At dawn we slept...in the cab on the way back from Olongapo

[RangerJoe]

ORIGINAL: Bif1961

Paras dropping in on each other is that legal? Pun intended.[:D]

Yes, that might have actually happened in Normandy.

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: Bif1961

Paras dropping in on each other is that legal? Pun intended.[:D]

"I wish you had called. The place is a mess"

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

ORIGINAL: Bif1961

Paras dropping in on each other is that legal? Pun intended.[:D]

"I wish you had called. The place is a mess"

And they didn't have their suits on yet ...

[Cap Mandrake]

So the HOA fined me and ordered me a meeting but I talked the new HOA "compliance" chick into waving it if I did X Y and Z. So I call in a quote from a tree guy...remove two decent size pepper trees, two medium sycamores and trim the dead branches off 3 big oaks.

$4000 [X(] Santa Maria! I wanted them cut down not converted in artisanal furniture. Screw that. I bought a new chain saw because I couldn't get the old two restarted [:D] I brought down the thickest pepper safely but it was about 3 hrs of work cleaning up. I cut a cool chair out of the stump. Beautiful grain. Nice reddish colors.

So I start to work on the taller Pepper...about 40 feet. It's leaning over an ancient oak because it's on a slope so I can tell which way it will fall. I cut about 80% through on a slant and then hammer in some wedges with a sledge hammer. Then I just remove a tiny bit from the downhill side and it starts to tilt.....CRAAACK..PERFECT...but the top branches are intertwined with the oak and the trunk translates horizontally and then when free of the stump...pile drives itself into the moist ground vertically and it looks like a new tree 3 feet shorter [:)]

I try to hammer it with the sledge and move abut a foot but it just digs in and then I try to rent a winch but can't find one because it's not Alaska or Montana. Finally I give up, buy some plants at Lowes and rent an F-150 for $20 and hook it up to a 3/8 inch cable I had and pull the damn thing down with a massive crash. My grandson was in the cab with me. It was so much fun. The noise was incredible. The back end was fishtailing and then the trump jumps forward when it gives.

THAT was worth $4000!

[RangerJoe]

Gee whiz, I could have told how how to get it down with explosives![:'(]

[BBfanboy]

Cap Mandrake: The back end was fishtailing and then the trump jumps forward when it gives.

Which of these words is not like the others? Something on your mind Cap?

[Cap Mandrake]

[:)]

[Cap Mandrake]

Whoa! This thing works? I thought it might be on Amazon servers.

The health care system is all hands on deck in SoCal. This is when the clerk-typists get handed a Garand. The outpatient RN's are doing COVID screening. The LVN's are being floated to the hospital to relieve the stress on the RN's. The primary care docs are being floated to the hospital to relieve the hospitalists. I think the public is responding to the pandemic with fewer pregnancies...which was a wise move. We are now 10 months out from when the fit hit the shan so human pregnancies are down. Blue Whales and elephants are still in the pipeline. The OB RN's are being floated to ICU's and other units. They HATE this but it is needed. Many COVID positive moms now. Most of the babies do not convert but you still have to quarantine them. So after discharge the hospitalist doc gets to take care of a stable of covid positive babies. Tremendously inefficient and time consuming but there is no one to hand the baton to.

So we do a week at a time on call so only one doc gets beat up at a time. Phone calls every f'ing night...11 PM 1 AM, 3 AM. It's like they have a EEG running at the nursing station and they wait until you fall into REM sleep and then they call. Finally after 6 nights of that I am off call so I have an adult beverage and go to sleep at 7PM. 1 freaking AM the nurse reads the call schedule wrong and calls me about a mom who used ganja during her pregnancy to help with hyperemesis (severe prolonged problem...miserable and dangerous to the mom and fetus). She wants to do a drug screen on the baby. WTF? Is this Joe Gannon's granddaughter calling? Leave the poor mom alone.

By ra way. The second dose of the Pfizer vaccine SERIOUSY kicked my ass.

[Cap Mandrake]

Also the mental health system is in free fall.

Almost all psychiatry is telehealth and the patients hate it. No trust is established.

I had one patient tell me the psych had a message machine which said "call back in 4 months. Have your primary doctor refill your medications". A teen was admitted to inpatient psych unit for 4 days after not sleeping for two weeks...they put her on Abilify (an antipsychotic also used for depression) ....and then they send her home and tell her to call me.

What the Hell?

[Alfred]

This has got to be heaven for Milo. Some of his sushi is bound to turn the consumers green (the colour of money for Milo) and that will quickly empty the wards.

Alfred

[Cap Mandrake]

**************Pacific Ocean Areas HQ, Pearl************

Adm. Husband Kimmel, CO: <on phone> ....and tell that air guy on Midway I want all the planes grouped tightly together so they can guard against sabotage.....right.....sabotage...got it?...good, that's all. <hangs up phone>

Right, Mr. Minderbinder, I thought you told us our ships would be safe near the Marianas if we flew your company flag. Can you explain to me what happened to USS Pursuit? We lost contact with her 160 miles SE of Guam. Her last message was "under attack by dive bombers".

Young man in fine linen slacks: Yes, sir, it seems a mistake was made. I've sent a stern letter to Mr Hata via the Swiss embassy.

Adm Kimmel: Mr. Hata?

