Sarurday Variety

It doesn’t just happen in the UK. Spain, too, is developing a network of high speed lines with trains racing along at up to 300 kph.

The particular network runs from Madrid (there in he middle) to the Mediterranean coast. Plans were developed to continue the line south from Murcia.

The town looks so good you might wonder why you would need to go further south! The next stage, however would be to Almeria where the splendid station as due for a rebuild and extension.

But, following political shenanigans the project was cancelled in 2017. 

But the project is now back on track.

Any chance of 2024’s new UK Government seeing sense and reinstating the cancelled HS2 from Birmingham northwards. 

What’s left will be a bit silly on its own, surely?

Maybe Mr Starmer (or will it be Andy Burnham by then?) might be quite keen on a vote-winning faster route to Manchester, and so will change the nation’s mind?

And, talking of Rishi!

Rishi is Conservative member for Richmond (North Yorkshire) so, as well as stopping the boats, sorting out NHS waiting lists and providing us all with NHS dentists, he also has his constituents to look after. Busy man?

If he were in Harrogate on a Friday he could have benefitted from a special deal – all part of a wider campaign.

Harrogate Buses are offering a 2 for 1 deal – which sounds great …

… but it only applies to a day ticket; not to all fares. A Daytripper costs £14 and is valid on all Transdev routes EXCEPT Coastliner.

So two for one is really only a good deal for longer distance days out, e.g. Harrogate to Leeds, Harrogate to York; and only then if you are making a few connecting trips.

Nice idea, but …

Ray Stenning of Best Impressions has posted a trendy, inviting and very different job advert on line.

Looks fascinating. If fbb were 40 years younger and prepared to live and work in Shepherds Bush (which he never would be!) he might have given it a first thought. But the actual job description is as boring as they always are.

It looks as if Ray is seeking to employ an office manager, despite the hype.

It seemed a good idea at the time. fbb’s illuminated camping bus …

… is lit by part of a string of LEDs, the sort of thing that you scrunch up into a jar for your trendy soirees. You know the sort of thing; low lighting, soft music, fatuous conversation and platters of indeterminate “nibbles”.

So very enjoyable!

But the question remains, what to do with the rest of the string?

The refettled Nissen Hut holiday let, on sloping land atop Peterville Tunnel, shares a site with the bus. So let there be light there!

It is relatively easy to poke lights inside the buildings, but the balcony definitely needed external lighting.

So, install lamp posts c/o Mrs fbb’s pegs … then …

… fix LEDs to the top of the posts holding the stiff bits of wire in place with, you guessed it, Mrs fbb’s clothes pegs.

But if you use too much super glue it dribbles down the poles and super glues the clothes pegs to the stiff wires and the fragile plastic posts …

… and you have a weird over-scale piece of street art in the Peterville camp site and, consequently, a ruined model!

Aaaaghh.

More tomorrow.

To populate his blog with stunning illustrations, fbb takes plenty of snaps on his cheapskate phone camera. These pictures are stored on part of the Google world dominating empire. fbb is told they are in “the cloud”.

That equates to being hidden in electronic obscurity.

So for the last few weeks, the cloud has been decidedly unwilling to give up its contents.

All that appears is this:-

Or even this:-

It sometimes takes six goes to get a response. It makes blogging S-L-O-O-O-W and very frustrating.

Last time this happened, fbb contacted the Google “Community” who blamed …

fbb’s internet provider

BT Openreach

fbb’s laptop

fbb’s land line

fbb’s cat

fbb’s old age

fbb’s modem

International internet overload

Mr Putin

The weather

High price of chocolate peanuts

Unspecified technical difficulties

And more besides

It could not possibly be a Gratuitous Google Goof-up!

After some acrimonious altercation from fbb …

Nothing happened.

Then, suddenly (about a week later) and without explanation, it all started working properly.

Presumably someone put a shilling in the meter.

The upshot of all this is that blogging is currently more difficult and, surprisingly, the old man does have a life.

Blogs may be curtailed in simple but blotchy frustration.

 Next Variety blog : Sunday 18th February