Some thoughts on war in the Gulf

Trump doesn’t appear to able to articulate any strategic goals; apart from opening the Strait of Hormuz, and that is an afterthought from his earlier attack on Iran.

NATO is a defence treaty. A member country has to be attacked for NATO to become involved. When NATO becomes involved, then NATO takes command.

Commanding and coordinating a multinational operation using Tweets doesn’t work.

Trump has previously abandoned allies and even indicated he would attack a NATO member over Greenland. He is completely untrustworthy.

The operation is failing. A principle of military doctrine is “You don’t reinforce failure. You reinforce success!”

When George Bush Jnr was considering invading Iraq the American Secretary of State, Coln Powell told him. “You break it… You own it!”

Mermaid and more odd jobs

Earlier in the week we had a mermaid in our backyard.  I’m usually not up early enough to see one.  Fortunately they don’t make much of a mess and are actually quite friendly, but shy, when approached.  Mostly seen on hot days!

And now to some more mundane subjects

The damned rotary lawn mower has been doing a very bad job of throwing cut grass into the catcher.  The grass piles up at the front of the catcher which results in it having to be removed and cleared.  Initially I thought we would need a new mower.  This one is nine years old and I started researching battery powered lawn mowers.  Then I decided to examine the blades.  The mower has four and they were all sharp.  So nothing was stopping the blades cutting the grass.

However they did look worn

Upon carefully examining one of the blades I identified the rear of the blade was badly worn.  Originally there was a vertical lip on the back of the blade and it was mostly gone.  It wasn’t easy finding replacement blades at a price I was prepared to pay.   eBay was my friend.  After fitting the new blades the mower is far more successful in ejecting grass cutting into the catcher.   Then I read the blades should be replaced annually.   I won’t be doing that but now I know what to do next time the problem reoccurs.

There is a large tree on the neighbours side of the corner where their property joins ours.  It’s been growing over our boundary fence and shading the electrical and water solar panels on the workshop shed roof.  This is affecting the swimming pool water heater system.

I’m now to old (and sensible) to climb a tall ladder to prune the branches on our side of the boundary.   A pole saw is required and none of my relatives own one.  There is only one tree to prune so I didn’t want an expensive saw.   The price of hiring a saw for the day was almost the same as purchasing a cheap battery powered saw.  In the end I bought an Ozito 3 metres battery powered pole saw without the battery.  Having standardised my battery power tools on DeWalt I didn’t want to pay more money for an orphan Ozito battery.  AliExpress came to my rescue with an adapter plate costing around $6.  Much cheaper than the Ozito battery.  The adapter fits between the Ozito pole saw and a DeWalt battery.  

It works and I’ve given the tree an initial haircut.

Loose Ends

The controller cable on the ebike linking the controller and the display had started to concern me.  There is a considerable amount of tension on it which suggested something might cause it to fail; probably at the joint. 

I found an extension cable from an online seller

Which solved the potential problem

Next problem was the head torch.  I bought one online for $6.  The specifications stated it was powerful.  And it was!

Unfortunately it only took 30 seconds before the light started to dim.  Looking at it I suspect the battery was a single Li-ion 3.7V 18650 cell.  After dismantling the torch my assumption proved correct.  A single 18650 cell with no plastic shield.  It would be hard to look much cheaper.  Using the iMax battery condition I tested the cell which revealed it had a capacity of 13mAh.   A good 18650 cell has a capacity of 2400 – 3500mAh.  Obviously the one from the torch was a cheap dud.

    

Rummaging through my boxes of ‘stuff’ I found a spare cell which I soldered and fitted to the torch before reassembly.

Now I have a head torch which illuminates for more than 30 seconds.

Quirky Location Down South

After the recent modifications to the camper trailer it seemed sensible to take it away for a few days to test everything.  I decided to spend the weekend at Preston Lime which is approximately 200km south of Perth. 

Preston Lime is a lime quarry. The location isn’t a designated camping ground, however the owner allows people to camp on his property for a small donation.  You cannot book a site and there are no facilities.

It’s a very interesting place.  The owner is retired and has a passion for collecting cars, aircraft and machinery.  The royalties from the quarry allow him to indulge in his passion. 

Just some of the cars.   Several were ‘runners’ and being driven around

Over the weekend he also drove around in a Rolls Royce convertible and an e-type jaguar.

An ex Royal Navy Wasp helicopter

 

On the hill in front of his house is an ex Ansett DC3

The site also has an unsealed airfield beside the camping area.  Apparently it is regularly used by the nearby Bunbury Aero Club.  Bunbury Airport charges the club for every ‘touch and go’ on their runway.  The Preston Lime owner allows them to use his for free.