Thread 15 - TalkLair: “I Can't Lie To You About Your Chances, But... You Have My Sympathies.”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 14).

Autumn seems to have gone straight into winter. It's cold, wet and windy. In the TalkLair, the hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them). The denizens of the lair are a welcoming bunch though, always eager for general chit-chat on all manner of topics.

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

Wow! Those are amazing images.

Not sure - Iish Sea, the flaky looking one was off Trinidad, SS Norway - Norwegian Sea, barge with cannons, Baltic.

Irish Sea, the whale is a Minke.

Stokes' Sea Snake, Timor Sea, pilot whale mother and calf, West of Shetland, cold water coral on a pipeline, West of Shetland, Red Tailed Tropic Bird, Timor Sea.

Amphipod, 12" pipe.
Artificial reef, German Baltic - to reinstate bivalves temporarily rehomed during pipe laying.
Heron, Egyptian Delta.
EDT Ares - it was the ship in The Abyss.
Amphipod next to a 12" pipe.

Amphora, possibly Black Sea -short neck
Amphora Adriatic, long neck.

Wonderful photos, Sinner. I'm very envious (although not of the 4 hours sleep part).

Whale and whale skeleton, both Norway.
Dolphins, Irish Sea.

Lost warbler off Peterhead, don't worry, I rescued and released it!
Minke whale, Irish Sea.
Nurse shark, Adriatic.
Heron, off Suez.

Well, that's it, waaaay past my bedtime!

I hope you all enjoy them.

Sorry for some doubles and possible lies about locations!

😃

Thanks @SinnerBoy those are fascinating and utterly beautiful!

Re books. I wouldn't walk around a shop with a book I hadn't bought open. I wouldn't be reading a book I hadn't bought in a shop aside from having a quick look at the first page to see if I liked the style. I'd feel like a cheeky beggar if I did that. Clothes, er, wobble your head as the MN brethern like to say. Everyone does that.

Sara Sharif, I was reading a bit of that last week but I can't read all of it because it makes me cry and despair for humanity.

@VictorianBigot good god, that sounds horrific. I'm so sorry it happened to you.

Re weather. It was indeed minging and thankfully when Snoop was driving me to hers for a lunch and cake for her brother's birthday it was slightly less mental than it had been although the wind at her end was mad. She lives closer to the sea than me as in a couple of hundred yards max.

@VictorianBigot (second time) it's always hard to tell which weight is accurate when you're weighed on different scales at the hospital. Go with 57kg especially as your clothes are getting looser.

Right. I'll post this for now and then read on some more.

@SinnerBoy I didn't know you were a geologist. I've always thought it sounds like an interesting job. Thank you for the photos which are wonderful except for the sea snake which scares the bejasus out of me.

Talking of being a bit scared. I watched a horror on Saturday that scared me a bit to the extent that I was curling into myself for comfort and saying "No, no, no" to the TV. I really liked it, it's so unusual for horror to make me afeard. It was Smile and I must get to the cinema this week to see Smile 2 which has just been released!

@SinnerBoy What amazing photos! I'm totally in awe 🤩

Amphipod next to a 12" pipe
That looks like a bloody massive woodlouse

DD1 is considering something along the geography/geology/environmental science line career-wise, I'm going to show her these amazing photos. (One of her older cousins is a hydrogeologist, she works for a large water company - it is very interesting and important, but less glamorous than Sinner's work).

MouseMinge · Yesterday 21:08

I didn't know you were a geologist. I've always thought it sounds like an interesting job. Thank you for the photos which are wonderful except for the sea snake which scares the bejasus out of me.

Yes, since 1997. I've got quite a good compilation of pics from over the years, sorry about the snake, but they can't climb up ships, thankfully!

Kucinghitam · Today 07:58

What amazing photos! I'm totally in awe 🤩

Thanks, some are cribbed from other people.

That looks like a bloody massive woodlouse

Don't they just, I have more invertebrate images, including loads from Angola, which I sent to the Serpent database, at Southampton University. Sometimes, they reply with identifications and a couple of times, new to science!

They are amazing pictures @SinnerBoy .

Fantastic pictures, @SinnerBoy Your job sounds fascinating and the artefacts are a real bonus, they put my garden finds to shame!

Never know what unexpected wonders lurk in the deep - they were looking for a lost nuclear submarine, and found the Titanic instead.

Sinner, if you accidentally find a lost nuclear submarine DON'T PICK IT UP!

DC just got back from their school trip to Iceland. Apparently it was "quite interesting" and "fine." Oh, and there are "too many waterfalls."

Not many leaves left on the trees on our street, but I did get this picture in our local park yesterday while it was sunny (is grey and wet today).

Gorgeous. There is some lovely colour this year, especially the beech trees.

Such a lovely time of year. Even around here, which hardly lays claim to being a scenic area, the trees are magnificent. I was just thinking, how long is it now since The Great Departure; four years? I always think of it being in November, cos that marked my last post at the Old Place I think.