(It’s not quite as weird as it seems. Today there was a parade for Lewes Democracy Day, which has an American Revolutionary flavour to it. Here’s a photo of the parade about to start. The house to the right explains the American connection.
j)
No pics, but I saw a group of anti-Trump protesters along the road in town today. It gave me a twinge of patriotism!
I saw this asinine T-shirt today:
I put the dogs out late, and since I had to shut my water off to the house for “reasons” went out with them to take a leak.
Looked up and saw an amazing Milky Way display. Nearly fell over backwards.
Might be neuropathy.
The Big Boy came back through this way today, flanked by the Goodyear Blimp. Before, it was officially on tour and going slow so folks could get a good view, but this time, it was booking it at cruising speed to get back to its home. My mom wasn’t able to make this one, but my railfan uncle did, so I’m glad of that.
Which suggests that the blimp / locomotive rendezvous was rather brief. Hooray for anyone who was in the right place and time to catch the juxtaposition.
Why? Their speeds aren’t too different, both in the vicinity of 45-60 MPH.
Flying things can easily be much faster than you think.
Good correction, thank you.
Upon further review …
The traditional Goodyear blimps from the 1960s to 2000s were true blimps and slower, able to reach 50+ mph but happier around 40. Those were the machines I was thinking of.
In the 2010s Goodyear has switched to semi-rigid airships made by Zeppelin in Germany. These are faster, able to cruise at 70mph. Which info surprised me, but there it is.
The original Big Boys were supposedly able to reach 80mph flat out, so doubtless cruised slower than that in their heyday. Wiki suggests the current cruise speed of the last restored operational Big Boy 4014 is 40-60mph.
So yeah, compatible speeds. In fact the airship can, no wind, outrace the loco.
And today we saw… a regatta. Zoom in to see the action.
No, it’s not the most thrilling thing you’ll ever see, but… quite interesting. This is Worthing, more or less due south of London. The various rowing clubs taking part were camped up on the shingle under gazebos, with the club flag flying overhead. So it was all very jolly.
As you can id the club from the flag, I can report that the longest journey to take part that we noted was Folkestone Rowing Club. Google tells me that the best route is 105 miles. That’s a fair distance to haul some pretty heavy kit.
j
Neat. My school is pretty dominant in rowing. Unfortunately only one of their events each year is local, but I always make sure to go to that one.
The pattern the foam left in the cup after I finished my mocha:
I saw a random lazy-boy style chair on the side of the road, a fairly busy road, and the chair was in the break-down lane next to a guard rail.
It probably stank. (30 second video)
Does visiting random places via Google maps and Street View count?
State Line Road between Ohio and Indiana, just north of the Maumee River.
Delicious drips and glass peppers:
That looks like something you’d find in the game The Witness.
Well, I wish I had a picture of my sighting this morning. I was driving to work along a winding road that looks out onto Lake Superior. The road is built into the hill, so there is a steep drop-off in some areas. These areas have metal railings along the shoulder of the road. They look like a handrail, not a highway rail. I just happened to look over as I went around a curve and saw this: A woman, anywhere from 20-40 years old, wearing a bright red dress and a pig mask with golden wings on the side of her head, wielding a sword or a large stick of some sort. She had one foot on the bottom rung of the handrail while she hit the top rung over and over again with her “sword”. It looked like a scene from American Horror Story!
This could also go in “Today In Nature…” I guess. Seen a couple of days ago, actually:
It’s a real thing. On Valentia Island, just off the coast of Kerry, you can relax on a bed which is essentially a box of bees with a cover on it..
j