iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 24/10/2026

Oh...this is my weather station. 1004 hPa down to 971 in 10 hours.

A graph showing barometric pressure from a weather station on Tyneside.
Pressure has dropped from 1004hPa at 0800 to 971 at 1825.

Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 21/10/2026

Classic fuck around, find out scenario on the guardian front page. On the day the labour govt approves more fossil fuel extraction, the UN warns that the world needs to cut emissions by 18% in just 4 years.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 20/10/2026

If you can find a store with some, then the Lidl bike light sets are terrific value for money for about £12-15. Rechargeable. Very bright at up to 70 lux. Only downside is that cos they meet German stds they don't have a flashing mode. eBay may be worth a search too. I use them on the Brompton.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 19/10/2026

I can't stand poppymas. In some places it's all year round.

A piece of public art that has been repainted to resemble a giant poppy.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 17/10/2026

Go to your camera roll and search “boat” and then post a picture of a boat you like.

The fleet public art in an old dock in south shields. A number of shiny minature sailing ships on blue water

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 16/10/2026

I fear we are overthinking this... This is along the access road to Brockley Whins Metro. Not sure what the back story is.

A lone bollard protecting a path from being driven along.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 14/10/2026

Where I am staying has various animals including Emus. As someone who grew up in seventies Britain I have an ingrained fear of these mad and vicious bastards.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 13/10/2026

A day successfully dodging torrential rain showers and visiting the Kelpies and the Wheel in Falkirk. Both stunning in their own way. Sadly far too windy to get the drone up. The Wheel is amazing. Bonkers and brilliant engineering.

The Falkirk wheel. The only rotating boat lift in the world.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 07/10/2026

He drives to a station much further away because parking is free. But even in a 50mpg supermini that round trip would cost £8 or more at today's prices so I'm guessing it's a false economy. And madness.

Noah Mullins drives about 23 miles from Kirk Ella, near Hull, to Howden in order to catch the train to work in York.

"I usually can park at Brough, which is a lot closer, but it's £8 to park at that train station, so it makes so much more sense coming here, where it's free to park," he said. "It halves my ticket price as well.

Asked about having to sometimes park on the grass verge, he said: "It's all I can do to get my train."

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 05/10/2026

It was this tiny bit of the title sequence of UFO that did and still gives me the creeps for some reason. Put me off contacts for life.

From the titles of UFO. A man with bluish skin having a contact lense/eye shield removed by someone else.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 04/10/2026

New weather station has been delivered and installed. Those trees weren't that big 15 years ago, I may need a longer pole. This sensor pack is solar powered so I don't need to change batteries. I now have wind obeservations again cos the old wind and rain sensors on the old station were long dead.

A weather station on a pole in front of some trees.

A web page with the current observations from the weather station. It's 16.4⁰c and the wind is from the SW.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 02/10/2026

Well every day is a school day isn't it. I didn't realise Two Ball Lonnen was a real place. I thought you two were taking the Mick. Found it on streetview.

Two Ball Lonnen on Tyneside. It's a real place.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 02/10/2026

Ahead of a new fully working weather station arriving, I've refreshed things a little. Yes that is the Calvert font used on the Metro. Once it's all sorted I'll make it public. I may even start a bluesky acct for it and post hourly updates.

A screenshot of a personal weather station.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 29/09/2026

Buildings like that exist. Well in Cornwall anyway.

A hotel in Cornwall which is the shape of a penis. That's not strange at all.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 28/09/2026

Hmm. Here's a screenshot as they don't seem to like criticism. Even Boris did more for cycling in under 3 years and he was a lazy bastard and had a pandemic too.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 27/09/2026

As promised, here's some aerial footage captured by our crack drone squadron of the new junction at Abingdon way in Boldon that was much discussed yesterday.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 26/09/2026

No, the council has only considered the existing north south route. When the consultation was live I did raise the lack of provision for e-w cycle traffic across the junction. It's all about maximising traffic flow for motors though. This is the previous layout. 2 Ts to a signalised X roads.

A Google satellite view of the previous junction layout which was 2 Ts. It will be a songl cross roads with signals.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 26/09/2026

Ride out to the supermarket earlier. Took a quick detour to see the progress on the junction at Abingdon way. I would have preferred to see more obvious separation between cycling and walking. This will be a conflict point too as beyond the junction the modes swap sides. It's just a complete mess.

Looking at a cycling and pedestrian crossing still under construction. There are temporary lights and the cycling side is barriers off..

A view of some tactile paving marking the start/end of a cycleway. Pedestrians are supposed to cross the cycleway here as the footway continues to the left.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 25/09/2026

Years ago I managed to get a handful of one-wire sensors that are just hardwired back to a Pi & then into Home Assistant. Most are built into RJ45 plugs and use the cat 5 cabling and spare network connections I have.

3 RJ45 plugs with one-wire sensors built into them. And a bare sensor.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 24/09/2026

Very much so. It's just about punching down isn't it. It'll be hair shirts next.

An enameled mug with the saying "the floggings will continue until morale improves"

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 24/09/2026

I got a new smart watch yesterday. An Amazfit Active Max. And I found a great app that pushes my Home Assistant through to the watch. So I can control lights and sockets from my watch and even see my EV's charge status and security camera streams. Just geeking out a bit.

A view of the AmazHA app on an Amazfit smart watch. Showing the initial screen.

