What have you done today thread?

[Bwana]

Been having one of those days, err, lives, where everything has started going to shit. At the beginning of the last month I witnessed an accident. The driver that caused it got arrested for drunk driving and is still insisting it was the other driver (he sideswiped him, sped up to get in front of him by inches then stood on the brakes so he got rear ended). This may end up in court.

Two days later I am involved in a hit and run accident. Some clown moved over to my lane as there were cars parked along the street and he was in a truck too big for his skill set. The three vehicles in front of him managed to get by me without contact. We hit head on, mirror to mirror. He then tried to blame me and when that didn't work he did a runner. I got a partial plate number and they can't find the fucker.

THEN missus Bwana's truck got hit in a parking lot by someone that can't pull a caravan. At least they stuck around but now I'm going to have to go to battle with their insurance company as I'm not settling for aftermarket parts on a new vehicle.

THEN my dog started seizuring and continued to do so over a very long weekend. I've got that under control but it isn't a good sign when and old dog starts to have seizures.

That was followed by our water softener taking a massive shit. I've got an on demand water heater* and I'm not running our iron laden hard water through it, so the last few days have been cold shower days. I ordered the same model water softener** off Amazon and it arrived today, a day early. Wooohooo, life is looking good. Unpacked it and the UPS primates had damaged part of it. I've got the old unit ready to be chucked in the dumpster and can probably rescue the same part out of it and swap them out. However, I've got to disassemble the top end to get this plastic shelf/tray thingie out of it and replaced with the old one.

*while I'm bitching about shit I may as well bitch about the water heater. Once a year I'm supposed to flush white vinegar through it for an hour. I got all the bits and bobs needed (two washer hoses - female bits at each end, an electric pump, 5 gallon bucket, and 4 gallons of vinegar) and discovered something about the installer. They're idiots.*** There is a fitting with a cut off valve to isolate the water heater from the house and a spigot to attach the hoses. Actually there are two of those jobbies. The installer put it in upside down. Female fittings at both ends, one is part of the assembly and the other is more like a garden hose in that it spins freely to permit installation. The mystery is whether the one that is part of the casting will bottom out such that the spigot is facing the wrong way and can't be used. FUCKSTIX! I'm just going to install ball valves in the CPVC pipes, actually I only have to install one of them as the other side already has one in place.

** I got the original at sLOWES but they don't carry that brand any more. No one else around here does either. It was either order it at WalFart or off Amazon. I opted for Amazon. Any other model and I'd be needing to cut out plumbing and redoing the whole fucking thing. Now it's just a matter of slotting it in place. After I swap out the broken bits.



*** yes, they're idiots and they like proving it. The first time they installed the water heater they mounted it way fucking high on the wall and the power cord that came with it was too short to reach the only goddam outlet on that wall. I would have needed a step ladder to reach it to flush the fucking thing out. So another monkey came out and installed it lower on the wall so the thing could actually be plugged in. I dunno if he was the one responsible for the upside down valve/spigot job or if he just didn't see the fuckup when he came out to mount the unit lower. He had to cut out a bit of plumbing and redo it, so...

[MrLongbeard]

Went to work, worked, came home.
Thought about cancelling next weeks leave and taking it a week or 2 later, I'll probs think it over until it's too late and my leave is over.

[Bwana]

Installed the second ball valve so the water heater can be isolated from the house and flushed as per the cleaning procedure. Flushed the water heater for annual maintenance. Swapped the broken bits in the new water softener for the not broken bits in the old one, installed the new one, turned the water heater on after cycling the new water softener. Hot water for morning shower has been verified.

[KungFooBob]

Not me, but the wife...

Got an email this morning saying she had passed the DNI module of the NEBOSH National Diploma for Occupational Health and Safety Management Professionals.

It was the final module, so she now has a level 6 qualification which is equivalent to a full honours degree.

Nice.

[Taipan]

Chased my boiler repair people only to find they've deemed it beyond economical repair. So got my boiler man on the case for a new one asap. He said he'll pop round and try and temporary repair my one whilst sorting out a date to fit a new one! On the plus side I *may* get £500 from the repair people, minus the rest of the monthly payments that are due, towards the replacement costs. I'll believe it when I get it, but at least it would take the sting out of the new boiler costs...

Just spoke to the insurers and they will indeed contribute £500 less outstanding premiums (c£36) within 10 days of my forwarding them a copy of the installation certificate or invoice! New boiler going in tomorrow!

