Not like that here in the "English Riviera" cloudy and brisk wind, with chance of rain.
What's made you smile today?
- Thread starter angel
- Start date
Currently reading:
What's made you smile today?
Buster leaves a trail of hair behind wherever he goes, hence, Shedder. You can now rest easy.
We always had a menagerie of critters as kids and we always took the dogs with us when we’d take the annual two week trip to the family farm to help with the harvest. Truth be told, us kids were probably more in the way than anything else. We had Pluto, who was a Shepherd/St.Bernard mix and also known as ‘ Ploot the Galoot’ was a large gentle soul and self appointed protector of children. If a parent was scolding a kid and Pluto was nearby, he’d stand between and curl a lip at the threatening parent. He also smelled. When we’d do the 300 mile drive to farm, there’d be four kids piled in the back seat of the 1959 Rambler station wagon and Pluto would be in back with the luggage. His huge head be on our shoulders while he panted and drooled on us.
Variable up here. Bright sunshine when I got out of bed around 7. Then heavy rain with big drops briefly around 8 then bright sunshine again. A bit drizzly when we went out around 10am and it's been dull with the occasional flicker of rain most of the day since then. A car enthusiast friend dropped by mid afternoon for a chat and he thinks he knows someone who might be interested in buying my brother's old Volvo - which would be good as it's had no registered keeper since he died just before Christmas and I really need to keep the folks in Swansea happy.Not like that here in the "English Riviera" cloudy and brisk wind, with chance of rain.
All we get is rain with a chance of showers, reservoirs are almost full, but a good chance of a hose pipe ban come middle of Summer.
Some years ago much money was spent by water company on a new reservoir and we were told "no more hose pipe bans" that didn't last long.
Must be all the second home owners filling their Olympic sized swimming pools.
Some years ago much money was spent by water company on a new reservoir and we were told "no more hose pipe bans" that didn't last long.
Must be all the second home owners filling their Olympic sized swimming pools.
Wet here on the Illannoy prairie. We've had 2" of rain over the last few days
Someone up on the hill complained, loudly, on FB that their basement sump pump was running every 20 minutes and wanted to know what can be done about it. Nice guy that I am, I posted a 1 minute video of my west side sump pump cycling every 30 seconds and suggested he kwityerbitchin. Must be a new guy to living out here in the sticks. I wonder how upset he'll be when the little yellow crop duster plane starts working.
Someone up on the hill complained, loudly, on FB that their basement sump pump was running every 20 minutes and wanted to know what can be done about it. Nice guy that I am, I posted a 1 minute video of my west side sump pump cycling every 30 seconds and suggested he kwityerbitchin. Must be a new guy to living out here in the sticks. I wonder how upset he'll be when the little yellow crop duster plane starts working.
Woo Hoo.
Not quite out of the woods yet but may be able to finally ditch the boot by the end of the week or early next week. My PT guy says I'm coming along much faster than he expected. Just a teenager in an AARP* body.
*American Association of Retired Persons.
Not quite out of the woods yet but may be able to finally ditch the boot by the end of the week or early next week. My PT guy says I'm coming along much faster than he expected. Just a teenager in an AARP* body.
*American Association of Retired Persons.
Isn't this where we say "I have seen better legs on a table?"Woo Hoo.
Not quite out of the woods yet but may be able to finally ditch the boot by the end of the week or early next week. My PT guy says I'm coming along much faster than he expected. Just a teenager in an AARP* body.
*American Association of Retired Persons.
Not referring to yours, but it reminded me of many years ago at Motor vehicle College, when students and the lecturer were standing at the entrance to the workshop and I made a comment "Bow legged", the lecturer turned to me and said "Well you are no oil painting!". I was referring to a Hillman Imp car that had just been jacked up and the suspension had not settled down, everyone else had been checking out the girls from the Hair Dressing Department.
Ah, yes, basement water pumps. I'd never come across one of these until my daughter and her family went to stay in Southern Maryland for 5 years. We went across roughly twice a year to stay with them. Their basement had one big family room, which was used as a children's playroom, with a small utility room at one end near the door to the outside stairs up to ground level and a double bedroom at the other side. In the utility room was a "pit" about the diameter of a 50 gallon oil drum and quite deep, maybe 12 to 15 ft at a guess? The pump lived in the bottom of this hole and you'd hear it cutting in and out at night - we slept in the basement bedroom.
