Early Risers.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

I’ve made some more progress in the cellar today, 5 pieces of skirting board have been fixed to the wall and another 3 more cut ready to fix. However, the walls are not exactly straight (when are they ever?) so I’m using clamps to hold them against the walls, whilst the glue sets (see photo below). The flooring offcuts are coming in handy! 

 

 

I’ve also had to feather the backs of some of the boards, to make allowance for the uneven walls, so that’s also taken a fair bit of time up. Anyway, it’s starting to look good now, even Sheila is impressed. 

 

I knocked off a little earlier today, so that I could finish the fruit tea loaf I’d left soaking overnight. This was in the oven and ready just as we were finishing our tea, the house smelt lovely whilst it was baking. 

 

This evening we had our usual weekly chat with Vickie. Mainly keeping up with current events and how the kids are doing etc. 

Edited March 6 by BSW01

[The White Rabbit]

13 hours ago, Grizz said:

... With regard to phone surveillance, switching it off and having a piece of aluminium foil to wrap around it when not in use or carrying a burner phone might seem a possible solution. ...

 

Safest to take the battery out. Some mobiles continue to 'transmit' even when they are 'switched off'. 

 

12 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

... In regards to communications, he also added that he reckons that one of the most difficult codes to crack is one based on using books (there’s a specific name for this). It requires identifying a popular book that is likely to be found everywhere - such as a Harry Potter book and one that has gone through a number of editions - also like a Harry Potter book. You buy two copies of the same edition of the book of choice (say Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, 3rd edition) and your contact gets his/her copy. From then on any private/clandestine/privileged messages will consist of a string of numbers - such as 24/2, 3, 7, 14, 19, 22, 23, 24. Where the first number refers to a specific page in that specific edition of that specific book and the second numbers could refer to a number of things: e.g. the first letter of the first word on a given line (e.g. page 24, line 2, first word, first letter); the first word on a given line (e.g. page 24, line 2) or even the word as numbered from the first word on the top of the page (or from the last word at the bottom of the page). Very difficult to crack if you know the book and edition (but not impossible but it’s time consuming), impossible if you don’t know the book and edition. ...

 

Discussed a few years ago by Mr. Holmes: https://classic-literature.co.uk/a-c-doyle-the-valley-of-fear-sherlock-holmes/ - he used Bradshaw. One false start, as it was a new year/edition. 

 

9 hours ago, polybear said:

Oh yes.....

 

A Beary Rant......

 

The word on the street is A Certain Person is going to reduce NIC's by 2%; well that'll mean all those retired end up with diddly squat reduction🤬.  T0sser.

 

He drops 100% of his pancakes... 

 

[Grizz]

Right….. before anyone says anything about me getting carried away again…….or over excited….or anything else. 

 

 

 

Mrs Grizz is aware of the above post….the image of the ‘Space Valkyries’…..etc etc and the chain of posts. 

 

This time her response was a mere three words. In this order…
 

The first word was “HA” 

 

The second word was “FAT”..

 

The third word was either “CHANCE”….or “CHANCER”…..

 

To be fair, as a mere spectator it was at this point difficult to distinguish the exact last word…as had she had in fact fallen off of the bed and on to the floor with uncontrollable hysterical laughter…..

 

Hhhhumph. 
 

A person might get upset by rude and unfeeling comments by a person…if a person didn’t know that a person might only have been joking. 

[monkeysarefun]

(I dont think this is political, just personal observation)

 

This was posted by someone called Nate White in response to a Question asked on Quora: "Why do British people hate Trump?"

 

 

 … “A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace; all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

 

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing. Not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility. For us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is. His idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty. Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults, he actually thinks in them.

 

His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness. There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.

 

And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege. And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.

 

There are unspoken rules to this stuff, the Queensberry rules of basic decency, and he breaks them all. He punches downwards, which a gentleman should, would, could never do, and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless, and he kicks them when they are down.

 

So the fact that a significant minority, perhaps a third, of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that: - Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are. - You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man. This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss.

 

He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of sh!t . His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws, he would make a Trump. And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumps of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God, what have I created?’

