31.12.2021 A very silly 48F in December!?!

 ~~

Friday 31st 48F! Incredibly heavy overcast for 9am, windy, pouring with rain and foolishly warm. All day rain forecast. Might peter out by this evening for the fireworks. We went from -9C and snow to +9 C in only a couple of days. It finally stopped raining mid-afternoon. The workshop's outside thermometer showed 50F! The north facing one on the house only 48F. 

New warmth records are being set all over the place. Alaska 24th December 67F/20C! The record, for all winter months destroyed! 100F/38C in Arctic Russia in June.

Today's Jinping Plague news:  Remember: "Chinese genocide is a matter of internal affairs." All proceeds to the Chinese communist protection racket.

Xi'an: Cries for help and food in quarantined Chinese city - BBC News

________________________________

My poor, old car [from 1996] is misbehaving. Juddering and missing power on acceleration. It wouldn't start in the supermarket car park today. That was a first. Worn plugs? They looked old and grubby but not oiled. I have ordered a new set of plugs and a replacement rotor. A new distributor cap costs as much as the car is worth!

~~

 

30.12.2021 A barmy 41F!

 ~~

Thursday 30th 41F, leaden overcast. An unusually warm patch is rising over Europe from the south. 

There was little sense of winter cold this morning. No sign of any snow left after overnight rain and rising temperatures. Far fewer birds about today.

 

~~

29.12.2021 A balmy 35F.

  ~~

Wednesday 29th 34F, heavy overcast and misty but calm. It remained just above freezing overnight. The snow lingers on. With icy patches where vehicles had run over it. 

It started raining as I left the gate. Only briefly, thank goodness. I could soon lower my hood. Onward, with the company of many small birds in the hedgerows. I crossed a field by the spray tracks to escape the rush hour traffic.

Back along the main road in lighter traffic. Where a huge swarm of small birds moved nervously between the hedges and fields. The few I could catch in my binoculars were Chaffinches and Bramblings. The lack of wind made it a more pleasant walk today. 

~~

28.12.2021 Black ice!

 ~~

Tuesday 28th 32F, cold, windy and a leaden overcast. Back to the grey. About 50mm [2"] of snow still lying where it fell. The forecast is a for a slow warming over the next couple of days. Then a few degrees warmer on Thursday-Friday. Not much sign of the sun. It is going to feel cold on my walk.

Wrapped up in two heavy jumpers under my winter jacket I barely made it out of the door. The steps were covered in invisible, black ice. As was the entire length of the drive. Rough gravel had largely lost its powers of adhesion under my winter boots. I retreated to the snow banks on either side until I reached the safety of the road. All of which seemed to have been salted. Even the minor lanes. The traffic was very light.

As I approached the only roadside hedge in the lane it exploded with birds. Over a hundred Fieldfares, Redwings and smaller birds shot out to find refuge on the bowel-shaped field beyond. Small dark figures dotted the snow over a large area. All aligned with the easterly wind. 

As I plodded onward the birds gradually returned to their hedge. Presumably this popular field was lacking in nourishment this morning. Or it was inaccessible under the snow. True to form, the birds exploded from the hedge yet again. On my return leg only ten minutes later. A large, dark, bird of prey slunk off from its perch in a garden tree. The neighbour's dog barked unseen.

WW3 broke out at about 9.15. As the hunters, near and far, fired off their cannon. It continued sporadically until I had salted the steps. Before bringing in more fuel for the wood stove. Then escaped indoors from the cold wind. Though I had been far more comfortable than I had feared. Even opening up my jacket to cool off on the way back. 

~~

27.12.2021 The coppery light of sunrise.

 ~~

Monday 27th, 21F [-6C] Hard frost, snow still lying. Sky mostly clear. Sun forecast for this morning. Cloud in the afternoon.

At first a coppery light bathed the roadside hedgerows. Turning to deep gold and then burnished gold. I took to the coarsely granular snow of the verge on the approach of every vehicle. Better that, than have them veer away suddenly on potentially icy roads. Frozen slush lingered on at the junction. As I turned into the lanes. Fortunately my clumping, winter boots maintained traction on this occasion.

Some twenty five, flighty Redwings crisscrossed the road ahead of me. As they retreated under protest. Blackbirds played their familiar role as drama queens. With their overblown warnings of impending doom. Rather than yet another sighting. Of the same old, harmless and solitary, septuagenarian pedestrian. Of today and yesterday and all the days before that. 

The bright, vapour trails of at least twenty Jinping Plague shuttles decorated the eastern sky. As I shielded my eyes unsuccessfully against the glaring sun. Turquoise splodges lingered on in my vision for my pedantic foolishness. Who else, but myself, cares exactly how many trails despoil the view?

A Red kite came over and flinched awkwardly at my unexpected presence. Plodding across his vast, snow covered, but otherwise empty, breakfast table cloth. It wheeled away towards the north in defiantly slow circles. As I watched through my binoculars. The biting wind at the saddle sought every gap in my defenses. The GripGrab gloves too poor for comfort. Not quite bad enough for aching fingers. Best to avoid photography though. Recovering the lost warmth is a painful process! 

Another walk completed against stiff competition. I could have stayed home in the less than luke warmth of my attic, dormer window. Typed more nonsense into my clumsy and uncaring keyboard. There are fools enough polishing their online paranoia. Without my adding my thick dollop of textual indignation. They will not be swayed by my weak words. Not when they can strive to outdo like-minded others. With their pathetic, self-reinforcing, positive-feedback, complete and utter drivel. 

They see themselves as revolutionaries for freedom of speech. Freedom of choice. Yet, imagine if their completely wacko tripe gained hold. They would be queuing to hang all the non-believers. Nothing has really changed since the caves first became male-dominated latrines. With an entry fee to the power drunken, muscle for brains, vicious sociopath hogging the fire. 

Talking of dark thoughts: The sun has already been obscured by cloud. It is only 10.30. I shall expect adequate compensation from the seaweed fondlers masquerading as forecasters! They should have stuck to reading the bløødy entrails!  

~~ 

26.12.2021 Give me sunshine!

 ~~

Sunday 26th 19F, -7C. Another, sunny day is forecast. And so it was. Wall to wall sunshine.

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool. Than to speak and remove all doubt."

Various attributions.

 

 

~~

25.12.221 Christmas has gone viral again.

 ~~

Saturday 25th 16F, -9C, tobacco filter on a clear sky. All day sunshine expected. Sunrise at 08.45. Still half an hour away. Snow still here. Still clinging to everything. 

The small birds were moving about in the hedges again. Restless gulls out on the fields. The same bird of prey retreated. Bright sunshine from a cloudless sky.

Another year. Same virus. Still no real control. Omicron supposedly mild. Infections spreading like wildfire. We will let down our guard again. Riots against lock downs. People are still dying. A bad mutation would have terrifying consequences. It still could.

~~

24.12.2021 White Christmas Eve.

 ~~

Friday 24th 32F, snow cover of about an inch or two. [25-50mm] Heavy overcast but with a promise of sunshine this afternoon. No more snow forecast, for the moment, but a hard frost [-8C] tonight.

It was a leaden overhead in a monochrome world for my walk. Mixed flocks of small birds moved about in the hedgerows.  A few Redwings, gulls and blackbirds shared the scene. With jackdaws, rooks and crows foraging on the ground. 

A rich brown, bird of prey perched and cried loudly on a distant hedge. It looked strangely lopsided. As if its far wing was caught in the prickly tree. I stared through my binoculars but couldn't be certain of what I saw. Luckily it had moved away on my return. Which saved me crossing the field to see if it needed help. Though even that risked injury if it panicked. I have seen this same bird several times this week. Usually on the wing and retreating. About the size of a Harrier. Noticeably flat wings during frequent gliding episodes.

