Early Risers.

[iL Dottore]

4 hours ago, TheQ said:

I fear we will soon be in the grip of "Climate Change  Puritans" lighting a match will cause the Wrath of God  Greta to descend. 

Unfortunately, climate change IS real and it has to be dealt with. But not by the penny-ante SJW “feelgood“ activities so much in vogue in certain quarters in the UK, but by changing our lifestyle (so no more buying a new smart phone every year just because the manufacturer has made a few tweaks – to just give one simple example) and by targeting the real polluters of the planet in comparison with which, the UK is a very small beer indeed.

But somehow I don’t see these self righteous protesters giving up their smart phones or gluing themselves to the PRC, Indian, Russian or US embassies any time soon.

 

If there is one glimmer of optimism, it is that the PRC has announced it will be carbon neutral by 2060. And what the Communist leadership decides, gets done (just look at how they developed a high speed rail network in not more than a decade). India looks like it’s going in the same way, whereas the US (the greatest per person CO2 emitter on the planet) is probably going to be tied up in lawsuits over environmental initiatives for the next several decades

[iL Dottore]

3 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

…but with the sound off Jodie Whitaker is quite easy on the eye…

Should’ve gone to Specsavers?

Edited November 1, 2021 by iL Dottore
Typo

[Tony_S]

5 hours ago, TheQ said:

will cause the Wrath of God  Greta to descend. 

I had an eMail from Greta Thunberg and some of her young friends this morning. I didn’t find anything unreasonable or unscientific about it. 
I wish the people who are gluing themselves to roads would stop doing so. They discredit anyone who is trying to persuade big polluters to change their ways. I read an interview with one of the road blockers and he seriously believed that the British public will join them in large numbers.  So even if they are right and think people may think insulation is a good thing I think they are quite delusional in imagining many people joining their protests. They act like a cult and only talk to people they agree with. 
Activists like Greta Thunberg or  Sir David Attenborough are not like that.  
 

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from a cool but dry and blue skied Sidcup.

 

I hope that Simon's Mrs can be got into hospital sooner rather than later if she needs to be there.

 

The weekend saw a trip to see Tim Peake at the Royal Festival Hall - he's a good speaker and there were some excellent video excerpts and photos I had not seen before; the video of the crew as the second stage reaction stopped on the launch was interesting as were the shots of the aurora at a time when it reached 400km above the earth; ie the height at which the space station orbits.

 

Sunday saw a trip to Cambridgeshire in the heavy rain, including a diversion away from the M11 which was closed between junctions 9 and 11; so we saw the delights of the A11 and the A142 before rejoining our intended route at Ely.

 

We didn't have any trick or treaters - we hadn't put anything out and people have invented an etiquette now - if you have not halloween decs out, you don't get hassled. We did however have some treats just in case that I am sure the Lurker boys will tuck in to in due course.

 

Flavio, when I was a student, "The Passenger" was referred to as the banana song because the riff goes "banana, banana, banana, banana".

 

I was given the Thursday Night Murder Club as a present earlier this year; it's not my normal sort of book but I did read it and enjoyed it. It's very gentle book, mildly amusing rather than hilarious, and with a satisfying solution. Better still, it's set in the part of the world I grew up so the landscapes and villages seemed familiar and convincing to me.

[simontaylor484]

Afternoon all bit wet and wild here 

 

Yes the pumpkin on Jamie s photo does look like some of the inhabitants of Castleford bus station

(I'm not on about little Emily)

 

Still no beds available at the moment so still stuck in the same predicament 

[Pacific231G]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

I had an eMail from Greta Thunberg and some of her young friends this morning. I didn’t find anything unreasonable or unscientific about it. 
I wish the people who are gluing themselves to roads would stop doing so. They discredit anyone who is trying to persuade big polluters to change their ways. I read an interview with one of the road blockers and he seriously believed that the British public will join them in large numbers.  So even if they are right and think people may think insulation is a good thing I think they are quite delusional in imagining many people joining their protests. They act like a cult and only talk to people they agree with. 
Activists like Greta Thunberg or  Sir David Attenborough are not like that.  
 

I had the same email from Greta Thunberg and I agree.  I also agree about the antic  of the insulate Britain protestors as they're looking at th eproblem from the wrong end- as we've all been manouevred into doing. 

 

The term carbon footprint was apparently invented by Ogilvy and Mather for BP in around 2004 to promote the idea that action on climate change is an individual rather than a collective responsibility. It's good of course for us all to try to minimise our personal contribution to  global warming but it will never be remotely close to making the huge changes needed. However, it's far better for the oil, gas and coal producers to have us worrying about whether to walk to the supermarket than questioning  their activities.

Better also to have us worrying about recycling the packaging our latest model loco came in than questioning why it was made in China in a factory powered by coal generated electricity and shipped half way round the world or trying to dispose of the box the new PC came in "responsibly" rather than questioning why an updated CPU or even a complete new motherboard can't jsut be slotted into a standard case rather than requiring a whole new machine. (also probably shipped halfway round the world. 

