GrumpyOldGuy

Hmm, expensive...... I paid just a tad over R500.00 brand new for my Suzuki TS 50 in 1973 and a whopping R25.00 for a "Protector" brand helmet. I saved up half and my old man put in the other half which I duly paid him back. Okay, okay, secretly he let me off a bit, but my Mom never knew. Was a great little bike and my girlfriend at the time and I buzzed all over on it, never even hiccuped. I accidentally rode into a wall once and the mudguard which was mounted to the forks by small screw inserts tore away and one of the screw inserts started leaking fork oil, not much, just a few drips but I took it to the local Suzuki agent and in a flash he pulled the fork off, brazed the insert over again and, off I went, I think it may have cost 20 bucks and it never leaked again. That was the beauty of those old machines, simple to fix and run, much like life back then as well I guess........ **sigh**.

You can drill it (if of course you cant get one) I have drilled many in my years on the bench and my keen interest in motors, but to be honest you ideally need access to a lathe otherwise you will most likely end up with a hole bigger than you required. Also use a lot of cutting oil to avoid the swarf from the bit making the hole bigger. As a rule of thumb jets are basic, its not gas turbine engineering and as an example a 140 jet like you have, will have 1.40mm opening, a 180 jet will have a 1.80 mm opening and so on, of course there are exceptions to all rules but on a carb of this age I can pretty much assure you the engineering is basic.

This guy has some serious talent, looks like he is playing a spade.??

Indeed, forgot about that, I read it as well, but I often wonder how on earth they got themselves into that mess, they were experienced climbers who made terrible mistakes.

Thats him. The Chuck Norris of mountain climbing. .....Okay, Didn't know he had passed on, but yeah, a seriously tough cookie for sure.

Into thin air also deals with that fateful expedition up Everest. There have been a few books written about that particular expedition and I have read three I think but the one that still rings most true to me is Jon's book. Another good one on that expedition is by a Russian climber I forget his name and the books name, I would need to go look, but he was a seriously tough cookie (some might say a nutter) who had climbed Everest a few times before without O2, anyway his recount of the story is also very good, I'll try find the details. I thought the movie Into the Wild was superb, but the book is also excellent. There has been numerous stories about the validity of the book with many people saying Chris was a suicidal maniac and not a young man living life to its fullest. Hard to say, but his sister also wrote a book which I read as well called "The Wild Truth" where she admits to having consulted extensively with Jon when he wrote the book, but she also admits that she asked Jon not to comment on their family life which was to say the least violent and completely dysfunctional, she also admits to serious issues with alcohol, been romantically involved with questionable folk and been a young mother on the verge of bankruptcy and almost living on the streets. She and Chris came from difficult backrounds. However to her credit she managed to pull herself together, started a small car repair business (of all things ) and turned it into a roaring success story, so in all a nice ending to what I think was a difficult life for both.

I think so, probably his best book is "Into thin air" well worth reading it if you havent already. "Into the wild" is also excellent. I would say stay away from some of his other stuff like "Under the banner of Heaven" very heavy reading and one of the few books I never finished.

Hmm, yes, I dont think it was that much when I bought it on Kindle, but to be honest I cant remember. I am sure you will find it in one of the bigger book stores as well.

No I haven't, but a quick looky see on Amazon tells me its right up my alley,.. thanks for the heads up, I will certainly read it.

Yah, the Shining too, Jack Nicholson aced that one!

I have an intense interest in shipping, submarines, interesting wrecks,...anything ocean related and suck it up like a sponge. Recently I read "Where divers dare - the hunt for the last U-Boat" known as the U-550. It recounts the final battle of the U-550, how it was sunk and how an American destroyer Captain saved the lives of 15 of the U-Boats crew when it was depth charged after sinking one of the biggest cargo ships of the war effort, the SS Pan Pennsylvania in April 1944. It recounts how the German U-Boat Captain hunted and sank the giant cargo ship, then tried to escape by diving, however he miscalculated the depth and found himself helpless on the bottom at 30 metres while the battleships above found him and threw dozens of depth charges at him, how, seriously damaged he had to make a heart breaking decision, obey orders and stay on the bottom, effectively committing his young crew to death, or, disobey orders and make an uncontrolled ascent, giving, he hoped, his crew a chance at life. He had grave doubts, having just sunk an allied cargo ship and no doubt killed a number of crew, his attackers above would show any mercy, but he was wrong, one Captain did and it changed lives forever. It was a harrowing battle fought under terrible conditions, it recounts how, on surfacing, some of the battleships rammed the sinking Sub, machine gunned those trying to escape and left over 40 men to die in the freezing waters,... but one destroyer Captain, against orders, sent out a small vessel to try and rescue the German crew, managing to save 15, one of whom was the Sub's Captain, he had been shot in the face and was almost dead when he was pulled from the water to safety, and, how the two Captains, from opposing forces became life long friends. How they tracked down the last of the survivors and heard their story of the horror of that day, one of the epic ocean battles of the 2nd world war. If you like stories of human courage, mercy, endevour and prevailing over all odds, read it, its an epic book,....... much like the battle!