There was a light flurry of snow just now at 10.30.

 ~~

23.12.2021 Tiananmen Massacre memorial removed by "Plague" Jinping's thugs.

 ~~

Thursday 23rd 32F. Pitch black. I'll let you know when it is light enough to see anything. The forecast is a risk of all day wintry showers. Perhaps leading to a white Christmas.

Like fool I believed the forecast. Which said nothing would fall until later. It began snowing at half way on my fourteen mile ride to the shops and back. I was only wearing a pair of cheap, supermarket LongJohns under my shorts. The snow was soon pitching on my knees. When I undressed at home the fronts of my legs were stinging like mad and crimson red!  I had a shower but it didn't help much.

________________________ 

The "Pillar of Shame" sculpture has been removed from Hong Kong University. The Tiananmen Massacre memorial ought to be returned to Denmark and its creator, Jens Galschiøt.

 Pillar of Shame: Hong Kong's Tiananmen Square statue removed - BBC News

Then the artist ought to mass produce these sculptures at public expense. Then plonk one in a prominent spot in every airport right across the world. 

Multi-billionaire, Mafia Boss, Sly "Plague" Jinping may be able to wield his little bit of corrupt power locally. However, it is his customers, who pay for his armaments build up. Not to mention the wages of his torturers of slave minorities.

Would you buy a German, mobile phone manufactured at the height of Hitler's Nazi Germany? What if it had a huge swastika instead of an apple? It is long overdue that a large symbol, much like the Nazi swastika, was applied to every Chinese product. Just to prod our global consciences. 

Reading the micro print that something is partly made in PRC doesn't seem to be enough for most of us. Let us raise a bloody finger to the deranged, genocidal, lifetime dictator! Preferably before WE pay for his war against US. Like all dictators, he is entirely responsible for his own citizens' deaths and suffering. Not the pretend enemies Which every bloody dictator is is so fond of blaming. For their own arms build up and aggression towards minor nations.

 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre - Wikipedia

Coming soon, to a square near you?

~~

 

22.12.2021 The Arstralian Government is a sordid stain on the arse of the world.

 ~~

Wednesday 22nd Grey and cold. 

Grocery shopping in the afternoon. The supermarkets were packed. 

 ________________________

The Arstralian Government: Genocidal, corrupt, misogynistic, propagandist, racist, liars, sociopaths, slavers, climate denialists, destroyers of the land and our world. The DNA from all those transported crooks runs as deep as a dunny!

YouTube: Honest government ads:

 https://www.youtube.com/user/thejuicemedia/videos?view=0&sort=dd&shelf_id=0

 

~~

21.12.2021 Dawn on the winter solstice.

 ~~

Tuesday 21st 24F, calm, hard white frost. Potential for brightness but with some high cloud. 

The sun rose about 9am [CET] as I walked down the drive. The almost full moon hung brightly, higher in the west. Thin, high clouds provided decoration. With golden, vapour trail highlights from the Jinping Virus shuttles.

A flock of about 200 gulls drifted back and forth over the prairie. Alighting briefly, but nervously, on the frosty ground. They had moved on again by the time I returned. The wind turbines were unusually still. One can often be forgiven for thinking the towers contain huge batteries. To maintain motion even when there isn't a breath of detectable air movement. 

It clouded over later as the temperature crawled up to 34F.

~~

20.12.2021 Sunny dystopia.

 ~~

Monday 20th 26F, white frost, clear and calm. 

I have to go to the city on official, Brexit business. I pray I can find parking. On Google Earth the whole city center looks like it has been carpet bombed by the developers. I think it is called "desertification" due to all the sand and gravel. They permanently closed a major, multi-lane thoroughfare. Which completely changed the layout for through traffic. Which was often trying to get to edge of town mega-stores.

I was reading an article about combinations of air pollutants in cities. For some reason all the toxins are well known individually.  However, nobody seems to have added two and three together. To make seventy seven on the chronic injury scale. Fortunately it is usually the "lower orders" who are directly subjected to traffic fumes and noise. So that's alright then.

Safely home again after my outing to the city. I found a three hour, free parking spot in a business park area. Lots of traffic about amid brilliant sunshine.

