Early Risers.

[Purley Oaks]

Morning all

Overcast here and temperature set to hit 7C, a drop of 5 degrees.

Interesting news is that the council has given the go-ahead to a tramline extension to Leith and Ocean Terminal (where the Royal Yacht Britannia resides) - before the first tramline opens in May. This line was part of the original plan but scrapped when the cost of the work spiralled and the contractors allegedly ran onto problems.

Have a good day

Mal

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

it is a lovely sunny morning here in Karlsruhe - although the traffic on the way from the Hotel to work was horrendous.  They are building an underground network in Karlsruhe and half the town is dug up.  Still, the car got us here - despite running on Diesel and sheep urine.

 

I seem to remember Spike Milligans Poem "On the Ning nang nong".  I seem to remember that the "cows go bong", (I wonder if that will get censored), "the monkey all say boo", and the "teapots jibber jabber joo".  I learnt the poem "Granny" at school, and can still remember it.

 

I hope Bob doesn't suffer at the Dentist as it sounds like Mick did.

 

Have a good day everyone...

[PhilJ W]

SWMBO has gone cruelty free in all our household products. I wonder if milking a yak for its wee is considered cruel?

 

 

Depends upon whether its a male or female yak.

[PhilJ W]

Dawn should be nearly visible to the birds at 5am - especially if they are high up in the trees.

It's light enough to see here in the West before 6am.

I was already awake at 5 am, it was like switching on a recording.

[DDolfelin]

I know what you mean.

Even without street lights it can be a heck of a racket.

[Tony_S]

Morning.

Cloudy with occasional patches of clear sky, ooh its sunny, no its not, weather.

Dentist visit tomorrow. Must be the season. Just a check-up. My dentist is very nice and keen to minimise discomfort. 

 

Cruelty free. I think apart from the urea foot cream all Aditi's skin products are made from French vegetables. However I did tell Robbie that the Sudocrem I was using on his small wound had been tested on (human) babies.

 

Tony

[Donw]

There are two types of Pension on-line services one is for those about to retire where you fill in the form saying yes please give me the money. As per Mike comment they consider it a benefit whereas I understood when starting work that the NI contribution included entitlement to a pension. You then get a letter stating how much you will be paid.

The other is for those with some some to retirement which advises how much you have paid for and what you might get if you carry on working. However with the Pensions bill working its way through parliament it is not that accurate seeing as it could all change. Useful to see if there are gaps in your contributions though.

Either way you will need to have a Gateway access ID and get activation codes for the services you want.

Having just got my statement I am advised that when it starts it will be paid 4 weeks in arreas. Don't miss a trick do they.

Don

[skipepsi]

Morning all, not gone to work today mouth still aches but I can talk. A bit windy outside and slightly chilly so I will stay indoors in the warm. I might try modelling as a distraction then again I may try sleeping.... The idea of mouthwash hadn't occurred to me so I will probably make a start tonight. The hacking cough has changed a bit so hopefully that is on its way out now too. Have a good day if you can otherwise be careful.

[beast66606]

Morning all.

 

Dull start to the day and the second week of feeling like death cooled down, can't seem to shake of the sore throat and general feeling of being "unwell". My morning walks have become morning sits as I don't have the energy to go out, I think I probably need to push myself over the initial hurdle to "kill or cure"

 

Have a good day all.

[AndyB]

Morning all.

Haven't been around for a few days as I've been busy kitting out the garage and also trying to work with a couple of civil servants; might as well have tried to herd cats!

The garage is coming along nicely, although the sheer weight of the materials is making it a slower job than I'd like. 

 

If I've missed any major events then apologies! Hope you are all well. 

 

Rain forecast for later and more on the way. But the recent few days of sunshine have really perked the garden up. 

Anyway, have a nice day everyone. Andy

[Ashcombe]

Morning All,

 

..................I seem to remember Spike Milligans Poem "On the Ning nang nong".  I seem to remember that the "cows go bong", (I wonder if that will get censored), "the monkey all say boo", and the "teapots jibber jabber joo".  I learnt the poem "Granny" at school, and can still remember it. ..........................Have a good day everyone...

