Early Risers.

[Coombe Barton]

Damp, grey, cool. 

 

The last two describe me, all three describe the weather.

 

As I didn't complete what I wanted to do for work yesterday, that's today's task. Final but of checking then a mail merge.

 

Then it'll be stuff round home. The workstation needs sorting and some other debris removed from the big shelf that was at sometime called the dining table.

 

Big decision to be made of what I want for lunch and supper, but somewhere there will be a Doom Bar. Or Tribute, Fursty Ferret or Abbot Ale.

 

Listening is Radio 3, currently Beethoven 5.

 

Currently Captain Tom's fundraiser is an incredible £21.8million. I just hope that he's looking after himself and not overdoing it. But I bet he's having the time of his life that he'd never thought he'd have.

Edited April 18, 2020 by Coombe Barton

[tigerburnie]

Morning, it's overcast and dreary up here today, fires lit for SWMBO, no breakfast as I'm needing to lose a stone in weight and have found my body consumes the stored fat better if I hang on until lunch time, that growling noise you can here is not an earthquake...……………………………….have a safe day.

[Gwiwer]

Good morning all.  Rather like paint it has been wet but has dried somewhat over time.  SWMBO reports there were few people about during her early morning walk.  It remains quiet Upon the Hill of Strawberries with currently the only significant sounds being bird song and the sewing machine.  SWMBO has indeed commenced the latest quilting project as threatened last night.  

 

2 hours ago, Barry O said:

People are getting bored.

 

I would agree.  We - the "Royal" we as in the nation collectively - have (mostly) stuck to the rules for three weeks and are (mostly) still doing so.  But some have clearly reached the boredom threshold.  There are slightly more people about where ever we (the two of us) look.  There is more movement generally.  There is a hint of being more relaxed whilst still actively avoiding fellow members of the species when walking along the street.  Antisocial distancing.  

 

I suspect this may become an exit strategy by default.  Allowing tiny relaxations every so often, bigger ones when possible until we get back to a semblance of normality.  There have been suggestions that one way to avoid dumping millions of gallons of beer would be to reopen pubs with a limit of two per table and not all tables in use if they cannot be spaced apart.  No drinking at the bar.  And on-app ordering where possible such as 'spoons use.  Much of Britain still sees pub culture as a core aspect of our lives.  There are potential environmental issues let alone cost if all that beer has to be dumped somewhere.  If I remember my cellar training aright a real ale will last 6-9 weeks unpegged and a keg beer around 3 months.  In ideal storage.  Few pubs have been able to convert to the takeaway model for all sorts of reasons; full credit to those which have.

 

It is time for Muggercoffee No.1 but first I must attend to the contents of the kitchen stink.  It is customary to remove the dregs of the previous drink before re-using the mug  

 

Avagoodun.  

 

 

[New Haven Neil]

Morning.

 

I can echo my trader friends on here as to the experience - some folk have simply unreasonable expectations.  If something has left us, and not delivered - it is not our fault!  The best quote I can't of course share, was simply hilarious.  One day - maybe I'll write a book.  

 

Despite warnings on our website and in dispatch emails, the complaints still come.  We have now instituted a triage system monitored by someone who is working at home, then passing what they can't deal with to me, mostly.  30% staff levels, like John, we can't provide miracles.  The temptation to respond with home truths sometimes is great! Stress....oh yes.

[Barry O]

at the moment Saturday is winning by 2 falls to one...bugggriiiiitttt!

 

More mugsadecaff required.....

 

Baz

[Happy Hippo]

Readers may recall my comments a few days back about what goes on in Telfland.

 

Here is an example:

 

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/crime/2020/04/17/seven-arrests-in-illegal-abattoir-investigation/

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from Sidcup where it is overcast and has rained.

 

we went for our walk earlier and wondered where everyone was going in their cars; there can’t be that many key workers in the area.

 

i worked in Brum in the mid 90’s so got to experience Baltic at first hand. Menus under the glass topped tables, staters for under a quid, table sized naans and the balti itself; very nice. I was quite pleased when Imrans opened in Northampton a few years later; whoever it was that reckoned a curry house’s quality was in inverse props to the quality of the bogs would have rated Imran’s very highly but I preferred Baltimore King and Aladdin’s. Now they seem to feature interchangeably with Karahi dishes round here but are not as far as I can tell cooked in quite the same way; when I stopped working in Brum I was given a Balti recipe book from all the then leading Balti houses.

[The Stationmaster]

G'day all,

 

And the sogginess out there is gradually drying after yesterday's extended descent of water from the heavens.  I'm told it was good for the garden which presumably means the weeds will get even bigger.  However the seaweed wranglers of Exeter are predicting, sorry forecasting, that sunshine will return on Monday and then for several days although not as hot as recently.

