Malanka

Hi Chris, That 50 quid is for supermarket rump in a packet not the delli stuff and definitiely not top Fillet which is 150 CHF / kg. (chiller aged and matured). Zug is not far from me and taxes there are the lowest in CH (less than 16% total for someone like me) House rentals or buying is unreal but tax is very low. Absolute max for millionaires is 22.8% income tax. For interest the top 1% of incredibly wealthy (net worth) folks in CH contribute 45% of the total income tax paid. In addition in CH there is a wealth tax to pay too.

Like it Robin. Lets follow the logic, politicians promote the use of diesels as they produce less CO2 per unit mileage. This is true, however they then ignore all scientific evidence contrary and superceeding that fact, NO2 and particulates paricularly. OK so this produces the situtaion of high NO2 and particle levels toxic to heatlth in cities (who'd have thunk it) . So now the idea is to ban the thing they promoted in the first place and it's the same guys doing the banning as did the promoting. Hubris anyone...?????? The promoting came along from an EU commission directive by the way...Many scientists opposed it as a stupid idea as they produce more NO2 and particles. The scientific consultation that accompanied that particular directive was ignored due to the benefit of the CO2 argument which is true. However it's wasn't and isn't the whole story, nature doesn't work in linear lines and single this does that ways. I had rather hoped they were seeing the error of their ways, but the headlong rush to use an immature technology at the tax payers expense just takes ones breath away. As I said before two scientists in the whole of the commons...Both of whom have been villified for daring to use their brains rather than tow the line. (as set forth by the oxbridge PPE club)

Hi Tim, The reason was landslips they couldn't build the eastbound carriageway as high as the westbound carriageway and it was famous at the time, they did originally want to buy it but it was easier just to separate the roads due to the landslips and go round. Economics and geology. This of course was all discovered when they actually got to the point of building it, so the idea that it was planned due to geology kind of falls over at that point. The original plan was straight down the middle and all houses / farms were subject to compulsory purchase (very controversial at the time). The farm is a tennanted farm and the resistance was real however unnecessary at the end of the day. Consider how would it look if they bought it knocked it down and still had to deviate. Far easier to say ha we planned that all along we knew all about it and didn't try and buy it. Of course they did ....LOL If they knew about it they wouldn't have aimed there in the first place. BTW Calderdale is beautiful. One of my favourite places in the whole world. I used to spend every moment up there when I could. We used to use the old road for many years before the motorway was built to go see my nana who lived at the time in Wetherby. Avoiding the inevitable black faced sheep was an extra hazard. We hit one once in fog as it walked down the road and it wrecked the car. If you look at the Dam on the route you will see some very stained concrete sections of the dam. This is because the releasing agent used by the manufacturers of the concrete sections was changed to a cheaper one which allowed staining to form. The good ones (at the bottom) used a releasing agent provided by ...... Wait for it. yes you guessed it my Dad. He got me a ride in the huge earth moving machines and the crane that was used to put the sections in place. Was so much fun for a little boy. I was in heaven. M

If you want expensive Starbucks coffee here is 14 or 15 CHF, Burger king is 10 CHF for ten nuggets. Cars are cheap and wine is cheap, electrical things are comparable. Food is the mother and father of expensive. Steak 50 pounds a kilo. There are restrictions of 1kg per person to import it from outside. With cars here nobody buys the base model, everything is 2.5 ltr this of 3 ltr that. A christmas turkey year before last was over 200 CHF. Turned out to be only available fresh, organic, free range and practically hand reared. No possibility to nip to the supermarket and get a frozen one. 1CHF = 0.8 GBP

The cost of tidal Barages is stupendously huge. Makes Hinkley point look like a bag of sweeties. Besides I'm sure some newts or sea horses may get disrupted. The best place to go ask about off shore developments is Denmark. See how many new ones they are building you may get a surprise with all the UK publicity about how low cost offshore generation now is... M