One day my young grandson came running into the kitchen area - the house was the typical modern American open plan layout - very excited, telling us there was a snake in the pump well. My daughter and I went to look (Mrs J is very frightened of snakes after one slithered over her feet when we were sitting in the garden) and it was indeed a snake and quite a big one too. Well, Daughter said, I don't think we should touch it, I'll knock on one of the neighbour's doors and ask what you do to get rid of it. Just as well we didn't try to intervene, it turns out it was a highly venomous Copper Head and a man from the local authority came and took it away. Quite exciting really!
By the way the snake that slithered over Mrs J's feet? It was a Copper Head too although we didn't know that at the time. Luckily Mrs J was so terrified she froze otherwise she might have been bitten! We saw them on a number of occasions when out walking and were warned to particularly avoid the young ones because they get frightened easily so are more likely to bite you but also they haven't yet learned how to control their bite so just dump a massive dose of venom all in the one go whereas the adults tend to be more sparing with their venom. Maybe that was a "scare" story for us "foreigners" but I just kept well away from any snakes I saw. We were warned to keep the windows of the car wound up when near waterways too because Water moccasins had been known to throw themselves through car windows. I found that very hard to believe but was told it by more than one person? It was so hot though that you wouldn't want the widow open and drove everywhere with the Air Con on max. There were the "pretty" spiders too and, up near my sister in Massachusetts, when we went out onto Cape Cod, there was Poison Ivy on either side of the path down to the beach! Oh my, what a quiet "safe" life we live over here!
Australia “hold my beer”
Around 50 years ago, when Firestone closed down the European Racing Division and Mrs J and I moved back to Scotland, one of the options we seriously considered was moving to Australia. Wonder what our lives would be like now if we'd done so. At that time I also had the option of going to live near San Francisco in Alameda where a relative of Mrs J's Dad had a dealership importing MG's and Austin Healeys. Apparently he was having great trouble recruiting mechanics. Often wounder what I'd have made of that as these cars were every day bread and butter to me. Unfortunately at that time both our parents were in poor health so we decided to stay in Scotland to be near them and I went to work for the local DAF agent - in fact three of them died within the next four years, and my mum became very ill with emphysema - brought on by her heavy smoking habit - and died a couple of years after that. what a grim time that was. Our kids didn't get much of a chance to get to know their grandparents. Don't regret it though, staying home was definitely the right thing to do.Australia “hold my beer”
vexorg
Prominent member
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2021
- Messages
- 1,877
- Points
- 578
I'm not so sure, apprantly they have something called the sun there, and it's warm, not the the one we get here a few times a year
I have two sump pumps in my basement. One on the west side and one on the east side. The pits are about two foot deep. Makes it easier to replace the pumps. Apparently my house was built on a spring. Because I am in a rural area, I also have battery powered back up pumps for when ComEd's electric grid shuts down. That's usually caused by some motorist slamming into a power pole.
Driving along a water way with the windows closed because a water moccasin can fling itself into the car? Ohh Kay. Never heard that one and I've worked in the swamps of Maryland and Virginia. I just considered the area to be beastly hot and humid. My grandma used to tell us kids to stay away from Dragonflies because they would sew our lips shut if we got too close.
I don't think I've ever seen a Copperhead but then I may be too far north. I've seen two Diamondbacks but mostly we have harmless Garter Snakes here. The Brown Recluse Spider has a nasty bite that requires medical attention. Deer Ticks carry Lyme disease. Poison Ivy, 'Leaves of 3, Let It Be'. Stinging Nettle aka Itch Weed grows wild out here. My wife had a run in with it last summer. Pokeweed can be nasty. Fire Ants. Because I have apple trees, I also have Yellow Jackets. Also known as the Assholes of the Bee World. They sting repeatedly. Mrs.Cheest had a run in with them last year, too.
