T minus & counting 2017

[oneeye]

I do like the response; whoever thought that this was acceptable advertising 

[whisty]

 

[joeyjarman]

[Pear_Cider]

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

[grumpyhack]

[oneeye]

[whisty]

 

[Pear_Cider]

[guypjfreak]

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

2 hours ago, guypjfreak said:

Hello guy,

Just saw a Pearl Jam related 125. I hadn't realised it was PJ related at first, so was going to use it. Glad I looked in to it more because I'm fairly certain you'd have put a contract on my head had I done so, and stopped you from using it. 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

 

I used to run some painting contracts many years ago. I'm not talking small contracts, but contracts to paint about 2,000 properties per contract. Anyway, to cut a long story short, painting and decorating contractors can be right shoddy bastards. One time a contractor tried to get one over on me and claimed to have completely sanded down, filled in any rotten timberwork, and undercoated and gloss painted a very large property all according to the specification. When I looked in to it by asking staff on site how long they'd been on site they said about 2 days. Not even Anneka Rice (remember her?) could have done it in that time. So, I called in the paint manufacturer because they have ways of telling whether their specified undercoat and gloss has been used. Guess what - it hadn't. So the contractor had to go back out, put all new scaffolding up, burn off the poorer quality paint that they had used (a very lengthy process), prepare and re-paint the outside. To say that they were supersonically annoyed with me is an understatement. I really don't think that they understood that they were the bandits and not me.

[oneeye]

[grumpyhack]

6 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

 

I used to run some painting contracts many years ago. I'm not talking small contracts, but contracts to paint about 2,000 properties per contract. Anyway, to cut a long story short, painting and decorating contractors can be right shoddy bastards. One time a contractor tried to get one over on me and claimed to have completely sanded down, filled in any rotten timberwork, and undercoated and gloss painted a very large property all according to the specification. When I looked in to it by asking staff on site how long they'd been on site they said about 2 days. Not even Anneka Rice (remember her?) could have done it in that time. So, I called in the paint manufacturer because they have ways of telling whether their specified undercoat and gloss has been used. Guess what - it hadn't. So the contractor had to go back out, put all new scaffolding up, burn off the poorer quality paint that they had used (a very lengthy process), prepare and re-paint the outside. To say that they were supersonically annoyed with me is an understatement. I really don't think that they understood that they were the bandits and not me.

Many, many years ago (late sixties) I shared a cottage with a guy who was a civil engineer working on the construction of the M5 motorway in Gloucestershire and he told me life was a constant battle between the poachers and the gamekeepers - the construction company agents, who worked for firms like Wimpey, who were trying to cut costs and the resident engineers whose job was to make sure the work was done properly. He was a gamekeeper particularly involved in bridge building and I'd like to think when driving over a high or long bridge that his side won the day.

[grumpyhack]

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

57 minutes ago, grumpyhack said:

Many, many years ago (late sixties) I shared a cottage with a guy who was a civil engineer working on the construction of the M5 motorway in Gloucestershire and he told me life was a constant battle between the poachers and the gamekeepers - the construction company agents, who worked for firms like Wimpey, who were trying to cut costs and the resident engineers whose job was to make sure the work was done properly. He was a gamekeeper particularly involved in bridge building and I'd like to think when driving over a high or long bridge that his side won the day.

I've been both gamekeeper and poacher. I was a gamekeeper for just under 25 years and a poacher for just under 6 months. That speaks volumes. The pressure on staff from the owners of the poaching company is ferocious. It has to have been the worst job that I have ever done. The gains for the owners can be fantastic though. I know of two people who set up a contract company (poacher) about 6 or 7 years ago who have gone super nova. They each put £50K in to the business and started from there. They are now as individuals each worth millions of pounds. 

[whisty]

I did have one of these for a time. Wish it was still with me

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

42 minutes ago, whisty said:

I did have one of these for a time. Wish it was still with me

Yes, I suspect it would be worth quite a bit if it were in the above condition. Do you still drive a motorbike whisty? They scare me shitless.

[whisty]

28 minutes ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Yes, I suspect it would be worth quite a bit if it were in the above condition. Do you still drive a motorbike whisty? They scare me shitless.

I also had a Honda 750 F1 with that one ^^.  I'd love to have both of them,  but totally restored for both machines It's prob a minimum spend of 15k or more for the better ones out there. 

