It took a day to go around it. There was a lot more there. Almost all were the best preserved examples in the world. In the photos are parts of the mechanism of a conturbanium ballista. Sadly we (British Army in 1930s) threw away some nearby lumps of “compressed fatty blocks”. Almost certainly these were the animal gut cordage that provided the torsion force to fire the bolts. Modern forensics could have learnt a lot from these had they been preserved.
I thought the tent pegs were replicas. I was wrong.
Much of the remains from Dura Europa are in the British museum having been brought here in the 1930s. Like the Elgin marbles they would have been destroyed in civil war and acts of religious terrorism had they remained.
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I kinda like taking the “wrong” lens at times - it makes you take different photos. That’s some spectacular terrain 
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The tyre popped while you were wrestling it?? 
we need to know what happened … did that tyre explode when you where handling it
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Kind of, i was checking it for a puncture or any damage and it looked absolutely fine. Not a mark on it. No cuts, no bulges, no marks at all. So i inflated it and when it had 120psi in it i put the valve core back in, took 2 steps to put the key down and it exploded. No warning, no cracking or tearing…just boom.
Blew me off my feet, shrapnel in my face neck and arm. Flipped my eye lids up (i thought my eyes had popped out) but they were fine. Smacked head on floor. Bent fingers back and bit my tongue. Deaf in right ear but its coming back and the ringing is irritating as hell
Luckily, i was not injured or killed to be honest. Scared me properly though. Nothing phases me usually but i had to go and get a coffee after that
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bloody hell … good to hear you are ok … could have been a lot worse with 120psi and if you hadn’t taken those couple of steps
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Yeah wouldnt of been good at all. Just lucky timing.
They normally creak and pop and give some warning but this was instant.
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Holy goodness! Glad you’re relatively all right. Was it in a tire (tyre?) cage?
I hated working with split rims, always insisted on a cage (doesn’t help with the overpressure, but might keep from getting killed) and even then cringed every time.
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This was my mistake. I had taken it out the cage to refit it and thats when it went
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Probably wouldn’t have helped, especially if it was inside the confines of the van! 
Luckily you were only killed a little. Those hearing cells are not coming back. Nor the braincells lost when you smacked the floor with your noggin.
I am glad you are OK. God you look proper scared indeed in pic nr3. You sure you don’t want a safer job, like assault leader in the foreign Ukraine legion?
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Embracing one of the few things that I can revert to to keep me level…my love of the water (and my boys of course…) As the divorce was pending…I sold absolutely everything…tried to pretend I was someone I wasn’t. Well…that didn’t work…so…back to what puts a smile on my face…
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That’s the way to do it. “Fake it 'til you make it” has been a trend for decades, but the reality is you just fake it until you’re exhausted, then find solace in going back to your true self.
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I know how you feel.
As a matter of fact I am moving out of the home of my kids (and soon-to-be Ex-wife) next Saturday.
Booked the company… boxed what I could. Will do the rest during the week.
The kids took it well- there were tears but, there was understanding, closure, comfort and solace.
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I was out on the mat today, first time competition. I didn’t really mean to enroll, but my reply to the text message asking us if we wanted to take part must have been a bit too ambivalent. Not one to ever back down, I went out prepared to get my clock cleaned and hoping to get away with no major injuries.
Huh. Guess brute strength and conditioning (I’m a landscaper, I lift heavy things all day) and a fair bit of grappling experience in the distant past count for more than the colour of the belt (I have just made yellow).
The kids had their competitions too today, and they did well. Their results are that-a-way.
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Impressive schurem. I assume you fought/sparred(?) the others on the podium. They look like black belts?!?!
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I fought them. Competition (shiai) and sparring (randori) are quite different things in judo.
Randori is “free flowing exercise” while shiai is a straight up fight (altough with rules and a referee). Randori is done with a cooperative mindset, you and your partner are trying to get better at it, together (what I’m usually aiming for with Fight Club incidentally).
In randori everybody kicks my posterior usually, except when I manage to get a somewhat equal position on the ground (ne waza). I fought hard, and ran at least one guy completely out of steam.
I lost to the blackbelt, and took surprise wins on the brownbelts. My kids got first and third in their classes. We are one happy bunch of judoka at the moment 
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Ya, that’s what I thought. Knowing what you do I’ve always felt I would not want to wrestle you. We have a mason on our hockey team. Solid as a brick poop house 
Congrats. I saw the pics of your kids. You should be a proud dad. Great stuff
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