Early Risers.

[tigerburnie]

32 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

This was in my inbox yesterday, I might be interested.

https://www.travelzoo.com/uk/local-deals/Essex/Other/390997/?utm_source=localdeal_uk&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2974538_text_essex_deal%3a2974538&utm_content=2974538&ec=0&dlinkId=2974538

I owned a Saker back in the 1980's/'90's, a most interesting, rewarding and very time consuming hobby, not like owning a pet, as they are never that.

[The Lurker]

51 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

I am starting to believe democracy is now a sham - the horseshoe certainly exists but I believe those at the top of 'politics' are there because they want the power that comes with it, they entered politics with a vested interest that they wished to pursue and by getting to the top they can take what they want.  We're conned with promises that turn to a tissue of lies once the person has been elected.

 

We only have to look at the various countries around the globe to see how many of those countries the same people/parties constantly retain power even though they are obviously corrupt.  I am appalled that a chap who was thrown out of office in 2016 as a mayor and found guilty of a number of offences could simply stand again and take the same role he was expelled from, and we expect it will be different this time?  Then there is the land of the free, where according to the politicians democracy really exists - really, where the politicians can manipulate the rules when in power so that they stay in power, where vested interest reigns supreme, where for one party the aim is to deny as many folk the vote as they can to ensure their voters outnumber the rest and the whole country has now found itself in two tribes who don't talk but hate.

Frank Herbert put a nice twist on the common statement about power and corruption by having the Bene Gesserit say in some of the Dune novels "power tends to attract the corruptible".

 

Mind you didn't Churchill suggest democracy was the worst form of government available; except for all the other forms which have been tried.

[Ian Abel]

POETS, I think we'll have some of that 👍

 

Yesterday somewhat busy with work, then, in the evening Jemma and Whitney were over for dinner.

Mrs and Jemma made a Hungarian favourite, my late MiL recipe, she was part/a lot Hungarian. Goulash with galushka all from the "correct/traditional" ingredients (I think that also includes some dirt from the floor 🤣🤣).

The ladies enjoyed cooking together, been a while since they did that. Lovely evening.

 

A long weekend ahead - US Memorial Day - time to commemorate spending money with Memorial Day sales - WAIT, is that the reason?!?!?! 

Not a lot planned, sounds like several get-togethers with friends, the neighborhood happy hour group and I'm sure some to-do items. Modelling/hobbies ARE included.

 

Weather distinctly late spring/summer now - started at 5 and sunny, BUT, highs between 25-30 through Monday, lows 14-20 and no rain of any consequence until mid-Monday probably. That'll work nicely, thanks.

 

Tally ho - enjoy your weekend.

Edited May 27, 2022 by Ian Abel

[Barry O]

Saw this (its on a coaster) and just had to buy it!

 

Baz

[PhilJ W]

3 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

I owned a Saker back in the 1980's/'90's, a most interesting, rewarding and very time consuming hobby, not like owning a pet, as they are never that.

Its great to see such splendid birds close up. I intend to book the falconry experience for my friends lad.

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Apologies, but again, the house has defeated the web.  Many pages missed, and no posts read. 

 

All I can offer is the usual greetings.

 

30747 reaches 66 next year, and will draw her state pension then - can somebody else advise whether she will qualify for her own winter fuel allowance, or do we split one between us.  I'm sure that somebody can answer rather than my ploughing through the verbiage on the .gov websites.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[PhilJ W]

3 minutes ago, 45156 said:

Afternoon All

 

Apologies, but again, the house has defeated the web.  Many pages missed, and no posts read. 

 

All I can offer is the usual greetings.

 

30747 reaches 66 next year, and will draw her state pension then - can somebody else advise whether she will qualify for her own winter fuel allowance, or do we split one between us.  I'm sure that somebody can answer rather than my ploughing through the verbiage on the .gov websites.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

Only one winter fuel allowance per household I'm afraid.

[grandadbob]

Er me and The Boss get £100 each 😀

[Winslow Boy]

34 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

Er me and The Boss get £100 each 😀

 

I'd keep that quiet if I were you.

It's obviously a clerical error and knowing HMG they might ask for it back.

[Andrew P]

49 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

Er me and The Boss get £100 each 😀

 

13 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

I'd keep that quiet if I were you.

It's obviously a clerical error and knowing HMG they might ask for it back.

£100 EACH here too.😝

[PhilJ W]

59 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

Er me and The Boss get £100 each 😀

 

23 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

I'd keep that quiet if I were you.