True MM but why do you think people can afford to pay for an electric vehicle in the first place. The cost is heavily subsidised, not hybrid ones but pure leccy. Up to the first 80,000 vehicles any way( from each manufacturer) The subsidy is way more than the 20% tax most of which goes to the EU anyway. That's where the VAT goes. In the US The pay pal geek is into the US governement for 6.5 Billion dollars for just 85000 teslas plus his other projects. Tesla US has just sold that magic number and Trump is pulling the plug on further subsidies for high priced virtue signaling for the wealthy.. Will be interesting to see if California steps in and takes up the gauntlet for the subsidy (state is basically bankrupt) If not will be an interesting time for new Tesla buyers. (10,000 dollars each extra to find on the model S)

thats ten miles from where I lived for twenty years. That motorway cost three times the standard cost per mile. The farmer in the picture refused to sell up and has been provided with access under the roads for his sheep. My dad helped on the project and they used rafts for the plant vehicles cos if they didnt they disappeard out of site into the peat. Gets closed regularly in the winter time due to winds snow ice etc. Its incredibly exposed although the wallabies there seemed to do quite well until a very cold winter decimated them a while back. You wlk half a mile either side off that road and in the winter with fog and snnow and very low temperatures you could easily get lost walk round in circles and die. Spent my childhood there. Saddleworth mooor which is also very close is famous for other things from my childhood.

20 30/40 is the sale of diesel vehicles (specifically cars) this will be met if the technology is available at a reasonable cost if not it simply wont happen. This is not the use by date. The shift from petrol to diesel was politically driven not technology driven, this change is also politically driven. The thing that bothers me is the provision for massive increase in peak demand from the grid without due thought as to how this will actually be met. Politicos of every stripe have ignored sensible energy policy for years and now they want to use a system for electirc vehicles that isnt ready and wont be ready in 2040 without massive spending on infrastructure projects we dont have the money for. Germany is spending Billions and Billions (many billions) connecting their wind farms to the grid to distribute the elctricity to where its used. Diesel will be around for many years to come as will petrol engines well past the 2040 date- I live in Switzerland that has one of the most amazing public transport systems in the world. I dont need a car but I have one because i like driving and it turns off at the lights. (its the law here) Its fun but the idea that the millions of vehicles in the uk and elsewhere are all going to be replaced by shiny new electric vehicles in my lifetime is a fantasy not backed by any science whatsoever. We didnt stop using tallow lamps because politicians told us to, we did that because someone invented a better way. Technology will produce a better way than cars but not because someone forces it. But because a genius says oooh thats a good idea. Pay the eggheads to play with ideas dont strap them to the idea of a pre determined solution (political style) If someone invents a storage system that actually works for cost (not the subsidized Tezla nonesense) then that will be it. Standard replaceable batteries that can be swapped out at swapping stations is the way forward IMO. That would work now actually if we could just get all the car companies to cooperate... Still waiting. M

Not all Brooms are equal Timbo... Chromed Brass anyone ..... M

Hi Chris it was definitley the short round fired from what americans call a "sport rifle", not usually much use for anything except plinking at cans IMO, which is why everyone was so surprised the the incident happened and why it was told to all NSRA instructors as part of the club instrutor course. We used to use the Ely Tenex .22LR (when I could afford it) for target shooting (NSRA Winter meet League division one mind you... LOL) The only reason it happened was the parabola of the bullet and the shape of the hill. The energy in the round was minimal at impact but still enough to kill the guy. I used to wonder where my bad back comes from then I remember British Shooters Bent Back Disease. lol Lying prone in a cold, damp shed in Coventry with a 15lb target rifle strapped to my left arm, my shooting jacket fastened up tight, my monoscope and my little wooden block of 12 bullets to use for competition was fun at the time. Not so much now. Plus all the propellent in the air used to make us all stink after a couple of hours down there. We used to get so much hassle carrying fully cased rifles on the bus though even then (1980- 1983) I used to have a collection of cartridge cases which got stolen in a break in. They all had their bullets attached but no propellent. Had a .50 cal pistol round and a couple of dud 20mm Cannon rounds too. I once got a lab job on the strength of my shooting as the head lab guy was a shooter. Bit of a Wally as his claim to fame (he wasn't that good) was to have shot himslef in the foot. I kid you not. I did briefly flirt with pistols the browning .22 version. Was fun but sooo difficult, first time ever I tried it I managed to hit the target paper (18 inches square) a total of twice with ten rounds. None in the target area of course. I did get better but I have huge admiration for pistol shooters, be they recreational or professional. M

