Early Risers.

[Gwiwer]

Bother.  

 

We had the gas-person in on Friday to fix the boiler.  He had to go and get a part and said he was coming back later.  He hadn't appeared by the end of yesterday so an email was sent enquiring as to his whereabouts and reminding them that we had no hot water pending his return.  

 

Today we received an email advising that all jobs are now cancelled until further notice because "one of the team" has tested positive for Covid.  I have replied seeking clarification as to whether it was the "one" who visited us on the grounds that SWMBO is medically vulnerable so on a need-to-know basis they should be prepared to simply answer yes or no.   If it was he then I shall also have to get tested as I was of necessity within 2 metres intermittently for around 10 minutes though mostly at a rather greater distance.  

 

And for the immediate future the supply of hot water Upon the Hill of Strawberries will be confined to what the kettle can produce.  Which isn't really ideal when you have two people trying to shower each morning ........ 

 

Ho hum.  

[Tony_S]

6 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

as I was of necessity within 2 metres intermittently

We were considerably more distant from our gas boiler visitor yesterday. It was just an annual service (which is apparently very simple on a Vaillant boiler) and safety check not a repair so I didn’t have to explain anything. I thought Aditi looked concerned about having someone in the house, even if it was just inside the back door, but it was having to wait for lunch as the service commenced at just before 1pm. 
Tony

[polybear]

 

5 hours ago, AndyB said:

@polybear worth knowing that if you go down the leccy induction route that your pots and pans will need to be compatible. From memory - only used them once on a cooking course - they bring the pan's contents to the boil quickly without the heat having to conduct through the pan itself first. 

 

Incidentally, the manufacturing tolerances on ovens are quite generous in terms of set vs delivered temperature. This can be up to +/- 15oC (if memory serves). So worth using a thermometer, rather than believing the dial on the front.

 

I liken this to asking the kids what the weather is like, and instead of looking out of the window to get a reality check, they search for the answer on their phones.

 

Many thanks to all who've offered information regarding choice of Hob & Oven - interestingly my buddy next door prefers a gas hob too, though he says the induction hob in their french place is "reasonable".  A gas hob would save having the gas pipe capped, but no doubt the required gas fitter would want an arm and half a leg to connect a hob, bearing in mind manufacturers don't supply appliances with hoses fitted (wouldn't it be better to do so, and if a different fitting is required then a gas man swaps the hose for rigid?).  Maybe they're in cahoots together..... 

Does anyone prefer an induction hob over a gas hob, out of interest?

 

Today's antics so far include artexing the damaged window reveal; a coat of paint this afternoon should decide success, or otherwise, of the match with existing.  An exciting visit to the Co-op was also carried out, with no obvious cockwombles encountered.  And the replacement Bosch SDS drill was delivered this morning - hopefully a 240v version this time, though I've yet to check.

 

Some good news from yesterday - the final set of blood test results have all come back as "normal" (apparently I've had 38 tests in all - so hopefully they covered all bases...), so I guess the painful paws (which started after trying too hard to undo the lid of a jumbo jar of beetroot) isn't down to arthritis, which is a real relief.  The paws are gradually improving, so hopefully they will fix themselves over time......

 

One final thought:  I see they are already umming and ahhing over the new vaccine that is still on a train two miles down the track;  Bojo sidestepped a question last night asking if the Cabinet will be classed as "Priority" for receiving the vaccine at the front of the queue.....

 

I do hope that Bakers are right at the front though, otherwise cake supplies could suffer.......

 

4 hours ago, 45156 said:

Now awaiting the arrival of the blind fitter, who is due around 09.30.

 

I do recall a blind piano tuner who used to tune the pianos when I was at primary school, but a blind fitter is a new one on me.  Clever.

 

3 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

I was wondering if Mick's finger was broken by delivering a 'message' to some of those customers we occasionally talk about!  temptation is there on occasion, one side of the business I don't miss.

 

 

Was there a biggest & best "total nob of the year"?

 

46 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. It was a bit grey this morning but now  there's only a few fluffy white bits. No more news on the scrote but a neighbour who knows the family tells me that his knee injury is a bad one, so bad that at one time the word amputation was mentioned but they think now his leg can be saved. Thats it for now, be back later.

 

Perhaps a crowd-funding page is needed for the van driver - a decent hamper award for chr*mbo.....

Edited November 10, 2020 by polybear

[simontaylor484]

Afternoon all 

Had a busy morning with varous admin tasks. Swmbo went to Morrisons inside for 1.5 hrs due to queuing etc.

 

We had a gas hob but swapped it for induction when we changed kitchen last year. Our kitchen faces West and when sun shines through window you couldnt see the gas flame .

 

 

 

[simontaylor484]

Hermes have struck again we shoukd have had a parcel friday pm. We got an e-mail to say delayed but would still deliver that afternoon. Then at 345 we got an email to say that they tried to deliver but no one in. Now i do know access was blocked to the street due to roadworks at the top of access road to our estate.

 We heard nothing yesterday so on chasing delivery its allegedly gone missing. It was a pair of trainers for eldest for xmas they were last pair his size so we have to wait for refund.