 

If being a tw@t was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”

Edited March 6 by monkeysarefun

[Grizz]

2 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

(I dont think this is political, just personal observation)

 

This was posted in response to a Question asked on Quora: "Why do British people hate Trump?"

 

 

 … “A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace; all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

 

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing. Not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility. For us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is. His idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty. Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults, he actually thinks in them.

 

His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness. There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.

 

And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege. And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.

 

There are unspoken rules to this stuff, the Queensberry rules of basic decency, and he breaks them all. He punches downwards, which a gentleman should, would, could never do, and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless, and he kicks them when they are down.

 

So the fact that a significant minority, perhaps a third, of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that: - Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are. - You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man. This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss.

 

He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of . His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws, he would make a Trump. And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumps of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God, what have I created?’

 

If being a was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”

In short a megalomaniac psychopath…..

[New Haven Neil]

Not sure how to follow that!

 

Nor am I sure how those got in there!

Edited March 6 by New Haven Neil

[DaveF]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

This is a reasonable starter for ten - just type what you want in the box (eg Polar Bear in a Cake Shop)  and then click on Create:

 

https://www.bing.com/images/create?FORM=GENILP

 

 

 

Many thanks.  I just typed in 3 fairly random words and it came up with this. 

 

 

I will have a play over the next few days.

 

David

[New Haven Neil]

Odd day, spent running around then making good on a promise to the distaff side to put some miles on her new velocipede. Missed a good drivel but marital harmony comes higher on the list.

 

 

 

[iL Dottore]

49 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

(I dont think this is political, just personal observation)

 

This was posted by someone called Nate White in response to a Question asked on Quora: "Why do British people hate Trump?"

 

 

 … “A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace; all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

 

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing. Not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility. For us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is. His idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty. Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults, he actually thinks in them.

 

His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness. There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.

 

And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege. And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.

 

There are unspoken rules to this stuff, the Queensberry rules of basic decency, and he breaks them all. He punches downwards, which a gentleman should, would, could never do, and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless, and he kicks them when they are down.

 

So the fact that a significant minority, perhaps a third, of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that: - Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are. - You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man. This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss.

 

He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of sh!t . His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws, he would make a Trump. And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumps of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God, what have I created?’

 

If being a tw@t was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”

That, my dear Chimpey, is a devastatingly accurate assessment of the man, not the politician. Although sadly in Trump’s case they are interchangeable. History is full of people with questionable personal characteristics yet who have served their countries well and with distinction - despite their personal flaws. Not in this case, I fear.

 

Those foreign states who are, shall we say, inimical to those good things the US represents, must be wetting themselves with laughter at the forthcoming US presidential elections.

 

The US and the American people deserve better than either mainstream political party and their presidential candidates.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I've tried out the AI imaging and asked for 'Hippo in muddy hollow', this is what it created.

https://www.bing.com/images/create/hippo-in-muddy-hollow/1-65e8e053a1b343af96e761ea1e40575c?FORM=GUH2CR

[Sidecar Racer]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

That, my dear Chimpey, is a devastatingly accurate assessment of the man, not the politician.

 

 

 I  think using the word politician is pushing credibility a bit far .

[BSW01]

3 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

(I dont think this is political, just personal observation)

 

This was posted by someone called Nate White in response to a Question asked on Quora: "Why do British people hate Trump?"

 

 

 … “A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace; all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

 

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing. Not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility. For us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is. His idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty. Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults, he actually thinks in them.

 

His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness. There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.

 

And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege. And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.

 

There are unspoken rules to this stuff, the Queensberry rules of basic decency, and he breaks them all. He punches downwards, which a gentleman should, would, could never do, and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless, and he kicks them when they are down.

 

So the fact that a significant minority, perhaps a third, of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that: - Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are. - You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man. This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss.

 

He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of sh!t . His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws, he would make a Trump. And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumps of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God, what have I created?’

 

If being a tw@t was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”

And on top of all that lot, to us Brits, a Trump is another word for a f@rt.

[Hroth]

4 hours ago, polybear said:

 

This is a reasonable starter for ten - just type what you want in the box (eg Polar Bear in a Cake Shop)  and then click on Create:

 

https://www.bing.com/images/create?FORM=GENILP

 

 

 

The guilty expression of a Bear in a cakeshop is particularly well caught!

