Early Risers.

[jamie92208]

Can't be as bad as the Reading branch (can it?) where there have been several occasions when it has got so busy that people found it impossible to get their cars out of the car park due to 'congestion'.  

 

BTW is the Reading one the only which appears as a destination on 'buses?

What they don't like to be reminded of at our local branch is that on the day that it opened the queues stretched back onto the nearby M62 and there was a multiple fatal accident in the queue.

 

Jamie

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Been a bit busy so missed yesterday's post, and only just caught up.  Happy Easter to everybody whatever your views and beliefs. 

 

Michael, what a bummer, and what a nasty way to be given bad news.  Many companies seem to be pretty poor at managing staff changes and redundancies, and yours seems to be leading the pack.  I hope that you are able to find something soon and then you can make the most appropriate gesture at them.  My redundancy was handled in a similarly brutal way some years ago.  I duly arrived on a Monday morning, and the receptionist said that she had instructions to ask me to stay downstairs in the public meeting room.  I duly did so, and the HR manager appeared with my stuff, a severance letter, a request for my company mobile and laptop, instructions on how my company car was going to be collected from my home in a couple of weeks time, and a cheque for loss of office.  My job was, it appeared, to be split between two more junior staff, one in each of the operations offices, and my post had ceased to exist.  This was done without my having any inkling as to what was going on.

 

Other than that, generic greetings are all I can offer, as there is just too much to offer individual comments on every post.

 

So what has been so all-consuming this weekend?  Well, the shed is now sporting a new coat of paint, a new floor, a repaired door, strengthened joints, and new felt on the roof.  And several folks yesterday said I'd not get that all done, as the weather was due to change to heavy rain mid morning - and thank the seaweed watchers, it didn't happen.  Then today, my "success" in steam cleaning the kitchen that my prowess was requested in the bathroom. 

 

As for that well known furniture store, luckily the nearest one to us is in Warrington, about 50 miles from here.  I went to the Croydon one once, and hated every minute of it, coming home with a wobbly book case, and have never been back.

 

Back at some stage tomorrow.

Regards to All

Stewart

Edited April 16, 2017 by 45156

[Donw]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. The back was feeling a lot better until just now when I filled the washing machine and put it on. Another couple of paracetamols should ease things a bit. AndyB, I'd be tempted to call the fire brigade claiming the bonfire was out of control, they will certainly put it out and leave it too wet to relight.

 

The fire brigade get quite upset at being called out frivolously and may ask you to pay!

Check whether there is a local bylaw about bonfires. They seem to have become less common. They can be considered under the nuisance laws but that would only apply if it was a persistent nuisance. I would imagine one bonfire a week would not count. It is a real problem if people insist on a bonfire and don't know how to do it properly. It the material is allowed to dry out first there will be much less smoke.

Don

[jamie92208]

The fire brigade get quite upset at being called out frivolously and may ask you to pay!

Check whether there is a local bylaw about bonfires. They seem to have become less common. They can be considered under the nuisance laws but that would only apply if it was a persistent nuisance. I would imagine one bonfire a week would not count. It is a real problem if people insist on a bonfire and don't know how to do it properly. It the material is allowed to dry out first there will be much less smoke.

Don

In France I need a permit from the Mayor to have a bonfire as we live in a forested area and are covered by a volunteer fire brigade. With the permit system everyone knows when someone is having a bonfire and there are no unnecessary call outs. The permits are free and Madame Le mayor is charming and helpful.

 

Jamie

[AndyID]

Still not out of the IKEA bed here! My excuse is that it's too cold. Minus 1C last night.

 

350 miles to the nearest one, but there was one just accross the street from my office in California. I sometimes had lunch there.

[Donw]

Finally managed to catch up, I got behind having to fill a 6cu yd skip with thick clayover the last few days, but its time to walk the dogs so goodbye for now. 

Don

[Ohmisterporter]

We had a nice chat with our son, DiL, and granddaughter last night. They live near Dunedin, New Zealand, and we can talk using Google hangouts for free, rather like Skype. I still find it amazing that we can talk to someone on the other side of the world like this. I don't know the name of the woman who lives next door! Although we say hello if we see each other in the garden. Enjoy what is left of Easter and stay safe all.

 

PS. The clocks have changed in both countries and NZ is now eleven hours in front of us. When the clocks go forward there they go back here and thus they become thirteen hours in front. You have to remember this when you have promised to chat at a given time.

Edited April 16, 2017 by Ohmisterporter

[emt_911]

A good day at the show and many photos to sort out.

