Early Risers.

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[Barry O]

Goodnight all!

@BoD and @Two_sugars be aware that I am umpiring at Boldon Colliery Cricket Club tomorrow.  1pm start, Durham &Northumberland Over 60s v Yorkshire Ridibgs Over 60s. Her indoors is doing the scoring..be warned!!!

Baz

Edited September 15, 2020 by Barry O

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well it’s been a scorcher here today, the clouds I mentioned this morning all but disappeared by 10 o’clock and we had an almost cloudy sky for the rest of the day, I think the temperature got to 26C this afternoon. 

 

As I predicted this morning, I spent most of the day in the garden. I spent the morning in the back, dead heading the roses and doing a little weeding. I also tidied up some of the pots that had weeds in and top dressed them. There’s still lots of weeding to do though. The afternoon was spent in the front garden, pruning the box hedge and weeding the block paving. The geranium didn’t get planted as it got too hot in the sun, I’ll do that tomorrow morning, whilst the front is still in the shade.

 

After tea I completed the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix, whilst there, I picked up the latest copy of RM, so I have something to read tomorrow. 

 

I’ve just had an email from ‘world of model railways’ with a link to watch an artist doing a watercolour painting of a ‘Spitfire’ only the aeroplane he’s actually painting is a ‘Hurricane!’

 

Goodnight all. 

 

Brian

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[simontaylor484]

Just been offered another convid test slot 

Bolton this time

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Goodnight all, from Greencountry.

 

Douglas

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

I’m feeling subdued and embarrassed, for I have made an extremely silly mistake.  The gist of what has happened is that I was oh so wrong about not having been offered an annual diabetes review for several years.  I now know that the last one was carried out on Monday 8th July 2019 at 9 am!  Fortunately I did not get as far as asking awkward questions of the practice manager.  “What’s it about?” asked the receptionist when I tried and all was revealed.  Oh heavens, what must you think of me and my forgettery?

 

I’ve been shopping and now have a blood pressure monitor to master.  First impressions are that this will not be too difficult.  Many thanks to all who proffered advice.  I gather that the phone call from the nurse is due on 23rd September so that does not give me long.  This rather put the kibosh on the preferred idea of borrowing a monitor from the surgery.  What a pity that the Government’s letter to surgeries telling them to offer face-to-face appointments to patients was not sent earlier.

 

Earlier I spent a very long time on the phone to BT trying to get the explanation that I had been promised about the three emptyings of my e-mail sent box that have taken place since 2nd August.  That is something that should not have happened once, let alone three times.  I have a number to call if, as I anticipate, the explanation is not forthcoming by Thursday afternoon.  The young man who handled my call, named Wesley, was quite the most interesting call centre worker that I have ever encountered.  I swear on a stack of Bibles that I did not set out to chat him up – what kind of boy do you think I am? – but his accent caught my ear.  I thought South Africa.  Nearly right – Zimbabwe.  There can’t be many guys from Zim living in Belfast and I bet not many of those have worked on a cattle farm in New Zealand and lived in Weston super Mare – not at the same time, obviously.  He reckoned that my accent was a bit posh for a Londoner!  Perhaps the musician friend who accused me ages ago of having a guards officer accent was right after all.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[brianusa]

Some of you guys certainly live up to be Early Risers, its just 1045PM old fashioned time here in GH with the promise of more smoke blown up from Oregon.  But our weather girl promises clearing by the end of the week so I'm still holding my breath!

       G'night

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Sun is shining so, fingers crossed, it should be a good day. We will be travelling via rhe Vectis Auction site as one or two items from Purley Oaks should do better being auctioned than going to Ebay.

 

Mugatea ready to drink, so adieu for the time being. Have a great day, very positive thoughts to all ERs and hope that our missing ones are ok.

 

Baz

[polybear]

9 hours ago, The Lurker said:

tomorrow sees the start of Operation Replace the Conservatory which will take three days or so and should give us something that is not too hot in summer and too cold in winter and so is actually usable. We shall see in time! 