 

BP unveiled its “carbon footprint calculator” in 2004 so one could assess how ones own normal daily life - going to work, buying food, and traveling around is largely responsible for heating the globe. It was designed to make us focus on the mote in our eyes not the beam in theirs. It also of course associated the company with "caring about climate change" without actually do anything like enough about it.

refs.

qv https://mashable.com/feature/carbon-footprint-pr-campaign-sham

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/23/big-oil-coined-carbon-footprints-to-blame-us-for-their-greed-keep-them-on-the-hook

 

 

Edited November 1, 2021 by Pacific231G

[New Haven Neil]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Should’ve gone to Specsavers?

 

Well, I'd climb over you to get to her......    

[Barry O]

Interesting drive to salmesbury this morning.  Lots of rain..rivers near to flooding..eediots driving too fast..

 

The gents I went to see very far too bullish for their own good..I may have been far too subtle for them..about to send a bit of advice to them via email...

 

Tried a coffee from a Greggs. Won't be doing that again.  A flat white...with frothy milk.. erm..wrong...

 

Baz

[Sir TophamHatt]

Good evening

 

Sort of forgot it was trick or treating night last night...  but then was a busy night on the railway.

 

Have come to the end of my long 7-day stint today.  Glad of a break tomorrow.  Have decided I must plough on with testing the model railway.  Sometimes I forget it's even there, which is sad.  But then sometimes I get stuck looking at some truly inspirational layouts.  It might just be a little bit of track here or a siding there that looks natural and nice, but all ideas to incorporate into a new layout in a new house at some point in the future.

[simontaylor484]

Got a phone call at 3pm just as I was picking youngest up from school they had a bed available can we get there by 5pm yes we can so we went back home to leave a key for eldest in the key safe and pick up her bag then through to Wakefield again.

 

We got to reception to book her in a male nurse came and took her away for covid testing they would let me through but not the lad. So we waited and had a coffee from the vending machine whist we found out what's happening.

Another nurse came back and told us she has to self isolate for 3 days before we can come visit then it's only 30mins a week. They did let her back to say goodbye at least. So we have left her in their care.

So my Mrs is now in a psychiatric hospital for some time. The boys are handling it well they want their Mum back the one they had up to about 6 /7 weeks ago not the zombie copy 

[BSW01]

17 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Got a phone call at 3pm just as I was picking youngest up from school they had a bed available can we get there by 5pm yes we can so we went back home to leave a key for eldest in the key safe and pick up her bag then through to Wakefield again.

 

We got to reception to book her in a male nurse came and took her away for covid testing they would let me through but not the lad. So we waited and had a coffee from the vending machine whist we found out what's happening.

Another nurse came back and told us she has to self isolate for 3 days before we can come visit then it's only 30mins a week. They did let her back to say goodbye at least. So we have left her in their care.

So my Mrs is now in a psychiatric hospital for some time. The boys are handling it well they want their Mum back the one they had up to about 6 /7 weeks ago not the zombie copy 

Let's hope this is what is needed and all goes well for Lisa and that she can come home to you all well again. 

 

My thoughts are with you all. 

[BoD]

22 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Got a phone call at 3pm just as I was picking youngest up from school they had a bed available can we get there by 5pm yes we can so we went back home to leave a key for eldest in the key safe and pick up her bag then through to Wakefield again.

 

We got to reception to book her in a male nurse came and took her away for covid testing they would let me through but not the lad. So we waited and had a coffee from the vending machine whist we found out what's happening.

Another nurse came back and told us she has to self isolate for 3 days before we can come visit then it's only 30mins a week. They did let her back to say goodbye at least. So we have left her in their care.

So my Mrs is now in a psychiatric hospital for some time. The boys are handling it well they want their Mum back the one they had up to about 6 /7 weeks ago not the zombie copy 

 

A pity we are only allowed to click on the supportive button just the once.

It was a huge click I gave it though.

[BoD]

11 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

 

I liked this pumpkin though.

 

 

Jamie

A lovely photograph, Jamie…

 

… and along similar lines …

 

here is part of the reason why I have been spending less time here than I used to…

 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Apart from a shopping trip to Tess Coes not much done today. Except start reading another crime thriller, the Night Gate by Peter May. 

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

Got a phone call at 3pm just as I was picking youngest up from school they had a bed available can we get there by 5pm yes we can so we went back home to leave a key for eldest in the key safe and pick up her bag then through to Wakefield again.

 

We got to reception to book her in a male nurse came and took her away for covid testing they would let me through but not the lad. So we waited and had a coffee from the vending machine whist we found out what's happening.

Another nurse came back and told us she has to self isolate for 3 days before we can come visit then it's only 30mins a week. They did let her back to say goodbye at least. So we have left her in their care.

So my Mrs is now in a psychiatric hospital for some time. The boys are handling it well they want their Mum back the one they had up to about 6 /7 weeks ago not the zombie copy 

Glad to hear that your boys are taking it well. My friends wife walked out and left their young son traumatised. Fortunately he has now recovered but he is still a bit withdrawn.

