[olduser]

Another book I found interesting:

Unweaving the Rainbow by Richard Dawkins.

It serves to stir up the brain and keep it awake.

[Drivingforfun]

I always took an interest in "shorting". It's actually a massive risk ... when buying your potential gain is infinite and the most you can lose is 100% of your initial investment; but with shorting this is the opposite - the most you can gain is 100% (if the company goes bust) while your potential loss is infinite. There's the obvious ethical debates about having a financial interest in the failure of a company as well. Basically when "shorters" do get their pants pulled down no one has any sympathy, partly for justified reasons and partly not!!

[Rolebama]

I have bigger hands than most, and have trouble getting gloves to fit, so most often I end up buying fingerless. I just happened to be in Trespass this morning, and I not only found a pair of normal, fleece-lined gloves that fit, but I also found a decent pair of fingerless, I put the fingerless ones on when I left the shop, when my hands were already cold. Not only did they warm my hands, but somehow managed to warm my fingers. No more cold steering wheels, gear levers and handbrake handles.

[olduser]

Originally Posted by Drivingforfun

I always took an interest in "shorting". It's actually a massive risk ... when buying your potential gain is infinite and the most you can lose is 100% of your initial investment; but with shorting this is the opposite - the most you can gain is 100% (if the company goes bust) while your potential loss is infinite. There's the obvious ethical debates about having a financial interest in the failure of a company as well. Basically when "shorters" do get their pants pulled down no one has any sympathy, partly for justified reasons and partly not!!

Of course the people who are doing this (shorting) in the main are not using their own money.

[Drivingforfun]

@olduser

That leads onto another debate about paying bonuses as it often has a negative impact on returns because it incentivises managers to "load" all their profits into one year to get a bonus, even if this means making a loss in previous or subsequent years

Sadly I don't think you can take money off managers for causing a loss, it's probably illegal as would result in them being paid less than minimum wage? 😆

[olduser]

Originally Posted by Rolebama

I have bigger hands than most, and have trouble getting gloves to fit, so most often I end up buying fingerless. I just happened to be in Trespass this morning, and I not only found a pair of normal, fleece-lined gloves that fit, but I also found a decent pair of fingerless, I put the fingerless ones on when I left the shop, when my hands were already cold. Not only did they warm my hands, but somehow managed to warm my fingers. No more cold steering wheels, gear levers and handbrake handles.

Your warm fingers highlights one of the many odd ways our bodies work.

In effort to keep vital organs warm, when our skin or peripherals are cold we restrict blood flow to the cold area.*
We do have an internal temperature sensor but we don't have a heater, so lots of cold blood returning from a cold area would cause vital organs to cool.

Internal heating comes from burning fuel mostly in muscles.

Blood for fingers has to pass through hands, if blood flow to the hands is restricted then fingers will be cold.

*Blood flow is controlled by the constriction of blood vessels, blood vessels are made up of a blood proof liner then a layer of muscles and finally an outer layer as a cover.

[olduser]

Another interesting read;

I found this an interesting way of looking at government finances, it's available on Kindle.

The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton. How to build a better economy.

In short, what she is saying is that governments/country's that own a currency can never go bust!
If they are short of money they just issue more, where as, country's that use a currency have to buy more.

Whilst the book is written mainly for an American audience, it is applicable to other currency owning countries.

The author argues that since the Gold Standard* was dropped, a currency owning government, can just get its Central Bank (or it's equivalent) to wipe out a debt or deficit at the computer keyboard by creating more money!
After the 2008 bank crashes we have been doing this but calling it Quantitive easing, the BoE 'bought' worthless parcels of debt from the banks by transferring a credit to the banks concerned.

At one point in the book examining, where or what is a government deficit, she uses an interesting illustration of two buckets one holding the governments money and one bucket representing everyone else. The sum of both buckets is zero, the way governments traditionally work, whatever the government has must have come from the everyone else bucket. (keeping the net sum zero). It follows then, if the government has a deficit it must be in the everyone else bucket.

