Early Risers.

[tigerburnie]

We've stopped watching the news, it rarely actually fits the description of the word nowadays and it raises my blood pressure(I'm blaming Boris for me failing my MOT lol). Whilst out today I topped up the cars fuel tank, we are now running on E7.5, I run the tank down to half full then top up with the fuel I didn't use last time. So after filling with E10 last time I just filled up with E5, £1.62 a flippin' litre, I might be abandoning my daft idea.

[Coombe Barton]

... and quick action needed on the VLE ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/12/08/moved-eventually-but-very-late/

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

I dont know what its like now - if its still taught - but history in Australian schools back in the day seemed to consist entirely of  learning about the explorers. Pre white history was never covered, perhaps due to less concrete knowledge.

There was indeed an awful lot of that - the tragedy of Burke and Wills (mad dogs and Irishmen/Englishmen etc) with emphasis on pathos on a level comparable to the British reverence for Robert Falcon Scott et al.

 

What I observe about being taught Australian history, is that you cannot polish a brown object*. Colonial history began as a prison colony. Unlike the way US (and I presume) British history is taught, there is no "great and glorious" about it - even with an attempt to put so-called "explorers" on a pedestal. This is beneficial insomuch as the "embarrassing" bits are not ignored (like Governor Bligh hiding from the NSW Corps, aka Rum Corps, then a British Regiment, during the 'rum rebellion').

 

* Rhymes with herd, but starts with a "t".

 

In addition to the explorers, we actually did a quite a bit about Federation - including the 'free trade' versus 'protectionism' debate that rages in world democracies still.

 

I have always felt it a good thing that you can't whitewash the colonial history of Australia the way it is done in the US. By one estimate, 75% of 18th century "immigrants" to British colonial North America did so without their freedom. Most of these (50%) were enslaved Africans but the remaining 25% were indentured servants and convicts (aka white slaves with guaranteed manumission). The latter were, like the enslaved Africans, sold at auction once they arrived in the colonies.

 

In the wake of Culloden, a considerable number of Scots were transported to North America. It's very easy to find online references to Scottish "immigration" to the North American colonies but few which identify the transportation of the political prisoners of the English. They were prevented from returning by passage of the "Traitors Transported" act of 1746 which:

Quote

made it a felony, punishable with death without benefit of clergy, for anyone who had been pardoned for treason and transported to America to return to Great Britain or Ireland, or to go to the dominions of the French or Spanish kings.

 

The black and white slaves were treated little differently, except that the white ones were released and given a new suit when their terms expired. I have developed the opinion that the American veneration of "liberty" is directly the result of so many having the opportunity to hide their personal histories of servitude. British colonization of the Australian continent would not have happened the way it did, except that the flow of convicts to the North American colonies ended with the revolution.

 

Edited December 8, 2021 by Ozexpatriate

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Sorry to hear Lucy appears to unwell again.

Laid in bed listening to the football but feeling sleepy so making an early report just in case.

Another boring day, took Syd for a walk in the pouring rain and then some paperwork. Paid the company’s corporation tax and now expecting an invite to the chancellor’s Xmas bash. Had boys around for tea and then took them home but Sydney’s staying for a sleepover.

Forgot to say my van failed its MOT so modelling tokens will have to be spent on other things.Eyelids feeling heavy so better finish now. 
Goodnight
 

Edited December 8, 2021 by Erichill16
Grammar

[polybear]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

I must have blinked and missed the rest of the news.

 

The news got about 30 seconds - the rest was taken up with the media generated sh1tstorm bitchin' on about some party or other.  FFS

 

26 minutes ago, tigerburnie said:

We've stopped watching the news, it rarely actually fits the description of the word nowadays and it raises my blood pressure(I'm blaming Boris for me failing my MOT lol). Whilst out today I topped up the cars fuel tank, we are now running on E7.5, I run the tank down to half full then top up with the fuel I didn't use last time. So after filling with E10 last time I just filled up with E5, £1.62 a flippin' litre, I might be abandoning my daft idea.

 

Bear's car (1500cc) is currently running at 34/gallon according to the little dash thingummybob - I'm bl00dy sure this E10 lark has nobbled the mpg.  So I'll be running the tank low and then slinging some E5 Super in it to see what that gives.

[polybear]

Bear has just carried out my very first home covid test (I never realised it was a "down yer gob then up yer snoogle" jobbie like the official ones are); all done as a precaution since the College Lab Tech has The Lurgy and we were with him last Thursday.

