OneGuyFromBarlick

Very pleased they're home Wendy. Not good when the kids disappear.

Last night we looked for the Perseid meteors at about 22.30 and then again this morning at 02.00. We saw some but not as many as I'd expected. A couple were very bright. But we had a bonus! As we scanned the sky we saw a moving bright object, a steady light, not flashing. Having seen the International Space Station a few times previously we thought that must be it again. But when I looked on the Web this morning I found that it couldn't be the ISS so I looked for details of other satellites using this web page Satellites Click on the location link at top right of the page to set your location from a map, then return to the listing. The first thing you notice is that it's very busy up there! We decided it was most likely to either CARTOSAT-1 or IGS 5A. These are only about a minute apart so if we'd looked harder we might have seen the other one too!

The Heavens Above site also gives the times of the amateur radio satellite passes. There are more bespoke sites though that will plot a timed azimuth an elevation path for antenna tracking.

Also, if you think there are a lot of low orbiters take a look at the list of geosynchronous stuff 22,000 miles up.

List of Satellites in Geosynchronous Orbit

Interesting map David. They are going to have a lot of space available when the old sheds come down.... Industrial use? Thanks for the pic of the sheds being demolished. The thought that passed through my head is that they were built for weaving and had a life of thirty years before falling into disuse (Approx 1900 to 1930). Aero engineering started on the site in 1940 and has already lasted more than twice the life of King Cotton on the site.

There was a planning approval several years ago for the re-use of the front part of the Bankfield site as a centre of excellence for aerospace by the North West Development Agency. This didn't happen in Barlick, but at Salmesbury. Together with the old Drill Hall building complex off Crow Nest Road, the land would make a good location for smaller suppliers to Rolls-Royce. There are murmurs that RR are considering housing on the land though...

As mentioned previously, the Bankfield developments bring the future of the Ghyll Brow plant into question. That could lead to an interesting discussion.

Saw some more meteors last night and another satellite which seems to be one of the Cosmos family, which I presume are all Russian. I can't tell exactly which one because the listing shows them coming within minutes of each other with similar tracks, compass directions, brightness etc, but this one was going in the opposite direction to last night's sighting. I guess Putin's keeping an eye on us!

The fact that the slow improvement in my back is on track. At my age you always have the idea in the back of your head that the day will come when the body loses its ability to repair itself. Life is indeed a terminal disease!

Flying Ant Day!!

Down here in Somerset that was last week. I suppose Scotland will be next week!

I uploaded this picture of our cat a while back as a test. I didn't post it then, I took said moggy to the vet this morning because it wasn't eating and had lost a lot of weight recently. The diagnosis wasn't good and we had to put her down. It down't matter how many times you've put a pet to sleep, it always tears you up.

Sad news Pluggy.

Sorry to hear that Pluggy. You can only do your best for them and end of life is part of the deal, doesn't make it any easier though.

Anyone who has been there knows that it is a bereavement Plugs.... Think mainly of the fact you gave it a good life....

I'm so sorry to hear that.

See Shed matters for the full story but how satisfying it is to drag a complicated little piece of machinery back from the dead after it has failed because of inferior construction. Two brass bushes replaced the plastic ones that failed and it is better than new.

Maintenance isn't restricted to mechanical objects. I got some leather treatment from Birro's and gave my A2 jacket a coat. Good stuff, it buffed up nicely and is a definite improvement!
I was in Shambles getting a pizza cutting wheel yesterday and the lady behind the counter told me that she was Phyllis Watson's daughter. She said that it was a bit late but she wanted to thank me for the obituary I did in the BET in 2008, she has it framed.... Nice!
[I searched the site but couldn't find it so I've posted it again.]

A report in PE that the government is 'considering' taking down historic records of companies on their web site. This means that the job of investigative journalists who are examining companies gets much harder. Add to this the changes in access to Land Registry records and we see a diminution in transparency. The question is what is the driver for this hiding of the records? Call me an old cynic but it makes it easier for the dodgy characters to get away with their suspect schemes.

Archive material isn't valued like it used to be and companies often throw out old paper records without digitising them, especially when one company takes over another. I think it's partly cost-saving, partly laziness and partly providing the opportunity to say "Sorry guv, we've got no record of your claim/warning/complaint etc.

Quite!
I'm looking forward to the end of wall to wall Olympic coverage this weekend.... Will the same attention be paid to the disabled games? I'm afraid I was AWOL when the sports genes were handed out, the games have no attraction for me whatsoever. There were some very interesting observations about the BBC and it's excessive coverage of the games in PE this week. Whatever the reason, I look forward to the return of normal service!

The closing party at the Cellar Bar and Bistro on Rainfall Rd was well attended last night, Penny and Alan Avatar are now retiring having sold the premises. The music theme will continue after a short closure for a few changes to be made, the new owner is heavily involved with the music business . I'm not sure if I can say who he is yet but he is fairly well known.

I was thinking yesterday and came up with a list .......

Homelessness and rough sleeping increases.
Food Banks proliferate but are not reported on.
Gambling wall to wall on the web and high street.
Loan firms legally run interest rates of 1300% APR.
Hire purchase firms sell goods at high interest rates.
Welfare payments continue to fall.
Assessment of applicants for long term sick benefit and care makes it harder than ever to get help.
Our political system is terminally ill.

What sort of world are we building?

The end of Olympic Mania. Some of us are not fooled by this massive distraction from the problems of the real world. Question is, what action is going to be taken as we return to normality?

I'll bet the favelas are still there after the Brazil Olympics.

Stanley wrote:The end of Olympic Mania. Some of us are not fooled by this massive distraction from the problems of the real world.

The Olympics happen every four years regardless of world politics, it has ever been so saving the years of total conflict. There is no engineered distraction involved. Surely you cannot begrudge the efforts put in by the competitors to get to levels needed to excel at their chosen sports or the feelgood factor given to the millions that do watch and follow the games. The knock on effect to young and old taking up various sporting activities cannot be overlooked either or indeed the boost to the economy from the sale of sporting goods and equipment.

I know you follow F1 racing so what is the difference apart from the fact it takes the Olympians years of training to reach their levels of excellence. Some would say that the millions of corporate sponsorship thrown at a few blokes driving extremely expensive vehicles around in circles is a waste of time as well and surely just as brief a distraction from the "real world".

My youngest works for the Leeds Triathlon Centre, the Brownlee Brothers' performance at the Olympics have raised the profile of the centre and provided him with ongoing work