… nor at any other time.
Another unfortunate, yet wholly classic, RBOSS moment from the Sharplemeister.
No. Not at all nice. Dreadfully over-saturated to the point of actually being rather offensive.
Ugh.
Tag: ramsey
Back in time with #RBOSS
The Queen’s Pier in Ramsey in the Isle of Man is in dire need of restoration. First opened in 1886, 104 years later it finally closed and has been in a state of decay and decline ever since. But things are looking up – the Queen’s Pier Restoration Fund are slowly but surely making progress on bringing this impressive landmark back into use.
It’s painstaking, expensive work and you can help them out with some funding by clicking the link above if you so desire. And – if you’re local and feel the need – you can even volunteer to help with the ongoing work.
“Oh ya, and I also helped rebuild a 2,244ft long Victorian pier.”
Stick that on your CV and smoke it.
But there are some locals who are trying to assist in ways that you and I could only ever dream of: taking historic engineering from way back in time and dragging them kicking and screaming into the 21st Century: rejuvenating the superstructure of the Queen’s Pier via the means of #RBOSS.
This incredible image appeared on Facebook yesterday.
Amazing. You can literally see some of the stabilising cross-bars between the Victorian cast iron piles (over 40 feet in height (with 18 foot piles) on a 6° pitch) glowing brightly as they are heated to around 1200°C in order to remove impurities which might weaken the overall structure.
You can usually only do this is a specialised foundry. For the metal on the pier, this heating was last done in Stockton-upon-Tees in the 1880s: the RBOSS technology to repair these important stabilising braces on-site simply wasn’t available until now yesterday morning.
This revolutionary technique is not without risk, however. Primary dangers in flinging the saturation slider all the way to the right, saving the image and then doing it again include literally burning right through the iron which is holding the pier up (you can see this occurring on one piece of cross member) and also turning the corona of the sun a weird grey-green colour.
But in the hands of an RBOSS expert (as we undoubtedly are in this case), this method is a quick and easy way of mending a Manx landmark. It’s surely only a matter of time until Peel Castle gets an evening* makeover. Sure – that’s made of stone, which will only melt at 4000°C, but with the right software and a desire to make everything oranger than it actually is, anything is possible.
In the meantime, we’ll keep enjoying the seemingly almost unbelievable explosive colour of every daybreak in Ramsey via Facebook, while the Queen’s Pier gets rebuilt by whatever means are available.
* West coast, see?
Manx SciFi news
When you see the line:
The Dalek was built by Robin Burchill, 18, from Bride, and was being operated by his girlfriend Nina.
in a news story, you just have to delve deeper.
And not do any obvious women driver jokes.
Basically, it’s the story of a bloke who builds Daleks in his spare time, whose most recent Dalek:
broke when it hit a pothole on (FTTH-free zone) Ramsey Promenade in the Isle of Man.
[sad trombone]
This isn’t “news”. I’m pretty sure this sort of thing happens worldwide on a daily basis.
Says Robin:
Upon completing my Dalek, I decided to take it for a test run on Ramsey Promenade. We decided to take it from the promenade over to Mooragh Park as there were a few more people over there, when crossing the road towards the park’s car park driveway, the Dalek fell into a pothole.
A test run for what? Are you planning some sort of invasion, Robin? Why go towards the people, Robin? People are scared of Daleks. I’ve seen Doctor Who – those wheelie bins with laser guns are dangerous. Were you putting some sort of evil plan into practice here?
Unfortunately, when the Dalek hit the hole, it caused significant damage, its head came off, its eye was smashed and the dome suffered a nasty gouge. Robin said both of these were quite large and fairly costly repair jobs.
Both three of them? Right.
But wait for it, folks…
He said that he had contacted Ramsey Commissioners to inquire about compensation, as the road had remained in a state of disrepair for a while.
Worth a try, I suppose. I wonder if they took the claim seriously?
Robin said: “I have to this day received no response. I imagine they did not take my claims seriously.”
Ah. Right.
But:
Ramsey Commissioners told the Manx Independent that they had not heard about an incident involving a Dalek.
And it’s really the sort of thing you’d probably remember, isn’t it?
Robin says that he is more concerned about the possibility of an elderly resident crossing the road on a mobility scooter and fears they could be injured.
Of course you are, mate.
And you were going to put your compo towards that, weren’t you? Not towards building another bloody Dalek or anything.
Ain’t no compassion like faux compassion.
Bleakly Californian
OK. Bear with me. This all started when I saw this photo posted on Facebook:
Look, it’s a good photo. There’s drama, there’s atmosphere, there’s strong contrast; you’re drawn into the image. What’s the story here? Who is the girl? Why is she there? I like it.
Immediately, I had other questions though.
Firstly, WHO ON EARTH names their hotel Bleak House? Do they know what “bleak” means?
a bird’s horny projecting jaws; a bill.
I’m sorry. I have to press really hard to get the L key to work sometimes. So et’s try that again.
I am aware that in the Dickens novel of the same name, the Bleak House is actually far from bleak, but firstly, this isn’t that house, and secondly, how many people have read that much Dickens?
Can you imagine telling your friends that you’ve got two weeks booked in Ramsey (which is surely bad enough, anyway), before then elaborating and telling them that you chose to stay at a place called “Bleak House”.
Really? Were Superb Hotel, Lovely B&B and Entirely Pleasant Lodgings all booked up then?
No. Given the huge – near infinite – range of potential, positive-angled guest house nomenclature available to the proprietors, this seems like a bit of an own goal.
And then there’s the caption. That’s a misquoted lyric from The Eagles’ Hotel California, isn’t it?
Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before
‘Relax’ said the night man,
‘We are programmed to receive.
You can check out any time you like,
But you can never leave!
I know I’m being a bit picky here, but wouldn’t a line from… well… Bleak House be rather more appropriate here?
And I am bored to death with it. Bored to death with this place, bored to death with my life, bored to death with myself.
OK. Perhaps not that one.
Fairy-land to visit, but a desert to live in
Better. Very Ramsey. Apart from the fairy-land bit.
But this one fits perfectly, I think.
As all partings foreshadow the great final one, – so, empty rooms, bereft of a familiar presence, mournfully whisper what your room and what mine must one day be.
In fact, I’m reliably informed that this was exactly what many paying visitors muttered on those very steps, when Bleak House was still an operating business.