Firstly: We’ve had plenty of warning that there was going to be snow. It wasn’t a surprise.
Secondly: People should have been prepared for the roads to become bad and for transport to be cancelled. BECAUSE WE HAD WARNING.
But, why doesn’t anything work when it snows?
Because you don’t spend LOADS of money on services that are going to sit idle for 360/365 days of the year. If you want everything to work “just fine” when there’s a lot of snow then bloody well pay for it. It will cost a lot of money. It just doesn’t make economical sense.
Hopefully, many services have plans for getting through the snow. Hospitals and emergency services are important and I somewhat suspect that they HAVE plans. Being forewarned about the snow means those plans can be enacted.
The weather over the last few days has been stunning. There’s a load of snow around and the whole of the county looks stunning. It has rather messed with my professional plans but, hey ho, I’m sure I’ll figure it out. The opportunity of being at home in daylight has meant that I have been for a couple of tentative runs since fucking my right Achilles. I am still walking and the Achilles seems intact. Not sure when I’ll next have a run but I’m pleased with the results so far.
So, these are the details of one of my runs. While I have been out I’ve taken many photos. I think they are gorgeous:
FrozenCold DayLense Flare
The countryside is stunning and I think that a couple of sub-zero temperature runs is just the way to celebrate the gloriousness of the whole thing. Ever wanted to know what snow does to trainers? The trainers are old, but waterproof and actually reasonably warm. I did notice today though that the sole is coming away so once they are dry I am going to glue them (again)!
Cold Trainers
I’m not too happy with having the heating on full time but it is the only way to keep my house warm. I guess I’ll have to pay for it over the rest of the year.
I also took some photos with the DSLR. This morning there was mist over the valley and it all looked just bloody gorgeous.
Mist and Snow
There was a dog walker out in the chill.
Winter Dog Walker
This concludes my winter pictures, until next time!
Yesterday I went to the Cineworld cinema at Rochester to see Black Panther. I left work a little later than I had hoped and arrived at the cinema fifteen minutes after the show start, but I was still there easily in time for the start of the film. That did mean that I didn’t have too long to read my book, which is what I do while waiting for the adverts and trailers to pass. I am currently reading a NASA book about the development of pressure suits. It’s called Dressing For Altitude and is on this page. I will admit that I failed to notice the condition of the tide this trip.
For a long while now I have rated the films I see on the IMDB website and I did the same with this film. I didn’t rate it straight away as I wanted the film to settle in my head, so I scored it this morning. I believe I have to re-align my rating system as it is failing the purposes of use. I seem to give too many films a “6” and initially the system was designed to differentiate more than that. There’s an explanation of the scoring system in this communication.
I think it is quite clear to me now that I don’t really like Marvel movies. I go see them as they are a nice way to observe the passage of time but I don’t think they are very good. It is true they are sumptuous and sometimes well scripted but superhero movies leave me flat. I’m always willing to let movies have a get-out-of-reality free card for a couple of things as long as the rest of the universe it creates is consistent and this one managed that. But my overall thoughts are “meh”.
Some things about this film were important I guess in this canon. There were many strong black characters who were fighting against the injustice of treatment against black people around the world. There were many strong female characters who were intelligent and fought well. So, there are good aspects to this film. A part of me thinks that if we want suffrage and racial equality then a superhero film isn’t going to change society but maybe it’s a start. Maybe Hollywood has to start somewhere.
I’m not aware of the original stories and so the following comments may seem harsh and too reality based but they are valid.
Why didn’t the tribes all drink the special purple juice to all be super-powered and therefore subjugate the entire white world?
Why was it necessary to have black tribes fighting black tribes, showing a constant rift in the collective power of Wakanda. I wanted more. I wanted the tribes to unite and over-rule the whites.
Riches for countries come from trade and education [once we got past the enslaving black people and stealing their natural resources]. Not apparently so for Wakanda. They had a city and flying machines but no-one knows about them.
It was nice to actually see Andy Serkis.
What does vibranium do?
Does nobody else notice the blue glow on the inside of the lips?
This film reinforces that to be great you have to be physically strong and fight well. Such bullshit in this modern liberal world where we recognise talent and brains [that’s my own little bubble, there are many twats out there who still celebrate the ability to hit people].
There was a lot about this film that was inconsistent. But, it’s a comic conversion and I guess I’m thinking about it too much.
I spent some of the time at the weekend being the controlling officer of my first range. I ran the SMP DCCT range with cadets teaching them about marksmanship. It was good fun, the cadets learnt a lot and I learnt a lot. I’m looking forward to running my first live range soon.
While visiting Lincolnshire it’s hard to avoid RAF bases and do some aircraft observation. So I spent some time at RAF Coningsby, one of three fighter bases, hosting squadrons of Typhoons. I also visited the air museum at Newark, which I had driven past a few times before but never stopped at. Here’s a selection of the best photos for you.
