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The guys down under
Picture of John Stickland
John Stickland
Hi all.
You may be interested to know, Ken, the web address you gave for the Canberra Club gave an E Mail address that I used to make contact with them. They seem to be a very sociable bunch, I have exchanged several E Mails with them and sent them a copy of our club's last month's newsletter. I have not heard anything from them for the past week or so, but apparently they had their rally last week end so fairly understandable, everything stops for shows! Still it's almost time for the next issue of the newsletter to 'Hit the streets' I expect that will get them going again.
 I'm writing this on Friday night and it's the School Reunion tomorrow so I'd better keep it short and say see some of you all tomorrow. For the poor unfortunates like Ken that will not be able to make it, I can only say that I 'm sure the the pages of this site will be buzzing with it next week.
Have fun.
Sticky. 
 
Mar. 26, 2010  (Edited Apr. 11, 2010)
 
Picture of Ken Eynon
Ken Eynon
Hi Sticky,
Nice to hear that.  I am not a revhead or really into machinery in any shape or form.  It is our best month weather wise and we have lots of different shows each weekend. I am with the Vietnam Vets and we have a food van and catering service. This catering service is used at all the car and motor bike shows in the region.  I'm usually too busy cooking sasuage sandwiches or chips to look at the cars, bikes or whatever is on display.  But they are big earners for our club and every man and his dog seems to attend.  I am glad that you have been able to swap stories and things of interest with the local club.   Great to hear the reunion was a big success and sorry that I missed it.  Will be in the old dart later in the year. Ken
Mar. 29, 2010 
 
Picture of david hough
david hough
You would have enjoyed the reunion, Ken. It was a good evening all round. I saw some guy prowling round with a camera so maybe you'll get to see some piccies later.
Mar. 29, 2010 
 
Picture of Ken Eynon
Ken Eynon
Hi David et al,
Nice to hear from you and that you attended the reunion.  I am sure it would have been great to be there. My daughter had a 20 year reunion for her school the other day and had a great time. So I am sure I would have enjoyed myself there.   With our seasons being the opposite of yours and early Autumn being my busy time, I just cannot get away from Aust at this time.  My brother is actually out from the UK at the moment visiting his kids who are scattered all over this land.  Ken
Mar. 30, 2010 
 
Picture of John Stickland
John Stickland
Hi Ken. Thanks for your kind comments and observations. I was interested to hear about your operations with the 'tucker van' you are certainly a true showman when you attend shows and don't get to see what's going on across the rest of the site. I know the feeling well! It was nice to hear your comments about the other happenings in your life down under. 
I'm sure you would have enjoyed the reunion over here, especially as they were serving a very good pint of the local brew, as you can see from the photos it wasn't only me that was enjoying the stuff. I was astounded by Harry Mower, other than the fact that he now has white hair I would have recognised him anywhere, in fact when during the evening I realised that other than the people that I have met on the net, Harry was the only one that I instantly recognised.
Steve W did a terrific job in organising the event and deserves all our thanks, I'm sure that everyone enjoyed it.
Best regards.
Sticky.
Mar. 31, 2010 
 
Picture of Ken Eynon
Ken Eynon
 
Hi Sticky,
It is a funny situation really. We (they take the caravan, if you every seen the movie 'The Van' it is kitted out like that except the babies shitty nappies do not get mixed with the chips)  BBQ's and a dozen eskies (icy boxes), to these shows full with food and drink to raise money for the club.  We are a not for profit organisation and sell all sorts of drinks, (no hard stuff) chips, bacon and egg rolls, steak sandwiches, sasuage sandwiches and even vegie burgers.  After we paid $500 for being there and paid for our stock we made about $3,500.  So its not bad.  The money is then used to buy stuff such as equipment for the workshops which I only look at and general help Vets with their cases against Defence or whoever.  I was looking at giving it away as I am just too busy when they rang me up and said the Department of Veterans Affairs had given all our volunteers $100, for volunteering.  So I feel guilty, if dont help out.  Plus they have a good truck that I can use for the cost of the diesel if need be. I was going also to use the workshop equipment to make some bookshelves but took the easy way out and went to IKEA.  Must rush off interstate to Melbourne so happy Easter to all. Really glad the reunion was such a hit.  Ken
Apr. 1, 2010 
 
