MauriceMynah

It is the year 2040 In a galaxy far far away Bob the spaceman logs on to his computer and activates an ip address at a small mooring on the river Bure. Silently a hatchway opens on a luxury craft. A duck who happened to be sitting on this hatchway is given a fright, and does what every carbon based life form does when given a fright, all over the lens of the drone. Automatically, the lens is cleaned and the drone takes to the air. On auto pilot it flies all round the boat checking the moorings of it's mother craft. It freezes, hovering perfectly still. A movement has been detected, a boat breaker has been caught in the act. Immediately the drone autodials 999. It receives the reply... "If you wish to speak to the police press 1, if you wish to speak to the fire brigade, press 2, if you wish to speak to the ambulance service press 3. if you wish to speak to the coastguard press 4, if you are a drone press 5." Impatiently the drone auto presses 5. "Hello Drone, If you wish to speak to the police press 1, if you wish to speak to the fire brigade, press 2, if you wish to speak to the ambulance service press 3. if you wish to speak to the coastguard press 4." The drone and the ne'erdowell are staring at each other. Slowly, the rogue pulls out an air pistol and fires at the drone. Dodging the slug, the drone expertly flys up and out of range, it's camera zooming in on the face of this thief. Whilst doing so it electronically presses 1. The robotic voice at the other end of the line bursts back into life... "If you wish to report a crime of violence press 1. If you wish to report a crime of motoring offense press 2. If you wish to report a crime of theft press 3." Again the drone auto presses the correct code, only now, this lowlife is running away, and running fast. The drone gives chase. Once again the phone line crackles into life. "If the crime has already happened and you wish to report it, press 1, if the crime is in progress press 2." "2" presses the drone, fast running out of electronic patience. "If there's danger to life press 1, if there is no danger to life press 2." The drone, fast reaching the limits of it's operational range, pauses to take one final clinching photograph of the villain, but danger looms. The drone has flown into a windfarm. The turbine's blade crashes into the drone smashing the small flyer into minute pieces. The phoneline responds... "Unrecognised response" and hangs up. In a galaxy far far away, Bob the spaceman says a very, very, rude word, logs on to Amazon and orders a new drone. Progress eh? where would we be without it?

Watershed, you are a boring/sad/a creature of habit! .... well you told me to call you one! Money no object? I'd have at least one boat on the broads, one in Dartmouth and another on the Med somewhere. A limo (with driver) to get me from one to another. So, in answer to the original question Broads or abroad, I'd have to say.... both!

As the Bermuda was designed solely with fresh water cruising in mind, it would be unlikely to have the hull fittings for a sea toilet already in place. How hard that job is, or how expensive, I wouldn't like to say, However, depending on the type of toilet you have, you might be able to get the best of both worlds. That is to say, you might be able to put the hull fitting in and then have it so by way of a valve, you send your "stuff" either out through the hull, OR into the holding tank. This could quite possibly be to your advantage when the time comes to sell the craft on.

I called it a "mine field" before and I'll call it a "mine field" again. We can all see both sides, what we can't see is what the hell to do about it. On the one hand there are the majority of cases as above where a father has been giving his son some quality time, whilst on the other there are the thankfully rare cases of genuine physical abuse. I have to admit I have a lot of sympathy for the social workers who are damned if they do and damned if they don't. They would say they err on the side of caution in the child's favour, which on the face of it sounds perfectly reasonable, but is it? Geoff was lucky, in that he was visited by members of the social services who were reasonable and listened, but they really are caught between a rock and a hard place. The only person who can be said to hold any level of fault here is the over zealous teacher, who it seems needs further training on interviewing an injured child.

Isle of Christmas Eh?

Hi Sean, I did say hello on the other thread but just wanted to put my twopence worth here too. The main difference between here and the other place (in my opinion therefore correct, fact, and set in stone) is that here, when people disagree, when the debate is over, we all feel that if we happened to run into each other in a pub, we'd buy the other person a drink and carry on chatting about it. We may never agree on certain issues, but we'd still hope to meet up again some time and carry on exchanging drinks and views. What we most certainly do NOT have is the feeling that if someone walked into the pub, we'd walk out. Take Dajen and myself. We disagree on so many things, some quite fundamental important ones, yet I look forwards so much to meeting him some time and having a few beers. That is the way this forum is. Yes we pull each others legs unmercifully but we always try to ensure we never say anything that is, or could be read as, a personal attack. Forums thrive where there are differences of opinion and those forums last where those differences are discussed with civility and care. All you other lot, make the most of this post because as you know, I'm rarely this serious for this long.

Andy, Strow, Please permit me to clarify the situation for you. Rebranding the broads can only happen after the reinvention has completed, and cannot be successful until they have identified with the customer base. Out of the box thinking will be needed if they are going to relate to the wide spectrum of centres in this new proactive age. Concentration on diversity will be essential when deciding the whole raft of measures necessary for the empowerment of the relevant authorities. It is important that they look forward to the future whilst not forgetting to look back at history, and must remember that lessens need to be learned. When they are able to facilitate the facilities needed, and have reached out to those beyond their scope they will be able to draw a line under all the ring fenced issues and start to have closure on those matters previously red circled. I am certain that nobody here doubts that this is the way forwards in both journalism and politics.

