Early Risers.

[roundhouse]

Good morning from a Sunny Surrey.

 

Talking of GAS, my other half ordered a nice colourful HO scale item from Trainworld whilst sitting in a pleasant pub in Wokingham yesterday after already ordering another colourful N scale one that should arrive tomorrow. Shes saved a fortune with working from home but more importantly its not the cost of commuting but the bizzare things going on at some stations. Last night we found that there is a a new one way system at the station that now makes you walk much further to leave via the subawy back up steps onto another platform to a narrow back exit then down more steps and out onto a narrow pavement under the railway bridge to get back to where the main entrance is. As we came down the subway we saw the barrier bloke let three people out of an almost deserted station but when we got there he refused to do the same for us. Hes a pleasant chap normally as had long chats with him back pre covid days but there is no common sense in this bizzare new system when the station is quiet. I think its set up for when the schools go back and understand when its busy but not when deserted plus will encourage more ticketless travel as there are no barriers or staff  on the side exit. We were toying with taking the sleeper to Scotland in the next few months but that situation last night has finally made us decide to drive and sod the trains.

 

Today may be some crust earning but also some gardening and maybe clean the gutters on the house.

Edited September 1, 2020 by roundhouse

[polybear]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

My eldest gave up trying to pair up socks and has worn odd socks for years. 

 

 

 

Bear got fed up trying to match socks too; it seems not every black sock is the same as the next

So Bear thought it a good idea to get socks with different coloured bands across the toe sections.  Great.

Until you get a hole in one of the socks (one disadvantage of claws I guess).  Leaves you with a good sock that matches no other.

Now Bear is a trend-setter in the world of fashion and wears socks that don't match.  Job done.

[jamie92208]

7 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Bear got fed up trying to match socks too; it seems not every black sock is the same as the next

So Bear thought it a good idea to get socks with different coloured bands across the toe sections.  Great.

Until you get a hole in one of the socks (one disadvantage of claws I guess).  Leaves you with a good sock that matches no other.

Now Bear is a trend-setter in the world of fashion and wears socks that don't match.  Job done.

Unlike my son I try to match my socks.   When I joined the Police I ended up with many pairs of identical black socks and got my mother to embroider letters in the tops.  They lasted me years.  However somewhere there must be a huge mountain of odd socks as I never used to get a load of washing out without their being at least one odd one.  

 

Jamie

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Who worries about unmatched socks? Why? Its more embarrassing if you have to take your shoes off to reveal.....a hole in a sock....

 

Sunny but chilly here this morning. Supposed to be cool but dry all week. Yipppeeeddddooo!

 

Her indoors is off to score at a crickwt match marking 100 years of Wetherby League later today. As it is in Kippax I won't be attending. Nothing wrong with Kippax but I don't watch made up games.

 

Good win for England yesterday and Yorkshire won at a canter. Great!

 

Hope you can get everything you want to get done, done today..

 

Goodluck to Dave in the escape process.

 

Positive thoughts to all!

Baz

Edited August 31, 2020 by Barry O

[New Haven Neil]

Morning.  I'll try not to rant too much this morning.

 

The NHS usually provides a very good service within its limitations but like any chain, is only as good as its weakest link.  As iD correctly points out, no-one is perfect, and there are weeding processes in place, but they don't work at the top of the tree in Consultant-land.  I spent a year as our Trust medical staffing officer in HR, in that time in our department there was a background process going on of trying to deal with an unsatisfactory Consultant - it was not resolved in my time there, as ranks were closed so tightly it was waterproof.  IIRC it took another couple of years, with actions at CEO level for quite some time to get the relevant Royal College to take action.  In the intervening time....draw your own conclusions.

 

Away from rants, it is a bright, autumn-y morning, only 12C but fresh and nice feeling.  We're off out on the bikes at 10 with a new friend, Mrs NHN's Pilates instructor as it happens, he's relatively new to Fraggle Rock so we're taking him on a mystery tour.  There are lots of interesting little lanes here you would struggle to find without being shown, which are in some of the most scenic parts of our little island.

