Mississippi Bullfrog

He was probably refering to the BMFA or SMAE certificate. I still prefer the original title of SMAE to BMFA. BMFA = British Model Flying Association SMAE = Society of Model Aeronautical Engineers. I still wear my SMAE badge, the only snag is that it resembles the SAS badge so causes some confusion. People know I served with the US Army in an odd capacity and jump to the conclusion it's some form of black ops logo. The truth is far less interesting

I've recently bought a chest mount which to be honest I didn't really like to look of to begin with. It turns out that it is easy to put on, comfortable to wear, puts the camera in a good place to see the ride and doesn't lead to the same vibration as when it's clamped to the bike. The Olfi chest strap uses GoPro mounts and is very cheap.

You don't need a licence to fly RC aircraft. You're still obliged to comply with Civil Aviation Authority regulations and very large models need to be certified as airworthy. I used to fly in aerobatic competitions but the time and cost were beyond me in the end. I got a third place against the then world champion for the discipline I flew in. He got first, second and fourth. I only got third because just before my flight he gave me a tip on something to help me get a tail slide more accurate. It was a complaint that you didn't need a licence because there are too many idiots who can buy a ready made plans and try to fly it. An RC plane can be dangerous in the wrong hands. With lithium cells and brushless motors the power to weight ratio achievable these days is phenomenal. If you get a finger in a propeller powered by a glow motor (internal combustion) you lose a finger and the motor usually stalls. If you get a finger in an electric motor you lose a finger, then the motor restarts and you lose the rest of your fingers. Electric motors are far more dangerous. We had a club rule that you never flew alone, you always had someone else there in case you needed to be driven to hospital. Model aircraft follow the same laws of aerodynamics, so if you have the wing area you reduce the aerodynamic effect by four. Hence a perfect scale Spitfire that is small is virtually inflatable. For real scale you need bigger models, they are much easier to fly.

I spent the morning sailing with my wife. There was a decent breeze which made for some good sailing. Good to be out on the water.

36 years so far. I keep telling her how lucky she is.

Only if you do it riding the bike up and down the driveway

Went to check my eyesight looking for a bus stop.

Hmmm....I have three bait hives in the grounds, basically small hives to attract swarms looking for a new home. Since a colony of bees cost around £200 free bees are good to attract. All three have scouts checking them out

Leaving aside whether Cummings complied with the guidelines or not.... surely a question to ask is how does a key government strategist get into the position where he and his wife have no arrangements in place to look after their children? Cummings claims to have foreseen the pandemic last year, so how on earth was he so to unprepared? This is the guy whose strategic thinking steered Brexit, so it would be nice to think he had some kind of a clue where things are going.

First spring honey. I extracted one super for a little lad who has horrible hay fever. Local honey makes all the difference.

She knows how to get rid of you for a while.

If you want real vitriol and hate then join a beekeeping forum. The self righteous arrogance and intolerance is unbelievable. The "grand masters" think they are the sole possessors of the truth about bees and anyone who dares think differently is a heretic. The thing is that no-one ever really understands bees, they are as near an alien species as you can encounter without leaving the planet (or visiting Yorkshire).

That's brilliant.

Anchoring and colregs are good for heated argument even on professional sites. Chuck in twats with sails and it gets really heated. Have been known to stir the shit on that one occasionally. Typical motor boat crowd. Chugging along drinking gin with no idea they're buggering up a windward mark.

So I asked him why he was emailing me I eagerly await his reply This is my fight for the day hopefully Great, while you're at it there's a bike goes up the hill outsiide our house at 06.20 every day with pipes loud enough to disturb my beauty sleep. Could you sort him out as well?

Do you have a towbar? Last time I hired a bike trailer and picked it up. Made a good day out.

Look, it's all very simple. We know Covid 19 means people have no sense of taste so anyone with one of these needs our sympathy and understanding rather than being persecuted for being poorly.

Seriouly? You went out in public with those attached to your bike! That takes some balls.

The only justification for Dominic Cummings to need to travel to protect his family is that in the area where he lives there is no-one available to assist if both he and his wife get ill. Now so far as I recall London is a fairly big place with lots of people. Just over 9 million people at last count. Let's assume just 10% of those people are honest, kind and willing to lend a hand to a neighbour in need. That's still 90,000 people willing to assist someone in difficulties. Unless of course the person needing help is so universally disliked and mistrusted that no-one would be willing to have anything to with them. OK - I can see that. Maybe his journey(s) was/were justified.

Just remember that if you let the insurance expire and don't renew then you'll need to SORN it. If it's taxed but not insured the DVLA will be in touch with a fine.

The most important thing with masks and gloves is to wear them for days on end if it makes you feel safer, and then either leave them in a supermarket trolley or drop them out of the car window. The roads round here are strewn with them.

So in theory you'd arrive at your destination in 2007?

I'll be checking my bees. Two local families have kids with huge hay fever issues so they're after some local honey. Last week the frames weren't sealed so it wasn't ready. Hopefully I'll have a super (about 30lb) ready this weekend. Also need to check on a new queen I'm raising from splitting my best colony. And then it will be out on one of the bikes.

You're probably on the ball there, but I bet it has also got something to do with how we generally treat things as disposable these days. People used to keep bikes for longer, now they're swapped more often than some people change their socks. Manufacturers know the sales pitch doesn't need to focus on long term ownership. I suppose it must also be linked to the finance options now available, it makes more sense to keep chopping and changing if you can avoid the balloon payment on a pcp deal by upgrading to a new model. Is it a change in sociatal mores - wanting the newest and best thing immediately - driving the change, or more a case of manufacturers and salespeople teaming up with the banks to convince us this is what we want and thereby driving up their profits? You're probably right about the PCP deals influencing how this is going. I hadn't thought of that. I'm very prehistoric on that score. I pay cash for what I buy.

If you're buying a spray gun buy a good one and get one specifically designed for spraying panels rather than whole body jobs. With a decent quality gun you can get good results. But for bike work you might be better of with a good quality airbrush, and I do mean a good one. Cheap airbrushes are useless. I used to spray model aircraft about six to nine foot wingspan so easily bigger area than motorcycle parts. You can run them off canned air or a compressor. I have a neat little mini compressor for the airbrush. Easier to get a good result with an airbrush than a spray gun.