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I've always wondered why ADL bother to make the destination screen change when the bus is backing up.
Granted - changing the rear display might be helpful for those with impaired hearing (not that they should be walking across a bus station forecourt in the first place ...), but if you can see the front display, then the bus is moving away from you, and so you're hardly in a position to be squashed by the thing.
Discuss. 😁
26155 - SN67 WVZ
Alexander Dennis Enviro 200MMC (C43F)
Stagecoach South (PM)
Hard Interchange, Portsmouth
11 October 2017
"The KIA ProCeed combines the elegance of a coupé with the practical refinement of a sportswagon"...
...but if you want to haul actual stuff, get an old model Volvo estate - you know, one with flat sides and a vertical tailend.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The origins of the Ethiopian Air Force have been traced to (then Ras) Haile Selassie witnessing a show of the British Royal Air Force in November 1922, in Aden. Having never seen an airplane before, he was captivated by this demonstration of their power and abilities, and spontaneously asked if he could go up in one of the biplanes, proclaiming that it was "very fitting that he, as regent of Abyssinia should be the first Abyssinian to take flight in an aeroplane." As a result of this experience, he afterwards advocated the development of the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force. This small air arm began with the delivery of a Potez 25-A2 to the capital Addis Ababa on 18 August 1929. The Ethiopian Air Force was organized by Mishka Babitchef, the first Ethiopian pilot, who was of Russian descent. A Junkers W 33c followed on 5 September.
On 31 March 1930, three of the biplanes from Ethiopia's air arm played a dramatic role in a battle between Haile Selassie (not yet crowned Emperor) and conservative forces seeking to oust him. During the Battle of Anchem, biplanes were effectively used to give Haile Selassie's forces the upper hand.
A few transport aircraft were also acquired during 1934–35 for ambulance work. The air force was commanded by Colonel John Robinson (African-American, took command May 1935), recruited by Haile Selassie, and who remained until the Italian conquest of Ethiopia, when the small air arm ceased to exist.
After the liberation of Ethiopia, the country started reorganizing the embryonic air force that had existed prior to the Italian invasion, commanded by Colonel John Robinson (African-American). In 1944, a group of World War II African-American veterans set up a flying school at Lideta airport in Addis Ababa. The nation acquired a few aircraft through military aid from the United States and United Kingdom and the school had some 75 students by 1946. As neither the United States nor the United Kingdom were initially interested in providing further military assistance, Ethiopia turned to Sweden to help create a modern air arm. Sweden agreed to support, and Carl Gustaf von Rosen was appointed as the chief instructor of the newly re-formed Imperial Ethiopian Air Force (IEAF).
The Swedish contingent played a critical role in setting up a solid foundation. It sent Safir trainers and B-17A light bombers from Sweden, and the Ethiopian government acquired C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft from the United States to equip the flight training, bomber, and transport squadrons, respectively. In 1951, the IEAF formed its first fighter/attack squadron by acquiring Fairey Firefly fighters from the United Kingdom, later augmented with more aircraft of this type procured from Canada. One year later a fighter/reconnaissance squadron was founded, equipped with former British Supermarine Spitfire Mk. 18s.
The Mk. 18 was a refinement of the Griffon-powered Mk XIV from WWII. It was identical in most respects including engine (the Griffon 65) and cockpit enhancements, but it had from the start a bubble canopy for a better field of view for the pilot. It carried an additional 31-gallon fuel tank in the rear fuselage which extended range to about 610 miles (980 km) on internal fuel and the type had a revised, stronger wing structure. Its handling was nearly identical to the Mk. XIV and so it was not put through any performance tests before production started. But despite this sped-up development phase, the Mk. 18 missed the war and it was only built for a short period.
The Spitfire Mk. 18 was, like the earlier Mk. XIV, produced in pure fighter (F. Mk. 18) and armed fighter reconnaissance variants (FR. Mk. 18) which only differed through ventral camera ports and/or lateral camera windows at port and starboard as well as the respective camera mounts behind the cockpit. The Mk. 18 was delivered with standard elliptical wings, but some aircraft, especially the reconnaissance machines, were outfitted with clipped wing tips for better handling at low altitude.
