Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

Thinking of Debs, Mal, Neil and any other ER's under the weather, goodnight all.

[Gwiwer]

Morning all. It is Thor’s Day. He is not expected hereabouts. Best wishes all.

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

It is slightly milder in this part of the world.

 

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

 

Have a good day everyone...

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

Yesterday I was pleased to accomplish the fodder run on the bus but cross when I realised that I had forgotten the mushrooms.  This sin of omission will lead to a purposeful stride into town for which there is another good reason.  Unnoticed in the mail delivery at first was a small envelope.  No, not a Valentine [don't be silly!] but a cheque from Ernie for £25 which I will pay into the bank this very day.  More ironing has been generated and a big beef stew started following the impulse purchase of a Tesco stewpack for 49p, augmented by the last three mushrooms.

 

One little puzzle this week is the decision by the BBC to replace booked episodes of The Coroner.  So far three have been shown and two were last minute replacements.  If I could be bothered to ask why the switch was made I would be told that it was done for editorial reasons but not what they are.  It must be really difficult to be hypersensitive in the case of a drama that deals with death in every episode but somehow the BBC have managed it.  What is the point of buying the Radio Times?  Discuss.

 

Far less trivial than all that is, of course, the well-being or otherwise of the ERs community.  Best wishes to the ailing, recovering and missing.  Every little helps.

 

Chris  

[TheQ]

Mooring awl, Inner temple here,

And near mooring it is with a huge amount of rain last night.

 I attempted to go to sleep at around 22:00, late for me, with the wind howling around the house from a storm in the south / south west, I awoke around midnight with the storm all around us, I awoke about 03:00  with the storm out in the north sea, and finally I awoke at about 05:00 to silence, the storm had gone...

 

Yesterday we had yet nother company survey this time on the SLX scheme, What is it it? Well I don't know, I've never heard of it. For a change they had a box for comments, to which I had great joy  about expressing my opinions, about all this Carp coming from above. There is however a local school of thought that if you send back glowing reviews of eveything up top does, they'll send you less Carp..

 

Cockwombles, yesterday while acclerating in the landrover, yes I know accleration in a landrover is relative, a polo came alongside and slowly passed, before finally cutting in front of me very close and slowing down. Why? So I had to then pull out to continue accelerating past him.

 

This morning I had a transit lorry sitting about three feet from the back of the car, even though I was at the  limit, when I pulled into a slip road, there was a roaring of his engine as he accelerated up to behind the car in front.

 

Road 60Mph wet but no problem to drive, so why is the womble in front driving at 40mph causing a build up of traffic behind me? Maybe It's because the Fiat  Punto he's driving has been reported as the first car to ever score a Zero rating, the worst ever score....

 

So it's more resistors to measure this morning, the biggest problem will be staying awake...

 

Time to go.. prop my eyelids up...

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

A bit milder here than of late and the forecasters claim it will be a breezy day with sunny spells and possibly the odd shower.

Further to Chris's little bit of fortune I surfaced this morning to see that I have an email from the National Lottery telling me that I've won £105 on Thunderball so that's a good start to the day. If these things do come in threes then hopefully another of our little band will also have a slice of luck.

Today being Thursday means Sainsbury's will be invaded. Since The Boss retired this takes longer than it used to because we have to stop every two minutes to discuss with her ex-workmates and customers how she's finding retirement. This happens every time we go there and the answer is the same to mainly the same people that she's enjoying every minute of it. I think they must all have very poor memories. Errm now where was I? Who am I? 

Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Have a good day one and all, whoever you are,

Me.

Edited February 15, 2018 by grandadbob

[roundhouse]

I won £5.10 on the Euro millions this week. Unfortunately that didn’t last long so no early retirement just yet.

[bbishop]

Unnoticed in the mail delivery at first was a small envelope.  No, not a Valentine [don't be silly!] but a cheque from Ernie for £25  

 

 

Chris  

 

x2, but also a not a Valentine's card and March BackTrack

 

Bill

[jamie92208]

Morning all from a bright and calm village with some light blue stuff visible above. Yesterday was a day. A run to the container to get rid of one car load of boxes then to the charity shop with another load then on the train to Settle to see the MR Chimney and to call in at DCC concepts. Both visits were good and I had some lunch in Ye Old Naked Man in the market square. The weather wasn't very good but it was nice to go back to where I grew up and there was some snow on the higher fells. A train journey is always a good experience. Then a good meal, a already discussed and looking forward to a relaxed evening putting some railway stuff on Ebay. However plans can change, a message arrived via Farcebook to say that a speaker had failed to turn up at a local railway circle so the washing up was put on hold and I spent the rest of the evening was spent giving a talk about tram restoration followed by a swift half.

 

Today I've got some ebay stuff to parcel up and post then no doubt some more tasks will emerge as the day progresses.

 

Hope to hear some more positive news about Debs and the other sufferers.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[AndrewC]

Good moaning from the boring borough. Managed to avoid St Clinton's day more or less. We went out last week to avoid the idiots and ripoffs. As seen in one pub a £49pp dinner consisting of putting a cloth on the table, a red balloon, bottle of cheap prosecco, and the same crappy lasagne they normally serve for £7. I did treat to a takeaway ruby from across the street. 

 

New boiler in place. They had to replace the gas line from the meter to the boiler as well. All done, dusted, and warm by 3pm. I did get their January special which saved us close to £900 on what Grittish Bas had quoted for the same model + installation. This one has the all singing/dancing programmable, smart phone, yadda, yadda controller. Strange that it cost half as much mechanical Bosch one that is normally installed by default. 

Today the man from the gas board is coming to replace the meter and emergency valve as yesterday's boiler installer who used to work for them, wasn't happy with the condition of said meter connections and shut off valve. 

 

Foot still pretty sore. Not as bad as the past 2 days but better than it was. The plan is to go to the quack tomorrow then likely to the QE for X-rays. 

Neil, I'm just happy my foot is not even close to the state of yours. 

 

Good to see Debs responding to treatment. 

 

What happened to Mrs Id is pretty disgusting. Not untypical though. I've heard and seen many many similar stories over the years. Happened to my mum. Turfed less than 6 months before her planned early retirement where she would have had a full salary pension and benefits for life. The wrongful dismissal threat and a call to a friend in head office meant her package was topped up rather nicely to the chagrin of her former manager and his operating budget. A week later she walked into a new job at the school board that she loved so much that she worked on for another 7 years. Spooky thing was after she was turfed the company's plants started having fires. Far more than normal for an asphalt plant. We jokingly blamed mum's curse. The biggest fire that took out a couple of million $ worth of factory happened the day after she died. Revenge?

 

That's about it. Gas man has arrived. 8-12 window and he is here by 08:20. 

Enjoy the day. 

[BoD]

Morning all.

 

Our electricity went off at 9 this morning. Or at least it should have according to various missives we have received over the last week or two. A couple of power company vans have been parked at the end of the road since then but they can't carry out planned work because of cars parked where they need to be.

You couldn't make it up.

 

I am waiting for a package from the island that is home to a very good bone surgeon. At least I can get on with something useful.

 

Edit: I have just checked the power grid website and they have cancelled today's planned work. Vans and crew are still mulling about though scratching heads and other parts of their anatomy.

Edited February 15, 2018 by BoD

[AndyB]

Morning all. Today's hire car seems to have an in built alarm if you go over 20 mph in 3rd gear it beeps at you. SWMBO regularly gets up to 50mph in her picasso in 3rd. And stays in 3rd. For miles. And miles I'd point it out but can never make myself heard above the engine screaming!!

 

Hey ho. Meeting to go to.

[TheQ]

Some time ago maybe 5 years, I was a passenger when SWMBO was driving and noticed she wasn't changing up to fifth, so I asked why not, she said she didn't know when to use 5th gear.... We've had cars with five gears since 1999.....

[shortliner]

Back from shopping and I have to confess that I was tempted when passing a very good butcher so some more fillet steak has found its way home with us.

The Boss is extremely nervous when walking on icy pavements due to a nasty fall in Sainsbury's upper level car park a couple of years ago. The trouble is she hangs on to me like grim death with all her weight which makes it more likely we'll both go flying. Apparently that won't matter as her plan is to use me to cushion her fall!  

That is exactly how my SWMBO broke her arm two years ago - clinging on to me like grim death walking down stairs in a cinema - I put my foot on a step that wasn't there and pulled her down with me as I fell - naturally, apart from a bump, I wasn't marked !  You need to point out to her that her plan may NOT be successful 

[BoD]

Not long after I posted above, the power grid workers stopped scratching and posted letters through all the doors in the street.  They explained that the planned power outage had been cancelled and that 'just prior to the work starting unspecified technical problems were discovered'.  What surprised me a little was the fact that  letters were on proper headed paper, personalised and neatly folded in envelopes. Do these vans carry stationery and a printer for such occasions?

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

The sun is shining and the temperature is forecast to rise a little - even the 'feels like' version/. Good to see that Rick is not expecting a hammering - presumably he's Rest Day today or he's gradually training his customers passengers.  I understand a shopping trip is planned but the management hasn't got a clue what supplies to get in for the coming weekend and the days in between so my inventiveness might be called on again (just a menu setting inventiveness you'll understand, she values the continued custody of the kitchen and its fittings) - break for a teafill.

 

Mr & Mrs Robin are cheerfully chomping away on various delicacies such as fatballs and wireworms out in the garden.

 

And now to Justin's, sorry, Simon's version of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' although I did first register a complaint with one of the waitresses during dinner as there was no red cabbage - a delicacy which their chef normally cooks to perfection but it was absent, appalling,  and the young lady agreed it was a terrible omission.  As to the play it was interesting to say the least, one has to wonder quite how anyone would, or even could, tackle something which has been filmed around half a dozen times and made as a tv programme almost as many times and thus has what must be to many a very familiar story, and to do it with 7 actors playing 24 different parts (in fact they played more than 24 parts as some were uncredited as playing 'the hound'.  And very cleverly the whole thing was centred around Watson to a greater extent than around Holmes - which we thought was just as well as the actor playing Holmes (among his other roles) was probably a poor choice and did not come over well whereas the chap playing Watson was excellent and the role acted almost as a sort of 'ringmaster' for the whole thing.  There were one or two other minor twists from the usual story - only minor ones but sufficient to hopefully get people thinking.  And a very good script although some of the jokes, including the one about Marmite, alas fell on stony ground;  maybe some of the Valentine's Day audience were there more for an evening out rather than a bit of a mental challenge offered by the more subtle jokes?  The set was plain but at least clever enough for Stapleton to vanish into Grimpen Mire but we both thought the production could have done with a bit more thought in order to get the best out of the script.  The 1st Act was not particularly gripping and seemed a bit 'lumpy' but the 2nd Act was top notch Victorian melodrama stuff for much of the time - it worked really well.

 

So quite a good evening out overall and I'd certainly be keen to see anything else Simon Williams scripts if this one was a good example of his capabilities.  We might put ourselves down for an upcoming production which is a reading of letters exchanged between Lucy Fleming's mother and father - she will be reading her mother's letters while her husband (Simon Williams) will be reading her father's and that should be good as they're both excellent readers.

 

Have a good day one and all and fingers crossed for more news of improvement from the various sick beds.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. My first car had only three gears with no syncromesh on first and very little on the other two gears either. I have on several occasions driven a Transit minibus, the vehicle in question was frequently changed for the newest model. One time I got a brand new one, only a few differences in the instruments/controls. I was happily driving along in fifth gear and was mystified by an upward pointed arrow on the dash, then someone asked if it had a six speed gearbox and lo so it did. One slight problem later arose, the sixth gear was where reverse is on my own (5-speed) car and I forgot it when I went to reverse and promptly stalled the engine.

[PhilJ W]

Not long after I posted above, the power grid workers stopped scratching and posted letters through all the doors in the street.  They explained that the planned power outage had been cancelled and that 'just prior to the work starting unspecified technical problems were discovered'.  What surprised me a little was the fact that  letters were on proper headed paper, personalised and neatly folded in envelopes. Do these vans carry stationery and a printer for such occasions?

Perhaps thats what they were waiting for, the letters to be produced and despatched for them to deliver.

[BSW01]

Morning everyone

 

Just having a muggatea after getting back from the swimming baths, it was very busy today, but then I’d forgotten that it was half term!

 

My first car had only three forward gears and reverse and it was a column change to boot, with the hand brake under that dash too! Mind you it did have a bench seat at the front, which occasionally came in very handy! Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more!

 

Back later.

[New Haven Neil]

A'noon.

 

Foot not too bad today, recovered a bit from stitch removal but it looks worse as there's a bit of leakage and subsequent scabbing - TMI possibly! Still a bit grumped at the extra 4 weeks partial weight bearing, meaning return to work rather delayed by maybe 2 weeks to what I had planned.  A little try of a bit more weight on it this morning tells me why though, with the prompt introduction of 'naval' language.....they do know what they're doing!

 

Hoping to hear good news from Debs direction later today, even just a placeholder - if ever someone deserved to come through.....

 

Gears...oh dear....Mrs NHN, who is quite a mean motorcyclist, has an issue with car gearboxes, correct use of.  Changes up too late, changes down too late....but is fine on the bikes.  Odd.

[Gwiwer]

Good Afterlunch all.

 

Mike - hammering neither expected nor received. Customers were ushered and encouraged aboard at which point they became passengers. Only two trains missing from the full service; both were short of the same driver. The curious Guildford-via-Staines which should have left us at 07.46 and a later Windsor trip. Some applied network knowledge and use of the radio-mike to make suitable announcements had almost everyone on their way and delayed less than 10 minutes.

 

More very supportive words from station management today as I booked 2nd March off. Did I want more time? Did I need to talk to anyone? Good to know the industry still looks after its own.

 

Deliveries are expected this afternoon from Morrisons and Pets Online. Both will ensure the family is fed and allow me time tomorrow for a longer visit with my sister. While some of the arrangements have already been made there is much more to do.

[Judge Dread]

Some time ago maybe 5 years, I was a passenger when SWMBO was driving and noticed she wasn't changing up to fifth, so I asked why not, she said she didn't know when to use 5th gear.... We've had cars with five gears since 1999.....

My Kamikaze driver made a similar muttering to the affect she didn't like changing down from 5th, frighten in case she found 2nd gear or even worse, reverse! I advised her to pull the gear lever back and then release pressure on it so as it would go to neutral by the pull of the spring. Then it would be third forwards and fourth backwards. So far so good but she must apply more pressure on the clutch pedal when trying to find reverse prior to backing into the garage.

Speaking of garages, this one now has two L.E.D's, one green and the other a flashing red to tell me if the garage door is actually open (or shut) said item being an electric powered one with a remote control.     

Edited February 15, 2018 by Judge Dread

[Tony_S]

Afternoon all.

Aditi's lecturer's session today in Leigh was so popular it overran so I guessed it would be sensible for me to get lunch ready for when Aditi and guest returned here. She has just taken him down the station for his return trip to the northwest.

Robbie hasn't been well today. We were told to increase his medication (the gabapentin) if he showed the symptoms he has. This would be the maximum dosage. He is collapsing a lot but did had a nice walk round the park. Getting him in and out of the car to get there was "interesting". I think the medication is stopping pain but he isn't quite "with it" .

I don't think his vision problems with cataracts helps either. Hopefully the increased medication will help.

Tony

[Happy Hippo]

 

'More ironing has been generated'

 

Chris,

 

Do you iron mink? 

[Ian Abel]

BIN day...

 

Yesterday was quite the ordeal getting MiL discharged and moved back to her assisted living apartment and under the new hospice program. Took about 5 hours all told <phew>

 

Evening Valentine's dinner went splendidly, see below;

 

 

We're really enjoying the new tradition we've "implemented" and are already looking forward to next year

 

Back to work today - after an early call to follow Jemma to her car dealer for some needed work (recalls to be applied). It's hard to arrange such things with her work schedule so she took an appointment at the last minute for first thing this morning.

 

Right on ZERO already at wake-up, and a high of around +2 forecast, possible flurries late afternoon but so far no real accumulation expected.

 

Back to work for me after taking Chewsday afternoon and all of yesterday off for the MiL saga.

 

Hope your day proceeds according to plan.