 

Great poem, easy for children to appreciate and learn. One of the joys of teaching for me was encouraging a love of poetry in children; seeing the results of their own attempts at writing was quite humbling at times.

Edited March 18, 2014 by Ashcombe

[iL Dottore]

Ah the dentist...

 

He: Darling, your teeth are like the stars

She: You mean they shine and twinkle?

He: No, they come out at night...

 

My dentist does a damn fine job. I have a yearly check-up (with X-Rays), cleaning, removing plaque and polishing. At my last check-up, the dentist observed that the prothesis he screwed into my jaw 17 years ago, is still doing very nicely and that my gnashers are likely to outlast the rest of me. Good news, given that my dental hygiene is limited to brushing my teeth twice a day and twice weekly flossing. I guess (for once) I got the right genes....

 

Lovely day today, hope it is for you too.

 

iD

[Robert]

Dull start to the day and the second week of feeling like death cooled down, can't seem to shake of the sore throat and general feeling of being "unwell".

 

Have you visited the Doc, beast?

 

That's a long time to be feeling so rough.

[grandadbob]

Back from having two teeth filled (I thought it was only going to be one) completely pain free so I can happily report that no Grandads were harmed in the process!

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Don't worry about the pension being in arrears Don - your executors can claim it up to date when you depart the mortal world,  seems DWP prefer it that way to avoid having to get money back from someone's estate/publican/Tesco.  Of course the next bit of silliness is that there will also have to be a revised Code Number for the tax on one of my other pensions - it seems that joined-up government doesn't extend to doing it all in one hit  (and it wouldn't surprise me if they also recode the tax on my third pension, from 'Basic Rate' to 'Basic Rate').

 

In a mission of daring do yesterday we acquired two nice little sample pots of mixer paint the catch being that one of them is for the dining room - and apart from a piano and a sideboard it also has two very well loaded bookcases; so the future is full of menace but at least the paint sample has to match one of the colours in the material currently being selected for new curtains so we might be some time, with luck.

 

Have a good day folks.

[Pete 75C]

Back in the day when toothache was an almost weekly event for me (I have less teeth now which equals less to go wrong), I tried everything from clove oil (disgusting) to chewing aspirin (slightly less disgusting). Whilst living in the Canaries, I discovered a seemingly miracle cure... Jagermeister, I believe it's made from a herb extract. Toothache, dodgy tummy, headache... Jager seems to work a treat and I've got quite used to a couple of shots before bed if I'm feeling off colour in any way. Being only an occasional drinker, if I feel the need for some Jager, I always maintain it's strictly for medicinal purposes... Come to think of it, the taste reminds me of a cough medicine I used to be given as a child... Veno or Venos, I think?

Have a great day whatever you're up to. Pete.

[Robert]

I believe it's made from a herb extract.

Indeed it is - very many herbs in fact. I believe it is a blend of over 50.

 

I must remember that it's also a miracle cure! This information may come in useful.

 

Oh, and no. It doesn't contain deer blood!

Edited March 18, 2014 by Robert

[Tony_S]

I have spent a morning sitting on the bedroom floor moving magazines into crates. So far the crates haven't made it out to the garage, they have been dragged into Matthew's room. He won't be home for a couple of weeks and he wouldn't mind anyway, he said as long as he can get to his bed and his computers he is happy!

 

I've never tried Jagermeister but first heard about it when Matthew explained Jagerbombs to me. 

[Pete 75C]

I've never tried Jagermeister but first heard about it when Matthew explained Jagerbombs to me. 

 

I've heard of Jagerbombs and assume it's a shot of Jagermeister with added weird stuff...? I think I'll take it neat!

[Ian Abel]

Morning - -2 and already had a light dusting of snow. We're in line for another 3-6 inches of the stuff today/tonight/tomorrow morning... they can't quite make up their minds when (or IF) it'll actually hit us.

