Busy night !

[Bill Bentley]

On the night of the 12th of December 2023 many things happened:

A considerable number of large shooting stars were seen falling out of the night sky.

Almost 150 countries voted, in a UN Assembly, against Israels attempted jenocide of the Palastinian people.

COP 28, in Dubai, suddenly, unexpectedly came to a written conclusion on tackling climate change.

The Conservative Party Rebels surprisingly opted to back Rishi Sunak on his Rwanda policy, after the courts had declared it illegal.

ln Germany the ruling coalition ended weeks of argument about how to refund 60 billion € of funding that they had earlier misappropriated and which the courts had deemed to have been illegal.

Joe Biden changed his tone and effectively withdrew his public support of Netanjahu.

And we agreed the sale of our Mobilehome and so will now, again down size, this time into our caravan, next Spring.

That was indeed a busy night !

[Pinky]

Howdy,
In western Canada thousands of families buy camping trailers and go into the hills in the summer, its called camping but its a very pleasant, comfortable version of it. Fill the trailer with steak, beer and burgers and of you go. Its an expensive weekend as towing the thing with your pick up truck gets maybe 10 mpg! Ok here's the thing and I quote many: Happiest day of the year is buying your new trailer - second happiest is selling the thing a few years later. Only hotels for this callsign now.

Pinky
HUSSAR

[JOHN LYALL]

Pinky/Bill,

Yes, I would agree with you Pinky, if I can't stay in a hotel now, I won't go. Years ago I had a big R.V. It had a 454 motor in it with a 4-barrel carb, a real gas guzzler! A comfortable way to go "camping", a shower and bathroom, kitchen with a propane gas stove, microwave, fridge, and a fairly big double bed in it. I also had a TV. stereo in it. I toured the southwest of the U.S. in it. Down there you can pull into a campsite, you can hook up to cable, and power and water and sewage. A comfortable way to "camp". The RV was also fitted with Air-conditioning and heating which could also run on the generator. Maintenance of it could be taxing and most of the time I did the mechanical work on it myself. I sold it here when I came back to Canada as winter storage was a task. Now, in my older years, if I can't stay in a hotel, I won't go anywhere.

Bill, yes, the Middle East is in a right mess between Israel/Palestine. Joe Biden has plenty of money to fund useless wars, but none for the homeless in the U.S. Same in Ukraine/Russia, another useless disaster. We can only hope someone other than Sleepy Joe gets in down there in 24. Their southern border has been the same for years, with immigrants crossing illegally. I doubt it can be stopped.

The Western World has been destroyed by Liberalism, and now, at the age we are, all we can do is sit back and watch this shit show unfold!

All the best to you folks, and have a Merry Xmas!

JL/

[Bill Bentley]

l hear where you are comming from guys, but after 4 years in a mobilehome, on a site, l hope that we have gained enough experience.

Any 'site' implies neighbours, their yapping dogs, their parties and their DIY projects. Not to mention the farm workers on the fields opposite and in the surrounding citrus plantations. Those poor suckers work from before sun up till after sun down, modern day slaves they are.

Up in our own valley, which is beyond where any civilized person would want to live, we don't see or hear anything ! There is one neighbour in sight, but he is 80 odd and intends to move into town to die.
l'm working on a project to hack out a path up to the next ridge and place a bank there so that we can sit and watch the amazing sunsets.

I'm also still working on our water supply. Currently l transport 600 liters, from the camp site, almost every time l go there. so far l have a 9 cubic meters depot. Another 6 cubic meters are on the cards. Then l can get deliverives of 10 cubic meters and still have a reserve. Warm water will come from the sun and showers will be outside ... we are on the Costa Calida !

Soon my generator will fall quiet and a 6 kW per hour solar plant will supply electricity and charge up our batteries for the dark hours. A theoretical 6kW per hour for up to 14 hours a day will run our air-con till it melts and fry my steaks and cool my beer, no worries !

So far almost all of my trees and plants have survived and some have even had fruits in the first year. The usual mediteranean delights are easy to grow, but it's a new learning curve all the way.