~~

19.12.2021 Cold and windy with later sunshine.

 ~~~

Sunday 19th 45F, mild but windy and heavily overcast. The forecast was for all day sunshine. It arrived much later.

I kept my hood up against the wind. It felt much cooler than the temperature might have suggested. A bird of prey retreated. Then came back after I had turned for home. This bird was quite large, brown all over, medium long tail and rather pointed wings. Wing tip 'fingers' curved noticeably upwards. The usual gulls and crows foraging. 

Denmark is largely closed down again due to the Omicron virus variant.

 

~~

18.12.2021 Omicron cases soaring!

 ~~

Saturday 18th 43F, mild and calm but with a heavy overcast again. Just another damp, grey day. I was so bored with the weather that I walked both ways along the road. Just for a change of dull, grey scenery.

Rising Omicron variant infections mean that Denmark has reintroduced more Covid restrictions for public spaces. As have many other countries. Some news reports suggest that potential variants of Omicron could be a more serious danger. Unfortunately this falls at a time when restriction fatigue is increasing. I never stopped wearing a mask in public places. So won't notice any difference. 

I have to go grocery shopping. So will take every reasonable precaution. It became too difficult to use the supermarket's personal shopper, delivery service. Because most of the volunteer shoppers returned to work. I am now visiting more rural supermarkets in the car. The foot traffic is lower than in the local supermarkets.

~~

17.12.2021 Lost in the mist.

 ~~

Friday 17th 41F, heavy overcast again with thick mist. 200 yard invisibility at first. Clearing to hundreds of yards at the end of my walk. Though the forest at 1000 yards remained completely out of sight. Only a few small birds pottered about in the hedges.

 

~~ 

16.12.2021 Radial geese?

 ~~

Thursday 16th 41F. Sky clear apart from parallel stripes east to west. Sunshine is threatened.

A low bar concealed the sun during my walk. Backlit vapour trails decorated the clearer skies. The mist was thinner today. Allowing more distant views. The nearest wind turbines had been largely hidden until today.

Gaudy Bullfinches moved away repeatedly down the roadside hedges. Their bright white patches are similar to Chaffinches but more noticeable. Crows floated about aimlessly. A solitary bird of prey retreated. Then a line of geese kept to a wide radius around me. Before continuing on their original route.

It was a sunny day. Though with the sun obscured by thin, high cloud for some of the time. Somebody brought out a tobacco filter for the sunset.

~~

15.12.2021 To aspirate? Or not to aspirate? 😂

 ~~

Wednesday 15th 46F, milder, but windy, with a leaden overcast. Just my usual walk. A bird of prey on a field decided it didn't like the look of me and flew away. The cat in the bird feeder had been replaced by a dozen, grateful sparrows.

Brexit continues to screw up normal people's lives. A parcel with prepaid Danish VAT has been sitting, without moving, in a Danish post office, customs office for 5 days. I sat, waiting on the Danish post office, customer service telephone, listening to the same jingle, for 30 minutes without being connected to a bod. It gets worse! Despite prepaying the Danish VAT to the British dealer I have been charged VAT again and had to pay the 160DKK [£18.30] standard, handling charge. 

Postnord has now sent a letter instead of an SMS or email. So another day has passed with the parcel sitting in the sorting office without tracking updates. I have now paid online. They said 2-3 days for delivery. Wednesday + 3 = Saturday. Weekend = NO deliveries. So that will be 10 whole days for a Christmas food parcel to be sitting in a cosy sorting office in Denmark.

_____________________________________

Denmark is struggling to find enough medical staff to provide the promised 3rd vaccination. There is an ongoing industrial dispute between the nurses and health service over low pay and poor working conditions. Further exacerbated by the Jinping plague crisis. 

Managers are are pulling active staff off the wards to work on vaccinating the Danes. Now they are even seeking non-medical volunteers to give the jabs. They will be given a short lesson in vaccination before being let loose on the public. 😱 I presume they will be taught how to aspirate properly? 😂 

_________________________________________

It is reported that VW is sending out unfinished ID3 electric cars [BEVs] with multiple faults. Some owners claim their brand new cars have been in the garage for repairs for months in total. After only a half year of ownership. The cars would not start. Or would not go into drive. Mostly due to endless software problems.

The story in the Danish papers is that VW needs to sell a shed load of BEVs. To avoid huge CO2 climate impact payments [fines] from their continuing sale of ICE cars. So, being VW, they chose to shove a load of unfinished electric cars out of the factory gate to skew their green car sales figures and avoid these payments[ climate impact fines] to the EU. Amounting to about £15,000 per vehicle. Potentially billions in Euros in total! Most ICE vehicle manufacturers make very little profit as it is.

VW is still recovering [?] lost public trust from their deliberately crooked software for official testing of diesel emissions. There has been some shuffling of top personnel at VW. Too much too late for VW to survive the EV revolution? Probably, based on this latest story.

~~

14.12.2021 Sunshine?

 ~~

Tuesday 14th 41F, dark clouds with early rain. Calm and dry at 08.30. Bright sunshine after 12.00 but still through thin cloud. Only a short walk in thick, 200m, patchy mist.

 After a bit of messing about online I have a fairly local appointment. For my third virus jab in early January. I was dropped off the 30 minute, log-in list. When the next, security and identity site didn't open properly. When I reopened the main vaccine website a few minutes later I was allowed to log on. Very odd, but success in the end. 

 Omicron infections are doubling every two days. That's exponential! Everybody in the country/Europe/World will soon be exposed to the infection. Still no data on Omicron deaths. WHO says not to take it for granted that Omicron will mean milder symptoms.

A couple of medical experts on YT were suggesting high doses of Vitamin D and zinc. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9h-XQm2qEY&t=1233s

Do your own homework before starting to take anything. We have been taking recommended doses of vitamins for decades. As well as having a varied diet with fruit, fiber, fish and veg. Organically produced whenever possible. We have always avoided all the "bad" foods. Usually found in snacks and takeaways.

The Arctic set a new high temperature record of 38C, 100F this year. Higher than ever recorded in Denmark. Which has a record of 36C. The high temperature lead to major losses of sea ice. Meanwhile, Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is looking ever more fragile. Its break-up would remove a major hurdle for the vast masses of ice built up behind it. Unlike sea ice, inland ice adds directly to sea level rise.

 

~~

13.12.2021 Cat burglar II

 ~~

 Monday 13th 44F, milder, but still a very heavy overcast. Some mist too.

 The visibility was about 200 meters as I walked briskly there and back. One van had no lights on at all!

 The cat in/on the bird feeder was back. Snuggled right inside this time. I bet the sparrows are miffed!

 I just checked the official [Danish] vaccine website as the Omicron variant sweeps across Denmark/The entire World. The figures for new infections are staggering. I was 128,000th and change, in the online queue. With over an hour expected waiting time to be able to log on.

 The government advice is to request a third vaccine ASAP. The race for survival seems to be against inadequate, internet services. Not getting the vaccine. With many pharmacists and GP surgeries now being allowed to offer the jab. Which they didn't before Omicron. 

Unless the advice is changed [4½ months before third jab] I am unlikely to be called until next year. I put off having the vaccine due to the distance to the few [big city] vaccine centers. Where there was reported to be long queues. Eventually they opened a vaccine center "only" 10 miles away. Where there was lots of room in a very pleasant building. With only very short queues and effortless parking right outside.

 

~~

12.12.2021 One rule for the clown. Another for the 100,000 fined.

 ~~

Sunday 12th 37F, very heavy overcast with rain. I went for a walk anyway. Though I added my waterproof trousers. Just for a change. The usual, Sunday traffic. Nothing for minutes at a time. Then a convoy. A few crows were guarding their territory. Flocks of sparrows moved about.

Boris The Clown's Christmas Circus Parties will not be investigated by the UK police. They are far too busy handing out fines to the 100,000 plebs to be bothered with the privileged and entitled few.

 The US mourns the deaths of 100 victims of the recent bad weather. The president calls it "a tragedy." Meanwhile the numbers of road deaths rose 18% to 20,000 in the first 6 months alone of 2021. Societal blinkers? Or just what the corrupt advertising/news media bother to cover [up?]

This in the country which is dragging its feet over Tesla's self driving app. Not to mention the corrupt media hyping every single accident involving a Tesla. You must have heard of Tesla? Biden hasn't. He was bought by GM and the UAE election funding. Biden stands in front of a microphone and lies to the entire world. Much like Chump. Like all good puppets Biden is actually quite convincing. For a lying dummy with a tame speech writer. Nobody believed Chump except Neo-Nazis.

Germany is repeatedly proving its corruption and hypocrisy over climate issues. Tesla is being blocked from opening its completed EV and battery factory because of water usage. Which just happens to be a tiny fraction of that used by the taxpayer subsidized, German, open cast, brown coal mines. 

Lignite is the least efficient fuel. So, the mines are enjoying increasing subsidies for the unbelievably vast quantities of water they use. Luckily, for all of us, Germany is phasing out coal mining. Probably by 2238 going on present plans. Ironically [?] Green Germany is complaining about a Polish coal mine on its borders. You couldn't make it up!

Meanwhile Tesla threatens the livelihood of the massively fined and subsidized crooks at VW. Who want to continue making ICE vehicle until the end of the Earth as we know it. Any coincidence with Tesla being blocked? Ask a cynic. 

~~ 

11.12.2021 Dry but dark grey.

 ~~

Saturday 11th 35F, almost calm but overcast with all morning rain. Supposed to clear to grey later this afternoon. 

It was dry but grey for my walk. The kestrel was back. Hovering over a prairie in search of breakfast. A harrier held down a slender twig on a mid-field tree. While a hooded crow clung to a solitary spire rising like a mast from a tall conifer.

There was some brief, golden sunshine in the middle of the afternoon. In sharpness to the leaden sky to the north. Quink "Blue-Black" it was!

 ~~

10.12.2021 Evil party clown entertains triple party-party-party.

 ~~

Friday 12th 36F, another grey day in prospect. No ill effects from yesterday's ride. My knee is still hurting on the stairs.  Just another walk under the same, leaden skies. With distant mist but no wind today. A few gulls drifted about for visual interest. My calves stiffened up at half way but I plodded on. I was soon too warm thanks to the lack of wind.

__________________________________

 

Surprise!! The Prime Party Clown of Gravely Blighted is officially confirmed a serial liar. But was still allowed to breed like a virus at Xmas. One is [perhaps] forgivable, two an accident, but three? How, on earth, did he find the time? For all those parties? Presumably all expenses paid by the taxpayer? Nothing but the best for the "entitled."

~~

9.12.2021 Mark Cavendish & family attacked at home.

 ~~

Thursday 9th 33-34F, heavy overcast, light, wintry showers. No snow visible. Distant mist yet again.

__________________________________________

 Mark Cavendish and his wife have been threatened and assaulted at home by armed burglars. Mark was recovering from injuries sustained in a race in Belgium. Two broken ribs had put him in intensive care! 

Their children were present and allegedly threatened by the same, cowardly scum. Mark has put in unbelievable effort, over decades, to achieve his legendary wins and results. His toll of injuries would put lesser men into retirement or even a wheelchair. To have that undermined by a bunch of complete wasters is sickening! No doubt their loot has already been fenced into another fix.

___________________________________________

 Just my usual 40 minute walk without photos. I wore the GripGrab 'Aviator' medieval hood for extra warmth. My fur lined "trapper" hat is very warm but lacks a peak. Which would otherwise help to keep flying snow flakes out of my eyes. I couldn't wear my usual peaked cap over the thick, fur hat. That didn't work yesterday.

  So I am trying different combinations of hats. To cover my ears and have a peak. All the while having the hood up on my winter jacket. Still far from perfect. The combination of wind and snow flakes is the problem. 

 All very trivial for a short walk within easy reach of home. The temperature is hovering constantly around freezing. So I might as well make the effort for greater comfort while it lasts. I don't have any skiing goggles and it would seem like total overkill if I had. 

 I have tried yellow, safety glasses for their wrap around protection. They are still not ideal for occasional, wind blown snow. I wear these on my trike in winter and under overcast skies. They are fine in keeping the wind out of my eyes. You can't possibly take any cyclist seriously if they wear dark sunglasses when the sky is dark! It is so incredibly amateurish as well as utterly depressing! 😎 

______________________________________

 The ride I had promised myself was finally managed today. There was nothing much falling out of the skies. So I took a chance. Rather an ambitious route for someone with very little mileage of late. 16 hilly miles with a bit of a headwind proved to be quite hard work. My left knee has been hurting when climbing the stairs for weeks. Cycling did not make it feel worse. Though I was well aware of my knee when I let my cadence drop below 90rpm. 

 I filled my 40 liter bag right up to the brim outside the supermarket. With at least 15kg of different cans. These products had been unavailable for a couple of weeks locally. On the way home the breeze was now on my back. Not that I could feel any advantage. I felt just as cold on the descents as I crept up to 25mph in places. My calves felt stiff when I climbed off at home but it soon passed. Late for lunch too!

~~

8.12.2021 Wet snow.

 ~~

Wednesday 8th 36-34F, 08.35, extremely heavy overcast with gales from SE. The storm from Ireland has reached Denmark but is much weakened. Rain or wintry showers are promised. 

I didn't leave until 8.40. Because I had waited for it to get light enough for safety on the road. My timing was poor. The snowfall had suddenly become more serious. It started wet and was falling almost horizontally as the wind roared in the roadside trees. The snow was pattering wetly on my hood at times. Then the snow became gradually thicker and drier but was still slow to pitch. Only on the return leg did it start to pack onto my clothes. I took to the verges with each passing vehicle out of a sense of self-preservation. I have no plans to become a crash test dummy to their [seemingly] drunken inattention.

I was soon white from head to toe. With the grass still lagging behind. Visibility was below 200 meters. Back home and my jacket is now draining off into the bath. 58F indoors as the trees rock back and forth intermittently. The roofs have turned white now. 

I had plans for a cycle ride today but it isn't going to happen soon. We have run out of a particular commodity. Which seems to have vanished from all the local shops. There is always another village supermarket to try. Provided they can be reached safely. A hilly, fourteen miles would have cleared the cobwebs in my lungs.

~~

7.12.2021 Scarpa Revolution boots leaking after 14 months of gentle, morning walks.

 ~~

Tuesday 7th 34F, pitch black at 07.50. A cold, grey, breezy day with light, wintry showers is promised. 

Just my routine walk under a leaden sky. No pictures at all today.  

I have had to return my Scarpa Revolution boots because they started leaking badly in the toe. Not ideal given my need for walking boots on a daily basis. Particularly in winter. Worse, the dealer tells me that Scarpa averages 6 weeks to turn around warranty claims! 

The boots were around fifteen months old and hardly stressed by my gentle morning walks. They are supposed to be 3-season, mountain, walking & scrambling boots. They are/were by far the most comfortable boots I have ever worn. Not so, when my toes felt suddenly cold within a few yards on a wet day. That would be the Gore-Tex membrane puncturing prematurely.

~~

6.12.2021 Cavemen dominate the news.