Some 300 F. Mk. 18s and FR. Mk. 18s were built until 1946, but it was not until January 1947 that an RAF unit, 60 Squadron operating from RAF Seletar, Singapore, was re-equipped with the new variant, and other squadrons in the Far East and Middle East would receive them, too. In RAF service the Mk. 18s saw little action apart from some involvement against guerrillas in the Malayan Emergency. Beyond Ethiopia, who bought twenty retired RAF machines with few flying hours from surplus stock based in Iraq (formerly operated by RAF No. 6, 8 and 73 Squadron), the Royal Indian Air Force purchased 20 ex-RAF Mk. 18s, too.
Beyond these initial procurements, Ethiopia’s quest for an up-to-date air arm continued. In 1953, a military agreement between the United States and Ethiopia was signed for a military assistance program. Its aim was to provide Ethiopia with a capable military force for defensive purposes. The IEAF benefited immensely from the program. The US Air Force sent a team of officers and NCOs to assess the force and provide recommendations as part of the Military Advisory and Assistance Group undertaking the comprehensive study of the Ethiopian military and possible threats that it had to counter. The IEAF was to be restructured organizationally and adopt US-style operating procedures, and emphasis was given to building up IEAF's training institutions. Several Ethiopian personnel were sent to the US for training, including 25 Ethiopian pilots for jet training, and many more were trained locally by US Defense personnel. In 1957, the first three of several T-33A jet trainers were supplied, but the vintage piston engine combat aircraft still played a central role and became involved in the smoldering conflict with Somalia, which eventually escalated into the Ogaden War.
After its independence in 1960, Somalia started making claims to all of its precolonial territories that were occupied by France, Ethiopia and the British. However, majority of the land claimed was in Ethiopia which made it Somalia's main target. After failing to get support within the Organization of African Unity, Somalia declared war on Ethiopia in 1964. The Somali forces launched their attack at Togochale, a border town east of Jijiga, but the Ethiopians were no match to the comparatively well-equipped air forces of Somalia and suffered heavy losses. The brief conflict provided the IEAF with valuable experience, though. Lessons learned included the need for heavy bombers, an air defense complex, a secure and reliable communication system, and better coordination with ground forces. As a result, Canberra bombers and air defense radars were acquired from Great Britain and the US, respectively. F-86F fighters from the USA followed in 1960 and during the next year T-28s were acquired for advanced training. This influx of equipment and training made the IEAF, in the opinion of historian Bahru Zewde, "the most prestigious show-piece of American aid in Ethiopia. It was also reputedly the most modern and efficient unit of the armed forces."
In 1964, the neighboring Somalis began receiving large quantities of weaponry, ground equipment, and MiG-17 fighters from the Soviet Union. In response, the US started delivering the supersonic F-5A jet fighters in 1965 to counter this new threat. Careful not to escalate the situation further, the USA delivered the F-5As without providing major weapon systems for the aircraft, the ability to use air-to-air missiles. This deal, however, marked the start of the eventual retirement of the IEAF’s remaining early first-line propeller aircraft, even though some Fireflies and Spitfire FR. Mk. 18s soldiered on into the Seventies and were among the last vintage WWII fighters that were still in operation worldwide.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 32 ft 8 in (9,96 m)
Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11,23 m) with full span elliptical tips
Height: 10 ft (3,05 m)
Wing area: 242.1 sq ft (22,49 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 2213 (root), NACA 2209.4 (tip)
Empty weight: 6,578 lb (2.984 kg)
Gross weight: 7,923 lb (3.594 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 8,400 lb (3.810 kg)
Powerplant:
1× Rolls-Royce Griffon 65 supercharged V12 with 2,050 hp (1,530 kW) at 8,000 ft (2.438 m),
driving a 5-bladed Jablo-Rotol propeller
Performance:
Maximum speed: 441 mph (710 km/h, 383 kn) in FS supercharger gear at 29,500 ft.
391 mph in MS supercharger gear at 5,500 ft.
Combat range: 610 mi (960 km, 520 nmi)
Ferry range: 1,240 mi (2.000 km, 1,085 nmi)
Service ceiling: 43,500 ft (13.300 m)
Rate of climb: 5,040 ft/min (25,6 m/s) in MS supercharger gear at 2,100 ft.
3,550 ft/min in FS supercharger gear at 22,100 ft.
