Iain's (Delta Racing Car) Builder's Tea Break 2015

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by terence

Iain, perhaps if you leave Mike behind next time youll be able to have a nice healthy pizza.

Well, Iain did try to lose me on the way to Germany. After finishing up on a later ferry after his 'A20 incident', I promised to park up at Wetteren overnight and wait. Iain then went another route, and at 10am next morning I'm still waiting at Wetteren......

[Colin McKay]

One for the workshop wall

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Colin McKay

One for the workshop wall

I did my engineering apprenticeship in a steel tube works. Our maintenance engineers used a similar mantra:-
If it moves, weld it up.
If it doesn't move, burn it off.
If it moves, but slowly, hit it with a sledge hammer.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by Colin McKay

One for the workshop wall

Brilliant- are they available on fleabay?

[terence]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Well, Iain did try to lose me on the way to Germany. After finishing up on a later ferry after his 'A20 incident', I promised to park up at Wetteren overnight and wait. Iain then went another route, and at 10am next morning I'm still waiting at Wetteren......

He's probably had another bbq to go to Mike.

[Mike Bell]

Talking of fags, as mentioned a few posts back, I hear this morning that there is a move being considered in UK to ban smoking in shared open spaces?

On the odd occasion am able to visit a posh coffee outlet and the sun is shining, any thought of sitting outside to enjoy the ambience is destroyed by the fact that every table is occupied by people smoking. Same thing sitting outside at a restaurant at Nurburg last w/end. So where do I vote for the ban........

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Talking of fags, as mentioned a few posts back, I hear this morning that there is a move being considered in UK to ban smoking in shared open spaces?

On the odd occasion am able to visit a posh coffee outlet and the sun is shining, any thought of sitting outside to enjoy the ambience is destroyed by the fact that every table is occupied by people smoking. Same thing sitting outside at a restaurant at Nurburg last w/end. So where do I vote for the ban........

I'm right with you on this one Mike, the same goes with sitting outside in the supposedly fresh air in an outdoor beer garden, then there's having to walk through a fog of cigarette smoke as you push your way through smokers clogging the doorways of shopping centres... (I coulod go on but had better not for blood pressure reasons!)

[delta]

For sure I smoked when younger . Just don't understand the kids these days smoking . Must cost a fortune . I will not employ anyone who smokes . Just wish mrs delta would give up .

[GORDON STREETER]

It's almost impossible to enjoy a meal down here without being fumigated by someone, yes you can sit inside with aircon but most people want to sit out where smoking is allowed.
If you happen to be near a table with teenagers you know that the first thing they do is light up, I think that they come out of the womb complete with a fag on !
Mind you I am a past winner of The Victor Meldrew race

[Colin McKay]

Issue a written warning Iain

30 years ago we adopted a no-smoker policy when recruiting, quite a radical thing to do at the time. One telesales girl on the local rag insisted it was illegal to discriminate and refused to accept my advert! Unfortunately as the business grew we couldn't afford to be so selective so resorted to trying to convert new members of staff, with some success I'm pleased to say. One lad who came to us at 21, a heavy smoker and serial binge drinker, hasn't smoked for 10 years and now cycles 200 miles a week, and only sups the occasional pint (although he has been known to get fairly legless when I'm paying). He reckons he's saved £50-60K in the process.

Another guy we work with, who runs his own business, had a huge heart attack and had to give up. He was a seriously heavy smoker and worked out he's saved £40K in only 4 years.

How can folk afford it? Presumably by not motor racing.

[GORDON STREETER]

A while back a chap I knew said to me "how can you afford to have decent holidays like you do", as he was talking there was this "white thing" waving at me from his mouth.
I found out that he smoked about £130 of fags every week !!!!!! and pointed out that he could go on decent cruises for that sort of money !
However he never got to go anywhere as shortly afterwards he died of lung cancer !

[grantp]

The financial argument is a good one.

However one should not forget the the tax take both from local smokers and the profits of UK based tobacco companies who find most to their sales abroad.

