Todays pics May the 31st

  Now being honest I'm struggling a bit for pictures, I've worn out the places local enough to count as my daily walk, and the days of a  thirty mile hike before breakfast have sadly gone (then we'd do another three miles each way to the pub in the night) so it is what it is.
Onto the pics.

Paranormal photography

 Theres something odd about paranormal photography. The thing that jumps out at most people is the quality.
 Bigfoot, UFO's, ghosts, big cats (seen one myself) angels, and goodness knows what else, all have one common feature.  They HATE to be filmed or photographed properly.
 Cameras have come a long way in recent years, some like the Canon 5dsr have 50mp and resolution so good even Canons best L series lens struggle to match the sensor. 
 Yet bigfoot always manages to be filmed on a camera that came with your cornflakes free in the box with the same resolution as a potato.... bloody crap!
 It's the same with all the weird stuff, the still or video is either so bad it could be anything, or so ambiguous it could be any bloody thing.
 Take big cat videos.  Now I have actually seen a big cat in the wild (being serious here) they do exist, I watched one for about a minute or so, no more than 10 feet away (it was following me and a mate who also saw it) If I'd had a camera I couldn't have failed to get a cracking shot.
 Yet most of the videos you see have a cat in a field half a mile away with nothing to scale it.
 One recent one published in a well known joking newspaper had the cat on a shed roof. That was laughed at as the shed gave you scale (doors windows etc)  So the cat claimed to be 6 foot long meant the shed door would have been about 9 foot wide or whatever it was. And we all know small garden sheds have doors about 3 footish wide. That one was a normal moggie.  The one I saw was a real big cat.
 So the obvious question is why with high res cameras and 8k video why the hell are all ghost, bigfoot and ufo pics and vids so terrible.  Sadly the answer is because a huge number are making fake videos to get youtube hits.
 Take the recent UFO videos released by the US government. They look very impressive to most people.... until you study them properly and the data they contain in the head up display. One was about 3 foot across and not moving anything like as fast as it looked, the speed was a factor of the aircraft moving in relation to the object which was identified as a bird (probably a duck) This is exactly why when released the US made a point of saying they were not saying the objects were other worldly just unidentified.
 So next time you see bigfoot, the ghost of King Charles  (not the bloody spaniel), or aliens landing in your garden to "probe you"... use a good camera and a proper lens, we're fed up with crap pictures of the bastards.

Todays pics May 29th

Some pics for today.

Todays pics May 28th

 Todays pictures.

Drive in the middle of the road...

Is it official drive in the middle of the road day in Wales?  Or maybe it's just the twats are all out in force today.  Seriously, I've seen about five in a short drive over my mothers to take her over shopping, between these idiots and people out riding horses, it's a mad house out today.

Todays pics May 27th

 Yes it's todays exciting instalment of images...   Big drum roll and fanfair...   Ok dont get too excited, I don't want you bursting a kidney.

Todays pics May 26th

 A few for today.

Todays pic May 25th

Heres a few more... Errr odd ones played with, and one normal black and white shot for luck.

Hand sanitiser... risk?

 Now I've stocked hand sanitiser for years, all my first aid kits have a small bottle and my camera bag normally has one.  This had nothing to do with deadly viruses, but simply cleaning my hands when out and about (obviously the first aid ones for to prevent cross infection) Now during the end of the world they became a bit short supply, I got some online to maintain levels, but the other day I spotted some larger bottles sitting on a shelf in a shop.
 These were 600mm bottles..  Ohhh thinks I, handy for topping up the small ones.  Which is why I bought one... trouble is sitting in the kitchen it looks a hell of a lot like a panda pop bottle, the small lemonaid ones. 
 Now ok it's safe enough in my house, no young children, but the thought occures to me in a house with young children this could easily be mistaken for a pop bottle, the top is easy to open and I suspect it might make a child ill if they drank it.
 So if you have this stuff about keep it safe from little ones...

Todays pics May 24th

 Ok so back to normal today with "proper" pictures....

Bored and playing with photoshop

 So I'm bored silly waiting for the world to end, and having a play in photoshop...  Heres the results....

