WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Big Kev]

A59 Closure between Skipton and Harrogate

For those of you who may be heading over that way...

[Stanley]

North Korea testing what is thought to be a hydrogen bomb with weapons capability. For instance it could be mounted on a submarine carried medium range missile. I'm glad I don't have to sort that one out!
A friend going into hospital for a serious emergency operation.....

[PanBiker]

The real scary thing is that the North Koreans have enormous and extensive tunnel systems in the mountains, said to make any similar complexes in the west look like dinky toy land. This could lead them to believe that they could actually survive a retaliatory exchange if they initiated a first strike. It's not really about whether you have the bomb or not but if you think you can get away with using it.

[Tizer]

The seismic `bang' was only slightly more than those of their other tests over the last 10 years so either it's not a hydrogen bomb or they've invented a way to make a very small one. Not that that's much consolation!

[Stanley]

Yesterday actually, I realised that my old sink tidy was disgusting so I spent serious money at Shambles....

[Tizer]

Our neck of the woods has been hectic today - all due to a fuel tanker overturning on the M5 this morning near Bridgwater and spilling its contents on the road. It was on a bridge too and oil was spilling into the river. All the surrounding roads have been jammed and a BBC man said he saw emergency vehicles elsewhere so he thinks there's been other incidents. I wonder what causes a tanker like that to overturn? The trouble will continue overnight while they resurface the lanes of the motorway. 24 hours of chaos! As well as all that the lane linking our village to the next one has flooded and is closed (although as usual there are people trying to drive through it). Fortunately the flooded lane is upstream of the tanker crash otherwise it might have been an inflammable flood. What next! M5 crash

[plaques]

They could have always bombed it as per Torrey Canyon but there again all our planes are in Syria!

[Big Kev]

I wonder what causes a tanker like that to overturn?

All that liquid moving about makes them very unstable, especially if it's not full. I nearly got caught out after an emergency stop with a tanker half full of oil, once you've actually stopped don't take your foot off the brake the liquid heads all the way to the back of the tank and then comes all the way back to the front...

[Stanley]

What Kev describes can certainly happen but in a rigid wagon is not serious. The most likely cause of overturning if it was an articulated vehicle is a sudden change of direction of the tractor unit, sometimes driver error in making a violent direction change to avoid a collision but more likely to be a front wheel blow out which is almost uncontrollable. If it had a part load it would exacerbate the incident but most tanks on the road are filled to the lid to avoid this problem.

[Tizer]

It looks like a small rigid tanker and is lying in the outside lane at right angles to the road and on its side. It's just about where a slip road begins to run off the motorway. I wouldn't be surprised if a vehicle cut across in front of it from the outer lanes after making a late decision to take the slip road and caused the accident.

Have a look at this, it's a serious problem. `California state of emergency over methane leak' LINK
"Gas is spewing into the atmosphere at a rate so fast that the well now accounts for about a quarter of the state's total emissions of methane - an extremely potent greenhouse gas"..."In terms of timelines this is going to surpass the gulf oil problem by a mile. What we do know is that climate equivalent of this leak is like burning thus far almost 700 million gallons of gasoline or it's the same amount of pollution as 4.5 million cars put out every day, it's tragic."...."Using former oil fields as storage for natural gas is quite common in the US. The US Energy Information Administration says that "most existing natural gas storage in the United States is in depleted natural gas or oil fields that are close to consumption centers," like the large metropolitan Los Angeles area."

[PanBiker]

Doc has started a blog post for his adventures on the high seas. Perfect for anyone who does not follow him on Facebook.

He is about to set off to cross the Atlantic.

Blogspot is here:

Hocus Pocus

[Cathy]

Thankyou Ian for posting these links about Doc, it's good to see what he is doing from time to time.

[Stanley]

Ian how do we register on that blog to post a comment?



