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When I did my typical antipodean 10 years in London, you get the whole experience.Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
3 months of summer so nice I couldnt understand why brits complain
1 year of grey every day, yikes, no sun till you flew over the alps.
( plus on a dark LU tube on fire and all that stuff, wrong leaves on track, no trains, wrong snow, no trains, strike no trains)
Great place to make money and keep it...
So What? Jan-Feb-Mar soggy for U? Take a look a California ...........SEVENTEEN atmospheric rivers. SEVENTY feet of snowpack. Ski resorts plan to be open in JULY?Dry lakes completely filled. So much water sitting in the farming valleys that they can't plant their greenhouse seedlings (mud). Traditional tulip festivals delayed by 2-3 weeks. It's now April and I'm still running my woodstove? Heating bills were 30% higher than last year. Tomorrow we will fingerprint and mug shot an ex-president and YOU got problems?Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
My godfathers —what a lucky bastard i am —will never complain again !!!!!!!!!
...lol...all true...but all a sad state of affairs at the same time...Quote:
Originally Posted by WaterZebra
—Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
Spring has sprung in the Arizona desert—to top off a beautiful winter!
Attachment 517394
Attachment 517395
I recognise the little mutly—-i did get the Color right after all ?????????Quote:
Originally Posted by GENE LANHAM
...you been getting some of all that crazy california rain there gene?
Usually we get the crap weather the states have been having —-takes between five and seven days to get here . Well we have had four continuous days of sunshine ——long may it continue.Quote:
Originally Posted by FUJIMO
Finally the aerological person [ cant be sure of what to call a female nurse these days] managed to remove the seventy seven years of crud from my left ear. By this time it had turned to flintstone and welded itself to a spot next to the cranium !!!!!
First time i had to call a halt after ninety minutes poking ——-a week later —- the doctor called it a day after sixty minutes of extreme discomfort——yesterday “Florrie Nightingale” removed the aforementioned obstruction after just ten minutes poking .
She pumped the air with both fists in triumph yelling WHOOMPH—WHOOMPH ——YES-YES-YES.
I kinda wobbled my way back to the car park feeling like a bloody KELLY — went to bed for the rest of the day and caught up with some much needed shuteye.
Told me i was good for another 77 years .
Props from China were delivered today $200 —two sizes [big and small]—-equates to 35 and 25mm.
should last me forever .
Back to the MAX AITKIN boats —was hoping to have them done before the weekend —but its been one hell of a week and it’s only Wednesday!!!!!!!
...previously posted photo by gene. did you know bunny yeager gene? she worked & lived in miami her whole life. this photo is from a 1955 bunny yeager photo shoot at the fire station. bunny was a well known pin-up girl & pin-up girl photographer for decades...https://playingintheworldgame.files....?w=1076&h=1080
Did you know that the BELL X 7 WAS in fact the MILES MASTER PROTOTYPE built at SHOREHAM- —-BY —SEA by the MILES AIRCRAFT COMPANY????????
SOUTERS was in the same area [ they built SONNY LEVI’S BOATS]!!!!!]
WINSTON CHURCHILL was responsible for the “GIFT” just before we started to pay back the 15 trillion
MARSHAL PLAN debt we owed America. Was over 50 years before England paid The USA the last payment !!!!!!!
To the best of my knowledge FRANCE —GERMANY—ITALY did not pay anything at all to help with the debt.
DE GAULLE hid out In England for the duration of the war —— then after the war in Europe ended —he rode back through the streets of Paris in triumph.
War was ended early after 6 very long years, largely due to the fact the USA entered . Over 55,000 american airmen died in the conflict.
Just saying !!!!!!!!!!
You can’t understand a thing they say whatever English they speak over their certainly is not the kind you average colonial is used to. And as you say, then there’s the weather not a sunny day to be seen. Oh well, maybe that gives him a stiff upper lipQuote:
Originally Posted by powerabout
With a crew like that I’m surprised you retired after 40 years gene. I have still been there in my wheelchair with a garden hose.
Yeah, California is a mess and it used to be a paradise. San Francisco 50 years ago was a great city to honeymoon and then go up to the wine country come back down the coast through the redwoods somewhere along the line somebody in California must’ve pissed off the big guy Because things Sherine going well lately. And then there’s Trump in Florida for all his blustering BS the country was running a lot smoother a couple of years ago. I just try to stay clear of Mar-a-Lago when I know he’s going to travel because it’s sure to mess up our traffic for the day. But you got a look on the bright side we could have Biden living in Florida and the Democratic governor like you got in California no wonder they called us the sunshine state. And I’ll take hurricanes any day of those tornadoes in the Midwest.
