Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[J. S. Bach]

Having just read through four plus pages to catch up on what I missed, it now time to bid a fond adieu to one and all so ...

 

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

I ended up going shopping yesterday.  It gave the car a decent run and got me out of the house, both of which are Good Things.  I decided to treat myself to some more rainbow regalia, this time from the Swindon Pride pop-up shop.  I am now the proud possessor of a rainbow towel, two rainbow face masks, a rainbow mug and a small rainbow shopping bag.  When will these items appear in public?  Good question, but I suspect that one of the masks will adorn my face sooner rather than later.  On a related subject, little has been seen or heard of The Tie lately.  That is about to change.  Watch this space.

 

Another recent purchase did not come from Swindon but from Grace Petrie in Leicester.   It is a T shirt with the slogan: “You scumbag, you maggot, I love Diane Abbott”.  Irresistible!  It should arrive in time for the festive season.  Shall I wear it to dinner on Christmas Day?  Nah, better not.

 

I have some entries in the diary this week – quite like old times!  On Tuesday the Hitchin battalion of the Royal Corps of Train Spotters is having a Zoom meeting with the same speaker and subject that it would have been if we were gathered together in the church hall like the dearly beloveds that we are.  Rather less exciting will be Friday when my next hormone injection will be administered.  This means that, unless a new way has been found of drilling a hole in my midriff, I will be allowed – drum roll, please - to enter the surgery!  It will be a while before there is firm news of the vaccinations that we are all being asked to have.  Current thinking is that the over 80s will be high on the list.  I cannot think of this without being reminded of the Over 80s Nudist Leapfrog Team, made famous by the writers of “Beyond Our Ken” all those years ago.  I leave the thought with you.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[jamie92208]

Good moaning.  Fire lit, breakfast had, coffee being drunk.  Now waiting for Paul, the builder to arrive within the next hour.  A parcel pick up is to happen today so one of us has to stay in.  It may be a day of waiting around and helping Paul if needed.

 

Stay safe everyone,

 

Jamie

Edited December 7, 2020 by jamie92208

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

No items on the slop chit for today.. I might try and do some muddling as my eye feels fine now.

 

Fatchy pog outside and brass monkeys are wandering around looking for a welder.

 

Have as good a day as you can!

Baz

[AndyB]

8 hours ago, BSW01 said:

Double 0 is still 0

Very observant. No need to chip you!

 

I was wondering if the reason the vaccine has to be kept at -80c is because the chips are some of those super-computer ones that work best when cold. I guess for some they need all the enhancement on offer! 

 

But I also heard a rumour that when asked if they minded having chips with their vaccine many people responded that it was fine provided there was salt and vinegar too.

 

The survey team gave up on the question about people's feelings about installing cookies.

[polybear]

9 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

Make them all sit together at the back....

Behind a sealed cabin door.

 

Make them board last, get off last, no hand baggage, hard plastic seats, b.all legroom no food or drink allowed, no movies, no pc/tablet/phone, no toilets......

This could get silly....

[TheQ]

31 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Make them board last, get off last, no hand baggage, hard plastic seats, b.all legroom no food or drink allowed, no movies, no pc/tablet/phone, no toilets......

This could get silly....

Surely landing would be by pushing out of the door (using a long pointed stick) by parachute..

Edited December 7, 2020 by TheQ

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl Inner Temple Hare,

4.5 hours sleep followed by a long gap and then..  I thought I hadn't had any more sleep but 3 hours disappeared..

 

Ben enjoyed himself out on patrol and didn't want to come back in until a pheasant squawked ..

 

Cold, grass frosty only in the most exposed areas, high thin cloud, car definitely frozen, I started it before Bens Patrol .

 

Very slippery on the way in on the country ungritted roads, I slid my way up to a junction at 10mph, ABS doing it's thing.

 

Heavy fog after the first mile, so even once I got to the gritted main roads, it was definitely not fast driving time.