 ~~~

Monday 6th very, very dark [07.35] but some sunshine is forecast.  

There were brief glimpses of orange clouds amongst the excess of grey. Gulls wandered. Not much else to report.

Q: How can a caveman travel thousands of years into the future?
A: Easy: Just give them a gun.
Q. What do you call a collection of fuckwits? A: A Massie.
Q. What has the highest IQ in this image? A: The tree.

 "Meet the Fuckwits at Xmas."        

 

 

~~

5.12.2021 Cat burglar!

 ~~

Sunday 5th 36F, heavy overcast. Early rain with gales from the east reducing slowly. The rain had stopped long before I began my walk.

Gulls drifted in convoys across the road. Incongruously stark white against the mud and green prairies. The only scene which inspired me to photography lies alongside. Full zoom on my little TZ7 camera and cropped further. The spitting image of our own, tabby tomcat from years ago.

 

 

~~

4.12.2021 As if through a mist, darkly.

 ~~

Saturday 4th 38F, thick mist under a very heavy overcast. Still struggling to get light at 08.20. I left at 8.40 and gave all the traffic a wide berth. 150 yards to total invisibility. Including the rear running lights. The usual lack of rear fog lights but plenty of speeding vehicles. The usual, glaring absence of anticipation by the crash test dummies. There were only a few small patches of snow left on the verges. Half a dozen gulls wheeled in and out of the mist.

~~

3.12.2021 A bit damp underfoot.

 ~~

Friday 3rd 34-36F, overcast. Snow hanging on. Patches of wet ice on the drive and road junctions are lethal! All day rain is forecast. 

It started raining at half way on my walk. Then kept up the patter on my hood until almost home again. The restless gulls were wandering aimlessly across the prairies.

An errand in the car showed how incredibly wet everything is at the moment. Huge puddles in the fields. Standing water in every dip of the lanes. Mud splashed across the road wherever vehicles have brushed the verge. There was even a wet snow blizzard on the way home.

  

~~

2.12.2021 The raving insanity of online browsing on Today's "1984" Net.

 ~~

 Thursday 2nd 30F, -1C, about an 1" [25mm] of overnight snow, overcast with a cold NW wind. I left later than usual in my Kamik winter boots and GripGrab Spring/Autumn gloves. 

The boots were fine. The GripGrab gloves much less so. I had to put my gloved hands in my jacket pockets. Whenever I stopped to take a photo the gloves had to come off. My hands were immediately painful in the wind. 

I took the verges and moved well back as every vehicle approached. This saves them having to avoid me. While I save being splattered with slush as the vehicle leaves the clearer tracks. 

Thanks to the wind, a solitary Kestrel turned up and hovered without visible wing movements. The breakfast prey must have been absent. Because it never dived. Nor even reduced height.

Are sales website owners mentally ill? Are you? You search online, find a promising website and ...as soon as the site opens they throw up a cookie permissions box. BORING! They want your inside leg measurement and promise to constantly spy on you and your kids and grandkids 60x60x24x365x1000 years. You haven't even bought anything yet.

Having survived that hurdle we move onto the goodies. AND then, before you can read the first dollop of lying, sales patter. BANG! Another damned great box hides the screen. Some pointless bullshit about special offers on something costing pennies and totally irrelevant to your original search.

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe: You are walking down the shopping high street and see a selection of objects in a brightly lit shop window. You pause to examine the goodies and check the prices. Hmm. I might just...BANG! An opaque shutter drops like a guillotine! You can no longer see a damned thing inside the shop window. 

Staff members rush out with tape measures and cudgels. They demand your inside leg measurement and every intimate detail about your life, your partner's life, your children's and grandchildren's lives. Otherwise you can't look into their shop window ever again!

