Going to be a hot day again. Temperature forecast 23-24C. Summer has arrived at long last. The Gazebo is up and the outdoor furniture is in place and we spend most of out time outdoors except when am pounding the keyboard.
Will a laptop show up ok in outside light?? The prices put me off and the screen size. I like my 19 inch monitor acreage.
1 December 2002
30 November 2002
First anniversary of Sir Peter Blake's murder in the mouth of the Amazon.
Feed "Sir Peter Blake" into Google for more.
Feed "Sir Peter Blake" into Google for more.
Cyprus # 5. My Work
OldEric says :-) Do you really want to know? Probably not. But, for the sake of posterity I'm going to tell you anyway. I worked in the Circuit Control Section known as CCS. Our unit of which CCS was part, handled all the RAF traffic to and from the Middle / Near East and the UK. There was a large Teleprinter Hall, a smaller Wireless Telegraphy section, a Cipher section and us CCS.
Every signal and every wire which came into the Unit and exited the Unit came through CCS. It was the hub of the Unit and everything was controlled from CCS. The CCS was manned 24 hours a day, every day by a shift team of technician grade personnel and they controlled the complex from a large oval console.
I was the maintenance technician for CCS and I was one of the few personnel who worked days only. My little empire was a test desk at the CCS rear and I worked alone. If any of the many bays of equipment through which all signals passed broke down it was my duty to repair them. The only things which needed repair with any regularity were pairs of large relays which were plug in. Each morning when I arrived there would be a number of relays changed during the night by the shift technicians to repair/maintain. On Monday mornings there would be a lot. All the spare relays were kept on shelves ready for use. The large bays of equipment only occasionally broke down and spare plug in sections were always on hand and very occasionally one of these would be waiting for me in the morning. Really I had little else to do except keep a general eye on things and, with a team make periodic maintenance inspections of out lying unmanned, low power aerial farm equipment at remote locations. The main transmitting aerial farm was 5 miles away on the road to Nicosia on high ground. They had their own maintenance personnel.
Otherwise life and work was a little boring, a good book was handy and a stroll along to the maintenance workshops for a cup of tea and a chat to the sergeant cooped up in his office with nothing to do but to be there. He liked a chat and break to his monotony. At least I could wander around, he couldn't. Sometimes I used to stroll the half mile down to the signal receiving section at the far side of the camp away from electrical interference and I would "chew the rag" with the techs about AR88s and about the best ways of repairing and realigning these complex receivers. And other things. To while away the hours the guys had built a pond and a rock garden and stocked the pond with goldfish. The fish were mandatory, the law stated all static water had to be populated with fish to cut down mosquitoes ( I think they may be of the malarial type, I'm not sure).
All in all our situation was pretty laid back but as I said previously--- boring,--- if you were in your early/mid twenties. Weekends were good but week days well----. Some of the guys marked their days to demob off on a calendar and came the day they would leave. Occasionally a disappeared face would resurface. The reason was civilian life was not the same and friends and mates were not all around. It was lonely out there one returnee told me. If you signed up within six weeks after your demob date you retained your rank, job and if possible a return to your old location.
When my turn came to leave and I returned to civilian life, for awhile I must confess I missed the life and comradeship of the RAF and for a year or two afterwards wondered if I should have made the choice to sign up again.
Next storey, a trip to relieve the boredom.
OldEric says :-) Do you really want to know? Probably not. But, for the sake of posterity I'm going to tell you anyway. I worked in the Circuit Control Section known as CCS. Our unit of which CCS was part, handled all the RAF traffic to and from the Middle / Near East and the UK. There was a large Teleprinter Hall, a smaller Wireless Telegraphy section, a Cipher section and us CCS.
Every signal and every wire which came into the Unit and exited the Unit came through CCS. It was the hub of the Unit and everything was controlled from CCS. The CCS was manned 24 hours a day, every day by a shift team of technician grade personnel and they controlled the complex from a large oval console.
I was the maintenance technician for CCS and I was one of the few personnel who worked days only. My little empire was a test desk at the CCS rear and I worked alone. If any of the many bays of equipment through which all signals passed broke down it was my duty to repair them. The only things which needed repair with any regularity were pairs of large relays which were plug in. Each morning when I arrived there would be a number of relays changed during the night by the shift technicians to repair/maintain. On Monday mornings there would be a lot. All the spare relays were kept on shelves ready for use. The large bays of equipment only occasionally broke down and spare plug in sections were always on hand and very occasionally one of these would be waiting for me in the morning. Really I had little else to do except keep a general eye on things and, with a team make periodic maintenance inspections of out lying unmanned, low power aerial farm equipment at remote locations. The main transmitting aerial farm was 5 miles away on the road to Nicosia on high ground. They had their own maintenance personnel.
