T Break thread 2023

[Mike Harte]

Is it just me, or is the historic car world just going absolutely mad?

Someone just paid $2 million for what's left of the burnt out shell of a 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider Series I. Yes, the article ( https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66563807 ) says that it is just one of 13 built, but still!

I just think that there are too many people around with more money than sense.

[Greem]

I just read that. If the chassis plate is intact, it's the original car and any resto work doesn't invalidate that. Right?

[Paul D]

Originally Posted by morninggents

The real problem is that the population in the UK is too high for the amount of liveable space available.


The world population is also growing at an unsustainable rate.


Less people, less polution.

I think this sums up the global problem succinctly. I've being saying for years that the planet is simply overpopulated, and it's not sustainable if it keeps increasing. And it's not just from a polution perspective. As politically incorrect as it may be, I think we really need to start discouraging people from having loads of kids - on a global scale, not just here.

How that's achieved I've no idea!

We've also gotten very good, as a species, at living much longer than previously, and this adds further pressure.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Paul D

I think this sums up the global problem succinctly. I've being saying for years that the planet is simply overpopulated, and it's not sustainable if it keeps increasing. And it's not just from a polution perspective. As politically incorrect as it may be, I think we really need to start discouraging people from having loads of kids - on a global scale, not just here.

How that's achieved I've no idea!

We've also gotten very good, as a species, at living much longer than previously, and this adds further pressure.

Paul, you've highlighted the major problem that world is facing; current overpopulation.

However, as you state, we as a population are, taking in the whole planet, reaching ages not seen before. What now concerns governments around the world is if we, worldwide, slow down the birth rate, who is going to provide for the elderly.

For example, around the 1950s in the UK, there were roughly 20 individuals in work to provide for existing pensioners. By the 90s, that figure had dropped to about 12.5 per pensioner. It was estimated that between 2025 and 2030, that figure will drop even further and could well be as low as 2.5 in work to every pensioner.

This is happening around the world, and it was possibly China that first seriously appreciated the reality, and they then started encouraging bigger families rather that their previous 1 child policy. I believe France has now copied that, and there may be other countries that are or will be following suit.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

This follows large decreases in energy emissions as the UK switched away from coal power and towards gas, while transport emissions have remained relatively static.

Ignoring the potential impacts of lockdowns, etc., it would be nice to see every country's supposed CO2 emissions calculated using values for all of the emission creation they have exported in the past 20 or 30 years.

That would be Manufacturing mostly, though one might also include off-shore datacentres and the relatively immense power demands for bitcoin mining, etc.

The best thing we could do, should we individually feel a need to save the planet (i.e. future humanity) on our own, would be to stop buying tat from China, then India. In the future we should also watch how much pollution (of all sorts) comes from Vietnam and other countries as manufacturers with a global market vacate China.

Green policies, as usually presented, would seem to be suggesting that we could revert levels of energy usage to pre-industrial revolution levels almost immediately. Government "policies", if one can call them that, appear to be looking 10 to 20 years ahead as the target to achieve that objective.

At some point they might recall that, prior to coal's widespread use, the level of human physical energy input had, for some centuries, been greatly augmented by the use of animals. Animals that are now being targeted for their greenhouse gas output. So clearly they will not be a viable option for the future enhancement of human toil.

Fortunately for humanity as a whole there are countries that, if they survive economically without the current major global consumers as customers after the reversion to agrarian lifestyles and the corresponding population relief, are likely to be willing to relocate populations to places around the world where useful, human supporting, resources will still exist.

It may take some conflict to determine who gets what, but the new human future will eventually evolve in some form.

Our Islands - UK and Ireland in particular - seem to have a history of very significant social movement and change approximately every 1000 years.

So 2000 years ago the Romans. 1000 years ago the Franco-Viking establishment.

The time seems to be about right for some new takeover, probably encompassing all of the so-named "Western World" this time, not just the UK islands and the northern part of what we call Europe.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

My wife, having been raised in an Air Force family, is unable to sleep if there is no noise around. When we are in rural locations with minimal background noise, she is awake all night. Being next to airfields is a bonus for us!!

