PCoT – February Newsletter

Welcome to February’s Newsletter. Quite a few birthdays this month? Four articles and another ‘Dumb Britain’ from Alan Fraser. Some tips when using a browser. The usual Crossword and another Quiz Challenge. Also this month is a new ‘Friendship Bubble’ initiative from John Pepperell.

Birthdays this month. 1st February - John Pepperell 4th February - John Kingslake 7th February - Richard Chamberlain 12th February - John Budd 19th February - Richard Habgood 20th February - Alan Fraser 26th February - Bob Cooke 27th February - Graham Shaw 28th February - Ken Hughes Happy Birthday to you all. Have a great day.

Friendship Bubbles – John Pepperell

As we are still in lockdown with no sign of a Probus Meeting being able to take place in the foreseeable future a proposal has been put to the Committee that we set up “friendship bubbles”. The objective of these bubbles are “conversation and friendship”.

The Committee are looking at different ways of keeping members informed and Zoom meetings are being tested to see if this is another possibility of keeping in touch.

In the meantime, let’s communicate by using the “friendship bubbles” as detailed below:-

B UBBLE 1 BUBBLE 2 BUBBLE 3

Garry Hyde Brian Whitehouse Bryan Unitt-Jones John Budd David Ansell Bill Flynn Tony Hope George Glossop Ken Hughes John Kingslake Alan Moorby Brian Latimer Roy Perry David Peace Michael Jones Fred Stack Melvin Watson Jeff Peacock Jeff Thorne Gordon Thomas

BUBBLE 4 BUBBLE 5 BUBBLE 6

Tony Stafford Richard Habgood Alan Fraser Ron Cole Chris Desjardins Richard Chamberlain Alan Glover Clive Simmonds Chris Elliott Tiny Reeves John Stafford Roy Harrison Graham Shaw John Twigg John Jenkins John Tracey Martin Warrilow Chris Lawson BUBBLE 7

John Pepperell Bob Cooke Paul Dean Clive Gilpin Ian Hughes Bruce Thornton Alan Thorpe Roy Waterland

The bubbles are not cast in stone and we hope contact between ourselves will help strengthen the value of friendship across the Club.

John Pepperell. Vice President

February Quiz Challenge - Alan Moorby

History – Questions 1) What did the Romans call Scotland? 2) Who was made Lord Mayor of London In 1397, 1398, 1406 And 1419? 3) Who was Henry VIIIs last wife? 4) Who was the youngest British Prime Minister? 5) In which year was Joan of Arc burned at the stake? 6) Which nationality was the polar explorer Roald Amundsen? 7) Who was the first female Prime Minister of Australia? 8) Which English explorer was executed in 1618, fifteen year after being found guilty of conspiracy against King James I of England and VI of Scotland? 9) Which English city was once known as Duroliponte? 10) The first successful vaccine was introduced by Edward Jenner in 1796. Which disease did it guard against?

Food and drink – Questions 1) Which nuts are used in marzipan? 2) What is the most famous Mexican beer? 3) Which country is the origin of the cocktail Mojito? 4) What is Japanese sake made from? 5) Which vitamin is the only one that you will not find in an egg? 6) What is the chemical formula for Table Salt? 7) What does IPA stand for? 8) Which meat is used in Glamorgan sausages? 9) What ingredient is included in food in a Florentine style? 10) Which fish is the main ingredient of Scotch Woodcock?

True or false - Questions 1) The Channel Tunnel is the longest rail tunnel in the world 2) A woman has walked on the Moon 3) According to Scottish law, it is illegal to be drunk in charge of a cow 4) Vietnamese is an official language in Canada 5) The setting for the ITV drama Midsomer Murders is a fictional English county called Midsomer 6) An emu can fly 7) resident Theodore Roosevelt's son was called Kermit 8) Edinburgh is further East than Carlisle 9) The can-opener was not invented until 45 years after the tin can 10) There are McDonald’s on every continent except one

Answers to all ‘Quiz Challenge’ questions are available here (PDF)

Crossword

This month’s crossword to have a go at In PDF format for easy printing.

