Random Thoughts Showing 15,601-15,650 of 17,689

[Andy]

:) Nah it was jus the leopards today, I think over the weekend they have a few small battles with Shermans going against German Tanks & also a "Cold War" scenario along with a British Army assault..... next year i'll make sure I get to go to the full event on the weekend.

[Adrian]

Wouldn't mind driving a tank to work. It would certainly provide a solution for Sydney traffic...

[happy]

Andy and anyone else who is interested in armor, you if you haven't already found this Youtube Channel, you might just like it

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp4j...

This guy is a researcher for the "World of Tanks" video game and seems to spend much of his time visiting various tank museums around the world crawling around, in and explaining the pros and cons of various tanks in history.

[Marilyn]

Speaking of tanks and what Adrian just said about using a tank to plow through Sydney’s traffic, there was a guy who actually did this in, of all places, downtown San Diego! Where in the world he got the tank (Camp Pendleton is still miles away) I don’t remember but the joke is that it happened in San Diego! While it is a military town, it is still regarded as a rather quiet, laid back place. Certainly, it doesn’t have near the traffic that Los Angeles and its suburbs have.

[happy]

Earlier this month in Virginia as National Guard officer took a M557 command track for a unauthorized spin. The police had no way to stop it.

https://www.armytimes.com/news/2018/0...

[Andy]

happy wrote: "Andy and anyone else who is interested in armor, you if you haven't already found this Youtube Channel, you might just like it

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp4j...

This guy is..."

Thanks Happy, World of Tanks was at Bovvy (Tankfest) too with a very long queue & an even bigger screen :) I'll be going back later in the summer to see the rest of the museum along with dropping in on TE Lawrence's cottage on the way which is summit I should have done by now.

[Marilyn]

Wow, happy! That was some story about the stolen armored personnel carrier! The guy definitely has a few loose screws.

[Ace]

I heard that there are bushfires in Utah, @happy are you ok????

[happy]

Yeah we're ok, most of them are way down south. As of yesterday there were 8 named fires in Utah over 1000 acres.the largest about 12,000 and growing. It looks to be a long hot summer.

I'm worried about tonight with all the fireworks going off and being being stupid and all :)

Update

The largest fire is now over 32000 acres and has closed US 40 between Strawberry Res. and Duschane, and only about 25% contained.

Colorado has a fire of over 100,000 acres and California is also burning down. The scary part about all of these fires is that they are so early. The fire season usually doesn't start until mid August.

[happy]

Andy wrote: "happy wrote: "Andy and anyone else who is interested in armor, you if you haven't already found this Youtube Channel, you might just like it

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp4j......"
When I get back to England, Bovington is definately on the list to visit, along with Duxford. I don't know how Mrs. Happy is going to feel about that :)

[happy]

Marilyn wrote: "Wow, happy! That was some story about the stolen armored personnel carrier! The guy definitely has a few loose screws."

Somehow, I don't think he is going t make captain :)

[Marilyn]

No. Definitely not.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Sorry I have been MIA everyone.

My hubby went away fro a couple weeks so I had extra workload on the farm. As per usual, all the jobs that are usually shared between two, became all my jobs. :) That combined with my playing around with some writing... meant I had to check out until hubby got back. He got back yesterday.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Figured it was something like that. :)

[Linda]

We won the Publishers' Clearing House Award For over thirty years we have entered the contest instead of saving for retirement from earned income. (The two of us together are dumber than dirt!) Our prize was in the amount of $175.00. After dividing our windfall with our children, we spent what was left on a nice meal at McDonald's.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

haha. I don't know what Publishers' Clearing House Award is, but it sounds like it doesn't pay very much when you win it. $175! :)

[happy]

Linda,

Congrats - you are the first person I've heard of who actually won ANYTHING from them :D

Terri,

It's something like a lottery but you don't have to buy a ticket - the do sell magazine subscriptions, but the main draw is the opportunity to will millions of $$$$$. All you have to is enter, you don't even have to order a magazine :)

The entry forms used to come in the mail every 6 months or so, but they have modernized and you enter on the internet.