 

Is the word "roof" missing from the above statement by any chance?  If so, it'll be one of the best things you ever did, if my experience is anything to go by.  You'll also be able to hear yourself think when it's hammering with rain.....

[jamie92208]

Good morning all. It's warm here. Got over 30 yesterday.  Quite a lot got done and a good part of the shed floor got tidied and swept in honour of an upcoming model railway group meeting.  However due to the worsening covid situation I've just sent an email round suggesting that we cancel that.  Time was spent in the pool and then some drinks with friends who are heading back to the UK and quarantine today.  In between times over 150 slides got scanned.

 

Today Beth is out with a friend so I'm off to Intermarché. Then off to some neighbours to buy Terry's morticing machine that will then help me to finish the gate that I'm making.  Not a lot else to report.

 

Chris, I'm glad that you are still in the system but over 18 months does seem like a long time since your last check up.  Simon, I do hope that you get the testing sorted.

 

Thoughts with our friends in the PNW.

 

Jamie

 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by jamie92208

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare, 

4 hours ish sleep followed by 3 hours of intermittent dozing trying to find a comfortable position.

 

I feel knackered and bruised, yet although I did a lot of work on the boat and BBQ I didn't think I'd done that much..

 

The Good news is we in North Norfolk still have the second lowest number of virus positives in the country, with just 1 recorded last week.. Quite amazing with the number of grockles we had visiting..

 

Heavy fist and mog this morning, visability at most about 1/2 mile but mostly about 200 to 400 yards.. Hard work driving in,  a couple of un-radar guided missiles went past on the NDR.. 

 

NHN's remarks about glucose measurement machines has sent me wading round the net, looking at information about them and accuracy... It's odd when you look a lot of reviews on a machine which there are very many  happy with it, then you find a couple  stating it's totally inaccurate and useless..

The cost of test strips seems very variable as well..

A decision will be made in the next couple of days..

 

Something went wrong with yesterdays 3 hour automatic run on one of the major systems yesterday, so it's running again. at least it gives me more time to work on the other major system..

 

Sitting very still at the moment as I'm measuring High Ohms.

 

Time to... sit some more

 

[grandadbob]

Good morning all

Hazy sunshine at the moment but that will change and a very sunny and hot day is forecast with temperatures up to 30°C possible.  I won't be doing anything too energetic then.

First task after breakfast and when they open at 10.00am is to visit the bank to relieve them of some of my cash which is needed for a transaction on Thursday.  I won't use ATMs unless there is absolutely  no other course of action (after twice having my card swallowed through no fault of my own) and also some in the area have been tampered with occasionally.  I can normally get up to £50 cashback at Sainsbury's but need rather more than that on this occasion).

I need to be quick as The Boss is visiting the hair strimmers today and would rather be driven there (and back) than walk.

Rugby watched last night saw Quins visiting Gloucester and defeating them with the help of some good play, a fair bit of luck and Gloucester having an off day.  This means that Quins will finish in the top eight and get some European action next season.  I rather like these weekday games but The Boss isn't very enthusiastic.  

More time was spent playing in The Shed instead of building platforms.  I did look at the kits though!  

I obtained a quote last year for changing our conservatory roof but the price made me blink a bit  a lot so that plan has been put on the back burner for now. 

Have a good one,

Bob. 

[New Haven Neil]

Morning.

 

After yesterday's glorious weather here, this morning is somewhat of a disappointment, damp and 16c. Foreguessed to improve though.

 

I hadn't ever thought much about accents of our assembled ER's, but of course we are well spread out in origin and current location.  I certainly didn't have Chris down as having a posh Guards Officer accent, just more generally 'suvvern'.  No mistaking my accent of course although I am told my version of Geordie is a bit posh nowadays, by old friends. I've been away a long time.

 

The Sphygs are really easy to use, Chris, it becomes second nature very quickly.  Just ensue you have sat quietly for a few minutes first, not rushing about then taking your BP!   Mine revealed very quickly that I don't like GP surgeries with a killer case of white coat fever, all those years of stress in the NHS to blame I suppose.  It seems stupid, but you can't control your subconscious.  My BP is fine at home with the current medication, but not fine at the GP's although I find both he and is predecessor to be nice helpful men I get on well with and trust. Unlike the diabetes nurse, but let's not go there!

