Gracies Call - First Of 2008

[PPS]

At approximately 2200hrs on 16th Feb here in Limavady I will raise a glass (preferably "falling down water") to you all in Gracie's.

Have an excellent night.

Paul.

[Gunner]

Meltin' Mike has safely made it to Mali's shores (which is really neat 'cause its a land-locked country... but it does have the mighty Niger river running through it)!

Temp here today is in the low 90's for all the alt-timers. The warm season started yesterday I'm told and we expect the temp to rise into the 100's in a few days.

Still trying to figure out how to get to Timbuktou for our brief leave in the middle of the mission. Left the dive gear at home this time as the Niger is a giant sewer and I won't put any part of myself in it!

Had a great 24 hours in Paris... found a couple of hobby shops and picked up an HO model of the German WWII armoured drasines used by the Wehrmacht to patrol rail lines (picture a short romboid with a MkIII panzer turret and you have the idea).

Hope all is well with the Gracie's plan. Rob- please call Graeme on his cell (613-715-1048) to remind him of the date and timings... he doesn't get on here often.

Take care all... will send regular updates.



Mike

[RHClarke]

Originally Posted by Gunner

...Gracie's plan. Rob- please call Graeme on his cell (613-715-1048) to remind him of the date and timings... he doesn't get on here often.... Mike

Mike and Ms Baboon,

I spoke with Graeme and he is "on-line" with the event. You should expect an email from him to discuss the Museum Programme for the upcoming silly season. Enjoy the heat!

[Gunner]

Temperature is rising as is mine... caught a flu from someone here... damn!

Going to bed!

[RHClarke]

Hail all Rotters and soon to be Rotters!

I spoke with Kathleen this afternoon to book our table. She indicated that three conditions would have to be met if we wanted a reservation:

- We have to eat;
- We have to drink; and
- We must show our appreciation to the serving staff.

I assured her that some of us eat, and most of us like a drink now and then. As for showing our appreciation, we are letting Geoff off the leash (not sure where our next meeting will be...).

[RHClarke]

PS - the reservation is in my name and the tables will be available starting at 17:00 hrs -eventhough Alex will have been there since opening...

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally Posted by RHClarke

Hail all Rotters and soon to be Rotters!

I spoke with Kathleen this afternoon to book our table. She indicated that three conditions would have to be met if we wanted a reservation:

- We have to eat;
- We have to drink; and
- We must show our appreciation to the serving staff.

I assured her that some of us eat, and most of us like a drink now and then. As for showing our appreciation, we are letting Geoff off the leash (not sure where our next meeting will be...).

Ah well, you were getting kinda bored with that place anyway...

[RHClarke]

Originally Posted by Geoff Winnington-Ball

Ah well, you were getting kinda bored with that place anyway...

I continued to be impressed with the variety of young lovelies on parade at Gracies. I know this borders on blasphemy, but chances are that I will get bored with fixing up trucks well before I get bored with the enchanting, fairer sex.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by PPS

At approximately 2200hrs on 16th Feb here in Limavady I will raise a glass (preferably "falling down water") to you all in Gracie's.

Have an excellent night.

Paul.

As stated above, I toasted your good health at said time.

I hope all went well and there are not too many sore heads this morning.

Paul.

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally Posted by PPS

As stated above, I toasted your good health at said time.

I hope all went well and there are not too many sore heads this morning.

Paul.

Last night was just the practice run... we go over the top tonight! I hope the Porter Air pilot is sober enough to get us off the ground without flying into the lake, otherwise I'm going to have to do it... again...

Ok lads, LAST CALL FOR GRACIES! Ogilvie Road, Ottawa, 1700H. Be prepared to drool and bow accordingly. Tell the old lady it's an MLU business meeting, she'll believe THAT...

[RHClarke]

What we lacked in quantity, we made up with quality...The Rotters were pleased to welcome Geoff back to Ottawa. A "hats off" to Clive for taking care of the logistics/R&Q for Sunray.

In attendance, Bob Carriere, Grant Bowker, Clive Law, GWB, Graeme and his two sons Fraser and Kyle, and yours truly. It worked out to 1.5 Gracies gals per Rotter!

Side one of the Rotter Table:


Side two of the Rotter Table:


We went around table to see what folks were up to and their upcoming plans. Geoff mentioned a visit to Austrailia in 2009 and I won't steal his thunder on this item.

Graeme spoke of two airshows - one at Carp and one at the Aviation Museum. Both are on the Swords and Ploughshares agenda for the silly season.

Graeme's boys chatted about their cadet experiences home and at camp.

Bob chatted about BB3 - for which a cheque for $200 was presented. The money was left over from last year, and a local consulting company threw in a few more bucks to round off the number. Dates TBA but we suspect mid August will be the target. Bob can fill us in later.

Clive was good enough to show off two of his latest projects - a draft of The Motorcycle in Canadian Service and another draft of Cdn wartime service vehicles (Clive, would you please provide the proper titles?) - CRS and all that. Both drafts looked very interesting and had many photos that captured our attention. There was a picture of a young signaller by the name of Skagfeld sitting on a motorcycle way back when...

Grant was deeply engrossed with Clive's books, so we didn't get too much out him the whole night.

One of the agenda items was to acknowlege Bob belated birthday. The lovely Jennifer asked Bob what he wanted for his birthday...mistake...


Bob was presented a sawsall for the barn along with a birthday card signed by the Rotters present and the ladies of Gracies. Bob was happy with the gift but was really tickled when the girls asked him to pose with them...


It was a low key event, but we all enjoyed each other's company and the ladies of Gracies. We will be hosting another Gracies call in the Spring - so weather should not be an excuse then... more to follow!

[Greg]

Hi Rob,

Sorry, I missed Gracies Call. Something came up. I hope all went well.

Cheers,
Greg

[RHClarke]

Originally Posted by Greg

Hi Rob,

Sorry, I missed Gracies Call. Something came up. I hope all went well.

Cheers,
Greg

Greg,

We missed your company (and your company). I plan to visit the welder Wright in the near future to get some POW oil can carriers made up. When that happens, I'll call ahead and perhaps we can look over some of your modular centres. Hope you can make the next call.

Cheers