The really boring and totally pointless snippets thread IV

[ricardian]

Growing old is unavoidable but growing up is entirely optional

[ian16th]

I had an uncle, with February 29th as his birthday.

The family saved a fortune on birthday cards & stamps.

[1DC]

Mrs 1DC is Dec 24th and cousin is February 29th.
One of the local fish and chip magnate's, who by is name ,probably originated from India or Pakistan is just starting a 4 year jail sentence after being caught fiddling the tax man out of £1.4 million.
Oh dear what a shame..
Oz daughter was shifted from KLM to Air France on her way home, she says never again.
Off to bed shortly got my first migraine for many months, i thought that i had got over them..

[OFSO]

1DC: I rarely get migraines but if I do, always in the first half of the year, never after July. No logic to it.

[Woody]

Muffalo has been issued with a permanent house exclusion order after stealing today's chicken lunch from on top of the cooker. No other cat we have admitted has ever done this. Panther by appearance and....

Never underestimate Muffalo

[4mastacker]

Congrats, 4Mast. Is he beautiful like his grandfather, or like his uncles here on Ops-Normal ?

He's three years old now and not a bit like me...he's got hair!! I couldn't possibly comment about his "uncles".

[izod tester]

Currently skiing in the Vercors region of France near Grenoble. In the gite where we are staying there are some pictures of a J3 Cub landing on Mont Aiguille in 1957. Further research found this piece on You Tube compiled by the pilot’s widow.

[Ex-Ascot]

Morning folks. A non scheduled town day. Too many things to do on standard Thursday town day. Standard issue weather no rain. Will pop into the safari camp up river on the way home. We were supposed to go last night but a bottle of scotch by the pool got in the way. The manager's parents are visiting so we promised to go and meet them. Tiz odd when you find out that friend's parents are the same age as you.

Anyway all this talk of getting old. HMQ is 92 looking radiant and still in charge. HRH PC is 70 and still hasn't started his proper job.

[Cacophonix]

Two week sojourn in Cape Town booked for the 04th February from Woody's little airfield and with his outfit. Looking forward to the much needed break. Staying in Glen Cairn and then Simons Town. Mission, to see friends and family, relax, get a tan and do some family history research on behalf of another ops-normaliser. I think I might just be able to stand such a laid back tempo.

Pitch black here, all the 9's but forecast going downhill on the proverbial 3 degree glidepath later.

EGSS 150458Z 1506/1612 24008KT 9999 SCT035 PROB30 TEMPO 1510/1603 8000 -RADZ BKN012 BECMG 1603/1606 BKN010 TEMPO 1603/1612 22015G25KT 4000 RADZ BKN006

London is calling this afternoon, which means, suits, ties and that kind of baloney. Sigh, all very tedious. Roll on the 4th.

Izod, that video of the landing on top of that very impressive looking mountain was most interesting. The production values were really good. I assume that Madame Giraud's film was broadcast on television? Thank you for posting.

Mont Aguille!

In 1940, the top 11 m (36 ft) of the mountain collapsed, reducing the height to 2,085 m (6,841 ft). Seventeen years later, on 27 August 1957, the stunt pilot Henri Giraud landed a Piper J-3 Cub on the summit, utilising an 80 m (260 ft)-long, 20 m (66 ft)-wide runway which had been built earlier that day using materials and men lifted to the summit by helicopters. In the following 18 years, he staged a further 51 landings on the summit before his final landing in 1975, many carrying paying passengers, and often made using skis.The mountain was in 1970 designated as part of the Parc naturel régional du Vercors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Aiguille

Also got news, yesterday, of yet another old friend, a rugby team mate from university days, who has cashed in his chips in Kimberley. Hadn't seen him in yonks mind.

Message to all family, friends, acquaintances and even enemies! Stop dying you bastards!

Caco

[Karearea]

Muffalo has been issued with a permanent house exclusion order after stealing today's chicken lunch from on top of the cooker. No other cat we have admitted has ever done this. Panther by appearance and....

Wicked cat!

I had a cat who'd learned to flick open the catch on the microwave - discovered this when I found him growling over a cooked sausage on the floor.

4mastacker -congratulations on the new descendant

[ExSp33db1rd]

........... was a collection of 35mm film containers.

