WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Tizer]

If this bloke comes to your front door and tries to sell you shoes send him away empty-handed... LINK

[Tizer]

We used to have Little Owls (Athene noctua) that lived in very old cider apple trees behind our house in the Somerset Levels. The morning after we first moved into the house we opened the curtains to see a Little Owl sitting in the willow tree in our garden as if it was there to welcome us - or to check we were suitable to live there! (They're like flying teddy bears, although mice and voles wouldn't agree with me!)
`Peak District: Little Owls' 'special moment' captured' Little Owls

[Stanley]

I don't think I have ever seen one Peter. The most we get to here in the middle of town is the jackdaws arguing about nesting sites at this time of year.

[Wendyf]

We see little owls quite often around here. They merge into the stone walls so hard to spot until they move!

[Tizer]

Yes, and hard to spot against that sort of background even when using binoculars!

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report about another failure in our defence capabilities.
The test firing of a Trident missile from a Royal Navy submarine has failed, for the second time in a row. The latest test was carried out from HMS Vanguard off the east coast of the United States. The missile's booster rockets failed and it landed in the sea close to the launch site, according to the Sun, which first reported the malfunction. Trident missiles carry the UK's nuclear warheads - the weapon of last resort. This is highly embarrassing for both the UK and the US manufacturer of the Trident missile. British tests of Trident missiles are rare, not least because of the costs. The price tag of each missile is around £17m. Both the Defence Secretary Grant Shapps and the head of the Navy were on board HMS Vanguard when she fired the unarmed test missile off the East coast of America in January.
This happened in January. I am not clear why it has become headline news today.

[Tizer]

They are claiming that the failure couldn't have happened if it had been `the real thing' and not an exercise. Fancy that! Putin will be loving these failures of our nuclear subs and aircraft carriers.

[Stanley]

I need someone to point me at a country or system where everything is tickety-boo! Everything I look at is failing!
If someone says 'punching above our weight' I think I'll scream!
(Did I hear a report that the Houthis have sunk a ship?)
(And while we're asking questions, how come the Trident failure happened last month but was only reported yesterday?)

[PanBiker]

The missile's booster rockets failed and it landed in the sea close to the launch site, according to the Sun, which first reported the malfunction.

Interesting that the government is still confident in it's nuclear deterrent and states that it would work in a "real world" situation. They don't seem to know the difference between a payload and the delivery system that takes it to the target. I have no doubt that the nukes will work but a bit like a chocolate teapot if you cant deliver them you can only nuke yourself!

[Cathy]

Is it your Birthday Big Kev?
.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Watchya up to?
.
. Enjoy

[PanBiker]

Well spotted Cathy. Kev.

[Wendyf]

Yes, well spotted Cathy!
Happy Birthday Kev,

[Big Kev]

Thank you

[Gloria]

Happy Birthday Kev,

[Big Kev]

I went into the office yesterday, we had our weekly team meeting in the Monopoly themed meeting room. I couldn't resist wearing the top hat

IMG-20240221-WA0001.jpg

[PostmanPete]

Happy Birthday Kev...!! Happy new router and Happy new car too...!!

[Big Kev]

[Tripps]

Happy birthday Kev, I'll drink to you and your health tonight with the rest of the Shiraz. . . .

[Big Kev]

Happy birthday Kev, I'll drink to you and your health tonight with the rest of the Shiraz. . . .

Top man, cheers

[Stanley]

Many Happy returns Kev. I hope it was a good day.....

[Stanley]

Trump has won in South Carolina with nearly double the number of votes that Nikki Haley got.
This is so depressing..... I leave others to discuss just how bad this is.

I've just heard a Jewish Artist, Frank Auerbach, talking about his life and he mentioned a stranger giving him a sweet one day when he was out with his nanny in pre-war Germany and when he got home his mother put him to bed because she was afraid he might have been poisoned. This reminded me of the days when my sister and I were together in a pram and a stranger gave us a bag of sweets. We had been told not to accept presents from strangers because they could be poisoned. We lifted the false bottom of the pram and put the sweets in there. I don't think we ever told my mother.....

[Tizer]

This is so depressing..... I leave others to discuss just how bad this is.

There are 253 days before the US Presidential election. A lot can happen before then!

Enjoy these articles instead of moping about the elections...
`Inside the long-abandoned tunnel beneath the Clyde' LINK 1

`Battersea power station and The Piece Hall among landmarks given new life' LINK 2

[Big Kev]

The tunnel under the Clyde is an interesting read. I used to use the foot tunnel, under the Thames, at Woolwich. Rotundas at either end with lifts and a spiral staircase. Not sure if it's still in use, I shall Google.

Still open but with temperamental lifts
https://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/info/ ... ot_tunnels

[Stanley]

Is that the same as the one I remember at Greenwich? I can't recall lifts on that one. Did it surface on the Isle of Dogs? It's a long time since I used that one....

[Big Kev]

There is one at Greenwich too.