Flops' Friday mini blog

[floppybootstomp]

I tend to agree with you on the Nuclear issue floppybootstomp it also has its peaceful side to it as well as you can testify in health care,

Not quite sure what you mean there, please enlighten, how does nuclear deterrent/power issues affect NHS?

but what I worry about is when and if the bad guys get hold of it like Iran etc, I don't think they would worry to much how dirty it was or who it was aimed at. So far it has stopped any major power using it even when there was a lot of saber rattling in the 50's, 60's & 70's lets hope it will never happens other wise it would be time to place ones head between one's knees and kiss one's a**e good by .

A Dubliners song I do believe

Well yes, that's what I said really, you can't uninvent what's been invented.

At the moment the so-called 'good guys' (that's us) have the deterrent and certain middle eastern countries (like Iran) don't. But they do have the knowledge to build stuff that could annihilate us, they just don't have the materials.

They say they want the materials to build nuclear power stations but I strongly suspect they want to vapourise Trafalgar Square.

So far the Western Countries have placed trade embargoes which as far as we know is preventing certain countries from purchasing the recipe ingredients for a nuclear device.

Quite how those embargoes are placed I have no idea as Iran, for instance, is an independent country and I can't see how we, legally, can dictate what they can and cannot buy but that's the way it is is (which is probably a good thing). No wonder they hate us, maybe they do just want to build power stations (yeah, right).

I also forgot to mention in my previous post that if we were to shed our nuclear capability (and this probably includes Wales & Cornwall though I'm not sure ) what would we do to keep the Lion from the door? Rely on America? Come on, they already bailed us out 60 years ago and considering how we treated them during their formation (see Canada/destruction of Washington) I'm surprised they helped us out at all, many many American lives were lost defeating Hitler and the USA didn't really gain a great deal from it.

Oh, and Canadians, Kiwis, Aussies, Jamaicans, Poles, Southern Irish, Indians, Pakistanis and more. WW2 was a very strange war, not least for the Russians switching allegiance part way through

As for a country such as Iran threatening us with a nuclear strike, it's only a matter of time before they can but all the time they know we could turn their entire country to a country lawn comprised of nothing but glazed glass, they probably won't. I hope.

Well done on the renewal of the contracts wish you lots of luck on the work front, just glad I am now out of the workforce and got my pensions, but worried about the wife as she has got another 12 years before she is 65 and with her health not sure she will be able to keep working till then as she has lots of problems with arthritis.

Good luck to the missus, hope the arthiritis recedes, life sure do get harder as one gets older it seems.

 

[bootneck02]

Nuclear medicine and radiation is was a by product of the rush to get the Atom Bomb in WW2. As far as our independent Nuclear Deterrent as far as I understand it we have to get authorisation from the President of the USA to use it so in reality it is not Independent. As far as keeping the lion from the door we now have rubber teeth as we don't have an aircraft carrier (required for a Naval battle group) and when we do we will not have any aircraft to put on it for a couple of years, reducing the fighting capability of the land based forces, reduced capability in the early warning system eg the scrapped aircraft (we should have bought US ones would have been cheaper and we would have had them). Reduced fighter aircraft caperbility because of early retirement of aircraft and nothing to replace them.

 

[bootneck02]

Sorry was getting carried away and pressed post button. Thanks for your thought about my good lady. Yes life does get harder as one gets older with the aches and pains. I used to think my parents were getting soft when they used to say that were tired and had an afternoon nap, I now know how they felt

 

[bootneck02]

Apologies I got on my high horse about the armed forces but it is close to my heart, and it is the politicians who expect our forces to do more with less. Including going out to Libia with a ship they are just going to scrap when it returns to the UK with out replacement.

 

[bootneck02]

Yes it was a Dubliners song I have some of their stuff in my collection

 

[floppybootstomp]

Well it’s not Friday night but…

The weather has been good, shoots are springing up through the soil and I’m sniffin’ Spring in the air.

I never did say how the acupuncture to try and cure my dry mouth turned out did I? Well, tbh it was largely a waste of time. I think there has been some improvement of amount of saliva produced, I certainly don’t seem to drink so much water during the day now but when it comes to eating food unaided by liquid/moisture – no real improvement.

Oh well. Nothing ventured nothing gained eh? By the way don’t believe those folks who say acupuncture is painless – it isn’t. It’s bearable but it most certainly hurts a bit, made me jump a few times, lol

Wondering whether some other thread here where I described the aftermath of my illness was over the top or not cos it certainly killed the thread stone dead, heehee. Just trying to stop Mr Bootneck from puffing nicotine, is all.

Maybe I'll post the pix of the staples in my throat incision after the surgery, that might put him off

Next up, a political observation without any bias to any party.

The Liberal Democrats have been in the news lately what with their annual conference and the protests outside of it. Seems all the Lib Dem voters feel they’ve been betrayed them by going along with Tory decisions for the most part in the coalition government.

Hence the protests ‘sold us down the river’ seems to be a popular expression amongst protestors. Most elected Lib Dem MP’s freely admit they didn’t expect to get such a strong vote in the last election and thought the Tories would romp it.

So I got to thinking, the Lib Dems are actually on a no-win situation here. When the coalition government was proposed, negotiated, accepted and formed the Lib Dems probably knew they were going to get flak as they were in the minority and would have to go with unpopular Tory decisions.

Which is exactly what’s happening now.

But what was the alternative? Refuse to form a coalition? What would have happened then? Their supporters and voters would have given them flak arguing that they should at least form a coalition government so they could at least get a foot in the door and influence decisions, albeit in a small way.