I say this not to justify smoking but to point out the complexity of the argument for a moral stand. The smoker's saving, mostly tax in the UK price, will be tax redistributed amongst everyone else in other ways and over a longer period and with less discriminating selectivity of who should pay.

I note in the paper today a report suggesting there has been a dramatic rise in the number of identified cases of diabetes with a suggestion of a close link to obesity. The thought crossed my mind that the reduction in the number of smokers and the rise in obesity may had some sort of relationship, smoking being identified as an appetite suppressant.

Maybe the tax saving are being re-invested in "tax free" food consumption? Or are they just fuelling the property market?

Thinking of rarely enjoyed pleasures that might be enhanced by bans on the actions of others many people might justify their pleasure being enhanced more than rarely by a ban on, for example, "noisy" motorsport of any kind.

Once broader society become accepting of the "ban" habit it may become more than a little tricky to influence where bans are applied, especially to minority interests unless they are represented by some serious political clout.

We should always be careful about what we may wish for no matter how personally desirable it may seem. This is especially the case in the national madness of the modern age.

[grantp]

I've just had an email appear purporting to be from Octane and advertising "an evening with Max Mosley".

Assuming that such an event might involve remuneration one wondered how much he was paying for the privilege of having people join him (ok, I was really wondering what might be on offer ...) I opened the mail to discover that, rather than being paid, any interested parties were expected to stump up £125.

£125 quid?

£125 quid and, presumably, not a whip or massage in sight?

The world's gone mad.

Still, apparently it's at the RAC club (is that more upmarket than a private flat?) and includes dinner and wine.

So that's Ok then.

[bauble]

I am no lover of 'Soaps', East Endless, Cornation Street, Neighbores, are an anathema to me, I assume that they are watched by sad people who do not have a life of their own, so live vicariously via the TV. But, lately I have become a dedicated fan of a long running 'social drama' currently featured on the Ten Tenths Historic Forum!
I refer of course to the interminable saga of Iain and Mike and their travails as they journey from town to town, city to city, port to port, country to country, continent to continent. Here we all of life laid bare before us, adventure, hardships, dodgy dealings, Johnny Foreigner at his worst, all mixed in with comment on current events that affect us all. Immigration, smoking, the cost of beer, trade union practices, and even a smattering of sport to complete the smorgasbord of entertainment.

I am seriously considering penning a trial script and forwarding it to ITV as a replacement for 'Home and Away', however, I would appreciate any help members may have in suggesting a suitable title for the show, and maybe a few hints as to who, from Hollywood, might best represent the main characters. Tom Cruise as 'Delta? Clint Eastwood as 'Mike'?

No doubt in my mind that I am on to winner here, the only snag being the lack of a strong female presence other than occasional references to 'Mrs Delta'. Angeline Jolie, perhaps?

Any guidance appreciated.

Bauble (Would be producer)

[delta]

You must of missed the chat we had on here a few years ago bob . Patrick Stewart is my double . As I said then be good if I was a couple of quid behind him . All this seems pointless today as I am at my good friends wife funeral . She was only 61 . Life not fair sometimes .

[midgetman]

Grant if we lost the tax on smoking would there be a concomitant reduction in NHS spending?

Bauble, Mrs Delta can be treated in the same way as Elizabeth Mainwaring in Dad's Army - a central character but never seen.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by midgetman

Grant if we lost the tax on smoking would there be a concomitant reduction in NHS spending?

Assuming the NHS has consistent processes across regions to provide figures - and comparable process over decades to provide consistent reporting and comparison of spend, whether growth or contraction, then we might be able to make such an assessment.

However I would be very surprised if this was not subject to some very large interpretive and fudge factors mixed up with uncorrected anomalies.

It would also assume that one could adequately apportion the "costs" of smoking to diseases (like lung cancer) that can very reasonable be attributed to smoking bit for which smoking is not a sole cause. Not every who smokes ends up with cancer (or the cost of the treatment for cancer) for example. And there are people who have never smoked who get lung cancer.

One of the reasons that there are such loud claims for passive smoking is that it provides a great and unprovable fudge factor to get pretty much whatever numbers one needs.

