Random Thread

[tbm3fan]

They are already cashing in on this subject
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv9DGzDt7_k

I'll mention it to my wife who likes horror films. As for me I have no desire to see it.

[Monash]

I'll mention it to my wife who likes horror films. As for me I have no desire to see it.

They made a more believable movie (going by the clip above) based on this theme back in the early 90s with John Goodman in it. I think it was called Arachnophobia. Everything comes around again I guess.

[Versus]

I'll mention it to my wife who likes horror films. As for me I have no desire to see it.

I got bitten by something large this morning. I could feel it on my arm as I tried to shake it off, it's "teeth" got stuck in my skin and it was hanging off my arm when I woke up. Now I have to search for it, hoping that it was a "dry" bite, my skin doesn't react well to this type of munching. Ahh, early morning monster hunt...

[tbm3fan]

I got bitten by something large this morning. I could feel it on my arm as I tried to shake it off, it's "teeth" got stuck in my skin and it was hanging off my arm when I woke up. Now I have to search for it, hoping that it was a "dry" bite, my skin doesn't react well to this type of munching. Ahh, early morning monster hunt...

Your wife sounds aggressive or at least very frisky...

[Versus]

Your wife sounds aggressive or at least very frisky...

There is no swelling or redness so I am guessing that it was a dry bite, but it still hurts. Weight kind of matches a wolf spider and those suckers are large, most likely it went trough the gap in the window sealing last night. Its warm and they are searching places to raise their young.

[Albany Rifles]

From Twitter

Our Antipodean members should enjoy this!


Jayson Geroux

Subscribe
@JaysonGeroux
Apr 10 • 16 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X Bookmark Save as PDF

1/16
Medium

Good for a chuckle (if you're a Colonial).

A bit lengthy but a story that occurred 10 April 1941 (83 years ago today) during the Battle of Tobruk, North Africa in the Second World War (1939-1945).

Context: Australian soldiers are digging trenches.

2/16
"So it was late on the afternoon of 10 April, the 2/24th's second day in Tobruk, an extremely pukka British Artillery officer, a Captain, turned up on the front lines with his batman in tow, looking every inch the part of a great military commander surveying the...

3/16
...forward defences. Thanks, no doubt, to the midnight labours of the batman, the shorts of the captain had a crease in them, the shirt was spotless, the boots were highly polished and the Sam Browne belt positively gleamed.

4/16
To complete the look right down to the last 't,' the Brit had a map case slapping against one thigh while against the opposing hip rested his service revolver, attached to a lanyard around his neck. (Seriously, he would have done an Italian officer proud.)

5/16
Which was fine for him but clearly, to his dismay, none of the Australians gave a flying f*ck. As Australians under Australian command, it was neither here nor there to them that a British officer had turned up. They had a serious job to do and were getting on with it.

6/16
Finally, however, the British chappie could bear it no longer and, stopping right in front of one Digger (Australian soldier) who was going flat out and completely ignoring him, rather theatrically cleared his throat.

7/16
When the Digger looked up, the captain spoke and, in the yarn that would go right through the battalion over the next few days – and even be recalled decades later – their interaction proceeded along the following lines...

8/16
Pommy Captain, in the very plummy English school voice of one who had always known he was just born to rule: 'I've heard you Orstralians are a most undisciplined lot, but surely you know enough to salute an officer?'

9/16
Whereupon the Digger straightens up, leans nonchalantly on his shovel and coolly surveys the Pom. Then, without a word, he turns his back to him, picks up his shirt, puts it on, does up the buttons, tucks his shirt into his shorts and turns back to the...

10/16
...Captain, showing for the first time his epaulettes – which signify that, instead of a mere nameless Digger, the man in question is actually a MAJOR.

11/16
The colour drains from the Englishman's face, before it all comes rushing back in a blush...and then drains again. To this point it has been simply inconceivable that one who carried so high a rank would be found doing something so lowly as digging.

12/16
But now the Australian speaks:
'As you can see, Captain, I am a Major. What is more, I am the Commanding Officer of these men, and let me tell you they don't even salute me, never mind about you. Now, as I outrank you, stand to attention and salute.'

13/16
The British Captain, blushing once more, immediately snaps off a very smart salute, whereupon the Major dismisses him with a very curt 'Piss off.'

14/16
Which the Captain promptly does, trailed by the batman who, throughout, had stood like an Easter Island statue with only his ears flapping, not knowing whether to laugh or cry – or wet his pants as a compromise.

15/16
The one thing that was certain was that he had never heard anything like it. The way these Australians did things was so different from the British way that it was sometimes bloomin' incomprehensible.

16/16
The Major? He took his shirt off again and went back to digging the trenches with his men."

- From "Tobruk," by Peter Fitzsimons.

[DOR]

Natural Gas (not propane) BBQing

I'm looking for recommendations for natural gas bar-b-que set-ups.
Stand-alone, not built in, up to US$1,000.

The reviews pan Weber as easily corroded, and some of the others on Amazon (Lowe's, Home Depot) have a no-return policy for some reason.

[kato]

One of our local THW disaster-relief platoons just proudly announced on Facebook that they got one of their trailers replaced with a new one last week.

The old one was East-German NVA military issue with 4.5 tons payload from 1976, booked to a ToE position for a "Trailer, Canvas Top, 7-ton payload".

The trailer they got to replace it is a new build swap-body carrier with 12 tons payload (one swap-body included) that can also carry 20-foot containers instead. Current standard issue that's being rolled out.

I'm fairly sure they just book the old trailer to a different position for one that their ToE is missing now.

PS : It's by far not the last piece of ex-NVA equipment in the local regional THW batallion.

[Albany Rifles]

IN the US Army we call a piece of older equipment which is on hand for a newer authorized piece of equipment. We call that "in lieu of". Over the years I has seen some real pieces of crap as substitute items. Saw 40 year old M813 substituted for brand new M913 series 5 ton trucks. They were rolling junk. Same with 23 year old M113s substituting for M2 Bradleys. Usually you are trying to get new equipment from the manufacturer and it just depends where you end up on the fielding schedule.

But glad this unit got more combat capability.

[kato]

The THW units around here actually "collect" some older equipment because they consider it better for their tasks. The current thing everyone wants to have are ex-Bundeswehr Unimog 2-ton trucks from the early 80s, mostly because they're far better than current vehicles for rough terrain (fording etc).

The real crap in their ToE in my opinion are light boats - which every platoon is supposed to have in the current ToE. You never see those boats presented in any way because they're probably ashamed of them themselves. If they have one in servicable condition it'll usually be some early 1960s ex-Bundeswehr or 1980s ex-NVA assault boat. RHIBs from the same sources if they're unlucky. And if they have a motor for it it'd be a donation.

For comparison, THW basically does the jobs in domestic disaster relief that the national guard - especially engineer units - and to some extent FEMA would be called up for in the USA.

[Albany Rifles]

Those Unimogs were the real deal. The US bought a bunch for our engineer units in Germany in the early 1980s. Also in the early 90s for the engineer battalions in all of our light divisions

[kato]

THW as an organization got a bunch of the old trucks from around 1980 from the Bundeswehr when they were surplused there. Mostly 2-ton Unimogs, 5-ton MB 1017 and 7-ton MAN KAT I 6x6 trucks, several thousand in total. A lot of those came from rocket artillery bataillons and Hawk batteries dissolved in the late 90s.

In the last five years or so these have been getting replaced by new trucks. Local THW chapters have the option of keeping the Unimogs as additional equipment though as long as they can cover the maintenance themselves (through donations mostly).