An interesting week

Hello again.

It’s another Sunday and time for another blog post... so what has been happening this week? 

Well, to start with, there have been a lot of arrivals and departures so I have had quite a sociable week in the bars and mess. There was a foam party on Friday in Timmy’s which was more of a light snow party but it was a good night (apart from a small amount of a disagreement I had with a para who decided to be a bit too overbearing with one of our female colleagues... fortunately, it all ended well). We also had a couple of leaving speeches (including one for me) before the foam party and the Pengie I have been working on was handed over. Here’s the finished item:

 

Click the Pic!

I have blotted out the names again.

Yesterday we went back to Port Stanley and had a lovely meal in the Malvenas again. I had venison and it tasted superb. We all enjoyed the evening and even had time to stop on the way back and look at the stars... out here there is hardly any light pollution so you get to see many more stars than you normally would. Then it was back to the mess for a night cap. Unfortunately, I seem to be a magnet for disgruntled army chaps, as I had to tone down another drunken bloke who just appeared in our group and scared everyone off... what followed was an hour of counselling that is an hour of my life I’ll never get back...

And that has been my week. Days to do are getting few so I am now thinking about packing and sorting things out before my return to England.

I can’t wait.

See you through the veil!

There's a change in the wind direction.

Welcome to Inso’s World again and this week I have managed to get a Sunday post sorted out for Saturday instead.

This week has been a bit of a strange one with weather demanding a few changes in the order of play. First of all, I was due to be on exercise on Wednesday but due to very strong winds, the exercise had to slip to Thursday.

The exercise was a practice evacuation for a pretend island. It was geared towards training troops to deal with evacuating civilians during a time of civil unrest and rebel actions. It was to try and replicate what may happen in real life if British citizens are caught up in fighting and need to be rescued. I played a civvy for the day and had to act out a role as a local who was glad to be leaving but had a grudge with one or two of the other evacuees. That meant that I had to do a bit of shouting and pushing and shoving and generally being a small nuisance to the troops. While this was going on, rebel forces turned up and the troops had to defend themselves while making sure we were kept safe. The cool bit was that we were evacuated by Sea King helicopter to a hangar for processing and then loaded onto a Hercules for a lap of the airfield. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take any photographs so I can’t share any of the day’s events.

All in all, it was an interesting day away from the usual sort of work I do; even if it meant quite a bit of hanging around... or ‘military milling’ as I call it.

The following day, I was due to go to Mount Usborne with a group of our lads to renovate a war memorial. We had all the equipment, paint and polish ready for the trip but this happened:

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Painting and polishing in the rain and snow wouldn’t really work so we had to scrub the trip. It looks like it will now have to wait until the warmer/dryer weather turns up later in the year because it seems that winter has finally arrived. The temperature has certainly dropped considerably over the last few days.

Fortunately, I’m only here for another couple of weeks so I won’t have to deal with too much of the colder weather. I can almost smell the home-fires burning.

See you from the airport!

A late preview

Hello again. Yes, I know it is another slightly late blog post but I have been busy. However, I have managed to finish sculpting the latest Pengie... and here he is:

Click the Pic!

As before, I have blanked out the plaque with personal details on. I now have a week and a bit to get him painted up, ready for the handover. This time around, I am not going to be the speech giver... unlike last time. Fortunately, the speech I gave (and the little song that went with it) went well and the recipient really liked her Pengie so it was worth all the effort.

I hope to have quite a lot to talk about on Sunday so stay tuned.

See you from a Sea King!

Catch-Up Sunday

Hello again. As you may have noticed, last Sunday’s blog post never happened. That was mostly to do with not having anything to post; another work type week with little of interest to share.

Well, this week I am going to turn my attentions towards penguins or ‘Pengies’ as they are know out here.

Well a Pengie is a going home gift that is presented to work friends when they return home from the Falklands. As you will have realised, the gift is in the shape of a sculpted penguin and it is designed to reflect certain aspects of their tour. As an example, if someone ended up falling over and breaking a wrist, their Pengie may have a cast or sling. If they are party animals, their Pengie may have a party hat or fancy dress costume.

