Early Risers.

[JohnDMJ]

Found a different yoghurt in Sainsbury's tonight - Brambleberry and Gin.

 

SWMBO is going to give it a road test.

 

From which purveyor manufacturer of such (potentially) fine produce?

Edited February 6, 2017 by JohnDMJ

[AndyID]

Found a different yoghurt in Sainsbury's tonight - Brambleberry and Gin.

 

SWMBO is going to give it a road test.

 

I hope she doesn't get lifted for "yoghurt driving".

[Coombe Barton]

From which purveyor manufacturer of such (potentially) fine produce?

 

It's a Sainsbury's Taste the Difference production.

[jamie92208]

 

Literally, it means "I pray (i.e. beg or implore) you", it's more polite than saying "s'il vous plaît”, but, depending on context, it can mean "please do" or "don't mention it".

I don't claim to be much of a linguist, but no doubt Ian or Jamie will put me right if I slip up.

 

 

I wouldn't bet on it, I only managed a grade 6 pass at O Level but speak it reasonably well due to having spent 3 weeks with a French family when I was 14.  My main learning aid nowadays is reading French railway Magazines, though the vocabulary is a little limited.

 

Jamie

[emt_911]

I've got an early start with a 07:00 on site start in Watford for a fault before I can head to the client site in Twickenham.

 

Night all

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[Ozexpatriate]

Almost 250 posts in less than 72 hours since I last looked upon early risers. I fear is it too much to keep up with.

 

Normalcy in Northwest weather has resumed. Well north of 2" of rain fell yesterday, during a period where dramatically different forecasts for Sunday ranging from rain to heavy snow were promulgated at various times over the weekend.

 

A horseshoe of micro-climates around the Portland metro centering on the Coast Range did indeed see significant snowfall on Sunday - and this after rainy 50°F / 10°C weather on Saturday where it in no way felt like it could possibly snow.

 

Here it rained. And rained.

[Tony_S]

Wow, you seem to have high-quality neighbours 

While we have lovely neighbours either side, those who have frequented ERs for a while may recall our little difficulty with Linda, Lady of the Leylandii whose garden is at the end of ours. Aditi was in our garden on Saturday morning and noticed items of vegetation, mainly ivy, flying into our garden. So instead of getting cross Aditi greeted her with something like "isn't it a lovely morning, so nice to be out doing some tidying, would you like a recycling bag?". No more leaves appeared.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[newbryford]

I hope she doesn't get lifted for "yoghurt driving".

 

I almost read that as yoghurt diving......

 

Hmmmm - there's an idea for a charity challenge...............

 

Cheers,

Mick

[Donw]

On my "man with a double life" Probate case, I've just had a letter in from his bank to say they would contact me in ten working days!!! Effectively two weeks to provide a simple figure, FFS!

 

I think I was lucky in the dealings I had with Nationwide. When the In-laws moved in with us I went with them to the local Nationwide and set up a saving account they could access and a fixed term bond for their savings. We also had an account of our own with them. So when I handled probate for them the local branch new me. They died 11 days apart so as executor I had two interlinked probates together. 

 

There has been a lot about care for the elderly on the news and some mention of NHS funded care. When we were no longer able to cope as they needed 24 hour care ( one disabled the other with dementia) the home we found got the NHS to assess for payment of the nursing component of dad's care. They paid about £115 per week of the cost. They also had to  do regular assessments to decide whether fully funded care was appropriate, which I had to attend. I sat there on time while the question of him getting up to go to the toilet on his own. This had been one of the problems we had had, resulting in a number of falls. However they decided he could manage. Two days later he had a fall and the Doctor informed the home he was not to be allowed to get up on his own (raised side to the bed reminiscent of my nursery cot).  Of course the funding would  not be reviewed for 3 months by  which time he had died.

It seems to me that people would be more willing to pay for social care if it was like the NHS available to all dependant on need and not means tested.

 

Don

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone

 

It's been a long day, far too long, I need to go to bed, goodnight all.

[laurenceb]

Night all

[Ozexpatriate]

So instead of getting cross Aditi greeted her with something like "isn't it a lovely morning, so nice to be out doing some tidying, would you like a recycling bag?".

Barbarians at the castle walls!

 

Paraphrasing, if an Englishman's home is his castle, an Englishwoman's garden is her bailey.

[Ozexpatriate]

I hope she doesn't get lifted for "yoghurt driving".

