Success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan
It is quite possible to work without results, but never will there be results without work.
If at first, you don't succeed , use a bigger hammer.
The thoughts & words below could apply equally as well today as they did when they were first made a long time ago (see author & date at the end).
WE TRAINED HARD, BUT IT SEEMED THAT EVERY TIME WE WERE BEGINNING TO FORM UP INTO TEAMS -
WE WOULD BE RE-ORGANISED.
I WAS TO LEARN LATER IN LIFE THAT WE TEND TO MEET ANY NEW SITUATION BY RE-ORGANISING -
AND A WONDERFUL METHOD IT CAN BE FOR CREATING THE ILLUSION OF PROGRESS -
WHILE PRODUCING CONFUSION, INEFFICIENCY, AND DEMORALISATION!.
CAIUS PETRONIUS
AD 66
Actually - no. Not at all.
That (mis)quote is actually from an account of the Burma Campaign, written in 1959 by Charlton Ogburn for Harper's Magazine, entitled
Merrils Marauders. The full quote is
QuoteWe trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. Presumably the plans for our employment were being changed. I was to learn later in life that, perhaps because we are so good at organizing, we tend as a nation to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization
This article in turn was heavily redone into his book
The Marauders (1959), later filmed as
Merrils Marauders (1962).
The only person to get all his work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe :laugh:
When Bruce, King of Scotland, was getting the worst
Of the war he was waging with Edward the First;
When most of his friends had been captured or slain,
And the sky of Scotland looked very like rain;
When he spent his days hiding in bushes and trees,
Getting thorns in his fingers and cuts on his knees,
And when nothing could lighten the gloom he was feeling -
He lay in a cave and looked at the ceiling.
He stared at the ceiling with thoughts that were black,
Till a spidery spider came out of a crack,
A spidery spider all bulging with thread,
Which she started to spin on the beam overhead.
She spun the web once, but the spider-thread broke;
She spun the thread twice - Bruce's interest awoke;
She spun the web three times with pluck unavailing;
She spun the thread four times but still went on failing.
She spun the web five times - "My goodness!" cried Bruce,
"Yon spidery spider must see it's no use!
O Spidery, spider, it's plan as a pike
We two are as like as two peas are alike!"
She spun the web six times - "How now!" cried the Scot,
"Don't you know when you're beaten?" The spider did not.
But calmly proceeded, as patient as ever,
To start on an obstinate seventh endeavor.
She hung and she swung and she swayed in the air,
While Bruce for the Spider could not help but stare -
Then he whooped with delight and he sprang to his feet,
For from one beam to another the web hung complete!
With hope he was filled and with courage he burned.
"O spider!" he said, "What a lesson I've learned!
Dear Scotland! Of English invaders I'll rid it!"
Then Bruce sallied forth and at Bannockburn did it.
Quote from: fatso on September 30, 2015, 03:41:49 PM
When Bruce, King of Scotland, was getting the worst
Of the war he was waging with Edward the First;
When most of his friends had been captured or slain,
And the sky of Scotland looked very like rain;
When he spent his days hiding in bushes and trees,
Getting thorns in his fingers and cuts on his knees,
And when nothing could lighten the gloom he was feeling -
He lay in a cave and looked at the ceiling.
He stared at the ceiling with thoughts that were black,
Till a spidery spider came out of a crack,
A spidery spider all bulging with thread,
Which she started to spin on the beam overhead.
She spun the web once, but the spider-thread broke;
She spun the thread twice - Bruce's interest awoke;
She spun the web three times with pluck unavailing;
She spun the thread four times but still went on failing.
She spun the web five times - "My goodness!" cried Bruce,
"Yon spidery spider must see it's no use!
O Spidery, spider, it's plan as a pike
We two are as like as two peas are alike!"
She spun the web six times - "How now!" cried the Scot,
"Don't you know when you're beaten?" The spider did not.
But calmly proceeded, as patient as ever,
To start on an obstinate seventh endeavor.
She hung and she swung and she swayed in the air,
While Bruce for the Spider could not help but stare -
Then he whooped with delight and he sprang to his feet,
For from one beam to another the web hung complete!
With hope he was filled and with courage he burned.
"O spider!" he said, "What a lesson I've learned!
Dear Scotland! Of English invaders I'll rid it!"
