winds in a black sky

Excellent

Wonderful capture!

This is quite extraordinary, the dramatic lighting (which was certainly real and not dingyfication) being an example of the sort of luck that a photographer has, if he's lucky, once in a lifetime, and which, despite the length of mine, I've never quite had, and which alas, today, it's all too easy to fake. But if I'd happened to be there yesterday, before sunset, I could (if it's not since been ruined by Blatavnik) have taken a similar shot.

Photographic club evenings are a bit boring (perhaps if one has been a member for any time and has got to know the other members, they're a social occasion of sorts and a bit more fun) but there's another camera club in Ealing which I'm going to try tomorrow evening.

Deaf people shout (perhaps because unconsciously they think that those they're speaking to will shout back) and people who are bored, lonely or depressed talk too much because unconsciously they think that those they're speaking to will talk to them.

It was also a once-in-a-lifetime chance to take this beautiful 1904 house across the road, before it was demolished, along with the pink roses, and replaced with a regressive pride flag displayed on an ugly glass carbuncle.



Are you saying that you're bored, lonely and depressed?

I don't need to, clearly.

That was just the prelude.

I've spent most of the last 3 days in bed with (despite having had the jabs against both) influenza, Covid or both, and have had good reason to feel sorry for myself. (I've been looking for a music clip of #Da da darr, da da da darr...#" played on a violin).

What does that say about the jabs?

That they cause the diseases they're designed to prevent
or
That they simply don't work
or
That they work better on some individuals than others
or
That they work but, without preventing infection completely, reduce its effects
or
That they're effective only with certain variants of the viruses (and not the one I have).

I'm not qualified to say. Nor can I turn the clock back, not have the jabs, and see what difference if any that would have made.

Or it could be that they genetically alter the immune system in a way that could make some people more prone to other diseases, as well as developing clots in their blood vessels.

Amongst my own limited acquaintance, I've met a number of people who claim to have had covid, sometimes several times, whilst being fully jabbed against it.. Whereas I do not know any unjabbed person who has had it.

I recall having an exceptionally severe cold in November 2019, before the "pandemic" was generally known about, and I stayed at home for the duration. This might have been covid and, if so, I expect to have developed natural immunity.

I did not have ANY covid jabs and did not comply with any of the government shenanigans, such as wearing masks, standing on circles, or keeping six feet apart. I went outside whenever I felt like it, including taking a long bus trip to Devon and back.

I do not know if I caught covid during that period, because I never submitted myself to any tests, but assume that I didn't, because I didn't develop any symptoms. I was more worried by the threat of forced vaccination, which thankfully never happened, though could still do so if the WHO gets control of our country.

I cannot put this to Dame June Raine because she didn't respond to my last email Christmas card, from which I gather that my association with the MHRA has now passed into history, and she's probably the only one from Shirley's time who's still there.

All I want to hear for the moment is a violin, because I'm feeling very sorry for myself. Having been ill for 4 days I had expected to be better by today, but still have a temperature and feel horrible. At least I could go out this morning to do some essential shopping and speak with a pharmacist. The advice I was given was that unless one is in close contact with a vulnerable person it's no longer mandatory to test for Covid or to wear a mask, and unimportant whether it's Covid or another type of chest infection because the outcome is similar, and one should only see a doctor if the symptoms get worse or persist for more than 2 weeks. Thank goodness, at least, I didn't commit to going to India again this month.

Your flat is probably well-insulated and your fuel bills should reflect it.

Sorry, I'm a bit lost here. I didn't know who June Raine was until I looked her up just now, and I still don't understand the reference to sending her a Christmas card, or what this has to do with the topic under discussion.

I don't have any experience of man-colds, which I'm led to believe are so much worse than the female variety, so I'm probably not the best person to offer sympathy. I do, however, have an ancient violin (legacy from Eric's brother) and would gladly send you a recording, but for the fact that I don't know how to play it.

My flat is well insulated by the fact that it's off the ground and surrounded by other flats, with only two sides open to the elements. So it's probably warmer than a detached house in Ealing.

A few years ago, my patio door fell off and shattered into a million pieces (I didn't count them, but it was like snow out there). So I now have a brand-new double-glazed door, which cuts out the draughts and obviates the need for my extra-long snake, Winston, who was rescued from a skip at Bladon. Then my front door fell off and I got them to fit the new one as close to the floor as possible, with draughts further excluded by my short snake, Bonzo, and a thick hallway curtain, which I found draped over a railing outside the OUP.

But none of this has any effect on my fuel bills, as I NEVER use my central heating, and the gas boiler comes on just once a day to heat the water, winter and summer alike.

It was Dr Raine, CEO of the MHRA, who appeared on British television in 2020 when the Pfizer and later the Astrazeneca vaccines were licenced in the UK, to read an official statement that they had been subjected to full and thorough clinical evaluation and were effective and safe. She and I kept in touch at Christmas because Shirley was officially her deputy and Dr Raine inter alia gave the eulogy at her funeral.

You're lucky to live in a warm and draught-free flat and still receive your winter fuel allowance. Best of all worlds.

One day I'll introduce my sausage dog draft excluder to Winston and Bonzo.

That explains it then, as I don't watch British television and didn't follow any of the vaccine propaganda. I suppose people in the limelight have to streamline their Christmas card lists once in a while, but there's nothing to stop you sending a non-Christmas email if there's something you want to know. But can you still trust her judgment after the later revelations?

