Small Talk: The Welcome Mat

[Netfoot]

Laying in bed, listening to music (Leonard Cohen: Suzanne) reading and snuggling with Bud. About 20 minutes ago there was a thunderous detonation quite near the house, and the mall across the street was plunged into darkness. Only the battery powered security lights remained on. Dunno what happened. Maybe a transformer blew? Or maybe it was one of the huge, high voltage breakers tripping, with a bolt of lightning across the contacts and a mouse like thunder?

Just now,  our lights went off as well! I'm back surfing the net on my phone. And my newly restored computer will have gone down in pain, too. I sure hope it doesn't croak like the last time!

Perhaps this is Elsa related? My buddy Austin is still in the dark, and when Dr. Kristi was drawing blood this morning she told me her place was still without mains power as well, and was paying $600 per day for diesel for her genny! (She has a beautiful spread, let me tell you. Never been there in person, but I've seen the photos on the website!)

Also, managed to persuade the store to refund my money spent on parts which didn't get my computer going! So, that was good! 

Took the 13 Detective Rebus novels and gave then over to Buddy's Ark ladies. Bought 4 other books to read, but had to go to the Book Den to find a Rebus novel I haven't read as yet. But said he thought he had more at home, so I gave him a list of the ones I still haven't read. Bud also donated a tenner to the Ark. He loves his ladies from the Ark!

Tried to renew the registration on the van, But the line ran around the office, out the door, across the foyer and back, down the stairs an was starting across the parking lot. I was out of there in a hurry, sounding like a Sesame Street alien: "Nope! Nope, nope, nope!"

Aaaand the lights are back on again, so I can return to my book. And the fan as well, so I won't broil during the night.

Tomorrow I'll see if the rain has finally eliminated the volcano dust when I cut the strip at the club. Non-Stay-at-home Sunday coming up, and the forecast is windy, so perhaps the gliding season is upon us again? Ahi coming out of mothballs and getting the once-over and a full charge!

 

[Netfoot]

Aaaaarrrgggh!

The power cut last night DID kill my new system! 

[Netfoot]

I spent from 8.00am to 2.30pm driving from one computer store to another trying to find the parts I need to fix my computer. No dice. Hardly anyone has parts, and the few that are available are not guaranteed suitable, and I'm not risking to buy parts that may not work, because I may not get so lucky returning them this time. Only success, a phone call saying I could come collect two more Rebus books.

Went up to the club and cut the strip and pits area. (More driving!) The grass was very lush and thick but I got it done. But first, I had to get a guy to remove one of the front wheels and take it away to be pumped up, because it was completely flat.

There was a lot of grass cuttings, some of which went into the clubhouse and had to be removed. Thankfully, no volcano dust, so Elsa was good for something, at least.

Yes, Tony used the blower on me too, but it's a damned good thing I have hot water, Let me tell you!

Sent a WhatsApp to Dr. K. to ask if she had electricity yet. (Austin got powered up this afternoon, so that's good. But apparently John has been suffering in silence, too.) Instead of messaging me back, she phoned to say my blood test results were in and they aren't good.  Please come to her clinic immediately. St. Philip. Lawnmower. Wheel off. Grass still to cut. Buddy gone walkabout. Tomorrow.

Seems my blood clots are back, so it looks like warfarin (rat poison) for life. And an injection in the stomach every day for the next two weeks. Sesame Street alien: "Nope! Nope, nope, nope!" And those needles in the stomach will have to be self-administered. Sesame Street alien: "Nope! Nope, nope, nope!" Can't afford to pay someone to inject me and I ain't doing it myself and I don't even know if I can afford the medicine in the first place!

Came home, canibalized my last remaining old system to try to get my main machine running. Nope, not gonna work. Can't afford new parts really, and there aren't any around to buy. To order from Amazon (say) would be ok, but $$$ looking iffy, and it would be weeks. So, no idea what to do. 

But the worse thing is yet to come.

As you can imagine, I'm sitting here itchy from the grass, contemplating a lifetime on blood thinners and a belly full of needles. Surrounded by dead computers and useless parts.  No working computer so no movies, TV, music collection, emails, etc, etc. So, not in the best mood. And who should come along and start complaining that all this junk was stopping him from getting close enough to get a cuddle?  And I hollered at him and chased him away. Now he's hiding (not very effectively, but still) and if he has to go past me to get to his water bowl for instance,  he walks past with his head turned away, pretending he doesn't know I'm there. 

<sigh> I'm going to go wash half a lawn out of my ears. Then I will cook five Brown'n'Serve sausages, and eat four of them for my dinner. Then I will go see if I can find an unhappy doggie and bribe him with the last sausage to let me pat him and cuddle him while he eats it. Then I'm going to bed and see if he comes with me. And I'll read and rub tummy until I can get off to sleep because today has been long enough.

Tomorrow will be time to worry about needles and rat poison and computers that don't work and what ever else tomorrow brings with it. Right now, I'm itchy, hungry, tired, worried, and I have a sweet boy to make amends with.

By the way, I never offered congratulations for your independence day. Please accept my belated best wishes. And if some reader gets triggered by this, they can just go ride a bike. In the Tour de France. (OMG, that dumb-ass woman will have to get plastic surgery and spend the remainder of her life on the lam!)

[Netfoot]

Had it out with Dr. Kristi. Apparently,  it was only one week of needles in the stomach instead of two. We settled on three days. But it's twice a day instead of once. Frankly, I'd rather poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick.

But I did it. It was just as awful as I new it was going to be. It isn't that it hurt, it's just that it's... just wrong!

When I was a kid, all my friends had "blood brothers" but not me, because there was no way I was sticking my finger with a pin! 

And I'm back on the rat poison, a larger dose for the next three days, and then back to the old dosage, with a test in 2 weeks.

And when I was at Dr. K. they stuck me on the scale and I've gained back the pound I'd  lost last time. 

Buddy got two of my sausages last night, because I wasn't feeling up to it. But he had forgiven me before I could get them cooked. He is a very naughty doggie when he wants to be, but he is really the most lovable and loving of creatures. And I really need him today, because I'm feeling very low. 

Any way, I have to go out and buy two more days worth of needles because only one days worth were immediately available, the rest ordered from the supplier.

So off we go!

[Spunkygal]

I can see why you’re feeling low today, @Netfoot. Bravo for giving yourself the first shot. I’d have to get someone to do it to me. I know I couldn’t do it. Wishing you a better afternoon and a good cuddle with the furry sausage monster and one of your new books. 

[Netfoot]

The sausage monster also ate a large portion of the roti I bought for lunch. Boneless chicken, Channa and cabbage (they didn't have pumpkin). And an order if chips from Burger King. He was sitting at my hip from before I sat down. I offered him a chip and he automatically reached for it, but when he saw what it was, he turnrd his head dismissively to one side. He didnt refuse some of the curried channa, though, nor some of the curried chicken. And I know he likes the roti skin. So I was saving the foldy-over ends for him. But I got half way and couldnt stomach any more so I tore up the skin into smaller bits, and spread it out with the filling on the plate. He inhaled the lot in seconds flat.

We've been busy all morning. Pharmacy, Dr. K, pharmacy again, another pharmacy, back to the first pharmacy, back to Dr. K again, down to Aeropost, up to the aeroport,  down to Chefette (line way too long), IV-Play deli, BK and home.

And the day is boiling hot! I dipped my face mask on Buddy's "unspillable" automotive water bowl when ever I left the van. It helps keep ya face cooler for five minutes until it dries out.

Still waiting on the call to come get more needles. The thought gives me a... just thought of a local word i have no idea how to spell. But meaning a crawling of the skin around your neck. I'd go lay in bed but no sooner was I comfortable and book in hand, the phone would ring.

Later: Got three more days worth of belly-stabbers b3cause Dr. K. said she would prefer four days total over three. Also bought four ham hocks for Buddy, but I'm going to boil them thoroughly and draw off the water to make a base for some vegetable soup before i give him the remains of the hocks. Also bought myself a small bag of Fire Sticks (caution, very hot) and a liter of milk because I like milk, not because I'm scared of the Fire Sticks.

[Netfoot]

Ok, bought a new motherboard for the computer. AMD instead of Intel, but right now I'm so desperate I'd settle for a Cyrix chip if I had to. Of course, none of my old CPU or RAM would work, so more spendies, please!

I made them boot the system in the shop. Boot drive came up (but see later), completed a file system check and I logged on.  All looked ok, so we powered up the RAID mirror drives and booted again. More fsck then RAID came up, LVM came up, all my logical volumes mounted fine, I was able to bring up KDE and checked that my desktops were all intact.

