The Night Mail

[br2975]

 

 

 

MISSING PERSON

.

 

Gimli, son of Gloin,

Date of Birth:- The Third Age

Born:- Erin Luin

 

Kinsman of Durin The Deathless and loyal servant to Thorin Oakenshield

 

South Wales Police ask that anyone with  information or knowledge as to Gimli's whereabouts,

keeps the information to themselves.

 

Edited August 1, 2023 by br2975

[Happy Hippo]

10 minutes ago, br2975 said:

 

 

 

MISSING PERSON

.

 

Gimli, son of Gloin,

Date of Birth:- The Third Age

Born:- Erin Luin

 

Kinsman of Durin The Deathless and loyal servant to Thorin Oakenshield

 

South Wales Police ask that anyone with  information or knowledge as to Gimli's whereabouts,

keeps the information to themselves.

 

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

I don't know about civvy flying clubs but in the RAF if a student pilot was doing his first solo, no other traffic would be allowed in the circuit until he was back on the ground (one way or another). I think that most pilots nowadays carry mobile phones, probably with satnav functions, but such things have been known to fail and I'm not sure that controlled airspace features on Google Maps. There may be an app but I'm sufficient of the dinosaur persuasion not to know. And when airborne without a clue of position is a bad time for the satnav to fail and not be able to read a map.

 

Dave

 

PS  Although passing groundschool exams is necessary for a licence to be awarded, AFAIK it isn't needed before a first solo. 

When our daughter  came to France with a friend in 2013  They were relying ob a phone based satnav.  The in car charger malfunctioned and they had to turn off the satnav to save the battery.  Rachel just stopped and bought a road Atlas, then had to teach Sam how to read a map, she'd never used one before.  I was very proud of Rachel and told her so. She had obviously learned at least one skill from her dinosaur dad. 

 

Jamie

[polybear]

25 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

When our daughter  came to France with a friend in 2013  They were relying ob a phone based satnav.  The in car charger malfunctioned and they had to turn off the satnav to save the battery.  Rachel just stopped and bought a road Atlas, then had to teach Sam how to read a map, she'd never used one before.  I was very proud of Rachel and told her so. She had obviously learned at least one skill from her dinosaur dad. 

 

Jamie

 

They should include map reading as part of the driving test.

If anything should happen to GPS signals much of the population would be totally stuffed.

[jamie92208]

26 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

They should include map reading as part of the driving test.

If anything should happen to GPS signals much of the population would be totally stuffed.

I quite agree, Beth can't understand why I like to loo kat a map before a journey when we have a satnav code.  I do so times point out that the satnav isn't much use on a diversionary route to avoid a traffic jam for instance. 

 

Jamie

[Tony_S]

46 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

They should include map reading as part of the driving test.

If anything should happen to GPS signals much of the population would be totally stuffed.

I think you may (or may not) be surprised at the number of people who don’t travel outside a familiar area and did so well before satnav was available. Or even in some cases where they live. 
Some years ago Aditi accompanied a biology field trip out to somewhere wild in Essex. She was only asked as she was an authorised driver for the van. There was another biology lecturer in the bus too. The head of biology went in her own car, so she could go straight home after the visit. After the Head of Dept left, a female student had a seizure and was unconscious. An ambulance was called and the girl was taken off to hospital accompanied by the other lecturer. Her colleague was concerned about how she would get back from the hospital. Aditi said she would get her back whatever happened. So Aditi drove the minibus back to college, and then drove her car to the hospital (somewhere in Essex, can’t remember where) and met her colleague. The hospital later evening decided the student could go home. She lived somewhere in Whitechapel but didn’t know her address. She used to walk from the flats to the tube station and that was all she knew. It was too late to ring the college for the admin staff to provide an address so  Aditi decided she would drive into east London, find the tube station and work back from there.  So by about 11pm the student was safely delivered back to her Mum. Aditi’s wasn’t going to leave her colleague to makeher own way home so took her back as well.

So next morning as Aditi arrives at work she is summoned to the Head of the faculty to explain why he knew nothing about a the student who had been taken to hospital. There had been a number of thank you calls from the girls family and enquiries from other students. He was very concerned the head of biology was unaware of the incident. They were quite cross about it. Aditi just told the head of biology that once she had left early (before the students were even on the minibus) Aditi felt she was the responsible person, and so ran the trip like she would have done on one of her own field trips. Aditi said she couldn’t contact the biology head as she hadn’t provided a contact number. 

Edited August 1, 2023 by Tony_S

[pH]

Game, set and match to Aditi!