[Ozexpatriate]

6 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

... the US (the greatest per person CO2 emitter on the planet)

(My emphasis) Flavio, I was about to tick agree with your post until I saw this plainly incorrect statement. The US is indeed the second in total CO2 emissions, but nowhere near the number one per capita. There is great interest here in reducing emissions and factually, there is progress but it is sadly a political football of the highest order.

 

In the "western" world, that "honour" belongs to Australia with Canada not far behind. The US falls behind them.

 

Per capita CO2 emissions worldwide in 2020, by select country (in metric tons)

The top offenders use oil for desalinization (a very power hungry process) along with power.

 

A different website, with higher emission numbers placed Canada above Australia, but they are still well ahead of the US.

 

Edited November 1, 2021 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, The Lurker said:

the banana song because the riff goes "banana, banana, banana, banana".

 You twigged this earworm (The name game)   When teenagers my former sisters in law used to sing this.

 

[iL Dottore]

@Ozexpatriate sorry about that. I got the data from a news website (the BBC IIRC)

Although, in a way, making a league table of CO2 emitters is a bit like arguing about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin - a sophistry that distracts from the real matter in hand: cutting emissions of all kinds of nasty gases (and various chemicals) 

[Compound2632]

But many of those have small populations compared to the US (Qatar 2.9 million etc.) so in absolute terms the only nations with higher per capita emissions than the US that are a significant part of the problem are Saudi Arabia (35 million), Australia (26 million) and Canada (38 million)

[polybear]

12 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

 

 

 

Bear witnessed a similar occurrence back in the 80's - I was riding my motorbike to work early one dark & foggy winter's morning; the route went thru' the country lanes and past a pub called " The Coach and Horses".  And there, hanging from the pub sign, was a body.....

It was very well done - and you had to be pretty close to realise it wasn't real.

 

In other news:

A successful day on the lounge refurb - I removed the redundant Doorbell transformer from the same wooden board that the consumer unit is secured to, followed by it's mains supply cable from the CU - it was wired into one of the 5A lighting circuit breakers.  Rubber gloves were worn....

This allowed me to cut the end off the wooden board - about 3" worth - which means a smaller box surrounding the CU.  Cutting the board had to be done in-situ - I have a very small modellers leccy jigsaw (Lidl?) that did the job with ease, it's probably the first time I've used it in the 2 or 3 years I've owned it.  I also added protection (three layers of very large diameter heat-shrink tube slit open and secured with ty-wraps) to the mains cables where they pass thru' the hole cut in the ceiling - the leccy that installed the wiring had stuffed the hole with paper to act as a suitable protection.  Hmm......

Bricklaying should commence in the morning....

 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2021 by polybear

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

The term carbon footprint was apparently invented by Ogilvy and Mather for BP in around 2004 to promote the idea that action on climate change is an individual rather than a collective responsibility.

It's the same play the plastics industry used when they introduced the 'recycling symbol' to plastics. The emphasis on recycling was then shifted to post-consumer and entirely off the manufacturer.

 

It demonstrably worked exceptionally well for plastics that it's no surprise their primary supply chain provider (petrochemicals) would run the same play.

[Ozexpatriate]

19 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

... the only nations with higher per capita emissions than the US that are a significant part of the problem ... [include] Australia (26 million)

Had the post in question said "the second worst emitter" I would have ticked agree.

 

Let's not forget how much Chinese CO2 was mined as coal in Australia (until very recently) and has been critical to Australia's prosperity in the last few decades.

 

Sadly Australians punch far above their weight in greenhouse gases.

 

Edited November 1, 2021 by Ozexpatriate

[Andrew P]

2 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Got a phone call at 3pm just as I was picking youngest up from school they had a bed available can we get there by 5pm yes we can so we went back home to leave a key for eldest in the key safe and pick up her bag then through to Wakefield again.

 

We got to reception to book her in a male nurse came and took her away for covid testing they would let me through but not the lad. So we waited and had a coffee from the vending machine whist we found out what's happening.

Another nurse came back and told us she has to self isolate for 3 days before we can come visit then it's only 30mins a week. They did let her back to say goodbye at least. So we have left her in their care.

So my Mrs is now in a psychiatric hospital for some time. The boys are handling it well they want their Mum back the one they had up to about 6 /7 weeks ago not the zombie copy 

Needless to say that our thoughts are with you and your Family Simon.

[Ozexpatriate]

6 hours ago, The Lurker said:

We didn't have any trick or treaters - we hadn't put anything out and people have invented an etiquette now - if you have not halloween decs out, you don't get hassled.

The tradition in the US is to leave your porch light off. Most children know to respect this.

 

Leaving the porch light on will encourage trick-or-treaters. I saw one house this morning with a "sorry, we're out of candy" sign still on the front door.

[brianusa]

7 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Jodie Whitaker?

Whoever she may be!

    Brian

[simontaylor484]

Thanks for the the support folks i have been with her 20 years and will not have been apart from her for as long in all that time.