Early Risers.

[NGT6 1315]

I am just unpacking some flat pack furniture and I'm wishing I hadn't been so stingy and had paid for assembly too.

 

From a certain Swedish furniture house, by any chance?

[Tony_S]

I am just unpacking some flat pack furniture and I'm wishing I hadn't been so stingy and had paid for assembly too.

 

Just treat as an excuse to go out and buy an electric screwdriver with a Li-ion battery.

 

 

 

[BoD]

From a certain Swedish furniture house, by any chance?

 

No it's much more substantial. It's a wardrobe and I think one of it's doors weighs more than an entire wardrobe from 'that other place'.

 

Just treat as an excuse to go out and buy an electric screwdriver with a Li-ion battery

 

I've already got a cordless screwdriver

 

....... and a cordless saw....... and a cordless hammer ......and a set of cordless chisels...........and .........

[PhilH]

 

I've already got a cordless screwdriver

 

....... and a cordless saw....... and a cordless hammer ......and a set of cordless chisels...........and .........

 

.....you just need to get a round tuit now.

[Tony_S]

No it's much more substantial. It's a wardrobe and I think one of it's doors weighs more than an entire wardrobe from 'that other place'.

 

 

 

I've already got a cordless screwdriver

 

....... and a cordless saw....... and a cordless hammer ......and a set of cordless chisels...........and .........

 

We have a cordless lawnmower, bread slicer and circular saw as a result of operator error.

[NGT6 1315]

We have a cordless lawnmower, bread slicer and circular saw as a result of operator error.

 

Look at the positive side - you can't make the same operator error again! Not without a repair, that is.

 

Our hedge trimmer has had its cord cut several times, too. After the first time it sufficed to just shorten the cord and reattach the plug, but after the second or third time a complete replacement was due.

[Tony_S]

I've had a very lazy evening. I didn't know when my wife would be home so we had Marks & Spencer ready meal pies and then we sat and watched episode 3 of Indian Hill Railways that I recorded earlier this year. This was the episode set in Simla. My wife lived there until she was 8 months old and obviously doesn't remember it but her parents often talked about their time there. I also had the benefit of a simultaneous translation for the bits that weren't subtitled.

Tomorrow morning I'll be off to the model rail club. This will be a preparation for forthcoming exhibitions rather than a playing trains day but I'm sure it will be a pleasant day out.

 

Tony

[Guest Max Stafford]

Yeah, but you can't use one to excuse the other - it's the regular joe who gets hurt by both.

 

Best, Pete.

 

Dead true Pete. I wasn't trying to justify acts of that kind, but it seems more and more these days that regular Joe is getting the squeeze from both sides and if people have no safety valve to help them cope it can get pretty nasty...! It concerns me a lot.

 

Dave.

[NGT6 1315]

Morning guys...

 

Sun is just rising and bathing the hills to the south with red light ...peaceful it is, I'd say. I don't think there'll be much on the agenda, save for a trip to the supermarket.

 

Have a nice day all!

[DDolfelin]

Eight leaking oktas here.

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

It seems to be quite a nice sunny morning here. However, it is still quite chilly, although I expect it to warm up a bit later on.

 

A trip into town is called for this morning. Apart from that, washing, ironing, cooking and the usual sort of jobs.

 

Have a good day everyone...

[BoD]

Good morning all.

 

Eight leaking oktas here too when I went out for the papers but it seems to be clearing a bit now. Quite warm and muggy though.

 

Wardrobe update: all the parts appear to be there. I'm just wondering which piece will be left over when I am finished. Actually it looks a fairly straightforward job apart from the hinges. I've never liked hinges.

 

Have a good weekend.

[DDolfelin]

"I've never liked hinges."

Nor do my In Laws.

Most of them are unhinged.

[PhilH]

I disliked Bracket more.

[45156]

I am just unpacking some flat pack furniture and I'm wishing I hadn't been so stingy and had paid for assembly too.

I once acquired a compelete flat pack kitchen when I decided that the old units had to go - did the work over a weekend in late November. Struggled with screwing everything together and then onto the walls. Come Christmas, Mrs 45156 presented me with an electric screwdriver, which she'd had in hiding in the house since October!

 

Horrible here today, 8/8 of thick cloud, and chucked it down most of the night and early hours of the morning. Looks as if it's about to do the same again now. In fact it's just started, just as Mrs 45i56 has gone out to the bus stop to catch the 9.15 to town.

 

Has anybody out there had a missive from the Inland Revenue yet asking for repayment of the tax that they've miscalculated?

 

Had a "home visit" yesterday from my manager and the attendance manager - but I think that they were just using it as an excuse to get out of the office for a couple of hours, as it was a purely social call.