[Northmoor]

9 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

It is my contention that in order to hold a PPL, candidates should have to demonstrate an ability to do basic visual navigation and map reading, which is what we used to do with Service pilots before they were allowed out of sight of their home airfield. The obvious dangers of semi-competent PPL holders wandering around not knowing where they are and potentially infringing areas of high density civil and military traffic are, to my mind, too great to allow the sort of thing that goes on daily. Even with decent radio communication and navigation aids, failures of equipment are hardly unknown and all pilots should be able to resort to mk. 1 eyeball and paper maps when necessary. Rant? Oh, yes.

Some years back when working on the planning the acceptance of a Collision Avoidance System for fast jets, we got access to the Airprox reports which made for some VERY interesting reading.

 

One which sticks in the mind was the one where two Tornados low-flying in Wales came within (from memory) about 100' of a microlight.  No crash of the latter was ever reported, so you have to assume that the microlight pilot, once recovered from the wind blast of two jets passing at 600mph, landed safely and completed his second "evacuation" by leaving the area sharpish.

[Happy Hippo]

I have just been informed that tomorrow we are going to Ikea in Wednesbury.

 

How to ruin a perfectly pleasant evening.

 

 

 

 

[Dave Hunt]

3 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I quite agree, Beth can't understand why I like to loo kat a map before a journey when we have a satnav code.  I do so times point out that the satnav isn't much use on a diversionary route to avoid a traffic jam for instance. 

 

Jamie

 

I think that there are now satnavs that talk to each other and if a driver reports a hold up of any sort all the machines on the system know about it and re-route as necessary. Presumably they must get to know when the hold up is cleared, though, or there would be hundreds of drivers making unnecessary detours. 

 

I was once in a friend's car when he was using his satnav for a journey of just a few miles. Shortly after starting off we took a turning that I knew was wrong and said so. He assured me that the satnav knew what it was doing but when it had taken another turning that was obviously taking us away from our destination I said that I didn't care how good a track record it had, this time it was completely wrong. We stopped to examine the machine and he discovered that he had set it to go via its last destination, which was something like 150 miles in the wrong direction. I wonder how far he would have gone had I not doubted the magic machine's veracity.

 

Dave

[br2975]

16 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I have just been informed that tomorrow we are going to Ikea in Wednesbury.

 

How to ruin a perfectly pleasant evening.

.

I'm sure you can find something remotely  useful to your hobby somewhere within the yellow and blue tin shed ?

.

I do, whether I need it, or not.

[Northmoor]

4 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I quite agree, Beth can't understand why I like to loo kat a map before a journey when we have a satnav code.  I do so times point out that the satnav isn't much use on a diversionary route to avoid a traffic jam for instance. 

 

Jamie

I don't use a SatNav (a colleague once said I had a remarkable ability to drive somewhere once and instantly memorise the whole route in detail) but I think most have a function where if you are stuck in a hold-up, you can ask it to suggest an alternative route around the obstruction.  Which is why "local knowledge" doesn't gain you much anymore because every clown tries to use the same single track lane that normally only you and farmer Giles know about.

 

"It's an aid to navigation, not a substitute for common sense".

Edited August 1, 2023 by Northmoor

[SM42]

We are back in Poznan. The sat nav said we will arrive in 30 minutes. 

 

We've already un packed. 

 

This is simply because it doesn't know about the new road and the signs are very good. 

It also helped that I had looked at the map first. 

 

Getting out from our friend's house was a different matter due to many road closures. 

 

We were given directions, one of which was turn left by a shop named Zabka 

 

As anyone who knows Poland will know this is about as much use as saying turn left by a fence post. 

 

There are around 9000 of these shops  in Poland 

 

It is said you are never more than a mile from one. I'm certainly not now. 

 

 

Having said that the old satnav cottoned on pretty quick we were diverting and came up with the goods.

 

I tend to use it most for an ETA and to guide on the fiddly bits and Poland has lots of these) and it is useful giving you a fair warning your motorway exit is coming up so you can  get yourself in  position in plenty of time. Good in heavy fast moving traffic. 

 

It's also a good idea our here to know in what area (gmnia) the town you are programming in, is in. 

Many towns will have a name thd same as another in a different part of the country, so knowing what towns are in the same area will help you pick the right one. 

 

It's It's bit like having to know which district council serves the town in the UK. 

 

All good fun and now it is beer o'clock

 

 

Andy

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

think that there are now satnavs that talk to each other and if a driver reports a hold up of any sort all the machines on the system know about it and re-route as necessary.

On mine you don’t have to report it, speed and location data (via cellular data) are sent back to wherever the servers are and other vehicles with the same system get updates. So in my case it would get more data if there are other modern Jaguars and Land Rovers on the road . The suggested alternate route on my earlier satnavs was dubious at best but the present system is pretty reliable. 

