 
 

 

I travelled through New York but I didn't stop. I'd picked the hire car up at Kennedy Airport and managed to find my way to one of the tunnels under the Hudson and headed west and then south. The next large conurbation I encountered was Chattanooga, which is one place I would love to revisit.

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

And whilst on the subject of traveling, whilst researching my trip to Japan I stumbled across this website:

 

https://www.rome2rio.com/

 

Apart from straightforward A to B travel, it can also tell you how to travel from the Hill of Strawberries to Fairbanks Alaska. 😀

 A great website, it obviously goes by postcode as it starts my journeys from Southend-on-Sea. As soon as I opened it it showed a journey to Kyoto. I tried a few other places near and far, one was Ostend in Belgium, it recommended going via Brussels. Just for fun I entered Tirana, Albania. Most of the suggestions were by surface transport. 

[Coombe Barton]

... watch this space ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2022/11/28/sounds-of-the-season-2022-23-02-shapes/

[J. S. Bach]

34 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

 ...snip... I travelled through New York but I didn't stop.  ...snip... The next large conurbation I encountered was Chattanooga ...snip...

Sounds like west on something to south on I-81 to west on I-40 to south on I-75. How did you avoid Knoxville? 😺 Anyway your journey reminded me of:

 

 

[Ian Abel]

Morning...

Several days "off" as a result of the Thanksgiving holiday here.

 

The "day" went very well, entire immediate family involved, and all enjoyed ourselves.

 

Black Friday was avoided at all levels, frankly nothing much appear on enough of an offer to rally care. One ANNOYANCE was the delivery that was supposed to occur Wednesday - they called at 0631 saying they'd be arriving in ten minutes - and just when I hoped for a lay in 🤪

Saturday spent with errands and the arrival of Whitney (including a walkies) as Jemma was back down to Atlanta to continue training.

Saturday also spent putting the holiday lighting up around the exterior of the house.

 

Sunday up early to sign and two services for the First Sunday of Advent - bloody tired by the end of it, and the Mrs has a cold into the bargain so very low key afternoon.

Today, have friends coming for dinner and working.

 

Weather has been pretty good overall as a prefix to what we're supposed to get tomorrow - 3-5 inches snow accumulation!

 

-5C first thing, high overcast and a +6C forecast high for the day, with the snow possibly starting late evening.

 

Carry on.

[polybear]

4 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

There are various books about the last day of fighting on the Western Front.  One artillery officer set up a large barrage that destroyed one German held village at 10.59 on the 11th. He later authorised the dropping of the first two atomic bombs.

 

So he blew the sh1t out of a French Village just for the hell of it......🤬

 

Bear here....

An afternoon helping out buddy; for some reason good 'ol vodaphone had suspended his mobile contract (so no calls or texts possible) as they said he'd exceeded his monthly limit.  After setting up access to their website and his account it confirmed that he was in fact on unlimited texts and unlimited minutes, with 6Gb Data, or which he'd only used Mb.  Kinda difficult to see how he's exceeded his limit then.....

Well after setting up the account access and viewing various pages etc. his fone started playing happily again, so some sort of glitch on their part I think.  It all seems happy now, so buddy is happy too.  Tick.

Then it was setting up access to the Government Gateway so he could check his Pension Forecast and view N.I. Years; the access itself was pretty easy, but when trying to progress to seeing the pension data they wanted more proof of i.d.  Since his Passport expired long ago, he doesn't drive (so his old provisional licence is a paper jobbie) and hasn't worked since 2008 (after being wacked bluddy hard by a German Guy riding a BMW in Paris after jumping a red light) he hasn't seen a pay slip or P60 in years.  His only hope was going for the credit history option - but HMG wanted two methods of proof, not one.  Turdycurses.

So he's going for Plan 2, namely phoning them on Monday to ask for a paper forecast thru' the post.....

