[Bob Williams]

JayCeeDee wrote:

Richard wrote:

“ I was surprised that one beam could go like, that as nothing has been done to the lights apart, from polishing out the years of grime and sun discolouration. “

” They’re mostly adjusted by spring mounted threads, that are designed to resist vibration but can’t defy it, and wear over time. Also mis-alignment can be caused by parking bumps, ie other people’s sh1te parking knocking into your car.

Spot on, JCD! Long time since I carried out my last MOT test, but the principle remains the same today. I tested several “regulars” whose headlamp beams always needed adjusting. On one occasion I refused to adjust until the owner agreed to allow me to remove the lamp, the badly-corroded adjusters and replace with new, then adjust. Small charge only for that.

Steve I agree with your summing-up of gimmick-laden cars today. When I downsized from the Tucson to the iX20, I lost several different gimmicks and a gadget-laden instrument touch panel that took me a bout 2 weeks to find all the purposes of the various gimmicks, half of which I didn’t use. The heater controls were a case in point: touch this but not that to do this, touch this, this and that to do something else. Daft! The iX20 has a simple rotary control, two ‘clock’ faces, one inside the other. Outer one controls heat, inner on the amount of Fan draught. What could be simpler? It also has FM audio with 2 USB media ports, and a CD slot. Perfick! Not that I use the CD slot, as my in car music is all on USB MP3. The Tucson had all seats with multiple seat positions: the iX fronts move forward, back, up, down and recline. Rear seats have 3 different positions between straight up and recline at about 10º to vertical. What does not suit passengers,* must be endured!??

If some manufacturer built a basic (but safe!) car without all the gimmicks, it would sell just on the price, a way forward for many buyers to afford a newer car. Won’t happen though: the industry is too set on selling with gimmicks installed.

*Except for my darling missus, who needs a large cushion in order to see and shout at other motorists…???

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Ed that link gives great food for thought to anyone with experience of aircraft work. As an ex-AAC technician, after reading through the link I immediately realised the issues created. Instead of building a completely new airframe and by definition, a whole new aircraft, Boeing adapted an existing airframe and the adaptations caused several problems, in addition to the electronic control issues. Requiring the significantly larger and heavier engine pods to be moved forward, and relocating the undercarriage, should have alerted Boeing designers to the fact that this was an inherently dangerous redesign. I would hazard a guess, probably a certainty, that the designers were overruled by the bean-counters.

This not only altered the flight characteristics: it would also move the C of G to a position that could not help but affect the airframe in flight, with emphasis on handling during take off, landing, climbing and descending. Complicated by the electronic control issues of course, and causing any attempt to recover the aircraft to be extremely difficult or impossible. Competition is almost cutthroat in the civil aviation industry and margins are wafer thin, but there appears to be no room in Boeing’s philosophy for reasonable caution.

One thing the bean-counters cannot change, however hard they try, is the basic Theory of Flight. Lift, Mass, Thrust and Drag all have to be properly balanced in order to achieve successful forward motion in flight. Later, as a motor engineer and workshop foreman, any mistakes may result in a breakdown or a survivable RTC*. As an aircraft tech, not such a happy ending.

I am so glad that Jet2, with whom we fly from Manchester to Budapest in August, has just two models atm: 737 and 757. The 2019 orders are for 737-800 aircraft, NOT the 800Max! Good reviews for the airline too, anyone here flown with them?

*Fortunately, I made no mistakes in either occupation, but I knew of some committed by others.???

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Brooklyn would be cheaper: so would the supermarkets. But parking for Limo’s with CD plates? Forget it, 10 sec’s after parking they would be nicked. Ten minutes later, being stripped in a nearby Chop Shop. Ten hours later, all parts stripped and on sale. American entrepreneurial enterprise!

http://tinyurl.com/y2edlexh

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

To me, this represents the stupid, anachronistic government view of our place in the world.

Which is considerably lower than reality, although reality and this government are strangers to each other.

Damn! I made a comment.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

I used    https://haveibeenpwned.com/    some time ago and still return to it at regular intervals. I change relevant passwords and block everything it finds but have not had reason to do that for months, probably a year or so. Gmail is the one that gives me most spam: as I have said before, it is around 95% Scandinavian and it mystifies me why they use Scandi languages instead of the universally-known English. Gmail always puts them in the Spambox, I know they are deleted soon, but always block each address. The addys are all computer-generated of course and change in a month or so. Gradually they are disappearing: some have never come back.

I don’t open them, but some photos are available after blocking, before deletion. Sometimes they remind me of something I thought I had forgotten…☺?

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Thinking of what sort of Strippers a load of middle-aged, North Wales Everton supporters would like, is making me ill… ????