I almost read that as yoghurt diving......

And it's evil twin, yoghurt wrestling.

[Horsetan]

...I didn't need to seek a grant of probate then, but it was necessary in Dorothy's case. The Midland Co-op sent a chap round to assess the estate, and he came up with a total charge for their services - £9K+. This with a will on a single sheet of paper making Helen executrix and sole beneficiary,.....

 

I think I can match your single sheet of paper.

 

To be blunt, even Solicitors don't charge as much as the UnCo-Operative. For example, my Firm works on the basis of a miniscule percentage fee + VAT based on the net value of the Estate; client Executors find this easy to calculate and they know what to expect.

 

It's a hell of a lot easier than the traditional hourly rate, which can lead to escalation of costs and punch-ups over whether particular parts of the work or the time spent are justified or not. Oddly enough, our professional weekly trade journal, the Law Society Gusset*, carried a brief article recently on the advantages of fixed fees and why Firms should consider changing over to this structure. Well, Gusset readers, we've been operating the fixed fee system here in Ealing for years - we considered the traditional hourly rate to be a liability as clients were frightened away by it.

 

-----------------------------

*The Gusset. I've always called it that because, like improvements in underwear, Solicitors hardly notice its existence; I must be one of the very few who actually reads the bloody thing....and most of it is turgid going. It's long been an unspoken truth that most people only glance through it to see which of their acquaintances has been struck off this week at the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal .

[BR60103]

Meanwhile, having now recorded the Firm as Executors, the deceased's bank is unable to give me a simple printout of the balance held on the day of death. The surviving relatives here and in Ireland have already begun grumbling about how long this is taking.

My father's bank was also unable to value his holdings on the day. My BIL did the income tax and included a note that we had estimated it to the best of our ability.

[BR60103]

Horsetan:

On fees. When I started in pensions, we had hourly rates, but for annual valuations we had a formula charge, based on size and complexity.  The intention was to keep the charge consistent from year to year. What we also tried to do was keep the hourly charge + under the formula, or even it out in following years.

[emt_911]

Morning all. A damp start to the day after a very wet night. At least I won't have to defrost the car this morning.

 

For some reason I'm not looking forward to the journey between Watford and Twickenham later this morning.

 

Today feels like it could be a very long day.

 

Have a good day everyone.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Drizzly start after a wet night here as well. It should brighten up with the chance of some sunshine later. Allegedly.

The Boss has been taken to her normal place of work after her temporary secondment so is much happier this week. This makes me happy too!   

I've had an account with Nationwide for umpteen years as we had a mortgage with them at one time and I've kept it as a back up to my main account elsewhere. . I must be lucky as I've always found them great to deal with. When I acted as executor for my late MiL I found them to be the most efficient, easiest and friendliest of all the people I had to deal with. Possibly I struck lucky with the young lady at the local branch who was absolutely lovely (in all respects)

Tuesday means children will be here after school and I believe bangers and mash are on the menu for them tonight. As I'm still on a diet I have decided to forego this pleasure and am having some sort of salad. I lost another one and a half pounds last week so am getting ever nearer my initial target.

I will be contemplating the layout today, I seem to have stalled yet again. This is my own fault because (against all advice) I've been winging it and never had a cohesive plan.

Have a good one,

Bob.

Edited February 7, 2017 by grandadbob

[pH]

We are now breaking "records for the date" for snowfall in various parts of the Lower Mainland going back up to 70 years.

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

No snow here - in fact, it is pretty mild.  The forecast predicts that it is due to get colder though.

 

There isn't a lot else to report, so I guess it is time for a coffee!

 

Have a good day everyone...

[AndyID]

After their visit to the vet the terriers Torri and Shona are now fully recovered and happily ensconced in their ancestral home.

 

Consequently my credit card took a $700 hit. I'm thinking a horse might not be such a bad idea. (OK, just kidding)

[DDolfelin]

Possibly I struck lucky with the young lady at the local branch who was absolutely lovely (in all respects)

 

 

She was only a Banker's daughter but she certainly .....

Complete with a chance of being included in the Readers Digest prize draw.

[BoD]

Mornin all.

 

Glad that your terriers are back home.

 

People seem to spend a lot of time these days breeding dogs called Cockerpoos and Labradoodles.

We just used to call them mongrels.

 

I wonder why no one has thought to cross a bulldog with a shihtzu.