I think ex lorry drivers who have made it into our late 70s and early
80s should be grateful that we survived a quite hard working life.

I know at almost 81 I've lost nearly all my driver mates, most of whom
were a few years younger than me. Heart attacks and lung cancer being
the major causes, though there were a few killed on the job.

If I hadn't given up smoking in 1977 I wouldn't be here now. It was so
tempting, every time you stopped at traffic lights, to pull out another
fag (not the USA type).

I stopped by chewing household matches instead! But I could hardly
breath at night back then and had a hacking cough. I can remember my
missus sitting me up in bed and banging my back! It all cleared up
within two weeks off the fags! I was 35.

I do have lung issues now, especially after covid, that are probably
down to me having been a chain-smoker.

I blame the Royal Navy for that! I served 12 years and joined at age 15.
Straight away we were actually encouraged to smoke! They thought it was
good for us in 1957.

Then at aged 18 we had 200 duty free 'Blue Liner' fag issues every
month, just to get us going! That and a daily rum issue too! Even that
effected my driving life later. It was always a daily midday stop at a
lorry friendly pub for a pint or three.

When I was on low loader work with police escorts, we used to gather in
a pub at lunchtime and have a few. But of course in those days police
stations had their own bars too!

I don't drink and drive now. That would be stupid, but I do wonder
whether the legal limit is set a bit too low?

I suppose the problem was caused by younger drivers who just couldn't
handle it?

Tone

On Tue, 10 Jan 2023 15:59:57 +0000, Tone <tone@email.com> wrote:
>
> I think ex lorry drivers who have made it into our late 70s and early
> 80s should be grateful that we survived a quite hard working life.

Driving for a living is hard work.
>
> I know at almost 81 I've lost nearly all my driver mates, most of whom
> were a few years younger than me. Heart attacks and lung cancer being
> the major causes, though there were a few killed on the job.

One of the things I tell people about our legal and
highly addictive drus is that it kills half its users.
>
> If I hadn't given up smoking in 1977 I wouldn't be here now. It was so
> tempting, every time you stopped at traffic lights, to pull out another
> fag (not the USA type).

My dad went from 60 a day to 0 when he was in his late
thirties, he made it to his nineties.
>
> I stopped by chewing household matches instead! But I could hardly
> breath at night back then and had a hacking cough. I can remember my
> missus sitting me up in bed and banging my back! It all cleared up
> within two weeks off the fags! I was 35.

I stopped smoking in the mid 1980s, when I met the slutty
blonde that is my wife, she gave them up too.

When Cory Doctorow gave up he estimated that with the
money he saved he could buy himself a nice new laptop every year.

He's now using fully loaded Framework.
>
>
> I blame the Royal Navy for that! I served 12 years and joined at age 15.
> Straight away we were actually encouraged to smoke! They thought it was
> good for us in 1957.

The armed forces today have a high percentage of smokers. Cheap
fags and lots of standing around time.
>
> Then at aged 18 we had 200 duty free 'Blue Liner' fag issues every
> month, just to get us going!

I recall those, they were cheaper than Katie Price which
certainly would encourage sailors to smoke.

> That and a daily rum issue too! Even that
> effected my driving life later. It was always a daily midday stop at a
> lorry friendly pub for a pint or three.
>
I always enjoy the French transport cafes (Routier) which
come with a well stocked bar and wine with your meal.

> I don't drink and drive now. That would be stupid, but I do wonder
> whether the legal limit is set a bit too low?

I'm not sure, but as my reaction time slows and my
eyesight goes to shit, i'm not driving these days.

Tone <tone@email.com> writes:

> I think ex lorry drivers who have made it into our late 70s and early
> 80s should be grateful that we survived a quite hard working life.
>
> I know at almost 81 I've lost nearly all my driver mates, most of whom
> were a few years younger than me. Heart attacks and lung cancer being
> the major causes, though there were a few killed on the job.
>
> If I hadn't given up smoking in 1977 I wouldn't be here now. It was so
> tempting, every time you stopped at traffic lights, to pull out another
> fag (not the USA type).

In the late 50s, I knew an "old lorry driver" -- maybe his early 60s
-- who claimed to have spent the early decades of his career on solid
rubber tyres, not moderny pneumatic ones. He said his insides had
jolted loose and were no longer properly attached and were causing
him a lot of trouble.

Working then as in-house driver between nearby factory and warehouse,
pneumatic tyres and shock absorbers.