 

Watching the Grand Prix on +1 before finding something to eat.

 

Back later

[The Stationmaster]

Unusually Mrs Stationmaster was reading the gardening section of today's 'Telegraph' and came across an add for a combined seat/kneeler thing - the sort illustrated below.  It seemed familiar and I suggested that we probably already had one somewhere, in fact i was quite sure we'd bought one some time in the past.  Herself was of a similar view so we asked the Good Doctor for her opinion and she suggested that we did indeed have one and that it was 'somewhere in the garage'.  

 

http://www.coopersofstortford.co.uk/src/gbase/coopers-of-stortford-garden-kneeler-seat-prodst06067i/?LGWCODE=6067;103993;5253&gclid=CKeZsZWxqdMCFdTNGwodgHUG3g

 

Now the garage is a more congested area of storage and 'things' than either CB's dining table or ours so an expedition was duly mounted to search out this holy grail of gardening comfort and lo & behold there it was - buried under a wide variety of things & stuff.  A merry time was had sorting through the mountain to reach it and in the process despatching 'ex-stuff' to either the rubbish bin or the recycling bin with some 'rediscovered stuff' being considered suitable for immediate use and therefore taken indoors.  

 

Once the target of our search had been located I was advised that it was a silly design because the bits that rested on the ground were simply painted metal and that would rust.  So it was back to the rubbish bin to reclaim some recently added 'ex-stuff' in the shape of some sort of flexible plasticky padding material which had accompanied a Fiat rear light assembly in its box (don't ask) - a sort of flexible expanded polystyrene, which quickly became 'padding' on the bits of the gardening stool which will rest on the ground.  Finally our find was despatched to the greenhouse where it turns out to be the ideal height for managerial use when carrying out various tasks.  

 

Brownie points have clearly been earned as I was told - 'that was an hour well spent'.  

[The Stationmaster]

Finally managed to catch up, I got behind having to fill a 6cu yd skip with thick clayover the last few days, but its time to walk the dogs so goodbye for now. 

Don

Last time I did that I used a tracked, dumpster which could also be raised (by power) to a suitable height to tip into the skip - brilliant thing and a very reasonable hire charge from Jewson.

 

http://www.jewson.co.uk/tool-hire/earth-moving/loaders/products/6725/dumpster/

[TheQ]

Evening awl,

Nearly nine hours ago at 08:00 i set out from the house aiming for the shed, it was somewhat chilly and a heater was required, 16 ft of insulation and wall cladding has been cut to fit and attached to the walls. The bottom Batton that runs along these wall have also been fitted.

Carpenters pencils have been drawing on the floors, marking out for shelves and cupboards. Did i mention my railway will sit on shelves and cupboards? After 8 hours i retreated back to the house.

Tomorrow more Batton's will be screwed down along these lines, forming the bottom shelf and giving something to attach verticals to, some verticals go floor to ceiling.

A couple of old chests of drawers will also be incorporated, under the layout...

 

The seaweed inspectors Forecast of heavy rain, has so far been a little light drizzle at about 16:00.

 

Delay to posting, as haggis and chips followed by home made blackberry and apple pie is consumed.

 

There is a blue and yellow store some 25 miles away, however it's not a normal one, it's much smaller than normal, and is for many items a catalogue shop.

 

Having said i won't post where i live now, if I've got it right, here's where my parents were living when i was born.

 

https://goo.gl/maps/XGMpoZ4t3h82

 

Time for a whisky....?

[45156]

 I don't know the name of the woman who lives next door! Although we say hello if we see each other in the garden.

Probably because Mrs Next-door changes so often, Geoff.  Luckily round here, we seem to get a better class of tenant for a neighbour than many other parts of town, or indeed, many other towns, as many stories on here have proved in the past.

 

Rain has decided to come down in earnest now - the furry four legged rain detector came in slightly damp, so I put my jacket on, and away we went - I'd just passed Geoff's place when it came down really heavy. 

 

Back tomorrow

[AndyB]

Yer tiz!

 

A copy of the programme:

 

Church Stretton Show.html

 

Thanks, Richard.

For some reason I'm not able to open that link, but as permission to attend looks likely I'll be able to wander down at some point.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone

 

Late on parade today, as we had our usual Sunday morning lie in this morning. The weather has been pretty all day, constantly raining, but changing bet heavy and light, the sun came out for about 10 minutes whilst we ate tea, but it didn't last very long.

 

However, I still ventured down to the workshop to carry on with the cleaning task I started a couple of weeks ago. All I had left to do was the shelf unit which stores all my power tools and the lathe. After that I cleaned and mopped the floor, it's all looking a lot cleaner and tidier and I can find things now!

