Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

Weekly Weigh-In.

Monday March 12 - 14st 0lbs

Monday March 19 - 13st 8lbs

Monday March 26 - 13st 2lbs

Monday, April 2nd - 12st 12lbs

Monday April 9th - 12st 10lbs.

Monday April 16th - 12st 8lbs

Monday April 23rd - 12st 6lbs

The original target was 13st by this Saturday, then amended to 12-7, so no problem there, onwards & downwards now to 12 stone by the time I go to Vegas in mid-June.

[tikay]

For the pineapple haters.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2190732_lose-weight-eating-pineapple.html

[tikay]

Off to DTD now to have some fun poker. If there is any justice in the poker world, Red will be on my table, & I'll bust his fat arse. Nothing personal, mind.

Good job i was sat in the middle to make sure red dog was kept in check.

You were truly the meat in the horse shit sandwich, Mr Sulphur.

There was SUCH a weird hand, & Tom & I were verbally sparring, he was Button to my BB, & there were all sorts of mock trash talking going off, & threats to jam if either raised. Idle threats, that is.

I was BB, & EVERY player limped, This was at 200-400 or somesuch! I was sure Tom would button squeeze, but he bottled it. So did you.

So, I have 15 Bigs or whatever, & I've not yet looked. PLEASE let me have half a hand.....

 

FFS. I bottle it.

Tasos actually flopped the nuts v Snoop Dogg's top two. I decided against jamming the A-Q-10 flop. No bottle.

The Snoop Dogg fella was SUCH fun. He was a bit "reserved" at first, hoodie up, scowling, the occasional flash of teeth - all gold - but I poked him in the ribs a few times with some street talk & we were soon best of mates. 

He busted me later, he limped with Q-10 & I jammed with J-J. He is the sort of guy that just enjoys his poker, & wants to see every flop. "Want a call dude?" he says to me. "Yes please bro".

I hated the door card - the J for my set, as it opened straight possibilities, but when the flop was complete (J-6-3 rainbow or whatever) I thought I was home & hosed. Never assume anything in poker.....

I loved him to bits. No idea of his real name.

Excuse the trio of Dogg pics, but the bloke is so charismatic, I know he's a well wrong 'un, but I sort of like him in many ways, & he's the epitome of cool. When I come back, I so wanna be him. Minus the bad habits, obv.

[tikay]

They have a point.

Click to see full-size image.

What a piece of kit that is!

The original 747 was an ex American Airlines version, & NASA purchased it over 40 years ago, incredible.

I actually saw it in San Francisco in the late eighties, with the shuttle (a dummy version I believe) mounted. 

Who the hell came up with that idea?!

Not sure I'd have wanted to be the test pilot when they first tried a take-off with the shuttle piggybacking. It had to be designed to LAND with the shuttle on, too, in case the release mechanism failed.

The 747 had a sort of escape hatch for the crew, in case things went a bit wrong, but then they found that if the crew did ever bail out, they might become "ingested". That is code for "sucked into a Rolls Royce RB211 engine @ full chat". Cuts & bruises minimum, I'd say.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_Carrier_Aircraft

Click to see full-size image.

[bobAlike]

I currently do some work for Boeing and to my surprise as the Americans here usually celebrate every achievement there wasn't a single word uttered about that final journey. Although we did all get some icecream for sticking to the new car parking policy.

[tikay]

Yo Gramps, I thought that this may be of interest to you, I know it's not in-line with the trend of your diary these days but here you go...

http://www.welshwales.co.uk/mumbles_railway_swansea.htm

Thanks Dyl. (You had better be coming to Cardiff this weekend, right?)

If only you knew how many memories that jolts for me. I keep stumbling across things in the "small world" department, & this is one.

1) When I suddenly discovered the ability to read at the age of 13, the first story I ever read was of the Mumbles Lifeboat disaster. To get that in context, I never "learned to read" in the conventional sense - I just woke up one day, aged 13 & deemed backward, & suddenly I could read & write. Just like that. So the story has a very special place in my mind, & memory, & yet until you mentioned it, I had not thought about that for a very long time. Wow, what a thing.

2) We were London-based railway people, but with strong connections to South Wales. Then, South Wales was where the best "steaming" coal (for steam locos) was mined, & around 90% of all freight traffic on the old GWR was "coal trains", so we were all very familiar with the area, & so the Mumbles Lifeboat tragedy figured high in in our minds.

3) But here's the real amazing thing. Did you know that today of all days was the 65th anniversary of that dreadful tragedy?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Samtampa

[tikay]

I'm not sure what to make of this photo, reputedly being the wreck of the Samtampa, pictured, presumably, several days later, as it has a rather peculiar juxta-pose. (Patent Pending on "juxta-pose").

[tikay]

I currently do some work for Boeing and to my surprise as the Americans here usually celebrate every achievement there wasn't a single word uttered about that final journey. Although we did all get some icecream for sticking to the new car parking policy.

What sort of work, if I may ask?

PS - Grand to see you on Saturday @ DTD. I had THE most lovely day, meeting so many friends. And Tom.

Herbie was wearing a black leather bikers jacket, he looked almost normal.

[bobby1]

The case of the MI6 guy that was found dead( possibly from carbon dioxide poisoning) in his bath,inside a locked holdall, that was padlocked on the outside starts today.

