Busy day

 

 I've got a fairly busy day again today.

 This morning, I'm taking a friend for her Covid booster. Hope shes better after it than I was, mind I had the flu jab the same day just a few hours earlier, felt rough that evening, proper fever symptons, old lasted a few hours but I'm getting them different days next time.

 Then it's shopping for me and my mother (always bloody fun) then I have to take her shopping over and sort out her lunch, probably a take away today as I'm shattered.  Didn't get much sleep last night due to a headache.

 Then it's try and sort some Christmas presents out, my brothers the biggest problem, I did think of some psh vodka, he likes grey goose, it's not cheap but I'm told it very nice (I'm a whisky man) sadly that idea died when I found out he still had some left from last year (I bought him a few) then I found out he likes Irish coffee (coffe with whisky and cream floated on top) So I thought.  Ahhhh  a nice whisky, that plan fell at the first fence when I discovered he had some bushmills already..

 And thats the problem with mu brother, he's on good money, and he buys anything he needs, a rolex watch.  yep he got that, a new computer, yep, so trying to figure out what to buy him short of a lear jet and thats above my budget I'm stumped.

 Any ideas?  Post them in the comments....

Water....

 

 A few water pics, I'm putting up whats new, but not getting much chance to get out. 

 Also trying to decide what to treet myself with for Christmas, I've spotted a cracking video camera, a propper pro job with seperate screen and dual mics, at a silly price (about half what it's worth) but the truth is will I get my moneys worth out of it?  I haven't done hardly any video recently with the kit I have so I have my doubts.  Then theres a LONG lens I fancy... trouble is I don't even use the 300mm much as it is.  I'm not doing motorsports and wildlife so again I have my doubts.

 I do fancy a new camera body, so thats most likely what I'll end up buying myself, but again sadly I'm not exactly out every day with the existing cameras so is it a waste of money?    Still you can't take it with you can you.... I'm going to have a blooy good go.....

It's a frame up.

 

 Yes it's a frame up says I banging my tin cup on the bars... Well...   Errr....  Ok maybe not that sort of frame up but it's a frame and it's... well up, sort of, if you see what I mean (ok I was stuck for a bloody title)  Anyways it's Margam park and it's part of what I called illuminate the other week, turns out it's really called luminate.

 Now couriously it turns out the word Luminate is the old obselete version of illuminate, why they chose that for a title I don't know.

 Heres a pic or two to prove my point, the frame and the name.

A pigeon, fountains, my reflection in a ball, and some black and white alleyways...

 

 Yes an odd mix but it's what I have today.

 

 

Top Gear and electric cars.. the future? I hope not.

 

 On last nights Top Gear the theme was electric cars and caravans.  Now to be fair it's probably the best show with the new cast, it made me laugh (a first) but mostly because they were suffering eating chillies.  The electric cars however were a bit more serious.  Out of three high quality electric cars, two ran out of electric before the finish.

 Now while this isn't a big deal or the end of the world for the Top Gear crew, for you or me it's a bloody nightmare. Before if you ran out of go juice you rang a mate, he'd nip out and buy you a gallon and get you to a garage, where £50 and 2 minutes would see you sorted for a few days motoring.  Now with electric it's different.

 Run out now and your mate cant help, The AA will come out, but they cant help either, they will tow you to the nearest charging point, and thats where it gets worse.  On a recent trip to Milton Keynes (from south Wales) just a 180 miles, my brother tried 6 charging points at different places, only one worked and it cost him a whopping £160 to top up the car he was using, ok he got a fair bit of back after he could prove the charging points didn't work but they all charged him at the time.

 The real problem however is driving, worried sick your going to run out of electric on the motorway and trying to find a charging point, these are thin on the ground, most services only have 2 or 3  points, and these are often obstructed by non electric cars, those that are not in use or broken that is.  How bad will it be if we all go electric?   Then theres the wait for the car to charge while you sit there and silently smoulder at your life ebbing by.