*Gold Standard, pre 1931 every £1 was supposed to be backed by £1 worth of gold so in theory you could take £1 note to the Bank of England and demand a £1 worth of gold.
This was dropped in the UK in 1931 America followed in 1934 with the $

[olduser]

I found Concorde By Mike Bannister a very good read, available on Kindle.

The book covers his career flying Concorde, and investigation of the crash, and the gradual revelation of the cause.

There is some flying and some technical stuff, very good.

[Drivingforfun]

It looks a bit technical for me but I'll have to recommend that to my uncle, @olduser, or maybe a Christmas present, he is quite hard to buy for but loves aircraft and is into flight simulators and all that stuff. His degree is engineering and he worked in aerospace but never got behind the controls, I never actually asked him why that never happened so I think I'll make a point of finding out next time he comes round!!

[olduser]

Another book Tornado by John Nichol available on Kindle.

The book covers the rescuing of Kuwait, and the Tornado's part in this, there is a lot of human stuff in the book.

The design concept of the Tornado (a cold war design) was to sneak in under the enemy's radar, bomb, and then sneak back out but it would appear no one thought you would only be able to do that once!
Next time the enemy would be ready.

The aircraft was good, it used a radar controlled auto pilot system capable of flying at 200 ft and lower at 300 - 600 MPH hands off, I am not sure I would have liked to do that at night.😳

Yet the navigational system was an Inertial system, which had to be programmed (using a tape cassette) for each flight, and would then sense any deviation's during flight and correcting for them, whilst the navigator had a list of waypoints used to update the system as they flew over them.

The aircraft systems could detect if it was being seen by the enemy radar or if missiles had locked on, the stress levels must have been very high, and yet after a mission they could ring home, it begins to make sense of PTSD in modern warfare.

[TC1474]

Originally Posted by olduser

Another book Tornado by John Nichol available on Kindle.

The book covers the rescuing of Kuwait, and the Tornado's part in this, there is a lot of human stuff in the book.

The design concept of the Tornado (a cold war design) was to sneak in under the enemy's radar, bomb, and then sneak back out but it would appear no one thought you would only be able to do that once!
Next time the enemy would be ready.

The aircraft was good, it used a radar controlled auto pilot system capable of flying at 200 ft and lower at 300 - 600 MPH hands off, I am not sure I would have liked to do that at night.😳

Yet the navigational system was an Inertial system, which had to be programmed (using a tape cassette) for each flight, and would then sense any deviation's during flight and correcting for them, whilst the navigator had a list of waypoints used to update the system as they flew over them.

The aircraft systems could detect if it was being seen by the enemy radar or if missiles had locked on, the stress levels must have been very high, and yet after a mission they could ring home, it begins to make sense of PTSD in modern warfare.

Totally agree with you, it was one I forgot to mention in my original post as I am a big fan of JN.

Another book of his worth a read is "Medic" The story of the military medic and how many battlefield procedures came into use in civilian medicine along with some amazing stories of bravery and how because of their bravery personnel who suffered some horrific injuries survived and went on to lead full lives.

[TC1474]

The book I am about to start reading is Unknown Warrior which is John Nichol's most recent book. I am really looking forward to this as I have only heard heart-warming and amazing reviews since it came out in October

[olduser]

I found this an eye opener - The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton.

The theme is, countries that own a currency e.g. UK, USA, Japan, Australia etc. are still budgeting as though their currencies are linked to a gold standard which most countries dropped in the 70's.
Whereas theses governments can payoff any amount of debt in their own currency just by sitting at a computer keyboard.

The Bank of England did this but called it Quantitative Easing.

I found it a very interesting read, and it certainly offers a different way of looking at a country's finance.

Two others that give a women's eye view of being in the RAF.

Chinook Crew Chick by Liz McConaghy

An Officer Not A Gentleman by Mandy Hickson

All three are available on Kindle, I payed 99p each.