--
Mike Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada

In article <slrntrrb1n.2s1e.julian@n6are.com>, Julian Macassey
<julian@n6are.com> on Tue, 10 Jan 2023 at 18:19:35 awoke Nicholas from
his slumbers and wrote
>On Tue, 10 Jan 2023 15:59:57 +0000, Tone <tone@email.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> If I hadn't given up smoking in 1977 I wouldn't be here now. It was so
>> tempting, every time you stopped at traffic lights, to pull out another
>> fag (not the USA type).
>
> My dad went from 60 a day to 0 when he was in his late
>thirties, he made it to his nineties.

My father went from 60 a day to 0 when he was 51. He just stopped
smoking and never went back. His heart stopped beating at the same time
and it never restarted.
--
0sterc@tcher -

"Où sont les neiges d'antan?"

On 11-Jan-23 0:29, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
> In article <slrntrrb1n.2s1e.julian@n6are.com>, Julian Macassey
> <julian@n6are.com> on Tue, 10 Jan 2023 at 18:19:35 awoke Nicholas from
> his slumbers and wrote
>> On Tue, 10 Jan 2023 15:59:57 +0000, Tone <tone@email.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> If I hadn't given up smoking in 1977 I wouldn't be here now. It was so
>>> tempting, every time you stopped at traffic lights, to pull out another
>>> fag (not the USA type).
>>
>> My dad went from 60 a day to 0 when he was in his late
>> thirties, he made it to his nineties.
>
> My father went from 60 a day to 0 when he was 51. He just stopped
> smoking and never went back. His heart stopped beating at the same time
> and it never restarted.

That is the most reliable method of giving up fags, but the heartless
side of me wondered:

"Cremation?"

--
Sam Plusnet

On Wed, 11 Jan 2023 18:41:39 +0000
Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> wrote:

> That is the most reliable method of giving up fags, but the heartless
> side of me wondered:
>
> "Cremation?"

My father used to have an ashtray in the shape of a skull with the
legend "Poor old Fred, smoked in bed" engraved on the top.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith
Odds and Ends at http://www.sohara.org/

In article <FpDvL.2149916$G_96.616583@fx13.ams1>, Sam Plusnet
<not@home.com> on Wed, 11 Jan 2023 at 18:41:39 awoke Nicholas from his
slumbers and wrote
>On 11-Jan-23 0:29, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
>> In article <slrntrrb1n.2s1e.julian@n6are.com>, Julian Macassey
>> <julian@n6are.com> on Tue, 10 Jan 2023 at 18:19:35 awoke Nicholas from
>> his slumbers and wrote
>>> On Tue, 10 Jan 2023 15:59:57 +0000, Tone <tone@email.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> If I hadn't given up smoking in 1977 I wouldn't be here now. It was so
>>>> tempting, every time you stopped at traffic lights, to pull out another
>>>> fag (not the USA type).
>>>
>>> My dad went from 60 a day to 0 when he was in his late
>>> thirties, he made it to his nineties.
>>
>> My father went from 60 a day to 0 when he was 51. He just stopped
>> smoking and never went back. His heart stopped beating at the same time
>> and it never restarted.
>
>That is the most reliable method of giving up fags, but the heartless
>side of me wondered:
>
>"Cremation?"
>
Yes but there is not much smoke from a crematorium.

My mother spread his ashes in the back garden. We moved out by the end
of the year. When the house was sold recently, I looked at the Estate
Agent's pictures; the back garden has concrete over it and is a car
park. Appropriate given our surname, a predecessor was also buried under
a car park in Leicester.
--
0sterc@tcher -

"Où sont les neiges d'antan?"

On 12/01/2023 00:43, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
> In article <FpDvL.2149916$G_96.616583@fx13.ams1>, Sam Plusnet
> <not@home.com> on Wed, 11 Jan 2023 at 18:41:39 awoke Nicholas from his
> slumbers and wrote
>> On 11-Jan-23 0:29, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
>>> In article <slrntrrb1n.2s1e.julian@n6are.com>, Julian Macassey
>>> <julian@n6are.com> on Tue, 10 Jan 2023 at 18:19:35 awoke Nicholas from
>>> his slumbers and wrote
>>>> On Tue, 10 Jan 2023 15:59:57 +0000, Tone <tone@email.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> If I hadn't given up smoking in 1977 I wouldn't be here now. It was so
>>>>> tempting, every time you stopped at traffic lights, to pull out another
>>>>> fag (not the USA type).
>>>>
>>>> My dad went from 60 a day to 0 when he was in his late
>>>> thirties, he made it to his nineties.
>>>
>>> My father went from 60 a day to 0 when he was 51. He just stopped
>>> smoking and never went back. His heart stopped beating at the same time
>>> and it never restarted.
>>
>> That is the most reliable method of giving up fags, but the heartless
>> side of me wondered:
>>
>> "Cremation?"
>>
> Yes but there is not much smoke from a crematorium.
>
> My mother spread his ashes in the back garden. We moved out by the end
> of the year. When the house was sold recently, I looked at the Estate
> Agent's pictures; the back garden has concrete over it and is a car
> park. Appropriate given our surname, a predecessor was also buried under
> a car park in Leicester.