I'm very lucky to have such a nice flat. I wouldn't call it warm when I don't have a fireplace, but it's not freezing either, and I manage alright with thermal vests and a fleece over my knees.

I thought the winter fuel allowance had been stopped by Stasi Starmer.

Winston arrived in my flat because of a lucky mistake, when I went to visit Churchill's grave and got off at the Begbroke roundabout in error. I took a footpath across to Bladon, which brought me out at the top of a residential road that I wouldn't otherwise have visited, and there was Winnie with his head sticking out from a pile of rubble!

I'd discuss it with the MHRA if I could, but as I say, apart from the CEO herself, there's no one there today who'd remember Shirley, less still me. And after all this time for me to approach the CEO directly would be presumptuous. If I had concerns on my own behalf, my GP would be the place to start, but one way or the other it's too late, as I've had the jabs. On top of everything, half of one of my front teeth has just broken off, and if I've got Covid I won't be able to go to the dentist...

You will get your winter fuel allowance because you still qualify, regardless of whether or not you need it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u9oZ4PEnao

also

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HPpWelo1ro

Perhaps you should read the comments beneath that first link.
The second one had the comments switched off.

1. GPs are expected to tout the jab and get paid for doing it, so probably not the best people to advise you. And like as you said, you've had it now, so nothing can be done about it.

2. Sorry about your tooth. If not painful, it can probably wait till you're better.

3. If I had a chimney and a fireplace, I'd spend it on a ton of coal.

I have read them, but do not believe for one minute that, as insinuated, Dr Raine was lying. She's always been uncomfortable speaking on camera and her body language reflects that, and that alone. Shirley was her obvious successor as Director of the MHRA's Post-Licencing (VRMM) Division, but for her the stress of having to make broadcasts would have made the job impossible.

I am not a pharmacologist and don't know all the facts, but understand that clinical trials, even when carried out according to the book, have their limitations and that with complex medicines, not all adverse effects will be manifest at the outset. In fact it's the very purpose of the VRMM Division to monitor these over a longer period and among a wider population. Also that there are ongoing challenges with new virus variants.

But despite the hearsay and anecdotal evidence to the contrary, I believe that for the population as a whole, the UK-licensed vaccines have been beneficial.

The broken tooth doesn't hurt it but looks ghastly, and I must have (if nothing more) a temporary repair ASAP.

If you want to do your bit for global warming, keep a CO2 cylinder (normally bought by pubs to re-carbonise draft beer and soft drinks) in your flat and let out the gas slowly. Allow some oxygen to remain, though. It will also benefit any indoor plants that you have.

Vaccines in general, maybe, but not the covid vaccine, which appears to have had no benefit for the population, but plenty for Big Pharma and the WEF.

Interesting video on vaccine safety:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbXkIXTaH7o

Beyond Blame with Dr. Tim Kelly
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqyuyYI_6oY

My temperature has been normal for over 24 hours, so it's looking unlikely to have been the prelude to something more lasting and sinister. But I'm still speaking in Flemish, and my voice is so croaky that you can hear the wooden mallets and balls.

But on Thursday evening I grilled a pack of chicken thighs, and ate two that evening. All good. But in my feverish state, after dinner I forgot that the rest were still on the grill pan, and when I discovered them there a day later (by when they'd spent 24 hours at room temperature) because of my aversion to wasting food, instead of throwing them away, I ate three of them cold, there and then. Although that was 16 hours ago, the consequences could still be diarr.

I'm booked to go to the Lake District on Friday. That's not looking too promising; the forecast is very poor and according to a snippet in today's paper, Autumn colours (apart from the creeper on the Bull Inn) this year are almost non-existent. So although 2024 had so far been a good one for pictures, it's likely to go out with a whimper.

If it's as cold in your house as you've previously said, then the thighs are unlikely to have gone off, though I question whether grilling is a suitable way to cook them. But what do I know?

In addition to your croak, are you whistling through your dental gap? A trip to the Lakes might take your mind off your cold, and damp leaves can sometimes be more colourful.

It's only cold in this house during very cold weather for which the capacity of the 60-year-old radiators is inadequate. The rest of the time, it's a comfortable temperature, but to keep it that way (even though the radiators in the rooms I don't use are off) my gas bills are horrific. That may be because the insulation is poor, that my 15-year-old boiler is inefficient, or both.

It's now 20 hours since I ate the leftover chicken, so I've probably got away with it. Food poisoning normally manifests within 12 hours.

I hope that the dentist will treat it as an emergency, big job that it will be, because it's embarrassingly unsightly. I at least don't have to travel all the way to Plymouth.

My only hope is that up North, Autumn will have begun earlier, and that there'll be some colour, whether damp or not.

Nothing to stop you wearing a mask or balaclava.

Changing the subject, I have just watched this excellent video.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty8w9cPpYJU

Masks tend to be a bit awkward at mealtimes.

Grilling is the best way to cook chicken. It cooks more evenly than frying and allows the outer surface to go crisp. Whole chickens have to be boiled or oven-baked. Spicy, oriental chicken has to de-skinned and boned, then cut into pieces and then boiled in a special way, but that's something else.

I'll take your word for it. How are the omelettes coming on?