We all know he doesn’t live in the real world, he literally still had the infection and had the audacity to claim he is now immune. I’m sure he will now think himself an expert because he’s had it
Coronavirus - The Thread :(
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Coronavirus - The Thread :(
We all know he doesn’t live in the real world, he literally still had the infection and had the audacity to claim he is now immune. I’m sure he will now think himself an expert because he’s had it
trouble is a lot of the voters are as nuts as he is:doh:
plasticpig1972
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Trump "this is a man our pm aspires to".
I think Boris is Trump's Puppet and he pulls the strings.
Well i hope this Covid situation calms down it's like living in a Science Fiction Film.
Stay safe
Alan
I think Boris is Trump's Puppet and he pulls the strings.
Well i hope this Covid situation calms down it's like living in a Science Fiction Film.
Stay safe
Alan
Mrs J and I have traveled quite extensively in Europe and up and down the East coast of America and we have come to the conclusion that America - or at least the parts of it we've come to know - is a more alien place to be than most European countries.
Don't get me wrong, We've met a lot of very nice people over there and, during the five years my son in law was based there with my daughter and grandchildren we've had some really good times. But often I have been surprised at the reaction of your "typical" American to any given situation. A European will react in a much more predictable way. For instance I remember, quite early on, being really quite surprised when, at a parent and teacher evening at the school where one of the things being discussed was how to best protect the school and students from nut cases with guns was to arm all the teachers! There was a lot of support for this! On another occasion we were walking around their local wee town on "First Friday" - a great idea where all the streets in the middle of town are closed to traffic and all the stores put out tables with free samples, a band plays on the green and lots of activities are available to participate in, especially for the children - The local round table were holding a raffle. First prize? a shot gun and vouchers for ammo! But then you'd go to a baseball or "football" game and there were loads of family orientated things and "fancy dressed characters" to entertain the children and the audience were very much family groups. So different to us over here. I remember my son in law saying to me the first time we went over and as he took me down to the local car rental depot, Don't get involved in road rage or driving altercations because remember he/she has almost certainly got a hand gun in the glovebox and some are not slow to use them - Oh, and don't make the mistake of thinking a policeman or state trooper is your friend, they are a very different proposition to your British Bobby! I remember too being quite shocked when I wandered round the gun department at a local large supermarket. In addition to all the racked products they had large screens showing hunting activities with the products they sold (in Britain it would be the sort of displays you see for cleaning products or breakfast cereal) On this occasion they were featuring deer hunting with crossbows, I felt quite sick on seeing this and quickly went back into the main area of the store. There's a great preoccupation with the great outdoors over there and most of it results in very healthy activities but "hunting" is big business and I couldn't help wondering how many "hunters" are skillful enough to get a clean kill every time? It just all didn't sit easily with me. I did like the regulation requiring you to stop for a yellow school bus with it's doors open and lights flashing though, I'm sure that safeguards many children.
I'm very glad to say we never had any problems over there - I was amused to see the stereo typical image of the cop hiding behind the billboard waiting to catch speeders is actually true! But I never felt at my ease as I do in most European countries. And, oh my, the snakes! Copperheads were common and highly venomous, especially the young ones. You would see them in the garden from time to time - As my son in law was at work most of the time - my they work long hours with few holidays over there compared to us - I would mow the grass and had to keep an eye out for these "pesky critters". They don't take kindly to being run over!
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Jock, that’s a long read without many paragraphs 
Aye the Yanks. OK it was only the once we were there. Daughter won a young Scot of the year, and the prize was a holiday at Disney World. Hotel was some distance away and huge, the bar was tiny though run by a alcoholic who had been dry for years, yes really. He blamed our Scotch Whisky for his love of the stuff.
My first encounter with an American was at the airport. Wife had handed a green card to this big guard who was black, aye and did I say big. He threw the card back and told my wife to fill the card in properly. At this point I went over and enquired what was the problem, the big guard took out his hand gun and told me to get back Holy shoot what the hell.
Seems I overstepped the red line. Daughter was crying, my wife was hysterical and my son in a wheelchair laughing his socks off. I’m a Scotsman on holiday and I’m not putting up with this I thought. Down to the next counter two white guards are chatting, I politely informed them of my predicament, thinking to myself not to sound racist. They looked at me for some time, then came.....LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE A PROBLEM THERE BUDDY. Could not make this up, straight out of a movie.
