Larry’s Diary, Week Eighty Three

Monday

Dull and grey but not too cold. I even got to snooze in the sun yesterday but there is rain in the wind this morning, so I don’t think I’ll be doing that today. I see Bozzie is wearing one of his good suits, the blue/grey one, and that tells me he will be up in the Commons this afternoon so I shall be making for his office chair just to keep it warm for him!

At Boeing, they seem to be lurching from one problem to another. First, it was the 737 MAX range that had to be grounded for over a year while design faults were sorted out. Then along came Covid, hitting the international travel market and cause existing orders to be cancelled and new orders not to be placed. Now they are hit by two un-contained engine failures on their 777 planes. Although not strictly a Boeing problem as the engines in question are from the Pratt and Whitney 4000 series and not made by them it has lead to all 777’s with those engines being grounded and more bad publicity. Thankfully British Airways 777s had Rolls Royce Trent engines and are not affected.

Do you remember project fear and how the world was going to end if we left the EU? Well, we all knew it was absolute rubbish and of course nothing happened. Today I read that one of the few remaining possible problems has been shown as yet more rubbish. The left-wing press has still been pretending that London is losing financial organisations hand over fist to Europe. Well, a report out today has shown that this is just not true. Britain is still the leading world financial centre although some London based companies have opened small EU offices so that it appears they have an EU presence allowing them to still trade there. However, some 1500 European financial businesses have applied for licences to trade in the UK of which for over 1000 of them it will be the first time they have operated in the UK.

Bozzie was on TV from the House of Commons making his statement about reopening the country. He set out a tentative timetable with schools opening up first. Looking at him I would have thought that he would have wanted to open Hairdressers before his timeline date of 12th April. He will look like Yeti by then!

News on the effectiveness of the two Covid vaccines today. The first report was from Scottishland where they report that admissions to hospitals and deaths are down by over 80% for the over 80s four weeks after they had a single dose. A second set of English numbers said that in England admissions and deaths were down 75% after 3 weeks. Add this to the news from Israel where they have been giving the second jab after 3 weeks and reckon that they have been getting up to 95% efficacy. I have heard that the longer gap between doses that we are employing could be even more effective. That one in the eye for Macaroon and his slagging off the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Japanese society is very different to here, it is all about conformity. Whether it is men wearing business suits or school children dressing in identical uniforms everyone has to follow the rules. I read that one student, who unusually had dark brown hair instead of the predominant black, fell foul of her school’s rules that barred pupils from “getting their hair permed, coloured, bleached or braided with extensions.” Her teacher pressured her to dye her hair black and until she did she was banned from school trips and then removed from the class register. The headmaster even wanted to examine her roots. She took legal action and has been awarded 330,000 Yen for psychological damage.

I have been reading, with not a little incredulity, that the council in Worthing is planning a new ‘green’ system to supply a heating and hot water network of pipework to many public and council buildings in the town centre. The system promised is fossil-free and the heat source is free. In the planned first phase the buildings to benefit include the town hall, the hospital, a large secondary school, an infant school, the police station, a leisure centre and two theatres. A second phase would add several large town centre shops, the courthouse and two large new developments that both include shops, offices, a hotel and housing. What I hear you ask is this magic heat source? Well, the answer is shit. The plan is to install what is called a ‘Sewer Source Heat Pump’ and to extract waste heat from the sewers that run under the town’s streets. I had to look to see if it was the 1st of April.

Tuesday

A beautiful sunny morning, with hardly a cloud in the sky. But when I went outside it wasn’t as warm as it looked when I popped out. I think I will stay indoors and lay in that patch of sun coming through the window until the streets air as my mum used to say when I was a kitten. I might even have a snooze if the Mutt and baby Wilf leave me alone.

