What did you do to your Spyder today?

[CloverHillCrawler]

Checked things out and did not find anything that I had any movement. In the course of checking things, I found that one of the locking nuts on one end of the tie rods were not tightened after the alinement. Of course it was one of the inner ones. Got it snugged up I think!

When I kept having wear on the inside it was due to a bent pitman arm that was missed during the repair after being rear ended at traffic lights.

 

[Cobranut]

Went for a ride with my buddy Jerry. Had a highway assassin make a left turn at an intersection right in front of me while I was doing about 35 MPH. I got to test my anti lock brakes. Luckily Jerry was not right on my tail.

View attachment 253588 - View attachment 253589 - View attachment 253590

I'm in the Philippines right now. I rented a 150cc Honda ADV scooter to get around.
Everyone should learn to drive here. The rule is basically, if you can get ahead of the other vehicle, you have the right of way.
Amazingly, it seems to work. People just accept it and go on about their day.
Horns are actually used to get someones attention or warn of your presence, instead of a way to express anger.

 

[Snoking1127]

I'm in the Philippines right now. I rented a 150cc Honda ADV scooter to get around.
Everyone should learn to drive here. The rule is basically, if you can get ahead of the other vehicle, you have the right of way.
Amazingly, it seems to work. People just accept it and go on about their day.
Horns are actually used to get someones attention or warn of your presence, instead of a way to express anger.

I drove USCG and other trucks borrowed from the AF in Sattahip Thailand for a year in 1966-67. Not only on the other side of the road, but with crazy Thai's that thought missing you by inches was the SOP.

 

[Gwolf]

I'm in the Philippines right now. I rented a 150cc Honda ADV scooter to get around.
Everyone should learn to drive here. The rule is basically, if you can get ahead of the other vehicle, you have the right of way.
Amazingly, it seems to work. People just accept it and go on about their day.
Horns are actually used to get someones attention or warn of your presence, instead of a way to express anger.

You on Luzon, maybe close to Manila or Angeles City? A lot of us did learn to drive there, but that don't work so well in the CONUS.
They have the laws, they just don't enforce them. There are worse places to drive on that side of the world. Some of it may have changed since I was there. Taiwan had highway with 60 clicks limit outside of town, but you would never get over about 30 clicks. The bicycles, ox-carts, and farm tractors share the road with the motorcycles and taxis. Slower traffic supposed to stay on the shoulder of the road, but when it gets mixed up it is all slower traffic. Take the scooter back and get a boat. There are about 7,500 islands in the PI. Never know what you will see there.

 

[Cobranut]

You on Luzon, maybe close to Manila or Angeles City? A lot of us did learn to drive there, but that don't work so well in the CONUS.
They have the laws, they just don't enforce them. There are worse places to drive on that side of the world. Some of it may have changed since I was there. Taiwan had highway with 60 clicks limit outside of town, but you would never get over about 30 clicks. The bicycles, ox-carts, and farm tractors share the road with the motorcycles and taxis. Slower traffic supposed to stay on the shoulder of the road, but when it gets mixed up it is all slower traffic. Take the scooter back and get a boat. There are about 7,500 islands in the PI. Never know what you will see there.

Yep, Luzon, but up in Baguio City. We fly in and out of Angeles City, the old Clark Airbase. They built a gorgeous new terminal there with HUGE wood beams and tongue and groove joints. My wife is from Bagiou. We're visiting family, and I'm helping modernize their water system with new pumps and float switches to automate things.

I've been to Taiwan for work several times before I retired. The traffic there is about the same as here.
If you can find a space to squeeze through, you better go for it or you might get run over by the next guy trying.

It's really funny to be riding up the shoulder or middle of the road, pass a cop, and they pay no attention. Had one even wave at me today.

 

[Gwolf]

Yep, Luzon, but up in Baguio City. We fly in and out of Angeles City, the old Clark Airbase. They built a gorgeous new terminal there with HUGE wood beams and tongue and groove joints. My wife is from Bagiou. We're visiting family, and I'm helping modernize their water system with new pumps and float switches to automate things.