Time to altitude: 7 mins to 22,000 ft (at max weight)
Wing loading: 32.72 lb/sq ft (159,8 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.24
Armament:
2× 20 mm (0.787-in) Hispano Mk II cannon, 120 RPG
2× 0.50 in (12,7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns, 250 RPG
Ventral and underwing hardpoints for alternative loads of:
● 2× 250 lb G.P. Mk.IV bombs (500 lb total)
● 3× 250 lb G.P. Mk.IV bombs (750 lb total)
● 1× 500 lb G.P. Mk.IV bomb (500 lb total)
● 1× 500 lb G.P. Mk.IV bomb + 2 x 250 lb G.P. Mk.IV bombs (1,000 lb total)
● 8× RP-3 rockets
● 1x 90 gal. drop tank
The kit and its assembly:
This exotic what-if Spitfire was inspired by a F-5A decal sheet that I had recently bought, which featured – among many others – markings for an Ethiopian aircraft. That made me remember the odd Fairey Fireflies in desert camouflage and I wondered what other aircraft could have been operated by Ethiopia, too? One candidate was the Saab J29 Tunnan (because Sweden provided massive support to build and equip the Ethiopian Air Force), but then stumbled upon an MPM Spitfire Mk. 18 in the Stash™ that had been lingering there for years because I had bought it long ago as a part of a cheap lot, so that I had no concrete ideas for it so far. While I favored the J29 idea (esp. as a recce variant, possible with the Heller kit) I eventually used the opportunity to build the Spitfire, and it would, as an FR. Mk. 18, also become a late submission to the “Reconnaissance and Surveillance” group build at whatifmodellers.com in Sep. 2021.
That said, the simple but nicely detailed MPM kit from 1993 with a vacu canopy (actually two, one as a generous spare part should something go wrong…) and PE parts for cockpit and landing gear was basically built OOB. However, it is a typical short-run kit, so it bears some traps and surprises. What’s positive: very fine (even though somewhat soft) engraved surface details all over hull and wings as well as molded structures on the cockpit walls.
But this is countered by a wide range of weak or at least challenging points. For instance, the kit lacks ANY locator pins, the sprues are very thick, there’s flash and some parts like the machine guns or the propeller (with all five blades molded onto the spinner) are very rough in shape. PE parts are used everywhere: inside of the cockpit (you can build either a simple IP version of an almost fully-photo-etched alternative – I did a mix of both), the landing gear wells or the radiators, which are otherwise massive IP parts with a blurry interior and poor fit under the wings. The PE parts, however, are crisp and rather thick, so that they can be easily cut off from their blank and handled, and they fit surprisingly well, too.
Wings and fin each consist of two complete halves, so that they are quite massive, especially their trailing edges. Confusingly, the stabilizers come with pins - but there are no openings for them in the fuselage to hold or align them. The wheels are similar: there are pins on the legs, but no holes in the wheels themselves… Once the stabilizers are mounted in place you realize that they do not align with the fuselage shape: the visual axis through the rudders is “swept backwards” and needs further adjustments. The carburetor intake is molded into the lower wing section and the fuselage halves, and since it pointlessly consists of three thick-walled sections that do not align well, this calls for some serious PSR or even a total replacement (which I unfortunately did not have at hand). The wing roots on the fuselage do not match the wings well, either: they are much too wide for the assembled wing section, so that they had to be cut down (almost 1mm per side!) and the resulting inconsistencies had to be PSRed, too.
You see, the kit itself bears already a lot of challenges and work, and beyond this basic stuff I made some other amendments. Most importantly, I replaced the original and rather crude single-piece propeller with a leftover alternative from a Special Hobby Griffon-powered Spitfire, which fits well and looks MUCH better. It was mounted with the help of my standard metal-axis-in-a-styrene-tube-adapter construction. This revealed, however, that the front wall behind the spinner is not perfectly aligned with the propeller axis: there’s a noticeable gap that had to be filled with putty during the final assembly stages.
The ventral camera ports as well as the round openings on both flanks were drilled open and later received windows created with Humbrol ClearFix.
Due to the makeshift cockpit opening and the only vaguely fitting vacu canopy I decided to leave the cockpit closed, but added a (Matchbox) pilot figure with chopped-off legs to fit into the seat and vivify the model. The canopy itself was attached with superglue and later PSRed into the spine.
Painting and markings:
The more entertaining part of the build. I wanted to give this Spitfire a mix of desert camouflage, as seen on the Fireflies or the Saab B17 bombers, and, as a recce aircraft of British origin, classic PRU Blue.