 The other 2 big elephants in the plug socket of electric cars is much more serious.  Over 70% of UK houses dont have drives, this means on street parking or car paking by flats.  So how do these people run a cable to charge their cars?  The pavements are already crowded by cars parked on them , hords of recycling bins and now they'll be festooed with trip hazard wires like an ambulance chasing lawyers wet dream.  Will your house insurance cover you if I fall over the wire and sue?  I bloody doubt it.  

 So what do they do?  All queue up for the few charging point at the nearest motorway services, thet'll make the morning commute fun wont it.  Think of the thousands of new friends you'll make waiting for a charge.  Or will they risk it and run a cable out to the car?  Yes I would too!  That raises the second part of this issue, that only works if you can park by your house.  I often can't, and I know I'm not alone in this, in inner cities people often have to park streets away from their home.   Yes that morning commute looks better all the time doesn't it.

 All this pales though compared to the biggest problem.,  We don't have enough electric!  All well and good to set a target, everybody goes electric by so and so date.  The truth is we're very nearly at full capacticy for generating electric now, just 3% spare last year, and it's not like we can just make more, a power station takes time to build, a nuclear power plant takes about 20 years (roughly) from concept to producing power, 

 OK we could get it quicker if we skip the bullshit planning nonsence and shoot the frizzy haired protesters who want electric cars and vegan coats but not power stations.  But even then it's going to be 10 years plus, and we have electric cars NOW.  This should have been done before coming up with the " lets go all electric" plan, not wait until the lights go out and the trams stop running on Blackpool seafront.  It's a bit late then.

 So come on Borris, forget the all electric plan, pour a few bucket fulls of hydrocarbons in the tank and keep Britain running.... You know it makes sense!

Illuminate Margam park and sore arms

 

 Well I have two sore arms, flu jab in one and covid booster in the other, and maybe having both within a few hours of each other was a bad idea, I felt like crap last night.  On the plus I don't feel so bad now although both arms are still quite sore.

 Illuminate Margam park.  Theres only two pics and both are on my phone, I had to go there for my covid jab and as it was lit up I took advantage and grabbed a few pics (it's £16 to go in properly) sadly a few are too blured to use as I was walking out when I took them.  It does look pretty to be fair.

 

 

Poltergeist at work again?

 

 A few days ago something weird happened - again!

 A day or so earlier I'd left a note for my youngest son, a small shopping list really on the kitchen worktop, then I think two days later I made soup in a saucepan, washed it out and put it back on the stove (I've got more saucepans than shelves)  Next day I go to make cheese sauce in same saucepan and guess what?, the note is now in the saucepan on the bloody stove!

 Now theres no way it could have blown there, theres no drafts in my kitchen anyway, and even if there was it's hardly likely to blow a note across the kitchen and up and into a saucepan yards away on the stove, more likely just onto the floor.  But as I ofter leave notes and none ever end up on the floor even thats unlikely.

 Neither of my sons did it, and I certainly didn't, that leaves only the troop of supermodels I keep around to keep the neighbours guessing.... (I wish)   So if we didn't... well there isn't anybody else.

If you live in China look up a lot.

 

 I saw a video the other day showing an large object falling on a chinese town, the resultant explosion and orange smoke cloud was very impressive.... Not as impressive however as the massive crater the blast left behind.

 Now it turns out the problem is caused by Chinas space and missle program.  Due to concerns of attack by the west, China built it's missle launch site well inland.  Well inland is good as it's harder to hit by your enemy, sadly it's bad if your firing rockets, as boosters or failed rockets fall back to earth or your own country.

 NASA built it's launch site on the coast for just this reason, rockets take off over the sea and accidents tend to cause a big splash rather than a big crater.

 The chinese decided the best thing to do was simply warn it's people when a launch was on and tell them to look up and the advice given (and I promise I am not making this up) was if you see something falling on your house run away.

 The other issue is the danger from the toxic chemicals used as fuel, these chemicals mostly Hydrazine and Dinitrogen tetroxcide, are hypergolic (they burn on contact with each other) and even spent boosters can still have a fair bit left inside them.

