Monday took the 11.25 Manchester to Milan , 10 minutes after take off the 'plane was hit by lightening, big bang like a shotgun, and brilliant white flashes , after a further 10 minutes of the crew obviously going through a systems check and running the engines up and down , they announced we had been hit by lightening ( oh really !) and were going back to Manchester for another 'plane , landed 40 minutes later with a fire engine following us in! eventualy got to the destination 2 hours late, and took a train to town, and found out the Milan Taxi drivers were on strike, OK then no probs 3 mile walk to hotel using Blackberry GPS as i am clueless about the tram system and underground. So bad things come in 3s ! what next, I fly just about every week and take most things in my stride but i'm not looking forward to the return trip having had time to think about it and am feeling distinctly mortal......... 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

Thought planes could take strikes, obviously not

What line of business you in? Must be nice to get about, that's if you don't mind travelling  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

yeah, I thought that 'planes could fly through lightening too, but rather safe than sorry. Travel is great if you have the time and money to enjoy it( which i don't on both counts ), but the 10th time you go somewhere it's not all it's cracked up to be, I'm an operations manager for a global chemical distributor* covering in theory Europe Middle East and Africa, but all the travel is Europe with the odd trip to USA now and then for a , sorry I mean " alignment meeting"

* Speciality and Industrial chemicals - not the recreational sort of chemical that requires a Black Range Rover and handgun for distribution  2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

Look on the bright side, at least you hadn't booked a cruise recently on the Costa Concordia

DOH! LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

It's a bit of a banned subject with the boys over here and the George Michael joke from the humour section went straight over their heads  2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

well I thought it couldn't be worse but today at 9.06 am there was an earthquake, not a massive thing but enought to shake the factory and warehouse for 10 seconds ore more..... I'm going home , there are only floods and plagues left and with my luck  2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

Milan or Halifax.......a tough choice! Mi piace molto L'Italia  John
07 HSE Narvick Black
Land Rover Series One
Triumph Rocket 111 (sadly gone!)

MartynB wrote:

* Speciality and Industrial chemicals - not the recreational sort of chemical that requires a Black Range Rover and handgun for distribution

Good job that, your a bit close to my patch, I wouldn't want to have to shall we say' eliminate ' you?


ps got any ammonia going cheap, I have uses for it At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

You have to travel every week to know how crap it can be.
Mine is for T.D.I how doe’s that grab you Martyn Don't think even CG could find a use for that

Hi Manu, yes travel the modern alternative to employing 2 people ! As I think TDI is widely used in making foams, perhaps a chicken farmer would consider it an competitive product against feathers !

CG one of the biggest Ammonia production plants in the UK is nearly on your doorstep in Billingham, but I'm starting to get worried about you, Ammonia ? large mounts of diesel? farmer so probably got accesss to Nitrates, you don't have any leanings towards Al Qaeda do you with that combination you are very probably on the data base of North Yorks Police and on several "hit" files in MI6 ! 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

5 Actually, don't worry he's on our radar, purports to be a Chicken farmer, he is actually building an intercontinental rocket in a huge shed, the purpose of which is undetermined at this time.

We have intel on where he gets the necessary aluminium panelling and substructure from, recent spy photos suggest that the missile may be given the name "Elddis Oddyssey"



Hope your week got better Martyn

I'm "working" from home today, on the settee with Laptop, labrador and sandwich, i might even go to the gym this afternoon, that's if I can tear myself away from, "Cash in the Attic", "Saints and Scroungers" and "Homes under the Hammer"  2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

hope the laptop isn't on your lap otherwise you might end the week with a toasted groin  2002 Honda VFR800
2002 Toyota Celica 140 Silver (mid life crisis - again!)
2007 FL2 GS Manual Army Reconnaissance Green + freel2.com sticker
2004 Toyota Celica 140 Black - Gone
2000 Toyota Celica 140 Silver - Gone
1998 Toyota Celica ST Pearl Green - Gone
1996 Nissan Primera 1.6 - Gone
1994 Rover Montego 1.6 Auto - Gone

i buy ammonia from a place in Holmfirth, see disinfect poutry sheds with it, pongs a bit


As for Nitrate fertilisers I have a good few tonnes of the stuff, but have you seen the prise of it, I could bareley spare any to blow up one caravan never mind a whole site  At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

We had a road tanker delivery of MDI across France to Spain. He spilt the tractor from the tanker and left it for a Spanish driver who picked up the wrong tanker. This tanker contained 20 tonnes of ammonia which he delivered to site to offload. Luckily the fittings did not fit, unluckily for us some clever made an adaption. They managed to offload 1 tonne before blowing up two storage tanks. Every cloud has a silver lining my family got a good holiday out of the accident investigation