Early Risers.

[TheQ]

I'm glad to report the little bit of wire netting on the muddling shed doors was successful. The smell of rat pee has disappeared, helped by a breeze and all the air vents open

I will not be doing wire netting today as the forecast is 31+C. It feels like that already.

 

Landrover worked on not helped by a snapped bolt,

Planned Mowing done plus a bit...

During which the coal man came, there were 3 deliveries before us, ours and two more on board..

Pity the coal man unloading 6 ton of coal today...

 

Shortly I'll head to the mobile home to play with a bridge..

 

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

sometimes nature’s beauty lulls you into a false sense of security

Blue Ringed Octopiiiii!

 

I used to see them a fair bit  in rockpools at Cronulla,  Maroubra and North Wollongong  back in the 70's, and '80's,  less so now.

 

They come with stunning flouro blue colour highlights  but annoy them by picking them up to admire them and you can be dead literally  in minutes as  their venom paralyses your diaphragm and you slowly  suffocate... 

 

 

Edited August 12 by monkeysarefun

[polybear]

Bear here.....

 

Bertie the Bosch driven plus numerous dross tasks completed.  That's a Tick.

I also phoned the Quack bang on opening time (0800), only to get a recorded message saying "There are no further appointments available".  Huh?  That's a Rant.

 

I also flogged off one of the Self-Service Checkouts in Tess n' Co, which should please Puppers @PupCam - I've been meaning to for a while so that's definitely a Tick; the Deltics will probably be converted to one of those ISA jobbies.

 

I also decided that useful things such as car jump leads might be more appropriately stored in Mickey rather than in the Sh*d, so that's now been done as well.

 

After that?  Well I decided that a.m. is far better time today for a triple hilly wander - rumour has it that this arvo might be a bit warm.  I still ended up as an ikky stikky gooey Bear though......

 

Post-din dins now - Bear's Lappy reminder list tells me that doing a back-up to the external HDD is overdue so I reckon I'll get that going shortly, just in case Larry the Lappy dies/gets nicked/ gets destroyed.

 

Bear gone....

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

43C in Melbourne with a gale-force wind blowing from the north but relative humidity in single figures was fine. Hot, yes, and that hot wind would wick away everything you sweated out.

 

 

I find  the most uncomfortable thing about mid-forties with a hot wind is  when my  eyeballs dry out!

Edited August 12 by monkeysarefun

[polybear]

7 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Blue Ringed Octopiiiii!

 

I used to see them a fair bit  in rockpools at Cronulla,  Maroubra and North Wollongong  back in the 70's, and '80's,  less so now.

 

They come with stunning flouro blue colour highlights  but annoy them by picking them up to admire them and you can be dead in minutes as  their venom paralyses your diaphragm and you slowly  suffocate... 

 

 

 

Jeez - Oz is full of endless fun isn't it?  😱

[Tony_S]

Really warm here today. We have just shut all the windows too. Only because the window cleaner has arrived. They will be open again soon. The back,of the housemates very warm while the front is shaded. So usually having the windows open ventilates the house quite nicely. 

[Tony_S]

4 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Jeez - Oz is full of endless fun isn't it?  😱

With all those toxic creatures I am surprised any imported fauna got established. 

[monkeysarefun]

17 minutes ago, polybear said:

After that?  Well I decided that a.m. is far better time today for a triple hilly wander - rumour has it that this arvo might be a bit warm.  I still ended up as an ikky stikky gooey Bear though......

 

 

 

I'd stop at Pine Creek on drives between Darwin and RAAF Tindal at Katherine -  its the only town on the 300km trip. 

 

This is  the old bakery there where it can get both mid 40's and high humidity.

 

Working in 40+ degree heat in a bakery made of iron sheets  with little to no ventilation........  they bred them tough in those days -  unlike us now!

 

Anyway, I always think of this place when ever anyone whinges about how hot it is.. 

 

 

Edited August 12 by monkeysarefun

[The White Rabbit]

18 minutes ago, polybear said:

.... I also flogged off one of the Self-Service Checkouts in Tess n' Co, which should please Puppers @PupCam - I've been meaning to for a while so that's definitely a Tick; the Deltics will probably be converted to one of those ISA jobbies. ... 

