Early Risers.

[jjb1970]

33 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

The husband of one of my US colleagues had a gun pulled on him and was mugged in broad daylight in a downtown parking lot.

 

That was just a month ago. And, from what the San Francisco based colleagues said when my colleague spoke about her husband’s misadventure at a TC (she is based in Minnesota), this is no longer an unusual occurrence in SF

 

I must admit I have felt really rather uncomfortable in San Francisco the last couple of visits. At one time Oakland on the other side of the bay had a terrible reputation but the last visit I actually felt more at ease in Oakland than SF. I have a colleague whose wife works for Netflix and visits every month. Admittedly she is a Singaporean lady and so lives a very sheltered life here (people here have a very different sensitivity to crime than people in Britain, they tend to just take safety and security for granted) but she tells me she now feels unsafe in SF and doesn't leave her hotel unaccompanied. I find it rather sad as I love San Francisco and the Bay area, it's a wonderful place.

[iL Dottore]

Interesting observations about the final hours of WWI. like @polybear and @pH have commented, there was a lot of pointless military activity on the last day just because the Allies could.
 

I would argue that WWII started on Armistice day 1918. The Allies “point scoring” (as PB neatly put it), the near starvation of Germany (especially civilians) due to the British naval blockade, the savage reparations insisted on by the French, the occupation of the Ruhr all combined to make a very fertile soil for post WWI German ultra right wing ultranationalism. 
 

Had the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers' Party) and its charismatic leader never existed, then such was Germany at that time that an alternative ultra right wing ultranationalist party would have emerged. World War II was pretty much inevitable.

 

Fortunately at the end of WWII, and in its immediate aftermath, the French were not in the driving seat (by many accounts, the French were ready to repeat the same mistakes of 1918 again in 1945). Churchill had the right idea “In War, Resolution; In Defeat, Defiance; In Victory, Magnanimity; and in Peace, Good Will.” and with mammoth US investment (via the Marshall Plan) the western allies really did achieve the ultimate victory: that of turning enemy into friend, foe into ally (the Russians in the East, understandably had a definite “they will pay” attitude).
 

How much of the aims of the Marshall Plan were humanitarian aims and how much down to the US wanting to have a buffer between them and the Soviet Union is open for debate.

 

Ironically, given how the Axis countries have become very prosperous, peaceful, with an up-to-date infrastructure and a well off populace, it’s almost as though they are the ones who won the war. 
 

As some political commentators have mused: “did Britain win the war and loose the peace”?

[iL Dottore]

Like for @jjb1970, my New Orleans excursion was not a pleasant experience . I was quite looking forward to my trip: Cajun and Creole food, blues, jazz and zydeco - what’s not to like?

Unfortunately, my trip wasn’t that enjoyable. Even just outside of the convention centre (I was there for a medical conference) New Orleans felt run-down, seedy, sleazy, dirty even. We were warned not to “stray” from a well beaten path (basically just a few blocks of downtown).  
 

I fully expected Bourbon Street to be “touristy” - but never on the scale of the over priced, tawdry, tourist trap it has become. Annoyingly, I didn’t find any decent Creole and Cajun food (the closest I got was with a “Po’ Boy” from a convenience store). Nor did I find any blues, jazz or zydeco (apart from the places on Bourbon St - so massively overpriced and barely authentic music)

 

Chicago was a different: a very decent steak dinner at Mortons of Chicago and rock and roll at the original House of Blues (it was George Thorogood & The Destroyers - as you ask). And Chicago never felt, sleazy, tawdry or unsafe.

