WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Nolic]

Cath is up ,and about getting ready to go back to work today effectively for the first time since early June since her dad had his stroke. Sadly Bernard passes away last week and the school hustle and bustle will keep her mind occupied by other things. Funeral tomorrow then 2 days back at work for her then a break. I can't help worry that she will rush into all sorts of issues and situations and tire herself out. Her head teacher wanted her to go back for half days but she is bored at home and just wants to get on with life. Brave lass and I love her to bits. Nolic

[Marilyn]

Don't worry so much, Nolic. She is a sensible woman.
Nothing worse than going stir crazy or sitting there getting 'cabin fever'. One can only look at the wallpaper for so long.

[Pluggy]

You'd have thought in the 21st Century they'd have caught on how to deal with smog : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-24608064. London caught on 50 years ago.

[Whyperion]

You'd have thought in the 21st Century they'd have caught on how to deal with smog : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-24608064. London caught on 50 years ago.

London still gets it , mostly from NOX from diesel engines in particular. Depends on sunlight and stillness of air. The view at times across the Thames from Greenwich can be quite hazy in the summer. The worst yellow fog I encountered ( my grandfather died in 1956 in one of the bad London winter smogs ) was just outside Oxford , where the village houses burning coal / wood ( not in the clean air act areas ) , made the late autumn fogs a little dark and affected breathing ).

[Stanley]

Comrade, lovely post and Maz is dead right. Just keep an eye on her and take appropriate action like hiding her clothes!
Smog is always bad but nowhere near as bad these days as it was when everyone was burning coal on open fires. I'll allow myself just one of my smog stories. I came out of school one day to get on the tram to go home and it was so thick you couldn't see the light on top of the lamp standard when you were stood underneath it. There was no traffic and the only way the trams could run was because the conductor walked in front carrying a Wells oil flare. If that happened today it would be headline news!



Wells Number 18 cast iron oil flare. Used to mark roadworks and road junctions in fog. Stanley has two of them......

PS. What attracted my attention this morning was the sterling work Wendy and Ian are doing keeping the site free from spammers. The site is a bit like a swan, serene on top but under water its legs are paddling furiously!

[David Whipp]

Washing basket...

Incautiously, I mentioned to Alison that I'd referred to her washing obsession on OGFB.

Last night, she told me that she's thought of a way to cut her wash load by 25%. (Great I thought!)

From now on, she won't bother doing my washing...

[Cathy]

Thank you Wendy and Ian for your hard work on OG. You are volunteers after all and definately deserve recognition. Well done!

[Tizer]

Thank you Wendy and Ian for your hard work on OG. You are volunteers after all and definately deserve recognition. Well done!

I'll second that! Thanks Wendy and Ian!

[Thomo]

A letter from Buckingham Palace, and an apology from His Royal Highness the Duke of York for being unable to provide a message to be read out at the Re-dedication Ceremony. This was due to the fact that he has only recently seen the letter due to staff Summer Breaks and overseas commitments. He enquires about the ceremony and wishes to know how it went, with pictures if possible and states that he would be delighted to present a message to be read out at some further occasion. I have been provided with the liaison details for the Dukes Equerry for this purpose. The letter ends with a message from his Royal Highness in which he sends his very best wishes to myself, the Barnoldswick War Memorial Group and the Barnoldswick Community. This being the case I have an idea, it is now to late I believe to sort this before Remembrance Sunday this year, but such a message could be displayed at the event we are planning for next September, and then read out at next years Remembrance Sunday.

