Early Risers.

[jamie92208]

Good moaning. It'd just getting light enough to see if I need to scrapecice off the car.  Yesterday was interesting. The trip round the market was cold but helped by a fresh crepe eaten in the sunshine.  Salted caramel was my chouce of sauce. We also saw mussels on sale so guess whatcwe had for lunch, done in white wine and cream. Very nice they were as well.  Aftervlunch I started the, not very pleasant job of checking the grease trap to get the kitchen sink waste flowing. Partial success but I need to get the rods out.  

 

Meantime Beth was obviously in severe pain from her left foot. We suspected another stress fracture so eventually set off the The Danglies to the Urgence, as it's known.  Excellent  service as always and the good news is that there isn't a fracture. It's apparently some bits of calcification that have broken off. A splint was fitted that helped so it was back home, chickenband chips for tea and finish off the white wine whilst watching Hinterland on Netflix.

 

Off to the Danglies again this morning to guide a new arrivals round the tax office. I suspect thst more drainwork will happen thi afternoon.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare.

4 hours plus 0.5 hours plus 1.5 hours sleep.. not too bad Though I could do with more..

 

The 45 Ft X 5 ft approximately of Shelving is the total area to be covered, that's 4 sides of a 15ft ish square room, minus, two doorways, two windows and a chimney breast. It won't be enough for all our books, but there is additional book shelving in the Muddling shed and the former library now SWMBO's craft room.

 

Ben the Alarm clock Collie was still not in residence this morning, though he did want out.. quite happily he charged down the garden, snuffled around a bit.. Then a pheasant gave out an alarm call and he ran back to the house...

 

Dull overcast, no moon, and we had Obviously had rain.. definitely not as chilly as the last few days

 

They were getting quiet excited on the local radio as it's been announced 17 vaccination canters will open in Norfolk this week.. Well, that actually includes the major Hospitals already open, and they got very excited over the first non GP / Hospital vaccination centre to open in Norfolk. That will be in Effin Clown Town, what they didn't say was it had been previously announced as Hoveton Medical centre.. But that is being rebuilt at the moment and the Village hall they are going to use is just 100 yards further into Effin Clown Town..

 

Medical centre AKA the Doctors surgery, being rebuilt? yep it's just two years old and they already are busy putting extensions on it in several direction..

 

It appears there is a second North Norfolk Vaccination place, a  surgery in Sheringham.. 

 

Talking of things medical, I've just had to take a link out of my watch strap, this no bread diet has reduced the thickness of my wrists.

 

I'm sat here with my coat on the chair and my bag with rabbit food below the workbench.. This is normally a no no, but we have been given permission for the duration of the Ceiling rebuild, as we are cut off from our normal areas.

It would take most of my tea break to walk round the outside of the building to my non lab desk and back.. That's without  getting my official use non spill cup, walking all the way round to the tea bar, then walking back again to my desk.. 

 

The boss is going to replace a few relays in the major equipment due this week, so I'm measuring the 7 current shunts first instead of last..

Which reminds me I need to do the schedule  next 3 months for calibration of major equipments..

 

Time to do that instead of this E.pistle to the RMs.

 

 

 

[leopardml2341]

Mornin' folks.

 

My boss messaged me yesterday to say he's having to self isolate - not such a problem as we're working from home anyway, except that we have 2 new starters who need inducting this week at the office. Normally i would have been asked to step in as it were - but since I have an MRI scan this morning, I've dodged that one......

 

Laundry in, an' I too am hoping to put it out on the line rather than in the dryer. Don't we ERs live exciting lives?

 

Anyway, must get back to doing things for my employer........

 

See you all later.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Dull and breezy but dry at the moment. Chance of rain later and it's warmer than the past few days.

Amorous foxes only heard briefly in the distance last night.  Saw one walking past the front door who cast a filthy look in our direction. 