Picture of Stuart Stickler
Stuart Stickler
IKEA have invaded Oz as well Ken? God help us, and I bet they do Swedish meatballs in the restaurant as well, I say restaurant for lack of a better descriptive word, lol !!!
Apr. 1, 2010 
 
Picture of Rich Lanham
Rich Lanham
Ikea !!!! No thanks. I went to our Bristol one once and took over 35 minutes to find the way out of the ruddy place. Saw the same stuff over and over again and didn't buy a thing. No, I think I prefer B and Q and that's only if pestered enough !!
 
 
Rich
Apr. 1, 2010 
 
Hello all,
Ikea has no appeal for me I`m afraid, I like my bits and pieces to last a while. (Unless you are the sort of person who likes constant change that is, in which case it might suit.). I`m with Rich on the B & Q front, always (eventually) give good value for money on most things for the home. I use them for all the wood supplies now that Carole is no longer in construction buying.
 
Wonder what the weekend will bring in the way of weather for us all. I think Ken & Steve will be o.k. (lucky people), for those of us 10 degreees or more north of the tropic of Cancer it will be chilly and windy. I think it`s time to get the camper ready, I`m certainly looking forwar to the Steam Rally this summer.
 
Not much to report really from Timsbury, no scandal, no news about the old City of Bath to tell either. Best regards, and catch you all again soon.
Apr. 2, 2010 
 
Picture of Stuart Stickler
Stuart Stickler
Well you never cease to surprise me Bill, I never knew you could get your bits and pieces at Ikea, which section they in then? Gotta say I hate the place, to quote Winston, "Never, (pause), in the field of human endeavor, (pause), has so much crap been found under one roof". Did you know that B & Q is a French owned company, and they've even got branches in China. Actually Ikea is good for one thing, it's got the best free maze going, EXIT !!! what bloody exit, round and round in circles with screaming kids and buggies all afternoon, I don't know what we've done to the Swedes for them to inflict this suffering on us, Oh! there's an Ikea in Prague as well, bit far to go for an occasional table I know, but the beer's good.
 
First day of summer season today, started summer job 07.00 this morning, cold, raining, situation normal then, for two hours the only cars in the car park were mine and the street cleaners, then two more turned up, no boats to launch though, went home at 11.00, then to B & Q, funny how things go round in circles.
 
Stu 
Apr. 2, 2010 
 
Picture of John Stickland
John Stickland
Hi all.
Concur with your comments re Ikea, entirely. Not that keen on B and Q either. For a start they are FRENCH! I'm not at all racist, I just can't stand the French. Should have let Germany keep France after WW11 maybe it would be reasonably civilised by now! Just to keep this in perspective I get on with just about every other race in the world. I digress, most DIY stores are the same, too clinical with ignorant staff and inferior products. A very good friend of mine, an old fashioned joiner with a lifetime of experience, once said there are three types of wood, hard wood, soft wood and fire wood and most of what they stock is the latter.
I much prefer the old builder's merchants, you get a bit of banter there. When I was busy doing some alterations at home, a long time ago now, I was a regular at one of our local emporia. The lads that worked there said try to call in during the week as it is usually heaving with DIYers on a Saturday. Inevitably, one Saturday I was short of something so had to venture down there. They were right, the queue was out to the door, I could only just get in. Not wishing to hang about, I cought the lad's eye and shouted above the heads of the assembled crowd ' hey our kid, where do I go to get felt?' He shouted back 'Come round behind the racks ducky!' There were a lot of poe faces and several people left which cleared the decks a bit, but there were one or two real builder types present that were almost crying with laughter. Best Saturday I'd had for a long time! Can't see anything like that happening at B and Q. And I got the felt I was after, with 15% discount for trade!
Have fun.
Sticky.  
Apr. 3, 2010  (Edited Apr. 3, 2010)
 
Picture of Ken Eynon
Ken Eynon
Hi All,
Back from Easter in Melbourne. Hope you all had a good Easter, I had two days driving and two days Easter?  Glad my IKEA started something off. Only been in an IKEA store two or three times, seen the meatballs but never had them.  Could not be worse than some of the food served up by airlines or the military?   My local area is two small to support an IKEA store,  so I have to go to Sydney or Melbourne for my nearest and that is a fair old drive.  We do have ALDI and Costco, well ALDI in my local area and Costco in Sydney or Melb again.   I think Costco is American and you have to join the club or something and spend a minimum of $50 each time.  Never been in the store but heard about it.   We don't have ASDA or any of the other stores that you have mentioned. 
 
