Ratboy is a black fell terrier which is basically a Patterdale on Steroids…..he’s only allowed off his lead in very special circumstances because if he gets a scent it’s two fingers to the world and he’s off and he’ll come back when the fancy takes him or killed whatever vermin gets in range…Ruby is basically a gun dog so never gets more than 10 feet away and always watching you to keep close until you tell her to go and back with instant recall, pisses me off that the owner dumped her because she couldn’t have pups ..she’s going nowhere now, keeping her permanently, all done and dusted.

I personally love it that you Mutters and Accy all give your dogs a bloody good loving family upbringing. Dogs are amazing animals just a shame some get so poorly treat it makes my blood boil. Now we have foooking Xmas coming up which unfortunately guarantees more of man's best friends getting mistreated or dumped.

I didn't realise snowy had a dog...he's never mentioned it.

cannot speak for the other two but i look after mine without a second thought no matter what the time or the weather apart from the heat. problem is many get them for the wrong reason or the wrong dog for them. breeders could not give a toss as long as they get their dosh for a pup and rescue centres seem more interested in the size of your back garden than your dog owning history. know someone who wanted to rescue but nobody would touch em as they had no garden and had to buy a pup who have owned dogs from childhood and one is at home all day. you will never get rid of animal cruelty but could make the punishments more severe for those going down that line. the only thing that will ever stop me owning a dog is my health or the inability to pay ott vet bills.

Only you Mutters only you.

When our Jess passes away I've already decided I'm not getting another dog.
But my mind will more than likely change when she does go...I think.

Same situation here our lass said no more dogs because she is a proper animal lover and we have now lost 3. But I am hoping she will change her mind in time because I would have another today.

when you get a dog you know the day you get them that if you are not unlucky you will outlive them. its doing the best for them, making em happy and then have the good memories for lihe that far outweigh the final vets visit. all mine have been different characters with different good memories i still have. feel a lot do not replace them because they either do not want to go back on that decision or do not want another for other reasons. i have always replaced one within a week of the other dying and that helps a big way in not missing the other as much even if you do compare.

Well said Accy

Just listened to " whispering green grass " that classic song with lofty and the major. Wow what a voice lofty had.
https://www.google.com/search?q=whisper ... on=1#ebo=0

one of the original versions of that by the ink spots is worth a listen. bet they were never bothered about being named that either being popular in their time with big doller pay cheques.

I will give it a listen Accy.

I’ll never mention the ‘D’ word again your holiness, it obviously disturbs you.

No just use the names of Ratboy & Ruby instead.

Best not…he probably thinks they’re a punk band.

they sound more hard core heavy metal to me.

How about them bright orange armbands with a bit of elastic, we as kids used to wear going to school on dark winter mornings. Don’t know why but I only had one, wore it on the arm closest to roadside.

Did you change arms depending on changes of direction…

just talking about this yesterday morning when kids had these, a lanyard or a hi vis vest over there coats. now with street lighting being totally crap the word seems, wear something black and hooded at night. with crap street lighting and blinding headlights coming the other way i have been very close in hitting some on a couple of occasions and i was not speeding by a long way. you can have all the speed limits you want but all pedestrians, other motorists and councils need to there part also.

No...he walked backwards.

Night driving is shit now…like you say poor street lighting and fuckwits with bright headlights which they love to set at the highest level (forget about dipped beams ) or the complete fuck wits who have them on full beam all the time…..it’ll take more than a reflective vest to save them.

If you’re walking in a straight line……there’s them pesky corners you just might encounter….unless you live on a Motorway.

Which fooking council goon decided it was a good idea to dim the lights. If anything they either needed leaving alone or improving. The first thing our lass said when the new lights came in is...It's a real danger now for the children when crossing but more scary for them walking about in the dark with vulgar people waiting to pounce. I also reckon these piss poor lights must help burglars and effect the CCTV footage. Give the fooker a knighthood. In fact nothing at all makes any sense any more with any government changes it crazy and getting much worse by the day.

Oddly enough talking to a bloke on a ferry on the West coast of Scotland and this came up and said the Councils use it to save money but the lights just need to be upgraded to work well, they apparently claim it’s to stop light pollution he said but what exactly is light pollution….

its just bollocks like much of todays life and decisions are. they spout about cannot do this and that for health and safety yet dim the street lights because health and safety costs them money they could spend on projects nobody are interested in. some places have gone the extra mile by switching the lights off altogether by saying in certain hours they are not necessary but you could still be done for breaking their 20 mph limit with only you on the road at that time.

The reasons Councils have changed to LED are they are cheaper to run than traditional lights and they last longer aswell. Etc etc. Loads of positives with LED Lights.

apart from the reason that lights are there in the first place to give a good or better light out of them than their predeccesors. might have well stuck to the old gas lights or the single bulbs that replaced them on the same standard.

Old gas lamps would be a lot brighter than these shit excuses

The gentlemen who installs them told me that councils always put inadequate numbers of light fittings inside the lamps……and that greatest complaint is they give poor illumination….espe ially when driving.
Doesn’t matter how cheap or long they last if they give poor illumination.

Street lighting is essential and must be adequate otherwise what's the point. Piss poor decision making again by the council. The savings needed should come from inside the council itself. I would like to see the amount of tax payers money blown on shit by Councillors and management. Over paid out of touch wankers

That took a while!!

so bad that some arrogant bitch of a councillor told me that the street lighting is no different and its my eyes that need looking at. someone else i have fallen out with big time. no need to say which party she supports and her views on climate change and mass illigal immigtation either.

Is she a tory??

Doesn’t matter how long it took, it’s a fact.

Not true though.

You need to talk to a electrician to see if he can shed some light on the subject.

Are you just being contrary for the sake of it..
You can have a light of 50 watts but if you increase it to 100 watts you get more light output…it’s brighter..
Stating LED lights are dim because they have installed sufficiently sized LED is not an attack on the Labour Party so you can calm down.
They install small wattage because of the myth of light pollution and the dreamy myth of the night sky…light pollution???? Fecking nuts….I ‘d rather see where I’m walking than keep the bloody astronomers from having a hissy fit.

It can't be true...you never spelt fact in capitals like this...FACT. So it can't be true...surely you know that bunker rule.

yes walking. its not all about driving but before the new dims were installed by the dim i used to be able to spot the dog shit before i walked in it. just go the whole hog and curfew people during the hours of darkness. some are actually doing that on their own now.

True & funny.

I do not know why but I have not given a thought to the 1954 Match Factory fire for many decades but recently remembered it. We lads used to scavenge for match box labels when the fire had died down and started collecting them from then on. I remember begging foreign sailers for match boxes to add to the collection when they crossed the railway bridge at the bottom of Middleton Road. Times were hard but I look back fondly on a childhood when we made the best of things.

That reminds me of a story my mother told me in the 70s. Her and her best mate got sacked for talking to much she was only 16 at the time. She told the manager who sacked her that she hoped the factory would burn down so he would also be out of work. One week to the day it burned down and she had nothing to do with it.

Tumbleweed rolls past creaking door in sunny ghost town.