Early Risers.

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[J. S. Bach]

7 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 ...snip... Stollenloch might be a reference to some form of cakehole, although it could also just be a rubbish chute.

Don't forget, a rubbish chute still ends up inside where you want to be! And, it just might be even closer to the source.

[polybear]

Bear realised today that I need to update my personal contact details with my bank, including my email address (for some reason they had my work email) and work phone number - both of which are of little use since I retired at the end of April....

Email address was no problem; however, deleting my work phone number isn't allowed - there has to be a number in the box.  Ok, Bear is smarter that yer average etc. etc.....so I put my home number in the work box too.  Nope, can't use the same number twice.  Ok, so bung my mobile number in the work box.  Nope, can't do that either, as I've already used it in the mobile number box.....

So what the f. hell are retired people etc. supposed to do??  Obviously the website was designed by a complete grade A cockwomble.

Rant over

[J. S. Bach]

I had the same problem on a website, so I put in their '800" (toll-free over here) number, the giant brain accepted it.

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Been a long day so goodnight,

Robert

 

[BokStein]

41 minutes ago, polybear said:

Bear realised today that I need to update my personal contact details with my bank, including my email address (for some reason they had my work email) and work phone number - both of which are of little use since I retired at the end of April....

Email address was no problem; however, deleting my work phone number isn't allowed - there has to be a number in the box.  Ok, Bear is smarter that yer average etc. etc.....so I put my home number in the work box too.  Nope, can't use the same number twice.  Ok, so bung my mobile number in the work box.  Nope, can't do that either, as I've already used it in the mobile number box.....

So what the f. hell are retired people etc. supposed to do??  Obviously the website was designed by a complete grade A cockwomble.

Rant over

 

Try entering the bank's number

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

The weather has been bloody awful today, it’s just never stopped raining all day. Thankfully I’ve not had to go outside today, despite having to empty my mop bucket, but as the drain is right next to the cellar door, I was able to open it and stay inside each time I needed to change the water. But the cellar is now looking a wee bit cleaner than it was first thing this morning. Mind you, I had to mop the floor 4 times and the water still wasn’t clean when I emptied the bucket for the last time, but it wasn’t as bad as the first bucket I emptied. I even gave the wall that has so far had paint removed, a good wetting as it helps to show up the areas where the stubborn bits that still need some attention are. 

 

I’ve included a couple of photos, the first one is one that I posted the other day, the second is how it looks after I’d finished today, the difference is clear to see, 

 

 

 

Last night after tea, I set up a spiced fruit tea loaf which I’d leave soaking overnight, ready to add the flour and then put in the oven to bake. So, after I’d knocked off for the day, I changed out of my work clothes and had a muggertea and then finished of making the cake, the kitchen was lovely and warm whilst we ate tea and the aroma was very nice indeed. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[BR60103]

I tend to keep the map north up as the printing is usually right way up.

However, the roads here were laid out at right angles to the Great Lakes. At the west end of Toronto, Lake Ontario takes a bend south, so the roads head up about 30 degrees west of north. My MIL thought Brampton must be the only town where the sun sets in the north. West of Toronto there is a triangular township called Toronto Gore and there are a few other places called The Gore. (Near Ottawa, there is North Gower and South Gower.)

My local city map book has its pages laid out square to the streets rather than due NS.

Guelph has a weird street layout. When it was founded, they cut a tree down and John Galt laid his hand on it spread his fingers, and said That's where the streets will run. It's believable if you look at the map.

 

I believe you can understand London's (England) streets if you divide them into Parallel to the river and Right angles to the river.

 

[TheQ]

The problem with understanding London roads is the missing rivers. Prior to the little problems involving Mr Cromwell travel was often by boat across many rivers, I believe the Queen had a nice little income with over 40,000 Waterman and lighter men on the rivers 50 years before in 1600.

 

Around that time 1649 onwards..many more bridges were being built,  and the rivers started losing their Importance. By Victorian times rivers and streams  were being built over, turned into closed sewers rather than open ones. Rivers in London are effectively missing other than the Thames.

 

The river Fleet aka the Holborn is the most famous one, once a major river it became a flooded polluted ditch by Victorian times, before being sewered. But it forced road, railway/underground alignments and building positions.  So you find bends in roads aiming for former bridges or running alongside or over rivers lengthways unrelated to the Thames itself.

