Filipinos are renowned for their ingenuity, which seemingly knows no bounds. Every Christmas new manifestations appear. This year they have excelled themselves in our area. First we had fake garbage collectors, uniforms, ID's and all, who politely appeared expecting their annual tips. THese were followed next day by the real ones who carried lead pipes, knives and other weapons in their search for the impostors, naturally teed off at having been cheated of their seasonal tips. Then we had fake Salvation Army people waving tins outside the malls. But the prize must go the to the fake motorcycle police who have been ticketing everyone and everything for the last 10 days. It is quite normal for the regular police to get active around payday time when they begin to get short of the readies, but these guys were nothing less than real pros. They had the Kawasaki 4 cyl bikes, the tight jodhpurs, Smokey Bear hats, boots, walkie-talkies, guns, handcuffs, books of tickets, the whole bit.
A SWiss pal of mine who was nicked and unwittingly bribed his way out of a "ticket" for "swerving" remarked how polite the guy was who stopped him and wondered whether the Philippine National Police had undergone a transformation. I said, oh, they're just cops moonlighting to make money, another common occurrence, but turns out they were actually clever actors.
How many motorists they fleeced before vanishing is unknown but for once the chaos on the highways around where I live was reduced a bit. I say bring back the pranksters and put them on the payroll!
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Could be they got this idea from Malaysia where guys routinely knock up a fake copper's uniform then go out on their little Hondas shaking down buleh.
HJ
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Gowler very interesting.. makes one think of Norman Tebbit and "get on your bike" advice.
yes I know he didn't actually mean what your guys are doing but it is has certain merits and would be smiled upon by his ex boss Maggie who had a sneaking admiration for enterprise.
However its not quite a new idea and has been done here at home since I was a lad. A little more subtle than your guys. e.g The dustbin men used to be far more attentive to taking junk away close to Christmas and didn't leave a trail of rubbish up your drive.
If you can't beat them growler...........
Alvin
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I seem to recall a gentleman called Fertig (?) did rather well setting up a free-enterprise system in your part of the world a few years back ...
Take to the hills, Growler!
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Ian you must be thinking of ex-President Ferdinand Marcos. Allegedly the 7,500 tonnes of gold he and Gen Yamashita of the Jap Army salted away after WWII is still in a bank somewhere, and there are literally billions of dollars in Swiss and other accounts no one can get at. Every now and then someone comes up with a fake set of certificates like those Nigerian email scamd..if you can use your bank a/c to help me transfer the proceeds, you can have 10% etc etc. The Marcos family has so many criminal judgements against them here and in the US but they're still walking around courtesy of bent lawyers.
As for joining 'em well like most people here I have a by-pass for part of the electricity supply and cable TV (just pay the technician beer money every month, cheaper than getting bills.......)
But. back to motoring. Does anyone know how to get the blue jeans dye stains off pale colored leather upholstery? All mine and the Growlette's shorts are denim and are making a nasty blue mess of my new Ford's seats. These are well-washed denim by the way, not especially new. I have tried Simoniz Leather Cleaner which only makes a sticky mess on the surface anyway. Useless stuff. I don't want to risk anything detergent-y and am reeluctant to cough up for pricey imported brand cleaners that may not work either.
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History first, them motoring ...
Major Wendell Fertig refused to surrender when US surrendered the Phillipines in 42. Took to the hills of Mindanao, promoted himself Brigadier and raised a guerilla army of 30 000 men. Certainly helped MacArthur a lot when it came time to "return".
Motoring: - saddle soap, as mentioned in an earlier thread, seems to work well on most stains, even surface dye marks.
Alternately, speak to a reputable dry-cleaner or leather cleaner, and get some of the kit they use for leather jackets etc.They normally keep some high-CFC concentrated stuff in a plain bottle behind the counter... Obviously try it on a small concealed spot first.
Then a decent leather treatment to get the stuff back to standard.
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Thanks for the tip and the history lesson. I'd forgotten that one. Not acceptable really, since we're off 4WD-ing tomorrow up the route of the Bataan Death March.
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No problem, Growler.
I'll be seeing a friend of mine in the leather trade later today.
I'll ask him for the best thing to do/use.
On the history front, read W E B Griffin's "Behind the Lines", which gives a very good (albeit partly fictionalised) story of the Fertig. I found it fascinating, and from your point of view, should be most entertaining, as you would know many of the locations. Similarly, I particularly enjoy(ed) reading Wilber Smith novels, before he became cr@p, as many are set in my part of the world.
I
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On a sadder note, I see a certain mr T Cruise is planning to make a movie about this incredibly brave and resourceful soldier.
Watch out for another Historical travesty, at a video store near you soon.
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