I had to service a machine in the south Texas desert. It was a cold morning, just above freezing. I went to open the door of the cab and spotted one of the two Diamondbacks in my life. Because it was cold, it wasn't moving much, so I grabbed two long sticks, picked it up and flung it over the fence. I opened the engine cover and a rat that could eat a Chihuahua was sitting on the engine. I swatted at it and it ambled away. I was laying under the machine, wiping up after the oil change when I felt something on my chest. I looked down and there was a Tarantula spider looking back at me. I decided then and there that the service was complete, shot out from under the machine, and did the 'Willies Dance' once I stood up. I called my boss and told him I wanted hazard pay if I ever had to work in the south Texas desert again.
Driving along a water way with the windows closed because a water moccasin can fling itself into the car? Ohh Kay. Never heard that one and I've worked in the swamps of Maryland and Virginia. I just considered the area to be beastly hot and humid. My grandma used to tell us kids to stay away from Dragonflies because they would sew our lips shut if we got too close.
I don't think I've ever seen a Copperhead but then I may be too far north. I've seen two Diamondbacks but mostly we have harmless Garter Snakes here. The Brown Recluse Spider has a nasty bite that requires medical attention. Deer Ticks carry Lyme disease. Poison Ivy, 'Leaves of 3, Let It Be'. Stinging Nettle aka Itch Weed grows wild out here. My wife had a run in with it last summer. Pokeweed can be nasty. Fire Ants. Because I have apple trees, I also have Yellow Jackets. Also known as the Assholes of the Bee World. They sting repeatedly. Mrs.Cheest had a run in with them last year, too.
I had to service a machine in the south Texas desert. It was a cold morning, just above freezing. I went to open the door of the cab and spotted one of the two Diamondbacks in my life. Because it was cold, it wasn't moving much, so I grabbed two long sticks, picked it up and flung it over the fence. I opened the engine cover and a rat that could eat a Chihuahua was sitting on the engine. I swatted at it and it ambled away. I was laying under the machine, wiping up after the oil change when I felt something on my chest. I looked down and there was a Tarantula spider looking back at me. I decided then and there that the service was complete, shot out from under the machine, and did the 'Willies Dance' once I stood up. I called my boss and told him I wanted hazard pay if I ever had to work in the south Texas desert again.
I was going to say, Probably Warmer with a lower energy bill
Also Aus Property prices have exploded in the last couple of decades more so that even ours. When I bought my first flat in the early 2000s what I could buy here for £150k was a terrace, in Aus was a 4 bed house with a pool..... In ?Brisbane Now those same houses are selling for millions.
Last edited:
vexorg
Prominent member
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2021
- Messages
- 1,877
- Points
- 578
I lived in south africa as early teenager for a year while apartheid was still in force. Interesting and eye opening for sure, certainly not as media made it out over here. The stories I've heard since from people over there or gone back have been frightening, and not just hearsay, my ex-boss grew up there and still have family there too.
I spent some time there in 2001 and it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. The exchange rate between the Rand and the US dollar made me a wealthy guy during my stay. I caught some flack from some old white guys for buying lunch for the black guys I was working with but fcuk them. Like the guys I worked with in southern Mexico, they were hard workers and I appreciated the help.
I have heard from former SA coworkers, tho, that things have gotten worse since I've been there.
Oz was great when I was there. The only place I ever worked with an end of the work week meeting with the big bosses and those same bosses handed out the beers.
I have over the years had a lot of SA friends and colleagues as well as people who call themselves Rhodesian I have also had black African friends from both countries including one who's family gained a lot of land as a result of the issues in Zimbabwe,
the best way I can sum it up is.... Its really complicated, without going any further and opening up a whole can of worms. when it comes to hundreds of years of history.
vexorg
Prominent member
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2021
- Messages
- 1,877
- Points
- 578
Reminds me of the meetings I had in korea, where the big boss got us some beer for the meal, 1 bottle between 10 - 12 people and each of us given a small, half full, shot glass of beer
We got two cans each.Reminds me of the meetings I had in korea, where the big boss got us some beer for the meal, 1 bottle between 10 - 12 people and each of us given a small, half full, shot glass of beer