[Drivingforfun]

The currency thing sounds interesting, Olduser. In lots of ways currencies only have value because people give them value, I sometimes think it was more risky in the days where every currency was tied to something else of which value is for the most part supposed?? Of course in some ways it's less risky as we'd all be in the same boat (if every single currency lost 90% of their value overnight it technically shouldn't affect global trade as relatively to each other nothing has changed) but it's kind of like everyone being insured by the same company?

[Rolebama]

Snow Foam.
My son-in-law and grandson told me they use it at work, and how good it is. The instructions talk about jet-wash and the like, but mine is buried at the back of the garage and I couldn't be bothered to dig it out. I used a pump-up garden spray to apply in 1:4 mix with water. Sprayed it on and left it for 10/15 mins. Used a big soft brush and clean water to rinse it off. Brilliant stuff and hardly any effort.
Forgot to mention, it's reasonably cheap too. Got a 5L bottle from EBay for £12.99.

[Drivingforfun]

@Rolebama I often see people using it and wondered if it's just fun covering your car in foam - it's useful to hear that it does a good job!

[Rolebama]

A workshop I used to work at used Groom Fabric Cleaner, that was good gear too. Frothed up like nobody's business. Haven't seen it for years.

[Drivingforfun]

Something maybe relevant for this thread ... 🤔

Bisodol

My granddad had half a stomach (technical term) after operations and other issues, and used to get chronic indigestion, he always carried a tube of these with him, I had one a couple of times and it did the job perfectly

They cost 29p a tube, none of the new indigestion relief often costing £5-15+ does the job so well

I wonder what happened to them

Saying they worked fine, I had no idea what they were, other than they tasted like eating chalk. It probably came out they have plutonium in them or something 😂

[olduser]

I am reading Logistics in the Falklands War by Kenneth L. Privratsky.

It's very interesting, it is an aspect of war not much written about, just how much stuff an army needs to fight, adding to the problem was the need for speed plus the distance involved.

[olduser]

Originally Posted by Drivingforfun

Something maybe relevant for this thread ... 🤔

Bisodol

My granddad had half a stomach (technical term) after operations and other issues, and used to get chronic indigestion, he always carried a tube of these with him, I had one a couple of times and it did the job perfectly

They cost 29p a tube, none of the new indigestion relief often costing £5-15+ does the job so well

I wonder what happened to them

Saying they worked fine, I had no idea what they were, other than they tasted like eating chalk. It probably came out they have plutonium in them or something 😂

Bisodol is still available it is an antacid.
Antacids are basically something to cancel out stomach acid, and often something to relax the stomach.
The acid control part is an alkali Calcium Carbonate (chalk) and for relaxation, Peppermint.

Today, if over production of stomach acid is a problem, (gastric hyperacidity) it is usual to prescribe Protein Pump Inhibitors (PPIs) or less potent, Histamine receptor blockers (H2-Blockers) both inhibit the production of stomach acid.

[Drivingforfun]

I always found it interesting that the "good" (speech marks optional) side often has to obey rules that the enemy doesn't, i.e. fight with one arm tied behind their back

Whether it's police having to follow extra rules that don't burden the wrongdoers, or army having to obey conventions that their enemy clearly aren't

[Rolebama]

I have just finished reading Michael Crichton's Prey. Basically it's about how nanotechnology can go wrong.

[Rolebama]

I just got home after spending the weekend with my daughters. The reason - my youngest convinced us to see the Pantaloons live show on a local green. It was absolutely brilliant. Very funny, brilliantly entertaining and well worth every penny. (£12 for a 2hr show.) There were children there, and they involved them too. I cannot recommend them highly enough. Their website is https://thepantaloons.co.uk/
We watched Robin Hood.

[TC1474]

I have just finished reading a book by Roland White (who also wrote Vulcan 607) called into the Black.

It is the story of the Space Shuttle from inception to first flight with Columbia and is a fascinating read as well as a real eye opener.

Really recommended, and it is certainly as good as Vulcan 607 which you may recall I also recommended.

[TC1474]

Another brilliant book I have not long finished is Arnhem by John Nichol who I will admit is probably my favourite author.

