offshore

Day 5. Oztralia 8-Pommyland 3 Series is now 1-Zip! Not much to enthuse in todays little outing! 5 for... in under 2 hours. At least the paying public got a refund Hard to understand how a team showed so much spirit yesterday, and then capitulated like that today. Out of 13 sessions of play, the Poms realistically only won or broke even in 2. On to Adeaide, the city of churches. Maybe we need to arrange a lay day for next sunday so the Poms can go to church They may well need a blessing by then! Offshore

Day 4 Oztralia 7, Pommy land 7! Yep- call it a draw today, actually had the Poms a few points ahead until Freddy departed. We can only hope that the resilience shown today, will be repeated; I thoroughly enjoyed the battle. Only 4 hours of constant rain from 10am tomorrow will save the Poms,( Heavens knows we need it!) but we haven't seen 4 hours of consistent rain for about 4 years, so I don't think it will happen tomorrow. Just loved the tactical battle today... thought Gilly handled things well in Punters abscence.. ( This is not Dads Army sydrome starting? ) and the byplay with Warne & Collingwood, Pietersen, and Freddy was priceless. ( Would have to score that 2-1 to Warney as he got 2 of 'em!) But I think Freddy & Pietersen, should be charged with bread theft and sent to the colonies Cos they play more like Aussies than Poms! Hopefully it will be 1-zip tomorrow nite, but I don't think that scoreline will change after the next test. Offshore

Day 3. Oztralia 8 ( They did grass a couple!) Pommyland 3. From bad to worse for the poms, and the Oz guys are really going to rub it in, although I suspect they will declare overnight, but no sign of rain to save the inevitable. Another great day, I didn't get a ton.. (beers) but tried hard. Yep, this will be done in 4 days... and on to Adelaide, a batsmans paradise. Couldn't beleive today that the poms made such heavy going of a relatively innocuous track, t'was proven later in the day, that it wasn't that crook. So Adelaide will sort the men from the boys... all the runs in the world don't matter.. you still need to take 20 wickets to win. And I suspect even the Oz guys will struggle down there in that regard, although they will definetly take 2 spinners in to try to reek havoc in the last dig. jtb, I sincerely hope the flack that these guys are copping now inspires them to better performances next time up, cos this has been almost cruel. and thats just plain facts. Pity you aren't seeing a bit of it, cos there is some great cricket being played, by 1 side at least. Offshore

Welcome Anchorman, As the others have said, watch your wallet! BTW, I have " aimed" a few boats in my time, maybe not as long as yours, but decidedly quicker Offshore

Day 2. Ratings: Oztralia 9, Pommyland 4. Didn't go today, but will be there with bells on tomorrow . Watched it & listened at work... My view. The Pom bowlers are: 1. Underdone. ( I can't beleive they played so few games in the lead up) 2. Not up to it, ( With the exception of Freddy) But he will burn out before this is over. The Oz guys got where they needed to be; 600+ is insurmountable... thats not arrogance... thats reality. Then the old timers came together and destroyed the top order. Oh Ah.. 2 in 2 balls... past his prime 3 for not a lot... Yes I'm looking forward to tomorrow... might try to clock up a century myself... beers that is I reckon Ponting will bat again, just to rub it in, and give the mobile king (Warney).. a deteriorating track to weave his magic on. Let's hope things even up a bit, as i understand the "Barmy Army" are already seeking lower priced digs elsewhere. Don't blame 'em... almost horrible to watch, and @ $300-$600/night for a bed... you would prefer to not sleep... at least you wouldn't have nightmares John, I don't think they are arrogant, just professional, and very good. Offshore

Agreed, there are some lovely "Cindy Crawfords" out there! Offshore

Just home from the 1st day of the 1st test! What a great day. Had everything. I will try to keep up a score sheet, ( In my eyes) of each days play. So today.. ( Free drinks in the box not withstanding)... my take is ( Out of 10) Oztralia..9..... Pommyland..5, and I may be being generous. Another great skippers knock... he has to be getting up there with the best of 'em now! ( and I reckon he may go on with it tomorrow) The Pom bowlers were at best "loose", the outfield cricket was mediocre... however the Oz bats got themselves out... not too much venom in that attack. For all you non cricket lovers reading this... it probably sounds like mumbo jumbo, but my cricket loving friends will know what I am on about. So bring on day 2... I still reckon this will all be a done deal by Christmas. Whadidyareckon jtb? Offshore