The two-tone camouflage on the upper surfaces consists of RAF Dark Earth (Humbrol 29) and Light Stone (Humbrol 121), inspired by color photographs from contemporary Ethiopian aircraft – there’s a very helpful Air Enthusiast magazine article about the IEAF Fireflies (that can be accessed online under issuu.com/mtaye/docs/the_long_life_of_ethiopian_fairey_fi...). The undersides were painted with ModelMaster 2061, and the aircraft received a high waterline just under the cockpit and an all-blue fin – an interesting contrast, esp. with the colorful IEAF roundels and similar to the Royal Navy post-war scheme, just with different colors.
Even though the IEAF apparently added red spinners to the Fireflies, I kept it camouflaged on the model. No distractions.
The cockpit interior was painted with RAF Cockpit Green (Humbrol 78, according to pictures of real Mk. 18 cockpits – the typical RAF post-WWII black interior must have been introduced later?), as well as the landing gear wells. The inside of the main gear covers was painted in Medium Sea Grey (Humbrol 165), as if this ex-RAF aircraft from Iraq had only been re-painted externally. The pilot received – using references from the aforementioned IEAF Firefly article – a pale greyish-beige jumpsuit, a dark skin, and I even tried to add a black beard for more authenticity.
As usual, the model received an overall washing with black ink and some post-panel shading. Some light weathering was done with dry-brushed light grey on the wings’ leading edges – IEAF aircraft seem to have been kept in very good shape during the Fifties. Therefore, only minimal exhaust stains were added to the flanks and no gun soot to the wings.
Decals were kept simple, just the IEAF roundels and three-digit tactical codes on the fin and under the exhaust stubs, all coming from the inspiring F-5 sheet.
The finished IEAF Spitfire FR. Mk. 18 does not look spectacular – but I like the mix of a contrast desert camouflage with the deep PRU Blue and the high waterline, which IMHO also underlines the Spitfire’s elegant lines. The colorful Ethiopian roundels are an interesting contrast, too. Somehow this model almost looks like a creation for/from a Tintin comic, even though unintentionally?
The MPM kit, however, turned out to be a so-so affair. It would be unfair to call it bad, because it is a very good representation of the aircraft it depicts, and it comes with ample detail. It is a typical short-run kit, though, and therefore nothing for beginners or people who are faint at heart. There are certainly better Griffon-Spitfire kits around, but I am quite happy that I eventually found a good use for this rather comatose case from The Stash™. And I like the outcome, despite its flaws and weaknesses.
So, Batman: Arkham Knight is inbound, and the most notable feature so far for the game is that the Batmobile is now more than just scenery. it's fully drivable. Having the keys to the Batmobile was one of the biggest requests in the Arkham series since the series birth, and now many prayers have been answered. I on the other hand, am worried. Lemme explain myself.
In games working with cars isn't that easy. The environment has to work, if there's more than one car they all shouldn't be copy/pastes with some difference in speed, and so on. Since there's presumably only one Batmobile in AK, Rocksteady (the developers) don't have to worry about building up multiple vehicles and making their feel from speed to handling feel unique. And they went with a tumbler-like Batmobile, so my guess is that the AK Batmobile should feel big, powerful, and damn near unstoppable. But since it's all we got, it should have a great feel of speed and nimbleness. Trust me, you don't want a lead sled as the only thing in your crime fighting garage. Having a jet booster on the back will help for speed and the wheelbase looks good enough to guarantee it can go around tight corners, but mixing the feel of speed and nimbleness with a unstoppable juggernaut-like feel is something that has little room for error. Get it wrong and it could be as much of a mess as the "realistic" driving mechanics in GTA IV.
Second is environment. Rocksteady apparently took a prototype build of the AK Bamoble and test drove it on the map for Arkham City....which is a stupid idea since Arkham City was built for vehicles like say, a person on the national sex offender list is fit for being a supervisor at a Junior high dance. Yep, that bad. Arkham City, though a great map to glide and fight around as Batman, is completely unfit for for even a bat-vespa. The broken and debris clogged roads, which there aren't alot of to start with, are unfit for testing any car, much less one of the most iconic vehicles in fiction. Gotham in AK is supposed to be 5x larger than the map in AC, so a bigger area will hopefully give more breathing room for the Batmobile to drive around in, but I'm worried about how Rocksteady is handling the preliminary testing, dropping their work in progress on a map not built for it. And that could go back to how the Batmobile feels in the end product. Again, since the map is 5x bigger and hopefully built with Batmobile in mind, this might be a void point, but how development is being handled gives reason to worry.