Lovely boat Robin and a great legacy. Go with the dream. Life is too short you only get one go at it. Says he with one wife, three offspring, currently four dogs, and lived and worked in four different countries in the past 15 years. Go for it. Full steam ahead.

Reeds and nettles galore .....

Doesn't anyone remember Upton Dyke in the 70's.? M

Never underestimate the power of the little old .22 (5.56 for the metric amongst us) The 0.22 short round as used for target rifles and years ago "sport rifles" can and has very famously killed from over 1 mile away. The incident was at Perry Barr in Birmingham, the person in question shot at a pigeon (to hit one with a sport rifle takes some skill but is not impossible) unfortunately he was firing uphil and the bullet trajectory (the classic parabola) on the up swing matched this perfectly, the bullet then started to descend and intersected with a guys chest who was a mile away standing on a tree stump on the other side of the hill. The bullet hit him smack in the upper quadrant straight into his heart stopped it immediately so no blood and the guydrops and dies instantly. Autopsy found the bullet, eventually the shooter was found, cant remember the outcome of the courtcase. If memory serves it was 1957 but I'm old so can't really remember all the rifle instructor training. But I remember that. The military 5.56 is of course a completely different kettle of kinetic energy. My dad used to shoot rabbits and pike with his BSA Martini which weighed in at 15lb so was hard to lug about. Lovely rifle very smooth. He gave up ownership after years of harassment from the local constabulary. So he took up Archery instead, the 100lb bow and three feet long aluminium arrows he had were way more dangerous than his BSA but no visits from the boys in blue. Go figure...

Luv ya....

You total Barmpot.

To be honest, Prince Charles's popularity can never descend lower than his already miniscule credibility. If I ever meet him I'm convinced I will be able to sell him a nice bridge I have going cheap.

As I have said before . "This is not what insurance is for", dems dem law tings to tink abooot anall.

Smith and Wallensky's in New York or London. For steak. Waldorf Astoria NY. (watch out for the wine cost...) For the food and atmosphere. Broads. Waterside Brammerton. Excellent service and food is imaculate. And you can book a mooring and a meal at the same time.

Don't worry Martin it's not permanent. One issue that many don't know about as it's easier to sell you something if the manufacturers don't tell you the down sides to their claims is probiotic drinks gain entry via the stomach where the acid conditions render most of them dead as a door nail. These bacteria exist in the digestive tract, gut, or upper intestine or lower intestine or whatever you wish to call it. Some can exist in the acid conditions in the duodenum H pylori for example. We can read about that particular controversy for hours. The relationship is truly complex and to put a simple number or estimate on it there are more bacterial/fungal cells in or on your body (nominally called commensal organisms- these are deemed normal) than there are mamalian cells making up your body in the first place (there is a huge size difference which makes this possible) These organims are in what's called a dynamic equilibrium, i.e. constant back and forth of numbers in natural cycles. When this is interrupted by body conditions being off due to metabolic reasons or antibiotic treatments (and don't worry antibiotics dont kill everything only what they are designed for) then these numbers may change dramatically for a while and we get the trots or thrush C albicans (not a bacterium). The gut doesnt become a desert of bacteria just hugely reduced and it takes time for them to become re-established by the same mechanisms that put them there in the first place. I have attached a link to a very good article which is a bit techy but understandable and explains all this stuff in as much detail as one could possibly want. A bit of bafflegab but not too much. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230790957_The_role_of_the_gut_microbiota_in_nutrition_and_health OK truly derailed now...

