WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Stanley]

Good question Ian and I never asked him. I have often wondered. I suspect a combination of all the above from a casting. One thing is certain there are no milling marks on it.
The 28lb one is cast steel, not iron as is usually the case. Jimmy Thompson's anvil at West Marton was Swedish and cast steel. Rang like a church bell!
The chance to take my new Trickers to Ilkley for repair today. I want a thicker sole and a smooth rubber top sole. I hate these buttons on the Dainite soles, I can feel them (and the stones) every step I take. I was reared in boots and clogs and have very sensitive soles to my feet! I want a bit more curve on the soles as well, At the moment I am wearing the toe of the sole faster than the body. I shall be a demanding customer.....

[Big Kev]

Would Birro's not be able to do the same job?

[Stanley]

No, not to the standard that Ilkley does repairs. Brian was good and I trusted him with my boots for almost 50 years but I'm afraid standards (and prices!) have fallen now he is no longer in the shop full time. Half hearted repairs can ruin boots and I want a better standard for my 40 year old Trickers.
Classic case of voting with your feet!

[Marilyn]

See...most of us would have bought thick woollen inner soles...
I don't own any footwear fit to be taken to a bookmaker. I only pay enough to chuck it in the bin at the end of its life.

[Tripps]

I don't own any footwear fit to be taken to a bookmaker.

Is that the origin of the phrase 'get your betting boots on lads'?

[Big Kev]

My attention was caught today by item 10 on my car insurance policy, if my vehicle is hit by an uninsured driver, and the accident isn't my fault, there's no excess to pay and my NCB isn't affected.

Quite useful following an incident on the M65 yesterday morning...

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[plaques]

if my vehicle is hit by an uninsured driver, and the accident isn't my fault,

Oh dear. nobody hurt I hope. Uninsured drivers don't tend to hang about too long otherwise they get their collars fingered by the boys in blue. Unless there is some misunderstanding about the terms of their insurance cover they shouldn't be driving in the first place so how can it ever be your fault?
From your picture you are looking at about £1000 worth of repair costs, plus possible claims for third party personal injuries.
Get it all written down while its fresh in your memory. Best of luck with the repairs.

[Marilyn]

Is that the origin of the phrase 'get your betting boots on lads'?
[/quote]

Ha ha. That's hilarious. I didn't realise I had written bookmaker instead of boot maker. Mind you, I had spent all afternoon on Family History, typing up some of the crimes of a slippery good-for-nowt on my son's father's side. He was a gambler and a con artist, obtaining money by deception...arrested several times for illegal betting...did jail time at least twice for fraud. I don't think he would lay straight even in bed. I must have seen the word bookmaker so many times yesterday, it stuck with me.

Oh Dear! Doesn't it break your heart to see damage like that to one's car?

[Big Kev]

if my vehicle is hit by an uninsured driver, and the accident isn't my fault,

Oh dear. nobody hurt I hope. Uninsured drivers don't tend to hang about too long otherwise they get their collars fingered by the boys in blue. Unless there is some misunderstanding about the terms of their insurance cover they shouldn't be driving in the first place so how can it ever be your fault?
From your picture you are looking at about £1000 worth of repair costs, plus possible claims for third party personal injuries.
Get it all written down while its fresh in your memory. Best of luck with the repairs.

Nobody hurt, just an annoyance. I have a dashcam in the car so the whole incident has been 'captured'.

[Stanley]

Kev, if it happened on a motorway you are lucky that was the full extent of the damage. Hope you, your bank balance and the car recover quickly!
The cobbler understood and we have agreed on modifications.
The quality of the food at the Black Horse pub. We ate outside in full sun, good food and only £84 for four of us including drinks. Lovely!

[Big Kev]

Kev, if it happened on a motorway you are lucky that was the full extent of the damage. Hope you, your bank balance and the car recover quickly!

It was only just on the motorway near the Boundary Mill roundabout so no real speeds involved.

My car insurance covers all the costs incurred if an uninsured driver is involved so no impact on my bank balance. They dropped off the courtesy car yesterday as mine is not considered roadworthy (sharp bits sticking out) and I drove it to work this morning, not overly impressed with it. It's a Mercedes A200 Sport and gives a hard ride and the seats aren't very comfortable. Hopefully I'll get my 16 year old Audi back soon, it's a much smoother ride

[Tizer]

Insurance is going to get complicated when driverless cars start getting involved in accidents. The insurance companies still haven't worked out how to deal with it.

[plaques]

Insurance is going to get complicated when driverless cars start getting involved in accidents.

How would a MOT test deal with this? Get a mechanic to step in front of a car to see if the software is working and the car will stop??