When Bozzie got in from the HoC he was very pleased with the way things had gone and he told the Little Otter that he had got a couple of hits in against Captain Hindsight, I think he meant Keir Stoma. Then he was pretty happy with the papers at breakfast this morning, I can always tell, he just drops them on the floor instead of throwing them across the room! I have learnt to keep out of the way on those days, but the Mutt is so stupid he has been hit a few times. The papers nearly all thought that Bozzie got his ‘roadmap’ about right. The only dissenter I saw was the Mail who wanted to go a bit faster. By the way, I hate ‘roadmap’, it’s so woke. What’s wrong without the good old British ‘plan’.

One of the side effects of schools going back on 8th March is that the Cambridge’s will have to move back to Kensington Palace so that George and Charlotte can go back to school. During lockdown they have been living at their Norfolk country residence Amner Hall.

I told you last week that following hitting the vaccination target of 15 million people the numbers jabbed each day would be lower this week. Now I have learnt what is happening. Some scheduled vaccine deliveries were dragged forward a bit to hit that number, so this week the scheduled deliveries are going to be a little lower than previous weeks. However next week and in the following week the delivery schedule has been ramped up with the aim of delivering up to 1,000,000 doses a day for both 1st and 2nd Jabs.

After reading how 500,071 people have died in the USA, I have been wondering how Sniffer Biden is doing with his promise to vaccinate 100 million people in his first 100 days? It’s hard to tell. The American MSM is not publishing the facts in an easily discernible way. They seem to have done as many as 1.8 million in one day and at that rate it would be met and since starting in December (under Trump) 63 million doses have been administered to a population north of 330 million. But how much of this was planned and set in place by the last administration? Why are states sitting on over 12 million unused doses? Why can Alaska get a 1st dose to 21% of adults while Tennessee has only managed 10%? Why does Texas have over 1 million unused doses? I guess we will only hear more if it happens otherwise it will be forgotten.

Yesterday I told you about Boeing’s problems with its 777 jets and the grounding of those with P&W 4000 engines. Today I hear of problems with its 787 Dreamliners with what they call “imperfections”, and I might call “cracks”, in the lining of the CarbonFibre airframe. Consequently, the last 787 delivered to a customer was last October and Boeing has about 80 of them sitting in storage awaiting repair. The manufacturer and the FAA are trying to work out fixes and some have been made, but in doing so more “imperfections” have been found. Boeing don’t expect to deliver any 787’s this months and only “a very small number” next month. Boeing is haemorrhaging cash having lost $20 billion last year

I hear that Chelsea owner and Billionaire Roman Abramovich is having a new £430 million superyacht being built in Germany. It was photographed for the first time yesterday, in a building dock and is by no means finished. The yacht, to be called Solaris, is 430 metres long and is the size of some small cruise liners, but will only have 48 cabins for 36 passengers and 60 crew and is said to have every possible luxury. Abramovich already owns a superyacht valued at £475 million but hey, every billionaire needs two superyachts.

I read that West Sussex Council has been introducing a new book in advance scheme at many of its tips, or Household Recycling Centres as it prefers to call them. But the booking scheme has had to be introduced at the tip because queues to get in were causing traffic problems. What caused the queues? Well, when the tips re-opened after the last lockdown the County Council, in its wisdom, decided that they wouldn’t open on Monday’s and Tuesday’s and then reduced the opening hours on those days they were open. Finally, they made users present photo ID as they were worried people from outside the county were using them. Unsurprisingly there is now a problem in the county with fly-tipping.

Wednesday

Morning all, well it’s another mild morning but nowhere near as sunny as yesterday when I got my official duties over early, leaving me plenty of sunny window sill snoozing time. Sleeping on the window sill also saves me from being shouted at for leaving cat hairs on Bozzie’s chair.

The farce that is the Alex Salmond saga in Scottishland continues seemingly without end. He was supposed to give evidence to the inquiry but I gather that due to all the shenanigans that is not now going to happen. His appearance depended on his written evidence being made public to which the SNP lead Scottishland Government had objected. A court case had cleared this evidence for publication, with the proviso that it did not reveal the identity of those who had accused him of sexual assault. The evidence was published online and within hours it was taken down because the Crown Office fear it was in contempt of the court ruling. Then it was put back with paragraphs redacted, but when the old and new paragraphs were compared it was only criticism of Wee Krankie that had been redacted. Which leaves the question, are the ‘independent’ Crown Office protecting the First Minister? I’m looking forward to Scottishland politicians continuing to tear each other apart.

