Broithe

I found myself using this beermat last night. It performed its task adequately, but I was disappointed to see that it had a black chassis.

https://www.facebook.com/LaoisHeritageSociety/posts/pfbid05nJzbsfZWjAcUo2Di7g6T2ngTTSLvnmmqxNrHZiWrSQVyVSU21ss2hgGVVBo9ftvl

Many years ago, when I was still able to use the train to access the Holyhead ferry on the Big Island, I was returning and sat behind four railway staff, on their way to work in Chester. Their discussion was mostly around the location of redundant objects that could be 'released' into their possession for subsequent resale. One sign was going to be quite difficult to access, being above a tunnel portal, and there was some dispute about who was going to be the 'lucky' one to abseil down to it.

No mention of a bus replacement service.

There was also the Izhma Tu-154, dragged back out of the forest, patched up, flown out to be repaired properly and flown on for another decade.

Looks like they needed Capt Kallbach.

If they came expecting a 9V supply, then they will work happily wired up like that. The resistor would, ideally, need to be of a slightly different value, if they are intended for a 12V or 16V supply, but they should still work adequately off 9V with the supplied resistor, maybe just a little dimmer, which is not usually a problem.

The layout situation was probably in line with previous years, but traders may have been down a little in number, hard to be sure - there could be conflict with other exhibitions, the February schedule benefitted from being in the quietest part of the year. I don't 'need' to buy much these days - this is all I got, from Nick Tozer.

I didn't realise it would be in the main hall - much, much better - and it looks like they will keep to September now, at least for the next one.

It's hard to give an indication of the size, this view covers around a quarter of the exhibits and traders. Prior to the opening of the NEC, this was the major music venue in the Midlands - all sorts played there - Abba, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Eagles - anybody who could attract a crowd. The only thing I saw there was Thin Lizzy and the sound was so dreadful that I swore I would never part with money for anything else there - when ZZ Top came, we had a picnic in the field at the back and were treated to excellent audio, and no ticket fee... Also, there is a somewhat larger scale outdoor railway there -

A bit late to 'announce' it, as I only got back on Thursday to find out that the February show was really going to happen at last this weekend. It was in the main hall this time - much better with room to get about easily, it was getting quite congested in the side halls. My usual plan is to have a quick walk past everything and then take a methodical route to scrutinise things properly. This slightly fell apart as the first layout I saw was Castlefinn. There were many other interesting layouts, British, Continental and North American.

This is my favourite bit of Stafford's cycle provision. A bike is too long to fit on it. Maybe I should get a unicycle?

Try cycling on them - I haven't used any in Ireland, because there aren't any in the vicinity that I frequent, but most on the Big Island are useless and often actually dangerous, they give the impression of being done simply for 'effect', rather than with any intention of being useful. I've never seen a bike on either of these - https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.8065686,-2.0933096,3a,75y,120.28h,56.98t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sI7Oofzf6vbw0TiWNVL3uSw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DI7Oofzf6vbw0TiWNVL3uSw%26cb_client%3Dsearch.revgeo_and_fetch.gps%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D42.05714%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192 - there would usually be more cars parked along there than in the picture - especially at weekends and in the evening - you won't last long, weaving in and out of that lot. Also, cycle lanes to the side of a road tend, pretty much always, to remove the priority at every side-road. This is a classic example of that - https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.8307723,-2.1088423,3a,75y,285.18h,101.68t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sP9GQZGBuJOZVodUalXa6qg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 - four Give Way/Yield situations in a few yards, with cars approaching from anywhere, instead of just cycling past... Pretty much the only one that I would use in Stafford is, amusingly, a bit of the old Uttoxeter rail line, where the above issues hardly apply much. I will say that the general motorist's attitude to cyclists in Ireland has been a revelation over the last couple of years. People in Ireland drive like maiden aunts compared to the homicidal maniacs I'm used to on the Big Island.

This popped up today and might be of interest to those who might not have already seen it.

In terms of population, Ireland is unusual and possibly unique in the world in having a lower population now than it did 200 years ago. Back in the days of the USSR, there were occasions when 'the system' indicated that nuclear weapons should be launched, but the individuals required to actually initiate that decided not to do it.

In circumstance where I don't know of "what has worked on these products before", I have found that carefully scraping a digit off with the end of a curved scalpel blade is reasonable safe. It can leave a little 'polish' of the underlying colour, but there won't be any chemical difficulties.

Surely, the technical term would be "under starter's orders"..?

Undercover operation?

24 hours! Some dive. You can finish half an hour early tomorrow.