Phew!

To reduce the chance of more issues down the line, I sprang for a new power supply and a new surge suppressor.

Left the store to install all that (could have done it myself but they were happy to do it after getting the sale) and took Buddy to Chefette for lunch. Nine chicken nuggets. We alternated, Bud getting the first and last. They were hot and good. Well, they were definitely hot...

One problem which surfaced while testing the system. The boot drive is s-l-o-w as molasses, and giving the old click, click, click: the drive is constantly resetting -- which is making it slow. That drive is obviously on the way out. As it happens, I have a virtually new drive on hand, so I can clone the old drive and replace it. I just need to download a copy of Clonezilla and burn it to a new Live CD. But I don't want to use that failing drive any more than I have to. I don't want it to give up the ghost completely before the clone is complete. So rather than download/burn Clonezilla on the same machine, I will ask a friend to do it for me. Alas, that means I have to wait until tomorrow. 

Now, Barbados Light & Power are still struggling to get out from under Elsa damage. I called them just now, and the answering system listed about a dozen areas they are working on today! During my morning journeying I passed two poles down. Sort of uprooted at the base and leaning over 45° held up only by the wires. I had to limbo the van under one that was leaning directly over the road, but being a Trini born, limbo is no problem for me! 

Any way, I spoke to a lady at BL&P. I told her their power failure had cooked my computer on Friday. And cooked it again Monday.  And again on... is it Thursday? She said I could only claim if I had my receipts. I told her I wasn't going to claim (because the systems weren't new and who knows where those receipts would be).

But, I said. I just spent a big sack of shekels on the fourth system this week, and I was keeping the receipt. And if they killed the power and my computer for the fourth time, a different sort of hurricane was going to hit! And the only thing that would mollify me was lots of lucre!

Naturally, she laughed. But she took a report, so if I did have more trouble, they wouldn't be hearing about it cold. Some bean-counter would prolly find eleventy-one reasons why not to pay out, but I feel I've done all I can.

So, I treated myself to 30 bucks worth of cheap speakers for use in the bedroom. Along with a Bluetooth receiver, I can now play music in bed and not have to listen to the crappy speaker on this crappy phone. And no wires, just walk in and the Bluetooth auto-connects. So Bud and I are in bed now, he dozing while I'm listening (Bowie: Lady Stardust), wishing I'd bought more nuggets, and trying to kick multiple chewed up bottle caps out from between the bedclothes, because they are very uncomfortable to lay on.

Now, you prolly found all that very boring, but I am quite pleased to think that I might have a working computer back again before too long!

Stabbed myself in the guts three times, now. I'd does NOT get easier with practise. And it don't even get you high!

[Netfoot]

Annnnd... it's back!

Created a bootable CloneZilla USB stick. Installed (practically) brand new (larger) disk drive. Booted the stick. Used CloneZilla to clone the failing drive onto the new one. Booted the cloned drive - all OK! Removed the failing drive and installed the new disk as my boot disk. Booted up with (new, larger) boot disk. Still all OK! Everything started just fine, including all my LVM partitions. My three RAID partitions are up and they aren't even reconstructing!

Approximately 318 processes running. Amarok is making music (Eagles: Hotel California). Thunderbird is fetching mail. Chrome is surfing the net (obviously). My own utilities have transferred interim blood sugar to my remote server. Pr0n is playing in HD... just kidding; no pr0n on this box. :)

And because I'd spent nearly a day wondering if it was safe to plug the machine in, I went and spent nearly 300 mini-bucks on a UPS. Which I couldn't really afford, but a guy I know has money for me and he promised to pay tomorrow, and he better had, because!

You could say the system is better than ever, because newer processor/RAM, 931.5 gigabytes of extra space on the boot disk, and a UPS!

Buddy ate a roll of Bounty kitchen towels, and now wants to be taken for a drive. So, I guess I'll take him for a drive! And if the machine is still operational when we get home, I will start catching up on everything.

[Spunkygal]

Sounds like Buddy got his fiber for the day! 

[Netfoot]

(Electric Light Orchestra: Telephone Line) Tissues are one of Bud's favourite things. Bottles, milk cartons and tissues. All tissues are to be reduced to tiny, little, snowflake-like bits. Just not normally a whole roll at a time!

But when you have such a sweet snuffle-head, you get away with all sorts of wickedness.

And surprise, surprise! When I got home the computer wasn't a smoking pile of junk.....

[Netfoot]

Went to the cliff. It was howling! 26 knots (a hair under 30 MPH). The Ahi was a real handful in the breeze, but it was so much fun to fly it, despite the conditions. Ian was also flying his Ahi, and Austin a home-brewed balsawood ship.

You can see how blustery the day was, and how disturbed the sea. But that didn't deter Austin, as you can observe. Or any of us, for that matter.

Landing was another story. Ian managed OK, but Austin broke his model in half on landing, try as I might, I couldn't get the plane to land where I wanted it to. In the end, it disappeared behind some buildings, and I wondered of if I'd ever see it again! I had to walk 300+ meters, but I finally located it behind a house under construction.

No damage whatsoever, but it came very close to going down into a pile of 2- coral stone aggregate!

The good news ends there, I'm afraid. This is the first Non-Stay-at-Home Sunday in quite a while. (Well, last Sunday too, but hurricane.) And as the day wound down, came news of some rasshole of a soap box preacher who convinced his congregation that "De Looooooord goin' protek dis flock" and flouting standard precautions. So now we have 40 new cases, and curfews are back on again.

Wotcha gonna do, boast gusters?

Edited July 12, 2021 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Laying in bed listening to some tunes (Billy Idol: Heroin), with Bud at my feet. He's taken an interest in my butt recently. Not something I encourage! I was just in the shower, and as I stood there waiting for the water to get scaldy, he goosed me with his ice-cold nosie! Quietly pushed the shower curtain aside and brightened up my day!

He's annoyed because I wouldn't give him two dinners tonight. Not that I would have anyway, but as it happens he had the last of his food tonight and there isn't any more I could have given him. As my own dinner was a ham sandwich, there were no scraps from that even, for him to enjoy.

So tomorrow will have to be a shopping day. Apart from Buddy-grub, I'm also pretty much out of onions and completely out of tomatoes. And the midnight snack department could also use an injection of peanuts.

It's been a tiring week. I had a 10:45 appointment at the passport office on Monday. Got there with 10 minutes to spare... and had to stand outside in the sun for nearly three hours. Finally got inside and found that all chairs have been removed from the interview room. The immigration officer sat comfortably behind her thick glass (with a piece of cardboard duct-taped over the hole) while I had to stand and suffer on the outside. Got another appointment to pick up the new passport next Wednesday...

This Wednesday was my day for dealing with the National Insurance people. Visited the NIS building three times, noting each time the complete lack of parking, before I could get my business concluded. They kept sending me off to do various stuff, like find a Justice of the Peace and get my documents stamped/signed, or have my bank confirm that my account number was correct. 

Anyway, I hope PriceSmart won't be bothersome tomorrow because I'm tired of flitting about like a blue-arsed fly trying to get simple things done. And my two trips into Bridgetown this week have made my allergy to traffic worse than ever before.

Motorists should be legally allowed to take a bazooka with them when they leave home. But only three rounds. If you run out you have to wait until you get home again to replenish.  After all, we want to foster some degree of tolerance, right?

(Jefferson Airplane: White Rabbit) Club AGM on Saturday.  I am currently the Safety Officer, a job made considerably more difficult this recent year by the onslaught of virus which absolutely nobody (and most especially not the mods) has any clue as to where it came from! I may very well get elected to that position again. Believe me, I don't really want the job, but somebody has to do it, so I guess I will, if asked. 

Anyway, all well here, the computer is working fine, and the new UPS is fun to play with, Buddy is being especially cuddly when he isn't giving you the cold-nose treatment, and no crisis seems to be looming, so I will continue listening to my new bedroom speakers (Carole King: Way Over Yonder) and return to my book.

[Netfoot]

As I lay in bed with Bud quiet after a playful attack, I listen to music (DJ Rap: Bad Girl) and bring things up to date.

Club elections last Saturday went well, and after three years as Safety Officer, I was pleased to take a seat in the back of the bus for the upcoming year. Let the new committee do some of the work for a change!

A few members went flying on Sunday. A very old Piper J3 Cub in blue & white and another a Piper Cherokee in white with red & blue trim. These guys flew well, but the Cub did not survive the day in one piece. On late finals, flying just above the stall, she was hit by a gust and rolled 90° left. She then fell vertically out of the sky, landing on the left wingtip. The wingtip was crushed, the wing itself sheared completely off the wing-saddle, and the fuselage snapped clean in half. Tony says it will be repaired and fly again and I don't doubt him. 

