Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[RED-DOG]

Blimey I've been a little bit distracted lately and not really looked on here for a week or so and you've been half way around the world while I wasn't paying attention.

I'm glad to see that you had a lovely time and looking forward to the trip-report.

Did you have a driver for the whole trip and was it expensive?

Were there many elephants and cows on the roads?

Hi Ralph.

Yes we had a car for the whole trip, a nice big modern Toyota with individual rear seats rather than one long bench type. Each had its own separate air conditioning controls which meant that I didn't have to pull rank and Mrs Red had something to fiddle with. The seating position was nice and high too, which was excellent for sight seeing. It cost us £150 for the whole trip, including fuel and driver. It was an absolute bargain imo because it gave us so much freedom. We could stop and get out if we wanted to take photos or get a closer look at something, we could make detours and decide when and where to stop for lunch etc.

Click to see full-size image.

[RED-DOG]

Were there many elephants and cows on the roads?

The roads were literally strewn with animals Ralph, some wild, some stray and some working. There were elephants, camels, horses, donkeys, monkeys, goats... and cows.

Cows are sacred in India and believe me they are fully aware of their special status. They wander around totally secure in the knowledge that they are untouchable. They go where they like, eat what they like and then lie down to sleep where they like. It's very common to see half a dozen heifers having a bit of a snooze in the fast lane of the motorway  (in India, 'fast lane' is a relative term) and traffic  just makes its way around them taking care not to wake them up.

We enjoyed watching this pickup driver spend several minutes gingerly trying to reverse past one that was blocking the access to his market stall.

Click to see full-size image.

[RED-DOG]

A Robert Service poem of a length more suited to Tony's attention span.



I count each day a little life,
With birth and death complete;
I cloister it from care and strife
And keep it sane and sweet.

With eager eyes I greet the morn,
Exultant as a boy,
Knowing that I am newly born
To wonder and to joy.

And when the sunset splendors wane
And ripe for rest am I,
Knowing that I will live again,
Exultantly I die.

O that all Life were but a Day
Sunny and sweet and sane!
And that at Even I might say:
"I sleep to wake again."

[Tal]

These poems have a childish metre. Not a bad thing necessarily (particularly if you work for Clinton's) but all I can read whenever I start looking at these poems you've posted is the Spike Milligan gem:


Today I saw a little worm
Wriggling on his belly
Perhaps he'd like to come inside
And see what's on the telly.

[RED-DOG]

These poems have a childish metre. Not a bad thing necessarily (particularly if you work for Clinton's) but all I can read whenever I start looking at these poems you've posted is the Spike Milligan gem:


Today I saw a little worm
Wriggling on his belly
Perhaps he'd like to come inside
And see what's on the telly.

I agree totally, but that's what I love about them. There's too much pomposity around art in general, and poetry in particular.


Have A Nice Day

'Help, help, ' said a man. 'I'm drowning.'
'Hang on, ' said a man from the shore.
'Help, help, ' said the man. 'I'm not clowning.'
'Yes, I know, I heard you before.
Be patient dear man who is drowning,
You, see I've got a disease.
I'm waiting for a Doctor J. Browning.
So do be patient please.'
'How long, ' said the man who was drowning. 'Will it take for the Doc to arrive? '
'Not very long, ' said the man with the disease. 'Till then try staying alive.'
'Very well, ' said the man who was drowning. 'I'll try and stay afloat.
By reciting the poems of Browning
And other things he wrote.'
'Help, help, ' said the man with the disease, 'I suddenly feel quite ill.'
'Keep calm.' said the man who was drowning, ' Breathe deeply and lie quite still.'
'Oh dear, ' said the man with the awful disease. 'I think I'm going to die.'
'Farewell, ' said the man who was drowning.
Said the man with the disease, 'goodbye.'
So the man who was drowning, drownded
And the man with the disease past away.
But apart from that,
And a fire in my flat,
It's been a very nice day.
 

[RED-DOG]

I can't read this aloud without bursting into tears.




The Men that Don't Fit In

by Robert W. Service



There's A race of men that don't fit in,
A race that can't stay still;
So they break the hearts of kith and kin,
And they roam the world at will.
They range the field and they rove the flood,
And they climb the mountain's crest;
Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood,
And they don't know how to rest.

