Friday 7th May, 2010

Oh no! FFS, not again!

Posted by at 3:40 am in A bit of a rant, In the News.
Tags:

For 23 years we've had the same MP, and in all that time we've never actually seen him. Hardly surprising, really, as he lives 140 miles away in Billingshurst, which is even further away from here than Westminster is. He's tried to claim expenses for astrology software and for an intimate relationships course, and was guilty of accepting cash-for-questions. He's never responded directly to any of the questions that I've put to him, preferring to "sub out" the job to somebody else. We had high hopes that he'd be ousted, but he's back for another term.

I didn't much care which party ended up in government, but I really did want to see the back of this fool. Actually, seeing ANY part of this fool is unlikely. He's like the absentee landlord, happy to accept the rent-money but never there when you need him to fix the property. It's not what's expected of a public servant, and certainly not what I expect of my representative in Parliament.

We're screwed.

Thursday 6th May, 2010

I am not a number, I am a free man

Posted by at 5:01 pm in A bit of a rant.
Tags:

Approaching the Polling Station the way ahead was clear and following close behind was a gaggle of retired folk. I went through the outer door and made for the entrance to the inner sanctum, where the officials reside. Mid-stride, I was accosted by an "unidentified, suited and clip-boarded older man" strategically positioned in the foyer.

"What's your number?" he asked, sharply and without any semblance of manners.

"Are you talking to me?" I retorted.

"Yes. I need your number. The number on your polling card."

"Can I see your official ID?"

"Er, no, I don't have one."

"A name-badge, perhaps?"

"No."

"So what is your official responsibility here?"

"I record the numbers of the voters."

"Are you a proper election official?"

"Er, well, not quite."

"Well, you're not recording my number. I don't know who you are or what you'll do with my number. For all I know, you could peddle the data to the highest bidder regardless of the consequences, and judging by the way you haven't concealed the information taken from your previous victims, you appear to have no regard to the confidentiality of such information. I'll disclose my details to the properly-registered and approved officials in the other room - you have no right to ascertain my number, and I have no obligation to disclose it to you, so please stop harassing me. Oh, and next time, try using some manners... you know, those things that you older folk complain that "the youth of today" don't have. "

The gaggle of retired folk was by then in a state of confusion. It appeared that none of them had ever wondered what the "unidentified, suited and clip-boarded older man" did with the numbers. Quite a few of them had never realised that he wasn't even an official. Not many of them disclosed their numbers to him.

After voting, I walked back past the rude "unidentified, suited and clip-boarded older man" and went outside. A couple from the "gaggle" were waiting for me. I was expecting trouble, but instead got thanks and a handshake.

Knowledge, not politics, is power.

Wednesday 5th May, 2010

More snippets

Posted by at 12:41 am in Annual Wildie, Bargains, Great Escapes, In the garden, New tricks for an old dog, Plugins, Rambling on..., Shiny new kit, Wildcamping.

In no particular order...

 

  • The AKU Crodas are wearing-in nicely, they should be ready for a decent walk at the first opportunity. The soles are quite grippy now that the as-moulded shiny slip-on-yer-arse finish has worn off, and the uppers are now a fair fit to my feet.

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  • The Trezeta Peaks are now past their best, the toe-rand having worn through down past the membrane. These superbly-comfortable boots never did make it on a proper hike, but they've served well as wear-dailys for all sorts of duties.

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  • The Scarpa SLs, of course, are always on stand-by. Like dependable old friends, they're always there when you need them.

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  • I've broken a long habit of not wearing any socks other than Thor-Los... I've been trying some cheapo Crane Trail walking socks from Aldi. Tactel-lined and with a light sprinkling of Lycra, they seem to be doing rather well considering the £2.99 price-tag. I doubt that they'll cover the same mileage as my standard KXLs, but that's to be expected when they cost about a tenner less. The STs have been stashed in the kitbox awaiting the next outing of the winter boots.

