Early Risers.

[iL Dottore]

4 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

…..ISTR that the definition of an honest politican (or it may been a judge) in the USA was that when they've been bought they stay bought. 

Attributed to many, including Robert A Heinlein who wrote “An honest politician is one that stays bought.”

Regarding certain Americans and guns: it’s awfully tempting to regard this intense attraction as a paraphilia.

 

I can understand the need for rifles and shotguns, especially as many do go hunting for food (an American university friend of mine would go hunting for deer during the season and bag one or two which went into the freezer and kept her in meat for the entire year). But why they see a need for AK-47s is a bit beyond me. 
 

Could it be that deer and bears are getting tooled up and are shooting back?

Edited February 19, 2022 by iL Dottore

[iL Dottore]

3 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

MicroMark was a great supplier when I lived down under.  I could still use them now I'm back in the UK and would willingly do so but the import duty regime makes it prohibitive. …

3 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

I still love getting their  old-school printed catalogue in the mail. Lasts me all week.

Wow! That brings back memories. For many years I was a regular MicroMark customer and I enjoyed getting the catalogues as @monkeysarefun pointed out they would be a good read for more than a few days.

What reduced my MicroMark shopping to a bare trickle was the increasing cost of posting things from the US. I didn’t mind so much when it only cost two or three times the cost of the article to ship it if it was for a piece of kit that was absolutely unavailable anywhere else than at MicroMark, but when shipping got to be multiples of multiples of the unit price I decided to stop ordering from MicroMark, gritting my teeth and going without.

 

Paradoxically, looking back it seems to me that the increase in shipping price paralleled the rise in ubiquitousness of couriers like UPS and DHL - although, competition is supposed to drive prices down….

 

Finally, I wonder - just out of curiosity – that if we ordered something from MicroMark, shipped it to one of our fellow ERs in the US and he then shipped it to us via US post, whether or not it would actually be cheaper than getting it shipped from MicroMark directly

[simontaylor484]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Wall No. 4 nearly coved - just one smallish piece to bond in place and I've run out of adhesive   Turdycurses.  The piece is all cut and ready, so not much to do really.  I need another tube of adhesive, but it needs to be suitable for Duropolymer coving and many types of adhesive are no good for this apparently (yet they're ok for polystyrene...) .

The usual flavour comes from Toolstation, but as I can't make up a £25 order they want a fiver to deliver a two quid tube.  Double Turdycurses.

So it'll be a tube of solvent-free Gripfill from a south American river - only that's too big to fit my caulk gun  TTC....

So I had to order a gun as well - which was a fiver; at least doing it this way I actually get something for my fiver, rather than blow it on delivery (I get free delivery with Amazon).

 

The next job now is to fill and fettle all the coving joints.  Deep joy 

I have in the problem with the Gripfil tubes and caulking gun all I did was cut a slice off the bottom of the tube with my 12in hacksaw. 

Isn't there a Toolstation near Bear towers to go and collect from ?

[simontaylor484]

@iL Dottore it would be interesting if you could get the rough dimensions of the parcel and see via a website how much it would cost for the likes of DHL et al to ship it to your secret alpine lair and see how much Mark up Micromark were putting on the shipping 

 

I get a bit pi55ed off when I get charged just short of 4 quid for delivery and it turns up in an A5 jiffy envelope 

Edited February 19, 2022 by simontaylor484
Pressed button twirly

[Ozexpatriate]

9 hours ago, PupCam said:

The trouble is, often these days the Muppets have reproduced prior to committing their Darwin Award worthy actions.    Thus their genes have not been removed from the gene pool and poor old Darwin* is found wanting!

 

* Yes, we know this is bending the rules of natural selection/survival of the fittest.

My penchant for pedantry is now in overdrive. 

 

The notional "Darwin award" is grossly and unfortunately misnamed. "Survival of the fittest" was not used by Charles Darwin in early editions of "On the Origin of Species". It is attributed to Herbert Spencer. Darwin used "natural selection" which had nothing to do with voluntarily making stupid decisions.