Then Bruce sallied forth and at Bannockburn did it.
We just hoover them up in our house.
It's loyalty when duty calls
And courage when disaster falls.
It's politeness when the hours are long,
It's found in laughter and in song.
It's in the silent time of prayer
And in happiness and in despair.
In all of life and nothing less
We find the thing we call success!
Quote from: FeelixTC on September 30, 2015, 04:17:51 PM
Quote from: fatso on September 30, 2015, 03:41:49 PM
When Bruce, King of Scotland, was getting the worst
Of the war he was waging with Edward the First;
When most of his friends had been captured or slain,
And the sky of Scotland looked very like rain;
When he spent his days hiding in bushes and trees,
Getting thorns in his fingers and cuts on his knees,
And when nothing could lighten the gloom he was feeling -
He lay in a cave and looked at the ceiling.
He stared at the ceiling with thoughts that were black,
Till a spidery spider came out of a crack,
A spidery spider all bulging with thread,
Which she started to spin on the beam overhead.
She spun the web once, but the spider-thread broke;
She spun the thread twice - Bruce's interest awoke;
She spun the web three times with pluck unavailing;
She spun the thread four times but still went on failing.
She spun the web five times - "My goodness!" cried Bruce,
"Yon spidery spider must see it's no use!
O Spidery, spider, it's plan as a pike
We two are as like as two peas are alike!"
She spun the web six times - "How now!" cried the Scot,
"Don't you know when you're beaten?" The spider did not.
But calmly proceeded, as patient as ever,
To start on an obstinate seventh endeavor.
She hung and she swung and she swayed in the air,
While Bruce for the Spider could not help but stare -
Then he whooped with delight and he sprang to his feet,
For from one beam to another the web hung complete!
With hope he was filled and with courage he burned.
"O spider!" he said, "What a lesson I've learned!
Dear Scotland! Of English invaders I'll rid it!"
Then Bruce sallied forth and at Bannockburn did it.
We just hoover them up in our house.
We place horse-chestnuts (or conkers to most!) strategically around the house, they don't like them so keeps them away :thumbsup:
Paul
Quote from: Sprintex on September 30, 2015, 07:13:48 PM
Quote from: FeelixTC on September 30, 2015, 04:17:51 PM
Quote from: fatso on September 30, 2015, 03:41:49 PM
When Bruce, King of Scotland, was getting the worst
Of the war he was waging with Edward the First;
When most of his friends had been captured or slain,
And the sky of Scotland looked very like rain;
When he spent his days hiding in bushes and trees,
Getting thorns in his fingers and cuts on his knees,
And when nothing could lighten the gloom he was feeling -
He lay in a cave and looked at the ceiling.
He stared at the ceiling with thoughts that were black,
Till a spidery spider came out of a crack,
A spidery spider all bulging with thread,
Which she started to spin on the beam overhead.
She spun the web once, but the spider-thread broke;
She spun the thread twice - Bruce's interest awoke;
She spun the web three times with pluck unavailing;
She spun the thread four times but still went on failing.
She spun the web five times - "My goodness!" cried Bruce,
"Yon spidery spider must see it's no use!
O Spidery, spider, it's plan as a pike
We two are as like as two peas are alike!"
She spun the web six times - "How now!" cried the Scot,
"Don't you know when you're beaten?" The spider did not.
But calmly proceeded, as patient as ever,
To start on an obstinate seventh endeavor.
She hung and she swung and she swayed in the air,
While Bruce for the Spider could not help but stare -
Then he whooped with delight and he sprang to his feet,
For from one beam to another the web hung complete!
With hope he was filled and with courage he burned.
"O spider!" he said, "What a lesson I've learned!
Dear Scotland! Of English invaders I'll rid it!"
Then Bruce sallied forth and at Bannockburn did it.
We just hoover them up in our house.
We place horse-chestnuts (or conkers to most!) strategically around the house, they don't like them so keeps them away :thumbsup:
Paul
Am I the only one with a pet spider or two
What a strange collection of Googled quotes :confusedsign:
Quote from: scotsoft on September 30, 2015, 07:49:20 PM
What a strange collection of Googled quotes :confusedsign:
Your confused want to live my world then you will know confusion :smiley-laughing:
Quote from: FeelixTC on September 30, 2015, 04:17:51 PM
We just hoover them up in our house.