If they just went straight they might go far,
They are strong and brave and true;
But they're always tired of the things that are,
And they want the strange and new.
They say: "Could I find my proper groove,
What a deep mark I would make!"
So they chop and change, and each fresh move
Is only a fresh mistake.

And each forgets, as he strips and runs
With a brilliant, fitful pace,
It's the steady, quiet, plodding ones
Who win in the lifelong race.
And each forgets that his youth has fled,
Forgets that his prime is past,
Till he stands one day, with a hope that's dead,
In the glare of the truth at last.

He has failed, he has failed; he has missed his chance;
He has just done things by half.
Life's been a jolly good joke on him,
And now is the time to laugh.
Ha, ha! He is one of the Legion Lost;
He was never meant to win;
He's a rolling stone, and it's bred in the bone;
He's a man who won't fit in.

[Tal]

The World Youth Chess Championships is always good value for a few pictures:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/world-youth-starts-in-durban

[RED-DOG]

And for no particular reason,

(Turn it up loud)

[RED-DOG]

So yesterday, despite being locked in the germ infested grip of Man flu and no more than a short stride from deaths door, I decided to give my motorbike a full service. (and yes before anyone says different, the Honda C90 Cub is a motorbike, not a moped or, Heaven forbid, a 'scooter'.

I wanted to do it before I went on holiday but my Haynes workshop manual hadn't arrived so I thought it prudent to wait.

I love the Haynes manuals. In days gone by, it was the first thing on my shopping list whenever I got a vheicle that I wasn't familiar with. Back then, if you had a decent set of tools and a Haynes manual, you could completely dismantle and rebuild your motor, aided by nice big pages of clear text and photographs.  (well I say clear, most Haynes manuals were soon covered in oily fingerprints). I haven't used one for years though, most stuff is designed for garage/dealer only servicing these days.

So I changed oils, cleaned filters, adjusted cables, cleaned jets and float chambers etc, and then I came to setting the tappets. 0.05mm. (First time I've used my feeler guages in ~ 20 years).

This is where I failed though. The adjusting nut of these is a tiny 4mm, and I just don't have a spanner or a socket that small. (A tappet adjusting tool from honda costs £12 and will take a week to arrive, bugger that).

So my poor little bike is sitting in the shed with its rockers exposed for all to see until I come up with a solution.

I'm thinking something like a clock winding key (we have one somewhere) or a section of car aerial tube beaten square at the end.

Suggestions welcome.

[booder]

This is where I failed though. The adjusting nut of these is a tiny 4mm, and I just don't have a spanner or a socket that small. (A tappet adjusting tool from honda costs £12 and will take a week to arrive, bugger that).

Ebay is your friend. Probably get next day delivery

This type?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Honda-Tappet-Adjustment-Tool-Z50-Monkey-ST70-C50-C70-C90-/161421004078?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts_13&hash=item2595710d2e

Or this ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-HONDA-C50-70-90-TAPPET-ADJUSTER-AND-SCREW-90012-333-000-/161116927970?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts_13&hash=item25835137e2



Remember when using feeler gauge to check whether metric or imperial.

[booder]

Remember when using feeler gauge to check whether metric or imperial.

Not meant to come across as a patronising comment.

[tikay]

Remember when using feeler gauge to check whether metric or imperial.

Not meant to come across as a patronising comment.

Sorry boo, but it is impossible to be patronising if you live in East Anglia. It just don't work. We patronise YOU.

Understand?

[booder]

Remember when using feeler gauge to check whether metric or imperial.

Not meant to come across as a patronising comment.

Sorry boo, but it is impossible to be patronising if you live in East Anglia. It just don't work. We patronise YOU.

Understand?

Get back to the arty diary ,this one is for real men.

[tikay]

Remember when using feeler gauge to check whether metric or imperial.

Not meant to come across as a patronising comment.

Sorry boo, but it is impossible to be patronising if you live in East Anglia. It just don't work. We patronise YOU.

Understand?

Get back to the arty diary ,this one is for real men.

Think you are supposed to write that as a poem, or in prose, on this poofter Diary.

[Tonji]

Here you go some recent purchases of mine (the photos not the modes of transport) 

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Click to see full-size image.