Last Edited Self-Improvement Blogs (3,361)

ROSA KLEBB was a villain created by Ian Fleming and appeared in his story, From Russia With Love. She was head of SMERSH ( Smiert Spionam - Death to spies ), an official murder organisation of the Russian KGB ( now FSB ), employing around 40, 000 men and women.
Klebb is described as 5' 4'', squat with dumpy arms and short neck, pear shaped hips, hair scraped back into a tight bun, glasses, thickly powdered large pored nose, wet trap of a mouth, big ears.
I would imagine she would live alone, unloved and kept at a distance. This would have caused her to be bitter and frustrated. She would then unleash her frustration on other people.
She may have infiltrated and appear on this site, and I'm sure I've seen a person that fits the above physical and mental description. So, be watchful, she may have altered her appearance slightly by opening up the head bun, but that doesn't fool me.
Her Russian trade mark is usually a bear symbol.

YouTube is filling up with videos now about how the OceanGate Titan submersible imploded. Fingers are pointing to the 5 inch thick hull 'spun' with carbon fiber claiming it was the culprit. They all say it was the materials used.

The video below shows a machine winding a large metal tube with carbon ribbon about 4 inches wide the same way a spool of thread gets put on a bobbin. This is how the hull was created. Was the metal tube part of the hull or was it only used for the process of forming the tube? The first part of the building sequence it appears the tube had something applied first and it could be a 'release agent' used in mold making or the bonding adhesive and the metal tube was part of the hull.

Did the layers of carbon fiber get bonded with resins making a solid casting?
Other than the fibers appearing shiny, the process wasn't clear and I'm guessing the machine that applied the ribbon was laying it on 'wet' with resin applied.
The problem with that process is resin has catalyst and you are limited by the amount of time to work before it hardens. Laying up 5 inches could take all day... maybe longer and take several sessions. The first layers would be curing while the layers on top would be applied over it. That creates a weak point where the layers are attached.

Molded carbon fiber components are used in automotive and aviation sectors... they have been for many years. The process isn't new. The process turns bad when you try to add several layers as one because they each have a different curing rate and may not have a uniform bond between each layer.

Were any layers of carbon fiber running crossgrain (left to right) or did it all get wrapped in the same direction? The video shows all in the same direction of the cylinder.

Note, in woodworking, the strength of plywood sheeting is created by running the layers in different directions giving it stability. If all the layers are in the same direction, the wood becomes flexible. That rule of lamination applies to fiberglass and carbon fiber technology too!

I read that OceanGate CEO, Stockton Rush had a US Patent for a device to detect any sound or vibration that would indicate a stress crack in the hull. Maybe, I'll go into that part of the equation later.

From the look of things, the design had no internal ribs or supports.
The titanium rings on the ends were only glued in place. Only glue.
Say that again... Only glue.
What's missing in the construction??
The rings were applied to the OUTSIDE of the carbon fiber cylinder designed to withstand EXTERNAL pressure. Technical no-no.

I do cabinets for a living and have some model aircraft experience for 40+ years and things like that need both a mechanical and chemical bond.
Simple thought... anyone out there having done some soldering of 2 wires knows you first twist the wires making a mechanical connection before heating and applying the solder.

Did the people who designed the Titan forget the obvious...

There should have been double rings with bolts between them to 'sandwich' the hull to the end rings. Titanium and carbon fiber have different expansion/contraction rates so a mechanical connection should be first, with the glue/epoxy/sealant in between.

No assumptions, but let's say the external forces caused the carbon to flex more than the glue between the hull and the end rings, the failure really was the bonding agent and not the materials it was supposed to hold together.
Just a thought.

Another thought was the crane that hoisted the salvaged Titan submersible had a strap through the titanium 'door' where the viewport used to be.
Did it fail causing the craft to implode, or was it removed when brought on deck of the salvage boat making it easier to move it to the dock?

That may have been the weak link to the design and all the talk of carbon fiber would be meaningless.

Warning.
The next episode of Redemption/ Fugitive contains scenes of a s*xual nature and is not suitable for people of a sensitive disposition or unable to deal with too much excitement. A medical check up is recommended if viewing considered.

Hot spot magazine...........
New C&W singing star Alicia, makes Shania Twain sound like Mark Twain.
Playadult magazine...........
Alicia makes Greek goddess Aphrodite jealous.
Blogview news..........
More daring than, From here to eternity, Fatal attraction and Basic instinct, combined.

Daily Moon.............
Jack Crown certainly has his hands full, but manages to come out on top.

Music suggested.
Alan Jackson............When love comes around
Olivia Newton John...I honestly love you
Martina McBride.........There you are
Faith Hill............ This kiss

The Everglades is a swampland located in the southern region of Florida. Roughly 7,800 square miles or 20,000 square kilometers. A levee borders along most of the Eastern developed areas that include Miami & Fort Lauderdale, extending about 200 miles north.

There are a few highways that run north & south some roads that connect to a few west coast cities, like Naples and Tampa.