So true, his first books were masterful, The Stand, The Shining (one of his best I thought) Cujo, Christeen, The long walk, ...all of them original thinking and horror at its best. Sadly I think he is now the "Mills and Boon" of Horror,.. just churning out pages of mindless boredom.

Its on kindle, download it today, I expect an answer.

I met him a few times back when he was only 37 ,... a nice guy, he was a very keen scuba diver as I was, and back then there were so few of us it was almost impossible not to meet the same guy every time you went diving. Of course all thats changed now and there are thousands of divers, but he was always very friendly and chatted to everyone on the boat. I quite liked him, but I was never a fan of his books though.

I think Steven King lost the plot a long time ago, I also used to enjoy his books but I stopped reading them mid 2000, I think the last I read was "Under the Dome" - the TV series was rubbish and the book was worse. Sad because he was one of the few non fiction writers I used to enjoy, I recommended it somewhere else in this thread but for a great feel good book and an easy read, go read "The Penguin Diaries" - if you dont enjoy .... you aint got no soul.

I sympathize with your issue of finding someone to do the job, some years back I needed some tiling done in my Cape Town house, two bathrooms, walls and floors, a passage and the kitchen. I contacted four or five tiling companies and made arrangements to meet them at my house for a quote. I flew all the way from JHB to be there. Not one turned up. Not one.! I threw my toys out, called my tiler in JHB, put him and his tools on a Greyhound bus down to Cape Town and in 10 days he was done and took the bus home. Everyone was happy. Anyway, 90 sq is not that much, if its just floors I would do it myself, chipping out is not too bad if the tiles are laid with tiling cement only. In old houses, often they didn't plaster then use tiling cement to lay tiles, they simply laid the tiles in the plaster cement and this is a major problem to remove, in these cases, if you can, it may be easier to just tile over the old tiles, theres nothing wrong with this at all, its often done, just check there is sufficient clearances, or you can create sufficient clearances under doors windows ledges etc. If its walls and floors you may need a helper, but in my opinion its still a doable area for someone like you who is obviously very hands on.

Yip, and the single prime reason is because there are no longer qualified trade tested artisans doing the work. Cheap and plentiful is the name of the game and qualified artisans are neither cheap or plentiful.

Nice job Pure Savage, I especially like the two front door lights, such a small thing but just adds the finishing touch and makes it look really homely.

Sometimes you just have to make up your own mind though. I am not a big Superhero type movie fan and I also read quite a few negative reviews, but to be honest, I thoroughly enjoyed it, it is what it is, light hearted entertainment and I think it did it very well. Will Smith and Margot Robbie were excellent in my opinion and carried the show, some may argue saved the story, but I thought it was a great time filler movie, and judging by the full theaters and long lines at the ticket booths waiting to get in, so do many others.

Well, an old favourite of mine by the Traveling Wilburys,featuring a young George Harrison,Tom Petty and Jeff Lynn, I like the empty chair with a guitar in memory of Roy Orbison. Anyone who cant enjoy this music just has no soul.

I had a similar problem when I lived in Midrand Moriden, I had a number of people out to look and the general consensus was its not possible to repair permanently unless you dig it all up and start again, at best its always going to be a temporary fix. I eventually had a company who specialises in damp proofing come in and they laid a special waterproof matting and threw a new floor then coated it with an epoxy. I was told I would need to re-epoxy it every three to four years as it would eventually start to bubble due to moisture. It did work and I only re coated it once before we moved, might be worth thinking about. Generally I think its just a sign of the poor workmanship we see today, corners are cut everywhere and this is the result.

Great, I am glad you enjoyed it, agree fully on "Into thin air" probably the best book on Everest.

Yah, I know what you mean but I wasn't a big fan of Louis l'Amour, there was too much "padding" in my opinion, but I really enjoyed the EDGE series, as you say they were "brutal" but then again I think life was kinda tough back then as well. JT Edison........Yah, forgot about him, I enjoyed his writing as well but it was a very "Vanilla West" he wrote about, dancing girls and mild mannered saloon owners is my recollection of his books. I dont read a lot of fiction these days so haven't really read a fiction Western for many years, but I have read quite a bit of non fiction on the times, especially around General Custers life and the slow colonization or some would say "eradication" of many of the indigenous Indian tribes. One of the books I enjoyed is "The Life of General George Armstrong Custer" I thought particularly good, of course he was no saint, but it was a vicious time, and many a peaceful settler were been murdered by the Apaches the Comanche and the Pawnee's and mostly, Custer and the cavalry saw themselves as the only force that stood to protect the settlers. If you enjoy that sort of history it may be worth a read for you.

If you liked that book you may enjoy Panic Nation by Stanley Feldman, its a similar type of book, I dont really buy many of the theories but its an interesting read none the less. I think I will file Ascent and Descent in my to read books, I enjoy those kind of books and Cathy O Dowd is an incredible woman. By the way, have you read Jon Krakauer's book "Into thin air".. about the same expedition.? One of the better Everest books I have read.

Actually, so do I given the choice, but a Kindle is very convenient and I read a lot on it mainly because if I see an interesting book its a quick download and I can be reading. I still buy paperback books, there is something old school about them that just feels right, plus I like spending time browsing shelves and here we have excellent book shops, its a great way to spend a few hours in my opinion. Those two books for you?.............light reading I hope.