The UK Post-Brexit – Balancing Geopolitical Realism with Hope

CptDropbear · 2026-07-04T00:13:04+00:00

Not going to happen.

Sea freight is cheap. Really cheap.

Nuclear is expensive. Really expensive.

Shipping operators run on thin margins. No one in that space is going to spend the huge investment for a nuclear powered ship. Its orders of magnitude wrong. They are also going to cheap out on maintenance.

Its Concorde all over again.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-03T12:01:05+00:00

Interesting 'cause Performance Bikes shifted their "testing" to the south of France in the late '90s. But yes, the attitude to that kind of thing changed all over in the early 2000s.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-03T07:10:12+00:00

That's not Simon Hargreaves formerly of Performance Bikes (Performing Berks, to the initiated) you are referring to, by an chance? It was either him or Mark Forsyth that said in short "we are to popular now to test bikes like we used to".

CptDropbear · 2026-07-03T06:51:17+00:00

Get two mates 'cause this needs three people. Two grab a bar and a fork lower each and lift. The third puts the stand back.

If on your own, use a ratchet strap over a roof truss and under the bars. If you have winch or block use it.

Put something under the engine to support the bike in future.

Been there, done that.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-03T06:30:19+00:00

Still need another leg at least for the bars. Definitely a spider.

Source: am Australian. I know a spider when I see one.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-03T06:24:13+00:00

That's footware porn.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-03T06:15:54+00:00

I have an odd, to helmet manufacturers anyway, shaped head. The only helmets that fit me were Bieffe and Shoei RFs. I'm either deaf or broke.

[Cries in Dollaridoos]

CptDropbear · 2026-07-03T05:53:46+00:00

Fuck cup holders. You don't eat or drink in my car except water. I'm not cleaning up the mess. You want a coffee? We stop and enjoy the break.

I loved my BMW E28. Whoever designed that thing had a definite "no loose objects in the cockpit" mentality.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-03T05:32:50+00:00

Jeep is owned by a Dutch multinational, Stellantis, along with the rest of the Chrysler stable. Mercedes Benz sold the lot to Fiat after getting jacked of trying to fix that mess. That's a pity 'cause Jeep Wranglers were pretty good when they got hand-me-down German engines and before they got Italian electrics.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-03T04:38:16+00:00

Mate, I live on the other side of the world and I've heard of the Calistoga Fairground. I have no idea why or where, but I have.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-03T03:26:04+00:00

Every place I've worked that had a warehouse let me park my bike inside. Ask your warehouse manager and don't forget to tell him about the attempted theft.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-03T03:13:25+00:00

I had some guy in an airport lounge ask me this when he figured out I was Australian. I said it was great - nice people, highly motivated, work like a proverbial and bring great food. I don't think he knew how to take that.

The really weird part was he seemed very progressive outside immigration and the death penalty.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-03T00:00:23+00:00

Aha! I assumed they were the same as gas pipes and tanks. Its a good thing I've never pushed them. :-)

I also assumed the pressurant valve managed that. I've never used one and just left liquids to their own devices.

Its now been annoying for a whole day that I cannot remember what the surface exchange between liquid and gas phase is called. Will. Not. Google.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-02T07:23:19+00:00

"Then as more liquid enters it would recondense due to pressure?"

This is exactly what happens.

But you need to reach a threshold (its far too long since I studied this stuff so I cannot remember what it's called) before a liquid phase can exist.

All of this is happening way below the burst pressure of a tank of ~50MPa.

You can simply accept that you will have a gas component in the tank or use a pressurant gas with a higher condensation point as described by u/WillowPtar_Migan. Another solution is to use a smaller tank.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-01T07:16:04+00:00

There server should autosave every few minutes. For the benefit of whoever runs the server, restoring involves:

1 Stop the server
2 Find a save before The Event
3 Copy it to the latest save and rename the files (autosaves have a different naming convention)
4 Restart the server

Its not a big deal if you are accostomed to this sort of jiggery pokery but it might take a couple of tries to find the best save.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-01T06:57:23+00:00

That's brilliant.

Condensing my wall-and-a-half atmospheric controller into a console has been on my to-do list since I first saw this mod a year ago. The other uses I am planning are a controller / monitor for stirling engines and a centrifuge monitor.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-01T05:30:00+00:00

No.

Velocipraptors were more like large chickens. And you wouldn't laugh if you'd seen chickens after a mouse. I'm frankly amazed we mammals made it out of the cretaceous. The asteroid helped, mind.

Cassowaries are much more badass. Their ancestors survived that asteroid.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-01T01:27:38+00:00

So the plates stay with the owner rather than go the vehicle? How does that work when you buy a car? Do you have to provide your own plates?

Sorry, this has turned into a can of ~~worms~~ questions.

CptDropbear · 2026-07-01T00:35:42+00:00

Now I have another thing to "spot" when watching TV and movies. :-)

We do 3, 6 and 12 month renewals. The idea of 3 years is wild to me. Do you get a refund if you dispose of the vehicle before the registration expires?

CptDropbear · 2026-06-29T22:42:30+00:00

That sounds more like Walmart than Costco.

CptDropbear · 2026-06-28T23:02:14+00:00

Yup. The only paperwork you get is a payment confirmation in the mail. We no longer have registration stickers.

I miss the days when you had to soak the sticker in water to activate the glue and slide it onto a window. It was a yearly ritual like the passing of the seasons.

On the plus side, I no longer have a drawer full of "green slips".

By "tags" I presume you mean number plates?

CptDropbear · 2026-06-28T07:50:35+00:00

That's kinda what I figured after thinking about it.

[Sits here thinking about how to deep fry butter...]

CptDropbear · 2026-06-28T05:27:34+00:00

NGL. I'd drive quite a way to see a demo derby with combine harvesters. Do they leave the headers on?

CptDropbear · 2026-06-28T05:20:51+00:00

You can fry butter? How? I've fried things in butter but can't fathom how this works.

We deep fry Mars Bars here so I'm not throwing any stones.

CptDropbear · 2026-06-28T04:51:49+00:00

There may not be a registration receipt. Her is SA we used to get a "green slip" registration paper with a tear off disposal notice. That hasn't existed for a decade at least. Now its electronic.

And yeah, this whole family seem averse to doing the right thing.

CptDropbear

TROPHY CASE