For the sake of your wife's health you should move here. Plenty of noise, day and night (from aeroplanes - so the right sort of noise), despite being much less than a city.

However, when I am not here I do not miss the noise. When I am here, I don't really notice it.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Is it just me, or is the historic car world just going absolutely mad?

Someone just paid $2 million for what's left of the burnt out shell of a 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider Series I. Yes, the article ( https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66563807 ) says that it is just one of 13 built, but still!

I just think that there are too many people around with more money than sense.

Well, at least if they have enough money to buy the thing and rebuild it they will probably be able to afford to buy a couple of gallons of sustainable fuel once a year to drive it in and out of their garage.

Unless, of course, they rebuild it as an electric vehicle.

Maybe they just keep the wreck as it is and take the cheaper route of building a replica based on a wrecked Tesla or something?

[grantp]

Originally Posted by morninggents

The real problem is that the population in the UK is too high for the amount of liveable space available.


The world population is also growing at an unsustainable rate.


Less people, less polution.

That's what David Attenborough has been saying for years.

However, in many countries the birth rate is below population sustainability levels and has been for a decade or so.

The population in the UK may be higher than some generations might like but it is not unsupportably high, at least in theory.

In practice, our housing stock and infrastructure is not currently very conducive to the way people wish to live and the investment required combined with the skill sets required to build on all of the agricultural land and replace the old stuff with new in just a few years, are somewhat lacking.

These are global problems.

The solutions proposed by Government policies seem to involve reducing levels of farming and so reduce food consumption and thus reduce pollution while making fields available for some sort of dwellings. What the dwells might be constructed from is less clear.

I have seen suggestions about reverting to wood, but it will be a while yet before the National Forests are mature enough to offer materials suitable for old style wooden huts and similar sustainable options.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Paul, you've highlighted the major problem that world is facing; current overpopulation.

However, as you state, we as a population are, taking in the whole planet, reaching ages not seen before. What now concerns governments around the world is if we, worldwide, slow down the birth rate, who is going to provide for the elderly.

For example, around the 1950s in the UK, there were roughly 20 individuals in work to provide for existing pensioners. By the 90s, that figure had dropped to about 12.5 per pensioner. It was estimated that between 2025 and 2030, that figure will drop even further and could well be as low as 2.5 in work to every pensioner.

This is happening around the world, and it was possibly China that first seriously appreciated the reality, and they then started encouraging bigger families rather that their previous 1 child policy. I believe France has now copied that, and there may be other countries that are or will be following suit.

It seems that the Chinese youth population has mostly given up on the idea of having families and the birth rate is a long way down and has been for several years.

The UK and most of the developed world has similar situations, which is why Governments are keen on immigration. Especially of the immigrant come from places where, traditionally, high birth rates and large families are seen as positive outcomes.

The simple way to avoid the worker-to-pensioner ratio problem is to eliminate the concept of a pensioner. This is what the UK Govt. has been doing for several years, although not for the Civil Service and other public sector careers as far as I am aware.

The downside is that housing accommodation becomes a problem when more and more people seek individual abodes rather than living as families.

Add to that the concept of "working from home" and needing space to to so nd one can see a problem stretching into the future.

Converting office blocks in city centres might be one relatively sustainable approach if only the developers and contractors would stop going into admininstration.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Unfortunately you can’t stand in the way of progress, it’s hard to go back to how it used to be.

So-called "Green" policies and a lot of the environmental movement want exactly that to be mandated. About 300 years back.

Pre coal, and definitely pre-oil.

But without the animals that humans used to use as energy sources because they quite efficiently used local bio sources as food in order to create energy for pulling ploughs, moving goods and moving people (or at least those wealthy enough to have a notion to move about).

I hope everyone is to be prepared for the change.

I get the impression that schools are setting up their pupil's expectations to understand that less is more.

Some parents might find adaptation more difficult.

Still, the pandemic showed that amazing things can be achieved with population management and the Chinese are ready and willing to share their experience and take things a stage or two further so many people might well welcome whatever steps the authorities deem necessary.

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Is it just me, or is the historic car world just going absolutely mad?

