[aeneas1]

This thread just keeps rolling along...I guess I'll join the fun.

1) I've gotten 8 speeding tickets.
2) I use to drive 145 mph formula cars at Laguna Seca.
3) I SCUBA dive monthly at Monterey/Carmel in water ranging 48 to 56 degrees.
4) Spent a week in Peru hiking 60 miles in 6 days at altitudes of 15,000+.

i say no on #3, but speaking of formula cars, stumbled across this site with some pretty sexy wallpapers....

https://www.hdcarwallpapers.com/2017_re ... apers.html

[CanuckRightWinger]

TOMSLICK LIE.....MY GUESS
I choose #1 for TomSlick as the lie....surely he has gotten more than 8 speeding tickets driving those fast cars of his.....

...speaking of cars.....particularly Swedish cars....
nobody here ever heard of SAAB?
Wanna hear a SAAB story??

CANUCK 3 TRUTHS & A LIE
My lie was #4....I was never in the Falklands War sailing in HMS Glamorgan....but I have a Brit acquaintance in Vancouver, Stephen, who was an Officer on the Glamorgan when she was struck by a shore-launched Argentine Exocet Missile in June 1982. More on that later....

12 SWEDISH CARS....ONLY 2 OF WHICH WERE VOLVOS
Regarding all the RFU incredulousness on how many cars one guy can own....clearly some local British Columbia history is required.

Back in the early 1970's a former social worker, Dave Barrett, became the first NDP Party leader (EXTREME Lefty) to be elected Premier of BC. Very early in his mandate, Barrett nationalized Car Insurance.....ie. He set up ICBC, the Insurance Corporation of BC, and basically chased all the Geico's, General's, Progressive Car Insurers, etc etc.....ALL the private sector Car Insurance Companies,
out of the Province.
Such was the monster Government bureaucracy that Barrett created, that subsequent non-socialist Provincial Governments could not undue what Barrett had wrought.

Differences in Car Insurance experience in BC:
In USA, some guy turns left in front of you suddenly and you hit him, your car insurance company fights his insurance company and you win because you had the Right-Of-Way, and he shudda waited to make his left turn after you passed him. ie. 100% of blame on him, his Insurance pays for your repairs (AND INJURIES) and your Insurance Premium is not raised, because YOU WERE THE BLAMELESS VICTIM.

In BC, ICBC represents BOTH parties, so they try to SPREAD THE BLAME ONTO BOTH DRIVERS SO THAT BOTH GUYS' INSURANCE PREMIUMS GO UP!!! So yeah, the guy turned left in front of you, BUT....

YOU WERE DRIVING TOO FAST TO BE ABLE STOP IN TIME.....OR...
YOU WERE NOT PAYING CLOSE ENOUGH ATTENTION (the ol' "Driving with Undue Care & Attention" charge).

This "spreading the accident blame" also helps lower the Pain&Suffering Injury Payouts by ICBC as well.

ICBC has a virtual monopoly on Car Insurance in BC, population 5.1 million. Ergo, ICBC takes in tons of money in premiums ($Billions), but because it is a bloated Gov't bureaucracy, they have been losing money for years. Their Directors get huge bonuses every year, and ICBC buys up Warehouses, Office Towers, etc etc as "LongTerm Investments".....but because "they keep losing money" our Car Insurance Premiums keep going up.....oh and they also totally screw-over the BC young drivers.
eg. My eldest daughter drives a 2003 VW Golf that I bought for her in February 2016 for $2500.00......we put a used transmission in 4 months ago for $1200.00 as the only repair other than oil, brakes and tires.
So.... 51 months of driving, for $3700.00 so far......or $72.55 CAD per month .....not bad when a Monthly Bus Pass costs $110.00 eh!

…...well, it's not quite that easy of a calculation......because the ICBC yearly Car Insurance Premium charged by our wonderful Gov't on that 2003 VW, with 240,000 Kms (150,000 miles) on the odometer is $2300.00 CAD per year!!!!
That's right, the owner of a 17 year old VW Golf, which is worth about $2000.00 on the local used car market, has to pay ICBC MORE THAN THE CAR IS WORTH AS A YEARLY CAR INSURANCE PREMIUM!!!!
…...and you guys wonder why I despise Socialism so much......and don't get me fucking started on the long waiting lists for "elective surgeries" that are the norm in our Canadian Health Care System that your Dems wax on about!! People DIE on those waiting lists!!!!

