Zilch AGAIN

Not sure China and Russia would directly involve themselves in a direct conflict but they will give tech support and the Russian S-400 air defence missile system is not to be sneezed at.  I’m sure the Russians would love to gather more radar intel on the F-35 and B2 aircraft.

In some respects the Iranians have been sniping at the Americans for a long time (since before Trump increased sanctions over the nuclear deal).  I wonder if Trump was still smarting from the loss of the expensive drone last year and this Terrorist General arriving in Iraq to plot the deaths of more Americans was too good an opportunity to resist.  Will giving Iran a bloody nose stop them? possibly, it may give them pause and make them realise that they have pushed the Americans (and especially their President) one too many times and that the gloves are off now.

Will it end well, NO.

I can see if there is any escalation from the Iranian side a joint Israeli and US missile and drone strike on the Iranian air defences followed by air strikes on the nuclear facilities using bunker destroyers for the under the mountain sites in conjunction with a massive cyber attack on them.

Work mate had an octavia with similar symptoms, no error codes in the ECU either and was fixed with a new fuel filter (which his previous garage had charged for twice over its history but according to the garage that fixed it, looked like the original from when it was built)

Good luck.🙁

Ta for the recommendation, ordered.

1982 miles

156 rides

232hrs

225000ft elev gain (deducted the 4000ft of a BPW day!)

Lame December due to weather, manbola and lots of work kept me under 2000 miles but on the whole, best years mileage for ages.

Well said Squirrelking

Hmmmm, probably like a 2001 Yamaha R1 crashing

”all the sticky outy pointy bits will snap off when you crash”

Glad I don’t live in Aus,  Licence would be in tatters and I’d probably be wanted for arson of government property.😂

They are not good with small furries either, I was chatting to one of the local husky team owner in Friston about them as pets and he advised high fences and loads of exercise as bored Husky’s are destructive.  Also his neighbours cat would sit on the 8ft fence flicking v’s at the Husky’s sending them mad until one day the cat fell off into the garden………

Me, not ridden since early December.  The state of the Downs has beaten me at the moment ☹️

PLEASE hide Elephant when we are round next as Chewie will make short work of it!

My coping strategy of buggering off to the pub masquerading as a dog walk to escape the house full of In-Laws before Christmas dinner has been thwarted as the pub is only serving customers who prebooked meals!☹️

I’d have been playing “hiding in the pub” before Christmas dinner but they are only doing sit down meals between 1100 & 1500 so it’s “listening to the in laws” for me.

TOO long ago

mud destroyed mojo

fitness long gone

Where I used to work a rather large lady member of the team used to be called “all of nine”.   Don’t worry, she gave as much abuse as she got!

Jeremy Vine

Brian Cox

Naga Munchetty

All of the lot that read the C4 news.

Best telly for years, absolutely brilliant, twists, turns and off balance all the way!

Oh I had nerve blocks for the 3 tendon flush ops I had last year for a nasty infection.  Your arm goes totally dead but the downside for me was when it came round and for about 4 hours it felt like my hand was being crushed in a vice, not even codeine and Ora-morph seemed to touch it.

Slightly off topic, interesting comment about submariners still going into the nuclear industry.  After reading Atomic Accidents that somebody on here recommended, the author of which wasn’t convinced that sub reactor drivers (approx 60MW) make good power reactor drivers (1000MW+) as its a bit like comparing a Ferrari to an oil tanker!  Hopefully the civil world reactor driving training has improved, incidentally the US Navy has never had a serious accident with their sub reactors (compared to the Russians and some of their more esoteric designs (liquid sodium cooling etc)

Full of chessy goodness.

Nice “SR-72” at the end.  Still have a soft spot for the Tomcat though (stealth/F18/F14/F-35 range/performance is probably another thread).

Mrs M seems to be able to meticulously wrap double the number of presents I wrap in half the time it takes me and mine look like the aftermath of an explosion in a wrapping paper and sellotape factory!

👍

Humans, far too many of us on the planet and far too many of us consuming goods.

As I understand it, any gas made of differing atoms, CO2, Methane CH4, Sulphur Hexaflouride (SF6) are green house gases.  I think the bond between the atoms is the energy absorber bit (any clever bods care to correct me).   Methane is more absorbing gas than CO2 and SF6 is orders of magnitude worse than both but so far there is comparatively little in the atmosphere but its very persistent and as more 80’s/90’s/00’s vintage HV electrical switchgear is decommissioned more will escape.

Methane levels will increase dramatically as the tundra permafrost melts and the old frozen vegetation starts decomposing, also if the ocean temperature rises on certain bits of the continental shelf ridge bottoms the methane hydrates trapped by low temps and high pressure could degas and there are many millions of tonnes down there.

Volcanoes can warm and cool as the the CO2 emitted acts as a energy trap and the fine particulates that get lofted into the upper atmosphere in BIG eruptions acts as a sunshine reflector so cooling.

Bloody brilliant.  Just keeps you off balance all the time.   I love the whole doomed omnipotence thing.  A bit like Paul Atreides in Dune.

Mrs M was not impressed when I suggested that DM would be even more of a pain to live with than me😂

👍

Anybody notice the mine the kids walk up to was Shandor mining….?

Sorry, enjoying the Easter egg hunt.😁

Silly boy.  At least one of his nine lives used up there!

RIP☹️ though perhaps more appropriately:

heghlu’meh Qaq jajvam!

Somebody I knew (cough), once drove 200 miles off area to “drop off spares” in Devon and came back with a wood burning stove……….

ahh the good old days.

Arrgh 1600 hrs today, bloody Heart FM.

Planet Replicas do a nice line in Rogue Trooper  Biochips and their FB page has occasional news on 2000AD films/books.

I may have posted something about that a while a go.   Looking forward to it, hopefully they’ll have a hell streak on the ridge!😁

Home to regular (fixed) place of work is classed as a commute and taxable, home to irregular locations is normal company van usage and not taxable.

Passengers not on company business will NOT be insured so don’t do it.  Also trips to the shops/school etc will be personal use and taxable and may not be covered on company insurance.

company pays all fuel via fuel card

(what my company drilled into us)

Trying out SPDs for the first time (mid 90’s?) when I stopped due to the depth of mud on a bridleway before toppling over, still clipped in to a pile of horse manure.

This year being shown round Dartmoor and my guide got off to push across a stream/boggy bit and I decided to show off and ride it, till I sank up to my BB and hubs and toppled over into the bog.  Had I been doing pantomime I’d have been labelled 1/2racist I was that black down one side.

New Patio time 😁

Tyres rolling over rock hard frosty grass

The absolute roaring silence of the sky on a cold and frosty night ride, as the stars look down.

Getting told off by woodpeckers when you surprise them.

Riding over the top of the Downs when a sky splitting lighting bolt rips the sky open above you.  Not so much a smilie but a scream of defiance back at it.

You lot are lame.  Child needs nightmares; The Thing (the one with Kurt Russell)

IANAP

Failing that, do what my parents did to me, and make him watch Sapphire and Steel.  I still get the heebie jeebies about old railway stations at night (I work for NR!).

Telly remote volume control was getting iffy so took remote apart and cleaned it.  Volume control fine.  Number 1 & 2 buttons and a few function buttons now not working.  Remote not made any more.🤬

I’m in.