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The heat mentioned by Jamie is heading our way. It didn't quite top 30 yesterday but is predicted to do so today. Q mentioned the number of virus positives in North Norfolk, here and in Southend the figures are almost as low. This is despite the number of grockles pouring into Southend during the last hot spell. Perhaps those who may have caught it took it away with them. It would be interesting to see the figures from other resort locations such as Blackpool. GDB if I want to avoid using the ATM's I draw cash in the post office, the only drawback is if there's a queue. Now to run that bath, be back later.

[grandadbob]

Phil. we only have one post office nearby (within a shop)  but I don't like using it unless absolutely necessary due to the unpleasant cooking smells within!

I believe Sutton is currently one of,  if not the best boroughs in London for low Covid numbers.

Edited September 15, 2020 by grandadbob
Put Sutton instead of London!

[AndrewC]

Greetings all from the borough of boring. 

No chickens here sadly. I'd love to have them but our garden with greenhouse and shed taking up a fair chunk of space is just fractionally too small. There is also the issue of a thriving local fox population that would mean turning the garden into a birdy Bellmarsh. 

 

Major fire last night in Crayford. As usual BBC London has ignored it as it is outside of zone 2. Several structures of the Optima Park were destroyed. Not sure yet if that included the very large Parcel Force depot or the training centre my son attended a few years ago. This was only a few hundred metres from the fire at Serco's recycling centre last month. hmmmm. 

 

A belated happy Birthday to Beth. 

 

Life goes on. Work is the usual suckage grande. SWMBO is on off on off on off with her furlough. One minute they are reopening her office, the next they aren't. Doubt anything will happen before Nov 1. Just hoping she will still have a job. All Christmas plans are off the table. The offspring is on long term sick leave after tearing a muscle in his lower back. On top of that his employer "key worker" insisted on all employees signing a covid clause which prevents them from public transport or travel. Yes, they can legally do that. The result of that is if he is back at work by December, he won't be able to take any leave or travel unless I taxi him to/from Carlisle. 

 

more coffee is required. Enjoy the day. 

[New Haven Neil]

On BG monitors Q, I have found the more expensive they are, they better they work and/or are easier to use!  As in you get what you pay for.  They are not accurate really at all, IIRC +/- 15% or so, but it is a comparative reading you are looking for at the end of the day so the actual number isn't that important within reason.

 

I have a cheapo SD CodeFree which uses strips, I find this awkward and fiddly having to carry and use separate strips and progger (Geordie word!) but it is cheap to run, and used it a lot when learning about my BG behaviour.  I also have an AccuChek Mobile which has a cassette type test, which is the Rolls-Royce of BG meters.  It costs more than twice as much to use (IIRO 40p a test) but is also twice as convenient as you only have to carry the one thing if going away from the house.  They produce about the same results, near enough anyway.  Now I don't have to test all the time as I can manage and reasonably predict my BG, I use the posh one almost exclusively.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Another day of sunshine, although it’s not quite as bright as yesterday there are a few more clouds about, but it is starting to brighten up, so I suspect it will be like yesterday, they’ll disappear soon and we’ll have wall to wall sunshine again. 

 

The plan today is to do the planting in the front while the sun is at the back, I also want to feed the box hedge and the viburnum that is in a pot on the front door step. After that I’ll go round the back and continue with the weeding. Hopefully I’ll get it all done today, but if it gets too hit, I might take shelter in the workshop!

 

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

 

Brian

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

We don’t have a conservatory.

I come from Birmingham so I suspect I have an accent. I have lived in Essex for over 40 years though. 
Our front door is wooden and occasionally needs adjustment. We didn’t change it when all the windows and other doors were replaced as it looks quite nice. The current trend here going by the door to door leaflets is for “secure” doors which look wooden but are steel set in a steel frame. I am not convinced we need a ram raid resistant door.

It appears to be a nice day. 
Tony

 

[tigerburnie]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Is the word "roof" missing from the above statement by any chance?  If so, it'll be one of the best things you ever did, if my experience is anything to go by.  You'll also be able to hear yourself think when it's hammering with rain.....