 

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, DaveF said:

Many thanks.  I just typed in 3 fairly random words and it came up with this. 

I am curious what three words ended up with Kenny Everett and DLT in a Citroen surrounded by lions. 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[jjb1970]

I see a lot of parallels between Trump and Brexit (and protest type movements elsewhere) in that a lot of the commentary misses the real issue - why have so many lost confidence in politics and the media?

 

Trump (and I would argue most of the other alternative and protest movements) is a symptom, and a conduit that allows many to channel their dissatisfaction. The issue to me isn't so much whether Trump is an awful individual unworthy of the Presidency, the issue is why so many see him as the best option available. In Europe it's pretty common to look down on American people as uncouth imbeciles, there will be plenty meeting that description just as there is in any country but most American people are reasonable and intelligent and are not idiots. I know a few people in America who voted for him last time and may do so again, none of them are ignorant of politics, global affairs or uneducated. Quite the opposite, several of them work in the DC lobbying bubble, most have advanced degrees (masters or doctoral). There's a point of view that the problem is the great unwashed not knowing what they are voting for (with an undercurrent that it might be better if the lower orders couldn't vote).

 

The argument is often that people don't know what they are voting for, putting aside the massive generalisation there it raises the linked issue that trust in news services seems to have imploded, with most of them having moved further along the spectrum of providing op-ed and confirmation bias more than news. More and more people are relying on alternative news via channels such as substance, rumble, YouTube, telegram etc. 

 

Unless the causes are addressed we won't address the symptoms. I have a very good friend in DC who is a classical Liberal and pretty far over to the left of the spectrum. Although he is not a MAGA Trump he shares many of the concerns raised by that movement  (particularly on the matter of the border). I  have been looking at the meltdown in the British political establishment at a by-election in Lancashire and see the same dynamic. Those voting for the winner are extremists and a threat to democracy, very little reflection on the fact that the current state of the main political parties makes it a shame one of them will be in government and that there are explicable and rational reasons why so many are sick of politics and politicians.

 

It's not an American  thing either, there is a similar sense of dissatisfaction in much of the world. If Trump is removed from the ballot it would address a symptom, not a cause and in doing so risk making things worse. The only solution I can see is to rebuild trust and confidence in government and  information. However looking at political establishments and news services I am not holding my breath.

 

I think this meets the criteria to be called a rant, sorry.

[BR60103]

On codes using book pages.

In Leo Marks's Between Silk and Cyanide  he talks about being in one office where the code was based on an edition of Readers's Digest.  He mentions that there were several different national editions of each month, and that the local copy was being read in the bathroom.

(above from memory; I'll have to look out my copy.)

 

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I see a lot of parallels between Trump and Brexit

Many of the same-thinking Britons in @monkeysarefun's quoted post voted Conservative when one with unkempt hair and a penchant for being hoisted by his own petard was the party leader.  (Literally hoisted.)

 

One fool wondered aloud if drinking bleach was the answer to the pandemic and the other, well, I don't wish to be "political". From my perspective (with some first-hand understanding of living in two former British colonies* both of whom share old Rumpole's "Golden Thread"** in their common histories with the old sod) I see more similarities than differences. Those who like chapter and verse might enjoy Matthew 7:3-5.

 

* Sort of. The one I reside in, chose to join the US over British Canada in a vote not that very far from where I live - though separated by a timespan approaching two centuries. The vote was (reportedly) 52 - 50, in a second vote, with no contemporaneous written record.

 

** inter alia:

Quote

We struggled to get the presumption of innocence, that golden thread that runs through British justice, and no one seems to give a toss for it any more. What must we do, I wonder.

 

When London is nothing more than a memory, and the old Bailey has sunk back into the primæval mud, my country will be remembered for three things: the British breakfast, the Oxford Book of English Verse, and the presumption of innocence; that is the Golden Thread which runs through the whole history of our criminal law.

We hold these things*** and many, many others in common, whether or not we refer to train stations and somewhere along the line have misplaced the "u" in words like colour.

