BOB has the right idea

When I was tiny, I remember people were surprised to see a car that more than 5 years old, let lone 10.

Almost nobody, other than car enthusiasts had heard of rustproofing, let alone underselling, and if you wanted that sort of thing, then it was a case of getting your old rags on, buying tins of what looked, and stuck, like tar, and lying under your car with brushes you were never going to use again.

Sad to say, it was probably largely a waste of time, as most cars had run around with big salt poultices stuck to them during their first British winter, so the damage was done, and just being sealed in, especially in seams and box sections, and anywhere that had a stone chip.

Things changed, and no carmaker can afford NOT to rustproof AND offer 10-year warranties.

Especially where model year variants are subtle, I’m regularly surprised to find the cars behind the personalised registrations I check are not only 15 years, or more, old, but the vehicles often look like they’re not that long out of the showroom.

Take BOB, for example.

This pic’s been unseen for a decade, but when I wondered what BOB 189B had been attached to 10 years later, was slightly surprised to see it was still living on this black 2009 Audi A4 😊

It’s relatively rare to find anyone keeping the same car for so long nowadays, and I’m used to finding I’ve missed my chance regarding details if I don’t check at the time I catch the plate, as it usually moves every few years, or even less for some people, who seem to change their car depending on which way the wind’s blowing.

Then there’s the company car, still not killed off by ‘The Government’, and leasing, meaning changes every 2 or 3 years depending on company policy.

However, I still prefer BOB’s mindset.

I forgot

I’m not sure if my memory is as bad as I think, or if I’m just not as ready to lie as some people are when THEY forget.

I’d even been looking for a nice example from one of my ‘bad days’ as an excuse to use this meme, just for fun, when a genuine example arrived.

I really can forget what I’m doing while I’m doing it, but there is a reason – and it’s simply that what I’m doing might happen to remind me of something I have to do, and I start thinking about it. The danger of that being if it’s something that needs to be thought about, then that’s what I do – at the expense of what I’m in the middle of doing already.

Recently, I came across a clearance sale of rechargeable lithium-ion AA and AAA cells, crucially, NOT the type that are just normal rechargeable lithium-ion cells manufactured to the dimensions of AA and AAA cells, but the more recent innovation which includes individual charges and buck circuits inside so they can provide 1.5 V DC, rather than the usual 3.7 – 4.2 V from such cells.

While I’m perfectly happy with my collection of NiMH cells, and they power most of my AA and AAA toys (unless they HAVE to use a traditional chemical cell – never use alkaline, they will LEAK and kill your goodies, especially if you forget them), there are some that will NOT operate from the NiMH voltage of about 1.2 V on load, and DEMAND the full 1.5 V of a traditional cell – and these active lithium-ion cells are just the job.

However…

With a mixture of options, you have to be careful what you use and where you use it.

Most are obvious. The standard chemical cells are fairly easy, and nearly all live in the same type of device, and their end of life is obvious, and usually spotted the same day the cell dies.

Previously, everything else had been easy, since it would, by default, be NiMH.

Not so with the new lithium-ion option ☹

These end up in my more demanding goodies, mostly not in continuous use. I’m also using these cells in devices where I want to find out if they’re better in use than NiMH.

I THOUGHT I was being careful and conscientious – but learnt that wasn’t the case.

I ‘lost’ four of them, until I realised I’d thrown them in my bike lights one night, just to see how they looked, then forgot all about them as I hadn’t really been planning to go cycling, but for a change in the icy weather (to not icy).

That prompted an audit, since I noticed I still had empty space in my cell storage box.

That was some weeks ago now, and I have to admit that I’ve managed to lose TWO AAA cells, with not the slightest clue where they might be.

I now wander around the house looking for something that uses AAA power that I might have forgotten about, and can’t understand where they’ve gone. After all, I must have fitted them to something battery powered that I use, and on that basis should be using it at some point, and should therefore find them.

But, no, and I’ve even resorted to digging up stuff I seldom, or no longer use, just to check the battery compartments – which are always empty, since I don’t want to lose anything to battery leak corrosion.

NOPE

Well, that didn’t work.

The ploy of writing a post often triggers something, just to make the post redundant.

Not this time 😢

STILL have the slightest idea where those missing AAs are.

But I’m sure they’re laughing at me from their little hideout.

When EV charging stations were ‘strange’

This was interesting, to me at least, and comes from a time when it was unusual to see an EV charging station, and still worth posting about.

This one was spotting during a crawl of the backstreets of Uddingston, and was supposed to be posted when it was taken, about 10 years ago, but seems to have slipped through a crack in the space-time continuum, only to reappear now.