As for hotels, l read an article: this guy, in his hotel, had showered and was sitting naked on a stool looking out of the window when he asked himself: how many others had done exactly that ? How many poxed up scabby arses had sat exactly there, naked, and enjoyed the view through the window ?
Thanks guys, but l'd rather sit on my own furniture !

Enjoy Christmas and try not to think of those who are being torn apart for no good reason. Next year will not change anything, except that it might rain a lot more or not at all. Perhaps we can go skiing in July or sunbathing over xmas on Blackpool Prom.

Who knows, who knows ?

Whatever, stay safe and well ...

[Arnie]

Hi Yall, (well, Yall means the 4 of us who still seem to contribute)

having suffered the Northern German winters, as we all did, it seems I landed in Paradise, Weather-wise. Bill, you and Rahi now seem to be in Paradise, too, in the Med area. That is all but the services, water, power, and such. Your water problem appears to cause you labour you really don't need at our
age! If you are able to do it easily, good on yer. Mind you, when we first moved into our final residence, we thought it would be great to sit on the balcony and watch the glorious sunsets, BUT we soon found out that even sitting there just before the sun went down over the horizon, it was still too bloody hot. Thanks to A/C we can sit indoors and watch the sunsets in comfort.
Couple of years after my arrival in Australia we tried pop-up caravanning, but even in this huge, deserted, for the most part, country of ours we gave it away. The distances we had to drive pulling the thing became too boring.
After that, Bill, as you will remember, in 2008, we hired a campervan from that place near you and Berlin. Brenda had not seen much of Europe so off we set. It was the most memorable holiday she had ever been on. Just the two of us had a ball. Didn't see much of Europe, just Germany, and the Netherlands (Brenda wanted to visit Maastricht, she might have caught a glimpse of Andre Rieu). Belgium, (despite spending altogether 10 years in the Army in BAOR, I had never bothered to walk the battlefield of Waterloo). Of course, we could not miss out on Paris, again (after our arrival in London from OZ we traveled to Paris via the Tunnel train, spent 2007/8 New Year's Eve on a dinner/dance cruise on the River Seine, absolutely gorgeous, as was the previous night's dinner and show at the Moulin Rouge!
This, being January now, we cut the visit short and crossed France and back into Germany. Visited Meissen, Dresden, then back to Berlin.
Unfortunately, I never looked at a Caravan or Campervan ever again.
Bill as you will imagine, I don't agree with you on the Israel/Hamas war (NOT Palestinian, even they, DON'T want Hamas there), so I will leave the subject alone.

Stay Safe and Well - Merry Christmas and a Happy, Prosperous, and hopefully, Peaceful New Year

[bodge]

Hi guys as a mere national servisce man I do not have much to offer on the site but I do look in ever day to read your exploties.
You all keep save and well.
Bodge

[Arnie]

Bodge,

how could I be so remiss? I always look forward to your jokes

Keep safe and well, all of you Old Hawks, and don't forget 'Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year'. That is an Order.

[Bill Bentley]

Hi all,
it's not just the Brits that are pissed off with Brussels - the EU Dictatorship, millions are trying to escape as individuals. RV's of all kinds have become a boom industry.

Because many are frightened of towing a sizeable caravan they buy Motorhomes. The not so well off buy Ford Transit sized vehicles which can still easily cost 100,000 € and more. lt does not take them long to realise that such vehicles are too cramped to 'live in'. They are great for a short holiday ... and later become oversized shopping trollies. "A lifestyle Statement".

A powerfull 4x4 car towing a medium sized caravan was our choice. A beautiful well equipped brand new caravan can be had for around 30,000 €. A second hand one for half of that price ! Once parked up and with a full sized awning rigged up, caravans can be very cosy. Then you have your 4x4 car to explore the small mountain villages and steep coastal coves.

In a Motorhome, fully loaded, narrow and steep tracks can be a drivers nightmare ! So most Motorhomer's park next to each other, just off a busy road, to watch the sun go down. The dream of being alone on a remote beach remains an illusion.

Camping has most unfortunately turned into Glamping (luxury camping). This is when the rich fantasise about roughing it and buy gigantic Motorhomes. To overcome the problem of not having a small car to visit the small mountain villages and steep coastal coves is solved by towing a trailer with a Mercedes Smart Car on it, bingo !
Such rigs can easily cost half a million € !
Their poxy little Smart Cars are hardly fit for purpose, because the best places to visit are usually only accessable via potholed dirt tracks ... not very Smart !

