Proceedings of the Castle Aching Parish Council, 1905

[Caley Jim]

Thankfully we had a much calmer trip than that.  Only problem was that I got confused as to which end was which.  It came in to Circular Quay bow first, as I thought, so we sat at that end.  Only when it set off and didn't turn round did I twig that it was double ended!

 

Jim😳

[DIW]

On 30/07/2022 at 02:15, monkeysarefun said:

 

So, I recommend you make voting compulsory* so everyone no matter how mad has to vote, and bring in proportional voting to enable a much greater range of single interest  candidates to have a crack at getting driven round in Commonwealth cars.  Also,  set up sausage sizzles at voting places**. 

 

 

 

Ah, this is rather close to the Luxembourg system in place when I lived there. There were only a few differences:

 

* Compulsory for everyone, except foreign-origin people who have lived there less than five years, unless they're Irish in which case they don't wait the five years (that's not a joke)

** There was beer too at the sausage booths.

 

In the event of a tie in the votes the elder candidate is declared the winner (happened for a work colleague at the time!).

 

 

[Edwardian]

[Nearholmer]

Very Wagnerian.

[monkeysarefun]

2 hours ago, Edwardian said:

"I see you've brought the weather with you, then!"

 

(Said here to English visitors when it is cloudy or rainy)

Edited August 6, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[Edwardian]

Yes, Munich was very hot on the first day, then there was a rather splendid thunder and lighting storm over night, leaving the Bavarian alps shrouded in mist.

 

Now, I like that. There is a reason I returned to the UK from the Caribbean all those years ago; I miss bad weather. Not a sun worshipper, me. And this was, exactly as Kevin said, very Wagnerian. 😀

 

However, if you've come a long way and not seen the views before, it could be viewed as disappointing weather. Thus, the view posted above (which I love with the mist), could be captioned "The Alpsee, showing where the Austrian Alps should be", whereas the one below might be labelled simply "Where Neuschwanstein should be"

 

 

Fortunately we are due back up there in a few days, so might manage some contrasting weather. It would be good for the kids to see some of the more expansive views! 

 

 

 

Edited August 7, 2022 by Edwardian
spelling

[Nearholmer]

You are fortunate that you are able to persuade your clan to go on holiday to Germany.

 

Here the weather seems to be operating on something of a North-South divide, reasonable in the North, while us middle-englanders and southerners continue to get Spanish weather. There is simply no water in the ground, trees are shedding leaves like autumn in response. Still can’t get decent tapas though.

[Andy Hayter]

@Nearholmer You have missed out Scotland, where my relatives, living in the west, have commented that so far summer has exhibited itself on just one Tuesday, 3 weeks ago.  Every other day it has rained - not that that is a concept that I am familiar with being on "red alert - crisis" for a number of weeks. 

[alastairq]

I am more concerned about 'our' water being pumped over to the West Riding....

 

We have plenty...[Chalk uplands, the Wolds]    but it is mostly underground. The lanes round here are littered with capped off bore holes, in the verges...[interesting if one drives off the tarmac surface into what looks like a very wide grass verge...to suddenly come to a very abrupt halt 15 feet from the road, having hit one of the iron upstands hidden in the tall grass.]   

A lot of the lanes round hereabouts can be described as 'drovers roads'....., meaning, around 15-20 foot width of tarmac...with twice as much width of 'grass verge' between hedgerows. None of those Devon-shyre narrow lanes bordered by stone walls, hidden behind weeds round these parts.

 

Anyway, decades ago, during a 'drought' where Wezzie Yarkshire was under hosepipe bans....'our' water was pumped over to meet their needs...resulting in a  hosepipe ban here, due to a shortage of water.....

Much money could also  be made driving the endless streams of water tankers loading up here & round the North York Moors...and driving to the Leeds area to discharge...'They' ran very short of drivers....

I suppose the relevant Water Boards have installed huge pipelines round the country since those hedonistic days?

[Caley Jim]

12 hours ago, Edwardian said:

......, then there was a rather splendid thunder and lighting storm over night, leaving the Bavarian alps shrouded in mist.

We have experienced some dramatic thunderstorms in the Austrian Alps.  the only place I've seen something being hit by lightening.  A small haystack (c7ft high and 7ft diam.).  It glowed incandescent white, like burning magnesium, for a few seconds leaving nothing but a black circle on the ground.  No flames, no smoke, completely vaporised!

12 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Pretty similar here around lunchtime.

 

 

Earlier you could barely see the nearest hills.  Temperature c15°C.

 

Jim

[Annie]

That looks a lot like the weather we've got here in the Waikato at the moment.  Nice, - I like that kind of weather too; - sunlight is overrated.

[wagonman]

Down here in the right hand sticky out bit it's sunny, a pleasant 21°, with an on-shore breeze. And dry. Did I say it was dry? Parched.