Next thing is balance. The Arkham series gameplay has, for lack of a better summarization, been focused on beating the high-holy crap out of any moron stupid enough to think they can take you, rather you show them how wrong they are with your fist or with gadgets is up to you. There's been puzzle elements as well with some platforming, but none have exactly been Portal-levels of brain workouts. Basically, the Arkham series has mostly been an open world beat'em up, with a simple but more than satisfying game mechanics helping earn it's reputation. Now we're introducing a vehicle, an entirely different field of game mechanics. Putting these two together has to balance out, and they both have to feel good. Rocksteady has had combat down for two games, but introducing the Batmobile could end up with a scenario like the previously mentioned GTA IV. Outside of vehicles it's all good. Once you get in the drivers seat it's all downhill from there. And then there's an overeliance on the Batmobile, if they say, give it offensive measure, which would make sense, but then street fights are rendered pointless. And if it turns out to become a mess and gliding turns out to be a less grating experience, how disappointing will it be that one of AK's most notable features is it's worst because it just wasn't balanced right into the game, or failed to reach any of the previous criteria?
Last, is the fact of experience. Rocksteady has Batman on foot down, but this'll be the first time ever they've done a completely drivable vehicle. Something they've never even really looked at before. The smartest choice I can see from getting this right and avoiding such an issue is hiring some people from other developers with experience in cars, like Criterion games of Burnout fame. Or perhaps the development team is split up into smaller sub-teams, one dedicated to building up the Batmobile, which is most likely what was done. But the issue there is that if they know what they're doing or not. As said numerous times, making a car work in a game is not easy, and depending to get it right on people who generally don't do vehicles to start is a gamble.
Since this is Rocksteady, a development team that has hardly ever failed to deliver, this is likely an irrational fear. But with just how big of a deal this is (it's the freaking Batmobile, c'mon) there's more than enough reason to worry. Only the release will tell the answers.
Outdated Batmobile model for relevance. :P
I took a few self portraits today and they all felt really boring and pointless, but a couple of them are beginning to grow on me now. I'm hoping to take something better tomorrow, though.
As you know, an isomorphism is a morphism f:X→Y in a category for which there exists an "inverse" f −1:Y→X, with the property that both f −1f=idX and ff −1=idY. (Right?) What you don't know is whether these carrots were trying to create a sober space or whether they were aiming for pointless topology. Well I don't know math but I know these carrots so I'd bet they were pointlessly messing around and probably not too sober.
Doesn't look like it would hold much. Perhaps it dates back to the days this was an active ranch. Maybe the top rails were used to build the nearby equestrian jumps.
As we walked to the far end of Elounda beach we stopped at the ismas that joines the island of Kalydon to the mainland.
As we walked back to town we spotted our ferry boat leaving. oops!
luckily it was just a short bus ride back to Agios Nikolaos. in fact we beat the boat back home.
Originally this was going to be a cupid picture. With hearts, bows, arrows and a list.
In the end I plumped for this image and worked on my editing skills.
There’s room for improvement, but I learnt a lot tonight.
With thanks to JoesSistah for the wings and the texture
And clouds by AZ_Textures
In pointless news: I have sore feet. I wore my new oxblood Undercover boots yesterday. They're a bit hardcore!
For a few years in Amtrak's early years, they used this logo that was unceremoniously dubbed as the "Pointless Arrow."
Largely, it was done away with, but it's made a bit of a resurgence lately, and there are still plenty of survivors out there, such as this station sign in Independence, MO.
Metroline DE1604 on Route 395, South Harrow curtailed to Greenford Station - ONE STOP before Westway Cross.
Too many people hide behind masks or shields that prevent debating issues in a realistic, rational manner. There is far too much conspiratorial talk, using alternative or more likely, non-existent "facts", causing untold problems in today's body politic. The serious, factual people need to re-take the narrative and shut down the idiocy of those who deny science, medicine, culture, history and progress.
Although pointless & maybe only fodder for dateless/girlfriendless Apollo "fans" via some obscure blog, forum or whatever...in my world, it's confirmation that rabbit holes kinda, sorta, sometimes pay off.