My Kennions order of 2BA nuts and bolts arrived late yesterday. This morning I got mail from Richard Clark the owner of the business asking me to check how many nuts I had. He was right, I was 100 nuts light.... I've thanked him and no doubt another 100 nuts will be in the post..... Not bad service!

[Tizer]

Flying Scotsman to be tested on East Lancs railway.... Flying Scotsman 1 and Flying Scotsman 2

[Tripps]

Ian, thanks for the link. I hope he keeps up with the blog. What happened to the blog of the refurb project at Turner Street (?). Good intentions and all that.

He will be out of internet contact for a while I would think, though I see the yacht is fitted with HF radio. Get the rig fired up. Shame it doesn't have the ATIS - Automatic Transmission Identification Scheme - we could track him all the way then. I recall there is another boat of the same name which does have it. Still - I guess the aim is for a life enhancing experience, not to keep us entertained.

"Ian how do we register on that blog to post a comment?"

I have looked at the blog and I could post a comment if I wanted to do so. I though have a blog in Wordpress, and it seems to 'know' that, and identifies me - so maybe you have to be in the google camp to post?

[PanBiker]

A few things to answer here, first of all the blog. Tripps is correct, you need to register, I can post if I wish as I am registered with Google and have a Gmail account. It's like any other forum or social media site, Facebook and One Guy included, you have to register to comment.

Hocus Pocus is fitted with HF radio but we can't legally communicate as Doc's licence is only for the marine bands and mine for the amateur bands. My transceiver is perfectly cable of communication but I am limited by the terms of my licence as is Doc. I am permitted (and required) to reply to emergency calls from marine traffic if heard.

Regarding the Flying Scotsman, there will be an iconic photo opportunity later this month I think as the engine will be steaming over the Ribblehead Viaduct. I think I saw this on the We Love the Yorkshire Dales Facebook page.

[Tripps]

You've passed the test Ian.
I should have put a smile after 'fire the rig up' . I knew you wouldn't.

For anyone interested, here is the record of the vessel on the ITU database Hocus Pocus

[PanBiker]

Flying Scotsman will be on Ribblehead on the 22nd of January I am told but please check if attending to view.

[Stanley]

He's too busy enjoying himself....
That a day off from the shed is good for me. I wrote articles instead....

[Stanley]

The fact that it is snowing......



First snow of the winter and it's sticking despite following heavy rain.

[Marilyn]

Oh how lovely...snow!
( we here in Oz find snow quite a magical thing. Not sure how we would cope with it, but it is something we go "awwwww" about. It's all about warm fires and mittens and snowball fights and red cheeks and fun. ( well you will persist in sending greeting cards with such scenes on!)

[Tizer]

Glastonbury, which has a slightly smaller population than Barlick, is to lose all of its banks and crowds have gathered to protest. It had three but HSBC closed its branch in November, and both Lloyds and Barclays have said they'll do the same in the Spring. Although the population is smaller than Barlick the town sees a lot of tourists but now they too won't be able to find a bank in the town.

[Stanley]

Just one more example of the banks wanting to avoid face to face contact with clients. They want to confine banking to the impersonal world of on line banking.
The thing that grabbed me this morning was the continuing fall in the world stack markets, triggered by China of course. In addition the price of Brent Crude has dropped to $32.40 a barrel. These are not good auguries for the state of global trade..... But of course the market is always right and can regulate itself.....

[Tizer]

"..But of course the market is always right and can regulate itself..."
And the same can be said of the Earth, the regulation consisting of volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, landlsips, extreme weather and climate change...

[plaques]

the continuing fall in the world stock markets,

What always amazes me is that everybody knows about bubbles. The whiz kids on the stock exchange can spot them a mile away. The Bank of England has its finger on the pulse every minute of the day and can warn people months in advance of any crash. Then all of a sudden out of the blue the price of oil drops through the floor and the Chinese stock market goes into reverse. And guess what? Surprise, surprise, nobody knew it was going to happen and what's worse they don't know what the final outcome will be. That is unless they are keeping it to themselves.