 

Not a lot more happening here today - if I had been fit, I'd have popped down to the Preston club's open day.

 

Regards

Stewart

[Guest Max Stafford]

I've just had some bits today through the post for a LNER coach kit I'm going to be building. Off to work at 3, so I'm off out with Abi then she'll have to go to her 'looker-afterer'.

Going to ExpoEM tomorrow. Although I'm not doing EM, it's still a good place to get all the little bits you need!

Have a good day everybody!

 

Dave.

[DDolfelin]

"Has anybody out there had a missive from the Inland Revenue yet asking for repayment of the tax that they've miscalculated?"

Silly us - the Taxmen were completely innocent.

"Asked if he would say sorry to those facing unexpected bills, Mr Hartnett told BBC Radio 4's Money Box programme:

"I'm not sure I see a need to apologise. I've read the papers, listened to the media and heard stories of HMRC blunder and IT failure - neither of those are true.

Every country that I know of that has deduction of tax from wages and salaries has to do a reconciliation at the end of each year and we're doing one."

[Guest Max Stafford]

There's nothing like public accountability.

And neither is that...

 

Dave.

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

 

I'm just off to the model railroad club. It is pouring here but there is a hint of clearer sky to the north.

 

Tony

[trisonic]

Morning, first cup of tea then get everyone up for trip to Pennsylvania.

Weather looks good at 75f/Sunny all day. Hooray, we might be getting some rain tomorrow and Monday - 40% chance, my lawn needs it, it is brown and crunchy. The only things growing are weeds. Why?

 

Best, Pete.

[skipepsi]

Morning all, quite warm and cloudy could even be summer compared to yesterday and the cold rain and touches of hail. Smug civil servants who think a tax demand for £1,500 won't wreck lives because they have that much in spare cash lying about do not work with the people i do where an hour less a day is a major loss of income.

[eldavo]

Morning All (just). First chance I've had to today. The list today included sorting out the small(!) pile of correspondence that has accumulated in the kitchen. It's taken most of the morning and SWMBO is still feeding stuff through the shredder. I guess the fact that I found stuff with a 2008 date on it near the bottom of the pile is a clue that this chould be done a bit more frequently!

 

On the tax front, nothing received here (yet). If a demand does come through I shall be quoting the words uttered by a representative of the taxman on the radio recently. He stated "if an individual could reasonably have been lead to believe that their tax related matters were in order then the taxman can write off any deficit". Given that I pay the bulk of my tax through PAYE and the taxman sends me an annual tax code notification listing any required adjustments I thnink that is a pretty clear cut case myself. I suspect that goes for 99% of those folks affected if they are prepared to put up a fight.

 

Cheers

Dave

[BoD]

Isn't the catch in the wording though? "Can" or "may" waiver suggests that the decision is still theirs.

[BoD]

Well that's the carcass and internal fittings of the wardrobe done. It was easy as everything fitted snugly and all the fixing bits and holes lined up accurately. Just like my baseboards (not).

 

Just the doors to do now. <gulp>

[Robert]

Sympathies to any of you who receive that tax bill. Personally, I think it is ridiculous - if they made the mistake then they should have to live with that mistake. Just like we have to do! However, I know that isn't the way the tax man works anywhere!

 

I got lumbered with a similar tax bill earlier in the year, I knew about the mistake and informed them several times - but it was two YEARS before they woke up to the fact and then hit me with a tax bill in the thousands. I was given 14 days to pay - naturally, I made a fuss but it got me nowhere. Fortunately, I had budgeted for it because I knew it was coming. Still, it stank

 

I've gone down the drain today! More precisely, Wiesbaden have their annual "day of the open drains" when you can descend into the tunnels below the town centre and be shown around. Some of the drains are designated as ancient monuments and are a fantastic feat of Engineering. Hand built, brick by brick by men who must have taken a real pride in their work. Around 110 years later, the brickwork is in an incredibly good state.

 

The whole event was a little relaxed - a couple of vans from the City's waste management department a a few volunteers!

 

 

Here we descended into the depths, below Wilhelmstraße. I was half expecting to have to descend a ladder through a manhole - but the Engineers who built this thoughtfully provided a spiral staircase!

 

 

This tunnel carries the Rambach (a small river) under Wilhelmstraße. Flow was pretty minimal today as the weather was dry - but around 20 times a year, flow will increase sufficiently to fill this 5 meter high tunnel to the roof!

 

 

Finally, we arrived at this point which I believe is called a combined sewer overflow in the UK. This is where a sewer can be allowed to overflow into the river during times of extreme flow (such as after a rain storm). This part of the tour was a little "aromatic" - but the four gas analyser which was present was only measuring 3ppm Hydrogen Sulphide.

 

 

Well worth a visit - even better given that it was free!