My crudely cleaned up extract from "Apollo Programs Presentation to AC Electronics, 5 January 1966", a technical document offered for sale online by "KUENZIG BOOKS" for a lot of money...although it was apparently sold. The following is per their listing:
Apollo Programs Presentation to AC Electronics 5 January 1966
Elmhurst 73, New York: Kollsman Instrument Corporation 1966. First Edition. Various paginations. 8 1/2 x 11 inches. Comb bound. Blue / white printed stiff wrapper with title cutout. Mimeographed, on recto only (verso blank). Creasing, wear to covers, some minor loss to comb binding, old paperclip markings. Previous owner name (H. Dickerson) penciled underneath title. Clean internally. Good. Comb.
In 1963, NASA selected a group of five prime contractors to work on the Apollo program. AC Spark Plug (eventually AC Electronics) (a part of General Motors) was selected to develop the spacecraft guidance and navigation systems for the Apollo space craft. A period press release notes AC "enjoyed success in the inertial guidance field since entering the technological field pioneered by the work of Dr. C. Stark Draper of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Instrumentation Laboratory." Two other major contractors were announced at the same time: Kollsman Instrument Corporation (optical subsystems, including a space sextant, sunfinders, and navigation display equipment) and Raytheon Corporation (the onboard digital computer). MIT would retain overall direction of the project, in essence coordinating the different companies.
By Feb of 1964, the management structure was changed. "AC Spark Plug would become the principal contractor, with the Raytheon Company and Kollsman Instrument Corporation as subcontractors. MIT would still have primary responsibility for system design and analysis."
On October 14, 1964, the first Apollo "guidance system completed acceptance testing and was shipped at 11:30 p.m. and arrived at Downey, California, early the following day. AC reported that in more than 2,000 hours of operation they had found the system to be "remarkably reliable, accurate and simple to operate."
(the above timeline derived from the GM Heritage Center)
The document offered here, dated June 1965, is part of the next phase (which extended through 1969) which was expected to cover manufacturing and testing of the real Apollo guidance systems. The document (from Kollsman Instrument Corporation to AC Electronics*) is a detailed 3-month progress report. On display is the amount of intense cross-company planning and coordination necessary for major contractors to work together. Delivery schedules (everything from test fixtures to Optics Cleaner Kits, LEM trainer simulators, MSC Lunar Trainer, LEM GSE cleaner kits). An Apollo Optical Subsystem program summary with work delivery schedules (both high level and subsystems), major engineering investigations, etc. A major section covers Design Evaluation with similar detail. Then Production Status, starting with an airborne critical shortage list. Everything necessary for AC Electronics to measure the progress of one of its major subcontractors. *[AC Spark Plug became AC Electronics earlier in 1965]
At:
www.kuenzigbooks.com/pages/books/26705/kollsman-instrumen...
"Once you have been struck by the pointlessness of letting yourself be forever influenced and conditioned by your habitual tendencies, you will become sick of it. Once you know that it is sheer delusion to be preoccupied by thoughts of the future, and to lose your mindfulness and vigilance in the present moment, you will weary of it."
- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Pointless vandalism that we all end up paying for.
Posted for theme #94. "Something You Don't Like" in "112 pictures in 2012".
#50640
I'm in the town where my parents settled and where I graduated from high school, where I met my wife, and where my mother is buried. My father moved away a few years ago. My in-laws still live here, so we are here for Christmas.
My father asked me to bring a candle to my mother's grave while I was there. So I drove over to the graveyard where she is buried and replaced the candle that had burned out long enough ago that there was a bee's nest in the cover (luckily for me it was winter and there were no bees).
I have told Kandie (my wife), as well as my kids, that I do not want my body buried. I want my body cremated, after any organs that can be harvested have been taken. I do not want my body embalmed or any of that other horrifying stuff that people do to try to extend the process of passing. If Kandie passes before me, I will change my will to have my body passed on for medical research.
Graveyards are pointless. They are selfish indulgences. As I stood there, alone, on the day after Christmas and looked around at the carved blocks of granite, all I could think was, 50 years from now, will anyone, ANYONE, care about the people who are buried here? The answer is, maybe a few. But for the most part, no. No one will care. And in a hundred years, there my be one person still remembered enough that people will actually want to visit that person's grave. But that's pushing it. Probably there won't even be one person.