 

iD

p.s. The first few minutes of Jim Jarmusch’s film Down By Law perfectly encapsulates the feel of part of my New Orleans experience… 

Edited November 29, 2022 by iL Dottore

[jjb1970]

Dates for when wars start and end can be very slippery and open to different interpretation. For example, we think WW2 started on 1 September 1939, European people generally object to any suggestion that it started on 7 December 1941 yet few appreciate that the war started on 7 July 1937 for China. That then begs the question, was there a WW2, or two separate wars? The war fought between the Western Allies and the USSR against Germany and its allies (Italy, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Slovakia) overlapped in time with the war fought between the Western Allies and Japan but in reality there was virtually no meaningful cooperation between Germany and Japan and both wars were fought for entirely different reasons and with different objectives. While the USA was closely allied with Britain in the West and a close ally in terms of the military aspect of the war in Japan they were very resistant to the idea of supporting re-establishment of the British, Dutch and French empires in Asia. I've always fought that WW2 is much more accurately considered as two wars overlapping in time. In the case of WW2 there was brutal fighting in Central and Eastern Europe long after the Western Armistice, and the war between the Central Powers and Russia ended with the Treaty on 3 March 1918. And of course there were the military interventions in the Russian civil war. So for a Russian WW1 might have very different dates to a British or French person.

[jjb1970]

I had an example of Singaporean efficiency this week. I received my tax notice last week. I queried part of the assessment yesterday because they assessed me without mandating that I had to file a detailed return this year but paid my bill with a bank transfer. I filed a detailed return at the same time as paying, today, one day later I received a message through the Singpass apologizing and my account has been credited with the overpayment. I thought that was pretty efficient.

[jamie92208]

5 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

Dates for when wars start and end can be very slippery and open to different interpretation. For example, we think WW2 started on 1 September 1939, European people generally object to any suggestion that it started on 7 December 1941 yet few appreciate that the war started on 7 July 1937 for China. That then begs the question, was there a WW2, or two separate wars? The war fought between the Western Allies and the USSR against Germany and its allies (Italy, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Slovakia) overlapped in time with the war fought between the Western Allies and Japan but in reality there was virtually no meaningful cooperation between Germany and Japan and both wars were fought for entirely different reasons and with different objectives. While the USA was closely allied with Britain in the West and a close ally in terms of the military aspect of the war in Japan they were very resistant to the idea of supporting re-establishment of the British, Dutch and French empires in Asia. I've always fought that WW2 is much more accurately considered as two wars overlapping in time. In the case of WW2 there was brutal fighting in Central and Eastern Europe long after the Western Armistice, and the war between the Central Powers and Russia ended with the Treaty on 3 March 1918. And of course there were the military interventions in the Russian civil war. So for a Russian WW1 might have very different dates to a British or French person.

I visited the naval memorial at Chatham and the WW1 deaths continue until 1921 mainly due to fighting in various parts of Russia.  

 

Jamie

Edited November 29, 2022 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from the Charente.   Not a lot got done yesterday  afternoon but I did get somevproductive shed tine in the evening.  The first job today will be to go back to the tyrecplace with Beth's car and hope that theyvarecopen.  I suspect that 2 tyres will be needed so thst the front obes match when the next CT ( MOT) is due in March. I might as well do the weekly shop whilst I'm out.  Not a lot else to report.

 

Jamie

[Barry O]

8 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

Fame at last for ERs. In today's Daily Telegraph there is a picture of Baz at the Warley show. Well, the caption says it's Baz but since he's holding a 7mm scale DMU in front of his face it's difficult to tell - mind you, the pose does improve the scene.

 

Dave

Beware Mr Hunt..I have a rapier set up waiting for next time you fly past!!

 

Autographs are available in return for a nice , clean £10 note...

 

Baz

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Fatchy pog here ... again. Pah!

 

Her indoors is off to see Dr Eldest Herbert today.. I have a full list of tasks to complete.. wooooopppppiiiidddddooo..not!

 

School reunion booked for next year apparently. Hopefully even more old school mates will turn up!

 

Although my father was a coal mineral was in the RAF Volunteer Reserve. He didn't se the end of WW2 until 1946 when his time as a VR member was finished. By the time he got home the best paid jobs had gone.

 

I may have seen @Kelly at Warley on a mobility chariot. Other Early Risers were met and a bit of drivelling took place.

 

Time for my tea!

 

Stay safe!

