Danny:
As so often, the more Spartan the surroundings, the nicer the people
Now ain't that the truth! Some of my happiest memories hark back to Attap roofed Messes or Seco hutted "temporary" accomodation. The notion also extends to aircraft as well. The Hastings was very much an "after the Lord Mayor's Show" type vehicle, prestige wise. Others in the MRT fleet were newer and/or bigger, and the LRT fleet looked down on us all with equal and distant disdain. Sort of the Ronnie Corbett end of the John Clease and two Ronnies sketch ("I know my place..."), but the Squadron worked hard and played hard and I wouldn't have swapped it for the world.
Sounds like you had a similar set up in 20 Squadron, Danny, with some of the larger than life characters that abounded in the RAF of those days.
As regards the laptop, might I suggest giving it a good talking to? You have to be cruel to be kind you know...