Letter from Manila - Santol - of course!

[Sweetpea]

So the Rangie is part imperial then? Blimey, that's very retro. Only the British would do something like that.

I've still got imperial spanners and sockets but I haven't used them in years. The sockets are a Hex drive in a metal case that was me dads. (Like the grammar there?) And probably his dads before. Who remembers hex drive then?

[georgeb]

Oct 10, 2015 9:07:15 GMT Sweetpea said:

So the Rangie is part imperial then? Blimey, that's very retro. Only the British would do something like that.

I've still got imperial spanners and sockets but I haven't used them in years. The sockets are a Hex drive in a metal case that was me dads. (Like the grammar there?) And probably his dads before. Who remembers hex drive then?

For a start, the propshaft bolts are 9/16". I'd got the correct LR tool when I ordered the UJs, but had to use a 14mm on the other side. Did the job but I do like to use the correct size when I can. And now I have them!

My old Britool set came from a mate after his father, who'd owned it for years, died. He knew I am a bit of a spanner freak so gave it to me. It's top quality, lovely to use and probably 40-50 years old.

Out of the stuff I just bought, this is my favourite...



A baby Proto in handy 15/64" flavour. I've got two, so I'm going to JB Weld a nut to one end and stick it on my keyring

[georgeb]

Of course I won't buy a nut because one reason they don't sell Imperial spanners is due to the fact that they only sell metric nuts! Stupid boy.

May have to get creative with a couple of little centivo coins what have a handy little hole in the middle. There's 630 of them to the pound, so not a bank breaker if I don't like the result.

[logicaluk]

Hold up on that thort George they might not sell wired imerial nuts but they do sell M3 nuts which are 5.5 mm lesss than 0.5mm smaller than 15/64 and would provide room for your adhesive of choice. And a nut would look so much cooler too.
Dan

[georgeb]

Oct 11, 2015 8:51:49 GMT logicaluk said:

Hold up on that thort George they might not sell wired imerial nuts but they do sell M3 nuts which are 5.5 mm lesss than 0.5mm smaller than 15/64 and would provide room for your adhesive of choice. And a nut would look so much cooler too.
Dan

Aye, you are correct and in many travels throughout the land today, I've managed to find a couple of them. One is too thin, so two, stuck together, filed down and polished should do the job. Possibly

Could do with Seth really, given that I'm more of a hammer guy

[logicaluk]

Sounds like a plan to me
Dan

[georgeb]

Good morning. It's 03:50 here in the Republic of the Philippines and I'd like, if I may, to introduce Typhoon Lando, who's kindly popped in to see us this morning.



Originally a Category 3 typhoon, the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Centre very generously upgraded him/her/it to a Cat 4 Super Typhoon last night along with hints that the little tinker may even hit the dizzy heights of Cat 5 later. Bless it.

Most of Luzon (the main island) is under Storm warning 1, 2 or 3, ( www.gov.ph/crisis-response/the-philippine-public-storm-warning-signals/ ) with Manila at 1 currently, but this is expected to be upped as the day progresses and they are talking of 50" of rain in some areas, so I'd expect us to be at 3 later and we'll be looking to see how far up the lamp-posts the water comes today. 



At the moment, I've brought everything off the balcony as it's now getting a bit blowy, as you'd sort of expect, and I can already hear the tin roofs of the shantys banging around. We've taken all the usual precautions like ensuring the beer fridge is on high ground and there's plenty of ciggies in stock. The girls and Madam are in Tondo at the moment and we'll make a decision as to whether it's okay to bring them over later on. It's not really a problem if we can't as they are safe enough there and it's highly likely that school will be 'Walang Pasok' tomorrow anyway. I bought a little genny for the house as well a few months back, so at least they'll have lights, etc. Providing anyone actually remembers it needs fuel to operate 

Got to give the government their due, typhoon management is the one thing they are really good at, they get lots of practice mind,  and evacuations are underway on the east coast. Fortunately, after Yolanda a couple of years ago, people are far more likely to co-operate now, which must make things a tad easier. 

So there we go. Let's see how the day pans out.

[bstardchild]

Finger crossed - but you get a lot of these every year don't you?

[georgeb]

Oct 17, 2015 19:55:06 GMT bstardchild said:

Finger crossed - but you get a lot of these every year don't you?