Edited December 17, 2020 by TheQ

[iL Dottore]

16 hours ago, BokStein said:

...I recall recently in an hotel in Graubuenden, watching scrambled egg mix being poured from a Tetra Brick into the pan during breakfast! I did not note the source of the bacon but both tasted OK at that time of the morning!

Liquid egg, in other words eggs that have been shelled, yolks and whites mixed and sieved and then packed are a common catering staple.  There’s nothing wrong with them and they are popular because for many recipes, especially for baking, the recipe calls for grams of egg rather than number of eggs. However, pouring it straight from the container into the pan is a bit tacky. 
I sometimes get a container of ready-to-go egg if I know that I will be doing a lot of baking or egg-based dishes.  And apart from the ready mixed egg, you can also get ready to-go-egg white and ready-to go-egg yolk. Both of which are incredibly useful if you do a lot of patisserie.

15 hours ago, polybear said:

 

There's nothing like a bit of care and compassion towards those who have the misfortune of a medical condition....

Unfortunately, for the people who really do suffer from gluten intolerance or from irritable bowel syndrome (which also requires careful attention to diet) the waters have been muddied by all the attention seeking trendies who have started claiming that they are “this intolerant and that intolerant”  when they are nothing of the sort. My good friend (and former GP, now retired) has said that the real incidence of true IBS and gluten intolerance has barely changed over the 30 years he was practising medicine. Sadly, because of all the attention seeking trendies, nowadays when someone says that they are gluten intolerant their claims are too often met with, at best, polite scepticism.

14 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

... if it wasn't for corvid...

Forgive me for being obtuse Phil, but what do blackbirds and ravens have to do with The Repair Shop?  (which is an enjoyable programme, but I wish they’d concentrate more on the materials and methods used than on the soppy “I got daddy’s wotsit back” emotional b0ll0cks).

Your post about Romford Station brought back memories, I spent part of my childhood living in the Romford-Gidea Park-Hornchurch triangle (a bit like the Bermuda Triangle but without the sun...).
Although I model GWR (well someone has to do it...) when I first returned to railway modelling I had ideas about either modelling Romford Station or, more likely, Gidea Park Station as they were in 1968. Sadly, due to the absence of RTR rolling stock and a lack of faith, at the time,  in my modelling skills, I switched to my second choice-GWR-for which there was plenty of RTR material. Now that I am sufficiently confident of my skills to build from kits and from scratch, I have invested too much money in GWR rolling stock to switch to 1968 BR Eastern Region 

Finally, Mrs iD has changed her mind (Or as she puts it “carefully re-evaluated all the available data and have arrived at a different conclusion“) and CAKE will be made for consumption at the Holiday Hovel (NOTE: any ursine or hippopotamid incursions for the purposes of illicit baked comestible removal will be met with a robust response carried out with extreme prejudice [asking nicely may work])

Edited December 17, 2020 by iL Dottore
censoring software (good old anglo-saxon word removed)

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

I have a dental appointment this morning.  During the first lockdown I managed to lose three fillings so I suspect that the dentist will not be too pleased.  I blame my fondness for fruit pastilles.  Later there will be more ironing and later still another Zoom meeting, this time of the LGBT+ In Faith group.  As well as attempting to sing carols we shall be attempting to answer quiz questions.  Sadly there is another Zoom meeting at the same time, the first by Stevenage Locomotive Society.  It is so nice and nostalgic to have plenty to do. 

 

Last night we had an Area Group meeting with the aid [mostly] of Zoom and put the world to rights in many respects.  The member who by custom hosts the December meeting has offered tentatively to welcome members into his home again once we have all been vaccinated.  Why do I expect something to go wrong with that process early in 2021?

 

Barry O, it is a good job that I bought mustard and honey when I went shopping.  Thank you for your encouragement!  I have it in mind to use a few root vegetables as an accompaniment and cook them in the water used for boiling the gammon.  I’m just waiting for something to go wrong with Xmas Day lunch in the posh hotel.  It would be just my luck if it does.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Klm City Hopper was my alarm clock this morning. 

 

Her indoors is off the moreasons..i await her return! She delivered a mugatea before getting ready to go. Good lass!

 

@chrisf i use cider to cook the gammon in. If you use water it may be quite salty. Normally I would add split peas to the water once the gammon is out. Then simmer for about 8 hours.. et voila! Pease pudding which can be used with cold gammon in a bread roll... or better still in a stottie..mmmmhhh!

 

my next MRI is scheduled for next monday. Not the usual crack of dawn start.. 11:30. Been told not to eat a lot of breakfast though. What I do to further medical science.

