The A2A Simulations Community

This is a place where you folk can tell personal stories, non-related to the Battle of Britain simulation.

Also, a place that you can confess your sins, and tell of your trials and tribulations,
amongst sympathetic brothers. We all love good true story.

Or vent out pent up religious and political rants. One day it will be a Free World, where we all can speak our mind, without Suppression.
When Hell Freezes Over!

WARNUNG!
Currently only stickman and SeaVee are Moderators here with the public Battle of Britain II forum,
and we both, have not yet banned a poster, or even deleted another folk's post.
Goes to show you that BoBII only attracts Mature Gentlemen.
SeaVee is a right wing Conservative USA Republican, while stickman is a left wing Liberal USA Democrat.
We throw rocks at each other, but.. at the end of the day.. we know we have to live with each other.

What will not be tolerated are Personal Attacks against fellow posters.
As with any thing, if you use too much to be an abuser, then it will be a killer unto thee.

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"Toto! I don't think we are in Kansas anymore!" Dorothy, OZ
"sniff.. sniff.. Snort! ARF! GGRRRR! ARF! (Tod der stinkenden republikanischen Partei, diesem ignoranten religiösen Monstrum.)" Toto

I'll start out with one my favorite personal Sea Stories.

LOW LEVEL B52 BUZZ

In the military, you find all sorts of folks, good and bad, and with my rebellious nature, I tended to flock with the renegades.
The 1970's US military was shattered in VietNam. Morale and discipline was worse than ever in history, even the Navy.
This present Oil War II (BushII War) is stretching the enlisted ranks to the breaking point too.
Some folks never read their recent history.

Anyway.. Here is another short sea story. The binoculars of the Elvgren lady above reminded me of this one.

1979. USS Proteus sub tender underway from home port in Guam to overhaul in Long Beach Naval Ship Yard, stopping at Pearl Harbor first.
Course - 080 degrees beeline to Pearl. We are the only ship in miles of empty sea.
Watch - First Dog Watch, me and Pete (Swedish last name that I forgot) about 1700 and I had the binos, Pete the sound powered phones.
We had the After lookout watch on the fantail. Setting sun directly aft.

Pete and I were sharing a 3/8" SwageLok elbo fitting packed with some goodly and potent flower tops, looking over our shoulders keeping a close watch for the
Master at Arms that liked to lurk about trying to brig some of us that follow not the regulations!
We finished the "pipe" and tossed the evidence fitting into the ship's wake.
I put the binos back up to my eyes while Pete's mouth went on about something.
Could not bino the setting sun, so I took them down for a brief glance into the orange orb.
A spot appears near the sun, I look away, glance back, and it's bigger.
"Pete, you see that?" I point >
"What?"
It is getting bigger
"There! Low! Directly aft!"
It is screaming, wings just over the water, bigger, BIGGER
SCCRRREEEEEE........WWWWHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!
A B52 buzzes our ass at about 200 feet over sea!
"Sheiss!"
"F-word!"
""Fantail! Bridge. Did you see that!? Why no report!?""
"What do I tell them? " Pete asks.
"Tell them he came out of the sun, and the radar operator should have seen it! Frigging Quartermasters!" I yelled.
"Bridge! Fantail. He came out of the sun."

B52 pilot from Guam's Anderson AirForce base having a bit of fun with an old 1941 squid submarine tender
in the peaceful days of the Cold War.

_________________
"Toto! I don't think we are in Kansas anymore!" Dorothy, OZ
"sniff.. sniff.. Snort! ARF! GGRRRR! ARF! (Tod der stinkenden republikanischen Partei, diesem ignoranten religiösen Monstrum.)" Toto

Hehe, nice story, reminds me of the general in Dr. Strangelove getting carried away talking about a 52 flying in low.

