Lets see if those grey, long tailed, pointed ears, furry bodied tree rats can get inside these beauties, lol

click on to get the bigger picture

Tonight's match is the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final 1st leg. Get your predictions in by 7.15pm
Good luck

Bees simply make cells made of soft wax that are cylindrical and circular in cross-section.

These circular cells are packed together like a layer of bubbles. The wax is softened by the heat of the bee's bodies and gets pulled into hexagonal cell shape by surface tension, mass and gravity at the junctions where walls meet.

A regular geometric array of identical cells with simple polygonal cross-sections can take only one of three forms: triangular, square or hexagonal.
Honeycomb is constructed essentially as vertical plates which hang down.

Of these only natural hexagons can divide up the space most efficiently. If we interrupt honeybee's by smoking them out of the hive we can find that the most recently built cells have a circular shape, whereas those just a little older have developed into hexagons.

The worker bee's heat the wax with their bodies until it reaches about 45 C and flows like a viscous liquid. Therefore hexagons result automatically as the wax cools from the pressure of each bee trying to make its cell as large as possible, adding internal pressure to mass and gravity.

Hexagons are natures way of resolving all forms of circular bodies under pressure. Examples of this are many.

When first made, the comb cells of the honeybee are cylindrical tubes, but they become more hexagonal in cross section as time goes by.

Therefore this hexagonal architecture is not only because of the simple physical and natural phenomenon of mass and gravity but also due to the active participation of worker bee's providing warmth and internal pressure to the wax cylinder.

I purchased two wooden garden chairs from Ebay, main reason being that they were ready assembled, good price and very good reviews. Arrived last week by very helpful delivery driver who carried into garden.
Then decided perhaps I should have ordered the lift-off table tray that can fit between the chairs and which could have been bought as a set anyway. Emailed the firm directly over weekend asking if they supplied tray separately, came back this morning and said to ring them to order. Which I did, to be told I could purchase directly on website but the tray wasn't there, only the complete set. So went back to them but problem with payment as I couldn't do a Bax(?) on mobile and they didn't take paypal or card over the phone. Anyway, long and short of it - next time they are in the area (from Stoke), will put on van and deliver for £5 and me to pay cash directly to the driver as they use their own transport. No idea when but who cares!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10683581/Alzheimers-breakthrough-major-study-spots-42-risk-genes.html?ito=email_share_article-top

I thought others might like to know this. I have just successfully ordered a free pack of 7 lfts
The info on accessing these has been a bit elusive as a gov website said packs would automatically be sent to those eligible. (Incl over 75s) but no sign of that - you'd think that they would have been up and ready for April 1st, esp as some chemists had run out of them before then ( as people have been buying them up - no rationing, I think - unsuccessful management of activity in a brewery comes to mind!!!)
You can access them through the NHS app, and it's dead easy - well, the order has been acknowledged anyway - remains to be seen when they arrive. Apparently you can order every 3 days.

I have just received a new debit card - gone to PayPal and Amazon etc. to update details and they already knew them !
How does this happen ?

Monday Night Football is a London derby. Get your predictions in by 7pm.
Good luck

A man stormed out of a performance of Shakespeare's As You Like It after an hour and asked for a refund. His reason? All the cast had Yorkshire accents and that's not right.
The play was being performed by the Yorkshire Theatre Company at a theatre in York.

Some tips from the Guardian's personal finance pages - people may already know all of them, but I didn't, eg the big difference made by a washing machine turned down to to 30° instead of 40° https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/mar/29/cheaper-bath-shower-energy-questions-answered-reduce-bills

Just heard that people are panicking to get fuel
Again due to extinction rebellions latest game!

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1590453/Fuel-shortage-petrol-England-Just-Stop-Oil-protest-block-supply-latest/amp

We had our boosters yesterday. We were encouraged to accept Moderna - but I chose to continue with Pfizer. It is just as well I did, as in my husband's Moderna information leaflet it stated that it contained macrogol, which I am allergic to.
The on line proformas you are asked to fill in ask about any allergic reactions to your last Covid 19 vacvinations, but don't ask about other allergies.
Also, although the leaflet says read before having the vaccination, everyone was given it after receiving the vaccination!
Needs to be organised differently - most people were waiting a bit - they could be given the information and directed to the section on contents of the medicine. Or people could be given the on line link to the information leaflets when they receive confirmation of the booking.
If I had accepted the Moderna I could have ended up in A and E.
So if anyone knows they have allergies it would be a good idea to look up the leaflet on line beforehand or ask to read it before the procedure.

