MOT Advisory "...body has slight corrosion"

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I think Uncle Derek was being kind "drive it for the summer and then get the bodywork looked at...". So it is off to Keynsham for Black SAABath

Everything fits in!

That is 4 panels and a door and an exhaust and lots else.  I only have a post code for the garage but a check on Google Earth confirms exactly where the SAAB surgery is located:

"JamSAAB" - this must be the spot

About 500 metres from Somerdale (1929-2010 RIP) - where I worked for ten years...

Somerdale Factory (what a waste)

Yes I am in the right place

Absolutely

Up on the lift for a wee check

Oops!

More oops!

Fooled You! It's the SS Great Britain

 

Very clever - below the (glass) waterline and inside the ship the air is maintained at below 15% humidity - one BIG ?Munters? air drier - just like the one Rowan Atkinson uses to keep his classic car collection in good condition and we use to stop condensation forming on chocolates as they exit the cooling tunnel.

Now that's what I call a bearing - 250hp using 5psi steam - VERY large diameter cylinder*

There was an olympus engine in the museum - 70,000hp - 4 of which would fit inside just one of the SS Great Britain's cylinders.

Every last detail restored - even down to the smell of sick coming from one of the staterooms (opening the doors revealed a costumed up mannequin with head in bucket - bucket filled with faux-vom)

A Cadbury 99 not a SAAB 99

Strolling along the quay I met
a) Some gentlemen in a classic SAAB 900 - black, convertible
b) A Swedish family - from Norrköping - the son, having completed his degree course, has moved to the UK to do research "will you be moving back to Sweden?", "Only if I can persuade my English girlfriend..."  Deja-vu all over again
c) A strategically placed ice cream van - liveried up in "Flake" colours -  how could I refuse - after mentioning that I was working on the Flake plant in Dublin and exchanging views on whether £14/outer was a fair price I discovered that the vendor's mother comes from Sicily and that October is the perfect time to go and that he spends the winters in Florence.  We exchanged further views on whether €9 is really a bit of a rip off to get in to see "David"

Bristol Temple Meads

Impressed with public transport - first time I needed to use a long distance train in 12 months - turn up (15:50), buy ticket (15:52), direct train to Birmingham every 30 minutes (16:00), change for Selly Oak (17:32), walk 700m from local station and arrive home (18:02) to a...

Strangely empty garage

Cousin Chris is 60

A busy day starts with the West Midland Relays at Pelsall

A good chase round - great fun and investigating bumble-bees with Alex, Sebastian and Arthur afterwards

Sadly all too common a sight now

Not enough time to make it worth going home for a shower - so off the "Wall"

There is an excellent self-guided walk around the village and surrounds - recommended - leaflet at carpak

I think the walk was a better experience than the ruins

Just a light tea for me (regretting that Big Mac on the way up)

We agreed to meet at 16:30 - as I turned off the M1 at Chesterfield junction - there was my old 93 in the rear view mirror.  We ate at the Elm Tree Inn - superior food and a nice walk through the village.  I seem to remember having savoury pancakes and a latte

And here we are in Rotherham

We were in a hotel on the north side of town - I asked lots of folks about the town centre and all the work that seemed to be going on - "oh, we never go into Rotherham" -  pretty much all the same answer from the staff as well - I consider myself warned - certainly from the car window it was clear there were a lot of very large folks in Rotherham

Interesting idea for a Birthday Cake

That's my Uncle Don

My old SAAB - a drive way home for Joce and Erik

Spring Cottage - Sprint ARDF in a post-extractive landscape

Today we went to Spring Cottage for ARDF.  This is in the middle of the "National Forest" - currently a mixture of decaying mining villages, derelict mines and rapidly expanding forest plantation.  In the afternoon we did the first IARU rules "sprint ARDF" in England:

(Mostly) runnable poplar woodland

The sprint was confined to the "white" forest near the small pool

7:35 for 5 foxes - not bad - I lost a minute at #4

GB Team at Region 1 ARDF Champs in Romania

Wizz - fine. Luton Airport - never, ever, again - like how do they get away with it?