Crossword Link (PDF)

Answers to Crossword Link (PDF)

More from Private Eye’s ‘Dumb Britain’ - From Alan Fraser

Anne Robinson, The Weakest Link – Which ‘D’ is a large city in the Republic of Ireland? Contestant – Belfast Anne Robinson, The Weakest Link – What ‘E’ is the substance that forms a hard protective layer around the teeth? Contestant - Enema Anne Robinson, The Weakest Link – In 1975 the first black tennis player to win the Wimbledon Men’s Singles title was Arthur who? Contestant – Askey Talksport, Ronnie Irani – in Six Nations rugby what is the traditional emblem of the French team? Contestant – an onion? Steve Wright, Radio 2 – on this day in 1963, how did Valentina Tereshkova become famous? Contestant – was she the first woman to grow a potato?

Stonehenge heroes - From Alan Fraser This may be of interest to members who know Mick Byrne; he was a member of PCoT. Thanks to Tony Stafford for mentioning. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/search-news/stonehenge-heroes/

Mick is in the green NMA jacket with poppy wreath. If you are ever thinking of a guided tour of the NMA, do ask for Mick – he is an excellent guide. But would you want to work for 900+ years before you get your pension?! – From Alan Fraser http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4003063.stm '.... de Grey truly believes in this goal, even going so far as to boldly state that the first person that will live to be 1,000 years-old has already been born' Improved medicines, replacement parts, diet, use of AI, ..... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3761310.stm 'Dr Carey explained that the brain, being the instrument of social behaviour, is the key.' eg more Probus socialising?! https://fridaymagazine.ae/life-culture/people-profiles/soon-humans-will-be-able-to-live-1-000- years-1.2199205 'Aubrey then makes a startling statement: ‘The single worst thing we do to ourselves that causes us to get sick when we get old is – breathe. Breathing is incredibly bad for you.’' - AF observation - but it sure beats the alternative! https://slate.com/technology/2016/12/life-expectancy-is-still-increasing.html '.... between 1960 and 2015, life expectancy in the U.S. increased by about two months per year on average. In 1960, newborns could expect to live slightly more than 71 years. Now they can expect to live just under 79 years.' https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-16/thompson-want-to-live-to-1000-be-careful-what-you- wish-for/6860396

Vaccination - From Alan Fraser

A couple of helpful hints for members when they go for a Covid test or vaccination - • Alcohol can reduce the efficacy of the vaccine. • Local news showed someone taking a chair when joining the queue; could be useful if there is a long wait. • Presumably the NHS number may be on the invitation letter. I know some pop up vaccination centres do not have IT access so would not be able to do a time wasting, look up. The vaccine is being given by appointment only at the Pirelli Stadium, Burton. You will be informed if you are to have a vaccine appointment, do not phone the Health Centre. It is good to have your NHS number handy if you are invited to have a vaccination, it makes the process very straight forward.' • Don't forget to take your mobile phone to claim free drink from Mr Pepperell!

Hobbies / Interests - From Alan Fraser

I have been spending some time dabbling / investing / gambling on the Stock Market and AIM (aka the wild west) in particular for bio-pharma companies; I believe that this century will be all about medical discoveries. I wonder if anyone else would be interested in suggesting possible opportunities or experiences. LSE and ADVFN share chat can be very useful for ideas although one does need to be aware of people pushing their own interests. Note: LSE website has a ‘share chat’ section. ADVFN another ‘share chat’ site.

Website

I have been tidying up the website a bit so you may notice some changes.

Here is a tip: If like me your eyes are not as they were you can zoom the web browser to make the text etc. bigger (or smaller). See the browser CTRL key Zoom shortcuts below. Anything up to 150% should look OK for our website. Try these six keyboard shortcuts on your preferred browser. CTRL + Tab Switch between open tabs CTRL + T Open a new tab CTRL + + Zoom in CTRL + - Zoom out CTRL + H Open browser history CTRL + J Open download history If you would like to see more keyboard shortcuts let me know.

If you have anything you would like to share then please send it to me [email protected] I'm specifically looking for articles for the next Newsletter.

Keep safe. Alan M.