 

How did you manage that? Didn't Tesco get cross, you selling bits of their store? OK - I know I'm probably missing something but you've got me puzzled. 

[polybear]

[monkeysarefun]

21 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Jeez - Oz is full of endless fun isn't it?  😱

 

 

Still  better than horses.

[Winslow Boy]

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

We had some pet rats. Apart from prodigious weeing they had many admirable traits.

Not politicians then.

[Winslow Boy]

17 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

Still  better than horses.

Don't tell the horses that.

[Tony_S]

20 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Don't tell the horses that.

I saw some horses crossing a road in Iceland. Apparently they walk differently to other horses…

 

[The Lurker]

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

I have never had cause to look. 

You didn't do Biology A Level then? Not that I remember, despite having dissected more than rat.

 

I was well prepared to dissect one for the A Level Practical, it would either be the reproductive system, or the digestive system. The other half of the year had had the digestive system so I went confidently into the room to find i had to dissect....a flower of some sort, identifying the reproductive organs....!

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. 32C. and still rising but it's a bit cooler in the house, only 27C. My house the front faces almost due north and it's always cooler on that side. By contrast the back garden can be as much as four degrees higher than ambient as not only doe's it get plenty of sun it's surrounded on three sides by high brick walls.

[Winslow Boy]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

I saw some horses crossing a road in Iceland. Apparently they walk differently to other horses…

 

I thought for a minute, while your photo downloaded, when I read that they walked differently your photo would be of horses on there hind legs. You can imagine my disappointment then, when it finally revealed itself to show a herd of horses walking normally.

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, The Lurker said:

You didn't do Biology A Level then? Not that I remember, despite having dissected more than rat.

 

I was well prepared to dissect one for the A Level Practical, it would either be the reproductive system, or the digestive system. The other half of the year had had the digestive system so I went confidently into the room to find i had to dissect....a flower of some sort, identifying the reproductive organs....!

I remember doing a rat and a dogfish for A Level practice dissections.

All I recall is that the dogfish was riddled with burrowing worms that we didn't have to dissect.....

 

What we actually got in the exam was a mouse which had to be sliced open and the digestive system from mouth to annus spread out and clearly labelled with little flags on pins.

 

Edited August 12 by Hroth
Net Nanny strikes again!

[Tony_S]

12 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

I thought for a minute, while your photo downloaded, when I read that they walked differently your photo would be of horses on there hind legs. You can imagine my disappointment then, when it finally revealed itself to show a herd of horses walking normally.

I didn’t really understand about “5 gaited horses” but Icelandic horses can walk naturally in a way that other horses would have to be taught. Really they could do the dressage olympics without all the fuss. Also we learned that if an Icelandic horse leaves Iceland it can never return. 
Aditi liked the Icelandic botanical gardens we visited, no slugs! 

[Barry O]

So.. the results are in...

 

Using total number of medals won.. Yorkshire 12th with the rest of GB sliding back to 14th..... I know its a big county but perhaps the rest of GB need to gerronwithit for the Olympics...

 

Baz

 

😃

Edited August 12 by Barry O

[DaveF]

It's pleasantly warm here, it got up to about 22°C after lunch and is now around 21°C.  There is a light wind from somewhere, it still seems to be from the west north east but not south judging by the neighbours flag again.  There is quite a lot of mist over the sea.

 

As planned Amanda came and cleaned, she did a much better job this week, back to normal thank goodness.  During the morning I sorted out some more papers to go in the bin, "played" with the computer and got the washing done.

 

After lunch I decided to go out to take photos of steel strips, naturally it went very dull and looked like heavy rain but it stayed dry. I saw a grey object with a number 50008 go by in Newsham at the level crossing.  It should have been hauling something from Battleship Wharf in North Blyth to Doncaster but it wasn't - I have heard that the crew did not sign the route.  After that I went to Newsham to look at the new station which is nearing completion(ish).  I had to think where to park as the level crossing is now closed and there is temporary high fencing everywhere, then I remembered that a football ground used by the "Town"club (not Spartans) has a car park with a glass recycling point so went there and walked about 0.3 miles up onto the bridge.  There are some photos in my photo thread.

