Early Risers.

[Jock67B]

Evening all,

Tiredness affecting me again tonight, can't seem to shake off the sinus ache and runny nose so I've stiffened up the nightcap a little! If it hangs on I shall discuss it at my next oncology appointment on the thirteenth. Got my next scan on Wednesday evening at 7.15pm - at least I'll be able to see my way home with all the fireworks!

Is everyone suffering whiz-bang noise every night? Looks like we're in for a week of it and Archiie is most unimpressed!

Stewart, glad to hear that the medics seem happy with your condition and hope you can find the strength to resist the temptation to do too much.

Debs, I've found similar humour in the way my iPad's built in voice activated search engine interprets my anglicised scots accent - some very interesting sites have appeared!

Stewart and 'C', I had a similar experience with a beautiful young lady doctor who joined my GP's practice some years ago - John, my friend and doctor introduced her and praised her expertise in terms of weight loss and healthy lifestyle. She actually stated that she would 'take me in hand', then took my blood pressure soon afterwards!! She did however cause me to change my eating and drinking habits and the result was weight loss and lowered blood pressure without pain!

Nearly at the witching hour again so it's time to say G'night Pete,

Kind regards,

Jock.

[Two_sugars]

Yes, Jock. . . .It seems that "Bonfire night" has been replaced with "firework fortnight".

 

 And as for voice recognition software. . . . .Why man! ! ! with My Accent???????

[trisonic]

G’night, Jock....

Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite.

 

Best, Pete.

[iL Dottore]

Good Morning All,

 

Further news on the dog front. I took Lucy to her first dog school lesson (in Switzerland, or at least our Kanton, once you have a dog you not only must register the dog with the local Gemeinde, pay for the dog tag and licence fee, but you must also attend a certified dog school and pass both the theoretical and practical exams). The trainer opined that she is curious, will be fiercely loyal to me and is very much willing to learn. All good news. Lucy is becoming very much "my" dog, whilst Schotty is definetely Mrs iD's dog. But (if I may be a bit twee for a moment) Mrs iD and I just "love 'em both to bits".

 

Anyway, nauseatingly sentimental moment over, on to the "joys" (hem-hem) of modern technology. Despite being a very early adaptor of computer technology (first with fortran on the university mainframe and then one of the first at Uni to have an Apple 2e), I am growing disillusioned with the technology. After having made a not inexpensive excursion into "Apple-Land", I am realising that Steve Job's products are more form than substance - you are locked in to doing thing the Apple way or not doing them at all (and don't get me started on iTunes and all its associated limitations of use). Of all the computer gear in the house (tablets, laptops, netbooks and desktops) my old desktop PC running the rather flawed Microsquash Vista is the one that still gets the most use. It's now my workshop machine and a friend is urging me to convert it to Linux. He claims that it will make it easier to run the gear I want to get for my workshop (3D printer, laser cutter, silhouette cutter).

 

Of course, those of you who are married will understand that any such workshop modernisation will require not only a serious tidying-up of the place, but also difficult negotiations with management (Mrs iD), union representatives (Mrs iD), the board of directors (Mrs iD) and the shareholders of iD PLC (Mrs iD). Oh, and I'll probably have to follow new H&S regs and make it "dog friendly".

 

Anyway, who said being a multi-tasking, married, dog owning, railway modelling, theatrical, culinary, musical and literary "gentleman of leisure" would be easy? To quote the inimitable Mr T "I pity the fool"

 

Enjoy the day

Edited November 4, 2014 by iL Dottore

[travelintrev]

Good morning one & all, 

 

We've just had a hour long heavy thunderstorm (the sort that shakes the rafters)  which means that the roads will be interesting  this morning. 

 

Anyway GF's on her way south for the winter and sent me the attached. (as well many others ) from Oregun. 

 

Hopefully more later,  if not maybe tomorrow morning if I can find free WiFi at Schipol) 

 

Have a good un,

 

Trev.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Fresh start at 7^oC but should be a dry,sunny day.

It's that time of year when GB (or GDB if you prefer) becomes rather anxious as the car is going in for an MOT & service today. It should be OK but you never know..........