Currently they are advertising $4000/week for life if you enter AND win:D.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Ahhhh, the Reader's Digest do that here. At least I think they still do. I kept getting them. And kept returning them to sender with rude messages written on the envelopes. Eventually they got the message. :)

[Marilyn]

Ha ha! Yes, they are a bother.

[Jane]

Sounds like those class action suits--if you owned a stock from one certain date to another add your name. Send them proof of ownership of course. You might get something back from a settlement. Years ago, I did this once and got back $16.00. Never again! If I get notices of one I just throw them out.

Linda, you're the first person I've ever heard who won anything from PCH!

[Allison]

Linda wrote: "We won the Publishers' Clearing House Award For over thirty years we have entered the contest instead of saving for retirement from earned income. (The two of us together are dumber than dirt!) Our..."

Hey, a free meal at Mcdonalds is better than a hot poke in the eye!!

Congrats!!

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

I have b itten the bullet and signed up to have my DNA tested for ethnicity.

This could prove interesting.

[Mark]

Margaret wrote: "I have b itten the bullet and signed up to have my DNA tested for ethnicity.

This could prove interesting."

Been considering it myself but the cost is putting me off.

[Adrian]

I was surprised by my result - expected to be mostly Irish but was mostly Scottish. One percent Jewish also, so shalom!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I've been considering too but I can't help wondering if I'd be paying to be told what I already know. European blood. No surprise there.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Terri wrote: "I've been considering too but I can't help wondering if I'd be paying to be told what I already know. European blood. No surprise there."

The tests actually narrow down the area and it does bring up some surprises. A friend of mine is now obsessively combing her family tree trying to find where the Native American DNA got in. She really wants to know what tribe she has links to.

They can pin point almost 400 different areas around the world.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

For me. I will be interested to see if my DNA confirms a long held suspicion of mine about my father's parentage.

Also it may confirm or disprove several family stories. One is that we had Moorish blood, another that there is either Spanish or Portugese in the family.

There is also supposed to be Romany.

Another story said there was Jewish, but I think that is wrong because the cousin was basing their assumption on the names... and Quakers used biblical names as well. And I do know we had Quaker ancestors in that branch of the family.

I suspect it will turn out to be large chunks of English, salted with Irish, Scottish and perhaps Northern European.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Mark wrote: "Margaret wrote: "I have b itten the bullet and signed up to have my DNA tested for ethnicity.

This could prove interesting."

Been considering it myself but the cost is putting me off."

It cost me about A$150, which I thought was pretty reasonable. That included posting the kit to me and the return postage to them.

[Andy]

Don't forget the Genghis Khan gene, a fair few of us are related to him 😁

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

As many as are related to the Plantagenets, Andy?

Somewhere between 80-95% of English descended people are of Plantagenet descent. We can blame King John for beginning the rot. He had something like 13 kids. And his son, Henry III had a similar amount.

[May]

Robert, you are too funny 😂 Thank you!!!

[Andy]

Margaret wrote: "As many as are related to the Plantagenets, Andy?

Somewhere between 80-95% of English descended people are of Plantagenet descent. We can blame King John for beginning the rot. He had something li..."

Genghis sired 100's & in 2003 they said his gene pool equated to 0.5% of the worlds population..... although a quick search also names a Chinese leader whose gene is present in more :)

[Marilyn]

Henry I, William’s son, had 22 out of wedlock. Though not called a Plantagenet, his daughter Matilda married Geoffrey Plantagenet and together they produced Henry II.

[Allison]

All this talk is making me want to do it too lol.

[Mark]

https://www.facebook.com/169284376452... drone footage of Pompeii, I was never sure how much had been uncovered. till now

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I was only reading about the new discoveries today. The house they are digging is a home for a wealthy and educated person. Beautifully decorated.

I always thought it was hidden under the volcanic ash. But when I saw the overhead footage I was surprised to see all the walls are above ground. It is different to the drone footage as the drone footage seems to only show the areas that have been excavated.

An amazing place full of yet undiscovered history.

[May]

Incredible to watch this footage!! Awesome!
Thank you for posting this!!!

[Mark]

May wrote: "Incredible to watch this footage!! Awesome!
Thank you for posting this!!!"

Your welcome.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Do we have any bread bakers present?

