I Know What You Lot Are Thinking
Presumably because of that previous Intro which went into detail about 'Russian Saps' and a few other ephemera about the First Unpleasantness. While we are on this subject I would like to mention the 'Barratt Hydraulic Forcing Jack', more simply known to the British as the 'Mole' or 'Pipe-Pusher'. Art!
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| <sigh> |
Since there are no contemporary pictures I shall let this stand. The Tazer stands ready aye ready, mind.
Briefly put, the BHFJ was a civil engineering tool used to bore narrow horizontal tunnels in the ground, which could then be used for drainpipes or cables and wiring. The Australians had been using it behind the lines to create saps, which inspired the British to use it in several attempted attacks in High Wood in August of 1916. The idea was to fill the holes drilled using tins filled with high explosive to then create an 'instant trench' into the Teuton lines. Art!
It did not go well. One pipe burst from the ground a mere 40 feet from the British lines, twice, so it was abandoned. Another worked it's way round in a circle and blew a large crater in the British trenches.
Root systems, you see. High Wood being a wood - you may be ahead of me here - it was chock-full of deep, robust roots, that diverted the pipes. I also believe there's a brief description in "The War The Infantry Knew" where a gigantic, writhing, serpentine apparition appears in No Man's Land; a pushed pipe sent astray by subterranean debris.
ANYWAY Art!
This, gentle reader, is a gas rattle. If the duty sentry in a stretch of trench smelt chlorine, garlic or mouldy hay, they donned their gas mask and used this noise-maker to alert everyone else to the fact that they were under chemical attack.
None of which, obviously - of course! - is to do with the real subject matter of this Intro, which does indeed concern gas, yes; the variety that comes supplied in pipelines, or which used to. Thanks to Joe Blogs for providing the breakdown in numbers for this topic, for we are once again looking on at the slow dissolution of the Ruffian economy. Art!
The Ruffians are sitting atop 24% of the global reserves of natural gas, more than the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th nations put together. Natural gas was the preferred fuel in Europe because it created far less pollution than coal, since it was primarily used in power stations to generate energy. Secondary use was domestically for heating and cooking, and tertiary use was by industries. In 2021 the major natural gas importers were Germany, Italy, Turkey, Netherlands, Poland and France. Art!
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| "Putin dared to loosen one hand from his death-grip on the table" |
Then came the Special Idiotic Operation.
"What can possibly go wrong in three days?" opined the Fun-Sized Foot Fiddler.
He had to ask! Ruffian natural gas exports to the EU have dropped by 77%. The EU has diversified into renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydro. They now import, or convert natural gas to, liquified natural gas.
Where does the LNG come from? O I thought you'd never ask! South Canada, Oz and Qatar, primarily. Ruffia has a limited ability to produce LNG, but hasn't built any liquification plants since 2019 because they are 1) extremely expensive 2) require Western technology and staff & 3) take years and years to construct. Art!
The bottom line in losses for Ruffia over the duration of the SIO may be as high as $150 billion. An eye-watering amount that illustrates how much their revenues have shrunk. Nor is this figure going to diminish in future because there is so much less demand for Ruffian natural gas, short, medium and long term. Art!
It's turning out to be an unusually mild autumn. Dog Buns, even the weather hates Putin!
BREAKING NEWS: Added-in after reading a preçis on Twitter - Gazprom, the Ruffian gas producer, has had to cut total production by 25% compared to pre-SIO levels. A gleeful South Canadian commentator pointed out that South Canada can in actuality supply LNG far cheaper than that from Gazprom - "thanks to new technology that Putin's advisors did not tell him about."
My Gainfully Employed Sunday
Your Humble Scribe took a trip out to Richard's domicile at Storrs on Sunday, crossing his fingers that the car would make it there and back - we have not been lucky with travelling there in the past - and indeed it did.
The wargame was what's called a 'skirmish' one, where there are a small number of pieces on the board, and where the personal stats and values are quite detailed. No "Move your armoured brigade forward on a roll of D20". Art!
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| Richard, king of all he surveys |
This is the business part of Harper's Ferry in 1859: warehouse/factory, water-tower, paymaster's office and the engine room. The name may sound familiar. That's because it was where arch-abolitionist John Brown and his armed gang staged a raid, to be confronted first by the militia and townsfolk, and then by the US Army. Mark played the townsfolk (3 of 'em), Conrad JB and his Band (5) and Jamie the Militia (4). More anon.
It's Here!
Finally, my "Official History Of The Second World War: The Mediterranean And Middle East Volume II" turned up. Art!
It's in pretty good nick for a publication from 1956, five years older than I am. I've unfolded a few of the maps that are bound in, and which aren't present in the softback Naval & Military Press reprint. The sketch maps are in colour, too, which is another omission in the N & M reprint, as they only sprang for monochrome, the pikers.
Inevitably, Conrad will have to sit down and re-read it from cover to cover, filling in the gaps where it had no idea about Ultra.
"City In The Sky"
Our less-than-worldly beachfolk of New Eucla are about to get a quick introduction to a Type 41 TARDIS.
‘Jeeez!’ swore Lenny, jumping in his seat.
‘Don!’ blurted the excited younger man.
‘In this office, I am Mayor Kenneally!’ growled Don, dragging
open a drawer and pulling out an elaborately worked metal chain, from which
dangled an inverted, chiselled and severed Volkswagen logo, which did make an
“M” of sorts. He tossed the object onto
his desk and scowled at Terry. ‘What!’
‘That thing up on the dune – it ain’t a police box, or a police
anything!, babbled the young man, wildly excited. ‘It’s not even wood, even if it looks like
it, right. You can’t scratch it, you
can’t chip it or chop it – you can’t even burn it. There’s no tracks leading to it, so it came
straight down out of the sky, ‘cept nobody saw it come down in broad daylight
in front of a hundred people working outdoors.
And it weighs so much even a
draught horse can’t shift it.’
Suppressing a shudder at the idea of people trying to burn his Tardis,
the Doctor silently thanked Terry and associates for investigating the
timeship, and for arriving providentially.
Well arranged that author.
Proof! Proof I Tell You!
You should all know by now - because I never stop telling you - that the South Canadians have never ceased to regret their treacherous rebellion a while back, and still gaze at this side of the Atlantic with despondent longing for the trappings of majesty and monarchy.
Well, they've excelled themselves at "The Daily Beast" this time, because they can not only slobber over Kingy, but also his aides. Art!
This here is Lt. Col. Johnny Thompson, wearing a Glengarry bonnet and the Black Watch tartan. TDB, predictably, goes ga-ga over his appearance, because they can be shallow like that. He's notable for being the equerry to Kingy, which is a kind of aide-de-camp to the monarchy. Poor bloke. He's going to get no peace from their press, you know.
Finally -
Poorly car has been hoiked off to the garage, thanks to suffering symptoms that were horribly similar to the Qubo's clutch failing, and an occasional but alarming high-pitched grinding noise that sounds like an angle-grinder being applied to the brakes. Conrad confidently expects the flayed corpses of half-a-dozen gremlins to be discovered deep in the engine.
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