Bills Posts

It’s quite late in the evening, I’m tired but I’m not quite ready for bed. That’s because I haven’t yet done my blog post for the day. I have to confess that I have been sat at my computer, thinking what I could post about.

I subscribe to a number of YouTube channels. One of them is World of Antiquity presented by an American historian, Professor David Miano, he presents a series of episodes tasking about history, but also deals with some mythical aspects, such as Atlantis. This though is mostly in the context debunking conspiracies or rumours. I started watching tonights episode in which he talks about another you YouTuber who makes some claims about the existence of the mythical city.

He sites the possibility that Atlantis could be in or around something called the Richat Structure. https://maps.app.goo.gl/JW8Ri6WusFmwb1VE8?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy (you may have to zoom out).

This is a real place, and is well worth looking at in the satellite layer of online maps.

Located in Western Mauritania, it was at first thought to be a meteor crater, but analysis has shown this note to be the case. Known as the “Eye of the Sahara” it is a favourite photographic target for scientists and astronauts in space, and there is no denying its fascinating structure.

I have no idea about the authenticity of Atlantis, and am not commenting on that. But, like ley lines – wouldn’t it be greater if it were true?

I was awake at around 0500 this morning. If I was going to get up and go for a walk, and do it within a reasonable time, I needed to get up around 0530. I managed it, and had a very nice walk.

It was the fourth walk this week, I took a break yesterday. Three of the mornings were taken up with the Breaksfast club, which was fun, and really nice to have going again. The other morning I did a little bit of videoing.

The cones in the picture are in the centre of the millenium time-piece off the Esplanades. They are a recreation of the time and space model developed by Albert Einstein.

I think (without looking) that I mentioned just how bad the videoing went on Tuesday. It was lack of preparation. I definitely want to get better, it’s all around knowing the material, plus filming set up of course, it all needs practice. I’m happy with the current set up, it gives me two opportunities during the week, plus the weekend.

One thing though, I now need to get my office ready so that it can act as a kind of studio, let’s just say it’s a bit untidy at the moment.

I didn’t go for a walk this morning, nor did I do a facebook post. I tend not to when I didn’t walk as it is mostly the walk that drives the content of that particular medium. I’m always quite humbled by the number of people (anything greater than 1) that tell me that they miss my posts. Especially as I’ve had a bit of a break. To be honest, it’s been nice to start posting again. Provided it’s not tipping it down in the morning (apparently there is a 5% chance that it will be raining. That’s small enough for me to assume that I will be out walking.

I’ve tried to stay away from any talk about vlogging. It’’s a subject which is on my mind a lot. Anyhow, I’ve just spent a bit of money on myself for my upcoming birthday which is very vlogging related so I am rapidly running out of reasons to not get out and do something (no matter how bad it is – and I did a bit of videoing on Tuesday, and it was really atrocious, so that will never see the light of day on YouTube. It remains in my video library as a reminder as to how bad it can be.

Tonight was the Thursday Night Net on the radio. There are still a few technical problems with the repeater, GB3IW, but the repeater keeper has been poorly. It appears that there is a really bad bout of flue floating around with some of my radio friends being knocked off tgheir feet for two or even three weeks. Anybody hit with that, I wish them a speedy recovery. Having said that, tonights net was pleasant and went quite well which is very good.

It wasn’t until I woke up this morning that I realised that I hadn’t done a post last night, hence the oops. Of course, I had the perfect topic to write about, the camera club.

Last night was the last print competition of the season. Only one more to go and we will have done our full season. Very nice. Elayne had put three pictures in, I eventually put in two – with the very patient support of the competition sec, Barry. I was disappointingly disorganised, but I did get there.

For my feeble efforts, the judge was not impressed, giving a paltry 6.5/10 points for each of them. I honestly thought that one of them. Might get held back, even if it didn’t go any further. It was, I’m sad to say, not to be.

Now Elayne’s efforts were of a different order. She put three pictures in. One of them was held back and went on to win a fully justified 3rd place. Elayne’s second 3rd in two competitions. We were both justifiably proud as punch. It was a really good evening for her.

The last competition is on the 1st of April, it’s projected images. I have one picture I want to use. I need to sort out another couple.

Eventually, I’m going to put something on Youtube. I’m not quite ready yet though, but it isn’t far away. What am I doing in the meantime – practicing. And, I have to say, not really doing very well. But as all the regulars on youtube say, you have to begin some where.

Mostly beginning down at the waterfront. I’ve written out a potted history of The Falklands Gardens, and I’m going to have a go at it tomorrow morning (providing its not raining of course).

I might have to take my tripod with me, rather than the monopod.

I went out for a walk this morning. Now, I’m not telling you that because I am expecting be heaped with praise, it’s just the opening gambit for tonight’s post.

The thing is about the walk was that it was unexciting. Note that I’m not saying boring, because it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it if it were, there was nothing special about it, it was quite routine. There, I’ve got that out of the way.

