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Only ever invest in anything that has a snowballs chance in hell of making a shilling or two.Quote:
Originally Posted by powerabout
Even a one in a hundred long shot---------but a certified loser that never made anybody a red cent--------methinks not Pilgrim!
Gods taking a leak again today, he had a touch of the " Collywobbles " last night. We had thunder and both sheet and fork lightening, my sainted mother would have said "must be something he ate".
Got a full day in the shop today, with a couple of new projects in mind. I'm as rusty as an old nail and need to sharpen up a bit. There's cobwebs and dust on all the tools and machines, but the edges are all sharp and shiny, just need putting to good use with a touch of imagination.
Lets put money where mouth is and see what transpires, catch you later!!!j.
That's half the day done, lunch over and done with, been cooking with gas all morning, now it's afternoon nap time. I'm always wary when things go right 'cos I know how easily life can go tits up in the blink of an eye.
If you want the path of life to be smooth, better send the Gardner with the weed killer on ahead!
enjoy your day-----I am. J.
Hi Jackie sounds good to hear you are firing on all cylinders again I brought this old souvenir program for the 1978 World OZ Championship race to the OFF event but I never got round to showing it to you this last year. I wanted you to look through it because your memory is better than mine sometimes! to see if you can recognise the 2 drivers that were both Yorkshire men see what you think.Attachment 312915Attachment 312916Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
It could only have been thee and me Steve.
Jeff Edwards was pure Liverpool
Thornywork lived in the Cotswolds.
Percy pure Suffolk
Sabberton Suffolk
Jenks not even English
Alfie Cockney as they come.
This was the second time out for the Cosworth, best prop got damaged in practice.
Duckworth wanted Seebold to try it, he did, didn't improve my time.
Think I finished fifth, both factories were out in force and the boat had to be singing, it was croaking for the want of a prop, I didn't have a back up, that was the worst result that boat ever had in the eight times I ran it.
Well, I came OUTA the traps like SHERGAR this morning.
Afternoon was one of those " Somedays the bear eats you days"
Decided to make a twin axle boat TRAILOR for one of the new projects I have in mind,
cut a couple of 10mm stainless axles, turned the ends down to 6mm to take the bearings, bored a 4.5 mm hole through each end to take a 5mm stud to take the wheel nuts.
Managed the first axle without a hiccup, then got over enthusiastic and snapped the tap off, worst part of it is, iKNEW IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, I felt the tap springing but didn't listen.
A few well chosen blasphemies made me feel a whole lot better but did bugger all to alleviate the situation.
it was well and truly embedded in there with no shoulder to grab, but today , God was good, at the third bite it shifted," VOILA" gotcha you little sucker.
Decided to call it a day and shut the shop at 4pm ----2 large CC7's later I was at peace with rest of my fellow men, As Scarlet said to Rhett-------tomorrow is another day!!!
My sainted mother used to say "let's play it be ear" MYGGWY .J.
Morning Steve, had another look at the line up for the OZ race at Chase ,33% of the drivers are long gone.
Three were a direct result of powerboating accidents, Spalding, Percy, Zimmerman. It's a bloody long list of fatalities if you look long and hard, sad part is, most of them were friends.
I was dead set against being strapped in a safety cell, just one of the things I got wrong in my life.
Looks like winters on the move, snow and high winds all over the globe, we just got wind and rain.
Jilly's going shopping for baby clothes with her only daughter, which means I get to be left in peace to play in the shop, way to go.
Shop looks like somebody works there once again, have to up my game a bit, make something desirable instead of "shedable".
Tell you if any thing memorable happens-------or unmemorable.
Attachment 312974Attachment 312975Attachment 312976
If if you ever bought a tunnel boat then you'll understand that the most important piece of kit In the whole ensemble is the TRAILOR . The boat has to sit perfectly on it and it has to keep the same shape for the whole of its life.
You remember RON 54, (he's really Phill from Bristol, who was once married to Don Ross's daughter Shirley) he sent me the model DAX to play with, I was never happy with what I did. So, I decided to build a custom set of wheels to stick it on.
