To those who celebrate Christmas, religiously or secularly or both, I hope you have a joyous time with much good cheer. For those who do not, I wish you well. And for those for whom this time is difficult, for memory or circumstance or whatever, I hope there is comfort ahead. Be kind.

None in the post-prandial phase after consuming an immoderate portion of this spread. Merry Christmas everyone.

This here, a proud and upsetting member of His Majesty's Royal Navy, is Pollyanna the reindeer. And for the avoidance of doubt, she's the one on the right of the photograph.

I have just learned of the third person I know to die this month. I know I am of an age now when the parental generation* will alas make the next journey, to hopefully find Niggle in the mountains (Tolkien reference), but this is a bit dire. *Not mine yet, though that day alas will come too soon.

If one is going to lecture the internet on the US being bad, perhaps don't go to China and thereby support a regime that is much much much worse. Seriously lefties, despite having broken with "the right" in my country there is a reason why I sit lonely in the middle. Be better.

My own good news for the day. 1.5 miles today in pool. Feeling very stiff today. But there's always that little warm glow of knowing I can do it, despite my size and weight. Hopefully in the New Year I'll be able to work on those. But even if not, keeping this up has to still me doing me good.

Whoever keeps saying they 202x has to be better than 202x-1 I beg of you, please don't tempt Fate again. Every year you say it, and look what had happened the last few years.

2.5 miles in the pool tonight. Felt good to really stretch myself again. Though my muscles are currently loudly disagreeing I am basically ignoring them :)

Anniversary of halifax explosion so obligatory "Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbour making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys." - Vincent Coleman saved like 300 people on a train, and started the emergency response. Died for it

Today for the first time I realised I genuinely couldn't read a food label without my glasses. The difference with and without was "interestingly" stark. Age may or may not sting, but it certainly blurs!

The NHS just decided it is ok for thousands of men to die. Thanks my employer. Nice to know you care about my health.

Happy Thanksgiving to my American pocket friends.

This is actually a shocking article. Especially the final quotes (as of reading anyway, the BBC do regularly amend their articles). Of course, these attitudes are tolerated and accepted in a number of communities. You have to be really egregious to get to this point. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Prove you are a genuine Russian armed auxiliary ship with this simple Kamcaptcha...

The last annual review concluded the SS Richard Montgomery was perfectly safe! And as a demonstration of exactly how safe it is it also banned aircraft from flying anywhere near it in case, y'know, the wreck spontaneously makes itself a lot safer in a manner incompatible with continued aviation...

[I have just discovered, courtesy of Wikipedia, that the actual Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies is in - Nouvion.] www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engl...

Just had a delightful message from someone engaging in some delightfully nerdy Tolkien discussion. I only hope my reply is suitably nerdy in return.

Interesting..

Private payments to military personnel in Republics has never gone wrong, ever.

Change a letter, ruin a law Dangerous Bogs Act 1991

Enjoying the cultural imperialism courtesy of @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social

On train. On a service meant to be a 10 car service cut down to 5 cars. As was the train immediately before it It is very "snug" Personally I think of we're going to get half a train should be refunded half our fee.

Really good illustration of how the railways supercharged the Mediterranean ports - no need to sail across Biscay and around the Iberian Peninsular any more

Okay. So. Amazing scenes playing out at the vets when i arrived to pick up Napoleon. Names changed/removed. But get ready for a lost kitty story with a happy ending. It starts late last year, when the elderly neighbour of a young couple went into a care home /1

So managed 2 miles in the pool tonight. Furthest I've done for a few months. Really happy, though I think my calves are about to engage in violent protest (ie cramp :) )

Just want to say the sumo guys in London right now are giving absolutely the right impression. It's been wonderful to see so many photos of them just enjoying the city.

Victoria Drummond 1st UK woman #MarineEngineer. Colleague wrote "Most courageous woman I ever saw...without fear or nerves, is very good at her job & has an uncanny power over engines for which I once thanked God" Early @wes1919.bsky.social member b. #OTD 14 Oct 1894 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victori...

Reading Holy Warriors,Jonathan Phillips' excellent history of the crusades, I learn that catapults on the opposing sides at the siege of Acre at the end of the 12th century went by names such as "Bad Neighbour" and "Evil Cousin."

This is just so utterly baffling. I've had both my GP surgery and my employer contact me about arranging my winter vaccinations. In my pharmacy they have info for private flu vaccination for those (mostly younger) people not covered for iirc just £20. Thank you America for making us look sane.

Also re: Manchester, I remember that after 9/11 GWB made a very very big thing about the attackers not being representative of all Muslims. All groups have idiots, and some of those idiots are murderous, but unfortunately we have gotten very good at judging groups by their worst. It's not healthy.

Information about the Manchester attacker needs to be released asap. Misinformation thrives in a vacuum. Time to see if we've learned lessons.

Well Europe, hopefully we can get 2.5pts from the 12 up today.

Had a bit of a family gathering today. Just nice to relax with family, eat simple good food and enjoy good cheer. The world can be pretty darned dark, but I absolutely refuse to let it stop these most basic of pleasures.

There are worse ways to start a Saturday

Sometimes my family call me cynical. Henceforth I am going to defend myself with how this millennia old piece of wisdom still has relevance today. The problem isn't I am cynical. The problem is the world keeps proving me right (and, on those occasions I try to be more optimistic, wrong).

Do I really want to know about all the snide and snarky rapture references are all about. The only rapture I know was a pretty neat dance single in 2001, but I am going to presume it's not that we've manage to reverse the clock.

Well this had to happen sometime, but still sad. Definitely a much loved figure from my youth. @jjgass.bsky.social Did you ever get a chance to watch him officiate or did your cricket interest post-date his career? www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricke...

In the intro of the Navy Record's Society first volume - the State Papers of relating to the Spanish Armada - is this wonderful description of some of the difficulties with the original documents. I feel this summary must have been very satisfying to write after much toil.

This feels like a rather dangerous moment. I can easily envisage several ways this goes very badly, some quick, some slow, none good.

I made the mistake of checking what's been happening. It was a mistake.

This isn't all that far from me and sounds bloody awful. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cj...

What can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the Reaper Man ? Sir Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

Keeping up the discipline of hope (see @abeeinthebonnet.bsky.social recent thread) and also celebrating good things, which right now - for both personal and impersonal reasons - seems more important than normal, I am ecstatic to announce I have just swam 5km in the pool (a little over 3 miles).

#OTD in 1943, Rep. Andrew May bragged to reporters that the Japanese were setting depth charges too shallow because they didn't know how deep U.S. subs could dive. VADM Charles Lockwood said the revelation caused the Japanese to adjust, costing the Navy 10 subs and 800 sailors.

Pulling this out into the main feed because this approach fundamentally changed how I engage with social media and what content I share. Every day, I wake up and I choose to try and build hope in myself and others. Some days are harder. I keep going.

I rather fear we are all of us nothing but pebbles.

I like reading fiction set in dystopias. I don't like living in a world that seems hell-bent on turning into a dystopia (more than it is already).

GP surgeries in the UK are private businesses, and not actually part of the NHS, but are only contracted to perform NHS work. It's amazing now few people actually realise this.

This would be a good thing to get accomplished: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

As it is that time of year again, here is W/C L.E. Healy's wonderful response to the Air Ministry's reminder, hours into the landings in Normandy, that 2TAF's Hawker Typhoon Bomphoons were not cleared to drop 1000lbs bombs. The Canadian Tiffys had already dropped 48 of them that morning... #dday