Back to how I have owned ten SAAB cars since 1984 to now.....part of the ICBC scam by the NDP apparatcheks was how all the private sector Insurance Brokers that still sell Home Insurance, Life Insurance, etc were roped in by the BC Government to be "ICBC Agents" as well. In fact, the Gov't greedily empowered ICBC to also issue Car Ownership (Pink Slips in USA IIRC) Certificates, as well as the Car Insurance. ie. they farmed out Car Registration/Ownership documentation from DMV to private sector Insurance Offices.

So....we never have to go to the DMV to get anything except our Driver's Licences renewed...…
that's right, the private sector Insurance Brokers have to issue to all British Columbians the following:
-Car Insurance
-Car Ownership Ownership/Registration Papers
-BC License Plates
-Collection of all Traffic Violation Fines (speeding, stop light/seat belt/cellphone/etc violations, etc etc
-Change Of Vehicle Ownership** (the only benefit IMO)

The only "benefit" from all this above socialism, is that when you buy a car privately from another individual, you do not have to go to DMV......you just go to any Insurance Office, with no appointment required, and they walk you thru the change of ownership paperwork, and collect the 12% Sales Tax for the Province (7%) and the Federal Gov't (5% GST). The previous owner takes his Licence Plates with him, and the new owner gets new plates for his new wheels.

MY MANY SAABS
This is how this Sales guy, who put$ tons of driving kilometers on his cars thru work, "stayed ahead of the depreciation curve" on my automobiles from the 1980s till now. I turned my cars over very quickly, and bought auto-makes like the obscure SAAB, which I could always buy cheap.....but could always find THAT GUY who wanted the quirky Swedish auto that I kept clean and tidy for work.

When I was younger (and more energetic), given the car deals available, I would turnover my car, sometimes within months...

…..after kids, into the mid 1990's, less often, every 2 to 5 years.
Also, I have never ever leased a car......and I never will.

In my best Paul Harvey.....

".....and NOW you know, THE REST OF THE STORY!!!"



EDIT: I forgot about HMS Glamorgan....
She was cruising very near the Falklands in South Atlantic winter, June 1982, helping to recapture the Falkland Islands from Argentina. At about 8 AM, a 17 year old OS Rating, manning an aft CHAFF position, saw a flash emit from shore.....fortunately he deployed the CHAFF and deflected the Exocet, fired from an Argentine mobile launcher, from hitting the Ops Room/Bridge and potentially killing the ship. The CHAFF confused the Exocet and the missile skewed into the helicopter hangar and Main Mess just aft of amidships and killed 13 of Glamorgan's company, starting a huge fire.

Glamorgan's Damage Control teams controlled and extinguished the fire. She put out to a submersible drydock that was safely offshore that was on loan to the Royal Navy from a North Sea oil contractor (probably requisitioned by UK Gov't IMO).....and after half a day of welding and repairs, HMS Glamorgan was made seaworthy and SHE WAS BACK ON STATION THAT NIGHT .....13 of her crew were buried at sea in the South Atlantic. Took a direct hit from an Exocet, buries 13 of her Company at sea......and is back on station that night!

My friend Stephen was a Sub-Lieutenant who had just come off watch at 0800 that day, just a few minutes before the Exocet hit Glamorgan. He had just laid in his bunk near the bow.....minutes later he was leading fellow crew members in the Damage Control efforts in the burning helicopter hangar.

See.....that's why I have no use for arguments trying to justify Captain Crozier's concern about a fooking flu bug on his Aircraft Carrier!

Do you think the other 8 US Aircraft Carrier Groups had no sailors in their Companies in their bunks suffering from corona-virus???? Of course they did.....just like every Army, Marine and USAF base commander had men in their command with corona-virus.

The difference is that the other Commanders did their jobs.....and didn't go outside the ChainOfCommand to whine about their sick-in-quarters subordinates. They did their jobs, like they were trained to do it....
....like the HMS Glamorgan Officers and Men did their jobs in 1982.

When you volunteer to lead men who may have to fight (and die) to defend the homeland.......
"flu" is NOT a reason to stand down.

[TomSlick]

i say no on #3, but speaking of formula cars, stumbled across this site with some pretty sexy wallpapers....

https://www.hdcarwallpapers.com/2017_re ... apers.html

01.jpg

Number 3 is true. You can dive year around in Monterey/Carmel. If anyone is interested in diving with a group, consisting of experts to beginners, please checkout the following website...
http://anywater.com/dive-monterey-carmel/

For people who have trouble finding dive buddies, Underwater Voyagers is a good deal. No shortage of dive buddies in these groups. All the diving is from the shore, though they will occasionally charter a dive boat for a few hours.