Otherwise life and work was a little boring, a good book was handy and a stroll along to the maintenance workshops for a cup of tea and a chat to the sergeant cooped up in his office with nothing to do but to be there. He liked a chat and break to his monotony. At least I could wander around, he couldn't. Sometimes I used to stroll the half mile down to the signal receiving section at the far side of the camp away from electrical interference and I would "chew the rag" with the techs about AR88s and about the best ways of repairing and realigning these complex receivers. And other things. To while away the hours the guys had built a pond and a rock garden and stocked the pond with goldfish. The fish were mandatory, the law stated all static water had to be populated with fish to cut down mosquitoes ( I think they may be of the malarial type, I'm not sure).
All in all our situation was pretty laid back but as I said previously--- boring,--- if you were in your early/mid twenties. Weekends were good but week days well----. Some of the guys marked their days to demob off on a calendar and came the day they would leave. Occasionally a disappeared face would resurface. The reason was civilian life was not the same and friends and mates were not all around. It was lonely out there one returnee told me. If you signed up within six weeks after your demob date you retained your rank, job and if possible a return to your old location.
When my turn came to leave and I returned to civilian life, for awhile I must confess I missed the life and comradeship of the RAF and for a year or two afterwards wondered if I should have made the choice to sign up again.
Next storey, a trip to relieve the boredom.
21 November 2002
19 November 2002
Cyprus # 4. A mixed Bag
OldEric says :-)The night of our arrival in Nicosia was continually disturbed by the rumble of planes taking off and landing. Next morning we learnt on the grapevine the Suez war had started. We knew something was imminent, as we crossed the Mediterranean the sea was filled with naval vessels from skyline to skyline all heading in one direction---East. As I looked out of the aircraft window I remember thinking what an awesome sight, all that fire power. So we were not at all surprised with the morning news.
As I mentioned in an earlier piece, we were under canvas for our first few weeks. Not long after our arrival whilst still under canvas a contingent of French paratroopers were billeted in tents close to us and used the same ablution block of us. We were warned to keep clear of them, a smart remark could trigger an incident. Only a fool would have done so. Just looking at these men they were fighting fit. They were all lean and all appeared to be around six feet tall with hair shaved extremely short. All seemed extremely aloof, not even glancing when washing in the adjacent sink in the ablution block.
Strange, in later years when I saw pictures of De Gaulle, tall and aloof he reminded me of those earlier paratroopers. They were not as tall as De Gaulle of course. One morning we awoke, the French paratroopers and their tents were gone, no sign that they had even existed.
Eventually the construction of our permanent accommodation was finished and we move in. The building was not as you would have expect as forces accommodation. It was a large double story building, each floor with about ten rooms and each room big enough to hold six personnel. The door of each room opened out on to a wide tiled patio with a railing on the front and a set of steps at each end of the building for access to the upper level. To us it was a fine looking building and today the style of some motel units here in New Zealand remind me of our accommodation at Ayios Nikolaos. The rooms were first class too, the floors were tiled and the plastered walls were painted a light pleasant colour. The back wall, opposite the door had two large windows and the view from our room on the top floor was extensive. All in all, a very pleasant situation. Our block was one of two blocks, the other block had already been constructed previously to ours and was occupied.
Oddly I do not remember any of my room mates names and I can only picture one of the five in my mind. The others I cannot picture at all. I do remember we used to get on well. And, I do remember while sleeping late one Saturday morning being shaken awake with a call of “Fire drill” and leaping out of bed to a flash of a camera. I used to sleep naked. “A leg pull” I shouted, but it was no leg pull a few days later I was presented with a photo of me in all my glory. I kept that photo for quite a while. All I asked was “which shop developed it?” no way was I going in that shop to be recognized.
OldEric says :-)The night of our arrival in Nicosia was continually disturbed by the rumble of planes taking off and landing. Next morning we learnt on the grapevine the Suez war had started. We knew something was imminent, as we crossed the Mediterranean the sea was filled with naval vessels from skyline to skyline all heading in one direction---East. As I looked out of the aircraft window I remember thinking what an awesome sight, all that fire power. So we were not at all surprised with the morning news.
As I mentioned in an earlier piece, we were under canvas for our first few weeks. Not long after our arrival whilst still under canvas a contingent of French paratroopers were billeted in tents close to us and used the same ablution block of us. We were warned to keep clear of them, a smart remark could trigger an incident. Only a fool would have done so. Just looking at these men they were fighting fit. They were all lean and all appeared to be around six feet tall with hair shaved extremely short. All seemed extremely aloof, not even glancing when washing in the adjacent sink in the ablution block.
Strange, in later years when I saw pictures of De Gaulle, tall and aloof he reminded me of those earlier paratroopers. They were not as tall as De Gaulle of course. One morning we awoke, the French paratroopers and their tents were gone, no sign that they had even existed.