Quote from: Sprintex on September 30, 2015, 07:13:48 PM
We place horse-chestnuts (or conkers to most!) strategically around the house, they don't like them so keeps them away :thumbsup:
Wot - the English invaders? :confused1:
Paul
[/quote]
Am I the only one with a pet spider or two
[/quote]
I dislike spiders intensely - almost as much as the many cockroaches we see here in Tenerife.
I quite like "Gekos" and Salamanders as we have plenty of them here - and they do rid the gardens of other nasty little creatures.
I have read that "cucarachas" are the only creatures that could survive a Nuclear Holocaust" - think I would be happy to be dead if that ever happened!
Quote from: Tdm on September 30, 2015, 08:27:31 PM
I dislike spiders intensely...
Looks like you and I are batting for the same team good buddy. In the course of a mapping project on the Texas/Mexico border a spider (brown recluse) put me in hospital and then had me off work for 5 months. The #&$%"^% chomped my leg and almost got me to the point of losing it below the knee. I have seen some HUGE cockroaches in various parts of the world but a tiny spider scares me more than all of them including the ones in India that we referred to as 'six legged skateboards'.....
Rudyard Kipling fans, where are you ?
Best regards,
Joe
Dunno if I am a Kipling fan or not - I have never Kipled!
Can you show me the way to the taxi rank please.....
Quote from: scotsoft on September 30, 2015, 07:49:20 PM
What a strange collection of Googled quotes :confusedsign:
Quote
"The problem with quotations espoused upon the Internet is that you cannot always depend on their accuracy" -Abraham Lincoln, 1864.
A favourite of mine used often at work:-
"Lack of planning on your part does not constitute and emergency on mine".
Or, from The Office:-
"A problem shared is a problem halved. So you need to ask yourself - am I dealing with my problems or half of someone else's"
Quote from: joe cassidy on September 30, 2015, 10:29:59 PM
Rudyard Kipling fans, where are you ?
Best regards,
Joe
Yes He makes exceedingly good cakes :D
"If we can't take a joke we shouldn't have joined" (first heard in the RAF)
"Don't confuse me with facts, my mind's made up" (Quote from a depot manager)
The light at the end of the tunnel is the headlamp of the oncoming train
A friend in need is a pest............
Death is nature's way of telling you to slow down...
When asked once if I liked Dickens my reply was "I've never been to one" :dunce:
Quote from: jonclox on October 01, 2015, 11:02:44 AM
Quote from: Zogbert Splod on September 30, 2015, 11:44:53 PM
Dunno if I am a Kipling fan or not - I have never Kipled!
Can you show me the way to the taxi rank please.....
Its a well known fact that Kipling also make exceptionally good cakes Im informed ::)
(Noise of buzzer) - Repetition!
(see reply #21) :P
Quote from: newportnobby on October 01, 2015, 11:05:41 AM
Quote from: jonclox on October 01, 2015, 11:02:44 AM
Quote from: Zogbert Splod on September 30, 2015, 11:44:53 PM
Dunno if I am a Kipling fan or not - I have never Kipled!
Can you show me the way to the taxi rank please.....
Its a well known fact that Kipling also make exceptionally good cakes Im informed ::)
(Noise of buzzer) - Repetition!
(see reply #21) :P
:doh: Missed that post so have deleted mine :-[
All those of you out there suffering from some form of disease or illness who envy those who say they are fit and well - remember the old medical saying :-
"The healthy man is the sick man who is unaware of it!"
Quote from: Tdm on October 01, 2015, 11:55:03 AM
"The healthy man is the sick man who is unaware of it!"
Aint that the truth, yer, tell me about it !
Chicken Licken was right after all.
Quote from: railsquid on October 01, 2015, 03:47:28 AM
"The problem with quotations espoused upon the Internet is that you cannot always depend on their accuracy" -Abraham Lincoln, 1864.
:laughabovepost: "true", a moments pause, followed by "Duh" :)
Quote from: jonclox on October 01, 2015, 11:17:51 AM
:doh: Missed that post so have deleted mine :-[
No! Dont do that, the more kipling the better, especially the bottled kipling. :smiley-laughing:
If at first, you don't succeed , give up.
Nothing sucseeds like a beakless budgie
Quote from: steve836 on October 01, 2015, 08:46:02 PM
Nothing sucseeds like a beakless budgie
Argh :laughabovepost:
I suppose we have to grain and bear it ?