Cant help but think someone has been a bit light fingered.

[Tony_S]

45 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

had a gas hob but swapped it for induction when we changed kitchen last year. Our kitchen faces West and when sun shines through window you couldnt see the gas flame .

A holiday property we rented in France had an induction hob. The controls were difficult to see due to being in sunlight. Ok at night though! Not a problem as there was a nice restaurant very near by.

[polybear]

2 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

We had a gas hob but swapped it for induction when we changed kitchen last year.

 

 

Apart from the obvious problem of the invisible gas flame, how do you like the induction hob?

[J. S. Bach]

6 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

Without wishing to cause offence to collectors of such, I can't resist observing that as hobbies go, that has to be one of the pottier!

Only beaten by guzunder collecting, I suppose.

There is an organized hobby for barbwire collectors. It seems that over the years it was determined the a sample of at least 18" will have at least two (the minimum required) barbs present. And, no, I do not collect it and do not have any; well, unless there is some somewhere buried in my unexplored woods.

[simontaylor484]

15 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Apart from the obvious problem of the invisible gas flame, how do you like the induction hob?

We quite like it we replaced the saucepan set at the same time. Its easier to keep clean too

[J. S. Bach]

18 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Evening All,

Hope I haven’t offended anyone (J.S.Bach in particular) with my last post.

Robert

Not at all, I was just curious as to your  "best" comment spoken like you had been there. I only know one person in the UK that collect insulators and is a model railroader (although he models western US!) in HO.

[PeterBB]

Polybear

Does anyone prefer an induction hob over a gas hob, out of interest?

 

Absolutely - gas is always a pain apart from its obvious danger.  We used to be gas but it is not available in our village so we went electric and a few years ago replaced with an induction hob.  It has been absolutely superb as we had saucepans etc. that worked with it.  That would be an additional expense bit it is well worth having as control is far better than gas.  Hope that helps.  Peter

[PeterBB]

3 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Hermes have struck again we shoukd have had a parcel friday pm. We got an e-mail to say delayed but would still deliver that afternoon. Then at 345 we got an email to say that they tried to deliver but no one in. Now i do know access was blocked to the street due to roadworks at the top of access road to our estate.

 We heard nothing yesterday so on chasing delivery its allegedly gone missing. It was a pair of trainers for eldest for xmas they were last pair his size so we have to wait for refund.

Cant help but think someone has been a bit light fingered.

Strangely we have had the same problem with the same company of late.  The previous lady was excellent but ... this last few weeks with someone else ...

Edited November 10, 2020 by PeterBB
spelling correction

[Andrew P]

3 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Hermes have struck again we shoukd have had a parcel friday pm. We got an e-mail to say delayed but would still deliver that afternoon. Then at 345 we got an email to say that they tried to deliver but no one in. Now i do know access was blocked to the street due to roadworks at the top of access road to our estate.

 We heard nothing yesterday so on chasing delivery its allegedly gone missing. It was a pair of trainers for eldest for xmas they were last pair his size so we have to wait for refund.

Cant help but think someone has been a bit light fingered.

Gggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Don't talk to me about Herpes  WHOOPS, Hermes, I am waiting for a refund for a none collected item, but can't speak to a Human Being, I'll never deal with them again.

Now I'm jumping up and down again.

[Barry O]

I have tried induction hobbs, old style electric hobbs and gas ones.. I will stick with gas as long as I can. We have a SMEG double electric oven.. the worst piece of kitchen equipment we have ever had.. you cannot get cakes to cook well in either oven.. absolute garbage - and we will be changing it sometime BUT as we all have to go electric as the UK has decided we need to be more green... so we have to move to ground sourced heat pumps.. not the most reliable thing in the world and currently a price rip off. It is great saying use greener energy but I can't get a wind farm in our garden or a large set of panels on the roof.. even if I wanted to afford them..

 

 

Apologies but as an Engineer the lack of joined up thinking at the top "echelons" in the UK is really a pain!

 

Baz

[tetsudofan]

Had an interesting day yesterday but looking back on if things hadn't gone well I probably wouldn't be here posting.

 

For the last few days I've had a couple of roofers up on the roof sorting out some problems for which they had a scaffolding erected. Yesterday at about 2:00pm popped out into the garden to ask them if they wanted some more tea (the liquid stuff). As they said yes (as they always do!!) I headed back indoors walking in front of the scaffolding. Suddenly one of the roofers shouted get out of the way but before I had time to move quickly there was blood everywhere.

 

A piece of steel about 18" long, quarter of inch thick and nearly two inches wide had caught the back of my head on the way to the ground. One of the roofers bundled me into their van and 5 minutes later I was outside the local minor injury clinic. Blood was still everywhere so it wasn't too long before I was inside being treated. At one stage I had three nurses looking after me stopping the bleeding, checking blood pressure, giving me a tetanus jab, glue the broken skin (which took quite a time) and other various things including a tea cosy-like bandage to keep everything in place.

