Tricks that old racers get up to after retirement

[jackiewilson]

Don't have to "lure" him to Tavares. He was there last year. Or was it the year before. Dates are all running together in my brain. Actually, I think that was John, 3rd visit with us at OFF. His 1st visit was actually at a Jupiter OFF. Very pleasant fellow. - Steve Sirois

You make me feel so young -!!!------Stavros, I didn't make it to Tavares last year, so it must have been the previous year ! If John was at Jupiter at a previous OFF, I must have met him.
That could have been the one when it was at Caddies place, Charlie did a fly past and I was supposed to do a boating type chat with Scotty B. For the film crew, but they never showed!

You just keep taking the tablets and I'll pat your head and give you a biscuit ! Your English is getting "Top Hole" Stavros old chap, "VERY PLEASANT FELLOW"
Mark met JFL on a couple of occasions and tells me he's a very nice chap, I'm sure we'll get along famously .
Finished the two sacred towers-----they're OK for trophies and that sort of thing-------next one will be a "Belter"--------and the last.
Been a happy sad sort of Mother's Day ----- Both boys gone, but Catherine and daughter FLEUR helped a lot. Me, I just stay in the shadows 'till I'm needed, when everyone's gone, I sweep up the pieces . MYGGWY .j.

[jackiewilson]

Yesterdays Mother's Day lunch-----forgive me for being boring, but it is one of the Tricks retired boat racers get up to !
Ready for the fray, the ideas are buzzing, bitterly cold morning, Marks boat to crack on with, shop to tidy, blades to change , planer needs a sharp up and that's just the start!

Booked my flight to Miami for Craig's wedding, business class, only way I can get two suitcases ( (40kgs) so I can pack some of the golf trophies for the November Tavares -----bloody sight easier than sending all the stuff FedEx .
If anyone out there has seen anything they would like, then give me a call or an email, I still got room to pack a few things.

I had a look at the F1 results from the Middle East , looks like the French have got a winning boat racer, no Engish boat racers involved any more, one American. How things have changed in the last forty years------don't look like the fun it used to be, maybe it's me getting old!

[jackiewilson]

Beavered away on the final sacred tower--------got it absolutely spot on------looks more like the Lake X tower than the Lake X tower itself.
Strange how difficult I made a relatively easy task.
If I get anywhere near finishing it tomorrow, I'll post a piccy or two.

I think it's the Tavares spring meeting this coming weekend------wish I could have made it,but the way the dice were rolled decreed otherwise. Not to worry, I get to go to the fall meeting.

I realised long ago it's a waste of time and effort to try and organise anything for the old farts in advance------leave it 'till he week before the event, then tell 'em. It still won't register until the morning of the event------even then , some of em will be late.
Just to tell you, there will be a golf tourney--------lots of trophies-------Bar-B-Q at Bill and Betty's afterwards, same as two years ago, and last year.

[jackiewilson]

Well, that went down like a turd in a punch bowl-------like I said, old farts are a law unto themselves. Won't be "Druv, led, or shoved" , they do exactly what and when they want to.
Got a good clean run in the shop this week------finally Sussed out hom th do the guard rails on the three levels, tedious but effective------every post and rail has to be drilled, tapped and threaded, but it'll be worth it--------some things you just can't short cut.
Looks like there's a glimmer at the end of the long winter tunnel, temperatures due to rise to 13 degrees by the end of the week. Roll on summer, can't wait to get some shorts on and flash the spindles.
Next door neighbor Steve dons shorts 1st April come hell or high water------needs to be high seventies before I get brave enough.
Bought a tray of Anenomies at the weekend, Jilly the gardener put them in yesterday.

Have to start thinking about getting the pool ready for the summer, but not for another month or so. Nothing looks quite so depressing as a leaf bound pool in winter, unless it's a frost bound lawn sprouting doggie turds !

Still wearing three cashmere's and the sleeveless Polo Puffa jacket in the shop and I still can't work up a sweat, Spring has definitely not sprung just yet in this neck of the woods.

Watch out for the piccies of the last sacred tower------it's a "Belter"------honest to murgatroyd .

