Early Risers.

[jamie92208]

Morning all. Not a bad day yesterday. We set off with our first call to book to have our Fosse emptied as it's full. Then into Cognac to discover that the shops were shut, so some early lunch was eaten and we then arrived at the DIY shed just as it was shutting for lunch. However we then had a pleasant drive back home. I spent an hour tidying boxes in the shed before helping an old French couple move furniture to a new temporary home. My large trailer made short work of transporting what needed to be done. They were living in their daughters house prior to another move to the coast but the daughters marriage has collapsed and they have had to move into an otherwise empty Gite as the husband wants the house sold. Not an easy situation in their early 80's. A quiet evening then ensued, with some other muddling being done after dinner.

 

Today Beth will be heading to the supermarket whilst my job is to wait in for the man with the lorry that will pump 10 cubic metres of waste out of the fosse. I may retreat to the shed and wield a soldering iron whilst I wait.

 

Chrisf , I suspected that block booking might be the problem and wish you luck.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[Black Marlin]

Greetings all, and hello to Jason Isaacs. 

Another quiet day, I expect (although yesterday was enlivened - I use the word in its loosest possible sense - by reviewing a Malaria course). Perhaps, as per yesterday, I shall 'keep my hand in' by fixing the grammar of Wikipedia articles. Some of the ones related to WW2 surface actions in the Med are in dire need of a tidy-up...

Other than that, I have little to report. There was, however, one source of mighty amusement yesterday: someone in the office read out an instruction they'd been sent on Facebook: "Turn to the book nearest to you. The first sentence of page 45 describes your love life. What is it?" As it happened, I'd just been lent The Martian, by Andy Weir. The first sentence on pg 45 is this: "After all that work and being blown up, I'm exhausted."

Hilarity ensued....

Kind regards making smutty jokes and sniggering at the benighted;
Tinkety-tonk, etc.,
Gavin

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Rather a dull start here but it should brighten up.

You may remember that about 3 weeks ago I mentioned a friend who was struck by a concrete bollard hit by a lorry on a hillside that came through the roof of a restaurant in Gozo. He was on holiday with his family and our friend Steve(who nearly died of sepsis last year, he's Steve's wife's cousin.) and family. He was flown home at the weekend escorted by a doctor. He suffered a hairline fracture of the skull, hairline fractures of three vertebrae, broken shoulder and six broken ribs along with multiple cuts a bruises. It's nothing short of a miracle that he lived to tell the tale and that no other members of their families were badly injured or killed. 

Car insurance sorted yesterday after quite a lot of effort and I finally got it for about £270 less than my renewal quote.

We also visited the hire company to sort out furniture, crockery and glassware for a birthday celebration later this month.

Today's first task is to book my annual eyesight test.

Have a good one,

Bob.

Edited September 4, 2018 by grandadbob

[AndrewC]

 

Greetings from the borough most boring. Grey miserable cold. The weather is pretty much the same. Work is being a pain in the nether regions again. 2 more people have said "take this job and shove it" in the past couple of weeks. That means I'm having to do my own work and cover for the now happily departed junior developers that managed to escape. The powers that be have decreed that our practice needs to double in size by the end of the financial year. To date we have lost about 10% of our people. I think the only reason I haven't made a dash for the exist is that I'm a lazy sod and the perk of working from home has up to now outweighed the fustercluckery of the practice. I wish I was about 15 years younger and I'd take up some of the silly offers being waved in my direction for doing contract work. 

 

Just tried Gavin's page 45 love life thingy: Navigate to the security incident catalog and remove each unneeded item in the list. Nope, doesn't work with Security operations training manuals. 

 

That's about it from here. Enjoy the day. 

 

Now if I could only work out a pump system to get the coffee from the kitchen directly into my office..........

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Here,

Not a good nights sleep, a stupid tune wandering through my head kept me from sleeping...

 

I did decide how to approach the tabernacle rebuild, I'll strip all the fittings off of the Lower 31 inches of mast, tape up the mast groove and holes, then grease the area. Then lay two or 3 layers of fiberglass cloth on with resin to take the cast on one side, then turn it over and repeat. This will give me the shape i need for the inside of the new tabernacle. Then I will make a box for the inside of the tabernacle, from ply, insert casting into box, and fill the gap.. Then drill a hole at the bottom aft side for the halyards to exit.