I read a report today on the effect of the Government decision to increase the length of time between the 1st coronavirus vaccination and the 2nd coronavirus vaccination from 3 weeks to a maximum of 12 weeks. Well, it seems that for the Pfizer vaccine there was not much difference, but for the AstraZeneca jab there was ample evidence that it made the vaccination much more effective. In fact, with the longer gap the AZ vaccine was found to offer protection against really severe disease, hospitalisation and death of very nearly 100%.

I have been reading about a most remarkable occurrence. In the last six weeks, according to Public Health England, not a single case of flu has been recorded in England. How is this possible I hear you ask? Well PHE say it is because of lockdown having removed its path for transmission. Well, I don’t believe that. I think that there have been flu cases but they have just been called Covid and consequently hidden. Surely it is just not logical that a disease that kills thousands every year has just disappeared.

Today Wee Krankie has emerged in a new role as the Grinch who stole football. Hope had arisen that Scottishland football supporters would be able to fill Hampden Park for a European Championship match against Croatia on 22nd June. But then along came Wee Krankie who, like the computer, says ‘No’. Scottishland must have its own rules for coming out of lockdown and cannot possibly have the same rules as those south of Hadrians Wall where Scottishland will be playing England at a packed Wembley on 18th June. Is Wee Krankie going to lose the vote of the Tartan Army with this political decision?

What is happening in the world of electric cars? I see that start-up luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors who have been developing a new $169,000 car have yet to sell a single model. They have plans to sell 20,000 EVs next year but plan not to make a profit until 2024 at the earliest. But they do plan an IPO that values the company at $24 billion, about the same as existing car maker Peugeot. The value of established electric car makers Tesla and Nio (a Chinese brand) have fallen in recent days. Fisker another American EV maker has dropped 10% this year while the value of yet another company Nikola has fallen 6%. Have investors finally seen that many or these EV makers are rubbish investments and will never make real money?

I hear a couple of intriguing bits of news “from across the pond”. Do you remember how Sniffer Joe made such a fuss about children of illegal immigrants being separated from the parents and held in what he called ‘cages’? He said the whole thing was ‘horrific’ and vowed to stop the practice on day one of his presidency. He conveniently forgot that it was O’Bummer who had originally opened the facilities. Well, he started to do close them, but I hear that a camp for 700 children that he closed in Texas has just had to reopen due to other facilities becoming overcrowded. Obviously, a well thought out policy. In another development, Mitt Romney is reported as saying that if President Trump choose to run for the Republican nomination in 2024 he would easily win. Now that would be fun.

Thursday

A little grey this Morning but still mild. Bozzie was out early for a run with the Mutt this morning. I hope it has worn him out and he won’t be as bouncy this morning and the same applies to the Mutt.

The idiots in the tunnel under Euston Square Gardens are coming out slowly. One came more out on Monday and three more this morning leaving just one down there. Living conditions down there must be pretty bad if even Swampy opts to come out. The tactic of leaving the tunnellers to stay down there in their own filth looks to be working. No propaganda pictures of protesters being forcibly ejected by burly security guards. Just pictures of friendly ambulance men whizzing them off to hospital for a health check and subsequent arrest. How much longer is one protester going to be able to hang before having had enough?

The German and French MSM are both complaining bitterly about the vaccination program in their respective countries. The Germans in particular have been scathing and have been asking “Why can’t we be more like the British” where over 27% of the adult population have been vaccinated as opposed to 7% in Germany. Mind you that is partly the making of that self-same German MSM for their scaremongering over the effectiveness of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, I hear that many are refusing the AZ jab and over a million doses are sitting on the shelf. A similar problem is happening in France, which has an even slower rollout, where people have been encouraged by Macaroon’s outrageous claim they the vaccine is ineffective in the over 65’s. I trust that yesterday’s data on the fantastic effectiveness of AZ vaccine, from three different reports, in the older population is making both Germany and France look stupid.