Likewise, one for each country on the airline schedule ! Not so easy to come by now, but I still have three of four in use. 'trouble is .... some of the coins have been replaced/renewed since I last used them ! ( any use for brass threepenny bits ?)

Still use one for USA quarters ( 25c) to collect them for use in the apartment laundry room, i.e. washer and dryer ammunition.

[4mastacker]

Folks, my apologies if I gave the impression that No2 grandson had just arrived. He was born three years ago on New Year's Eve. I was trying (and obviously failed) to compare the closeness to Christmas of Mme Octo's No2 kitten's birthday.

At the lock restoration yesterday. The old walls are down and the footings ready for the first pour of concrete - then it's bricklaying time.

Piece of trivia; The bricks that form the floor of the chamber are placed on end directly onto the clay below and a butted against each other without any mortar between - they are all dry joints. The bricks of the old walls were similarly laid directly onto the clay without any footings.

IMG_2093 copy.jpg (147.79 KiB) Viewed 557 times

[Ibbie]

Morning folks.

More cloud about today with sun trying to peep through.

Seems my clinic check went ok yesterday. Come back in two weeks. However see the cardiologist this coming Friday.

[ian16th]

( any use for brass threepenny bits ?)

I have two, from the year of my birth.

It was my intention to have them made into cuff-links.

It never happened, and these days I never wear long sleeved shirts.

[Ex-Ascot]

4M, you confused me but that is easily done. Thought your grandson was arriving for lunch actually and got the day wrong. Impressive ancient building work.

Ian, I have got a huge collection of silver threepenny bits which my father used to collect. Cuff links a good idea. Like you only short sleeves these days apart from meetings.

Done town, it was closed. No power for three days. Apparently a whole line of pylons down in a storm. ATMs down, banks and shops closed. We managed to find one pop shop open to get a bottle of scotch but no cold beer. Butchers are almost giving away meat as they can't keep it. Not a single generator left for sale and all ones for hire have gone. Total sell out of candles. All OK here at home sun is shining and solar system working well. Genny available if we need it.

Went to our out of town safari camp that has a battery back up system and good WIFI. Resulted in a Skype call from an absolute reprobate.

[ian16th]

Ian, I have got a huge collection of silver threepenny bits which my father used to collect. Cuff links a good idea. Like you only short sleeves these days apart from meetings.

UK coinage that is dated prior to about 1920 is pure silver, and worth many times its face value for its silver content alone.

The date when 50% silver went out of production was 1947, so coins from 1920 to 1947 are still worth more than there face value.

I had a small collection, mainly half crowns and florins, they are now with my grandson in Aus.

[Magnus]

Silver threepennies go in the Christmas pud. MrsP used to make the pud in October. She started that when we lived in Oz, where a popular children's book was about Albert the Magic Pudding. The Christmas pud was therefore known as Albert. It had to dry for a few weeks before use, and a small length of 1"x2" timber cut at 45 degrees each end was used to hang Albert on the corner of the dining room picture rail. This became known as the Albert Stick, and on one side was recorded the date of Albert's genesis. The last recorded date on The Stick was for Albert XIII. We no longer make the pud, but we still have The Stick.

The kids book was by Norman Lindsay about whom a film was made some years ago, 1994, called "Sirens". Featured a lot of nekkid wimmin ISTR.

[ricardian]

Last week we had a bit of rough weather which caused a power cut affecting my part of the island for about 15 hours.

[1DC]

Looks a bit scuffle there ricardian,hate to think what it will be like when the winter arrives

[ricardian]

Looks a bit scuffle there ricardian,hate to think what it will be like when the winter arrives

Fortunately the video is of the Atlantic battering the 70 foot cliffs on the west coast of Orkney mainland. Here on Stronsay we usually suffer with gales from the east blowing in from the North Sea, south-easterlies are the worst when ferries get cancelled. I always remember a week after moved in (April 2004) we had ordered a Sky satellite service installation. The chap came over on the Kirkwall to Stronsay ferry on the Monday morning and soon had the dish & system up and running. He was quite pleased because he had just one more brief call to a property on the island before catching the tea-time ferry back to Kirkwall. Alas, the weather turned nasty and the Monday evening ferry was cancelled. So were the Tuesday morning & evening ferries as well as the Wednesday morning ferry. The Sky installation man got back to Kirkwall on the Wednesday evening ferry