Recently, the tradition of presenting Pengies has sort of fallen by the wayside but things have picked up and the tradition has returned strongly. Now, it wouldn’t be proper if the Pengie was just handed over. In order to properly celebrate the return home, a speech is written and the Pengie is presented with a photo showing elements of the tour and the name of the leaver. This little leaving ceremony is normally held in either the mess bar or Timmy’s bar (our section bar).

Well... I was allocated a ‘victim’ who has a passion for running, cakes and wine... so here’s her Pengie: 

 Click the Pic!

I have blotted out names and dates but the purple thing on the front is a plaque detailing them. I have written a speech for her and we will be gathering in a week or so for the leaving celebration. Of course... part of the speech is a song (well... I am a karaoke fan) so I hope it goes down a storm.

I am currently working on a second Pengie that will be for a complete party animal so watch this space for pics (coming soon).

So... only a month left to go and I reckon in a few weeks I’ll have something pretty cool to share (involving helicopters, yomping and Hercules aircraft) so there should be something to keep the blog interesting.

See you from the peat-fields!

Squat Platoon.

Just a quick post to show the Squat Platoon as it currently stands:

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I still need to add a few details and some heavy weapon tractors but that will have to wait until I get home. As a result, these have now been packed away; ready for the trip home in a few weeks.

See you from the edge of reason!

A late Sunday post... on Tuesday!

Well... two days late with today’s blog post and what do I have to say for myself? To be honest... not a lot.

Recently the internet connection has been a bit poor and coupled with a few laptop issues (namely my wee beast freezing up on me all the time), my posting has been a bit curtailed.

So how can I make amends? Well, I went to Port Stanley again on Sunday and drove to the coast nearby to a place called Gypsy Cove. While we were walking about, we saw a few penguins... first in a hole:

 Click the Pic!

... and then on the beach:

 Click the Pic!

 There was also a big gun:

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In other news, I have finished my little platoon of Squats as far as I can and will take a pic at some point this week to show them all off together but in the mean time, I have been required to start sculpting leaving gifts and this is the first one (very WIP at the moment):

Click the Pic!

It will eventually be a penguin shaped runner with a bottle of wine and a piece of cake. I have another one that I need to do as well so I am hoping to get some decent sculpting time soon.

That’s about it for now.

See you from the cliff edge!

Little Milestones.

Welcome to Inso’s World again and this week has seen a few little milestones that I would like to share.

First up, I have now been on the island for more than two months and that means that I am over half way. As I mentioned in last week’s blog post, I have been on call for the week but I handed over my pager on Friday so I was able to go out on Friday night and enjoy an evening of Karaoke and a few pints in Timmy’s bar (the bar I am currently manager of). I had a great evening and was able to celebrate with a bit of a sing song.

Secondly there is something much more important. My son has passed his aptitude test for joining the Royal Air Force this week. He is just on the first rung of the ladder (the fitness/medical/interview process is still to come) but I am so happy for him. It is just a shame that I am not at home at the moment to pass on my pride first hand.

From a hobby perspective, I have had time to get a bit more sculpting done and, as a result, have more or less finished the second infantry squad for the Squat platoon. As I mentioned last week, there will still be details that I need to add when I get home (I need the heavy weapon units and a few back-packs and things from my bits box) but the sculpting part of the platoon is pretty much finished. Here is where I am at with the second squad: 

Click the pic!

This coming week will see me checking all the sculpts and tidying things up if I need to. Then I will be happy to take a platoon photo to show off.

On a separate note, karaoke is one of those things that you either love or hate. Some people will avoid it and others will seek it out. I love karaoke because it shows a wide spectrum of abilities and is really entertaining. I can safely say that there is little better than singing Sweet Caroline and having a hundred-plus people in the bar singing along with you and filling in the gaps. I think that it is a bit similar to being in a football crowd and everyone chanting together. Add a few beers into the equation and it is brilliant fun. You learn a lot about people that you would never find out otherwise.

See you from the singing pit!