[Stanley]

If the technology works as efficiently as on the 737 Max I doubt if even that would prove anything. Include me out!
A flyer recommending Vote for Tommy Robinson dropped through my letterbox yesterday. Fat chance! But why do we get them in Barlick?
Later after reading the BET. Stephenson rabbits on about supporting mental health week. Chris Dagget writes an editorial drawing attention to the fact we have some of the highest levels of child poverty in Britain.

[PanBiker]

A flyer recommending Vote for Tommy Robinson dropped through my letterbox yesterday. Fat chance! But why do we get them in Barlick?

Because you will be voting for representation for the whole NW and that is where he is standing. I'm surprised that candidates are not required to use their legal names, (Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) in the case of this particular fascist.

[Tizer]

The Looney Raving Monster man (or however he described himself) probably wasn't using his real name either!

The amount of plastic waste washed up on these islands is mind boggling - and there's much more that has become buried out of sight under the sand. There was also a report last week of plastic bags at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place in the oceans.
`Plastic pollution: Flip-flop tide engulfs 'paradise' island' LINK

[Stanley]

All this is so depressing.... Tommy Robinson is a form of pollution as well.

[Stanley]

What grabbed me yesterday was something Len Deighton reports in his book 'Fighter'. Describing the Luftwaffe approach to recruitment he says that Goring ensured a high standard of recruit by making sure that pay, uniforms and accommodation were excellent. Deighton quotes the report of an English visitor to the officers training unit at Gatow, C. G. Grey. This grabbed me immediately because that was where Support Company was billeted during my time in Berlin. Grey was taken into a big mess with an attractive bar, a reading room and a silence room for letter writing. He remarked to his guide that the officers were lucky to have such comfort and was told this mess was for the transport drivers. Taken to the Officer's mess he remarked that it was more like a luxury hotel than any other service establishment he had seen. There is much more in this vein including favourable references to the actual rooms which were each tastefully furnished and not overcrowded. There were even flowers in vases!
I can confirm that he was right as far as the rooms were concerned, we knew that we were lucky! Compared with other army billets I had been in they were civilised. (But no flowers in vases!)
Nice to see confirmation of my experience and a complete surprise.

[Tizer]

What grabbed me yesterday was something Len Deighton reports in his book 'Fighter'. Describing the Luftwaffe approach to recruitment he says that Goring ensured a high standard of recruit by making sure that pay, uniforms and accommodation were excellent.

Goering's heightened concerns for the well-being of those in his Luftwaffe may have resulted from his experiences just after WW1 ended. In 1918 he became commander of what had been Richtofen's squadron in the early German air force. In the immediate post-war years he was shocked by the German public's treatment of his air force men so I guess he may have thought `Never again' and was determined to give them the best of everything. Note also that Goering was raised in a castle and this might have had a bearing on what he thought represented `normal' living conditions! (Incidentally, the owner of the castle was a Jew and was Goering's godfather.)

A couple of interesting videos from the BBC...
`RAF Brize Norton Hercules captured in mid-air photoshoot' LINK

`M40 Lorry driver makes card payment on phone at wheel' LINK

[Big Kev]

My attention was caught today by item 10 on my car insurance policy, if my vehicle is hit by an uninsured driver, and the accident isn't my fault, there's no excess to pay and my NCB isn't affected.

Quite useful following an incident on the M65 yesterday morning...
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Insurance details of the third party suddenly appeared after they were advised the accident would be investigated as 'uninsured'. I have sent the dashcam footage so they can't wiggle their way out of it, Skipton Ford are collecting my car tomorrow morning so hopefully I should have it back by the end of the week. The 'ambulance chasers' have picked up on it, I had a second call today regarding my 'injuries' I might like to claim compensation for...

[Tripps]

This is incredible. Probably due to Tory austerity, inequality and child poverty - or just plain badness.

Model railway exhibition

[Stanley]

Let's just say bad David. I hope they get a punishment to fit the crime!
(Good job it isn't me making the decision!)
Word from a Californian friend I haven't seen for over 30 years that he and his wife are booked in at the Fountains on June 13th!

[plaques]

I think we all know that drones are gradually taking over in the surveillance and delivery fields . What crossed my mind that the undertakers haven't yet got into the act. Just think of it Stanley instead of going up Bancroft chimney in a puff of smoke you could be crop sprayed over Barlick and get up everyone's nose at a very modest cost.

[Tripps]

I hope they get a punishment to fit the crime!

I think this might fit the bill - and I'm talking whipping post, rather than stocks.

Stocks and whipping post

[chinatyke]

£5.25 for a milk shake thrown over Mr Farage. Over a fiver for a cup of milk? Is everyone rich in England?