  Hydrazine has a large number of health issues ranging from headache to coma, as well as damage to liver, kidneys and the central nervous system, and it's thought to cause cancer, although there is some debate about that.

 Dinitrogen tetroxcide also has the risks of lung and heart disease as well as causing long term COPD issues.

 Now neither of these chemicals is good for you, sadly the locals tend to run to the explosion to see if they can help the poor old devils who's house the rocket has fallen on, thus exposing themselves to serious health risks.

 So whats to be done?  Well short of tunneling into the nearest mountain, or building a massive 30 foot thick concrete submarine pen, or perhaps moving to ... well lets say the Atacama desert, even rain doesn't fall on that, the locals are stuck.   

 And if I'm honest the above options have their own issues, tunneling into mountains is time consuming, building a submarine pen needs thousands of tons of concrete and planning permission, and you'll piss the neighbours off by blocking the view ect.  

 The Atacama desert sounds promising then, but if you work in China the commute will be a bitch and theres no water to speak off in the desert either. So maybe not really a workable solution either.

 So in the interests of helping, Waynesworldblog has put it's global team of science, aerospace, health and safety experts on the case..... And we come up with!!!  Well, run away is the best we came up with too.  You see the truth is the Chinese governments advice is about all you can realistically do. We do have the following advice to add, run away, ideally upwind away from the toxic smoke, then stay away from the explosion site. 

 Yes you wont be able to rescue any survivors, but you may live longer yourself.... at least until the next rocket booster falls on your house, then your screwed.

 So my final words, look up, look up a lot..... and wear running shoes......

 

Well the funerals over...

 

 Well the funerals over, and went better than I expected, although the legal stuff is going to take a while to sort out.

 I'm glad I picked a red flower wreath as everybody else went for the exact same wreaths, it looked like they'd bought a job lot to be honest.  The vicar did a cracking job, so good I asked if he'd do mine if he's still around when I go.

 Tommy (the deceased) famous for his terrible jokes, rather like me, had the last laugh.  We went into the funeral to the Welsh Guards march, and came out to Johnny Cashs burning ring of fire.. for a cremation!, good for you Tommy, thumbs up mate, I like it.  Think I might go with burn baby burn.

 Today it's bloody hospital time again, to be honest I'm totally shattered, next week I have my flu and covid booster and really I should start Christmas shopping... Although what the hell to buy for everybody has me stumped.

Fungi photos

 

 What with hospital appointments, the funeral, and paying off the third worlds debt... Err I mean buying flowers for the funeral (same expense) Coupled with crap weather I've had bugger all chance to take any pictures recently.  That is until yesterday, yes it was still crap weather and I didn't go out to take pics but I did spot some fungi on my way out for the evening.

 Got these on my phone yesterday, which maans it's a bit of a pain to get them to the computer as the bastards wont talk to each other but hey-ho thats computers for you.

How to spot a low budget movie.

 

 There are several ways to spot the low budget movie.  heres a few suggestions.

1.  Terrible acting, this isn't always the case but 9 times out of 10 it is.

 

2.  Look at the cast list, if the lead actor, director, write, producer... ect all have the same name it's a dead give away it's going to be shit. 

3.  Look for lots of close ups, this is to avoid showing the background and because they think it's arty-farty.

4.  If it's all shot in 1 or 2 places it's to save money on locations, so another warning sign.

5.  Grim sound, good microphones cost a lot, cheap ones used in next doors dining room sound crap... that or it's filmed by the BBC who seem to suffer from rubbish sound the last few years, not helped by mumbling actors.

6.  Lighting.  If it looks like it was filmed by the black bag over the lens in an unlit coal house genre of cinematography, then thats another red flag.  Good lighting is cheaper now than ever before, yet film makers are still reluctant to spend money on lighting.  The other reason is they think you not being about to see bugger all both hides the crap acting and adds tension.  It's called "gloomvision" and it normally means the films rubbish.

American crime series

 

Theres a lot of American crimes series on telly right now, the funny thing though is they mostly seem to fall into to different camps.

