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Ha, only 30 degrees? No weird messages from me but the stereo in my wife's '03 Ipsum has a weird disconnect between the volume knob and the actual volume of the speakers. Turning the knob may or may not result in the desired change in volume. It might even go the wrong way. Quite frustrating sometimes.
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I believe that there are, or were, more than a few buildings constructed from bricks imported as ships' ballast here in NZ. Timber construction has the advantage of a certain amount of flexibility and therefore resilience in an earthquake. This is fairly important in many parts of our shaky collection of islands.
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Apr 14, 2023 20:48:35 GMT
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Also just bang an additional copper washer in there and call it done.
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Apr 14, 2023 20:47:32 GMT
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Such a brilliant writing style Robert. Have you ever considered becoming an author of historical novels? That Gwendoline sounds like a right goer too.
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Mole grips on the column mate.
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Semaphore style trafficators perhaps?
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Not sure I've ever lived in a house that's had 100% straight lines or square corners and all are/were less than 150 years old, some considerably so. All timber framed of course cos NZ. The original part of our present house was, according to elderly neighbour now deceased, dragged onto our property with a bullock team in 1940 and it was an old (by NZ standards) house then. The two 1980s built extensions are just as crooked as the original structure due to dodgy short cuts having been taken with the timber foundation piling.
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Not sure why you'd want to delete something that has the potential to save your life. With the amount of idiots "driving" around nowadays I would have thought that clear and visible indicators should be considered essential items.
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Apr 11, 2023 22:54:19 GMT
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Thanks Dez. Looking forward to the next riveting instalment.
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I work for a large multinational engineering consultancy. Some years ago I had to remind a colleague in India that New Zealand uses the metric system. I think he had been working almost exclusively for our American clients up to that point.
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New Zealand has been metric for circa fifty years but many of us including some builders and sawmillers still refer to timber sizes in inches, even when the lengths we're buying/selling are measured in metres. It's just easier that way.
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One of the few episodes of Emmerdale Farm I happened to see part of included a Marina ute being used to haul manure. For some reason it has stuck in my mind ever since. Seemed like completely the wrong type of vehicle for the job.
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And the Imperial system is so logical. I'm fortunate inasmuch as being the right age to be comfortable with both systems having started school at a time when we had both inches and centimetres on the rulers. The senior engineer at work often comes to me for assistance when he has to work with historic drawings dimensioned in Imperial units. My youngest can think in Imperial units if required but I'm fairly sure that puts him in a very small minority of his generation.
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It would appear that Scammell heavy haulage tractor is registered as a Routemaster double-decker bus. Something not quite right there.
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Mar 31, 2023 22:43:43 GMT
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The gearbox in my brother's first car was so noisy we joked about possums living in it. Was too loud to be the standard old Holden gearbox rats.
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Mar 30, 2023 23:17:08 GMT
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Really enjoying the history lessons here Dez. I had been under the impression that the potato famine was largely confined to Ireland. Never thought about it having been a thing in Scotland too.
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Mar 30, 2023 19:47:01 GMT
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Then came the highland clearing and almost all of the crofters got the boot.
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Mar 29, 2023 23:29:30 GMT
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That's really interesting. As an aside where I grew up in the north of New Zealand (and the terminology was probably applied similarly in most farming districts across the country) a farm cottage was the worker's residence which may or may not have been smaller than the owner's residence on the same farm.
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It would appear that the OED believes Scotland is not part of Britain. It was my understanding that Britain consists of England, Scotland, and Wales.
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