12 gauge Shotgun. My Weapon of Choice

Well, I never had to feed with a family with a shotgun and rifle,
and trapping furry creatures always seemed heinous to me.
Dad never gave me dog. "Dogs belong in the country where they can run free! Don't belong chained up in a town."
So we never hunted birds with a dog, as he considered that as "Blatant cheating! A good man can find birds without a dog's help."
He would drive slowly around on ridge tops, "Keep and eye out Jeff, dammit! Don't watch the trail."
Then he would stop and consider an area down in a draw that had some good, but usually sparse, sage brush cover.
"Dismount, we walk from here, back up to the top of the draw and walk down. You take the left side, I'll take the right ridge side."

Sneaking around, up, and down to them, 'til WWHHOOSHH!ffflluutterflutterflap..
BOOM!! clack...chick! BOOM!! clack...chick!
2 points with a 12 gauge pump action shotgun and two sharp tailed grouse down!
Pick one up and look for the other...
flutter...flutter.... Hhmm? this one is not dead yet. Good! Few bb's in the breast.
Put my boot on the poor creatures neck, pick his legs up and pull his head off.
Drain his blood off onto my already bloody boots, and bag her.
Your mates did not fly far, dear, and I shall shoot again today.

Back in the truck, I asked Dad " How did you know that they were in there?'
"I didn't, but it looks likely, and I had a feeling."

------------------------------------------------------------

Years later.... 1993, in northern Nevada, Independence Mountain, right next to the gold mine/mill I worked at.
It was dove hunting season. Never shot a dove before, but they are small
and flighty quick creatures, so I agreed to take some shots at them.
Hard to hit fast little birds. Good challenge.
Me and Jerry parked his truck. Loaded guns.

Jerry took one ridge, and I took another ridge to his left.
Safely out of shotgun range from each other,
because we surely do not want to do a Dick Cheney and blow your countryman away!
Me and Jerry Doerr were both born in Wyoming, Bighorn County.
Dikhed Cheney was born in Wyoming also, but (thankfully) not in
my birthplace, or I should truly be ashamed to be called a Wyomingite!

Silently sneaking up through the sweet smelling sage brush,
I see a small stand of Juniper trees at the ridge line up top,
and when within 50 yards, crouch down and approach slowly......
Near the ridge top and trees about 25 yards away, I stop. Wait..wait..
See nothing, but,
I gotta feeling.
So I stand up and raise the shotgun,
Flutter...Flutter...Flutter...Flutter...Flutter...Flutter...
6 Mourning Doves take off!
Two are flying directly away from my gun point.
BOOM!! clack chicK!
Another dove left of me,
BOOM!! clack chicK!
That one goes down, as did two with the first shot!!
The other three escaped.
I picked up the two in line dead kills, and searched for lefty.
Found lefty after a search, and picked him/her up.
I COULD FEEL LITTLE DOVE's HEART BEATING IN THE PALM OF MY HAND!
I jerked his/her head off.

That beating heart that I felt came into my soul.
Mine only religious experience.

Later, I ate the 3 tasty little dove breasts, and wondered
(did I make the third kill a widow or a widower?)
Sold my rifle and my beloved shotgun a month later.
Never killed a bird since. Although my pet cats do.
I really get pissed off trying ro sweep up feathers off the floor!

_________________
"Toto! I don't think we are in Kansas anymore!" Dorothy, OZ
"sniff.. sniff.. Snort! ARF! GGRRRR! ARF! (Tod der stinkenden republikanischen Partei, diesem ignoranten religiösen Monstrum.)" Toto

Myth? A black cat crossing your path is bad luck!

Well I got a black cat whom I see daily and pet often. She (Sissy) loves me above all other creatures on earth.
She never gave me any more Bad Luck than I consider my historically, and regularly, fair share.
Also have a brown Tabby, and a black & white "Sylvester" cat. All 3 cats are spayed females.
As well as the cats I have a little, old male dog of Jack Russel / Chihuahua breed.
This dog never barks at or attacks the Tabby or the Black&White cats. Friends and part of The Pack.
However, when he smells or spots my Black Cat, he launches like a rocket, growling and yapping, after her. Every time!
Black Cat retreats to her hidey-hell hole. Dog is small enough to pursue her into the hole,
but wisely is contented with her retreat, as he fears a shredded nose and values his eyeballs!