Anyone who has done this knows what a frig it is! But there are NO short cuts and it's exactly the same in miniature .
Jackie
You seem to work in metric ( more spanners and more taps) rather than imperial, do you prefer that now or like us 60's childs we measure in metric but tap and drill imperial so you can use real spanners?
Cheers
Hey Jackie Ann Bullen once let it slip that Alfi Bullens mum was from Yorkshire.1978 is a long time ago but I do remember this race well the Molinari boat I had was too big and heavy for this race so I had Desi the chippy from Scimitar Boats build me a 17ft sprint boat and i bought the back cowl from Chris Hodges we turned up at Chasewater with the paint still wet with 1 hr left for qualifying and we made the start line.I can remember Bob Spalding had some kind of fall out with Garbrecht he never had one of the hot engines like all the others and had to make do with a Mercury 2.4 carb engine he had Carlsberg as sponsors and ran in the support race so that didn`t go down well and if you think back not long after he changed to OMC and raced Johnson.I remember we raced 4 heats over 2 days racing and we finished one place behind you not bad for a stock race engine.Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
Was using the metric system long before the end of the last century, metric is the simplest way to go and believe it or not Pilgrim they do have less spanners than the AF, imperial, whitworth and the mixed bag I stillwork with.Quote:
Originally Posted by powerabout
Any new projects I use mill., taps and dies appear simple until you take 5 mm for example, which pitch and number of threads do you use? 8/9--------- make sure you use both taps and dies that match, the difference is quite alarming.
when I get that small I use BA..lolQuote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
there is 16 16ths in an inch and 25mm in an inch
UNC and UNF were invented for engineering purposes ( as was whitworth and BA) metric thread was just a fudge so a system existed in round numbers
As it happens whitworth thread form is the stongest and does get used today for that reason ( with std size heads)
I reckon the cozzy had a few whitworth threads?
If Alfie was a Yorkshire man then my dicks a bloater!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by STEVERINO
That was one of the last races I had in this country nearly Forty years ago, and it wasn't memorable for me anyway-----I had a piss poor result.
Bob and Tom had worked long and hard and finally nailed the MARTINI sponsorship-------GG refused to let them run it anytime soon, Bob was spitting feathers.
As you said, wasn't long before Hodges got a big bag of gold from OMC and put together the full time race team of Hodges,Spalding and Percival.
Hodges had a new workshop, fully kitted out with brand new planers, saws, spindles etc, all courtesy of OMC.
Not even the Arabs could afford to spend money the way OMC did for very long!
Well,I think I now own a large portion of "MOTHERCARE"-------I just closed my ears , let it go in one and out the other.
Women should never question what a man spends on his golf equipment, or shoes, or clothes.
By the same token men should never enquire how much a mother spends on a daughter that's about to foal.
Repercussions could be catastrophic -------get lost in the workshop, do not ask(under any circumstances) about finance, pour the full glass of whisky, down it in one and act like you are in seventh heaven---------believe me brothers, you'd better be or life as you knew it could take a hike.
Got a lot of the fiddly bits done on the TRAILOR -----still got the draw bar , jockey wheel and hitch to concoct. Bent the overall shape of the mudguards, still have stays and running boards to cobble.
"BLOODS" in the morning, but not 'till 10:30am which buggers up the morning (clean clothes to see the doctor)------ then it's lunchtime-------then it's bye---byes time.
May get a couple of hours in the shop from 2 till 5, then I'm off up country to take my daughter Sam out to dinner.
I do miss not being allowed to drive, but as Jilly points out ,a lot better than having a turn and not knocking a child off his bike.?
Thats your lot for today peeps, all in all, not a bad day, sleep well my friends, MYGGWY .J
So------you get a bigger variety and a better choice with the metric system -------its divisible by ten---so why would you try and mix the two. Not many people would want to know how many mm to the inch----------it's almost as daft as buying your fuel in litres and calculating how many mpg you're getting.Quote:
Originally Posted by powerabout
This is where you can show off your engineering background Pilgrim-----me myself am just a bodger and cobbler where the odd mistake and lack of little grey cells is of absolutely no importance
whereas you do not have that PRIVELEGE .