Eventually we get to our next flight. Boarding the plane I’m told I’m not allowed on this flight. Family fly off and I’m wondering what the hell!!!!!!!!?????
Obviously this is to make me tow the line and fall in line, they don’t want some foreigner making things awkward for them. What a start to that holiday. I eventually caught up with my family, but I still think of that situation when America comes to mind. As the week went on even my wife who is the nicest,kindest woman I know ran into some problems, but that’s another chapter.
Aye the Yanks. OK it was only the once we were there. Daughter won a young Scot of the year, and the prize was a holiday at Disney World. Hotel was some distance away and huge, the bar was tiny though run by a alcoholic who had been dry for years, yes really. He blamed our Scotch Whisky for his love of the stuff.
My first encounter with an American was at the airport. Wife had handed a green card to this big guard who was black, aye and did I say big. He threw the card back and told my wife to fill the card in properly. At this point I went over and enquired what was the problem, the big guard took out his hand gun and told me to get back
Holy shoot what the hell.Seems I overstepped the red line. Daughter was crying, my wife was hysterical and my son in a wheelchair laughing his socks off. I’m a Scotsman on holiday and I’m not putting up with this I thought. Down to the next counter two white guards are chatting, I politely informed them of my predicament, thinking to myself not to sound racist. They looked at me for some time, then came.....LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE A PROBLEM THERE BUDDY. Could not make this up, straight out of a movie.
Eventually we get to our next flight. Boarding the plane I’m told I’m not allowed on this flight. Family fly off and I’m wondering what the hell!!!!!!!!?????
Obviously this is to make me tow the line and fall in line, they don’t want some foreigner making things awkward for them. What a start to that holiday. I eventually caught up with my family, but I still think of that situation when America comes to mind. As the week went on even my wife who is the nicest,kindest woman I know ran into some problems, but that’s another chapter.
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USA airports immigration have zero sense of humour. If they ever ask if you have any explosives in your bag it's best to say no.
Oh yes, It's yes Sir, no Sir - they do like to be called "Sir" - how high shall I jump Sir? We once had to fly out of a French airport to make the American destination we wanted so the plane was full of french speaking nationals, it was a US airline. Staff on the plane didn't seem to speak French, all announcements were in English and no one explained to them how to fill in the landing card so when they reached the emigration desk a lot of them were being told, in English and with hand gestures, to return to the end of the queue and complete their cards properly. As no guidance was being given Mrs J, who is fluent in French and German, and herself ex BOAC, took them to one side and ran a wee class in how to fill it in.USA airports immigration have zero sense of humour. If they ever ask if you have any explosives in your bag it's best to say no.
One of the family favourites which my daughter couldn't buy over there was Marmite We would take a couple of catering packs every time we went. We always declared it and when you do that you get diverted into an inspection area where further questioning ensues. The only time we ever saw a smile was on one occasion when the guy checking our two large yellow tubs unscrewed one and called his fellow female officer over whilst asking us what Marmite was. As we were speaking to him his companion said, with a wry smile on her face, "Marmite? Oh yes Joe, Marmite's ok, just let them go, I'll tell you about it later". I find myself wondering to this day whether her encounter with it had been pleasant or not.
My story was 22 years ago, so, was before major events and other things. Even my wife was shocked this happened to us. My wife learnt later not to get into anything resembling an altercation with the natives. The hotel receptionist was a very large black woman in the twenty odd stone category and very, very vocal. We used taxis and I left this to my wife. She is only five foot tall, and I can still see her talking to the receptionist who was ranting and raving not to be ordering taxis, I, and I alone will do this she shouted.
Not a nice situation to be in. Almost comical watching my tiny wife looking up to this huge woman perched up in her reception area on a seat.
Not a nice situation to be in. Almost comical watching my tiny wife looking up to this huge woman perched up in her reception area on a seat.
These are great observations, and unfortunately many are often true.
The problem with America in recent times is that our leadership has signaled to us that we are all now free to behave as our worst selves. This is also how we now conduct international relations. It's a perversion of our "freedom" philosophy. Just because you are free, doesn't mean you should be an asshole, to everyone. More and more here, courtesy, civility and respect for others is viewed as being "weak" or as allowing others to take advantage over you or have control over you. Don't listen to anyone; it's weak and an intrusion on your freedom. Don't respect anyone - it shows weakness.
