Thread: Ramblings from the UK.

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Thank for the correct link Roger; that place is truly fascinating...loved it!

Tuesday 7th June.

Took the car down to the Enterprise car park about 8:15, their man pulled in a matter of seconds behind us, returning another car, so he checked ours out while he was there. I asked if it would be okay for us to leave our gear in his office for a couple of hours...yep, no problem...so we did, and then proceeded to wander around exploring the immediate environs. The bicycle park intrigued me; I reckon there must be somewhere around 2,000 bikes there, all chained to pipe stanchions...some of them have obviously been abandoned for some considerable time. judging by their flat tyres.
Why don't they photograph the place at midnight once a month for six months and then remove the ones that are still there?

Went to the Virgin Rail stand and verified that our train would leave from platform 6 at 12:03, chucked a bit of cheek at the young fella (Chris,) who was manning the stand at got it thrown straight back at me; a great sense of humour that man...he certainly made me laugh.
Half an hour later he came running down the platform "Oy! Your train's about ready to go!"
Nah mate; that's the 10:03. ours is the 12:03.
"Oops! Bugger! I got it wrong!"
Yep, you did; but it was good of you to think of us and come looking...much appreciated.

An hour later we went to retrieve our bags...and the man from Enterprise was not at his office...it was locked...with our bags inside. He returned, we grabbed our bags, and headed for the lifts we'd sussed out earlier...now labelled: 'Out of Order'.
Bugger!
We now had to haul four heavy bugs up the steps of the bridge and down the steps on the other side...another ten minute delay.
Then find the appropriate carriage, get our bags on and stacked away, and find our seats...and there's someone in them...our seats; shove off.
They did.
Just as well;, after the delays and exertion I was in no mood to argue.

At our first stop our conductor came on the intercom to tell us there would be a long delay due to a large fire beside the track near Redford, and Emergency Services have stopped all services passing.
Finally arrived London nearly an hour and a half late.

Thanks to instructions both Jane and Ben (Goose,) we were able to suss out the Underground system relatively easily; but how to pay for your ticket?

Thanks to an explanation from a porter who showed us how to use our credit cards at the barriers we were able to suss that out too.
And by asking various people we got to where we wanted to be: Southfields, on the District line.
And there was Goose waiting for us on the other side of the road.
Boy am I glad to see you!
Just a five minute walk to chez Carter, and 'Hi!' to Liz and wee George, (crikey but he's grown!) and an evening playing catchup with good friends...and (quite) a few adult beverages.
What else could you want or need.
All good.

Actually; we're about over this tourist caper...we've been a lot of places, seen a lot of things, met with some bloody fine and interesting people...but I'm going to be glad to blob for a couple of days, and home is starting to sound pretty damned fine to me...

That always drives me nuts when people are setting in your seats. Every time it seems these folks are hoping no one will show up and claim the seats they desire.............

Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th June.

Didn't do much of anything these last couple of days, but have wandered around the shopping precinct in the village of Southfields yesterday, and I took a walk around the block Goose and Liz live in...about four miles at a rough guess.
Goose had told me of a strange habit the poms have; when the sun comes out after a week or two of relatively cloudy weather, they take their clothes off and sit in the sun. He's right. I saw it yesterday. As I walked through the park I could see a couple of young women lying in the middle in bikinis, and a fella sitting on a bench at the edge wearing just shorts and a singlet.
And that sun was very HOT!
And he was very WHITE!
They're all three going to be very sunburnt today.
(Although I couldn't see the women clearly enough to note if they already had a tan or not.)

Goose had mentioned too that several houses in the area had been bombed by the Germans during WWII, and had subsequently been rebuilt. Once I knew that; I could pick which ones they were, and by pacing out the length of the 'new' (circa 1950,) 'blocks' could guesstimate how many homes had been destroyed.
In one 'block' a total of fourteen homes had been destroyed - and there were two more blocks of a similar size in the immediate neighbourhood.