(Ash: Lose Control) I was so convinced I was to collect my new passport on Wednesday I was about to bundle Buddy into the van when I glanced at the receipt and to my surprise it said 26th which is next week Monday.  So instead,  I bundled Buddy into the car and we went out and bought lunch instead. Baked chicken, roast pork, cassava, soused cucumber, tossed salad and coleslaw. And a huge portion of gravy-soaked mackie-pie for the little man. Also during the course of the week I got two phone calls about John Rebus detective novels to come and collect. The Book Den has a list and is looking out for them for me. (Ali Farka Touré: Bonde)

Got a call from Dr. K. this morning. She was away in Florida for a week. Anyway, she wanted me to come in for a PT/INR so I will get that next week Tuesday, which is fine, because I needed a prescription renewal anyway. Surprised to hear from her though, seeing as it's not even two weeks I've been back on my regular dose of rat poison.

Just want to interject that this site on the phone is virtually intolerable with the bloody adverts. They are everywhere, and you only have to make a fat-fingered mistake while editing a message and you find yourself whisked away to some completely stupid site somewhere so they can make a cent. Then you have to try and find your way back without losing everything you've entered so far. (The Verve: Sonnet)

Hope Bud and I get to go up to the club for some fresh air and exercise this weekend. But apparently we are expecting not one but two tropical waves to come through. Doubt they will develop into depressions, far less storms or hurricanes,  but they might dampen everyones ardour. You know what they say: If it's raining, it must be the weekend!

So, Monday: Passport. Tuesday: Spike in my arm. And next weekend is a four-day affaire, with Kadooment on the Monday and Emancipation day observed on the Tuesday. Except, either all celebrations will be forbidden, or perhaps several super-spreaders will occur instead. (Dishwalla: Pretty Babies)

Just fat-fingered another advert, so perhaps I'd better just shut my gob. Thirsty, but couldn't find any Sprite Zeros to buy and Coke was banned two+ years ago. So, maybe a glass of milk?

[Netfoot]

Look back at the photo, and note the Piper Cherokee. I saw a miracle today, wherein that Cherokee miraculously returned from the grave!

(I am tempted to make reference at this point to the song Hey Joe, as performed by Deep Purple, on their first album, Shades of Deep Purple, back before Ian Gillan joined! But I notice I've been inserting short musical references into posts entirely too much and have vowed to stop being so annoying! So, no more!)

Where was I? Oh yes, the Cherokee, which took off beautifully, and was making clean circuits, with Austin at the controls. She was down to the west and beginning an upwind pass, and I wasn't actually looking, because I was chatting with another guy on the flight-line, when Austin said "I can't get the nose up!" And the whole crew uttered a shout of horror! I whipped around... and there was no aircraft visible anywhere, and Aussie was saying, "She's gone! She's gone!" So true, there wasn't any Cherokee visible anywhere, and I began searching the ploughed field for wreckage.  

When suddenly, and taking everyone, including her pilot completely by surprise, that plane rocketed out from behind a furrow, without a scratch on her, shot up to 100 feet height or so, and resumed straight and level flight. While everyone was all "WTF?!?? Where did it go? Where did it come from?" 

I've actually seen aircraft that had been considered lost suddenly reappear in the sky twice before. One was a Kobra that dived into a thicket. The pilot turned to walk into the clubhouse when a shout from the gang had him spin around in time to see the Kobra climbing out on its own, with vines hanging from the undercarriage! Then there was the time Colin's Spacewalker ploughed into a field of tall sugar cane. Colin put the transmitter down on the bench, but the Spacewalker reappeared, climbing out of the canes with the top of the wing shredded. He had to snatch the tranny up and bring her home. What sort of manoever did that thing performed on its own and out of sight, to shred the top of the wing? Nobody has ever offered up any sort of reasonable explanation!

Later, new member Bob had his first ever training flight on the buddy-box with an instructor taking over when ever he 'lost' the aircraft and it's destruction was imminent. After the flight, Bob noted that even his ears were sweating, and that he would drink a rum but his hands were shaking too much pour one! Awe Aww... I remember my first few shaky flights, trying to keep control of a Sig LT 40, while wondering which would come first, the projectile vomiting or the poo-poo in the pants! (And we didn't even have a buddy box back then. The instructor had to perform the Snatch-n-Save maneuver every time things got hairy!)

Bob in all-black, about to have a heart attack. Or feint faint.

Later, the rain came on, but by that time the drinking had already begun. Budweiser of course, decided to go out and get soaked and muddy, then jump into my lap to dry off with my shirt and clean his feet on my trousers. Again, and again. And again.

Oh, and good news! After literal months of searching, I found my new fuel pump that I mislaid at the beginning of the year. Jennifer had made a couple of flights, but had been problematic on takeoff. Just as I thought I'd solved the issue, the fuel pump on my flight-box packed it in, so I bought a new one, which arrived right as we went back into lockdown! Well, the lost pump surfaced this morning, so I should have the flight-box back in operation very soon, and with any luck, Jennifer should be back in the air without horrendous takeoff issues in no time! (Why did I suggest that name, even in jest?)

So, new passport tomorrow, needle in the vein Tuesday,  and Dr. K. is almost certainly going to insist I step on the bluiddy scale. According to my scale, I've lost 10 lbs since my last weigh-day, but my scale means nothing. Her scale will probably indicate 15 lbs gain!

Some joker got in touch, asking about 1,001 personal questions and offering to create an electric certificate I could use to prove I had been vaccinated. Sounds like a scam to me! I'll get my blue form scanned to PDF and store that on my phone. Anyone who isn't satisfied with that can kiss my butt! I'm not really planning to show it to anyone anyhow. Next they will want your vaccination number tattooed on your forehead. Unfortunately, number is 666.....

Edited July 26, 2021 by Netfoot
Spelling

[Netfoot]

As I'm sure you know, Buddy goes pretty much everywhere I go, and positively loves driving in the car. And I love to have him along for the ride.

But don't for a moment think it's easy, having Bud as a passenger! Don't believe me? Have a look at this video, less than five minutes long, with the two of us leaving home and stopping at the first gas station, before continuing on to the club last Sunday. If you feel like you're going mad before the end of the first minute, stop watching! But be aware, he's like this for the entire trip, no matter where we're going, and no matter how long it takes. (The club is maybe a 25-30 minute trip.)

[Spunkygal]

That crazy boy! Have you considered a harness for him that can be buckled into the seat belt? I started doing that for Honey after a former co-worker had to slam on her brakes when a driver pulled out in front of her in the blink of an eye. Her doggie was thrown forward and suffered a terrible injury. 😢 BTW, I love me some Led Zeppelin! 

[Netfoot]

Just now, Spunkygal said:

Have you considered a harness for him that can be buckled into the seat belt?

I've considered doing something of that nature, but there is nothing off-the-shelf in this country. I'd have to import something. 

I'm pretty sure he would not be at all pleased at anything that would limit his mobility! If I holler at him loud enough he will sit still. For about 5 seconds.....

[Spunkygal]

47 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

I've considered doing something of that nature, but there is nothing off-the-shelf in this country. I'd have to import something. 

I'm pretty sure he would not be at all pleased at anything that would limit his mobility! If I holler at him loud enough he will sit still. For about 5 seconds.....

Honey did not like the harness for the first 2 or 3 times but all of a sudden loved it when she saw me take it off the hook. She knew we were going somewhere! So she stood there patiently as I snapped it on her and then sat in her seat patiently as I buckled her in! I wonder if Buddy’s vet might know where to get one locally? 

[Netfoot]

21 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

BTW, I love me some Led Zeppelin! 

Me too! In fact, Since I've Been Loving You from III is my favourite track of all time.

But how you recognised the Led Zepp, I really don't know, the poor quality of the audio on that clip being what it is.

Blue paper scanned and PDF'd on my phone (a big 60¢, that cost me). Passport collected - only took 15 minutes, 12 of which were standing outside in the rain. Blood drawn (results in a day or two), weighed on Dr. K's scale, up 3 lbs. Her scale and mine differ by fifteen pounds!

Tried to read my book this afternoon (a.k.a: nap) but Budweiser came over and beat me up several times, then I developed cramps in my hands, legs and feet, so I had to get up and walk around. 

 

[Netfoot]

The story of the fuel pump(s) may be worth telling. Whether it's worth hearing, I will leave up to you.