 

Strangely half of the car park is coned off, that's not the area for the storage containers. There is no notice in the Emails ..

 

This weeks major system is an odd one, a legacy system for an old piece of test equipment, I suspect if it weren't for one very important customer we'd stop doing them any more. The calibration is very similar to the majority of systems, but just different enough to make sure you have to pay attention.

 

I may visit the Orange shed on the way home, I really do need some OSB..

 

Time to .. Take the next measurement..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[iL Dottore]

32 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Make them board last, get off last, no hand baggage, hard plastic seats, b.all legroom no food or drink allowed, no movies, no pc/tablet/phone, no toilets......

This could get silly....

Even better: You let them travel, in a separate cabin (with minimal staff, all of whom have been vaccinated) and then - when they get to the other end - leave them to the tender mercies of the destination authorities, which would likely mean 14 days enforced quarantine in a secure location (preferably at their own cost). This would make more than a few anti-vaxxers thinks twice.

 

In regards to the very valid comments about some people (very, very few) being allergic to the excipients in the vaccine, by the end of 2021 we will have at least three vaccines available - one of which likely to be suitable for those people who are allergic to certain excipients (poor bu99ers).

[Winslow Boy]

41 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Surely landing would be by pushing out of the door (using a long pointed stick) by parachute..

I'm isn't that a waste of a perfectly good parachute.

[45156]

18 hours ago, 45156 said:

 

Was just having a shower this morning, when 30747 got a phone call from her manager, about 08.30 this morning to say that three children from the same family had tested positive for Covid, and as a result, the nursery is closed for a week - so I was roused from my shower to get the laptop fired up to see if I could arrange a test - and after much negotiation of the .gov website, managed to get this arranged - and the system also offered an option for another household member to have a test, I sigend up  as well.  The location was, strangely enough, literally next door to her now closed workplace, as she works on a university campus, and there is a test centre there.

 

 

So the test results arrived within twelve hours, and luckily we are both negative - as are all 30747's colleagues who also had tests yesterday - but nursery will still need to remain closed until next Tuesday

[jonny777]

Another dull and cold day in North Somerset, and hardly enough light indoors to read the paper. 

 

Spent yesterday afternoon cleaning the bird feeders. It is amazing how quickly sunflower hearts get damp and sticky in wet weather despite the feeders having metal lids to keep the rain off as best as possible. The contents soon go mouldy and probably harbour nasty bacteria. 

 

I have a couple of expensive Droll Yankee feeders and they seem to fare worse for damp than a cheap all plastic copy I bought from a pet shop. Oh well, such is life. I hope the birds enjoy their new clean food dispensers. 

 

Had a 5-way FaceTime with the family for grandsons 4th birthday. He seemed decidedly underwhelmed that he could see granny, grandpa and two of his uncles all on the screen at the same time; and continued to play with his new Thomas, Annie & Clarabel set on his living room carpet. It's a promising sign. 

 

I have mixed up another batch of 'breakfast' (which consists of Kellogg's 'Just Right, M&S Bran Flakes, and Mornflake muesli in approximately equal proportions; added into the plastic container and can now be consumed in small-ish quantities for another week or so. 

 

Yum. 

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

We will be off soon to Chelmsford to leave my car for its MoT and service. . I have put the wheel nut security thing in a very visible place. I have my phone app with QR code ready for me to register at the garage. 
 Just the fog to get through now. 
Tony

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

A foggy 3C and wet start to the day here in England’s northwest. Breakfast has now been consumed and I’ll shortly head back downstairs to the cellar, I’ve decided to strip a bit more paint off in the corners, so the tanking solution can make a better seal there. There isn’t much to do so I should have that done mid morning, then I can start mixing and applying said tanking solution. Yes I have a real fun packed day in store, but progress is progress, no matter how slow it is, but eventually when it’s all done I’ll have my model railway room!

 

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

 

Brian

[Barry O]

fatchy pog has .. gone!

 

 

mugadecaff ready to set to work..

 

My sister had the flu jab for the first time in 10 years this year.. she is well up for her Covid vaccine jab.. Result!

 

Figures around here are still declining for cases.. I would expect a slight rise in deaths and also hospital admissions for a while as there is a lag between identifying if someone has the CoVids, followed by a Hospital admission for those who are struggling.. followed by...

 

A BBC report showed the top 10 places in Britain with people over 60, 65, 70 etc .. strangely enough Kent has a lot of thee.. and not just in the "hot spots".

 

Baz

[New Haven Neil]

 Morning

 

2c with a hard frost this morning, took quite a while to clear the car (neighbour drove off in an igloo) as it would appear that de-icers don't really work any more, presumably another H&S 'improvement'.  One thing I miss from my Ford is the heated screen, but then again it was unreliable, often only working on the passenger side or in strips.

 

2 mile walk along Mooragh prom was pleasant until I turned into the breeze at the far end, at which point I wished I hadn't bothered!  It was 'uphill' all the way back to the car for sure.

[BoD]

Morning all.

 

Just had my final (I hope) call from NHS track and trace confirming that this is my last day of isolation.  Yippee.  
 

Between Valerie and myself we have had eight calls and two dozen texts.  Ok, the texts are all automated but the calls are from hooman beans.  None of the calls were particularly useful to us. Wouldn’t they have been better trying harder to contact those not responding or isolating - but I suppose they allow someone to flag up the number of successful contacts the system has had.  Cynic? Moi?

[PeterBB]

12 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

... and who nicked Nicholas?...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/12/06/sounds-of-the-season-8-advent-2-feast-of-st-nicholas/

Anaglypta,  often many layers, is, as you say, a real b***** to remove with some of the plaster on the walls (pre 1950) that appears to be held on by the paper.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit foggy here first thing but its showing signs of lifting. A bit of ice on the car but that should be gone by the time I go out, if I go out. Tea awaits so its be back later.

[Tony_S]

We have returned from Chelmsford. It was a bit foggy going but wasn’t too bad returning. I checked in at the garage with the Covid app and the no contact handover was done. I dropped my keys in a plastic bag, told them I wasn’t bothered if the car couldn’t be done by this evening ( we agreed  that it was easier to say tomorrow definitely rather than late this evening) and we came home. 
Tony
 

[polybear]

3 hours ago, TheQ said:

Surely landing would be by pushing out of the door (using a long pointed stick) by parachute..

 

2 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

I'm isn't that a waste of a perfectly good parachute.

 

Rats!  You beat me to it....

 

23 minutes ago, PeterBB said:

Anaglypta,  often many layers, is, as you say, a real b***** to remove with some of the plaster on the walls (pre 1950) that appears to be held on by the paper.

 

I'll see you and raise you:  painted woodchip paper....

[Chris116]

I have just been watching the news on TV with a report about a fund raiser doing seven marathons in seven days. What he has achieved is great but when he finished the seventh marathon he was hugged by at least ten people none of whom were wearing a mask. Surely the rules say we can only be in a group of six and if the first person he hugged has Covid then it is possible there are now eleven people with Covid. Given that the funds were being raised to help solve medical problems (MND) it seems that an own goal has been scored at the end of a very worthy effort which I find very sad. 

Edited December 7, 2020 by Chris116
Incorrect information

[PhilJ W]

5 hours ago, chrisf said:

Greetings one and all

  Current thinking is that the over 80s will be high on the list.  I cannot think of this without being reminded of the Over 80s Nudist Leapfrog Team, made famous by the writers of “Beyond Our Ken” all those years ago.  I leave the thought with you.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

I just had to Google "Over 80's Nudist Leapfrog Team". Alas they are no more due to shrinking members after an ice bucket challenge.

[BSW01]

Well, that's the first coat of tanking solution applied, just got to let it dry before I can do a second coat. I think an afternoon in the workshop might be in order.