While Bill was on about the weather, heard in Melb over Easter that in the past 117 days the temp in Melb has always reached at least 20C or above each day and I think the situation is similar here in Canberra.  But for us the cooler/colder weather is on the way.  At Easter we reverted from daylight saving and are back to normal time.  This is the first time that we have had daylight saving go so long and it is normally finished by mid March.  Ken  
Apr. 6, 2010 
 
Picture of Stuart Stickler
Stuart Stickler
Aldi, Ken ? NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! and no B & Q ? there's even a B & Q in Shanghai, you really do live in the outback, seriously though it only goes to show just how the global village has expanded, and with the advent of the internet we're nomore than a few strokes of the keyboard away.
Apr. 6, 2010 
 
Picture of Anthony Eccles
Anthony Eccles
Apr. 6, 2010 
 
Hello Tony  et al,
Liked the railway programme link, amazingly impressive are the towers that carry the track through the forest. The elephant on the line, wonder how they would report that in this country ... talk about "the wrong sort of leaves" holding things up.
 
Makes you think how they would have got on with canals in that environmet .. hell of a linear bath for an elephant  eh?
 
Sun has arrived today .. out in the garden at last .. catch you Guys later. P.S. I see Mr Stennet has joined "Pub Pals".
 
Best regards.
Apr. 7, 2010  (Edited Apr. 7, 2010)
 
Picture of Anthony Eccles
Anthony Eccles
I really liked the bit where the boulder was on the line and matey nipped down there on the back of a guys motorbike with half a dozen sticks of dynamite in his pocket to blow it up, not a thought about stopping the train or taking cover, just like a big banger really!!!
Apr. 7, 2010  (Edited Apr. 7, 2010)
 
Picture of Stuart Stickler
Stuart Stickler
What about the attitude though Tony, had the train been delayed the person responsible for overseeing the track condition's job would have been in jeopardy, one might think that to be a bit off considering the hardly main line status of the line, but what a shame our railways don't have the same attitudes towards it's customers. I thoroughly enjoyed both programmes I saw, even Shirl enjoyed them, we're thinking of going to India next year and may look into visiting at least one of the lines, will keep you updated.
Apr. 7, 2010 
 
Picture of Anthony Eccles
Anthony Eccles
Wow, whats happened to the weather, all of a sudden we are basking in the warm sunshine, how are you getting on Stu, wandering the streets in your nice warm uniform, bet you are walking on the shady side of the street and there is more to come tomorrow.
Apr. 9, 2010 
 
Picture of John Stickland
John Stickland
Hi Guys.
Not been on for a bit 'cos I've technically been on holiday this week, bit of a busman's holiday though.
Didn't go out anywhere until today, but took her indoors down to Clevedon for a few hours today. Very pleasant, really warm and the estuary was a dead flat calm. Had a pub meal and walked the length of the prom and back. Still can't help admiring the cracking job they have made of the victorian pier restoration.
Thanks for the link to the Indian hill railway programme, Anth. Absolutely fascinating. I agree with Bill and Stu, Health and Safety, what's that? Somehow they manage to get things done and no one seems to be killed or maimed, how does that happen then?
I liked the locos, tiny driving wheels and cylinders like dustbins, incapable of any significant speed but helluva tractive effort, ideal for the work they were designed for. If I could hazard a guess I would say that they were probably constructed by North British at Glasgow. They have all the characteristics. 
Won't bore you any more.
Regards to all.
Sticky.
Apr. 9, 2010 
 
Picture of John Stickland
John Stickland
Hi again.
Wrong!!!!!!!
The locos were built by SLM of Switzerland, and they are four cylinder compounds.
Easy mistake as there are certain features that look very NB.
Sorry!!!!!
Sticky.
Apr. 10, 2010 
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