[jackiewilson]

OK, all you engineers out there, ROTORY John, Fujimo, anyone who has a puzzle solving mind.
I HAVE A PROBLEM, I am finding it extremely difficult to fit the safety rails to the eight posts, spent all day trying different methods without success--------I think I have found the solution, but I would be Grateful for any suggestions.
Have had the damned tower up and down like a yo-yo, thought it would be comparatively easy to stitch it all together-----boy, was I ever wrong !
Ah well, it never rains !

[jackiewilson]

I "Acquired" this Chinese lion a while ago, it's very, very old and most likely gold ! somewhere along my travels. It's always reminded me of Mr. K.-----it has that dogmatic, aggressive and challenging look about it. I think it belongs on top of the sacred tower.
Was an amazing accomplishment of a dream, to open up a swamp and build the Lake X facility.
Wouldn't it just make a Deusey of a film ------ "X File".
Anyway, I think it's a fitting place to end its days, on top of the sacred tower.

Been one of those frustrating days, had great expectations at the start, but actually achieved very little. I don't do wasted days, 'cos I can always get something out of the day, but today was "Minimalistic." To say the least.

Ive been thinking more and more about the conundrum of the eight posts housing the eight rails, I finally nailed it------if my turning and boring and threading skills come up to muster, I might just make it.

Rich and Roger, Ted Boyd, and a whole load of the "Oldies" should be heading towards Tavares ----I Sincerely hope you all have a great weekend.
Put some piccies on the "Tricks" thread for me please -----if you get a spare minute, MYGGWY. J.

[jackiewilson]

Morning people------don't look like we have many geniuses in the OFF set. Either that, or nobody read the thread yesterday.
Nary a one came up with a solution to my little problem, not to worry, I can usually sort out my own "Middin" as my sainted mother used to say .
Chucked it down all night with a mixture of hail, sleet and snow thrown in for good measure, just the ides of March fooling around out there, getting their rocks off. Used to do it myself in the old days, but that was then, when the world was a different place, or is it the folk who changed and not the place ?
Its thinking time------from 6:00 am to 7:00, it's My time, I usually look at the rest of the world and its problems, get that outa the way first, then the sport , see how that's changed over the years from a an enjoyable experience we all encountered of keeping fit and exorcise, to a bunch of overpaid morons.
I don't care who the hell they are, or what sport they participate in, not a damned one of them is worth a fraction of the cash paid to 'em.
Comes to a pretty pass when a boxer has to take a suitcase to carry the millions he gets paid for doing what he likes best for a nights work, when a golfer gets thousands, for each and every stroke played, and complains bitterly if he "ONLY" makes ten million in the year.
Same things happened in any sport you care to name-----trace the cash back, guess where it originated, you guessed it, YOU AND ME. ,!! Why do you think a pair of Nikes cost $100 instead of the five they should cost.
I don't spend too much time on the sports section these days, it's depressing, but only if you let it get to you.
Then I look at my mail, don't get much of that these days.
Then of course there's that old stalwart S&F where I can let off steam and annoy the hell out out of all my friends.
You all have a nice day------like me.

[jackiewilson]

Had my head down and arse up, still trying to get the fencing right, after two hours and no headway, I finally chucked in the towel and decided enough was enough.
Ill try a new/old approach -----could have saved myself two days if I had gone down that particular avenue instead of trying to be a smart arse.
Still, everyone's wiser after the event.
Some kindly old wag will no doubt ask me "Why didn't you do it like that in the first place" ?
Yet they wonder why I voted for a "Whack-a-Numpty" day.
Time to get my head down, knackered by not doing much today.

[willabee]

..... I don't care who the hell they are, or what sport they participate in, not a damned one of them is worth a fraction of the cash paid to 'em ......

Don't know how long it has been since I have agreed with a comment from the waffling ol' fart, but I sure think he nailed this one!

If you would have told me when I was 20 that I would someday lose my enthusiasm for the big three - baseball, football & basketball, I would have thought you were nuts. I loved those games and the idea of not following them seemed as remote as the possibility of a rotary finishing a boat race. However, both of those things did happen!

I remember my first trip to a professional baseball stadium. My father Rial and a neighbor, Bob Williams, took our cub scout den to Milwaukee County Stadium to see the Henry Aaron and the Braves play Ted Kluzuski and the Reds. I remember walking up these cold concrete ramps until we reached the area to enter to find our seats. You walk up that narrow ramp and go though a door size opening and, suddenly, there it is ..... the most beautiful green you have ever seen! The whole stadium was alive with color and sound ..... it was more beautiful and exciting than I had ever imagined and I can still see it in my mind today.

