Re: Tempered spring mounts, etc.

[quk@isham-research.demon.co.uk (Phil Payne)]

In message <3.0.3.16.19981220155803.1c3fa798@n-jcenter.com> Mike Arman writes:

> There are places around the world where NOTHING is available, and
> consequently NOTHING gets thrown away if there's even the slightest chance
> of re-using it ...

I got Shanghaied (it's a _LONG_ story) into making an overland trip
from Dacca (Bangladesh) up into the foothills behind Chittagong.  Two
Landrovers, two drivers, two armed bodyguards (Bangladeshi army),
three crates of Heineken lager, some food and water, some tents, and
me.

That part of Bangladesh is split by river deltas - lots of ferries.
Priority on a ferry, in reverse order, is: empty trucks, loaded trucks,
trucks carrying perishables, buses, private cars and diplomats.  For the
purpose of this trip, I was a diplomat - both Landrovers carried the
Bangladeshi diplomatic plate: "08 applied for".  I _never_ saw a vehicle
with either a real 08 or "08 granted".  Never mind.

On one of the ferry trips, I sat on top of one of the Landrovers.  They
were parked up close nose-to-tail on the ferry, and the armed
guards (choki-dah) were posted at opposite corners.  Everything that
could be locked _was_ locked, and everything else was welded on.  I was
the absolute centre of attention for a couple of hundred faces.

Halfway across a mile-wide river - not very deep - I casually tossed a
beer can over the side.  Three people jumped after it.

I think when a lot of people speak about 'third world poverty' they have
no real grasp of just what it means.

--
 Phil Payne
 Phone: 0385 302803   Fax: 01536 723021
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