New This Week - Archive - 2003 Articles / Welcome Message Archive Date: Jul 30, 2003 - 07:03 PM |
New This Week - 12 December 2003Last month on the front of the Hole I noted that it would be about 4 weeks before I got around to updating the Hole again. Well, the four weeks have passed (actually, really five weeks now) and whilst I have done a lot of research for some new stuff for the Hole, that is where it is at the moment – just research. Work has been hectic, to say the least, and I am writing this again from Seoul. I am hoping to get a little time over the weekend start writing some stuff based on all that research. As a taster, what is planned for the Hole over the coming period is a series of articles on the French-Thai War of 1940-41. Following from that will be some wargame scenarios added in the Downloads section (maybe published too). They will initially be for some air combat scenarios using Mustangs, followed by a little Naval Engagement for General Quarters (with some uncommon vessels and aircraft in both). I’m also tempted to do some land warfare scenarios, probably for Rapid Fire. We shall see. What else has been changing in life? Well, Jenny (my daughter) finished her final school exams over this period. As a lousy finish though, some low-life around the Coffs Harbour area stole her car with all her stuff packed in it. We have got very little of that back. She has since moved back home though, with her boyfriend, whilst waiting for her exam results. The both her and Jeffrey (number one son) will maybe get some university offers in January. We shall have to wait and see there. Lyn has a new job and is working away again with the intellectually handicapped (or whatever the PC term for them are at the moment). And me, well, I am starting to feel like it is time for a change … we shall see what the future brings.
Remember that if you want something posted so that others can get to it on the web, you can post it in the Hole (files, articles, whatever - see the submissions section below). New This Week - 6 November 2003Yep, once again, slack, slack, slack. However, I plead the trials and tribulations of work getting in the way of life again. The last real posting here was on 11 October. It is now a month on. In that time, Jeff (Fearless Number One Son) has turned 21. We had a little party for him - basically those of us in Ulladulla at the time as well as two old friends of his down from Canberra. A BBQ (and therefore a favourite with both Jeffro and the male members of the family) and a relaxing time overall. He enjoyed it. We enjoyed. There is a photo or two of it in the Photo Gallery of Thomo's Hole. Look under Mug Shots when you get there.In the meantime, since his birthday, I have travelled back up to Korea, been laid low by a touch of gout (leastwise, I hope that is what it is) after a night of beer rounded off with eating fried chicken giblets as a beer snack (I know, I hear you all saying, "Thomo's Rules of Eating ... Rule 3 ... It should never have connected the mouth and the bum of any animal!" Yep, broke me own rules. After the gout hit though, I flew across to Beijing for a couple of days of business meetings. These went really well and it was great to eat Chinese Chinese Food rather than the Korean Chinese Food. From Beijing, it was over to Manila for a week of meetings there. In the Photo Gallery, there are some shots of Mr Mun, one of my colleagues, learning to dance between two bamboo poles at the hotel we stayed at. Look under Mug Shots. I have added a couple of articles to the Hole with more to come. Wargaming and History will be the main areas being updated over the next few weeks. Check the menu bar to the right as it shows recent additions to the Hole. You may notice too that there is a new topic, "History". This has been added for items of a general historical nature, rather than those of a purely wargaming nature. You will also note that there are a few more categories. Whilst I travel a lot, I tend to write more things about certain countries, like, for example, Korea (well, what did you expect for a man who works for a Korean company). So, I am adding the occasional new category. The first of these is Korea. Articles relating to Korea will be added under that category, regardless of the Topic. OK, that is it for this bit. I guess it will be about four weeks before I update this section of the Hole again, however, keep checking in as there are new wargaming and general articles being added on a regular basis. For example, there will be a Mustangs Air Combat Wargame Type article appear in the next few weeks as I have finally managed to play a couple of games of it with the guys at the Korea Wargamers Club in Seoul. New This Week - 11 October 2003OK, so I have been slack and not worried about any updates for a while (other than for the article on the War Memorial Museum in Seoul to be added to the Hole). Lazy I guess, as well as a bit busy. Jeffro managed to turn 21 today, Jenny had her presentation day at school and work has been a bit hectic. At the same time, I have been trying to catch up on some painting. I am travelling again soon so hopefully this will give me some time in the evenings to generate some more articles. With a bit of luck, I may actually get to go to China for the first time this trip.