Today, Thursday, we took the Underground (except it's not underground out here,) out to Wimbledon, the next-but-one stop on the line. I'm not a great fan of cities; they're heartless soulless places full of hustle and bustle, with everybody either running around like chooks with their heads cut off or they're trying to syphon money out of your pockets.
But we wandered around for four or five hours and came back to Goose's place.
What is this life,
if full of care;
we have no time
to stop.
And stare.
You can't stop and stare in a city; you'd get run over. By either a pedestrian, a pram, a car, or a coach.

Something I have noted in the UK is that they're well in to renewable energy, with literally acre upon acre of large solar panel 'farms'. As well, there would be many thousands of wind turbines dotted all over the place. Even Orkney had its fair share of them.

And we're headed for home to-morrow. Not looking forward to the flight; but I am looking forward to my own chair in my own house, with an ashtray and a beer on my own table beside me.
But it has been fun. We've both had a ball.

Bloody gorgeous.

Bummer dude! I vote you stay on holiday another couple weeks.........the ramblings are too entertaining not to have with breakfast each day. Be safe.........

I hope your trip home is not too uncomfortable; like some cute little girl in some movie was known to say: "there's no place like home"; and the older you get, no matter how much you enjoy wandering, the more that phrase seems to be cogent.

.

Originally Posted by Rrumbler

I hope your trip home is not too uncomfortable; like some cute little girl in some movie was known to say: "there's no place like home"; and the older you get, no matter how much you enjoy wandering, the more that phrase seems to be cogent.

But Rrumbler, that little girl was from Kansas, so she had good reason for that quote!
As for jb suffering "discomfort", I know from direct experience that it's limited to nicotine withdrawal from being away from his beloved ciggies for the long flight!!

Originally Posted by rspears

But Rrumbler, that little girl was from Kansas, so she had good reason for that quote!

Roger you know us Missouri folks have all kinds of jokes and sayings about your state of residence, dating back I am sure to about the border war years!!
Johnboy, glad your on your way home but we all will miss the journal! Thanks for logging what you have.

Originally Posted by Matthyj

Roger you know us Missouri folks have all kinds of jokes and sayings about your state of residence, dating back I am sure to about the border war years!!
Johnboy, glad your on your way home but we all will miss the journal! Thanks for logging what you have.

jb, it's been a good read of another good trip of learning. You have a way of turning a trip/holiday into a search for information.

Matt, my formative years were spent in Missouri (Mizzery) and I'm well aware of the jabs back & forth across the line. I just couldn't pass up the Dorothy quote (last line from "The Wizard of Oz" movie....)

Friday 11th June.

Departed Maison Goose, and headed for Heathrow via London Central on the underground. Goose had given us instructions as to how the get there (thanks mate!) and by following them we made it with minimum problems…the only real one being unable to work out how to get to the Piccadilly Line station from the Earls Court station…turns out you have to go up one level, walk along a couple of hundred yards, and then go down two levels…but we made it!
Found Heathrow #3 okay too, and the area of correct gate.
Then had to deal with security.
They confiscated my shaving foam first, then my razor blades.
What harm am I going to do with them? Slice through the body of the plane?
“They’re an offensive weapon.” I was told.
Okay; please yourselves.
They also showed an unhealthy interest in my two brass cannon.
“What do they fire?”
Nothing. Just caps from a cap gun. They can’t throw a projectile as such of any sort.
So he broke one to find out.
Sheesh!
And then the flight was delayed forty minutes, finally departing at 11:00 pm.