These days, if you want to take 10 or 12 kids to their first game, you have to be prepared to give up your life savings! Everything is just too damned expensive and, in my opinion, it just didn't have to be. I just saw where some pitcher that was something like 10 wins & 14 loses with an almost 5.0 e.r.a. last year "settled" for around ten million next year! Back in the day he wouldn't have even made the roster, today they throw ten mil at him and he bitches about it. I remember a basketball player turning down an offer for 17 mil saying it wasn't enough and adding my favorite line, "I have a family to feed"!

I tuned that nonsense out a long time ago and would like to say I don't miss it at all. However, that would be a bit of a lie ..... I do miss those brown mustard hot dogs.

[seeroy]

Jackie & Bill - Holy Crap, I agree with both of you. Recently, I go right past the sports page and directly to the funnies.

[jackiewilson]

Jackie & Bill - Holy Crap, I agree with both of you. Recently, I go right pkast the sports page and directly to the funnies.

Wise decision Stavros------the obscene amounts paid to so called "Sportsmen" goes well beyond the pale, they destroyed my belief in ""SPORT".
Im trying not to be bitchy about this, but the minute OMC put up the millions to buy out the UIM ---- the drivers, the race boat constructors, the promotors and Jesus Christ's great uncle Methuselah, the sport declined rapidly.
Best thing to Come out of this, is the fact people are talking to me again, believe it or not, I value my friends , and especially Willabee, you don't get many like him for a dollar these days.
Cranky as a constipated arse hole, he's still my friend and I'll love him till the day I die.
still convinced we lived at the right time, chose the right sport, and met the right people, we lived the dream.

[jackiewilson]

Willabee, Bill, William, WELCH ! I have known you by all these names and for many years------Hi, ----nice to know we can agree on some things.
Amazing to see you had the same sort of feelings I had when I bunked off from Halifax Technical College, took the day off and went to see Yorkshire play the West Indies ------Len Hutton and Bert Sutcliffe were there along with a couple of w/I kids called Ramadin and Valentine. One of the best days of my life.!

[jackiewilson]

Gently assembled the last and final sacred tower----- then realised I hadn't even thought about the staircase, don't suppose you would settle for a knotted rope chucked over the top---no-----thought not !
If I'm really honest about it, I'll be glad to see the goings of the towers--------didn't turn out to be the two day job I first envisaged.
Never did sort out how to fit a two bar fence between eight posts, and no, my engineering skills weren't even good enough for a fence. remind me never to attempt a five barred gate, not enough time left to ever get it finished.
Just got too many unfinished concepts floating about------really must finish some of them before starting anything else, MALIBUSTANG , Marks boat, to mention the two I can think of, know damn well there's more besides that I've forgotten about.

Hope somebody at Tavares gives out a running commentary to keep us all up to date on what's happening up there,
Zuzz time crept up on me unawares, G'night all, MYGGWY .J.

[jackiewilson]

POOR Shaparova, all she did was stuff her face with performance enhancing drugs, now she stands to lose $11,000,000 .
Kinda brings a tear to your eye don't it!
Still, I suppose all's fair in love and war and tennis and "Sport"
So, does that mean the likes of Nike, Tag Huer, Porsche etc., will reduce the price of product , bet you a pound to a pincha it won't make a blind bit of difference .

Would you believe it's Thursday again already---------Tavares "Spring" weekend is upon us, so Spring has sprung officially, we're OFF.

Exciting for me to read all about my friends wending their way to Tavares to make a good weekend great.
Most of you will have an I phone or iPad so no excuse for you not to fill these pages with hundreds of piccies of who's who, and what's what, over the next week or so. ,

[jackiewilson]

M

Picked up another four items that will make great golfing trophies. A rose bowl for ladies longest drive, A bronze golfer driving off the tee.
Then a couple of class items, 1907 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost etching on brushed stainless plate.
Oh yes, the "coupe de grace"-------A FABERGE GOLD EGG, DOUBLE HEADED EAGLE AND DIAMONDS AND SAPHIRES. .??????
We give some hot diggety prizes at the "OFF GOLF TOURNEY"---------and there's more !!!
You gotta be in it to win it.

Bill and Betty already got the list of entrants started, if you fancy your chances, give them a call.