Typhoon Coningsby
Typhoons Coningsby
Display Typhoon
Display Typhoon
Display Typhoon Going To Bed
Fairey Gannet
Mig 27
Saab Viggen
Avro Shackleton
Phantom Cockpit
Shackleton Cockpit
Vulcan Nav Unit
Before this weekend I had seen Typhoons just twice before. Once at RAF Marham performing a touch and go and once at a Duxford air show. The noise was marvellous.
The name of this communication represents the fact that both Coningsby and Newark are 53.08 degrees north and pretty much forty kilometres apart.
I wrote about watching a film in Boston in this communication and I also mentioned the place when explaining how far you can see from Tattershall Castle. I went for a proper look around, just to see what this place was like. Boston made its fortune many years ago and some parts of this town show that age old wealth. I guess the main problem at the moment is that the wealth is no longer around. This town struggles somewhat.
While driving back after seeing the film the other night I got a little bothered by the canals and roads and the utter straightness of this place. There were roads which were perfectly straight for about three miles, it’s a strange sensation when you are from the south east of this country.
Canal or Fen drain
This view gives an idea of the canal/drain, not the river Witham, I particularly like the roads either side and the tree lined avenue. Also, the complete lack of safety barrier which I’m sure would be knocking around down in my usual haunts. My first discovery was driving out past the windmill, somewhat a surprise, and I drove back in using this route to see the windmill in the daylight.
Boston Windmill
After I got parked in the town centre I went on the hunt for stuff. Also, I wanted to see the Stump up close. There was an area next to the river where the old customs house stands with a buoy for display. This lump of red steel was an original from The Wash and looked pretty. Boston had an unusual tidal surge in the past and the buoy was nearly covered in water, giving an indication of how bad floods can be for towns.
Saint Botolph’s Parochial Church of Boston wasn’t open by the time I got there and I suspect that I wouldn’t have been able to climb the tower but I am keen to have a go. It’s always worth getting up high in any town, it lends such perspective to human geography. There were plaques around the church celebrating the pilgrims who had headed off to the new lands of America to practise their religion freely. This country got rid of them because they were so damn weird and so they were sent away.
Boston Stump from the River Witham
The Stump is certainly impressive in this barren flat landscape. It stands proud.
I’m not sure if it’s me but I noticed some strange things around the town. I’m possibly being slightly snobby here and I will have to declare that I haven’t really been in any town centre for probably a year, especially during the day time. I just don’t go into my local towns. There’s no need for me to head into the town centres and so my data set is rather limited.
There were many people using cash points. There were queues for the cash points. This was around 15:00 hrs on a Friday and maybe that is what happens in many towns but for some reason I was surprised and thought it was odd. I’m happy to be told I’m wrong, that this is a common occurrence around the country.
There also seemed to be many people smoking. I rarely go anywhere with a huge number of smokers and I suspect that my experience is somewhat limited. I could even smell smoke on me when I was back in my car. If I was so bothered I would go into towns near me during the daytime to get some comparative data, but this is unlikely, I doubt I will go. I don’t care enough about being wrong to want to check. This general hypothesis is not important to me.
Skywards
Here’s the stretch of straight road, almost 5 miles but with a very, very slight kink.
Straight
The longest part of this road had warning signs saying that the road was uneven and the speed limit was 40mph. This, is a good thing. The road was very uneven and any faster could cause losing control of the vehicle. I doubt this will be fixed as it acts as a deterrent to driving with excessive speed.
While driving around Boston I noticed some red signs marked “out ER”. I wasn’t sure what these were but a quick Google informed me that they are Evacuation Routes for when there is a high risk of flooding. This seems pretty reasonable to me. It is sensible to have these routes planned so that people are aware of how to escape. It’s also sensible to have plans in place, here’s a link to the Lincolnshire council explanation [this link was removed as the page location was changed, Jan 2020].
So, there’s been a shooting in the USA. There are always going to be shootings in the USA while guns are so easy to access. It’s really that simple. If you make guns easy for any idiot to purchase and use then they are going to use them. There should be a cooling off period and background checks. Oh, that and Mr Trump-Cunt removing the rules about the mentally ill buying guns.
It’s important to make sure that when news is presented that it is accurate and (preferably) unbiased. Even BBC R4 annoys me nowadays with John Humphries’s leading questions and stupid un-scientific knowledge. If I can shout at the radio “irrelevant” or “leading” or “biased” then the interviewer isn’t doing their job well.
I screen grabbed this from twitter:
News Issues
I am not trying to point out that there haven’t been enough school based shootings, but I do want to point out that if you are trying to make an argument then you should be correct in your figures. I do not know what the actual number is for school shootings. Honestly, the fact that there is a number for JUST THIS YEAR means something is fucked. But all news people surely have a duty to represent the truth as best as they can find it. It doesn’t take much research to get that the 18 figure is misleading and that’s when the NRA will fuck you over.