[TomSlick]

TOMSLICK LIE.....MY GUESS
I choose #1 for TomSlick as the lie....surely he has gotten more than 8 speeding tickets driving those fast cars of his.....

Our brother from the North is correct. However, I only have 1 speeding ticket. Of course, now that Canuck has mentioned it, perhaps that explains why I was passed by so many cars in my racing career.

For those who would like to fling their street car on a real racetrack, there are car clubs all across the country that will let you do just that. There is usually 4 groups...beginner to expert...they put you in a group and then move you up when they feel you are ready. There is no racing, just lap the track as fast as you want while other cars are on the track with you. Depending on your group, passing will be restricted to certain areas of the track to minimize carnage. No racing suit required, just a helmet.

I plan on using these guys...
https://www.hookedondriving.com/
...if I can ever figure out my random electrical problem on my '78 Porsche 930.
Oh, yeah, any car can be used, new to old, it just has to be reliable...mine is not.

[phoenixrising]

Nice work.

If #2 is “true,” you’re modest.

#2 is quite true. I thought I gave you guys a layup, since very few bird photographers run sub-4.4 forties.

You see, I like to take pictures of birds, but I know very little about them. Not even their names (I do know the ones I posted though!). I can't tell you their parts, the changing plumage, their migratory patterns, their calls...nothing. That's why I'm a half-assed bird photographer. I'm learning a little though.

Killer shot of the nesting osprey BTW.

[aeneas1]

Number 3 is true. You can dive year around in Monterey/Carmel. If anyone is interested in diving with a group, consisting of experts to beginners, please checkout the following website...

when i was a kid, 15 through 18, my friends and lived in the ocean, we were all very strong swimmers, and would spearfish often, back in those days i thought the coolest thing next to being the starting qb for the rams was be to live and work on the calypso with jaques and his crew, and to that end we all got certified when we were 16... i couldn't wait to start using tanks, i was so psyched, but once certified the novelty wore off quickly, tanks were such a hassle, a pain to lug around, constantly dicking around with the regulator, and worst of all they were so friggin' confining vs free diving with a mask, belt and fins.... anyway, i dove for a couple of years after that, and a few more times as an adult, in the caribbean and hawaii, but i never loved it, which was shocking to me.

[BobCarl]

You guys like to photograph birds?

I tried a few times ... and failed every time. I'm not patient enough and not skilled enough with a camera.

I'm studying phenolic development of grapevines and I'm out in a local vineyard taking photos with a macro lens a couple times a week.

Last Sunday a Red Headed Woodpecker lands on a post about 60 feet away ... I think about all of you great bird photographers... but.. shit ... a macro lens isn't going to do justice from my distance ... do I change the lens real fast or try to sneak closer? ... I chose to try to get closer ... didn't work. F*#%!

My fail makes me appreciate the difficulty and photographic skill it takes and I am beginning to understand the adrenaline rush.... I always thought a hunter shooting birds is a difficult skill, and taking photos of birds is easy and for pussies ... because of my fail last Sunday, I stand corrected.

[BobCarl]

Here's my list:

1. Amid numerous other cars, I have owned 12 Swedish-built autos so far, with only 2 being Volvos.
2. I was recruited (Football) to attend Royal Military College (Canada's West Point, USAFA, Annapolis).
3. Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (and great patriot) knows me by my first name.
4. As a Canadian Naval Officer (on exchange), I saw combat aboard HMS Glamorgan in the Falklands in June '82.

So now that you've confessed that #4 is a lie ... and you explained why you look 39 despite my Swedish auto logic that you might be 240 years old.

#3 is the most believable. Knowing a tiny-bit of what you do for a living, I have no doubt that the former PM and the current PM knows you by your first name. And I am also very sure that if the POTUS wants to talk to you (which is conceivable that he might), he will know your phone # and first name within 3 minutes or less.

I figured that your #2 is true, based on your passion and incredible memory for football history. I wanna hear stories (yes plural) about those experiences. Did you take them up on it? My sport was Baseball and I turned down every college that recruited me, I wanted to go to Arizona State or bust. Arizona State never called. LOL

[PARAM]

I tried a few times ... and failed every time. I'm not patient enough and not skilled enough with a camera.

That Osprey landed in a tree across the street from me and I waited over an hour for it to take off again. I wanted to get a shot of it's wingspan. I have audio somewhere of him....we think he was calling his mate.

Here's another cool bird. An egret. This thing was on the hood of my wife's car when I ran for my camera. We think he smelled the chicken she was cooking.

[PARAM]

Then there's also bird killers.