I had to have a little chuckle this morning when I read Andrew Neal’s article in the Mail about the problems in Scottishland and not least the civil war in the SNP between the supporters of different breeds of fish Salmon and Sturgeon. Is it really true that north of Hadrians Wall they are considering making it an offence to say certain things in the privacy of your own home and jailing bloggers? But Neal has a lovely way with words talking about SNP Stormtroopers denying free speech and how the SNP are turning the nation into a banana republic without bananas. I prefer to think of them as a deep-fried Mars Bar republic.

Today’s coronavirus numbers are still heading in the right direction, number of people in hospital down, number of new cases down, number of deaths down, number of 1st vaccinations up to nearly 450,000, number of 2nd vaccinations up to over 30,000. All looking very good. So good in fact that the Coronavirus alert number has been reduced a notch meaning that the NHS is no longer under immediate threat.

A very lucky day for the passengers on 3 planes landing at Birmingham Airport when the planes somehow managed to miss an obstruction on the runway. A 2-metre step ladder had fallen off the back of a maintenance pickup truck. The ladder had been secured by one elasticated bungee cord, and the authorities have banned the use of them to secure items in future. A bit late for that.

Friday

What a beautiful morning, not a cloud in the sky. I hope spring is on the way. I have already reserved my spot on the sunny window sill for my snooze.

On the radio at breakfast, I heard the story of two of Lady Gaga’s French bulldogs being stolen. It seems that when she is away from home she has a regular “Dog Walker” who exercises her 3 pets. He was walking the dogs when he was approached by someone trying to snatch the dogs. When he resisted he was shot in the chest and seriously injured. Despite his wound, he managed to hang onto one dog while the other two were taken. Now I hear that Lady Gaga is offering $500,000 for the return of her dogs with no questions asked. This is surely a dangerous precedent, inviting other dognappings. Mind, if someone wants to try it with the Mutt I wonder how much the Little Otter would pay?

I was delighted to see that Shemima Begum lost the appeal to the Supreme Court over her being allowed into Britain to fight her case about having her UK citizenship being removed. It doesn’t stop her bringing the case, just stops her from attending in person. The Supreme Court ruled that danger to the public of her being in the country outweighed her rights to appear personally. It’s nice to know that is the end of the matter, the Supreme Court is the highest she can go, no more interfering ECJ.

The last of the protesters who were in the tunnel they had dug under Euston Square Gardens came out this morning and was taken to hospital for a check-up prior to being handed over to the police. HS2’s method of dealing with these protesters by waiting for them to come out seems to have been justified as there was no violence. I hope the tunnels are now collapsed to stop anything else happening.

The numbers getting a coronavirus jab leapt up again in the numbers published today. Nearly 500,000 jabs have taken the total number of 1st vaccinations to over nearly 19.2 million. The total of 2nd jabs is currently going up more slowly but show increasing soon as the 12 weeks after the first jab starts to be reached. Still, nearly 3/4 million people have had both doses.

I hear that a Swiss businessman who slipped over on a spill of Bailey’s liquor while checking in for a British Airways flight at Heathrow has been awarded £130,000 and granted permission to sue for further damages. BA accepted that reason he had fallen was because they had not cleared up the spill, hence the award, but disputed further claims. When the man fell he hit his head and suffered brain damage and his lawyer claims that as a result, he was no longer capable of running his successful office supplies company causing it to collapse nearly a year later. The trial will continue at a later date.

I have been reading that a gorilla and two lions at Prague Zoo have tested positive for coronavirus. That bothers me, I don’t care about the gorilla but the lions are cats just like me. I have seen how ill Bozzie was when he got it and I don’t want it. As I am 14 in human years which makes me 72 in cat years so I am in the age group who should have had the vaccination but they seem to have missed me. I wonder who I should chase to get my jab.

