luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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Nov 16, 2015 21:40:01 GMT
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Did you used to get training on a unit with giant washing-up liquid squirters stuck out of the windows too?  High-tech it wasn't, but it was undeniably effective. Our computer-controlled units still pick up the wheels easy enough this time of year, the WSP isn't that clever... and the only time they let you manually lay sand is when you're clattering through points at 90mph. The traction algorithms are so numb you can wang the power wide open and the speedo will be showing thirty MPH on the front bogey while the train's actually completely stationary  The Simulator's not much better... I've managed to avoid it for a good few years but the last time they collared me to go on it the side "windows" in the "cab" had scenery passing by at markedly different speeds to each other and the "rest of the train" was a few MCBs in a broom-cupboard.  I reckon those crazy fun-loving Philippinos will be fine going old-skool when the worst you have to worry about is some bloke doing illicit taxi service with an old pump cart  |
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Last Edit: Nov 16, 2015 21:40:23 GMT by luckyseven: spelnilg an grammer
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Nov 16, 2015 22:49:15 GMT
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Interesting this topic should crop up. I was on an HS1 (high speed train) the other evening and it had flat wheels.
Didn't think it was possible to slide a train with regenerative breaking but somebody had managed it.
James
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Nov 17, 2015 21:40:52 GMT
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I think having seen the photos of the state of the track the single line with no passing loops will not cause congestion problems. Just wait for the rails to spread under a 1500-tonne freight and for it to fall off the track out of the way.  Oh ye of little faith! It's all going to be shiny and new. Well actually it's not. The DoT allocated PNR a chunk of money to upgrade 50-odd km of line and double track the end section. Unfortunately, instead of asking someone how much this may cost, they stuck a finger in the air and came up with a number. Just the wrong one. Sounds like they've been talking to the bunch of numpties I work for..... I bet you're glad to just have the Phillipinos to deal with.... Sounds like you’re having fun there. Now maybe you can start to understand why I debunked the UK a long time ago. and the only time they let you manually lay sand is when you're clattering through points at 90mph. The traction algorithms are so numb you can wang the power wide open and the speedo will be showing thirty MPH on the front bogey while the train's actually completely stationary The Simulator's not much better... I've managed to avoid it for a good few years but the last time they collared me to go on it the side "windows" in the "cab" had scenery passing by at markedly different speeds to each other and the "rest of the train" was a few MCBs in a broom-cupboard. I reckon those crazy fun-loving Philippinos will be fine going old-skool when the worst you have to worry about is some bloke doing illicit taxi service with an old pump cart At least we could drop sand manually although that did lead to other issues like disappearing trains and the little matter of 375 residual volts. Ask me how I know that one! Simulators are fine for what they do and that, to me, is giving trainees basic cab time, route knowledge and fault finding as in these days of fully worked minimum fleets that can be difficult to achieve. But no, they are not the be all and end all. There's nothing quite like the feeling of sliding happily through a station, and you just can't simulate that! Interesting this topic should crop up. I was on an HS1 (high speed train) the other evening and it had flat wheels. Didn't think it was possible to slide a train with regenerative breaking but somebody had managed it. James Get a good man, James, and they'll flat anything! Regen is no protection. That should come from the slip/slide system but as we’ve seen, not all are created equal. |
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Last Edit: Nov 20, 2015 0:05:38 GMT by georgeb
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Just to give another little taste of life in the Philippines... You'll remember a few weeks ago, my little sprinter had it away on his toes with my mobile and you'll also remember that Globe Telecom were unable to fry the SIM card. So, another phone was purchased along with a new SIM, clients informed, banks and other on-line outfits informed. Problem solved? Not a bit of it. Last Wednesday morning, I'd made a few calls and sent a couple of SMS, like you do, but by the afternoon I was unable to do so. My signal was showing but now it had a natty red line through it. The first port of call was live chat to Glenys of Globe. Glenys told me that she could see no reason for the disconnection on her system and agreed that there was plenty of credit on my prepaid account. As an aside, I can own a car, an apartment, run a business and have a bank account here in the Philippines, but getting a postpaid mobile account has, so far, eluded me completely. Anyway, the pointless chat was winding down with her telling me that she had sent my number away for 'checking' and the pic below is a screen grab of the transcript showing the end of the chat ('po' means Sir):  So there you are, situation completely unresolved and sarcasm missed but, "have a great day po! ^_^ Kiss :*". Bet you don't get that in the UK? Thursday morning I girded my loins to hit up the Globe shop down Robinson's Place. I just knew it wasn't going to be easy.  