Plent of carbon dioxide and nanoparticles, thobut

--
Rusty Hinge
To err is human. To really foul things up requires a computer and the BOFH.

On 12/01/2023 00:43, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
>> "Cremation?"
>>
> Yes but there is not much smoke from a crematorium.
>
> My mother spread his ashes in the back garden. We moved out by the end
> of the year. When the house was sold recently, I looked at the Estate
> Agent's pictures; the back garden has concrete over it and is a car
> park. Appropriate given our surname, a predecessor was also buried under
> a car park in Leicester.

My old Mum, 102, recently giving God a hard time, has decreadededead in
her will that her ashes should be scattered over Dunstable Downs. Given
that my youngest bro belongs to the Dunstable Gliding Club, that should
be quite spectacliar.

Tone

RustyHinge <rusty.hinge@foobar.girolle.co.uk> wrote in
news:tpnp14$12nhk$1@dont-email.me:

> On 12/01/2023 00:43, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
>> Yes but there is not much smoke from a crematorium.
>>
>
> Plenty of carbon dioxide and nanoparticles, thobut

And mercury. The soil around crematoria has a high mercury content from toof
fillings.

--
Peter
-----

Tone <tone@email.com> wrote in news:tpnri9$12u4e$1@dont-email.me:

> On 12/01/2023 00:43, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
>>> "Cremation?"
>>>
>> Yes but there is not much smoke from a crematorium.
>>
>> My mother spread his ashes in the back garden. We moved out by the end
>> of the year. When the house was sold recently, I looked at the Estate
>> Agent's pictures; the back garden has concrete over it and is a car
>> park. Appropriate given our surname, a predecessor was also buried under
>> a car park in Leicester.
>
> My old Mum, 102, recently giving God a hard time, has decreadededead in
> her will that her ashes should be scattered over Dunstable Downs. Given
> that my youngest bro belongs to the Dunstable Gliding Club, that should
> be quite spectacliar.

My Dad wanted his ashes scattered on Mam Tor. Sister and I walked up there
on a very windy day. When we released the ashes they took off at high speed
and disappeared over the edge, in the direction of the track we'd just come
up by. We were quite sombre as we headed down until we met a chap coming up
the track with a white streak in his hair. I'm sure the streak was entirely
natural but we couldn't help convulsing with laughter.

--
Peter
-----

On 12/01/2023 09:28, Peter wrote:
> RustyHinge <rusty.hinge@foobar.girolle.co.uk> wrote in
> news:tpnp14$12nhk$1@dont-email.me:
>
>> On 12/01/2023 00:43, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
>>> Yes but there is not much smoke from a crematorium.
>>>
>>
>> Plenty of carbon dioxide and nanoparticles, thobut
>
> And mercury. The soil around crematoria has a high mercury content from toof
> fillings.

Hmmm. Silver mine too?

--
Rusty Hinge
To err is human. To really foul things up requires a computer and the BOFH.

On 2023-01-12, Peter <myshed@prune.org.uk> wrote:
> RustyHinge <rusty.hinge@foobar.girolle.co.uk> wrote in
> news:tpnp14$12nhk$1@dont-email.me:
>
>> On 12/01/2023 00:43, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
>>> Yes but there is not much smoke from a crematorium.
>>>
>>
>> Plenty of carbon dioxide and nanoparticles, thobut
>
> And mercury. The soil around crematoria has a high mercury content from toof
> fillings.
>
>

I am told (there was an episode on `Midsomer Murders' about some
problems in cremationg people ), that ladies that have had
`enhancements' need to have the sacs pierced in case of splatter in the
ovens.

--
greymausg@mail.com

Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum, I smell the stench of an Influencer.
Where is our money gone, Dude?