 

Later one of the senior nurses appeared and decided that as I'm on blood thinning medication and the possibility of unknown internal damage to my head I should be carted off to the local A&E about 20 minutes away up the M20. To cut a long story short arrived at the A&E just before 5:00pm, was triaged at 6:00pm, seen by the Doctor at just before 10:00pm, had a CT scan close to 11:00pm, got the all clear that no internal damage had been done to the head at 1:00am and was discharged at 1.33am and taken to the Observation Ward to await the Patient Transport home which got me home just before 2:00am. What a day. Just got to remember now not to get the back of my head wet for the next few days, got some clear shower caps today so must remember to put one on before having a shower.

 

It might seem strange but in all my 75 years this was the first time I had actually been a patient in an A&E department..... and what an eye-opener. How the staff working there survive I don't know. Just hope it's sometime before I have to make another visit.

 

Looking back on what happened yesterday I think I'm very lucky. If that heavy chunk of steel had come down vertically on my head after falling for at least 15 feet I hate to think what could have happened. I might not have known much about it.

 

Keith

[Ian Abel]

Moaning...

 

Yesterday and continuing today the spate of "adjustments" (otherwise known as throw the entire mess into the air and see where each line lands) to the Long Island client reports is driving me to drink even FASTER than last weeks election sh!tshow!!!

 

Nothing else happening here at all, simply awaiting any sense/indication of normality, though everyone we talk to or hear on the news seems to exude a HUGE sense of relief (except of course the obvious idiot element that seem to still insist billions of illegal votes have arrived from Mars or further afield in the universe apparently - cockwombles!)

 

Planning a dinner with Jemma and Brendan on Thursday, we're (mostly ME!) are considering tackling "millionaire's shortbread" - I'm always up for a challenge when it comes to tasty dessert  

 

Overnight LOW of +1 was/is the high for the day, currently -1 and dropping with -3 expected by early evening. Snow flurries so far but we've been threatened with possible small accumulations later today.

 

Tally ho...

[Joseph_Pestell]

 

I'm not superstitious but I try never to walk below ladders or scaffolds. I've seen this sort of thing happen too often.

[Sir TophamHatt]

Never really understood bullies nor what their aim is.

If it's to make someone feel bad, not sure what positive feelings that gives the bully or why that route is chosen to make them feel that way.

 

While I don't think you'll get on with everyone in an office, it's the adults that don't just say what their problem is that I don't understand.  If you're a bully and want to make someone feel bad, surely you'd want the opportunity to tell that person why you think they're rubbish or whatever.

 

Not to worry.

 

Still gaining in my position so not that bothered at the moment.  I pity those who don't want to let go of their dislike and anger.

[AndyB]

Just one additional thought from me on the gas vs electric. Where I live we get power cuts from time to time, sometimes lasting the best part of a day.

As we have a gas hob we can at least make a hot meal and boil water for hot drinks without relying on electricity. 

[Tony_S]

51 minutes ago, tetsudofan said:

 

Looking back on what happened yesterday I think I'm very lucky. If that heavy chunk of steel had come down vertically on my head after falling for at least 15 feet I hate to think what could have happened. I might not have known much about it.

Quite some experience. Not at all what you would have expected after offering tea. In my family they would have said something like “good job it hit you on the head, nothing to damage there”. Fortunately Aditi is much nicer than my other relatives. 

Edited November 10, 2020 by Tony_S

[New Haven Neil]

Evening. 

 

Wow Keith - take care my friend.  Sir T-H too, sounds like a work issue that needs dealing with - if it's anything like where I worked (long before Trackshack!) it won't be, just pushed under the carpet.  Mrs NHN once made a bullying complaint, but after investigation it was found to be 'not quite reaching the threshold for action' - the perpetrator is now ruining a different department where they were pushed under the carpet into.  Normal Civil Service result - hide the problem away rather than deal with it.

 

Odd that Peter BB found induction more controllable than gas - we found the opposite!  Hated the damn thing.  It's in the tip.

 

 

 

 

[tigerburnie]

Evening, we managed a trip out to our daughters, and got back home in time for the local move to level 3 in the covid scale, we might not see the family for a few weeks now I guess, so glad we went. Re the Gas v Leccy, we had always cooked and heated with Gas, then we bought this place with no mains Gas in the village, we bought a nice Neff outfit, fan oven and hob, wifes got used to it and now prefers the leccy and wouldn't want to go back, our daughter has Gas and and she would like to go leccy too having used ours.

[Coombe Barton]

... and tales from the freezer ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/11/10/same-hymn-sheet-please/

[TheQ]

That's why we have a two burner with grill boat cooker,  ready for emergencies.. 

Just have to remember not to bury it under other stuff kept for emergencies. As happened last time we needed it. 

 

I note my sisters in Bo'ness reporting that they didn't get shoved up up to level 3, which they were worried they would be as they are surrounded by higher level areas.

 

Just seen on TV the confirmation of closure of Paxman diesels in Colchester,  sad to see them go.. 

I note however looking it up,  this is TV being on the ball, as it was announced in July and confirmed 5 days ago..

Edited November 10, 2020 by TheQ

[New Haven Neil]

As someone who had to suffer maintaining Paxman diesels, I'm happy to dance on their grave!