So sad. I blame much of it on technology and how it has diminished our neighborhoods and social bonds - we don't know our own neighbors and therefore we treat everyone like an adversary.
The problem with America in recent times is that our leadership has signaled to us that we are all now free to behave as our worst selves. This is also how we now conduct international relations. It's a perversion of our "freedom" philosophy. Just because you are free, doesn't mean you should be an asshole, to everyone. More and more here, courtesy, civility and respect for others is viewed as being "weak" or as allowing others to take advantage over you or have control over you. Don't listen to anyone; it's weak and an intrusion on your freedom. Don't respect anyone - it shows weakness.
So sad. I blame much of it on technology and how it has diminished our neighborhoods and social bonds - we don't know our own neighbors and therefore we treat everyone like an adversary.
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The last time I went to USA was 2001. I was warned to give straight Yes or No answers at the immigration point. I had to think quickly when they asked the nature of the business I worked for. It's Pharmaceuticals. Definitely not drugs.
There were some fun times as well on that holiday. Came across a street artist, who would draw caricatures of people and so I had a sketch done of myself. Another big chap, white, and as soon as I opened my mouth, he was all over me Hey buddy, love the accent, you Scotch are so laid back,swear at each other all sorts of language, and are still friends, hell if I did that here I’d get my ass sued off. We had a good blether and I introduced some new words to his vocabulary, which he loved. :devil:My wife eventually dragging me away while we were still getting the craic.
Hey buddy, love the accent, you Scotch are so laid back,swear at each other all sorts of language, and are still friends, hell if I did that here I’d get my ass sued off. We had a good blether and I introduced some new words to his vocabulary, which he loved. :devil:My wife eventually dragging me away while we were still getting the craic.
as soon as I opened my mouth, he was all over me
Similar thing happened to me. Although my son in law is an aircraft engineer his speciality is control mechanisms so he's involved with computer programming and the like, not so much the nut's bolts and hammers and screwdrivers. Consequently every time we see them my daughter has a load of mechanical "stuff" waiting for me to "fix". I love doing this as we don't get to see as much of my daughter and her family as we do the boy's and theirs and it reduces my guilty feelings.
Anyway, on one of our trips to Southern Maryland I was presented with their Briggs engined lawnmower and the story "it shakes all over the place Dad!" Of course she'd managed to hit something pretty solid with the blade and it had put a small bend in the nose of the crankshaft. It's an easy thing to do and my boys in the gardening squad did it from time to time so I got used to straightening them.
Although it annoyed me the first couple of times they did it I actually learned a lot as a result. I used to do all the repair and maintenance work on our machines so was well known at our local repair shop (Melvins in Corstorphine - now long gone I'm afraid) I got to know the owner well and because, when i was new to the job, we had bent a few shafts I asked him if he could get me a straightening jig at a discount. He, very kindly, showed me how to straighten a crankshaft with a length of scaffold pole. Never hit it with a hammer as you will likely damage the mains (especially if they are ball or roller races) and you may induce cracking. You also have to know when enough is enough as a badly bent shaft is likely to be cracked so dangerous if you straighten it as it may snap in use. The fellow round the corner - he of Mk1 Corvette fame - lent me a length of stout pipe so that sorted that!
Unfortunately the cast blade boss had fractured and bits were missing so I went down to the nearest big Lowe's to buy a new one and get a service kit. Although I found the plug, air filter, engine oil etc the place was so big I couldn't find the boss so asked the lady who was shelf stocking. She was extremely knowledgeable and got it for me in no time. Do I just go to the checkout with these I asked? You can, she said, but it's quicker if I do it at my desk over here. After I'd payed and thanked her for helping me I turned and started to walk towards the exit when she said "Can you spare me a moment"? I wasn't in a hurry so I said yes whereupon she grabbed a couple of the other assistants and turned to me saying "could you just say something?" Well yes said I, what would you like? "Oh anything", she said, "I just love your accent and I want my friends to hear it"! I found this quite funny actually because down in Southern Maryland you hear a southern accent often and this lady had quite a pronounced one.
In fact I don't think I have a particularly broad Scots accent but I noticed people would quite often turn round and look at you when, for instance, in a queue (line as they say) you place an order, or actually any situation where people were close to you. Mind you both where my daughter lived in Maryland and where my sister still lives about 2 hours west of Boston it's pretty rural and there aren't all that many Brits, let alone Scots, around.
