... But First Some Answers to Quiz Time Number 2
1. In the beach scene the obvious fault was the bucket ...
... but a close examination of the frame of the deck chair shows that is it wrongly erected with the cross piece not straight and thus not resting parallel with the ground!
2. Tiles and slates have to overlap to give, usually, three layers of material to keep out the wet in addition to overall roofing felt. To allow the rain to drain ...
... they should overlap starting from the bottom, not the top.
3. A watering can has a large lip to allow the user to pour the whole contents without spilling.
The lip should be on the same side as spout and rose.4. Neither is it a good idea to sleep in a tent that will instantly fall down!
Whilst poles and ridge are supported, the main structure is not!
5. Watch out for this one!
fbb hasn't worn a watch for decades but reference to te timepiece adorning Mrs fbb's beautiful but toil-worn wrist gave the old bloke the answer. There was nothing wrong with the numerals and nothing wrong with the juxtaposition of the hands. The winder is on the wrong side!
6. Again, easy to miss ...
... and thus not miss the missing pillar supporting the portico. But the car doesn't have a front registration plate either!
7. Unless the farmer is letting out a small room in the roof of the barn accessed by a rope ladder ...
... a chimney on a building where inflammable substances are stored seems ill-advised.
8. Trying to open a gate using the catch supplied ...
... but at the same end as the hinges, would seem to offer unlikely success.
9. Trying to screw in this screw ...
... without a slot for the blade of the screwdriver would mean your efforts were totally screwed! Using a crosshead blade would make you more than cross and do your head in!
10. The keystone (a k a capstone) of the arch ...
... would fall out as it has been installed upside down. Collapse of bridge and non stout party crossing over would be a jolly jape for bystanders!
Bonus : Another ridiculously obvious one ...
... where fbb failed to spot the Golden
Pig error.
Not far from fbb mansions, and on the outskirts of Honiton is a restaurant called simply "The Pig".
it is a bit too posh and far too expensive for the fbbs!
Something Odd In A Tunnel?
The Blackwall Tunnel under the Thames opened in 1897 and offers a road and a footpath, although the atmosphere is not entirely conducive to First Footing at any time! The tunnel was busy in 1953, as seen from the steps down to the footpath.
fbb has never walked via its atmospherically challenged and noisy path! But he has ridden through on a bus. It was, and still is, the 108.
When the Mersey Tunnel opened in 1934 ...
... some claimed it was the world's first undersea tunnel! Where the River Mersey turns into the Irish Sea is not clear, but the "largest" claim is equally dodgy.
Largest in diameter? Longest underwater?
fbb was taken through the bore when he was approx 5 and remembers his apoplectic excitement and his mother's palpable fear ot instant inundation. He also remembers his father being a bit of a bore about the bore and suspected that the old boy didn't actually know what he was talking about.
fbb has inherited a similar skill but taken it to dizzying heights!
The Art Deco style could be seen in the pay kiosk ...
... and those glorious street lamps, just a few that have been preserved from the original proliferation.
It is a bit more electronic these days!
In fact all the toll gates are at the southern end ...
... because they would have had to demolish quite a lot of Liverpool to fit them in at the northern portal!.
The northern approach tells you how much you will have to pay to escape ...
... so you have been warned. It also says NO BUSES and NO HGV'S. But buses certainly appear to come the other way.
The restrictions are for lane occupancy, not a total ban on such vehicles - fbb guesses.
But, as you near the Birkenhead (southern) end, you might espy this looming and capacious hole ...
... of which more tomorrow.
fbb Is Appealing
But it is not his Adonis-like handsome features or his ready wit or even his intellectual prowess that is the appeal.
He wants to know about this tie.
Here is a slightly fuzzy close-up of the shield.
The tie was a much loved possession of fbb's late chum John Simpson who died on Christmas Eve. John's widow, Glenys, and his sons would love to know what is special about it.
But as Manuel might say to Basil Fawlty, they opine "I know nothing" in an exaggerated Barcelona accent.
fbb wonders if any of his readers can identify the tie. If so, please e-mail as follows:-
fbb@xephos.com
Just in case you wondered, fbb has viewed about four million green ties with shields illustrated on line and it isn't one of them!
==================
"NOT the Advent Calendar", but ...
The
CHRIST -mas
Criss-muss
Confusion
Critique 30
Always Missing From the Christmas Story
But it should be there!
As well as Anna, the aged prophetess, this man was lurking in the Temple when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the ceremony of "Purification"
If that happened today, the police would be called!
Simeon's words, quoted from Old Testament Scripture, have become an integral part of the set service in, for example, the Anglican Church. It is called the "Nunc Dimittis" which means "Now You Can Go"!
Now, Lord, you have kept your promise,
and you may let your servant go in peace.
With my own eyes I have seen
your salvation,
which you have prepared
in the presence of all peoples:
A light to reveal your will to the Gentiles
and bring glory to your people Israel.
In itself this was quite shocking - the Jews thought of themselves as God's only chosen people and here is Simeon revealing that the Saviour was for the Gentiles, the non-Jews, as well.
But it is what he said to Mary that made everybody think.
This child is chosen by God for the
destruction and the salvation of many
in Israel.
He will be a sign from God
which many people will speak against
and so reveal their secret thoughts.
And sorrow, like a sharp sword,
will break your own heart.
The future doesn't look
pretty at all.
But then ...
On the third day ...
That is what Christmas is really about.
And in a while some blokes in silly hats will arrive to see the child and reinforce the idea.
=========================
Tunnel blog Part 2 : Tues 31st Dec
And on the theme of intentional mistakes, the Roofbox RTL shown on the 108 is/was very rare.
ReplyDeletePedestrians (and cyclists) were banned from using the Blackwall Tunnel in the 1960s, after the second bore was added and the roadway in the original bore was widened. Pedestrians and cyclists can still use the Rotherhithe Tunnel though, and occasionally do.
ReplyDeleteRoute 108 was converted to single-deck OMO (as it was then) in October 1968, as the refurbished nortbound tunnel had a lower height limit due to the roof profile over the widened carriageway. The route has morphed a bit since, being extended to Stratford in 1977 and diverted to Lewisham in 1986. Double-deckers do still appear on the 108 south of the tunnel, as TfL has specified late evening journeys between North Greenwich and Lewisham to help get crowds away from events at the O2 Arena - these buses and drivers then go on to Night Bus duties.