Yeah was a bit corny
'Trill' makes your budgie bounce.
However, you can only throw it once :unimpressed:
sheaf strewth
humour stalks the thread.
My wife does bird impressions. she watches me like a hawk .....................
Quote from: Agrippa on October 01, 2015, 11:23:13 PM
My wife does bird impressions. she watches me like a hawk .....................
Does that mean you are the last of the "Mohicans" - his companion was named Hawkeye if I am not mistaken.
I'm his Scottish cousin, Hawkeye the Noo..............
perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim
Que ?
Quote from: fatso on October 02, 2015, 12:48:49 AM
perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim
No, it will probably kill you;
anyway I am on borrowed time and can not afford to be patient.
EDIT
PS you forgot to include an Ibid. for your Ovid. :)
aka Ibidem
Of course some would say,
"Perfer et obdura! Dolor hic tibi proderit olim."
less wishy-washy. :)
Quote from: MalcolmAL on October 01, 2015, 10:12:24 PM
sheaf strewth
humour stalks the thread.
Yes , but can't quite get in! :D
A pessimistic pal would tell me:
As one door closes, another one shuts. :(
I prefer 'Always look on the bright side of life.' as he takes another set of anti b's and steroids to clear yet another chest infection. :wave:
Dave G
He who expects nothing will not be disappointed!
A married man should forget his mistakes. There's no use in two people remembering the same thing!
A man spends the majority of his life searching for the ideal woman ... ... ... in the meantime he marries.
My thought for the day (courtesy of the late, great Terry Pratchett):
"You can lead a horse to water, and while you may not necessarily be able to make it drink, you can stick a hosepipe up its nose and turn the tap on."
Those pesky redskins will never hit us with their arrows at this dista........................aargh
This Forum is getting far too serious - can we all "lighten" up please ;) -
so many thoughts to ponder over - it's eating into my drinking time :confused2: !
As Oscar Wilde said "Work is the curse of the drinking classes"
Quote from: Tdm on October 02, 2015, 10:47:51 AM
This Forum is getting far too serious - can we all "lighten" up please ;) -
so many thoughts to ponder over - it's eating into my drinking time :confused2: !
Have a beer while you think it over! :D
"What goes in, must come out".
As I explained to my SWMBO, despairing at yet another full nappy (the baby's, I hasten to add).
I joined a Tesco dating agency* and got a bag for life :doh:
*Other dating agencies are available
Quote from: newportnobby on October 02, 2015, 12:26:01 PM
I joined a Tesco dating agency* and got a bag for life :doh:
*Other dating agencies are available
:laughabovepost:
Quote from: railsquid on October 02, 2015, 11:19:34 AM
"What goes in, must come out".
Not if you are discussing black holes..................
Quote from: Agrippa on October 03, 2015, 12:15:42 PM
Quote from: railsquid on October 02, 2015, 11:19:34 AM
"What goes in, must come out".
Not if you are discussing black holes..................
That would be my
railway room office.
"Black Holes" - Isn't that where couplings and springs and other dropped little pieces go when you lose them from your layout?. I sometimes think my brain is a black hole, as information goes in, then is forgotten, and never comes out again.
Quote from: newportnobby on October 02, 2015, 12:26:01 PM
I joined a Tesco dating agency* and got a bag for life :doh:
*Other dating agencies are available
I was thinking of joining that one,
but was afraid i might come out with two,,
for the price of one.
looks nervously over shoulder,
ah "general discussion" I think we should be safe , , ,
Quote from: Tdm on October 03, 2015, 01:32:14 PM
"Black Holes" - Isn't that where couplings and springs and other dropped little pieces go
I'm not sure if you are quite right there,
you see Black Holes give off Hawking Radiation ( and thus evaporate) and so could be detected that way (they are slightly warm )
However, once couplings and springs vanish they are quite impossible to detect, n'est ce pas ?
Quote from: Tdm on October 03, 2015, 01:32:14 PM
"Black Holes" - Isn't that where couplings and springs and other dropped little pieces go when you lose them from your layout?
That's the Carpet Monster you're thinking about.
Why do today something that can be easily put off until tomorrow?
Quote from: jonclox on October 03, 2015, 03:03:47 PM
Why do today something that can be easily put off until tomorrow?
