Isolated Blurt Thread

Handley_Page said:

Somehow, I cannot imagine a Christmas in the sunshine. . . .

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I've surfed on Bondi Beach, Sydney, on Christmas Day and then went back for Turkey, trimmings and formerly frozen brussel sprouts in the evening.

The next Australian Christmas was a barbecue - steak etc and NO sprouts. It was followed by Christmas Pudding or you could choose Pavlova.

Handley_Page said:

Somehow, I cannot imagine a Christmas in the sunshine. . . .

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I couldn't either until I spent five years in Florida and another five in Tennessee. I didn't miss the snow at all.

_Lynn_ said:

I couldn't either until I spent five years in Florida and another five in Tennessee. I didn't miss the snow at all.

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See I'm the opposite. Heat and bugs are not my thing at all.

I love to sit on my comfy couch with a book and my cat in my lap looking out at the world turning bright white with the snow.

litfan10 said:

See I'm the opposite. Heat and bugs are not my thing at all.

I love to sit on my comfy couch with a book and my cat in my lap looking out at the world turning bright white with the snow.

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The bugs in Florida were nasty. I hated them. The heat I can take, just not the humidity, and we have that here, too.

I love walking in the snow, especially at night . . . huge snowflakes, no wind, no one around, just me and the silence.

Snow isn't too bad now that there's rarely a reason why I'd have to go out in it if I don't want to. Always reminds me of February 17,1979, when the Chinese invaded Vietnam because they couldn't get the United States and the Soviet Union to rein in Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia. They gave us warning they would invade at X hour if we didn't respond somehow, but Washington was buried in snow. We didn't respond, they invaded (and were almost immediately whipped by the Vietnamese) and I was called in to the office regardless of the snow. First thing I did was shovel out the wrong car. Then the right car wouldn't manage the snow on the road. I walked two miles to a bus stop, assuming none were working but I could then say "oh well." But there was a bus, which took me to the Pentagon, where the subway platform was mobbed with people trying to get on a subway into D.C., but every car that went by was already full and didn't stop. So I walked the entire circuit around Arlington National Cemetery in deep snow, finally getting to the office in the mid afternoon--and then not getting out of the office for another week.

Happily all of my overseas assignments were in tropical countries.

sr71plt said:

Snow isn't too bad now that there's rarely a reason why I'd have to go out in it if I don't want to. Always reminds me of February 17,1979, when the Chinese invaded Vietnam because they couldn't get the United States and the Soviet Union to rein in Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia. They gave us warning they would invade at X hour if we didn't respond somehow, but Washington was buried in snow. We didn't respond, they invaded (and were almost immediately whipped by the Vietnamese) and I was called in to the office regardless of the snow. First thing I did was shovel out the wrong car. Then the right car wouldn't manage the snow on the road. I walked two miles to a bus stop, assuming none were working but I could then say "oh well." But there was a bus, which took me to the Pentagon, where the subway platform was mobbed with people trying to get on a subway into D.C., but every car that went by was already full and didn't stop. So I walked the entire circuit around Arlington National Cemetery in deep snow, finally getting to the office in the mid afternoon--and then not getting out of the office for another week.

Happily all of my overseas assignments were in tropical countries.

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Sounds rough.

_Lynn_ said:

Sounds rough.

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I was trapped at the office (or in the embassy) several times for long stretches of time--two months at a time for the October 6, 1976, Thai coup. I kept a suitcase at the office filled with clothes for over twenty years. No, I wasn't paid overtime.

sr71plt said:

I was trapped at the office (or in the embassy) several times for long stretches of time--two months at a time for the October 6, 1976, Thai coup. I kept a suitcase at the office filled with clothes for over twenty years. No, I wasn't paid overtime.

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Two months! Yikes! I've never been trapped away from home because of the snow. I was stuck at home (with a newborn and a toddler) for a week during the storm of '78.

_Lynn_ said:

Two months! Yikes! I've never been trapped away from home because of the snow. I was stuck at home (with a newborn and a toddler) for a week during the storm of '78.

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We were under curfew for an entire year in that coup, which meant you could be shot if you were on the street after curfew. Diplomats were exempted after that first total lock down time, but it was risky venturing out at night even if you had diplomatic plates on your car. So, if you worked the evening shift, you had a fifteen-minute window between when the regional radios closed down and when you could be on the street between the embassy and home. Thus, for the entire year, in most cases, if you were on the evening shift, you were staying the night. We had three bedrooms and full shower and cooking facilities at the office in Bangkok and similar facilities at the Middle East posts I served at. In Seventeen years abroad, I went through (and covered) over a dozen invasions, bloody coups, and assassinations (including Sadat, Indira Gandhi, and Rabin).

sr71plt said:

We were under curfew for an entire year in that coup, which meant you could be shot if you were on the street after curfew. Diplomats were exempted after that first total lock down time, but it was risky venturing out at night even if you had diplomatic plates on your car. So, if you worked the evening shift, you had a fifteen-minute window between when the regional radios closed down and when you could be on the street between the embassy and home. Thus, for the entire year, in most cases, if you were on the evening shift, you were staying the night. We had three bedrooms and full shower and cooking facilities at the office in Bangkok and similar facilities at the Middle East posts I served at. In Seventeen years abroad, I went through (and covered) over a dozen invasions, bloody coups, and assassinations (including Sadat, Indira Gandhi, and Rabin).

