difflock

One of the few times I let rip into an "Expert" was when he identified Ash Dieback in couple of scraggly saplings in a car park. An unneeded fuss was made about their removal, which I gladly subbed out to a very decent Arb firm. We met on site on the day. He was all "Ho ho ho" is this not wonderful the vital important work I am doing, until I suggested it was most likely not Ash die-back, which notion was rapidly and v firmly supported by the Arb professional present. He then attempted to say that he would have to inspect my privately planted, on my own ground, Ash trees because they could be smitten, as a tongue in cheek threat response to my questioning his judgement. I had mentioned my Ash trees to attempt to explain why I might know a bit about the disease, having done some homework, i.e. read through & digested(some of) the 1/2" thick document the Council were supplied with in the early days. Which was when I let rip. Useless self important bastard, &, of course, on the tax payers payroll Marcus

So how fast can I safely "go" in my almost unique to the UK, (but 30 No. legitimately sold as a UK spec vecicles), Steyr Daimler Puch Van, which is the exact same chassis and engine as the LWB 461 "G" Wagen, i.e a car type vehicle, from which it was derived. Which for years I had registered as PLG, with seats and seatbelts in the rear, but no windows, but now re-reg as a Van, or commericial vehicle, since the last MOT. In conscience I mostly pootle about at a max of 50 or 55 mph, on the open road. But I am still curious. mth

We specced it for a digger to dig graves on a sideslope, with the blade it allowed levelling in 2 diminsions, as long as travelling/digging in the correct direction, I can only surmise the tilt to one side only feature was picked to keep the tilt mounting works as low as possible. A very simple mechanically robust feature btw. Which would have been more useful if some of the operators knew what plumb looked like! mth

Enough, already!, we got yer pitch, a few posts back!

Kinda reminds me of my "award" during the wake for our old organisation (quite serious, and recommended by a Psychiatric Nurse turned trainer) Everybody got something appropriate to their personality, quirks or hobbies. Mine said; "The more people I meet, the more I love my dogs" This would especially apply to most of the celebs named above. P.S. Even Brian Blessed annoyed/annoys ma tits! mth EDIT Oops, I intended to add, that Tom Kenny, I think, purely from hazy recall, was an absolutely sound person, and trainer, reasonably brainy, very good socially and completely in command of the room. I suspect he sussed me out quite quickly, as not really giving a flyingfuck about the opinions or personalties of the more senior staff generally present, and used me as his "stooge". I liked the guy, and picked up on a point he made, no-one "hasta" do anything, in the work environment, one always has a choice, except that if one chooses to tell the Boss to go fuck himsel, too often, there will be consequences . . . But!, one has that choice, if one is prepared to accept the consequences. And indeed, there are always consequences as a result of ones ongoing life choices mth

Yup Mick, the Dr. Johnston's dictionary episode.

Could ah just interject ever so inrafrastically . . . O.K. Go on, name that show?

The chain brake brakes the chain, whereas the chain catcher is more likely to catch a chain that breaks.

Oddly, while possessing a larger than average vocabulary,(probably due to my mother being an English teacher) I like me Da afore me, and wor only Son, am moderately dyslexic. Specifically in respect of, both choosing the correct vowel, or its correct placement within a word. By that I mean I recognise I have misspelled the word, but absolutely cannot figure how to spell it correctly, other than by random re-substitution of the likely misused or misplaced vowels, until I recognise it is correct. BUT I make a shit-hot proofreader, being able to spot spelling or grammar mistakes reasonably easily, while merely scanning a page of typescript. Except Latin species names. A pet hate is others confusing affect and effect, or, and and but, never mind "impact" instead of effect, or "impacting" instead of affecting, or is that a workaround to avoid having to decide which word, affect or effect, is correct in the particular sentance placement? I suspect part of my problem lies in speaking North County Antrim's version of the English language, which mispronounces or misrepresents particular vowels. As in I recently spelled or spelt, (and instinct tells me both spelled and spelt are acceptable) peculiar as peculier, cos locally we, or I at least, tend to say pe-cuil-yer. But, regardless, both my spelling and grammar are failing with age, probably as much due to lack of use as senile decay. cheers mth

Twas a wile pity Hitler gave Eugenics such a bad name, and yes, I appreciate nature tends towards the norm. but . . . Most of the most successful breeders in our local community, well, lets just say that is about all they are good at, or interested in, or this is what the evidence of how they live their lives would indicate. cheers marcus