I've been to Taiwan for work several times before I retired. The traffic there is about the same as here.
If you can find a space to squeeze through, you better go for it or you might get run over by the next guy trying.

It's really funny to be riding up the shoulder or middle of the road, pass a cop, and they pay no attention. Had one even wave at me today.

Yep, we operated out of Clark a lot before the volcano buried it in ash. Did a lot of cargo operations out of Subic too. I was officially a guest of the Chinese Air Force on Taiwan for several years about half way up the Island at a place called CCK. Unofficially, I was anywhere between Hickam, Hawaii and Diego Garcia that they told me to go, moving anything a C-130 could carry. You went to the mountainous area. It is beautiful there. Seen a lot of it from the air. Got my Jungle Survival training in the Luzon mountains from a Negrito contract instructor. We spent a week in the mountains, but it is almost impossible to see anything from under the jungle canopy. Not even real sure where the training was located. Went in on choppers and there was only one small cleared landing zone. From there we went into the jungle on narrow trails. Most of the people from my area of Florida never been out of the state. If you try to tell them about places of the other side of the Pacific they think you are crazy. I still have a bolo machete made from a WW2 jeep spring that I traded a half gallon of peaches for. Still got some of the wood carvings of carabao too.

 

[Snoking1127]

I drove USCG and other trucks borrowed from the AF in Sattahip Thailand for a year in 1966-67. Not only on the other side of the road, but with crazy Thai's that thought missing you by inches was the SOP.

View attachment 253603

I climbed the 625' Loran C radio navigation tower during construction to take pictures. We were testing during that period, so the transmitter went down for me to mount, and then again to dismount. So I climbed it "hot". First is looking down at the station buildings and second one is looking over to U-Tapao AFB. Mainly B-52's and KC-135. However, SR-71's stopped by along with other aircraft during the war. I was an electronics tech, but did a lot of other duties. In the top of third picture of the Tech's, ETCS, XO and CO, myself without a lid and the guy to "my" right are the only two remaining walking on the planet.

- -

 

[CloverHillCrawler]

Yep, we operated out of Clark a lot before the volcano buried it in ash. Did a lot of cargo operations out of Subic too. I was officially a guest of the Chinese Air Force on Taiwan for several years about half way up the Island at a place called CCK. Unofficially, I was anywhere between Hickam, Hawaii and Diego Garcia that they told me to go, moving anything a C-130 could carry. You went to the mountainous area. It is beautiful there. Seen a lot of it from the air. Got my Jungle Survival training in the Luzon mountains from a Negrito contract instructor. We spent a week in the mountains, but it is almost impossible to see anything from under the jungle canopy. Not even real sure where the training was located. Went in on choppers and there was only one small cleared landing zone. From there we went into the jungle on narrow trails. Most of the people from my area of Florida never been out of the state. If you try to tell them about places of the other side of the Pacific they think you are crazy. I still have a bolo machete made from a WW2 jeep spring that I traded a half gallon of peaches for. Still got some of the wood carvings of carabao too.

I got to see Clark and Subic air bases as a kid back in the early to mid 70's, My father was the Assistant Agricultural Attaché at the Embassy in Manila and we lived in Makati in Galaxy village. Made lots of trips up to Baguio and spent time on horseback on the rice terraces while my dad was working there. Beautiful place. Since my dad was a former Marine, during the evacuation of Vietnam we housed Marines at our house in Makati, and I remember the tent cities that were set up in Clark for the evacuee's. I went to school at the International School. I also was in attendance with my parents at several dinners with Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, everyone met the kids and then we (all of the diplomats kids) were shuffled together into another area to eat while our parents had the formal dinner. I fell in love with Naval Ships there; while in Subic bay we did a tour of a Ship and that tour was a big influence with me joining the Navy when I was 19. And no crap about the driving, there were no such things as lanes, and the Embassy provided my dad a Jeep that had these big iron bumpers welded onto it to protect him in traffic.