Rugby was watched and Quins managed to squander a 12 point lead against the Irish, have 16 penalties awarded against them, one man put in the bin and another probably should have gone. Lucky to end up with a 27 all draw.  

Today we will probably go for another of our short walks.  Really bored with tramping the local rec. or the streets around here.  

Haven't been back to The Shed since the other day, mojo has derailed again so will have see if I can get that back on the tracks.

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

[Tony_S]

Morning. 

Not too cold this morning. I am on Canvey Island waiting in my car before reporting to the blood test centre. 

It was a quiet journey. Not much traffic at all. 

[leopardml2341]

10 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Some of the books i sols on ziffit came from charity shops to start with and i did make some money on some of them. Most impressive profit was a book on Nikawi Japanese plant pruning i bought for 2 quid wenr for £6

Can't get this 'Ziffit' thing to work for me - when I enter barcodes it says either:

 

Barcode not recognised (every tr@in book i tried) or

Sorry we can't accept that book at this time (or similar) for one or two others......

 

Any ideas?

[tigerburnie]

Morning, a bit warmer here as I can see the car isn't doing it's igloo impression, Tesco's due with the grub run soon, so I had better get on, take care all and stay safe.

[jonny777]

Well, the orange ball after sunrise yesterday in North Somerset lasted all of 30 minutes and since then its been back to dull, and windless. However, not quite as cold this morning. 

 

Mind you, I have been visiting the GFS computer weather forecast pages and the scenario for the 22nd of Jan onwards is not good news (if it is to be believed). Think 'beast from the east' but in January. 

 

If that comes off, Covid might be the lesser of our problems. 

 

More slide scanning to do. I just found one of the aftermath of the collision between D363 and D368 Aug 1970 in Edinburgh. I am wondering if there might be more......

[New Haven Neil]

Morning.  Miserable night's sleep, only to be sound and deeply asleep when Mrs NHN needed to get up to 'go' to work - aka the kitchen/diner.  S*d's law.  Knackered now.

 

Off shortly to be gently irradiated in the name of photographing the workings of my left hip, not that it will result in much but I have a new GP who presumably hasn't read my notes back far enough.  I have decided to get all the notes of my previous surgery from the hospital in the UK (Wrigtington - centre of excellence for hip surgery) where it was undertaken, as there probably isn't much more than a letter from the surgeon here about it.

 

A miserably grey day here but currently dry, very windy and 7 of those degrees Bear was hoping to see.  

 

Two more covid cases on the rock, one caught on the day 1 test of an incomer's isolation (no issue) and one with no contact explanation yet identified (worrying).  21 active cases currently.

[BSW01]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Purely theoretically you understand (Big Awl n' all that...) but what method do you employ to stop such a circular mechanism at precisely the correct position?

 

 

The system has been designed around the use of photo-interrupters, which gives me an accuracy of about 0.5mm in either direction. 

 

Photo one shows the 2 circuit boards for the interrupter and relay, the pin passes through the gap in the left hand board and stops when in the centre. 

 

This one shows the adjustable position pin from above which allows me to move the pin forwards or backwards.

 

Finally the adjustable pin from the side, this allows upwards and downwards movement. 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2021 by BSW01

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Another wet and dull day here, but the temperature has risen to 6C at the moment. Now that breakfast has been consumed, I shall head downstairs and make a start on the paint removal of the cellar walls, I may be some time. 

 

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

 

Brian

 

 

[simontaylor484]

1 hour ago, leopardml2341 said:

Can't get this 'Ziffit' thing to work for me - when I enter barcodes it says either:

 

Barcode not recognised (every tr@in book i tried) or

Sorry we can't accept that book at this time (or similar) for one or two others......

 

Any ideas?

The we cant accept this book means they dont want it. 

 

The barcode not recognized happened to me a lot too i had to type the number under the barcodes in many times. 