RustyHinge <rusty.hinge@foobar.girolle.co.uk> wrote in
news:tpol3l$1841a$1@dont-email.me:

> On 12/01/2023 09:28, Peter wrote:
>> RustyHinge <rusty.hinge@foobar.girolle.co.uk> wrote in
>> news:tpnp14$12nhk$1@dont-email.me:
>>
>>> On 12/01/2023 00:43, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
>>>> Yes but there is not much smoke from a crematorium.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Plenty of carbon dioxide and nanoparticles, thobut
>>
>> And mercury. The soil around crematoria has a high mercury content
>> from toof fillings.
>
> Hmmm. Silver mine too?
>

Silver your what?

--
Peter
-----

Tone <tone@email.com> wrote:
>
> I think ex lorry drivers who have made it into our late 70s and early
> 80s should be grateful that we survived a quite hard working life.
>
> I know at almost 81 I've lost nearly all my driver mates, most of whom
> were a few years younger than me. Heart attacks and lung cancer being
> the major causes, though there were a few killed on the job.
>

There is an article in today’s Telegraph about a 91 year old lorry driver
who has just passed his medical to keep his HGV licence. He started driving
HGVs during his National Service.

He plans to retire next year and head off, with his wife (89), to Thailand.

Peter said:
> RustyHinge <rusty.hinge@foobar.girolle.co.uk> wrote in
>> On 12/01/2023 09:28, Peter wrote:
>>> RustyHinge <rusty.hinge@foobar.girolle.co.uk> wrote in
>>>> On 12/01/2023 00:43, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
>>>>> Yes but there is not much smoke from a crematorium.
>>>>
>>>> Plenty of carbon dioxide and nanoparticles, thobut
>>>
>>> And mercury. The soil around crematoria has a high mercury content
>>> from toof fillings.
>>
>> Hmmm. Silver mine too?
>
> Silver your what?

Line his hi-ho ?

--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html

On 12/01/2023 12:39, Brian wrote:
> Tone <tone@email.com> wrote:
>>
>> I think ex lorry drivers who have made it into our late 70s and early
>> 80s should be grateful that we survived a quite hard working life.
>>
>> I know at almost 81 I've lost nearly all my driver mates, most of whom
>> were a few years younger than me. Heart attacks and lung cancer being
>> the major causes, though there were a few killed on the job.
>>
>
> There is an article in today’s Telegraph about a 91 year old lorry driver
> who has just passed his medical to keep his HGV licence. He started driving
> HGVs during his National Service.
>
> He plans to retire next year and head off, with his wife (89), to Thailand.
>
>
>

He's incredibly lucky to still have his health. I dread to think what
his vehicle insurance costs!

Tone

On 12/01/2023 13:20, Richard Robinson wrote:
> Peter said:
>> RustyHinge <rusty.hinge@foobar.girolle.co.uk> wrote in
>>> On 12/01/2023 09:28, Peter wrote:
>>>> RustyHinge <rusty.hinge@foobar.girolle.co.uk> wrote in
>>>>> On 12/01/2023 00:43, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
>>>>>> Yes but there is not much smoke from a crematorium.
>>>>>
>>>>> Plenty of carbon dioxide and nanoparticles, thobut
>>>>
>>>> And mercury. The soil around crematoria has a high mercury content
>>>> from toof fillings.
>>>
>>> Hmmm. Silver mine too?
>>
>> Silver your what?
>
> Line his hi-ho ?
>
>

Away with you!

Tone

In article <tpov19$194gp$1@dont-email.me>, Brian <noinv@lid.org> on
Thu, 12 Jan 2023 at 12:39:05 awoke Nicholas from his slumbers and wrote
>Tone <tone@email.com> wrote:
>>
>> I think ex lorry drivers who have made it into our late 70s and early
>> 80s should be grateful that we survived a quite hard working life.
>>
>> I know at almost 81 I've lost nearly all my driver mates, most of whom
>> were a few years younger than me. Heart attacks and lung cancer being
>> the major causes, though there were a few killed on the job.
>>
>
>There is an article in today’s Telegraph about a 91 year old lorry driver
>who has just passed his medical to keep his HGV licence. He started driving
>HGVs during his National Service.
>
>He plans to retire next year and head off, with his wife (89), to Thailand.
>
I've heard of hats off, but head off sounds terminal.
--
0sterc@tcher -

"Où sont les neiges d'antan?"

