Early Risers.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Before I started went to the workshop this morning, I decided to make use of the dry weather and also of the fact that the garden waste bin gets emptied tomorrow. So I swept up some more leaves from the back garden and filled the wheelbarrow. When I took it round to the front, I took my brush and shovel and swept the front up too. But at this time of year, by the time Saturday comes along, it’ll look like I’ve never bothered at all!

 

I finally got into the workshop around 11 o’clock and discovered that I had to redo a small section of handrails on the turntable bridge as they hadn’t set straight. It was a little bit annoying but these things happen. Some more painting of the well has taken place, although it’s looking a little too dark, but I’m hoping that it will lighten a bit once the paint has dried. If not, I’ll add a wash of pale grey to hopefully lighten it a wee bit. 

 

Midway through the morning I had a phone call from one of my former apprentices. The call most welcome but was completely out of the blue and we ended chatting for about 20 minutes or so, mainly about the current national situation and how work was going etc. I’d not spoken to her for a while now and it really cheered me up no end.

 

This afternoon Sheila went for her flu jab, like a lot of places the surgery had set up an awning outside so she didn’t actually go into the building. She did however get her diabetic results from earlier in the year, her blood sugar levels were at 4.2, so she’ll next get called in in January.

 

All in all, it’s been a very good day today. 

 

Goodnight all. 

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BokStein]

Evening!

 

Just been fighting with LibreOffice to set a reference to a bookmark in a document.  Many already exist but this one eludes me!

 

2 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

They may feature on my blog???

 

Don't read blogs; if it ain't on the main thread, it don't get read; life's too short.

[Erichill16]

Still cant sleep, not like Sydney. Again from earlier in the week. Going to get up and have something to eat. 

[BR60103]

Learned someting interesting today. I was standing by SWMBO when she dropped a tub of yogurt (the creamy style). Some of it must have gone up 6 feet as it was in my hair. On my glasses. Down my sweater. Along my pants. On my slippers.

And there was a pile on the floor.

I called the car dealer today and ordered winter tires. We will not be travelling south of the snow line this winter, so they'll be vital. 

I completed the last of the SQ row houses today and now need to find a justification for them. Weel, they still need chimney pots.

I have refrained from commenting on posts that were mainly British issues or about food that I have no experience of.

 

[jamie92208]

Good moaning to all, and sundry.  Still very dark here and will be for a while yet. Yesterdays post brought a letter about local taxes, setting out our standing order payments for next year. In a box half way up it showed the last 3 for this year. 54, 54 and €669 for Oct, Nov and Dec. Not a happy bunny so this morning I'm off to the tax office to try and get an explanation.  Apart from that there isn't a lot on the agenda so the ironing may get done.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

Edited October 23, 2020 by jamie92208

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

I went shopping yesterday, with mixed success.  I am very picky about seasonal greetings cards and have firm views about both the design on the front and the greeting inside.  Two different charity shops had enough to meet my needs, assuming of course that I have counted correctly.  A few spares would not hurt.  Thank you, Salvation Army and Sue Ryder.  Oxfam, you’re next.  Earlier I caught the bus across town to big Sainsburys in Kempston.  There I found own brand Instant Whip or is it Angel Delight but, sadly, not the own brand custard powder that I desired.  Bird’s, the brand leader, is very good but why pay more?

 

A few days ago I was looking for a couple of books and came across some that I did not know I had.  One is the autobiography of Kate Adie.  This is likely to lead to a few early nights reading myself to sleep.  The combination of Question Time on the radio and Modern Railways in my hands worked well last night.  I really need to bin some of the more ephemeral magazines to which I subscribe to make room for the ones that are worth keeping. It will be cheaper than buying a bigger house, which is not a good idea at my time of life.   The danger of chucking out printed matter is that I may want to refer to it at a later date.  One of my current spasmodic m*d*ll*ng projects has benefitted from my reading articles dating back half a lifetime.  However, I have set aside all my old Good Beer Guides which will be entrusted to the Oxfam shop once I have worked out how to get them there.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[Robert]

Morning All!