 

He did subsequently agree when offered the opinion that people were conflating "natural selection" with "self-selection"* that "survival of the fittest" might have been a less confusing term. Sadly with the advent of the equally grossly misnamed concepts of "social Darwinism", popular culture can't seem to make the distinction between advantageous genetic mutations and stupidity.

 

* Meaning a conscious choice.

 

I recognize the light-hearted use of the notional "Darwin award" but to me its popularity at large reflects the general confusion in popular culture that people have regarding the principles of evolution and the erroneous overloading of Darwin's concepts with despicable pseudo-science like eugenics.

 

I just wish there was a different term for it - like "self-selected eugenics award", but no one would "get it".

 

Edited February 19, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[Coombe Barton]

... are they still hiding Sir Chris and Sir Patrick from us? ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2022/02/19/more-experts-say-they-disagree-with-boris/

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

MicroMark was a great supplier when I lived down under.  

4 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

I still love getting their  old-school printed catalogue in the mail. Lasts me all week.

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Finally, I wonder - just out of curiosity – that if we ordered something from MicroMark, shipped it to one of our fellow ERs in the US and he then shipped it to us via US post, whether or not it would actually be cheaper than getting it shipped from MicroMark directly

I occasionally receive MicroMark catalogues. I have one lying around somewhere.

 

Flavio, I would be happy to oblige if you would like to experiment, but do suspect their shipping might be cheaper than I would see from USPS. International consumer package rate postage has odd size/weight trip points.

 

In reverse, I find that UK hobby shops seem to be able to ship to the US for less than I was able to walking into a UK post office. This may be more perception than fact. It's hard to say for sure.

 

 

[brianusa]

12 hours ago, polybear said:

When the depths of Stupid get even, er, deeper.....

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10528709/Weapons-manufacturer-unveils-AR-15-KIDS-called-JR-15.html

 

Only in America!

  Brian.

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Regarding certain Americans and guns: it’s awfully tempting to regard this intense attraction as a paraphilia.

For some, certainly. For most, no, it's not that simple.

 

The irony of the timing of the JR-15 product announcement, particularly regarding their trademarked logo, is that just this week, the Sandy Hook Elementary school families settled their suit with Remington Arms' insurers for $73M over "marketing" claims made by Remington Arms.

 

Specifically:

Quote

At the news conference announcing the settlement, Koskoff showed Remington ads that he said appealed to troubled youths like Adam Lanza, the 20-year-old man who carried out the Sandy Hook shooting. Lanza used a Remington-made Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle that was legally owned by his mother. He killed his mother in their Newtown home before going to the school.

 

The ads contained messages including “Consider Your Man Card Reissued” and “Clear the Room, Cover the Rooftop, Rescue the Hostage.”

 

Koskoff said Remington targeted younger, at-risk males in advertising and product placement in violent video games. The lawsuit said the company's advertising played a role in the school shooting, but did not elaborate.

The legal strategy to pursue marketing is a result of 2005 legislation (the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 7901–7903) which protects firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable when crimes have been committed with their products. 

 

One observes that the approach by Wee 1 Tactical LLC may fall right into the crosshairs (pun intended) of precisely this legal stratagem. The owners of Wee 1 Tactical might be well advised to "lawyer up" before the inevitable accidental deaths caused by their products.

 

Edited February 19, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

4 minutes ago, brianusa said:

Only in America!

Yes, it would be illegal everywhere else.

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[New Haven Neil]

Evening.

 

Mad day, but I did wonder if the Manx Snowmageddon had arrived this morning.....

 

 

There were the usual upside down parked cars and squeals from locals....but two hours later it was gone and nice and sunny!

 

 

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

2 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

... two hours later it was gone and nice and sunny!

Best of both worlds - winter wonderland, closely followed by dry pavement and snow-capped hills.

