Early Risers.

[BSW01]

Evening everyone

 

Well me and my big mouth, the big yellow shiny thing in the sky didn’t stay on show for very long. After about 40 minutes it went and hid behind the clouds and there it stayed for the rest of the day, but thankfully, the rain held off!

 

Great progress has been made on the radiator covers, the first is now complete (bar the painting) and the second only needs the decorative beading fitting to be at the same stage as the first. I brought the finished one upstairs and placed it in front on the dining room radiator so that Sheila could have a look. She’s very pleased with how it but thought that the top was a little plain. She then asked how easy it would to put some beading along the edge of the shelf, so a couple of lengths of beading will have to be purchased to do that. I must admit that I do think it will make the whole thing look a lot better once it has been fitted.

 

Goodnight all

[BlackRat]

A soothing word for bedtime........Tramadol.

 

Nite all!

[Barry O]

So how does this improve on being a Company Limited by Guarantee?

from gov.uk

 

"Trustees have limited or no liability for CIO debts or liabilities."

 

Less red tape, potential for additional benefits and as HH says both types really need to make sure they have good Public Liability cover anyway.

 

Baz

[Barry O]

Debs

 

Has come through the first round of Chemo. It was rough. for some of the recovery time she was forced to lie totally flat for some of the time. She's managed to do a small tour of the corridors today. She is in good spirits but is far from totally recovered. That'll take time.

 

The second Chemo round starts on Monday. It, too, will be rough.

 

But it's Debs' birthday on Sunday.

 

If you'd like to send greetings to her could you please email me - If you don't already have my email then please PM me  - so that I can forward them easily. I want to forward them all on Sunday morning so that she has our wishes on the day itself.

 

I'm not publishing my email on the forum for obvious reasons, inviting people to PM me.

 

John

John

 

thanks for the update. Info on its way.

 

Baz

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BR60103]

Hopefully it's not still true (PLEASE!!!), but when I was first in the US and living in NYC in the mid-70s' there were every year factual reports (with photos) of the state patrol stopping hunters returning to the NYC boroughs and even Long Islanders, who managed to have shot cows and had them on the roof of their returning vehicle <sigh>.

So, someone who possibly hasn't EVER seen anything more wild than an angry dog on a leash, I suppose could easily think a 20+ lb raccoon was a 200-400+ lb Tiger 

People ask me how I do it;

I reply, "There's nothing to it.

You just stand there looking cute

And when something moves, you shoot."

And there's ten stuffed heads in my trophy room right now:

Two game wardens,

Seven hunters,

 

And a pure-bred Guernsey cow!

 

 

(Tom Lehrer The Hunting Song late 1950s)

 

have I posted this before?

[pH]

It took a long time before I successfully discouraged the raccoons from rummaging through my bin when I lived in the Chicago suburbs. It took a Rubbermaid bin with big handled clamps and a bungee cord to secure the clamps to dissuade them. 

 

That's exactly what I did with our bins to keep the raccoons out.

 

An alternative is to import some coyotes. They're originally prairie animals, but have followed railways and highways through the mountains and made it to here, on the coast, about 25 years ago. Since they arrived in the neighbourhood, sightings of raccoons have gone down by about 90%. (By coincidence, sightings of "missing pet" posters have gone up by about the same percentage over the same period.)

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

It is a nice bright morning in this part of the world.  However, I am slightly later on parade as we saw Thomas off to school first.  There is a bus strike this morning, but some buses are being provided by subcontractors and he managed to get one of those.

 

Anyway, a busy day today, taking grand-daughter to bank to open bank account. Failed because the bank wouldn't accept her proof of address from DVLA letter to her mum. Money-laundering, yeah right. Back again next week.
 

 

Don't get me started on this one!  This is precisely the reason why the UK needs ID cards.  The whole idea of using a "utility bill" or similar as ID is frankly ridiculous.

 

Have a good day everyone...

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

I have my crown now.  The reason for my appointment being rescheduled was the failure of the suction equipment on the dentist's chair, which like most things these days is daft enough to be true.  The silver lining is that I got to have lunch before the revised appointment and fitted in a couple of errands that were due to be run today.

 

Warm thoughts now to Andyram.  I am sorry to learn of your depression but not entirely surprised.  Make the most of your period of certified sick leave and hope that the penny drops at your workplace.  When my depression was diagnosed I refused to be signed off as I did not relish the prospect of being home alone making matters even worse.  Part of the reason for mine was undoubtedly workplace stress aggravated by bereavement but however loathsome the conditions in the office were at times I was at least in company.  I persisted with the anti-depressants until the day I left work for the last time and have not touched one since.  How effective they were is a good question and in principle I prefer Nature's way.  The day after I was paid to go away I was at Ally Pally where a friend told me that I was looking better already.

 

More warm thoughts, this time for Debs ahead of her birthday on Sunday and the chemical warfare to which she is being subjected.  John CB, I'd be glad if you would pass on birthday greetings and best wishes from me.  To Simon and Mal I wish good progress with the treatment.  Tony S, I hope that looking through pictures of Matthew has prompted some happy memories to leaven the sadness.  If you come across a suitable image I wonder if you would consider posting it here?  To all others who are ailing, recovering or missing I extend best wishes.

 

I will be back on Monday after two days at Scalefour North in Wakefield.  I hope, perhaps forlorny, that being there will help with my current confidence issues.  Yesterday a small but significant act of kindness was extended to me.  Maybe one day I will explain what it was but it is greatly appreciated.

 

Chris 

[TheQ]

Mooring awl, Inner temple Here,

 

 Back pain , poor sleep, I feel rough..

 

The golden orb still has not shown it's head here, it's proper dreich this morning, heavy drizzle, fog and mist

 

In front of me in big writing is a note BATTERIES, I still haven't got round to getting new batteries for the thermostat, hence the red light on the reciever, loss of contact, and a chill in the air when I staggered off the sofa.

 

The good new is it's the end of the week,  tonight is the Ben the Border Collie Appreciation Society, for which I had another delivery of small etched brass items yesterday.

 

Talking of Border Collies.

 

 

Happy Birthday on Sunday Debs...

 

 

Time to... go do some work...

Edited April 13, 2018 by TheQ

[Barry O]

Hey up!

Sun, what's that? I long to return to the Antipodes...warm, generally dry....

 

I am hoping we get the promised better weather over this weekend and next week. It helps to lift everyone's spirits.

 

Chrisf, enjoy S4N. I am unable to attend due to other commitments.

Hope everyone has a very good weekend and that Her Debship has a calm and peaceful birthday..(wonder if the hospital allows patting dogs while on chem?

 

Mal and Simon, hope your progress is rapid and very positive.

 

Will try to check back in later.

 

Baz

[jamie92208]

Morning all from La Charente Maritime.   The golden Orb has also been sighted here though yesterday it didn't stay for long.   We did have a good day to begin with.  I didn't go to the tax office as they were too busy to see me this week.   We did however go looking for a car for Beth.   She needs an automatic and small ones are like hen's teeth round here.   By chance we dropped on one at a Renault dealership, 1 year old, ex demonstrator, with only 1000Km on the clock and diesel 4 door, all of which fitted the spec absolutely.   Also all at a very good price.   We signed up for it and left a deposit and will collect it in June when we arrive for good.   Then back home and various bits of pottering before the heavens opened and we ended up discovering 2 leaks in the roof.   We knew that the roof on the older part of the house needed work and in fact had some work done last year. We've now bitten the bullet and asked for a quote for the whole roof to be done.   Fortunately there was no damage to anything.

Then a very good evening with some English and Dutch friends and more sampling of the local liquid produce.

 

I'm off shortly to look into car insurance then hopefully will get some gravel levelled off and some top soil moved.   The old bath that I brought over from England for the boss is now full of topsoil and will apparently contain flowers next year.

 

Thoughts with Mal and Simon and especially Debs. Also again may the Black Dogs that are around stay in their kennels.    Chrisf, I wish you well on your expedition to the North.  If we had been at home I would have been at S4N myself.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[andyram]

Morning all. Warm greetings to you and particular good wishes in the direction of Debs. I must have missed the posts that informed us she needed chemo. I really hope the treatment is a success. The poor lady has certainly had quite a year. John, please pass on my best wishes for her treatment and birthday greetings for the weekend.

ChrisF, thank you in particular for your kind comments. I am also glad you got your dental work completed. I hope you enjoy the event in Wakefield.

 

Since my last post I have definitely reached a peak in mood. Perhaps, knowing I do not have to face work for another week may have helped. That said there were a couple of times where the low blood pressure came to the fore with bouts of light headed ness. No surprise considering the BP was as low as 66 yesterday morning. I am taking things slowly at present and trying to not to worry myself with what work will be thinking about my absence.

Last night Sarah and I busied ourselves cataloguing and pricing up more of FiL’s model railway collection. As I think I mentioned previously, he has decided to get rid of it all because he has no room for a layout since their downsizing move. He is going to use the money to fund a new pond in the garden. He has always been keen on koi carp and had a large pond at the previous house. I am due to be taking a stall at the Nottingham swap meet on Saturday. I enjoyed the one I did at Burton a couple of weeks ago so still plan to attend this. First of all I need to go back to the doctor this morning to collect the prescription for the sleeping pills and also the medical certificate which I will post into school.

 

I hope you all have a good day.

 

Best wishes

 

Andy

[NGT6 1315]

Cheers all. Overcast this morning and looking a lot like rain and indeed thunder will commence any minute, which is, in fact, on the forecast. However, it looks like it’s going to improve tomorrow.

 

John, thanks for the update. I will see to forwarding a couple of words for Debs later!

 

Afternoon all and a bit of an update. I visited the doctor this morning and have been diagnosed with low blood pressure and the onset of depression brought about by a combination of work related stress and lack of sleep. I have been prescribed some mild antidepressants and some sleeping tablets. The antidepressants are likely to make me feel even lower for the first few days. As a result I have been signed off work for the whole of next week. sure the school were too pleased by that.

Sarah has been very supportive today and has also agreed to come and view the business next week.

That, too, sounds all too much like my experience at the time, Andy, so you certainly have my most sincere sympathies. Though, frankly, I couldn’t care less about what the school was thinking when I was in that position. After all, they couldn’t deny their share in that misery, though whether they’d have admitted it is another question. I hope that didn’t come across as insensitive in any way, as I was meaning to say - now it’s your turn to take care of yourself and your family, and no-one else.

 

Do let us know if you need a sounding board!

 

Be back later!

[RhBBob]

Morning to all !

 

Finger splint is now secured in a flat position following excursion to Peterborough; visiting Dentist on Tuesday for (hopefully) 4th and final time for new top plate. Dentist is 65 miles north west of us. Yes, it was August Bank Holiday many years ago and my rotting teeth were not responding to Codis. SWMBO rang 111 and they found a distant NHS dentist - none in Boston - and so I joined that practice.

 

I do funny things on Bank Holidays - back in August 2012, following a TIA I was taken to the Stroke Unit in Boston. This triggered a lot of visits to Diabetes Nurse, Diabetic Eye Screening, etc., etc.. plus a total of six medications a day.

 

Please take care of your health; do not ignore any symptoms.

 

Have a great day; love and peace to all those suffering and in need of our prayers.

[New Haven Neil]

Morning.

 

Raining.  Damn.  How can you tell it's my day off.  I was going to try to ride a bike to the old farts club for the first time, looks like that is off the menu.

 

Supportive wishes to those suffering in one way or another- life, eh.  It seems work environments can be very damaging to people, it really should not be allowed to be so.  Bring on the Utopian Working Places Act.  It is so damaging to have a poor workplace atmosphere, surely happy staff are so much more productive, so why wouldn't you.... #sigh#  Life again.

[Simon G]

Morning all,

A busy day ahead, as I have a few locos to briefly test before putting them on our sales stand at the Maryport Show this weekend. A friend also passed onto me 5 locos to remove their DCC chips as he has got fed up with DCC. I need to find a 21 pin blanking plate for one of them, the rest are hardwired. For lunch, a group of ex workmates are heading south on the train to the Prince of Wales at Foxfield, so a I will be joining them, but in the light of my chemo and recent headaches, I will be very careful in how much I partake! The pasties that they do at the PoW is another matter though, so I will definitely tuck into one of those. I will probably time my return train to catch a loco hauled one, and if I have worked it out right, it will be the 3 coach rake topped and tailed by 68s.

[iL Dottore]

Morning All,

 

AndyRam - just two thoughts, if I may. Firstly, regarding depression it is a multifactorial disease but many clinicians view depression in two broad catetgories (IIRC): endogenous (i.e. as a result of internal processes) and reactive or exogenous - i.e. a response to external events. I suspect that you may have the latter and when the stressors are removed you should no longer suffer from the "Black Dog". Any need for medication is likely to be short term.

 

Regarding your work situation, have you considered moving abroad? High quality teachers are always in demand and - if you aren't liguistically gifted and/or teaching in an English speaking country - there are numerous International Schools that teach in English (there are two in Basel). Moving out of the UK to Switzerland in 1989 was the best thing I've ever done. Not only have I had a good career, been to many places that otherwise would have been unvisited by me but I have also had (and have) a quality of life that I could not have dreamt of had I stayed in the UK. Although I recognise that I was (and am) in a high wage career, I still earn a multiple of what I could earn in the UK for the same thing. Now whilst salary is only one part of the equation, a good expat salary will allow more frequent returns/visits to the mother country and nowadays - with cheap flights, communication over the internet possibilities keeping connected with your home base - a far cry from when I moved out in 1989. This link may be of interest: https://www.teacherhorizons.com/advice/salaries-and-benefits-in-international-schools/

 

For all of my fellow ERs on or facing chemotherapy do get your oncologist to explore the use of targeted therapy. If the malignancy has the right genetic makeup to be a big fat target for these therapies - go for it, chances are you'll have a better response with fewer adverse events (and, yes, I know I am grossly simplifying).

 

Not much achieved with either St Cuthberts or my "Use The Gear" concert programme. I need someone to provide appropriate stimulus to help me get my mojo back...

 

Well, gotta dash, have paying work to do! :biggrin_mini2:

 

Stay Frosty Guys

 

iD

[Andrew P]

Message sent to Debs, via John. I'm sure were thinking of her.

 

I had a bit of a re lapse yesterday,

 

My 94 Year old Mother decided she wanted to go into Town for some new shoes. I couldn't park near the Shopping Centre and so we had to walk about 200 yrds. She took he wheelie walker, but struggled with uneven pavements. Then close to the entrance the W/W went away from her as she suffers from balance problems, and she rolled onto the floor. Luckily there was some kind people around, a Pharmacist, a Nurse and another chap got the First Aiders out from the Shopping Centre. I couldn't lift her as I'm still not aloud / able to lift yet, even though she is only about 7 st.

 

We got her inside the Centre, and she had badly cut hand and knee. the First Aider bandaged her up and called for Paramedics to check her out.

 

Whilst waiting I started to get chest pains and feeling dizzy, then my GKN Spray wouldn't work. Luckily another friend from our Railway Club came by and helped me, and got the pump working. That eased the pains, and after a short while I felt a little better, and just well enough to drive again.

 

After 3/4 of an hour, and still no signs of any Paramedic's and I needed to get home, and so I decided to take mum home, call the Paramedic's from there. After they re dressed the wound, they took Mum into Hospital for a check up. After some stitches to her knee and hand she was released at about 9pm last night, and apart from some cuts and bruises she seems fine, but a little shaken.

 

It took me a few hours to relax, after all the stress, but now feel much better this morning, with no more chest pains, thank goodness.

 

All the best to all.

Edited April 13, 2018 by Andrew P

[andyram]

Cheers all. Overcast this morning and looking a lot like rain and indeed thunder will commence any minute, which is, in fact, on the forecast. However, it looks like it’s going to improve tomorrow.

John, thanks for the update. I will see to forwarding a couple of words for Debs later!

 

That, too, sounds all too much like my experience at the time, Andy, so you certainly have my most sincere sympathies. Though, frankly, I couldn’t care less about what the school was thinking when I was in that position. After all, they couldn’t deny their share in that misery, though whether they’d have admitted it is another question. I hope that didn’t come across as insensitive in any way, as I was meaning to say - now it’s your turn to take care of yourself and your family, and no-one else.

Do let us know if you need a sounding board!

Be back later!

Thanks Dom, much appreciated. Work did seem a little bit “funny” when I phoned in yesterday to explain I had been signed off. Their attitude was one of why had I not declared any previous panic attack issues when I started. The fact is, when I last suffered 14 years ago it was related to health anxiety and was not work related. I did not have a single day off as a result. In fact the opposite was true, work were so supportive that it almost became my safe haven, whilst keeping busy helped keep the dog in the kennel so to speak.

 

Morning.

 

Raining. Damn. How can you tell it's my day off. I was going to try to ride a bike to the old farts club for the first time, looks like that is off the menu.

 

Supportive wishes to those suffering in one way or another- life, eh. It seems work environments can be very damaging to people, it really should not be allowed to be so. Bring on the Utopian Working Places Act. It is so damaging to have a poor workplace atmosphere, surely happy staff are so much more productive, so why wouldn't you.... #sigh# Life again.

My ex colleagues and I were having the same discussion via our WhatsApp group last night. Teaching seems to be one of the worst professions for this (along with the NHS). I am not alone in looking at routes out of school education. I meet regularly with these people for a catch up, and they have rallied around to organise one for next week. It I grear to have good friends.

 

Andy

 

PS Andy and ID posted whilst I was writing the above. Working abroad is not something I would consider at present. That would be too much of a change for the family. Maybe in the future.

 

Andy - I hope your mum is ok, and you too.it must have been a worrying experience for you. Make sure you get checked, and take things easy. Hopefully it is nothing more than nature’s way of reminding you to slow down. Anything I can do mate just shout.

Edited April 13, 2018 by andyram

[New Haven Neil]

Thanks Dom, much appreciated. Work did seem a little bit “funny” when I phoned in yesterday to explain I had been signed off. Their attitude was one of why had I not declared any previous panic attack issues when I started. The fact is, when I last suffered 14 years ago it was related to health anxiety and was not work related. I did not have a single day off as a result. In fact the opposite was true, work were so supportive that it almost became my safe haven, whilst keeping busy helped keep the dog in the kennel so to speak.

 

My ex colleagues and I were having the same discussion via our WhatsApp group last night. Teaching seems to be one of the worst professions for this (along with the NHS). I am not alone in looking at routes out of school education. I meet regularly with these people for a catch up, and they have rallied around to organise one for next week. It I grear to have good friends.

 

Andy

 

PS Andy and ID posted whilst I was writing the above. Working abroad is not something I would consider at present. That would be too much of a change for the family. Maybe in the future.

 

Andy - I hope your mum is ok, and you too.it must have been a worrying experience for you. Make sure you get checked, and take things easy. Hopefully it is nothing more than nature’s way of reminding you to slow down. Anything I can do mate just shout.

 

Yeah - I got out of the NHS!  No regrets on that one, and none on moving here either, away from the rat-race crazy UK. There's worse places - we speak English, need teachers usually, and life here is most pleasant.  it helps if you don't mind motorbikes 4 weeks a year though!

[BlackRat]

Well the Tramadol were as about as much use as tits on a fish as my old Sarnt Major used to say( usually aimed at me) so I was up and in The gym for 0715.

 

Ok, so it's only a blast on the cross trainer, but I was to.d to get fit again as it would help my core strength and my back.

 

Been waiting to see the neuro surgeon again since October.......only 7 months ......who said the NHS ain't in crisis?

 

The good side is I've lost 9 bags of sugar or thereabouts ........ the downside is my knees are shot......again lol

 

Still, no pain, no gain but I could do with a little less of it.

 

But........there are many many far worse off than me (Debs for one) and many on here undergoing treatment for the big C, and my thoughts are with you all.

Edited April 13, 2018 by BlackRat

[chrisf]

Two matters arising:

 

AndyP, I am ashamed to have forgotten about your recent ill health and was sorry to learn of yesterday's wobble.

 

Flavio, when my confidence issues are less of an issue [so to speak] I will resume work on the coach I promised you.

 

 

Chris

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

Cloudy here now and forecast to remain so. It isn't cold though.

Yesterday we had a visit from our bank manager. He had done all the stuff necessary to secure Matthew's bank accounts. He took away a copy of the Irish interim certificate. We then went down to the park and went for a walk. I may have walked further than sensible as my left knee is sore today.

Visitors will be arriving later. They are bringing lunch too. Aditi has a few cousins who live in West London and they will be setting off after the end of the morning rush hour. They came to see us before we went to Ireland and it took almost 5 hours to get here from Osterley that evening.

I will help with the shopping after breakfast. By that I mean listening for the doorbell. We don't seem to have the "whatever it is" to go shopping, so online seems easier.

Tony

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone

 

Well it started raining last night just before we went to bed, thankfully it has now stopped. Apparently we are going to the Trafford Centre this morning for a few bits and pieces, so I’ll be back!

 

Later