Question? Does Chaco the Dog know something that I do not?

_________________
"Toto! I don't think we are in Kansas anymore!" Dorothy, OZ
"sniff.. sniff.. Snort! ARF! GGRRRR! ARF! (Tod der stinkenden republikanischen Partei, diesem ignoranten religiösen Monstrum.)" Toto

Jeff, You would have fun in our house.At the moment we have 10 cats and 2 dogs.The 10 cats were not planned btw A young kitten we had got pregnant before she was spayed and had 5 more kittens,a Mum at 5 months old still a kitten herself.
Well the dogs know their place in the house ,cats rule and the scars on the noses prove it but if a cat runs in the garden it becomes a game of chase.
The neighbours have 3 dogs which we look after at times and they are scared of the cats, but it is quite normal to have the 5 dogs and 5 cats all curled up together on the settee.
The Hamsters the one at the moment who ought to watch his back as we also have 4 snakes,funnily enough the cats seem to ignore the Hamster,almost a case of if you live here regardless of what you are you're family.

Quite a menagerie Trumper!
We have a rescue greyhound which would make short work of smaller furry creatures given the opportunity. He has what the English refer to as a strong 'Chase Instinct' and the Americans call 'Prey Drive'.

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AMD PII X4 955 3.2GHz BE, 8G DDR2, ATI 4890, Vista64, 24" Iiyama 1920x1080, MS FF SW2.

Don't know what it is about Nantwich but we had the BBMF Mk PRXIX Spitfire, in its D-Day markings, over our house this afternoon, just a week after we saw the Dakota and Mk II (I think) Spit. That Griffin engine sounds very different to the Merlin - rough but very powerful.

_________________
Barry

ASUS P5N32-E-SLI; Core2 Extreme QX6850(3GHz, 1333MHz FSB); 2xNVIDIA 8800 Ultra 768MB SLI; 2GB RAM PC6400 DDR2/800; Vista SP2; DX10; TIR5; mod MSFF2; Saitek Pro Flight - Quadrant, Pedals & Headset; TFS2; VAC; Dell 30"(2560x1600@60 hz)

Trumper,



What do you use to feed them? I know they don't need fed very often. Bird eggs?

We Hawai'i folk don't like snakes. Guam was invaded by the Brown Tree Snake from Thailand
in the landing gear wells of B52 bombers during the Viet Nam war.
Nowadays there are no birds in Guam. But lots of snakes and toads.
Oh! the toads. In 1941 the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Guam. Not much food resources in Guam for their soldiers to eat,
so the IJA also brought in a Big Brown Toad (I know not the proper species name) probably also native to South East Asia,
to feed the troops with! uhhmm! UHHMM! Good! Where's my rice!?
I was stationed in Guam for 6 months (1978) aboard the USS Proteus, sub tender to Boomer Boats and Fast Attack boats.
These toads are as large as a man's hand (with the toad's rear legs folded underneath their belly)
and sailor can't walk down the road without stepping on these damn things!
Swivel my head, and see them hopping around right and left!

I have another story to about my Guam days, but this involves the humans behaving like reptiles and other cold blooded creatures.

Back to the Snakes:

1971, Malta Montana. I was in the younger Oshio boy's (I forgot his first name) bedroom, with some other friends.
Oshio was showing off his snake collection.
This was two baby Prairie Rattlesnakes coiled up and sleeping peacefully next to each other in a corner of his small Terrarium.
These were baby snakes, both about 6 inches long, and as big around the belly as a 14 year old girl's little finger.

In the other corner was a baby House Mouse, shivering and shaking violently in total sheer TERROR!!