 

And the big news on RMweb is that SWAGday is being recreated - in virtual form, a brilliant idea and at least Notwork Rail won't be able to stop me getting there this year.  And fortuitously it doesn't even clash with our cancelled week at sea because the start of this year's passenger season had been put back a week (before it was cancelled) so we were going for a slightly later date.  Back again to silver linings around a big dark cloud perhaps?  Of course the real silver lining here is still continuing - day long birdsong not blotted out by the passing racket generated by the works of the descendants of Messrs Rolls & Royce or Whit and Prattney; only three aeroplanes within earshot yesterday and none so far today.  And without that racket, and the breeze in the right direction I can even hear the comings and goings of the train down in the valley over almost all of the couple of miles at this end of the branch.

 

Havea good day one and all and stay safe although some reports seem to indicate that the USofA appears to be heading in the opposite direction.

[Gwiwer]

3 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

I can even hear the comings and goings of the train down in the valley over almost all of the couple of miles at this end of the branch.

 

I always enjoy(ed) sitting outside the Fisherman's Arms in Golant of an evening.  Still as anything, only the occasional slop of water if the tide was in and the intermittent call of a wading bird or gull.  Back in the day also the hope that a late evening clay working might come through (it did, just once) but the abiding memory is of hearing Valenta-engined HSTs up the valley at Lostwithiel some five miles away.  And more.  Because the first thing one heard was the wind-down of the engines having traversed Brown Queen Tunnel which was eight miles distant.  Then the easy run down the bank, clattering through the pointwork and then the powering up for the climb to Treverrin. Tunnel.  

 

It's not the same with the much quieter MTU units fitted.  Though I suspect most residents of rural Cornwall are happy with that!  

[Tony_S]

17 minutes ago, The Lurker said:

to experience Baltic at first hand

Nice restaurant in Southwark?
 

[jamie92208]

4 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Readers may recall my comments a few days back about what goes on in Telfland.

 

Here is an example:

 

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/crime/2020/04/17/seven-arrests-in-illegal-abattoir-investigation/

No 1 son's other half is a Telf, nuff said.

 

Jamie

 

PS, I take it that you will gave a multicoloured toenail for the next 3 months. All in a good cause though.  As to LGA going green and copper capped, i suspect that a snowball has more chance in Hades.

Edited April 18, 2020 by jamie92208

[BSW01]

Good afternoon everyone 

 

I've been busy in the cellar stripping paint from the towel rail. I was going to post earlier but got side tracked and have just caught up whilst drinking muggertea No2. 

 

Back later 

[JohnDMJ]

It seems I am not alone!

 

Some bod by the name of Michael Gove has suggested the "distribution of toys and clothes" were essential.

 

5 hours ago, Barry O said:

People are getting bored.

 

Ain't they got hobbies?

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

PS, I takevit that you will gave a multicoloured toenail for the next 3 months. All in a good cause though.  As to LGA going green and copper capped, i suspect that a snowball has more chance in Hades.

It landed sideways on top of the foot which was clad in heavy boots at the time.

 

No damage but it made for  an ideal opportunity for an outburst of profanity of the AndrewC variety.

 

Naturally, the air would have turned a putrid green if the tin had burst open.

[iL Dottore]

4 hours ago, JohnDMJ said:

?

The assumption is, my dear fellow, is that there is sanity present to retain.

By the way do you know how to decline “insane”?

 

> I am eccentric 

> You are bonkers

> They are insane

 

In previous ER posts people have remarked about how inconsiderate the “me, me” generation is, I doubt that the idea of doing anything like Captain Tom Moore to help the beleaguered NHS has ever crossed their minds. Not only has this elderly man raised money to help his country, he has already served his country with distinction in WWII out in the Far East (and as a student of that period of history I can affirm that the campaign in Malaya was definitely no stroll in the park,  being one the most brutal and nastiest campaigns of the war).

 

But what bothers me, is how much of the money raised by this amazing gent will actually end up doing good? Many British Charities have the dubious distinction of paying out to the intended recipients only a small percentage of monies raised, the rest going on “administrative costs”, with the so-called “top people” earning as much, if not more, than their counterparts in the for-profit arena (and the same goes for NGOs)

 

Quite frankly, if I were raising money for a good cause (let’s say the equivalent of WWII Red Cross parcels for the NHS workers on the front line) I’d say to rich donors “don’t give me money, buy me 10,000 bottles of wine, 40,0000 bars of chocolate or whatever would go well in such a parcel” thus all of the donation goes to the cause (I understand that if certain charities - no names, no pack drill - would get the money equivalent of 10,000 bottles of wine, after their “administrative costs” had been extracted, maybe 3,000 - 4,000 bottles would go out...)