Eventually the construction of our permanent accommodation was finished and we move in. The building was not as you would have expect as forces accommodation. It was a large double story building, each floor with about ten rooms and each room big enough to hold six personnel. The door of each room opened out on to a wide tiled patio with a railing on the front and a set of steps at each end of the building for access to the upper level. To us it was a fine looking building and today the style of some motel units here in New Zealand remind me of our accommodation at Ayios Nikolaos. The rooms were first class too, the floors were tiled and the plastered walls were painted a light pleasant colour. The back wall, opposite the door had two large windows and the view from our room on the top floor was extensive. All in all, a very pleasant situation. Our block was one of two blocks, the other block had already been constructed previously to ours and was occupied.
Oddly I do not remember any of my room mates names and I can only picture one of the five in my mind. The others I cannot picture at all. I do remember we used to get on well. And, I do remember while sleeping late one Saturday morning being shaken awake with a call of “Fire drill” and leaping out of bed to a flash of a camera. I used to sleep naked. “A leg pull” I shouted, but it was no leg pull a few days later I was presented with a photo of me in all my glory. I kept that photo for quite a while. All I asked was “which shop developed it?” no way was I going in that shop to be recognized.
18 November 2002
004 Ullswater Audrey
When we first moved to Sharrow Bay we lived in the cottage for about two years. Audrey D. lived with her widowed grandmother Mrs R. in the lodge which we were later to occupy. Audrey would be about 5 years older than I and she was a quiet girl who spoke little but, Audrey I found was a secret bully. As we walked home from school our small band of children dwindled until only Audrey, I and the Edmondson children were left. Occasionally the Edmondson children were missing for whatever reason and Audrey and I would be alone and then I had trouble. I was 6 going on 7 and she was 12. I was sick of the situation, don’t ask me why I didn’t inform my parents, but I didn’t.
I made up my mind when I reached my 7th birthday I would fix her, I’d tell her Grandmother. So I waited. I waited to the day when I knew Audrey on leaving school was going to play with a friend. When I arrived back at Sharrow Bay, I went up the back steps and called on Audrey’s Grandmother and told her the story. She stood on the door step and listened in silence, she said not a word. I plainly remember now, pausing after my story about Audrey I waited and then turned away then she said, “I’ll see Audrey”. That’s all she said.
I never had any more trouble with Audrey, she never mentioned her Grandmother and neither did I. A year or so later Audrey and her Grandmother left the lodge.
During my school years I think it was the only time I really had a problem with bullies. I learnt to look potential bullies in the eye and do something positive about the situation. Bullies in the main, back off quickly when confronted.
A Tangi for Lou
OldEric says :-) I went to Lou Brookes' Tangi (funeral) this morning. Lou was a year younger than I. Lou had cancer and, in his last stages asked to be moved back from Auckland to Huntly where he was born.
Lou was a Maori and in his younger days was a salesman for the firm I worked for at that time. Everyone liked Lou and liked his fast patter. In later years Lou worked the markets up in Auckland and everyone knew him, once met, forgotten never!
Lou's Tangi was held at Te Ohaki Marae and the Tangi follows a similar format to the more familiar Church funeral service. The Tangi differs subtly in feel to a Church funeral. A sorry sadness pervades, that the person has left his relatives and friends behind and softly in the background keening will be heard from one or more of the older ladies. The Marae service is relatively short but the graveside service is much longer than a Church service. The hymns are sung as in Church, but no organ music is needed here. The Maori have fine tuneful voices.
At the graveside, speakers will talk to the person in a conversational tone as his body rests in the grave. Some may sing a verse or two of a favourite remembered song. The immediate family standing around the grave will cuddle each other, adults and children and often will sadly weep. It is very moving. Truly felt emotions are not at all suppressed. An orator or orators will call out the persons' life and ask why he has left them.
I was glad to be able to say goodbye to Lou. I was glad I could drop a proffered flower on his coffin. I was glad I met his remembered family now grown up with children of their own. And, I was glad they came up and remembered me. Lou was a little more than an acquaintance Lou was a friend from long ago.
OldEric says :-) I went to Lou Brookes' Tangi (funeral) this morning. Lou was a year younger than I. Lou had cancer and, in his last stages asked to be moved back from Auckland to Huntly where he was born.
Lou was a Maori and in his younger days was a salesman for the firm I worked for at that time. Everyone liked Lou and liked his fast patter. In later years Lou worked the markets up in Auckland and everyone knew him, once met, forgotten never!
Lou's Tangi was held at Te Ohaki Marae and the Tangi follows a similar format to the more familiar Church funeral service. The Tangi differs subtly in feel to a Church funeral. A sorry sadness pervades, that the person has left his relatives and friends behind and softly in the background keening will be heard from one or more of the older ladies. The Marae service is relatively short but the graveside service is much longer than a Church service. The hymns are sung as in Church, but no organ music is needed here. The Maori have fine tuneful voices.
