Paul Brownjohn @Paulos_the_fog@qoto.org
Retired software engineer & woodworker.
Anglo-francophone.
Detest tories. Subscribe to green, leftish radical politics but not to any particular political party!.
Love the EU and all it stands for, moreover, I spent the last 10 years of my career working at an EU agency.
Enthusiastic photographer, especially wildlife and most especially butterflies.
Slightly knowledgeable gardener.
Atheist; loathe almost all religions and pity the people deluded enough to follow them. I make exceptions for Buddhism as it isn't really a religion in the strictest sense of the word as it doesn't postulate the existence of any god, and Jainism which is the epitome of peace.
For anyone who is interested, my header photo is of the most stupendous sunset I have ever seen. On the right is the waterfront of Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on the left is Thailand and in the middle, acting as the border between the two countries is the mighty Mekong river.
Joined Nov 2022
@TimWardCam @vandyke4ad @RickGaehl
Mine were taken in 1988.
@TimWardCam @vandyke4ad @RickGaehl
Aside from the reflection pic, and the body in the river, you took pretty much the same set of pics as I did!
@TimWardCam @vandyke4ad @RickGaehl
The body in the river behind the Taj was an extraordinary juxtaposition between what is probably the world's most beautiful tomb and what is the humble way a body can be returned through the beaks of vultures and crows!
@TimWardCam @vandyke4ad @RickGaehl
Why so blurry? Kodachrome 64, 300mm telephoto, a focal length doubler and hand held!
@TimWardCam @vandyke4ad @RickGaehl
It's phenomenally difficult to take a picture of the Taj that isn't the same as the pictures every other single tourist takes. These are my efforts one is a reflection of the Taj in the long pond in front of it and the other was a body washed up on the banks of the river behind the Taj - god it stank!
I have to agree Labour under Starmer is absolute shite - thankfully, now that Labour's gerrymandering rule about overseas residents not being able to vote after 15 years absence has now been repealed, I have the right to vote in forthcoming elections. In the constituency where I am registered, the Labour candidate has absolutely no chance whatever. It's a straight fight between the tory scum and the Lib Dems. Guess what - it won't be the tory filth that get my vote!
Back 2018, I had a badly broken arm - titanium plate - the full monty! The hospital in Thailand who did the surgery completely botched it to the extent that, two years later, surgeons here in Luxembourg were debating whether or not to strip out all the work that the Thai surgeon had done, rebreak the arm and redo the job properly!
For three years, I was in severe pain and my GP would only prescribe NSAIDS. Finally, one day my orthopaedic consultant asked me what pain relief I had been prescribed and when I told him he said "you must be in agony", I admitted that I found the pain difficult to cope with and he put me straight on Tramadol - he said "this will stop it" - it did. One dose and "pain what pain".
However when I went to my GP to get my prescription repeated she when crazy - that stuff is really addictive I don't want you getting hooked on it..." She did give me a scrip for it just the same!
Kir (white wine with Crême de Cassis; blackcurrant based alcoholic cordial) and Kir Royale (ditto but made with Champagne or sparkling wine instead of white wine) and Cardinale (ditto but made with red wine) are very popular in France where lots of wine is grown! If you enjoy it, drink it would be the french attitude!
A couple of years back, I had major abdominal surgery to remove a tumour. The surgeon used robotic surgery but still needed to make a 125mm (5") incision to pull out the affected section of gut, cut out the part where the tumour had grown and suture the two cut ends together.
The op went well and in fact they had to remove a much shorter length of gut than the pre-op scans suggested they might.
After the op I was put on intravenous paracetamol/acetaminophen (Tylenol). Nothing that actually works just that useless shit! The op was on a friday morning, I was fine friday afternoon - up and about walking around. Saturday the same; likewise sunday morning then sunday afternoon suddenly the pain started by sunday evening it had gone through through the roof. I begged the surgeon for an effective painkiller and he reluctantly prescribed intravenous Tramadol. That worked!
Meanwhile the analysis of a set of blood samples had come back - and so did the surgeon - poste haste! My C reactive protein levels had gone throught he roof so he sent me down for a CT scan to see the the gut suturing was leaking - it wasn't. He stripped the dressings off the incisions and removed the butterfly tape that was holding the 125 mm incision closed. There was an impressive fountain of pus and blood and I thought - "shit MRSA, I'm a goner".
It wasn't, it was a strain of e.coli that was resistant to the antibiotic that they had used as an umbrella for the op but even that can be fatal.
After that when I said it hurt, he sat up up and took notice. He even put a month's supply of 50mg Tramadol capsules on my outpatient prescription when I left hospital. They are still in the bathroom cupboard untouched!
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
Saw a Cybertruck entering the Costco parking lot yesterday, and burst out laughing. It was my first siting in the wild, and I was simply astounded by just how stupid they look in person.
https://youtube.com/shorts/lczKh7EdcAA?si=lgHAka2raYAbTfMg
I believe the worst aspect of conventional dairy farming is the methane emissions from bovines. However, I have no idea how the emissions from sheep (rarely farmed for milk in most countries; ours comes from France where they are often farmed for milk in areas where bovines would not flourish) and goats compare.
So what you are saying is that most/many rural voters in the US are complete fuckin imbeciles, yes?
Interesting - I wonder how sheep's milk and goat's milk compare with cows milk. Both of the above are readily available where I live (in Luxembourg).
Paul Brownjohn
boosted
discovering that fewer cybertrucks have been sold than Sinclair C5s has amused me greatly. and honestly, if you want to drive a weird vehicle, the C5 is far more fun.
When in doubt, assume all American politicians are complete fuckin imbeciles!
Britain has its fair share of utter fuckin twats as politicians (Boris Johnson immediately springs to mind but most people in the tory party qualify as imbeciles otherwise they wouldn't be tories!) However in terms of comprehensively useless utter twats, America seems to hold all the Trump cards!
Is there a word for the process of driving 45 minutes to one's local(ish) really BIG DIY store and coming home with a bootful of things you didn't go there to buy but forgetting the one thing you did go there for?
Christ - you have to wonder about the mentality of US politicians. Are they mostly complete fuckin imbeciles!
Is this an admission that the former POTUS is a six fingered oddity. I suspect AI at work here. I'm sure that Trump has never been on his knees in a church!
Retired software engineer & woodworker.
Anglo-francophone.
Detest tories. Subscribe to green, leftish radical politics but not to any particular political party!.
Love the EU and all it stands for, moreover, I spent the last 10 years of my career working at an EU agency.
Enthusiastic photographer, especially wildlife and most especially butterflies.
Slightly knowledgeable gardener.
Atheist; loathe almost all religions and pity the people deluded enough to follow them. I make exceptions for Buddhism as it isn't really a religion in the strictest sense of the word as it doesn't postulate the existence of any god, and Jainism which is the epitome of peace.
For anyone who is interested, my header photo is of the most stupendous sunset I have ever seen. On the right is the waterfront of Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on the left is Thailand and in the middle, acting as the border between the two countries is the mighty Mekong river.
Joined Nov 2022