 

Just  a quick message to say good morning.  I hope that you are all fairing well.

 

We are well into Autumn now, and it's damp but mild today.

 

There isn't a lot else to report so have a good day everyone...

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner temple Hare 772/483.

A better nights sleep of 5.5 hours + 1 one on the sofa, this was because of two little pink pills taken because my hands were getting quite annoying.

This morning post ablutions, they have had a coating of Ibuprophen, which is easing them at the moment. but shortly they'll get the first of many coats of sanitiser.. if Ibuprophen works externally, just what is many coats of sanitiser doing?

 

Ben the Scaredy Collie was back this morning, He wanted out this morning , had stopped just a few yards later to have a sniff, and then a pheasant squawked in the bushes...  That was it, back to the door, head down, looking all sad for himself and no encouragement would get him to go for his patrol...

 

Purchases at the orange shed yesterday went to plan although they've still not got the cutting machine running which means more work for me... 

Though I've just realised I need to get some bitumen paint, I'm fairly sure this garage was built without damp proofing, so I need to coat the bottom six inches of these partitions before putting them up.

Going there, there is a double right turn, with a slip road for the first one and then you turn right for the second one a few feet later. Some cockwomble in a mondeo used the slip road to overtake me to the second junction cutting me up, he got a blast from the horn for that... And then less than 50yards later he hung on the anchors and pulled into a layby.. He got another blast on the horn for that too..

Then after leaving the orange shed I take the right hand lane as there was just  one car in it but a long queue in the left... the light turn green and.... nothing... the car ahead was so slow off the line 4 cars and a small lorry overtook on the inside... the car ahead ?   a BMW....

 

Yesterdays current shunt work went well, I just have a little formalities on that to sort out.. Then it's onto our working set, which has 28 shunts in all, I won't get them all done to day at about 1/2 an hour each, but it will keep me occupied..

 

But First 

Time to clear the company junk mail..

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Dry so far but showers are forecast.

The Boss was woken up by her phone at 6.30.  She received a text from the surgery advising her that she should have a flu jab and an appointment has been made for tomorrow. .........we both had them done a fortnight ago! 

A quick trip out this morning required to purchase her magazines and I may buy some wine as it appears Sainsbury's are doing their 25% discount on 6 bottles again.

After that I will probably spend time in The Shed and continue to fix the ongoing running problem.

Tomorrow Wasps will be in the Rugby Premiership Final even though 11 players and staff have tested positive for Covid. (Along with referee Wayne Barnes)

Have a good one,

Bob.

[polybear]

 

3 hours ago, BR60103 said:

And there was a pile on the floor.

 

 

What of?? 

 

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

Yesterdays post brought a letter about local taxes, setting out our standing order payments for next year. In a box half way up it showed the last 3 for this year. 54, 54 and €669 for Oct, Nov and Dec. Not a happy bunny so this morning I'm off to the tax office to try and get an explanation.

 

 

That'll be the French saving up for the scrappage scheme for their Fishing Fleet..... 

 

In other news:

 

Bear's Tip of the Day:

 

If you ever struggle drilling into brickwork, concrete etc. then do yourself a favour and invest in an SDS Drill.  Remember the first time you used a hammer drill in brickwork after struggling with ordinary drills for years?  Think how impressed you were, then multiply it by a big number.  Bear borrowed his pal next door's Bosch jobbie yesterday - the performance going into walls is something else.  Cost a ton upwards from Screwfix for a Bosch; other makes you may never have heard of start at fifty.  Factor in a bit more (twenty quid or so) for the special SDS drill bits required (the shank is different). 