 

time to go and sort Thorsday out big time. Lots to do, nowhere near enough ti e to get it done!

 

Positive thoughts to all ERs especially those ill or missing. @gordon s an ER way back at the start of this thread is also in need of some very positive thoughts.

 

baz

[jamie92208]

Good moaning to everyone. Our lock down finished and we are now curfewed from 8pm.  The bathroom work continues well and I even managed to raise enough mojo to do some unmentionable  work in the shed.

 

As lockdown has ended I'm off to Angouleme  today to try and swap a box of tiles, grey for white. However  I'm going to pick my mate Andy up on the way and we are off trainspotting after the shopping is finished.  It sounds like a grand and cunning plan.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

Edited December 17, 2020 by jamie92208

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Mild and dry start to the day here and it should stay like that with extended sunny spells.  Hopefully this will mean that the roofer can do the repairs to Nicki's roof.  I'm not needed to supervise as SiL Steve will be there.

Visit to the car dealers went well and all missing paperwork is no longer. (missing)

First bin lorry of the day collecting general waste is outside and two more are due.

We've also got a Sainsbury's delivery due and it seems we're getting almost everything we ordered although there are two minor acceptable substitutions.

Really sorry to read of Gordon's problems and hope he makes a speedy recovery.

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

 

[polybear]

7 hours ago, BokStein said:

 

Try entering the bank's number

 

A cunning and despicable plan, and would only serve to confuse and wind-up the poor hard working bank staff.

Number duly inserted and worked a treat...

 

7 hours ago, BSW01 said:

 

 

 

Not wishing to be the bearer of bad news but there appears to be strong evidence that the first picture shows strong evidence of being an early Banksy, if I'm not mistaken.....

 

Bear has an appointment with a can of squirty building foam (the kinda stuff that supposedly doubles in size as it cures, and is used to fill holes as when it cures it's a sort of dense polystyrene material) - I need to fill at gap around the new kitchen window frame.  Could get messy.

Then it's more prep work in the kitchen today, ready for the plasterer in the new year.  Deep joy.  I've also sent off messages to three local floor tilers for quotes.  I'm not terribly hopeful of getting a response, based on my experience with getting a response from gas fitters to cap my cooker point - 9 emailed, two responded; obviously dead easy money-for-old-rope jobs are not in demand at the moment.

[polybear]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

......and CAKE will be made for consumption at the Holiday Hovel (NOTE: any ursine or hippopotamid incursions for the purposes of illicit baked comestible removal will be met with a robust response carried out with extreme prejudice ......

 

Bear never ceases to be warmed by the continued resurgence at this time of year of Good Will to all Bears (and Hippo's) coupled with overflowing chrimbo spirit (not to be confused with the alcoholic variety).....

[Winslow Boy]

24 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Bear never ceases to be warmed by the continued resurgence at this time of year of Good Will to all Bears (and Hippo's) coupled with overflowing chrimbo spirit (not to be confused with the alcoholic variety).....

Mr Bear I have more than a sneaking suspicion that el doctorie will be at the front door of the hovel ready to greet you with a pickaxe handle behind his back - that is of course if you manage to negotiate his minions and the minefield(s).

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, cool 7c and dampish out, reasonable morning predicto-twirled with strong wind later.  Outside.

 

Out with the boys from the old farts club tonight for a Chinese, sans noodles in my case.  Beers may be had which is unusual these days.  It may cause more of a result due to my not having drunk much alcohol for some time.  No, I'm not driving!  SWMBO has volunteered to taxi me so I can enjoy my boys night out at full power.

 

Hip still going bonkers, naproxen seemingly not that helpful after all, but it certainly is causing really vivid dreams.  No, not that sort. Unfortunately.

[Erichill16]

9 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

.

 

Hip still going bonkers, naproxen seemingly not that helpful after all, but it certainly is causing really vivid dreams.  No, not that sort. Unfortunately.

Remember that the anti-inflammatory action of all NSAIDS does not become apparent for upto four weeks so don’t stop taking them just yet.  

Robert

[New Haven Neil]

OK thanks Robert, hadn't realised it could take that long, I thought a few days to a week would show.  I would always take a prescribed course anyway, no point otherwise.

[Erichill16]

2 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

OK thanks Robert, hadn't realised it could take that long, I thought a few days to a week would show.  I would always take a prescribed course anyway, no point otherwise.

Just seen your comments earlier about ‘woolly’ head. I think this will clear in a couple of day. Bye for now SWMBO calling.