 

Baz

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, from a chilly rock with a hint of 3c frost in the odd corner.

 

Miserable night, every one of the achey bits went in to overdrive for some reason, and Mrs NHN decided to rivet boilers (sounded like that anyway) so a bit cream crackered this morning.  I'm supposed to be leading a ride out too, but not until 11, so I should have pulled myself together by then.

 

The wee has already been taken re Baz's cameo appearance, with a Class 122 mustache! 

[DaveF]

 

This morning started clear and frosty but some fog has now arrived so it is very gloomy.  The house must be quite well insulated, the heating was off for 9.5 hours overnight and the temperature inside only dropped by just over 3C.  The groceries have just come from Morrisons, no filtered milk but the substitute is dated to keep for 10 days, spring onions instead of radishes so no real problem.

 

Yesterday morning the solicitor rang just before 11.00 and went through my new will line by line, all seems correct so I have paid the bill.  I am going to sign it later today.   Before then I'd occupied myself tidying the house and putting plants that had finished flowering by the garage window and bringing in some more christmas cacti which are in bud.  The plants go in the garage in the winter to save heating the greenhouse.

 

After lunch I went to Seaton Sluice in the bright sunshine for a walk round Rocky Island and the harbour.  When I got there it was misty, by the time I left it was getting foggy and turning much colder.  When I got back home there was lovely sunshine though I could see the bank of fog just offshore and to the south.

 

Back at home I turned off the outside tap so it can't freeze and made a cup of tea.  Then a parcel arrived with some new walking trousers, which I wear all the time.  Evri delivered them within 5 minutes of the start of the time slot in their text, a very pleasant man brought them.

 

I watched an old Eisenbahn Romantik on Youtube and then settled down with a book and the TV quizzes until bedtime.

 

David

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I was woken up by Arthur Itis this morning but I managed to get back to sleep again. No papers arrived yesterday and todays haven't arrived yet, I'll be going down to the newsagents later to find out what's happening. Thats it for now, be back later.

[TheQ]

Mooring awl, 

10.5 working days left, not including the remains of this day.😀

4 hours sleep , medium awake, 2.5 hours sleep not too bad for me..

 

Ben the I'm not sure about this Collie, did condescend to go on a patrol, He ventured right to the edges of darkness before saying that's enough and heading back to the house..

 

Very misty as I left work last night , which turned into full blown fog by the time I got home.. Walking Ben it was very quiet, so I was expecting fog on the way in.. but no, just a little mist and dampness on the windscreen.

 

Deaths of people in Russia after WW1 have a lot to do with the communist revolution, more civil war (with one side being given some outside assistance)  rather than WW1.

 

This weeks first major system appears to have a problem with it's overnight run, Low Voltage ACV results are a load of Carp, then someone tried to be helpful by running the next section and stuffed that as well.. A full rerun is under way...

 

Visiting other countries... I have no desire to do so, I certainly don't want to spend hours waiting in an airport, nor do I wish to be stuck in a aluminium tube for hours on end again.

 

Dangerous places..

Manchester ( UMIST?  it was a long time ago).. The only Open University used place, where the introduction briefing at the beginning gives you dire warnings not to walk alone at night between various bits of campus, women always to walk around in groups, not just twos..

 

Hmm Still failing Low ACV.. Though less bad than yesterday, it's still stuffed, need to let it run, to complete the rest of the test.. That'll be two hours wasted though..

 

Two pink pills at the morning break yesterday  (after which I struggled to stay awake!!) and another two at the afternoon break seem to have eased aches and pains considerably, just left knee complaining occasionally at the moment. 

 

Thought's in waiting time yesterday, were on bending a 32mm diameter tube of 3mm wall thickness. Current ideas centre around a 4 ton hydraulic log splitter.

Then other thoughts are on glassfibreing the rudder, and how to support it while doing so. Glassfibre only likes bending in once direction at a time, which is a problem at the corners and certain curved bits...