Hope this helps

[Tony_S]

Back home now. The blood test centre visit went without incident. Blood flowed nicely and the phlebotomist didn’t have to probe too  much  to find a nice vein. 
Our window cleaner had cleaned the windows while I was out. I suppose I will have to do the insides now. The window cleaner said he had Covid over Christmas, fortunately only losing his sense of taste and smell. 
Aditi has a Zoom meeting this morning with the person who is going to give a lecture to the Southend French group later this week. 
I will have a chat with MiL soon. She had her second Pfizer jab yesterday. All the other, younger, family members who have had the second dose have had a mild reaction, sore arm or tiredness .  MiL predicted that she wouldn’t have any side effects. I hope this is true. 
 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The foot is getting better but very slowly but at least it was little trouble last night. This morning though it was a bit sore but seems OK now. Will have to go to Tess Coes for supplies as I am almost out of milk and bread. Tea is brewing so be back later.

[Barry O]

a nice walk to the co-op/post office.. very few people about. Lots and lots of water running off nearby playing fields (perhaps they really do need to sort their now but ground drains out).

 

New neighbours out working somewhere so.. silence!

 

Mugatecaff required

 

TTFN

 

Baz

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Definitely not quite so cold and much clearer but no St Trinians girls can be seen at the front of the oligarch's palace. (although there is now a lot more greenery in the way than was once the case).

 

As far as books are concerned i reckon what those three photos showed was probably not even 20% of mine let alone everybody else's in the house.  There are three bookcases in the study, two in the dining room; c106 ft of shelf space filling the whole of one wall nearly 14 ft long in the 'library' (with paperbacks double banked over about 10ft of one shelf);  there's a lot more shelving in the attic although a lot of it is used for magazines so only about 20 ft or so has books on it - mainly local history and original railway material.  The GD has two bookcases plus a trolley piled with books in her room; the lad has one bookcase of books in his room; there are several shelves I built-in in our room which are filled to capacity with herself's books;  and there are 8 ft of books on shelves in the kitchen - various reference, gardening, and - logically - cookery books.  The living room has no bookshelves but there are some in the cubby hole under the stairs although they are used for DVDs etc and no books there (yet).  Plus what there isn't room for on the shelves.

 

Today I am instructed the vacuum will need to be cleaned so i shall tackle nothing with my usual relish for such employment.  I also need to get in various supplies from 'the room', aka quarantine centre, in the garage as I'm told we need cat litter and water softener salt and there might be some shopping due to come in as well and I'll find/make time for a wander round RMweb.

 

Have a good day and stay safe 

[southern42]

' morning afternoon all from red dragon land.

 

Last week's snow has now gone so, proper-sheep-looking Kate Moss...

 

...is feeling a tad disappointed now that she has returned to her rather weathered grey-green look with all this rain.

"My poor worn-away green woolly coat!"

Kate keeps telling me to cover her with some of that static grass stuff...she hates going bald...

"But is there an exterior glue that will keep it in place?" I ask her.

She shrugs her shoulders...

 

Fitt  and  Elfie trying their best.

 

Take care all and play safe. 

_________

Best wishes

Polly

Edited January 11, 2021 by southern42

[polybear]

Bear has been spoilt with 8 degrees no less, so having crawled out of my pit at about half five the said dust sheet was washed and out on the line and is blowing nicely in the wind, so hopefully stands some chance of getting dry-ish.

Broom - broom now washed; after lifting the bonnet Bear was a bit miffed (and some) to notice some evidence of very, very light rust bleeding thru' the paintwork on the tops of the front wings, where they are bolted to the inner wings.  On a four-year old car with 30K on the clock.  I expect the not being used for 9 months has some responsibility here.  I'll try some polish then wax to see what happens....

Door frame work is postponed until tomorrow; car tyre pressures and then give it a run to keep the battery in reasonable nick are this afternoon's tasks now.

[AndyB]

Afternoon all, 

A mild but overcast day here.