I totally agree going metric was a "FUDGE"-----but in a world of ignoramus's it is essential or everyone except the Einsteins of this world would be playing violins outside Kmart or cleaning cars.
You would have to fight the Poles, Ukes and Eastern Europeans to clean vehicles these days, who else could have closed down well established Car Washes.?
All true JackieQuote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
except in OZ you are only allowed to wash a car in a car wash that is 100% recirculating the water, due to it being a dry continent.
What sort of a lame excuse is that?------you might be a dry continent but you're surrounded by CO2------if the Arabs can build ski slopes, golf courses and fountains in the desert, it cannot surely be beyond the wit of the Aussie to produce enough water to wash the Holden.Quote:
Originally Posted by powerabout
Probably costs more to recycle the stuff than to desalinate anyway.
Have a nice day Pilgrim!
(you might be a dry continent but you're surrounded by CO2) I think you meant H2O. CO2 is not metric for water
Quote:
Originally Posted by rotary john
just testing to see if there was anything other than engineering in your blood.
Do you remember in the old days when you went for a blood test, flex your fingers, tie the tourniquet -----pop in the syringe-----extract the juice and lay down for a minute with a cup of tea and a biscuit.
Bit different today----------"sit down,----date of birth ?-----strap on, strap off, four tubes in the left hand, two in the right plus the mini syringe,------blood is so bloody thin with all the warfarin and mixamatosis its been fed, she doesn't even have to insert the needle, the blood leaves my arm of its own accord-----leaps into the tubes of its own volition . Still looks the same, but me not having vampirish tendencies can't tell whether it tastes the same!
In no time flat, half a dozen tubes of the old life giving substance is winging its way to the lab and I'm on my way home
Did get a couple of hours in the shop this morning----only had to change my outside sweater.
Right then, shop shut down for the weekend [or is it shut up for the weekend], posh mudguards are proving tiresome on the DAX's trailer or trailor depending on whether you're C of E or R/C.
Got the best bib and tucker on and about to head inland to the village of BALLS CROSS, they have a very nice pub there called the STAG, good restaurant and some fine ales, dinner with daughter Sam and spouse.
Don't know how well its all lit up to take a phoggie for you. Tell you how i got on later.
Typical Friday night in an english country pub------big log fires-----slow start----lovely atmosphere -----everyone talking to each other and the beer is sliding down nicely. We all arrived together, had a drink at the bar then wandered into the dining room. Waitress took the order immediately . Didn't have long to wait for the grub which turned out to be excellent, we drank too much which sent the ticket into orbit.
Got onto conversation with the folk on the next table, turned out to be two people I played soccer against 60 years ago-----conversation goes like this,
You're Jackie Wilson aren't you,
Yes but how could you possibly know that,
My names Peacock, you once punched my brother and laid him out cold.!
This is the narrative of that Saturday afternoon in 1954.
Southwater were playing against Kirdford-------they were fielding 11 players of which 9 were named Peacock. and the other two were married to the Peacock girls. They were known for their
"Robust" style of play------they claimed they were just" ENTHUSIASTIC".
They went 3 down and the sledging started, then this guy starts on about my family, I just lost it, simply walked over to him and whacked him, as hard as I knew how. He went down and stayed down------the only other person to see this was their goalkeeper, he came rushing up the field, fists a flailing, screaming he was going to kill me-------so I hit him too-------the ref saw this and gave me my marching orders-------that's when the trouble started-----20 odd players having a free for all and I'm stood on the touch line arms akimbo like -----what's it all about?
The guy I had clobbered suddenly comes to, sees me on the touch line and runs over and says
"Sorry about that mate, I was well out of order" and shakes me by the hand, drags the ref over, and Voila! We're back to playing football.
The guy was Dusty Peacock and he died last year, over the years we often talked about that match.
Just remarkable that over 60 years later I should be dining in the pub with two of his brothers.