The system works like this: Along with your aeroplane, you take a flight-box (or field-box) with you to the strip. The flight-box contains tools, some spare parts, a starter motor and a battery to drive it, large can that contains fuel, and a pump. It pumps fuel up out of the can via a silicone fuel line, through an in-line filter, and on into the plane. When the flight is over, the pump can be operated in reverse to empty residual fuel from the plane back into the can. This pump can be electric, driven by the same battery as the starter, or it can be hand-cranked.

My first pump, bought over 20 years ago, was electric. Over the years I've become less fond of the electric pump, because it runs flat out all the time, and you can't "sneak up" on a full tank. You usually end up overflowing the fuel tank, the excess fuel flowing out through the muffler, and onto the grass. Since the hand-cranked pumps are driven by, uh, hand, you can turn that handle slowly as the tank level comes up to the top, and stop without overflowing.

When I built Jennifer my yellow Sonic High-Wing, back in  early December, I took her to the field with my flight-box, sporting a new battery and a can full of new fuel. The old electric pump growled away, but no fuel came put out of the line and into the plane. I did all my early testing with fuel donated by friends, who didn't want me to have to go home because of a dead pump! And as soon as I got home, I ordered a new pump. A hand-pump, this time.

Well, when the pump got here I was experimenting with the Ahi glider, and then we went into lockdown, so there was no urgency to remove the old pump from the flight-box and install the new. In fact, the new hand-pump got misplaced while we were in lockdown, and I was looking for it off and on, since January. When the lockdown ended we still couldn't fly at the club because we had to present Athletes Foot protocols and wait for them to be approved. This didn't happen until the middle of last month, but I didn't actually find the new hand-pump until last Sunday. And too late to get it set up in time to fly that day.

So, the plan was, to install the new hand-pump, in time to go flying today! So, I installed it, and when the job was done, I cranked the handle with a huge smile on my face... and no damned fuel came out of the line! 

Took it off the flight-box, took it all apart - everything looked fine - and put it back together but tossed it onto my workbench, and ordered another new hand-pump from Amazon. Different brand, maybe I'll have better lock luck with it.

So this evening, I was sitting here brooding when a thought occurred to me. Was the clunk in the big can working? Had it fallen off, maybe? (The clunk is a weight at the end of the pickup tube that makes sure that tube stays submerged and doesn't float uselessly on top of the fuel. So named because when you shake the can, the clunk goes "Clunk, clunk, clunk." Yes, really. There's one inside the fuel tank in the plane too.)

So, I opened the can, and peeped in through the neck, braving the methanol and nitro-methane fumes, but the clunk appeared to be fine, and clunked away when the can was shaken. But when I put my mouth to the tube and blew, no air went into the tube and no bubbles arose from the clunk.

The clunk must be blocked! But inspecting it quickly showed that it was not. Yet neither air - nor fuel, presumably - would flow in that tube. And no pump, old or new, anywhere in sight to take the blame! So what else???

The filter. Took it out of the line and dismantled it. Clogged solid! Could have tried to refurbish it, but I pulled a new one out and installed it. 

Now, the hand-pump is working fine, and presumably the electric pump would also work fine too! Not that I'm putting it back in to test it, because I've wanted to switch to a hand-pump for years! But I am an idiot! If I'd thought to check the line instead of blaming the pump, I'd have had this system working way back in December! Instead, I now have an old, but probably perfectly fine electric pump, a new hand-pump, and another hand-pump coming from Amazon!

And I didn't get to go flying this afternoon. But that was because the rain pissed down, not because I'm an idiot and took 8 months to find and fix a simple problem with my field-box.....

Edited July 29, 2021 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

While scanning through some old photos, I came across a couple photos of my son. These are from several years ago.

The first is Budweiser sitting with his great friend and drinking companion, Rudy. Bud loves Rudy so much, he will actually do what Rudy tells him, to the extent of performing some minor tricks. (He never does what I ask him to...)

The next is the same pair, with Rudy teasing Bud with a cube of ice. He loves crunching ice!

There is also a 30 second video. It's from before we bought the TownAce, and Bud used to use the old Suzuki as a mattress. You want to turn off the soundtrack for that one. It's just me making silly-talk to him. And my voice sounds like a stranger.

I mention this and post pictures and links because naturally, everyone else in the world loves Buddy as much as I do...

In other news, the PT/INR was too low, so Dr. Kristi wants me to increase the rat poison dosage. Just a little. Wednesday, I see Dr. Sean and hope he will start reducing the dosage of my cholinesterase inhibitor meds. (Don't worry, I don't really know what that is either. I just know it comes with a lot of messed up side-effects and costs $156 per month.)

Was up at the club this afternoon with a couple of our members, when a bunch of pilots from another club (not too far from ours) dropped in for a visit. It was nice to see them! Their clubhouse was badly damaged by hurricane Elsa, so a couple weeks ago we donated some money to their reconstruction fund. It was a sad note when they reminded us that today is 1 year since their club member (and everybody's friend) Karl, died unexpectedly. Came back from the beach, asked his wife to get him a glass of water and when she got back with it, he was gone.  RIP, Karl.

Tomorrow, Bud and I will be back at the club, and with less of an audience, hope to get the 'Yellow Peril' in the air and hurl it about to see if I can rip it's wings off! Pretty please let the changes I've made turn it into a good flyer. If so, I'll try to persuade someone to take a photo or two.

Anyway, going to get back to my book, now. A non-fiction account of flying the Fairey Swordfish (aka StringBag), a huge, canvas covered, lumbering, obsolete biplane, as a torpedo bomber in WW-II. Despite the odds, these aircraft distinguished themselves often, even making a significant contribution to the demise of the Bismarck!

[Netfoot]

Shit!

 

 

[Netfoot]

(Rod Stewart: I don't Want To talk About It)

Go back and look at the photo of the Piper Cherokee with the red & blue trim. Also totaled today. Only, into a lot smaller pieces.

<shrug>

[Netfoot]

Buddy and I had an interesting and (for the most part) enjoyable, afternoon at the club today. The weather was great, and the strip was freshly cut only yesterday. A cool, fresh breeze was blowing. Six members were in attendance including Rick, our oldest member at 92.

Then, we also had two guests, one of whom was only 10 years old.

As for the unfortunate incident, well, I been doing this for over 20 years. It's happened before, and no doubt it will happen again. It helps if, when you buy your models you imagine them busted into a thousand pieces before you plunk down your cash. (Some modelers conceal a folded up garbage bag inside the model, so as to make it easier to collect the bits when the inevitable crash occurs.)

Tomorrow, I will assess the wreckage. I know it's repairable, but I hate repairing crashed aircraft. Especially when I could buy a whole new airframe for What?  $75?

But I have to check the engine, the receiver and the servos to see if they are OK. They usually are. A servo gear or two might have stripped and can be replaced. Engine might be broken or crankshaft bent, but very unlikely. Might have to flush mud out of the carburetor. The receiver was still radio-locked to the transmitter when the wreckage was recovered, so no doubt fine.

Speaking of recovery, it involved a long walk. Buddy got some serious cardio, to the extent that one of the guys picked him up and gave him a ride back to the club in their jeep. He promptly drank a lot of water. Right now he's out like a light, dead to the world at the foot of the bed.

I have another Sonic here in a box. A low-wing, this time. Maybe I will throw it quickly together. But no mucking about stripping and re-covering! Whatever horrid colour scheme comes out of that box, I'll go with. Although if it's real bad a rattle-can may play a part in it's future. 

We'll see how I feel tomorrow. Which, BTW, is another holiday (Kadooment). And since today, Emancipation Day, fell on a Sunday, we get a day off on Tuesday as well!

[Netfoot]

Help! I'm getting beaten up!

I'm trying to read my Swordfish book in bed. This involves laying on one side or another. Periodically, I roll from one side to the other. Which is fine, so long as I end up on my left side. But if I roll from left side to right side, that monster Budweiser will eventually attack! It might take him 5 minutes or 15, but eventually, the attack will come.

He starts by walking up in front of me, leaning against my chest, and pointedly looking away. This last I think, is to trick me into thinking no attack is forthcoming. But pretty soon, he turns toward me, places his nose under my check, and gives a mighty shove! He's quite forceful, and resistance (as the Vogon say) is useless. My head has little choice but to move. My glasses come flying off at this point, so I have learnt to remove them while he is looking the other way and pretending he's not about to attack!

If I move my head back, another shove will immediately follow. If I start poking at him with my fingers, fiddling with his ears, or any of the gentlest of responses to try to distract him, he sinks his teeth into my right arm, usually at the elbow joint, and bites down quite painfully!