I would respond to that but I'm not in a hurry - later possibly.....
When a jobs not worth doing its not worth doing well
Quote from: Zogbert Splod on October 03, 2015, 03:11:17 PM
Quote from: jonclox on October 03, 2015, 03:03:47 PM
Why do today something that can be easily put off until tomorrow?
I would respond to that but I'm not in hurry - later possibly.....
I've been planning to learn how to procrastinate effectively for years, but haven't got round to it yet.
Quote from: jonclox on October 03, 2015, 03:03:47 PM
Why do today something that can be easily put off until tomorrow?
To paraphrase Ken Dodd, "never put off until tomorrow, something you can do today. That way, if you enjoy it today, you can do it again tomorrow"
If something can wait until tomorrow Is it worth doing at all?
But remember - tomorrow, today will be yesterday!
Quote from: MalcolmAL on October 03, 2015, 01:52:13 PM
I'm not sure if you are quite right there,
you see Black Holes give off Hawking Radiation ( and thus evaporate) and so could be detected that way (they are slightly warm )
Well ... in addition to that, some of the current thinking goes along the lines of "matter may appear to enter a black hole - but it doesn't ... it permanently stays around the event horizon, which is why we can see polarised jets escaping from the poles" ... now, how accurate that is remains to be seen ...
Quote from: MikeDunn on October 04, 2015, 12:26:11 PM
how accurate that is remains to be seen ...
Current speculation :)
Verily, there is much we do not yet know about black holes :)
Or it could be a traffic jam of infalling matter from the accretion disk causing the jets to 'whirlpool' out.
And I was expecting someone to say two things about my black hole detector
1) the Hawking Radiation is likely to be too weak to be detected within the quantum fluctuations and uncertainty of your hardware
2) dont need all that gubbins, just look for the strong gravitational field.
:) :)
I have no answer to (1)
but (2) will become difficult the more massive the hole, when the Schwarzschild radius becomes large ( ie an event horizon tending to flat *)
Howzat for a bit of fun on a quiet Sun afternoon :bounce:
* So that you will not notice that you have crossed it. Your Captain tells you to reverse course. To your horror you discover that, even under full impulse, you cannot 'make it so'
I think a mod split may be needed :) , , ,
Quote from: MikeDunn on October 04, 2015, 12:26:11 PM
Quote from: MalcolmAL on October 03, 2015, 01:52:13 PM
I'm not sure if you are quite right there,
you see Black Holes give off Hawking Radiation ( and thus evaporate) and so could be detected that way (they are slightly warm )
Well ... in addition to that, some of the current thinking goes along the lines of "matter may appear to enter a black hole - but it doesn't ... it permanently stays around the event horizon, which is why we can see polarised jets escaping from the poles" ... now, how accurate that is remains to be seen ...
Latest scientific research indicates the polarised jets consist of vapourized coupling springs and unidentified plastic detail parts which dropped off stock and you put somewhere "safe" until you find out what it belonged to.
Anything is always in the last place you look for it.
A little pain never hurt anybody
Quote from: jonclox on October 04, 2015, 03:00:06 PM
Anything is always in the last place you look for it.
Unless you try and be clever and look there first, in which case it will be in an indeterminate state until you have checked all the places you would have checked anyway.
Quote from: railsquid on October 04, 2015, 03:29:25 PM
Unless you try and be clever and look there first, in which case it will be in an indeterminate state until you have checked all the places you would have checked anyway.
:laughabovepost: Very clever, I like it !
A neat unification of the Pauli Exclusion Principle and Schrodinger's Coupling
The first GUT of NGF (grand unified theory)
My dad used to say "Never trust a man who wears a bow tie"
"Life is short - buy the loco, build the layout, drink the wine."
Quote from: Ozymandias on October 06, 2015, 02:48:11 PM
"Life is short - buy the loco, build the layout, drink the wine."
No wonder my progress is glacial. Too much stage 3 encourages Stage 1 more than anything else :-[
Well that's two out of three (the first and the last items) achieved ???
YOUR ATTITUDE IS LIKE A PRICE
TAG IT SHOWS YOUR WORTH
"I thought I saw a pussy cat"
Regrets. I have no regrets. Even if I could, I would not change anything in my past. Rather, I look back with gratitude because if it were not for my past, I would not be who I am today.