Frozen Europe

[Roderick Smith]

One new member posted that he is from damp Norfolk.
I am guessing that it is now iced over, and the region can run its own version of the classic iceskating 200 km race, along frozen canals in Netherlands.
Often that event can't run: the canals haven't frozen.
From Wikipedia: The Netherlands is home of Elfstedentocht, a 200 km distance skating race of which the tracks leads through the 11 different cities in Friesland (a northern province).
I had the memory that the race was named 'Hans Brinker', after the hero of the 1865 children's novel.  I may be wrong, or that may be a lesser event, based on Amsterdam.

I received an email from a UK friend:
The British Government has issued a travel warning because of the cold weather.
It suggests that anyone travelling in the current icy conditions should make sure they have:
* Shovel
* Blankets or sleeping bag
* Extra clothing including hat and gloves
* 24 hours worth of food
* De-Icer
* Rock Salt
* Flashlight with spare batteries
* Road Flares or Reflective Triangles
* Empty gas Can
* First Aid Kit
* Booster cables
I looked like a total idiot on the bus this morning!

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[the bombus]

hey there , i'm from Antwerp and it's also chilly here.
but since it's better in than outside ,do we have any excuse not to work on our boats 
with every bad thing there's always something good that follows 
i'm bussy building (and making pictures for a buildinglog )
so as far as i'm concerned frozen europe has it good sides
paddle on guys

[mjt60a]

I love the suggestion to carry an 'empty gas can'
...assuming 'gas' means gasoline (known as petroleum spirit - or Petrol - in the UK) and that this piece of advice is aimed at drivers rather than cyclists or pedestrians (or, god forbid, bus, train or aircraft passengers,...) I can;t't help thinking a full can would be more useful.....  just a thought 

[steamboatmodel]

The idea of having an empty gas can is you can walk to a station when you run out of gas. Having a full one with you presents the problem of it giving off vapours and being ignited or you passing out from the fumes. If we were using another fuel other than gas for most of our vehicles and some one suggested switching to this new fuel (gas), the safety types would never allow such a dangerous substance.
Regards,
Gerald.

[mjt60a]

The idea of having an empty gas can is you can walk to a station when you run out of gas....

I suppose that does make sense, though I must admit I always did carry a full one with me.... it was air-tight so no fumes...

[steamboatmodel]

The idea of having an empty gas can is you can walk to a station when you run out of gas....

I suppose that does make sense, though I must admit I always did carry a full one with me.... it was air-tight so no fumes...

I had two containers that I used to carry in the trunk, one was a special five gallon Imp. gas can that was usually filled to the 4/5 mark when I went on trips. I just did a google search for them and can't find them listed, they were made by a company called Vulcan and were supposed to be explosive proof. The inside was filled with a spongy mesh material. The other container was a two liter sealed tin of stabilized gas. Both of these items I had acquired in the late 60s when I was driving tow truck and have not seen available to the general public.
Regards,
Gerald.

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's.......here is a note from Winfried Niggle & he mentions the temperature in Germany as MINUS 23 degrees C  & that is   obviously he would need some ..............Derek

__________________________________________________________
From: Winfried Niggel [mailto:w.niggel@web.de]
Sent: Thursday, 9 February 2012 10:23 AM
To: Derek Warner
Subject: Re: Extension Tie Rods for my Niggle Quartz Lubricators - 04/02/2012

Hallo Derek,
 
ich komme nicht dazu das ich deine Teile fertige.
Tut mir leid, entweder warten oder wo anders bestellen.
 
Gruss aus dem kalten Deutschland, minus 23grad !!!!
 
Winfried