diable rouge

A balmy 20C in the living room at the moment, but that's due to the morning sunshine which it catches. Where I work is cooler so I keep doors open to help distribute any heat gain and keep temps even. It's also the room with the least external wall area, which along with windows is where coldness permeates through...

An election wouldn't be an election without... https://twitter.com/hashtag/dogsatpollingstations?src=hashtag_click

''Nationalist parties (and to an extent the Lib Dmes) block any route to a Labour majority as England has an inbuilt Tory majority.'' For this reason I've long thought that the Tories wouldn't be that upset if Scotland went Indy, it basically guarantees them power for the foreseeable future. ''the evaporation of BXP/UKIP/etc has United the vote on the right while the centre/left remains fragmented.'' It's something when an egotistic chancer like Farage could see how standing down at the last election would help the Brexit cause, yet Corbyn and Swinson despite numerous chances to do likewise in parliament and at the election, remained blinkered and wouldn't form a similar pact. If anything good can come out of the expected Hartlepool result, it's that it finally gives Starmer the kick he needs to look into a formal alliance with other progressive parties...

Week 31 points... Week 31 table...

''It?s hard to separate BJ and this Tory government AND B****T'' Quite, when Cummings and his mates were in No 10, we literally had the Vote Leave campaign running the country. This article by Chris Grey highlights how connected Brexit and the subsequent actions of Gov's post-referendum have been...https://chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-brexit-roots-of-scandals.html

Sephiroth Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ?If Brussels and Dublin ? > > F@@k me. Where were you people when people like > me were saying Brexit would lead to this. > > England has forced this situation. Not Dublin. > Not Brussels It's like listening to an arsonist who has deliberately set fire to his home, who then blames the fire brigade for not putting it out. Always the victim, it's never their fault. *Waves at Hammy/Trinny/et al...*

You're certainly a gambler Cat, and a reckless one at that. I'm afraid you're going to have to dismiss the first 5 years of that 5-10 year plan of yours, given that the 'muppets' that delivered Brexit are, surprise, surprise, still in charge, and might well be for the full 10 years. Then what? I note no mention of the social impact Brexit is having, in particular as Seph alludes to, Northern Ireland and the peace process, all foreseen. Is that a price worth paying for your concept, acceptable collateral damage (no pun intended)? Which reminds me, you wouldn't have been living here during the Troubles, it wasn't nice, even on the Mainland. Will it need a couple of terrorist bombs to go off in London to make you sit up and notice? I thought that you could've at least pointed me in some direction beyond a simplistic 'concept', say a Norway style deal that would've at least addressed the issue of NI. A half-way house reflecting the closeness of the vote, gave both sides the opportunity to either later form closer ties with the EU or pull further away, depending how things went. Surely that's more in keeping with a 5-10 year plan than living in hope that one day a more competent Gov might or might not rock up...

Are you happy with the Brexit we've ended up with Cat, if not, what did you want instead? I can't recall Leave voters on here criticising the deal much, if at all, which kinda gives the impression that you're all happy with it despite it's flaws. Was it more important that Brexit was 'done' regardless of the details?...

On trend... :)

Week 31 fixtures... Friday 30th April Southampton v Leicester City Saturday 1st May Crystal Palace v Manchester City Brighton & Hove Albion v Leeds United Chelsea v Fulham Everton v Aston Villa Sunday 2nd May Newcastle United v Arsenal Manchester United v Liverpool Tottenham Hotspur v Sheffield United Monday 3rd May West Bromwich Albion v Wolverhampton Wanderers Burnley v West Ham United

Week 30 points... Week 30 table...

