A Rhabdomantic Antic

I See The Spell-Checker Doesn't Like That Word
Well tough!  Because I have decided that it's a legitimate word and now exists, which is all you need to know, Spell-checker.  Fuddy-duddy.
     "What or who is it?" I hear you quibble.  "For it sounds like a character from 'The Hobbit', kind of."
     No, but it does concern fiction.  It is derived from "Rhabdomancy", which suddenly popped up in my head as I was taking my constitutional stroll into Royton.  Your humble scribe wasn't sure it was a real thing, but a bit of dictionary checking revealed that is refers to the practice of water divining by using a stick.  Dowsing with rods, in other words.  Art?

The rather terrifying overflow outlet at Ladybower reservoir

     That's a picture of water, which we here in the Allotment of Eden have been rather missing of late.  Which I am quite happy about.
     The thing about dowsing is that it doesn't work.  When dowsers get properly tested, they do no better than random chance, which is why many don't bother to get properly tested.  I am sure the British Council For Water Divination And Dowsing will be scandalised by this bold assertion, and that incredibly high-pitched whining is a nano-technology sculpted microscopic violin playing all for them.

                       A couple of Rods
     And with that, time to see if the motley can outrun a swarm of bees after we smack their hive about with a stick!

RUN, MOTLEY!

Conrad Versus First Bus:  Part 837
You might call this 'Transport to Central' if you wanted to bring up an old track by The Associates, or 'Proof Positive, Were It Needed, That Working From Home Is A Good Idea' which is more descriptive yet unwieldy.

It's one of the tracks on here.  Good album.

     I refer to yesteryon, where I was off to Gomorrah-on-the-Irwell for a coffee date with the lovely Anna - sorry forgot to get her photo - and of course the bus was late (or, more likely, the previous one didn't turn up).  So, not only is it rammed, there are meleeing hordes waiting to board at every stop.

First Bus Spokesdemon:  "Yes?   And?"

     Oh look, we've just been overtaken by another 409.
     Then at the bus station a bus-jam forms.  This is because Lavelle rubbish disposal send out their bin wagons with only a driver, who also has to wrestle industrial-sized wheelie bins around.  He has also parked on the bus station forecourt for his convenience, meaning that nothing can get past him until he's done.

First Bus Spokesdemon <Points and laughs>

     Thanks very much, driver.
     I made the rendezvous with minutes to spare. I knew you'd be worried if it didn't all end happily.  Perhaps we can drag a picture of Anna out of the depths?

   
     Not sure about the eyebrows.  Clearly there is some fancy-dress stuff going on here.

Look What Arrived
I may have informed you that I had read the version of E. E. 'Doc' Smith's "Triplanetary" which is available for free at Project Gutenberg.  PG is a vast repository of books whose copyright has elapsed, and since the pulp magazine version of 'Triplanetary' was printed in the Thirties, you can read it for free.
     Except - the canny author later went on, in the Forties, to add a lot more introductory and background story, creating a new work.  Now, the edition I have - Art?

This one!

     - was published in 1971 initially.  Then again in 1972, 1973 (three times!), 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981 and 1982.  Note that the interest in this novel came about long before Star Wars gave a big boost to the genre in 1977.  People can't get enough of Lensmen, it seems.  Who knew!
     The genre, is - of course! - Space Opera.  Doc's stuff is pretty much the defining works in the field.  I shall look forward to reading it after work, as I am WFH tomorrow.*

A Bit Of Grimness To Darken Your Day
Well, 102 years ago, pretty much to the day, the Battle of Verdun during the First Unpleasantness was only about half-way through it's ghastly stride, and it had already been going on for 5 months.
      I mention this because one of the focal points of the battle was Fort Douaumont, which we mentioned earlier this week.  If we throw a bucket of ice-water over Art -

Before.  Oh so very much before.

     Having decided that forts were pretty old hat, the M8's removed most of it's armaments, ammunition and garrison, just in time for a small Teuton patrol to get in and capture it.
     Ever fickle, the M8's decided they wanted the fort back, and so began an apalling ding-dong that went on for months.  This is what it looked like by the end of the battle.

And most definitely After.

     The M8's finally recaptured it in October 2016, after they brought up a pair of monstrous rail guns that hit the fort with 60 shells of almost a ton weight apiece over a period of three days.  This was called 'softening up' - an hilarious understatement; they damaged the fort so badly that the Teutons had to evacuate it.

Well, with that I think I need to go and put my Cobalt and Venom Pizza in the oven.  Later, creatures!

*  I feel your pity.