[Andrew P]

1 hour ago, chrisf said:

Greetings one and all

 

I went shopping yesterday, with mixed success.  I am very picky about seasonal greetings cards and have firm views about both the design on the front and the greeting inside.  Two different charity shops had enough to meet my needs, assuming of course that I have counted correctly.  A few spares would not hurt.  Thank you, Salvation Army and Sue Ryder.  Oxfam, you’re next.  Earlier I caught the bus across town to big Sainsburys in Kempston.  There I found own brand Instant Whip or is it Angel Delight but, sadly, not the own brand custard powder that I desired.  Bird’s, the brand leader, is very good but why pay more?

 

A few days ago I was looking for a couple of books and came across some that I did not know I had.  One is the autobiography of Kate Adie.  This is likely to lead to a few early nights reading myself to sleep.  The combination of Question Time on the radio and Modern Railways in my hands worked well last night.  I really need to bin some of the more ephemeral magazines to which I subscribe to make room for the ones that are worth keeping. It will be cheaper than buying a bigger house, which is not a good idea at my time of life.   The danger of chucking out printed matter is that I may want to refer to it at a later date.  One of my current spasmodic m*d*ll*ng projects has benefitted from my reading articles dating back half a lifetime.  However, I have set aside all my old Good Beer Guides which will be entrusted to the Oxfam shop once I have worked out how to get them there.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

Chris, I'd interested to know how you like the Kate Adie book. I had it from the Library last year and really struggled to get into it, and never finished it, but I like her as a presenter.  

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Called by earlier but it was very quiet..unlike here where the roads have got buier again..

 

Today has nothing on my todo list... yet! Glad that you and yours are ok Robert!

 

Jet2 wanr us to go on holiday in the Canary Islands.. prices are about what they were last year unlike Madiera which has seen big increases in prices.. come February we may just be tempted to get some sun.

 

The mint and pea fritter eaten with our fish and chips for tea was very flavoursome. Her indoors is not happy with the after effects though.

 

Carpe Diem...GDB kick the thing in the shed into submission!

Baz

[Andrew P]

Nice clear sky's over the Souf Coast so far, although the forecast was for rain this morning, so off for my walk now, then back for a hearty breakfast of cereal, haha.

[Sir TophamHatt]

On 20/10/2020 at 17:20, Sir TophamHatt said:

Back waiting on the model railway front but for people this time.

 

... which arrived yesterday.

They look pretty good too.  Better than the ones I have already.

 

However, having a busy two days at work.  Already preparing for the clocks going back.  At least I'm off on Sunday so if I forget, no worries!

[polybear]

31 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

Chris, I'd interested to know how you like the Kate Adie book. I had it from the Library last year and really struggled to get into it, and never finished it, but I like her as a presenter.  

 

What's the difference between a war and a skirmish?

If Kate's there it's a war.....

[iL Dottore]

12 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear's rant of the day:

ER'ers may remember Bear reporting the saga of the painful paws some weeks ago - is it due to fighting a losing battle with the lid on a jumbo jar of beetroot, or the onset of Arthritis of some form?

Well, several weeks ago Bear had blood tests - with not a lolly in sight

A week later I phoned for results - ok so far, with more to come.  So I phoned earlier this week for the missing results - also ok.  I enquired as to whether or not that was all results received.  A quick check reveals some still not back, despite the tests being two weeks ago.  The docs would investigate....

 

Bear receives a call yesterday from the Docs - could I recall how many blood test forms I had?  Dream on - 2? Maybe 3?  It seems that the Renal tests I was due to have were never done .  The secretary would just "check something" before printing off the form for the missing tests.  She phones back a few minutes later - the form was printed off several weeks ago, only they neglected to give it to me with the other two forms .  So that means yet another trip into town to get yet more blood tests done - more pain, no lolly

The secretary couldn't tell me if the Renal blood tests were needed as a part of Arthritis investigations, or if they were simply tacked on the end as a quick general MOT.  If it were the latter then dodging them would be less of an issue with regard to solving the painful paws issue.  As it is, the paws do seem to be less painful than they were (or I'm getting braver) so maybe it's a very bad sprain of some sort, taking several months to fix?

 

Rant mode disengaged....