Originally they'd said it'd hit 10C by Thursday, that's now been revised down to 4 "if we're lucky".

 

Have our contractor over this evening, that's when I'll find out when to shift into PANIC mode - every chance he may be able to start on our kitchen by Monday or Tuesday

 

Brief amount of time to do some more on the Water Tower last night, getting close to having a picture or two - maybe by the morning...

 

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming (java this time)

[Robert]

I've heard of Jagerbombs and assume it's a shot of Jagermeister with added weird stuff...?

Yes - Red Bull

 

I think I'll take it neat!

I think I agree!

[DDolfelin]

My bedtime reading at the moment is "The Somme Stations" by Andrew Martin.

Appropriately it's a WW1 tale with some NG thrown in.

May be of interest if you can find a copy - perhaps at the Library.

[iL Dottore]

Interesting discussions about pensions. When I worked in the UK for 5 years in the 80s, I didn't think about pensions (but who does at that age?), I just paid my taxes and spent the rest. After reading people's posts, out of curiosity, I went to the Gov.UK website and entered some data into their state pensions calculator. The result? I can only retire at 66 and will then I will get a truly magnificent £22.03 p.w.

 

I now have a fully comprehensive Swiss pension package (state, company [but regulated by the state] and private [also regulated by the state]), which although not overly generous, will provide me with a more than adequate pension, and I can retire at 60.

 

The Swiss are very conservative, very careful and very canny about money. So the "triple whammy" of pensions (state, company and private) is a useful tool for ensuring that not only is the state is not overburdend by pension costs but also the old age of the citizens is adequately provided for. It's not perfect, but it is mre than adequate.

 

Something for the UK to require of its' citizens perhaps?

 

iD

 

p.s. I won't be collecting my UK pension, not only don't I need it, butit will probably cost the government more to send it to me than the value of the pension itself.

Edited March 18, 2014 by iL Dottore

[The Stationmaster]

Ah - some developments.  First the good news, the dining room paint sample was the wrong colour, literally as our Graham in Jewson had pressed the buttons too quickly when setting-up so we got shade No.1 instead of shade No.4.  However all is now rectified and we have a shade No.4 sample (free of course as it was their error).  The better news is that instead of throwing it away Shade No.1 has now had another mixer colour added which has converted it from dark red to a sort of very dirty greenish grey murk which looks as if it will produce a very handy ground cover colour when mixed in with liquid consistency Hydrocal - which definitely won't be used in the dining room but for more interesting purposes .

 

As far as pensions are concerned iD might be interested to learn that something called 'workplace pensions' are being introduced over here.  I presume the idea is either to save the state money or give the Chancellor (various) even more pension pots to rob in order to throwaway the money on some sort of pet idea of whichever Govt is in office.

 

Also for those interested/within range I now have a link for this year's Fawley Hill fete - which is on 17/18 May and which looks to be quite interesting, as usual.  From a railway viewpoint apart from the 1:1 scale museum and train rides down & up a near impossible gradient there are some nice layouts housed there permanently including 'Holiday Haunts' and a large 0 gauge roundy plus various dioramas.  Looks like quite a good mix and I see my next door neighbour will be flying 'one of his vintage aircraft' as part of the flying displays.  One 'display' last year was El Davo of this parish ballasting track on a section of a club layout!  No doubt following last year's 'great escape' the capybara will be well & truly confined to barracks

 

http://www.fawleyhill.co.uk/

[Tony_S]

Inspired by Andrew's tales of derring-do with path laying I decided to risk my back and lay 12 foot of tarmac. Not real tarmac and it was really just two 6 foot (approx) platform surfaces on the layout. I was going to use chinchilla dust (not made from real chinchillas) glued and painted but 1000 grade abrasive paper looks quite good. I then had two trains running on the layout, just like a proper trainset, one goods and one passenger!

 

Tony