The conclusion from the 'spooks' seems to be he has padlocked the bag himself, which seems like a neat trick to me. Could be interesting to see how that is proven to be possible.

[bobAlike]

I currently do some work for Boeing and to my surprise as the Americans here usually celebrate every achievement there wasn't a single word uttered about that final journey. Although we did all get some icecream for sticking to the new car parking policy.

What sort of work, if I may ask?

PS - Grand to see you on Saturday @ DTD. I had THE most lovely day, meeting so many friends. And Tom.

Herbie was wearing a black leather bikers jacket, he looked almost normal.

Nice to see you too and a few other Blondes. Herbie was as entertaining as ever on the next table to me. I shared my original starting table (and my chips) with the eventual winner and gentleman Geordieneil.

Without going in to too much boring detail I'm one of a team of people who are designing new computer systems/applications for the MOD.

[tikay]

The case of the MI6 guy that was found dead( possibly from carbon dioxide poisoning) in his bath,inside a locked holdall, that was padlocked on the outside starts today.

The conclusion from the 'spooks' seems to be he has padlocked the bag himself, which seems like a neat trick to me. Could be interesting to see how that is proven to be possible.

When someone dies, or is killed, a degree of respect is required, come what may, but I could not help but read the Coroners Report with some degree of dropped jaw.

The following was all stated at the Inquest, I believe.

(The basic facts are as you say, the body was locked inside a holdall, & the holdall was in the bath).

She (the Coroner) also said that whether the code-breaker was able to lock himself in the bag would be "at the very heart" of the inquest.

Dr Wilcox said she would like a practical demonstration in court of how a person could get into a bag and lock it up from the inside.

Police originally found it would have been impossible for him to have locked himself inside.

The inquest will hear from experts who agree that it "would have been very difficult, if not impossible" for him to lock the bag from the inside

Who needs TV Drama or fiction when you can read this real-life stuff?

[bobby1]

The case of the MI6 guy that was found dead( possibly from carbon dioxide poisoning) in his bath,inside a locked holdall, that was padlocked on the outside starts today.

The conclusion from the 'spooks' seems to be he has padlocked the bag himself, which seems like a neat trick to me. Could be interesting to see how that is proven to be possible.

When someone dies, or is killed, a degree of respect is required, come what may, but I could not help but read the Coroners Report with some degree of dropped jaw.

The following was all stated at the Inquest, I believe.

(The basic facts are as you say, the body was locked inside a holdall, & the holdall was in the bath).

She (the Coroner) also said that whether the code-breaker was able to lock himself in the bag would be "at the very heart" of the inquest.

Dr Wilcox said she would like a practical demonstration in court of how a person could get into a bag and lock it up from the inside.

Police originally found it would have been impossible for him to have locked himself inside.

The inquest will hear from experts who agree that it "would have been very difficult, if not impossible" for him to lock the bag from the inside

Who needs TV Drama or fiction when you can read this real-life stuff?

It actually sounds like something a child would say, when found to have done something they shouldn't have been doing...****** did it mum, honest.

[tikay]

Dreadful 'plane crash yesterday in Pakistan.

The place to read about these things is here......


http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/483196-bhoja-air-213-down-near-islamabad.html


Note "The accident aircraft was a Boeing 737-200, registration AP-BKD. The aircraft had been purchased from Shaheen Airlines, which had retired it as unairworthy."

Seriously ? They purchased a plane deemed unairworthy? Is that allowed..do they not have to proove it's ok to fly? Yikes !

No, not so.

The aircraft was technically & legally airworthy.

"technically & legally" is open to interpretation though. In the UK, the USA, & the like, the various regulatory bodies - CAA, FAA etc - are very strict, & maintain some distance from the commercial side of the industry, the Airlines etc.

In Pakistan, however, evidence suggests that Airline executives also sit on the Pakistan CAA, so there is some crossover, which must compromise independence of thought & action. (Not relevant to the Bhopa Air crash).

As to age of aircraft, is it not really relevant. There are hundreds of aircraft in commercial service aged 30 years +. This is more often the case with 747's & the like, as they have less flight cycles, & so less take offs & landings, which are where the airframe gets most stress. Short-haul 737's which are deemed a little aged for service in the UK & USA are always sold on, & fly on for many years more, quite safely, with their new owners.

At the opposite end of the aircraft age spectrum, Ryanair have a quite amazing stat. They operate 292 aircraft, every one of them being a 738-800. Averge age? 4 years. Think on that. (Just an excuse for me to upload a photo of one of my business heroes).   

Click to see full-size image.

[Jon MW]

....
Who needs TV Drama or fiction when you can read this real-life stuff?

I was reading some coroners reports this weekend.

They generally had less mystery involved but some were quite good stories nonetheless - especially when notes were added regarding the criminal trial that went with the death.

I think the most interesting was of a chap who was let off of killing someone by shooting them with an arrow.

He had been found by a gang in an open field, they surrounded him to make sure he couldn't escape whilst their leader approached with a sword to stab him - it was his coroner's report. The gap he left after he'd been shot with the arrow was enough for the defendant (in the criminal trial) to escape through.

There's definitely a TV series in there somewhere, I just need some funding to develop it

[the sicilian]

Note to self..try and avoid air travel in 3rd world countries...mind you shouldnt be surprised after you see how they operate their trains