Ps. I wouldn't straighten a shaft more than once and even then only if it was only running a little out of line. A lot of repair shops won't do it because they are too frightened the shaft will fracture in use. Also, unless it's a machine you know, whose to say it hasn't been bent before? So I wouldn't do this to any other than my own machines. I'm sure a blade coming off at around 3,000 rpm would be a very interesting experience?!
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My mother had an Electrolux (yes really!) rotary mower with Italian Tekumseh engine. That hit a shrub stump and properly fekked the engine. It had a zinc diecast driver plate under the blade that was clearly intended to break on impact. It clearly didn't.
I tried the long pole method but never could get it running right. Such a shame as the mower was very well built. Too well in the case of that shear plate.
I tried the long pole method but never could get it running right. Such a shame as the mower was very well built. Too well in the case of that shear plate.
I worked with my gardening/grounds maintenance squad for the last 15 years of my working life. Got to know a lot of other gardeners and grounds maintenance people and the machinery they used and treated "the Lads" to at least one major show per year - Royal Highland Show usually - where a large diversity of machinery would be on show - thought I'd seen it all but never heard of an Electrolux Mower. Thought you might be pulling my leg so Googled it and blow me, there is such a thing! Just imagine, if I didn't partake of this forum I'd never have known that!
When I took over as squad supervisor I inherited the machines bought by my predecessor. He was a great gardener but not much in the way of machine knowledge. The smaller machines in particular were in quite poor condition. After a few years I had to replace two of the main "every day" machines - 21" cut walk behinds and my, by then, pal at Melvins suggested I try a Rover because they use swing blades and it's almost impossible to bend the crank no matter what you run into. It was moderately expensive and I ended up buying an exdemo 18" cut machine for use round the fancy edges and making the others last another year. I was so impressed with the swing blade cutting system that when I came to replace the two bigger machines the next year I bought two 21" cut Masports which use the same blade system. https://masportlawnmowers.co.uk/
I was so impressed with these machines and the cutting system I bought another one a couple of years later and they were still going strong 10 years later when I retired. If I ever have to replace my old Harry bitza I would buy a Masport - I think that much of them. Interestingly there's some American reviews of them on you tube which are not complimentary and I've wondered about that in the light of my experience. Perhaps it's because the Americans like to mulch most of the time whereas we were always collecting and also I remember the grass at my daughters house was VERY course compared to a typical British lawn. So, who knows, but it worked well for us.
Ps. Tecumseh engines? Now no longer made of course. I found them very much a "tale of two halves". Their commercial grade jobbies with the cast iron bores etc seemed very good. Indeed I have one "spliced" onto my old Harry. Must be around 30 years old now and still going well enough. The small domestic all aluminium engines I didn't like and had two, one on a mower and one on a scarifier, which barely lasted a year of use. The scarifier engine had a very long inlet manifold too and it was an absolute sod to get started. Often it was quicker to remove the plug and give it a squirt of fuel down the plugole - then it would go. Hondas were excellent and Briggs were particularly easy to get spares for.
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Around 1982 Electrolux bought
'Husqvarna'Sweden
For the WhiteGoods busines..
Had no use for the Motorcycle business..
( broken free it eventually settled in Varese.. Italy)
but I believe they kept the
'Forest and Garden' business..
Plenty of scope there
'Husqvarna'Sweden
For the WhiteGoods busines..
Had no use for the Motorcycle business..
( broken free it eventually settled in Varese.. Italy)
but I believe they kept the
'Forest and Garden' business..
Plenty of scope there
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Around 1982 Electrolux bought
'Husqvarna'Sweden
For the WhiteGoods busines..
Had no use for the Motorcycle business..
( broken free it eventually settled in Varese.. Italy)
but I believe they kept the
'Forest and Garden' business..
Plenty of scope there
That makes sense. As I was reading through the previous posts I had an inkling that Electrolux owned Flymo, but Flymo was now part of Husqvarna, so that makes the link.
in 1987 when we opened our garden machinery business (after working for other companys) took on countax products.countax sabre 19 rotary mower i still have one of the first batch and starts 1st pull also a mcCulloch blow vac still working .we also became distributers for the countax garden tractor from its very beginning o what hectic days nice to be retired looking to see what fiat to get next no 24
I knew about the flymo/Husqvarna link but not about Electrolux's part in it. All very interesting. I'm trying, without success, to remember a machine that I repaired some time ago - pretty sure it was a Flymo branded device and the spare part was branded Husqvarna. I do remember it took ages for the part to arrive. I've found in the past that Flymo parts tended to be slow to arrive - We had 2 of their hovers with Tecumseh 2 strokes in the squad (not a strong engine I found).
