Common sense has not entered the chat

A Condor jet missed the evening curfew at Munich Airport by a few seconds, and was therefore diverted to Frankfurt-Hahn some 375km away, where (presumably) there is no such curfew.

The passengers – seconds from landing where they needed to be – ended up with a 40 minute flight to an airport miles from home, and were then bussed to the real Frankfurt airport and caught a morning flight back to Munich.

Gesunder Menschenverstand existiert hier nicht.

That’s about 21 extra tonnes of CO2 added to the atmosphere completely unnecessarily.
These sort of things really do make you ask yourself: “What is the point?”.

It’s just like Sean Lock says:

I feel like I’ve turned up at an earthquake with a dustpan and brush.

And yes, this is Germany, so rules are rules, but honestly, we’re talking a few seconds here, not even a few minutes. Would anyone really have noticed? Well yes, of course, because you know that there is some Helmut who complains that the flights keep him awake each night, but then stays up each night anyway checking that the rules are adhered to (the rules allowing him to go to sleep at a normal hour).
And so he then stays up to listen to the planes that would have kept him awake if he’d gone to bed.

You know the type.
We all know the type.

The irony is that in having to abort the landing, the plane probably made more noise than if it had actually touched down. But don’t let’s allow that sort of sensible thought slip into this story.

The passengers who were so close to arriving where they needed to be, albeit ever so slightly later than they needed to be there, eventually flew back some 8 hours later. And, in a delicious twist of irony, they arrived back at Munich airport slightly after their original plane got there.

Everybody loses. Including the environment.

Politician’s election promise actually comes true

I know. I know! A politician’s election promise coming true. Incredible scenes.

Politicians are known for being somewhat dishonest and duplicitous at the best of times, but when there’s an election coming up, it’s easier just to take everything they say with a large shovel of salt. Especially when they are unlikely to win the election, and therefore don’t have to deliver on the fanciful promises that they made in the run up to the vote.

The recent US election was actually very close (until it wasn’t), with wild pledges and assurances being flung around by everyone concerned.

[An aside: there are numerous examples of people believing election promises (or believing that those election promises didn’t apply to them) on this subreddit. So many heartaches, so much schadenfreude.]

But how about this? One of the surely more outlandish claims from the eventual losing candidate has actually come to pass! She didn’t make an election promise for herself to deliver upon, though. She told us what the other guy was going to do. And the right-leaning press said it was nonsense:

Yeah, I mean, it does seem a bit much.

But then what we think of as reality has been horrifically skewed and rearranged over the last few months.
And yesterday, the orange shitgibbon said this:

He then went on to praise the National Guard for restoring order in LA before they’d even got there:

I love the line “For those keeping track”, because to be fair, a lot of people have understandably given up on that right now.

But then they did get there:

…fulfilling Harris’ election promise.

I know. I know! A politician’s election promise coming true. Incredible scenes.

Robben Island closed for the winter

Robben Island Museum (RIM) announced this morning that the popular cultural tourist attraction set to close for 2½ months for renovations in the lead up to South Africa’s hosting of the G20 summit later this year.

This will be a huge blow for anyone visiting Cape Town in the winter months, as this is a unique place to visit. And imagine if you have timed a quick break with us at the end of July, and the Cableway is shut as well.

Eish!

The good bit about these announcements is that the facilities and safety of these iconic attractions are improved and maintained, keeping them in great condition for guests and visitors in the future.

Just a bit unfortunate if you are turning up in our little corner of Africa and braving the winter weather, and you don’t get to see the (top of the) Mountain or do the Robben Island tour.

Thank goodness there’s still the wine route(s).

TT Time

It’s the Isle of Man TT Races fortnight. Practice and qualifying this week, actual races next week.

And as usual, the weather hasn’t really been playing ball so far, so there have been a few delays and a few tweaks to the running order. As ever, they do as much as they can for rider safety, and so the pre-startline announcements as to which bits of the track might be a bit slippery are hugely important.

Although, the effectiveness of those announcements does depend on you knowing which bits of the track are called what. And if you’re a new rider… well…

Bit awkward when you’re about to chuck yourself around the course at an average anything up to 136mph (220kph).

I’m not really into the racing, but I am into the Isle of Man, and so when the highlights shows make it through to DSTV, I’m always happy to see the island, the scenery, the people and yes: some of the ridiculous displays of testicular fortitude out along the 37¾ mile circuit.

If you can’t wait that long (it’s only next week, but hey) or if you’ve never heard of the TT before, then I would strongly encourage you to go and check out one (or more) of the daily round up videos of all the action on the Official Isle Of Man TT Races channel on Youtube. Expert commentary, honest opinion, superb production.

That’s it.

That’s it. After that result at Wembley, obviously, I’m giving up on football.

Aside from the La Liga stuff I watched yesterday after the playoff game.
And the DfB Pokal final last night.

But that really is it.

Well, I did just watch the Girona v Atletico Madrid game.
And I will be watching several (or more) Premier League games this evening after some Villareal v Sevilla.

And then maybe the Bilbao game at 9 tonight.

And that will be that.

OK, maybe the UEFA finals on Wednesday and Saturday.
That’s just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.

And then perhaps the FIFA Club World Cup, just because you can’t go full cold turkey. That’s dangerous.

And maybe some more English football after that, because there will be a new season to watch.

But then that’s it. I’ve learned my lesson.

Possibly.