Funny thing, politics, sometimes you just can’t win.

Like I said, just an observation, I don’t like any of the current political parties meself, lol

Today I looked out me window and saw the top of some tall masts poking up from the Thames. So I went out for a ride on me bike and after visiting Wickes and Tescos ended up riding along the riverfront where I spotted three nice Polish (or eastern European at any rate, judging by language spoken) girls. That was a nice distraction

Nice atmospshere out there today. I saw the tall ship and also noticed the PLA (Port Of London Authority) were out there diving. ‘What’s all that about’ I thought to myself, probably been another murder or African sacrifice, perhaps they’ll find another headless young lad.

Or maybe they’re finding out whether it’s worth drilling for oil. I dunno.

Anyhow, folks, I took some snaps and here they are:

Ze tall ship:

Tall ship slight zoom:

The diving platform:

You can see the divers here, one’s wearing shades:

London fire brigade rescue tender standing by at divers’ platform:

Tall ship rigging:

More tall ship snaps, including that Cannon again

The diving thingie from a different angle:

Oh look, there’s the Shard in the background:

Shard again, zoomed in a bit, London Eye just about discernible on immediate left of boat:

And so I cycled down to Greenwich where I noticed the foot tunnel entrance/dome is covered in scaffolding. Lots of work going on here, to the pier as well, probably getting ready for Cutty Sark boat re-opening in 2012, hopefully:

And finally let me introduce you to my bicycle, a veritable Prince amongst two wheeled conveyances. My friend Crane is a cycling nut, he’s cycled all over the world, including Peru and spent £3K on a bike. I asked him what he thought of my bike, pulled from a skip and he asked ‘How Much did you pay for it?’

I replied ‘Nothing, just bought a pump and pumped up the tires, bought a set of handlebar grips and oiled the chain’ Crane said ‘In that case – bargain’

What else could he say? And everything works, great, innit?

 

[Taffycat]

They're great photos Flopps, thank you for sharing.

The Tall Ship is a beauty, she looks very elegant. Is it there as some kind of tourist attraction, do you know?

 

[nivrip]

Beautiful beasts those Tall Ships.

We had a great collection of them up in my neck of the woods last year when the annual "race" finished in Hartlepool. It was reckoned that there were a million tourists in the few days that they were in port. They had arrived from various parts of the world and very splendid they looked.

 

[floppybootstomp]

They're great photos Flopps, thank you for sharing.

The Tall Ship is a beauty, she looks very elegant. Is it there as some kind of tourist attraction, do you know?

I don't think so, my guess is it's part of a cruise as one of the photos shows a small tender taking people from the boat to Greenwich pier, much like what happens with the more modern boats that dock there.

Note the yellow and red flag flying from the rear of the boat, I wonder what part of the world it represents?

 

[muckshifter]

Note the yellow and red flag flying from the rear of the boat, I wonder what part of the world it represents?

Spain

And "The Juan Sebastián de Elcano" is a training ship for the Royal Spanish Navy.

Thanks for sharing

 

[bootneck02]

Great photo's Flops, did try to give up smoking last month but succumbed after about a fortnight and back on the weed again, I know week willed.

 

[captain zed]

Great photo's Flops, did try to give up smoking last month but succumbed after about a fortnight and back on the weed again, I know week willed.

Hi Bootneck,
I'm offthe smokes over eight months now......Champix will help you do it. Ya get them off the doc.
http://www.champixinfo.co.uk/

 

[bootneck02]

Thanks for that Captain Zed I have been into the site and had a look when I next go to the doctors on 23 March I will see if I can have a prescription.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Tallship's gone, battleship moored up.

Took these 10am Saturday morning:

There were quite a lot of people milling about the riverside looking at this boat. Overheard somebody say it was a dutch vessel but I don't know. No armanents, I notice - surveillance boat?



Rowboats:

Just out of interest I'm going to post a full size pic to see if forum automatically resizes a large image:

 

[Anon_F]

A Landing Ship? Fort George??
Scullers rowing down the Thames always a nice site.
Nice pictures FBS and the full size one is good.

Oh it's gone down to normal size, now?

 

[floppybootstomp]

A Landing Ship? Fort George??
Scullers rowing down the Thames always a nice site.
Nice pictures FBS and the full size one is good.

Oh it's gone down to normal size, now?

Not for me, clicking on the beige bar at the top as instructed still shows an image 2592 x 1944

 

[floppybootstomp]

Ah, it looks to be HMS Bulwark

What it's doing

I did notice a huge helicopter flying around yesterday.

 

[Taffycat]

Great pics again Flopps, and very interesting link about HMS Bulwark too.

I love the way this new forum resizes the photos - the large one is excellent, with so much detail. Oh and just out of interest, it responds by enlarging and reducing just fine, when I click the beige bar.

Thank you for sharing with us Flopps.

 

[Anon_F]

Ah, it looks to be HMS Bulwark

What it's doing

I did notice a huge helicopter flying around yesterday.

Fort George is RFA.
In the local paper link it has a Sea King & a Lynx, but the Lynx is an Army version.
Navy types have wheels instead of skids, as wheels make it easier to land & move around on the flight deck prior to going into the hanger for storage etc.

Thanks for sharing the photos with us all.

 

[V_R]

Nice pics Flops.


You can change the resizing ioptions in the UCP, Ian added an option soon after the redesign.

https://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/profile.php?do=editoptions

Scroll down to 'The Image Resizer'

Personally i have it set to only resize above a certain size (1500x1000) i like to see images at their full size, within reason, Though some of the options are good, Lytebox 3.22 was very good IIRC.