Some of these 'richies' try to take their Monster Rigs where they just wont fit and a few scratches and dents are inevitable. l know of 100,000 € repair jobs for a torn off Sun Canopy, that's why insurance can also easily cost 5,000 € per year.

Camping sites are also not cheap. A small plot for a Ford Transit sized Motorhome can easily cost 15,- € per night. Larger plots start at around 25,- per night, there is no upper limit. Add all of this to the price of fuel and traveling becomes a luxury.

One guy on our camping site had bought himself a full sized bus with 'slide outs' and was towing a covered trailer with an old Audi 80 4x4 on it. By the time he had reached southern Spain, burning 8 mpg, he decided to park up 'forever'. lt has not moved in 10 years !

Camping is by no means a cheap holiday, not any more !

[JOHN LYALL]

Morning Bill, and everybody,

R.V.s that you speak of here are selling big time here as well. People are buying them and living in them as their home. The reason is, there is no affordable housing here anymore. Rents here have skyrocketed to as high as $3500. a month.if you can find a place. Interest rates have put people into a situation where purchasing a home is out of the question, so living in an R.V. appears to be their only other solution. This gong show of a government here has committed to bringing in 500,000 refugees a year in for the next 5 years! They arrive at the airport, and later to be found wandering the downtown streets in Calgary, suitcases in tow, with no place to go and no shelter in place for them! The Liberal way of managing a country! Your comments about the E.U. caught my eye as well. Yes, they are a dictatorship! Von der Crazy is a complete nut job, as is her partner Stealingburg! How on earth do the people in Europe put up with such nonsense? One thing about Trump, like him or not, he put them in their place!
Von der Crazy and Stealingburg have made statements regarding Russia wanting or threatening to invade Nato countries. I doubt that very much. Why on earth would he want them problems that go with it? Europe is the bowels of the earth at the moment, Russia is strengthening its borders to keep Europes problems out of Russia, and good on them!

R.V.s Bill, as you stated, they are expensive machines to operate. Considering what you pay for them versus how many times you use them, for comfort you are as well staying in a motel. I remember when I drove mine into a shop for servicing, the mechanic's eyes used to light up! Hence I ended up doing my own servicing and mechanical repairs. Camping by no means is a cheap holiday anymore!

Arnie!, how's the weather down under? I hear it's flooding in Queensland. There was a kangaroo here in eastern Canada somewhere, being transported to a zoo someplace, and it escaped. After 2/3 days of it bouncing around the countryside and roadways in the snow, a couple of Police Officers tackled it to capture it and return it to the zoo, it punched one of them in the face! hahaha! Gotta love these clown shows! The kangaroo probably had enough of Trudeus policies and said to itself, I'm outa here! haha.

As always, take care yourselves, because western governments are failing!
Merry xmas to you all,

JL/

[Arnie]

John,

the weather is wonderful, here in Western Australia. Queensland is Ric's domain. He was here with his wife Di, on holiday recently and we went out and had a fabulous Crayfish (like a Lobster) dinner. It was great to see them again. Our chat was all about reminiscing, about the Army days, Europe and the like. Was good once!! and I think both of us agreed that we sorely missed our time in the Army. Fond memories.

Brenda gets upset when I bring up my pet hate. I have said, since my days in Libya (1962/4) that one day the West will have to take on these intransigent people. Incidentally, anybody interested in the subject should watch a guy called Sam Shamour(it might end in n). Can't tag him as a Muslim or a Christian, but he knows the Koran and the Bible word for word. He is a linguist in English, and Arabic both Ancient and Modern. Apparently
he loves debating with supposed intellectuals in both religions and winning. In many of the debates, his opponents get up and walk out. He has convinced many people, even devout ones, to at least re-evaluate their beliefs, an achievement in itself.
Bill, this is one of those events where I will recommend people to watch, because he is so articulate and puts my thoughts so succinctly that I envy him.

Stay safe and well . We are getting ready for our apartment building Xmas party, you know the sort, bring a plate, your own wine, or beer,(and glasses), and chairs. We set it up and take it down. At least it's in the shade.