Smarties Bar & Grill #76

1937 Rolls Royce Phantom 3 | The Last Detail

 

It's ridiculous. You don't even have to scratch the surface. The castle in Bungay goes back to about 1100 and many of the churches are 12th or 13th century.
We've got the ruins of a Romano Iceni town, an Anglo-Saxon boat burial of the first Christian King of East Anglia, Neolithic flint mines from 3000BC

 

There's a half-moated fortified manor house a mile from the farm which dates back to the 15th century and contains decorated door and window stonework and other features which were looted after Henry VIII demolished the local 12th century Abbey during the Reformation.
It's now a pub restaurant with a brewery round the back.

 

First European wandered through here around 1585. We are one of the oldest "towns" in the USA.. back to 1685. We do have a bit of pre-Columbian artifacts in areas and we do claim to have fields that have been continuously cultivated since the 1200s. but you have garden art that ancient! LOL

 

Literally.
There are hedgerows on this farm that go back to Anglo-Saxon times. The fields haven't changed in shape or size for more than a thousand years.
It is a rarity these days though. Most ripped up the hedgerows to make the fields bigger and more efficient to grow subsidised wheat.
The whole farm is smaller than most of the fields that surround it.

 

You weren't allowed to buy petrol during the war unless it was for doctors vets or other vital jobs. Cars were almost worthless, even Rolls Royce and Bentleys.
Most farms were still using horses at the beginning of the war. Tractors didn't start being used until the government bought thousands of them from America and distributed them free to farms to improve efficiency.

 

He bought the original car/chassis in the mid-60s, got the glamourous Inskip body later, because of the war it was not mounted and delivered to Ribbentrop.. Joakim Ribbentrop had also ordered a convertible coach that was also not mounted on a frame.
When the "gas crunch" hit here in the 70s, there were several collectrible cars being sold for a song, the one I remember was a 70s Chevelle SS that was for sale for $500, it's worth a lot of money now. I'd had several collectible cars in the past, but sold them, and while they are worth multiples of what I paid for them, the storage of them would have been prohibitively expensive (40 plus years) AND even with a good storage place, deterioration is inevitable in th elong run.

 

My dad fought Japan in some rough places. All jungle. Side by side with some tough as nails Aussies.

 

I had three great uncles serve in WW II. One of them was in charge of some sort of communication/documentation team in the Philippine's. We only know this because my aunt kept tons of paperwork that he brought home with him. None of them ever talked about it, so I have absolutely no idea where the other two served.

 

Both my grandfathers fought in North Africa.
One in the RAF with a Kittyhawk fighter bomber squadron and then military intelligence later during the invasion of Italy.
The other a career infantry soldier from the age of sixteen.
35 at the beginning of the war. Sgt Major by the time he went to Egypt.

 

Had two incredible experiences this weekend.

Last night, we saw The Eagles Hotel California tour, with Vince Gill filling in for Glenn. This was insanely good and ticked an item off my bucket list. What shocked me, though, was the incredibly high percentage of concert attendees who spent most of the concert on their VERY bright phones, watching Tik Tok videos. Absolutely stunned about this!

Tonight we saw an ELO cover band. Totally different vibe; about 500 people instead of about 10,000. Mostly a bunch of sad sacks who were annoyed at me bouncing around in my chair for songs like "Don't bring me down," and "Rollover Beethoven." Huh? LMAO They were excellent, although the man who sang Jeff Lynne's part was probably the weakest link.

We've missed going out and seeing live performances. Next month we see Billy Joel.

 

I didn't know where to put this but whatever. A couple months ago, my wife and I took a month long vacation in the Algarve region of Portugal. Lots of hikes, good food and wine, hanging with the locals (my wife is Portuguese) a great time ... then I started wheezing and had trouble catching my breath. Went to a hospital in Faro and they said probably COPB (I don't smoke). Gave me some inhalers which seemed to help a bit but then had an episode on one of the flights home.

Back in AZ, my son had me straight to the Mayo Clinic where I was quickly diagnosed with MDS ... myelo dysplastic syndrome ... I am producing red blood cells that won't carry oxygen. On Wednesday, I enter the clinic for a long stay. Massive chemo to kill my bone marrow and then a transplant from a donor which has already been found.

I'm 61 and pretty damn healthy but my survival chance is around 30%. I just ****ing retired 3 years ago and survived melanoma in my early 30s ... I thought I deserved a break but that's not how this world works ...

I wish you all well ... I really do ... I will check in when I feel up to it ...

