30.12.19 Moscow imports "artifical" snow in record warmth.

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Monday 30th 41-45F, rather breezy but the sky is breaking up. Some sunny periods promised but they've had it wrong far too many times now. I'm suffering from frequent nose bleeds in both nostrils. I have run out of Christmas chocolates so that may well be the cure.

The sky was clearly divided into two layers. With a dark, lower layer moving fast and thinning. Blue skies above with only a little cloud looked promising. Until a new layer of low cloud arrived and completely obscured the blue. Lots more small birds moving about today. Three ducks too.

Late morning ride to the shops with a cold crosswind going both ways. Only brief glimpses of sunshine. Shops very busy after Christmas break. Only 7 miles.

Moscow has had its warmest December since records began in 1886. The council dumped lorry loads of snow in the city centre so that New Year celebrations would be more traditionally white. Meanwhile, Australia exceeds 40C in every state as mass evacuations are ordered and then cancelled due to the risk of more road closures leaving motorists exposed to wildfires. The columns of smoke were reaching 14km in height and causing dry lightning strikes which started even more fires. 

Australia fires worsen as every state hits 40C - BBC News


Tuesday 31st 2019, 41F, westerly breeze building, but clear skies? Does not compute! A few, small, fluffy clouds raced over as I strode to the lanes. I thought it must inevitably mean an overcast, before long, but the clouds disappeared. It stayed sunny until 13.00 by which time the cloud had thickened to solid.

Australians are taking to the beaches. To survive the radiant heat from the fires as they race unchecked towards the coasts. Another fireman was killed and others injured when a firestorm flipped their 10 ton fire engine over.

Meanwhile, in Denmark, there are new calls to follow the Swedes. By increasing the penalties for attacking emergency services staff. Whether this includes violence against medical staff I have no idea. They too are a frequent target for cowardly violence, along with firemen. Perhaps it is because most of the front line medical staff are women and an easy target for inbred misogynists?

It was a common headline to hear that young ghetto dwellers were starting fires in housing blocks. Then stoning the fire brigade who responded to the deliberately caused emergency. Welcome to Denmark! Where lifelong parasitism on your hosts is never enough. The latest trick is to attack the fire brigade and members of the public with fireworks. Handheld, fireworks can be made to shoot burning missiles at the innocent for personal amusement. With little chance of receiving a custodial sentence even if the culprits are ever caught.

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27.12.19 Lardy arsed, Coyote Morrison to give Oz volunteer firefighters free water!!

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Friday 27th 35-37F, light NW breeze, dark overcast with both forecasters teasing on sunny periods again. It was 33F at bedtime so winter might be arriving at last. We have been stuck in the low 40sF for what seems like weeks.The sky is all but identical to the last few days. Just a hint of blue between clouds. The wind has gone around to the opposite direction. Though it didn't feel particularly cold on my walk. Two small deer were watching me from the next field over. Perhaps 4-500 yards away.

Late morning ride to the shops. Simultaneous, brief sunshine, light rain and light snow on the way back. Only 7 miles. Comfortable in my usual winter [recycled] cycling gear. The GripGrab two fingered mitts are superb in cold weather without the hindrance to dexterity of a normal mitt.

Saturday 28th 30-32F, hard white frost. Bright orange in the east behind thick cloud. The forecast is for yet another grey day. Still uniformly grey at 10.00 after a walk to the lanes. A solitary Redwing was foraging on the bare earth of a previously flooded field.

Lardy arsed holidaymaker, Coyote Morrison has buckled under his own the weight of Oz public opinion. The corp of volunteer [unpaid] firefighters, who have battled for months in record, 40C heat, are to get free water and toasted Koala sandwiches without charge. There is no mention of when they are to be allowed holidays, if ever. Any mention of free, winter coal was definitely "off the table." And any agreement with the firefighters is strictly for this year only. There was no mention of any of the the costs coming out of his $800,000 salary.

Morrison only returned from holidaying in Hawaii when two volunteer firefighters were killed by the wildfires. It could have been worse: If he had stayed at home for his hols he might have caused a catastrophic sea level rise every time he took a dip! The problem then was that his personal tsunamis would not have reached far enough inland to quench the fires.  Not to mention the risk of "Great White" headlines and images appearing in the Ozzy press.

Scott Morrison says Hawaii holiday was like taking 'that extra plumbing contract' on a Friday afternoon | Australia news | The Guardian

Sunday 29th 34F, another grey day is forecast. The was a cold wind so I was glad for the hood on my jacket. Very little wildlife about today and who can blame them?  Dark grey, cold and miserable again!

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26.12.19 iTech mayhem!

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Thursday 26th 38F, calm start with the familiar, dark overcast. Yet more sunshine promised again. Yesterday we saw none at all.  It is becoming a habit. The sky is an exact copy of yesterday's. More grey than blue and zero sunshine. The only thing of note on my walk was a rather tame blackbird. Instead of hiding it just sat there and watched me walk past. The sky remained grey all day until it was nearly dark. Then cleared to cloudless.

I just clicked on New Post on my "cycling" blog. Google Advertising immediately opened a new page on another of my  blogs. Just as it did yesterday but [unfortunately] without my noticing. Do they do it deliberately? Why would they change to another blog when I already have one open? What could either of us possibly gain from the automatic change of blog? Is it, as I suspect, that the big, advertising monopolies can no longer keep up with the sheer workload of dealing with hundreds of millions or billions of users?

Netflix used to be much more interested in their viewer's habits. They even allowed a scale of enjoyment for the viewer to vote on each item. Presumably so they could show material likely to directly appeal to each viewer. Though that exercise was very short lived. Now they don't even bother to remove items which have been given a thumb's down. Their latest desperate bid to keep straying customers, as competition increases to a head, is an endless procession of Indian Bollywood[?] films! Give every single one a thumbs down and they completely ignore the customer's reaction! They put even more up!

We have frequently gone for well over a week without finding a single item worth watching on Netflix. Perhaps it is our habit of checking IMDB before we watch a film? Why invest an hour and half, or more, in yet another poorly scoring film? Netflix has so much dross that its catalogue looks just like the tatty, cardboard box full of cheap, used DVDs at a down at heel, flea market.

YouTube has obviously long exceeded its ability to cope with the burden of billions of viewers by a huge margin. It shows the same recommendations over and over again. Totally regardless of the viewer's responses. Or even if they have watched the video to the end. Do viewers habitually watch the same material again and again? It might happen, now and then, with a music video, but why list everything else day after day after day? Have all these advertising companies broken their algorithms with an intolerable workload? Or is it simply the weight of advertising which is completely destroying the Internet?

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