WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Whyperion]

If no freeview telly try the internet. The little postcard window is just enough to remind you of the early Baird recievers. BBC is better than ITV ( where the adverts not so much annoying but if you only want a past segment you have to go through all the advertising slots , same if the programme crashes on a segment ).

Notice that the bbc archive page http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/index.shtml is quite interesting, it has programmes going back to the 1950s and 60s that have only rarely , if ever , been rebroadcast - mostly documentaries depending on rebroadcast contract provisions.

[Stanley]

No problems on Freesat.
A nice visit from daughter Susan. Funny thing is I did a pic of her on the Green for her sisters and almost adjusted the colour till I realised that it actually was that green! All the rain we've been having.

[Thomo]

Well done Prince Andrew. He has done something that I would not even contemplate, abseiled 820 feet down the Shard building for charity.

[Tizer]

I still remember how pleased I was when I found that the US was still on Imperial and using the equivalent of Whitworth and BSF threads. Funny thing is that so many goods sold using metric are still Imperial sizes like my milk, 3.408 litres.... 6 Pints actually....

The UK made a real mess of converting to metric. As a scientist I had to learn to work in both Metric and Imperial but the most important point that I was taught was to always choose the right scale of units...and that's where we went wrong in the UK's conversion. Car brochures will tell you that your car is 4238mm (millimetres) long, which is a gross example of not choosing the right scale of unit. We don't need to know to a millimetre (and probably wouldn't measure it accurately anyway). A length of 4.24m (metres) would be better - and probably still be more than we need to know. A 6ft plank is now 1800mm when it only needs to be described as 1.8m or even 180cm (centimetres). Somewhere we lost the decimetre (a tenth of a metre; = 10cm) which would have given us an 18dm plank and a 42dm car. We shouldn't be using more digits than necessary to describe a dimension, especially when we don't readily measure to that accuracy. Another problem was that we we went from pounds and ounces to grams and kilograms but didn't give ourselves a name for the half-kilogram like they used to do on the Continent (and probably still do as far as I know). Ironically, the half-kilogram was a `livre' (French) or `libbra' (Italian) which mean...guess what...a pound weight!

[Tardis]

Another store in the 'thriving Barnoldswick Town Centre' is to close

[Tardis]

Anyone seen the pictures of the fan blade delivery for the new wind farm in the Lancashire Telegraph?

That is one of the reasons why it is very unlikely that West Craven will be populated by the big beasts

[Marilyn]

Had to read that second sentence twice....I put an 'R' in it the first time.

What attracted my attention?
Christmas goodies on the supermarket shelves. Glazed cakes and Mince Pies etc.
( made me feel slightly sick to see them)
They were still selling Easter Buns a month ago!

[Tizer]

Had to read that second sentence twice....I put an 'R' in it the first time.

The big beasts with an `R' in are all safely confined to page 3 of the Sun newspaper Maz!

Christmas goodies on the supermarket shelves. Glazed cakes and Mince Pies etc.

And they'll all probably be past their quoted sell-by date by Christmas!

[Whyperion]

I've still got three jars of 4 year old mincemeat here I might get round to using it ( add a bit of water/sugar mix to loosen it up and do some mince slices using the three packs of 20p pizza base mix from the co-op I got a year later ).

[Marilyn]

No. . .No. . .NO!
( eeee...sorry but that REALLY freaks me out)
Chuck it. . Chuck it. . .CHUCK it!

Honestly....I am squirming in my seat.

[Marilyn]

Maybe soak the mincemeat in brandy for a week first...perhaps that would appease my need for intestinal health.
Oh. . And buy a new pastry mix. It can't have escalated in price that much.
(she says smugly because she cleaned out her own pantry today and threw away stuff you obviously wouldn't dream of parting with Whypes...stuff still in date!)

[Whyperion]

They're unopened and stored in a cool dry place. I once had some packet soups from Sainsburys , I think Mr Opie would have been interested in the packaging and the prices ended in 1/2p's . When I finally thought I would get round to them I found the weevils had beaten me to it ( the packets had gone on a move from student place back to home and then a move to my own flat ) , tiny holes in the packaging , even I decided these were not the best to try out. Last years icing sugar did get a bit damp , (hit it with hammer and put it through the mincer should be a way of refining it ). I've probably got some biscuits somewhere that are older than a ship's biscuit journey on HMS Bounty.

[Stanley]

I've been writing some articles about the tank banks in WW1 and my mate Chris sent me this list. Makes interesting reading.



Colne, Nelson and Skipton all had a tank. Noticed that Stockport didn't, surprising!

[Stanley]

The lack of activity on the site this morning. I suspect that the log-in problems some members are having is more widespread than it appears. I shall try to contact Doc this morning, I think he's still on holiday.

On another matter. The British holiday-makers shot in France got my attention. Echoes of the murder of Jack Drummond, his wife and daughter in August 1952. (LINK)

[Nolic]

The Google Maps pop up is occurring with increased frequency for me. It may be that is also putting people off. Nolic

[Wendyf]

I just tried to post a new topic in the Local History forum but I got a message saying that the submitted form was invalid.
Five minutes later...I had saved it as a draft, went back and tried again and it worked this time.

[PanBiker]

Same message when I asked for a re-authentication email yesterday. I looked on the site last night (as a Guest) at about 9.00pm there was no-one on the site at all which is very strange. This was maintained until Kev and Travis logged in shortly after 10pm.