Betta get out the CC Ken! Offshore

Truly sorry to see this Neil, my thoughts are with you. Offshore

Hi, Have a look in our links section, under watch schools. Offshore

Yes, wash it off ( if there are no leaks) Wipe it off if there are I used some radiator leak detector fluid, with one I had...... now in the hands of one, Kenberg He can probably tell you if he has had any good or bad results with it. Offshore

Firstly, you may be better to run a test before opening, ie breaking, what may already be a good seal. But sure, if you resilicone the rear O ring, and have a correct case tool, it certainly won't do much harm. You can use other methods of heating, but don't go shoving it in a hot oven, you will get too much temp, too fast! "Warm" is the operative term here! If you have got the watch warm, and it doesn't have "major" leaks: any bubble streams you spot, will be warm ( higher pressure) air escaping, BUT not water entering, at that time. Water will only get in once the pressures equalise ( bubbles stop) If for some reason, you do get water inside, opening and drying with a hair dryer, and/or leaving it sit overnight in silica gel, MAY help remove water, but is not a guarantee. Anyway, the movement would need a pull down for reoiling, at the very least. The other method, is to get one of the Bulova vacuum testers, they go for $10-$50 on ebay. This will do almost the same as the test we are talking about, albeit, no water is involved. Only a film of soapy or leak detector fluid over the outside of the watch, and the tool creates an external vacuum, to "suck" air out through any leak areas. But they do not give any indication of pressure, just show the leak areas. Hope this helps. Offshore

Devedandar, Here is a quick, easy and cost less test. For a quick check, put the watch in the sun, and get it hot. Quickly immerse it in cold water, and see if you see any bubbles emerging. If you do, just as quickly, remove the watch from the water. It won't get moisture inside, and if you saw bubbles, it LEAKS! This test doesn't prove anything, except that you have leaks! But its not a bad quicky for checking if the watch can be anywhere near water. You have marginally increased the interior pressure, and when it goes into the colder water, if it has a leak, you will see bubbles (a stream) not just the odd bubble from the band, or under the bezel. Obviously if you see a stream, note from where... this is the area, you will 1st need to work on to improve your WR. Then test again. If you haven't seen bubbles in a stream after say 30 seconds, you can be reasonably assured, you can at the least put the watch into a " wash hands" situation. And most probably swim with it. Anything more requires a pressure test. Offshore

Thomas, I can accept winter themes, even Christmas themes, but so help me, if I ever see a floating bear...................... Offshore

And me running assist.... Ken, Can we sticky this when completed? Offshore

@doc, a ) You can't help bad luck... and its really not that far! b ) We only have a few, but they are well trained c ) You can't help bad luck And yes, we really need a good gloat! Offshore

Ken, Once you set a date... I'll see what I can do... some cheap flights around from time to time... just had my MIL up from Hobart ..$68 each way... although I would have paid a grand to send her back early So , see what no's you have , and I will try to be in it. Offshore

Give a kewpie doll to the lucky player!

Well what about "caught in slips", " sticky wicket"... oh I could go on but " lost middle stump, round his legs with a googly" will probably get then Googling Offshore. BTW Like my new avvy? Hope you all know what it is, and it ain't Santas sleigh. Although it could be apt, with christmas coming around!

Sorry.. to each his own.. Ohhh my eyes! May have been appealing in my younger days... but cannot see a time I would now wear this. Horses for courses. Offshore

John, The most wounded must be Trescothick..... "stress".... Gee he only had 1 dig here and had to go home again. Really feel sorry for him, have seen a little of this with some close friends recently... it's not pretty. Yeh I agree, with you... have a look at the odds for it being all over by Christmas... or the New Year... the odds may be better. Even Mother Nature... in this drought stricken country... is working against the Poms, we've had three days of torrential rain.. just a week out, now we will have a week of sun, should make the track... "lively" And tonite they announced the final 13 for Oz, ... 5 quicks in the mix. They've even take Warneys' mobile off him .. to get his mind on the job at hand (cricket that is) Have just re read this missive... bet the Yanks are scratching their collective heads , as to this "english " language What a game. Offshore

And I'm showing 902! Must be the International date line screwing us up Offshore

I've always liked "gaggle", so jtb, send us the Ashes Starts in 7 days you know! Offshore

Not really Ken, if you go in to forum rules.... you just get a blank page! I know, I looked. Offshore

I thought KB had done a flying visit to Sydney