Bloody hell, Bear. You’d be better off going to a proper vet (Dr of Veterinary Medicine) than place yourself back in the hands of that lot....

Recently Lucy had been only intermittently eating and had been vomiting - also intermittently - so off we went to the vet (Tuesday. ME: Can you see Lucy [explains problem]? VET ADMIN: Of course, would tomorrow at 3pm work for you?. ME: Yes, thank you). Wednesday full exam & blood work drawn, tentative diagnosis made. Thursday evening, Vet calls: all labs WNL except one. We discuss options and possible diagnoses and decide to take a conservative approach and run a more sophisticated haematological analysis. No need to return as Vet still has blood samples and associated paperwork. One week later, Vet calls, full panel WNL, we discuss case and Lucy’s current status, decide that currently no further action needed. 
As for the why for renal tests, if you are going to put someone on a medication long term (as would be the case with Arthritis) you’d want to check hepatic and/or renal function to see if there are any potential problems in the offing, adjusting the prescription accordingly.

Returning to your rant, my dear Bär, perhaps you should give Professor Noel Fitzpatrick (the “Supervet”) a call???? He and his team will both [a] know what is supposed to be happening and [ b] know where results, etc. are... (plus, you’ll probably get a Bär-Gützli or something as a reward)

11 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

It was 45 in my case, and again at 55, where I felt things 'slow down'.

 

Q, yes 'carb 'flu' is a thing.  Takes a few months to wear off, then you get carb craving.....

45? You were lucky to get to 45! (cue 4 Yorkshiremen sketch)

I steadfastly maintain that, when I turned 30 the “warranty ran out” and things started to fail...

Nowadays I claim that I am “both original and functioning” but - alas - the original parts aren’t functioning and the functioning parts are not original...” 

And as for carb cravings, I shall just say I am too familiar with the misery of a carb craving compulsion (and will discreetly drawn the curtain over my recent - ahem - “mishap” involving an entire loaf of sliced white and a catering sized packet of ham....)

9 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Can’t sleep so thought I might post a picture of Sydney on the beach at Filey from earlier this week. 

Lucky lad.

Once Mrs iD takes retirement (and things sort themselves out vis-a-vis the coronavirus) we plan on taking the Wolfpack to the seaside (either in France, Holland or Germany, not sure yet [Holland has an offshore island that is promoted as “dog friendly”, so may end up there]). We think, from some of her behaviours, that Lucy may have some spent some time near the sea (apparently, she entered the French animal rescue system in the South of France - so a previous littoral experience is eminently plausible). Schotty loves water and, again from his behaviours, we don’t think that he has seen the sea. A “trip to the seaside” is most definitely something to look forward to.

Now off to get the doggies wet (top-down as opposed to bottom-up, given that it’s chucking it down), may be back later.

Enjoy POETS day

iD

Edited October 23, 2020 by iL Dottore
Typo

[Andrew P]

2 hours ago, chrisf said:

Greetings one and all

 

I went shopping yesterday, with mixed success.  I am very picky about seasonal greetings cards and have firm views about both the design on the front and the greeting inside.  Two different charity shops had enough to meet my needs, assuming of course that I have counted correctly.  A few spares would not hurt.  Thank you, Salvation Army and Sue Ryder.  Oxfam, you’re next.  Earlier I caught the bus across town to big Sainsburys in Kempston.  There I found own brand Instant Whip or is it Angel Delight but, sadly, not the own brand custard powder that I desired.  Bird’s, the brand leader, is very good but why pay more?

 

A few days ago I was looking for a couple of books and came across some that I did not know I had.  One is the autobiography of Kate Adie.  This is likely to lead to a few early nights reading myself to sleep.  The combination of Question Time on the radio and Modern Railways in my hands worked well last night.  I really need to bin some of the more ephemeral magazines to which I subscribe to make room for the ones that are worth keeping. It will be cheaper than buying a bigger house, which is not a good idea at my time of life.   The danger of chucking out printed matter is that I may want to refer to it at a later date.  One of my current spasmodic m*d*ll*ng projects has benefitted from my reading articles dating back half a lifetime.  However, I have set aside all my old Good Beer Guides which will be entrusted to the Oxfam shop once I have worked out how to get them there.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

 

52 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

Chris, I'd interested to know how you like the Kate Adie book. I had it from the Library last year and really struggled to get into it, and never finished it, but I like her as a presenter.  