When I have finally succumbed to the head shoving and laying docile. The nose burrows under my chest, and another mighty shove occurs. This keeps up until I surrender, and roll completely onto my back, or even over on to my left side. When that happens, he immediately retires to the foot of the bed, and curls up peacefully!

Now, this behaviour is not unusual. He beats me up all the time! Sometimes once, some times two or three times, before he decides to leave me in peace. But tonight, every time I roll onto my right side, the attack is immediate. A dozen or more times so far! I'm on my left side now, and he's at the foot of the bed, peacefully. But when I finish with this and roll over with my book, I fear the attacks will resume!

I've checked the wreckage. Engine is fine, including muffler, carburetor and remote needle jet. Not even any mud down in the carb. Receiver is fine. Battery pack is fine. Switch questionable; but they are cheapish, so I will toss it rather than take a risk. All five servos are fully functional, with no sign of stripped gears. One servo had a broken arm, but I have a large assortment of spares and it will take one minute to replace it. Fuel tank, bung, clunk and all the plumbing appear undamaged but I will pressure test under water and check for bubbles before I reuse any of it. One main gear leg bent slightly, but straightenable by application of brute force. Nose gear leg not recovered; will search for it tomorrow, rain permitting.

Have stripped the covering off the tail feathers of my Low-wing Sonic, so I can re-cover them. There are a bunch of these around, and when four or five of them are whizzing around at the same time, it is easy to get confused as to which is yours. A distinguishingly different tail might help in that department. I've also made a slight alteration to the shape of the stab and fin, just for the hell of it. Now, I gotta check my supply of covering and see what colour might be most visible from a distance. A large scrap should do. Or even stripes or squares of contrasting colours! No. We aren't going to get carried away here.

Speaking of visible from a distance, a couple of photos have surfaced, showing Jennifer in flight, only a handful of seconds before the gravity fluctuations caused the unscheduled earth interface. I won't post them because (as is often the case with R/C plane photos) they're mostly blue sky, with a tiny little aeroplane visible.

Tomorrow is Dr. Sean and a possible reduction in drug burden. And since the first Tuesday of the month was a holiday, Buddy's ladies might be there with their tent! We have to get groceries anyway, so...

Also, I want to try and find a shot glass. No, I'm not going back to drinking rum. But I've started taking an occasional palate-tickler consisting of Soy (or Worcester) sauce, Sriracha, and a stuffed olive. And the desert spoon I've been using isn't big enough to give enough of a kick, so a shot glass will be tried. (But if memory serves, a shot of 'Wooster' and vodka mixed 50:50 was a pretty good eye-opener on a morning.....)

Ok, I've been writing this (on my left side) long enough that Bud seems to have gone off to sleep. So fingers crossed, and back to my book... damn! He just raised his head and gave me a piercing look!

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Nasty drugs reduced from thrice daily to twice daily. That will save me a Dipper (fifty bucks) a month. Providing my corporeal form don't collapse completely without the additional chemical support...

Didn't go up yesterday, so never searched for missing nose leg & wheel. Next time, probably this weekend.

Couldn't find a snap glass to buy, but I didn't really search too hard.

Buddy's lady-friends with the tent were not out yesterday. The supermarket had practically no bread, or meat, no mushrooms, plantains... Couldn't even find Bud's favourite cans of food. And the lines to the cashier were twice as long as I've ever seen them before. I guess that's what you get after a 4-day weekend. But! I was able to locate sugar-free Sprites for the first time in weeks. Seems the bottlers thought it was a good idea to change the label so it is identical to the regular Sprites, except for the words "No Sugar" written less than ⅛" tall. They've been on the shelf all this time, and I was ignoring them because the label had changed to almost perfectly match the regular ones. <sigh>

Mocked up my new Sonic to see what she'd look like, as pictured here:

Observe the tail feathers stripped for recovery, as there are at least a dozen more of these planes knocking around, and it's difficult to know which is your, when a buncha them are in the air together.

Also rounded the leading corners of the fin and stab for no real reason. I have five colours of covering to choose from, as you can see (with an original set of tail feathers laying on top). The yellow and orange are open rolls, the red, black and navy are still unopened. I also have a roll of white, but no point stripping off white covering to recover in white.

Jennifer's wing, which was slightly damaged, will also fit this aircraft. (The high- and low-wing Sonics use the same wing exactly.) Assuming I go ahead and repair it, I will have two wings for this aircraft. 

Normally, if you have two wings for an aircraft, you cut the dihedral out of one wing. (Dihedral is where the wings form a shallow vee, so the wing tips are slightly higher than the wing root/ center. Dihedral makes the plane more stable; stability is the enemy of aerobatic flight. So removing the dihedral makes the aircraft more capable of aerobatic maneuvers.) It's useful to have one wing for stable flight and another for aerobatic flight! So, I might attempt to cut the damaged wing in half and re-join it with no dihedral while making repairs.

But what colour to cover the tail feathers? (And Jennifer's wing after repairs, for that matter). I don't think I'll use the navy. I think probably the red or the black. What ever colour, I want to do both the tail and the repaired wing, so they will match.

What do you think? Imagine Photo #1 with either a red or a black tail. Then imagine Photo#2 with the tail and wing either red or black. Or yellow or orange if you prefer. I'd be interested to know what your opinion is.

Buddy's birthday is next Thursday. He will be eight years old.

[Spunkygal]

My vote— black for #1 and orange for #2! 

I hope Buddy can find someone to spoil him for his birthday. 🤣 He sure is a feisty 8 year old! 

[Netfoot]

Had my teeth done today and ow! It's been a year since my last visit (lockdowns) and she had her work cut out for her! I should ask her out on a date.  I suspect I'd enjoy her company much more without the Dremel tool. Next scheduled visit: Valentine's day, as is our custom. 

Next, PriceSmart for onions, tomatoes and peanuts for Bud's midnight snacks. Ok, I admit it! Buddy and I split the nuts 50:50. Or he gets slightly more than I. 

Back south to the supermarket and guess what? Buddy's book-tent ladies were there! I presume it is first non-bank-holiday Tuesday of the month... And we were able to park under a tree right next to the tent. So Bud had lots of attention, with his head out the window getting plenty of pats and cuddles, the entire time I was inside shopping. 

Gained three more pounds. Tsk! Dr. K. was not too pleased, but I deflected her ire by complementing her outfit. I wasn't fibbing. She always looks great, and I think she would still look great even if she put on 10 or 15 lbs. Then I had to flee, because she went and mentioned the E-word...

Tomorrow I have to go collect my new everything-card and I hope that I don't have to pay for it. And that I don't have to line up outside in the sun for 3+ hours, like when I went to apply for it! It'll probably be spectacularly ugly.

And Thursday I go pay a couple Grantleys to Dr. Karen so she can tell me that I still can't drink a coke. If there's any money left after she's done, I may take Buddy to have his feet looked at. It'll be his birthday and a visit to the vet is hardly a good present, but he's been worrying the toes on two of his feet for the last day or so. I sure hope it doesn't lead to bandages, because Bud and a bandy are like shark-oil and seawater! Or maybe I'll just buy him something nice to eat.

Thirsty. Always thirsty.  And wouldn't you know it? Sugar-free Sprites (in their new labels) absolutely nowhere to be found.

[Netfoot]

Happy Birthday, Budweiser! He's eight years old today! Or fifty-six, if you prefer to count that way. As ever, difficult to catch on camera (unless you are trying to photograph something else). So I'm afraid his dislike of being photographed combined with my crappy phone/camera.....

I have some other snapshots I will include in another post because there is a limit per post. Unfortunately, we have nothing planned for today, so just a shot or two of him around the yard.

Yesterday was an awful day. We went to collect our new super-duper ID Card. It didn't go as planned.

I had a perfectly good ID card, that was valid until the heat-death of the universe. Had it for years and years. But! (they said). You can get a new card! (they said). It has a chip in it! It is your ID card! It is your Voting Card! It is your Driver's license! It makes morning coffee and plays a lullaby at night! (they said). So, eight weeks ago, I went to apply for one. I cut my hair, trimmed my beard, wore a decent shirt, and stood in a line outside for three hours in the blistering heat (thank you all those who brought us athletes foot), before going in, filling out the form with an agent, posing for a portrait photograph, and being told to return eight weeks hence (yesterday) to collect.

Tick, tock! Eight weeks passed, and yesterday I showed up on time to collect my new Super-card. And lined up outside in the blistering heat. (You know whose fault it is, but if I say, I will be admonished.) "All of you who had your photos taken on such and such a date will have to have the photos retaken!" Huh?!?? Seems they screwed up the photographs for a whole day, and as chance would obviously have it, it was my day. "But don't worry! You will leave here with your new card, today!" Only problem is, my hair is a mess, my beard looks like birds are nesting in it, and I'm wearing a "Fuck You!" shirt. 