The box can then be temporarily fitted to the tabernacle, and the top of it trimmed to fit..

 

Coffee in the office... simple I built a teabar (with fridge) just one half height, wooden panel away from the lengths of parallel metal..

 

Yesterday morning, was very still, with fog but when you looked up, there was blue sky and the moon. This morning, it was windy, no fog, but when you looked up heavy black clouds..

 

I take it the Bunsen burner on the cake was so Tony could heat some brass for muddling..

 

Today's cockwomble of the day, goes to one reported on Radio Norfolk, a motorcyclist was stopped yesterday doing speeds in excess of 100mph....With his 10 year old daughter on the back of the motorcycle...

 

As we no longer have old gits Wednesday in the Big orange shed, I Shall be heading for the orange shed later, I have a voucher and intend to buy some expanded mesh, so I can play at being Slartibartfast...on a somewhat smaller scale... I shall also peruse their jigsaws, although being a cheapskate, Screwfix have one for £14:99 that still manages to acheive 4.5 stars..

 

Time for ...yet another measurement...

Edited September 4, 2018 by TheQ

[Purley Oaks]

Good morning all

 

The day has arrived when we need to deconstruct our rotting garden shed. Won't put up another as eldest son wants to use the area as a motorbike stand.

 

 

A couple of hours later the travel company brochure arrived.  I decided to check out possible alternative tours if the Antipodean goes mammaries up.  How about Prague in May?  Two days getting there via Essen and Berlin, three days exploring by tram and tasting beer and two days getting home via Frankfurt?  I think £2,000 is a bit steep for that if I’m honest.  To think that Harry went there in April on official business!  Six days in Mallorca for just over a grand looks much better – except that it clashes with Scalefour North and I’ve already booked my accommodation in beautiful downtown Wakefield!  Aaargh!

 

£2,000 is far too steep for that imho. You could book the trains yourself for much less - when you can get a 3-day break from Edinburgh to Prague in a cold wet week in early November with 4* hotel for less than £300; I know it's flying but you get an idea of hotel costs for 3 nights. Good luck with the Ghan, I think it may all work out. Did they tell you how far down the waiting list you are?

 

Meanwhile, hope everyone's day turns out well

 

Mal

[Black Marlin]

Just tried Gavin's page 45 love life thingy: Navigate to the security incident catalog and remove each unneeded item in the list. Nope, doesn't work with Security operations training manuals. 

 

Just remove the word 'Security'...

[jamie92208]

Just tried the page 45 test and opened "Crime Beat by Michael Connelly" This is the result. 'Investigators say at least 17 mob related murders occurred in the City of Brotherly Love during Scarfo's rise to the to of the rackets.' Make of that what you will.

 

 

Jamie

[45156]

Morning All

 

From a somewhat cloudy but fairly bright village East of Lancaster.

 

As usual, generic greetings are offered to those ailing and celebrating.  Neil and John, thanks again for the updates on Debs - much appreciated and hopefuly the awl will be wielded by its true owner again very soon.

 

Now then, on Gavin's suggestion, the nearest book to me is "Living with London Midland Locomotives" by A J Powell (very interesting book BTW) and the first line of P45 is "Finally a word about the daughting of the class 5s.  The vast majority  were built" - so it seems that this theory is not very accurate.

 

I am in full agreement with Mal about Chris Evans - his show is just a mouth driven bore - how he commands the listener figures that he is alleged to do  is quite incredible - perhaps he appeals to a slightly younger audience - about the six to ten age group.  He has said that he doesn't know who will replace him, but Sara Cox is 2/1 on favourite.

 

Not a lot to report here.  Openreach have just arrived outside AGAIN, and are yet AGAIN trying to deal with an underground fault on the cables.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[roundhouse]

A couple of hours later the travel company brochure arrived.  I decided to check out possible alternative tours if the Antipodean goes mammaries up.  How about Prague in May?  Two days getting there via Essen and Berlin, three days exploring by tram and tasting beer and two days getting home via Frankfurt?  I think £2,000 is a bit steep for that if I’m honest.

 

 

We often fly out to Prague on Squeezyjet, 119 bus form airport (runs every 15 minutes) to Green Line metro then into centre of Prague. Plenty of hotels and very cheap to get around the public transport on a 24 hour ticket that you can purchase once through customs. You can buy a multiple days ticket that you just validate once as you board the bus at the airport. Looknig forward to our long weekend trip in a few weeks time  but we will be flying both ways to / from Prague.

 

If we are booking an international train ticket from the Czech Republic we do so on https://www.cd.cz/en/default.htm. its far cheaper for exactly the same trian journey than via DB website  as long as the trian passes through the Czech Republic. Once in Germany we then book using DB website on an ICE to Brussels and can often get very good value 1st class. Separate Eurostar ticket home. Just dont plan any tight connections when booking separate tickets. We normally have an overnight stay.

 

Morning all

 

My other half has been caught up in the Thameslink delays this morning due ot points failure near Gatwick then a broken down trian in the core area around blackfriars. Luckily she was only 35 late where as many are an hour or so late. Since I stopped commuting she has been able to avoid London Bridge and go via Farringdon but today they didnt warn passengers that the train would be delayed between LBG and Blackfriars till it was between the two. Shes sent me a photo of her season ticket so that I cna do the delay repay for her.

 

tasks this morning are to finish painting the airing cupboard door then rehang it (water based paint dries so quick) then more gardening work including to start dismantling my rotten shed.

 

Sound decoder fitting to do aswell.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone

 

It’s not quite as dull as yesterday, but it isn’t sunny. My first task is the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix, then once I’ve returned at packed away all the shopping I’ll continue work in the garden.

 

Back later.

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

Setting off soon for Karlsruhe.

Aditi was very emotional in the breakfast room saying goodbye to the staff and some of the guests.

I couldn’t remember the exact positions for the suitcases in the car boot. I wish I had photographed it on the outward journey. I think I have found the exact position. The Evoque is slightly smaller than the Freelander so suitcase arrangements are more tricky.

Overnight cases can just go on the back seat.

I think my problem solving skills may have improved doing the hotel daily Sudoku, especially as they are in German.

Just off to settle up,the bill.

On the subject of travel insurance. What surprised me was that annual worldwide cover for Aditi and myself from our bank worked out cheaper than Saga charged me for 10 days in Houston. We are not 70 yet but have a lengthy list of conditions.

Tony

[newbryford]

This page 45 malarkey - I only have pictures...…..

 

Work to be worked - lots of it.

 

Catch up later.

Cheers,

Mick

[iL Dottore]

Morning, Sensation Seekers!

......Chrisf has had some 'fun' chasing travel insurance. My main question is do you really expect the lymphoma/chemo treatment to suddenly recur during your holiday week? Were something to go wrong do you think you could make it back to the UK? I think the amount they load onto insurance premiums for people who have had cancer is, as my mum would say, 'a racket'.

I would agree on that. Interestingly, as in Switzerland health insurance is mandatory for all inhabitants (and is strictly regulated, with limits on what an individual must pay [such as the amount per year one wishes to self-pay - e.g. after X Sfr, the insurance starts to cough up; costs to be shouldered for chronic care] and no-one can be denied basic coverage) and the insurance covers short trips outside of Switzerland (although, IIRC, a supplementary insurance may be necessary for longer stays in certain countries), there isn't a frantic search for insurance coverage for holidays. Furthermore, Mrs iD and meself are members of REGA - the Swiss Air Ambulance - which would fly us back home for further medical care if so needed (although the usage of REGA is, sensibly, strictly regulated: break your arm - you can fly back home, commercial, with your limb in plaster; break your pelvis and back - you get flown home by REGA).

 

....  Two days getting there via Essen and Berlin, three days exploring by tram and tasting beer and two days getting home via Frankfurt?  I think £2,000 is a bit steep for that if I’m honest.  To think that Harry went there in April on official business!  Six days in Mallorca for just over a grand looks much better – except that it clashes with Scalefour North...

Are they having a Giraffe? For £2,000 I could book first class railway travel plus a 4 star hotel AND have spending money left over. From my experience of trying to find flights and hotels via the likes of ebookers and expedia, I have found that one can often nearly always find better prices by going directly to the hotel and airline websites. Of course, a certain amount of travel experience helps, as does membership in assorted customer benefit plans - such as frequent flyers and hotel clubs.

 

Some examples: In regards to the first point (travel experience), a few years ago I was contemplating flying to KL in business class and the cheapest business class flight I could find through one of these booking sites was with two stops - one of which in someplace like Tashkent or Ulan Bator, for a total travel time of nearly 24 hours; whereas going directly to the Malaysian Airine website I found that I could fly from Milan to KL - direct - for slightly less than the booking site's special fare and at a third of the price of flying business class with the same airline out of either FRA or ZRH (apparently, in the airline industry, there are "high value" destinations [if I recall the term correctly] from which business and first class fares are as high as the airline can get away with. You'd probably not be surprised to learn that London, Frankfurt, New York, Zurich, Hong Kong and Tokyo are all "high value" destinations presumably because of the financial industry in each of these cities). In regards to the second point - hotel club membership - I am a member of the customer club belonging to the Small Luxury Hotels of the World group (https://www.slh.com/) and whilst not inexpensive, the small boutique hotels of the group can provide amazing luxury short breaks at sensible prices (when combined with membership perks). Needless to say, there are also "high value" destinations in the hotel trade as well as the airline trade. Unsurprisingly, London is one such destination (even an Ibis - which is about as basic as you can get and not have to worry about bed bugs, inadequate cleanliness, dubious clientele and probably unsafe location - starts at £49 and that's in Thurrrock! the Ibis at Southwark or Shoreditch have rates starting at £185/£162 per night respectively!)

 

...I am in full agreement with Mal about Chris Evans - his show is just a mouth driven bore - how he commands the listener figures that he is alleged to do  is quite incredible...

One of my - somewhat aristocratic/upper middle class - acquaintances opined "ghastly little Oik, isn't he?"  And quite frankly what little I have seen and heard of him has not done anything to make me disagree with the acquaintances assessment. Unfortunately, too many of today's "media personalities" and too much of today's television/radio output reminds me of the famous (political) quote (although I don't remember who uttered it) that goes along the lines of  "...has very low standards and consistently fails to live down to them..."

 

And on that cheerily cynical note I bid you good day.

 

iD

Edited September 4, 2018 by iL Dottore

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

The problem I am currently having is trying to work out which book is nearest and unhelpfully the first one I selected turned out to be Volume 2 and the first numbered page was 267.  So I turned to the one next to it, 'A Century In Steam' by Holden and Leech but page 45 is 100% photo, and so were the next six books to the left of it.  I finally arrived at 'Railways and Industry in the Western Valleys' (first volume in the series) and the first sentence starting on page 45 reads - 'When this through connection was made, the entrance lock from the Usk was taken out of use.'  I'm not entirely sure of the love life connection emanating from this sentence but it might conceivably relate, albeit only in a broader geographical sense, to a young lady clerk I became closely acquainted with during my time as an Asst AM in Newport (although the Usk was some distance from the scene of our acquaintance).

 

Now back to modern life and the erectors of the new boundary fence to the south of me seem to be proceeding in their work and have done a good job thus far - which is just as well as I recommended the concern involved to my neighbour.   No major, or even minor, events are planned for today although orders are awaited.  I shall at some time no doubt be charged with the task of feeding out resident vulture Red Kite who seems quite happy to consume chicken bones.

 

Have a good day one and all.

[TheQ]

 Calibration, Philosophy in Practice....On page 5-13 which I think is the 45th page in, it says.. Key references, Taylor,Barry N: Kuyatt,Chris E, "Guidelines for evaluating and expressing uncertainty of Nist Measurement Results," NIST Technical Note 1297, January 1993...

[newbryford]

I used to listen to Radio 1. Now it's Radio 2 [*] - including Chris Evans. And yes - I quite like his shows. (There was a period when he did go off on one at the end of his TFIF/Radio 1 days.)

