WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Stanley]

Kev, that video took me back a bit! Reminds me of some of the farm lanes I had to thread a 60ft motor down, less width but same problems. I see it was Nick Livesey out in the rain filming it....

[Stanley]

Keep your eye on Michael Cohen, contacts with Russia and connections with Trump..... This story hasn't ended yet.

[Tizer]

This story sums up just how unreliable Trump is. Bipolar disorder is normally defined as characterised by swings in a person's mood from high to low, euphoric to depressed, but perphaps trump is exhibiting a different type of bipolar disorder, swings from best friend to worst foe. And he's obviously an outright liar on a grand scale.
`How Trump feud with 'dumb as a rock' Tillerson erupted' LINK
`...On Friday afternoon, on his way back to Washington from an event in Missouri, Mr Trump used 270 characters to blast his former cabinet secretary. "Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him," the president tweeted. "His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn't have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldn't get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at State!" The president had touted Mr Tillerson as "one of the truly great business leaders of the world" when he selected him (after just one face-to-face meeting) as his first secretary of state in February 2017...'

[Stanley]

And he's obviously an outright liar on a grand scale.
That was Woodward's assessment in his book 'Fear'.
See THIS Not a word about Kelly failing to 'sort out' the White House problems and baling out in disgust after falling out big time with DT.
Later, a body thought to that of Grace Millane has been found and the process of confirming her identity is underway. A 26 year old man has been charged with murder. Terrible for the family.......

[Tizer]

Remember Chinatyke's pic of the 2019 50p coin showing the Queen with her head in her hands and captioned My Government? I tried emailing it to a friend today and Thunderbird refused to send it! It said I could send the message only if I removed the attachment. I fiddled about with it and found that the message went if I changed the file name from the original `my government' to something else. I wonder if the file of that title has been banned on broadband servers somewhere? Spooky...I kep looking out of the window to see if there's a police car arrived outside our house!

[Stanley]

That reminds me of the email I found couldn't be sent, it was blocked every time. The title was 'Apron Hooks' and that was the problem. I never did find out what the reason was. I must try to send it again......
Ronnie O'Sullivan making snooker history by winning his seventh UK Championship at the advanced age of 43. The last three days have been a feast for us Ronnie fans! He's also broken two more records held by Steve Davies and Stephen Hendry. He could well be the best player of all time and it's a privilege to watch him.

[Tripps]

I think he realised fairly quickly that pouring a bottle of water over his head to celebrate his victory wasn't the best idea. I guess he was imitating the Formula One drivers with their champagne spray, but I doubt he'll be be doing it again.

[Tizer]

Would you believe it? A set of Christmas cards we bought, wrote and sealed in their envelopes are just slightly too large to fit through the Royal Mail's slot checker so we have to pay an extra 21p on the stamp for each. They are square and we thought they'd fit OK. Why would a company in Britain make cards that are a couple of millimetres too big to go through the slot?

[Tripps]

I've had two cards today - both welcome, and one made me smile. I think they may have something to do with the festival we used to call Christmas.

holly2.jpg

winter2.jpg

[Stanley]

Getting my ducks in a row for this morning. Not lighting my pipe since yesterday to please the anaesthetist.

[Bodger]

Stanley, 30mins of industrial sounds, how many do you recognise?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p06mrwzr

[Stanley]

I listened to a few minutes and think I recognised all of them, I have bookmarked it Bodge and will go back.
How nice it is when a plan goes well......

[Tizer]

There are some startling numbers quoted in this article!
`'Planet of the chickens': How the bird took over the world' Chickens

[Stanley]

I knew there were a lot of them but that article certainly surprised me. I wonder how much frozen chicken meat is flown into the UK every day.....?

[Tizer]

`In 2017, the UK imported 7% (31,100 tonnes) less fresh/frozen chicken meat than in 2016, at 410,000 tonnes, according to data from HMRC. UK exports of chicken grew by 18% (47,100 tonnes) in 2017 on-the-year, to 309,900 tonnes.'
And much more information on chicken, more than you'd ever want! LINK

This is more interesting - lots of good B&W photos!
`Fuelling communities: The stories behind the UK's independent filling stations' LINK

[Stanley]

I will have to read both links!

A friend of mine is co-author of THIS and says that the government has yet to respond, he says it is another Windrush. He is now helping to draft the report into the Scottish CSA inquiry.....

[Stanley]

How nice it is to be in control of a pain free bladder!
Maz and Cath.... the report I gave a link to yesterday covers Australia and is very detailed. Part of your life is in there.

[Tizer]

Received a letter from Green Flag saying they will renew my car breakdown cover in January on continuous payment. The premium shown has gone up from £47 last year to £57. I went to their web site and did a quote as a new customer and it showed about £46 for exactly the same cover (vehicle only; national recovery; includes home start and onward travel but not European travel). I rang and asked them not to renew me for next year; they asked why and I explained because of the price increase and the fact that I could start afresh as a new customer online for £46. Immediately the lady said they have special offers and can match whatever the quote on their web site shows. So I'm signed up for another year at about £46. It seems crazy - but they must be making plenty of money out of all the people who just let the renewal go ahead without contacting and asking for a lower premium!

[Stanley]

I have an idea I should be doing that with Talktalk Tiz! I suppose I'm just being idle....
The number of people looking starved to death on the streets when a bit more clothing would make the day quite enjoyable! Has the notion of dressing to suit the weather completely died?

[Cathy]

Have saved the file Stanley, will trawl thru it later.

[Stanley]

I think it might interest you Cathy..... Let me know what you think and I'll report back to my friend.

[Cathy]

Stanley, I've looked thru the file (saved in my Phone) as best I can but I don't feel that I identity with it. But I do identify with parts of the apology speech from our Prime Minister (then Kevin Rudd ) to the Forgotten Australians.
www.pm.gov.au. Transcript of address at the apology to the Forgotten Australians and former child migrants. 16 Nov 2009. 7 pages.

[Marilyn]

I have a hard printed copy of The Forgotten Generation report.

[Cathy]

Me too.

[Stanley]

You two are the best authority I know..... I am content with your reaction. Thanks....