[skipepsi]

59 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

Chris,

 

Very strange that you are not getting diabetes appointments if you used to have reviews every 6 months. Without knowing all the circumstances, I would still advise that you ask your GP about it.

 

Certainly, you can't rely on them picking up anything from your cancer blood tests. They will only be looking for cancer symptoms.

 

I was almost certainly a diabetic for 30+ years before being officially diagnosed (and that only after self-diagnosis) but I had had other medical incidents in the meantime without medics spotting the diabetes. In light of how serious the side effects of diabetes can be, I believe that there should be routine screening for it of the whole population.

Oooh the NHS being proactive and saving lives and money. Controversial.

[Andrew P]

Good luck to dangerous Dave today. remember the Code word, ******* and you'll be fine. remember the white camoflage sheet, and look after your Helmet.

Edited August 31, 2020 by Andrew P

[AndrewC]

Moaning all from the boring borough. Medically, I'm back on the blood sugar 800kcal diet again as of today. That means no very little beer for the next few weeks. After having lost over 12kg last year, I've put it all back on again during lockdown. Meh. 

 

I could write a book on NHS issues but suffice to say I find that my consultants and some of the rotating band of GPs in my local surgery are quite good. It is the incompetent and self serving admin staff that need shooting. The biggest issue for me is never seeing the same GP twice, or going to the same hospital for tests twice. Seems like we are in the middle of where several trusts overlap. Greenwich for some things at the QE or Lewisham. Randomly sent to St Mary somethings for the same tests. Orpington or Darenth depending on the phase of the moon. 

 

I can't remember if I regaled bored you with my exploits on an NHS trust IT project about 11 years ago. Suffice to say, there were 2 of us doing the actual work. One who worked for the trust and myself as a consultant/technical lead. He had a project manager, I had one from my company, one from the company we were sub-contracted to, one to the catalyst supplier (needed to do any NHS work), then one for the actual project who insisted on early Monday am face to face meetings that had a 50% cancellation rate. Normally cancelled after the half dozen or so people travelling 2+ hours were already enroute. Over that were department managers, IT managers, support managers, clinician representatives........  All in all about 20 people to do the work of 2. None of these people could agree on anything. The project grew and grew. Went later and later. One clinician refused to sign off as the output of scanned data was in b&w to save cost and make it easier to read. He insisted on colour as he wrote all his notes in purple ink. That alone cost the trust half a million in extra storage costs and a re-architecture of the system to cope with 10 times the data transfer. After getting what he wanted, he promptly retired. After I left as well they were still faffing about for another 2 years before it went live. <sigh>

 

The washer finally died. Turns out it wasn't the supply valve but something else. The cost of a call out and replacement master module is £20 less than replacing the whole thing. New washer ordered, obviously. 

Time for brekkie and a putter about. Supposed to be cleaning up the loft a bit. 

 

Enjoy the day

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Sunny here at the moment and still cool but it should stay dry - possibly.

Hope Dave escapes soon.

I use "Patent Access" to order meds and the prescription is transmitted from the surgery to the pharmacy down the road and they deliver to me within 2/3days.  Before lockdown doctor's appointments could also be booked but that has stopped and they're doing a telephone triage system before seeing anyone, not that I've been unfortunate enough to have to use it.

I must be very lucky as all my dealings with the NHS (and there have been quite a few over the years) have been very good apart from a couple of ridiculous stays in A & E.  I most of the night and all of the next morning there once before a bed could be found on the ward although I was in a bed in a cubicle.  Just before last Christmas I was there 7 hours in total after being delivered  by ambulance after keeling over at a funeral.  Mind you it seemed to me that most of the delays were being caused by multiple drunks and t#ssers  who just wanted a bed for the night.

 

Sat down yesterday to watch the first of two rugby matches (Quins v Saints) when son Steve turned up unexpectedly.  As he had a bit of time on his hands he'd come round to fix an IT problem I had with transferring a lot of files that I couldn't manage from my old laptop to this one along with a couple of other niggles on it.  He managed to do that successfully so I ended up watching rugby after the F1 highlights.