Similar thing with a Black and Decker branded machine I repaired for my neighbour. Discovered about 3 branded products which were identical and spotted an "unknown brand" on ebay which looked identical. In the end I fitted Qualcast branded parts! I think a lot of the small, especially plastic, domestic machines are probably rolled out of an enormous factory somewhere in the east with different stickers being applied at the end of the production line depending on who ordered them? Some times the colour of the plastic seems to be varied too - just to "fool" us?
One very valuable thing I did learn during those 15 years was that machines at the cheaper end of the market such as those you find in supermarkets and as "bargain buys" on line can be quite good if you look carefully at them before you buy. But, You'd better not hope to be able to get spares easily! I'm not talking about service parts (spark plug, air filter, engine oil etc. But if you need a throttle or "operator presence" cable. a new grass catcher. If it's a machine with a transmission, any parts for that. and so on. Best way to overcome this is to buy from a horticultural machine supplier and specifically ask about spares. If you're careful there are some real bargains to be had too, especially ex demo machinery which will probably have been well maintained. (I differentiate between demo and loan here. Machines which are loaned out may have been abused)
For instance, My youngest boy has an 8 ft privet hedge all the way round his garden - reduced height at the front. I have cut it for him for the last 10 years maybe two or three times a year as necessary - all day job. I've always liked hedge cutting and get a lot of pleasure standing back and looking at it when finished. I'm now, at 73 years young, finding it's just getting too much for me but I'm not going to hand over my Kawasaki engined Danarm to him. I have taken advice from the repair shop nearest to him and they recommend the Mitox brand as being a good compromise on quality vs price with spares availability being good. I've been online and had a look at their website: https://mitox.co.uk/ and I like what I see - seems to be a British company too which I like - so it's now just a case of deciding which machine will best suit him and waiting to see how much money he wants to borrow from me to buy it!
Similar thing with a Black and Decker branded machine I repaired for my neighbour. Discovered about 3 branded products which were identical and spotted an "unknown brand" on ebay which looked identical. In the end I fitted Qualcast branded parts! I think a lot of the small, especially plastic, domestic machines are probably rolled out of an enormous factory somewhere in the east with different stickers being applied at the end of the production line depending on who ordered them? Some times the colour of the plastic seems to be varied too - just to "fool" us?
One very valuable thing I did learn during those 15 years was that machines at the cheaper end of the market such as those you find in supermarkets and as "bargain buys" on line can be quite good if you look carefully at them before you buy. But, You'd better not hope to be able to get spares easily! I'm not talking about service parts (spark plug, air filter, engine oil etc. But if you need a throttle or "operator presence" cable. a new grass catcher. If it's a machine with a transmission, any parts for that. and so on. Best way to overcome this is to buy from a horticultural machine supplier and specifically ask about spares. If you're careful there are some real bargains to be had too, especially ex demo machinery which will probably have been well maintained. (I differentiate between demo and loan here. Machines which are loaned out may have been abused)
For instance, My youngest boy has an 8 ft privet hedge all the way round his garden - reduced height at the front. I have cut it for him for the last 10 years maybe two or three times a year as necessary - all day job. I've always liked hedge cutting and get a lot of pleasure standing back and looking at it when finished. I'm now, at 73 years young, finding it's just getting too much for me but I'm not going to hand over my Kawasaki engined Danarm to him. I have taken advice from the repair shop nearest to him and they recommend the Mitox brand as being a good compromise on quality vs price with spares availability being good. I've been online and had a look at their website: https://mitox.co.uk/ and I like what I see - seems to be a British company too which I like - so it's now just a case of deciding which machine will best suit him and waiting to see how much money he wants to borrow from me to buy it!
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took on mitox over here in west wales,went to a open day and every one had a ticket put in a hat yes i one top of the range mitox 2006 and stlll got it a very handy tool ,with hedgecutter att chainsaw att at75 very easy to start
Not to forget that a good % of Electrolux shares are owned by ABBA.....Cheers Ex Flymo/Qualast/Wolseley Webb etc main dealer.............