Timbo Our 80ltr fridge generates huge amounts of heat when in full swing in the summer. We left our old gas access hole and this summer made it bigger with a brass grill over it as it simply wasn't big enough to let all the heat out and the fridge went a bit mad trying to keep up when it was sunny weather. We have the snug fit surround which may be an issue but if the hole into which the fridge sits isn't very well ventilated your'e going to have issues if the heat can't escape into the cabin or galley.. We even go so far as to not moor with that side into the sun and so on. An 80ltr fridge going bonkers in the sun also eats domestic battery amp hours like chocolate bars too. Admitedly with teenagers cruising the provisions and keeping wine chilled and making ice it is a strain on the batteries especially if we stop early doors and the kids constantly opening the fridge door and sometimes closing it, the poor thing doesn't know if its comming or going. BUT It's what its designed for after all. Just my two cents.

For info. Last year when our starter motor tried to set fire to itself. We were towed by a day boat (by the boatyard) down from almost Geldeston to the Lido in Beccles. Next day Charlie Dolphin towed us under the bridge and round to the Yacht Station, where they allowed us to stay rent free for three days whilst Steve fixed us a new one. Great team effort. Poor Dolphin didn't like towing big old heavy wooden lady one little bit. Charlie was magnificent and got us there in one piece. M

LOL nicely done. Its a touch screen DELL lappy with windows 7 pro with the full professional office suite. And it's been raining for about thirty hours. Fiona and I love it as it broke months and months of nothing less than 28 degrees and stifling heat and humidity. Awful to live in, nice to visit but live ughhhh. Sorry but we went to Norfolk hoping the weather would not get warmer than 23 or 24 ..We left 36 degrees behind us and needed a cool down... Basically where we live you're a prisoner in the house in the winter as its minus 16 outside, and a prisoner inside in the summer as its 36 degrees outside, no aircon this is der Schweiz. Its also over 2000 ft elevation too so you get burned or frozen really easily. This is also a German Keyboard so I think I do ok not having z in place of y and not hitting the öé äà èü keys too often. For some colour to a dry post...ala EDP... We definitely get four propper seasons here but the move from spring to summer is always a huge shock to my delicate system, one day its 18 and pleasant. The next it's 35 degrees and my office becomes a sauna but without the nice Swedish lady. Maybe I could be the roving EDP reporter in Switzerland and West Coast US where I spend 35% of my time. One thing that I have noticed, just to go completely "off piste" so to speak , is that for whatever reason and please speculate away, the Swiss where we live are absolutely useless at driving in snow. Go figure. We have winter tyres too but first snow and it's chaos. I ALWAYS go in late when I see the snow just to avoid some numpty running into me. For the mountain savvy amongst you lot, from our window we can see the Jungfrau which looks like a pair of shoulders and the Bernese Oberland is our local ski area. Justin skis with school all day every Friday from January through to the end of March on the other side of the mountain from Gstaad: Here. https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/zweisimmen.html This quaint village in the Bernese Oberland forms the gateway to the world-famous Gstaad-Saanenland region. Needless to say he loves it. M

My comment was merely to point out that the EDP was again using huge and unnecessary dramatic license. Jumping in to rescue a young girl from the water is heroic enough without the added BS. Icy water in August... What ???? My detector went off which a clang on that one. Same as it did on the chewed up swan piece. Good journalism does not embellish that which does not require embellishment. Especially not when that embellishment actually lessens the credidibility of the report. Icy water in August... Where was the sub editor with a modicum of common sense when that rubbish passed his or her desk. Written from my desk whilst basking in the late summer rays streaming through my part opened blinds hiding the magnificent vista beyond....Grrrrr Actually it's raining and dull but didn't read as well. No drama in its raining and dull. M

Phil would have to put on 50kg then ..