 

Now being told "to get a move on", not sure why as I wasn't aware of any plans for today.  I will make enquiries shortly! 

Have  a good one,

Bob.

 

 

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

It’s a beautiful sunny day today, wait a minute, did I really say that, it’s a bank holiday Monday! Anyway I’ll be spending most of it in the cellar applying the first top coat on the bathroom cabinet, I’m hoping that one coat will be enough, but if not, then hopefully I’ll get the second one done after dinner. In between time I can carry on working on the doors, as they’ve only had one coat of primer so far. My goal is that by tomorrow I’ll have it all done and ready for putting back on the wall for Thursday. 

 

So far I’ve had no bad experiences with the NHS, when I was first diagnosed with cancer in 2012 the speed at which the team from various hospitals worked together was breathtaking. From first seeing my GP, who sent me for tests just to rule out something to starting treatment for cancer was less than 6 weeks! At the moment everything is being done from the same hospital and gain the speed is fast, from the results of a blood test less than 4 weeks ago I’ve had a bone scan, I’ll have a CT scan on Wednesday and will be seeing the consultant in just over weeks. However, if and when my GP practice, gets involved (this is aimed squarely at the management team, not the doctors) then I suspect it will all go pear shaped as they appear to be a complete bunch of incompetent halfwits who couldn’t organise the proverbial p!ss up in a brewery. 

 

Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. 

 

Brian

[AndyB]

Morning all.

A busy day yesterday sorting through potential small replica items that run on //le rails for eBay. 

 

Whilst "small" they are double the size of my curreNt inNterest. 

 

So whilst I may have an idea of what I'd do with any resulting wonga it seems other family members do, too! 

 

Ian, I think you'll find that this virus will release a whole new managerial class into society who suddenly have the power to lord it over the rest of us. There were never enough traffic warden posts available to meet career aspirations! 

 

Swmbo got told off - quite officiously - for walking the wrong way down an aisle in Sainsburys, having ignored and invisible sign☆.

That'd be the same branch where I had to ask their general manager to get his staff to wash their hands after using the toilet - and then straight away starting to handle food. 

 

☆ maybe it wasn't invisible - but you needed a special superhero power given only to the aforementioned new managerial class. 

 

Sorry....been ranting there a bit. 

Have a splendid day everyone.

 

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, chrisf said:

 

Finally for today, a trivia question on pop music.  What is the connection between "Dancing in the streets" by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and "Amazing Grace" by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards?

I don’t know but I am looking forward to finding out. I do hope you will tell us. Did anyone ever find out the answer to Mike Stationmasters puzzle about three something’s in one place, two in another etc?
Tony

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Overslept this morning, only by about half an hour. That was due to the eczema driving me mad last night with the itching. Scratching only makes it worse but application of a damp flannel calmed it down enough for me to get some sleep. Not having seen any spiders for a while I had to remove a couple of large ones from the bath this morning and I've seen a couple of others scuttling around. I don't mind spiders, especially as there seems to have been a plague of moths recently that now seems to have disappeared. I consider the benefits of spiders outweigh any disadvantages. No news from Dave yet, hope that its a case of no news is good news.

[Winslow Boy]

Good morning Mr Hunt. I'm sorry about this old bean but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to stand down. Turns out that idiot cousin of the memsab's has managed to make a hash of things- told the memsab we shouldn't have interfered with that blasted perisher thingabobs but she would have her way. Had a soft spot for him as she used to babysit him. Anyway damned fool only gone and got half his crew arrested. He decided to moor up for night, having made good time surfing that tidal bore thingy. So what does the nincompoop do but gives the crew shoreleave. Wouldn't have done that in my day but you know this younger generation want to be seen to looking after crew. Well you know seamen found a ruddy pub didn't they. Next thing you know Pc Plod (apologies to Jamie) turns up and arrests the lot of them- something to do with not wearing face masks and booking their tables in advance. Anyway got called logged with the chief constable, going to quote him Defence of the Realm Act etc once he gets back from the golf club.

So it's all up to Baz and his tank thingy. Last report I had was they were taking a short cut via Crewe. Message got a bit garbled after that as he kept saying something about trains. Anyway Derby I could understand but Crewe.

 

Toodal pip for now and keep your chin up old bean.

[Dave Hunt]

Still here in Alcatraz Shrewsbury hospital but there is yet hope, although I'm not holding my breath. Shame about the sub but never mind.

 

The most embarrassing footwear issue I ever had was when attending a meeting that started at 9 am for which I had a two and a half hour drive. All was well until the first coffee break when I glanced down to see that I was wearing odd shoes - both slipons and both brown but there the similarity stopped and they were actually noticeably different. At lunchtime I made my excuses (no, I wasn't a News of the World reporter) and shot out to the nearest shoe shop. I thought I'd got away with it until the chairman remarked with a wide grin during the afternoon coffee break that he liked my shoes.

 

I also once dressed in the dark in my No. 1 RAF uniform prior to another meeting with some very high ranking visitors and managed to put on a bright green tie. Apparently there was a bit of a discussion among my team as to whether they should let me know before the meeting but luckily for me the more sober heads prevailed and I was able to borrow a black one.

 

Dave

 

Breaking news - now no chance of parole today as there is no-one to do the scan that is required with it being a bank holiday. I think that this time yesterday I would have been getting cross but now I just feel a sort of dull resignation.

Edited August 31, 2020 by Dave Hunt

[Coombe Barton]

Am I the only one on here with a Doctors surgery that knows what they're doing but also manage to administer it all correctly?

[Coombe Barton]

I'm currently deleting spam posts from my blogsite. 59 of the damned things overnight!

One that caught my eye was
 

"They sunburn simply, so must be protected against direct shiny mild."

 

 

Edited August 31, 2020 by Coombe Barton

[skipepsi]

15 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Am I the only one on here with a Doctors surgery that knows what they're doing but also manage to administer it all correctly?

No

[Dave Hunt]

9 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Am I the only one on here with a Doctors surgery that knows what they're doing but also manage to administer it all correctly?

 

No John, in all the chaos of the last week the brightest spot was my GP surgery. From making a telephone call to them at about ten o'clock last Monday morning to having a telephone consultation with a GP followed by a face-to-face consultation and examination with said GP then being despatched to Telford hospital after the GP had spoken to the stroke team there was a matter of just two and a half hours. The problems have arisen since then. And since lock-down started we have had excellent service for repeat prescription ordering for me, Jill and my Dad, the latter having involved changing the address for delivery as he had come to live with us.

 

Dave

[iL Dottore]

16 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Am I the only one on here with a Doctors surgery that knows what they're doing but also manage to administer it all correctly?

No.

 

My current GP ("the boy doctor", called that for reasons explained in another post, earlier) and my former GP - now a good friend - all have/had well running practices. In fact, my current GP not only can do routine bloodwork (up to and including basic biochemistry - results while you wait) but also has a mini-radiology suite for simple X-Rays (such as AP chest) - also results while you wait. Possibly what is different to GPs in the UK is that in Switzerland one can choose which GP to go to, so there is pressure to acquire and retain a good reputation, especially as a GP's patients - if happy - will recommend their GP to others (I once asked my GP friend why he put up with some very ghastly patients and he replied that it was to safeguard his reputation, to treat everyone well). I think a second advantage is that there's seems to be no obstacle to getting rid of incompetent practice staff (I noted, with one of my doctors, that a rather abrasive receptionist had a very short shelf-life at that practice).

 

TBH, I don't miss patient contact at all. Doing drug development in an large, well funded, company provided me the opportunity to travel the world (and in comfort), meet interesting people (and tell them what to do), eat great food and get paid for the pleasure.

 

As the cold, inevitable, embrace of the grave beckons, I look back and think - it hasn't been all bad....

 

And on that philosophical note I bid you a Good Afternoon.

 

iD

[Gwiwer]

Good morning all from a Sunny Day Upon the Hill of Strawberries.  

 

Sorry to hear "Dangerous" Dave is unlikely to be freed again today.  If the bed were urgently required for someone else they would find a way .....  

