The Night Mail

[iL Dottore]

50 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

.... or if it's an illegal front for an evil villain from Switzerland...

Don't look at me.....

[simontaylor484]

When i was little i had a Woolwich account. This was in the days when building societies had agencies in estate agents. The Woolwich was what Dads firm operated. I also had a Yorkshire Bank account as that is where my Mum worked. I still have a Yorkshire Bank account but its Virgin (on the ridiculous) Money now

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Winslow Boy said:

I believe it's called box ticking in more polite circumstances.

I quite agree but when the letter states that if you don’t provide the ticks they will freeze payments in and out of your account in 10days it does cause a little anxiety. 

[Tony_S]

25 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

When i was little i had a Woolwich account. This was in the days when building societies had agencies in estate agents. The Woolwich was what Dads firm operated. I also had a Yorkshire Bank account as that is where my Mum worked. I still have a Yorkshire Bank account but its Virgin (on the ridiculous) Money now

When we bought our first house there was some sort of mortgage famine. The best way was to ask the estate agent if they could sort it. We were sent for an interview with Bradford and Bingley and it was clearly it will happen not an “if” type discussion. I didn’t earn enough for their standard terms for the money we wanted but (it was a long long time ago) the manager suggested using Aditi’s salary as the main one for calculations and mine as the plus a half ior whatever was the norm “if I didn’t mind”. This was 1977. Otherwise he was going to ring head office and say I was a physics teacher (job for life then!) and a sound financial proposition. We went with using Aditi. It was fortunate it was on her salary as she had had her bank card confiscated by her bank in Ilford the month before. Not really her fault, her employer hadn’t paid anyone that month. Bank wasn’t sympathetic at all. Aditi said a lot of pleasure out of cutting her card up in front of her. 
Tony

[Tony_S]

45 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Don't look at me.....

That could be dangerous. I was looking to see if there was anything online about your model buildings. However I did find something that was probably misfiled from CC inc. involving rather ugly fish and a horseradish! 

 

[jamie92208]

9 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

 

But it is stated that the cat flap was damaged by the badger forcing its way through - surely that alters the case to breaking and entering?

Sadly the offence of breaking and entering was replaced by one of burglary in the Theft Act 1968. Now all you need to do is to enter the building by any means.  There was a very politcally incorrect stated case about what constituted  entering that  invloved a young lady who was wearing nothing but a pair of red socks when tbe burglar climbed through the window.  Not as famous though as R v Smith from the 1870's anout a man who tried to force himself on a duck.  It was said that he couldn't get up for down.

 

Jamie

Edited October 5, 2022 by jamie92208

[Happy Hippo]

Back over on the K******r thread everybody is missing the biggest detractor of all from authenticity.

 

It's only the god like creatures of the model railway world who have proper steam engines.

 

The rest are all drivers of electric mice/rats/cats depending on their size.

[Compound2632]

4 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Back over on the K******r thread everybody is missing the biggest detractor of all from authenticity.

 

It's only the god like creatures of the model railway world who have proper steam engines.

 

The rest are all drivers of electric mice/rats/cats depending on their size.

 

And who connects and disconnects vacuum pipes?

[New Haven Neil]

4 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Back over on the K******r thread everybody is missing the biggest detractor of all from authenticity.

 

It's only the god like creatures of the model railway world who have proper steam engines.

 

The rest are all drivers of electric mice/rats/cats depending on their size.

 

Indeed....

 

[Winslow Boy]

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I quite agree but when the letter states that if you don’t provide the ticks they will freeze payments in and out of your account in 10days it does cause a little anxiety. 

 

I think the way those letters are couched makes you feel that you had better jump through there hoops or else. In a way it's an abuse of power and they really don't care what impact it has.

[Happy Hippo]

10 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Indeed....

 

When did you sneak that one into your fleet?

Edited October 5, 2022 by Happy Hippo

[New Haven Neil]

5 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

When did you sneak that one into your fleet?

 

Not mine, it's my pal (Trackshack) John's.  I was replacing the R/C at the weekend, the Planet transmitter had died.  My Leader's black.

 

[Northmoor]

34 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Back over on the K******r thread everybody is missing the biggest detractor of all from authenticity.

It's only the god like creatures of the model railway world who have proper steam engines.

True enough, but the scenery I often find unrealistically overscale.......

[br2975]

Building Societies...........

.

A change of job in the late 70s, later brought with it a substantial pay increase care of Lord Edmund-Davies.

.

Mrs. br2975 and I decided to move, and found a suitable abode, and put in the offer....£18k

.

A Saturday morning saw Mrs. br2975 and I in the head office of a well known Welsh Building Society, being interviewed by one of the company directors no less.

.

"Despite your being existing customers, however I look at it I cannot offer you the money" he said.

.

He continued "the only way around it, would be a staff mortgage, but you work for Lloyds" he said to Mrs. br2975.

.

"I have a vacancy for a cashier at our Canton branch, and if you applied and were successful, you would be entitled to a staff mortgage.....take this application away with you, complete it then address it direct to me"

.