You break free from the menacing staff members and run! As you leave the scene a vast fleet of black cars follows you down the road to the car park. They then scatter to monitor your entire family, friends, contacts and colleagues, right around the globe. For as long as they all shall live and even beyond the grave. A vast, global team of spies and snoopers follow every intimate detail of your entire life for the next 100 years. 

AND, YOU STILL HAVEN'T EVEN BOUGHT ANYTHING! Yet the avalanche of parallel cookies crushed the life out of you as a human being. Each cookie woven into an evil version of the "1984 Tapestry." Which would have sneered at. As completely impossible when the book was first published. Hitler and Stalin would have given an arm and a leg for the information the present, online dictators wield as tax-free, global despots.

All this vital information is constantly fed into government computers, via "back doors," right around the planet. You showed interest in a hoodie as a present for a grandchild. Are you a terrorist or a spy? You watched a YT video of the demolition of a local chimney or tower block: Are you a terrorist planning on making a bomb? You read an article on the BBC about Russia. Are you a terrorist or a spy looking for potential targets?

Can you even imagine a REAL SHOP behaving this way? Even in a vile communist dictatorship like "Plague" Jinping's terrifying dystopia? Thought not. Ask yourself why the billionaire despots don't ask if you would like to add their cookies. Instead of having to opt out on every damned website you ever visit. Over and over and over again. Try a cookie killer program. See the hundreds of thousands of cookies which magically appear on your computer every day you are just wandering about online.

~~

1st December 2021. Increasing obsolescence of old people!

 ~~

Wednesday 1st December 36F, still very dark at 08.45. All day rain is forecast. With storm force winds later. Gusting to over 50mph tonight. Further north, heavy snow is forecast. Dividing the country into two.  Strong, northerly winds are unusual. The trees have lost all their leaves. Which, hopefully reduces the risk of them being toppled. 

There are some high trees [20m or 60'] on our northern boundary. I hope they don't drop any branches on the shed! They have always been well beyond reach for lopping. The soft, marshy ground outside the boundary isn't cultivated by the farmer. They get bogged down! A change of ownership of the surrounding land means no hedge [or tree] trimming has occurred for years. The branches are much too large for amateur lopping. The cost of hiring a professional tree surgeon completely prohibitive.

The Omicron variant is still spreading but with very mixed reports of the dangers. Or whether the existing vaccines are still effective. It seems unlikely that the virus will quickly mutate itself into being harmless. It also has a huge reservoir of potential hosts for further mutation. 

There is talk of Danish GPs [local doctors] being used to vaccinate batches of people at their surgeries. This might bring the jab to a whole range of people without easy transport to the cities. Where the majority of vaccinations and testing has been carried out so far. Often leading to long queues.

Denmark has huge numbers of rural villages, homes and farms. With relatively few, large cities which are themselves, widely separated. Bus fares are horribly expensive and few want to risk the journey since the pandemic started. 

Many elderly are blocked from bus use because they don't have a smart phone and payment app. Cash has been largely phased out. This is an increasing problem in Danish society. Denying service to many potential customers. Many products and services are now app controlled. I myself have only a very simple mobile phone for emergency use. 

The lack of a smart phone is becoming increasingly limiting in everyday living. The entry level to smart phones with contact-less payment is horrendous! Then there is the upkeep and constant replacement as manufacturers deliberately make their products obsolete. By failing to update the OS, firmware or software beyond a certain point. 

I couldn't even use a relatively new tablet to download the app for my new printer. Required after the last one was made obsolete when the driver no longer worked with the latest flavour of Windups. Much like the tablet. Where the manufacturer doesn't upgrade Android much beyond the sales date. You can fettle a 100-year-old, car if you have the skill. Few can fettle a 3-year-old old phone!

No printer means you can't print the return label for online goods.  No matter how rarely I need to print these days it is still vital that I can do so occasionally. Rural hamlets don't have print shops ready to run off a single A4! I must count myself lucky that I remain fairly tech competent thanks to daily blogging and browsing. There must be huge numbers of the elderly. Who are completely unaware of. Let alone able to handle the latest technology. 

~~

30.11.2021 Omicron +4

 ~~

Tuesday 30th 39-41F. Pitch black outside at 7.30am with light rain. Still too dark for a walk at 8.00. I finally left at 8.20 with my hood up and my hands deep in my pockets. The wind roared menacingly in the roadside trees. Making the gulls even more restless than usual. Barely alighting on the fields before they took off again. Almost as if they we too light to stay on the ground. 

A bird of prey fought to steer itself along the lee of a battered hedge. I myself was being bodily pushed about where there were no sheltering hedges. A splash of brightness in the east again.

Gusts to over 40mph are expected from the NW around lunchtime. We are best sheltered from that direction provided the huge trees don't blow over. One of the white willows broke in half in a previous storm. Northern Jylland [Jutland] is expecting a snow storm tomorrow with storm force winds from today. Turkey and the UK have suffered storms with fierce winds. Trees down and buildings toppled or damaged.

Global opinions are deeply divided about the highly mutated, Omicron version of the Jinping Plague. The US is not closing down but recommends masks and vaccines. While many other countries are closing their borders. Alas too late, judging by the numbers of infected taking vital holidays by air travel. Refugees being smuggled across borders? The infected escaping quarantine hotels. Take your pick of potential leaks in your imaginary, isolation bubbles.

I had an odd thought: How do armies cope with the virus? All those people packed tightly together in barracks and vehicles. Waiting on a border ready to invade. Ships are worse, but can, at least, be isolated from outside contamination. Provided, of course, they remain at sea. A virus vector from resupplies? New personnel being flown in? How is a dictator to increase his offshore bank balance under these conditions?

The area of Denmark forecast to be affected by tomorrow's snowstorm has been widened to include Jylland and Sjælland. [Eng. Jutland and Zealand]

