The Random thought thread

[Jerry_Atrick]

I don't get the furore around the new uk passport rule. Australia has had the same rule for years

[willedoo]

When I was there in 1985 I had a UK grandparent visa (grandfather on my mother's side). I was too old for the young people's working holiday visa so the grandparent visa allowed me to stay as long as I wanted. The visa said it didn't give you the right to reside permanently in the UK, but it had no end date or restriction.

[red750]

Came across this online the other day. Designed for seniors, disabled, obese or pregnant, they are designed to extend your reach, Although they look pretty much the same, there are a number of models at a range of prices, from $15 to $50. There are lengths from 15.7 in to 23 in. I fit in a couple of the above categories (no, not the last one) so I thought I'd give it a try. Ordered from Amazon, but there are a number of other health care retailers who have advertised them.

 

Bum wiper.

 

 

 

[willedoo]

I remember years ago making something similar for a mate who had two broken arms. He never got to use it as his then girlfriend was a nurse and took on the bum wiping duties.

[facthunter]

The French have Bidets  I do too. One only, Hot and cold water. Dunnys are a bit risky . Too hard to clean them properly.  Nev

[willedoo]

I saw a good old Gardner 6LX on marketplace for $4,000. I love those old Gardners and used to like listening to them cruising at low revs out from the Mooloolaba port when I worked on a boat there for a year. Our little trawler has a noisy 2 stroke GM 671, but the Gardners had a beautiful sound.

[onetrack]

The Gardners are the Rolls Royce of truck engines. Built by craftsmen who initialled the components they made. No-one scraps a Gardner if they have any nous.

Rolls Royce made diesel engines for trucks and industrial use, too, but the Gardners were a better engine.

[willedoo]

It was a 1978 vintage. Probably long sold as the listing started 35 weeks ago. Some people forget to take the ad down when they sell.

[Litespeed]

I love 💕 gargner engines in big boats.

[ClintonB]

My mother is English, but was born in Kenya, she first set foot on British soil at age 4.

Both my grandparents on her side too. Would that make me entitled to apply.

 

[facthunter]

I don't know, but then you would have to go "out in the Mid-day sun" with the Mad Dog's. and be a POM. Nev

[onetrack]

5 hours ago, ClintonB said:

My mother is English, but was born in Kenya, she first set foot on British soil at age 4.

Both my grandparents on her side too. Would that make me entitled to apply.

 

I'd have to say Yes. Kenya was a British colony until Dec 12 1963, when it gained independence. Google tells me this much (but it's still subject to variables) ....

 

Birthright Status (1949–1963): Anyone born in the colony between Jan 1, 1949, and Dec 11, 1963, was generally a Citizen of the UK & Colonies (CUKC).

Independence Act 1963: On Dec 12, 1963, most people acquired Kenyan citizenship, and automatically lost their CUKC status.

The Exceptions: People were allowed to retain British status (becoming British Overseas Citizens or, in some cases, full British Citizens) if they, their father, or their paternal grandfather was born in the United Kingdom or a place that remained a colony.

Disparity in Citizenship: This, in practice, favoured white settlers with direct, recent connections to Britain, while many Asian and Black Kenyan residents found themselves in a precarious position regarding their right to reside in Britain or Kenya.

 

SWMBO initially married a bloke in the late 1960's, who was Kenyan born - of mixed descent. His father was British and Anglo-Saxon. But his mother was born in Nairobi, of Dutch-Lebanese/African parentage, and her parents came from the Seychelles.

But SWMBO's daughter (my stepdaughter) found she was entitled to a British passport, because her dad, and both his parents, came to Australia in the early 1950's, on British passports.

[willedoo]

Cut my finger on a guitar string for the first time ever. The new technique wasn't such a success after all.

[facthunter]

Not Cutting Edge technology either. How do you cut your Finger on a Guitar string?  You must be an old softie like me. Nev

[old man emu]

I thought Willie Nelson cut his teeth on a $5 secondhand guitar.

[willedoo]

59 minutes ago, facthunter said:

Not Cutting Edge technology either. How do you cut your Finger on a Guitar string?  You must be an old softie like me. Nev

Soft fingetips due to not enough practice + over ambitious sliding on the B string. It would make a good garrotte. 

[willedoo]

Also the older you get, the less body there seems to be in the fingertips. I think that saggy fingertip effect make them more prone to an injury like that.

[willedoo]

I wonder if old keyboard players have a similar issue with scrawny fingertips. 

[randomx]

Well, that explains it. Picked up a guitar at my brothers the other day. Use to play a lot way back but l could still pick one up anytime yrs between and the finger tips were ok. Last time on his though, hurt like hell after 5mins.

[willedoo]

29 minutes ago, willedoo said:

1 hour ago, facthunter said:

Not Cutting Edge technology either. How do you cut your Finger on a Guitar string?  You must be an old softie like me. Nev

Soft fingetips due to not enough practice + over ambitious sliding on the B string. It would make a good garrotte. 

Forgot to mention another contributing factor, electric guitar with light gauge strings. I hadn't played it for a fair while and forgot how sharp those strings could be. One of those irritating bloodless cuts like a paper cut, just enough to sting when you put pressure on it, like clicking the mouse button and stuff like that.