 

Since then I've sorted out the photos, had a mug of tea and read a bit of a magazine.  Soon it will tea, greenhouse and tub watering and then some relaxing TV - probably just the quizzes on BBC2.

 

David

[Ozexpatriate]

9 hours ago, polybear said:

Er, isn't that a tame form of Basketball, but without the Harlem Globetrotters?

This is netball's image problem.

 

The sport exists as a triumph for women insofar as it exists because girls weren't allowed to play football or cricket. The problem it has is that it is perceived as a girly version of basketball such that players won't get their smocks or pinafores sweaty. (It isn't of course. It's origin is weirdly connected to an American teacher misinterpreting the rules of basketball - which somehow got imported to England.)

Quote

Netball's development traces back to American sports teacher Clara Gregory Baer's misinterpretation of the basketball rule book in 1895. The book had lines of patrol drawn on it and Clara interpreted this to mean that players had to stay in those zones. Baer's modifications proliferated and were later officially ratified into the rules for women's basketball by 1899. Martina Bergman-Österberg had also introduced basketball to her female students at her Physical Training College in England in 1893.

 

Finally with improved equity*, women now play 'proper' basketball and the question (outside countries in the former British Empire) is why would they wish to learn such a game when they play basketball already.

 

* Thanks to Title IX. US women were awarded 74 medals - US men 58.

 

Now I know Aussie netballers are just as "athletic" as anyone, but that doesn't mean others will want to learn what is now an essentially British Empire sport.

 

And it isn't played by men, so it won't be an official Olympic sport. Baseball/softball gets sold to the IOC as gender-inclusive. Theoretically they could similarly accept basketball/netball, but all the women basketballers would object.

 

[Ozexpatriate]

On 09/08/2024 at 21:59, monkeysarefun said:

I second   the idea of including surf lifesaving. Inter-club Carnivals have been held since 1915 so it has pedigree   and with a dozen or so events that feature running, swimming, rowing and more they  are pretty much a pentathlon in themselves.

I saw this tidbit in an article today:

Quote

 Coastal rowing will see athletes sprint across the sand before using specialized boats to navigate through waves and seek to cross the finish line first.

 

CNN: As the Olympic flame heads for Los Angeles, what can we expect from the 2028 Games?

 

Sounds a lot like a surf-boat race from an Aussie life-saving carnival - but not quite. Apparently it's a variation with small two rower boats and is called "beach-sprint rowing".

 

[The Lurker]

32 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

This is netball's image problem.

 

The sport exists as a triumph for women insofar as it exists because girls weren't allowed to play football or cricket. The problem it has is that it is perceived as a girly version of basketball such that players won't get their smocks or pinafores sweaty. (It isn't of course. It's origin is weirdly connected to an American teacher misinterpreting the rules of basketball - which somehow got imported to England.)

 

Finally with improved equity*, women now play 'proper' basketball and the question (outside countries in the former British Empire) is why would they wish to learn such a game when they play basketball already.

 

* Thanks to Title IX. US women were awarded 74 medals - US men 58.

 

Now I know Aussie netballers are just as "athletic" as anyone, but that doesn't mean others will want to learn what is now an essentially British Empire sport.

 

And it isn't played by men, so it won't be an official Olympic sport. Baseball/softball gets sold to the IOC as gender-inclusive. Theoretically they could similarly accept basketball/netball, but all the women basketballers would object.

 

When I was in the last year of primary school, the boys' football team played the girls' netball team at both football and netball. The boys' team won both. None of the boys had played netball before. I suspect only one girl had played football much - she was the tomboy in the year and regularly played in our kickarounds at school and occasionally over the rec.

[monkeysarefun]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Also we learned that if an Icelandic horse leaves Iceland it can never return.

Its well known that mobs of horses model themselves on bikie gangs so that doesnt surprise me.

Edited August 12 by monkeysarefun