Saturday

I getting used to these bright and sunny mornings and I must say I rather like them. Unfortunately, I don’t think they are going to last until next weekend. I had a bit of exciting news this morning, my human scribe has asked me if he can include me as a character in this next serial for GP. Of course, I said yes, but he won’t tell me if it’s just a bit part or if I am a superhero saving the world. I will just have to wait until Swiss Bob publishes it.

I find it somewhat ironic that a few weeks ago the EU we’re getting very upset with first Pfizer and then AstraZeneca over coronavirus vaccine supply and now are drowning in it. Pfizer had problems upgrading a factory and AZ’s subcontractors were struggling to match the volumes being churned out by the UK and Indian plants. All kinds of threats were thrown around and many people thought the EU were raising a smokescreen to hide their own ordering incompetence. Then the German press and French president Macaroon said the AstraZeneca vaccine was as good as useless for over 65’s. Now data coming out in England and Scottishland have proved quite the opposite, the AZ vaccine is proving to be highly effective in older people. Unfortunately, the EU propaganda has caused people of all ages to refuse the AZ vaccine and in Germany alone they have 1.4 million doses sitting on the shelf. The EU vaccination program is now falling short in many countries and EU politicians are desperately back-peddling on their propaganda. What a cock-up.

I know Sniffer Biden likes children but surely he has gone a bit far this time. The dementia kid has been consulting a 14-year-old girl table tennis player from Cardiff on climate change. Anna Hursey is a United Nations climate change champion for sport, but at 14 can hardly be an expert worth consulting. Mind she is a little girl and has hair so rates high in Biden’s book.

The Friday coronavirus data published today is still heading in the right direction with the most notable number over 500,000 people getting a first vaccination in a single day taking the total number of people who have had a first vaccination to nearly 19.7 Million. This is over 1/3 of the total population.

It never rains but it pours for Boeing. I hear today of more problems with its 787s. The first is supposed to be simple to see and fix but not so the second. It seems there have been a number of reports of “bilge barriers” in cargo holds either not being fixed properly or coming loose. These barriers are supposed to stop a fire spreading from one underfloor cargo hold to another and are easily visually inspected and fixed. The second problem revolves around the assembly of aircraft panels and the shims that are used to fill any gaps where the panels, some of which are made by subcontractors, do not fully align. Many shims seem not to have been made to the correct specific and could lead to the fuselage not being able to stand the stresses imposed by flight. This is a very difficult problem to fix in a finished aircraft. The interior fittings have to be removed and the floor panels lifted, instruments are then used to detect flaws that can’t be seen by the naked eye. If flaws are found the shims have to be replaced, new fixing put in place, and the area repainted. Then the floor has to be replaced and the interior refitted. All this is likely to cost Boeing hundreds of millions of dollars, possibly even billions of dollars.

Earlier this week the Johnson & Johnson (in Europe Jansen) one-shot vaccine was declared effective, opening up the door to being licensed. The Trump administration ordered 100 million doses of this vaccine for $1 billion, with 12 million to be available by the end of February and the full amount by July. It looks like Sniffer Joe is relying on this vaccine to complete his 100 vaccination in his first 100 days. Well, it is beginning to look like J&J have production problems and will only have 4 million doses made by the end of this month and don’t expect to be able to deliver 20 million doses before the end of March. This vaccine is only said to be 66% effective which is very much less than any of the other vaccines on the market.

I see that a boatload of Tesla 3 cars has arrived in the UK. This is the first 1000 cars to come to Britain from the Tesla factory in Shanghai and have different batteries to the models made in the US. Tesla had adopted the manufacturing method of taking a batch of British and Irish orders and then stopping their American line and switching it to produce RH drive cars for a week. If you missed one production run you might have to wait two or three months for the next slot. Tesla hope their Chinese plant will be able to better placed to supply the demand for the RH drive version of the car as it will be serving a bigger market of Japan and the Commonwealth where the likes of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Singapore and the UK all drive on the left.

Right readers, I am off for my supper. I hope it’s still warm in London tomorrow, I’m enjoying my snoozes on the window sill. Chat to you all again on Monday.
 

© WorthingGooner 2021
 

The Goodnight Vienna Audio file