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]

~~

6.11.2021 Cop-out 2.7C flops as see-through, hot air balloon sinks beneath the rising waves.

 ~~

Saturday 6th 47F, leaden overcast with a promise of wind and rain later. At least I won't be troubled by a blinding, low sun. As I walk against the constant flow of crash test dummies. 

Today's Saturday traffic was light but the rain was heavy. I kept my hood up and plodded on.

Have you heard the joke about Cop-out 2.7C? Seriously? Is there anything amusing about the whole charade? The only serious CO2 capture in Glasgow would be to seal all their windows and doors. Keep them there until they save OUR planet from their pollution.  

"Keep the engine running James! I'll need to make a quick getaway as soon as the photo ops are over."

~~

5.11.2021 Beware of AI "hit man" clones masquerading as zombie Twirlies!

 ~~

Friday 5th 36-52F, clear. Sunshine is threatened. A walk is indicated and was completed in blinding sunshine. The sun being at just that height to clear the roadside hedges. Somehow I snapped a pair of tweagles soaring [unseen by me] over a local ridge.

Having to renew my Broxit passport online has raised some serious issues. Somebody had replaced the former, extra mature, but still handsome, young, "professor type." Whose likeness was subtly depicted on my last passport. 

I have somehow been substituted with an antique clone. One which had obviously been subjected to much abuse and carrying a considerable excess of "patina!"

Worse than that: The clone looked like the worst kind of criminal hard case. The deranged psycho glared back at me from the screen. Slit eyed, head tilted menacingly sideways. Unblinking in the unaccustomed, harsh, winter sunlight. Suggesting that "the perp" was caught by the prison, security cameras. Five minutes after release. On license, from a multiple life sentence in a maximum security wing. As the only survivor of a sudden outbreak of cannibalism after the guards flatly refused to enter! 

All was made much, much worse by the absence of a professional haircut/trim for well over two years and counting. I am, alas, a martyr to Covid Hair. [Google spelling checker doesn't recognize Covid? Seriously?] Then it would be a complete waste of time searching for "a home made Mullet."

I spent hours in sickly sunshine on Wednesday. Desperately trying to capture a flattering likeness of this [new] old [substitute] fart. It hardly seems worth mentioning that it was all without the slightest degree of success. 

I had my camera on a tripod and used a 4 second, shutter delay. While I dashed back and forth [repeatedly] to my spot marked with a fallen twig. Such that there is now a newly worn strip of what we laughingly refer to as "that bit of lawn." You will not be surprised to learn that I had to recharge the camera batteries twice. Meanwhile, the length of lining paper. Which I had stapled to the shed wall as a suitably plain backdrop. Became ever more limp.

Fortunately a sympathetic, professional photographer took pity on my pidgin Danish cry for help. In mere moments, the following morning, they had saved the day. By some unfathomable miracle and not a little, well-honed skill, the [hit man] clone was duly transformed. Into a passing resemblance to a [very] long retired, but [probably] quite harmless, Twirly. No plastic surgery required.

Though, sadly, they could not lower the highlights on the septuagenarian's, bulging bonce. And no, I do not want any sarky comments about Dan Dare's arch enemy, The Mekon! I tend more towards magenta rather than green.

Modesty prevents me from sharing any of my hideous, DIY, self-portrait snaps. Nor even the international, emergency rescue, "makeover." My main difficulty was that post processing is not allowed on digital passport photos. Otherwise I could have coloured in the stubbly, grey bits. With a great big dollop of the "Blonde Rinse" button. Followed by an infill  wash of "Cheap Fake Tan" using free, image handling software. I had rather fancied myself as a faded Van Gogh. Recuperating after a fortnight's debauchery on The Med amidst sunflowers. Alas, it was not to be "at my own hand."

Nobody with an ounce of empathy would have noticed my subtle computer aided subterfuge. Except for that tyrannical, AI robot at UK Passport HQ. Which judged my own self portraits as "COLOURFUL BUT DOWNRIGHT POOR! While the pro's effortless artwork was rated as "extremely good."  So much for 60 years of practicing amateur photography! Emphasis on "practicing." Sixty years sounds like a very long time. Was I even there? 