 

I've sent my replacement to do his annual assessments,  there's no point him sitting around here as well

 

Having just read some bits on fibreglassing rudders, I have to bias cut the cloth before applying, but it will still be difficult.

 

 

 Time to talk to the boss about the problems

 

 

 

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

It’s a grey and dull start the day here in the northwest corner of England. Today will see me start to put things back in the underfloor storage area, finally getting things into there final position. I’m expecting this to me a couple of days to sort out properly, but the end result should make it all worth while, finally freeing up large cellar room and giving me a more organised storage space. Items that are likely to be required the most closest to the access doors, items less likely to be needed furthest away. 

 

Best get on with it then, back later. 

 

Brian

[southern42]

16 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

Sounds like west on something to south on I-81 to west on I-40 to south on I-75. How did you avoid Knoxville? 😺 Anyway your journey reminded me of:

 

 

 

I did note the knitting! 😂

Yes, I did do quite a lot in my time but not half as much as Mum did though neither of us took it out with us like Miss Marples did (at least in the tv shows, she did - I have not read the books so no comment in that direction).

[southern42]

15 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

"Pardon me boy, is this the cat that chewed your new shoes?"

 

Of course "boy" is completely unacceptable these days, as it should be.

 

Are "girl", "laddie", "mate", "you chaps", "you guys"... any better? 😲

🤣

I remember them all, in turn, among others! I doubt it will get any better, whatever the next substitution. 

[southern42]

' morning all from red dragon land.

Sunneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 😎

Cold 5.7C first thing. Brrrr

 

Just popped in to post this.

The young oak trees in August. They were nearly leafless in the photos I posted, yesterday, of the fallen tree. It would be nice to live long enough to see them fully grown - if they are allowed to grow for that length of time...or even survive the pests and diseases.

 

Time to get on with things.

Take care. Be good. Live in hope.

[DaveF]

 

When I wrote about yesterday I was using my laptop, now I'm back on the PC I can post a couple of photos I took at Seaton Sluice while I walked round Rocky Island yesterday.

 

The first one is looking south to St Mary's Island/Whitley Bay.

 

The second was taken a few minutes later looking north to Blyth.

 

I've just received e mails from my solicitor regarding a completion date for the flat sale - fingers crossed it is very soon.

 

 

View south from Rocky Island to St Mary's lighthouse in fog.

 

 

View north to Blyth a few minutes later, no fog

 

David

Edited November 29, 2022 by DaveF

[New Haven Neil]

8c now, bike ride decision on a knife edge!  Already delayed on hour, there was still frost - most unusual here.

[polybear]

8 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

There were no guarantees that the armistice would hold and I find this paragraph on the Armistice Wikipedia page apt:

 

Many artillery units continued to fire on German targets to avoid having to haul away their spare ammunition. The Allies also wished to ensure that, should fighting restart, they would be in the most favourable position. Consequently, there were 10,944 casualties, of whom 2,738 men died, on the last day of the war.

 

 

So if fighting had restarted then the Allies would've wasted loads of Ammunition they could really have done with.  That's smart Military thinking at it's worst.

 

Bear here....

I watched one of those "Follow the Police" type of programmes from 9 until 10 last night; they featured two scrotes (with "previous" lists longer than the M1) on a scooter (nicked? - I can't recall that detail - I'm pretty sure it didn't have plates though) trying to break into someone's house/garage and getting disturbed by the owner who gave chase in his car.

Anyway it all went wrong for the owner (who comes across as a very straight kinda guy) when he crashed into them (who weren't wearing helmets) and they got smashed up pretty bad (shame...).  The owner ended up getting charged with GBH; the scrotes (once out of hospital) played the "no comment" and "I can't remember anything about the accident" routine (but one could remember he'd had a black bag with a mobile and a hundred quid in it) when questioned about the break-in and tools/weapons they were carrying.

 

Anyway Mr. Owner went to court and got 2 years inside; the Scrotes went to court for the break-in plus later offences** and got 2 years suspended plus 200 hours community service - it seems the Judge felt that their injuries from the crash "Would make life inside Prison difficult...."**.  FFS - I couldn't help but feel the sentences were the wrong way round.