Disaster kit

 Many were caught out by the Covid pandemic, shortages of things, panic buying.  But many already had a disaster kit.  Some call them preppers, in my day they were called survivalists, essentially the same thing.
 The trick is planning ahead, done over a few months this need not cost too much, but come the zombie apocalypse, or the next virus it'll come in bloody handy.
 Start with food, things like pasta and rice are filling, tins also keep for years, add some flower and yeast and you have the makings of bread. Dont forget things like salt and pepper, curry powder is another handy thing to liven up bland food.
 Water is another essential, you'll need a fair bit, plus purification tablets and large containers for the longer term, think about harvesting rain water in barrels.
 Household items, these often get overlooked. Tin openers, yes you can saw the top off the tin with your "rambo" knife but a tin opener is easier (and you dont look a twat) washing liquid and whatever you use for washing clothes, a few months supply at least, matches and candles (plenty) batteries and a solar panel charger for phones.  The power could be off for weeks or months so plan for it. Camping stoves and LOTs of fuel (only use in well ventilated areas unless you want to kill yourself)
 In this group I'd add spare glasses if you need them, and lots of spare medication if you take any, failing that look up natural alternatives so at a push you can get something to ease your blood presure or whatever.
 Tools, now this might sound odd but if garages are shut you may need to fix things, in the long term know where to find really old cars that dont have all the electronic crap you cant fix on them, then when the sky falls in you "liberate" an old land rover or morris 1000.
 Other tools are essential, axe and folding saw for firewood, hammer and nails  and boards for boarding up windows (those pesky zombies will get in otherwise) files and draw knives and basic woodwork tool are not easy to make, and in a long term situation they'll be needed.
 Then we come to the dodgy tools, crowbars, bolt croppers grapple hooks and ropes, small handpumps and lots of plastic tubing (for obtaining fuel) and if you know how to use them lockpicks.  Now some of these are not legal to carry or own depending on where you live.  Keep in mind this is for after the apocalypse has happened, law and order will have broken down and it's every cat for him or her self.
 That  is by no means a full list, think of what you use daily and what you'd need in most situations, and start stocking up.... You think life was a bitch with lockdown?  Wait till the zombies arrive....       

Todays pics May 23rd

Well its well into May and here in Wales we're still locked down, frankly I'm getting fed up with it now.   Onto the pics.

Todays Pics May 22nd

 Heres todays upload of pictures.

So what have we learned from the Covid 19 pandemic?

 We learned that despite the fairly recent bird flu and SAR's scare our government and NHS were totally unprepared, this despite a study done after SAR's showing we needed to be ready.
 We learned the UK government is unable to manage even an accurate death toll figure, with early figures seemingly "massaged" downward and recent figures "massaged" upward.
 We've learned people in the UK for the most part have no idea what 2 metres looks like, and that a huge percentage think social distancing means having their family and friends around EVERY FUCKING DAY for a party.
 We learned the business economy is more fragile than most people thought. That a lot of businesses were operating at a level that just kept them open, meaning the closure will kill off a lot leaving millions out of work.
 Probably the main thing we learned is that we haven't learned anything... With the next deadly virus it'll all happen again.  Borders wont be closed (indeed they are still not closed properly) allowing carriers and virus suffers into this country to spread virus. The NHS still wont be prepared, the laws across the whole country will still be administered randomly and differently by the Welsh, English, Scottish and Irish.  For Gods sake cant we have ONE bloody set of bloody  safety rules, how fucking hard can it be?
 So roll on the next event....    
 Oh yes and before this cheers you up too much I'll just mention then new antivirus. It seems the powers that be have some minor concerns over it's effectivness... it's results, six tests, six fails.  I have more than a minor concern from a 100% fail rate, still thats just me, the man on the street.  Not someone supposedly running the country.... As Private Fraiser used to say in Dad's Army "We're doomed"!.

Todays pics May 21st

The usual few pics for todays lockdown boredom easing.

Todays pics May 20th

 May the 20th instalment of pics.

Todays pics May the 19th

 A couple of pictures for today.

Todays pics May 18th

 heres todays helping of pictures.

Todays pics May 17th

 Heres a few for today.

Todays pics May 16th

 Todays photos

Social distancing action needed now.