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Steve Wrote:

” Also the pub is a blue pub! Every weekend they meet before the game, have a few then get a coach to the games, then have a few when they get home. So I’m gonna be wishing for blue win from now on, keeping them in the mood. What had my life become! I’m a traitor to my own kind lol. ”

That’s a reminder of my old Army mate, Forest fan through and through, same age as me, born and raised in Nottingham. His lad went to Notts County for a trial behind Dave’s back and played for them for a few years, until a bad injury ended his career. Dave said it was just natural justice, he should have gone to Forest, considered throwing him out when he signed for the Magpies. I told him, well at least it wasn’t Derby and he probably wasn’t good enough for Forest anyway. He felt a bit better. I think.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

My experiences of running a pub go back to service in Germany. As I may have noted here before, my first missus was German and kept a fairly big Gasthof, it was bloody hard work! Especially when opening hours could extend to 1 am and I had to be back in camp and on parade at 7 or 8, after a 5 mile run to keep up my running fitness! Town was at the bottom of a hill, camp and AAC airfield on a plateau at the top. I had to be fit then. I would get to the Gasthof as soon as I could, do the evening shift including meals with the semi-lunatic chef. Mein Frau worked until 1 am, I spent late evening with our kids, I have no idea when we found the time to make them!

It got worse when the CO “volunteered” me to run a new Corporal’s and OR’s bar. Our original bar had been in the large attic of the massive cookhouse and burnt down when some idiot probably left a Duty Free ciggy burning somewhere. As the camp was Adolf’s first Luftwaffe build in 1933, it had every floor of every building reinforced with ferro – concrete, so the cookhouse and cellar Armoury below that, were untouched. There were actually ‘dozers and diggers working on the roof when the place was rebuilt, lifted there by a ramp built for it.

All this left us with no bar except the NAAFI and any ex-serviceman will tell you that is a catastrophe! Our CO found us a place outside the gates, halfway down the hill and I used my German brewery contacts to outfit it with a beautiful bar, disco gear, sprung dance floor and small kitchen, all paid for by Warsteiner Brauerei:

http://tinyurl.com/y3xbtfe9

I had discovered that, because the new bar was outside camp gates and therefore UK MOD jurisdiction, I could sell whatever booze and food I wished, without NAAFI interference. And NAAFI tried to stop us, but failed: I bought tastier food from better, less expensive German outlets and I made enough out of 9 months in that bar to buy a brand new Vauxhall Firenza “Droopsnoot.” I should have only done 3 months, but no one else wanted it until I had enough of stinking of booze all the time, from the Gasthof and the Cpl’s Bar, and handed over to a mate.

Some years after returning to the UK and leaving the Army, the Miners Strike hit our village, the pits closed and my nephew and his mate were a specialist team, being lowered in a glorified bucket down each pit shaft after closure, to inspect the shafts and report on the state of each one. This was done to decide upon which materials and methods to be used to seal each shaft. The two mates were working shifts 7 days a week and earning large amounts. When they closed the last shaft down, my nephew bought our local pub, his granddad and my dad’s local since 1926 when pit  and pub were built and dad moved with mam from the Staffordshire Potteries to Notts. I wound up on bar duties again, until sadly my nephew, just 7 years my junior and more like a kid brother, passed away with cancer. The Pub was demolished about 10 years ago and the site is now a Tesco Extra. Don’t let this happen to you Steve!??

Pub: “Forest Folk” Part of the village history, several local shops went after this came in. !!222%%%^^^??? Tesco!

And Now…

Makes me sick to look at it, dad, nephew and his dad my big bro, are each rotating at 10,000 RPM in the local churchyard.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Cloudy am, sunny after lunch, 12ºC. Putting in a fancy new wavy white edging border on the tiny front garden plot when a party of nubile young ladies walked by, almost dressed in short summer gear. Got a smile and a hello from all, cheered me up until one said “Can you get up alright, Mister?”

Finished, yes girls, managed to get up OK (with the help of the spade) and went round to the back garden. At long last I fitted my granddaughter’s birthday pressies: Clock/barometer/thermometer/plant holder and a big crystal ball/solar powered lamp. Employed another b’day gift, lovely 2 foot long magnetic spirit level, to fit the clock. Discovered that my battery drill was out of charge when the drill bit became stuck in the wall. Fortunately spare battery was charged up. Removed drill bit, carried on. Gadget is perfickly level.???

My life is so exciting…??

