The LNER Encyclopedia

This was 52D's comment not so long ago. Well, the dust storms have arrived and I have never experienced anything like it.
It's like a proverbial pea-soup fog.....only it's not fog and it's orange. In the middle of the second one right now (the first one lasted 3 days), and trust me when I say no matter how well you seal your doors, windows and vents it gets in the house.......and when you are outside it get everywhere.....and I mean everywhere....every single orifice, eyes, hair, in between your toes...in your..(well you don't really need me to tell you). At this moment in time it is like talcum powder and very fine. They tell me it will get worse when the sand joins in. And then, get this, the Kuwaitis tell that when the sand stops...the heat begins. Maybe it would have been better if I hadn't been so cocky about the sunshine a couple of months ago. Ah well, you get what you deserve, as my father used to say (or what goes around, comes around, is what I believe our colonial cousins say).

Malcolm

Never mind all you need now are a couple of monsoon like thunderstorms. I used to laugh when i travelled to work in a morning after one of those had come through i was guaranteed to see at least three written off cars as the arabs have no road sense when it comes to water on the road.
Anyway interview Tuesday i may be dropping in for a chai.

I can honestly say that the standard of driving here is the worst I have ever seen, regardless of the weather. The death and injury toll here is quite appalling, and everday I see at least three accidents.

Malcolm

I can assure you that driving standards in the next country down are even worse. The road system is a mish mash of American and UK ideas, One thing i took a while getting used to was that you are allowed to turn right on a red light. Many a time id be waiting for a green and an irate Saudi behind would be pumping on his horn.

We can turn right on a red here, too. Provided you come to a stop first to see that you're clear to go. Not everyone obeys that, though. Most do a 'rolling stop' and just very occasionally some blockhead will pull straight out.

Speaking of the airborne sand thing, I recall we spent a summer in Crete many moons ago and we woke up one morning to see everything covered in a fine dust, much like the talcum powder described. Overnight there had been a southerly wind that had carried sand from north Africa.

G'Day Gents
Fun ar'n't they Malcolm, we get a couple every summer here to, they roll in from Central Australia. The biggest one I,ve ever seen was in the late 1960's, coming home from work on a train, we could see this dark red cloud, couple of thousend feet high, half an hour later we went into it, it was pitch black in side, and even with a large headlamp fitted to the DMU, we could'nt see a thing, down to 10 mph for the next 10 miles home, when we got to our station, we had to use a chain link fence to help us get home, very late and to very worried parents, as usual everything was cover in a thin film of dust, my wife curse's every dust storm we get, I'll try to find some pics.
manna


You know it's summer in South Australia when you ca'nt see the front gate

PS We usually find that near the end of a dust storm we get a bit of rain, so it rains mud for a while, really makes a mess of the cars!!

By the sounds of things Gents,i think you should all return home to Blighty!!!Incase you miss it-here's some Yorkshire sunshine(the safe variety),going into Whitby on the train from Grosmont on June 1st last year.

mistake

No bloody fear FF. I think I'll stay where I am thank you. The weather outside is clear blue sky and the temperature today is......34 degrees. Not bad eh?

Malcolm

Nice to have you back FF, keep your feet on home ground, once you leave they might be no room left on the return! From Saturday I'll be over in Cumbria playing with La'll Ratty, with the daily service starting the following week I tought they would like a hand out ( bus mans holiday! ).

Mr B ... "Arrivas bus's can La'll Rattle !!!"

34 Degrees Malcolm?That must take some getting used to!!Glad to hear you're enjoying it!!

At this moment in time.........38 degrees.

Malcolm

Now 38 degrees coupled with Ratty's open coach's, boilers bubbling, diesel evaporating, track buckling, and to top it of Jan's sold out of ice cream !!!

Mr B ... staying cool waiting for Arriva !

I have to say the photo of Yorkshire sunshine looks quite appealing to me. Here we are mid-March and still with a foot of snow on the ground. Still, my sled-dog Wally loves it, so it's not all bad.

G'Day Gents
Only going to be 27c here today, but will probably be one of our perfect days that we get so often, it will stay like this now for the next 4 to 6 weeks, with the odd day of rain as we slowy slide deeper into Autumn, so by the end of April the clocks will change, and we'll be down to 20c days and cool nights, hopefully we'll have a wet winter??? AHH-- Bliss
manna