 

[Cobranut]

Yep, we operated out of Clark a lot before the volcano buried it in ash. Did a lot of cargo operations out of Subic too. I was officially a guest of the Chinese Air Force on Taiwan for several years about half way up the Island at a place called CCK. Unofficially, I was anywhere between Hickam, Hawaii and Diego Garcia that they told me to go, moving anything a C-130 could carry. You went to the mountainous area. It is beautiful there. Seen a lot of it from the air. Got my Jungle Survival training in the Luzon mountains from a Negrito contract instructor. We spent a week in the mountains, but it is almost impossible to see anything from under the jungle canopy. Not even real sure where the training was located. Went in on choppers and there was only one small cleared landing zone. From there we went into the jungle on narrow trails. Most of the people from my area of Florida never been out of the state. If you try to tell them about places of the other side of the Pacific they think you are crazy. I still have a bolo machete made from a WW2 jeep spring that I traded a half gallon of peaches for. Still got some of the wood carvings of carabao too.

Awesome recollections.
Regarding that machete, there's still hoards of those Jeeps running around, extended and converted into Jeepneys hauling people around.
Not much left of the original vehicles, I suspect. Many have complete stainless steel bodies that they manufacture over here.
A ride is typically 13 pesos, or about 24 cents.

 

[Snoking1127]

Awesome recollections.
Regarding that machete, there's still hoards of those Jeeps running around, extended and converted into Jeepneys hauling people around.
Not much left of the original vehicles, I suspect. Many have complete stainless steel bodies that they manufacture over here.
A ride is typically 13 pesos, or about 24 cents.

In Thailand back in the day, a ride in a bahtbus was one baht. Baht = 5 cents back in 1966. In Bangkok you could grab a driver and ask to go to the US military exchange and by a carton of cigarettes for a $1.20. Have the driver watch you put it under your seat, and you were golden for the whole day to go any and everywhere you wanted to go, as long as you forgot your cigs when the day was over.

 

[Gwolf]

Awesome recollections.
Regarding that machete, there's still hoards of those Jeeps running around, extended and converted into Jeepneys hauling people around.
Not much left of the original vehicles, I suspect. Many have complete stainless steel bodies that they manufacture over here.
A ride is typically 13 pesos, or about 24 cents.

One of the best recollections is the poker games in the room behind the stag bar of some NCO clubs. We hardly ever converted the left over local currency because it just wasn't worth standing in a line at the passenger terminals to swap in local currency for MPC or whatever the currency was where you were going. Half the time we might not even know where the next stop was anyway. Whole table of air crew playing poker with 7 or 8 different kinds of currency and at least that many exchange rates, The pot looked like a pile of colorful paper, and was usually worth about that amount. Had people throwing peasters, riel, baht, NT, yen, and MPC from 2 or 3 different places in the pot to cover their bets. After about 3 or 4 beers it was a good idea to try to swap whatever you had left for a single type of currency of where you thought you would end up next. I had a whole hand full of different currency left when I DEROSed out. Put it all in the pages of a photo album because most of it was outdated. They would change the MPC for a new kind without much warning to try to catch the black market exchanges off gaurd. The whole lot that might still be valid wasn't worth more that maybe $20 US greenbacks. I used to mail some of the local currency with thousands in face value, but only worth maybe $2 US Green to my younger brothers and sister in the states. Cheap souvenir you didn't have to shop for.

 

[CloverHillCrawler]

Awesome recollections.
Regarding that machete, there's still hoards of those Jeeps running around, extended and converted into Jeepneys hauling people around.
Not much left of the original vehicles, I suspect. Many have complete stainless steel bodies that they manufacture over here.
A ride is typically 13 pesos, or about 24 cents.

Holy crap! When I was there it was only 25 centavos or about 4 cents , the exchange rate at that time was about 7.4 pesos on the dollar. I would take my allowance and hop a combination of jeepney's and buses to go to Quezon city from Makati, where there was a small amusement park there. I ended up seeing a guy get pulled off the back of the jeepney and get shot in the head. There was martial law during that time and if you had a gun or a large knife they didn't like, the PC's (philippine constabulary a mix of MP and local police rolled into one.) would shoot you on the spot.