[brianusa]

Only in America indeed!  Even after living here for a long while now, it is still amazing to read what goes on even in your own town.   Its currently catalytic  converters that are stolen, sometimes right out of dealers lots , even in peoples driveways.  There are regular gun battles, windows are shot out and sometime people are killed.  A car is stolen every night.  Police forces are not up to strength due to a liberal council but there is hope of a new Mayor and Council.  The latest is thieves are crashing thorough shop doors and stealing the contents which incudes new cars on dealers lots and mass stealing where a gang will dash though a store stealing what they may on the way!  

  Fortunately, all this is not in GH but in Tacoma, big city across the bridge which has a more diverse populace.

      Brian

Edited February 19, 2022 by brianusa

[polybear]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Could it be that ..........bears are getting tooled up and are shooting back?

 

Nothing so trivial.......

 

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

Isn't there a Toolstation near Bear towers to go and collect from ?

 

The nearest is a 24 mile round trip, so it makes more sense to shell out for delivery after fuel and time are taken into consideration.

 

57 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

I get a bit pi55ed off when I get charged just short of 4 quid for delivery and it turns up in an A5 jiffy envelope 

 

Bear has just ordered some spare anvils and punches for a GW Models Rivet Press; George Watts waived his usual (and extremely reasonable) two quid small item delivery charge because of their very small size.  

If only more suppliers were like that.

[brianusa]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Attributed to many, including Robert A Heinlein who wrote “An honest politician is one that stays bought.”

Regarding certain Americans and guns: it’s awfully tempting to regard this intense attraction as a paraphilia.

 

I can understand the need for rifles and shotguns, especially as many do go hunting for food (an American university friend of mine would go hunting for deer during the season and bag one or two which went into the freezer and kept her in meat for the entire year). But why they see a need for AK-47s is a bit beyond me. 
 

Could it be that deer and bears are getting tooled up and are shooting back?

Paraphilia.  Good word - had to look it up!

     Brian.

[polybear]

11 minutes ago, brianusa said:

Even after living here for a long while now, it is still amazing to read what goes on even in your own town.   Its currently catalytic  converters that are stolen, sometimes right out of dealers lots.  There are regular gun battles, windows are shot out and sometime people are killed.  A car is stolen every night.  Police forces are not up to strength due to a liberal council but there is hope of a new Mayor and Council.  The latest is thieves are crashing thorough shop doors and stealing the contents which incudes new cars on dealers lots and mass stealing where a gang will dash though the store stealing what they may on the way!  

 

 

Just like Frinton on a Friday night then.....

[Ozexpatriate]

10 minutes ago, brianusa said:

... it is still amazing to read what goes on even in your own town. 

I see the recent dramatic increase in (mostly) small property crime* as being more connected to pandemic frustration** than policing policy. This sort of thing wasn't at the same level pre-pandemic and policing levels were adequate.

 

* Window smashing, catalytic converter theft etc.

** The sum of lockdowns, isolation, unemployment, increasing costs for housing, inflation, a general climate of fear etc

 

There are many police officers in larger cities that have retired or moved to jobs in quiet suburbs during the pandemic reducing staffing levels where they are needed.

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[Tony_S]

8 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Just like Frinton on a Friday night then.....

I have always left well before sunset. Seemed sensible. 

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Got a funeral to go to on Wednesday, my SiL. Quite honestly my brother will be better off without her as she was very selfish and demanding despite his own very poor health. She was his second wife and I'm surprised that all of the family are turning up for the funeral. It will be good to meet family as although we are in regular contact by phone and internet I haven't had face to face contact for years in some cases.

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Yes, it would be illegal everywhere else.

 

Read about controversy re a western shootout style  ad by a politician intended  to run during the superbowl.  The gist was that three bad hombres (ie those  from the other political side) come into  town - ad starts with them standing high noon style in main street while the good townsfolk yell at them about all the trouble they've caused  etc.  The  Politician appears sheriff style and tells them to go away. Shootout ensures whereby the three bad people from the other side are outgunned and run away.

 

I'm mentioning this only because I love the response in defence of the ad  from the spokesman for the politician when called out about its  inappropriateness. Paraphrased they said something like 

 

"If you watch it again you'll clearly see that they drew first!" 

Edited February 19, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

36 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

"If you watch it again you'll clearly see that they drew first!" 