 

**The later offences included being stopped by Police in a stolen car with false plates - I think the driver may have been banned(?) at the time as well.  Obviously those injuries don't stop their continued life of crime it seems.

 

As for Mr.Owner, well he's in clink; the Police have increased patrols of their house (there's a Mrs Owner + kids) and put them on speed dial as well for immediate response - it seems that the known associates of the two scrotes have waved very red flags and the Police are concerned about revenge.  Hopefully the scrotes injuries will prove very painful for a very long time.

Yep, Rant.

 

Up at silly o'clock today for an early doors visit to Lidl for a raid; that's eighty quid I'll not see again ☹️

Right, almost din dins time then MIUABGA.

Bear gone.

 

[monkeysarefun]

 

 

I just had to go and let  the annoying old witch that lives next door know  that her bats were out again.

 

 

 

 

 

Actually, it was  one long  bat- stream over a local shopping centre just on dusk this evening as we arrived there. It was going when we got there and still going when we left, so must have been thousands of them, like little bat-bombers  off to drop their little bat bombs on Jerry, who'd in turn try to shoot them down in their little bat Messerschmitt's in Duble U Duble U two.

 

 

 

 

[The Lurker]

1 hour ago, southern42 said:

 

Are "girl", "laddie", "mate", "you chaps", "you guys"... any better? 😲

🤣

I remember them all, in turn, among others! I doubt it will get any better, whatever the next substitution. 

Presumably because "boy" was what a white man called a black man, asserting his own superiority. Interestingly in an episode of "Power" we watched the other night, one black dealer who'd newly become the king pin said to another "I ain't your n****r no more, boy"*. the n word seemed to mean friend. I don't recommend Power; it's no more than OK, but Elder Lurker has been enjoying it.

 

* he even said boy with a hint of southern twang.

[TheQ]

Of course, Boy in these contexts can have a much older derivation, it is often a corruption of "Bor" meaning friend in the East Anglian dialect, as derived from "Neighbour" / "Neighbor" which derives from neahgebur / nehebur "Near dweller" in versions of old Saxon.

 

Meanwhile my work at work has been at a halt we have 150uV noise being picked up on my major system and so it seems on other major systems.. Headless chickens are running around trying to find the source.

[polybear]

14 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

Fame at last for ERs. In today's Daily Telegraph there is a picture of Baz at the Warley show. Well, the caption says it's Baz but since he's holding a 7mm scale DMU in front of his face it's difficult to tell - mind you, the pose does improve the scene.

 

Dave

 

Oh how we need a link......

 

4 hours ago, TheQ said:

Mooring awl, 

10.5 working days left, not including the remains of this day.😀

 

Are the grown-ups getting nervous yet?

 

4 hours ago, TheQ said:

Dangerous places..

Manchester ( UMIST?  it was a long time ago).. The only Open University used place, where the introduction briefing at the beginning gives you dire warnings not to walk alone at night between various bits of campus, women always to walk around in groups, not just twos..

 

Bear used to stay in Salisbury quite a bit during the 90's; whilst walking around town in the evenings I always had the feeling that something was about to kick off, though had never seen any trouble, nor ever did.

 

2 hours ago, southern42 said:

 

Are "girl", "laddie", "mate", "you chaps", "you guys"... any better? 😲

🤣

I remember them all, in turn, among others! I doubt it will get any better, whatever the next substitution. 

 

It seems that the term "Monkeypox" has now been deemed to be unacceptable - it's now going to be called MPox.  I can't help but think it's PC gone mad.

Right, MIUABGA....though I'm not exactly sure what it is I'm gonna make up at the moment....

Bear gone.

[Tony_S]

36 minutes ago, polybear said:

Oh how we need a link...

This is the best I can do. Click on the small image. 
https://dailytelegraph.pressreader.com/article/281835762714333