No, of course not. I didn't mean mad in that sense, just a little eccentric. Plus we don't tend to shoot up schools here in the UK. The senseless high school massacre is one thing we haven't imported from the US.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Oh, so it's how they cut the trees down? I thought they did it after Christmas was past as some kind of ceremony! That's why I thought it sounded weird!
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Had a lucky escape this year - the old Xmas tree was on the bonfire and I sprinkled a bit of petrol on it, set a match and ---- woof!! - the flame went about 70ft in the air, nearly touched the high branches of the oak tree, had it been summer the whole thing might have been taken out.
"This is where we leave you Mr Bond."
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
You were lucky. You should never use petrol to light a fire. The vapours are highly flammable and will go up at the slightest spark. Better to use diesel or red diesel as its much slower to light and gives you time to get away once you throw the match or taper down to start the fire.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
I now live on 5 acres of timber along a winding creek in Central Illinois...and I let my burn pile get inordinately large this summer. When I finally burnt it, you'd have thought it was a Jedi funeral. Very alarming, for about five minutes. I was glad the lady of the estate wasn't around at that moment 😅
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
If anyone feels like going skating, the road just outside my garage is available. 🙂
The sand in the foreground is from when I stupidly backed my car in to the road. The wheels just spun around like John Barry in his grave every time the GE soundtrack is played, but the car didn't move an inch. I threw some sand in front of the wheels to get back to the safety of the garage. The rest of the rad offers an Olympic level skating arena.
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
Sounds like NI in 2009-2010 then, though no doubt worse. It was hard getting out to work up the side of my house which has an steep incline. One morning the ice was so thick I had to actually smash it with a sledge around the tyres and throw loose stones down to get some grip to get my car out. I think the coldest it got at that time was -16°C. That's the coldest I've personally ever experienced things being. 🥶
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Using a sledge to dislodge a car from the ice? That's something I haven't heard of before even though I've lived in places where temperatures colder than -16 were common. Perhaps it rained in the evening followed by a sudden frost at night? I've heard people in Siberia sometimes have coal burning under vehicles at night to keep the engine alive.
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
edited January 11
It was a very bad winter over those two years and the solid ice stayed around for weeks, which was unusual here as we were used to milder winters in more recent years. On that morning I tried to get the car to go up the incline at the side of my house and the cars wheel's just sat and spun on the ice. I took out a sledge and smashed up the ice near the wheels so they could get through to the stone yard underneath. That and shovelling some loose stones behind the tyres and with the foot down on the accelerator meant I eventually got out of my yard and was able to go to work. The things you have to do to earn a wage!
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Oh, I misunderstood. I thought the tyres were frozen to the ground. My mistake.
Nothing beats gravel when the road gets icy, but sometimes we don't have more gravel or someone left the bucket of gravel outside and the gravel froze solid. Here I sometimes drive the tractor back and forth a few times when the road is very icy. The snow chains on the tractor "chew" on the ice and make it less slippery: Just leared it's called "snow chains" in English. Strange choise of words I think. You only need chains on snow if you've ended up in a ditch somewhere (unless you don't have snow tyres. "Snow chains" are really for ice. I once heard a story where German police ordered a Norwegian truck driver to put the snow chains on the wheels outside in. If you know anything about snow chains you know that's close to murder. Of course the truck driver refused. I suppose people from warmer climates aren't too familiar with this, so here are some illustrations:
Tractor tyre with snow chains.
Snow chains on a car:
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
We could do with winter tyres here in the UK like in other colder countries. Unfortunately very few of us have them so things tend to grind to a halt as usual. We're never really prepared for adverse weather here.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
Talking of adverse weather conditions, this isn't exactly ideal driving weather this morning:
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Thanks, @Barbel. We might be getting a snow day tomorrow so working from home. It's all dependent on the weather conditions. That photo was taken on the back roads in the countryside near to where I live. The main roads were a bit better as they'd been gritted, though there was still slushy snow on them. We've had rain since so that's helping to clear it away a good bit. There'll no doubt be more snow though plus the government agency the Roads Service here are going on a week's strike from Thursday 18 January so that's not great timing! Or perhaps it is great timing - for Unite union workers! What was it Shakespeare once wrote about the winter of discontent? I think it's here again. ❄️
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
It's looking like I'm going to be in work tomorrow again as all the snow has pretty much washed away as there was a lot of rain earlier. First time I've been glad to see the rain coming on. Sometimes it's a blessing in disguise. It looks like there'll be more snow by Thursday, according to the weather forecast. To be honest I'm known at work for hating having to work from home due to adverse weather. They joke that I'll never stick having to do it for a few days and will want to come in eventually. Everything's easier in the office I find as opposed to working remotely. I'm sure Norwegians are made of much sterner stuff than us when it comes to snow. My mentality is usually to try ploughing through it but it can be hazardous to drive in too of course.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
How Norwegians handle cold varies. In the town Kautokeino in the far north had - 38 celsius some days ago the kindergarten let the kids out anyway, but only for 15-20 minutes at the time. In schools in some other parts of the country kids don'y have to go outside of it's minus ten.
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
The snow has returned with a vengeance so working from home today.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
It differs a lot geographically and individually. We can't expect the Norwegian Committee on Transport to know much about travel during winter, can we? 🤣
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
Comments
An old tradition in my house. Does anyone else do this for New Year?
No, but one of my sisters is part of a group that shoot their Christmas trees with shotguns. (illustrations from the internet)
Wow, you guys are even madder than us over here! 😀
Is shooting Christmas trees madder than shooting up schools several times every year? 😓
No, of course not. I didn't mean mad in that sense, just a little eccentric. Plus we don't tend to shoot up schools here in the UK. The senseless high school massacre is one thing we haven't imported from the US.