Young man in fine linen slacks: New finance and industry leader. Loves sashimi, sir.

Adm Kimmel: Well, see to it. We are counting on that contract to avoid attacks on day 1. By the way, how is the new Seamew coming?

Young man in fine linen slacks: We have 4 ready in Alameda sir. Beautiful blue paint job. Pinstripes. Seafoam hand painted on the floats. Takes your breath away.

Adm Kimmel: SPLENID! I can't wait

[Disco Duck]

This is the resupply vessel you need. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CcrHUmmzBM[:'(]

[RangerJoe]

By the way, the proper way to fell a tree with a chainsaw is to cut a wedge on the side of the tree where you want the tree to fall then cut the tree on the other side. If someone with a strong pipe or bar puts it above the the cut and give the tree a slight push towards the direction of the fall, that helps as well. That was the job of my step-grandfather. [:D] He quit driving in his mid eighties. [:D]

Get a new spark plug for the older chainsaws, they will probably work fine. Get some stabil and put it in the last bit of gas run through the chain saw, then run the gas tank dry. Also, keep the air filter clean.

Always use good hearing protection when using a chainsaw as well as some sort of eye protection. The eye protection can help keep the saw dust out of the eye.

For the stump, either get an oyster mushroom growing kit. If you want it to rot faster, use nitrate fertilizer.

Or get a tank and push it over.


For smaller ones, an armoured personnel will also work.


Of course, it is much quicker and easier with explosives.

[T Rav]

From experience,

An APC at speed will work on knocking down Termite Ant-infested trees. However, camouflaged fatigues will not keep said ants from infesting the Track Commander (me) sitting halfway outside the APC in the hatch.

40 years ago, and I remember it vividly!

T Rav

[RangerJoe]

ORIGINAL: T Rav

From experience,

An APC at speed will work on knocking down Termite Ant-infested trees. However, camouflaged fatigues will not keep said ants from infesting the Track Commander (me) sitting halfway outside the APC in the hatch.

40 years ago, and I remember it vividly!

T Rav

M113? I understand that those would be good for moose hinting since they float and usually carry a Ma Deuce along with a M60 or two.

[Cap Mandrake]

..

[Cap Mandrake]

Rest of June 19. I can't find the combat text. Bataan lives. KB unspotted.

[Cap Mandrake]

**********************June 20, 1943(e)****************

Despite numerous attempts to bait the IJN into a carrier battle near Truk or Wolei it's a no go.

I had a single CVE (USS Baitfish) 1 hex off Ponape dropping bombs from 1 hex away with the other USN carriers waiting W of Nauru Is, 500 miles away from any Jap bases for days in a row. Not even a nibble. I sent the fake amphibious TF with 20 ships all the way to Satawal within easy spotting range of Guam and Wolei...AND THEY WERE SPOTTED but no reaction. I have bombed the Heck out of Truk and Wolei and even dropped paras on Ulithi...no carriers.

[Cap Mandrake]

PI: Japs take out Butuan on Mindanao

Night Air attack on Butuan , at 80,89

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 11

Allied aircraft
no flights

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
R4D-1 Skytrain: 1 damaged

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 20

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Butuan , at 80,89

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 1 damaged

Runway hits 5

[Cap Mandrake]

Hundreds of medium bomber sorties over Bataan.

Ground bombardment. Still USFFE HQ and 182nd IR out of Bataan by air. The transports stage offshore until MacArthur is busy and then they fly in and load up real fast.

Ground combat at Bataan (78,77)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 1870 troops, 156 guns, 114 vehicles, Assault Value = 866

Defending force 35795 troops, 428 guns, 275 vehicles, Assault Value = 303

Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
219 casualties reported
Squads: 15 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
2nd Division
14th Division
48th/A Division
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
1st Art.Mortar Regiment
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
26th PS Cavalry Regiment
4th Marine Regiment
4th Constabulary Regiment
31st PA Infantry Division
31st Infantry Regiment
71st PA Infantry Division
182nd Infantry Regiment
1st Constabulary Regiment
762nd Tank Battalion
301st Construction Battalion
51st PA Infantry Division
57th PS Infantry Regiment
45th PS Infantry Regiment
21st PA Infantry Division
2nd PA Infantry Regiment
11th PA Infantry/C Division
200th & 515th Coast AA Regiment
Bataan USN Base Force
I/Prov'nl SPM Grp
165th Field Artillery Battalion
24th PS FA Regiment
Clark Field AAF Base Force
!/23rd PS FA Battalion
4th PAAC Avn Sup
86th PS Field Artillery Battalion
637th Tank Destroyer Battalion
627th Tank Destroyer Battalion
88th PS Field Artillery Regiment
US Forces Far East
54th British Brigade
3rd Marine/A Div /2
Manila Bay Defenses
III/Prov'nl SPM Grp
501st Coast AA Regiment
301st PA Field Artillery Regiment
632nd Tank Destroyer Battalion
1st USMC AA Battalion
II Corps
11th PA Infantry/B Division
11th PAAC Avn Sup
II/Prov'nl SPM Grp
103rd PA Infantry Regiment
2nd Constabulary Regiment
27th Avn Sup /2
91st PA Infantry Division
11th PA Infantry/A Division
102nd PA Infantry Regiment
81st PA Infantry Div /1