Like Greedo?

 

36 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Read about controversy re a western shootout style  ad by a politician intended  to run during the superbowl.

I'm guessing this was a local race? I didn't see any political advertising this year during the game. Candidates for national office ran ads in 2020, as you might expect.

 

Based on your description and a little searching, (and a YouTube hit) I'm guessing it was for a candidate for US Senate from Arizona.  If indeed it is that one, the biggest criticism is related to one of the three 'bad hombres' (an incumbent US Senator from Arizona) is married to a former US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot and seriously injured in an outdoors constituent meeting in Tucson in 2011.

 

Edited February 19, 2022 by Ozexpatriate
Added Gabrielle Giffords reference

[PupCam]

Evening All!

 

 

3 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Good point so I checked with the cab firm I always use and they would charge £14/15 during the day and evening and £18 at 3.00AM which doesn't seem too bad to me.

 

Yes, I would have thought extremely reasonable for that time in the morning!     £38 really was taking the .....

 

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

My penchant for pedantry is now in overdrive. 

 

The notional "Darwin award" is grossly and unfortunately misnamed. "Survival of the fittest" was not used by Charles Darwin in early editions of "On the Origin of Species". It is attributed to Herbert Spencer. Darwin used "natural selection" which had nothing to do with voluntarily making stupid decisions.

 

He did subsequently agree when offered the opinion that people were conflating "natural selection" with "self-selection"* that "survival of the fittest" might have been a less confusing term. Sadly with the advent of the equally grossly misnamed concepts of "social Darwinism", popular culture can't seem to make the distinction between advantageous genetic mutations and stupidity.

 

* Meaning a conscious choice.

 

I recognize the light-hearted use of the notional "Darwin award" but to me its popularity at large reflects the general confusion in popular culture that people have regarding the principles of evolution and the erroneous overloading of Darwin's concepts with despicable pseudo-science like eugenics.

 

I just wish there was a different term for it - like "self-selected eugenics award", but no one would "get it".

 

 

10 hours ago, PupCam said:

* Yes, we know this is bending the rules of natural selection/survival of the fittest.

 

25 minutes ago, polybear said:

Bear has just ordered some spare anvils and punches for a GW Models Rivet Press;

 

What?   I can't believe Bear has worn out the originals already! 

 

And finally ......

 

The clouds had finally blown away after today's downpours in the wake of the storm to reveal a clear sky and it would have been rude not to whip out the telescope.   

As it's like a Baby Hubble I've decided to call it Bubble

 

I thought I'd try and see the Orion Nebula for the first time.    Now that I've got the Red Spot finder reasonably well collimated with the telescope it was easy to find;  look at the middle star of his sword and ye will find!     What is still considerably harder is taking a photograph of it (or any star / dim feature) because the focus of the eyepiece and the Barlow lens/camera combo is not the same therefore when the camera is mounted the focus has to be found, bearing in mind that each star is only a few pixels on the cameras monitor screen and no pixels when its grossly out of focus it's very hard to focus the camera!   I'd had 5 or 6 unsuccessful attempts and shortly before packing up I thought I'd have one more go.  Well, Lady Luck took pity on me and I caught a brief glimpse after which I was able to home in on something like the focus point.  

 

I think I need to make a camera adapter that puts the camera's focal point in the same position as the eyepiece so that having found and focused the subject the camera focus will also be correct.    I've still got a long way to go but it's fun and fascinating.     Going back to the discussion on cheap versus expensive equipment we had the other day;   I wish the astronomy budget was somewhere between £10-20K ......

 

Anyway, here's my first photograph of the Orion Nebula and also the star Rigel (bottom right of Orion himself)

 

Night awl!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

4 minutes ago, PupCam said:

Anyway, here's my first photograph of the Orion Nebula and also the star Rigel (bottom right of Orion himself)

Terrific photos Alan.

 

(My "Darwin award" comments weren't directed at you personally. I replied to your post, of the many, because I saw the relevance of your footnote.)

 

Edited February 19, 2022 by Ozexpatriate