He tells the story of Market Garden in detail, and it is actually a pleasant surprise how accurate the film "A Bridge Too Far" is, but it covers the men on the ground, it tells their story the para's accounts and what they suffered and makes you appreciate what the locals also went through.

If you like historical and factually accurate accounts told in an easy to digest way, then you will love this.

[Drivingforfun]

I was going to write that these kinds of books sound a bit like my memories of talking to my granddads, but realised my grandparents always spoke reluctantly, and the books tend to be enthusiastic - whether first-person or not. I wonder which is more realistic?? I'm aware both sides are likely to be both liberal and economical with certain aspects their storytelling, but for entirely different reasons...

[TC1474]

@Drivingforfun
I have always found with John Nichol, his books are seriously researched and when you read the credits the list goes on and on, but more importantly he has spoken to many that were there before they passed away and so many of the accounts and stories he tells are first hand recollections.

He has a vested interest given his experience in the Gulf War which is why his first book "Tornado Down" is a riveting and frightening read in many ways, and he extends that same level of detail to the stories of conflicts that have gone before.

There is nothing liberal or held back with his books, he tells it how it is, warts and all.

The same with Into the Black. The research that has gone into that book to provide the level of detail is amazing and he had full co-operation from NASA and those that worked there.

It is easy to be cynical, but with these 2 authors they tell it as it is with the attention to detail that brings these stories to life because they speak to those that were there on the ground floor and at the front of the queue.

[Drivingforfun]

@TC1474

I understand what you mean, I think. Like you say it's easy to be cynical, I suppose that's testament to what these people went through... stuff most people couldn't comprehend so a response is to assume it's slightly inaccurate. I've read a few bits in the past that my reaction was optimistic denial, then when you later realise it's spot on it sends more of a shiver than when first reading it

I know different things touch different people but for me it's often a seemingly unrelated detail that will impact on me most... things you perhaps wouldn't think to make up. Immature but I remember as a teenager looking through the Holocaust exhibition noting only about 1/4 of the survivors had their hands covering their crotch... not relevant in isolation but something that emphasised they'd reached the point where being able to care about that level of dignity didn't even cross their minds

[Rolebama]

When in Germany, I lived in the barracks used by the SS Batallion that guarded Belsen. The memorial was at the end of the garrison, where the concentration camp used to be. My first visit there was pure curiosity, and it was very surreal to me. As in, how could this happen to so many? My second visit, a couple of months later, was more of a quest to answer my own question. Obviously, I couldn't as I don't think my brain could handle it.

[olduser]

Originally Posted by Rolebama

When in Germany, I lived in the barracks used by the SS Batallion that guarded Belsen. The memorial was at the end of the garrison, where the concentration camp used to be. My first visit there was pure curiosity, and it was very surreal to me. As in, how could this happen to so many? My second visit, a couple of months later, was more of a quest to answer my own question. Obviously, I couldn't as I don't think my brain could handle it.

Yes, it is impossible to grasp mans inhumanity to man, the first and second wars were fought with part of the motivation being, it would be the last war but some how, the human race never get's the message?

But I remember reading some research with dogs, they were kept in a large compound isolated from humans, and it took one generation for them to revert to wolves.

Another piece of research about inflicting pain.
One group of people were told if they pressed the button on their desk someone in another room would get a painful shock, they had loud speakers to here the ,'victims' pain.

The second group had a light and microphone on their desks, and were told to imagine, when the light was on, the worst pain they could remember, and make appropriate noises.

Of course the buttons of the first group worked the lights of the second group, and the microphones connected to the loud speakers.
The two groups did not know of each other.

The first group were given instructions when to press their buttons, many were reluctant at first but soon they were mostly happy to press and listen to the pain while some started unprompted pressing.
In the early stages (to encourage button pressing) they were told of, 'crimes' the victims, 'may' have committed. (no smoke without fire or in a motoring context no rust without water?🙂)

When I think of the button pressers I think of social media!