An Amazfit smartwatch showing some of the devices I can control in my kitchen

An Amazfit smartwatch showing my EV's charge percentage and the car's internal temperature.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 23/09/2026

For my birthday the fam got me a card with an actual working whoppee cushion on it. They know me so well.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 21/09/2026

He looks like that bloke of Emmerdale... We need a Captain Scarlet live action movie.

A man dressed in a dark suit and overcoat scowling..

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 21/09/2026

My lovely council only allows four visits a month and they have to be by car. I have to enter both home and car details.

A screenshot from south Tyneside council tip booking page. Text reads
Your allowance
If you are visiting in a car, you will be able to book up to 4 visits per calendar month.

You can use more than 1 slot on the same day if you want to.

Your allowance will be based on your address and vehicle registration number:

you cannot book more than 4 slots per calendar month for your address, even if you have more than one car
if you have used all of your allowance for the month, you cannot book a slot for the same vehicle using a different address
if you use your vehicle on behalf of someone else, this will count against your allowance

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 17/09/2026

A classic. A driver who thinks they don't break the law, but is so unobservant and incompetent that they don't see people cycling. But somehow it's the other person's fault. 1. Incompetent? 2. Blind or distracted (shite from mirror?)? 3. A liar? 4 all of the above?

Post reads:
As motorist you can obey every law, be safety aware and safety focused and when some cyclist comes out of nowhere through a red light and you hit. You are to blame.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 15/09/2026

Oh there's plenty of reminders of road violence. We even had this one weekend earlier this year On a straight stretch of road with a 40mph limit. Mandatory geo-aware speed limiters would do so much good.

A flattened stretch of pedestrian guard rail on a straight stretch of road. So violent that the posts were ripped out of the ground.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 13/09/2026

There is also a solar trail alongside the river Wear in Sunderland. It starts with the sun under the road and rail bridges, and ends on the sea front. Here's photos of Jupiter and Saturn too. As well as one of Uranus. I'll let you find the rest as you go west to east.

The sun sculpture under the bridges in Sunderland. It's a large stainless steel tripod with an orange ball.

The Jupiter plaque on Sunderland riverside beside the river Wear. There's a reds Moulton bicycle beside it

The Saturn plaque on Sunderland riverside beside the river Wear. There's a reds Moulton bicycle beside it

Uranus. With a red Moulton bicycle alongside.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 13/09/2026

The A1300 in South Shields. Closed down and empty for the Great North Run. Could we do this more often please?

A major dual carriageway in South Shields.
At 10am on a Sunday with no vehicles because it's closed for the Great North Run.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 11/09/2026

Manky and unfriendly underpasses you say? This is the underpass under the A19 in South Hylton. But it's the new metro link that will destroy everything.

An underpass below the A19 in South Hylton in Sunderland. About as unfriendly as you can get. Only plus is that you can see straight through to the other end.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 11/09/2026

It's quite possible that the level crossing would be too close to the station and cause delays. That's the case at East Boldon where the barriers stay down when there is a train at the station.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 08/09/2026

The river Skerne in Darlington. Not the greatest river, but is crossed by the oldest continuously used railway bridge in the world, so that's something.

The river skerne in Darlington. Flooded that day and the usual riverside path was impossible.

The famous railway bridge over the river skerne. Featured on the back of a five pound note and is the oldest continuously used rail bridge in the world.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 08/09/2026

Mines a double pylon Moulton on stainless steel... How much do kidneys go for these days?

A stainless steel double pylon Moulton. Only £25,875.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 06/09/2026

A Morris Marina.... Sorry to disappoint. Caught crabs in Whitby too.

An old print advert for Morris marinas. A white coupe in front of a red saloon. Both next to a lake with mountains in the distance.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 05/09/2026

No arrests and a "spontaneous protest" by dozens of men dragged identically. Kent police taking the British public for fools. They are sympathetic to fascists.

No arrests made during Dover protest, Kent Police says
published at 13:34
13:34
Kent Police has issued a statement following the disruption in Dover earlier today.

It says officers "responded to a spontaneous protest" during Saturday morning, adding "no arrests were made".

"Traffic is flowing normally, and all involved had dispersed by midday," it adds

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 02/09/2026

This is the best shot I have from when it was at Sunderland. Magnificent beast.

A Vulcan bomber over the north sea in Sunderland.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 02/09/2026

There is a Northeast liveried plane at the North East transport museum next to Nissan in Sunderland. Just off the A1290. The main fuselage seems intact and the steps suggest you can get inside.

An old plane in Northeast livery at the NE transport museum in sunderland. Just behind a bloodhound missile launcher.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 30/08/2026

If it's this one (and the others look similar) then it's nearly as good as an amateur like me thinks. Some more tactiles and a zebra at the other end of the stops could help.

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Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike @gazza-d.eurosky.social · 28/08/2026

We've actually got another road like that here on South Tyneside. King George road. It's not a pleasant ride. The "best" thing about the York Ave cycle lane is how it ends of course. Almost as good as this faded cycle lane in Hepburn which is alongside a car park and does a 90⁰ bend and a give way.

King George Road in South Shields. A parking lane, a narrow cycle lane and a driving lane. Not safe. Not pleasant.

The cycle lane on York Ave in Jarrow. A narrow strip of green painted mandatory cycle lane that just goes straight into the kerb which isn't even dropped.

A rubbish cycle lane in Hebburn that does a 90⁰ turn and a give way in its own width.

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