WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Stanley]

The lovely weather we are having, such a good start for the year and good for the blossom and the birds. Now for some warm rain.......

[Stanley]

The confusion reigning in Europe as the deaths in the Mediterranean are 'discussed'. Meanwhile, out at sea......
Later at 07:20. Nothing on the web yet but I have been listening to the story of the baby who lived only 100 minutes and died in his mother's arms. They knew this was going to happen and had arranged for his kidneys to be donated for transplant. This has been done into an adult leaving his original failing kidneys in place. My heart goes out to the parents and I'm so glad they were able to share the whole of its short life. I hope the recipient does well as well. What a wonderful story.....

[Stanley]

We learn more about the 100 minute baby. The lady was having twins and they were offered a termination early in the pregnancy because the problem with one foetus had been spotted but they refused on the grounds that they would lose the viable baby. They accepted the fact that they would lose one and started to make plans even at that early stage for the donations. I'm so glad it all worked out for them and they have one healthy child. I think they are saints..... (Latest news is that the recipient of the kidneys is doing well, they saved the heart valves as well....)

[Bodger]

Stanley, re the Hatton Garden heist, a press report state that the hole made, 10" X 20" was not large enough for an average man to access, i seem to recall that the oval inspection hatches on boilers were smaller ?

[Pluggy]

Stanley, re the Hatton Garden heist, a press report state that the hole made, 10" X 20" was not large enough for an average man to access, i seem to recall that the oval inspection hatches on boilers were smaller ?

Back when steam was king, the "average man" would be a lot smaller than today's average man. They probably picked the heist team based on whether they could get through the hole they effectively drilled into the vault. There's no way, I'd get through a hole that small.

[plaques]

"average man"

What about an average woman? A size 10 would have no trouble getting through.

[Cathy]

ANZAC DAY
Battle of Gallipoli WW1
100 Year Anniversary
Lest We Forget

[Stanley]

The minimum dimensions for oval manholes is 12" X 16", (300MM x 400MM) many, particularly the circular ones with external lids on older boilers were slightly larger than that. So the Hatton Garden hole would be quite large enough for a reasonably slim person. I was on the heavily built size but had no problem. The average dress size for UK women is reckoned to be 16. Worth noting that in a hot boiler you swelled slightly and it was slightly more difficult getting out....
Later.... I forgot to mention how much I am enjoying the snooker. Anthony McGill beating Mark Selby, a Crucible débutante beating the reigning champion, was a lesson in good match play. Quite amazing...

[Stanley]

Aidan Turner.... who he?? Quote from, a lady Poldark fan this morning on R4. "There is almost nothing I would not do to get a few hours alone with this beautiful man..." Really? Perhaps the time of topless snooker is here. Ladies, Imagine Mark Selby without his upper garments.... The ripple of muscles every time he played a shot.... Now that is fantasy land!

[Stanley]

The rising death toll in Nepal. We have a lot to be thankful for!

[Moh]

We had a 'phone call this lunch time from someone wanting to sell us a thing to put on the back of the 'phone to stop cold callers - he said it was £59. He knew we were registered with the Telephone Preference people yet he still called!!

[Stanley]

Sounds like a gold plated scam Moh.... But I think you know that....

[Stanley]

Ronnie and Neil Robertson getting knocked out of the world championships. I caught the last three frames of Barry Hawkins' defeat of Neil 13-12. Wonderful snooker, not often I stay up an extra hour!
How well my valves are going, a minor miracle when you consider my eyesight. The left eye worsens daily, it's useless now. Roll on July 24th and the laser cleaning when I am promised a return to fighter pilot vision in that eye!

[Tripps]

Well it's Labour Day tomorrow, and also a Friday. The consultants at the Lindo Wing will want the weekend off, and I'm sure the man in the Union Jack suit has had enough.

All sounds auspicious.

[Stanley]

I had to look Lindo Wing up.... I see, so a woman is about to have a baby.... I wish her well but beyond that, who cares?

[Tizer]

Me too, Lindo Wing? I thought it must be a TV show about American politicians.

[Stanley]

THIS caught my attention. It appears that the US is wakening up to institutional racism in their police forces. About time too!