In a previous communication about Tattershall I said that I had heard that the RAF Typhoon display pilot was going to practice his display. This sort of information is publicly available through NOTAMS, Notices To Airmen. There are websites that give this information in map form. Basically if a crane is erected or there are runway issues or events coming up that might affect flying then information about that thing is posted to NATS.
Typhoon NOTAM
This is the Typhoon NOTAM with information about where and when. That way, if you are planning to fly there you can avoid CGY.
Here’s what the pilot had to say about his display:
Well another great #phoonfriday for me to end the week. The fighter didn’t fancy it this morning despite the perfect weather but the family model was very keen this afternoon so that’s 1500ft complete! Roll on 1000ft next week….. 🤞🏼☀🚀 happy weekend all! 😎
He went up in a two seater so I wonder if he was being assessed. I remember being at Linton-On-Ouse when the Tucano display pilot was having his assessment to get his display ticket for the season, you could hear the engine pulling the plane in high-g turns just above the airfield. It was very impressive.
I’ve been on a trip to Lincolnshire and the Fens. The journey up here was surprising from Peterborough onwards as I hadn’t really realised just how far these low lands and fen lands go. I haven’t seen a hill for a whole day now and while that might not seem strange you only have to come here for it to freak you out. The roads here a remarkably straight following the line of the irrigation canals, the highest points are road bridges over the canals or railways. Houses here are dotted around, few and far between with a loneliness that seems saddening. My initial thoughts about this place are that the four walls poking out from the ground must be expensive to heat, there is nothing to stop the winter winds. The landscape must be fantastic in winter although I would imagine it’s a struggle, a 4×4 is definitely required. I wonder what the broadband bandwidths are like?
Tattershall Castle is not far from where I am staying and so I visited. It’s a pretty large building that protrudes out from moated grounds to accentuate the plane aspects of this countryside.
Tattershall Castle
This castle is pretty old and the high ceiling rooms are impressive. The beams used to support the floors above are immense. I didn’t go for the audio tour, I didn’t want to be stuck to a particular routine. I actually wanted to get to the top to see RAF Coningsby. The flight line is quite a clear sight from the top of the castle, along with the hangar that houses the Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight. Unfortunately nothing took off or landed while I was in a suitable place to see.
I was surprised that the Boston Stump was clearly visible to the south along with Lincoln Cathedral almost directly to the north. The Stump was about 19 km away and the cathedral is 27 km to the NE. This is how flat this land is. You can easily see for miles. The trees, houses and road signs punctuate this barren landscape. My normal “escape” is the English mountains in the Lake District and this place is the exact opposite.
The churchyard next to the castle had some early signs of spring grasping the sun light and air:
Spring Is Here
I didn’t spend ages at Tattershall. I had heard that the RAF Typhoon display pilot was going to have a practice and I left the castle with fifteen minutes to spare to get to a suitable viewing point. The morning practice had been cancelled, although reasons I have none.
My favourite part of Tattershall was the ramp going to an ante-room. The ramps takes you up the first step but look carefully at the picture and you can see where once up one step you are fucked because the second step is pretty much straight in front of you with no room to manoeuvre. It’s brilliant placement.
Inclined Plain
Yes, I know that plane is spelt plane and not plain in this case normally but I decided the ramp was boring and useless, hence plain.
I journeyed to see The Shape Of The Water, and while I usually comment on the state of the tide during these reviews I am afraid I cannot this time. I went to see this film in Boston. That’s the Boston in Lincolnshire which gave its name to Boston, Ma. There is always tide but all I could see in Boston was canals. As is also customary on this site I rated the film on IMDB and there’s a communication here about the scoring system. I do still think it’s time to update the rating system but that’ll happen when I get around to it.
So, I should probably say what I thought about this film. I really enjoyed it. The word that kept running through my head as I watched it was “sumptuous”. Everything about this film looked lovely. The re-creation of the 50s worked well along with the well designed flats where the main characters live above a cinema, which seems to be an ideal place to live.
The merman was brilliant and the scene where we meet him and see his eyes and lids was lovely. The whole structure of the research facility was brilliant if rather cliche. It seemed very comic-book. The love story was fine as a love story. This filmed had me smiling throughout, it was nicely put together.
One thing really annoyed me and that was that for some reason the merman had to wait until the rains had come and filled the canal before being released to the sea. This is rather strange. I’m sure he could have been released straight into the river the other side of the dock gates. The whole idea of canals is that they generally are full all the time. That’s why we build them.
The cinema I went to was quite a change from the multi-plexes that exist in the south east. This cinema was in the centre of a town and looked as though it had a long history. The screen was quite small but I’m not one to be bothered by size. Perhaps a good thing was the GBP7.45 for a ticket.
As another member of the audience left he walked past me and declared:
“What a load of bollocks”
I do not share that sentiment, but masterpiece this was not.