[Tardis]

Grangemouth, UNITE & INEOS:

http://ericjoyce.co.uk/2013/10/grangemouth-tragedy/ (Falkirk Labour MP - basically the plant)

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehous ... d-to-know/ No5 shows why it may affect us all

[Bodger]

Yes workers did need unions in the early days of industry, in the 1950s i had to be a member, AEU, to serve my apprenticeship, but i didn't agree that all worker shold be paid the same !, ie. total layabouts could earn the same as people who did a full days work, so at 21 yrs qualified, i left the engineering industry and went into the fledgling plastics business, and yes, my engineering background played a big part in my career.
I recall years later being in a union meeting in an injection moulding company where the union man was looking for extra pay for 4 of sixty workers because they could do a particular job, my answer to the union was for a decrease in wages for the 56 workes who couldn't fully do the job, there were no increases for the four.
One only has to look at some of Englands major employers, docks, cars, steel, etc. and see where the unions got them.

[Thomo]

Thats it in a nutshell Bodger, the death of Britains industrial might. I also had to join a union in engineering and as a result became self employed twice. Even in the Royal Navy, I could not escape their collective stranglehold.

[Wendyf]

Thank you Wendy and Ian for your hard work on OG. You are volunteers after all and definately deserve recognition. Well done!

Thanks Cathy & Tizer. I don't do much really, just ban a few spammers now and again, which is quite fun!

[PanBiker]

Yes, thanks from me as well, not forgetting Pluggy and Stanley as well. We do what we can to keep the site up and running and free from miscreants or potentials.

[Stanley]

Margaret and Mick visiting and bringing fish and chips for lunch. Margaret brought me up to date with a lot of news. Nice!
As for unions, yes, they are sometimes wrong but don't throw the baby out with the bath water. If it hadn't been for the unions the lot of the worker would never have risen beyond the slavery of 19th century laisser faire industrial policies. There is also the matter of the unions influence on the growth of safety at work.

[Stanley]

I had occasion this morning to ask one of our community for quite a significant favour. It was granted with no hesitation. I love this site but even more, I love the generosity that we find on it every day. Lovely!

[Gloria]

You're like a little Jack Russell Wendy, you hunt them out Now what can we imagine Ian as??
Everyone who does anything on this site deserves a big thankyou and a medal, it is wonderful.

[PanBiker]

I was just wondering where photos are stored that are uploaded to facebook? A quick google found this:

Lulea Data Centre - Sweden

Check out the picture gallery, now that's what I call storage!

[Tardis]

Barnoldswick #TownTeam meeting last night previewed some possible PR action for the town centre traders

[Tardis]

News today that UNITE has capitulated entirely after an eight year fight, but we will have to wait and see if INEOS go back on their decision. They have a record of sticking to things and much of the comment today has been about who would want to buy the plant.

[David Whipp]

Third RHS Gold Medal for Barnoldswick in the regional In Bloom event!

And... the award for the North West's Best Feature in a Public Place, for the schools' edible pop-up planters on the Town Square. The award has gone to some top notch cities and major attractions over the years. It's good to get it with a few pallets, bits of plywood and lots of enthusiasm!

Here's a picture from when the judges visited in July.

[Stanley]

A phone call from Professor Rod Bilton (Joint author of Know What to Eat). A good man and a long and interesting conversation. I am trying to persuade him to register and contribute to 'We Are What We Eat' topic. I like him......
Listening to the current spat between the US and Germany about phone tapping reminded me of a mate of mine who worked at Menwith Hill in the 1980s. He was fluent in Arabic and Russian and one of his tasks was to eavesdrop on phone calls made from the Kremlin in Moscow. Don't ask me how they did it! So there is nothing new about this and one wonders how much is grandstanding.

[Stanley]

From this morning's BET. Best wishes to Joyce for a long and happy retirement. I've sent the clip to the kids, they loved Joyce and the Yankee Bar as it was then.

[Stanley]

Jimmy Saville's chauffeur charged with sex offences. (LINK). It just goes on and on and gets worse.....

[hartley353]

Having worked at our countries largest eaves dropping centre, the good folks of this country would be amazed at how much of their electrical chatter is monitored. The amount of spying that goes on at higher levels must be counted as essential, and no leader should be allowed to be exempt from it, and should be considered as keeping them on their toes.