Hairy, While agreeing with your big government using a green agenda to tax us mercilessly, and the associated AGM hystercial shite, and yes, indeed we are currently in a particularly benign inter-glacial period (to which I attribute the rapid development of mankind , and his many civilizations to, it would be much tougher to build such civilizations during an Ice Age) BUT The despoilation of pristine natural areas due to commodity extraction is downright criminal, such companies continue to extract, while times are good, and hey, when times turn bad, and they go tits-up, and gosh, there is no money in the kitty, to even attempt to return the areas to something like they were before. The Athabasca tar sands would be a good example, or the USSR's simply pumping more oil to compensate for pipeline leakage, rather than fix the leaks. Let alone "cheap" valley-fill coal extraction in the Appalachians, Fracking, and the jury is still out, on that one. etc etc So there is significant "on-site" extraction related pollution. But then the windmills also create much pollution and kill birdlife, ditto for hydro power, cept its fish they kill. There are simply no free lunches. etc etc Marcus

Kevin, A good point, re Government run Ponzi schemes As a young(ish) man entering the world of employment, some 35 years ago, I was gobsmacked to be told by a retiring accountant type , who was retiring on a fat occupational pension, which he said our generation would never see, because they would become unaffordable for future workers to pay for. He may have been a generation or so out, with his gloomy prediction, but he was absolutely correct. He bluntly then enlightened us re pension schemes which relied on fresh incomers paying the retirees benefits , which again, he explained, only worked with ever increasing population and the continuous economic "growth" so created. Which by any definition can only be unsustainable. As a bought and paid for small farmers son, it was very hard to believe that all Governments could be so stupid selfish. Marcus

I attempted to quote "hairy on your chest", but failed. Anyway to say there is no downside to oil drilling is absolutely wrong, IF one cares about the natural world, in its current state. That is not attempting to deny that another asteroid could not wipe out 97% of all Earths species, but why is some of, or unfortunately probably most of, the current human population attempting to destroy the Earth it before the asteroid gets here? To use the energy they pillage to make shit they dont need, to then dump said shit mere months later causing even more environmental damage, never mind flying to places that they degrade merely by dint of their unneeded presence. Essentially Homo Sapiens is a plague upon planet Earth. Marcus

Now how could we get Diane Abbot in a debate with Jason Perteson. Well it would'nt really pass for a debate, and, She is stupid, but I suspect not that stupid! Still be highly entertaining though! mth

Surely that kx040-4 is a 4 tonne digger, so how are you towing it, or, have you air brakes on a 50mm ball hitch trailer, or curious why are you limited to that weight class if not a air-braked 50mm ball hitch equipped trailer. regards Marcus

Yup, yer man Peterson, is so on the money. So much of what he says is so evidently empirically true as to make it quite laughable that some i.e. mostly the feminists and gender benders can attempt to argue otherwise. And yes, it is tough for women to raise family and have a career, let alone a mega career. And, the key, for me, was his question,; "do you mean equality of opportunity, or equality of outcome", because they are quite different things" But the human animal evolved to succeed, at least in family raising, as a team, a man and a woman working together, each doing what they do best, which will vary with the individuals who choose to partner up with a compatible other. And I believe we have lost a lot, as a result of social and geographical mobility, by thus inadvertently distancing ourselves from our parents, or critically, the grandparents of our children, who are actually better equipped, in disposable time, experience and patience, to nurture children right through adolescence, but only if sharing a common, or very nearby dwelling. From someone who did not have grandparents "on tap". cheers Marcus

Why do you have to ask . . .

www.bp.com/content/dam/bp-country/en_au/media/fuel-news/lifetime-fuel.pdf Appears to say poor rough sooty running, as a result of stale fuel, it does not mention seizing at all, if I read/understood it, but obviously a tad simplistic for the layperson.. But I dont tweek at the carb settings for ultimate performance, nor indeed, do I have the timber to properly test my saw in. But, as someone else on here says, I only speak as I find it. regards marcus

Ah, I find by not wearing gloves, I react to stray splatter much quicker!

Welding gloves, did I miss sommat?