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Les I have the older Tab3 8″ version of this:

http://tinyurl.com/y643jtz2

My older one is used for any e-book you care to name, including Kindle, Kobo, Calibre etc. All downloadable via Android. Then there is this e-book supplier, my mate swears by it, I haven’t tried it:

http://tinyurl.com/yxuy8xnj

My Tab 3 has a brightness display that can be changed in Kindle and others, the battery lasts me at least 2 days and I am reading from it every day, sometimes a couple of hours at a time. Beauty of a tablet is that it gives more than just e-books: online news, mag’s, anything you want. Most magazines now have online versions. I have just learned how to print from mine to my Wireless printer. I installed Open Office (think you have Libre? That’s available too.) and a PDF Reader, downloaded & installed an onscreen keyboard  and can print doc’s and PDF’s from it. I now spend at least as much time on the Tab as I do on this PC.

 

 

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Croesi’r llinell/Crossing the line

Stop ar y ffin/Stop at the border

Knew my granda’s phrase book would be useful someday!??

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Yesterday at Cleethorpes: 12ºC, sunny all day, occasional clouds and very windy! My tiny SWMBO hanging onto me as we walked down the prom, a mile each way.

As every Sunday, whatever the weather, car parking almost full. Mostly locals or Yorkshire refugees from across the Humber bridge. HeHeh.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

My granddad used to say that British weather was the reason why the British Empire was created. We were all looking for somewhere warm and dry, he reckoned.

Now a lot of the people from warm and dry countries are living here: are they mad?

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

I still have a little sympathy for TM the PM. Attacked and criticised from all sides, including the several different schisms within her own Party*, she still works her socks off trying to get UK and EU politicos to see things the way she does. She also worked her way around the world, trying to get trade aprés Brexit. Very little that she says or does, gets approval from anyone.

*Whilst even the Opposition presents a disunited front!

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Sun came out an hour ago, warming up but it’s the wrong end of the day to last long!

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

That’s one of the 3 Japanese factories: Honda are still leaving UK manufacturing, Nissan will build the next X-Trail in Japan, probably making more similar decisions later. JLR are concerned enough to consider moving abroad. Ford are also moving some manufacturing:

http://tinyurl.com/y52qefwj

Take a look at Business Insider:

http://tinyurl.com/yxwut4wz

It’s not Project Fear mate, it’s Project Reality.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

JB I use Google Drive, a NAS box and an external 2TB Hdd for all backups, giving me triple security. A new NAS is expensive, these are some available used items on Gumtree:    http://tinyurl.com/yxr5y7ds

A NAS would also allow you to stream stuff to other devices.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

I still have a drawer full of CD’s, DVD’s, dual layer 8GB stuff. Don’t recall when I last used one, but I do remember finding some old CD’s and DVD’s last year that I recorded some good stuff on. Most were kiddy videos for grandchildren, but also some comedy stuff and films recorded from the old Panasonic TV. Every single one was cream-crackered, laminations peeling away and brown stains across them, meaning moisture had got in somehow. I save my video stuff to NAS now using VLC. My son has loads of 80’s music cd’s from when he was a DJ and a Roadie: they are all mostly shot, but he cannot bring himself to chuck them.

Makes me wonder what the next medium will be like: I started recording vinyl music from a (4th-hand) old Grundig open reel recorder, via microphone with a blanket over it, in front of the speakers on an ancient radiogram. VCR’s were a revelation until played too many times. Cassettes were OK for a few years, CD’s didn’t last either. Streaming is the biz now, what next I wonder?

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

I’ve been sorting out my photos: had a query some time ago as to how I could get all my pic’s transferred into one place. Finally done it! Painstaking job, but got all my Google pics onto the main “My Pictures” tree, sorted into albums and sub-albums. All my Google pics remain in the Cloud of course. I found these from a Cleethorpes visit earlier in the year:

Watching a floating oil rig going out of the Humber.

Then THIS happened!

Absolutely cracked me up, like “Ancient and Modern”. Horse & driver just kept plodding through the water, totally unconcerned. Horse was obviously enjoying it.

Right click-View Image for a larger pic.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Colder and cloudy today, but yesterday was like Tuesday, a bit warmer in fact at 18ºC. We had to visit the Mablethorpe library, so had another 6-mile bash, fed and watered at another restaurant. Healthy option was salad, unhealthy was Lincolnshire sausages, bacon, eggs and toast with ½ gallon of tea. Guess which I had? We ate before the walk, had to walk it all off!

There was a stupid elderly woman, part of a party of 4, who tried to bring her dog inside, despite the notices banning dogs. At her insistent “The dog goes where I go!” the manageress said “OK then you go outside, there are tables out there.”

She sat outside with the dog, eating her meal, feeding the dog bread and chips. I had enough of seeing a dog being fed incompatible food, so I went out and informed her that she was giving her dog indigestible, unsuitable food. This was not well received, I was roundly abused, so calmly informed her that she was my Stupid Person for the day and I hoped not to meet another.

People are so quick to take offence …

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Author]

Posts