 Theres the true crime type where usually a middle aged woman with hair lacquered to the consistency of plywood follows a real life murder story.  These while interesting are so cringeworthy and sad make me want to reach for the sick bags.  

 Lets face it, asking the parent of a murdered child questions like " how did you feel when you found your 12 year old daughters multiple stabbed lifeless body?"  This said with the presenters rictus grin as she tries to look sad and smile for the camera at the same time to show off her impossible white teeth.

 Lets face it love, how the hell do you think they felt?  I doubt they were jumping up and down with joy you silly plastic haired moron.

 Then we come to the drama type series like Criminal minds (sadly now finished)  Sometimes these are really good, more recently though they've become pretty sad and boring.

 I suspect the real problem is they now rely on special effects and not good acting and story.  Take an impossibly good looking group of FBI agents, throw in a few big CGI explosions, a dememted serial killer (note it has to be either a demented serial killer or a terrorist, it's never a bloke selling timeshares he doesn't own) Throw in a car chase, usually very short and your agents will have the case closed in 42 minutes (less adverts)  And bingo you have a winning formular for those whoes IQ is smaller than their shoe size.

 Factor in that most serial killers are not visually demented and actually are usually very normal in appearence and that the real FBI claim theres on average about 50 actually operating in the US at any one time and you get the impression that far from catching them in 42 minutes most never get caught at all.

 Indeed Samual Little was active for around 40 years not 40 minutes, and it wasn't after a dramatic car chase and a few explosions he was caught, oh no, he got picked up for a drugs charge and a routine DNA test pinged one of his murders dating back to 1987, although he'd started long before that claiming around 93 victimes (the police have confirmed a large number of these)

  So next time you watch your dashing bronzed hero kick down a perps door shouting "FBI show me you hands" remember the truth is the real cop is eating a doughnut and trying to figure out how to start his own car.

Something fishy going on?.

 

 At the moment we're in the middle or sorting out a funeral.  My problem is I'm now getting a different version of how we came to be into position of the will.  The original story was the will was given to a family member by the deceased many years ago and forgotten then passed onto my mother after his death, yesterday I got a different version.  Now it seems his son had the will and sent it the other family member who passed it back to my mother.

 Now that sounds like the usual confusion you get with funerals, except my mother has given me both stories and made a big fuss about the other person hanging onto the will for years in the original story, now she's decided it fits better if they just got it rather than the original it's been around for years.

 Now this leaves me with a problem, do I believe the first or second story (and it makes a difference) in fact do I believe anything she now tells me?.  This is an issue, for me at least.  And I don't really know what to do.

 I can't check until the funeral, then I can get hold of the other people concerned (and possibly do them some mischief) At the moment thats the way I'm feeling...  well it's been a stressfull few weeks with one thing and another!.

 By the way if you want to buy funeral flowers you might have to sell something to pay for them.... Africa maybe...  bugger me they are expensive!

Airline company names

 

 I was thinking the other day about airline company names.  Many are ordanary, Jet Blue, British airways that sort of thing.  What you shouldn't do is put the word safe in your company title!

 You see when "Freds Airline" has a crash it may make the news (a supprising number don't) but if your called the worlds safest supersafe airline, you almost certainly will make the news.  Every TV news anchorman/woman in the world is going to show they understand the irony of your name and take the piss.

 Just a few days ago Safe Air company Transall C160 aircraft crashed on landing at Dolow airport in Somalia, fortunatly with no loss of life.  The aircrafts tail looks almost undamaged... which is good considering the rest of it's burnt to a crisp, God knows how the two crew got out alive.

 So theres Waynes advice on naming your airline... take it or leave it.

I'm seriously angry!!!!

 

 Yesterday someone decided to give me advice about how I should run my family, worse how I should spend my own money, and the really deeply offencive bit that my children are no longer my responsibility as they are over 18.  Well news flash, I might not be legally responsible but they are still MY children, and I'll look after them how and when I like.  It's fuck all to do with you!

 I'll also spend my money as I like, I'll buy what and when I want, hey, I'll even light tenners and use them to light the bloody gas stove if I want, it's my fucking money not your's!