"Jesus Christ! Oshio, how can you look at this every day?" I accused.
"Hell, mice are vermin. Somebody needs to kill them." he reminded me.
Well... killing a creature quickly and torturing a creature slowly, were two different things in My Book.
I'll never get that image out of my mind, and that is when I first understood the meaning of TERROR!

_________________
"Toto! I don't think we are in Kansas anymore!" Dorothy, OZ
"sniff.. sniff.. Snort! ARF! GGRRRR! ARF! (Tod der stinkenden republikanischen Partei, diesem ignoranten religiösen Monstrum.)" Toto

Speaking of Invasive Species..

Three weeks ago at the Oil refinery where I work,
cleaning and calibrating pH Analyzers at the Effluent area, where there are many open water ponds,
(we must make sure that our water waste is not too acidic or too caustic, or suffer heavy fines from The Dept. of Health!)
I was riding my bicycle down by the Final Effluent pond looking at all the water birds that live there.
We got Hawaiian Stilts, ?Coots and Layson Ducks. All Endangered Species.
"Native" Species long before the Hawai'ian humans from Tahiti got here.

I spotted one duck with a bright green head. All the Layson ducks are mottled brown, and I cannot tell the difference between the males and the females!
I stopped my bike, 10 feet away from him, and his Layson duck cousins, sitting next to the pond.
That's a Mallard Drake!
Oh! Boy! You are a lloonngggg way from home.
What wind blew you into town? That Felicia Hurricane?

I stood there, within spitting distance, and admired his brilliant plumage. Yeah! That's what a duck should look like.
Getting Home sick.
Oops! I think it is break time, so I pedaled off to the shop, so I could read the next Chapter of
D-Day With the Screaming Eagles by George E. Koskimaki

I have been looking later for that Mallard Drake, but he is gone.

_________________
"Toto! I don't think we are in Kansas anymore!" Dorothy, OZ
"sniff.. sniff.. Snort! ARF! GGRRRR! ARF! (Tod der stinkenden republikanischen Partei, diesem ignoranten religiösen Monstrum.)" Toto

No sense of proportion, Mallards - our pond is 6' x 3'; and now covered in Duck Weed, thanks to this pair.



And speaking of looks of terror reminds me of Christmas-time 1962; I'm 15 years old and along with my friend Bryan, the other electrical apprentice at the colliery, are in a pub on the mechanic's (elecricians, fitters, blacksmiths and joiners) night-out, being initiated into the mysteries of learning the limits of holding your beer. It goes something along the lines of:
"Here's another pint"
"No, really, I think I've had enough"
"Get it down, son, it'll do you good"
This repeats several times until, inevitably, you are in the toilets, trying desperately to not bring up that little hard ring along with everything else, and the same voice behind you is saying, "Get it up, son, it'll do you good"
Anyway, at some point in the evening, Bryan and myself, both not much taller than 5' 6", notice that there's a group of four local youths at the next table giving us the evils and obviously intent on doing us grievous mischief. Fortunately, this has also been noticed by Derek McIntosh, a fitter who works down the pit but who is 6' 8" tall and proportionately built; he unwinds from his chair and takes the few steps to the table where these lads are sitting, places his hand on the round pub-table, nearly covering it, leans forward and says very quietly, one word, "Behave". The look on those lad's faces must have been akin to the fear shown by that mouse. They left very shortly thereafter without bothering to finish their drinks.

_________________
Barry

ASUS P5N32-E-SLI; Core2 Extreme QX6850(3GHz, 1333MHz FSB); 2xNVIDIA 8800 Ultra 768MB SLI; 2GB RAM PC6400 DDR2/800; Vista SP2; DX10; TIR5; mod MSFF2; Saitek Pro Flight - Quadrant, Pedals & Headset; TFS2; VAC; Dell 30"(2560x1600@60 hz)

