WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Big Kev]

Up at the crack of Sparrow's fart and the first to post on this lovely morning

[Stanley]

I got mail from Rollie Jacobsen, Bob's son, this morning congratulating me on the fact I could still get into my old clothes and also on the fact that lumberjack's wear was appropriate on the anniversary of the eruption of Mt St Helens which is of course a big logging area.
The Air Bus that has vanished at 37,000 feet on a flight from Charles de Gaulle to Cairo. Nothing on the web yet, it's breaking news. 59 passengers, there will be some very worried people out there.....
Later.... see THIS for the Guardian report.

[Tizer]

Talking of Airbus, I saw an RAF Airbus A400M `Atlas' fly over us for the first time yesterday. We've always had Hercules flying back and forth above us, often seemingly at treetop level, so it was interesting to see its replacement. Still prop driven like the Hercules but the props are contrarotating - it has four engines and 1 & 3 are contra to 2 & 4. See the pic here: LINK

[Stanley]

Looks like a workhorse! Are the prop blades curved or is that an effect of the exposure?
See THIS for a report about Muirfield being struck off the list of venues for the Open. Evidently the majority of members voted to allow women members but fell short of the two thirds majority needed for the change. I thoroughly approve.

[PanBiker]

The Muirfield report looks like another manifestation of the old boys club. I hope the loss of revenue hits them where it hurts. Apparently Peter Alliss has said that if women wanted to play they should marry a member! Anyone got a spare JCB?

[Tizer]

Looks like a workhorse! Are the prop blades curved or is that an effect of the exposure?

They're curved blades as shown here: LINK

[Stanley]

Thanks for that Tiz. The advances in propeller design over the last thirty years has fascinated me. The props on modern submarines are curved as well. My dad once told me about being part of a team at Armstrong's at Trafford Park who were experimenting on props for Henry Seagrave's record breaking boat in the late 1920s, was it Miss England II? The problem then and now was cavitation at the tips of the blades which caused loss of efficiency and in the case of marine applications triggered electrolytic corrosion on the tips and edges. There are similar problems with the impellers and casings of centrifugal pumps.....
Muirfield and some other golf clubs are one of the last bastions of male chauvinism and should be attacked wherever possible. The same applies in may more spheres of public life and what really annoys me is that when questioned, verbal abuse is put down as 'banter'. So that's all right then......

[Tizer]

A newspaper cartoon this morning shows the two doors to the toilets at Muirfield golf club. The one with the sign showing a little person in trousers has underneath `Men'. The one with the sign showing a little person in a skirt says `Men in kilts'. Talking of chauvinism, the Radio 4 `Science Stories' programme on Florence Nightingale was marvellous. She's commonly thought of as a nurse but her real strength was as a statistician and her data and analysis on casualties and mortality in soldiers at the Scutari hospital showed that the army generals were useless at organising health care and preventing deaths. In describing mortality rates among soldiers she said you might as well take 1100 men each year out to Salisbury Plain and shoot them. You can download the 28 minute programme as an mp3 file for your PC or other gadgets from this BBC page: Nightingale

On a different note, we all know the big variations in house prices among the UK regions. Here's an example of how they differ in the south-east from elsewhere. My sister-in-law has just put her High Wycombe house on sale and the agent has valued it at £335,000. It's an older style semi-detached with two bedrooms, bathroom, lounge and kitchen and small gardens front and back, no garage. In our Somerset village you could buy a period 4 bedroom, 3 reception, detached house with a garage and car port and walled garden for £300,000. What would that sort of money buy in and around Barlick I wonder?

[Pluggy]

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for ... ouses.html

This one is just round the corner from me.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for ... 30975.html

Never been inside it though

[Stanley]

House prices depend on income levels. Have a look at somewhere like Barrow in Furness..... The biggest inflationary factor in my opinion was the tax relief on mortgage payments, the more you spent the more tax you saved and in a period of high inflation you had made up your extra outlay in a few years.... If you had a more than average income it was a license to print money.
There was a good report on R4 from a man who had been to Finland to investigate the lack of progress at the large nuclear reactor being built there by EDF. Very revealing..... Definitely not confidence raising.
A visit by Wendy and Col, Col looks so much better than he did..... Wonderful!