Sephiroth Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ?Delivering in spades saving lives ? > > That?s an overly kind view tbf Quite. We've had 3 lockdowns, each one personally delayed by Johnson, each delay costing lives. The buck starts and stops with him. With respect to vaccines, there's no doubting they will save lives, but they will come more into their own as society slowly opens up. Johnson recently said himself that it's been the lockdowns that have primarily been saving lives. The vaccine success is also less down to one individual, it's been a collective success. Hancock with his roulette wheel scattergun approach of placing orders early and hoping his number comes up, allied with taxpayer's funding of AZ. Then you've got the scientists and trial volunteers, the NHS, and again an army of volunteers. And finally the public for taking up the vaccines in huge numbers. It's all these people who should be taking the credit, not a PM who would've rather seen ''bodies piled up''. Re. the Electoral Commission: they're investigating the Tory Party, not Johnson personally, so don't be surprised if he wriggles out of any blame if wrongdoing is proved. It is strange though exactly what it is that's being covered up, judging by Johnson's meltdown at PMQs yesterday, it could be a lot bigger than an undeclared decorating bill...

Beth Rigby at Shy saying Johnson's relationship with the Tory Party is purely transactional, in that they put up with his lies etc as long as he wins them elections. And I think that's true, history tells us they have no qualms about dumping a leader as soon as they become a liability with voters. Talk this week of the Daily Mail maneuvering behind Gove after their negative press on Johnson, but he hasn't got the same pull with voters, and therein lies the Tories' problem, who has?...

jazzer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Re: shed floor, on the concrete run some thin > joists across and on top of that have a wooden > floor laid. I had a remnant from Berts > https://www.burts.co.uk/ which means I 'm not > walking on a cold wood or concrete floor, it makes > sweeping and cleaning it easy. Don't most sheds come with an integral plywood/sterling board floor?...

I have to admit, although neutral on whether Scotland should ne independent or not, I'm enjoying seeing Brexit voters like Cat citing economic data as a reason why Scotland shouldn't leave the Union...

You know what's coming... PROJECT McFEAR!!!!!! :)

snowy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hes not very good at percentages is he? > > He says ?UK exports have fully recovered? and yet > presents percentage statistics that show they have > fallen 15%. A week later and a Tory MP is still peddling this rubbish...

Good luck to Arsenal if they can get rid of a bad owner like Kroenke, but Spotify haven't exactly covered themselves in glory in how they treat musicians...https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56890624

Sure, it was more in response to Meds first sentence, besides it's not a done deal that Scotland would be able to join the EU. Regardless, Sturgeon should at least be having an honest conversation about the prospect of a border if they did rejoin. I'm not sure what she's frightened of, the anecdotal feedback I'm getting from friends up there is that a lot of people see independence just as much about escaping the clutches of an increasingly right wing english nationalist/populist government, as well as a means to rejoin the EU, and if that means ending up with a border, so be it...

A border will only be required if an independent Scotland later joined the EU, until then there wouldn't be a need for one, unless one side went all Trumpy. If lies/bluster worked for the UK Govt, why not SNP ?! This is the crux of the problem that Johnson faces, he will find it hard to argue against the same dogma/tactics used by his own Vote Leave campaign. And as he is finding out with Cummings, it's alright when your fellow duplicitous liars are on your side, but what happens when they're not. All populists eventually become unpopular...

For a shed that size I'd keep it simple and choose from either a poured concrete base, a paving slab base, or a timber sub-frame. Lots of 'How to' videos online. Personally I'd choose the latter as I like working with timber and as this video shows it can be very low tech and quick to construct.. The timber needs to be pressure treated/tanalised, while walking around Jewsons' yard recently I saw some mini-sleepers which could be ideal, and they usually come with a guarantee around 15-20 years, longer than a lot of sheds. If you use pressure treated timber you have to remember to use a wood preservative on any cut ends, and it won't do any harm to use up the preservative with a general coat, ditto the shed too. For a 'belt and braces' solution, you could also screw down (use decking screws) a sheet of marine ply onto the timber sub-frame to strengthen it and provide a level base for the shed to sit on and screw down into, and/or lay a brickwork DPC under the timbers for extra damp protection...

I expected the SNP to throw a lot of Brexit-style campaigning back in Johnson's face, but I didn't think they would come up with an identical ''there'll be no border'' wheeze...https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1386250665614352387

Leeds away essentials...

I've noticed that there's a new 'look out for signs of a stroke' ad campaign doing the rounds at the moment, there was a similar campaign a few years ago, so probably coincidental rather than directly related to the vaccine...