Have a good one,

Trepidatious of Sutton.

[Robert]

Morning All,
 
It is another rather grey morning here in this part of the world - and rain is forecast for later.  They said on the radio that there is a rain front from "Finland to Portugal", so I guess we can be pretty sure of getting some rain at some point during the day.
 
We had an incident that shook us to the core yesterday.  A friend of mine has been diagnosed with a cardiac tumour.  The tumour has already been removed and was expected to be benign, but unfortunately it isn't.  The guy is absolutely no age (in his 30s) and is going for an MRI today to find out if it was confined only to his heart.  It just goes to prove how fragile life can be.
 
 

you must also attend a certified dog school and pass both the theoretical and practical exams).

That is something that they have been talking about in Germany for a while now.  To be honest, I wish they would do it too.  There are far too many dog owners these days with no idea of responsibility.  This is not meant to be an attack on dog owners, because I love well trained dogs - but my wife is afraid of dogs and for her, there is nothing worse than having someone else's (completely out of control) dog come running up to her, barking, when she is out and about.

 

There have been times when I have had to "intercept" the dog and try and draw it away - while the owner is saying something like "Oh, don't worry - she's Ok, she won't hurt you"

 

Despite being a very early adaptor of computer technology (first with fortran on the university mainframe and then one of the first at Uni to have an Apple 2e), I am growing disillusioned with the technology. After having made a not inexpensive excursion into "Apple-Land", I am realising that Steve Job's products are more form than substance - you are locked in to doing thing the Apple way or not doing them at all (and don't get me started on iTunes and all its associated limitations of use). Of all the computer gear in the house (tablets, laptops, netbooks and desktops) my old desktop PC running the rather flawed Microsquash Vista is the one that still gets the most use. It's now my workshop machine and a friend is urging me to convert it to Linux. He claims that it will make it easier to run the gear I want to get for my workshop (3D printer, laser cutter, silhouette cutter).

Yes - I agree with you there iL D - some people get on with Apple, and some don't. I am one of the latter, because I find it too confining.

 

I have installed Linux on my Macintosh

 

Have a good day everyone...

Edited November 4, 2014 by Robert

[Barry O]

Lummy! It got a bit cold last night.Car covered in frost....youngest Herbert went out to "tea" last night. Won't be late...ERM 2am return waking everyone up!

 

Have a good Tuesday everyone!. Cold but sunny for us today..I will wrap up warm for cricket tonight.

 

And for the second time this year...Ha'way the Lads!

 

Baz

Edited November 4, 2014 by Barry O

[NGT6 1315]

Morning all. Cloudy but dry and looking like there's a chance of sunshine at least. Need to get kitty food today.

 

Robert, I really sympathise...and I certainly hope that your friend can be helped in the best way possible. Not sure what else I might sensibly say that might help you...

[skipepsi]

Morning all, misty this morning I can see about 50 yards down the road but across the field I can only see the hedge. We took the kittens to the vets last night for their stitches out last night they are now back to zooming about at full speed without cones on their heads. We took Rolo rabbit for a teeth check and claws trimmed too, total cost nil.... it is no wonder that people travel for miles for treatment.

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

Mornin' all,

 

Crisp, cool and gorgeous blue sky Autumn morn in the Staffs Moorlands....should have put the gloves on for the wind chill during the constitutional....watching the mist rise & roll above and around the landscape in the early sunlight is my favourite way to spend a few minutes at this time of year....mist kissed with pink sunlight against orange & gold flora....fantastic!! Feathered friends fed...one of the feeders dismantled for disinfecting. Seeing ice on the car windscreens means that I'll be wrapping any shrubs, that need it, in fleece first job this morning. Beyond that, another modelling day calls. The tray of 12 bottles of 'Summer Lass' (probably their best brew) from 'The Wincle brewery' is getting some attention during my week off ...but then what is a holiday for?

 

Cars washed...a thankless task at this time of year.

 

Enjoy whatever you do

 

Dave 

Edited November 4, 2014 by Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71

[Simon G]

Very cold and clear here today - the Lakeland fells look wonderful just now!  Complete contrast to yesterday when it chucked it down all afternoon with little respite.