 

19 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

What's the difference between a war and a skirmish?

If Kate's there it's a war.....

WHOOPS . You Plonker Peters, the book I couldn't get in to was Kate Humble, not Kate Adie, .

It  was a bit early in the morning. Well that's my excuse anyway.

[TheQ]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

 

Bear's Tip of the Day:

 

If you ever struggle drilling into brickwork, concrete etc. then do yourself a favour and invest in an SDS Drill.  Remember the first time you used a hammer drill in brickwork after struggling with ordinary drills for years?  Think how impressed you were, then multiply it by a big number.  Bear borrowed his pal next door's Bosch jobbie yesterday - the performance going into walls is something else.  Cost a ton upwards from Screwfix for a Bosch; other makes you may never have heard of start at fifty.  Factor in a bit more (twenty quid or so) for the special SDS drill bits required (the shank is different). 

Had one for years, Just the cheap Screwfix Titan , used it first to put a hole in a wall for a tumble dryer air vent..

Also found it useful for digging a piece of ground.... ground that had the rubble from and the foundations of, an old barn.

It's next use is probably to drill holes in the garage floor for brackets to hold the bottom of the partitions in place..

The Cheap Screwfix Titan version comes complete with the SDS drill  bits..

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

A dull start to the day, there has already had a brief light shower as I sat eating my breakfast it looks like that is how the rest of the day is going to be. Once I’ve finished my breakfast I’ll be heading off to the butchers to collect the weekly meat rations and hopefully a pastie for dinner. Once I’ve returned and packed away said rations I’ll make myself muggertea No2 and sit down for a few minutes before heading off to the Trafford Centre for a few more comestibles.

 

As for the rest of the day, there are no firm plans as such, but that could always change. 

 

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

 

Brian

[New Haven Neil]

Kate Humble...oh yes I could get in.....no, stop there Neil.

 

Morning peoples.  Persisting down here, more Carp than Carpe Diem today.

 

Brian, I assume that 4.2 was an HbA1C, as a percentage, excellent result indeed, I don't get below  5.2%.  If it was just a BG, then pretty good too, good control but it depends when she last ate!  HbA1c is a sort of average over the previous 3 months or so, a better gauge of matters.

 

Bike (car version) club shortly, then job de la jour, trying to sort out the log burner.

 

SDS drills, crikey, years ago I borrowed a Hilti one from a rep who used to hang around the bike shop Mrs NHN worked in, to drill through a double wall of hard pressed brick my B&D of the time wouldn't touch.  Took seconds....excellent kit.

[grandadbob]

When I retired 16 years ago I bought myself a job lot of power tools from B & Q on a special offer.  This included their own brand "Performance Pro" SDS rotary hammer drill complete with about 20 masonry bits and concrete points and chisels.  Cost about £50 at the time and is still going strong and been used for all sorts of small demolition and concrete breaking jobs.

 

Sainsbury's visited and wine special offer taken advantage of so the "cellar" now has another dozen assorted bottles of my favourite Aussie plonk. With the 25% off and The Boss's 10% discount on top the whole lot only cost £49.95 which is not bad at all.

 

P.S. Neil - Kate Humble?  Oh yes indeed!  

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by grandadbob

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, Andrew P said:

Chris, I'd interested to know how you like the Kate Adie book. I had it from the Library last year and really struggled to get into it, and never finished it, but I like her as a presenter.  

She was not particularly popular in army circles,  being known as 'The Angel of Death'.

[Barry O]

5 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

She was not particularly popular in army circles,  being known as 'The Angel of Death'.

particularly in Gulf War 1..

 

Baz