 

I'm rather pleased that it's Negative 

[figworthy]

14 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Thank you. I shall do my best. 
 

There seems to be a camel shortage locally. I counted them all twice and there were none. 

 

That's because they are at a festival in Saudi Arabia.

 

It's not going well

 

Adrian

[Gwiwer]

19 minutes ago, polybear said:

Bear has just carried out my very first home covid test (I never realised it was a "down yer gob then up yer snoogle" jobbie like the official ones are); all done as a precaution since the College Lab Tech has The Lurgy and we were with him last Thursday.

 

I'm rather pleased that it's Negative 

Most of them now are just "up yer snoogle" without the "down yer gob".  The difference is the length of the brain-tickling stick provided.  If it's as long as your finger it only goes up; if it's twice that it goes down first.  

 

We must be on our 30th box of tests now.  At seven per box and two of us that's been quite a few weeks of regular testing; every 2 - 3 days and occasionally more if we are about to meet someone we don't regularly mix closely with.  

 

So far we have failed to achieve any positive tests.  Within the limitations of the kits that's quite satisfactory considering one of us has always been working from work and sees a lot of people every day.  The only time one of us had one symptom of the Dreaded Lurgy we both did PCR tests which also proved negative.  

 

Something like five in every six people in the UK have probably not had Covid - yet.  It's not as popular as some scientists and politicians would have us believe!   

[Ozexpatriate]

Apparently we had a swarm of 40 earthquakes yesterday in a range of magnitudes from 3.8 to 5.8 about 200 to 250 miles offshore.

 

Reports reassuringly suggest that they are not part of the Cascadia Subduction Zone (our "big one" threat) but are relatively shallow in the Blanco Fracture Zone - an area riddled with faults on the edge of the Juan de Fuca plate.

 

It's not unusual to have earthquake swarms in this area, and unlike large movements in the Juan de Fuca plate may do, there was no tsunami danger.

[monkeysarefun]

45 minutes ago, polybear said:

I'm bl00dy sure this E10 lark has nobbled the mpg. 

 

Had E10  here since 2005, by early 2006 everyone had realised this and pretty  much stopped using it.... 

 

  One of our motoring organisations did the figures re cheapness of E10 vs reduced range  and showed that you are about $200 worse off a year  here if you use E10. (Ignoring the other benefits of reduced emissions and what not). 

 

 Tainted the uptake of other Ethanol fuels here, particularly E85 which for a while was going to revolutionise our fuel industry. However only Holden modified their cars to run on it and these were just the V6 and V8 models so it died in the bum.

 

My ute will run on it and I've meant to give it a go cos its meant to up the power quite a bit but its hard to track down these days. Only about 4 servos in Sydney stock it now and its kept under lock and key to prevent A) numpties using it in their car since its noticeably cheaper than other fuels and B) stop people trying to drink it..

 

 

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[Tony_S]

I suspect even with my limited mileage this year my car is now running on E10 unsullied by any remaining E5. It doesn’t seem to have affected performance, fuel economy round town isn’t great anyway and I am not sure when I will next go on a longer trip. The trip to Chelmsford was mainly at 70mph this morning. The trip to Chelmsford this evening to collect the car took about twice as long though most of the delay was at one roundabout in Benfleet,just normal 5pm traffic. I didn’t get any advisories on the MoT but the service indicated the tyres and brakes were 50% worn. 
Tony

Edited December 8, 2021 by Tony_S

[simontaylor484]

My left arm that recieved the jab this morning feels like it is going to drop off. I have had to order my own xmas gift from the wife from B&Q I was originally asking for a detail sander to attack the  stairs with but settled instead for an oscillating multitool instead as it is more versatile there was 10% off online orders tgat finishes tomorrow and I had a £3 off voucher as well so it went to £69 from £80 then I have 6% cashback to come from top cashback but that will take a couple of months to become payable

[laurenceb]

A friend is reporting no difference in fuel  consumption, he is getting around 63 mpg on motorways in a ford fiesta

[Compound2632]

3 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

There is quite a bit of evidence that the major shareholders  in the early main line railways, were looking for somewhere to invest their slave trade profits.  

 

On the other hand...

 

In June 1840, the first World Anti Slavery Convention was held in London. Benjamin Haydon painted one of those vast idealised canvasses of it, with every participant recognisable (at least to the first viewers). On its National Portrait Gallery page you can pick out some of the names. There was a fair sprinkling of military men, together with Quakers, of course. The former group included Constantine Richard Moorsom, RN - future Chairman of the London & North Western Railway - whilst among the Quakers was John Ellis, MP - future Chairman of the Midland Railway.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. They had bread pudding in Tess Coes when I went there this afternoon, a considerable part has gone now.