I take it you have had yours done, care to expand as it something we are thinking about.

[PhilJ W]

Back again, no bath this morning, no hot water! The boiler had shut down so I re-pressurised it but it only ran for a few seconds before shutting down again. A closer examination revealed a leak, not in the boiler itself but in the filter which is a separate item. I've managed to get some one in to fix it but not until Thursday.  

[grandadbob]

Quick visit between taxi trips to hair strimmers.  Bank raid was successful and I also relieved the butcher of some nice fillet steak for the freezer. 

I may have mentioned my accent before .  When I was 4 I went to a private school in Bedford and developed a posh accent and was even taught to call my father Sir!  Mum, being a Cockney (although you wouldn't know it unless she was recounting a story from her youth or telling a joke, which she did quite frequently) soon got me out of that habit.  On moving up to Brampton,  Hunts at age 5 I developed a bit of a Fen accent.  Moving to Morden and going to school in Mitcham at age 11 "The Yokel" had the p!ss taken out him by the Sarf Lundun boys.  That stopped quite quickly after a couple of bouts of fisticuffs whereupon it was agreed that "The Yokel" could look after himself and was best left alone unless you really wanted an enemy.  Over the years I suppose my accent has deteriorated into South Londonish  which is quite boring really.

Edited September 15, 2020 by grandadbob

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

It's Tuesday, bloody Tuesday - quite literally.  The INR blood test went somewhat awry with Simone thinking it was down to an unusual but known occurrence which has something to do with the open end of the needle getting stuck against the wall of the vein - presumably because the snifting valve (or whatever it's called in medic lingo) wasn't doing its job.  Anyway out comes a trickle of blood into the phial followed by a small gollop and then only a trickle. I assured  Simone that the needle wasn't through the vein. but not enough of the red liquid had been gathered to satisfy the Good Count's needs so it was decided to try again elsewhere.  So the needle was withdrawn, followed immediately by what the oil drilling folk refer to as a gusher - loads of the stuff pouring out all down my arm and all over her gloves.  So after some cleaning up, including using one of my sanitising wipes to clean up my arm, off she went to get a thing called a butterfly to have a go elsewhere - success.  Fortunately both patient and nurse weren't in the least upset by all this and we were actually having a bit of a laugh about it until she realised she'd also managed to give herself a stick injury - so she'll be giving up a sample for testing too.

 

Anyway all that amusement was preceded by a walk to the surgery through  what might best be described as a town of anti-social distancing with the vast majority of the cuplrits being over 50 and one, I know, is over 80.  The other surgery - directly opposite ours - is doing flu jabs today so there was a mighty queue of wrinklies about as distanced from each other as the average tinned sardine is from its mates although they were all (that I saw) wearing masks).  After that lot it was a pleasure to pop into well distanced Waitrose for some mushrooms, a 'paper, and the Radio Times but then it was back into flak alley dodging away from the unmasked who seem to have a very limited understanding of a 2 metre separation from other people.   But, hopefully, I got past unscathed and safely home to duly disinfest my limited shopping.  All in all, Waitrose apart, the blood letting fun & games has been the highlight of my day - just as well I don't get upset by the sight of blood although I suppose that rules me out for one tv series.  Oh and the other highlight was getting a flu jab - so at least I don't have to join a queue of other wrinklies for one of those one day soon.

 

One highlight - the sunshine has definitely brought them out as the saying goes and very short, tight, shorts would appear to be 'in'.  In the meanwhile despite the heat being generated the feeling in the house is almost like being on a ship with now, two air pumps circulating drying air and apparently exhausting 'wet' air, plus two big fans circulating it.  Sounds just like the forced air ventilation system on a ship - so actually quite restful at night but it ain't 'arf 'ot as all the doors and windows have to remain closed to avoid sucking in damp air from outside.

 

And Chrisf - not to worry - what's said on ERs stays on ERs and we all 'overlook' things now and again.

 

Have a good day one and all and dio your best to stay safe while, seemingly, plenty of others couldn't give a toss