 

*** to be self-evident.

 

It's going to be a long eight months. Can I get a break from everyone's assessments of the candidates for POTUS?

 

Edited March 7 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

Someone's been crossing the streams. (Total protonic reversal.)

 

This post on the "Things that Make Me :)" thread is worth a look. Would be better here I think.

 

Edited March 7 by Ozexpatriate

[polybear]

9 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

That, my dear Chimpey, is a devastatingly accurate assessment of the man, not the politician. Although sadly in Trump’s case they are interchangeable. History is full of people with questionable personal characteristics yet who have served their countries well and with distinction - despite their personal flaws. Not in this case, I fear.

 

 

Bear has long thought that Mr. Obama is the best they've had for many a year - why on earth they have a "two strikes and you're out" rule is beyond me; if it ain't busted, don't fix it.....

 

5 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I know a few people in America who voted for him last time and may do so again, none of them are ignorant of politics, global affairs or uneducated. Quite the opposite, several of them work in the DC lobbying bubble, most have advanced degrees (masters or doctoral). 

 

 

I find that even more worrying - why would seemingly intelligent people be taken in by him and actually vote for him??  Even with his history of lost court cases - and ongoing court cases for serious crimes people are still being taken in by him en-masse.

Bear predicts that in the very scary event that he does get in again he'll do his very best to change laws so the ongoing cases have to be dropped.

[Ozexpatriate]

29 minutes ago, polybear said:

why would seemingly intelligent people be taken in by him and actually vote for him

Because they will vote "R" because they won't ever vote "D".  The election will be decided by the swing vote by independents in the middle, like it always is.

 

Absolutely no different in the UK.  The safe seats will vote for any moron with their preferred coloured ribbon.

[Grizz]

So basically, and I am not extracting the waste product here, if the quality of the candidates were, for example, ‘Bert and Ernie’ from Sesame Street. Representing the only two parties with enough dough to out campaign and effectively wipe out any alternative.
 

And these were the only two Muppets that were offered up for the populous to be allowed to vote for then, regardless of the positive or negative personalities and personal traits of Bert and Ernie, the problem lies with in the system of who is allowed  be a candidate in the first place. 
 

Here you go voters, you can vote for a T@55er or a Wkncker. 
 

Mmmmmm sounds strangely familiar somehow. 
 

Saint Billy of the Connelly had it right “The desire to be a politician, should ban you from ever being one!” 

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

@Ozexpatriate  the only thing to do is become hermit.. and live in a bunker until its all over.. at least you know when it is.. we are just going to suffer for an indeterminate time...Pah!

 

Nice bew bike @New Haven Neil.. is its name indicative to the social standing of your good lady?

 

Her indoors got home at 11:30 last night. She has ordered a dress, bought a jacket and fascinator to go with it.. wallet is in shock!

 

An interesting melding of minds yesterday .. which was great.. perhaps if these minds were used to govern the UK it would quickly return to being run by a sensible party?

 

Dr Eldest Herbert has identified that few, if any, politicians have had to face life threatening points in their career.. in US Military parlance.. "having seen the elephant". It means they are clueless about "normal life"  He could well be right. (For his PhD he interviewed Lord Carrington, Dennis Healey and Dame Sirley Williams who, despite their political differences, used their personal history to work together in the interest of the common people.. I think that may be why nobody trust politicians?

 

I am off to moreasons to allow her indoors to catch up with herself so TTFN!

 

Baz

 

 

[polybear]

15 minutes ago, Grizz said:

So basically, and I am not extracting the waste product here, if the quality of the candidates were, for example, ‘Bert and Ernie’ from Sesame Street.

 

Hmmm, I'd vote Ernie.....a huge improvement on the other two....

I reckon Cookie Monster or Oscar the Grouch would be even better though.

 

Bear here.....

Fairly silly o'clock (0515) today - though awake 😒 "somewhat earlier" than that; I did climb the little wooden hill at 2115 last night though (couldn't stay awake - yesterday's 0430 start + 1Km swim + 3.5 miles wander up n' down hills makes for a tired Teddy).  Poo.

Today?  TBA......

 

Bear gone.

 

p.s. Hope all is well with @grandadbob + others gone AWOL.