Christian Ainley my day to day

  A Handful Of Hard Men cover Hannes Wessels I’ve bundled these two books together as the content is of the same vein and there are portions that are common to both books.  The author is very passionate about his roll in the S.A.S and Rhodesia as his home and this really carries the reader along there’s nothing worse than a dreary book of someone going through the motions.  We Dared To Win Cover Hannes Wessels You don’t need to be familiar with the demise of Rhodesia and the birth of Zimbabwe as this is all written into the book along side who the author blames for the turn of events rightly or wrongly. Some books omit the more shocking aspects of war but here every thing is laid out for you to judge.  If you are not familiar with the conflict I’d recommend reading the first A Handful Of Hard Men. It’s got some great stories from the action and gives the perspective of a Rhodesian soldier fighting for his land against the odds. 

  I’m going to say that today we went for the main food shop for Christmas we’ve got most of what we need. I’m sure there will be more trips to the shops over the next five days to get the bits we didn’t get today (some things have a short shelf life ) how much did we spend £109 which isn’t too bad, if I’m honest it’s not far from our normal Tesco shop price ! 

  Coca Cola in glass bottles  Coca Cola comes to you in various vessels soda dispensers, cans and plastic bottles but the best has to be the glass bottle it’s a lot more expensive especially here in the UK but nothing compares to it. Maybe is because there’s no plastic for the acids to react too, even your cans are lined with a thin plastic membrane. Treat yourself to some glass bottles and tell me what you think bellow ! 

  I used to subscribe to Aircraft illustrated the photography was spectacular and I’d look forward to a new edition landing on the mat. In 2008 Berlin Tempelhof closed to air traffic it’s short runway in the middle of a built up area and it 70 year infrastructure were not compatible with modern air transport. There was even a special evening where photographers were invited to capture the last day of traffic, Lufthansa flew in the classic Ju 52 they had as part of their historic flight. The pictures the following month were brilliant and captured the romance of air travel in the 1930’s when this airport was a modern wonder.  First used as a parade ground for the Prussian military in the 1880’s the site was selected to show of one of the Wright flyers in 1909. The Wright brothers were on a world tour demonstrating their aircraft. Tempelhof opened as an airport in 1923 aviation was important to the Weimar Republic and seen as a sign of progress and became an important mode of tr...

Skeleton Crew Poster  Just before the Christmas holidays Disney + have added this family friendly series to their line up.  I have to be open and up front here it’s clearly not aimed at someone my age being in my early 40’s but I secretly liked it and it took me back to my childhood and all the films that came out then, think Flight of the navigator, The Goonies, Space camp and even shades of Stand by me.  It’s a fun family series put out for the holidays there’s enough to keep everyone engaged and on side which is difficult in the modern age. Run it as a serial over the holidays and you can’t go wrong. 

It’s a nice clear day but there is a chill as it’s only 6°c outside. I got my arse in gear and went for a rapid walk up to Blackpark.  I’d been listening to Headhunter see previous post and only had an hour left so wanted to finish it off. It was a nice high pace and I completed just over 7 miles in two hours ok not a record but quick for me.  I fished headhunter and now I’m on to Stalingrad by Antony Beevor he’s a brilliant author it’s going to be a great listen.   

  Headhunter Peter C. Svoboda The All American 82nd airborne division were formed in 1917 and have been at the heart of every conflict since its inception.  Headhunter is an in-depth look at the 5-73 operations in and around the Diyala river valley after Iraqi Freedom 2003, it’s also more than that it tells you about the men who were there and their thoughts and fears and the brotherhood that developed between them.  This book also touches on the continuing battle that a lot of the veterans deal with today coping with the after effects of battle and the physical and mental health problems and getting the right after care and treatment.  It’s a very detailed and fast pace book that makes you the reader feel embedded with the forces on the ground. You’ll live it along side the men as it happens. Combat with insurgents, IED blasts as a unit transits the combat zone and losing comrades along the way. Superbly written and researched with reverence to those involved by the...