 Social distancing looks like being with us for a while. Ireland have alredy said at least a year in some form. Certainly it's going to be around in the UK for many months.
 Action is needed NOW!
 Now I'm not talking fitting people with a 6 foot hulahoop device to maintain distance (although many seem to have no idea what 6 foot looks like.  No I'm talking government and council long term planning and action now.
Areas around supermarkets and shops need roofing over, it's fine queuing in the sunshine, it'll be a right bastard in winter when it's pissing down though.
 Pavements need widening where possible, even cutting back weeds overgrowing would make a difference. Remember when lockdown is eased and more people are out we'll need more space, walking in the road wont cut it when traffics busy.
 Cleaning stations by the supermarket trollies... not inside the fucking shop like my tescos. Whats the bloody point of cleaning it after I've handled it for ten minuets in the queue?  It needs cleaning BEFORE it's handled at all (not rocket science is it)
 On the subjetc of my tesco.  Why open it one way with the exit away from the car park? Wouldn't it make more sense to have people wheeling full heavy trollies and bags to their car from the nearest exit rather than all the way around the outside of the bloody shop. Again in winter your shopping will get soaked by the time you get to your car..
 Public transport, are they going to fit screens between the seats?  A packed bus or train will be virus central. Lets face it trains are run without enough seats at the best of times. Cramming people in to save a few quid is going to lead to law-suits I suspect.  Plan ahead, no good waiting till the day you start running full service again.
 It's these things and dozens of others that will need proper planning and building now, no good waiting till it snows to think about roofs.

Todays pic May 15th

 Some photos for today. One I found slightly disturbing.... Guess which one...

Todays pics May the 14th

Onto todays pictures. Hope your all staying safe.

Behind the cordon

Behind the cordon in the crime scene area....

Todays pics May 13th

 Todays pictures

Todays pic May 12th

 Ok heres a few pics for today, I'm trying to mix them up a bit for varity. Again a mix of compact and DSLR shots.

Todays pic May 10th

 Ok I had my rant earlier so now some pics, these are a mix of compact and DSLR pics. The flower is pretty small and shot with macro.

Lockdown TV.. isn't it crap.

 Well with lockdown and being bored I'm watching a lot more tv then normal. Normally I watch most of my programs (the few I actually follow) on the computer.
 As some of my series have finished and having more time at home I watch the telly... my god it's shit.
 I watched a flim the other day, 13 minutes of movie, followerd by 5 and a half minutes of adverts, FFS, thats nearly half the running time of the film during the hours it was on.
 Now normally that might not be quite so bad but half the adverts are pointless anyway.
 Theres car adverts!  All the car dealers are shut you twats!  Most of the car companies have closed so they are not even making any new ones, how many bloody people are going to buy a NEW car online without a test drive?  None I suspect, certainly not enough to pay the few million running a TV ad at prime time costs.

 Then theres adverts prasing the NHS.  Why?  We know the few actual front line patient facing staff do a good job and these days put their lives at risk. But an advert isn't helping them, what they need is better support from the thousands of managers who do bugger all but shuffle papers from room to room.  The NHS has been top heavy for decades, more managers than doctors and nurses. Bloody stupid waste of money. The staff were going without basic kit so managers could have a company car..

 Then my favorites... Food adverts, 11.00 at night why not make your own kebabs or whatever food it's showing you. Great idea but all the shops are shut and you'll have to queue for god knows how long tomorrow to find the shop hasn't got the ingredients you need. Another ad for mcguigans wine shows people turning up at your front door for a party... in lockdown? Not really sending the right message there are we mcguigans.

 On the subject of not sending the right message didn't the government get it wrong again with VE day celebrations!   They moved the bank holiday to make friday the "special" day with a concert at Buck house.  Errr your supposed to be trying to get people to stay home twats!  Most people would never have known it was the VE day anniversary if you's said fuck all. Oh no, make a big fuss, move the bank holiday (why 90% are off anyway) then expect people to ignore it.
 Then they have a tilt over people having parties to celebrate.  Well you did at Buck house, why shouldn't others... you fucking told them it was a special day after all.

Todays pics May 10th

Todays upload of pics.