It's obviously a clerical error and knowing HMG they might ask for it back.

I'm on my own and I get £200 which is the WFA. I think its optional for couples for one to get the allowance or it split between the two.

[PhilJ W]

Just been watching the vixen and the small cub in the garden. She was still suckling the cub and carried on for about ten minutes. A bigger cub came along and tried to join in but the vixen sent him packing. Such was the difference in size of the cubs that I wondered if the vixen has had two litters this year. If she has there is only the single cub surviving from the litter.

[The White Rabbit]

7 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

When someone uses the term 'political spectrum' in most peoples minds it usually means a straight line from left to right. I prefer to think of it as a circle, at the top you have democracy where the leaders are selected by ballot, without any outside interference or influence. We are close to that but have been closer but never have reached that ideal. At the bottom of the circle you will find Hitler and Stalin side by side. There are many politicians, even in a free democracy who can be placed in the bottom half of the circle. 

 

6 hours ago, AndrewC said:

That was almost how my poli-sci teacher way back in high school defined politics. She described it as more of a horse shoe. Left and right bend closer to each other at the bottom but never quite touch. 

 

The graphic representation I was taught for Politics A-Level was a square - left and right along the bottom and hard/soft, or liberal/authoritarian (etc.) along the other axis. Other comments were made at the time but are probably best not repeated here. 

 

[The White Rabbit]

Well, evening awl. Not the best of weeks, things did not improve much after the unpromising start to the week. More medical machinations and malevolence. And Google have been a significant pain in the ****. They don't recognise established UK landlines and think everyone in the entire world, even indigenous natives in the remotest parts of this planet, has a mobile. And not just a mobile, but a top of the range one with Internet connectivity and more computing power than a Kray. I've spent a lot of time and trouble trying to update the account but because I don't fit within their bigoted world-view, it looks like it's in vain. Perhaps a permanent redirect to a more reliable account before the 30-05-2022 changes come in is called for, if that's even possible? #Beary Rant candidate... 

 

It's been hellish windy round these parts, every time I've stuck my head outside, the whiskers have been blown about as if someone's using a hairdryer and isn't taking much care over minor distinctions such as those between the front and back of a head. It's blown a lot of the taller plants about and snapped some. Some of the neighbours have had visible damage to trees and shrubs too. 

 

Thoughts were with those in a small town in Texas. Many things could be said but to little avail. I can think of several possible solutions but they would not be politically acceptable to enough of the governing elites to produce any effective change. Did someone [famous] once say all nations are a prisoner of their past? I find it ironic that many of the behaviours the US government criticises now are ones it has itself freely indulged in in the past. 

 

One bit of good news is the new premium option. That's certainly got my attention and I'll have a bash at signing up for it shortly, hopefully it's easier than Google! I haven't been troubled much by the adverts but am happy to chip in for use of the site. Gold was too much, especially as at the moment I can't use the free tickets or make proper use of the archive/digital mags offer. 

[simontaylor484]

We have had the wind here for the last 3 days at least it has kept most of the rain away.

 

The eldest's new be turned up at 1345 I just had chance to unwrap it all and set it up (divan) and take acres of plastic to the tip on the way to school. I need to drill out for the screws into the headboard but that is a job for tomorrow 

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, Ian Abel said:

A long weekend ahead - US Memorial Day - time to commemorate spending money with Memorial Day sales - WAIT, is that the reason?!?!?! 

Firing up the backyard grill I thought? 😉

 

We had some nice weather earlier in the week, but tomorrow is forecast to be very rainy. 

[Ozexpatriate]

8 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

When someone uses the term 'political spectrum' in most peoples minds it usually means a straight line from left to right. I prefer to think of it as a circle, at the top you have democracy ... At the bottom of the circle you will find Hitler and Stalin side by side. 

8 hours ago, AndrewC said:

That was almost how my poli-sci teacher way back in high school defined politics. She described it as more of a horse shoe. Left and right bend closer to each other at the bottom but never quite touch. 

I have long subscribed to the 'circle' model. The horseshoe suggests that six o'clock is unattainable (a hypothetical dystopian state like INGSOC) and that Stalinism and 1930s Fascism are at seven and five o'clock respectively.

 

These days I am perfectly willing to believe that a state like INGSOC is possible and the last few years have reinforced this.