New This Week - 1 September 2003So now, in Australia, it is officially Spring. Today was colder than the two days on the weekend. I must admit to having enjoyed the weekend too. I painted my sea boards so I can start playing Naval and River based wargames here soon. Details of the process of making a quick sea board will be posted (with pictures) separately to the Hole. Not sure how many weeks this will take but keep an eye out for it.Also, on 30 and 31 August, the Houston Wargamers in the US were holding a Hordes of the Things competition. At the same time, the guys in England were holding the Berkeley competition. Excellent to see so many Hordes competitions running. An official report of the Berkeley competition is up on Steve Price's website (the organiser). The Berkeley competition is, of course, the one that Steve (the Beaver) and I have been at in previous years so it was a little disappointing not being there again this year. Have a look in the Photo Gallery of Thomo's Hole for a photo report of the trip to the 2002 Berkeley competition. Instead of Berkeley, however, I went to Sydney (to Lilyfield in fact) where I played a game of DBR with the guys from the Cumberland wargames association. A great day with the added benefit of the Rolls Royce of Bread Rolls surrounding the VW of sausages for lunch. All this means, of course, that nothing much has gone up on the Hole. Some items from the last couple few days included:
That is about it for the Hole this last week or so. Remember that if you want something posted so that others can get to it on the web, you can post it in the Hole (files, articles, whatever - see the submissions section below). New This Week - 16 August 2003And another week of winter passes - today was another of those crystal clear blue skies and sunshine days that make Australian winters perhaps the most pleasant in the world - that and the fact that we didn't lose our electricity of course. I managed to catch up on some articles that were outstanding as well as checking out some links and some more items for downloading. This week then sees:
The best bet is to check into the Hole from time to time and see what has changed. OK, so that is about it for the Hole this last week or so. Remember that if you want something posted so that others can get to it on the web, you can post it in the Hole (files, articles, whatever - see the submissions section below). New This Week - 9 August 2003So I have started to settle back into work again. I must admit that over the past few years, the class of employment agencies has dropped somewhat. Now that everything is submitted over the Internet they send you an automated response saying something like "you may not hear back from us due to us having a lot of applicants but we will keep you on file anyway".How rude! If I have taken the trouble to write a fresh submission letter each time I submit a CV for a job, then these agencies could at least be polite enough to acknowledge failure directly to you. I am still catching up with some articles - some appeared on the old Thomo's Holes (which should disappear soon - AOL is in for the chop in a month or two's time) - others are newer. The week just past has seen or sees:
Coming up over the next few days are some more Hordes of the Things Armies that I have been building. I notice that there have been at least 10 downloads of the World War II rules, Lightning War II. They can be found in the downloads section of the Hole and are called Lightning War II. Do try them and let David, the author, know what you think of them. A new scenario for these is also likely to go up on the Hole in the next few days. Last weekend was great. We went for a drive to Berrima - not for the historic Court House there, but to visit Berkelouw's Book Barn. I have not been there for about 30 years. It was great. What was even better was picking up two old books - one was Richard Hough's "The Fleet That Had To Die", published in 1958 and concerning the Russian Fleet's sailing to destruction in the Straits of Tsushima. A second book purchased there is John F Moyes' "Scrap-Iron Flotilla" concerning the Australian destroyer flotilla sent to the Mediterranean Sea in the Second World War. This was published in 1943 so is likely to be a little Boys Ownish. The description, "Scrap-Iron Flotilla" was apparently one given by the Germans. More information from both these books will be forthcoming over coming weeks. OK, so that is about it for the Hole this last week or so. Remember that if you want something posted so that others can get to it on the web, you can post it in the Hole (files, articles, whatever - see the submissions section below). New This Week - 1 August 2003Work was looking a lot iffy however I had made a suggestion to the Koreans which they took. A change from the original offer that was made to me and was such that I could not afford to feed the family - it was worth more to me to leave than to stay. There was no question of my not performing or anything. So, the current offer was such that apart from not being able to afford steak again (back to sausages and chops which is a good thing as there may be some more simple Thomo recipes) we can afford to live. The result is that Thomo is still gainfully employed in Korea.Still, I ain't complaining. Dad's health is is booming along and he is looking and sounding better than ever. Mum is still suffering from the arthritis (bane of my mother's side of the family) but she is also getting there. I had my 49th Birthday this week. I have been catching up with some articles and this week has seen or sees:
By the way, if you want to try some cool World War II rules, step into the downloads and grab a copy of Lightning War II. OK, so that is about it for the Hole this last week or so. Remember that if you want something posted so that others can get to it on the web, you can post it in the Hole (files, articles, whatever - see the submissions section below). New This Week - 25 July 2003I have returned from Seoul to the pleasant weather of the South Coast winter ... and whilst the wind has been a little lazy, the weather has generally been not too bad. Whilst I only had a single full weekend in Seoul, I managed to sort out the mystery of the Hwarang (see the Photo Gallery and look for the Flower Boy in the War Memorial Museum photos).Whilst in the museum, I also spent some time looking very closely at the Multiple Launch Rocket Systems on display there. These are not modern weapons but weapons from the Choson Dynasty. I think I will need to prepare an article for the Pike and Shot Society about these. I have also been asked to produce a short piece on the museum for the Pike and Shot Society. I will do that this weekend. Work is looking a little iffy at the moment with an offer made to me that may result in me moving on to another firm. I hope we can resolve this but if not, you will hear full details here gentle reader. Dad's health is till improving with the pacemaker in place. In the meantime, it has been a month since I actually posted an article to Thomo's Hole. To make up for the length of time it has been since posting, I have resolved to put several articles up in the coming days. In the meantime, I have added some new links to the Web Links section. I have also added some more items to the download section of Thomo's Hole - in particular a set of World War II wargames rules written by David Child-Dennis of New Zealand. They are called Lightning War II (or Easyplay WWII Rules). Also in the download section is a scenario for the Attack on Seelow Village. The scenario can be used for Rapid Fire Rules or Lightning War II Rules. OK, so that is about it for the Hole this last week or so. Remember that if you want something posted so that others can get to it on the web, you can post it in the Hole (files, articles, whatever - see the submissions section below). New This Week - 15 July 2003I am in Seoul at last and it is summer here. The weather, whilst warm, has not been unbearable as in past years. Still, it is pleasant to be able to warm up a little as it is apparently windy and cool around the south coast of New South Wales.I have been pretty tied up with work at the moment so nothing much has changed in the Hole except for getting to the War Memorial Museum in Seoul and checking out the picture in the Photo Gallery of the three figures from the Three Kingdom's period of Korean History. The caption for that picture is now more correct than it was before. I need to get a couple of articles written this week too. In particular, one on the War Memorial Museum itself in Seoul. The other will be in the Multiple Launch Rocket Systems in the museum. Dad's health has improved considerably with the pacemaker working now and he seems to have more energy - which he is devoting to his model trains. Mum and he are still doing their bit to help out around Macksville with the Meals on Wheels deliveries. That is about all that is going down at the moment - hopefully, next week will be a little more interesting. New This Week - 2 July 2003The weather has remained nasty - this week continues to be cold, wet and a little windy from time to time. There is a three metre swell rolling off the coast so out near the lighthouse, the sea is boiling. Two more months to the start of better weather I think - although I am reminded of what my Norwegian friends say, "there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing".Still, I am preparing to travel again so the weather here will not affect me much longer. I am heading off to Thailand and Korea again. I am not sure how long I will be away but I will at least be warm. This will also give me a chance to check some of the exhibits in the War Memorial Museum in Seoul again. Some questions have been asked of the pictures in Thomo's Gallery. Not much has been done to the Hole this week. A couple of photos have been loaded into the Photo Gallery and that is about it. I have been catching up on the Wiki. When I publish an article in the main part of the Hole, I copy it into a Wiki. If you aren't sure what a Wiki is, look it up - this is the Internet - get into Google and find out. However, if you want to see how a Wiki looks, then follow the link on the left to Thomo's Wargames, Travels and Tales. It runs under a Wiki and looks a little like a more traditional web site for those that feel uncomfortable in this area of the Hole. I have not added any articles but expect to over the coming weeks. The next couple of days are taken up with family matters (Dad finally has to have a Pacemaker fitted - those of you that know old Thomo will know how active he is and this should help some of that activity to return). Dad is hoping to get his OBE in a few years - Frank Thompson OBE. Order of the British Empire? No! Over Bloody Eighty! After that and in the evenings in Korea, I will be trying to put together some scenarios for some wargames and work a little on putting together some information concerning the Franco-Siamese War of 1940. I will also be gathering some further information concerning the United States' military action against Korea in 1871. That should keep me busy in the evenings. New This Week - 27 June 2003The weather has turned nasty - this week has been cold, wet and a little windy from time to time. Last week in Ulladulla was lovely - sun shining, cool nights and mornings but warm afternoons. This week was rubbish. And us with no heaters until payday. Hey ... wait a minute ... today is payday. Hang on - back in an hour.Ah, sweet warmth! A couple of things have been done to the Hole this week. More photos have been loaded into the Photo Gallery, especially the last of the Choson Korean weapons. I also added notes about the Robot Wars Hordes of the Things Army I will be working on. A Chronology for old Cyrpus has also been added to the Hole. Thomo's Hole is Officially OpenThe most important change is in the layout and colour scheme of the Hole. It is now sort of finalised (with a couple of small changes still necessary). Thomo's Hole is now officially the only official Thomo's Hole. Long live the Hole. SubmissionsThe Hole has space and is able to take articles, reviews and such. If you want somewhere to publish a review or an article about Wargaming, History, Travel or Cooking, then become a member of the Hole and post the article. I will vet all submissions, of course, and apply Thomo's rules of niceness to what is received. I am happy to have the articles though and will restructure parts of the Hole to accomodate them if necessary. Contact me if you want to discuss further. ProblemsThe problems of last week have been resolved - generally reloading the page solved most of them. I still have some oddball problems with the style sheets but I'll get that sorted this week. |
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