Leaving Crack-O-Sparrow for Somerset to visit Matt-----bugger that I can't drive, just hope the snow stays up there until we're safely back home Monday afternoon, you may get a rest from the ramblings so have a great weekend peeps MYGGWY J.
How 'bout this for a mighty coincidence .
one of my best friends and his wife, (Nigel and Pauline) are in New Zealand on vacation for five weeks.
He is staying with a guy called Mike Betts who used to work for "STEVERINO" and JEFF EDWARDS.
Half way round the world he says and still can't get away from me.
Isn't that the way it works nowadays! Morning Jackie.
Dave
Morning Dave,Quote:
Originally Posted by CNC_Guy
Buggered if I know how life "works" anymore!
Escaped the bad weather on the way down to Somerset , Jill's. Out walking the levels with Matt.
Tomorrow we take him to bristol for his Chemo/Radio treatment, then head out East for home.
Tuesday, back in the workshop and life should resume as "normal".
Forgotton what normals like-----seems a bloody long while since that happened.
Hey Jackie if Nigel and Pauline are staying with Mike Betts they are in safe hands.He started working for Dave Brockington at his Mercury dealership in Taunton I knew him when he was just 16 yrs old he worked on all the teams racing boats wether it was Mercury or Johnson Dave did a good job teaching him he went to most of the circuit races he was like a family friend.The last time we met was 15 yrs ago at Daves 60th retirement party I do know he had also worked for SWMF the UK Mercury engine importers and he had also just got his Skippers liscence to captain charter vessels.Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
I used to know every single person employed at SWMF, was friends with all of them from Pat Frewer the boss man to Pete the delivery driver, all the meck-Nicks, Cherie, Pats secretary, that was one big happy family. So I probably would remember Mike-----you and I both know the memory is totally shot!
Mark comes back from skiing in Virginia today so we'll have a chat tomorrow and catch up on a few things.
Been a sad and happy sort of day, one day I'll unload the sorrow, but not today-----if I get a mad fit of inspiration I'll post something tomorrow but in the meantime MYGGWY. J.
Tuesday and I'm back home in West Sussex . It's a hard white frost with light cloud, looks more like a covering of snow. Didn't get any snow during the trip to Somerset.
I need a full English breakfast----then back into the workshop to get stuck into the TRAILOR again.
Picked up several interesting pieces of wood during my travels, give them a clean up and see what springs to mind.
Shop is full of bits and pieces I cobbled together over the last month or so, time to put a couple more shelves up in the shed to accommodate them!
Still got plenty of stainless, but completely out of round bar, I used to go to the scrapyard in Bouzigues and forage for an hour or two, going through his bins, that was four years ago, time flies when your having fun!
Nothing of any great interest happened over the weekend, so will have to just make something happen.
You can keep this sort of day, absolutely nothing went right-----house telephone would not let me make a call. Called BT on my mobile,they will take a LOOK For £129:55. Figured it would be cheaper to just nip round to CURRY'S and buy a pack of three (phones that is) £70,.
Spent an hour installing the damn things-------nothing in this world is interchangeable any more, somebody somewhere just might miss out on screwing a shilling or two out of me if you could buy just a replacement phone.
Every thing I touched turned to worms------every hole i bored went oval, Every nut and bolt had a burr on it, every weld I did looked like poodle pup.
Threw my tools OUTA the pram and stormed in for lunch--------now having a bitch before my nap.
To be honest, I'm mad at the world-------I really could have done without a series of bloody strokes
Just when I need to be able to drive more so than ever before, I can't.
Last person in the world I need to get cross with is Jilly!
Keep giving you insights into our life----things overlap-----maybe they shouldn't. Started out as a post in an on line boating magazine------brought a bunch of old friends back in touch with each other, we reminisce------laugh with each other-----joke with each other-----we're easy with each other, we meet new friends. We lose some of the old ones and then there's a time for sadness.
Coming up nineteen years ago my eldest daughter Sandra,was diagnosed with cancer, she was just forty one years old, the shock was devastating--------she had a husband, a twelve year old son and a ten year old daughter--------a brother and three sisters. Somebody had to steer the boat, me being the patriarch stepped up.