Poor night's sleep as I over did the eye strain working on a tiny etched kit. I have a renewed respect for a former clinician colleague who used to perform myringoplasty procedures- stitching up tears in eardrums. That said he once got me to build a 0.5 mm wide diagnostic instrument that could be inserted through the tear. Now that was fiddly! No caffeine before soldering on that one. Lol.

 

Meanwhile the virus has torn through mum's care home. Slightly concerned about the test results. Hopefully she dodged the thing.

[Tony_S]

51 minutes ago, polybear said:

h.

Broom - broom now washed; after lifting the bonnet Bear was a bit miffed (and some) to notice some evidence of very, very light rust bleeding thru' the paintwork on the tops of the front wings, where they are bolted to the inner wings.  On a four-year old car with 30K on the clock.  I expect the not being used for 9 months has some responsibility here.  I'll try some polish then wax to see what happens....

That takes me back.  Fairly new, rusty cars seemed to be quite normal at one time. I am sure there must be old tins of rust treatment somewhere in the garage. All of our cars in the 1980s rusted.  Some like the 1973 Chevette probably left the factory rusty, when we got it (1981) we had to put new sills and wings on it. The Astra GTE we had rusted but it came with an anti perforation warranty and had some treatment that delayed its inevitable demise. Our Fiesta doesn’t rust it just grows moss. Our Renaults never rusted.

Tony

Edited January 11, 2021 by Tony_S

[Barry O]

Phone call received this morning.. can I attend an eye check.. this afternoon at 13:30.. I checked my calendar.. yep no problem..

 

So I toodle up to the local surgery. Nor checks before entering.. no checks on entering.. no one spraying chairs etc in the waiting room. Eventually I have a vision test (which has some serious engineering flaws in its design and execution then.. wait... eventually saw the doctor at 2:30pm. He had a very expensive eye testing machine (which meant he didn't poke me in the eye with the pressure testing "needle" at least. He then does  "scan" of both eyes.

 

Then.. " well we saw you last January" .. err no seen you since then.. referred to have laser eye surgery.. rechecks note "ah yes found them now in the the wrong "category"" So I explain I have had both eyes lased .. and await a confirmatory appointment. " well it hasn't worked as your pressures are higher now than they were in October"  - me - I don't believe you... remember I have thick corneas.." Ah yes - if I take off 4 they are still high (so I floored him a bit by saying consultant says -9).. 

 

"Come back in 3 months but if the clinic ask you to go back - please do"

 

I feel sorry for the hardworking medics on the Covid wards.. I have zero confidence in this guy...

 

Sorry for the rant .. but.....

 

Baz

[Ian Abel]

10 hours ago, polybear said:

Purely theoretically you understand (Big Awl n' all that...) but what method do you employ to stop such a circular mechanism at precisely the correct position?

I've relied for now on my Mk1 eyeball for my turntable  Running it on a DCC decoder and driving it slowly, been successful so far but may have to work up some clever stopping ideas when I get AROUNDTUIT

 

[Gwiwer]

On 09/01/2021 at 17:32, Tony_S said:

 

The most effective grey squirrel predator is slowly moving south from Scotland

 

The haggis?  
 

Clockwise or anticlockwise?

 

 

[Ian Abel]

Morning all.

 

Quiet yesterday as the Mrs needed to rest her knee.
I was "assigned" the general cleaning duties, vacuum, dust , blah, blah, and also a walk for Whitney - boy, it's exciting isn't it!  Can hardly contain myself!

 

Today, working, little else to report.

 

-5 first thing and sunny, may reach zero if we're lucky.

 

Tally ho.

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from Sidcup where it is groundhog day. Up, work, supervise Younger Lurker home schooling, suggest to Elder Lurker he gets up and gets his breakfast, work, walk, lunch, work, repeat!

 

I did liven things up by going to the bank and paying in a cheque. Fortunately there was no much in the way of a queue.

 

We also discovered a flaw in what Younger Lurker is being taught - his science teacher is of the opinion that your accent is dependent on your DNA. I told him to ask why that was - which will hopefully make her realise that it is a load of rubbish!