test please delete

[NickFitz]

Tonight's major motion picture premiere was Gladiator II (2024) in which much the same stuff happens as in the first one, though it gets a bit more bogged down in Roman politics at times when the first found more exciting ways to move things along, even with politics. It was OK, but I think it's fair to say that if you're going to make a sequel to the original, you should give it a bit more oomph than this

And then a rewatch of Angels & Demons (2009) because I rewatched the Da Vinci one a few weeks ago so now I'm doomed to rewatch this and the other one. My main takeaway - apart from the fact that they totally misrepresented the procedures around conclave for dramatic effect, though I suppose they didn't account for people watching a few weeks after one - was that it's a pretty good thriller for the most part but ruined by the ludicrous premises on which it's founded. If you can go to all the trouble of concocting a good action-based story, why not start by concocting a good idea around which to construct it rather than some ludicrous bollocks about antimatter or, indeed, the notion that some bloke gets to be a professor at Harvard because he can sound excited when recognising a widely-known symbol like the keys of St. Peter on a crest? (I may be biased because my school in Liverpool was St. Peter's so the crossed keys crest was emblazoned on my uniform at a formative age.) Still, the books flew off the shelves in airports, so what do I know?

Goodnight all

[ladymuck]

Morning all, local time 0937

Back to blue skies and wisps of fluff. Currently 19 degrees ('feels like' 21) with a high of 26 expected. A small chance of rain this afternoon and evening. Barometer up to 1021 mBar.

Sunrise 05:31; Sunset 21:02 EEST

Yesterday we didn't get to do a tour of the Palace of Parliament because we didn't realise ID was needed. I had my passport on me but HWMBO had left his behind and only had a photo on his phone. So we walked into the old town and had a wander about and a spot of lunch before taking a leisurely stroll home.

In the evening we walked back there again for dinner as a place called Caru' ce bere. A huge place which is part tourist trap, part local institution. Absolutely bonkers place that seems to run like a well oiled machine, all things considered.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Morning.

Saturday apparently.

Grey.

Damp.

Dank.

Dreary.

Sunless.

Cool in here at 19.3 deg, 20 in the kitchen, 18 in the leanto.

1008 mBar, 29.766 in Hg, 756.1 Torr, 14.619 psi, (down from 1009 last night), 67% RH (Lidl electric).

Meanwhile on the 24th of January 2020 NF was deeply into S3 of STNG with the resurrected Tasha ep, LM popped in, along with BR14 and WTFH who remarked on the lack of posts before 09:00, whilst NF was wondering if the car would start so he could go shopping. I wonder if NF ever bought that extended wheelbrace thing from Wilko.

It's rained a little, thusly changing "damp" and "dank" to "wet".

Lunch: brunch. Entertainment: FOOC. Some tosh about accidents: Seafire engine problem at a Cornish air display. Very lucky to get that down more or less in one piece.

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/co...y-plane-470683

.

https://www.gov.uk/aaib-reports/aaib...t-mk-20-g-rnhf

More rain: heavy at times.

Potching in the garage.

More rain, well it cools the roof down a bit.

Trip to B&Q for the 3rd time this week: 34 down, 34 back.

Shopping trip to Morrisons done dusted washed dried sanitised & put away.

Tea: soup etc.

Entertainment: PM. Nick Robinson talking to someone. <click>

Ancient Aliens bollox. The Wedge of Aiud.

NASA and The Germans. Dear old Wernher will be in this.

Massive Engineering Mistakes. Only one of these this week, the other supplanted by lemans. Jacksonville FL: 6 story cast in place ferroconcrete carpark: too much ferro for the concrete to fill, columns half the size they should have been, supports for the bottom 2 floors removed before the concrete had fully cured: collapsed: killed one. They eventually demolished the unfinished apartment block that was being built at the same time after 15 years. Vienna Austria: Imperial Bridge collapse: self anchored suspension bridge: suffered concrete creep and the concrete foundations in the river were surrounded by porous granite so the concrete eventually saturated and washed away. Barcelona Spain: sinkhole developed during excavation of subway tunnel due to unknown faulting of the ground. Ooops. 40kt of concrete required to fill the hole. Niagra: Honeymoon Bridge, 1938, foundations destroyed by an ice bridge.

[NickFitz]

Afternoon denizens

Sunny and Simpsonesque out, but also very breezy. Currently 21°C but only peaking at 22° this time; the barometers are down a bit at 1001/1009mB

[NickFitz]

I wonder if NF ever bought that extended wheelbrace thing from Wilko.

No, I didn't get round to it. I think the small Wilko up the road (where I got the wastepaper baskets) didn't have it, and I didn't often go to the big one in town, or into town at all really, by then

[NickFitz]

Ham toasties for lunch

[WTFH]

Afternoon all
Blue skies and a bit breezy here. The Wife didn’t sleep well last night following the knee stuff. Max and I went out for a big walk this morning and now we’re deciding what quiet things we can do today while she rests.

[NickFitz]

Tea has been kebab and chips, not from the usual place nearby, but from the Turkish restaurant past the park on the way into town. Very nice

It's still sunny out. The seagull came back for a couple of minutes earlier while the young magpies were messing around down there. They did a good job of pretending to be unconcerned, while hopping away a little faster when it got close. It appeared to completely ignore them and a few nearby pigeons, though, so harmony was maintained

[WTFH]

Did a nice thing today - installed new guttering on the main log shed, with the down pipe going to a trough for the sheep in the field behind us.

The Wife is in pain.

Watched the last episode of “Last Anniversary”, while it wasn’t exactly uplifting, it was a good series.

Now TFBSZ. Photography student is coming over tomorrow evening hoping to get a few pics of our foxes. He’s still buzzing after the BBC put one of his photos on “pictures of the week”.

[NickFitz]

Lots of wildlife stuff on the box today as usual, though still without Monkey Life. But there was some good stuff about kangaroos, and later some interesting bits about magnificent frigatebirds (the "magnificent" is part of their name, not just high praise)

And this evening, I've started reading Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road by Kyle Buchanan

Early night now, with vague thoughts of getting some stuff done tomorrow. No idea whether it'll get beyond the thinking stage though

Goodnight all