"Carl's Lounge" (Off-Topic Discussion, Traditional Knife "Tales & Vignettes")

And Land Sharks:


- GT

 

Bullshark !
Its true I tell you.
@Jolipapa ..that croc looks dead....but thats what they do...

Me too.
I swum in every river in Sydney growing up...now I look at the history of shark attack fatalities in those same waterways and shudder....

 

I miss fishing with my dad too - we fished the St. Lawrence (upstate NY) for 30+ years. Grew up fishing the Susquehanna before that. Forward to today ... been a fantastic fishing season - fished the upper Delaware River probably a dozen times this summer - water is at a perfect level (which is a rarity) ... last few times out, managed 30+ bass in the boat ... each !! Wailed the lower unit on my jet boat this morning - gotta get that fixed, but good times fersure !!

 

You're right, I've been living in Ivory coast and noone would have time to sit on a croc without getting a broken leg and a hefty bite. They're quite lively under the sun!
This one looks like a parked DS.

 

I happened upon this magnificent garden sculpture. It lives at Congo NSW south coast not the one where gorillas come from.
It acts like a weathervane pivoting on the pole.
Cool but sinister ...when I was taking a pic it would squeak around to the head on position...as if lining up for the attack.
I wonder if the builder was truing to make a one man submarine which could be launched at popular beaches and swimming spots for maximum terror .....thats what I would do..you could pedal it and look out through the jaws.

 

Something like that? (Tintin's submarine)

 

Thundering Typhoons ! &
Blistering Barnacles!
You're right @Jolipapa ...i pinched the idea off Herge.....we should get a couple and launch at the Faroe Islands....and Im thinking in Japanese indoor swimming pools and bath houses.

 

The wife and I got up this morning with nothing particular in mind but around 10:00AM the scanner went off with a description of a forest fire starting about three miles from the house so we got some glad rags on, jumped in the truck to investigate and rode up into the Modoc National Forest to get eyes on it. It was too far off road to get a good look so we went down to a local lake the sole purpose being to supply water for forest fire fighting. Here are a few pictures of one of the helicopters in action.

Here is a helicopter coming in for water. The fire is just off frame to the left looking at the picture.



Following is a series of pictures as it comes in, fills the basket with water and heads to the fire for a water drop.








And there he goes.



The fire seems to be under control but the wife just came in to say she still heard heilicopters and saw a water tender (tanker truck) going by the house headed that way.

 

OK Buddy wheres the fire?
Ive always wanted to say that....obviously with an Irish accent of course.
Great pics Ed..
PThe Bushies will turn up to a birthday cake candle alight flexing their latest equipment,new uniforms,flashing light muscles....bless 'em. They may have used it as a training drill for da charper....

 

It's that time of year again...
Dry forests and thunderstorms are a bad combination.
I hope this fire season will be a lot less tragic than last year.

 

I'm retired now, have some spare time, and like to travel. call me anytime!

 

These guys do a wonderful job, very dangerous. Recently a very skilled Canadair pilot crashed in a fire. He was the team leader. Hats off!

 

We had really, really, really, severe thunder storms come through here Wednesday night. Hundreds of lightning strikes in the area. This fire most likely sat in a tree trunk or the like for a day and a half just smoldering before it burst into flame and took off.

 

It's a scary time of year.
My thoughts are with you and all the other members living in the forested areas of California.

 

Put dark red kidney beans, smoked pork neck bones, and onion in the slow cooker at 0330 this morning. It'll be good eats this afternoon.

 

Fingers crossed.

 

I live in an 800 square foot house in a low-budget neighborhood 2 blocks from a 6 lane retail corridor, but My “back yard” is pretty amazing. This morning I left my house around 7:15 on my bicycle, visited all these following places, and was home by lunch time:

C&O Canal and Potomac River. That is an island you see on the far bank. There is another wider channel on the other side.




More shots of the Potomac further down near Great Falls (once again not the main channel):

 

Old railway converted to a bike and pedestrian trail. I walked this line to Georgetown when I was a teenager and it still had tracks.


Key Bridge and Washington Monument. I didn’t ride all the way down to the Mall today because of time constraints.


Fancy-pants shopping district. Nothing as plebeian as a 7-11 here so time to move along.


Back to the ‘hood:

 

I always keep an eye out for pawpaws this time of year. I found this perfectly ripe one - tried to put it in my pocket to take it home to share, but it started to get mushy after a couple of miles so I was forced to eat it on the spot. I discovered that the little multi-tool I keep in my bike tool kit does not have a knife blade! I managed to cut it in half with the nail file, then peeled it with my fingers. VERY inelegant - don’t leave home without a knife, people, or risk being similarly humiliated.

 

You and I live different zones.
I live in Ottawa another capital city, a bit north of you.
I have many urban fruit trees, pears, cherries apples, staked out, with permission too!
What the devil is a pawpaw?
I'll look it up later.
It looks amazing.

Edited to add: I also live in an eight hundred square foot house, in a rough part of town. I love it, people stop and talk, I have great neighours, and I'm a ten minute bike ride away from downtown.
Haven't had the bike yet this year though. I have been working way too much.