Sold my last bike maybe 6 or 7 years ago, recently threatened to buy another one but begged by family not to do it following a family friend tragedy. I think they're right but its one of those urges that never go away as any ex rider will tell you & the classic bike option is a sneaky (or stupid) way back in! 

 

   

Edited February 16, 2017 by whisty

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

1 hour ago, whisty said:

I also had a Honda 750 F1 with that one ^^.  I'd love to have both of them,  but totally restored for both machines It's prob a minimum spend of 15k or more for the better ones out there. 

Sold my last bike maybe 6 or 7 years ago, recently threatened to buy another one but begged by family not to do it following a family friend tragedy. I think they're right but its one of those urges that never go away as any ex rider will tell you & the classic bike option is a sneaky (or stupid) way back in! 

 

   

My mates got two beasts of motorbikes. The one looks like one of those motorbikes that you see on racecourses on the telly. He gave me a lift on the back of it from his house to the chip shop once, and that was enough for me. Since then he's bought a big Harley Davidson as well, but I haven't seen this. I do fear for his life though. It's very easy to go at high velocity on a motorbike but you don't get as much leeway as you would driving a car at the same speed. Hit a small object in the road in a car and you'll probably be alright. Do the same on a motorbike and it's potentially game over.

Another mate was cycling in rural Wales once when he said two motorcyclists sped past him at enormous velocity. He carried on cycling and about 10 minutes later came across the bodies of both motorcyclists. I think they'd hit a branch that had fallen in the road. 

Sorry to be the messenger of doom, but your family and us want you alive whisty. 

[grumpyhack]

Never had a motorbike but I once had a scooter.  I was far from a Mod as it was 1966 and I had a 1954 Vespa 125, which was about as uncool and sad as you could get.  But it gave me my first mobility and freed me from dependency on busses. It was great to visit friends in other parts of the city as otherwise it meant going into the centre of town and back out and about three bus route changes.  My main memory was that you quickly learnt where all the manhole covers were because if you went round a bend and hit a wet manhole cover that was it, the scooter would just go from under you.

I had a succession of dodgy means of transport as a teenager.  The lights would occasional just fail on the scooter, usually as you were approaching a bend.  I then had a 1954 Hillman Husky estate a bit like this.

The problem was that the doors tended to fly open when you went round bends, so they were held shut with bits of rope.  After that I got an Austin Healey Sprite, again ancient.  The so called sports car was actually based on an Austin A35 running gear with a different body.

It may have looked sporty but with a 948cc engine it still had performance that was little better than the Austin A35 or Morris Minor.

Happy Days.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

40 minutes ago, grumpyhack said:

Never had a motorbike but I once had a scooter.  I was far from a Mod as it was 1966 and I had a 1954 Vespa 125, which was about as uncool and sad as you could get.  But it gave me my first mobility and freed me from dependency on busses. It was great to visit friends in other parts of the city as otherwise it meant going into the centre of town and back out and about three bus route changes.  My main memory was that you quickly learnt where all the manhole covers were because if you went round a bend and hit a wet manhole cover that was it, the scooter would just go from under you.

I had a succession of dodgy means of transport as a teenager.  The lights would occasional just fail on the scooter, usually as you were approaching a bend.  I then had a 1954 Hillman Husky estate a bit like this.

The problem was that the doors tended to fly open when you went round bends, so they were held shut with bits of rope.  After that I got an Austin Healey Sprite, again ancient.  The so called sports car was actually based on an Austin A35 running gear with a different body.

It may have looked sporty but with a 948cc engine it still had performance that was little better than the Austin A35 or Morris Minor.

Happy Days.

I've never seen a Hillman Husky before. I like it.

[guypjfreak]

19 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Hello guy,

Just saw a Pearl Jam related 125. I hadn't realised it was PJ related at first, so was going to use it. Glad I looked in to it more because I'm fairly certain you'd have put a contract on my head had I done so, and stopped you from using it. 

Iol I must be losing it lol 

Edited February 16, 2017 by guypjfreak

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

2 minutes ago, guypjfreak said:

Iol I must be losing it lol 

Haven't you spotted it? I'm now having my doubts now as to whether it's Pearl Jam related or not. Nothing new there, as I'm full of self doubt.

[guypjfreak]

I'm sorted till 90 

 

Ave it