S-Westerly

Meeting up with my grandsons probably illegally but you know what? I don't give a flying f*ck.

Couldn't say I'm afraid as for my biking stuff I tend to use either my local guy Road Runners in Stroud or Ducati Worcester.

I'm no TT wannabe but when I see some of the videos of folks trying to ride the dragon it makes me think I'm better than I am!

The inventor envisaged turbines with 20 m long blades with a controllable pitch mechanism so they would also provide a degree of thrust as well. The other factor was they'd have to be capable of being lowered so as to enable the vessel to pass beneath bridges and go alongside berths. The base structures would have had to be massive to withstand racking stresses in a seaway and the hydraulics required to operate them would have required a power source probably greater than their output. Then there was the maintenance issue, the potential failure etc. etc. ad nauseum. Rotary wing sails okay but turbines - nope.

Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee? Loads of small roads through the mountains of New England and the Pacific Northwest are pretty good too. Also the Natchez Trace - not a bad road at all. The prairies and plains are dire though. What seems like miles without a bend.

Believe it or not I was involved in a small research group that was looking at doing just that. The theory worked but the practicality as advised by moi was that it wouldn't. A 20m long scale model was built and surprise, surprise it was a dismal failure. You wouldn't believe some of the weird and wonderful ideas that get thrown into the pot now and then.

Stop long enough to have a coffee, stretch my legs and have a pee. 30 min on average.

Nope I think he's still in jail where he deserves to be. To be fair to the Ever Given they got caught in a sandstorm which in the canal is not uncommon. Box ships have such a massive windage that a strong cross wind has serious effects on them and at slow speeds in narrow channels makes them virtually uncontrollable. Within the industry this has been known about for years and there have been many predictions that it would ultimately end in tears. As usual where vast amounts of money are involved the profits overrode the risks.

Stopped raining here. Expecting unlimited sunshine and balmy breezes as we are best place to live so weather can't ever be bad. Why don't I believe that? Place has been overrun with hipsters and in normal times we have more fancy cafes than anything else. £4.00 for a slice of artisan toast anyone? Whatever that might be.

Hmm looks a bit like me, but fortunately container ships are not my thing. Latest is that according to salvage company it may be weeks to clear. Wouldn't like to be the skipper and that's a fact!

Unfortunately all too often the drug scene and prostitution are very closely linked. Both are controlled by criminal gangs and women in prostitution are frequently funding a drug habit. As you say a problem which is pretty well global.

Ditto Stroud, although we are basking in the fact that according to the Times we are the best place in the country to live. So there goes the neighbourhood.

Holidayed in both of those, absolutely brilliant.

Well you'd get the tiny tank thing with an e-bike as the range on them is pretty crap and so far as I know few have rapid charging either.

Could be worse,could be wearing no pants or trousers. Save em getting wet.

Cleaned it thoroughly yesterday as for the first time in a long while it wasn't too cold to work on it. Then rode to Warminster to have a coffee with a mate then back via Cirencester. Amazingly it was still clean when I got home, no mud and crap all over it.

Don't know about your neck of the woods but where I lived for 30 years in Co. Durham I never noticed any animosity to either the police or the army. My daughter's inlaws still live in Crook and among their number are 3 policemen and 2 soldiers.

I think you'll find that her fall had more to do with Tory in-fighting over the EU. The poll tax may have contributed to it but to Tory voters it wasn't an issue.

No, no no. Alien space bat other fine but absolutely not French.

It wasn't hated by everybody, everywhere. I was neutral to it but my mother in law loved it as she saved a lot of money. The Council Tax that replaced it just tweaked things a bit but wasn't that different at least to me.

MT09 and NZ roads? Brilliant combo.

My current lid has a drop down sun visor so I reckon I'll stick with that option. Rules out Arai but my preferred lids are Shoei or Schuberth (current) and they both do decent helmets with drop down inner visors.

Fair comment but still more on the other side. Two wrongs don't make a right either, violentdemosdont benefit anyone.

Yeah my brother in law was there for the Country Side Alliance. My son in law was a riot cop for the Met at the time. As to fox hunting I think.it was Oscar Wilde who described it as the unspeakable in pursuit of the unedible I'd agree.

Don't really have much skin in this game as I'm not left at all for various reasons. Nor am I Tory or far right. Small c conservative edging into libertarian and as small a government as you could get away with. However given we do have far right wing loons about when was the last time we had a right wing mob defacing the cenotaph or trashing a town centre or beating the police? I can't think of one although I'm sure there might be a few. Every riot or violent demo though has an anarchistic left wing faction which may or may not label itself antifa or nowadays BLM. Every time they do this it just alienates the majority of the public which then makes it even more difficult for moderate left wing voices to be heard.