I understand your point Sean, but the original question was more along the lines of ..., "I've seen this bolt in somebody else's house, what should I do about it?" This is another way of asking... "At what point do I intervene in somebody else's parenting decisions?" That's one hell of a minefield to wander into! Say for example you see a parent teaching a child how to cross the road, and you hear them say... "and then only cross if you are sure you can run fast enough." Hmmm,. Question to all... What would you do if you witnessed that?

Psychicsurveyor Mark, You really do need to get out more!

I sometimes despair of the ignorance and stupidity of the membership of this forum! Of course this boat is equipped with a microwave cooker and bow thrusters. The hair straighteners and driers are taken as read and the Wifi... well of course, you shouldn't have needed to ask. The other obvious commodity on board this luxury vessel is a dedicated engine starting battery and three leisure batteries... all four totally naff and incapable of holding a charge

Never get under potter!

The sale of banjo's and dungeree's would go up though..... :clap :clap

Unless I'm very much mistaken, Tony isn't keeping his boat on the broads so less of a problem. However, it depends on the style of loo his boat is equipped with as to the best way round this issue.

Speaking as a "Mass" I can say most emphatically that what I want is what I've got. I've known it better, I've known it worse. I can think of improvements that some might say are retrograde steps and I know of some improvements that have (in my opinion) made things worse. I would continue to visit the area and love it even it it was agreed by the authorities to rename it "The Norfolk Slums". What I DO object to is "our" money being spent unwisely. I consider "re branding" as such an expense. Back then "Magical waterland" now "National Park" next "Convenient bogland"? Each time considerable sums are being spent, and for what? An increase in tourism? I think not! I was alerted by someone to look at the monetary figures quoted in "real terms" They don't make such pretty reading when you do that! Nah, at the risk of repeating myself, the whole article was a shoddy piece of journalism designed to fill space in what I'm increasingly starting to regard as a rather questionable rag!

Whilst I accept that some very important and valuable information has been given, dare I mention that Watershed has asked an important question and has asked for members opinions and advice. In my over arrogant opinion, there is no "wrong place" to do this, we are all friends here. My advice (for what it's worth). Do not report this to anyone (yet). Monitor the situation as subtly and/or tactfully as you can. I say this as a direct result of your sentence... "In all other respects,the child is happy,healthy,well fed and clothed." It is (again in my opinion) almost certain that this lock has been placed for the child's own safety, however you say "apparently because he wakes in the night." How come "Apparently" is that what they said or a "probable guess" on your part. This is important as I can think of other equally innocent possibilities. What toilet arrangements does the child have? Not being a parent myself I have no idea whether at 4 years old a child is "self sufficient" in that area! There are so many questions I could ask, (and I suspect you could too) that at the end of the day we know less than we do not know. In short, Do not turn a blind eye, but more importantly, do not intervene. A watching brief is what I recommend. To Sean8390, Welcome to the forum. As you say,. there are times for tact and times for bluntness, this was one for straight talking, however as we don't know anything about the "lock" it's difficult to know how much of a danger this lock presents in the event of a fire. Something that can stop a 4 year old may be virtually unnoticeable to an adult. One has to balance the risks and probabilities of fire against a young child wandering about upstairs in the dark.

Do they have a lump hammer?

Who is Pete Waters? Is he in any position of authority? Does he know (or even need to know) what he is talking about? Is "Visit Norfolk brand manager" a real job title? and if so... Who employs him? In January, WHO is going to decide WHAT? Do I need to lose any sleep over this? Nah, the whole article is just another bit of poor quality journalism designed to fill space while actually saying nothing.

I've just watched it and this is my immediate reaction Moving? Yes very. Poignant? Again, yes very. Appropriate for a Christmas supermarket commercial ? Ahhh, not so sure there. It depends on how often they show it, and when, but it's not something I would want to see every half hour or so in the middle of the evenings entertainment. There is a risk that this ad will, in a strange way, sort of "cheapen" the emotions and thoughts that people have been having this year. Don't forget, the reason for this ad is to get you to do your weekly shop at Sainsburys. As I say, Appropriate? Not so sure.

Ooooh Peter, how could you? ... Oh, you didn't!

Thank you Tim, very kind of you to say so.

Will somebody kindly send up a couple of rond anchors, a bit sharpish if you please.

Round these parts, new year's eve is a ticket only bash. Are the pubs on the broads similarly awkward? Timbo, Wouldn't it be easier to tell your family that the new years eve meal will take place in Vienna. Pauline. Have a word with Timbo, he might be going!

I'm still working on mine. seem to have had the dreaded block for ages now!

Well, after a strange sequence of events it would seem I shall be staying aboard Nyx on new year's eve. Anybody else there?

1050Km huh? That's 9.2 miles (very aproximately) less than the distance between John O'Groats and Lands End. This will make it just a tiny bit tricky to beat on mainland Britain. I shall have to think about this one!