WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Tripps]

May I add another Happy Birthday Stanley. Well done - another milestone reached.

Keep buying the castings - I'm sure that's the secret.

[Stanley]

"Keep buying the castings"
That's the theory I am working on David.



This could be the secret to Life! Making crankshafts out of solid steel instead of fiddling about gluing bits together as Stuart's recommend. This is the Newton Pickles way.
Also, Daniel Meadows rang yesterday to tell me I am going to be famous again as the old 'Shuttles Steam and Soot' exhibition has been re-worked and is going to be exhibited in what was the Impressions Gallery in London and then is going to travel to Burnley and hopefully Bancroft Shed as essentially it is Daniel's essay on Bancroft and the people who ran it. He thinks I will be hearing from the Manchester Guardian.....

[Tizer]

That's great news, well done Daniel for passing on the information.

By the way Stanley, I hope your Chinese shorts don't send messages back to China!

[Tripps]

Lots of electrical cable laying activity round here. I suspect from the location - in preparation for more solar panels.

Whe this first started, the spin was that they were not taking agricultural land out of production and sheep could "safely graze" beneath the panels. That never happened of course, and the net result is that lamb is priced out of reach of ordinary folk (just been to Aldi), and we now (without consultation) have mealworms added to our staple food.

I think I'd prefer to take a chance with 'chlorinated chicken' rather than mealworms.

That's all a bit random - sorry - make of what you wish.

[Whyperion]

There are some better orientations and types of solar panels now , should not need so much greenfields land for them

[Tripps]

We need some that work in the dark I'm afraid. Otherwise it's - "dig baby dig".

A new gas field was found in North Norfolk last week which will meet our needs for perhaps ten years. We will still need gas for many years - but seem to prefer to ship it in from abroad.

Have you met "dunkelflaute" yet?

[Whyperion]

We need some that work in the dark I'm afraid. Otherwise it's - "dig baby dig".

A new gas field was found in North Norfolk last week which will meet our needs for perhaps ten years. We will still need gas for many years - but seem to prefer to ship it in from abroad.

Have you met "dunkelflaute" yet?

Thats what the battery backup is
What is the Norfolk Gas - same as North Sea or is it Shale Gas.
Gas has bought us clean energy but I fear we have squandered it.
British Chemical Industry needs cheaper energy , preferably not too polluting. I suppose only nuclear is the option

These seem reasonable price https://uk.jackery.com/[url]https://uk.jackery.com/[/url] presumably made in China

[Tripps]

What is the Norfolk Gas - same as North Sea or is it Shale Gas.

See BBC report Norfolk Gas

It's a bit ambiguous as whether fracking is involved - perhaps deliberately? I feel it will come to nothing.

"It's unclear whether fracking techniques will be needed or deployed here, "

[Stanley]

The way Putin is shaping up they'd better 'drill Baby, drill' and forget about net zero..... We'll be too busy paying the levy for the United States of Europe Army.
On a totally different tack.... red onions are easier to peel than white ones, stronger and same price. QED!

[Tizer]

Trump wants everything to be a `deal'...
`Ukraine balks at signing Trump deal to hand over its mineral wealth' Politico

[PanBiker]

Trump can add International Piracy and carpetbagging to his list of felonies. Another leader along with Putin and Netanyahu who should all be arrested for crimes against humanity.

[Tripps]

carpetbagging to his list of felonies.

I've never seen anyone in court for "carpetbagging".

An outsider who pretends to be an insider is a carpetbagger; he's a person who tries to take advantage of a group by joining it only for his own personal benefit.

That would put most MP's in the dock.

However president Trump a few days ago said -
Earlier this week, Trump said that "let hell break out" if Hamas does not release all hostages by 12 o' Clock on Saturday. After signing executive orders on February 10, Trump said, "As far as I'm concerned if all of the hostages aren't returned by Saturday at 12 o'clock - I think it's an appropriate time - I would say, cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out," CNN reported. He stated, "I'd say they ought to be returned by 12 o'clock on Saturday, and if they're not returned - all of them, not in drips and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two. Saturday at 12 o'clock, and after that, I would say, all hell is going to break out."

