I see some strange stuff while filtering through traffic on my way to work.   The Darwin Awards could get a few good candidates from these people. Today’s ‘Stupid of the Day Award’ goes to the woman in the red Seat who was putting on her make up at traffic lights in Holywood.   When the lights changed and the traffic moved she continued putting the stuff on.   The road widens into a proper dual carriageway after Holywood, so the traffic (generally) does actually move for a mile or so at that point before it comes to the next blockage at Knocknagoney.   I followed for a bit and yes, even at 50mph she was still staring in the vanity mirror on her sunshield and dabbing stuff onto her face with an assortment of brushes.   If mobile phones are sufficiently distracting that they are banned, how many brain cells does it take to extend that concept to other things that require concentration?   If you are going to be in charge of a large lump of metal travellin...

These were taken from http://www.irelandoldnews.com/ There is much more there if you browse the places and years, along with a lot of birth, death and marriage records.   Belfast Weekly News July 22 1893: ------------ An extraordinary egg:-  Mr Andrew Martin, 143 Old Lodge Road, Belfast, received on 19th inst from a Liverpool farmer a duck egg weighing over four ounces. A peculiarity about it was that there was another egg inside it, with shell completely formed.    The Belfast Evening Telegraph, 9 March 1894 A STRANGE DERELICT    Advices just to hand state that the Norwegian barque Elsa Anderson has arrived at Galveston, U.S.A. with the hull of an English-built brig in tow. The ship seemed to have burned at sea a half century ago, and the hull appeared off the Faroe Islands, after a submarine disturbance. It was covered with sea shells, but the hull and under decks contained little water. In the captain's berth was found a leat...

This story was originally published in Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly ( http://mnmotorcycle.com/ ). March here in Ireland generally sees the last few mild morning frosts of the year, and the return of a little heat to the air.   More and more bikes are dragged from their winter hibernation as the spring rains wash the roads clean of the salt applied during the winter, while those of us who ride throughout the year can at long last remove the protective wax from our bikes to see if there is still some bright metal underneath.   By mid month, around St. Patrick’s Day if the weather is kind, increasing numbers of bikes on the road brings a real feeling of celebration as our biking freedom is reborn.   There are a host of sites throughout the whole island of Ireland associated with our patron saint, so in homage his legacy, and to the return of the sun, I planned a trip from the beginning of Patrick’s story to its end, with a random associated site in the middle fo...

Am I the only person on the planet that detects an element of farce in Teresa May's attitude to Brexit? We are constantly told that holding a second referendum on the subject would be "undemocratic".  Yet, as of today, (15th March), the negotiated deal with the EU has been put to parliament twice and each time has been thrown out by a very large majority.  Despite this apparently she intends to put it to parliament again next week! How is this 'democratic', when a second vote is not?  Can anyone explain this?

The traffic in modern cities sucks (or should that be blows?).   OK, that is stating the obvious but it does not make it any less true.   40 years ago or more, I used to have to help take my father to work here in Belfast before going to school.   He was confined to a wheelchair for years before he died.   Now when I look back on his daily rants about the terrible commuter traffic he saw then, I wonder what he would make of the situation now.   I doubt that he would have believed that the rush hour could ever have got this bad. Unfortunately the situation is exacerbated by government policy.   Our lords and masters are determined to make things difficult for us.   Well, at least for those who use cars.   Belfast City Council’s Transport Policy (available here if you need a good cure for insomnia:   http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/buildingcontrol-environment/regeneration/transportiniatives.aspx ), makes this very clear.   On page...

Let’s face it, when you are buying second hand it pays to be cautious and to look for faults that the buyer may not have declared.   I have no problem with this, although I do try to be as honest as I can when selling anything.   What I do have a problem with are undisclosed problems that would be dangerous, but which would be impossible to find on any inspection without both prior knowledge of what to look for, and disassembly of the item being bought. Old and new sprockets from the Funduro.  The gearbox output shaft should be a good fit in the splines shown on the new sprocket on the right.  Instead its splines wore quickly to almost non existence. If you have read my last two motorcycle related posts here, you will have followed the tale of me buying and fixing up an old 1994 BMW F650 Funduro for winter transport.   You will also have read of the numerous faults that these bikes are afflicted with and the ones that I suffered.   I have no...

Those of you with long memories may remember the movie, where a possessed Norton Commando periodically struck down anyone within range.   The BMW Funduro mentioned in the last Motorcycle story here developed similar tendencies.   I extolled its virtues as bike with decent power and good handling all for the price of a BSA Bantam.   But while I was using the bike, a number of design flaws haunted my daily commute, but the last one beat them all. For those who don’t know, the Funduro was a BMW designed (and branded) motorcycle, built in Italy by Aprilia, using an Austrian Rotax engine.   They were made from 1994 to 2000, with a revision in 1996 that addressed the major fault discussed in this story. The BMW Funduro, as bought The previous owner of my 1994 Funduro had left it unused under a cover in his garden for a couple of years, so I always knew that it needed work to make it roadworthy.   As usual, I completely underestimated what would be in...

I still hold to my comments published in my first Brexit post (see: https://oldandireland.blogspot.com/2018/11/brexit-dirty-word-in-any-european.html ).   But still the debacle rolls on.   Frankly, nearly 3 years on from the referendum, the whole shambles is becoming downright embarrassing.   I have used the picture below on my first post, but it is worth repeating.     So a few more points.   Good old Teresa is still sticking fast to her no second vote stance, despite the current shambles.   I know that a small majority voted leave, but really, how much worse is it to be governed by Brussels than by the current occupants of Westminster, especially after they have proved themselves so incapable of running anything over the last few years?   Here in good old ‘Norn Iron’, we have the additional joy of having politicians that have been absent from Stormont for years but who are still getting paid!   It’s nice to know that all the...