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Certainly not a boring life, but it gave you an unlimited stack of topics for stories.

litfan10 said:

Good luck. What's wrong with the fluffy white stuff? It's pretty.

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It's cold, it has to be shoveled, it takes up space and reduces parking areas, it makes driving really dangerous, and then people slow down so much more than they have to and the hour drive home becomes two hours long...

I don't want it ever again.

TheeGoatPig said:

It's cold, it has to be shoveled, it takes up space and reduces parking areas, it makes driving really dangerous, and then people slow down so much more than they have to and the hour drive home becomes two hours long...

I don't want it ever again.

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I like cold. I pay someone else to shovel it, I have my own garage, I stay off the roads when it's dangerous, I don't have as many people up here to slow me down that much, besides I stay off it then.

I must be the antiTheeGoatPig.

As I said, good luck with the escape plan!

TheeGoatPig said:

It's cold, it has to be shoveled, it takes up space and reduces parking areas, it makes driving really dangerous, and then people slow down so much more than they have to and the hour drive home becomes two hours long...
I don't want it ever again.

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Do you still drive that honking great muscle car ?
That may not be the safest thing on 4 wheels in snow, I guess.
Some years ago when I lived 'up north' we had a serious quantity of snow and the local authorities were having trouble clearing it (naturally, they started with their on car par, or so rumour had it). With no snow, it used to take me about 30 minutes to get to work; with a solid layer of compacted snow on the road, everyone driving with much more care and - voila! - 20 minutes.

litfan10 said:

I like cold. I pay someone else to shovel it, I have my own garage, I stay off the roads when it's dangerous, I don't have as many people up here to slow me down that much, besides I stay off it then.

I must be the antiTheeGoatPig.
As I said, good luck with the escape plan!

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Since I retired, I just laugh at the stupid idiots. . . .
I must make sure I have a camera to hand next winter.

I personally don't have any problems driving on the snow. I know my car's limits. It just takes me twice as long to make a drive.

Every other car around me though doesn't seem to know anything about how to handle a dangerous situation, and I see people in better cars than mine sliding all over the place or driving slower than my overpowered sports car. All wheel drive cars should be able to drive faster than rear wheel drive in the snow. When I get stuck behind a new Subaru I know it's the owner and not the car's fault.

TheeGoatPig said:

I personally don't have any problems driving on the snow. I know my car's limits. It just takes me twice as long to make a drive.

Every other car around me though doesn't seem to know anything about how to handle a dangerous situation, and I see people in better cars than mine sliding all over the place or driving slower than my overpowered sports car. All wheel drive cars should be able to drive faster than rear wheel drive in the snow. When I get stuck behind a new Subaru I know it's the owner and not the car's fault.

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It makes me think that driver training schools should include 'bad-conditions' driving.

PS.
"A bloke in North Carolina is offering up what is described as a restored 1989 FBI "surveillance" van, complete with listening equipment, LCD monitors, and two DVD players, apparently."

Further details HERE.

It's been a year and I still miss you way too much.

MagicaPractica said:

It's been a year and I still miss you way too much.

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Erm. . . Can I lend you a shoulder, me dear ?

RubenR said:

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Handley_Page said:

Erm. . . Can I lend you a shoulder, me dear ?

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Thanks, gents.

TheeGoatPig said:

I don't want winter ever again so I am planning a move to Florida. However, I figure I need to save up for 16 months before I can afford to, so I guess I will have to put up with at least this one and another next year.

On the plus side, I got a raise this week (my first one in close to ten years). So I can move in 16 months instead of 20

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I have been looking for work actively since November of last year. I finally got a call back from an architectural firm in Florida today. I should have an interview with them at their office here in Jersey just outside of Philly in the next couple of weeks. Here's hoping it's a good fit and I can earn a living wage...

TheeGoatPig said:

I have been looking for work actively since November of last year. I finally got a call back from an architectural firm in Florida today. I should have an interview with them at their office here in Jersey just outside of Philly in the next couple of weeks. Here's hoping it's a good fit and I can earn a living wage...

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Sincere good luck, TGP.

I need luck. this might be the scariest thing I have ever done in my life...

This may interest any would-be astronomers:-

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/29/great_american_eclipse/

People are shits!

This weekend was one of the busiest in our seaside town's calendar. As usual every evening when there have been hundreds or thousands of visitors around my house, I do a litter pick after the tourists have left.

Our local council's litter team did a fantastic job this weekend emptying litter bins half a dozen times a day. They couldn't pick up much loose litter because there were just too many people and too many parked cars. They couldn't even get their hand propelled rubbish trolleys through the crowds.

Yesterday evening and this evening I went round picking up smaller pieces of litter than had been missed or blown out and away from the litter bins by the strong winds. Each year the amount I collect is reducing because people coming to a litter-free area tend to use the litter bins.

BUT - about 150 yards from my house there is an area of scrub and bush next to the sea-facing grassy slope. It's beyond the area I clear. Another local resident does that part of our sea front. I met him this evening at the edge of our areas. He was very angry.

Despite there being public toilets in his area that were open until 10 pm the bushes were full of human excrement and toilet paper. Dozens of people, if not hundreds, had used the bushes to shit. Their dogs had added their own contributions. There had been queues at the toilets but not long queues. There are three toilet blocks within half a mile and a couple of dozen portaloos for the weekend. Yet people just went into the bushes to shit. One extended family had even built a windbreak at the edge of the bushes so their family could shit unobserved.

Some people are just assholes!

And was the display any good ?