Fecking Get in!

Good morning

I confirm receipt of your communication and attachment.

Insurers confirmed the balance of £18.99 was outstanding and confirm £481.01 has now been requested,

Payment may take up to 10 days to show in your account.

[Yambo]

A few days ago we were told that the local villages, Dereözü, Osmanıye and Bayır were gone in the fires. Today I got the opportunity to go and have a look for myself.

Very little actual damage in any of the villages, certainly a small number of buildings destroyed between all 3 villages (one of them friends of mine) and serious damage to surrounding forest areas but certainly not gone. We stopped in Bayır and had a drink under the supposedly 1000 year old Plane tree that had reportedly been destroyed with the rest of the village which was its usual bustling self. We got a couple of things in one of the shops and the 80 year old owner told us that he had lost all his sage bushes and olive trees but he couldn't complain. Well, he suffers from back issues but he's happy to be alive to be able to do that.

The fires seem to defy logic. A black charred hillside with a bright green, untouched bush in the middle. Trees burnt but the very top foliage seemingly untouched. Huge areas burnt and little islands of untouched forest. Very strange.

[Skub]

A few days ago we were told that the local villages, Dereözü, Osmanıye and Bayır were gone in the fires. Today I got the opportunity to go and have a look for myself.

Very little actual damage in any of the villages, certainly a small number of buildings destroyed between all 3 villages (one of them friends of mine) and serious damage to surrounding forest areas but certainly not gone. We stopped in Bayır and had a drink under the supposedly 1000 year old Plane tree that had reportedly been destroyed with the rest of the village which was its usual bustling self. We got a couple of things in one of the shops and the 80 year old owner told us that he had lost all his sage bushes and olive trees but he couldn't complain. Well, he suffers from back issues but he's happy to be alive to be able to do that.

The fires seem to defy logic. A black charred hillside with a bright green, untouched bush in the middle. Trees burnt but the very top foliage seemingly untouched. Huge areas burnt and little islands of untouched forest. Very strange.

Is it all over then,fires all out?

[Yambo]

Is it all over then,fires all out?

Not by a long chalk Skub. Still lots of stuff around smouldering and here we have a big fire going on the hill to the south. They've tried to get it under control today but have failed. It's not threatening the village so I think they hoped it would just burn itself out. They were wrong if that's the case.

We had a couple of other flare ups around lunchtime, one difficult to get to and just allowed to burn and another that could be tackled from the road so that was sorted easily enough. We now have quite a few fire appliances in the village now, 3 from Izmir, at least one from Afyon and other equipment from other cities. I think we're well placed to deal with anything that gets close. I guess we can say it's over when those guys leave.

What is all over I guess, is the tourist season. With Turkey still on the red list (as far as I know) Covid and now forest fires, I think it's all done.

[ZRX61]

The fires seem to defy logic. A black charred hillside with a bright green, untouched bush in the middle. Trees burnt but the very top foliage seemingly untouched. Huge areas burnt and little islands of untouched forest. Very strange.

Lack of ladder fuels that allow the fire to get into the crown of the tree. We see it all the time here with privately owned forest. Where there are ladder fuels, the entire (State or Fed owned) forest burns. The idea it to manage the forest so there's no tree branches lower than about 6ft, limited number of trees per acre (40-45 for Oaks, more for firs) When the low scrub/grass burns the flames rip through no higher than about 4ft so the forest canopy survives.
The conspiracy fuckwits use pics like these to claim it proves the use of DEW, chemtrails & HAARP etc... when in fact it was some bloke with a chainsaw & a mulcher head on a skid steer...

[ZRX61]

My morning:
Went out to feed the squirrel sitting patiently at their picnic table. He jumped into the tree & waited about 2ft away while I piled up the peanuts. Went in the house to fill their water bowl & when I came back the squirrel was sitting on the wall next to a bush.. where I could see the face of a cat waiting for him to jump over the first bush.
First blast of high pressure water hit the cat right in the face & the second washed his arse as he'd gone straight up about 3ft after the first blast, done a 180 as he came back down & received an enema as he took off like I'd actually set him on fire instead of giving him a bath. Squirrel sat on the wall watching the entire performance & calmly wandered off after the cat disappeared.

And finished cleaning up from the oil change I did at the weekend.

[Skub]

Is it all over then,fires all out?

Not by a long chalk Skub. Still lots of stuff around smouldering and here we have a big fire going on the hill to the south. They've tried to get it under control today but have failed. It's not threatening the village so I think they hoped it would just burn itself out. They were wrong if that's the case.

