Early Risers.

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,

Muddling successful, more parallel bits of metal laid than planned. Now weighted down till next time.

 

Ben then took me for his long walk and it was his long walk, the full distance which he accomplished without problem, which is more than I did as my right ankle is now throbbing.

The new boots were nice warm and comfy though.

 

The rest of the time? Both Ben and me inspected eyelids.

 

 

Ben's ramp is now in the workshop, the fire has been topped up. the evening meal is prepared ready for cooking, we now await SWMBO's return.

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, BachelorBoy said:

You do seem to be a sucker, Polybear, for dubious claims expressed simplistically and emotionally.  

Lithium ore is not mined "artisanally" like the picture shows. 

We are sitting on a large amount of lithium here in the UK. It is also now being extracted and processed on a small scale but the production can be upped considerably when necessary. It has been known about in Cornish tin mines for centuries but it was not mined because of the dangers of handling it. Lithium is highly poisonous, so much so that even touching it can cause serious injury or death. It is also water soluble which makes it easy to extract as most of the Cornish tin mines are flooded and it just needs to be pumped out. There are a few problems with just pumping it out such as disposing of the water after removing the lithium but these are being sorted out.

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

admittedly for Cobalt ore - but used in Li-ion Batteries.

I remember talking to Aditi’s Dad about child labour in India years ago. He supported financially,  organisations that got children out of labour and into school. He said just banning child labour generally wasn’t the answer as the children would just starve. Setting up schemes/systems to make it unnecessary were needed. Lithium and therefore also cobalt are required materials for so many modern devices. ICE vehicle promoters creating memes about EVs rather than just about anything with a modern rechargeable battery are just producing clickbait. 

[Tony_S]

I think the meme linking Greta Thunberg and child labour is rather unpleasant. Personal attacks on people who have a view on climate change don’t help rational discussion.I also think people who glue themselves to the road don’t help much either, as the awareness they try to raise is outweighed by annoying people. 

Edited December 16, 2023 by Tony_S

[Compound2632]

One thinks of ERs as being generally from an engineering or technical background. It is surprising to find so many apparently duped by Trumpian propaganda rather than seeking to look at the question of EVs in a rational, scientific manner. 

[DaveF]

I thought about an EV when I changed my car recently but decided to stick with a self charging hybrid.  There were several reasons - cost was the main one, the second one was the lack of charging stations in remote places - although I don't often go on long journeys I can sometimes go further than I planned.  As some places in Northumberland do not yet have mains electricity there is no likelihood of finding a charger anytime soon if I venture up one of the valleys without a decent charge - and you only need to be careless once.  The third reason is reports of the insurance premiums being charged for some models.  I would actually like to have one but not at the present stage of development of the support systems.

 

After this morning's post I had coffee and looked at about 750 new and old photos on my TV before having a lunch - a cottage pie as I am using up some frozen things.  I was slightly annoyed with Chrome who have moved the icon for "casting" to a speaker or TV in their latest update.  I found it eventually but it now requires more mouse clicks to get to it - such it seems is progress.  In the same way that the new version of Photos doesn't have a basic slide show option any more, you have to use Photos legacy or other software.  

 

After lunch I cut some holly, I now have a jugful in the living room for Christmas and a bin bag full to take to church tomorrow to be used for Christmas  with the flowers.  They will keep it in a bucket until the flower arrangers need it.

 

Then I put up a small Christmas "tree", actually a simple small metal one.  Each year I put up a different selection of baubles, some must be sbout 100 years old now.

That plus a "Christmas Bridge" set of lights in the window and a few odds and ends suffice nowadays.  There is of course the nativity scene.

 

I bought another Christmas cactus into the house as one of the earlier ones has now finished flowering.  Fortunately all ten (or so) of them flower at slightly different times.  In the Spring they will all go back in the greenhouse for a rest!

 

After tea I will probably just sit and read with some music in the background - if I can stay awake.

 

David

Edited December 16, 2023 by DaveF
Additions and corrections

[Porkscratching]

Wonder if the woke politburo will take this one down then 😁

[Compound2632]

4 minutes ago, Porkscratching said:

Wonder if the woke politburo will take this one down then 😁

 

Well, it certainly is very silly.

[Porkscratching]

3 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Well, it certainly is very silly.

But makes a fair point nonetheless 

[Tony_S]

6 minutes ago, Porkscratching said:

Wonder if the woke politburo will take this one down then

It wasn’t the woke politburo. I suspect it was me objecting  to and reporting ad hominem criticisms of Greta Thunberg. Her views do not encourage or support artisanal cobalt mining in DRC. 

[New Haven Neil]

3 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

... Dreckly – bit like mañana but with less urgency. ...

 

We say 'traa dy liooar' in Manx = 'Time Enough'.  Like deckly, but even slower! Mrs NHN is Cornish BTW!

 

Late night last night, the Old Farts C&^%$£"s dinner, nice evening to be able to forget current health worries.  At least three people there don't actually celebrate C&^%$£"s, but there's always Hanukkah and Saturnalia as well as any excuse for a p*&& up.  Great time was had by all.