Attachment 517458Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
[QUOTE=FUJIMO;3384247]...previously posted photo by gene. did you know bunny yeager gene? she worked & lived in miami her whole life. this photo is from a 1955 bunny yeager photo shoot at the fire station. bunny was a well known pin-up girl & pin-up girl photographer for decades...[/QUOTE
I did know Bunny Yeager--went to high school with her---and some of these beautiful girls---
These pictures were taken in January 1954-the pictures were in the NY Times a couple years later--
If any survive after nearly 70 years----Attachment 517462
You may recognize---
Attachment 517463
[QUOTE=Redbirdman;3384339]Attachment 517464Quote:
Originally Posted by FUJIMO
Hell’s teeth GENE —- WE DID —WE SURVIVED !!!!!!!
Attachment 517505Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
WHEN YOU GOING TO TAKE ME FOR A RIDE IN “ MALIBUSTANG” ??????????????
it’s already to go—-just waiting for the pilot !!!!!!!!!
Been three days and i still have no balance—-feel like i’ve sunk a bottle of whisky most of the time — have to hold on to something to steady myself a lot of the time . Good news is, there are long periods when i am almost back to normal.
Surgeon said this may happen and there is no given time before i feel normal—could be a week -a month. ?????? Who knows ——
Has certainly curtailed workshop activities . Dare not play with machines with this going on. Will just have to concentrate on selling some stuff to pay for the Florida trip next November.
SOON!Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
Attachment 517567 these pics were taken last November
Planing to return to Colorado in MAY —if the snow ever melts—-Attachment 517566
Rock On Gene Lanham... You can't keep a good man down...!!! Happy Easter to All....:thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by GENE LANHAM
Happy easter to all my friends AND the “colonials” housed in the US of A !!!
Don’t ask me why , but there is something very special about all my friends and relations who live there .
Nearly went to live there in the late 60’s but due to MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES i never quite made it.
Closest i ever got to living across the pond was an offer from COLONEL PETER TEJERA [ He was the Naval Attaché at the Venezuelan Embassy in London ] to open up a Mercury dealership in Caracas. Was touch and go at the time , but a family decision was made .
There have been many crossroads on the super highways i have travelled . Sometimes i turned left -sometimes right — sometimes i missed the turn offs altogether which i later had cause for regret. On the whole i made more good decisions than bad —- but on reflection , i could have done better !!!!!!!
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE !!!!!!!!
Is that all your own work Fuji , or a real Mc coy Mercury effort ??????????Quote:
Originally Posted by FUJIMO
Just heard from ROY COOPER [fast on water] . He tells me thenBristol Maritime Museum has fallen nthrough. Well that’s not so bloody Surmazing as Bristol has absolutely no interest whatsoever in powerboats of any description.
Wasn’t that long ago that the“BRISTOL DOCKS”were were a pimple on the arsehole of Avonmouth .
Then Charlie Sheppard took the place by the horns and made into an exciting place . Bristol council fell over themselves to try and generate some semblance of history and respect from the desolation that had once been a proud harbour.
Seems that after ten years of indecision and head shaking they have given the piece of land to the SS GREAT BRITAIN !!!!!.
SO we are once again looking for a heritage site . Which puts us into the chicken and egg situation . No Heritage Funding until we have a suitable site — which costs a big lump of dinero.
more to follow —its easter Sunday. And my dinners ready.!!!!!!!
Museums are for rainy days when there is absolutely nothing better to do. Everybody wants them but nobody wants to part with the money for the facility or upkeep or new exhibit acquisition. Maritime and aviation museums are the most at risk. Floating museums are nothing but trouble. Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose sat in a hangar in Long Beach CA for decades before being disassenbled and taken to Tigard Oregon. Near Seattle WA we are spending millions to pull out the last of the creosote dock pilings that were driven in the early 1900s.Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
Bristol part two.
WAS powerboat races that put new life intO the wasteland that was BRISTOL DOCKS !!!!!
Wasnt just the docks — it was the surrounding area that had fallen into desolation.
Bristol docks had died —pure and simple . Nobody wanted anything to do with it. It was derelict and an eyesore. Income was zilch for the Bristol county coffers .
Along comes an idiot with a dream—suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and ridicule from Joe Public !!!!!! CHARLIE SHEPPARD .
Rest is history—- absolute success —— He made the Bristol Docks come to life !!!!!!!
That was then. ——-success came at a heavy price , Five people died —— during racing — but Bristol docks were back in vogue . Charlie had the full backing of the Bristol council at that time .
Two hundred and fifty thousand spectators each day along with the money they spent kicked life back into what was a derelict wastelands . Local hotels —- restaurants —-and businesses found a new lease of life .
for the last ten years Bristol council has been humming and harring over granting the last piece of doc land to create a maritime museum .