[Tizer]

There's been some warnings on the news about the problems of people relying on satnavs and not knowing how to read a map. Tom Heap, the presenter of Radio 4's `Costing the Earth' programme has written a brief article explaining five reasons why we should still read maps. One of his stories, about a camera crew trying to find Snowdon, reminded me of our experience yesterday with two men delivering a couple of chairs to our house from a local store. They started about 10 miles from our house. Mrs Tiz got a phone call from them asking "Is your house the one before or the one after the bridge?" but there's no bridge near our house. They'd followed the satnav and ended up about 5 miles from us and it emerged that someone had transcribed our postcode incorrectly - I heard her telling them "No, it's not P, it's D, D for Daft!" (well, she was a schoolteacher!). But what was really striking is that they had our full address yet it hadn't occurred to them that they were in completely the wrong place, in fact not even in a village but in the middle of the moor. Our village is 10 miles north on the main trunk road from the town in which they started out - all they had to do was stay on the main road but instead they let Doris (our name for satnavs) take them on a mystery tour of the moor!
Now have a look at Tom Heap's 5 reasons, on this LINK and especially the story about Snowdon.

I have a similar concern about people no longer being able to use a hand lens. Perhaps it's not so important as the map issue but those who don't know how to use a hand lens miss out on a part of the world that's inaccessible to them. Also, they don't benefit from the way a hand lens comes in so useful when carrying out fine work. And one can easily be carried in a pocket or handbag. Many children in schools no longer get shown how to use one either because the teachers don't know or they have a binocular microscope or a digital microscope - neither of which has the convenience and mobility of a hand lens.

[Stanley]

Not surprisingly I second everything you say about Doris and having a loupe handy! In my driving days we used the el cheapo Esso maps from the garages and I never ever failed to find my destination anywhere on mainland Britain. Maps aren't just diagrams, they are a different view of the world.....
Woman has baby daughter, both doing well. They are calling her Doris.....
Possibly the best 33 frames of snooker ever at the Crucible. Wonderful close, skilful contest. A delight to watch....

[chinatyke]

...I heard her telling them "No, it's not P, it's D, D for Daft!" (well, she was a schoolteacher!).

My eldest stepdaughter is a Legal Adviser in a court, the old name was Clerk of the Court. One of her tasks is to record various details after the hearing. She was doing this and asked the offender "Do you know your national insurance number?" He said he did and stated it. She replied "Is that A for Apple, N for Nutter?"

Everyone cracked out laughing except for the offender. Later she was reprimanded by the magistrates.

[Stanley]

Very common surname, from 'neat herd' a man who kept the royal deer within the hunting grounds.

[chinatyke]

Very common surname, from 'neat herd' a man who kept the royal deer within the hunting grounds.

But a different meaning in Liverpool. She should have used the local saying: N for No mark.

[Tripps]

So - they've called her Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

Since my granddaughter is called Elizabeth Charlotte - and lives in Cambridge - I can see there being some competition for the title of Princess Charlotte of Cambridge.

PS Have you noticed the current fashion for starting a sentence with the word 'so' . I've just done it myself.

[Stanley]

Princess Charlie...
My old mate John Pudney once told me that you should write as if you were speaking. I use 'so' at the beginning of a sentence quite often. (So, it must be OK)
See THIS for a report on US deaths in childbirth which is rising and this in a country that spends more on medical care than any other. Mind you, have a look at THIS report in the Guardian today. We are not doing as well here as we should. I'm reminded of the way 'hot spots' in the statistics were glossed over in the 1930s report by the Chief Medical Officer of Health in Britain to assure everybody that things were getting better. (See Charles Webster, healthy or hungry Thirties on the site) So much depends on how the statistics are analysed and handled.
Later at 07:00. Disturbing reports from farmers and support agencies that the Rural Payments Agency is yet again cocking up the system. If you remember that had to scrap their expensive computerised system at the last minute and substitute old fashioned paper forms. Farmers report that the forms contain errors particularly in the maps of land holdings which are all out of date, they are using maps that pre-date the revisions of 2010. This branch of the government is not fit for purpose and immediate action is needed.

[Tizer]

It sounds like the Rural Payments Agency is the International Developments Agency people working under another name!

Tripps, your use of `So' (and Stanley's) are traditional, used to imply one thing follows another. The very common use that has formed during recent years is when someone is asked questions and starts most of their answers with `So'. As far as the UK is concerned, this all seemed to begin (I regret to say) with scientists. They were doing it well before the rest of the population, usually when asked questions by conference participants at the end of their lecture, or by the media. Thus if asked "Is Earth round or flat?" they would begin "So, the latest evidence suggests....". The word seemed to fulfil the same `thinking space' function as `Well' and `Now', but being unfamiliar it irritated many listeners. I don't know where the scientists picked up the habit; I would guess from US scientists...but where did they get it from, I wonder? The first time I heard anyone comment on its use was when the presenter of the Radio 4 `Inside Science' programme drew attention to it.