[Bob Williams]

Some ideas here John:

https://tinyurl.com/yyrnymtz

Scroll down to “Visual Tributes”. Looks like they can take your suggestions and make it up to your wants. Is the world losing another Elvis fan? We’re all getting older and ” the Departure Lounge is getting crowded“. (Billy Connolly)

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Repeated my contribution Lee, hope you get through all this s**tstorm with your home and sanity in one piece. Best of luck mate, I went through something similar with my dad’s passing and my mum 7 months later. I know you feel like there is no end to the krap flying at you, but believe me it does end. I had just met my missus and was about to be evicted from parent’s flat by a Council Jobsworth. Know how it feels.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Our nearest Lidl is about 13 miles away in Mablethorpe and was once the biggest in the UK. That’s still closer than the next: Grimsby, about 22 miles. I do occasionally visit the “Maybo”* store, and forgot that I have bought the pukka Bratties there. I like quite a lot of their stuff in fact, but in the Season we only visit the Maybo Library due to the influx of Grockles (OOOH! They have a Lidl!), which has better SF than  Louth.

Dave it’s a long time since I was (briefly) in Berlin, or rather West Berlin, detached on Grenzen duty at yet another flashpoint. I don’t know the beer, but if I still could drink beer and am anywhere in Germany, didn’t like or trust the local stuff, I would  always look for Warsteiner:

https://tinyurl.com/y5ll5wra

-At the Olympiastadion. Reading the link, my local stuff now owned by Warsteiner was Paderborner and Herforder Pils. Both were good beers (never found a ‘bad’ German beer!) but I liked Warsteiner, which was the beer at my first SWMBO’s Gasthof, so became used to it. Now you find it all over Spanish and other holiday resorts.

*Local slang for Mablethorpe.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Thanks for the responses guys, all interesting.

Nolan, thanks for the kind offer, I won’t buy until I see what you find at your mum’s. Just let me know price including P&P in a PM and I will go for it.

Ryan, thanks. Somewhere in one of my Bits Boxes is an original Echo Dot, given to me by my No.2 Gson and never used. (I am a Tech Magpie) Using that should be enough to make SWMBO head for the hair dye!

Richard I am ready for the hard work: I need to carry out a complete sorting out of everything audio/video. Have to fit my second Ethernet hub and remove the Humax, take up all the Satellite cable that the Sky Guy laid out along walls and around doors. I will probably get my son to take it from the LNB and into the loft, just in case we need it again. There is already TV and Ethernet cable across the loft and down behind the LH side of the TV, with a plate screwed to the wall. Then I will carefully consider a new layout and remove it all, at which point SWMBO will probably move to No.1 daughter’s for a week. (“No TV” does that to her!) A Humax HDR-1100S will appear on local Gumtree and FB Market place. Further annoyances of the Humax is that it does not record two programmes at once, (as promised) and it takes ages to boot up. The Freesat romance is dead!

Dave I like that about the iPlayer too, and it is supposed to work on the Humax EPG. But it doesn’t. Certain programmes on certain channels have the  “Restart” icon:

   – But some do not restart, or restart one day but fail the next day. I have both Satt cables connected to a new LNB, the dish has been tuned professionally and I now have a download speed of 70+ Mbps. I’ve had enough and want to replace the Humax box and all its cables with something much smaller that frees up an HDMI port and gives me more entertainment with less repeats of repeated repeats.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Totally agree Steve, that sounds like the solution, but the Tories would be afraid of what they think is their grass roots support if they did this. I can see a certain amount of Labour, Lib Dem and Green support for those measures though. It should be an all-Party measure on the problem, but getting all UK political Parties, or as we have seen, members of any one Party, to agree on anything, is like trying to knit fog.

Supply and demand: making the supply unavailable has not worked. Making it free and very easily available, would eventually work, although it will take a lot of time, as you point out. It would also free up a lot of police effort.

I also believe that something could and should be done about the supply of knives. The answer to that is not clear in my mind yet, but I was thinking about some kind of manufacturing and/or Point Of Sale process to limit the supply. Licensing? Just thinking here, and wondering if such a measure might lead to an increase in the theft of knives. Too many young people carrying them and too many dying from them.

If I was 20 years younger, and able-bodied, observing what has happened to this country, I would be considering going into politics to try to make a difference.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

That is a fine motor.

How would it go in Auto box version Nolan?