Landing Hong Kong pretty well exactly twelve hours later at 6:00 pm local time.
They had smoking rooms in the terminal itself; so we were both happy to visit them a couple of times before subjecting ourselves to their security.
They confiscated my sidecutters that I use as fingernail cutters.
You can’t!
“Yes, can. Is tool.”
International Law says a tool has to be longer than four inches or 200 mm before it can be confiscated! (I know that because I took the trouble to fid out after my 4” Crescent spanner got confiscated some time back in Australia.)
“No. Can be $1 or $1000 is still tool.”
It’s not a question of value; it’s a question of size! Know your own laws!
“No. Is still tool. Confiscate.”
sigh.
It’s not worth making a Federal case out of it; and it’s impossible to argue with a fool – they’ll beat you with experience.
They too showed an unhealthy interest in my cannon; but fortunately only in the already damaged one…which they damaged only a wee bit more. (Although I can fix it…the damage is not irreversible if you’ve got the right tools.)
But there’s no consistency; I’ve taken razor blades, shaving foam, and side cutters through security in Australia, the UK. USA and NZ twenty times or more over the years with never any problem.
Until today.
Another sigh.

Found the correct gate, onto the plane and flew out at 9:15 local time, for a flight of just over ten hours to Auckland.
No problems at all with Customs; so shot outside for a catch-up ciggie before looking for our last flight; to New Plymouth and home.
Arrived NP 4:30 pm to find the Rawcliffes waiting for us with our car out in the parking lot.
You wonderful wonderful people!
I love you both!
A quick sortie around town for some tucker, petrol, and head for home.
Arriving on our own doorstep around 6:15 pm.
Where I had a beer in the fridge, my own battered-but-comfy chair, an ashtray on the table beside me, and my long handled back-scrubber hanging from its own hook in the shower!
Yep, you’re right Rrumbler; be it ever so humble…

We’ve had an amazing five weeks; have enjoyed it thoroughly, have seen and learned a helluva lot of interesting sights and things, met some amazing and interesting people too; but by crikey it’s good to be home!

Okay, so that's about it from us, so "Cheers" until next time, and may whatever Gods you worship smile on you!

johnboy and She Who Must Be Obeyed.


Disclaimer: Be aware that the views and opinions expressed by the author of this missive are bloody good ones.

Thanks for the kind words Uncle Bob; but why didn't you send me over another $20,000 or so so that I could continue to entertain you over your Kornies?

I wouldn't have insulted you by refusing it.



(Do the trip yourself one day mate; especially Orkney. It's both awe-inspiring and humbling at the same time. Bloody gorgeous.)

Originally Posted by rspears

As for jb suffering "discomfort", I know from direct experience that it's limited to nicotine withdrawal from being away from his beloved ciggies for the long flight!!

Yep!
You dribbled a bib-full there mate!
I'm okay with most things if I'm able to have a ciggie to prevent me from erupting with all the tact and finesse of a volcano...

Gotta go...She has just gone up half an octave...

I'm glad to see you made it home safely. Time to go get some new side cutters and shaving supplies though.

Many thanks for all the kind words people; it's nice to know that people are interested in our wee trips around the place.

"You have a way of turning a trip/holiday into a search for information."

I like to look at things and work out the 'why' of the matter, be it in the way a building was constructed, or, as in the railway museum in York, why did Stephenson exhaust the used steam into the base of the funnel?
What I think is: that the stem would still be hot, hotter than the gases from the fire, so therefore the stem would rise faster than the gases, thus pulling the gases with it and increasing the draught through the firebox, therefore making the fire itself burn hotter; thereby creating more steam.
Dunno if my assumption is right; but it seems logical to me.

Rosie's cousin Jane Kerr said to me the other day "You all the time look at things and question them. And come up with plausible answers. You're a bloody philosopher!"
I've been called many things before in my life...but it's the first time I've ever been called that!

For the last few years (since our retirement,) we've taken a yearly trip during our winter to the Northern hemisphere during their summer, alternating between Europe (usually the UK.) and the States.
But not so next year.
Next year is our Golden Wedding anniversary; so we'll be staying home to celebrate it.

So if you're in the vicinity 27th June next year; call in for a beer!

They exhaust the steam into the stack as it creates draft, the speed of the steam leaving creates a low pressure inside the boiler, drawing in more air.

A "supercharger" if you will but, in reverse. LOL...

I enjoy your ramblings because you can describe what you see so that I can understand and appreciate the vision... and I'll admit I'm a bit jealous that I can't get there myself... YET! LOL..