WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Stanley]

Good, that'll be a cure! The old boiler did well, 18 years is a good span!
(And it will be cheaper to run as well, these modern boilers are far better than the old ones.)

[Stanley]

Pendle Heritage is in the news! I am listening to a Radio 4 broadcast on the campaign for a pardon for the Pendle Witches.
My verdict? What 'evidence' I have heard so far is more Play-acting than hard historical evidence. Much is being made of the tourism value of the witches....

[Wendyf]

I have just ordered John Clayton's latest book about the Pendle Witches from Amazon. It's called The Road to Malkin Tower.

[Stanley]

Well done Wendy, he's about the only reliable source on the subject. Of course they never asked him......

[Stanley]

I remembered what Wendy said about the amount of water when I read THIS BBC report.
A man has died after his car entered water during Storm Bert. The man, aged in his 80s, was recovered by emergency services from water on Cockhill Lane, Foulridge, Colne, where Noyna Ford is located, at about 16:15 GMT on Saturday, Lancashire Police said. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. A woman, aged in her 80s, was also recovered from the water and remains in hospital where her condition is described as not life threatening. Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service sent two fire engines to the scene. Firefighters from Nelson and Penwortham who are specialist swift water rescue teams were involved along with a boat from Preston. The man’s death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be passed to the coroner, police said

[Stanley]

Later.... I was listening to reports from Gaza detailing what is happening and what is needed. It is an absolutely untenable situation and yet women and children are trapped there without any aid or hope.
Collectively we appear to have lost interest in this, I only hear these reports on the World Service. It is an ongoing war crime, call it what you like, genocide, massacre, death by starvation...... Are we deaf and blind?
(Is this thinking anti-Semitic?)

[Tizer]

(Is this thinking anti-Semitic?)

`To every action there is a reaction'. So while there is Semitism there will be anti-Semitism. Perhaps there is anti-Palestinism and anti-Lebanonism in Israel. Anti-semitism was originally defined as hostility to or prejudice against Jewish people. I would say my views are anti-Israeli State but it's too clumsy a term! Anti-Netanyahu and anti-IDF are probably better. I don't hate Jewish people any more than I hate Russian or Chinese or North Korean people, it's their leaders and governments that I'm against..

[Stanley]

Exactly Peter! In my mind I think I am anti-Zionist. Day after day we hear accounts of death and starvation in the Palestinian community in Gaza and the death toll now is over 40,000 I think. Why are we supporting what is quite openly a campaign to raze Palestinian Gaza, drive out the indigenous population and take over the land for resettlement?
Netanyahu is refusing to negotiate for the return of the surviving hostages because he knows that as soon as that happens there will be overwhelming pressure for a cease-fire and as soon as that happens he loses power, faces trial and gaol and the initiative to seize the land in Gaza by killing or driving out the Palestinians stops.
If I've got this wrong for God's sake tell me!

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of an impending storm.....
A newly-named storm, Conall, is forecast to bring heavy rain to southern England and threaten further issues in flood-hit areas still cleaning up from Storm Bert. The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for rainfall in several southern areas of the UK from 22:00 GMT on Tuesday until midday on Wednesday. Many parts of England and Wales will also see wet conditions overnight, though the worst of the storm will not hit the UK. The storm was named by the Dutch Weather Service, which along with the Met Office and Met Eireann in Ireland, name storms for ease of communication. BBC Weather's Tomasz Schafernaker said Conall would still be developing as it tracked across southern parts of the UK, meaning "the worst of the storm is expected to miss us".
Just when you thought it was safe to venture out.... We would appear to be lucky with this one.

[Tizer]

I am able to announce that our Dyson vacuum cleaner has died. Coincidentally, Mrs Tiz's hairdresser was here and she told us how good her Shark was. I've heard people talk about Shark vacs on OG and several of our relatives have one so in the afternoon we ventured into the town centre and bought a Shark at Curry's. Same price as online sellers due to `Black Friday' discounting. Having vac'd the house with it this morning I'm impressed!

[Stanley]

Peter... you remind me that I keep promising myself a second cleaner so I can have on upstairs and save carrying the Hoover up there. How come I always remember on a week when I have a heavy call on the funds?
David, did you see the report on dental services yesterday? It seemed to illustrate the subject of our conversation yesterday perfectly.....

[PostmanPete]

It's Ian's Birthday today..!! Happy Birthday Ian

[Stanley]

Thanks for the heads up Pete!
Many happy returns of the day Ian!

[Big Kev]

Have a good one Ian

[Tizer]

Happy Birthday, Ian!! Give yourself a well-earned rest today!

[PanBiker]

Ne peace for the wicked Peter, I have stuff to do!

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes.

[Cathy]

Happy Birthday Ian .

[MickBrett]

Happy Birthday Ian o/

[PanBiker]

Thanks everyone for my birthday wishes, much appreciated. Another day older and deeper in debt as they say, although the last bit not entirely relevant.

We are waiting for the bill for the new boiler which we would not have ordered if we couldn't afford to pay for it.

[Big Kev]

My boiler was serviced today, all the seals changed and some 'sparking' widget replaced. It's 7 years old so was due a major service. Steven Hill-Crane did the job, he lives around the corner from Stanley.

[Tripps]

Many happy returns Ian.

some 'sparking' widget replaced. It

That's a coincidence - I had mine serviced recently, and my 'sparking widget' was deemed to be "producing a weak spark, and had to be replaced". Just the faintest feeling of 'yeah right' No complaints about the same people over fourteen years though - in fact quite the opposite.

[Big Kev]

Many happy returns Ian.

some 'sparking' widget replaced. It

That's a coincidence - I had mine serviced recently, and my 'sparking widget' was deemed to be "producing a weak spark, and had to be replaced". Just the faintest feeling of 'yeah right' No complaints about the same people over fourteen years though - in fact quite the opposite.

He did show me said sparking widget and the gap, where said spark is produced, was considerably larger than the replacement. Apparently it is possible to 're-gap' them but they tend to be brittle and are prone to breaking.

[Stanley]

See THIS report on yesterday's red sky in the morning. What struck me in particular was that the con trails of two jets heading North were bright red as well.
People across the north-west of England woke up to unusual cloud formations against vividly coloured skies. The Met Office said lenticular clouds, external combined with the sunrise to create the stunning effect. The clouds tend to form "when air blows across a mountain range in certain circumstances" and when there is enough moisture in the air, it said. The formations are expected to continue to grace the skies across the region over the coming days.

[Tizer]

`Trails, teddy bears and turkeys: Photos of the week' BBC

And now the serious BBC news...
`Man who found smooth Mars bar gets £2 compensation' LINK

...which led me to this exciting web site...
`The Dull Men's Club' DMC

[Stanley]

Did I see a trail for a programme based on 'Dull Men' and presented by James May?
(On reflection I think I might qualify...... )

Later at 05:00. World Service Sporting Witness was right up David's street. It was an appraisal of a man called Magnus Carlsen. (LINK)