Just A Car Guy

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

that's an enormous tire for a hand cart... I'm going to guess it's a patched tire from a small airplane, and wasn't going to be wasted or thrown away... good recycle effort!

https://www.picswe.com/pics/croydon-airport-loading-horatius-de.html

colorized airplane photos aren't something I come across very often

http://brickcourse.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_7.html

I just learned there is an Internet Movie Plane Database.

so, not only is there a car database, there's one for planes too.

http://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=The_Internet_Movie_Plane_Database

Imperial Airlines great big dual wing airliners

https://www.google.com/search?q=imperial+airways+vintage+poster&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&tbs=simg:CAES3QIJYZPqNanBlEwa0QILEKjU2AQaAggVDAsQsIynCBpiCmAIAxIo9wnyCdEetxeIFJId3QnxCbEcuRfzJJguly7OPeMt0j3yJP4i9iSvJRow6spy62DunsDHknFew4XnJk7Pl3sODP3harwhh1UDe2V_12wtnoYRZvGqUC2nhORVDIAQMCxCOrv4IGgoKCAgBEgR0Ch2kDAsQne3BCRq-AQobCglhaXIgZm9yY2XapYj2AwoKCC9tLzAxM20xCiUKE2dydW1tYW4gZi0xNCB0b21jYXTapYj2AwoKCC9tLzAzMzd2CiwKGGJvZWluZyBjLTEzNyBzdHJhdG9saW5lctqliPYDDAoKL20vMDI1czA3bAohCg9sb2NraGVlZCBtYXJ0aW7apYj2AwoKCC9tLzBoa3FuCicKFGRvdWdsYXMgYWMtNDcgc3Bvb2t52qWI9gMLCgkvbS8wMmJfZzkM&fir=a7pZXrj6AQCKHM%253A%252C8wSqJzBayg-idM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kSZrkv-qRsgV28tiXXOWqtQK-ymww&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiWgej4gfPfAhWNHDQIHWAVDbMQ9QEwBnoECAYQDA#imgrc=BJ2p5o0zcYdQzM:

I posted all that art because not many photos are out there, a) that exist b) that impress me with the view and scope of the image, to show how BIG these were.

This one, it's amazing, the size of this image is 5300 x 2300... you could make a poster of this across a wall. The whole wall

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Warren_(engineer)

I'll guess these are spittoons or ashtrays. Everyone smoked back then. See the 1st photo of the interior, with all the passengers in the seats.

http://croydonairportcalling.blogspot.com/search/label/HP-42

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/imperial-airways-handley-page-g-aaxc-croydon-airport-london-1936-rob-carter.html

https://www.flickr.com/photos/postalheritage/5449034328

Southwest Airlines is looking for "ground equipment mechanics", and they want a hell of a lot, but they aren't saying what they'll pay for the super mechanic they hope to find

Diagnosis and repair of many varied types and makes of automotive, ramp, provisioning, and deicing equipment utilized within the airline industry.

Performance of preventative maintenance on airline ground equipment.
Maintenance, repair, and an understanding of electrical and hydraulic systems.
Proficiency in arc, gas, and MIG welding, as well as cutting torch.
Ability to perform minor or major body repair, and spray paint proficiently.
Attends initial and ongoing training (classroom and/or on-the-job) and keeps current on knowledge, information and equipment to gain proficiency in their work.
Works as a member of lean staff operating out of cities served by the airline.

WORK EXPERIENCE:
Six years heavy truck and/or equipment repair experience.
Heavy diesel repair experience.
Experience in metal fabrication.
Experience in gasoline and electrical equipment.
Capable of reading and researching technical manuals and electrical & hydraulic schematics.
Previous experience with computer inventory tracking system preferred.

LICENSING/CERTIFICATION:
Must be able to obtain a SIDA badge and meet all local airport requirements.
ASE and A/C Certification preferred.

https://airportoperations-southwest.icims.com/jobs/27615/ground-equipment-mechanic/job?hub=5&mode=job&iis=Indeed&iisn=Indeed.com&mobile=false&width=1150&height=500&bga=true&needsRedirect=false&jan1offset=-480&jun1offset=-420

Edward Penfield, artist, illustrator, and collector of stage coaches on the 1st floor of his art studio. He also was instrumental in eradicating mosquitoes on Long Island NY, so, a hero basically.

He is considered the father of the American poster, and was dominant in the era known as the "Golden Age of American Illustration". His work has been included in almost every major book on American Illustration or the history of the poster.

Penfield was particularly interested in early coaches and other horse-drawn vehicles and often used them as picture themes. He could draw upon his own collection of stage coaches- a one-horse shay and other vehicles, along with saddles and harness which occupied his “museum” on the ground floor under his studio.

https://www.societyillustrators.org/edward-penfield

Not a boisterous self-promoter like some of his contemporaries — he rarely gave personal interviews — Penfield preferred to live a quiet life near his ancestral stomping grounds in New York. But at the same time he was considered “that rare person among artists, an active citizen.” He volunteered for civic duties, spoke at womens’ clubs, taught at the Art Students’s League and served as president of the Society of Illustrators.

In later life, Penfield lived in Pelham Manor, a Westchester suburb about three miles east of the Bronx Zoo, where he played a large role in eradicating the mosquito infestation in the marshland along Long Island Sound – as if to draw one final line across buzzing distractions that cause so much ill-will and illness in the urban environment.