~~

4.11.2021 Cop-out 2.7C. Boris + Bidenz = 2.7C!

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Thursday 4th 42-45F, heavy overcast, misty and raining. Expected to continue wet for most of the day. It did.

The rain pattered on my hood as I tried to avoid the crash test dummies offering free pedestrian washes. The mist became much thicker and highly variable during my 45 minute walk. Fortunately I had washed and reproofed my winter coat with Storm Eco. The surface of the cotton hardly showed any sign of wetness. An excellent result! All without the slightest hint of the clamminess associated with obscenely pricey, man-made materials.

Hybrids are worse than internal combustion cars. Fact. The US is to subsidize legacy hybrids but not Tesla. Who make all-electric, all American made, safest vehicles on the planet. The entire world's brightest engineers are queuing to work for Tesla. Workers are queuing to get jobs at Tesla. Workers are given stock options. Which have turned some workers into millionaires as Tesla stock rockets in value. 

Legacy ICE makers have corrupt unions who steal their funds. ICE workers become poorer as the US Taxpayer continues to bail out the ICE losers. Remember the massive government [taxpayer] loans which were never paid back by the Big Names in dinosaur technology? 

The same, legacy ICE makers. Who have an annual list of styling iterations. Stretching decades into the future. To match their habitual, annual buyer's need for novelty. If only to confirm parking space hierarchy. The rage for twin arsehole chromed exhausts must be addressed. Which provides for the insanely priced, stainless steel, triangular arseholes in the <cough> "luxury" models. Does anyone else see the irony in decorating the belching chimneys of the Edwardian era, filth-mobiles?

The US media praises ICE and corrupt, legacy ICE vehicle manufactures as if they offered everlasting life. They bad mouth Tesla at every turn. The US and world's media are bought by their heaviest advertisers. Who have no plans to compete against Tesla to produce safe, highly efficient, planet saving, all-electric vehicles. [EVs to the hard of reading.]

Judge a crooked, bought government and its crooked, bought media by its actions. Not by it crooked, bought words. Keep on dozing Biden! The world is far safer while you sleep. Chump and his Fascist Brownshirts are just waiting in the wings. ZZZZZZ.

The UK is to build a new, deep, coal mine. Boris the Clown claims he is not in charge and has no control over the decision. Well let's all be thankful for that! 

Meanwhile Sly "Plague" Jinping worries about teenage behaviour? While the toxic smog kills your forced workers and slaves to dogma and propaganda. Remember to stock up on food this winter. Because yet another communist tyrant couldn't organize an oven in a communist bakery. 

Sly is obviously trying to outdo Mao for the genocide of Chinese citizens. China: Where rewriting history is at the whim of the genocidal, lifetime dictator. Where the false enemies of communism kill none but the tyrant's jackbooted minions kill tens of millions.

~~

3.11.2021 Cop-out 2.7C. Europe to experience 50C heatwaves every three years.

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Wednesday 3rd 36F, calm and slightly misty and very cloudy. There is a nationwide, thick mist warning for this morning. 

The mist posed no problems locally as I walked to the lanes. Visibility to at least a 1000 meters. The sun was trying to break through the cloud. Though it was after 9.00 before it finally managed it. Traffic busy today.

 

 

~~

2.11.2021 Cop-out 2.7C promises 0.3% methane cut by 2950.

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Tuesday 2nd 43F, calm and cooler but still a heavy overcast.

A longer walk up to the woods. Climbing and descending by the steepest routes. My knees had been hurting so I decided some extra exercise would do me good. I saw several birds of prey and three deer. All heading away from me as fast as they could. Still slightly misty., Which takes the edge of landscapes. Distant views don't just look soft but simply out of focus.

 

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1st November 2021 Cop-out 2.7C. Nature abhors a vacuum.

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Monday 1st 50F, continuing mild but another heavy overcast. 

Pleasant enough for a walk to the lanes and beyond. Rather too misty for capturing the layers of local landscapes.

The Rome -20 Banquet provided nothing but words and arms deals. Paris Agreement yet to be implemented five years on? Can't we prosecute our sociopathic leaders for publicly planning the genocide of future generations? 

Even ignoring the effects of massive flooding and intolerable heat waves. Sea level rise will displace hundreds of millions. Why? Because we suffer from a near total, leadership vacuum.

~~