Early Risers.

[Ian Abel]

Morning all - POETS arrives.

 

Not much to report from yesterday except the successful initial "demolition" of the inside walls in the basement bathroom and bedroom of the new house in preparation for the installation of the drainage system. Good news was/is there is no damage leeched up the wallboard in either room so we don't have to have anything more removed than the 15 inches required by the drainage system installers. Bad news is that we've pushed the drainage install back to mid-November (Mrs had various appointment conflicts and wanted the date moved) and that means we may not be able to schedule the contractor to replace everything possibly until the New Year!

 

Flight home is overbooked, and I'm already on the "list" as a volunteer for $500 to take the late plane.

We'll see, most times they don't need the volunteers after all, but I'd be happy to sit at JFK an extra 3 hours for $500

 

9 and sunny driving in, just catching the bright yellow orb as I arrived so traffic was light, expected to be 15 with clear skies and light winds so trip home should be on time.

 

Tally ho.

 

[New Haven Neil]

Morningish.  Well I was lurking earlier.

 

Thoughts are very much with John, and the hope here we can all support him through the vacuum that will appear in his life for some time.  When my bestie Gary was killed in an accident I felt a touch of what this must feel like, but the true enormity  of losing one's partner is not an experience to be faced alone.  We did and do our very best for Jayne, and have thus come to understand some of the difficulties, she is grateful but still needs support - which is why we're here for you too, John.  We maybe cannot fully understand (except those who have parallel experience) but we sure can try our best to help in any way we can, small though it may be.  

 

This morning I was at the GP's for bloods, diabetic and other tests to try to get to the bottom of ongoing lethargy issues - other than being 60!  Offical weight loss 10kg so pleased with that, although I see a greater loss on our scales (like with like) so maybe ate too much last night.....I do notice my weight can vary by as much as 1.5kg on a day to day basis.  Then I was off to the OF's bike club with no bikes - well it has been rather wet.  A lot of hot air was spoken. Nothing new there then.

 

Next stop the garage for some mudelling maybe, then a chap coming to look at the woodburner flue that has an annoying habit of having water come through a joint FROM the inside....beat me how it manages that.

[TheQ]

1 hour ago, AndyB said:

Afternoon all. 

Following our summer trip to Rannoch, where the children were introduced to the delights of a "toastie", an application was made to purchase a toated sandwich maker. This is due for its christening over the weekend. Whilst the children will be content with ham and cheese, SWMBO has requested cheese and Branston pickle. 

 

Hot Branston pickle? Seriously?

Is this a culinary thing or a culinary nightmare?! I suspect the latter. 

 

Have a glass of very cold milk ready to cool the molten lava..

Edited October 18, 2019 by TheQ

[Kingzance]

Hooray. Sold at last!

 

A small libation may be taken later. Then another. Then another. Then anuvver. Then zzzzzzzz.......

[Barry O]

1 hour ago, AndyB said:

Afternoon all. 

Following our summer trip to Rannoch, where the children were introduced to the delights of a "toastie", an application was made to purchase a toated sandwich maker. This is due for its christening over the weekend. Whilst the children will be content with ham and cheese, SWMBO has requested cheese and Branston pickle. 

 

Hot Branston pickle? Seriously?

Is this a culinary thing or a culinary nightmare?! I suspect the latter. 

 

Nowt wrong with cheese and Branston pickle other tha 

A) what The Q says     and

B) not for diabetics.

 

But hust try....

Cheese, ham and marmite   or

Corned beef and pickle....

 

Yummy!

Back home , coll3cted a box from the post office which had arrived from NdyRam. I now have a little blue engine belonging to Ryhope collieet soon to be Horden No3 in Maroon....

 

My back still aches from the Azuma. I have prodded a friend who knows about them..he suggests going to see DaFT..armed with a huge amount of common sense..don't borher them with engineering..that is to do with "experts" who all, apparently tell porky pies..

 

Now for a mugadecaf..

 

TTFN.

Battered Baz

[Tony_S]

Back from blood tests. The clinic is upstairs from a day centre. When I first used to go there, the receptionist would say something like “the outpatients clinic is upstairs”. Now they just smile as I suppose they aren’t sure where I heading for.

As  I was heading upstairs a chap coming down told me not to hang around they were waiting for me. He seemed so keen to make his point he nearly threw  himself down the stairs. I was actually 10 minutes early ! The phlebotomists said I could go straight in. Different coloured sample tubes to my usual ones. For one of them it will be nice not to get a call from the GP on Monday. The other one is just a non fasting glucose and cholesterol test. I had just about everything else tested  last week and that was apparently “normal for me”. 
Tony
 

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Morning all. I hope John got some sleep. Thoughts with you, sir

I have no idea why this, which was posted at 05.25 this morning, did not appear for several hours after that. 

