Clunkclick

Today, a couple of weekly outpatient appointments later at Mount Vernon, things seem to be getting back on track treatment wise. The finger seems to be healing and physiotherapy (Both clinic based and me doing some at home) seems to be having an effect in ensuring that most of the finger tendons on the damaged finger don't become locked-up with adhesions. Downside, I left yesterdays clinic session and went to the clinic reception to book the next appointment only to be told that I couldn't as the computers were down - apparently they are still having problems with software re-installations following the recent hacking ?????? N

Clearly, there is a demand for this sort of thing. With Trinity House adopting this sort of liberal approach, its worth considering investing in a few discarded 44 foot ISO containers, welding them together "Amazing spaces" style and then sticking the structure on some lashed together discarded domestic hot water cylinders(Corks in fitment holes of course) and towing the whole lot around using a Kensington Gardens row boat, with a view too running a continuous car boot sale on board - that would be about the UK's level now. There's no two ways about it, the population over here with the appropriate disposable income for this endeavour are as thick as mince. Nick

Same deal with Jacques Cousteau's "Calypso" - saw it undergoing major refurb in Concarneau France - was originally a British Yard Minesweeper (Clues in the word "Yard"), wooden hull + lots of add-on superstructure, yet allowed to sail the oceans. Nick

. . . And dead and injured, I suspect. N.

Localish to me. Worked in that area for 12 years. Reported that its a local authority 24 storey tower block, built in 1974 (As replacement accommodation, as North Kensington was cleared of WW2 bomb damage + slums). Apparently, recently refurbished at a cost of £10m which included the external fitment of decorative cladding - it appears that the cladding caught fire after a fridge exploded in one of the flats. Block managed for council by private concern. Residents report no fire alarm heard, no sprinkler system installed, that emergency service access was impeded by unmodernised estate roads and that the building operators advice to tenants in the event of fire was to return to their flat, close the front door and sposition a wet towel against the gaps in the door surround - it appears that those that could took no notice of that and just got out. Looks like Lloyds are in for a big one. Residents reported that "One-hour" resistant internal fire doors fitted but these were ineffective against a fire that propagated through the external cladding. Residents reported that some of the tenants were old people and that fire took less than an hour to seize the whole building - according to the Fire Officer, every thing above floor 2 Whilst the Fire Officer stated that the first fire engine got to the scene in 6 minutes (A similar arse-covering PR statistic has been used somewhere else recently), residents reported that there weren't enough fire units to deal with the blaze, they couldn't deal with anything above floor 4 (From the outside) and BBC say that fire equipment has had to be brought in from Surrey Video clips that the BBC have been broadcasting show the fire racing up the outside of the building. Nick

I have been impressed recently when using the public transport in London. Particularly with the improved service reliability and reduced running times of trains and buses compared with 15 years ago when I last used LT services on a regular basis. Even the public address systems at some stations are improved. But there seems to be one glaring (!) error that seems to be overlooked in the new system. Train Indicator boards. Thesehave all been replaced by a new design and seem to be much smaller than those of yesteryear with the consequence that I cannot read them when only half way down the average platform . . and, yes, I had my eyes tested in February and there OK - in fact I'm longsighted. Not only are they indicator boards smaller but they seem to have standardised (For design continuity purposes) on the same sort of illuminated dot-matrix design (Orange LEDS on black) as is used in buses. Whilst they may be sufficiently bright to work in reduced illumination of the underground and buses, they just can't be seen in overground stations even when positioned under the platform roof. The indicator boards of old were 4 times the size. Obviously, design continuity is a secondary issue here, but doesn't anybody do test installations and walk-thru's anymore ? Why wasn't this spotted before the type was adopted all over the system ? Here they are talking about installing Wi-Fi for the tunnels and you can't read the indicator boards at any distance . . . shades of BREXIT. Nick

"But keeper Jeremy thinks that the merger of the two troupes won't work, as one of them is too diseased and psychotic to be stable" - Monkey Business. N

Lots of political consultancy and lobbying firms have trousered some nice cheques ? N

"Truly grasshopper, each man has his own route back to the 14th Century" - standby your beds for a reprise of "Explode your neighbour out-of-doors". Lucky the GFA set-up at Stormont had already fallen apart, eh readers ? Nick

Monied vested interest having created the equivalent of Afghanistans' Mujar Hadeen, what other options are there - even if its just repeated short-term detention to disrupt the plans of local cells, So the "Threat level graph" is turned into a saw-tooth pattern rather than a straight line "Always critical". You're more likely to catch and prevent if the security state is varying periodically than when its always the same. N

A possible entry for Private-Eye's "Spot the Difference" gallery ?:- https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=picture+of+sir+maurice+oldfield&client=opera&hs=zcc&tbm=isch&imgil=9R-zYfeuBmC2sM%253A%253B3XL8zVKqS3I5ZM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%25252Fmen%25252Fthinking-man%25252Fclearing-the-name-of-my-uncle-the-spymaster%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=9R-zYfeuBmC2sM%253A%252C3XL8zVKqS3I5ZM%252C_&usg=__KmjEVALEXgoyhp4qhCUMibtm4FM%3D&biw=1360&bih=667&ved=0ahUKEwjS8bzstanUAhWkL8AKHSVDCa8QyjcIVA&ei=6bo2WZLZJaTfgAalhqX4Cg#imgrc=9R-zYfeuBmC2sM https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=picture+of+michael+gove&client=opera&tbm=isch&imgil=oKQbxonRQ3hwyM%3A%3BDHYUhg9cnC6KgM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.mirror.co.uk%252Fnews%252Fuk-news%252Fleaked-7-changes-michael-gove-3605138&source=iu&pf=m&fir=oKQbxonRQ3hwyM%3A%2CDHYUhg9cnC6KgM%2C_&usg=__J2wGMtLOFc-yJVAuvl3jw9d0buM%3D&biw=1360&bih=768&ved=0ahUKEwj7-cCNt6nUAhWHJsAKHZ0ZBUIQyjcIQg&ei=O7w2WbvwE4fNgAads5SQBA#imgrc=oKQbxonRQ3hwyM Some irony here too. Nick

Unlikely, unless Mafair, parts of Islington or St George's Hill /Ascot are hit ? - but there's probably too many concealed "Blackwater" type security guards operating on private land to make it viable even for the lone wolves. Nick

If UK were southern California and we were all well-to-do middle class families who had the apple of their eye kidnapped and brainwashed by a cult, we'd engage a re-snatch and de-programming team to restore our beloved to the bosom of the family. . . . no chance in the UK of either of the two later propositions being fulfilled. N

Just employ standard military force depletion strategy. Being exceptionally, tolerant and politically correct (Like we all are on Briskoda) You arrest, imprison/deport/lose the 5,000 who are the greatest threat, wait till the level builds again and then do the same to the next 5,000 who fill the vacuum and so on. Meanwhile, I'll start whistling a once popular Gene Pitney theme, in the hope that this post sees the light of day, publication wise. Nick

If the initilal problem was addressed effectively in the first place, the second wouldn't arise, or at least not to the same extent. UK is already part of a coalition who are AT WAR with Daesh and whose armed forces have already been committed in another part of the World to fight and eliminate this Muslim extremist faction. But we're not practising the same at home, or to the same extent . Why is that ? How can you maintain an "Algernon" in town, "Algie" in the country defence policy (In fact the reverse !) and be credible to this country's adversary's ? This is running the country with "The bow doors open". Nick