You're right. And it's considered eccentric here too. I've cut down Christmas trees lots of times, and every time I used a conventional saw.
Oh, so it's how they cut the trees down? I thought they did it after Christmas was past as some kind of ceremony! That's why I thought it sounded weird!
Had a lucky escape this year - the old Xmas tree was on the bonfire and I sprinkled a bit of petrol on it, set a match and ---- woof!! - the flame went about 70ft in the air, nearly touched the high branches of the oak tree, had it been summer the whole thing might have been taken out.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
You were lucky. You should never use petrol to light a fire. The vapours are highly flammable and will go up at the slightest spark. Better to use diesel or red diesel as its much slower to light and gives you time to get away once you throw the match or taper down to start the fire.
I now live on 5 acres of timber along a winding creek in Central Illinois...and I let my burn pile get inordinately large this summer. When I finally burnt it, you'd have thought it was a Jedi funeral. Very alarming, for about five minutes. I was glad the lady of the estate wasn't around at that moment 😅
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
You think?
Also from the same newspaper, today -
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/04/james-bond-trigger-warnings-really-for-audiences-benefit
Who gives a chuff ? Make mine a Guinness, please.
If anyone feels like going skating, the road just outside my garage is available. 🙂
The sand in the foreground is from when I stupidly backed my car in to the road. The wheels just spun around like John Barry in his grave every time the GE soundtrack is played, but the car didn't move an inch. I threw some sand in front of the wheels to get back to the safety of the garage. The rest of the rad offers an Olympic level skating arena.
Sounds like NI in 2009-2010 then, though no doubt worse. It was hard getting out to work up the side of my house which has an steep incline. One morning the ice was so thick I had to actually smash it with a sledge around the tyres and throw loose stones down to get some grip to get my car out. I think the coldest it got at that time was -16°C. That's the coldest I've personally ever experienced things being. 🥶
Using a sledge to dislodge a car from the ice? That's something I haven't heard of before even though I've lived in places where temperatures colder than -16 were common. Perhaps it rained in the evening followed by a sudden frost at night? I've heard people in Siberia sometimes have coal burning under vehicles at night to keep the engine alive.
It was a very bad winter over those two years and the solid ice stayed around for weeks, which was unusual here as we were used to milder winters in more recent years. On that morning I tried to get the car to go up the incline at the side of my house and the cars wheel's just sat and spun on the ice. I took out a sledge and smashed up the ice near the wheels so they could get through to the stone yard underneath. That and shovelling some loose stones behind the tyres and with the foot down on the accelerator meant I eventually got out of my yard and was able to go to work. The things you have to do to earn a wage!
Oh, I misunderstood. I thought the tyres were frozen to the ground. My mistake.
Nothing beats gravel when the road gets icy, but sometimes we don't have more gravel or someone left the bucket of gravel outside and the gravel froze solid. Here I sometimes drive the tractor back and forth a few times when the road is very icy. The snow chains on the tractor "chew" on the ice and make it less slippery: Just leared it's called "snow chains" in English. Strange choise of words I think. You only need chains on snow if you've ended up in a ditch somewhere (unless you don't have snow tyres. "Snow chains" are really for ice. I once heard a story where German police ordered a Norwegian truck driver to put the snow chains on the wheels outside in. If you know anything about snow chains you know that's close to murder. Of course the truck driver refused. I suppose people from warmer climates aren't too familiar with this, so here are some illustrations:
Tractor tyre with snow chains.
Snow chains on a car:
We could do with winter tyres here in the UK like in other colder countries. Unfortunately very few of us have them so things tend to grind to a halt as usual. We're never really prepared for adverse weather here.
Talking of adverse weather conditions, this isn't exactly ideal driving weather this morning:
Drive carefully, my friend. It's nothing like as bad here, but more snow & ice are forecast.
Thanks, @Barbel. We might be getting a snow day tomorrow so working from home. It's all dependent on the weather conditions. That photo was taken on the back roads in the countryside near to where I live. The main roads were a bit better as they'd been gritted, though there was still slushy snow on them. We've had rain since so that's helping to clear it away a good bit. There'll no doubt be more snow though plus the government agency the Roads Service here are going on a week's strike from Thursday 18 January so that's not great timing! Or perhaps it is great timing - for Unite union workers! What was it Shakespeare once wrote about the winter of discontent? I think it's here again. ❄️
If it's cold enough you get a self-steering car! "Snow day" sounds very exotic to a Norwegian, but I guess that would be a plus too. 🙂
It's looking like I'm going to be in work tomorrow again as all the snow has pretty much washed away as there was a lot of rain earlier. First time I've been glad to see the rain coming on. Sometimes it's a blessing in disguise. It looks like there'll be more snow by Thursday, according to the weather forecast. To be honest I'm known at work for hating having to work from home due to adverse weather. They joke that I'll never stick having to do it for a few days and will want to come in eventually. Everything's easier in the office I find as opposed to working remotely. I'm sure Norwegians are made of much sterner stuff than us when it comes to snow. My mentality is usually to try ploughing through it but it can be hazardous to drive in too of course.
How Norwegians handle cold varies. In the town Kautokeino in the far north had - 38 celsius some days ago the kindergarten let the kids out anyway, but only for 15-20 minutes at the time. In schools in some other parts of the country kids don'y have to go outside of it's minus ten.
The snow has returned with a vengeance so working from home today.
The Norwegian Parliamentarian Committee for Transport is stuck in a small town because of all the snow. 🤣
I thought you chaps had it all together over there?! You're sounding like us in the UK now! 😀
It differs a lot geographically and individually. We can't expect the Norwegian Committee on Transport to know much about travel during winter, can we? 🤣
No, they're the Transport Committee so nothing to do with journeys and transportation. It all reminds me of this a bit: