Early Risers.

[BoD]

I take it that your approval rating didn't rise at that point.

[DDolfelin]

It's not easy to donate a body to medical science.

Quite a bit of expense can be incurred.

Proved impossible with my BiL.

 

Of course he wasn't dead.

[New Haven Neil]

Caught up with Top Gear today - the Russian 8x8 vehicle test was filmed here, but oddly despite having ridden the trails they used I have never come across nude ramblers.  Which I think are illegal here.

 

And with that, to bed.  Bum cheeks polished enough for one day.

[AndyID]

 I have never come across nude ramblers. 

 

Brambling in the nude doesn't seem like a very good idea. It's bad enough when you're fully clothed.

 

Oh, wait a minute....

[Barry O]

roof update.... one side has been stripped, new underfelt type material and battens fitted.

 

It was a noisy day in the loft room!

 

Floor Planning materials sorted for the Warley NEC floor plan meeting later this week.

 

Tomorrow involves some coach numbering

 

Wednesday is cricket day/travel to Birmingham...

 

Sleep well all, hope the painting is going OK Rick

 

Baz

[emt_911]

An early ER looms.

 

Night all

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone

 

It was a day that didn't quite go to plan. I had 6 sites that I wanted to get information from, I managed to complete 3 of them. For the remaining 3, all I had was post codes and meter serial numbers and manufacturers name. Each of the post codes took me to a business park, all of which had multiple businesses on AND the one thing I didn't have was a company name. Doh. Anyway, I sent an email asking for more information.

 

This evening it was a trip too Waitrose to pick up a few things that the local Sainsbury's don't stock.

 

Time for bed, goodnight all

[Tony_S]

Assuming the phone alarm works I shall be up early tomorrow to take Aditi's uncle and aunt to Stansted so they can commence their day trip to Edinburgh.

Tony

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Horsetan]

I was helping in Aditi's parents garden. This was on one of the first visits after we got married. They were trying to get used to the idea of her having married someone they didn't approve of.....

Something similar happened when a maternal Uncle married the woman who became my mad Swiss Aunt. The match didn't go down at all well with many relatives, who thought my Uncle had got himself a "trophy white woman", and particularly not my maternal grandmother.

 

Anyhow, almost forty years and two kids later, they are still married, if rather estranged. She is now an alcoholic living in the company house in Golders Green, and he continues to live in Malaysia. Their son now spends much of his spare time trying to get rid of all the alcohol, but she just goes out and replaces it.

 

My own parents have been trying for years to get me shacked up with an ethnic Chinese wife, but I have done all I can to avoid any marriage. In the unlikely event that I am ever foolish enough to tie the knot, I don't want to find I'm marrying her side of the family as well; it's a recipe for interference and lifelong misery. I'm happy enough with the horses.

[laurenceb]

It's not easy to donate a body to medical science.

Quite a bit of expense can be incurred.

Proved impossible with my BiL.

 

Of course he wasn't dead.

You could sort out that problem DD!

Night all

[Donw]

I was helping in Aditi's parents garden. This was on one of the first visits after we got married. They were trying to get used to the idea of her having married someone they didn't approve of. So there I was trying to be helpful. FIL had a sickle attachment on the rotovator, which when fitted with wheels instead of blades could cut long grass prior to the ordinary lawnmower. Unfortunately one of the wheels dropped off and the mower slewed into the peony bed. It was years before I was allowed to drive any garden machinery.

 

Sorry Tony I hope you can see the funny side of it yourself.

Don

[Gwiwer]

Atten - SHUN !!!

For those of a military and / or Australian - Kiwi background today is ANZAC Day.  It has poured, poured and poured some more since yesterday afternoon meaning everyone out for their dawn services would have likely got soaked.  Even that doesn't dampen the determination of some old souls.  

 

It's back to the painting here where top-coating around the large glazed sliding doors is in order.  Meaning the job is almost done but there's s shirt-load of cutting-in to do with a 1cm trim brush.

 

Sleep well Topside.  Avagoodun to those south of the line.

[Ozexpatriate]

Atten - SHUN !!!

 

For those of a military and / or Australian - Kiwi background today is ANZAC Day.

Lest we forget.

 

I understand the commemoration by Australians is broader than Gallipoli and it largely replaces Armistice Day in Australia, but we should also not forget the lives of Britons (both Royal Army and Royal Navy) and indeed French and British Indian troops sacrificed in the Dardanelles campaign.

 

But for some poor execution and the fog of war, things might have turned out differently there.

Edited April 25, 2017 by Ozexpatriate

[Gwiwer]

Armistice (poppy / Remembrance) Day is marked just as widely.  If anything concerted efforts in recent years to engage younger generations now that very few true veterans survive has seen a resurgence in numbers and interest.  However, on a personal level, it irks me to see children marching in replica uniforms wearing medals they haven't won and knowing nothing of armed conflict.  The tradition is that children (and grand-children) may march in the ANZAC Day parade wearing their father / grandfather's service medals to the right.  I do not intend to cause offence as that has become an Australian tradition.  It doesn't sit at all comfortably with me, that's all.  War widows also parade (though again few survive) wearing their late husband's medals to the right; I have no issue with that as they are adults and have been up close and personal with the conflict.

[emt_911]

Morning all. A chilly 2 degree Celsius start to the day.

 

Another quick coffee before I head off to the Midlands yet again.

 

Have a good day everyone.

[pH]

Our new Skytrain (rapid transit) line is such a success, the local wildlife is checking it out. It's a pity they can't read the timetable, though. Some of the comments are pretty good.

 

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/cougar-commute-big-cats-caught-strolling-through-skytrain-station-with-video

[trisonic]

I once arrived at JFK at 1:30am late in from Phoenix. My limo had long gone thinking I was delayed till morning (“but I was, !”). I spent a pleasant time waiting for a taxi chatting to Ms. Brook Shields who was also on my flight - alas we were going in opposite directions otherwise she would have shared a cab.

 

I always enjoyed my trips to Japan but also found it totally alien each time - as in I felt like I was on a different planet... People friendly but you sill get stared at out in the sticks. Tokyo fairly easy to navigate on foot because I was head and shoulders taller than most everyone (and I’m not particularly tall). The old way of numbering street locations by the age of their build was awkward, though.

 

You were unlucky with Fujisan though, Mick - there you have a volcano that actually looks like a volcano and highly visible from a hundred miles away on a good day.

 

Best, Pete.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Dry and a rather fresh 3^oC at 4.30 when taking The Boss to work.  A dry morning with sunny spells is forecast with showers later, possibly heavy and perhaps turning to sleet or hail with a risk of thunder. I think that about covers most of the options.

The new waste collection saga goes on here. I spent 35 minutes waiting on the phone yesterday to speak to a person about when I could expect the extra bins I ordered online. When I eventually got through there was no record of my order!  The lady I spoke to has now taken details but could give no idea when I'll get them. In the meantime apart from the little box they sent originally I now have 5 other boxes and containers full of bottles, cans & plastics. In my daughter's road collections have been missed because the new bin lorries are apparently bigger and can't get past the parked cars. They never had that problem before the change.

I have been using many words to describe the person or people who came up with this fiasco and obviously didn't think it through properly.       Most of these words originated in Bexley. 

In model railway  news I spent a long time looking at the layout and trying to see if my "brainwave" would work. I've come to the conclusion that it would if I ripped the whole thing up and started again and I'm not prepared  to do that  so I shall just have to put up with it . The reason for not doing it now is that we are thinking of moving next year so I'd have to pull it apart then anyway so I might as well wait.

Have a good one,

Bob.

Edited April 25, 2017 by grandadbob

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

I finally picked up my meds yesterday.  A piece of yellow highlighting on the next renewal form shows that I need to request one evil potion earlier than planned.  I do hate having my routine disrupted!  As is so often the case, I collected an IOU for another type of tablet and must make another trip to fetch those when they come in.  Clearly a pattern is being set to reflect the increasing decrepitude that will come as age advances.  While I am in grouch mode, I invoked 1572 twice yesterday to ward off return visits by evil spirits.  One was a silent call and the other a gibbering mess who tried to convince me that I had been injured in a road accident.  I told the latter that he was talking b*ll*cks and hung up.  He was calling from an 0141 number and needs to get a life.   

 

Tonight I am off to The Stables again for some music that I know and some that I do not.  Before that the normal fodder run will take place.  Exciting, isn't it?

 

Warm thoughts to all in distress

 

Chris

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

It is a fairly bright morning in this part of the world, but pretty cold.  In fact, we had frost yesterday morning - and they are forecasting more as the week goes on.

 

Time for a coffee!

 

Have a good day everyone...

[Smiffy2]

Well, I'm up, but that's because I haven't been to sleep (having dropped like a log last evening...)

 

Cool here, as Bob says.

 

We've not really had any trouble with the new rubbish collections, although like GDB I'm waiting for an extra green bin. It's made us even more strict about triage, and the food waste bins are a good idea. There's no reason why non-food waste has to be collected every week. Many locals are very exercised, however, and are 'protesting' by chucking their waste in the road (really) and putting the wrong things in the containers...  Very mature. One person on the local Facebook group stated that her Fridays had been ruined, because the family always has takeaway on a Friday and it now takes her half an hour (yes, she said half an hour) to rinse the plastic containers under the tap before putting them in the appropriate bin...

 

Had a nasty shock yesterday. As you may recall my oldest pal is Alan, who last year was very ill and had his bladder removed. Since then he's had a rough time and we've had problems getting to see him, he just seems in a bad place, and effectively he's sitting in the corner ignoring people.

 

About 4pm I got a phone call from an ex-colleague of mine and Al's who now lives in France - she had seen on Facebook that another colleague had said he had been to 'Alan's funeral' - a different Alan as it turned out, but in the context of the past few weeks a bit of a stomach churner.  Long chat with Al on the phone, he's just the same. But slightly offended that anyone cares enough to be upset at a false report of his demise. He's not in a good place, but then, why would he be?

 

Governor's visit this afternoon, business meeting cancelled (chiz) and still getting crap being treasurer of the Governors' Forum. Also the war memorial. I'd rather be soldering my fingers to a bit of brass.

 

Julie and I are getting to need our next trip out to France. It builds up, and we need a bit of time out in the wilds of la France profonde (which seems to have taken a turn for the sensible over the weekend - though our area went for Fillon, not Macron). 

 

I'll stop rambling now.

[TheQ]

Morning awl,

 I enjoyed the sausage casserole last night, followed later by a glass of port and some cheese bickkies...

 

A reasonable nights sleep of 6 hours with several wake turn over go to sleep again events.

My final awake was to the sound of the wind howling round the house and the sea crashing on the beach

 

It's showing gusting 44 miles an hour at my nearest weather station, which with drizzle / sleet is pretty nasty, but when I go to Norwich it's a gentle 8mph but still with the Drizzle / sleet.

The flowering trees in my home area are depositing the petals in pools round their feet which means I don't hold much hope for a good apple and pear harvest this year.

And Finally!!! we have Bluebells, two small bunches so far, who are regretting coming out yesterday.

 

A trip to the DIY shed is required on the way home to obtain ply to form the shelves on the framing for the storage area for the inherited layout, 6 sheets half inch thick required.

 

Which reminds me, I don't normally recommend things from Poundland but a couple of months ago I bought a set of Wood drill bits (8 piece IIRC), I'm still using the 5mm one for pilot holes through up to 2 inch thick pine, it's still as sharp as the day I got it, I've used it every weekend and it with all the others occasionally used I've had no failures, All GOOD  .  So for a pound that's a good buy, I've since bought Three spare sets...

 

 Time to head into battle...

[Barry O]

Morning to most ,Evening to Rick.

 

Day 2 of the roof change will commence at 7:30 am. More updates to follow.

 

Herself off to work at GSAL. She is chuffed to bits that 2 of her pupils achieved distinctions in their Grade 8 flute exams. They all worked very hard.

 

Sunny a the most ment but the rain clouds are building.

 

Hopefully our missing ERs are OK.

 

Have a peaceful and positive day.

 

Baz

[TheQ]

My Grandfather had a great respect for the fighting abilities of the Anzacs, if not totally their discipline.

(what do you expect for an RSM 7th RTR at Tobruk).

Edited April 25, 2017 by TheQ