 

My senior manage is visiting us today for the first time in about 2/3 years, and I plan to tell her exactly when I plan to retire (next Spring).  I do like being in control when your so-called 'superiors' deign to pay a visit!

[Killybegs]

I can vouch for the fact that the front coming your way is carrying a lot of the wet stuff, the rivers are in spate here this morning! It has now passed and we have showers to look forward to. I managed to miss a particularly heavy one this morning.

 

The alarm had progressed to really loud and annoying before it registered with my brain this morning. I find it much more difficult to get going when awoken from a deep sleep. However walking the dogs soon sorts that out. The tide was right out this morning, so we walked along the waters edge waking up the huge flocks of seagulls, if I'm up so should they be! Anyway, it was time they were off to see what scraps they could find over at the fish factories in town. Killybegs is one huge fish factory, I dread to think how much power all those freezer plants consume. When we first came here fourteen years ago, the local electricity network could barely cope. If the fish factories were working flat out (and we had bigger fishing quotas then!), the lights would dim every time the local shipyard used its Synchrolift to haul a trawler out of the water for repairs. Fortunately, when the new deep water pier was built (I did my bit!) the power supply was upgraded and the problems have gone away for the time being. The factories are such a huge magnet for gulls, that twitchers come here looking for rare species. If one turns up, the word soon gets out and the enthusiasts are lined up along the  shore road with cameras, telescopes, binoculars, etc.

 

Yesterday afternoon was glorious. The sun came out, the wind dropped away completely and I was able to get out in the garden and rake up yet more leaves. I do love our trees but boy do they make a mess in autumn! I even weeded some of the paths, why are they still growing! The fuscia hedges are still producing flowers long after they have shed their leaves. Even nature appears to be confused by the weather.

 

Hoping your weather today won't be too bad. Take it easy Stewart, been there, done that, got the scar!

 

John

[trisonic]

Hhhmmm... I’ve owned Apple products for years, never had issue with them - they just get on and do what I ask of them without all the additional crapola require by MS products. Yes they can get faults - usually of a hardware nature.

 

It’s probably because I am totally uninterested in computers....

 

My Wife has earned literally millions of dollars sorting out and keeping MS based systems working. She tried setting up a similar operation for Apple stuff but it withered on the vine because most situations were caused by people unused to them.

 

If someone came up with a better systemized approach that was even easier then I would switch to them. I’m no fanboy.

 

Best, Pete.

[Happy Hippo]

 

 

 

 

"I have installed Linux on my Macintosh"

 

With the bad weather you've forecast, I've put a liner in my Barbour jacket!

[iL Dottore]

Hi Pete

....It’s probably because I am totally uninterested in computers....

Best, Pete.

And there you put your finger on the secret of Apple's success. As long as it does what is says on the tin; Apple users are happy, however having come from a geeky background in computing (as I am trilingual, I took computer languages to fulfil the mandatory language requirment at Uni) I always want to do it my way (rightly or wrongly to be honest).

 

Having said that, I'm no fanboy of Microsquash (the expression "bloatware" comes to mind), but I'm not yet quite ready to make the jump to Linux. Dammit, I just may avoid the internet (except for RMWeb) and go back to my old Olivetti portable typewriter for correspondence. SMASH THE MACHINES...

 

Ahem, sorry for that...

[Robert]

I agree - you need to use the Operating System that you feel comfortable with.

 

I use Linux primarily because I have worked with different versions of Unix for years, and it is what I am most comfortable with.

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

Late reporting in today. I had a disturbed night due to toothache. I went down and read while the paracetamol acted.

I did notice that it was not too warm downstairs. Anyway my teeth hurt a lot less now and it was really sunny by the time l woke up.

Aditi is working from home this morning as she has a meeting in Tottenham Court Road early this afternoon. I will take her to the station at lunchtime.