I followed my usual route, with just a couple of minor variations (walking up to the Argos junction with Clarence Road rather than the cross ways,, and at towards the end of walk heading towards Asda’s where I needed to do a little bit of shopping.

There’s a quite biting easterly wind at the moment, so I was grateful for my nice thick jacket.

Apart from the Gosport Ferry, and a few small boats, the only unusual activity in the harbour were the group of five or six kayakers that came into. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, so we’re protected against the cold.

Not an exciting or boring walk, but enjoyable, so there you go. Actually, I was going to publish at that point, but it seemed a bit too dismissive. I should write a little bit about yesterday. Gosport Model Railway Club had an exhibition in the St Mary’s Community Hall. Not a big one, there were only five layouts on display but they were all good, and interesting and fun.

What was surprising was the most interesting display wasn’t American, or N-Gauge (the main focus of GMRC) and was entirely second hand. The young chap was very enthusiastic and keen to explain his set up, which he’d put a lot of effort into, with jokey things, like a couple of Daleks, and a car that had crashed into a tree, and a forklift truck that had picked up a police car, and a bank robbery. It was excellent, and he is clearly having a lot of fun with it.

There, that seems like a much better place to end.

I do like to keep an eye on the high street. I’m very concerned for its health, which really doesn’t seem very good. There are many closed shopping units, the market is really not very good. I don’t know what the footfall is like both at market time and in general.

I went in to town today, I’ve started compiling a list of what shops there are, what units are empty, and through various contacts the council , the web, speaking to people. I like to try and find out what’s going on.

I have no idea what could be done to improve things.

It’s the Whitonia – another of the bunkering ships. Haven’t seen her for a while.

Don’t worry I’m not thinking of leaving Locality Stories, it’s only for this post. I took a day off work today. Yes, because it’s Valentines Day, we didn’t do anything special, just had a bit of time together, and of course, car, flowers, meal out – in a pub we’d passed a number times, and said we must try it. I’m glad we did, because the food was delicious.

This morning Elayne went for coffee with friends in town, I took the opportunity to have a bit of a wander around town, something I don’t normally get a chance to do during the week..

I looked on how the bearing work was getting on, and what the state of the specsavers hole was, but none of that will anything to you unless you also read my Facebook posts, which is where my dilemma embodied in the title of today’s post comes from. Because I had every intention of doing a facebook post today, just didn’t get around to it.

I still want to do the FB post, but I don’t think I’ll do it typing in the morning and the evening is OK, doing both in the evening is a bit too much, so I’ll do one tomorrow. So not really a dilemma, just laziness on my part.

I passed my Amateur Radio Foundation Licence in 2016. That immediately gave me access to a number of facilities available to “Radio Hams” or just Hams. I bought a walky talky, actually a Baofeng – a Chinese built radio, for those “not in the know” these radios look more expensive than they really are, I’ve had people suggest £250, whereas in reality they are in the £15-£30 bracket depending on where and when you buy them. I’ve even had a friend give me one.

Going out for my morning walk back in 2016, I quickly found the Breakfast Club, this was a group of 4 or 5 regulars who were having a chat between 0615 – 0700 ish. At first, I was too shy to call in to the net, but it took only a few days for me to overcome that and introduce myself. I was made to feel very welcome and soon became a regular. I had my own little quirks, mainly the weather report from the end of the Haslar Marina Pier Wall and reporting on life and conditions in and around the Cockle Ponds.

The Breakfast Club ran very successfully from before the time I joined until around mid to late 2023. Unfortunately a few technical events caused the Breakfast Club to fold. But, Radio Amateurs are a determined and inventive bunch, and there is a good prospect of the club being reinvigorated, which would be very nice, and recent chats have shown that there are some exciting events that could come to fruition. That would be very nice.

Last night I finished Queen Elizabeths bedfellows. Naturally, the final moments of the book were around her death in 1603, and what happened. The description of the events were a tad off-putting, but are a matter of record, very detailed record.

I should now be moving on to King James (VI of Scotland, I of England) but I’ve not found the right book yet, or even made the decision to go straight to Charles I. This is the period that I have mainly been interested in, although I don’t think I’ll stop there with Pepys & Cromwell on the horizon.

In the meantime. I’ve moved forward a ways in time and have decided to read a book that I’ve been chomping at the bit to get at; Joshua Howgego’s The Meteorite Hunters. Actually, hunting for meteorites is quite easy, especially as there’s a pretty good chance you have some in your back garden (assuming you have one – the flat roof of a block of flats is even better). It’s finding the little so-and-so’s that’s the problem, think small (0.3mm would be quite big).

I’ve quite fancied doing some meteorite hunting myself. The main tool is a powerful magnet, and they are quite reasonably priced on Amazon. Shall we go hunting meteorites?