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

My middle bro was a very keen gardener, always out in it as were all 3 of us, taught by our dad. One day, many years ago, he was handling some new plants, had a slight puncture in his left pinkie finger and ignored it, as we all do. 3 days later, whole finger and hand swelled up, huge red lump on the pinkie, went to the GP. The Doc lanced it and out popped a mass of tiny wrigglers: something had “fertilised” his finger and used it as a home for its young. When he told Big bro and myself this in the Welfare, Big bro almost fell of his chair at my response: “Well you had 7 kids, some female bug must have thought you were a good home  for its own babies!”

Middle bro is the one now with severe dementia, stuck in a commode, knows no one. Big bro died in 1988. I miss them both, they are both gone in their own way.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
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[Bob Williams]

” it’s just a good job bhp has gone up. Today’s average cars are now quicker than 80s ferraris. And handle much better. ”

Yes that’s true Steve. Look at my little basic iX20: Motability gave a disabled, cranky, 74 yo petrol head something with 125bhp, twin cams, 16valves and expected him to pootle along at 30 mph in safety. Are they mad? ?

 

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

IMHO, most of this current crime situation is down to drugs, in one way or another. Those with “liberal tendencies” would have us believe that a heavy drug user is not responsible for their actions and should be helped. Well my view of that is in the form of a question: who pointed a gun at their heads to force them into taking the stuff? The answer is of course, no one. They chose to smoke/inject/swallow stuff that even a basic intelligence should have known, from all the TV, NHS and other reports, would make them addicts, cost them financially, destroy their health and turn them into criminals. Dopes take dope and that is the truth.

Dwynne I have found a great deal of sense, reality and truth in your posts here. It resonates with two ex-officers I know, who have told me of similar scenarios to the ones you talk about. One goes as far as to say that he is glad he is not a young officer starting his career again, especially as a single-crewed car patrol in an environment where he once served: some of the worst areas in Nottingham. He speaks of the declining respect for the police that he saw developing and he believes that there have to be big changes in the application of the law, powers of arrest, enforcement and sentencing. I also count an ex-prison warder amongst my friends. His professional opinions are that the Prison Service is underpaid, underfunded and understaffed, with overcrowded prisons that are driving weaker inmates into mental health issues and making them victims of the harder, more violent inmates.

The whole issue of crime and punishment needs an overhaul in this country. The situation cannot be simply laid at the door of “Society”, it is much more complicated than the ‘PC Brigade’ would have us believe. Matters have been allowed to reach a nadir in our society and there does not appear to be a political will to take steps to deal with it.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
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[Bob Williams]

If I was an LFC fan, (and have to admire the way they play) I would be very concerned about the goalkeeper situation. The way Man City have started, they will again be hard to compete with, and however good his replacement may be, Alisson was IMO the best keeper in the country until his injury. Maybe in the world. Looking back at his performances last season, it was the complete modern goalie: cool out of defence, could pass a ball as well as any outfield player, great anticipation and reflexes, made outstanding saves look ordinary. Brian Clough once said that Peter Shilton was worth at least 20 points to Forest and that’s what a great goalie gives you, as opposed to a good one. Very, very difficult to replace a player like that. I watched the Euro final again last night and saw the difference between a save by Hugo Lloris, a very good keeper, and similar saves by Alisson. Pushed away by the hands of both players, Lloris’ effort led to Mo Salah’s goal. Alisson always pushed the ball out to a red shirt, or into safety. That is the difference between good and great.

Hope it doesn’t cost you points you might need at the end of the season, Steve.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
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[Bob Williams]

BL, nothing worse than watching your team get hammered by the same opponents for the umpteenth time. Many bad memories of that with Forest, but worst of all was a 5-0 thumping by our “friends” down the A52, Derby. That sent all Forest fans into mourning. ?? This year we get to take revenge (I hope) 3 times: twice in the Championship, and in the League Cup.

Dave, Vienna Cathedral works are done, it’s all down towards the river and back up in the shopping and business area. Just like here in a way, Lincolnshire Highways get a load of government money and start new roadworks. On the Holiday Routes. In the Holiday Season. Enjoy your Bratwurst, I love them but somehow the Austrian ones are not the same and the Slovakian efforts are over-spiced. They used to sell proper German ones at Tesco, but they changed the importer and they were rubbish. There was one stall in Bielefeld which cooked them correctly over charcoal and those were the best I ever tasted: a little senf and a little ‘Vitakrone’* ketchup. Lovely!