 

There is a quote you can find all over the internet, often misattributed to Sinclair Lewis, with variations like:

Quote

When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross

The literal embodiment of this trope is burned in my memory. "Nativist" politics are not limited to the US. Examples can readily be found in Europe. They are closer to home for most ERs than some might recognize.

 

Nor is it new. The collapse of the 19th century Whig party in the US saw the rise of the Native American Party* in the mid-1850s, colloquially known as the "Know Nothings" - "I know nothing" being their response to questions about their organization.

 

* Nothing to do with indigenous peoples.

 

I don't think it is inevitable.

 

A the end of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, James McHenry, (a Maryland delegate), reputedly wrote:

Quote

A lady asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy. A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it.

 

But all this is probably too political for us here.

 

[Coombe Barton]

... and the fart in the last movement of Beethoven's ninth ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2022/05/27/comparing-estimates/

[TheQ]

Well Hitler was close to Stalin for an obvious reason , he was leader of the NAZI party, and NAZI meant Nationalsozialismus, or National Socialism .

 

Evening just back from the MRC, lots of fencing going on with no interruptions as only one other club member turned up , as others are representing the BVR elsewhere to morrow.

 

Before lunch I spent three hour ferreting inside a cupboard fitting shelves and a sliding CD rack., Ben was then walked, before I headed to the Sailing club to collect all the equipment for the 3Rivers Race Guardship.

https://www.horning-sailing.club/webcams/

If you're quick before sunset you can see the boats moored for tomorrow.

From around 08:30 tomorrow you'll see me at the end of the pier on the Hickling camera, by 10:30 a bigger boat should be there as a guardship. From around 14:00 you'll see the the odd competitor sail round a buoy I'll put out. The main rush will not be until, about 22:00

We'll be there probably till about 10:00 on Sunday....

 

On the top 2 cameras you'll see the race starts from 11:00 - 12:30., The potter Heigham camera will start seeing competitors from around 13:00, but the peak around 18:00.

 

The Acle camera should be busiest about 17:00.

 

Muggachoccy to be drunk, then an early night...

 

I read on sailing pages of an elected official in the USA that got reelected after killing someone with his motorboat..

What was he reelected to?...

 

 

Sheriff....

Edited May 27, 2022 by TheQ

[tigerburnie]

4 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Its great to see such splendid birds close up. I intend to book the falconry experience for my friends lad.

I still look like that, but someone's painted my hair and beard white!!..............................................................

[brianusa]

9 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Well my morning perked up a bit.  First off I was presented with a bacon sarnie for breakfast which cheered me up.  Then internal domestic tasks were postponed as "we needed to visit the garden centre"  Fair enough, that was out in the sun and fresh air.  Came away with 3 plants only and a solar lit ornament which have all been placed in the garden with minimal fuss and effort.  Now enjoying a muggatea and thinking about what to have for lunch.  I've also just been asked what I'd like for an anniversary present next month.  Hmmm, oh dear,  what could I possibly want or "need?"

 

As far as paying for the forum goes I've always been happy to contribute when asked and quite honestly don't think the 96p a week I currently pay for Gold is excessive due to the amount of enjoyment I get from being here.   £12 a year for premium membership is brilliant but I'm not going to change.

 

I am not a funeral person; I've survived many relatives and not attended any funeral.  My own parents died while  was in the US and while I made the effort to fly home for my father, he was breathing his last when I arrived.  It was cold and snowy that year, I accomplished nothing, so never again.  I did go for my grandfather to the local crem  but was put off by the theatrics, dirge like musak, slow progress to the fire, lots of crying; I wanted to leave!  Why can't anything funereal be a pleasant and memorable occasion!  Even the Irish have a wake!

I have had a cry since at my own place and time, which has sufficed but prefer the happy memories of times before.

 

\     Brian.

[tigerburnie]

2 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

 

I'm on my own and I get £200 which is the WFA. I think its optional for couples for one to get the allowance or it split between the two.

I get £200, SWMBO is still a youngster and a while to go before she reaches her retirement age.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Just been watching the fox cubs play fighting until it got too dark to see them, but I can certainly hear them.

[Tony_S]

26 minutes ago, tigerburnie said:

I still look like that, but someone's painted my hair and beard white!!..............................................................

The photo does look as if it could be on a 1970s LP cover.

[New Haven Neil]

Missed this morning, too much going on - TT starts today!

 

A pleasant evening (if noisy) watching the pre-TT classic practice down at Castletown, 

 

All done now, nice evening.