WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[David Whipp]

The other thing that attracted my attention this evening was the urgent repairs being carried out to a very bad pothole on Skipton Road near the junction of Weets View. Going home after cinema, LCC team were tipping bagged bitmac into the hole.



Next week, the county council are due to start proper structural repairs to the full length of Skipton Road.

[Stanley]

How much I hate dark weather and snow combined!
There was a van at the site of the bum lamp-post this morning at 06:30. They are evidently still working on it.....

[Tizer]

...the temperature read out on my car dashboard read -7c this lunchtime, it was reading 28c by the time we got to Colne.

Global warming, Ian!

[PanBiker]

...the temperature read out on my car dashboard read -7c this lunchtime, it was reading 28c by the time we got to Colne.

Global warming, Ian!

It's a £9.99 fix if I get the part off Ebay, £54.00 apparently from Renault, the sensor hides in the RH wing mirror. If only global warming was as easy to fix.

[Stanley]

Renault's part is obviously gold plated......
Shaun Murphy's performance last night in the Masters at Alexander Palace. He beat Robertson by a record margin. I think the Australian was perhaps under the weather after a couple of hard matches including knocking Ronnie out, he never looked comfortable...

[David Whipp]

Grit bins; for my sins, I've done a quick sample of the stock of salt in grit bins round Barlick this morning. Some, like this one on North Street, are almost empty, though others are 3/4 full.

Have asked the county council to fill them up given the continuing frost forecast for this week.

[Stanley]

Pity they have to be reminded.....
The Panorama programme last night, 'The Trouble with Tesco' which laid bare the sharp practices whereby Tesco extract money from suppliers using threats and coercion. See THIS LINK.
It reminded me of the shameful way our dairy farmers are being treated by the distribution and processing industry under the guise of having to bow to global prices. I shall repost the articles I did on the Milk Marketing Board.

[Marilyn]

Now I've seen everything...
Older disabled gent on his large gopher...the back of which had been professionally decked out with huge lidded metal box and fishing rods holders...complete with several fishing rods! I'd say it had doubled the length of his gopher. Not the sort or thing one generally sees in a shopping mall.
I thought afterward that I should have snapped a pic...

[Stanley]

I take it 'gopher' is an electric mobility aid.... I like it!
Word from Janet that they are back home, the kids have forgiven them and she starts work again today. All is well!

[Tizer]

Back in November I received only half of my Winter Fuel Allowance and a letter saying it was because someone else lived with me who was eligible. I phoned the DWP and pointed out there was only my wife and she wasn't yet eligible, so they'd got it wrong. They couldn't explain why I was being given only half the allowance. I asked if it was anything to do with us having Power of Attorney for three parents and therefore having to receive their mail at this address although they were in nursing homes. DWP said they had no idea if this was the reason but would note it and, if it was an error I wouldn't get the other half `until later in the winter'. Phoned them on Monday and raised the query again. We discussed the PoA and the DWP said that must be the reason but they didn't know when I'd get the outstanding money. I said I needed to top up my oil tank which would cost hundreds of pounds but they said I might have to wait `4 to 6 weeks'. I asked if I'd get the correct payment next year. They couldn't confirm that. They kept acting as if it was my fault and I had to point out that they'd made an error not me and I was going to contact the newspapers because there must be many other people with PoAs for elderly parents who would have been affected. I wanted to speak to a more senior person but the DWP said there was no-one I could speak to and should contact my MP. So I said I would do that.

Next morning I got a phone call from the DWP saying it was all sorted and I'd get my outstanding money paid into my account within 5 days. Apparently if you receive someone else's correspondence at your address but they don't live at that address you MUST tell the Pensions Centre so that they record the two addresses, one for where the person lives (the care home or nursing home) and one for where their correspondence is to be sent (and make sure they get them the right way around!). In all our work to put three PoAs into action, nowhere did we ever see an instruction to do this. We had told the Pensions Centre that we had PoA for the three parents but must not have made it clear enough about the different addresses.

[Stanley]

That's interesting Tiz and well done for pursuing them. Charge them for your time!

[David Whipp]

(Yesterday) The hundreds of people paying their respects at Ian Scothern's funeral. Seating at Holy Trinity was full an hour before the service began and standing room filled up soon after that. There may have been up to 300 people stood outside.