Edited August 1, 2023 by Tony_S
Grammar

[SM42]

The trip back was rather hair raising as added to the rain and spray was the early evening sun dipping down below the clouds as we headed directly west. 

 

You could just about make out the car about 100 yds in front and the centre line.

The sun was in that annoying place where it is too low for the visor to be 100% effective and also kept popping into the gap between the visors. 

 

I was close to sticking my head out of the window and pretending to be a dog. 

 

Looking in the mirror, it seemed like the middle of the night behind, with bright daylight ahead

 

I was glad when it clouded over a bit. 

 

It was a very dramatic sky to our north east with low sun tinging the tops of the rain clouds orange, purplish sheets of rain below and an almost vertical rainbow against the backdrop of the dark, almost black, lower cloud.

 

Wow would be a very apt word. 

 

Andy

Edited August 1, 2023 by SM42

[Dave Hunt]

1 hour ago, Northmoor said:

I don't use a SatNav (a colleague once said I had a remarkable ability to drive somewhere once and instantly memorise the whole route in detail) but I think most have a function where if you are stuck in a hold-up, you can ask it to suggest an alternative route around the obstruction.  Which is why "local knowledge" doesn't gain you much anymore because every clown tries to use the same single track lane that normally only you and farmer Giles know about.

 

"It's an aid to navigation, not a substitute for common sense".

 

When we first moved in to Hunt Towers twenty two years ago, satnavs were in their infancy. Most seemed to think that there was a nearby short cut that missed out a well-known choke point but unfortunately it involved a single track road leading to a private road that was gated. For some time it was common to see a queue of large lorries complete with irate drivers at the gates to the private road trying to demand entry then, when none was forthcoming, spending a long time reversing down the single track road. The owner of the property was equally p!ssed off. The message must have got through to the satnav companies as after some months, possibly a year, the number of such happenings started to diminish and eventually ceased.

 

Dave   

 

PS as a matter of interest, the house to which the private road belonged was built by the Tayleur family, one son of which became Robert Stephenson's partner in the Vulcan Foundry.

Edited August 1, 2023 by Dave Hunt

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Northmoor said:

Some years back when working on the planning the acceptance of a Collision Avoidance System for fast jets, we got access to the Airprox reports which made for some VERY interesting reading.

 

One which sticks in the mind was the one where two Tornados low-flying in Wales came within (from memory) about 100' of a microlight.  No crash of the latter was ever reported, so you have to assume that the microlight pilot, once recovered from the wind blast of two jets passing at 600mph, landed safely and completed his second "evacuation" by leaving the area sharpish.

I recall in the days of the Southend Air Show a microlight flew over my house followed by the Red Arrows at the same height and going in the same direction.

[J. S. Bach]

8 hours ago, br2975 said:

About as much chance as 'Nelson getting his eye back !"

Wouldn't do him much good now, anyway!

Edited August 1, 2023 by J. S. Bach

[PhilJ W]

Footballer eaten by crocodile.

https://www.indy100.com/sport/footballer-eaten-crocodile-chucho?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1690924140

[SM42]

20 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

I recall in the days of the Southend Air Show a microlight flew over my house followed by the Red Arrows at the same height and going in the same direction.

 

Red 10?

 

At 1700hrs today, sirens across the country sounded. 

 

Not for some exercise or test, but to commemorate the start of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. 

 

In Warsaw many events were also held. 

 

The president was seen on TV at a wreath laying ceremony and assisted two elderly veterans up to the monument, before paying his own respects. 

 

I wonder how many other world leaders would hold onto the arms of two elderly veterans at such a service and how many would have security staff that would allow such interaction. 

 

Earlier in the day we were flagged down by the plod and had to park up in a side road, as the Tour de Pologne was due through. 

 

It appeared a good excuse for anyone in or on a police vehicle to make a lot of noise. 

 

At least 6 police cars and 4 bikes all passed with sirens wailing a good twenty minutes before any cyclist was seen. 

 

As the road had already been closed by their colleagues, it seemed a bit pointless. 

 

Still I might have got on TV, as the aerial footage helicopter was in hot pursuit and being thrown around the sky at not a lot in altitude. 

 

Low enough to kick up lot of dust from a field which must have pleased the peleton no end. 

 

Andy

Edited August 2, 2023 by SM42

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[SM42]

Nope not on TV. 

 

Hidden from view by a marshal as the peleton passed and on the wrong side of the road for the leaders  

 

Might be a fuzzy blob in the distance though as the leaders approached our position. 

 

Fame foiled again. 

 

Andy

[SteveyDee68]

3 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

We stopped to examine the machine and he discovered that he had set it to go via its last destination, which was something like 150 miles in the wrong direction

 

Not quite the same but...