 

Maybe I've just got a bit older, along with all my other previous R1 jocks - Sara Cox, Zoe Ball, Simon Mayo, Jo Whiley, Steve Wright, Johnnie Walker, Garry Davies, heck, even Tony Blackburn!

 

 

Cheers,

Mick

[*]Jeremy Vine is the turn off.

[Horsetan]

…..there are also "high value" destinations in the hotel trade as well as the airline trade. Unsurprisingly, London is one such destination (even an Ibis - which is about as basic as you can get and not have to worry about bed bugs, inadequate cleanliness, dubious clientele and probably unsafe location - starts at £49 and that's in Thurrrock! the Ibis at Southwark or Shoreditch have rates starting at £185/£162 per night respectively!)

 

I wonder how that compares with a dodgy luxury hotel in Egypt....

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from a rather dull and overcast Estuary-Land. In answer to Gavin's page 45 teaser this is from 'Since you've been gone' by Charlene Thompson. "No honey, please don't. That nurse who lives next door is here now." Make what you will of that. Not a lot else to report, muggatee awaits so its be back later.

[petethemole]

Page 45: "With his bright new sword belted at his side, brand new leggings from the castle stores, and the new-sworn friends riding next to him, it was no wonder Artos forgot the dragon and the dark cave." Hmmm.

 

Chris Evans works as an alarm clock; if I need to get up, the radio alarm comes on with Radio 2 and his brash style and generally noisy playlist soon have me up and about. The radio then goes off and stays off.

 

Preparations continue for mrs mole to move back in, converting the living room to her bedroom....or cave.

 

Good to hear better news of Debs.

 

Pete

[lightengine]

I used to listen to Radio 1. Now it's Radio 2 [*] - including Chris Evans. And yes - I quite like his shows. (There was a period when he did go off on one at the end of his TFIF/Radio 1 days.)

 

Maybe I've just got a bit older, along with all my other previous R1 jocks - Sara Cox, Zoe Ball, Simon Mayo, Jo Whiley, Steve Wright, Johnnie Walker, Garry Davies, heck, even Tony Blackburn!

 

 

Cheers,

Mick

[*]Jeremy Vine is the turn off.

Surely "you've been listening to Stuart Henry" & Fluff also.

[Kelly]

Morning all. I haven't been reading/logging on much for a bit for a number of reasons. I hope everyone is well? if not, speedy recovery and such as required.

 

I have just about started to recover from an absolutely magnificent Discworld Convention at the beginning of August, and the weekend just gone saw me at Guildex Telford for the first time, a great show, even if it is not my scale.

 

I am now looking after Poppy for a couple of weeks whilst Richard is off at college doing his plumbing C&G course. She gets a bit upset without him around, but is generally behaving herself for the most part. She recently celebrated her first 'gotcha day'* and got some new toys and treats as a result.

 

Next weekend is Expo EM Autumn, followed two weeks later by Scaleforum, then Wigan in October. Going to be a busy month!

 

 

*Gotcha Day = 12 months of being with us.

[Happy Hippo]

 

 

One of my - somewhat aristocratic/upper middle class - acquaintances opined "ghastly little Oik, isn't he?"  And quite frankly what little I have seen and heard of him has not done anything to make me disagree with the acquaintances assessment. Unfortunately, too many of today's "media personalities" and too much of today's television/radio output reminds me of the famous (political) quote (although I don't remember who uttered it) that goes along the lines of  "...has very low standards and consistently fails to live down to them..."

 

 

My dearly beloved was far succinct:  She referred to him as 'a Twa*!'

[TheQ]

I used to listen to Radio 1. Now it's Radio 2 [*] - including Chris Evans. And yes - I quite like his shows. (There was a period when he did go off on one at the end of his TFIF/Radio 1 days.)

 

Maybe I've just got a bit older, along with all my other previous R1 jocks - Sara Cox, Zoe Ball, Simon Mayo, Jo Whiley, Steve Wright, Johnnie Walker, Garry Davies, heck, even Tony Blackburn!

 

 

Cheers,

Mick

[*]Jeremy Vine is the turn off.

What happened to Forces Favourites...???

[newbryford]

What happened to Forces Favourites...???

 

Before my time...…