Upon arrival, I was grabbed by a spotty youth to whom I explained my problem. To him, my problem was obvious; I was a White Guy and over twenty to boot, so I'd obviously done something stupid. He stuck my SIM into another phone and said authoritatively, "Card been disabled because you no use". I patiently showed him the call log for the last month. "You must have no credit", I showed him the credit log for the last month. At this point he lost interest and told me to take a queuing number and see "Customer Service". This entails typing your name, phone number and a short description of your problem ('So we can direct you to appropriate counter' - remember that) and getting a little piece of paper in return. I was number eight in the queue. Had the spotty youth not interfered, I'd have been number one, but never mind. After only a few minutes by name and number come up on the screen directing me to Counter 2. I start to explain the issue. "You come to pay money?" he interrupts. "No I've come about my SIM card problem, as I typed into your system". "Ah, I only take money. You need customer service. Go round there" "But now I'm no longer in the queuing system" "Someone will come" After an hour and a half, someone did indeed come.I patiently explained the issue again to a guy who was industriously typing into a laptop. This is what I got from him:- "SIM disabled because you no use". Show call log "SIM disabled because you no credit". Show him top-up log "SIM not genuine, as serial number doesn't match phone number you give". He demanded to know where I got it. "Here" was the response. Silence. I explained again that there are only two things to worry about. One, why did Globe choose to disable a perfectly good, regularly used and in-credit SIM after only four weeks use and two, could he give me a new one with the same number? He was sticking to his 'not genuine' line, despite all the evidence to the contrary and no, I couldn't retain the number as it came off a dodgy card.  I'd now been there for two and a half hours and finally caved to his offer of a replacement SIM but with new number. He then baulked at the fact that my old SIM still had PHP250 credit (he finally found that on his system - along with the call log off my knock-off SIM. How?) so I explained that, given my daily rate to my clients, this represented around 3 minutes work and, as I'd already spent 150 minutes wasting my time here, this kinda paled into insignificance and please don't worry your pretty little head about it. So, both beaten and bowed, clutching my new and "genuine" card I headed off to Adriatico for some soothing cold ones and to begin the long process of informing clients, banks, friends and family of my new, new number change. You can see now why Filipinos seem to have unlimited patience and the attitude that if any transaction takes less than a full day, it's been a success. Next time, say nowt and just buy a new SIM. Lesson learned.  |
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Last Edit: Nov 28, 2015 0:12:56 GMT by georgeb
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You sir, have the patience of a saint... I'd have throttled someone. |
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What's Davao city like? That's where my mates wife is from. I hear a lot of funny stories about the mayor shooting rapists and the like... It was in the paper last week that he's running for president next May. He said something along the lines of, Manila Bay will become the dumping ground for criminals, so that should make life interesting. |
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You sir, have the patience of a saint... I'd have throttled someone. I think that's why all these places have armed security. Not to stop you nicking stuff, but so you don't murder the staff! |
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As always, you gotta love this sort of third world thinking.
I chuckled at the school closing a day early to "get ready" for celebrations before.
It reminds me of South Africa....... Any bloody excuse not to work.
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,976
Club RR Member Number: 71
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You can see now why Filipinos seem to have unlimited patience and the attitude that if any transaction takes less than a full day, it's been a success. Next time, say nowt and just buy a new SIM. Lesson learned. Good lord - you have the patience of a saint to put up with that!!! |
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Nov 29, 2015 23:33:16 GMT
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As always, you gotta love this sort of third world thinking. I chuckled at the school closing a day early to "get ready" for celebrations before. It reminds me of South Africa....... Any bloody excuse not to work. I just loved the idea that having had 100 years notice, it still took them by surprise! Good lord - you have the patience of a saint to put up with that!!! But they say that what goes around, comes around and yesterday I had a WIN!!! Today is my eldest Bottle Opener's 15th birthday so yesterday I headed off (unescorted amazingly) to Binondo, better known as Chinatown, where all the gold shops are. Probably well over a hundred of 'em, all on one street. My intention was to buy her a ring to replace the one she had stolen from the apartment by a 'very' temporary cleaner a couple of months ago. Traffic was bad on the main drag, Ongpin Street, but I was kept entertained. Every time I came to a stop someone would wander over for a chat, asking about the '38, where I was from, did I like living here, wasn't the traffic in Manila worse than anywhere else in the world (I'm sure it's a source of secret pride) and so on. All very sociable. Eventually, with the aid of a local bobby, I find somewhere to park and throw myself into this teeming morass of people. Now, as you can imagine the combination of a lone White Guy and the proximity of hundreds of gold selling girlies caused much excitement, especially as it was early. I mention the early bit as the first customer of the day is considered lucky and you will see the shopkeeper tap the money over the stock to transfer this luck. Anyway, living with a Filipina I have got quite good at this gold buying malarkey over the years and generally know what I'm looking for, and at. I wander up one side of the road for a bit, cross over and wander back, acknowledging the "Hello, welcome" cries as I pass until I select one place to have a closer look at. She shows me the rings on offer and told her they were a bit bling, asking if she had anything a bit more understated. Not British understated you understand, that would be classed as dull - but understated in a Philippine way or, just a bit less bling. She brings out another tray telling me that, "This only 14 carat gold" - which sounded more like "Cheapskate' - but there in the middle was one I liked and, amazingly, it was the right size as well. "How Much?" "Special price for you today po" which roughly translates as "Eye-watering, Sir". So we haggle a bit until I was reasonably happy, but I didn't want to stay too long in case she looked at the ring a bit closer. We close the deal, I get the ring, she hits the others with the notes and off I scoot ASAP. And why? Most of the gold sold here comes from the Middle East - sold as 'Dubai Gold' and, of course, is not hallmarked as per UK jewellery, but it is generally stamped with the purity. So I'd spotted that 'my' ring was stamped with 750 inside rather than 585. This means it's actually 18 carat, not 14, and must have been stuck back in the wrong tray at some point. Not every day a White Guy wins with a Chinese gold seller. So up yours Globe and chalk one for the good guys! Oh, I hope her luck improved as the day went on Edited; to wish you all a happy Bonifacio Day. Yes, it's another public holiday! |