 

Well that really sucks man, sorry to hear that.

I hope for the best possible outcome.

 

Oh that’s a low blow. No words here except you do what’s right for you. I really do wish you and yours well, too. Live every possible moment.

 

Don't just accept it, do your research! I know way too much about getting blind-sided health wise, and just taking a Drs word for your chances of survival can affect you as much as the condition.

Be strong, think positive and enjoy your life.

 

got a story about "just taking the Dr's word", A friend and church Brothers has a stent for draining fluid from the brain (he's hydrocephalic") , he starte4d having problems and his parents took him to the ER (which, in our case, is 90 miles one way) they declared he had covid and sent him home , altho' his mother advised him of his condition (and the symptoms were severe headaches), trip one, next trip the ambulance EMT got the doctors to note he has a stint, they declares it open and sent him home again. Continuing headaches and now seizures where he would sit non- responsive for up to ten freaking minutes (eyes open and staring straight ahead) , another trip to the ER and a referral to a neurologist. (trip to the nearest big city, 250 miles one way) . That doctor took off on vacation, BUT they were able to immediately schedule a walkin appt (very rare) with another neurologist.. hurray! right? .. No, this neurologist declares the shunt is clear and he can do nothing and trys to send them home again. Mother panics,, tries all options including calling a sicial worker who then gets the patient in a hospital with an entire crew of doctors. They declare th stint open.. again.. but one decides to look at the other end of the stint (it emptied into his abdomen) and finally find that that end of the stint is plugged. An easy surgical procedure later, the headaches have abated.
He should be getting out today.
I've been around a lot of doctors.. the nice ones that listen aren't always technically proficient, the technically proficient don't listen and have lousy bedside manners, and a tiny percentage are both technically proficient and have good bedside manner.
IMHO, nobody knows more about your body than you. Kick it in the ass Shinebox..
I believe the power of Prayer and will be making petitions to the Lord on your behalf.. accept them.

 

Some happy animal rescue stuff



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Out for a bicycle ride the other day, I spied some canoes on a trailer in a yard that is obviously not been used in a long time.

I went to knock on the door to inquire about purchasing one and it turns out the fellow living there is the director of the city golf course.

After introducing myself and making some small talk about where I work at the gas station, he told me that I should go apply for some positions with the city.

I told him I would but I have a record even though I haven't been in trouble in almost 17 years now. He told me that did not matter as he had just hired two people with a record much more recent than mine.

He told me I should check into a job at the water treatment plant because they will pay you to go to school to get certified and then you get paid I think he said $26 an hour plus full benefits.

That would be twice what I make now plus full benefits retirement and medical and all of that.

Well I'd be a damn fool not to look into it wouldn't I?

 

When opportunity knocks..... see what they are offering. If you don't like what it entails, you don't have to take it.

Many employers aren't concerned (with exception to high crimes like murder) with ancient records if the crime doesn't pertain to the actual job at hand. If someone embezzled, I doubt they would get a job as a bookkeeper, but there are plenty of non-monetary jobs to be had.

It sounds like fate was having a good day.

 

And I'm certainly not getting any younger in my early 40s.

I'd also have a great reference from my current job as the man who owns the place is a institution around here and he's the patriarch of a large connected family.

 

Sounds like a good job -- maybe a great one.

“Find what pays the bills, and then figure out a way to be happy doing it.” Mike Rowe

 

Our next door neighbors have three big pot-bellied pigs for pets.

We had asked them if they minded if we gave them any table scraps or leftovers, they said sure as long as it wasn't meat.

Well that was some months ago and I observed yesterday to my girlfriend we still hadn't given those poor pigs any sort of treats.

Thinking about it this morning I looked at three bananas that were over ripe and I wasn't going to eat.

Three bananas and three pigs, coincidence? I think not.

So each little piggy got a banana they seemed to like it

 

I don't terribly mind my gas station job, I've been doing it full time of year now and I've only missed one day due to feeling ill that day.

But the night shift does get old from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.

Time you get home and take your nap and wake up it's 2:00 p.m. already and you miss most of the day.

And while it may be a good stable job with a guaranteed 40 hours let's face it I'm certainly not going to retire there.

Time to be a moving on.

I'm only awake now because I had my weekend

 

We have horses in the field next to us. The owner said no problem giving them veggie scraps, just not anything with garlic or onions. While pigs are well known for demolishing scraps, make sure whatever it is you want to give them, is safe for them to eat.