LIke all councils they have short and selective memories —— they kept the museum seekers on a piece of string with a positive maybe for years before saying “BUGGER OFF”.
Brutal fact is Maritime powerboat museums are not in vogue any more . Museum seekers are alive and well and full of hope and ambition with a deep belief that one day it will happen .
...real mccoy authentic 100% mercury racing derived piece of brilliance mr. wilson! lol...happy bunny day. don't eat any brown jelly beans...;)...Quote:
Originally Posted by jackiewilson
Attachment 517622
Aw- C’mon Fuji it might be authentic Mercury —but i wouldn’t say it was anything like “BRILLIANT”.
Apt for the time of the year would be closer to a description !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it is not on an Array of anything except a bit of carbon fibre checker effect ??????? “High performance eggs”??????? Rooster with a hard -on ?????? But it is all black !!!!!!!!!!
Could i have done any better ??????? Bet your sweet bippy on it !!!!!!!!! I simply was never asked !!!!
That particular effort would not stand up in the same room as OMC’s Havasu table napkins or Mercury’s UP AND AWAY Powerboat magazine cover from the early seventies. Or even “BLACK MAX” his fearful self !!!!!!
Since the demise of Joe Swift, Mercury’s attempts at advertising and publicity have been pretty mediocre —- a blind man with Alzheimer’s could not have done worse and the only memorable thing over the last thirty years was Mike Butlers “LITTLE RED” [and the budget did not allow for a half decent trailer]
Luckily , where it’s housed now, [DAYTONA], its hanging so a trailer would be superfluous to requirements anyway.
Ive always only been a black man, so i am allowed to criticise —i only rear up when others criticise the Marque !!!!!!!!!!!
incidentally its pissing down here ——-a typical English bank holiday monday, just like it did for most of the bank holiday Mondays i went racing .!!!!! And its set for all day.
Enjoy the rest of the easter hols Fuji.
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MAX AITKIN TROPHY for the 2023 COWES/TORQUAY race —- do have a pair of them -t’other is in solid walnut on an English oak base .Attachment 517638
Decided to have a crack at a CONCORD trophy——its working well up to now. I will keep you “in the loop”. !!!!!!!
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This is the other MAX AITKIN TROPHY. — the one out of solid walnut. HAVENT quite figured out what the do with this one yet, but it’ll come to me eventually.
Bit of a disaster today—- secondary worktop with the planer thicknesser—- CHITTY bang -bang—— diamond weighing scales and half a ton of ALLUMINIUM slabs —gave up the ghost and collapsed !!!!!! Was originally the old kitchen unit and breakfast bar . Had those small adjustable legs with the plastic inserts . Never gave it much thought until the legs popped up through the chipboard base . Sad to report , the bugger died on me !!!!!!!!!
Wasted two days of easter trying to bring it back to life——— was ok laying on my back under the bench with a rattle gun and a fistful of long screws ———was when i tried to stand up the trouble started .
Wont bore you with details —suffice to say i sorted the problem—-fixed IT. KILLED IT STONE DEAD AND THEN RESURECTED SAME. . Still a day out of my life i could have done more productive things with !!!!
” SOMEDAYS YOU EAT BEAR——OTHER DAYS THE FECKIN BEAR EATS YOU”
NOT EVEN 8-00AM AND I HAVE TWO [DIDDLERS] These are folk who are going to buy the items you are. Selling but are working and too busy to collect themselves ——they then ask for bank details [usually paypal] before asking if you have received the payment. Then comes the message from “WISE” or some such company saying they have taken over your existing bank in a world -wide merger but wants£500 to make your acc international ???????????? Yeah—- like just arrived from LA-LA LAND!!!!!
Wouldn’t mind , but two before work is pushing it a bit strong doncha think ???????
just keep your eyes peeled — seems to be old bastards like me that are the targets.
Be informed i am not BILLIE HOLLIDAY !!!!!![BORN YESTERDAY].
Attachment 517664 Now just why would i think this is a scam at $32-95 ??????????
Jackie Wilson. I have met the man the myth the legend you got a love him even if he is from the old country and tries to confuse colonials. He has a way with words. A few of us can match and also for his age he is amazingly talented with his hands and turning out replicas and just playing stuff that he dreams up well we’re finally getting some rain over here and sunny South Florida so I don’t have to water my ex-wife‘s plants anymore for a few days, God love her but she’s a slave driver, Jackie I hope you found all the eggs that you had from yourself because I’m still looking for some of mine. Best always Amberjack.
...agreed. and yes amber, our drought is over. holy cow are we getting the water, in volume. time to build an ark i think...