Never heard of it.

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/drivers-urged-check-car-potentially-092125122.html

Click on for complete picture

https://medical.awm.com/woman-wants-to-rename-certain-body-parts-because-they-are-offensive-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2/?utm_content=buffer3854d&utm_medium=fb&utm_source=uk&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR3t11zAiw3EJYjfL6r2J7h6ocDd3iKKDUMokpz9xzstFdKtRzJtWeKXrVA

Super Sunday in the Premier League. Get your predictions in by 4pm.
Good luck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6ETkhywzSU

I joined the Space loop but could not post a thread. This is very topical but tends to need some knowledge of Space and UFO's. With 534 members surely a significant number will find it interesting enough to comment. So here we go -

A monumental controversy has existed for more than 50 years on this topic. We get compelling evidence presented on hundreds of TV documentaries and other media that Alien UFO's do exist, countered by numerous Government cover-ups to the contrary.

The answer is simple -

If Bob Lazar is telling the truth, then Alien spacecraft have definitely either landed or crashed on Earth over the past 50 years or so. If he is lying, then the entire issue is one of natural phenomena, is man made, or is just fictional Startrek material.

I have seen countless TV programs on the subject including those about Bob Lazar and read many links on the web about it.

Bob Lazar is ultra-convincing with an astounding degree of intimate scientific knowledge and details of his work at Area 51 on anti-gravity reverse engineering. Nobody else has ever come so convincingly close to the subject in such scientific and 'authentic' detail as he has.

My opinion ?
I believe that Bob Lazar is telling the truth.
What is your opinion ?

Mum had a paper delivered every day when I was child. When I got married I carried on and had my paper delivered. Today is the last day I will get a delivery, as the local shop cant get any boys who want to deliver anymore. Such a shame as my son and his son both were paperboys for the same shop. Looked forward to getting a paper every morning. And of Course treating the boys at Christmas. 😭

Will Smith has resigned from the Academy. No more Oscars.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/shocking-painful-and-inexcusable-will-smith-resigns-from-academy-over-chris-rock-slap-at-oscars/ar-AAVLV79?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=bc01286f1481494a99cd272f741fe9bf

Saturday Night Football. Get your predictions in by 5pm.
Good luck

Its not nice to wish people bad luck, but I really hope that Putin's Thyroid cancer is rapid and fatal.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newslondon/putin-has-been-visited-by-cancer-doctor-35-times-in-four-years/ar-AAVMmvX?ocid=msedgntphdr&cvid=4e0753d4aa60426486ee896d2002804d

"Vodafone to offer free mobile connectivity to 200,000 Ukrainian refugees | The Independent" https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/vodafone-british-red-cross-b2031005.html?amp
They are also offering donated tech items.

The real one starts in less than an hour, but this website predicts how it could turn out.
https://stattosoftware.com/wc2022/

I was surprised to find that my replacement energy supplier's new rates are so complicated.
They haven't just raised the rates at which they charge per kilowatt hour for electricity and for gas but have also changed the standing charge for each of them - in very different ways.
That makes their charges very hard to compare with the capped rate, which isn't (as I recall) expressed in that way. Meanwhile, the MoneySavingExpert website has (unsurprisingly) crashed as people try to understand how their bills are changing and if they can do anything to minimise the effect.
Does anyone here have a supplier other than Shell Energy which has notified them of changes to standing charges as well as to rates per kWh, so that we can compare what different suppliers are doing?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-10674019/RICHARD-LITTLEJOHN-Cost-contactless-payments-Call-2billion-cash.html?ito=email_share_article-top

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/cars/article-10673141/RAC-warns-avalanche-wrongly-issued-fines-drivers-1-June.html

https://www.gardensillustrated.com/news/ban-on-slug-killer-metaldehyde/

Saw this on TV last night. What a great project, making used crisp packets into blankets for the homeless.

https://crisppacketproject.com/

Now that’s what you call recycling

I'm not expecting any parcels but had a text this morning from an unfamiliar number, saying:
"Your package is on it's way , c lick the fol lowing link to track: naveenvishwakarma.tech/ [and then a long list of letters and numbers etc]".
The illiteracies and the unfamiliar number made me think that this might be a scam but I've never had anything like this sent to my mobile number before. (Lots of scam calls etc to the landline, obviously.)