[Tripps]

Ian, I liked the fact that your son could come out of rented and buy his own property. He would struggle to do so hereabouts. How about this for eye watering.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for ... 04663.html

At least the bath is already wallpapered.

[PanBiker]

That's pretty abhorrent Tripp's and shows what a crazy world we are living in. Jacks is a compact mid terrace, the property is structurally sound and has been maintained, bathroom has recently been completely refurbished and it has a separate shower room. It has two bedrooms both double one attic. Small original back kitchen is functional but will get an upgrade. Jack has had a new combi put in and radiators throughout. Front room is sound, it was £79,000 with a little help from the bank of mum and dad for the deposit, he is paying less in mortgage than he did in rent, a no brainer if you can get your foot on the ladder. The money he is saving in the difference between rent and buy is being used to fund the upgrades. He won't make a lot of money on it but he won't lose either.

[Tizer]

At least the bath is already wallpapered.

Look at the bathroom door and angles of the walls. I can't get my head around that - it's like one of those rooms designed to fool your sense of proportions. I guess that fits with the price!

[Pluggy]

Looks like location, location location has it, half a million quid for a grotty sh*thole in Cambridge. The 205 grand semi round the corner is positively palatial.

Similar Property around 6 miles from Barlick ?

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/detail ... uECGlFp.97

Less than a rounding error in Cambridge.

[Stanley]

Funny angles.... Theresa Hartley used to live in a terraced house on Ellis Street (now demolished) that she rented off Matt Hartley's estate. The bathroom was panelled with panelling salvaged from the liner Majestic and none of it was square. A most peculiar effect!

[PanBiker]

I forgot to post it yesterday but did anyone else catch the Spitfire transiting over Barlick yesterday lunchtime? It was heading West towards Ribble Valley at around 12.30, I heard the Merlin before I saw it skirting Weets and heading over Brogden.

[Tripps]

Odd story in the press that David Cameron has bought a cheap high, mileage car for his wife, from his local 'Arthur Daley'. Arrived with bodyguards after ensuring garage stayed open after hours for him. Said to have returned the next day with the funds, and took it away.
All very odd. Why does a millionaire buy such a cheap old car (£1495). Why wasn't his wife with him to approve her 'new' car? Why not pay there and then, on a debit/credit card? Egregiously - why pay the windscreen price, and not haggle. I bet the dealer will need counseling. Must be a first for any car dealer.

Remember February when we were told he was a master negotiator

[Stanley]

Intriguing David.... It reminds me of the time I bought a beautiful old Ghia Granada (The rounded shape built in Germany as a competitor for BMW, 3.5L, automatic and the most comfortable car I ever owned) from a policeman in Austwick. He was selling it because he had a new job and if he kept it his wife would be driving round in a better car than him..... I sold it for the same price I bought it for four years later to a man who restored it as a classic.

[Big Kev]

I had one of those, it was gold with a black vynil roof, 3 litre v6 with the Auto gearbox. Not your economical runaround though, if I remember rightly it only did about 20 to the gallon. I was a lot younger and my right foot was a bit heavier then

[Stanley]

I was on a reasonable mileage allowance then Kev as Project Director at Ellenroad and getting what was then the Council mileage rate. It was the first automatic I ever drove and was a fast comfortable car.
What has struck me most today is the way Facebook can eat into your day! I've never had as many emails!

[David Whipp]

First thing I did on fb was to switch off email notifications.

You're right about it eating into your day!

[Stanley]

One thing I have noticed is that I have to 'like' a post before replying to it in order to post a reply. Have I got this right?
On the whole I like it but it takes care of the first hour of the day.....
Cooking the last four Mutton chops, I've ordered a refill of old ewe from Stuart Brown.....

[Wendyf]

No, you can post a reply without liking it.

[Pluggy]

Don't join "Barnoldswick Talk" if you value your sanity. Its monumentally depressing.....

[PanBiker]

Todays Google Doodle celebrating what would have been the 102nd birthday of Frankie Manning, the founding father of Lindy Hop.

Frankie Manning - Wiki