Well they didn't and it hasn't.

I'm surprised no one has used public ridicule as a device against him. He would be a star on "Spitting Images". I doubt his mega ego could stand it.

[PanBiker]

He is sticking his nose into the Ukraine/Russia issue in order to reap benefit from Ukraine's mineral wealth. Carpetbagging in my view regardless of whether anyone has ever been convicted of the same. International Piracy would cover the felon.

[Tripps]

Since I don't understand a word lf that post - best I withdraw from the thread.

[Big Kev]

I've broken one of my rings, it snapped while pushing a trolley in Aldi (I told Paulette that shopping was a dangerous activity) the initial break is where I had a bit added but it's broken across the hallmark stamp too. Obviously too delicate for a clumsy oaf like me

I've used Leon Dewhirst previously, for jewellery repairs, when he had a shop in Barnoldswick. He's located in the Piece Hall in Halifax now, I've messaged him and hopefully he can fettle it.

Borrowed eldest offspring's car today and went over to Halifax to collect my ring.

IMG_20250208_110034~2.jpg

Leon was just finishing it when I got there, fascinating to watch.
Here's the finished item, it's a lot stronger now and should hopefully last for a bit.

IMG_20250216_171939~2.jpg

IMG_20250216_171959~2.jpg

IMG_20250216_172016~2.jpg

[Stanley]

That's good Kev and my next question was going to be about the state of your car but it's obviously still in dock!

[Big Kev]

That's good Kev and my next question was going to be about the state of your car but it's obviously still in dock!

Yup

[Stanley]

[Whyperion]

"Temple" Mill in Leeds , Grade 1 listed is getting govt funding as turning into the British Library North , Yorkshire Evening Post report
One wonders what books it might feature in it , only Northumbria created documents ?

Seems like a good use of a site I was little aware of when I was in Leeds , I assume I walked and drove in different places

[Big Kev]

That's good Kev and my next question was going to be about the state of your car but it's obviously still in dock!

Yup

I phoned today, they've not looked at it yet. Good job I'm ill (I'm sure there's a positive in there somewhere).

[Stanley]

What strikes me is the fact that Ford play no part in the saga. You are completely on your own. Is this made clear when you buy the vehicle or are they too busy telling you how their computer systems protect you and enhance ownership of a Ford?
(I think I know the answer!)

[Tizer]

I'm not sure why this appears in today's BBC News when it all happened so long ago - probably they're going to run a programme about it. But I wonder whether the criminal got his idea from Neville Shute's first book `Marazan' published in 1926 then republished in 1951?
`How a plan to land £100m of cocaine on a Highland beach went wrong' LINK

[Stanley]

THIS ongoing drama caught my eye....
A huge sinkhole in a street in Surrey is continuing to grow and swallow up more road, with the county council declaring a major incident. The original hole first appeared in Godstone High Street late on Monday night, growing to at least 65ft (20m) long by Tuesday lunchtime. A second opening has now appeared, with a car teetering on the brink and the owner unable to move it. Families have been evacuated from their homes over fears of an explosion caused by exposed cables, with one resident saying the street now "sounded like a waterfall".
We've commented before on the folly of building on flood plains.... Perhaps we should include 'brownfield' sites as well!

[Tizer]

In the 1970s we lived near Godstone and it's changed dramatically since then. When I looked on Google Earth there are now modern houses everywhere. In past centuries a lot of sand extraction was done in the area so it's not surprising to us to see a sink hole. It's a sand equivalent of building on flood plains here in Somerset.

Something different...
`Historic US ocean liner moves out of Philadelphia after nearly 30 years' BBC short video

[Stanley]

I heard the report about the United States being towed to Alabama to be sunk to make an artificial reef. I suppose the thing that this most clearly demonstrates is the high cost of scrapping ships. The only places where ship-breaking is carried out on any scale is wherever environmental standards and workers rights are so dire that pollution can be ignored and costs kept low.
I tripped over this video recently and it is the best investigative attempt I have seen of the conditions in one of the largest of the breaking sites at Alang in Gujarat.