I like this policeman doing traffic control, on horseback.

http://www.rennertsgallery.com/2016/10/26/the-very-quiet-complications-of-edward-penfield/

https://www.art.com/gallery/id--a10464/edward-penfield-posters.htm?page=6&pathNumber=0
https://edwardpenfield.com/biography/
https://www.artsy.net/artist/edward-penfield
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/american-art-n09844/lot.50.html

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

a playhouse for Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, Princess Margaret, being delivered in 1932

The house was designed by architect Edmund Willmott and was fully-functional with a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom and a bathroom that came with very modern conveniences—for that time— such as hot and cold running water, electricity and even a heated towel rail.

There were couches in the living room, an oak dresser, a tiny radio, a miniature blue and gold china set, a book case filled with little Beatrix Potter’s books, small curtains and blue carpets all made to order and to scale. In the kitchen, there was a working gas cooker and a small fridge, and little pots and pans.

But everything was two-thirds size.

https://nagonthelake.blogspot.com/2018/09/queen-elizabeths-childhood-playhouse.html
https://www.amusingplanet.com/2018/09/queen-elizabeths-childhood-playhouse.html

they used a really big camera to photograph this entire train in one photograph

In 1900, when the Chicago and Alton Railway wanted to promote their brand-new Chicago-to-St. Louis express service, photographer George R. Lawrence knew the whole train wouldn't fit in one picture. He knew he needed a bigger camera - really, really big. He designed a camera that held a glass plate measuring 8 feet by 4 1/2 feet. The camera alone weighed 900 pounds. With the plate holder, it reached 1,400 pounds.

http://www.openculture.com/2018/09/1900-photographer-create-enormous-1400-pound-camera-take-picture-entire-train.html

They call the winners GREAT Danes.

riding in the Freight Train

"There is a river of chocolate blocking/flowing in the westbound lanes of I-40 at milepost 211, east of Flagstaff," the Arizona Department of Public Safety tweeted.

A tanker hauling 40,000 pounds of liquid chocolate rolled over on the interstate near Flagstaff, Arizona, yesterday

The tanker was hauling 40,000 pounds (about 3,500 gallons) of 120 degree liquid chocolate, according to the bill of lading the DPS reviewed.

"A latch that connects the main truck with the trailer detached, causing the tanker to roll over," Bart Graves, Arizona DPS Media Relations Specialist, told CNN via email.

"The tanker was heavily damaged in the rear so we had (to) pump out the liquid into the median so the tanker could be lifted onto a tow truck," said Graves.

The liquid is biodegradable and the driver wasn't cited for the accident, according to DPS.

https://twitter.com/Arizona_DPS/status/1084897397447118848/photo/1
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/14/us/chocolate-spill-interstate-arizona-trnd/index.html

aftermath of a drunk driver that tried to stay to the right, no matter how many cars and vans he was hitting and sideswiping (over 8)

http://darkdraggon.tumblr.com/

coolest thing I've seen all day

http://exitthedragon.tumblr.com/post/182021485213 via http://darkdraggon.tumblr.com/

I'm ignorant of how a lot of the world does things, despite having been to 3 other continents, and 2 islands. So, maybe this is not unusual, or, perhaps it's quite strange, but Nairobi has some extremely independant transportation methods

These are the BodaBoda motortaxi riders... they make it easy to see that they are advertising their uniqueness, and so it's simple to spot who is another commuter who wants to be ignored, and who is looking to pick up a fare and transport you to your destination.

matatus are privately owned, colorful, loud, locally made in neighborhood shops, buses that form the backbone of what passes for the country’s public transport system.

Last month, there was a govt ban on them from entering the Nairobi’s central business district (CBD), well, that upset the locals so much, they immediately changed the mind of the county governor, and he won't try anything that damn stupid again any time soon. Unless he decides suicide by mob seems a great way to end the morning.

Matatus are the unholy offspring of local attempts at entrepreneuring around colonial design, and post-colonial state failure.

Nairobi, the official capital of Kenya, was another stupid idea of segregation, and that led to the private ownership of vehicles, but no public transportation system that could separate the colonists from the natives.

As a result, the majority of poor natives have always walked. It wasn’t until the 50s that the Kenya Bus Services, which had an exclusive franchise of carrying fare paying passengers in and around Nairobi, expanded this service to cater to the Eastern parts of the city where poor Africans lived.

With the limits of that bus service, a lot of private buses popped up, just like the Jitney's in San Francisco https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-first-known-jitney-in-us-started-in.html and when Kenya achieved independence, the number of matatus grew quickly, providing a way for Africans to ferry goods and people from the rural areas surrounding the city to the African quarter within it.

The lifting of the racist restrictions on Africans living in Nairobi following independence in 1963 sparked a massive influx into the capital and a corresponding explosion in the number of the illegal “dilapidated pirate taxis often pursued by the police” in the words of Kenda Mutongi, author of the book Matatu: A History of Popular Transportation in Nairobi.

Within a decade, and despite the depredations of the state, the matatus had become firmly established and in 1973, then President Jomo Kenyatta freed them from licensing restrictions “allowing the owners to explore the limits of laissez-faire capitalism,” as Mutongi writes.

The matatu industry now employs over 350,000 Kenyans. Mutongi identifies it as, “the only major business in Kenya that has continued to be almost entirely locally owned and controlled.”

Complicating things, because they are independent, anyone can own or operate a matatu bus, and that means even local govt officials have, including the former minister of transportation, senior police officers, government ministers and legislators, are also matatu owners. This showed how corrupt the transportation minister was, when he made a law about speed governors and seat belts. Seems logical, for public safety, but he'd already bought a shipment of seatbelts and speed governors, and then was selling them to the other bus owners.