Early Risers.

[jjb1970]

I fear we are on the edge of a precipice. It's not just the attempted assassination of Trump, we had the assassination of Shinzo Abe and attempted assassination of Robert Fico while elections in several European countries (UK, France, Netherlands,  Germany) indicate a crisis of confidence in politics. Deeply worrying.

[DaveF]

What a surprise, it is raining this morning, though gently.  So far this month there has been 77mm of rain in my rain gauge, 23mm of it yesterday.  The official average for the whole of July is 47mm, I wonder how much more there will be.  It is 11°C at the moment, it reached 12° yesterday.  The heating came on again this morning.  The garden is far too wet to do anything, the greenhouse is flooded again, the pond has overflowed and the sweet peas look very unhappy, as do many of the other plants.  I have to remind myself that it is summer.

 

The the stiff neck is slowly improving, I wonder if is just going rusty with all the rain.

 

I've dealt with some of the e mails, have a couple to write, some Sunday phone calls to make, go to church - that will fill up the morning.

 

The rest of the day will probably be spent indoors, the weekly plant feeding will have to wait until I can get into the greenhouse, anyway the plants are using very little water at the moment.  The outdoor tubs are too wet to feed as well.

 

I expect I'll watch the Tour de France and the football later on.

 

David

Edited July 14 by DaveF

[TheQ]

Off sailing, spent too much time in the other place, see you later.

 

[Barry O]

Ey up!

@Ozexpatriate yes.. I will do a weather swap. Cold and damp here this morning.. pah!

 

Was in a bitnof pain last night due to cramp caused by  me screwing my body up to get under some plywood used to support some strips of nickel silver..  a glug of tonic water got rid of that eventually.

 

What does today hold? Notalot is planned so I may just do some muddling..

 

Stay safe!

Baz

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from an overcast place.  I have seen snippets of the news and won't comment.  

 

As to Connie's, my first visit to LHR was aged 6 so would have been 1959.  I remember going on a rooftop walkway and looking down at Connie's and presumably Super Connie's, the triple tailfins stick in my mind.  

 

Market visit soon then this evening  is Le Quatorze or Bastille day meal.  Starts at 18.30, so we should be getting onto the sorbet course when the kickball starts. 

 

Jamie

Edited July 14 by jamie92208

[polybear]

11 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Another thing my brother told not to me about 74 7's was that they had a through hull opening for a periscope in the cockpit ceiling and a special periscope sextant for taking star sights. He actually navigated one from Auckland to Honolulu and got it right. 

 

I very much suspect (based on nottalott) that most Pilots now wouldn't have a clue how to do such a navigation.

[southern42]

5 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I'm still willing to trade some mid-30°Cs weather for grey, damp, 15°C weather. Any takers?

 

You should have asked yesterday! The sun has come out to play, today, though still 15C in the shade. So, I hope to get out in the sun later...

Ray kindly put yesterday's washing out for me earlier this morning.

I will have to put another wash on to make the most of it and just keep an eye on the clouds - some drops forecast for this afternoon, now!

 

So I had better gerronwivit.

Take care. Be good. Make the best of things.

Polly

[Erichill16]

18 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

. One of the redeeming features of Frankfurt airport is it still gets a lot of passenger 747 flights thanks to Lufthansa still using the 747-400 and 747-8I

Not very good shots but through the aircraft window from late last year.

Edited July 14 by Erichill16
Perhaps not the best phraseology to describe pictures this morning!

[polybear]

Bear here.....

 

Events in the US?  Well I suspect that no end of conspiracy theories will have already emerged; as for The Orange One I suspect it'll have a positive effect on his ratings for all the wrong reasons.  Bvgger.

 

Today?  Co-op raid planned, parcel to pack, choo choo to unpack/examine/test, din dins to scoff/Bertie the Bosch to drive and hopefully muddlin' to undertake.  I'll probably semi-watch the kickball as well - though don't get excited whatever happens.  I'm far more interested that p1ssed up scrotes don't go on the rampage afterwards in order to vent their anger/celebrate as appropriate.

 

Time to wriggle.....

 

BG

Edited July 14 by polybear

[Erichill16]

8 minutes ago, polybear said:

- though don't get excited whatever happens.  I'm far more interested that p1ssed up scrotes don't go on the rampage afterwards in order to vent their anger/celebrate as appropriate.

 

Time to wriggle.....

 

BG

Come on bear, get in the mood!

A jolly sing a long!

[PhilJ W]

9 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

It's not over. The criminal case is dismissed - based on the behaviour of the prosecution in withholding evidence.

 

Details here;

CNN: ‘Rust’ movie set shooting trial: Why the involuntary manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin was dismissed

 

I would bet there will likely be a civil case on behalf of the family of the director who was killed, against Baldwin as the film producer (rather than as the shooter). His production was demonstrably unsafe and someone in his employ died. No differently than, say, an aircraft manufacturer that hid information that their aircraft were unsafe and resulted in fatalities.