 

Nearly full attendance with one couple missing due to a double booking, your scribe to the front left, Mrs NHN front right.

 

 

 

[Tony_S]

6 minutes ago, Porkscratching said:

But makes a fair point nonetheless 

But less than it used to, with increasing renewables produced electricity. 

[Hroth]

3 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

We say 'traa dy liooar' in Manx = 'Time Enough'.  Like deckly, but even slower! Mrs NHN is Cornish BTW!

 

Late night last night, the Old Farts C&^%$£"s dinner, nice evening to be able to forget current health worries.  At least three people there don't actually celebrate C&^%$£"s, but there's always Hanukkah and Saturnalia as well as any excuse for a p*&& up.  Great time was had by all.

 

Nearly full attendance with one couple missing due to a double booking, your scribe to the front left, Mrs NHN front right.

 

 

 

 

You mean you left Donk home alone???

 

For shame!

 

[Tony_S]

1 minute ago, Hroth said:

You mean you left Donk home alone???

I hope the cameras were running. Sounds like a film I would watch. 

[New Haven Neil]

1 minute ago, Hroth said:

 

You mean you left Donk home alone???

 

For shame!

 

 

He isn't allowed alcohol. Not after last time.....

 

[Andy Hayter]

17 minutes ago, Porkscratching said:

But makes a fair point nonetheless 

 

Not here where fossil fuels accounted for 7% of electricity production in 2020

[Hroth]

20 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

He isn't allowed alcohol. Not after last time.....

 

 

But he looked so happy...

 

[New Haven Neil]

A bit late, but going back to the WW2 discussion, the biggest bomb to fall on South Tyneside fell right on my Grandparents house (aiming - badly - for the shipyards).  Their survival was due to firstly a long garden, and second to Grandad's refusal to build the Anderson Shelter under the lee of the house as recommended, but at the end of the garden.  They survived...must have done, I'm here!

 

 

Lucky, eh!

 

[polybear]

24 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

You mean you left Donk home alone???

 

For shame!

 

 

And Ted.....

[New Haven Neil]

7 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

But he looked so happy...

 

 

Guess why.

 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2023 by New Haven Neil

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Porkscratching said:

But makes a fair point nonetheless 

 

No, not at all; that's the silliness of it.

[PhilJ W]

Hello again from Estuary-Land. I see that we produced 40% of our electricity from renewables last year, a 5% increase on 2021. https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/how-much-do-renewables-contribute-to-the-uks-energy-mix-and-what-policies-support-their-expansion/#:~:text=In 2022%2C 40% – a, in 2022 after gas.

Still a long way behind countries such as France but better than many.

https://yearbook.enerdata.net/renewables/renewable-in-electricity-production-share.html

[The Lurker]

5 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

... Dreckly – bit like mañana but with less urgency. ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/12/16/sounds-of-the-season-2023-14-covid-virus-spread-in-recent-maps/

Sounds a bit like my Grandma. When we were little and pestering her to do something, she’d say it would be done “now presently”, which meant it would done when she got to it, which might be a good long wait!

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I suspect it was me objecting  to and reporting ad hominem criticisms of Greta Thunberg.

Thank you for doing so Tony, though (presumably thanks to you efforts) I didn't see the post in question.'

 

It is so tiresome to see attacks on a person whose conviction compels her not to embrace the cognitive dissonance that so many of us do about the scientific realities of climate change.

 

(Perhaps it is related to being on 'the spectrum' that she is unable to process a paradox that is so easy for most people to manage, leading to her single-minded conviction to speak truth to everyone, but I'm no neurologist and it probably isn't fair of me to even suggest it, and I am probably talking through my hat, or other places.)

 

The world is a better place where people of conviction are so willing to speak truth to power (or at least overwhelming negativity), whatever the consequence. Most of us don't have that sort of courage.

[Ozexpatriate]

13 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Earlier this year, Australian research firm EV FireSafe – which records electric-car battery fires across the globe – found at least 375 electric vehicle fires were reported globally between 2010 and 30 April 2023, with an additional 87 incidents being investigated or unverified.

 

Meantime, Fire Extinguisher Online – citing NSW Department of Fire and Emergency Services data – reported there were 2942 vehicle fires (including those powered by petrol, diesel or electricity) in New South Wales alone between July 2020 to June 2021.

 

 

Work it out as a percentage of total EV cars on the road compared to total petrol cars and get back to me.

 @Compound2632's ( Stephen's ) Grauniad link did the maths - so did EV FireSafe apparently:

Quote

Australia’s Department of Defence funded EV FireSafe to look into the question. It found there was a 0.0012% chance of a passenger electric vehicle battery catching fire, compared with a 0.1% chance for internal combustion engine cars. 

So internal combustion motor vehicle fires are 8x more likely - according to the data presented.

 

Edited December 16, 2023 by Ozexpatriate