It’s still there, after all those years.

And some were saying they would never catch on.

😇

London Road cycle lane parking, endorsed, or fined?

This is an old(ish) pic which raised a question I was scared to ask, lest I be classified as a ‘Cycling Activist’.

At the time, I was there quite often, and found (on match days, which I somehow managed to travel on, despite trying to avoid) the cycle lane blocked by lines of coaches on this side, and supporters’ cars on the other, where there is a supporters’ club.

Apart from the cycle lane aspect, there’s now the recently introduced pavement parking ban to consider, as the narrowness of the cycle lane means both coaches and cars are on the pavement.

I’m just curious about the enforcement of these laws/rules (which can be found described in The Highway Code), and their use, if any.

I believe the statistics are published on Government (and maybe Police) websites, but I’ve never had much luck finding specific numbers, and what I do find is usually old, as it seems to take some time for them to be published.

This is when I think it would be handy to have a media contact, as they seem to be able to get more recent data.

Given the law/rules mentioned, I’m left wondering how it applies to those coaches in particular, given it looks as if they are told where to park by the police. They’re often parked nose to tail (to save space?), meaning it’s impossible for any but the end coaches to leave.

They wouldn’t be giving them instruction to park somewhere that was in contravention of applicable parking laws/rules, would they?

Just a thought 🤔

Original Ayr Town Hall Stage Entrance sign

It was nice to finally get all the way into Ayr’s Town Hall earlier this year, and see the stage together with the organ.

Not so sure about the councillors though 😜

Then again, this was Comic Con.

I was beginning to think the only way I’d get in there would be to splash the cash and go to one of Aaron Hawthorne’s superb recitals (which we get for free in Glasgow).

I have to confess I’ve been looking at this sign for the Stage Door for so long I barely notice it.

The Town Hall is behind the camera.

Sad to say, it seems I’m a tad late to the old one, which is weathered and peeling, but is still a remarkable survivor.

The top line is missing the second word, and some present day vandal has placed a modern sign over the lower wording – hard to guess what it was, from the single letter ‘S’.

There is no more to the right – I had to crop the right part of the image as it was just overexposed bright white sky.

The sign is located on the right-hand wall of Police Close, as seen below.

A number of Ayr’s closes have been given descriptive plaques, including Police Close, and this one is mounted opposite the old sign, on the left-hand wall.

Project Yuk 2025

Project Yuk

The project continues, and I got the year right this time 😉

I don’t know how many times I got this wrong in the past, tagging the posts with the current year because that’s when I was writing the post, but the content belonged to the previous year 😞

Paltry result

2025 wasn’t very ‘productive’.

There wasn’t much vacuuming done. While I’d admit to a certain degree of lethargy last year, the fact that I couldn’t reach most of the floor for most of the year was probably a bigger factor to collecting only 0.975 kg of Yuk.

On a positive note, I no longer seem to find lost stuff in this jungle, so I must be becoming more careful.

I was trying to clear out stuff and reduce some of the clutter before I get anywhere near the sort of scenes seen in the chronic hoarding programs seen on TV, or the heiress who suffocated under the weight of a huge pile of newspapers, toppled by her murderer in the recent airing of a classic Taggart episode (title escapes me, of course, and I can’t identify it).

Fortunately, I’ve still got clear floors, but when I offload collected goodies from shelves, they occupy that floor space, and I can’t get to it with a vacuum cleaner.

I lost another chunk of floor space after following advice to keep (cleaned) plastic containers from various food purchases. They’re surprisingly useful, and daft to throw away given their cost and the fact that I paid for them – they are NOT ‘free’ with whatever they contained!

But they ARE free when used as storage/parts containers when working on stuff – and the price of actual storage containers has become horrendous, now that the ‘Craft Shop’ have discovered they can charge a small fortune for them, and crafters seem to be happy to pay.

Unfortuantley, they do take up space ☹

Daldowie Doocot – January 2026 update

I noted the sale of the Daldowie Doocot site recently:

Development at the Daldowie Doocot?

When I passed a few days ago, the For Sale sign was still in place, but there had been considerable changes around the structure.

Although I’d passed the place a few time in recent weeks, I hadn’t really been able to see what was going on as it was always close to midnight, and the place doesn’t have any lighting, other than what falls from nearby street lights.

However, someone HAS been busy.

The first obvious change was the removal of a nearby wooded area, with the trees felled and stacked for removal, while the area of the former doocot car park was levelled, and aligned with the land around the doocot.

In this view, the former car park entrance is just out of sight, at the end of the wall leading to the right.