The snakes i have are corn snakes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_Snake ironically from America.
Regarding the feeding they eat mice and rats depending on the size of the snake.The mice/rats are bred and humanely killed and frozen which is how you buy them [about 50 pence to a £1 each].
You then thaw them out in hot water and feed to the snakes.
In the UK it is BANNED to feed live food thank god,not good for either snake ,mouse or human.The mice and rats can cause a snake alot of damage in it's fight for life.
The snakes i have are the Female and Male which have bred for the last 4 years and we have kept 2 of their siblings which have turned out to be also Male and Female.They are all very docile and absolutely trustworthy UNLESS you have handled a mouse and then the killer hunting instinct kicks in so watch fingers ,they hold on tight when they get you.
Their eyesight is poor ,they can see movement but use their tongues to scent and track.
They are very easy to look after,a bulb for warmth ,escape proof vivarium and they can get through the smallest gap ,fresh water and feed once a week /fortnight.

Baza,



Love that picture!
Ducks don't seem to need a fancy Wildlife Refuge to be happy. Was working on condensate pH and conductivity analyzers at the
Boiler Plant piping entry.
A 600# steam condensate fin fan cooler that has been leaking for ages was nearby, creating a 20 foot by 4 foot puddle
with plants growing in it. Was only 2 inches deep, but a pair of Layson Ducks were sitting in it, pleased as punch.
They were only 6 feet away from me doing my clean and calibrate routine. Kept an eye on me, but otherwise never made a move.
-- Duckys did not know what a wicked murderous fowler I was in my youth. Perhaps my Personal aura his improved? --

These Layson Ducks are no longer "migratory birds" and live around the Oil Refinery their entire life.
One of the few places on Oahu where they can find ponds of "fresh?" water, and not be disturbed!
Always a pleasure to see them, for this old Montana boy.



Electrical Apprentice, 1962, eh? We be mates, then.
Although in 1962 I was in 1st grade, village of Ranchester, Wyoming, telling my calico cat Mimi "Don't kill the Chickadee birds, kitty! I like their songs."

_________________
"Toto! I don't think we are in Kansas anymore!" Dorothy, OZ
"sniff.. sniff.. Snort! ARF! GGRRRR! ARF! (Tod der stinkenden republikanischen Partei, diesem ignoranten religiösen Monstrum.)" Toto

There is currently a big brouhaha about a US Congressman heckling the President during a Joint Session speech.
I do not see what the big deal is about this, hell..I use to heckle my teachers all time.
Which is one reason why my petitions to West Point and the US Naval Academy were shot down!

Jeez.. the rebel apolagized once. Get on with business of Reforming Our Broken Health Care System, for chrissakes!
House of Representatives have wasted three days trying to discipline a breach of parliamentary procedure. Stop kicking a dead horse!

US Americans have never been so divided into equal enemy camps, since Lincoln was elected President.
Just before the American Civil War. Why can't we all just get along?

I tend to shoot cannon balls at my UK cousins, but often I wish US Americans could behave as Ladies & Gentlemen,
like the British folk do.
Seems heckling is allowed, in good taste, and even encouraged, if done artly, in London's Parliamentary Houses.

Ronald Reagan and Maggie Thatcher were my enemies during the 1980's, but compared to the radical Conservatives of today,
I look back upon them with dear fondness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv5t6rC6 ... re=related

_________________
"Toto! I don't think we are in Kansas anymore!" Dorothy, OZ
"sniff.. sniff.. Snort! ARF! GGRRRR! ARF! (Tod der stinkenden republikanischen Partei, diesem ignoranten religiösen Monstrum.)" Toto

I'm very glad that Ronnie 'ray guns' is dead. And I hope that nasty nasty old bas*rd Thatcher is dead soon. Meanwhile I really hope she is suffering as much as possible.

P.

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Intel 64bit i5 2500, Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3, DDR3 16GB ram, Intel SSD 80GB, WD VelociRaptor 600, Seagate ST500, Gainward ATI Radeon HD4800, Sound Blaster XFi, 1000W PS, W7 Home Premium, Direct X 9.0C,
Saitek Cyborg EVO Force, Saitek Throttle, Saitek Pedals.