*Used to get that in Tesco and Morrisons, gone now. Much nicer than Heinz and is the basis of a currywurst.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
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[Bob Williams]

Good grief Richard, you are not supposed to shed blood over DIY!* Hope your wounds get better soon.

*Although I seem to do so, every now and again. I usually turn to SWMBO and say (something like) “Look what you make me give! Now hold this while I hit it/screw it/nail it!”

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Thanks for all the good wishes guys, the trip was wonderful, but the return spoiled it. I posted elsewhere that Budapest airport had a shortage of baggage handlers and we had a 1¾ hour wait at check in. Should have been longer, but I informed the Jet2 agent that he would be faced with two unconscious and ill customers if he didn’t act. We were ‘fast-tracked’ which became a joke, as the Security team had never heard of a parastomal hernia and thought I was hiding something nasty under my abdominal bulge. Flight delayed by 1½ hours, big storms over the Pennines on the drive home, last lap of which was a huge diversion around Scunthorpe after Highways had closed 2 junctions of the M180 whilst we were away. Of course they neglected to install signage about this, until we actually drove onto the M180.

The boat “The William Wordsworth”* was great: staff, food, amenities were all really good. A mix of Hungarian, Slovakian and Indonesian crew but all were very good. I did not think much of Budapest, but loved the ancient Hungarian capital of Hungary, Esztergom. It was a very cheerful place, dilapidated in parts but not as full of cosmopolitan tourists as Budapest. Its people were friendly and most spoke English. One unlikely-looking biker type, scruffy, long hair, insisted on taking us to a place we wanted to see and told us all about it in broken English: obviously very proud of his hometown. We didn’t take part in any organised tours, as we like to get out into the place and trust locals to tell us what we needed to know. That way we were able to talk about places that others had missed. I hate those Guides and the audio sets they supply: a fast, garbled commentary with no time to stop and take in details. All in all, had a great time.

Dave, thanks for that Railbookers link. Very interesting and we will look closely at that next year, although we are currently also looking at Wales, which we both love but have not seen for too long. Maybe Wales in May, a Euro trip in August again. We like Bruges, or Brugge if you take the Fleming pronunciation.

The boat:

Moored in Linz, a city we loved, more than Vienna which had huge pedestrian works and was a bit like many Brit Cities today, dirty, polluted and full of foreigners(!)

Anyone interested, here’s the link:    https://tinyurl.com/yxwgyrkp

*All the Riviera new boats are named after British literary figures. William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer, Robert Burns, Thomas Hardy, Emily Brontë. Newly- launched is the MS George Elliott, which pleases my Gert as she is one of 3 sisters born at the George Elliott hospital, Nuneaton.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
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[Bob Williams]

Had a rueful chuckle at this one Richard:

” Since then, we have only been going to funerals and hospitals; somehow that is not the same as holidays, I am often reminded. ”

Living in what I call a Seniors ghetto and what the landlord once named as Sheltered Housing, we are among a bunch of Oldies who insist on falling from their perches from time to time. After almost 17 years here, we count this as a fairly good year (oh, the irony!) in that we have only said goodbye to just one resident. Ominously, SWMBO and I are now among a dwindling band of residents who have lived here longest.

On another tack: this morning my GP phoned to tell me that my last CT scan was negative in regard to ‘nasties’ but I now have a cyst on one kidney and that requires further investigation. Ah well, what is one more malfunctioning body part, amongst so many?

I need the ability to laugh at myself, it is definitely preferable to the alternative.??

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Possible Bird strike? The Trent has apparently been a reliable engine.However…

https://tinyurl.com/y4coozta

We flew back from Budapest Friday in a 757 2000, no problems in the aircraft but 1¾ hours at check in, due to a lack of baggage handlers. An airport employee informed me that they are paid very low wages and are finding better paid jobs elsewhere as soon as they can find them. Security was nonsense, had to explain that the bulge of my Parastomal Hernia was not a bomb. 1½ hour flight departure delay, picked up the car at the Clayton Hotel (recommended btw) in a storm, bigger one over the Pennines. Some bright Highways planner had closed junctions 2 and 3 on the M180 and we had a massive detour around Scunthorpe. Got home about 10pm, ate, left unpacking to Saturday, slept until 10 am.