I would concur with Nolic re the frequency of the key problem. I get it on every page that has photo's in the thread.

[Tardis]

According to the Lancashire Telegraph Cllr Whipp ran over Cllr Langtree yesterday by reversing into her on Frank Street.

Says she is bruised, arm in a sling. Cllr Whipp took her to Airedale

Not really sure it should go in the politics bit, but it does say that she has reported him to the police

& FYI I couldn't get in at all yesterday. I changed my password, and revalidated the account, but ti still wouldn't let me in.

I thought that it was the Library because there are other erros with this system because it hasn't been upgraded yet and the bandwidth isn't enough for the massive amount of video usage from everyone

I also went to the choreographed West Craven Area Committee on Tuesday, and may comment another day

Plus I went to the Pendle consultation on Postal Votes last night - labour party, lib dem party & me (quite sad really) May comment later

[Tizer]

Oh dear, was the Whipp-Langtree incident politically motivated perhaps? Not being familiar with the politics of the Barlick area I wouldn't know which political party had `run over' the other.

We're getting on with the sale of the bungalow now. We contacted a number of estate agents and I promised to let all of them know who we had chosen to handle the sale. I now find myself not only informing them of the winner but advising them on how to improve their businesses. I'm gobsmacked by the errors and omissions such as failure to provide email addresses on their documents, hyperlinks that don't work on their web sites, incorrect use of metric dimensions, and more. This then makes me think of our politicians who don't seem able to run a country properly. It's time we had some people in charge who have more experience - but where would we find them today when we've ignored a generation of potential politicians and given the country over to a bunch of newbies? It all began with New Labour and then the other parties couldn't see beyond mimicking them. Coincidentally I watched episode 3 of David Starkey's `Churchill' programme a few nights ago, where he describes the 1930s as when Churchill metamorphosed from a minister to become a great statesman as he wrote his history of the Duke of Marlborough. All that experience plus a deep knowledge of history.

[Bodger]

Interesting comment

but where would we find them today when we've ignored a generation of potential politicians and given the country over to a bunch of newbies? It all began with New Labour and then the other parties couldn't see beyond mimicking them

What makes a person want to become a politician?, in the early days it was on a principal of the wealthy versus the poor, the poor did have it rough, and the workers wanted a share of the profits they were making for the wealthy ,. good, but fast cycle forward and we have a situation where the tail is wagging the dog,the unions demanded more and more, this was ok when the companies were in profit, but when the sh"one"t hit the fan they wouldn't dream of taking a reduction from their benefits if the company was suffering. i have been on both sides of the fence, employed and employer, and found that unions became worse than the employers, using their "rights" to close companies through strikes etc. , think of dockers, car workers, etc. so we finish up with a system where both parties finish up with the same objective, to get the best, with one big difference, the wealthy put their money into creating work, yes to make profit, but the "other side" wanted a share, but were not prepared to suffer the tough times.
So what makes a person want to become a politician?, now a days i think it is because they want a fat cat life, that can be got without any qualifications or apprenticeship, and are in it for personal gain and not achievement.

[Stanley]

Bodge and Tiz, I have been known to post that I suspected that the seeming inability of our professionals to do their jobs properly stems mainly from simple incompetence and lack of experience of the real world. As systems get more complicated they have to rely more and more on specialists and consultants to actually run their enterprises. This means less hands-on management and the errors and omissions creep in. When you get to a situation where one wrong piece of code can paralyse a bank or lose £billions the alarm bells should sound but by then it's too late, the system is beyond old-fashioned management and is running on a wing and a prayer. In politics the route in used to be wealth and privilege or a gradual climb up the ranks from a working class base often via the Trade Union Movement. Nowadays the most common route is a politics degree and patronage. This means that we get representatives who have no experience of real life and no deep principle. All the attention is focussed on gaining office by promotion. This does not encourage independent thought, the yes-men have the best chance.
The banks lose £trillions because of dodgy algorithms, Tiz had problems with useless professionals who can't run their businesses efficiently, the Co-op runs out of Condor Green, Cllr Whipp backs into Cllr Langtree. Could it be that simple incompetence and lack of experience is at the root of all these things?
I have also been heard to say that we have too many lawyers, accountants and professional politicians and not enough historians and men driven by principle in government but what the hell does an Old Fart know about these things?

[Tizer]

But what can we do about it? My old legs wouldn't stand a long march and my blood pressure wouldn't stand up to even a small riot. I guess we have to keep chipping away with the sharp edge of cold logic and the heavy mallet of experience and knowledge. The real secret is to get in via early education of children but they wouldn't like us teaching young kids without lots of assessments to make sure we're not dirty old men! I would add to Bodge's comment about `in it for personal gain' - it's also for celebrity status, they're obsessed with celebrities now.

[Thomo]

On a lighter note, how can anyone help but admire the spirit of the athletes in the Paralympics, the gutsy determination they display in the face of adversity is a credit to them all, wherever they come from or whatever their background, most have hope written all over them, in truth it puts the rest of us to shame. As for politicians, we all know better than them, but like it or not, the people of this country put them there. It is easy for us to sit at home and pontificate, but would we like the job?

[Stanley]

How difficult it is to be bored when you have a shed and something nice going on in it. I look forward to getting up each morning.

[Tardis]

Gail's Bench (picture from Andrew Stephenson's twitter feed)