~~

29.11.2021 Omicron +3.

  ~~~

Monday 29th 35F, overcast. There was snow falling in varying degrees of wetness during my walk. A little cold on my hands when I pulled them from my pockets to take pictures. A brief glimpse of brightness in a patch of turquoise to the south east. No precipitation was forecast for today. Sunny periods later.

There are already two, known cases of the new Omicron variant in Denmark. 4300 new cases in Denmark of the Delta. Hospitals are already under intense pressure from the Delta variant. Particularly amongst the unvaccinated. There is ongoing, industrial unrest amongst nurses. Who are complaining of poor pay and working conditions.    

It took four hours to get a new [budget] HP printer to work normally. I print only rarely these days but need it for specific tasks like prepaid, return labels. A temporary download of W11 killed off my old budget printer. It did the same to a scanner. That was once a vital tool but I hadn't used it for years. These days I photograph anything needing copying into the digital format. The new printer claims to have a scanner built in. I haven't dared to try it yet. One can only cope with a limited amount of such aggravation. 

BTW: The trick to getting the printer connected was to ignore all the HP bølløcks. I just Add[ed] New Printer in Windows and that broke its stubborn tantrum. I wonder if I can get a refund on all the paper and ink the HP consumed during its failure to "lift off?"

 UPDATE: My ruse didn't work for long. Turning off the printer killed printing again. Fortunately I contacted HP Danish support and Kasper walked me through the set-up. Great bloke!

~~

28.11.2021 Omicron +2.

 ~~

Sunday 28th 36F, overcast but still with misty rain. Masts and windmills were invisible above half their height. Gulls wandered to and fro. Small birds moved ahead of me down the roadside hedges. Or crossed to the other side. Their aerial acrobatics always amaze me.

It is too early to define the Omicron variant of the virus. One doctor reported milder but stranger symptoms than the Delta variant.

~~

27.11.2021 Omicron is already here. Day 1 of The Great Reset.

 ~~

Saturday 27th 37F, heavy overcast, still struggling to get light at 8am. 

I left it for a while before setting out. It was certainly colder than of late. Hood up and hands in my jacket pockets. Only 36 pictures today. No inspiration under near, leaden skies. A patch of brightness towards the east. Two geese and heron went over. The usual gulls making the place look untidy.

I needed a new passport for Brexit. The British Passport Office did an amazingly quick turnaround on my renewal. Thank you! 👍 

Now I have to make an appointment over here. To have my inside leg measurement checked for renewal of my previous "Time Unlimited Residence Permit." 

The mere thought of being made to go back to Gravely Blighted fills me with terror! If all else fails I'll just have to seek asylum. To protect myself from The Evil Clown and his crooked cohorts. 

 

~~

26.11.2021 Omicron: Jinping Plague returns in full force?

 ~~

Friday 26th 36F, cold, dark and cloudy. It felt much colder for my walk. Mostly de to the wind. Gulls were moving constantly in the distance.

More bad news on the Jinping Plague. Europe looking into the abyss of a second pandemic rather than "just" another wave. Meanwhile a new mutation is spreading in Africa. 

Europe continues to close down.[Again] With masks compulsory in shops and public transport, in Denmark, from Monday. I was still the only one wearing a mask on my shopping trips yesterday. I even had somebody ask me why I was wearing one. 

The "experts" are still divided on the efficacy of masks. With widely varying estimates of protection against the virus. From over 50% to a measly 10-15%. Depending on whom you ask. The difficulty is judging the other measures mask wearers are likely to take. Like hand washing, social distancing and the number of family and social contacts. Schools are a hotbed of new infections. 

Never mind about losing "freedoms". Better to be on the safe side and survive long enough to be smug. They had all of last year to see what works and what doesn't. Which could be further honed this year. So they should have a good grip on controlling infection by now. 

The weakness in every chain is always the human element. Nurses and retirement home staff choosing to go unvaccinated? Find yourself another job! Or face charges of manslaughter!

Update: The South African variant has been detected in Belgium. As far back as Nov 9th. In an arrival from Egypt who developed symptoms. So much for stopping African flights to Europe. They may already be two weeks too late.

Further update: The new virus variant with multiple mutations is to be called Omicron. Will historians discuss why the warning signs were ignored again? There are already massive demonstrations against restrictions. What if this variant can infect the already vaccinated? A 1918 replay? 

~~

25.11.2021 Exercising the car.

 ~~

Thursday 25th. Wet start, heavy overcast and very dark until after 08.00.  No walk so far. 

A busy day involving a drive to the city to pick up something big and heavy in my trailer. Fortunately it was dry by then. The low sun was blinding on the wet roads on way back. Plenty of exercise unpacking the load. Still nimble. Shopping in the dark in the car in the late afternoon.

~~

24.11.2021 Fade to grey.

 ~~

Wednesday 24th 40F. Clear start but soon clouding over. Though there were plenty of moments of bright sunshine to be enjoyed on my walk. I snapped away at the grazing brightness on the fields. Bright berries glowed like Xmas baubles in the hedgerows. It was another day of vapour trails, running parallel. Or crisscrossing the blue patches in the sky. I counted 12 at one point. 

Pheasants dashed away through the crops. Or posed, supposedly unseen, on the far side of roadside hedges. Gulls dotted the fields. Making my landscapes look untidy when I brought them home. Another huge trailer full of conifer cuttings went past. Are they stocking up for the next wave of Covid funerals? 

A similar trailer was full of neatly netted and stacked, Xmas trees. The Xmas lights were already on in the village yesterday. I had gone shopping after dark. Many houses along the road had decorations and lights. We can't really complain that it is a month too early this year. Anything to remain cheerful in these very difficult times.

The roads were wet. Providing plenty of opportunities for free showers of toxic, road filth. Mixed with yesterday's, first winter salt.

~~

23.11.2021 Biden The Elder should stop embarrassing himself over Tesla.

 ~~

Tuesday 23rd 39F, low, bright sunshine with thin, high cloud. 

The moon was high in the west again. Gulls were scattered across the landscape. Lots more planes dragging vapour trails today. The skies have been almost empty since the start of the pandemic.
 

Biden The Elder is showing his public fondness for delusion and corruption. He praises the legacy ICE car makers endlessly and holds press meetings with the deluded, bragging liars at the top of the food chain. i.e. CEOs claim they will soon produce millions of EVs. When?

Yet they still produce no worthwhile EVs, have poor [falling] sales and had NO EVs on display at the latest car show. Party subsidies mean public lies can be told to global TV? 

Remember the massive, Taxpayer loans which the ICE car makers never repaid? Literally $Billions in direct subsidies with no repayment! Ask Ford about their $9 billion free handout of taxpayer's money. 

This doesn't seem to bother Biden the Elder because it doesn't fit the party propaganda. Biden is clearly a fan of corrupt unions who mismanage their members' funds. He is obviously a fan of exhaust filth which kills literally millions worldwide.

Meanwhile, Tesla is selling more EVs worldwide than all the other manufacturers put together. Tesla has sold more EVs than ICE cars in Europe. Tesla is also all American. 

But Tesla doesn't bribe the president's party to curry favour during and after elections. Tesla has also paid back its loans. Tesla doesn't have corrupt unions but gives valuable stock options to workers. This has made production line workers into millionaires. The ICE unions help themselves to millions. [Do a search.]

ICE car manufacturers sell annual styling iterations, lifetime maintenance costs with obscene charges, endless recalls, genocidal CO2 and toxic exhaust fumes. Oil pays for slavery, dictatorship, terrorism, misogyny and wars right around the globe. [Everyday headlines.]

Tesla sells the safest, most reliable, low maintenance, fully self driving cars [soon] by the million to the entire world. Their mega-factories are still coming on line, around the world, to make millions more. Tesla is leading the world on battery research and manufacture. It uses its own rocket scientists help to design their cars. The world's finest engineers are queuing to join Tesla.

If we had to rely on legacy ICE manufacturers, for the EV revolution, the planet would choke and burn first!  

Biden The Elder never mentions Tesla.

~~

22.11.2021

 ~~

 

Monday 22nd, 31F, white frost, calm but cloudy. 

A distant tractor ploughed strips of fidgety gulls. Pheasants strolled, hands behind their back, deep in contemplation. Flocks of small birds moved about in search of breakfast. Two birds of prey dashed away. The sun finally broke through, albeit briefly, at 10.00.

~~

21.11.2021

 ~~

Sunday 21st 40F, still and clear but with some cloud. A break in the perpetual, leaden overcast but showers are promised. Sunrise is supposed to be at 8.03. Though no sign of any brightness at 07.55. 

It was 8.40 before the sun almost broke through. Blue overhead but cloud all around the horizon. The gibbous moon was sinking in the west. 

A bird of prey flew off from a roadside tree. Pheasants clucked unseen in the crops. Or wandered the lanes. Lots of small birds about. Sparrows, tits and blackbirds. Moving away fro me together. Close to total cloud cover by 09.00.

Cleared up a bit. With some sunny periods before total overcast by 12.30.

~~

20.11.2021 Less than silent autumn turns to winter.

 ~~

Saturday 20th 50F. Showers are promised as the mild temperatures cling on. As does the leaden overcast. 

The SW wind was unpleasant today. Particularly where the protective hedges were absent. I kept my hood up as usual in these circumstances. Leaves fell untidily across the road from the roadside trees. Nature's season of chaos is upon us.

The Redwings are back again. Winter visitors to northern Europe. They used to turn up in exposed and windswept trees in Gravely Blighted before moving on. They move constantly and nervously between the trees. 

Like thrushes, in general appearance. Though with red on the sides of the body. Particularly when their wings are raised. A distinctive pale eyebrow further distinguishes it from the song thrush.They can be quite noisy. Their distant cousins, the Fieldfares, are darker and greyer but similar in size and behaviour.

The leaden sky did my photography of a distant Redwing no favours. Or was it just a terrifying lack of skill?

 

~~

19.11.2021 COP-out 2.7C: Send your wood to the starving in Brazil!