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  • I'm still managing to resist the temptation of a pair of MSR Lightning Ascents in readiness for next winter. What's the betting that when the snow's back, I'm still snowshoeless?

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  • Likewise, the acquisition of a Scarp 2 has been resisted, not least because I'm still waiting on the availability of a UK-version fly as per the Scarp 1 changes detailed by Martin. Now that Alpkit are on the subs' bench in the tentage game, I'll have to wait and see what their two-person and geo offerings are like.

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  • Talking of outdoorsy stuff, we'll be off for our Annual Wildie together sometime in the next month, with the intention of bagging a few more Wainwrights. Expect details in due course.

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  • Furthermore, two family-rooms have been booked at Buttermere YHA for an autumnal weekend. This worked out quite well, as we're paying with Tesco Clubcard Rewards Tokens, our stash having been boosted by 1218 due to the purchase of a new washing-machine from said emporium.

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  • There's been much ado in the garden - the snowdrops and daffs have retired, giving way to bluebells and to the blossoms of the pear, the cherry and the plum. Remarkably, I've even got off my butt and done my bit - the lawns have been cut twice and even the hedge has been shorn. The old willow-tree is sending out new growth from where we had it hacked, so there's still hope for it.

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  • House-wise I'm back to the hell that is known as plastering. Ella's room needed a revamp, but it seems that the only thing holding up the walls was the wallpaper. Oh well, at least it keeps me off the streets...

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  • Blog-wise there are a few new things, not least the addition of a few user-options for comments. Feel free to test them.

 

All that and no mention of elections, volcanic ash or oil-slicks. Hardly news, is it?

Sunday 25th April, 2010

Observing Report 22nd April 2010 (More Moon bits)

Posted by at 12:38 pm in Astrostuff, Observing Reports, Pics.
Tags: , , , , ,

The skies on Thursday evening weren't the clearest I'd ever seen, there being a light haze obscuring the stars. The Moon, however, was reasonably clear, and with the seeing being fairly good I decided to do a bit of crater-spotting. In order to get a good look before the target went out of the field of view of the scope, I had to start before the sun went down, but that didn't seem to be an issue.

During the unusually short session I managed to see and image quite a few features, following is a small selection of what was on offer (mouseover for the occasional annotated versions).

Rupes Recta (Straight Wall) (67 miles long)
FOV approx 256 x 196 miles

 Rima Hyginus (133 miles long)
FOV approx 275 x 185 miles

Timocharis (21 miles dia.)
FOV approx 113 x 82 miles

Eratosthenes (35 miles dia.)
FOV approx 90 x 76 miles

 

Hadley Rille and Apollo 15 landing site
FOV approx 181 x 156 miles

Apollo 16 landing site
FOV approx 146 x 133 miles

Just in case you don't know your way around up there, here's some help:

Friday 23rd April, 2010

… there’s some corner of a foreign field that is for ever England

Posted by at 12:30 am in Celebrations.
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Happy St. George's Day!

The St. George crater overlooks the Apollo 15 landing site.
Needless to say, the Rover wasn't built at Longbridge 🙂

Tuesday 20th April, 2010

Merry-go-round

Posted by at 8:42 pm in In the News, Maps, Weather.

It's interesting watching the plane icons looping-the-loop over at http://www.radarvirtuel.com/# - there are only two in the air in our airspace right now, and they've been going around and around for ages. It reminds me of Die Hard 2...

Here's BAW84 at 19:26. After a few more loops above the IOM, it went to Dublin but got turned away. After a wander across the mainland UK it eventually went off the screen at London:

And here's BAW284 at 19:26, spending nearly two hours circling above the west coast of Ireland...

and again, over 1.5 hours later, eventually reaching London after six loops above Ireland:

All this was happening before the UK airports were allowed to open. It's taking a big chance, crossing the Atlantic when there's no assurance of being allowed to land. Maybe they were confident that Bruce Willis would turn up and save the day 🙄
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