We went around the corner to the "Owain Glyndwr" pub, wifey filled in the application which we took back to the Building Society.

.

Monday she had a telephone call, followed by an interview on the Tuesday, and by Friday the job and the staff mortgage were secured.

.

She stayed with the building society for six months, then went back to Lloyds.

.

Forty three years later, we're still in the same house.

[polybear]

21 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Dear Mr @polybear

 

We have been contacted by your consultant about your ward: Mr Basil Bear.

 

As your consultant will have already explained to you, Bilateral Ursine Coxrubigo with Spike Shedding is invariably fatal in patients like Mr B Bear. Although good hygiene and musculoskeletal support (as you have practiced with your ward) will keep the patient in a reasonable condition for a short period of time, ultimately deterioration will be so severe that euthanasia becomes the only option. The start of the patient’s rapid deterioration is invariably signalled by shedding spikes and refusal to eat LDC.

 

Currently, the only treatment available is BearFix: a monoclonal antibody treatment which prevents terminal deterioration in only about 10% of all affected patients. It is not currently available on the NHS as NICE (National Institute for  Health and Care  Excellence) has ruled that the QALY cost (quality-adjusted life year) is too expensive (Bearfix costs about £250,000 a dose and a minimum of four doses at three monthly intervals are needed to prevent deterioration in those 10% of patients who do benefit from such treatment. As currently there are no biomarkers to determine which patients would benefit from Bearfix treatment, all patients with Bilateral Ursine Coxrubigo with Spike Shedding would need to be treated with the drug at an immense cost to the NHS).

 

CCI PharmaCo will be shortly starting its Phase 3 study with its new and completely revolutionary trivalent monoclonal antibody (TriUrsoMab) - which has shown in its Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies to result in a lasting response in approximately 90% of treated Bilateral Ursine Coxrubigo with Spike Shedding patients with either a complete response (CR) or stable disease (SD) being maintained for up to 5 years.

 

As patients with full blown, progressive Bilateral Ursine Coxrubigo with Spike Shedding are very rare, we are writing to ask you if your ward, Mr Basil Bear might be interested in participating in the above mentioned Phase 3 study. If he agrees, we will forward to him an informed consent form (ICF) to be read and signed by him and countersigned by yourself. Following which, Mr Basil Bear will be provided with transport to our research clinic in Switzerland and evaluated to see if he would be eligible to enter our study. If eligible, he would be required to come to Switzerland (accompanied by his guardian) once every three months for assessment and treatment. The cost of this will be borne by CCIPharmaCo.

 

Please let us know as soon as is possible as to your and Mr Basil Bear’s decisions as only a limited number of places in this clinical trial are available.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Prof DrMed A Caduceus

Diector of Clinical Development 

CCIPharmaCo
(a division of CCI GmbH)

 

 

Firstly, Basil the Bear wishes it to be known that he is 100% pure Bear - and any rumours about his parentage should immediately be deleted (PB received a bo11okin' as well for the Hedgehog comment - and believe me, being on the receiving end of a Basil Rant most definitely ain't fun).

 

Secondly, the Consultant in question is actually an ex-Consultant;  Basil knew within 10seconds of meeting the tw@t that he was talkin' out of his ar5e and didn't have a clue, so was dumped there and then.  He's also about to be on the receiving end of a rather large compo claim for breaching patient confidentiality - as well as a formal complaint to the GMC.  So any hopes he may have of receiving a rather large kickback from CCIPharmaCo will rapidly disappear into oblivion.

 

As for the spike shedding being due to some ultra rare condition that even Google has never heard of, Basil says that's, well, quite frankly a total load of cobblers.  The reason for the shedding has been due to the fact that the temporary loss of function in his hind paws meant that cake snafflin' has been, er, "somewhat difficult" and therefore the poor little guy has missed out on some of life's essential vitamins and minerals.  He's pleased to report that he's starting to feel better already (though PB is less pleased about the cake mountain having a somewhat unexpected - and rather large - dent in the side....).

 

Finally, Basil has researched the business dealings of CCIPharmaCo (and associated parent Company) and notes with some suspicion that for a Multinational Company with some 10,000 Employees (many of whom are described as "Minions") the company tax returns appear to indicate that the entire global empire has paid a grand total of 3CHF50 in tax.  Basil is nothing if not principled.......

 

On 04/10/2022 at 08:07, grandadbob said:

@polybear PB may I suggest you buy some air fryer liners for your new toy.  They fit in the outer basket and catch any stuff dripping through the inner basket and make cleaning soooo much easier.  I found some 9" square ones similar to these for mine which are a perfect fit but currently they don't seem to be available.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Disposable-Parchment-Oil-Proof-Water-Proof-Microwave/dp/B0B5N4N7B7/ref=sr_1_13

If you do use the parchment type I've seen suggestions online  that you don't put them in while preheating.  Apparently they can catch fire, it didn't happen to me but I now take that advice.   You can also line them with ordinary kitchen foil.  HTH.