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Last Edit: Nov 30, 2015 0:01:38 GMT by georgeb
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Not every day a White Guy wins with a Chinese gold seller. Well they say pride comes before a fall and by heck they're right. Talk about karma kicking you in the ass. First and most unimportant, the ring isn't gold at all, I've been stitched like a kipper. Second and a bit more pressing, we’ve just got back from seeing Madam in intensive care at Mary Johnson hospital in Tondo. Not got all the full details yet but it appears to be a classic “I was cleaning my gun and it went off” accident involving the driver with his .38 late last night. Unfortunately, the resulting bullet hit her in the face. Obviously by the time I got there she was swathed in many blooded bandages and swollen to hell, so I don’t know the full extent of the damage but two good things: One, she’s stabilised, conscious and talking after a fashion, or was till they knocked her out, and two, I’ve seen the CT scan she had whilst I was there and they tell me nothing vital has been hit (if I was in a better mood, I’m sure there’s a quip about there being nothing vital to hit, but I’m not) and that they’ve retrieved the slug. They are hoping she'll be out of IC later today when she’s had a full examination by the quacks and then me and the girls will go back to see her again. If possible, we’d like to see her home (albeit with some continuing care) ASAP but at the moment, she's got wires and tubes poking everywhere. Staff say they’ll have a clearer idea later today when they've done a bit more prodding and I'll not rush them. One upsetting thing I found when I was there, is that the minute she was taken away, a certain flock of vultures (aka her family) turned up and started helping themselves to stuff from the house, including the gun. I’ll deal with that issue separately. I don't have the words for them just now. Not a great start to December, but the one silver lining I guess is that if you're going to get yourself shot, then do it near Mary Johnson, they probably see more gunshot wounds than colds! The staff there were brilliant, cool, calm and efficient. Thanks go to them for getting us this far. So it looks like we'll have a few days of closely studying Philippine medical care. |
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Last Edit: Dec 2, 2015 0:24:32 GMT by georgeb
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,976
Club RR Member Number: 71
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Jesus - that sounds horrific!!! I hope it works out ok
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MonzaPhil
Posted a lot
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
Posts: 2,456
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Crikey. Hope everything gets much, much better for you.
Sending you best wishes for a speedy return to normal.
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This is now a clicky linky!  |
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pauls0
Part of things
Posts: 31 
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Bloody hell George, best wishes and hope all goes ok.
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mylittletony
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,428
Club RR Member Number: 84
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Holy sh*t!
Hoping for a quick recovery George
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,971
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Wasn't expecting that when I saw you'd posted an update. Sounds awful hope everything turns out OK.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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village
Part of things
Always carries a toolbox. Because Volkswagen.......
Posts: 567
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f**************k! (it's times like this when I could do without the swear filter)
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Last Edit: Dec 2, 2015 9:30:46 GMT by village
"The White Van is strong with this one...."
Chris "Chesney" Allen 1976-2005 RIP
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Good lord George, never a dull moment! Hope she will fully recover and the 'Family' get what they deserve!
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96 E320 W210 Wafter - on 18" split Mono's - Sold :-(
10 Kia Ceed Sportwagon - Our new daily
03 Import Forester STi - Sold
98 W140 CL500 AMG - Brutal weekend bruiser! Sold :-(
99 E240 S210 Barge - Now sold
02 Accord 2.0SE - wife's old daily - gone in PX
88 P100 2.9efi Custom - Sold
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Frankenhealey
Club Retro Rides Member
And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death
Posts: 3,888
Club RR Member Number: 15
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Seems it never rains but pours in the Philippines, George. Thinking of Madam, the girls and you.
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Tales of the Volcano Lair hereFrankenBug - Vulcan Power hereThe Frankenhealey here |
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Good grief - all best wishes to you & yours George; at least it sounds like she's in the best place & care.
Perhaps the driver should go round to her relatives and clean his replacement gun there?
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High-tech it wasn't, but it was undeniably effective. 
The Simulator's not much better... I've managed to avoid it for a good few years but the last time they collared me to go on it the side "windows" in the "cab" had scenery passing by at markedly different speeds to each other and the "rest of the train" was a few MCBs in a broom-cupboard. 