 

I also gave him a heads-up on buying any missing years of N.I. Contributions in order to get a maximum pension; Bear has two incomplete years, which will cost £1200 quid to buy (each full year costs £800) - but as that increases my pension by around a tenner a week it means I'll get the £1200 back in 2.5 years of increased pension payments, after which I'll be quid's in - just so long as I don't drop down dead, that is.  

Edited November 28, 2022 by polybear

[45156]

Evening All

 

Skipping again (choose excuse from those I have proferred lately).

 

Went to Oxfam as usual this morning and did a bit of pricing and sorting - haven't seen any decent railway offerings at all for weeks - we keep getting the D'Angostini partworks, and I've priced them at £1.99, but they are sticking, and will probably be culled in the next couple of weeks.  Then spent 1/2 hour queueing for the Post Office where it appears that every trader in Ludlow was in the queue drawing out their change for the week - a straight consequence of the plethora of bank closures which are happening here, and everywhere else - the PO is not really geared up to this sort of transaction, and with only ONE counter assistant, it is getting a bit gutty when I am doing something that the Post Office was intended for - ie sending a parcel.

 

This year we are relaxed enough to be starting to do some Wentworth Christmas puzzles as last year we were in the throes of the move, with all its attendant delays and uncertainty.

 

Tomorrow, 30747 wants to go to Bewdley, and we'll take Lily with us, as she likes going there too.  There is a rather good chip shop there too, so some chippies are in prospect.

 

Generic greetings and

Regards to All

Stewart

Edited November 28, 2022 by 45156

[AndyID]

39 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

Sounds like west on something to south on I-81 to west on I-40 to south on I-75. How did you avoid Knoxville? 😺 Anyway your journey reminded me of:

 

 

 

"Pardon me boy, is this the cat that chewed your new shoes?"

 

Of course "boy" is completely unacceptable these days, as it should be.

[Ozexpatriate]

6 hours ago, Tony_S said:

now he lives in Saratoga

The one in Santa Clara County (south end of "Silicon Valley") in the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains? Very posh.

It's between Los Gatos and Cupertino - some of the more expensive cities in a very expensive area. I've spent time in Los Gatos. You wouldn't think a posh little California town would be called "The Cats" but such things are not unusual in the former colonial Alta California.

[Ozexpatriate]

6 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

My "bucket list" includes Iceland, Norway, Alaska, New Zealand (for longer and travelling far more than the five days I spent there in 2000) and SW Ireland.  Is there a theme here?  Mostly cooler and / or snowy / icy places.  And somewhat volcanic.  I would very much like to see a volcano in eruption.  From a close-enough-but-fairly-safe distance.  

My eldest just returned from Iceland. He and his wife loved it. No eruptions visible.

 

I have seen a volcano erupting - Kīlauea on Hawai'i - from a helicopter. There was a lava tube emptying into the ocean.

 

I very much do not want to see the local volcanoes erupting. I was very intrigued (from the antipodes) by the stories of the last local eruption - Mt. Saint Helens in 1980. Locals here have lots of stories. It wasn't actually visible in Portland because it was raining. Eventually it rained a heavy slurry of ash that caused gutters to fall off houses. I can see the summit of Mt. Saint Helens when on my daily walk.  I don't want to be nearby  when one our stratovolcanoes erupts.

 

Edited November 28, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[Gwiwer]

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Sadly, I missed out on New Zealand whilst I was in the antipodes

My visit was, of course, thought to be a permanent arrangement at the time.  17 years and only brought to an end by SWMBO's career path changing.  I required an Australian Permanent Resident visa which is not normally issued within Australia.  The nearest issuing location offshore is Auckland NZ so thereto I flew for five days.  They said allow four days for processing so the fifth was an over-run / tourism allowance.  I already held an Australian temporary resident visa on my UK passport so entry to NZ was no problem; they function in that respect as an offshore island (or two) of their much larger neighbour with almost unrestricted passage between the two.  

