Saturday Sidmouth Surprise!
A reasonably regular visit for the fbbs is the White Horse Chippy and Caff in Sidmouth. But we are in the holiday season and parking is difficult or even unobtainable anywhere in the town. So they went by bus!
Yes, it was difficult to read in the bright sunlight - the print is too small for fbb. But a enlargement helps to explain all.
The 1145 route 899 operated by Axe Valley pulled in and gathered a good load of about a dozen persons. All went well into Beer ...
... round the estate dropping of a couple at Pecorama ...
... then continuing to Branscombe.
Nice pub - no shop.
It was on the road from Branscombe up to the main A3052 that a loud hissing emanated from the nearside back axle area. We had a puncture!
Much excitement was evident all round!
But the mighty wheels of Axe Valley were turning fast and it was decided that a changeover was impractical at that perilous narrow spot. So Finn drove gingerly up to the A3052, gingerly along the A3502 and gingerly down the side road to Weston Cross. Here there was room enough to effect the change of motor and passengers.
After a bearable 30 minutes of delay the replacement steed arrived.
The busted bus was driven (presumably gingerly) back to the depot whilst Finn guided us excellently, skilfully and affably to Sidmouth Triangle.
As you can see above, the replacement bus showed the correct blinds. Not only that, but the next stop screens inside the saloon were correctly programmed.
That's not at all bad for a replacement bus sent out on an emergency changeover!
The fbbs repaired to the he caff for lunch; enjoying a pensioners' special fission chips (Mrs) and steak and kidney pie (the chubby one).
So; many thanks to Axe Valley for dealing with things so quickly, and a special shout out to Finn who was calm and affable throughout. Definitely he deserves a whole bag of chocolate peanuts ...
... the highest accolade that fbb can award.
Bad Language!
Not blasphemy; fbb does not go in for that! But English is sometimes really crazy. How about this innocent headline?
And here is the sewer!
It makes for a very different reality TV show!
In fact, the headline comes from the Great British Sewing Bee TV show. But if we sow seeds, why can't we sow thread? The idea is the same, spreading seeds or stitches along a row. (Or should it be along a rew?) If we did sow thread, the daft spelling would not be daft any more.
Andrews Adapts
Regular readers will remember that, following the collapse pf Hulleys of Baslow, Andrews of Tideswell gained a fair chunk of Hulleys former routes on emergency tender from Derbyshire, Andrews also absorbed several of Hulleys vehicles, some of them still in GoCoach livery - but that is another story and a messy one!
These vehicles are beginning to be decked out is a bus version of Andrews current livery.
Yes, it is a smart "bus" version that maintains colours and style whilst simplifying the detail.
Well done, Andrew!
Remember Pik-a-Stiks?
fbb cannot remember the actual name of the game, but can remember playing it with sis!
The idea was that you take a handful of Stiks and release then so they fall haphazardly. Then you Pik them up (by hand?), scoring points for the different colours. Some of them have special attributes according to colour. You can Pik a Stik apart from the cluster or you can Flik a Stik across the room, thus endangering your opponent's eyesight or even your own!
If you move more than one Stik, your turn is ended and you opponent takes over.
The scores allocated to each Stik type are totalled and the highest score is the winner.
Such fun we had in our very unsophisticated teens - and not a screen in sight except the family telly!
Anyway, fbb has just received six Stiks via mail order; yes, a whole six!
They came well enveloped in bubble wrap ...
... and surrounded by a covering of orange plastic creating a giant squidgy saveloy!
 |
| Saveloy |
 |
| Parcel |
The package took ages to arrive via EBay because it came from ...
... China (Guangdong)! It was delivered to fbb mansions yesterday
If you read UP from the bottom of the above graphic you can follow the parcel's progress up to the day before delivery.
Surely someone in the UK could sell and post six Stiks without using Carbon Dioxide belching aeroplanes?
Back in his childhood, fbb would go with granny to Law's timber merchants on the Kettering Road Northampton ...
... where a wide range of wooden 'cross sections' was available on demand! As you can probably surmise from the 1974 date of the picture, and the sign on the building, Laws no longer exists.
But what are the Sticks for?
We shall see in due course.
More Internet Daftness
It is not just train crashes that are luridly headlined on the interwebnet with utterly fake pictures. Here are two from collections of plane disasters or near disasters.
Same boxes, same fire, same airfield, BUT ...
... two different planes.
Ludicrous!
Next Variety blog : Monday 18 Aug
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