Tony

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

A morning of fist & mog here and cold enough to frost car windscreens although laddo's car wasn't so afflicted when he set off at about 07.30 (I'm told).  Anyway dining room has been 'cleared up' ready to try a table in the window bay which is coming with the new living room settees and armchairs.  In the meanwhile I'm off to the delights of West Berkshire Community Hospita a ce which hacks me off for numerous reasons.  firstly it seems to be run with an inefficiency and mismanagement of patients unmatched elsewhere in this part of the world.  And secondly it is beknighted with this nowadays overworked word 'community' - as it is an NHS establishment it is clearly there to serve the community - so why waste money incorporating that into its name, paperwork and every other thing that gets titled up.  Community is, alas, currently one of the most overworked and misapplied wirds in this country and strangely it seems to be ever more in vogue the more the politicos work to tear communities apart.

 

Right rant of the day Part 1 is over and time for ablutions and away.  Rant 2 will come at the 'community hospital' when I explain to them that, as they moved my appointment to a day when I already had things arranged, if they can't do their job punctually I'm not going to let their tardiness interfere with my time and I will be away although I will allow them the grace of my being seen within 30 minutes of the appointed time (last time I was there it was over 90 minutes after the appointed time).

 

Have a nice day folks.

[Barry O]

I remember seeing the prototype I pad in an M1A2 year before it arrived fro civilian use... or it could just have been a clone!

[PhilJ W]

Morning all, bright and sunny this morning and according to the forecast its going to last all day. I feel envious of ID with his new 'family member' and I would like to have a dog of my own but I'm not sure that I could cope. I certainly think that we should make dog owners in the UK more responsible for their pets and the Swiss system is the way to go. If I did get a dog it would either be a Heinz 57 or a Jack Russell, not one of those poor creatures that has been messed up by the Kennel Club. 

[45156]

Morning All

 

Much colder this morning here, and I've been resting up a bit as per instructions, but as the shopping won't do itself, I do need to get a few odds and ends localy in order to make the dinner - it's not easy to make Cottage Pie with no potatoes, for instance....

 

Mike - I know exactly what a disorganised NHS establishement is like - frustrating doesn't even start to describe it.  It's pretty awful hanging around, being placed into the sausage machine, and given the run-around generally.  We've got a hospital trust here that is on special measures because their service doesn't even approach acceptable - it's not the fault of the Doctors, nurses, or support staff on the front line - there's just too much admin and too many smartass people who think that "if it's not broke, don't mend it" should be interpreted as "if it does work, then smash it up, first, and then mend it". 

 

In that regard, I was speaking to a very distinguished local historian, who had a similar experience with his work in the Local Authority, and in his words, "these young graduates think that their degrees are a substitute for everything else, common sense included".  As this guy's a PhD and been around the block many times, I feel for him, as he too gave up his job early because the system had stopped working.  I know from speaking to people in many wakls of life that this approach is endemic - my late uncle worked for the LMS and BR until he died, and he also was despairing of the non-railway approach of the managers who had been brought in above him, and who had no experience of what a train WAS - never mind try to organise a rail service which would suit the travelling public. 

 

Rant over, but it is a familiar one, isn't it.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[45156]

 poor creatures that has been messed up by the Kennel Club. 

I agree, but not all breeds have been messed with, and many of the older breeds which are getting a bit rarer have such a weak gene pool have to be bred for type, not for any designer fancies.  Back in the 1980s there was a vogue for solid orange cocker spaniels, and the inbreeding resulted in many orange cockers having temperament problems (or to put it in the words of a vet friend of mine - off their heads) which gave the whole breed a bad reputation for a long time.  My own breed is the Sussex Spaniel, a quite rare breed, and the breeders are just grateful to get a litter of heathy pups with good mouths, and well coloured coats.  There is not a lot of room for any genetic messing as at any time, there's probably only about a few dozen good stud dogs available to sire the litters.

[Coombe Barton]

I'm working from home this morning as we're both late back tonight and I don't want to leave the dogs for too long.

 

But they've now taken the opportunity to beg for some of my breakfast, having, of course, had their own.

 

Frost on the cars this morning, but now brightish.

[Coombe Barton]

Our dogs have always been Heinz, and rescues.