Three more hours standing in the sun and they finally snap a horrendous photograph, which will presumably be on my card until the heat-death of the universe! Then I sit in a chair (for which I bribed someone $1 to get permission), and wait until they call me to collect my new ID card. Not a new Super-card. One exactly like the one I had in my pocket all along, except with a horrid photo on it. And laminated into a plastic sleeve that is too big to fit into any wallet!

So, six hours of scorching torment, eight weeks of waiting, and I end up with a card just like my old one, except with a terrible photo on it, and too big to carry conveniently with you.

Look, let's think of something more pleasant. Here is a sweet, sweet, snuffle-neck. I am fortunate enough to get to snuffle it all the time! You guys can snuffle it too, but you have to travel to it because it can't travel to you!

I have a couple more, but I don't think they will fit in this post, so.....
 

 

 

[Netfoot]

Here is the birthday boy again. We aren't going anywhere, but the van was open and he entered (through the back) and took position behind the wheel.

In case you thought I'd forgotten, here is his birthday dinner for tonight. I hope I have a pan large enough. It is a clod steak. It's the cheapest piece of beef in the shop, but Buddy doesn't really care. Wagyu is wasted on him.

In any case, when I was a wee nipper and lived at home, my mum would buy clod and feed the family with it and it was always tender and tasty, so I dunno why Bud (or anyone) would complain.

And, his very good friend Rudy, who has been trapped overseas for ages thanks to lockdowns returned yesterday! If I'd known in time I would have taken Bud to the club to meet him, but instead, after a stressful morning, I took a nap with my new novel, not hearing about Rudy until much too late to go up. But Saturday.....

ETA: Paw-paw leaves no doubt helped tenderize my mum's clod....

Edited August 12, 2021 by Netfoot

[dbklmt]

 

Happy Birthday Budweiser!  Hope you enjoy your birthday steak!!

[Netfoot]

@dbklmt, I'm sure he Will! Just... not yet.

I'm sitting in the dark. I'd just given Buddy his medicine, which involves Vienna sausages and legerdemain, when the electricity went off. No warning. One minute all well, the next, only blackness. Except for the computer which was running on my new UPS. That worked flawlessly, running the system for half an hour or so, before automatically initiating an orderly system shutdown.

But alas, I was about to cook Buddy his steak when the world went dark. And I have no intention of lighting that stove and messing about with a pan of hot oil! So Bud will have to wait for his steak.

The power has been off for approaching two hours now, and Buddy (who has no idea that that steak has his name on it) is querulously making known that his dinner hour has come and gone. If the juice doesn't come back on in the next 20 minutes, I will be forced to feed him from a tin can. He will get the steak tomorrow instead.

And I have my own dinner to cook as well!

You won't be surprised to learn that when the vet prescribed antibiotics for his feet yesterday, they didn't have the right size caps, so I have to trick two of them down his neck. Twice a day. For a fortnight!

And just in passing, I never did find Jennifer's nosewheel. 

Still dark. And damned hot, without the fan. I think I'll go and sit outside until I see lights appear next door!

[Netfoot]

Power came back literally the instant Buddy finished his tin can dinner! He will get his steak tomorrow instead.

Then, for reasons unknown the AMD motherboard I was forced to buy after hurricane Elsa (I hate AMD) moved my boot disk from #2 in the boot order (right after the DVD drive) to #9! So the system was trying to boot a RAID drive that was configured for LVM, and I was getting the dreaded 'kernel panic'. That really put the wind up me for a while, but I figured it out and all is well again.

UPS is now charging up it's battery... hope no other power outage occurs for a while. My battery charge is only on 15% right now.

<sigh> I could really live happily ever after without the constant draaama!

[Netfoot]

So, I cooked him his steak, not too well done, because after all, he prefers his meat raw. Cut some slashes in it so it would be easier to pull apart. It was almost too long for my widest pan but I got it in by folding the ends up the side of the pan. When I turned it to the second side I added a bit of water to deglaze the pan, plus the drippings from the steak itself, to make a gravy.

I was tempted to sample it myself! But I showed restraint, and put it in his bowl. One end of the steak stuck up at least two inches past the rim!

And as I always do when his diner is hot, I warned him. Gently touching his mouth, I said "Hot, hot, hot! Don't burn your mouthie!"

He stared at me for almost a minute, and I was starting to think something was terribly wrong with the steak, when... He snatched the entire steak in his mouth, and ran full speed out onto the grass!

By the time I could run after him and take a photo, he had already eaten at least a third of it!

Well, at the rate he was going, I'm sure he didn't take a full minute to finish. So it won't be long before Mr. Greedy-Guts is at my side, staring longingly into my eyes and licking his lips. Meaning: "More!"

Hoping for a good day tomorrow (weather wise). That way we can go and see Rudy, Bud's drinking-partner. But it doesn't look good. The wind is forecast to be in the south, and the chance of rain is high. But you never know.....
 

[Netfoot]

17 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Hoping for a good day tomorrow...

So of course, we now have a Flash Flood warning in effect, until 6:00 PM. And if we do get any excess of rainfall, the track will be risky with mud for tomorrow.

Nothing so far for the morning, but now there is just the tiniest drizzle falling. Only light clouds visible, but who knows what is to come? They must have based their flood warning on something. Just let me check Zoom.earth.....

Oh yes! There does appear to be a super-dense cloud just to our north. Checking the local Met. office it seems we have a Tropical Storm named Grace! and the northern parishes are where the greatest (red) danger of flooding exists. Us southerners are at a lesser (orange?) risk.

And I think the drizzle has stopped. So, who knows?

[Netfoot]

The flood-warning was a joke. I doubt more than six drops of rain fell. Never the less, I decided to go to the club to see if Old Man Rudy would show up. He is a good friend of Buddy's, and mine too, for that matter.

Everyone warned me how muddy the place would be, and how my TownAce would get stuck, and rah, rah, rah! The track was dry as a bone. 

Rudy did show up, looking exactly as he did last time I saw him, 10 months ago. Mind you, he hasn't changed a bit since I first met him, something like 20 years ago. He has to be in his late 80's, because I attended his 82nd birthday, and that was years ago. Old Rick showed up ad as well. Rick is 92 and still sharp! But Rick is frail, while Rudy, who can't be that far behind, is as tough as old boot! I think he's made of baleen and mule skin. And if there is some particularly arduous manual task that needs to be performed, he is the first to grab up the axe (or shovel, or hammer) and get stuck in. The members have to utter dire threats to keep him away from tasks so physical they daunt men half his age.

When Rudy arrived, Buddy looked out at tge the jeep and his tail began to wag. And he was all excited and wouldn't calm down. Rudy came in and spoke to him at length, patting his head and making a fuss, but Bud didn't relax until Rudy gave him a block of ice. After that Buddy concluded life was back to normal.

Unfortunately, the terror of the flood-waters kept most of our members away, so only five of us sat around chewing the fat. The grass needed cutting, but I didn't bring my boots so I didn't cut. Anyway, nobody flew, but many a tall tail was told, and much laughter about matters of great import taking place in the super-power to our north. Like how they were steadfastly saving the work from racist rocks and imperialist curry powder. (Actually, Raf who is an east Indian Guyanese, gets particularly heated when idiots say anything about curry!)

So, very little achieved over the weekend, but we did go get some fresh air for several hours, and reacquainted ourselves with an old friend.

Dr. Karen this coming Wednesday,  and I'm pretty sure she won't give permission for me to drink a Coke. I've been asking her for two years why not and she can't give me an answer, but she is fairly adamant about it. I thought I was going to see her last week, but apparently I mistook the date.

Anyway, I have a small bag of peanuts here, and a very greedy puppy who wants to eat them, so.....

Edited August 16, 2021 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Here's a nice photo of the clubhouse, taken yesterday:

If you zoom in, you just might see a cute little fellow standing next to his friend Rudy (seated). Raf (the photographer) is standing, with me sitting behind and to the left. Rick and his son Maurice are behind Rudy, on the bench. I hope you can zoom down enough to pick up the details. The reason for the unusual arrangement of seating is because the floor is under repair in one spot. For a little extra zoomability, try here and here.

I must say the club looks good, with the usual jungle surroundings recently cleared. The strip, pits and parking also look great, but believe me, they badly need cutting.

Here is another shot, taken from a different angle:

Showing the entire strip, but less details of the clubhouse, I notice the strip has an unusual bulge at the right hand side of the departure end. I winder wonder why that happened?