Previous posts noted limited success in preventing dumpers from using the car park for fly tipping (mostly by cowboy builder) who had variously rammed the lock gate, then removed it with a chainsaw to gain access, and continue to fill it with building waste.

The new owners seem to have taken a more serious approach to keeping them out.

Clearance extended to many of the trees that lined the site along Hamilton Road, from which it had become impossible to see the doocot.

Now, the view of the structure is virtually clear – I haven’t been able to see it like this for years.

Note the formerly landscaped area has been cleared and levelled, while a decorative stone wall and path around the doocot have gone.

Fairly fresh vandalism of the structure can be seen.

I did take a detailed pic, but won’t include it as I don’t want to provide the scum the chance of seeing the pic, and using to boast to their mates “I DID THAT”.

The view from the other side.

This makes the loss of the stone wall and path around the doocot more obvious.

Back in 2018

Daldowie doocot

I doubt the remains of the commentative stone originally laid in that path were preserved, and were just pulled up with the rest, and skipped.

Daldowie Doocot Ground Plaque

Oh look – a moron without its mates

I have to confess to forgetting most of the detail that should go along with this pic.

However, as it was taken just before Christmas, and I didn’t want to offend the charitable (gullible?) types that might have seen the post and complained, or rose to the moron’s defence, I put it in a safe place, where I knew I would come across it later – so, this is later.

The pic isn’t great, mainly because I’ve never considered, or even tried, to take pics of speeding objects under low light conditions. In this case I heard/saw this irritating individual approaching, and just grabbed the camera and started shooting. As you can see, by the time it had decided it had stable focus and exposure, ‘Speedy’ was well past.

There were some more exposures, but my panning hadn’t matched his speed.

This idiot is usually one of four, and travels with another bike, and both tend to have a passenger on the rear, but the way they’re balanced on the bikes makes it look as if they are single rider only.

One is electric, while the other is petrol, and seems to have no silencer, or rear plate.

They also travel without lights, and dress in black – how they’ve not been ‘collected’ by some unfortunate driver is beyond me.

A few hours before I took this pic just before Barrachnie lights, I’d spotted then at Shettleston’s Killin Street lights, committing a number of offences – on top those suggested above. Not to worry, though – I wouldn’t be the least surprised to learn none of these riders are even old enough to hold a licence, so they’re not going to be lifted. Unless they get deferred penalties, which I’ve heard of, and are applied once they are old enough.

They arrived at the red traffic lights, both with passengers, and threaded their way between the waiting cars already there, and looked as if they were going to stop in front of them.

Instead, one of the bikes carried on through the red light and crossed the junction, while the other left the road and mounted the pavement at the pedestrian crossing and carried on along the footpath.

Before I had even left the junction, he returned, minus passenger, and carried on to follow the other bike.

The pics not really good enough to enhance, but why not, just for fun.

That might be a helmet, or just the usual black balaclava hiding his face – I’m not sure now.

I think this is the e-bike.

What looks like a red rear light isn’t, and is somewhere forward of the rear wheel, and seems to be an indictor for the battery pack. I don’t think it can be seen from behind, like be a driver coming across this. In any case, there was no front light.

Update

As noted, I see these idiots regularly.

Heading home from a walk to the shops in Baillieston one night, one of my ‘friends’ above came up Huntingtower Road, near Bannerman School, and just carried on, turning left into Glasgow Road without slowing down or stopping at the junction, straight into traffic.

I was surprised the driver of the car he emerged in front of didn’t react.

But for the poor sod that might collect, or even kill one of them, I wish there would be some incident, and it might prompt something be done.

They’re not alone, and there are media stories, often about the removal, or disabling, of the limiters legally required on these bikes.

I even managed to get to the last line, before mentioning meeting them in the dark on my pedal powered bike.

NOT NICE!

I was the only one with front and rear lights, and reflective clothing.

They don’t give a damn about anyone in their way.

😩

Oh look! A random chem… SORRY, contrail

It’s not often I take a pic I don’t find myself agonising over the processing of.

There was a satirical comedy film (The Big Bus I think) where one of the characters was nicknamed ‘Shoulders’, because of his history of driving buses into the shoulder of the road.

I seem to have a similar affliction, but involves not holding the camera level, or ‘normal’, to the plane of the scene, meaning the verticals and horizontals end up at silly angles, and there is always some sort of perspective I have to fix.

I wouldn’t mind so much, but they often STILL come that way even when I remember to take care over this, and they looked fine in the viewfinder before I took the pic 😩

Actually, having started to analyse some of these pics, it seems it’s not all my fault, and the perspective of the scene, when seen within the frame of the pic, as opposed to being seen by the eye in real life, changes completely when seen in isolation.