 

Better late than never. As we all too frequently say at the House of Fun. 

 

On the subject of which I was entertained at around 7am there by watching a kestrel hovering and swooping on prey. Until, in his turn, he was swooped on and vocally seen off by a quartet of crows!  

 

For the nation’s busiest railway station we have quite an abundance of bird life. Pied Wagtails are among other flavours which surprise the casual observer on the platforms. Only yesterday a chap with a five-figure price-tag lens and some rather nice camera bodies was asked if he was a railway enthusiast. “Oh no - I’m photographing the birds” was the slightly surprising reply. 

 

It’s Friday. SWMBO legitimately POETS’d meaning we can both have an afternoon nap. If the Noises From Above remain at a background level and do not include the regular afternoon baby-making practice!!!  

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

ongoing lethargy issues - other than being 60!

60 may be an issue. A few years ago the consultants I see up in Whitechapel said it was worth trying to see if I needed the nasty immunosuppressive medication anymore as evidence suggested that over 60s had less effective immune systems. Well it turned out mine was still working too well and I went back on the medication. I mentioned to my GP the other day that having been prescribed assorted medication to manage my health for nearly 40 years I find it difficult to know what is “normal” for my age. 
Tony

[Tony_S]

56 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

If the Noises From Above remain at a background level 

Aditi informed me this morning that “noises from above” had kept her awake last night. Her Mum has a “penthouse” flat and there are skylights which make rain seem very loud. When the rain stops there seem to be lots of tap dancing pigeons. 

[Kingzance]

11 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Aditi informed me this morning that “noises from above” had kept her awake last night. Her Mum has a “penthouse” flat and there are skylights which make rain seem very loud. When the rain stops there seem to be lots of tap dancing pigeons. 

We suffered from cousins of your pigeons Tony until our young (I have no idea how old he is but most people are younger than me these days) window cleaner stuck some long thin stainless steel spikes on the roof ridge. The pigeons have now moved to sit on nearby scaffolding, saving me feeding them .22 lead pills.

[Tony_S]

7 minutes ago, Kingzance said:

We suffered from cousins of your pigeons Tony until our young (I have no idea how old he is but most people are younger than me these days) window cleaner stuck some long thin stainless steel spikes on the roof ridge. The pigeons have now moved to sit on nearby scaffolding, saving me feeding them .22 lead pills.

Unlike Aditi her Mum is unaware of the noisy rain or pigeons once she removes her hearing aids. MiL seems more interested in detering squirrels from her terrace garden at the moment.  

[NGT6 1315]

A‘noon all, just. Gosh, I sure need those days off at present...

 

I‘m making a point of deliberately planning much of my annual leave (33 days currently) into autumn and winter. Usually, I try to book one week off in October and November each, and a longer period before Christmas. As scheduled non-working days do not need to be booked for leave, it’s not too difficult to get a full week off, for example, while using only four days of actual leave!

 

We‘ve been to the food market this morning and FiL is now preparing a lamb meat loaf filled with feta and ajvar. Yum!

 

Can only echo what you wrote about filling a void in one‘s life, Neil. John, do let us know whenever you might need a sounding board.

[Andrew P]

7 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Busy? Dealing with officialdom?

I'll be sitting round in waiting rooms for ages, knowing my luck.

when I lost Mum in May, I was pleasantly surprised by the speed and thoughtfulness at which I was looked after in different departments, especially the DWP over the phone.

 

Gods Speed.

[AndyID]

There's a lakefront property in the next community that was extensively upgraded a few years ago. When the owners are not using it it's available as a vacation rental.

 

On the paw patrol yesterday there was a large dumpster there and two lads were chucking everything, including the drywall, into it. There had been a fire. The structure was OK but everything inside was damaged by the smoke.

 

Someone, probably a renter or cleaner, had repositioned a couch too close to an in-wall electric heater. We had a sudden cold snap. Thermostat turned on the heater and there was nobody there to detect the problem.

[jamie92208]

Back from the hospital we have come. A thoroughly  p**sed off wife is now next to me on the settee.  Despite having been a surgeons secretary  she thought that she would have a 'walking boot' applied.  No such luck, 4 more weeks in pot and 3 more weeks of the 8am nurse visits.   It will mean that hopefully  she will be able to use the new bathroom before she is out of pot.  As to noises from above, we have our resident edible doormice aka gliss gliss.   As to sockets in the bathroom, yes they are present here. Our bathroom heater is hard wired. No one has been electrocuted yet.......