The strip is 50' wide at the narrowest point and about 350' long. We have about 56' more room at the departure end, so we could lengthen the strip by that much, but the ground is mostly coral stone, so the job would entail digging out the stone and refilling with soil. Since the field we have now is perfectly adequate for our needs (length wise) I doubt this extension will happen. Unless someone decides to fly turbine equipped models, and in that case, they obviously have the money to pay for the extension!

What I would like to see done, is the extension and sealing of the pond. The green, uncleared area next to the strip is our (seasonal) pond. Probably uncleared because even I wouldn't want to drive a bulldozer into that area, which is probably quite boggy under the dry crust on top! If that pond could be extended parallel to the strip and then sealed with clay, we could retain water and fly float-planes and flying-boats. (Short S.25 Sunderland, anyone?) But the pond would be even more expensive a project than the strip extension!

Just soze you know, the dark field to the top/right and the not-so dark field at the top/left will soon be sugar cane. As will fields at the other end of the strip not actually visible in the photos. We will be surrounded, for the most part. This will make recovery of 'downed' models a bit tricky!

This model is being recovered from a field of mature cane. The owner is standing tall, with his hand stretched out above his head, holding the plane.

Cane makes for a relatively soft emergency landing, but finding the thing afterwards is usually quite a trick! And please bear in mind, those leaves aren't called "cane blades" for nothing. Cane is a razor grass!

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

So, last weekend it was flash-floods that never materialized and this weekend, it's flash-floods that did! Because every effort must be made by my luck, to ruin each weekend as much as possible.

After lunch, as Bud and I lay in bed reading and sleeping a heavy downpour began. Then the occasional flash of lightning followed by a distant peal of thunder. 

Unlike old Dotty, Bud is not distressed by thunder. But this afternoon it got to the point where the lightning flashed nearly constantly and the rumble of thunder wouldn't have quite died down before the next peal rang out. At its height the thunder was so loud Buddy stuck his head out the window and barked at it!

And that's the funny thing. Despite the near continuous, and very forceful lightning & thunder, the window was still open, because there wasn't a breath of a breeze to blow the rain in on us.

The lights flickered several times and I thought "Here we go! Another test of my UPS..." but the power never went out and eventually the storm petered out again. But not before photos of flooded streets began, uh, flooding in! So, it looks like the field will probably be best avoided tomorrow, and maybe (but hopefully not) Sunday as well.

Buddy has been on antibiotics for ten days now, to deal with two infected toes. On two different feet  mind you! Two capsules, twice a day is 40 capsules so far. I've been feeding him the capsules concealed in Vienna sausages out of a tin. Bore a hole 2/3 down the length with a drinking straw, insert capsule, and plug hole with some of the sausage meat from the straw. So far, Mr. GreedyGuts has only discovered 2 of them, and happily swallowed the other 38 without knowing they even existed. The two he discovered had to be manhandled down his neck by force of arms, but two is a much better number than 40!

One toe seems to be 100% healed up, but the other still has a lump on it. Thankfully, it isn't bothering him at all because he has gone from licking at it 25 hours a day to not at all. And the meds still have 5 days to run. Besides, I'll take him back if necessary, and let his vet decide if he needs additional sausages.

Having beaten me up twice tonight, his lordship is now sleepin' like a teef! So, I will take the opportunity to roll onto my right side and get stuck into my book again.

[Netfoot]

The nasty, little brute won't let me read my book in peace, so I guess an update is in order. The book isn't very good. It's by an author whose books generally aren't all that good, but this particularly disappointing. 

Nothing much has been happening, so the update is going to be short. Saw Dr. Kristi on Tuesday, but didn't get a chance to chat. It was just a weigh-day and she wrote me a prescription meanwhile. Down 5 lbs, for a total of 59 lbs. It's been going up and down for several visits now, and I think I've reached the limit of what I can do without getting even more radical.

It occurred to me that last Saturday was exactly 30 years since I stopped drinking. I was a rum drinking Bajan man from about 15 years of age, starting with rum & Coke, then switching to 7up, OJ, ginger ale, Indian tonic, soda, and finally water. Never missed it or craved a drink, but when ever life turns crappy I mumble about taking up rum drinking again. To the horror of everyone around me, including those who drink rum! Of course, I won't start again; I've given it up more years ago than I was a drinker in the first place. But starting to smoke spliffs again? More and more likely every day!

Nothing much of interest going on at the club right now. We're doing maintenance on the place, some welding on the 40' container that is the heart of the clubhouse itself. I am revamping the 12v DC lighting system and replacing the old 12v fluorescent lights with 12/24v LED lights. Our solar system is still 12v but if we upgrade to a 24v system, these new lights will be ready. And the solar system is up for replacement but I'm not sure if we will go 24v or stay 12v for now.  A DC refrigerator is also under consideration.

I'd have finished the lighting already, but I have a tendancy to get dizzy when working overhead, and a fall would not suit me, espevially especially when I'm standing on top of a stool to reach the height. So I am working slowly and cautiously. But I hope to get finished this weekend. 

The grass is also in dire need of being cut, so I will try and do that this weekend as well.

Buddy has buggered orf somewhere, so I'll try my book again. Hell probanly sneak up on me again, but.....

Telephone call from a guy called William. For only $13.66 per month, I can upgrade my internet from 60 Mb/sec to 150 Mb/sec. And, they will throw in a 50 channel TV service !!! But they don't provide the TV. Which might be a problem, since my last TV went up in smoke (literally) when lightning struck near the house in 1996. Poor William said goodbye in a most forlorn voice.

Uh-oh! The little monster has returned! Now he's leaning up against my back, actively preventing me from rolling over to read. Oh well. It's almost time to get up and start thinking about dinner. But maybe a 10 minute nap first.....

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2021 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Was up at the club but a flat tire prevented me from mowing the grass. (I wish I knew the Icelandic trick of blowing/exploding a tire back onto the rim with hairspray.) Instead, I worked on the last bits of the 12V lighting system, and I'm pleased to say that it's all done and working.

Came home and cooked dinner for myself. I can usually throw together something to eat, but I would never describe myself as a good cook. This evening I outdid myself.

Starting with some minced beef, I browned that in oil with some salt, cayenne pepper and garlic. Then, just at the end, something suggested to me to add a tablespoon of curry powder, so I did!

Once the meat was browned, I threw in my prepared vegetables, consisting of chopped onion, tomato, mushrooms, cucumber and Jalapeño. Not too finely chopped, because I like things chunky to sink my teeth into! I could have put in a little broccoli, carrot, cauliflour, squash and cabbage, along with beans, channa, olives and radishes. But I decided not to. Stir-fried all my veggies together, and when it was almost ready, I tossed in a batch of macaroni elbows, that I had cooked and drained. A few more minutes and some tossing/stirring, and it was ready to eat!

It tasted great! I enjoyed it so much, I was tempted to go and get another serving! But I restrained myself, like a good boy. That tablespoon of curry powder resulted in a very mild, subtle taste of curry. It didn't overpower the dish at all.

Funny how ingredients you use all the time, can sometimes come together in just the right proportions, and taste so good! Thankfully, there is more for me to enjoy tomorrow.

Now, when I said macaroni elbows, I meant stuff like this:

But it seems to me that when people from the USA just say macaroni this is what they mean. To us, macaroni looks like this:

and apparently this is called Bucatini in the USA? Well, if you ever visit here, don't ask for Bucatini because nobody will know what you're talking about. This is macaroni, very commonly cooked with cheese to create macaroni pie. It's such a ubiquitous dish locally, it's simply called pie by many.  Buddy loves the stuff and when ever I'm treating myself to a portion of cassava or breadfruit from the deli, I get a portion of pie for him!

Anyway, the strip badly needs cutting, and I don't know when that will happen because the mower has a bum leg. This happened fairly recently, too, if I remember. We had to take the entire wheel off, drive it down to the gas station and pump it up! Today, with only small tools and no help, I simply put the lawn mower way again. It can get fixed another day....

 

[Netfoot]

It turned out to be two tires that were flat!

But with the help of Rudy and Raf, we got them off and down to the nearest gas station for some air, and then put back on the mower again. Raf did most of the grunt-work, and went off to get them filled. Mostly I just sat around and grouched!

By the time we got the machine back in operation, it was late. The grass was very thick so I set the deck one notch higher than usual and cut the strip & pits as fast as possible. We can park on long grass, but the strip must be short. Next time I will do the strip & pits to the correct setting and do the parking area as well.