 

On the first day I duly paraded as required at the office in Downtown Auckland.  Which, for the uninitiated, really is "down town" at the bottom of the steep hill upon which the city sits.  I was advised that the result could come through "at any time" so to stay local.  I hadn't planned to go too far in any case but a side-trip to enjoy Wellington's trolleybuses via the Overlander train was beyond "local" and required a couple more nights; it was therefore off the agenda.  

 

I managed a hot day on Waiheke Island, a slightly cooler one around Devonport across the harbour and one more on the train to Rotorua and back.  I hadn't been aware that this line was about to close.  The crew were surprised to find a passenger on the train and more so that he was staying on and coming straight back after their hour's break at the city of steaming plup-plup mud-holes.  That line, and the associated Coromandel branch, closed soon afterwards.  The train was a combined service with each of the two units going to the respective branches and re-combining on the way back.  At the time Auckland still ran ex-Perth (WA) DMUs on its suburban lines from the old station.  Those have gone now with electrification and the new subterranean Britomart terminal in use.  I saw construction under way for that with the trench being dug for the railway to dive beneath the city shops.  

 

And then it was time to collect the visa.  Passport duly labelled and handed back I had a spare day around Auckland city before flying back to Australia.  That's the farthest I have yet been from home.  And will probably remain so.

 

I would happily go back to NZ for a longer holiday.  There's a lot still to see.  The Overlander train was threatened with withdrawal but has survived in a more limited form (it was a twice-daily day and night train each way) as much because of the demand to visit "Hobbiton" which lies along its route.  Wellington's trolleybuses have gone.  But they still use a few ex-BR Mk2 carriages, heavily rebuilt, on a commuter run.  And there's the entire South Island to enjoy.  Maybe one day.  

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

So he blew the sh1t out of a French Village just for the hell of it

I'm not sure I understand the outrage. The British, French and Germans had made a habit of that for the previous four years.

 

Now if the firing continued after 11:00am, yes, outrageous. 

 

320 US servicemen died on Armistice Day out of a total of 2,738 fatalities. The armistice had only been agreed to at 5:00am with signatures between 5:12am and 5:20am.

 

There were units that were not informed of the armistice until as late as 10:44am. A burst from a German machine gun killed a US soldier at 10:59am. (He was trying to prove himself somehow throwing himself toward German lines over the protests of his comrades.)

 

Edited November 28, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[polybear]

3 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I'm not sure I understand the outrage. The British, French and Germans had made a habit of that for the previous four years.

 

 

It was pointless points-scoring purely for the hell of it, knowing the Germans couldn't retaliate without breaking the Armistice; the Allies knew they had won the war, so why not just sit back and wait for the clock to strike eleven?  Of course if you hadn't received the news or you're under attack and defending yourself then that's a different argument.

The French Citizens of the Village no doubt had their homes destroyed/wrecked/even more wrecked in the process.

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

San Francisco has become a very unsafe place to visit nowadays

In what way?  I suspect you have overstated this opinion.

 

Like most large cities there are places to avoid, particularly at night. Panhandlers can be aggressive (persistent, not violent) and homelessness is very visible.

 

The only place I've been 'attacked' in any way was Paris. Someone tried to pick my pocket in front of Notre-Dame de Paris. I had earlier moved my wallet to my front pocket - but my jeans would have shown the wear pattern from my wallet in the back pocket. A colleague had his camera bag stolen on Las Ramblas in Barcelona. I wouldn't advise people not to visit Paris or Barcelona.

[Gwiwer]

19 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I have seen a volcano erupting - Kīlauea on Hawai'i - from a helicopter. There was a lava tube emptying into the ocean.

 

I very much do not want to see the local volcanoes erupting.

There are volcanoes and there are volcanoes.  

 

Those on Hawaii and some other locations which erupt quite frequently or even simmer and steam gently all the time typically produce a thin lava which cools into "rope" shapes and tubes.  They are not, in the main, explosive.  The lava is termed "pahoehoe" (Pa-hoy-hoy) from a Hawaiian word.