At the graveside, speakers will talk to the person in a conversational tone as his body rests in the grave. Some may sing a verse or two of a favourite remembered song. The immediate family standing around the grave will cuddle each other, adults and children and often will sadly weep. It is very moving. Truly felt emotions are not at all suppressed. An orator or orators will call out the persons' life and ask why he has left them.
I was glad to be able to say goodbye to Lou. I was glad I could drop a proffered flower on his coffin. I was glad I met his remembered family now grown up with children of their own. And, I was glad they came up and remembered me. Lou was a little more than an acquaintance Lou was a friend from long ago.
17 November 2002
A Missive from the Partriarch
OldEric says :-) Well you will all by now be congregated at Pete and Jen's residence,I think. Got Anna's Email this morning. Glad Anna, that young Bob was so good on the plane. Did the stewardess spike his drink Pat wonders! (grin)
Rain and wind this weekend but a large high is sitting on our doorstep over the Tasman Sea waiting to come in. I have been very busy from some lightning storms 10 days ago and work is still rolling in.At this time I feel like I should retire from all this hustle and bustle.
What other news?? Oh, we have now booked our plane tickets for the UK next April and Gillian it seem will be sitting in the next seat to us which pleases Pat. Oh, and me, too. We have had Biggles down to Dave the Vet, it seems he has diabetes. We can inject him like humans or let nature take its course. We’re inclined to natures way at the moment and feel a little shocked just now. For Xmas we have booked in at The Quality Hotel in Hamilton for our Xmas dinner. Pat says she would like a year off from cooking and dish washing and it will be pleasant to sit down and just eat for a change. Two of our friends from Hamilton usually go each year but we haven’t told them we will be going. A surprise for them. We are taking Phyll with us too, at least we have booked her in. Next weekend we will be going across to Tauranga leaving Friday and returning Sunday, we will come back via Athenree. Ian will fill you in about Athenree.
Now remember show John this site and if he likes it I will Email the tales I tell to him.
I will now leave you in the capable hands of the vice patriarch (VP John) and don't let Ian imbibe too much.(another grin)
With a (grin grin) OldEric, the Patriarch
OldEric says :-) Well you will all by now be congregated at Pete and Jen's residence,I think. Got Anna's Email this morning. Glad Anna, that young Bob was so good on the plane. Did the stewardess spike his drink Pat wonders! (grin)
Rain and wind this weekend but a large high is sitting on our doorstep over the Tasman Sea waiting to come in. I have been very busy from some lightning storms 10 days ago and work is still rolling in.At this time I feel like I should retire from all this hustle and bustle.
What other news?? Oh, we have now booked our plane tickets for the UK next April and Gillian it seem will be sitting in the next seat to us which pleases Pat. Oh, and me, too. We have had Biggles down to Dave the Vet, it seems he has diabetes. We can inject him like humans or let nature take its course. We’re inclined to natures way at the moment and feel a little shocked just now. For Xmas we have booked in at The Quality Hotel in Hamilton for our Xmas dinner. Pat says she would like a year off from cooking and dish washing and it will be pleasant to sit down and just eat for a change. Two of our friends from Hamilton usually go each year but we haven’t told them we will be going. A surprise for them. We are taking Phyll with us too, at least we have booked her in. Next weekend we will be going across to Tauranga leaving Friday and returning Sunday, we will come back via Athenree. Ian will fill you in about Athenree.
Now remember show John this site and if he likes it I will Email the tales I tell to him.
I will now leave you in the capable hands of the vice patriarch (VP John) and don't let Ian imbibe too much.(another grin)
With a (grin grin) OldEric, the Patriarch
13 November 2002
OldEric says :-) I haven’t had time these past 3 days to write much. Work has been busy from numerous lightning storms in the past week and by the time I finish my day the brain is feeling jaded. After dinner I have been falling asleep in my chair and then I'm chased to bed because I always waken in the morning at 5am tired or not. I'm then up by 6am.
We booked our UK flights today for April and managed to arrange a seat with us for our daughter Gillian who is accompanying us but flying with her air points. When I think of it the collecting enough air points for a trip from NZ to UK is quite an achievement and then have more air points from her free air points trip to fly to Australia at least when she returns.
I'm going to make myself a mug of Ovaltine and go to bed.
We booked our UK flights today for April and managed to arrange a seat with us for our daughter Gillian who is accompanying us but flying with her air points. When I think of it the collecting enough air points for a trip from NZ to UK is quite an achievement and then have more air points from her free air points trip to fly to Australia at least when she returns.
I'm going to make myself a mug of Ovaltine and go to bed.