Three or four photos surfaced at the end of it, and I will give you this one to look at:

Not because my ugly arse is pictured, but because my sweet boy Budweiser is. Photo taken just as I hit a pile of stones concealed in the long grass, unfortunately. And what a racket that made. Like a hundred marbles in a spin dryer! I was trying to extend the end of the grass barrier by leaving a strip uncut. But it didn't work out so well.

Feeling tired (no pun) tonight. Trying to set up a small computer but it isn't working. I'm using various components I had laying about, none of which have been used recently, so I'm not sure which (or how many) of the bits are functional and which aren't. I'm using a miniature keyboard I found in the back of a cupboard which I seem to remember had a critical key missing (that's why it was in the cupboard). But all I search the keyboard and compare it with this one, I can't find any missing key. So maybe it was in the cupboard for another reason? The computer will power up, begin to display it's boot sequence, and suddenly the video will go away and start displaying a "No Signal" legend. I suspect the video cable but I don't have another one to swap out and try. Well, I do, but it's the one I'm using on this computer, and I'm not cannibalizing my main computer to get another one to work! Tomorrow, when I'm less tired I will scour the house looking for another DVI to HDMI cable. Or go out and see what outrageous price the local computer store wants for one.

So, I'll be off to bed with Bud, to read my book, Pathfinder by Don Bennett. Bennet had some pretty outrageous views on how the world should be run and how it should be ruled. And would probably be called a N*zi these days... except the man literally risked his life, day after day for years, to defeat the actual N*zis. (Word sanitized because some delicate soul might become 'triggered'. What a buncha emotional weaklings now occupy the world, eh?)

Bennet also was a director of the post war British South American Airways which was an unmitigated disaster.  BSSA ceased to exist on 1st January, 1950, and rightly so. I think it had the worst safety record of any airline ever, and I believe it's record has yet to be beaten!

Star Tiger and Star Ariel were lost over the Atlantic, en route to Bermuda (and so began the legend of the Bermuda Triangle). Star Ariel out of Bermuda in transit to Kingston was never heard of again, compounding the legend. Star Dust vanished in south america and the wreckage wasn't found for 50 years. Several other crashes took the lives of  multiple passengers. I heard it said once that with a safety record like theirs, a modern 747 would lose 4 passengers with every flight!

So, why am I reading a book by this guy? Because Air Vice-Marshal Bennett commanded the Path Finder Force of Bomber Command in WW-II. And while 'Bomber' Harris was not in favour of such a unit, it undoubtedly played a large part on getting green navigators in Lancasters, Halifaxes, Whitley, 'Wimpeys', Manchesters etc, to drop their loads on target in the dark, after finding their way 450+ miles by dead reckoning alone. Not to mention that the pathfinders flew 'Mozzies', which were built (in part) from balsawood!

Anyway, I hear Mr. Budster out by the gate barking at some passer-by (or the moon) which means he is in a belligerent mood. Once in bed, I will try to soothe him with peanuts. Otherwise I'll never get anywhere with that book!

But a shower first, I think. I feel I have a bale of hay in each of my ears!

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Bad news: Buddy is in hospital. Don't panic, it isn't anything that is life-threatening.

We were up at the club, and he went for a stroll as he often does. He was attacked by a small pack (4-5) of wild dogs, and by the time we all could go to his rescue he had been bitten several times. He was bitten in his back and sides, but most of the wounds were in his rear end. There are maybe 20 or 30 wounds all told, most not serious. But he has three nasty wounds in his groin.

The largest is only skin deep, the smallest is quite deep but probably only needs one maybe two stitches, but the third s nasty, because you can see a (very small) amount of muscle damage.

Uh, the "frank & beans" were examined and thankfully are uninjured.

Of course, I woke the on-call vet up (not Buddy's usual vet) and dragged her back to the surgery. She gave him a sedative to make him sleepy, because he was fighting everything we tried to do for him. Poor baby, he was obviously in pain, and leaving blood where ever he went. Hence the sedative, IV fluids, painkillers and anti-biotics. 

He is spending the night at the vet, and tomorrow when the full team is available he will be given a general anesthetic. While he is under, all the wounds large and small will be thoroughly cleaned and shaved, and a complete inspection will be made. He will be stitched up where necessary and any other issues that are discovered will be dealt with.

I asked the vet whether she would prefer me to be there in the morning at 9:00, tapping my foot and being a nuisance, or whether I could count on a phone call the moment there was any news. She chose option two.

So, I will be on tender-hooks until I hear from her and chewing my fingernails as well.

When I left him he was comfortable and very sleepy, so he will probably sleep through the night. Something I doubt I will do...

You will know from my posts how big a part of my life he is. So you will understand when I tell you I'm shattered by this. I don't believe he is in any danger, and will get patched up and be the annoying devil I'm familiar with in no time. But before we got to the doctor, the groans of distress, the blood reddening his fur... I think I was only able to keep it together because he needed me to.

I tell you again, folks, there is no reason to panic. I've every reason to believe he will make a full recovery in a short time --  it isn't like he's in any real danger. But that doesn't make it any easier for me to deal with. I bring the sad story to you because I feel like you are his internet family, and should hear the news.

Who will I share the small bag of midnight peanuts with tonight?

[Spunkygal]

Oh how scary! Poor little Buddy! I am sure all will be well but of course you are worried sick. I know what it’s like to have a furry baby emergency. I will be holding Buddy close in my thoughts. Please promise you will let us know as soon as you hear an update. 

[dbklmt]

5 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

Oh how scary! Poor little Buddy! I am sure all will be well but of course you are worried sick. I know what it’s like to have a furry baby emergency. I will be holding Buddy close in my thoughts. Please promise you will let us know as soon as you hear an update. 

Netfoot, Spunkygal expressed perfectly how I feel and I will be waiting to hear an update on Buddy. 

[Netfoot]

I promise, as soon as I hear a thing, I will take the first opportunity to let you guys know what's happening. But there isn't likely to be any news until after the surgery tomorrow, some time "in the morning". She said the first thing they do is check on all the animals to make sure they survived the night without issues, so he won't be dealt with immediately. But once that's been done, he is at the top of the list.

[Netfoot]

I'm having a hard time getting to sleep.

Earlier, before I turned in, I got up to have a pee. As I walked past, I checked the spot by the front door to see if Bud was there.  Of course not, you fool! In to the bathroom, glancing at the bed as I went past to see if he was there. Idiot! Back out, glancing at the bed again... Dummy! And check his spot by the door once more. I just can't get over the idea that he's not here! Wonder why he hasn't come and cleaned the plate I put on the floor... OMG, stop it! And as I lay here now, trying to read my book, trying to get drowsy, I'm periodically reaching out with a foot to rub his back...

I'm reading without threat of violence, but I really would prefer if got my usual periodic affectionate beating for laying on my right side.....

I just hope that he is sleeping comfortably and that tomorrow everything goes without a hitch and they put him on the road to recovery. I forced myself to eat a meal, but I feel queasy now, just thinking of the ordeal he's been through and that which is to come. Just let him get through tomorrow without too much discomfort, and begin to mend.

The hardest part of all is that I know he will be scared and confused and hurting, and the one person whose presence would offer him some ease and support and reassurance won't be there to comfort him. I know they have their reasons for not letting the next-of-kin hang around when the patient is receiving treatment, but in some cases I think that policy is short-sighted.

Ok, I'll try with the book again, but I'm not finding it easy to concentrate.....

[Babalu06]

My heart dropped when I read your first sentence, and it’s still feeling a bit tight even after hearing his likely prognosis. Buddy is, indeed, family and is loved by people who will never see him in real life. We’ll be anxiously waiting for updates.

[Browncoat]

Oh, poor Buddy!  Sending good thoughts his way for a speedy recovery.

[Spunkygal]

Woke up thinking about Buddy. @Netfoot, you are definitely not alone in being anxious. We will share a collective sigh of relief when this day is over. 

[Netfoot]

Nothing yet. Their morning session closes at noon, and it's after 1 o'clock now.

I'm a bit angry, but I'm hoping it's just thoughtlessness or forgetfulness rather than that they're not finished with him yet.

I'm assuming that if anything really bad had happened, they would have had to have called to tell me.

Anyhow, their afternoon session starts at 4:40 4:30 and I will exhibit great restraint not to call before 5:00 so as to give them a chance to call first. Because they will only see clients by appointment in the afternoon (thanks, athletes foot), I can't just stroll in and ask a question at the counter. So I really hope I don't have to go down there and start banging on the door and raising hell!

Shoot, I haven't even thought about food yet for the day, and I'm starting to feel hunger, mixed with a churning in my guts. Not a good combination.

 

Edited September 6, 2021 by Netfoot