Crucially the undisclosed evidence was that a box of supposedly dummy rounds contained live rounds. It is possible that is how they came from the manufacturer or subsequently mixed up is open to question. I understand that the rounds are marked to avoid getting them mixed up.

[PhilJ W]

One of the bullets fired at Trump was caught on camera.

[polybear]

47 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

One of the bullets fired at Trump was caught on camera.

 

Or added afterwards using Photoshop or whatever?

If that is the bullet that grazed his ear it suggests to me that if he hadn't turned his head then he'd probably be on a slab now.

 

ION...

Co-op raid completed.  Tick.

Right, beamland for a box & bubblewrap now....

 

BG

[jamie92208]

5 hours ago, polybear said:

 

I very much suspect (based on nottalott) that most Pilots now wouldn't have a clue how to do such a navigation.

He did start his flying training in 1968 so had to learn such things.  His first aircraft were VC10's then he went on to 747's.  He also told me that in those early INS days there was a Bermuda Triangle type theory going round that 747's hept heading for the Gulf of Benin, South of Nigeria. The explanation was that there was a limit to how many way points you could enter into the INS, 11 IIRC.  Apparently if you forgot to input more after the first few waypoints, it would default to 0 degrees 0 degrees which is in the Gulf of Benin. 

 

Jamie

Edited July 14 by jamie92208

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Just about to shut my computer down last night when the newsflash about the attempted assassination of Trump came through. That meant I went to bed a bit later last night, just as well I have a lie in Sunday mornings. 

EDIT I posted this an hour ago, or at least I thought I had.

Edited July 14 by PhilJ W

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Or added afterwards using Photoshop or whatever?

If that is the bullet that grazed his ear it suggests to me that if he hadn't turned his head then he'd probably be on a slab now.

From an illustration of the site it seems that the shooter was to the left and slightly behind Trump. The spectators who were shot were between the shooter and Trump. A photograph of Trump taken a fraction of a second after he was shot shows where the bullet grazed his right cheek before hitting the top of his ear, the graze is from his mouth to his ear.  So indeed by turning his head to the left and upwards he wasn't killed. There was several shots fired and he turned his head to see where the shots were coming from and that may have well saved his life. The bullet that was picked up in the photograph probably passed behind him.

 

Edited July 14 by PhilJ W

[PhilJ W]

Above is the site of the attempted assassination of Trump. For some reason the information has not copied across with the pic. The white 'lollipop' on the extreme left is where the gunmans body was found*. The black lollipop is where the secret service marksman was placed. The empty rectangles were where the spectators were standing and the grey rectangle is where the podium was placed with the Trump supporters behind him. The second white lollipop is where the spectator was killed.

*Note that there are trees between where the secret service marksman was sighted and the building from where the shots were fired that could have given the gunman cover.

[monkeysarefun]

This was last Sunday:

 

Two people have been killed and 18 others injured in a mass shooting at a block party on Detroit’s east side on Sunday.

A gunman opened fire at the party around 2.25am local time while revellers were gathered in the area, according to Detroit police.

A 20-year-old woman was shot in the head and died on the scene. A 21-year-old man was shot in the back, and died at a local hospital.

The suspect, a 22-year-old man, was shot in the leg at some point during the attack and was taken into custody.

 

That made the news absolutely nowhere, I had to do a google search for recent shootings to find it. Compare that to the coverage of the Trump shooting, yet Trump and his NRA buddies and his republican minions created the world that those people in Detroit have to live in.

 

If that world now comes and bites him on the ar5e then tough luck.

 

All this "This is  not who we are!" nonsense from the TV talking folk and politicians. What part of it have you not noticed until now? - its EXACTLY who you are!.

Edited July 14 by monkeysarefun

[The White Rabbit]

Comments will run and run. The media reports suggest the shooter was around 150-165 yards from the podium. That isn't that far, even with a 5.56mm round - which is relatively lightweight. From what Phil's posted, the elevation was right. The traverse is the reason we're talking about an attempt rather than a hit. I wonder if there was a strong crosswind or whether those who spotted the shooter spooked him enough to throw his aim off. But if there was a trigger pull error, that would normally suggest a miss to the right rather than the left. I've hit smaller targets at 200 yards, including a moving one - but no-one was shooting back or threatening to! 

 

For those who don't know, the bullet trajectory on a 5.56mm AR15/M16/M4 is a bit curved - because the sights are higher than the barrel, you have to 'aim off a bit' - as you squint through the backsight (circular aperture) and try and line it up with the foresight (post) the bullet rises from the barrel a few inches below the line of sight created and meets the line of sight about (IIRC, 75) yards from the muzzle, then soars above the line of sight, then drops back through the LOS (again, IIRC, about 275 yards away?) and then falls away. This trajectory is why anyone perhaps 100-200 yards away could be missed by a shooter trying for a headshot as the rounds go overhead. So to miss left or right is more difficult than miscalculating the range/elevation. Given the way Trump was moving, it could very easily be his 'de Gaulle' moment and the reason why he's not on a slab. 

 

Thoughts and sympathies with those who got hit in the crowd. 

