PhilJ W

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Already getting warm today so anything that requires effort such as gardening is a no-no. Can you please explain what is meant by 'protected' industrial action?

Morning all from a bright and sunny Estuary-Land. Very sad indeed to hear of George Cole's passing and Jock's mentioning of his part in 'Blott on the landscape' bought to mind the author of 'Blott', Tom Sharpe of whom I was a great fan avidly waiting for his next book. Unfortunately Tom Sharpe passed away a few years ago and I missed my dose of 'black humour' until I found Carl Hiasson who writes with the same sort of black humour and similar quirky characters. A walk (hobble?) into town beckons this morning, I certainly could do with the exercise. Edit, I forgot to mention the remarkable success of the England cricket team. I particullary like the headline in one of the Australian papers, 'Pommicide'.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. On the subject of war crimes, my father fought against the Japanese in Burma. He once told me that they never even tried to take Japanese prisoners after a few were taken prisoner and then let off a hand grenade killing themselves and many of their captors. I don't think the Allies had the 'opportunity' to commit as many war crimes as the Axis as many of the country's such as France, Belgium and the Netherlands were being rescued from the Nazi tyranny and were the object of sympathy rather than hatred, The same applied in the territories taken by the Japanese. The exception was Eastern Europe where Stalin performed 'political cleansing' and gave the Red Army permission to do as they pleased in captured German territory including rape and murder. The atomic bombs dropped on Japan gave them a 'get out of jail free' card but it does annoy me that some Japanese revisionists claim that it was to free peoples from 'European imperial tyranny' when at that time Japan was an empire with expansionist ambitions.

I have held a clean licence for 48 years and have taken and passed an advanced drivers test. I don't consider myself a good or a bad driver but I still think there are some things that I can improve upon Near to where I live there is a sharp 90 degree bend with some trees and bushes to catch the unwary. One morning on my way to work I saw a van embedded in the bushes with a sign on the back saying 'Well driven? ring 0800................'. As an old fart in a little 'micro car' I resemble that remark (see first reply). Seriously though driving in modern conditions requires a great deal more concentration than many drivers give to their driving which means that other drivers who do concentrate on their driving have to concentrate even harder to compensate.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit dull but dry at the moment, lots of things to do today (sigh).

Goodnight all.

Theres also a clip of the NASCA incident where the driver ran in to his pit crew. All I can say is if that pit crew entered the Olympic gymnastics they'd grab all the gold medals.

I agree an 'old banger' is useful if you do a lot of car commuting. Before I retired I used to have a succession of such vehicles, best of which was a Suzuki jeep with hefty bull bars, no one ever cut me up when driving that.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Have a good time all those on their holiday break(s) and keep them photos coming. DD been there, done that got the T-shirt, I once picked up the wrong spray and used fly spray instead of deodorant. I knew straight away what I had done as the fly spray was a lot heavier and also very 'oily'. I vowed to put my glasses on before using deodorant in future. I see on the news this morning that Miss Piggy and Kermit have ended their relationship as announced on social media. It is by mutual agreement but hope there is a pre-nuptial agreement in place.

Goodnight all.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Congrats and coms where necessary, didn't do anything in the garden today after all. The postman is to blame as he brought the next 'World of Stobart' model, an Oxford low loader model and some interesting further models including this http://www.hydrema.com/home/products/dumptrucks/912d.aspx

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Very ER this morning, thats what happens when bleary eyes mis-read the time. Dom, what's that very interesting looking car to the right of number 500? No excuses now I will have to do something in the garden.

Thats why I have a beard. Goodnight all.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Sad news about Cilla Black, although I would not describe myself as a fan she was part of my youth.

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Went to the swap meet at Rayleigh this morning, managed to find a couple of the new Oxford diecast 00 scale Austin 7's, van and car. They are really brilliant little models and I was lucky to find a dealer with any left, they're really flying off the shelves.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Out soon for the swap meet at Rayleigh, be back later.

I took an advanced test once and I still practice a lot of what I was taught. It gives me great pleasure to keep up with and sometimes get in front of boy racers without driving dangerously, breaking any laws or exceeding the speed limit.

The usual engine was the Ford 100E side valve unit though a variety of engines were available ranging from the aforementioned JAP V-twin to Perkins and Gardner diesels. Meadows and Lister engines were also employed.

The biggest difficulty with driving on the 'wrong side' of the road is looking in the correct direction when entering a road. When I visited the States once when leaving a gas station I looked to the right instead of to the left, a blast of horn soon corrected my mistake. A few years later a civilian employee of the USAF here in the UK did exactly the same thing but with tragic results, two people were killed. I fortunately have not done so but on the Continent I have seen several British drivers go happily down the wrong side of the road after a stop.

There already is in things like Dinky and Matchbox diecasts.

I can quite believe it, especially if like me you buy a model to run on a layout thats 'going to be finished one day' and very rarely is.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Bright and sunny today and the forecast says the same tomorrow. Congrats and commiserations where necessary and especial congratulations to the England cricket team. Talking of cricket, when if as in this case where a test match that finishes early can't the pitch be opened for junior or disabled or otherwise disadvantaged cricketers? to let them play a couple of limited overs matches or ask members of the test sides and others to volunteer to do a bit of coaching. Baz or someone will now tell me that this already happens but if not all opinions would be very welcome. Of course it would take a bit of organising and things will have to be in place and the participants on 'stand by' but as in the case of the last test when it was obvious that the match would not go into the last day things could be set in motion early.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Congrats on your anniversary Ian. When I used to visit Germany back in the 70's the area that I visited had an extensive tram system that covered an area from Heidelberg in the east to Bad-Durkheim in the west, a distance of about 50 km. This encompassed four or five different operators including Mannheim and Ludwigshafen. All of the operating towns and cities had two or three letter registrations so that mantra would not apply. It would not apply here in the UK of course but you can best tell those drivers in London who should be avoided as their usual steed is a Chelsea Tractor. Or the older loos where the cistern was mounted high on the wall operated by a chain, you could go into the adjacent cubicle, reach up and pull the lever. Not that I would do any such thing.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Going down to town today and if I feel up to it do a bit of gardening that was deferred yesterday (that keeps getting deferred anyway). At least the triffid is showing signs of expiring but another dose of glyphosphate would not go amiss. Glad to here that all is as well as it could be for Jock and congratulations and commiserations where necessary. Thats not his girlfriend is it? we'd better not go there.