Only around 20 a year!

To be fair, Manila doesn't often get battered and it tends to be the southern islands that bear the brunt. But every now and again...

Interestingly, I was just on a weather website and this satellite pic was showing



Lando being closely followed by his yet unnamed mate!

[georgeb]

Manila now upped to Signal 2. Signal 4 on the east coast.

175kph gusting to 210kph. Hmm, a little windy then?

Lando's mate has been named as Typhoon Champi, but is expected to turn north before it gets to us. That's okay then.

[Sweetpea]

They are like buses then, several turn up at once.
Anyway, good luck mate.

[eternaloptimist]

All OK?

[georgeb]

Oct 17, 2015 22:23:43 GMT Sweetpea said:

They are like buses then, several turn up at once.
Anyway, good luck mate.

Cheers James.

Oct 18, 2015 6:24:58 GMT eternaloptimist said:

All OK?

So far so good, thanks.

A bit murky, reminds me of home,   'cept it's warmer...



but I'm fairly sure that coal barge shouldn't be there



I'll try and get out for some better pics of that later.

Blowing fairly hard but no real rain to speak of yet, although they keep threatening. The family on the way back from Tondo now, so at least we'll be all together again. Walang Pasok tomorrow so, inevitably, the girls want to go shopping, weather notwithstanding. Hopefully it'll be waist deep by then  

Just been on the balcony and noticed the waves are now coming over the sea wall. Because the bay is deep, you don't normally see the waves break, so it looks quite benign. But now they are coming over the defences. Last time this happened with Yolanda, there were 6-7' floods,but I don't see this being anything like as bad.

However, because the storm has slowed down, we're being told we could have this until Tuesday/Wednesday, so still time for fun and games.

It IS more fun in the Philippines.

[SmokeEm]

According to the news over here George, it's only moving at 5mph!

How far is Tondo from Manila?

[colnerov]

When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.

[Earth Rocker]

EVERYTHING OKAY....

[colnerov]

I think he might have been blown away, or the phone lines have at the very least.

[marinanut]

Just seen it on the news..... water everywhere, BBC correspondant horizontal to the wind, Jeepneys, tuc-tucs and mopeds still blundering around, trees, houses and stray dogs flying. Looks fun.....

[luckyseven]

Best wishes, George. Hope you and the family are safe

[georgeb]

Oct 18, 2015 9:20:04 GMT SmokeEm said:

According to the news over here George, it's only moving at 5mph!

Yes. it's slowed down quite a lot. It also seems to be losing a bit of strength, but then I suppose when you start with packing 175kph winds, you can afford to!

It also seems to be tracking north now and taking its little mate with it. Avoid Taiwan for a day or two!

Oct 18, 2015 9:20:04 GMT SmokeEm said:

How far is Tondo from Manila?

It's a district of Manila and about 5 klicks from here, straight up Roxas Boulevard and across the mighty Pasig River.

Oct 18, 2015 9:26:13 GMT colnerov said:

When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.

This made me laugh!

Yes, mayhem, death, wholesale destruction and a little light retailing  . Philippine style.

Oct 18, 2015 15:03:52 GMT Earth Rocker said:

EVERYTHING OKAY....

So far, so good...Thanks

Oct 18, 2015 15:31:41 GMT colnerov said:

I think he might have been blown away, or the phone lines have at the very least.

Nope, still very firmly grounded. Or at least as grounded as you can be in a 16th floor apartment Lost power last night after a nearby lightning strike, but the genny downstairs picked up the load. Internet stayed up.

Oct 18, 2015 19:11:59 GMT marinanut said:

Just seen it on the news..... water everywhere, BBC correspondant horizontal to the wind, Jeepneys, tuc-tucs and mopeds still blundering around, trees, houses and stray dogs flying. Looks fun.....

It takes more than a mere Super Typhoon to stop the Jeepneys running!

Oct 18, 2015 19:41:39 GMT luckyseven said:

Best wishes, George. Hope you and the family are safe

Thanks buddy. All here safe and sound.

All in all, it looks like Manila got lucky again with Lando heading north after landfall, rather than west. Also the Sierra Madre mountains between us and the Pacific can take a lot of the sting out of these (to the detriment of those living there!) and it looks like this has happened again, with the city avoiding the worst.

Still a bit blowy with light rain, but definitely easing now.