This was purely a test pic, for my own satisfaction, captured in a series of shots after I happened to glance up into the sky and saw this near horizon to horizon high altitude contrail.

I had to grab it, as I’d been suffering some frustration in recent cold nights, where I had spotted the same thing as a ghostly trail in the night sky, but couldn’t even try to capture it as it was so dark, and the difference between the contrail (again, horizon to horizon) was almost too subtle to see. This would have needed a true extreme wide angle lens to capture. Even this it would probably not have been possible, as these always seemed to pass directly overhead, so a fisheye would probably have been the only way.

Back to this daylight one, and I really didn’t know the best way to catch it. In the past I’ve tried to catch extreme (near 180°) views, only to find the orientation of the camera caused issues with the final image stitching, due to distortion. In this case, I tried what I thought took the most linear set of images, and it seemed to work.

I was only looking at the contrail, and not bothered about filling in the unrelated areas – but it would have been nice to have had the tree. However, at the time I was too busy cursing it, for getting in the way of the contrail I was trying to catch.

I did try to make the software render the contrail as a straight line – let’s just say that’s not how you see it in reality, you only the straight section in your field of view and can’t see what the rest looks like, and that effort was definitely NOT pleasing to the eye.

I REALLY hate my Scottish weather some days

This is a characteristic of Scotland’s weather that people either choose to ignore, or are fortunate enough not to live with its effects…

Condensation caused by dew point when cold weather quickly turns to warm – or perhaps I should better describe it as ‘Less Cold’ 🥶

I get hit with this fairly frequently, when cold weather suddenly decides to invert itself, and swing upwards by anything up to +10℃, or more, overnight, or within a few hours.

Looking at some of the temperature charts I post around this time of year, it can be seen that the dew point is often only about 3℃ less than the actual temperature, so anything that possesses a significant thermal mass will lag the prevailing temperature rise, be at or below the current dew point, and end up covered with running condensation.

I was out in my garage, obviously unheated, where I have a hydraulic reservoir for a pneumatic/hydraulic pump I need to clean and service, after it was flooded with water that filled the tank and forced out most of the hydraulic fluid, while I wasn’t looking, of course.

There’s no drain on the reservoir, which will therefore need to pumped out, but that’s not going to happen until spring, or more likely summer.

It’s been dripping condensation all over the place for two days, and it’s lucky I happened to sit it on some old newspaper, originally to catch the oil and muck that was coming off the sides.

But

While I’m not worried about the reservoir, it’s saturated inside and out with hydraulic fluid, so the condensation isn’t going to cause it any problems.

I’m more worried about those ‘Foo Fighters’ seen against the dark background of the tank in the last pic.

They’re not on the tank, but appeared as the camera was focussing and setting the exposure – and should obviously NOT be there!

😩

Daldowie Crematorium sunset, but…

I’ve become slightly fascinated by a number of sunset pics I’ve seen posted recently.

They’re often excellent pics, but the photographers never seem to include any comments about editing or processing their images, which makes me wonder.

I’ve only grabbed a handful of such views, usually after seeing an impressive view, but…

When I get home and review them – no impressive view. In fact, the last one I took from Bowling – well, it looked terrible. While I saw an impressive orange sky and shadowed hills, all I seemed to bring home was a nasty brown sky view, not worth a second look.

I did try throwing some filters at it, but nothing I tried seemed to make it look any better.

I tried again, after first noticing a high altitude jet leaving a contrail, then seeing another of those nice sunset skies above Daldowie Crematorium.

As usual, when I got home and review the days’ collection, the sunset wasn’t there, with only a bland, near colourless sky to be seen.

Attempts to improve the colour seemed to produce the same dull result, with little improvement, but this time I remembered finding a new filter, which had produced a good result in some other (Christmas light) images, even though I didn’t really have a clue about what it did, or how to apply it.

Since it couldn’t make this worse, I decided to go find that filter again, and have some random tries, in order to see what could do.

It did start to make some sense after poking around an abundance of new, to me, options, and decided to stop messing around after I came up with the result below (complete with jet about to exit pic right), from an original with a near pale sky, and almost no clouds, that had produced little more colour when I applied the usual RGB boosting.

The one thing it has convinced me of is that those great sunset sky pics are taken by cameras worth more than my pay grade, or filter/processing is being used and quietly forgotten.

This nameless is weird though, producing a huge change in the image histogram, but which does not have the same detrimental effect as I find happens to the image if I manually alter the exposure to produce a similar histogram.

🤔