We had a couple of other flare ups around lunchtime, one difficult to get to and just allowed to burn and another that could be tackled from the road so that was sorted easily enough. We now have quite a few fire appliances in the village now, 3 from Izmir, at least one from Afyon and other equipment from other cities. I think we're well placed to deal with anything that gets close. I guess we can say it's over when those guys leave.

What is all over I guess, is the tourist season. With Turkey still on the red list (as far as I know) Covid and now forest fires, I think it's all done.

Perhaps they'll be able to learn from the experience and box clever to be ahead of the game next time around.

[formula400]

not much, 1st day of having to isolate after getting pinged by the NHS app. great fun

[Yambo]

Perhaps they'll be able to learn from the experience and box clever to be ahead of the game next time around.

The biggest problem is the lack of resources to deal with so many, big incidents at the same time. It's not that they need to learn, I've learned in the last week that a few decades ago trees more capable of withstanding wildfires were introduced and today I've learned from ZRX61 about lack of ladder fuels and now realise why our forest pines don't have low branches. This is not coincidence but shows some planning.

Fund raising efforts have already started in the UK and the more prominent members of the community are already getting together and organising a committee which will decide on what is needed and what can be bought with the money. They are talking about mobile fire fighting equipment and PPE that will be controlled by the Mukhtar, the Village Elder. He is Ramazan Demir, a good man, hugely respected (he still maintains I saved his sister's life a long time back but I didn't) and liked.

Sadly some other fund raising efforts are being touted to 'rebuild the village' when it hasn't suffered any damage except to the tourism industry. I know the people involved in that as well and they'll simply want to sub businesses that have lost money. That is intimated in their sales pitch and it stinks.

One or two fires would not have been a big issue but 150 major incidents has stretched things to breaking point. What was clear today was that a lot of forest was allowed to burn and resources were targeted at saving settlements. The forests will regrow.

[ZRX61]

The biggest problem is the lack of resources to deal with so many, big incidents at the same time. It's not that they need to learn, I've learned in the last week that a few decades ago trees more capable of withstanding wildfires were introduced and today I've learned from ZRX61 about lack of ladder fuels and now realise why our forest pines don't have low branches. This is not coincidence but shows some planning.

We lost 90% of the Mendocino Forest last year because of *environmentalists". The Governor actually sued the Trump administration to prevent the Feds from carrying out forest clean up & fire mitigation programs. This year, the clueless fuck actually cut $500M from the 2021 fire mitigation budget. What they are doing is the polar opposite of environmentalism.

[Bigyin]

Put my eldest steplad through his CBT today as he wants to get back onto bikes after a couple of years on 125's when he was a kid and now has the bug again. He got back the muscle memory really quickly and flew threw all the training. 2 hours out with him and another pupil on the road and both were excellent.

When we got back in off the 125's we had some extra time left so put him on a 600 Hornet, as he gets his height genes from his natural dad so a bit short of leg, and got him up and down the training pad with some good clutch control at walking speed. He wont take much to get through Mod 1 and Mod 2 soon

[Yorick]

Put my eldest steplad through his CBT today as he wants to get back onto bikes after a couple of years on 125's when he was a kid and now has the bug again. He got back the muscle memory really quickly and flew threw all the training. 2 hours out with him and another pupil on the road and both were excellent.

When we got back in off the 125's we had some extra time left so put him on a 600 Hornet, as he gets his height genes from his natural dad so a bit short of leg, and got him up and down the training pad with some good clutch control at walking speed. He wont take much to get through Mod 1 and Mod 2 soon

Shame he didn't get your height. But he also won't get your looks

[weeksy]

I'm more worried about him wearing his girlfriends jeans

[Bigyin]

I'm more worried about him wearing his girlfriends jeans

His mums Rukka jacket for today till he gets more of his own kit. The jeans arent as bad as his brothers who are spray painted skinny ones

[Mr Moofo]

I was certain I'd posted these the other day but can't see them (maybe I didn't press sumbit?!!)

Anyway - I saw this superb amazing gorgeous, just stunning vehicle parked near my place the other day. As I was drooling near it (luckily, not on it!) a friend walked up and got in!! LOL Jammy git!! LOL

It is really rather fabulous -

Nice Austin Healey 3000

[slowsider]

I'm more worried about him wearing his girlfriends jeans

Ach, we've all done it... haven't we...?