Well I am fastidious about the mix ratio, and have run the wee 026 this 20 years on the same neglectful regime, though I try and lay her up with a dry tank, but certainly not always, not running on a 5 day a week professional basis, and no big hardwood sticks to really work her on, but ah cut a quare wheen o sticks, sur! Other than an internal bearing failure, zero issues in these 20 years. The carb was set at the local dealer when I bought the saw, and tweeked after bedding in, if I recall. Other than that a very occasional new plug, and keeping the chain sharp, I leave well alone. regards marcus, the hat(ter)

Just to comment, picked up the Stihl 390, that has been buried and forgotten about at the back of the shed for probably at least 3 years. Topped off the already 3/4 full fuel tank, with a fuel mix a min of 6 months old. Saw fired up on the 3rd or 4th pull and ran and cut perfectly. Fuel was mixed with Stihl red oil. nuff said.

As long as one sticks to clean mild steel, easy-peasy, regardless of buzz-box stick welder or inverter welder, or MIG. Simply suck-it-and-see. Having made that glib statement; I am properly in awe of some of the professionals on Youtube, "walking the cup" TIG welding SS, etc etc. Plus, properly "gunked" at my abject failure to weld "spring" steel or high yield, high carbon? steel.(Turner flail blades) Seems it was hydrogen embrittlement and needs special rods, at least. marcus

(i) Wickamulla, You I hope, do realize the Earth is not flat . . . ergo rather hard to fall off! (ii) TVI, As an individual on this forum, I quickly and sustainably, "bought into" your non-selfish approach to life, and opinions. And, Yes, I realize that many family businesses are badly run, but unless the owner, mostly singular, occassionally siblings, or manager has actual ownership, how can Senior Management really care? Otherwise it is essentially the tragedy of the commons, as each individual strives to get his maximum share, at each and every level, especially if they observe, or form the opinion, that that is what those at a more senior level are doing. Seriously, what other business model can you offer, that really works, down through succeeding generations. I suppose my opinion is in someway formed by a knowledge of the N Ireland farming community, where the land is family owned, and by and large, each generation will scrape by, if need be, in order to leave it to the next generation. Rather than simply flog it and live high on the hog, which they could, and well know they could, but they dont. Probably motivated by self-respect, possibly could be called pride I suppose. P.S. Listened to a good snippet on RTE lyric FM, this morning, a guy explaining how the USA was essentially fornicated, every which way, not because of the pursuit of happiness, but due to the pursuit of pleasure, often mistaken for happiness. Happiness= serotonin firing up the nurons, and on repeated occassions the same dose will create the same happiness. Pleasure = dopamine firing up the nurons, but on repeated occassions, a ever increasing larger dose is required to achieve the same level of pleasure. Heroin was quoted as the classic example. Best regards, marcus btw. Creating a larger pond/lake, purely for the wildlife , and entirely out of my own pocket, ditto bringing on the naturally seeded Oak and Beech "up the Moss", while driving a 7 year old, 120,000 mile Skoda, as the main car. Give me more happiness than driving a Merc or BMW, and/or propping up a bar at the Rugby or Golf Club, while screwing every last £ out of the ground we own=are responsible for. I would be interested in leaving it as a "Community Woodland" except, unfortunately, after 32 years in Local Government, I know all too well, the useless money squandering types that would be over-managing it or working it. I strive to be content, not to pursue pleasure, well except the odd, & well earned, pint of Guinness.

The only business model that really works is a family owned business, regardless of size, or field of operations (and refer Liebherr, Class, BMW?, and an absolute multitude of other, especially German businesses, apparently) The owner/managers of whom are neither chasing massive salaries, or golden parachute leaving deals or maximizing shareholder return, instead being totally focussed on leaving a sound business for their future families, and employees and families. And very simply being motivated by pride, in the best possible way. Any fornicating nutter that thinks a "Council" owned and run firm, can ever be efficient, is proper away with the fairies. Council managers are masters of the hidden subsidy(s), and they tend to employ managers who can talk, first across the interview table, then in the tea-room, Committee room, or the Golf Club, especially about football etc. etc., rather than make decisions, well leastwise the hard decisions. I am not saying there is not the odd good manager, but v few, and they can achieve v little within Council constraints, ergo most likely to flee to the sanity of a properly run private firm. Fact. Ditto for vast multinational organisations, unless they are selling to the various world Militaries, & generally "selling" on the back of substantial bribes. Tough, but true. Marcus