The really boring and totally pointless snippets thread IV

[Boac]

That's because you wanted to get a better look at her, isn't it? You are rumbled.

[Pontius Navigator]

I still harbour the wish to revert to Imperial measures now we are free of the EU. Anyone for a pint?
Mind you, I always enjoyed driving faster in kph in Germany then mph in the UK....petrol is cheaper by the litre too.

+1, but in Germany, no matter how fast I drove, I always seemed to be overtaken by a young woman driving a Porsche

Driving from Strasbourg to Paris, I don't think there was a speed limit but we were following a BMW cabriolet. In the passenger seat was an absolute stunner. She was kneeling on the seat, facing backwards, waving suggestively at me and my copilot (we were driving home from Cyprus). This went on for well over an hour her driver clearly not oblivious but didn't stop her.

It made the rather boring drive much more interesting.

[Pontius Navigator]

Just back from putting the bin out between showers. Dog decided it waz a good opportunity for a walk, so continued down a wet road with snow paths and then into the fields. Thin snow cover and didn't ball up much under her legs.
Windy but not as bitter as yesterday.
Back home she lay on the towel, on her back, while I brushed the snow off.
Minutes later the snow blowing again.

[Wodrick]

Beasts have been out for SM to follow, ran off and Punto the nearly Dalmatian returned with a lump of flesh near his willy hanging open.

Hey Ho it's orft to La Vets we go. 19.15 appointment as the vet is in another municipality.

[PHXPhlyer]

Mend well Punto

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

Many years back (too lazy to look up) a SkyWest Metroliner, shooting the VOR approach into Elko, Nevada, was off altitude but on course (exactly) hit the Bullion VOR located on a mountain top and slid down the slope in deep snow.
Decided not to be that lazy.

https://apnews.com/article/7853ee4b7ab1 ... d46424beb8

Commuter Plane Crashes in NE Nevada; Some Injuries But No Fatalities
January 15, 1990
ELKO, Nev. (AP) _ A SkyWest commuter plane with 16 people on board crashed in the mountains while trying to land during a snowstorm this morning, and three people were injured but most walked away, officials said.

Federal Aviation Administration officials said the plane, Flight 5855, was on a hop from Salt Lake City to Elko when it went down at about 9:30 a.m. west of the airport in this northeastern Nevada town of 8,800.

Most of the passengers escaped generally unharmed although three were reported with more serious injuries, authorities said. All the people aboard were rescued from the site within a few hours of the accident.

″Right now, I’m feeling that the outcome is wonderful,″ said SkyWest President Jerry Atkin. ″The thing you hope for in these situations is for all survivors. It’s certainly unpleasant to have such a thing happen, but I’m very pleased with the outcome.″

Today is the third anniversary of another SkyWest crash. A SkyWest commuter plane on final approach to the Salt Lake City airport collided with a smaller aircraft on Jan. 15, 1987, killing all 10 people in both planes and showering debris on a residential area.

There was no immediate clue as to the cause of today’s crash, Atkin said, adding that the airplane involved was less than a year old.

The Metro III twin-engine turboprop commuter plane with 14 passengers and two crew members crashed when the pilot was attempting an instrument landing during a snowstorm.

One of the rescuers, Pete Schory out of Salt Lake City, said passengers were wandering around when he landed at the crash site in a helicopter.

No one aboard had been thrown from the plane and the fuselage and tail of the aircraft were intact on the northeast face of the mountain, Schory said.

A nursing supervisor at the Elko Medical Center said injuries to the three were not life-threatening. The worst injury was to the captain, who was admitted with a possible chest injury and maybe a broken leg. A fourth person may be admitted for observation because of shock, the supervisor said.

Estimates of the distance of the crash site to the airport varied from 5 to 10 miles, and the terrain was variously described as foothills or low mountains.

Atkin said most of the people were taken from the remote site by helicopter, flown to the airport and then driven to the hospital to be treated or checked out. He spoke from St. George, Utah, where the airline is based.

SkyWest serves 44 cities in eight Western states: Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and California, Atkin said. It has 500 flights a day and serves more than a million passengers a year.

The Metro III commuter plane is made by Fairchild Aircraft Corp. in San Antonio, Texas, and seats up to 19 passengers. The model has been in service since June 1980.

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

Snakes:
On several occasions while camped on beaches in the Grand Canyon on kayak trips we had to relocate wayward rattlesnakes from our midst.
Sometimes used a paddle and on smaller ones a ladle from the cook kit.
Always with a beer in the other hand.

PP

[Pontius Navigator]

So it wasn't a dry gulch then

[OFSO]

First day of freedom from municipal lockdown but weather ghastly, walk cancelled, so spent an hour queuing in the post office instead.

[tango15]

Not wishing to upstage anyone on the snake stories, but this one is worth telling. We are deep in the Amazon jungle with the driver from the ox incident and driving down an earth track, when we see what we thought was a log across the road about 300 yards (274.32 metres) ahead. I suggested that as it wasn't huge, we would be able to move it and he agreed. There was a heat haze, but as we drew closer we realised that the log was moving - it was an Anaconda! It's head had long passed over the left hand side of the road, and it's tail still hadn't come up on the right side. The road was as wide as a standard British road. We slowed down at about 100 yards from it and watched in awe as it slithered into a swamp on the other side.
We mentioned it at the pousada (a sort of Brazilian inn) that evening and they became very animated. It transpired that they had been looking for it for several days. Further enquiries revealed that it had taken an Indian native from one of the nearby villages. As soon as it was daylight, a team of rangers set off to try to find it. We were staying in the area for several days and one evening when we arrived back at the pousada, they invited us round the back. They had caught the Anaconda and cut the Indian's body out of it. It was about 7metres (22.96588 feet) long and it's girth was one metre (3.28084 feet). Even dead, it looked menacing. It had taken five people to lift it out of the swamp once they had killed it.

