Stay positive if you can mate. Good things come when you are positive and open. In my darkest times, I have only made things worse by allowing myself to get lost in my head. Failing that, get some happy pills from the quack - they have allowed my mother-in-law to be happy with my father-in-law for nearly 40 years! I took up airgun shooting a few years ago and it is a good diversion and gets me out. Concentration needs to be total and I find it gets my mind out of it's rut. HFT is a good sport and pretty inclusive of all levels.
My first week in the South Atlantic [:)] Almost lost the war before it really began though!
1st May 1982
The Chilean government are worried that the conflict will result in the UK government delaying the arrival of a second-hand warship. In an effort to reassure the Chileans, HMS Minerva is publicly decommissioned making her unavailable for future TF operations.
RN submarines in the South Atlantic deploy to block Argentine naval aggression. HMS Conqueror patrols off the Argentine coast, HMS Spartan guards the TEZ and HMS Splendid patrols the sea between the two areas. News of the SSN deployment keeps the ARA in port for now at least.
2nd May HMS Plymouth and Yarmouth are detached from the fleet in order to warn off Argentine fishing vessels believed to be monitoring the Task Force, they will return tomorrow once the fishing boats are clear of the TEZ. ARA San Luis and ARA Santa Fe both put to sea amidst rumours that a force of Argentine corvettes is preparing to put to sea. Conqueror quickly locates Santa Fe and moves to attack, although the attack fails it does force Santa Fe to return to port. In the open waters further offshore San Luis is harder to locate and she slips past Splendid and attempts to locate the British TF. Luckily she fails.
3rd May
Bad news from Europe, MI6 reports that a bank with links to the Vatican is being used as a front to try and purchase more Exocets. In order to prevent this a, plan is put in motion to sabotage the Argentine plans. International opinion drops as the Italians are furious at the UK interfering with the international banking system.
San Luis manages to evade Spendid’s search and moves into an attack position. Unable to close to effective range San Luis instead disengages and returns home.
4th May
Whilst the Task Force continues to trek further south, reports are received that one of the Argentine fishing vessels escorted away on the 2nd has returned. As a result two Sea Harriers and HMS Plymouth are ordered to sink the trawler. Gold 1 & 2 strafe the vessel before Plymouth arrives and sinks her with gunfire.
Red 3 shoots down an Argentine C-130 bringing supply into the islands, from now on the nightly supply flights need to be a regular target for the SHARS.
News is received that Santa Fe and the Argentine patrol group have put to sea. Neither Splendid nor Santa Fe manage to locate each other. Meanwhile, the Argentine patrol group manages to evade detection and makes a sudden lunge towards the Task Force. Unfortunately the Argentine group manages to evade detection and mount an attack on the core of the British TF. Invincible and Contender Bezant are both damaged and will require several days of repairs before they can return to the TF. It’s a blow, but definitely a lucky escape... Luckily the Argentine Air Force does not follow up the attacks.
5th May
Following the TFs narrow escape yesterday, elements of the government are demanding a swift conclusion to the war. The TF has until the 21st of May to start landings or run the risk of the government losing support for the war.
Despite the temporary loss of Invincible, the TF continues to move closer to the Falkland Islands. Admiral Woodward clearly hopes that the recent cloudy weather will help to protect the TF. An SAS surveillance team moves into position near Rio Grande in order to provide warning of any potential Exocet attacks. Tartan 3 fails to stop the nightly supply flight, unfortunately it is felt that only one SHAR can be spared for duties away from the fleet. Santa Fe moves back into Argentine coastal waters.
6th May
A CBS news report raises concerns about the amount of support that the US is providing to the Task Force. Although President Reagan pledges his continued support the outrage affects International opinion and Chile withdraws her covert surveillance of Argentine radio frequencies.
Santa Fe manages to avoid the attentions of the Brit SSN for another day although she also fails to achieve anything. She is joined by San Luis as both Argentine subs attempt to hunt Conqueror. Although San Luis (again) manages to reach an attack position the captain is worried they have been detected and breaks off the attack and returns home.
Tartan 1 & 2 carry out a sweep of the Falklands and scare off a Hercules bringing supplies into the garrison.
For a change the weather in the South Atlantic is fair and sunny and the Argentine air force takes advantage of the fact. A pair of Etendards launch from Rio Grande, luckily the launch is detected by an RAF Nimrod operating at the extreme of her range. Unaware that they are being tracked the two Etendards refuel in mid-air and loop around to the north where HMS Antrim patrols by herself. By the time the Argentines reach the TF however, Red 1 & 2 are on patrol above the Brit warship. Unluckily for the RN neither harrier manages to achieve a kill and Antrim remains unable to engage with her Sea Slug missiles. Although the TF believes the Etendards are scared off they are shocked when Antrim reports she has been hit by an Exocet and is rapidly sinking. The British public are dismayed at the news of a British ship being sunk, having believed the war would be a walk-over.
7th May Santa Fe continues to lurk in coastal waters, unwilling to run the gauntlet of RN submarines to reach the TF. A heavy overcast covers the South Atlantic, making deck landing more difficult than usual and making Argentine attacks less likely. A pair of Sea Harriers from Hermes is launched to try and intercept the Argentine supply flight but fail to find anything. Luckily they manage a safe landing on Hermes when they return home.
Seems the GPU fan fell off and it overheated. Upgrade time.....
New i3 MOBO. Seems Intel's driver disk screwed up all my passwords. [&:] Now I have to restore the image, make a password reset disk and then reinstall the drivers. Grrr........
I think I'll try DriverWhiz first.
"Measure civilization by the ability of citizens to mock government with impunity" -- Unknown
Seems the GPU fan fell off and it overheated. Upgrade time.....
New i3 MOBO. Seems Intel's driver disk screwed up all my passwords. [&:] Now I have to restore the image, make a password reset disk and then reinstall the drivers. Grrr........
I think I'll try DriverWhiz first.
Sounds like something marketed to long-distance truckers...[;)]