I loved my mother. She was driven and generous and flawed. She was human, in other words. But the things I want to remember her for have nothing to do with the block of granite that sits in this field of other blocks of granite with strangers' names on them and their bodies in boxes under the earth.
If I want to remember my mother, it will not be here. She was a woman whose existence was characterized by striving, not by sitting still. I was much closer to her when I visited the college she attended a few months ago, than when I lit the candle today over the place where her body was laid to rest. My mother was not her body; my mother was her soul - her driven, striving, giving, imperfect soul. Her body was a fact about her, but not the most important fact. The place where it rests is not where she achieved the things that make me remember her. It is not the place that brings forth her triumphs or greatness. It is just a parking lot for the vehicle that carried who she was.
If I want to remember my mother, it would be at her college where she earned her bachelor's degree when most young women still did not go to college. It would be in one of the many houses we lived in where she made a home for us, despite the fact that we were poor. It would be at the church where she committed herself wholly to service. It will not be this graveyard where we put her body after her soul passed on. This place is not where she is, nor does it represent what I remember about her.
When I pass on and leave this meat vehicle behind, I don't want it buried; I don't want a rock with my name carved on it to burden the future. I don't want random people from the future to walk by my name and ignore it. Sooner or later, all that will be left are words that make up my name, carved on a piece of rock. That is not any sort of immortality I crave. If anyone remembers me, I don't want them to do it by coming to a graveyard.
Like anyone, I don't want to be forgotten.
I want to know my life had meaning. And the only real meaning is in the impact we have had on the sea of others around us. Rocks in fields with rotting bodies beneath them are not any meaningful way of being remembered - they only represent a burden on the present. I do not want my memory to be a burden. And so I have asked my wife to have my body cremated if I pass before her. If she passes before me, I will have my body passed on to a medical school. It is only a piece of meat. If that is the most I have to leave behind, then I don't want to be remembered at all.
Lovely big juicy olives, that's not in question. What is noteworthy is the discount. I make it about 0.65%, give or take 1pence.
Has there ever been a more pointless deal in the history of food retailing?
Criminal masterminds behind this useless offer?
Tesco of course (Corstorphine Edinburgh). Every little pointless offer helps.
Where to get the latest action figures and collectibles? Big Bad Toy Store!
Click Here: www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/default.aspx?utm_source=youtu...
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Pointless shallow DOF shot. Cakes by her, splodgy pink icing by him.
Any that is jelly in the background, not soup.
Pointless uploading because I'm bored and I need to remind myself to take pictures regularly again (even though I took some yesterday, but I won't be uploading any of them before Sunday).
And oh my gosh, I'll be able to send out my uni applications soon and it just feels so good and I can finally see a future and I'm quite positive I'll start studying architecture in October. I swear I haven't been so relieved in months.
(From the same day as this.)
Amrtak's California Zephyr changes crews in Ottumwa, IA, out of the ex-Burlington depot there. This old Pointless Arrow logo can be found on the building's south side, and Lord only knows how long this logo has been on display there.
.... just walk around it!
A shortened walk on another grey murky day where the mud was sticky and slippery making it very tiring on the legs - gave up once I reached Naphill and caught the bus back, coz being an old codger I get free travel.
Walkabout 2025 album ... flic.kr/s/aHBqjBXsk2
"We are not babies now, it’s time to follow our parents."
Medo sem sentido
"Agora nós não somos bebês, é hora de seguir nossos pais."
Happy Feathery Friday!!!
Now today's pointless trip to attempt to get the Collegiate school coaches before lockdown strikes. I found out i was stood at the wrong place and should've walked 2 minutes down the road. I'll probably be back next year, hopefully the school bus rota (if there is one) will get "jazzed" up so maybe some more unusual coaches turn up. I also saw the Ellie Rose Plaxton Excalibur! Ah, oh well, i'll be back after lockdown.
This is the only coach i got a photo of today and i'd rather have this then some coach i've already got twice. At least i'm in Anlaby for once, at least. I remember seeing loads of these NX panthers/elites a few years ago- what happened to them? They just vanished all of a sudden. Maybe they got slightly newer levantes? I wonder.
Seen approaching Hull Collegiate to pick up students to take them home on lockdown eve is SA11OBV, a 2011 Volvo B13R Plaxton Panther new to Parks of Hamilton which got sold in 2017 and has been a school bus ever since? I recall seeing this on RR a lot.