 

Of course, the other way of making your donation count is to volunteer (something I have done over the years in various roles)

 

Finally, can any of ERs fine students of the social scene tell me what the difference is, if any between:

 

> The “Woke” Generation

> The “Me, me” Generation

> The “snowflake” Generation

> Generation X

 

I am but an ageing “baby boomer” and thus oblivious to these things

 

iD

Edited April 18, 2020 by iL Dottore

[tigerburnie]

Anyone clicked on advert for the bread knife at the bottom of the page, I've always wanted a nice Damascus blade, just shy of 3K euros...……………………...don't want one that much, good grief.

[polybear]

8 hours ago, JohnDMJ said:

We have heard stories (backed up by the fact that the package ends up back with us) of the delivery van being seen by the recipient outside their location then just drive off without any attempt to even get out of the van!

 

 

I've just found an Amazon Parcel.  I was informed it would be delivered yesterday evening.

I looked on Amazon about an hour ago for an update......it showed "delivered" and "handed to recipient".  Was it bollox.

Thought I'd just check inside the green paper recycling box near the front door, as this is a favourite dumping point (usually with a card thru' the door too.  The parcel was literally on the doorstep (been there all night); no way had anyone knocked or rang the doorbell.  How it didn't get nicked* is anybody's guess.

 

*Incidentally, the parcel contains a Hair Clipper - I figure this situation is most likely going to be a very long haul so it'll be needed sooner rather than later (just try looking on Amazon etc. etc. for such items and you'll see that many others have the same idea - any reputable brand is like rocking horse sh*t).  It truly will be a DIY attempt (no helpers to, er, help) - there's a fair chance that I'll be wishing some b'stard actually had nicked it.....

[The Stationmaster]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

 

 

Finally, can any of ERs fine students of the social scene tell me what the difference is, if any between:

 

> The “Woke” Generation

> The “Me, me” Generation

> The “snowflake” Generation

> Generation X

 

I am but an ageing “baby boomer” and thus oblivious to these things

 

iD

The difference is simple - the name.   As each name given to the behaviour of some members of this  generation attracts increase opprobrium and when the generation realises that is happening one of its number thinks up a new term to describe them.  The more names there are so the more people become confused about which is what and who they are talking about.     It's a typical trick of the sort beloved by other totalitarian states or organisations.

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

I have had to skip a few pages to get here to post at all today, so apologies that not all posts have been read and rated.

 

30747 has decided that in the light of her high cholesterol, she also needs to increase her our exercise, and I was exhorted to walk "round the block" - a popular walk round here, of about 1.5 miles - however, we used to live on the block, and it was a pleasant stroll albeit a tad on the hilly side.  We are now about half a mile away, so the 1.5 miles has become 2.5 miles, and when we used to walk it, it was a stroll - fast forward 20 years, and I haven't walked it for a few of these, and I am sure that the hills have got a while lot steeper in the interim.  Apparently, this walk may become our daily exercise, instead of just taking Lily for a wander round the streets - ah well, that means I'll be going out twice a day, as will 30747 - I doubt that anybody will mind/notice, and the village is quiet enough that we can distance ourselves from passers by very easily.  There is a slight advantage, as the Littledale Light Railway is at the top of the block, and Mike is sometimes running Tarn Beck just for fun, and with a bit of luck, we might catch sight of it. 

 

Got to say I'm a bit knackered now.

 

Back tomorrow, and I'll try to backread the missed two pages.

Regards to All

Stewaart

[Coombe Barton]

Hair

 

It'll grow. It's been longer. Don't trust any DIY attempt.

 

This is me 1971 style. (Style?? Discuss)

 

Edited April 18, 2020 by Coombe Barton

[tetsudofan]

It's a mop isn't it?

[Gwiwer]

17 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Hair

 

It'll grow. It's been longer. Don't trust and DIY attempt.

 

This is me 1971 style. (Style?? Discuss)

 

 

The Trivial Hirsute?  

[Happy Hippo]

9 hours ago, grandadbob said:

The Boss has deemed this a good idea and is keeping me supplied with tea, coffee, biscuits and cake at regular intervals.

Could you please amplify which cake is being offered and what defines a regular interval:

 

15 minutes between cakes seems reasonable (whole ones, not slices!)

[Coombe Barton]

Yesterday I bought a new paring knife as I was running out of fresh ones whilst cooking to avoid cross contamination

 

This lunchtime I was slicing cheese, and thought "Better not do a GBB".

I did.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Running a bit short of bread and a few other things I popped down to Tess Coes after lunch. There was the normal queue but as I needed the loo I went to the door and asked if I could use the loo. The chap on the door told me I didn't have to queue! apparently the queue was going down and it wasn't neccessary to queue.