Team (minus two)

Bob, G3ORY, does not look very keen about the opening ceremony - and yes - THERE WAS FOLK DANCING

Sadly - behind Germany - alphabetically at least - but not necessarily in the forest

My Polish friends

"To travel overseas and wear blazers for Britain"

Olah-s - part of the organising Family

Hello from Agnieska

I liked this Hotel!

Some one told me there was free beer at the finish

Eyes on the beer!

Thank you very much Mr Organiser

John Marriott - finishing the sprint

Jill and John

Various foreigners take the mick our of my homemade yagi

Team in 4th place and ahead of the Germans!  A surprise - we were "best of the rest" after the three really serious ARDF countries.

Comparing routes

Interesting Cuisine

Time to leave - a long drive to the airport

A long wait at the airport, a long queue to check in, a very very very long queue for immigration at Luton - thanks again and then a dash up the M1 just in time to make it for

Kath's "50th" Birthday Party - me the worse for 15 hours traveling and Kath for 5 hours partying

N47 E22 (A short walk to)

The region 1 radio orienteering/ARDF championships are only a couple of kilometers from N47 E22

It was a bit cold and rainy - but interesting to go for a walk through "real" Romania and see what difference 10 years since my last visit have made.  Answer: Lots

Photos and Report at confluence.org

UK Election 2015 - "Remember you have a choice"...

...

Sorry do we?

Cheaps

On the left Sainsbury and on the right Vladivar

The students are back and the very cheapest vodka has all sold out.  These two bottles were exactly the same price - and both make (possibly) extravagant claims regarding source, processing and taste.

As is usual I did a blind tasting - you can see the mark on the upturned sake cup,

The winner was clearly Vladivar.  Traditionally made in Warrington (which is a long way from Russia) the Vladivar brand had a long run of entertaining adverts ("vladi-marvellous!" being one tag line)



              

And of course, the f-word, father, the bad f-word, worse than "feck" - you know the one I mean...

"That sort of language" really upsets Mrs Doyle and I certainly did not expect to hear it from the Taxi Driver as soon as I called out my destination.

Image Copyright dublintaxi.blogspot.com

Arriving into Dublin airport on Monday morning I was a bit surprised when the first words out of the Taxi driver's mouth were "F**K OFF!"

I knew it was a bit much to expect a Fáilte at 09:00 in the morning but not nice to get the alternate Dublin F-greeting.


It turns out that a fare from your airport to Coolock is not what a taxi driver who has been waiting 4 hours is hoping for.  I offered to get out and take the next taxi but he decided he would prefer €15 to nothing.

OK – I am a regular business traveller through the airport and I am used to this sort of thing and hear worse during my working day but consider if I was first time American visitor and this was my welcome to Ireland – or worse still a visiting journalist or travel business professional. 

The real problem is that there are 17000 taxis in Dublin and "arny fule two days off the boat can get a license; the f-inng test is always the same..."- it is rumoured that, post deregulation, the city has more taxis than New York - and I can believe it (http://dublintaxi.blogspot.com/2010/01/airport-taxis.html)

Digital? Moi? Non!

A friend of a friend writes...

Dear Comcast, Verizon, and DirectTV. It might not be today, but someday your monthly screwing of me WILL end.

Well for me TV watching ends on 21st September...

...when the analogue signal is switched off for good.

It dawned on me that, except for BBC Breakfast, my TV has not been turned on since Noah and Stacey played "Dig Dug" and "Galaxian" on my console - and that was in May.

As Chris and Sian will not be moving to Manchester when the BBC decamp north - and Carol is also not confirmed and Bill alone is not a big enough draw, I won't be watching in the mornings anymore.

This year I have only wanted to watch three programmes: Dr Who, Top Gear and Strictly - and they call come, in HD, via IPlayer - and on demand as well - so the analogue TV is going in the box room and come 21st September I will be going 'Cold TV Dinner Turkey'.