A natural preserve, you can find several Indian reservations along the way to the west coast. They have several rest stops for food, toilet facilities, gas, fishing and tourism with air boat rides and canoeing.

There are warning signs not to feed the wildlife. If you get caught hunting birds, expect a jail visit.

With certain restrictions, you are allowed to trap & kill alligators and Burmese pythons.
I'm not sure of the history, but pythons aren't indigenous to the area and have become invasive and destructive to the natural wildlife.

Introducing Mike Kimmel, aka the Python Cowboy. Mike sells custom made leather goods from pythons he's captured.

It's nesting season and Mike was able to kill a female python who was carrying more than 60 eggs. It's a major find to keep the python population under control as a fully grown snake can eat an adult alligator.

One of his stories appeared in Yahoo, complete with a photo of this catch.

It's reported in the news that the Aurora borealis also called the Northern Lights will be visible in several US states and parts of Canada next week. Weather permitting, the activity will be high July 12th and 13th.

The phenomena is described as electrically-charged particles (ions) in solar winds that come from the sun. They move away in waves or a stream of plasma (ionized gas)
coming in contact with the Earth's magnetic field. Some of the ions become trapped and will consequently interact with the Earth's ionosphere causing the ions to glow.

Seen in a clear night sky, it creates a moving shimmering mostly blue-greenish light affect.


This video shows TIME-LAPSE of the lights in Norway 2022:

Syrian miracle
The funny, my friends, is the crying
It's not about complaining or asking for help.
But to feel blessed, happy and appreciated..
Without comparing with others, let's start with some real stats!
The monthly salary of an employee in Syria is about ten dollars..and the daily working hours are 8 hours..and the price of a kilo of lamb is only $10..??
Transportation is as if you were crammed into a bus, which can accommodate forty people, but carries 100 people inside.. Long live Corona

The electricity is cut off most of the day.. every six hours, the electricity comes on for half an hour ??

The cars here are used, less than a 2010 model car, for $10,000..??

The monthly rent for the house is 50 dollars. ?? the cheaper one.. .to go to a restaurant..100 dollars..but your salary does not exceed 10 dollars..
..how can you live..this is it
Syrian miracle

There are three possible reasons why President Kennedy was assassinated
1 As a result of the Cuban missile crisis. Embarrassment to Kruschev resulting from Russia's climb down from installing missiles in Cuba and the threat this posed to USA.
2 Kennedy's attempts to tackle the Mafia's criminal presence in USA.
3 Kennedy's requests for the CIA to supply info to Russia regarding the knowledge held regarding UFOs. Kennedy apparently sent a request to the CIA to release details of extra terrestrial craft experiences recorded. He possibly thought that such craft if passing over Russia's nuclear silos could be thought to be from USA and may lead to reprisals. The CIA ignored his request apparently.
Three reasons here. Russia, Mafia, CIA.
Any other suggestions?

This is not a complaint blog. It's an observation and a question. I live near Pittsburgh, PA. On the 4th of July my son went to the store to pick up a few dinner items. I rarely have a craving for hotdogs, but that's what I wanted to make for our Independence day dinner. As my son was in town I asked him to pick up a few things, including hot dog relish which is like a finely diced sweet pickle with mustard. No hot dog relish to be found. In fact he'd never heard of it. As I said we rarely dine on hotdogs. They had regular sweet relish. That's it. I thought surely he must have failed to look properly. After the holiday I went to the store and no hot dog relish to be found. Apparently it's not a thing in the Pittsburgh area. Days later I still can't get over it. Yes, absolutely there are far greater (and real) problems in the world than the fact that people where I live fail to recognize the awesomeness of hot dog relish. To be honest, I usually prefer to drown my dogs with yellow mustard and diced raw onions.

Anywhoo...that got me thinking. In the hotdog-eating world, what is the standard of excellence of toppings? Anyone who mentions ketchup gets ignored.

Confucius said, it's not that he blogs too much. It's that the others blog too little.
As a matter of perspective. If one person blogs daily and others feel like they only want to blog weekly or monthly, is it the fault of the person who blogs daily that his/her blogs often appear on the main page?

If the website had more member participation there would be more blogs and no reason to complain about the bloggers who 'keep the place alive' and frequently appear on the main page.

Blog more people... Be an active part of the blogging community in a good way and not a bad way.

Maybe the solution is to blog about giving money to scammers or why it's so hard to find someone using online dating.

Those topics rarely get talked about!

According to some investigators on the pandemic, work at the Wuhan laboratory in China involved the genetic manipulation of a SARS virus at the request of the military, in order for it to be used as a bio weapon. It is also believed that a vaccine was being developed to possibly immunise the Chinese population against the produced virus. The COVID virus was not found naturally, but was completely new, which supports the possibility that it was deliberately produced and a leak resulted due to inadequate precautions. Staff wore a mask and white coat only in the lab.
This is just speculation, but many people still believe the virus was due to a leak.