 

 

[Nearholmer]

The two big things in farming round here at this time of year are cereals on the better soil, which is being harvested very early and under-size, and beef fattening on the poor soil, and I’ve noticed that the bullocks are scratching for food and looking leaner than normal. There’s a herd in a big field going down to the river just across the road, and they are well underweight compared with the same time last year, when the grass was pretty lush throughout the summer.

[teaky]

On 07/08/2022 at 08:09, Edwardian said:

Fortunately we are due back up there in a few days, so might manage some contrasting weather. It would be good for the kids to see some of the more expansive views! 

 

Of course you may have everything planned out already but as something different from walking the hills and mountains I can recommend:

- the Highline179 (we caught a bus from Füssen to Reutte) - https://www.highline179.tirol/en

- hire bicycles in Füssen and spend an afternoon cycling around the Forggensee, mostly on good quality cycleways (we tried the cycle hire at the station first but they didn't have four available that day and we ended up hiring from a hotel on the main street which actually turned out cheaper)

[Edwardian]

 

 

 

 

[Dunsignalling]

 

Steady on. Anybody would think this is a model railway forum....😇

[monkeysarefun]

9 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

The two big things in farming round here at this time of year are cereals on the better soil, which is being harvested very early and under-size, and beef fattening on the poor soil, and I’ve noticed that the bullocks are scratching for food and looking leaner than normal. There’s a herd in a big field going down to the river just across the road, and they are well underweight compared with the same time last year, when the grass was pretty lush throughout the summer.

 

Want your rain back? Please come and get it!   We are meant to have had 555mm between January and August, so far we've had 111 wet days dumping 1433mm.

 

But thats not enough apparently so we've  a  torrentially wet spring and summer forecast due to something called the Indian Ocean dipole and then possibly  another La Nina, both  events which  increase rainfall over Australia's East Coast.   We will soon be banned from making mockery of rainy England, I can see that is on the cards.

Edited August 9, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[wagonman]

9 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

   We will soon be banned from making mockery of rainy England, I can see that is on the cards.

 

That would be sad! #InTheWet

[Dunsignalling]

13 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

Want your rain back? Please come and get it!   We are meant to have had 555mm between January and August, so far we've had 111 wet days dumping 1433mm.

 

But thats not enough apparently so we've  a  torrentially wet spring and summer forecast due to something called the Indian Ocean dipole and then possibly  another La Nina, both  events which  increase rainfall over Australia's East Coast.   We will soon be banned from making mockery of rainy England, I can see that is on the cards.

Given the choice between floating and burning......

[alastairq]

Lordy...just discovered La Truss has familial links to my close locality!

Although possibly not as bad as Edwardian's sitting MP?

[Dunsignalling]

54 minutes ago, alastairq said:

Lordy...just discovered La Truss has familial links to my close locality!

Although possibly not as bad as Edwardian's sitting MP?

 

Are you perchance referring to the Member for the 17th Century?😃

 

[Ian Simpson]

1 hour ago, Dunsignalling said:

 

Are you perchance referring to the Member for the 17th Century?😃

 

 

And the wrong part of the 17th Century at that ...  ☹️

 

Edit:  I think that title is usually applied to Jacob Rees-Mogg, who represents a seat down in Somerset. 

God knows what's wrong with the voters down there, but I like to imagine they all model in Gauge 1 clockwork. 

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by Ian Simpson

[alastairq]

'Seems we will be heading back that way.....?

[alastairq]

Harumph!

Postie has just delivered....[normal here]...

A letter from one of my 'occupational'  pensions... [A good one, percentage wise, if but a 'small' one....[most of mine are small' ones, dribs & drabs really..all adds up tho'?]

Seems they 'got it all wrong' wahaaay back when....and failed to account for a 'levelling ip' clause [male & female, not Lancs & Yorks!]

 

A 'historic error' as they put it!

The outcome is, they have been 'overpaying' me since I 'claimed my pension'....[they cannot really use the term 'retired'...since no-one can legally force one to 'retire' these days...One simply, 'leaves'.....The pensions thing follows on from that. If one 'doesn't want to go', they cannot make one do so, on the grounds of 'retirement'....

 

Anyway, just when the costs of 'living' are about to take an even bigger hike, I will be receiving even less income!

Pleased to see the pension providers aren't going to recover the overpayment. [They might struggle, since they admit the error was of a historic nature, and entirely 100% their fault]

Plus, they would have to sort out with Inland Revenue concerning repayment of tax over-paid, as a result?

 

So, from the autumn, I shall be short the price of a Toddler mag & coffee...

Still, I can annoy the local council by adjusting my income downwards concerning hoosing benny fit. Snott good, being on the 'qualifying' cusp...

 

The above certainly won't please those retired bus drivers whose main source of income is the Company Pension...since it will apply pretty much to all those in receipt of that pension! That'll be at least one cruise a year less for them to look forward to?

[Ian Simpson]

A Heart symbol just wouldn't be enough here. Thank Heavens they aren't trying to claw anything back.