For the next few months I had to hold everything together-----until the day we buried her, I never let my feelings show to anyone.
Afterwards, with no one around I could get lost in my workshop or build a house, break something for no reason. I tried ever since to find someone to blame, just give me a reason WHY?----No parent should ever bury his child, that is so totally unfair and one of life's bitterest pills.
Time passes, you think you have finally got over it, then someone mentions her name, the tears flow until you are fresh out of h2o until the next time.
Now it's all about to happen again, but this time-------problem is, I know exactly Whats about to happen, again I am not allowed emotion, .
It may seem odd to some of you out there to be using S&F a powerboating website for offloading feelings, but if you can't talk to friends, who the hell can you talk to, just occasionally I revert back to being a normal human being with deep feelings and emotions just like the rest of you MYGGWY J.
Jackie, you're allowed emotion here and I am certain there will no p**s taking replies either.. it is your thread after all.....P
Jackie - After posting for a couple years, and finally meeting face to face 7 years ago, and knowing all along how my brother & Vida felt about you, I have always known that, under that gruff exterior, lived a truly special person. Iris & I both loved you immediately. As you know, Iris is a Hospice nurse. We talk a lot about her every day experiences. I am very proud of her ability to comfort the families of her patients. Your experience with your daughter certainly taught you how to give comfort during difficult times and I know that you will do so for Jilly this time. Sometimes I think I see little bit one of my great British hero, W.C.
Sorry, but now this news, I am writing this from hospital bed. I had a biopsy of left kidney today. Have not seen results yet, but visual results do not look good. I may lose it. Fortunately, most people do fine with just one. I think that is also true with only 1 testicle :D. I absolutely refuse to lose me sense of humor!!! - Your Forever Friends , Steve & Iris Sirois. PS, it is nearly midnight here. So Iris says I must
turn ipad off until morning.
No Phill----it's not My thread------it's OUR thread, it's for EVERYONE who's got anything to say!Quote:
Originally Posted by ron54
Stavros, you didn't take a blind bit of notice of what I told you did you? Stay away from hospitals, they have a tendency for nicking bits out of you------you are running low on spares.Quote:
Originally Posted by seeroy
Mark says your name is shown up more than any other in the "LAKE X FILES", you must have tested more boats than you had hot dinners!
Didnt you know that you can never lose your sense of humour------you can misplace it for a while, but like a shadow, if the sun goes out for a while, it may not show, but the minute the sun comes out, there it is again.
Maybe folk who wonder what the purpose of S&F is, will now maybe get a fleeting glance of what we're all about and get a feeling and understand some, if even a bit rubs off, then we won't have done too bad after all.
You get well soon Steve, I've loved ya since the minute I met you( and Iris), you don't get many like you for a dollar these days.
Jackie: There are plenty of shoulders to lean on on this site of old friends. And I certainly offer mine if needed. I buried my sister to cancer 25 yrs ago, so I know somewhat the feeling. Just remember if you get really down in the dumps, we can talk about rotaries. That'll cheer you up for sure.
I remember my grandfather when we buried my mother ( early death from cancer) he was a doctor and said just the same as you Jackie, you are never meant to bury your children.
I guess he had seen that before being a Doctor in WWII
Johnno, you are another fine example of the fellowship of old boaters, remember how we used to argue? You never got as mad as Liquid Nirvana though, he did throw his dollies out of the pram on numerous occasions------then Stavros introduced us at the Old Farts and we hit it off immediately.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rotary John
Its amazing how many people have lost loved ones to cancer, and it's nice to know there are friends out there for you,
FYI, I was never down in the dumps 'till I heard about ROTORIES.
Morning Pilgrim, us grandpa's can be wise old sages without really trying.Quote:
Originally Posted by powerabout
I have heard that but when people say I dont do stupid things anymore its just because I've run out of stupid things to do, is that the correct interpretation of old age?Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
Whats old age 50% gone and 50% to go?
Old age is just a number Pilgrim-----nothing else-----another WilsonismQuote:
Originally Posted by powerabout