 

Early days and we don't have all the details but I think this was a very narrow escape for DT - another serious embarrassment for the USSS. 

[PupCam]

Afternoon

 

A run over to Shuttleworth with a mate this morning to have a quick look around the motorcycle auction entries prior to the auction starting.   We then had a quick run around the Puppershire TT circuit in the sunshine.   A lovely morning for a chug on the AJS complete with its clean oil filter and nice new oil!

 

The auction is still in progress.   General impression;  sales very slow and prices aren't up to much.

 

This was sitting on the grass at Old Warden this morning.      I can't say I like the colour scheme.       I believe it is often used as a camera platform for air to air photograph.      Sitting at the PC this afternoon keeping half an eye on the auction online and some interesting aeroplane noises could be heard.    Looked out the window to see the Skyvan in formation with "something interesting" and something else close by but too far away to see what it was.   Also on the grass this morning were the Piston Provest and the Sea Hurricane so no doubt it could have been those.    Also in the same bit of sky was a thermalling sailplane and a themalling Red Kite.    Busy old sky!

 

Now, what to do this evening?   Well, it won't be watching kick ball.

 

TTFN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[polybear]

54 minutes ago, PupCam said:

Afternoon

 

A run over to Shuttleworth with a mate this morning to have a quick look around the motorcycle auction entries prior to the auction starting.  

 

Ahhh....now the truth is emerging.....

 

Mrs. P to a Certain Pup:

 

"You can look....but don't even THINK of touching....."

[polybear]

1 hour ago, The White Rabbit said:

Early days and we don't have all the details but I think this was a very narrow escape for DT - another serious embarrassment for the USSS. 

 

This should help the POTUS avoid some flak:

(from the BBC News website):

 

"Who shot at Donald Trump?

State voter records show that he was a registered Republican, according to US media"

 

- So one of Donny's own team.....

 

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,

I meant to mention before there has been a large amount of motorcycles, at Sutton hotel, they've been camped out for several days, but they were packing up as I passed coming back here. They had  a sign up saying NOTAS.

 

A very poor night's sleep was had, I'm knackered..

 

Racing, the forecast was better than we got, and we got, dull grey, very windy most of the time, quite cool. The wind shifted as black clouds went around us, but at least we escaped rain.

 

Up on the broad today,

Course, 2p, 5s, Xp, 3p, 4p. For all three races, or basically up to wind ward in the north west, , an off set run , half way back down to the west , back up north west ish  but to X west of but level with 2. Across the top further west to 3, then a run down to 4, behind the line.

 

Race 1,

Started exceedingly well, at speed, turning up between a boat that had nearly stalled trying not to be over, BM passed between them and the inner distance buoy.

 

Stayed above them, but as they gathered speed they passed beneath BM, going ahead, reached the top mark just behind that boat but ahead of the rest of the fleet.

On the run, down all the others passed BM, strong winds meant their longer waterline paid off.

Trailed round for the rest of the race, probably last.

 

Race 2, made a good start , one boat tried a port start, hoping to tack at the committee boat onto starboard, but the increasing wind meant they were over, they then, tried to turn back, but her boom hit my forestay. So not only did they have to recross the line but do a 720 turn as well.

 

However the wind was so strong, I was struggling to control BM, managed to arrive at the top buoy last. Went further back during the race, came very last.

 

Race 3,

Again arrived at speed, turned up into the wind round the committee boat, got an over lap over a almost stalled boat, but they had just started moving, and were above BM. They therefore blanketed BM, so we dropped back.

Still strong wind, so BM dropped behind the fleet,  halfway through the race the weather started getting better, the wind dropped, and BM was the last boat home..

 

Sailed back to the club and put BM away in sunshine and light winds..

 

 

[polybear]

9 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Afternoon Awl,

I meant to mention before there has been a large amount of motorcycles, at Sutton hotel, they've been camped out for several days, but they were packing up as I passed coming back here. They had  a sign up saying NOTAS.

 

 

NOTAS Mcc apparently - it was their "Bits and T*ts Bike and Trike Rally"....

[DaveF]

The rain stopped for a while this morning then started again about coffee time.  It has now stopped but it is still 11°C.

 

Church was OK this morning, there were fewer people than usual, some are on holiday and I think the weather put others off.

 

The email letters have been written, one phone call remains to do but I didn't want to interrupt my aunt who will have been watching the tennis match - for once I did too, I'll watch the cycling highlights this evening.

 

Lunch was just chicken, stuffing, sausage, roast potatoes, four vegetables and gravy followed by apple and blackcurrant pie and custard.  I fell asleep for a short while afterwards.

 

I ventured out into the garden in the afternoon to check the sweet peas, there were 10 flowers to pick, normally by now it is a vase full every other day.  I rescued one empty watering can which was floating about in the greenhouse, the path is also underwater outside it.  From what I could see none of the plants needed watering.  I haven't seen any birds in the garden today, I think they are all hiding in the shrubs.

 

The evening will end with football after the cycling.

 

David