 

If the weather is nice tomorrow I'm hoping to plant up a longer trough type planter to put on the decking below the window. But if the weather is like it has been today, I may well just go and something inside the workshop instead.

 

For tonight's tea we had roast chicken with all the trimmings, we've not had that for a while and it made a nice change. Feeling rather stuffed at the moment so after a cup of earl grey, there might be a little eyelid inspection going on.

[AndyID]

Tax day will soon be upon us in the Land O'Trump. The deadline for filing is April 15 or the first biness day thereafter. Monday is Easter Monday, so tax day is April 18 and procrastinators get three extra days this year. April 18 also happens to mark another solar circuit. Not a terribly happy day as I don't care to be reminded how old I am and it's also the anniversary of my father's death.

 

My mum often reminded me that I was born on Easter Monday. I don't remember it too well myself, but she seemed to think it had some significance. Perhaps she thought it might encourage me to take up the cloth, but if anything it had the opposite effect. Interestingly enough (which really means it's not in the slightest bit interesting) my birthday only fell on Easter Monday once during the second half of the twentieth century but it will land on Easter Monday three times during the first half of the twenty-first century.

 

And if you have not already guessed where I'm going with all this ridiculous drivel, it's actually another ER Challenge:

 

What year was I born?

[New Haven Neil]

Jamie, it doesn't unfortunately surprise me that the accident happened there, the whole retail estate seems terribly susceptible to congestion.

 

The day became very showery here, so a romantic carry-out in the car was the limit of our excursion. 

[Donw]

Thanks, Richard.

For some reason I'm not able to open that link, but as permission to attend looks likely I'll be able to wander down at some point.

 

I have obviously missed something as Hampshire to Church Stretton is one hell of a wander.

Don

[Happy Hippo]

All these maps of where you live.

 

You all know where I live, in a muddy hollow.

 

This is a picture of my next door neighbours enjoying the sun this morning:

 

Edited April 16, 2017 by Happy Hippo

[BoD]

It is days like today that I really regret the passing of the years and miss dreadfully having my son and daughter at home.

There are no Easter eggs to nick.

Edited April 16, 2017 by BoD

[roundhouse]

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/herd-of-60-cows-invade-station-platform-in-hever-forcing-southern-rail-to-delay-trains-a3515716.html

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/herd-of-60-cows-invade-station-platform-in-hever-forcing-southern-rail-to-delay-trains-a3515716.html

[Tony_S]

Our neighbour doesn't live in a muddy wallow and she brought cake round for us to sample this afternoon. Parsnip and ginger cake. It was actually rather nice.

Aditi is having a cake phase too. She baked a couple of cakes recently following recipes in Evelyn Rose's "Complete International Jewish Cookbook" but couldn't find the recipe for a different cake she wanted today. She knew it had been in a National Trust leaflet but then found she could download the book it came from on Kindle. However she was much happier when I found a "real" copy on Amazon. Sybil Kapoor's National Trust cookbook should be here next week. Aditi used to be a Kapur. Her Dad made a rare joke that his family used the "ur" spelling as they didn't want to be poor Kapurs. He didn't make too many humorous remarks!

Edited April 16, 2017 by Tony_S

[jamie92208]

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/herd-of-60-cows-invade-station-platform-in-hever-forcing-southern-rail-to-delay-trains-a3515716.html

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/herd-of-60-cows-invade-station-platform-in-hever-forcing-southern-rail-to-delay-trains-a3515716.html

They look more orderly than most crowds of commuters.

 

Jamie

[Tony_S]

It is days like today that I really regret the passing of the years and miss dreadfully having my son and daughter at home.

There are no Easter eggs to nick.

Matthew asked not to have Easter eggs when he was quite young. He preferred a bar of plain chocolate. I think he knew I didn't really like plain chocolate!

We rang Aditi's brother this morning and mentioned to his wife (Emma) that we had got eggs for the tiny nieces but we wouldn't see them until next week. Emma said they were awash with chocolate at present so not to worry! Tiniest nice, Nina, has just added the word "more" to her vocabulary!

Tony

[AndyB]

I have obviously missed something as Hampshire to Church Stretton is one hell of a wander.

Don

 

swmbo has ambitions for me to up my exercise levels.

[roundhouse]

They look more orderly than most crowds of commuters.Jamie

More a case of 'over cowding'

 

If only this had happened at the next station down the line!!

Edited April 16, 2017 by roundhouse