still here

[Les Woodard]

Think we outlived those who used to keep reminding us that they where iron men sailing in wooden ships well think we have shown them what surviving is all about. I firmly believe that having a good sense of humour plus bucket loads of loyalty towards ship mates paid of. As an aside all those bloody stars on my last post seems that being as none coloured as a lump of coal is not allowed. So just maybe nugget is allowed this time round LOL.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Les.
We didn't have all that atomic waste to put up with.
Cheers Des

[Ivan Cloherty]

Atomic Waste, think we did Des, with all the Atom Bomb tests all over the world carried by the USA/GB/USSR/French etc carrying out airborne tests all over the world, when they didn't really know what damage they were inflicting on an unknowing public world wide, we were probably all traversing through contaminated oceans in the 40/50/60's before underground testing became the norm. In addition to that we had survived a war and years of rationing during the war and post war years. The very nature of our calling also helped because we had to be fit bouncing around the oceans in small ships (compared to today's) that didn't have stabilisers or crew recreation rooms, but had lots of gear in all departments that had to be self maintained and not done by shore parties coming aboard at regular intervals to update machinery etc etc. We didn't have paint that lasted five years or more, so we were all kept fairly busy one way or another which helped our constitutions to adapt to different circumstances enabling us to survive what was thrown at us and kept us fairly fit even though we did shore party to excess at times.

Our present generation will never be as fit as we were despite all their gym memberships or relaxing hours of work, and what is the Government doing in enabling our UK residents to keep fit, it is issuing Invalid Badges to the Obese, not sick obese, just obese, so that they do not have far to walk to the shops to purchase gargantuan amounts of food to keep them obese. They should be issued with Red Awareness badges and made to park in red painted bays only, that may encourage them to stop self harming. Perhaps we car owners over seventy should campaign for us all to have invalid badges because we have earned them by keeping fit and not being a drain on the National Health Service, in your dreams

[cappy]

it was well known that atomic waste was dumped off british ships in barrels into the atlantic .....and just manhandled by seamen with no cover at all on e lot of the north Britain my mate was on it .......people didn't know .....how many deaths is that responslble for .....cappy

[Louis the fly]

My diet consists of endless cups of strong black coffee together with Golden Virginia. Very unhealthy I know, perhaps one day it may kill me.
The alternative really does scare me, sitting in a care home staring at a box in the corner, sedated to make the carers job easier.
I am younger than many of you on this site but still ancient to my grand children. Keep the brain & mind active, read, write, laugh & joke. Keep the jeans & T shirts.
Learn new things every day ( internet great for this ) . Refuse to accept that you cannot do what you used to do. Walk the dogs daily & talk to all the other dog owners. Most important of all, ignore that old man in the mirror.

[alf corbyn]

straying from thread. FLIES. all these begging adverts for kids in Africa and elsewhere, plus the animals, you never see a fly. we have all traveled the world and seen kids in Port Said etc, with flies round thier mouths and eyes, so obviously these people are making money and all the pictures are shot in a studio. some of the kids are probably married with kids now.

[Louis the fly]

straying from thread. FLIES. all these begging adverts for kids in Africa and elsewhere, plus the animals, you never see a fly. we have all traveled the world and seen kids in Port Said etc, with flies round thier mouths and eyes, so obviously these people are making money and all the pictures are shot in a studio. some of the kids are probably married with kids now.

Not getting at me are you Alf?

[Bob Hollis]

it was well known that atomic waste was dumped off british ships in barrels into the atlantic .....and just manhandled by seamen with no cover at all on e lot of the north Britain my mate was on it .......people didn't know .....how many deaths is that responslble for .....cappy

Yes cappy, did this very job in 1960 on the Manchester Trader, around the north of Ireland although our first port was Miami. The waste was encased in lead and then into 10gallon drums with the tops beaten flat. Two days after clearing Ireland it was dumped.

[Les Woodard]

Forget which ship it was that this happened but think it was the Newcastle Star. We used to have our smoko's around all these drums on deck and thought nothing of it until we hit Oz when we where told not to get anywhere near them as it is dangerous cargo and where banned from going on that particular section of deck until after they where discharged. Still to this day do not know what was in them but some times of a night my urine glows LOL.

[Peter F Chard]

This reply is not strictly about ' nuclear ' but about something as evil -- Agent Orange. It was rumoured that the US got rid of their stockpile at Johnson Island in the pacific by adding it to ship bunker fuel and having the world's Merchant Ships burn it in their engines !! About that time Lloyds were doing research into emissions from marine engines and were puzzled by the results that resulted -- oxides of chemicals not normally present in marine bunker fuel but which could exist in Agent Orange were detected, or so the story goes. All comments appreciated, Peter in NZ.