 Theres a line you don't cross, a filter if you will, when talking to friends.  Most people for example wouldn't dream of asking about their friends favorite sexual position, that sort of thing.  Well guess what telling them how to look after their children is over the line.... in my case well over. You have no idea how pissed off and offended I am.

 So in respones to your advice some of mine in return.

One.  If I want or need advice I'll ask someone whose advice I would value or trust.

Two.  Don't tell me how I should spend my money, not now, not ever.

Three.  Never tell me how to raise my children or comment on how I look after them.  Thats my business, nothing to do with you.

Four.  As the incredible hulk used to say   " don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry" and boy am I angry now!

It's that time of year again.

 

 Yes it's the time of year when sane sensible people pay large sums of money to go skiing again.   Why is anybodies guess!

 A ski holiday means paying a fortune for flights, hotels and clothes you can't wear anywhere else, queuing for the chair lift, falling over a lot, and fairly frequently a free helicopter ride in an air ambulance to a crowded hospital with other skiers from your hotel waiting to have their arms and legs turned back the right way around and plastered.

 Now there is a cheaper way.  Come to Wales, find an old coal tip.  Dont worry the national coal board left loads laying around abandoned.  Duct tape a skateboard to each foot and shove yourself off the top.   Then you can experience the excitment, thrill fear and sudden impact for bugger all compared to youe Alpine holiday.

 Now to be fair there is a downside, theres no chair lift for one so you have to walk up to the top (don't worry, chances are you'll only be able to do it once anyway) then theres the fact coal isn't quite as soft as snow to fall on.  But the pluses are many, first the huge saving in cash.  Then theres less of a queue at casualty, you'll be the only one there probably with an arm or leg on the wrong way around.

 Ok casualty will be full, but it's be twits in puffer jackets and jogging bottoms who have broken a nail, or can't remember how to tie their laces, not proper injuries like yours.  Then theres the fame you'll get, skiing on a coal tip, pretty much guaranteed a mention on BBC Wales, and I have got news for you, and your new coal rash tattoo with be the envy of your mates.....  Well come on... What have you got to loose....

Cardiff bay dragon event

 

 Well event is a bit of a  grandiose title really, it consisted of one big fiberglass moving dragon and a small one children could sit on.  The poster states UK's largest animatronic dragon plus other fun dragon stuff... the other stuff was the second pay to ride on dragon it appears, and I'm told theres a bigger dragon around as well so the UK's biggest might also be wrong.

 To be honest I was supprised just how quiet the bay was.... it looked like a Fred West family reunion... (too soon?)   Still got these pics.

Hypersensitivity and throat cutters monthly....

 Today I had my shower/bath without my finger splint (plastic tube encasing my finger) for the first time in months.... No not my first bath, the first time without the stupid badly designed plastic tube thing, although tube isn't really the right word.   Indeed a worse design is hard to think of, designed to catch on everything in both diresctions it's a royal PITA.

 Now I'm wearing it because I tore the tendon in my wedding ring finger (and it bloody hurts when you do it too) although to be fair it doesn't really hurt much after,  Back to the plot.  Anyway as it's more or less healed up I decided to risk trying a bath with it off, boy was it easier.  But what I did notice was the finger tip is hypersensitive, it's really weird. I can feel the texture in fabric and stuff, even a tissue has a corse texture.  

 Now maybe I'm odd in not feeling this with the rest of my fingers, but years of use and abuse to my hands has probably dulled the senses.  Still it is weird, wonder how long it'll take to wear off when I stop wearing the splint?

 I ran of of stuff to read recent'y and digging through the box room for old books I came across some Survival Weapons And Techniques (SWAT) magazine going back to the 1970's or 80's, known in the trade as throat cutters monthly because they tended to be read by soldiers and serial killers they had some usefull tips on survival, a LOAD of adverrts for rambo knives, survival courses, guns and stuff like that.  Well reading it now it's a laugh, articles on which shotgun to buy for the zombie apocalypse and stuff like that.  

 Mind it makes you think the stuff we could legally buy back than and the loss of our freedom and rights now......