I will never fly again, it’s Eurostar or Ferry for us next time. Airports are just too much hassle now, especially if one has medical problems. I took a GP letter with a Surgery list of all my medication and issues, still was last to board at Manchester and Budapest thanks to illiterate Security bods.

But the Cruise itself was fantastic, great staff, great food, and they gave us a really enjoyable Anniversary Night. This is what they put in our cabin that night:

Our Indonesian Cabin Steward Seto made these from two bath mats. We will go again, but via road or rail next time. Anyone visiting anywhere in Hungary should note that Euro’s can only be obtained in banks and the rates are ridiculous: only Forints are obtainable from ATM’s.

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[Bob Williams]

The debate here is interesting. I believe that criminality, particularly violent crime, is going to get a lot worse in the UK. Look at what is happening. Not enough police officers, not enough time to train the 20,000 that Bonkers Boris seems to think he can recruit and magically produce within a stupidly short time. Our police officers are so hamstrung by the “Liberal” element and so threatened by what they might have to face every day. Is it to be wondered at, that a small minority make rash decisions and defend themselves with excessive force, against an incorrectly-perceived threat?

Then think about what will happen after BB takes us through a No Deal Brexit. The economy is nose-diving now. The Pound is sinking. The USA wants to offer us all kinds of great Trade Deals, but very few others want our trade. Anyone who thinks that they will do this without huge benefit to the USA first, is deluding themselves.

So we will be left with a police force with hands tied, a slumping economy, probable high unemployment as companies leave the UK and foreign investment disappears. America will buy up what is left and either strip it, or use the existing Zero Hours situation to pay UK employees as little as they can get away with. Whilst exporting carp into the UK. Oh, and we do not have enough resources to prevent the French or anyone else, from taking fish within fishing grounds around our coasts.

There will be rising unemployment and crime will rise even further. So will drug use, as people escape into dreamland.

And to cap all that, we will be less able to defend ourselves, as today it is revealed that the Army is 40% short of recruitment. Forty Per Cent! And why would young people join an organisation that intends to allow their grandfathers to be prosecuted, just for doing the work that the policies and politicians of the time, commanded them to do?

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

VFM your ex-military mate had it right: I had occasion to use the Browning myself and admired not just the stopping power, but the ease of use, fine engineering, few stoppages (if cared for correctly) and cleaning. The mag was advised as holding between 13 and 15 rounds, in use most loaded 14, whilst myself and mates loaded only 12, to allow for wear in the mag spring, but always had another full mag handy. British Army issue Brownings at the time, were all ‘well-used’ items: they were well-engineered and well-made by FN Belgium, but as with all UK MOD ordnance, they were used and handed on until even Armourers hard-pressed by the MOD minions, had to declare them no longer fit for use. Although parts were often recycled. I could probably still strip one now, although not as quickly.

The US Military is now replacing the M9, M9A1, M45A1, and M007 handguns, all made by Berretta or Colt, and all of which replaced the Glock, with the Sig Sauer M17. According to the ex-Mil “Bush Telegraph” this happens quite frequently today, mostly as a result of Senatorial and manufacturer pressure. If a particularly influential Senator (or two) have an arms factory within their areas, their influence can change US Defence purchasing. The Pentagon is saying that they are making the change as the new weapon is modular and will be more accurate. That to me is BS: no handgun is accurate beyond about 25 metres; the best that can be hoped for is a body hit, preferably in the body centre. Accuracy on the ranges, does not translate to accuracy when faced with an enemy. In target shoots, the shooter can brace the weapon: I used to push the web of thumb and index finger into my thigh to brace the weapon and I was accurate up to 25 metres, with an expectation of a hit up to 50 metres. No boast, but I was good with weapons. Most of my contemporaries struggled to achieve a 4″ group of hits. I could become hysterical watching some ‘action’ movies!

As an aside, anyone using a sidearm hopes never to have an enemy close enough! I had to use one in anger twice. It was quick: there is no time to think about it, training takes over. I used 2x double taps both times. It worked.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

I was one of those with that particular Gremlin on the MM site Alan, but never had it return since Lee took over the helm. Anyone else?

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

A shared activity! But there is always that missing piece, that you find months later under the sofa.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

WoF wrote:

” Boris should be shouting even louder that a no deal would be THEIR FAULT. ”

The response from the EU would be ‘And so what?’ in several languages.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Author]

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