What do you think, people? Has anyone else received a message of this kind?

Message is on local Facebook that a police dispersal zone is being set up in local shopping centre with schools sending letters to parents advising their children not to go into Bromley tomorrow (Friday) night after school as water fights are planned. Apparently this has happened in many places recently (Bexley Heath/Birmingham, etc) but some pistols are being filled with bleach or acid so probably isn't just Bromley (and start of half term).
Needless to say I am incapable of copying the article and letters but it seems it is becoming a very popular sport.

https://www.mylondon.news/news/east-london-news/birdwatcher-takes-panicked-shots-after-23552017?fbclid=IwAR36GxZAw_Sq5i51FBC1-0uGSiYf8F8NEJM8ejP7jmwmhuJnr0jhZ31A1xU

If you want to put your meter readings in today and are with several companies, you may not be able to.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/british-gas-eon-scottish-power-26600026

I am sure we have covered this before but just wondered why anyone would want to watch videos on their stamps
Any ideas?

https://news.sky.com/story/amp/royal-mail-to-enter-new-era-of-stamps-with-customers-able-to-swap-old-ones-for-barcoded-versions-12578258

I've no wish to start another argument here but have just sent a fleecy throw and man's thermal beanie from Amazon's wish list via Save the Children to Ukraine. Hopefully will get to right destination. Have only just noticed it in case others are interested.

It is snowing and freezing cold.

Was ok earlier, switched it off, when I switched on later no sound. Tried the mute button in case I had touched by mistake but nothing. Same with recorder. Under 8 months old. Is this a repair man job - even this tablet is playing up, woe is me.

I am surprised to see on FB in my memories for a screenshot of Scooploop comments.
I didn't know they could do that

The facial hair style known as "sideburns" is named after U.S. Civil War general Ambrose Burnside.

The facial hair style known as "sideburns" is named after U.S. Civil War general Ambrose Burnside.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10664095/French-family-obsessed-conspiracy-theories-jumped-death-Swiss-apartment.html

What a strange story

I STILL MATTER!
I'M STILL HERE
My looks are nothing special,
My face reveals my age,
My body shows some wear and tear,
And my energy's not the same.
Too often my memory fails me,
And I lose things all the time.
One minute I know what I plan to do,
And the next it may just slip my mind.
I try hard to avoid my mirror.
There are things I would rather not see,
And even those times when I just catch a glimpse,
I can no longer recognize me.
The things I used to do with ease
Can now cause aches and pains,
And the quality of the things I do
Will never be quite the same.
I always compare my older self
To those younger versions of me,
And I know I'm wasting too much time
Missing who I used to be.
But the thing that really makes me sad
Is despite what people see,
Underneath my tattered, worn out shell,
I'm still the same old me.
My heart can still feel endless love,
And at times it still can ache.
My heart can fill with so much joy,
And then it can suddenly break.
My soul can still feel sympathy
And longs for forgiveness and peace,
And there are times its light shines boldly through,
And times when it longs for release.
It's true, maybe now that I'm older,
Feeling lonely may be status quo,
But it also has made me more willing
To forgive and let past conflicts go.
So maybe to some I look ugly and old,
A person who barely exists.
I'm still quite aware of the beauty inside,
And my value should not be dismissed.
So although not as strong and no beauty, it's true,
I'm still here and want so much to live,
And I know that there's no one in this world quite like me,
And no one who has more to give.

Even though there has been a huge jump
In positive cases the government have gone ahead with the withdrawal of free test packs

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-60911771.amp

It appears that they stopped sending out packs to some areas much earlier

Stay safe

https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/police-spotted-outside-southend-hospital-6876873

Man was arrested

My heart hurt after reading the story of a 12 year old girl who killed her 14 year old cousin by accident whilst messing around with a gun on an Instagram live stream in a bathroom at a relatives party,then seemingly shot herself. Two young lives lost forever.Cops called it murder/suicide whilst relative insist it was an accident. The video is widely circulating.
Should videos like these be allowed to be kept online? Should gun laws be changed or would it have made no difference?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/metro.co.uk/2022/03/28/missouri-girl-fatally-shoots-cousin-and-herself-on-instagram-live-16359773/amp/

Lasers used on player

https://news.sky.com/story/mohamed-salah-subject-to-racist-abuse-during-world-cup-play-off-with-lasers-shone-in-his-eyes-12577963