#151
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Changing tack again. I had a wonderful dinner in by Newcastle Harbour last Thursday evening and was fortunate enough to watch as the wonderful tugs escorted three empty ?colliers into safe harbour. I love watching tugs at work and from where I was eating you could feel the throb of their motors coming through the water and into the restaurant.
The last one came in just after night had set in and the lights on all the vessels were on. It made me think about the fact that in ports all around the world that sort of activity was happening and how much we depend on sea going vessels for so many things we use in our daily lives. I applaud all who have gone to the sea in ships.
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You may not be able to do anything about the wind but you can reset your sails Vicki D |
#152
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There never was a more romantic part to any trip than coming into a large port at night, unless it was leaving one.
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Buvez toujours, mourrez jamais. Rabelais |
#153
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I was fascinated by watching the tugs on the London River, (or Thames just to clarify.)
Tugs towing lighters and bringing them alongside in a tideway, tugs bringing ships in and out of the Royal Docks. I shall never forget watching a young skipper bringing his almost new Sun tug at full chat into the entrance to the Royals to take a stern line of a ship leaving. Seeing him turn his tug in its own length between the piers of the entrance, taking the hawser and then towing the vessel out into the tideway, all in a matter of minutes is still fresh in my memory. It would have been in about 1968, before all the traffic moved downriver with the introduction of the container terminals. |
#154
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Having paid off in Honolulu, and having to wait overnight before flying, one of the moments of my seagoing was sitting at one of the dockside bars near the Aloha Towers at midnight and watching the Statendam sail without me. All the stress and pressure just floated away ( or was that the beer?)
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#155
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Strangely for me the stress started after I'd paid off the Mobil Pegasus. Left the ship in Beaumont Texas and for some reason (it's still a mystery) I bought a baseball bat. An all aluminium Bombat. I couldn't fit it into a suitcase, so decided to carry it as hand luggage.
Alas at the airport the security staff were highly unimpressed and told me there was 'no way in hell' I could carry that onto the plane. So they gave me a label for it and sent it on the conveyor belt as luggage. "Goodbye baseball bat," I said to myself as I watched it disappear, thinking it will never be seen again. Guess what was the first thing that popped onto the carousel at Heathrow ? I've still got it 40 plus years on.
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"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure." Corporal Hicks (Actually Ripley said it first.) |
#156
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My daughter flew to Belize, transiting through America, with a machete in her luggage. No problems, the first time she has ever gone through customs there without problems.
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Buvez toujours, mourrez jamais. Rabelais |
#157
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It seem that U.S. Customs at Miami airport have been taking lessons from Heathrow. Last week I saw, for the first time, a handful of customs officers just standing around watching and a wide open corridor out of the hall with no desks or other impediments.
All part of the integrated 'border protection force' I suppose, with the emphasis on 'profiling'. So a slightly stooped old-looking white guy with a bushy white beard, even when accompanied by a much much younger black girl doesn't fit the profile of a ????? smuggler. Long may that continue. But it still takes two hours to get through immigration. |
#158
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But, but, but.... What if you had an apple in your hand baggage? You know, the American apple that you picked up on the American Airlines plane and thought you would save for later.
Next thing you are being given the full works interrogation and lecture about 'importing' vegetable matter into the USA. Yep, It happened. Does that mean I can 'import' a whole bunch of grapes to Florida next time? If I wanted to...
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The Mad Landsman |
#159
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#155
To quote Kevin Bridges : JD Sports in Glasgow sold over a thousand baseball bats last year and not one baseball..... I was worried for a while that this thread was dying out, but it's still rolling along. |
#160
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I imagine a very nervous person leaving the house with a baseball in his hand...
Disguise it as an orange, lad. They'll never recognise fresh fruit.
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Buvez toujours, mourrez jamais. Rabelais |
#161
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Was in and out of the port o Newcastle dozens of times in the era 1953/56
when on the old Ropners Ocean boat "Firby" on charter on the Auzzie coast with coal and iron ore from Whyalla. Much has changed and I am considerably older!!! I when on Google earth recently and hardly recognised the place. Carrington where we loaded coal and the steel works no more. Nobby's baech where I used to go swimming looked very inviting especially when we got dumped on with snow and freezing rain etc this weekend. Its supposed to be spring and accumuations of 9" GLOBAL WARMING YEH !!!!! |
#162
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Quote:
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#163
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That was Trump's hairpiece, wasn't it?
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#165
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I do wish you fellows would stop mentioning Old Man Sol, he has hidden for a week or so now and it is really cold again.
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Buvez toujours, mourrez jamais. Rabelais |
#166
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That couple of days of sunshine we had last weekend ..... That was the summer ....
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"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure." Corporal Hicks (Actually Ripley said it first.) |
#167
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Quote:
I said "Yes, I believe last year it was on a Tuesday!" |
#168
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Records have been broken for heat, I confess I am still quite chilly.
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Buvez toujours, mourrez jamais. Rabelais |
#169
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Yesterday was the third day of glorious sunshine in the village. Drove down to Bude in the morning and they were all languishing under a thick sea mist (it's usually the other way round !!)
I gave them my sympathy and headed back into the sunshine.
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"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure." Corporal Hicks (Actually Ripley said it first.) |
#170
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Now is the time of year when people take their tea into the garden and set fire to it, aka a barbecue.
Why do all these barbecues smell like an a/c tech tuning an old Meteor jet? To paraphrase an the famous Viet War movie: Don't you just love the smell of Avtur in the afternoon.... (I thought that I had put this post on last night but it must have fallen into on of Bob's Black holes, or otherwise gone off the edge.)
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The Mad Landsman |
#171
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I never much liked barbecues. The definition of which is fighting flies for the privilege of eating burnt on the outside and filled with salmonella on the inside meat.
But as long as the beer is cold, I'll settle for a liquid lunch (and get some proper food later on.)
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"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure." Corporal Hicks (Actually Ripley said it first.) |
#172
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The trick with a barbeque is to cook the stuff first and light the thing about an hour before it is needed. If that doesn't suit, paint the food with candle wax just before eating to get that authentic taste.
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Buvez toujours, mourrez jamais. Rabelais |
#173
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Talking of summer.
For over 15 years we have observed that humming birds return to our neighbourhood on 8th May each year. I thought there would be a delay after the massive snow storm we had in April but at noon today there it was at our feeder. I had only put it out hours before!. Know its not the same bird but it must have been born near here. |
#174
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Nature is tough, but I think we are finally subjugating it.
Unfortunately.
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Buvez toujours, mourrez jamais. Rabelais |
#175
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If I wanted ant droppings, twigs, grass clippings and hedgehog turds in my food I would have them sent from Fortnum's.
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David V Lord Finchley tried to mend the electric light Himself. It struck him dead and serve him right It is the duty of the wealthy man To give employment to the artisan |
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