 

Volcanoes such as Mt. Saint Helens, Etna, Stromboli and Vesuvius are explosive.  They seldom erupt but pressure builds over many years in the magma chamber below the surface.  As was the case with Mt SH this can result in a visible bulging in the mountain-side prior to a catastrophic eruption.  These volcanoes eject huge blocks of lava into the air which then fall back to earth destroying anything nearby.  They can also "blow their own top" when the volcanic force is so great that the cone itself is destroyed and sent aloft with the lave - only to fall back just as violently. This blocky lava is termed "a-a" (ah-ah) again from a Hawaiian word.   Those undersea mounts which occasionally blow themselves into oblivion (as occurred recently off Tonga) are also of this type but the explosive forces can be compounded by near-instantaneous super-heating of the sea-water as they erupt.  Steam rises as we know; ramp that up by a factor of infinity and you have a steam, smoke and ash / lava eruption of considerable magnitude and destructive force.  

 

Pahoehoe lava can be controlled to an extent because it flows as a liquid and can be re-directed with some success.  A-a cannot; efforts can be made to contain and divert ground lava flows but the nature of the ejectamenta (a good word, that) usually renders this unsuccessful.

 

As much damage as anything is done by the pyroclastic flows of ash and dust which cover the landscape, townscape and all within it who haven't reached safety with thick, choking hot dust.  That is what buried Pompeii.  

 

I would, as mentioned above, love to see a volcano in eruption.  Partly as a geologist by training and partly as a natural phenomenon.  Not too closely mind.  Just close enough to see.  I missed out on seeing an Indonesian eruption once as we flew between Melbourne and Singapore; we diverted for safety out of the scheduled corridor so as to be beyond sight of things.  

[Ozexpatriate]

35 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

These volcanoes eject huge blocks of lava into the air which then fall back to earth destroying anything nearby.  They can also "blow their own top" when the volcanic force is so great that the cone itself is destroyed and sent aloft with the lave - only to fall back just as violently. This blocky lava is termed "a-a" (ah-ah) again from a Hawaiian word.  ...

 

Pahoehoe lava can be controlled to an extent because it flows as a liquid and can be re-directed with some success.  A-a cannot

From an online source:

Quote

Pahoehoe is a smooth, ropy lava, common on the Hawaiian islands. 'A'a is a more chunky and thick flow, that is most commonly associated with composite volcano eruptions. 'A'a lava flows are also called clinkers, because of their rough and jagged appearance.

 

The explosive stratovolcano eruptions - like Mt. Saint Helens - don't erupt ‘a‘ā lava or 'blocks of lava'. The Mt. Saint Helens eruption was multifaceted including a landslide, explosive pressure wave, pyroclastic flow, lahar flow, and ash column.

 

Most of the damage was caused by the explosive pressure wave (which flattened everything) followed by the pyroclastic flow and the lahar flow down the Toutle River.

 

Hawai'ian shield volcanoes produce both pāhoehoe and ‘a‘ā flows. And speaking of, Mauna Loa has just erupted. (This has been expected.)

 

CNN: Hawaii’s Mauna Loa is erupting for the first time since 1984

 

Stromboli is an interesting case with lower explosivity with lava flows, lava bombs, tephra etc. 

 

Edited November 28, 2022 by Ozexpatriate
Added Mauna Loa

[New Haven Neil]

Rick, the South Island is super, we have been three times - Mrs NHN's parentals are nationalised Kiwis.  We thought of emigrating there but thought we would become bored so came to Fraggle Rock instead.  No regrets.

 

Taieri Gorge - got a cab ride too - oh look, Pom railfans, want a ride?  Yersss I should say so!

 

[pH]

57 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

… entry to NZ was no problem; they function in that respect as an offshore island (or two) of their much larger neighbour with almost unrestricted passage between the two …

I’ve heard people in New Zealand refer to Australia as the ‘West Island’.