1 hour ago, figworthy said:

 

That's because they are at a festival in Saudi Arabia.

 

It's not going well

 

Adrian

A beauty contest for camels? Just as well they don't allow alcoholic drinks out there.

[monkeysarefun]

25 minutes ago, laurenceb said:

A friend is reporting no difference in fuel  consumption, he is getting around 63 mpg on motorways in a ford fiesta

 

 

Ethanol fuels have a higher octane rating, the engine management system on his car is probably optimising the spark timing to gain the advantage from this under motorway conditions. Interesting to see what he gets "around town" in comparison.

 

Here  are the result of the latest cost survey done in Victoria. The fuel tax rates have been rejigged to boost E10 but it still comes out slightly behind.

 

https://acapmag.com.au/2019/11/racv-reveals-annual-cost-of-filling-up-with-different-fuel-types/

 

 

[Tony_S]

55 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

oscillating multitool instead as it is more versatile

I have one and have found it to be very useful. 

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[Adam88]

5 hours ago, polybear said:

The latest regarding the F-35 crash:

 

 

Cause of the crash still to be determined

The cause of the crash has yet to be determined but it is thought a plastic covering, designed to keep debris out of the engine intake vents, had been left on the jet and ingested by the aircraft causing the engines to fail. 

 

Bear predicts a sudden loss of career prospects for at least one FAA Ground Crew - and the Crew Chief?

 

It seems the ship basically "run-over" the aircraft - they found it as an Airfix Kit.  Ooops.  As for the Pilot banging out, it seems he was blown slightly sideways and narrowly missed landing back on the deck (that would've been a party trick) - his chute got snagged on the side of the carrier and he was left dangling; he had to release the harness and get fished out of the oggin by the SAR.

 

 

 

Much luckier than:

 

21st March 1941 – The RENOWN and ARK ROYAL were steaming northerly through the night closing the estimated position of the German battlecruisers at 27 knots.

At 0645 ARK ROYAL launched Swordfish reconnaissance patrols to attempt to relocate the battlecruisers, all they found was thick fog in the area.

At approximately 1000 in position 49-44N, 18-29W, ARK ROYAL catapulted off Swordfish L7636 of 818 Sqd armed with depth charges, for an A/S patrol. During the launch something went wrong and the aircraft crashed into the sea ahead of ARK ROYAL. The depth charges exploded killing the crew of Sub Lt P E Opdall, Sub Lt C R Hearn and L/A B C Biggs, the explosion also caused minor damage to the carrier.

 

[At 2014 a RAF Hudson of 220 Sqd sighted the battlecruisers with an escort of one destroyer, (the destroyer was actually two torpedo boats the JAGUAR and ILTIS) in position 47-17N, 07-13W, steering east at 21 knots.

With the chances of catching the battlecruisers now gone and RENOWN's low fuel state, the Admiralty ordered Somerville back to Gibraltar]

 

Extract from: Ark Royal

 

My mother kept a photograph of Peter Opdall in uniform to the very end but only ever mentioned him once.  They were similar in age and neighbours but beyond that I know nothing.

 

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Most of the day has been spent in the cellar, continuing work on the water tower. I’ve also been sorting out what the next building project will be, a mess room and canteen building, so parts will be printed off over the next few days. 

 

Those f@#&%+g adverts are back again, they only seem to show up when I use my iPad, don’t show up when I use my phone! They only appear whenever, I log into this site, every other site I go on, no adverts!

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[Ozexpatriate]

2 minutes ago, BSW01 said:

Those f@#&%+g adverts are back again, they only seem to show up when I use my iPad, don’t show up when I use my phone! They only appear whenever, I log into this site, every other site I go on, no adverts!

The top and bottom banner advertisements are back on my Windows laptop, but don't cause any new issues. I just scroll past them. I don't get the jumping around problem, but I generally use very basic navigation (go to last page) from the contents page and avoid things like 'view new content'. I always close the pop up video before doing any scrolling.

 

The 'tablet apology' banner is still there at the very top.

 

I get plenty of advertising on other websites. 

[Winslow Boy]

4 hours ago, pH said:

I thought that was an almost incidental advantage of angled flight decks (which HMS QE does not have) - an aircraft and pilot in that situation will not go under the ship.

 

I recall reading that the prat who filmed the incident - extremely well trained sailor (other derogatory terms are available) has been releived of duties and flown back to blighty. Oops!

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.