The apparent rise in cases of diabetes may be an even better opportunity to attribute costs to multiple causes but count the apparent costs at full cost for all claimed disease links.

Can we expect sugar to be banned soon? Quite probably.

If so why would the government not simply bring in a ban on the sale of tobacco and related goods?

There is also the question of genetic susceptibility (and a number of questions about life expectancy) to take into account but as that starts to get close to discussing ethnicity it is rarely discussed in public.

Likewise the age question whereby the cost of treatment attributed to certain illnesses is only pertinent because medical science has found ways to help us survive longer without eliminating the issues that come with an aging chassis and other major components.

Morally it can be a very complex area of discussion.

Fiscally the whole things seems to be a great industry for generating numbers to support almost any view whilst playing on health fears to create and support any number of research projects, drug company products and charity (skimming the surface of the industry in general).

One way or another our "health" or "unhealthiness" is a political football and so the costs associated with it must be considered as political ammunition. How much do we trust politicians?

[p261brm]

Originally Posted by delta

For sure I smoked when younger . Just don't understand the kids these days smoking . Must cost a fortune . I will not employ anyone who smokes . Just wish mrs delta would give up .

Give up what Iain?

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by grantp

However I would be very surprised if this was not subject to some very large interpretive and fudge factors mixed up with uncorrected anomalies.

Mmm, fudge. Although I prefer it without uncorrected anomalies....

[delta]

Originally Posted by p261brm

Give up what Iain?

Smoking Stuart. She has just been on the phone in tears, we have so much going on and now the horse is not well.
Yea and I got flu.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by delta

Smoking Stuart. She has just been on the phone in tears, we have so much going on and now the horse is not well.
Yea and I got flu.

I hope the horse is OK Iain, if Mrs Delta is anything like my wife then the horse/s come top in the pecking order.

[Tim Falce]

Well I thought I was having problems with my Renault Clio, but this bloke has a few more worries after the explosion in China.

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by bauble

I am no lover of 'Soaps', East Endless, Cornation Street, Neighbores, are an anathema to me, I assume that they are watched by sad people who do not have a life of their own, so live vicariously via the TV. But, lately I have become a dedicated fan of a long running 'social drama' currently featured on the Ten Tenths Historic Forum!
I refer of course to the interminable saga of Iain and Mike and their travails as they journey from town to town, city to city, port to port, country to country, continent to continent. Here we all of life laid bare before us, adventure, hardships, dodgy dealings, Johnny Foreigner at his worst, all mixed in with comment on current events that affect us all. Immigration, smoking, the cost of beer, trade union practices, and even a smattering of sport to complete the smorgasbord of entertainment.

I am seriously considering penning a trial script and forwarding it to ITV as a replacement for 'Home and Away', however, I would appreciate any help members may have in suggesting a suitable title for the show, and maybe a few hints as to who, from Hollywood, might best represent the main characters. Tom Cruise as 'Delta? Clint Eastwood as 'Mike'?

No doubt in my mind that I am on to winner here, the only snag being the lack of a strong female presence other than occasional references to 'Mrs Delta'. Angeline Jolie, perhaps?

Any guidance appreciated.

Bauble (Would be producer)

Why does a picture of Waldorf & Statler from the Muppet show keep coming into my mind . ?????

[terence]

Originally Posted by Tim Falce

Well I thought I was having problems with my Renault Clio, but this bloke has a few more worries after the explosion in China.

Think it looks better as it is, looks like no one cares for it.Sort of "macho

Grant, in answer to you question of banning the sales of tobacco products, TAX.Im sure most people wouldn't like the tax rises to compensate for the lose.More cost effective would be stopping the half million health toursist who arrived in the UK last year claiming to be residents then buggering off back from where they came from then having treatment and the NHS picks up the bill! Stupidity of the first order on behalf of Daves bunch of idiots.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Tim Falce

Well I thought I was having problems with my Renault Clio, but this bloke has a few more worries after the explosion in China.

Hmm.

Might be an improvement?





ETA: i see Terence got a comment in before me ....