 

 

Many thanks GDB; the reason for the fire risk is because the paper liner gets blown upwards and touches the heating element unless it's weighed down with something.

 

5 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

............it's an illegal front for an evil SUPERvillain from Switzerland they just have to say they have asked. 

 

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Don't look at me.....

 

Now that Bear has corrected WB's typo does that change matters?

 

(And it's quite possible that at least some of the above belongs in the ER thread.  Turdycurses.)

[PhilJ W]

7 minutes ago, polybear said:

Many thanks GDB; the reason for the fire risk is because the paper liner gets blown upwards and touches the heating element unless it's weighed down with something.

It shouldn't do that, the weight of the basket and contents should keep it in place.

[polybear]

16 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

It shouldn't do that, the weight of the basket and contents should keep it in place.

 

In GDB's case, no - as he puts the liner under the inner basket; however the problem arises when a liner is used in an inner basket (very common) with no food on top of it.

[New Haven Neil]

1 hour ago, Northmoor said:

True enough, but the scenery I often find unrealistically overscale.......

 

Can't deny that, but it's fun!

 

[jamie92208]

We also tried to get a mortgage in 1978 when we were arranging to get married.  I already had a mortgage with the Halifax so I went to them and asked if I could transfer it to a new house.  NO was the answer so I promptly closed my savings account and withdrewcthe £4.16p that was in it . They still wouldn't give me a mortgage.  We told my future fathervin law who was in business in Batley.  A short timevlater I was instructed to go and see the manager of the Leeds and Holbeck BS branch in Huddersfield.  I hopped on a train after an early turn and went there.  On thecway I happened  to see the Stiff Records tour train about which therecis a thread on here.  Anyway, wearing a civy jacket over my uniform I was taken to see the manager and we were given a mortgage.  He was not a happy bunny. To this day I know not what strings Will  (my FiL) had pulled but they obviously worked. We lived in that house till we moved to France.  And yes, the Great and Good Lord Edmund Davies did us all a lot of good.  

 

Jamie

[SM42]

Our last mortgage was arranged by me, sat with the advisor of a well known building society. 

 

Two meetings proceeded this last one with the details being discussed with Mrs SM42 after she got home from work

 

All was sorted but needed Mrs SM42's signature on the paperwork. 

 

We had arranged a lunch time meeting so that she could pop in, go through the final details and sign the paperwork during her lunch break.  

 

The society literally bent over backwards to get us where we needed to be ( mortgage advance and funds transferred to our solicitors in the motherland ) on quite a tight deadline and with the necessary money laundering paperwork required by our Polish solicitor .

 

Impressed we certainly were

 

Andy

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

The armed forces also got a staged pay rise over two years after the 1978 pay review which equated to an average of 32%.

 

You can buy a lot of Smarties with that sort of increase.

[jamie92208]

6 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

The armed forces also got a staged pay rise over two years after the 1978 pay review which equated to an average of 32%.

 

You can buy a lot of Smarties with that sort of increase.

Yes the staged over 2 years coincided with a certain Iron lady becoming PM. The sad part wascthstvit was negotiated and approved by her predecessor  Jim Callghan who hadcpreviously the parliamentary advisor  to The Police Federation and Merlyn Rees his Home Secretary.  Mrs T brought the second stage forward and we then got the 1st index linked rise in the following September.  3 rises in a year.  The end result was that mostvpeople forgot who had actually given us the deal.  

Jamie

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Yes the staged over 2 years coincided with a certain Iron lady becoming PM. The sad part wascthstvit was negotiated and approved by her predecessor  Jim Callghan who hadcpreviously the parliamentary advisor  to The Police Federation and Merlyn Rees his Home Secretary.  Mrs T brought the second stage forward and we then got the 1st index linked rise in the following September.  3 rises in a year.  The end result was that mostvpeople forgot who had actually given us the deal.  

Jamie

 

 

Jim Callaghan was one of our local MPs in Cardiff.  My grandfather liked him because Callaghan had 'worked for a living' prior to becoming a politician.

 

He was the last British PM to have served in the armed forces.

[Happy Hippo]

What looks like a pleasant start to the day will involve lots of action outside in the sunshine.

 

I already have my task list which was previously worked out and varied depending on the outside conditions:  Nyda will no doubt gravitate to the garden after she's finshed work, so some point during the morning.

 

Over the past few days I have come up with yet another S Wales scheme for the replacement to Pantmawr North which might be the 'next interim' before Aberflyarff (LL) is commenced.

 

The plan is currently lodged with br2975 who will pass a verdict in due course along with a string of useful comments.

 

It does incorporate a number of Brian's LDE (Layout Design Elements) so I remain hopeful that it will pass muster.

[TheQ]

Pre ww2 personal mortgages were quite common.. Florence Field-Low bought my house in 1927 with a personal mortgage from the Wife of the Surgeon General of the Royal Navy!!

 

The firemens strike of 1977 was for £100 pounds a week...(which they got in the end)  My take home in the RAF at the time I was replacing the firemen was £96 a month... So the 1978 pay rise was somewhat needed..