I'm trying to grow my very first Sourdough starter. It's all very fascinating watching this happen over last 5 days. Still not active enough to bake with unfortunately. It is supposed to be a 5 day starter and I should be baking with my first harvest today but it's winter here and the growth is happening too slowly. It will be a few more days before I can fire up the oven I think. :-(

[Andy]

Terri wrote: "Do we have any bread bakers present?

I'm trying to grow my very first Sourdough starter. It's all very fascinating watching this happen over last 5 days. Still not active enough to bake with unfor..."

:) Good luck, my little bro' loves making his own bread, has a machine that "no one can touch" lols goes into a kinda trance when he's on one, my nieces go..... dad's gone all weird again & steer clear pending the outcome.... :D

[Clifford]

Mark wrote: "https://www.facebook.com/169284376452... drone footage of Pompeii, I was never sure how much had been uncovered. till now"

Thanks for posting this. Perfect timing for me, as I'm about to finish up Pompeii

[Tamara]

Not so much of a random thought. More of a random question.

Some of the groups I'm on in goodreads have people claiming to read a book a day. They post reviews of what they've read--sometimes 2-3 reviews a day. My question is do people actually read these books?

Depending on the length of the book, it can take me 3-7 days to read one book. So I don't know how they read so many books in such a short space of time. Are they reading or skimming? And if it's the latter, why do it? Is it to impress others? Do you get bonus points from Goodreads if you claim to read so many books?

Am I missing something? I just don't get it.

[Simona]

The River Cottage Bread Handbook@Terri: First, sourdough is DIFFICULT and temperamental. The speed of fermentation depends from the temperature of your kitchen, the kind of water and flour you use (one of my friends uses what she calls fruit water - water where she keeps a sliced fruit , and she swears that the smallest amount of sugar in the water makes miracles) . May I suggest a really excellent book? The River Cottage Bread Handbook.
The water should be lukewarm, and the flour not too strong...try to keep your starter in a warmer place.
Don't use too much of your starter, or your bread will be too acidic. Let it rather rise longer.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Andy,
I'm starting to feel that way myself! A bit intense about privacy during Terri's baking day. :-)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Thanks for that, Simona. I hadn't even thought about the River Cottage book. I'm using the Sourdough Starter recipe in How to Bake by Paul Hollywood. His Starter includes 1 grated organic apple. Organic because the yeast (apparently) comes from the skin of the fruit and non-organic apples have wax and chemicals that affect that yeast. It stops the rise. He has a Starter recipe in his 100 Great Breads that uses whole grapes. For the yeast on the fruit skin.

Your advice is excellent! I have two starters on the go. One with strong flour and one with all-purpose. Currently it is the one with strong flour that is doing the best.

[happy]

Tamara wrote: "Not so much of a random thought. More of a random question.

Some of the groups I'm on in goodreads have people claiming to read a book a day. They post reviews of what they've read--sometimes 2-3 ..."

I can occasionally read a book in one sitting (esp if it is less that 400 pgs, fiction and I have nothing else pressing)

Normally it takes 4 days to a week and occasionally longer.

[May]

Yesterday was a pool day: started the Maeve Binchey in the AM w my coffee & finished by bedtime. Bernard Cornwell can take a week, especially if I am working.

[happy]

All the smoke from the West burning down is settling in the valleys of Northern Utah - the visablity is down to less than 10 miles and I can barely see the tops of the mountains 3 miles away! I can actually smell the fire. We really need a good storm to blow all his gunk out, but none is on the horizon :(

The newscasters say the smoke is mainly from the fires in California. The smoke from our fires is mainly in Colorado and New Mexico :)

[Marilyn]

Just out of doctor in Riverside and can tell that there’s a new going big in Corona.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Tamara wrote: "Not so much of a random thought. More of a random question.

Some of the groups I'm on in goodreads have people claiming to read a book a day. They post reviews of what they've read--sometimes 2-3 ..."

I can read a book a day, sometimes 2 or 3 depending on the size of the book. However, this is only when I am not at work. During the week I usually manage 2 or 3 for the week. Because I have one I'm reading at home and another in my work bag.

To read a lot of books a day the person must not be doing much of anything else.