Bonus

I have a 200 scale British Airway Cargo 747-8 model in storage :-)

Out of interest, does anyone in Soweto pay anything for electricity? Is the debt because of everyone or because of some of the residents?

The 747....

I could listen to these all day long :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVbueF01_VA

Did the race start and finish at the shopping center at the bottom of Krugerdorp hill?

Several tough rides over the last few weeks and I'm getting back into it after the winter break. Always amazes me how quickly the human body can get itself back into fairly reasonable shape . . . but then it also amazes me how quickly the human body can get itself back out of shape again if you take a week or ten days off! Temps this weekend were in the low 20's. No one here can believe it because it's really not normal. This time last year there was a dusting of snow on the ground. No bike pics, but I did take a "Spring" picture in Guaso on Friday while I was working on our Project.

We have Pyrenean Mountain dogs here - they're like small horses! Big, Lazy, Cuddly . . . but Ibet they eat you out of house and home! We're not in a position to have pets right now but "Wendy" loves Boxers and had a lovely old one before we left SA.

We've had some encouraging news regarding how we can reduce the amount of money we need to find to carry out the first stage of our build. I've posted the full story over on the "Bonus & Wendys Big Adventure" thread . . . .

We've had a bit of encouraging news re our Project. Not quite as good as finding a suitcase full of money, but certainly a step in the right direction. We are friends here with a couple from the UK who arrived about the same time as us. They bought a big old house in a village about 20km away from us and they've been renovating it. They came here with the necessary funds to build and, like us, they are very "hands on" - so they've made good progress. This year they were open for business with four rooms and they were failrly busy. Now they're just finishing the last couple of rooms ready for this summer. I've been helping them on and off with their build and in return they've been watching our lack of progress! They are currently away on holiday for 3 weeks but just before they left they said to me that when they get back they want to go through our architects project with us (the architects build schedule) and see how many jobs/tasks we could manage to do ourselves between the four of us if they were to help us. I have already got a list of quite a few jobs that we don't need to pay a builder to do. Now with their help we could potentially add many more. He does bricklaying, plastering, plumbing, makes wooden doors and window frames . . . all things that are a little beyond my abilities - but I can do all the spade work for thse jobs. So, when they get back we'll see how much we can wittle down our overall "build bill" by. With their help and if we concentrate on just getting the first section of the Project complete (Ground floor - Lounge, Diner, Kitchen and Middle floor - 2 bedrooms with bathrooms), we should be able to bring down the amount we need to borrow considerably. Also, If we can cobble together a temporary basic bedroom & bathroom on the top floor of the Tower for ourselves and stop renting this little flat we're currently in, then we can put was is currently "the rent money" towards paying back any loan we can secure. As soon as we start to generate any income from the two rooms we would have ready for customers we can start looking at "Stage Two" of the build - which would be the third and fourth rooms on the top floor. They are back this week so let's see what we can work out . . . .

Just be careful that racing doesn't prove to be the stress that allows what you have now to get a foothold.

You are bottom of the pile mate! They probably also talk about you behind your back . . . . :-)

Have you got an SA flag ready to wave? He always spots us when we have one :-)

I was looking for a picture of the Boeing 747 centre tank to show the size but couldn't find a decent one. Then you posted this. Compared to the 737, the 747 has a swimming pool inside it.

Foreign Object Debris can generally include rags, tools and spare parts apparently!

After watching the video that someone posted on here explaining the history of Boeing, it seems that while they were pretty much the only big player in town, they did things properly, but as soon as they had to "compete" they started to cut corners left, right and center. Like with any process,once you start down that path you are always going to have it revisit you.

This thread was started 8 years ago and it's still on Page 1! That's almost slower progress than I'm making with my B&B building work! I did the B&D a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. Of course Krugersdorp hill was a bit of a wake-me-upper.

Yep. Jon Bernthal. He is perfect. He was also very good in "The Accountant" where he played brother to the lead role. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx5TTNx4JMI

We've just sared watching "The Punisher". First episode was very good - if you like bad guys being owned by a guy with a sledge hammer! :-)

Whilst storm Dennis and storm Ciara before it, batter northern europe, here on the southern side of the Pyrenees we have been enjoying unusually warm weather for the last few weeks. The days have been sunny, temps have be as high as 21 and 22 degrees and the trails are dry, dusty and fast - when I'm not riding I'm working outside in shorts and a t-shirt..... not bad for February! It's still cold at night, in fact it probably feels colder after a warm day than it would feel after a chilly day. This week last year we had snow on the ground and there's still plenty of time for that to happen this year - but for the moment we'll enjoy riding, working and hiking in the sunshine. Yesterday on my way back to Boltana from Ainsa I had a view of the sun setting behind the church up in the village of Guaso, where our "project" is. I took a quick picture thinking it probably wouldn't come out any good but was pleasantly surprised.....

"Diet assistors"

In Jo'burg I used to see the blanket covered body of "a pedestrian who failed trying to cross the freeway" once a week.

There's no way I would get on a plane in the middle of a storm. No way at all!

Those eastbound flights must have been amazing. You wouldn't know you were going any faster than normal because the air around you was also moving east at an amazing speed thanks to the jet stream, but to knock 80 mins off a flight like that! Wow! Flights going the other way tried to avoid that same wind (as they always do - the jetstream is always there, its just turbo charged at the moment because of the storm) but they still took 2 and a half hours longer to do the LHR -JFK trip westbound. Imagine swimming down a fast moving river versus swimming UP a fast moving river and you've got it . ...

Part of my job in SA was visiting "Plastics" customers and yes, I remember them struggling to maintain output when the machines kept cooling down. You'd need a massive generator to keep those things going.

Just been Skyping with th in laws back in SA. We knew there had been some load shedding going on but we didn't realise just how bad it was. For the last little while they have been without power every day. It's usually for four hours at a time, sometimes am and sometimes pm. We had Load Shedding on the west rand before we left, it was occasional but it was still a PITA. How are people coping with haveing no juice for several hours day after day? I guess with some planning you can manage and generators can help with the smaller stuff if you have one. But remembering to buy fuel, storing cans of fuel at home . . . far from ideal. My FIL is busy having lunch then he's driving down to Letaba to look at a boiler problem there . . . .