 ~~~

Friday 19th 52F, overcast and windy.

Quite a stiff wind from the west. Traffic busy.    

The Jinping Plague is spreading. In Europe it is causing more infections. Than at any other time during the pandemic. 

The Amazon Rain Forest clearance is accelerating. Get your palm oil and hamburger beef here!

 

~~

18.11.2021 Another grey day.

 ~~

Thursday 18th 46-50F, leaden overcast. Rain promised with wind. It was quite clear late yesterday afternoon and evening. With unexpected moonlight. It was already raining this morning by 10am.

A cool wind took the edge off the mild temperatures. The only visible wildlife consisted of distant gulls. A flock of wood pigeons was having a meeting in a tree but quickly retreated as I approached.

There was an unusually bright yellow to the grass and plants in one field. I'm not sure whether it has been sprayed. Though there are clear signs of wheel slip damage on the steeper slopes. We usually refer to the spray aftermath as "Agent Orange." Because that is precisely the colour of many fields after spraying.

 

~~ 

17.11.2021 COP-out 2.7C. Massive flooding washes away empty promises.

 ~~

Wednesday 17th 41F, leaden overcast. Rain promised for this morning. Fictitious sunshine for this afternoon. It was already raining by 08.00. My walk is delayed. No point in getting wet for no good reason. It stopped raining so I went for a walk before lunch. Only to enjoy steady rain for half an hour. Traffic busy. A few small birds in the hedges. There were very brief clearings to watery sunshine in the late afternoon.

Record rainfall has hit North America. Vancouver is cut off from the rest of the world. 

Deadly storm cuts transport links around Vancouver - BBC News

Meanwhile, flooding in Egypt washed scorpions into a town with fatalities and hundreds of casualties.

The smug Indian delegation brought "a breath of fresh air" to COP-out 2.7C. Darwin Award: 

Delhi smog: Schools and colleges shut as pollution worsens - BBC News  

300,000-500,000 real people die, every year, from air pollution in Europe alone. Thank goodness for VW's "clean cars" and politicooze subsidies to reduce the price of diesel fuel. Safe in their hands? It makes you wonder about the pandemic numbers, doesn't it? 

Just as I predicted, Pootin is using His gas pipelines as a political weapon. As energy prices soar, the Danish Government is to subsidize the poor who can't afford their energy bills. And there I was, thinking that energy poverty was their preferred weapon to reduce CO2. Mind you, there was an election looming at the time.

A minor Danish politician has criticized St Greta. Told us that as a schoolgirl [18?] she ought to leave it to elected representatives. Yeah, right! See recent COP-out 2.7C. Greta seemed to be the only adult present.

 "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool. Than to speak and remove all doubt."

*

16.11.2021 COP-out 2.7C. Homeopathic Blah, blah, blah.

 ~~

Tuesday 16th 41F, leaden overcast but calm. My usual walk.

~~

15.11.2021 COP-out 2.7C. Diluted Blah, blah, blah.

 ~~

Monday 15th 44F, leaden overcast but almost calm.

My usual walk to the lanes. Hundreds of geese were flying in a long line. Heading west at a considerable height. Suddenly they turned abruptly south. No idea why. There was considerable confusion until they straightened themselves out again.

It seems India is heavily reliant on manual coal handling by woman with huge baskets on their heads. This being the only way they can feed their families. I call this slavery.

~~

14.11.2021 COP-out 2.7C. Send your unwanted coal to the starving in INDIA!

 ~~

Sunday 14th 45F, the leaden overcast continues. My usual walk. Whether I needed it, or not.

Don't leave unwanted coal in your bunkers. <cough> Send it to me <cough> C/O The Minister <cough> of the Environment <cough> in INDIA. <cough> 

Help me to phase out hunger slavery corruption ignorance scammers obscene wealth inequality poverty. 

Bhupender "Untouchable" Yadav

India's Delegate <cough> to World's Hunger Games <cough> Takeaway  for <cough> Phasing Out <cough> Climate Change. <cough>

PS: All new Delhi schools closed indefinitely due to toxic levels of cola coal phased out air pollution. 

 

~~

13.11.2021 COP-out 2.7C. Failure, Fiasco & Fucked.

 ~~

Saturday 13th 43F,  leaden overcast with distant mist but almost calm. It tried to drizzle after my usual turning point. Traffic unusually light even for a Saturday.

Fossil fuels have a "nice little earner" going. The crooked politicooze pay them trillions in subsidies. The fossil fuel companies pay back a smidgen in tax-deductible, party support. Those who give shall receive. With compound interest. Fixed [corrupt] odds against CO2 reduction.

According to reports from the latest COP-out in Glasgow, both China and India are fighting the mere mention of phasing out of coal or fossil fuels in the final draft. Both countries suffer appalling air pollution. It is long overdue that a Carbon Tax was applied locally [i.e. nationally around the globe] to all imports from polluting countries. This is the only form of pressure to phase out fossil fuels they will understand.

Remember that any EV is utterly worthless at combating Climate Change if the charging is done from coal-fired, power stations. The car's own Total Carbon Footprint [manufacturing, materials and transport] has to be added to the charging. So an ICE car is arguably no worse in comparison with a shiny new EV. 

I had my first chance to examine a Tesla today. It was sitting in a supermarket car park. Beautifully designed and made but the cockpit appeared rather odd. The instrument panel was missing as seen through the side window. It looked blank except for the laptop screen in the middle of the dashboard. I presume the area beyond the steering wheel gets "busier" when the car is active. I am surprised they don't have a "heads up" display reflected in the windscreen. Speed, range and battery charge would be enough to be useful.

~~

12.11.2021 COP-out 2.7C. Abandon all hope. Lies, damned lies and politicooze.

 ~~

Friday 12th 46F, heavy overcast, thick mist and breezy.

The mist was down to 150 yards total invisibility of receding cars. Including their normal rear lights. Only one of the dozens of crash test dummies had their fog lamps lit. Several were trying for a national speed record in thick mist. Well, everybody needs a hobby.

Last day: It sounds as if the liars gathered in Glasgow have watered down their empty promises on dirty energy.

Meanwhile, activists are picking on local SUV owners by letting down their tires. These large "luxury" vehicles are seen as being particularly responsible for emissions. There is a clear parallel here between empty lies from our, so-called leaders and increased militancy by concerned members of the public. 

The cost to society of "small" protest crimes is likely to escalate dramatically. With increased global resentment at Covid restrictions this could be the beginning of a break down in society. Chump's brain dead followers are increasingly belligerent. There are large protests about almost everything. The Internet fuels widespread idiocy, cynicism, negativity, paranoia and extremism. 

The politicoozes' gravy train may soon be coming off the rails. They have badly failed our world and [unlike the hero worship comics] there is nobody obvious to replace them. Political conditions leading to a third global war seems to be following familiar patterns. 

A deranged psychopath imagines himself a victim and hero alike. Instead of the evil and corrupt parasite he really is. The world is locked into building to yet another conflict as a result of the mismanagement of lunatic dictators. Hatred of minorities and historical enemies has become his cause. As the glaring symptoms of yet another megalomaniac psychopath consume his rise to historical infamy. Lies are his daily reality as he surrounds himself in drooling sycophants. Invasion is imminent and inevitable.