 

Jamie

 

 

 

[Smiffy2]

6 hours ago, Northroader said:

Plug and socket in a bathroom??!!! That’s a no no.

Not in France.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Talking of noisy birds on the roof, I have what is known as 'Flintlock' guttering on my house. These consist of a line of concrete slabs with a gully moulded in. They were originally steel lined but this had rusted away. Some had tried painting them with bitumen but the only solution was a zinc lining which I had fitted several years ago. The birds often make a racket scratching around for insects but I don't mind as in doing so the keep the gutters clear of moss and dead leaves. Surprisingly the noisiest are the tits and sparrows, the noise they make makes you think theres a turkey up there.

Edited October 18, 2019 by PhilJ W

[bbishop]

7 minutes ago, Smiffy2 said:

Not in France.

 

That's a wee wee.

 

Bill

[pH]

The bathrooms in our house all have sockets, fitted with GFIs (ground fault interrupters). I did a 'wiring for homeowners' course soon after I came to Canada, and asked the instructor about having sockets and 'regular' light switches in bathrooms. The code says all sockets should be GFIs. He also said that the 'cord to ceiling' switches common in UK bathrooms are not allowed here, apparently because of the risk of a damp cord forming a path to/from the electrical bits.

[The Stationmaster]

1 hour ago, Andrew P said:

when I lost Mum in May, I was pleasantly surprised by the speed and thoughtfulness at which I was looked after in different departments, especially the DWP over the phone.

 

Gods Speed.

I was similarly fortunate when dad died - very awkwardly between Christmas and New Year when it seems just about everything is closed although we very fortunately managed to grab an appointment with the Registrar on the one half day her office was open in that period.  Everybody else was very helpful and considerate from the bank ('Do you want to tell us that officially yet or is this just something you are mentioning on an unofficial basis while you're here on other business?') to the Probate Office in Oxford who explained in very easily understood words how to officially excuse one of the Executors and sent the necessary form immediately they had told me which one was needed.  Similarly with the DWP - again very helpful and considerate.

 

If my experience in respect of both mum and dad is any guide everybody in officialdom went put of their way to make things easy but the critical bit was to make sure I got all the necessary bits of paper from the Doctor, that made a big but the Registrar was, again, helpful there by making clear in advance exactly what was needed.

 

On a different subject a very good day at Pendon today, superbly organised and ample supplies if tea at all the right junctures plus we got to see a lot more than is normally the case.

[Kelly]

On 17/10/2019 at 11:09, 81C said:

I thought he slipped off the train roof and the crowd went to his aid .

As for those ears Kelly it gives you some idea of how big he is going to grow he can put his paws on my shoulders and he's only 6 months old large breed dogs are normally half their size at that age.

 

 

 

Blimey! I don't think we'd cope with a dog bigger than Poppy, who is bigger than a normal staffy due to the greyhound in her (so taller rather than wider like a staffy).

[Kelly]

Evening all, I appear to be a late riser today! oops.

 

Anyway, first off, deepest condolences to John.

 

Natalie should be here soonish I expect, as we're off to Newark to do the DEMU stand for the day tomorrow there. Kinda glad it is only one day for us this time, it is getting harder and hard to manage two days it feels. That aside over the last few days I've gotten a lot of work done on UPDate issue 92, which is a relief.

 

Right, best sign off, I should phone my mum for an update on dad.

[Kingzance]

Would you bl@@dy Adam and Eve it! Just when I had started to relax a bit thinking I was over our previous house, the selling agents asked "where are the lawn mowers?" This is clearly a case of erectus as somehow the list of fixtures and fittings sent to our selling agent with the contract is a version that we had agreed with a previous purchaser who was unable to complete their own sale on which the purchase of ours was conditional. Nothing can be done until next week now but it seems the ride-on mower (that is a bit dodgy anyway) and for which I had found a local user may now have to go back up the road to satisfy a document that was attached to the contract in error.  

[Ian Abel]

7 hours ago, Northroader said:

Plug and socket in a bathroom??!!! That’s a no no.

Not in the US. Standard practice all covered by the building codes, GFCI outlets are allowable in bathrooms and kitchen areas, seems strange to NOT allow them

[Barry O]

it was the way we were told was "best" in the olden days.. now, in our modern life sockets in bathrooms are fine....

Baz