On 12/01/2023 00:43, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
> In article <FpDvL.2149916$G_96.616583@fx13.ams1>, Sam Plusnet
> <not@home.com> on Wed, 11 Jan 2023 at 18:41:39 awoke Nicholas from his
> slumbers and wrote
>> On 11-Jan-23 0:29, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
>>> In article <slrntrrb1n.2s1e.julian@n6are.com>, Julian Macassey
>>> <julian@n6are.com> on Tue, 10 Jan 2023 at 18:19:35 awoke Nicholas from
>>> his slumbers and wrote
>>>> On Tue, 10 Jan 2023 15:59:57 +0000, Tone <tone@email.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> If I hadn't given up smoking in 1977 I wouldn't be here now. It was so
>>>>> tempting, every time you stopped at traffic lights, to pull out another
>>>>> fag (not the USA type).
>>>>
>>>> My dad went from 60 a day to 0 when he was in his late
>>>> thirties, he made it to his nineties.
>>>
>>> My father went from 60 a day to 0 when he was 51. He just stopped
>>> smoking and never went back. His heart stopped beating at the same time
>>> and it never restarted.
>>
>> That is the most reliable method of giving up fags, but the heartless
>> side of me wondered:
>>
>> "Cremation?"
>>
> Yes but there is not much smoke from a crematorium.

Experiences at Chesterfield* may differ...

Chris
*Its in a nice little hollow.

On Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 9:53:23 AM UTC-6, chr...@privacy.net wrote:
> On 12/01/2023 00:43, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
> > In article <FpDvL.2149916$G_96....@fx13.ams1>, Sam Plusnet
> > <n...@home.com> on Wed, 11 Jan 2023 at 18:41:39 awoke Nicholas from his
> > slumbers and wrote
> >> On 11-Jan-23 0:29, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
> >>> In article <slrntrrb1n....@n6are.com>, Julian Macassey
> >>> <jul...@n6are.com> on Tue, 10 Jan 2023 at 18:19:35 awoke Nicholas from
> >>> his slumbers and wrote
> >>>> On Tue, 10 Jan 2023 15:59:57 +0000, Tone <to...@email.com> wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> If I hadn't given up smoking in 1977 I wouldn't be here now. It was so
> >>>>> tempting, every time you stopped at traffic lights, to pull out another
> >>>>> fag (not the USA type).
> >>>>
> >>>> My dad went from 60 a day to 0 when he was in his late
> >>>> thirties, he made it to his nineties.
> >>>
> >>> My father went from 60 a day to 0 when he was 51. He just stopped
> >>> smoking and never went back. His heart stopped beating at the same time
> >>> and it never restarted.
> >>
> >> That is the most reliable method of giving up fags, but the heartless
> >> side of me wondered:
> >>
> >> "Cremation?"
> >>
> > Yes but there is not much smoke from a crematorium.
> Experiences at Chesterfield* may differ...
>
> Chris
> *Its in a nice little hollow.

You know, I've decided that Rusty's writings are actually very clever.

Tone <tone@email.com> wrote:
> On 12/01/2023 12:39, Brian wrote:
>> Tone <tone@email.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> I think ex lorry drivers who have made it into our late 70s and early
>>> 80s should be grateful that we survived a quite hard working life.
>>>
>>> I know at almost 81 I've lost nearly all my driver mates, most of whom
>>> were a few years younger than me. Heart attacks and lung cancer being
>>> the major causes, though there were a few killed on the job.
>>>
>>
>> There is an article in today’s Telegraph about a 91 year old lorry driver
>> who has just passed his medical to keep his HGV licence. He started driving
>> HGVs during his National Service.
>>
>> He plans to retire next year and head off, with his wife (89), to Thailand.
>>
>>
>>
>
> He's incredibly lucky to still have his health. I dread to think what
> his vehicle insurance costs!
>
> Tone
>

The article suggested he had his own Company, although it wasn’t clear.

It did say he’d never had an accident. Given he must have been driving 70
or so years, that is impressive.

On 12/01/2023 12:25, Peter wrote:
> RustyHinge <rusty.hinge@foobar.girolle.co.uk> wrote in
> news:tpol3l$1841a$1@dont-email.me:
>
>> On 12/01/2023 09:28, Peter wrote:
>>> RustyHinge <rusty.hinge@foobar.girolle.co.uk> wrote in
>>> news:tpnp14$12nhk$1@dont-email.me:
>>>
>>>> On 12/01/2023 00:43, Nicholas D. Richards wrote:
>>>>> Yes but there is not much smoke from a crematorium.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Plenty of carbon dioxide and nanoparticles, thobut
>>>
>>> And mercury. The soil around crematoria has a high mercury content
>>> from toof fillings.
>>
>> Hmmm. Silver mine too?
>>
>
> Silver your what?

Yes

--
Rusty Hinge
To err is human. To really foul things up requires a computer and the BOFH.