[EA01]

A

nd, how many people were killed in Australia by snakes in say 2020? And, how many people died of rat or other rodent carrying diseases which snakes help to eradicate? Some harmless ones prey on poisonous ones. Your statement is typical of NRs here. No understanding of the place of snakes ecologically. Don't stick your paws in gaps in rocks or wood piles. Keep eyes out when walking in the bush. They will go away from you.

Yes, we must be raised like NRs then....and no, not all of them 'Go away from you'

Ecologically, I am happy to see a Kookaburra break a snakes spine before lunching on it...

[llondel]

This is my most recent snake story. You have to look carefully, bird in flight is dive-bombing the hawk which is sat on the roof with the snake hanging down from its talons. One of those situations where having the DSLR with the big lens would have produced a way better picture, but I wasn't sure it would be there by the time I got back.

[llondel]

Hmm Ex,...many of us in these parts believe the only good snake is a dead snake...it's a reflection of our upbringing too...and I think that 21 of the top 25 deadliest snakes in the world can be found here...

And, how many people were killed in Australia by snakes in say 2020? And, how many people died of rat or other rodent carrying diseases which snakes help to eradicate? Some harmless ones prey on poisonous ones. Your statement is typical of NRs here. No understanding of the place of snakes ecologically. Don't stick your paws in gaps in rocks or wood piles. Keep eyes out when walking in the bush. They will go away from you.

Depends, if it's a mamba and it's in a bad mood then it's likely to stick around and argue. For the most part I'm more inclined to just keep a wide berth and let the snake get on with life while I do the same.

[Alisoncc]

As a regular early morning golfer in Australia, it was rare to play a full round and not see at least one snake. Typically they would be lying in the middle of a green catching the early morning sun. Standard procedure was for all four ladies to practice synchronised jumping on the spot just off the green, leading to occupying snake slithering off the opposite side. Weren't allowed to shout or make a noise as this would upset the decorum of the game. You never ever went into the rough looking for a lost ball without a hefty club in hand.

Alison

[Rwy in Sight]

Hmm Ex,...many of us in these parts believe the only good snake is a dead snake...it's a reflection of our upbringing too...and I think that 21 of the top 25 deadliest snakes in the world can be found here...

And, how many people were killed in Australia by snakes in say 2020? And, how many people died of rat or other rodent carrying diseases which snakes help to eradicate? Some harmless ones prey on poisonous ones. Your statement is typical of NRs here. No understanding of the place of snakes ecologically. Don't stick your paws in gaps in rocks or wood piles. Keep eyes out when walking in the bush. They will go away from you.

Depends, if it's a mamba and it's in a bad mood then it's likely to stick around and argue. For the most part I'm more inclined to just keep a wide berth and let the snake get on with life while I do the same.

llondel I hope your avatar is a domestic cat and not a wild aggressive feline and if so is relevant on the snake discussion. I am a cat-person, not that I would not play and be kind to a dog, for a number of reasons including a very relevant here: the function of selected privilege cats as mouse eliminators. I read on a local respectable paper a story explaining that the residents of a neighbourhood across the hills from my place eliminated most stray cats. Rodents had such a good time they built nests all around even to fourth floor apartments. Ever since I joined my sister's activity to feed the cats especially in the small secondary residence RiS family owns in the Northern Suburbs of the city. I make sure I leave enough food for the cats there treat them nicely and in exchange they offer a very rodent and snake free environment.

[Pontius Navigator]

Glad I braved the snow last night. Overnight it was forecast we would get 3.48mm. Well looks like a good inch more and with another 1.47mm
today we might have 4-5 inches.

Just measured it. 71.2mm

[TheGreenGoblin]

My hovercraft is full of Hamadryads!

Actually it is far too cold for Hamadryads here today! Minus 3 degrees Celsius and all the pigeons on final to the apple tree are calling "any ice".

My better half spent the whole night thrashing around because she couldn't sleep so, of course, neither should I. Oh me miserum...

[Ibbie]

Morning all.

Bright start to the day with a light cloud covering. 12c but might get to 18c later, I have just read.

A tree that blew down in the campo some three weeks ago, across the ayuntamiento's recently signed "river" walk, has the attention of four workmen this morning.

[handsfree]

Thankfully the only snakes I've seen in the wild in the UK are the odd grass snake and adder.
May it always remain that way.

10km or more, scattered clouds at 1200' and perishing. -2°C feels like -7°C.
No snow worth talking about. Light showery snow forecast throughout the day.

Nothing planned for the day except 8 hrs of dialysis. So lots of reading, t'interneting
and crossword solving. Suits me on a day like this.

[Pontius Navigator]

Expecting a home delivery soon, cleared a bench for the transfer already half inch of global blanket added. And he's 6 minutes late so far, and then he arrived.