 

Christmas morning, travelling down to my sister's house in Ironbridge to celebrate Christmas, mother in the passenger seat, Dad in the back. As we were running late, my mum suggested staying on the motorway (M6) past the usual junction, as my sister had taken her that route once and it seemed quicker. I'd never been to my sister's new house, so asked her for the postcode to put into the SatNav (proper one, not a phone app)

 

Past the usual turnoff which the satnav wasn't saying to go down, so my assumption was that it was finding me the faster route.

 

Continued down the motorway for quite a lot longer than expected.

 

Eventually, mum pipes up that she thinks my sister might have turned off the motorway before where we now were. But the SatNav still said plough on (another half hour). I had absolutely no idea where we were*, neither did mum, but she had given me the postcode so we followed the SatNav's directions. Pulled up outside a bungalow which even I knew wasn't right...

 

Rang my sister and discovered my mother had given me the wrong postcode! Like Eric Morecambe playing Grieg's Piano Concerto, her postcode had all the right letters and numbers but not necessarily in the right order... 

 

I suggested that we knocked on the door anyway and say we'd come for Christmas Dinner, but instead we did an about turn and hastily drove back from the outskirts of Coventry back to Ironbridge!

 

It wasn't long after that I ditched the SatNav in favour of a phone based app Waze as recommended by my sister, and have used that ever since on a daily basis. As discussed earlier, it is one of those apps that is updated continuously and users can report accidents, potholes, roadworks and even state of traffic etc on the fly to assist other motorists. Not to say that it is infallible - if an accident has just happened it can catch you out as the app doesn't know until it is reported.

 

Steve S

 

* Actually quite unusual for me - my dad preferred A (and B) roads to motorways, so growing up we often took "the scenic route" when out and about. Strangely enough, his ability to drive 'by the seat of his pants' seems to have rubbed off on me; on many occasions I have recognised where I am almost like deja vous, and later realised that I had been driven there as a child and somehow 'remembered' buildings or features. Seems I have more squirrel DNA than perhaps expected - but totally relying upon a SatNav removes that spatial awareness of surroundings beyond the immediate vicinity of the vehicle, as it did that Christmas Morning! (Christmas Dinner was two hours later than planned that day!)

[AndyID]

I'm glad I don't have a job at Mar-a-Lago.

[AndyID]

33 minutes ago, SteveyDee68 said:

 

Not quite the same but...

 

Christmas morning, travelling down to my sister's house in Ironbridge to celebrate Christmas, mother in the passenger seat, Dad in the back. As we were running late, my mum suggested staying on the motorway (M6) past the usual junction, as my sister had taken her that route once and it seemed quicker. I'd never been to my sister's new house, so asked her for the postcode to put into the SatNav (proper one, not a phone app)

 

Past the usual turnoff which the satnav wasn't saying to go down, so my assumption was that it was finding me the faster route.

 

Continued down the motorway for quite a lot longer than expected.

 

Eventually, mum pipes up that she thinks my sister might have turned off the motorway before where we now were. But the SatNav still said plough on (another half hour). I had absolutely no idea where we were*, neither did mum, but she had given me the postcode so we followed the SatNav's directions. Pulled up outside a bungalow which even I knew wasn't right...

 

Rang my sister and discovered my mother had given me the wrong postcode! Like Eric Morecambe playing Grieg's Piano Concerto, her postcode had all the right letters and numbers but not necessarily in the right order... 

 

I suggested that we knocked on the door anyway and say we'd come for Christmas Dinner, but instead we did an about turn and hastily drove back from the outskirts of Coventry back to Ironbridge!

 

It wasn't long after that I ditched the SatNav in favour of a phone based app Waze as recommended by my sister, and have used that ever since on a daily basis. As discussed earlier, it is one of those apps that is updated continuously and users can report accidents, potholes, roadworks and even state of traffic etc on the fly to assist other motorists. Not to say that it is infallible - if an accident has just happened it can catch you out as the app doesn't know until it is reported.

 

Steve S

 

* Actually quite unusual for me - my dad preferred A (and B) roads to motorways, so growing up we often took "the scenic route" when out and about. Strangely enough, his ability to drive 'by the seat of his pants' seems to have rubbed off on me; on many occasions I have recognised where I am almost like deja vous, and later realised that I had been driven there as a child and somehow 'remembered' buildings or features. Seems I have more squirrel DNA than perhaps expected - but totally relying upon a SatNav removes that spatial awareness of surroundings beyond the immediate vicinity of the vehicle, as it did that Christmas Morning! (Christmas Dinner was two hours later than planned that day!)

 

I was the navigator for my dad on trips from Paisley to Dover before there were any motorways. He would not drive through London. I'd sit in the passenger seat reading the route chart he got from the AA while mum was in the back.

 

"In two miles bear right at The Green Man" etc. 😆