Historic car adaptation of the loch Ness monster:https://www.hemmings.com/stories/art...ype-22-brescia Nothing new as to people having too much money to spend.

[MGDavid]

Originally Posted by midgetman

Many years ago MGDavid told me that when he became King he would force a law that only competition licence holders could drive on Sundays.

Life is full of disappointments and so far he has failed in his promise.

sorry chaps - been far too busy having fun to take this beyond the feasibility stage.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by MGDavid

sorry chaps - been far too busy having fun to take this beyond the feasibility stage.

Given the size of support teams for some of the drivers, the plan might need some additional permissions for Sunday driving.

[Gerard C]

Matra story (sort of) in French, slightly disappointing but good pictures (I know its a video):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnji0M_Rfk8

[gary396]

Sounds like some very sad news coming out from the VSCC meeting at Mallory Park today:

https://www.motorsportuk.org/motorsp..._WQLTqCa9QsU-0

[Alfaholic]

Originally Posted by gary396

Sounds like some very sad news coming out from the VSCC meeting at Mallory Park today:

https://www.motorsportuk.org/motorsp..._WQLTqCa9QsU-0

I was at the meeting this afternoon and saw the accident happen. The way it unfolded and the reaction of another competitor (involved by was of avoiding the accident) and the first marshal on the scene, plus the work being done by the medics gave me the impression that this would be the outcome.

R.I.P.

[GORDON STREETER]

Have tenthers got any type of "adblocks" installed on their computers ? if so can (or do) they cause any other problems ?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

Have tenthers got any type of "adblocks" installed on their computers ? if so can (or do) they cause any other problems ?

.

[Mike Harte]

The only problem is that there seems to be an increasing number of websites, such as Autosport and Motorsport for example, who will not allow you to view their sites whilst the adblocker is on.

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

The only problem is that there seems to be an increasing number of websites, such as Autosport and Motorsport for example, who will not allow you to view their sites whilst the adblocker is on.

Same here. Not new but increasing. Re TenTenths only, I mainly use an old version of Firefox (and MacBook), have add blockers and the like including private page, absolutely no issue so far.

[Mike Harte]

Gordon, another problem that seems apparent is that certain sites (for example, Facebook) appear to slow down the loading of material because, they claim, that the adblocker is present. This appears to be on sites that are heavily dependent on advertising income and I have the impression that they do this deliberately so that you switch off the adblocker.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Gordon, another problem that seems apparent is that certain sites (for example, Facebook) appear to slow down the loading of material because, they claim, that the adblocker is present. This appears to be on sites that are heavily dependent on advertising income and I have the impression that they do this deliberately so that you switch off the adblocker.

I have had the 3rd party adblocker running on the laptop (via Edge) that I am actually using at the moment for ages and it doesn't seem to do much.
I asked as I was thinking of getting a "top of the range" one for the laptop that I use in Spain as I seem to get more adverts popping up.

[Gerard C]

Don't remember if we've been talking about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g09DhSKaSOU more :https://www.caranddriver.com/feature...sible-details/ Only one hand to drive, suicide doors, nothing's Impossible (when you're Tom Cruise at least)!

[GORDON STREETER]

I was in a car repair body shop today and I could not believe the price of a part for a 65 plate Audi S7. It was the plastic cover on the drivers door mirror that was £600 !!! I though that my mate was taking the p*** until he showed me the invoice from the main dealers. The complete mirror was way over a grand !!!!
This was an insurance job and the customer insisted that they only used genuine parts. Now we know why our insurance costs a fortune !!!
A friend of mine who used to sponsor me has a new Bentley, and someone backed into it at a very low speed and put a slight dent in the drivers door down very low next to the door sill and front wing and just marked the paint on the front wing. You had a job to see it as the "damage" was about 50mm long. He showed me the estimate from the official Bentley repairers £25K !!!!!!!!!!

[Peter Mallett]

I read on twitter that a Renault Captur was flooded whilst parked in the Sheffield Mercure car park. Apparently the insurance company immediately wrote it off. The car was leas than 10 years old. Complete madness.