 

In other news I stayed up late last night and bought a house   Yes a real one, not a scaled-down awl-inspiring one.  For some time now we have been looking to pay out the balance of the mortgage on our property in Australia which would have another seven years to run.  The value of the property - which is currently tenanted and managed by a local agent - has increased significantly over the 18 years it has been in our name.  We don't intend to sell but neither do we expect to live there again.  If the financial people are watching it makes a tiny loss month on month as the best rent we can get is slightly shy of the repayments.  

 

The lender, one of Australia's major banks, has been notoriously difficult to get hold of from overseas.  They offer a 13xxxx phone number for contact which only operates within Australia and which cannot be reached even through international assistance.  I have trawled the intertubes and failed to locate a "proper" number (area code plus eight digits) I could call.  

 

I found their Facebook page and left a message.  To my surprise I got a reply within a couple of minutes.  I had, apparently, to speak with "the team" who started work at 8am and it was now 7.20am.  Or 11.20pm Hill of Strawberries time.  Taking advantage of not having to rise at 5am for the House of Fun today I duly waited for the promised call after they opened for business on Monday morning - it's not a holiday out there - and at almost midnight finally got the call.  

 

A very pleasant chat with a young lass in Sydney established the payout value of the loan and five minutes later my English bank account had been relieved of 68,000 modelling tokens.  So we now own the house outright and as soon as the paperwork comes in we can prove it.  It saves us a fair amount of interest in the future and means we can bank the rent income as future-proofing though that must be declared for tax purposes.  And the unseen costs?  A AU$350 early settlement fee.  Not too bad all things considered because the bank is foregoing seven years worth of interest, or profit, they had expected to make from us.  We estimate the value of the property to be in the region of AU$600k which is around mid-range for the size, age and suburb and allows for it no longer looking as good as I left it.  So a reasonable investment, we consider.  

 

But the lender might have made it easier for overseas customers to make contact.  The person I spoke with has given me a direct-call Sydney number in case of future need.  Why that can't be on their website who knows?  

 

It's muggercoffee time.  Following which the G-word may require some attention in addition to the awl-inspiring project which requires some further furtling in the Waddlemarsh.  Avagoodun.  

Edited August 31, 2020 by Gwiwer

[Gwiwer]

2 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

the cold, ...., embrace of the grave

Surely a man of influence and learning such as yourself could arrange a centrally-heated or air-conditioned facility?   

[Barry O]

Mowed the lawn, hoovered the Beast out.. what next? Parcels and lunch I believe.

 

My last email to the practice aka the Marie Celeste was responded too very quickly.. but they admitted they had been  a little slap dash in handling a repeat prescription.  My biggest problem is you are not allowed to talk to anyone unless it is a life threatening problem..

 

Looks like it must just be problems north of the Watford Gap..

 

Baz

[Chris116]

28 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Mowed the lawn, hoovered the Beast out.. what next? Parcels and lunch I believe.

 

My last email to the practice aka the Marie Celeste was responded too very quickly.. but they admitted they had been  a little slap dash in handling a repeat prescription.  My biggest problem is you are not allowed to talk to anyone unless it is a life threatening problem..

 

Looks like it must just be problems north of the Watford Gap..

 

Baz

Not getting a prescription could be life threatening so I would have been on the phone to them. If they didn't like it I would point out that I am not a medical professional so I do not know if missing my prescription is life threatening and as they are the professionals I have to ask them!

 

Pleased to say my doctors are good and the reception staff friendly and helpful. Unlike when my family moved to the area in 1957 when the doctors were called "The Crazy Gang" by all the locals who went to the chemists to find out what was wrong with them and then went to the Crazy Gang and told them what to prescribe!

Edited August 31, 2020 by Chris116

[Chris116]

34 minutes ago, Chris116 said:

Not getting a prescription could be life threatening so I would have been on the phone to them. If they didn't like it I would point out that I am not a medical professional so I do not know if missing my prescription is life threatening and as they are the professionals I have to ask them!

I should have added that by "medical professional" I meant doctor not receptionist!