Ian's dignity, his positive approach, his enthusiasm for life and his different endeavours touched so many of our lives. It was no surprise to see so many people mark his passing away.

[Stanley]

Sorry to lower the tone David but a picture in the BET caught my attention. Now we know who ate all the pies.....

[Wendyf]

The sound of church bells coming up the clough this lunchtime and they were pealing not tolling. It must have been carried on the wind from somewhere with visiting campanologists....must have been from Kelbrook. (Col heard it too, so I wasn't hallucinating!)

[Stanley]

I love the sound of church bells coming in on the wind. We hear them in the evening at East Hill Street when the ringers are practising at Gill Church.
What grabbed me yesterday was that when Muthomi visited me to bring the new lamp for the shed and help me to put it up he brought his cousin Joanne who is visiting from Nairobi. I was so mitten by her I forgot to take a picture! She is beautiful (and I told her so!) and we ignored Mo and talked all the time she was here. She has her hair in braids and it fascinated me. She said it takes the hairdresser two hours to put them in for her and they are so tidy and a lovely pattern. I think I may have fallen in love. Again!! A beautiful young woman and a good cuddle, she is a credit to her parents.
I'm not a football fan but yesterday’s draw between Cambridge United and Manchester United was a lovely result. Typical of the surprises the FA Cup can throw up. They will almost certainly lose the replay at Old Trafford but the share of the gate is a wonderful windfall for them. Lovely result!

[Tizer]

I'll bet you haven't got one of these in Barlick!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-30948671

[David Whipp]

Trial flight of drone mounted camera at Letcliffe Park... HERE

[PanBiker]

Looks like a very stable platform David, Bryan was telling us about it at a Bosom Friends promo he was doing for us. Another good tool for his armoury.

[David Whipp]

Given the buffeting it was getting from the wind, astonishingly stable; it was locked on to GPS position and automatically compensated for drift. (Happened to have the hard hat in the car and put it on to wind Bryan up with my confidence in his piloting...

[PanBiker]

Auto pilot by GPS, pity that wasn't available when I was flying my RC models. Could have done with some stability there, flying was OK it was the landings that were always hard. Ended up with a multicoloured glider from all the tail rebuilds.

[Thomo]

Radio controlled model aircraft have come far since I was flying them 60 years ago. These modern "ready to go" drones are quite wonderful pieces of kit, but I can see a shadow looming, possible registration and other controls being just a part of the future. Modern technology is the choice of weapon for they who have malicious intent, it is however not too difficult to jam the control signals on such commercially available items, let us hope that it does not come to that. Good luck with it Bryan and have fun, it has many possibilities in the right hands.

[Stanley]

Bloody brilliant!!!! Just think what a full aerial survey of Barlick could do for historians in the future. Congratulations all round, wonderfully stable. I am so envious....
My attention today is on the fact that I am expecting a visit at noon from my favourite steam engine tenter, Joan Smith, who is bringing her friend Zoe as well!
Later 14:00. Joan and Zoe came and we had a good long chat. Two nice ladies, what more could a bloke ask!

[Thomo]

In regard to drones and stability, even a small amount of flying experience or knowledge can be beneficial. Most flying objects have a "front end" regardless of their geometry, and perform at their best when facing whatever wind there is, in short, they do not bounce around readily when directed thus. Sideways and reverse directions performed with this in mind will achieve better results and a more stable platform for the camera. On the ground all that is required is a stick with a piece of ribbon attached, that is if you are a non smoker.

[Stanley]

How tiring visitors are.... Not used to company!
The 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Russians.....

[Tizer]

Radio controlled model aircraft have come far since I was flying them 60 years ago.

The railway modelling fraternity has finally realised that advances in lithium battery size and power mean that model locos, even OO gauge, can now have an onboard battery and a wireless receiver. They can be radio-controlled from a handset, like model aircraft, and don't need power through the rails, which does away with a lot of the wiring. A few people, usually with experience of model aircraft, have already done their own home-made versions but now a father-and-son business called Protocab is setting up to provide modellers with off-the-shelf battery-driven, wireless-controlled locos.
http://www.protocab.com/
http://www.modelrailforum.com/forums/in ... opic=29808