 

~~

11.11.2021 COP-out 2.7C on track to reach 2.4C+ and counting.

 ~~

 Thursday 11th 48F, heavy overcast, thin mist. Light drizzle on my walk. Dull and miserable.

The US and China intend "to cooperate" on keeping global warming to 1.5C. Though without offering any specific details. The US has made no commitment to banning filthy ICE cars. Though it is using its massive, homeless reservoir. In its battle to reduce CO2 by over-consumption.

Lifetime dictator, Sly's very own, shit-show now produces more CO2 than all the other <cough> developed nations put together. Feel that air quality. Mmmm!

Toxic India wants to be be bribed to the tune of a trillion to reduce its chronic pollution and reliance on coal. Isn't that what is called blackmail, genocide and threatening behaviour? What tiny percentage of the trillion would ever reach "the climate front line" after a few "helping hands" have sent most of it off-shore?

Meanwhile, Australia continues to be handicapped by its corrupt, so-called leaders. The country is actually run by tax-free, mining bosses. But they allow a string of crooks to pretend they are really in charge. Provided, of course, they follow the crooked line. 

Meat production is decimating The Rain Forest. Meat production produces colossal quantities of methane. Farming produces lots of greenhouse gasses as unsuitable soils are cultivated. Industrial farming causes droughts and desertification. No mention of farming at COP-out 2.7C?  Of course not. It's a COP-out!

 

~~

10.11.2021 Cop-out 2.7C: Bring out your dead!

 ~~

Wednesday 10th 48F, heavy overcast, dull, damp, misty and windy. The endless, greyness continues. 

A repeat of yesterday's walk. A pheasant was wandering in the drive. The thin mist made photography pointless.

COP-out 2.7C: Nothing is being done. We have been here before. Sleaze and corruption politicoozes from every pustule. Fire, flood and storm have no teeth against the glittering palaces in every capital.  Ask not what they can do for the climate. Ask, instead, who pays for their lavish lifestyles? Which lobbyists sleep in their beds and share their breakfasts? 

Their latest score of empty promises is calculated to cost the Earth a rise of 2.4C. Delayed genocide is their carefully planned crime against humanity. Just as they planned it in Paris. A dress rehearsal for very other fraudulent banquet to follow. These evil puppets have no power to change anything. Their real masters have total control.

No Carbon Tax. Trillions in taxpayer subsidies to dirty energy crooks. A totally tax free environment for those few who cause the most damage. Evil dictators who trample over the lives and aspirations of literally billions. Fixed elections. Election lies repeated generation after generation. Inequality rising exponentially due to deliberately broken taxation rules favouring only the 1%. 

They can't even control the pandemic they were repeatedly warned about. As the 4th wave crushes very real people in its unhindered tsunami of misery. Global pollution means 99% of children never breathe clean air. Endlessly repeated, deliberate mistakes to follow long, disproven dogma.

 ~~

9.11.2021 COP-out 2.7C circus. No ringmaster? Bring in the clown!

 ~~

Tuesday 9th 46F, overcast and breezy. It stayed dry but leaden overhead for my walk to the woods. I skirted the marsh. Where  a heron immediately flew away. Just as it always does. Meanwhile a pair of nervous swans retreated to the far side of the pond. Before taking off noisily. 

After that things became even wetter underfoot. I circumnavigated the forest before cutting across the muddy field by the spray tracks. Finishing off with a direct descent via the edges of the fields. A solitary bird of prey objected to my passing under its tree and flew away across the fields.

Boris the clown's mask is looking guilty. As he defends indefensible sleaze at the Commons circus. Nice timing Boris! Anybody daring to mention "setting an example" has to clean out the elephants in the room.

~~

8.11.2021 Norway's 22 day-old, COP-out 2.7C climate minister has a "gusher."

 ~~

Monday 8th 44F, heavy overcast. It was so calm that the wind turbines were standing still. A hint of misty rain at times on my walk. 

_____________________________________

The 22 day-old, <cough> climate & environment minister of [oil rich beyond the dreams of avarice] Norway has criticized Greta Thunberg. Why? For her own criticism of the lack of real progress at COP-out 2.7C by the <cough> democratically elected delegates. "Undemocratic," he claims. Woohoo! Keep taking the oil money Espen! Your delusions are palpable. BTW: Congratulations on the "Fossil Award!"

Guess what? There are more fossil fuel lobbyists at the Glasgow Banquet than delegates from any country. Keep taking the money! Politics is ruled by corrupt subsidies masquerading as tax avoidance, party contributions. Filthy rich, lobbyist lemmings unite! At a climate cliff, near you.

 

~~

7.11.2021 When is "a road accident" not an accident?

 ~~

Sunday 7th 45F, calm but with a leaden overcast. We are promised a mixed day of sunshine and showers. Accompanied by westerly winds. The sky soon broke up to blue, low sun and cloud.

Just my usual walk to the lanes in a stiff westerly wind. Though a crash test dummy tried to run me down on a long straight. He had quarter of a mile to notice me but chose to hold his position on the road with his wheels running along the verge, white line. Painted only centimeters from the grass itself. I took to the grass verge to avoid his attempted vehicular homicide. 

Probably just another drunk driver? Driving without a license, insurance, vehicle tax or periodic vehicle safety testing. 8.30am seems a bit early to be that drunk. Sometimes they get a family member to register their car. Or routinely drive their wife's car. 

I have twice had my car damaged by mint chewing drunks in their "wife's cars." Time and again these drunken drivers are banned but continue driving. We read about them every time the police hold a national road safety check. Their car is confiscated but they are straight back on the road afterwards.

Drug driving is an increasingly popular sport according to police reports. One chap had his car confiscated after a land speed record attempt, in town, with a long list of illegal substances in his blood.  Mobile phone use behind the wheel is still extremely commonplace. Their ignorance and arrogance. As they jerk the car back on line. Having completely overshot a familiar corner. Is a daily occurrence in my own experience on my daily morning walks.

Without the slightest exaggeration, I would be killed or injured dozens of times a year if I did not walk defensively. I routinely and voluntarily take to the verge to let lorries and buses pass freely. At other times I must step, or jump onto the verge to avoid being struck by cars and vans. Many of which are on human auto-pilot. With no sign of any kind of intelligence.

Some, but not all, veer away at the last possible moment before impact. Far too many never steer away at all! Continuing on the same track as if I simply did not exist. Nor can they blame being blinded by a low sun in their eyes. For which I always make very generous allowances to avoid mishaps. They are just as bad when driving with the sun behind them! Just as bad when there is no oncoming traffic.

The average standard of driving is appalling! Large, luxury cars, with drivers who literally and consistently ignore all the rules of the road. They cut every single left hand bend crossing [worn out] double white lines. Totally ignoring opposing traffic. Or repeatedly overshoot into the opposite lane on all the opposite [right hand] corners across [similarly worn out] double white lines. They speed everywhere on the straights but corner like complete novices. 

Sheer laziness or sociopathic behaviour? Ignorance of the law? Or do they feel entitled to display such poor road behaviour because they own a Mercedes-BMW-Audi kit of OEM parts? To the point of repeatedly risking a head on collision on every single bend? 

I would be mortified if I overshot a single corner while driving! Yet I can safely corner at speeds far higher than they do. I treat every corner/bend as a learning exercise. Just as I have done since being taught by a skilled, professional, driving instructor many decades ago. My concentration is always on the road ahead and around me. Reading the road and driving defensively.

After a bright start it became very wet. With frequent, heavy showers. Lasting until long after dark. [At 16.30pm CET]

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