Early Risers.

[New Haven Neil]

That was something I was in charge of for 16,000 patients back in the day, and I was very particular about getting it right.  I had a good team (bar one!) who were also very onboard but had been left to founder before I went there to take charge.  I re-hashed the entire 'library' of letters that got mail merged so that they were readable, concise and accurate.  We were doing 49,000 appointments a year, so were a touch busy, all with just 5 WTE admin staff.  It left me with stress and blood pressure.....but we got a good reputation.

[The Lurker]

Early memories - i can remember the nursery - it was run in the two church halls, the younger kids in one hall, the pre-school kids in the other. My  Mum helped out with the younger kids. 50 or so year later, she still does - at least when Covid is not on. That's not continuous service, mind! I remember managing not to get told off for throwing the sand and I remember playing with a board with nails hammered in - you fixed multi-colour rubber bands and made patterns. I remember my push along train (red plastic track).

At primary school my memory of my first day is being upset that i could not take my PE bag home. I also remember pretending that i had watched Thunderbirds (I hadn't - it was on a Sunday and we were at church), and my friends enthusing over what i had made up - i guess they hadn't seen it either! Lots of other memories - I didn't like my infant school teacher and she did not like me either. It spoiled the game that i came into school reading as it meant they could not put me on ITA (not what ITA was designed for) which was standard, so I was suddenly ahead. The teacher decided i had messy writing and put me back on easy books; when I told my Mum she was straight down the school to complain* - probably the only time they intervened in my schooling. I was also accused of lying about having read a book that i had read - it was a ladybird book on trains and I could not articulate what was happening on a page about Stephenson's Rocket, so i had to be lying. There's more in that vain and I guess it scarred me somehow!

 

* apart from when Scott Walters bit my on the way home from infant school. I had wittily called him Scott the Pot.

[Winslow Boy]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

That was something I was in charge of for 16,000 patients back in the day, and I was very particular about getting it right.  I had a good team (bar one!) who were also very onboard but had been left to founder before I went there to take charge.  I re-hashed the entire 'library' of letters that got mail merged so that they were readable, concise and accurate.  We were doing 49,000 appointments a year, so were a touch busy, all with just 5 WTE admin staff.  It left me with stress and blood pressure.....but we got a good reputation.

I whole heartedly agree with you there and unfortunately it is the 'back room boys & girls' who are often the ones who take the flack.

 

I do think though that there is very much a tendancy now a days for people in this role to rather 'sink down' rather than work to a higher standard. It is something I have noticed more recently or perhaps I'm just getting old.

[tigerburnie]

Getting on with memories, how about bands/artists you saw back way back when, I was very much into music, thought couldn't read it and didn't play very well, though an old school report found a while back had the comment that I was an accomplished trombone player.......................really, I remember having a go. I was into the blues in the early 60's and sang and played harmonica in an assortment of bands whilst still at school, did a bit of drumming later on before working as a sound engineer in the early 70's after finishing my apprenticeship. One of the first "big" bands I saw were the Rolling Stones, got to meet up with Mick Jagger after the show in a cafe in Leicester, had his autograph for years, lost it now though. I remember the first  "blues artist" I saw was John Lee Hooker, he was backed by Tony McPhee and the Groundhogs, they often supported touring artists, they backed Howling Wolf too I think. We used to get the American Folk, Blues and Gospel show used to come to Leicester in November every year, saw some amazing acts, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee amongst some memorable ones.

Edited January 20, 2021 by tigerburnie

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, Chris116 said:

s! Letter from hospital saying I have an appointment in February and should attend the hospital.

I have an appointment for a routine appointment in the Royal London in February. However the normal letter had a sticker stating it would be a telephone consultation.  I have asked my GP for a blood test form for a local test so I can tell the consultant the results when she phones. 

[The Lurker]

The first band I paid to see was the Screaming Blue Messiahs - Leeds Uni Riley Smith Hall - their support band were a local Leeds band called the Dead Vaynes and so I suppose technically they were the first. I didn't go and see the free gigs at freshers week that year - Joboxers and Dr and the Medics (though I did pay to see them a few months later and they were surprisingly brilliant). I never saw anything live out in rural Kent; any London gigs of bands I wanted to see didn't start until the last train had gone . 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, The Lurker said:

- it was a ladybird book on trains and I could not articulate what was happening on a page about Stephenson's Rocket, so i had to be lying

I remember being asked to speak to the nursery staff at Matthew’s nursery. He was about 3. They knew he liked trains so gave him train outlines to colour in. They were worried he was in some way disturbed as he finished off by scribbling on the wheels. I suggested they asked him what it was rather than trying to diagnose. His answer “outside valve gear”. 

[Ian Abel]

GREAT MORNING all

 

Yesterday replete with "fixes" for the client reports...

 

TODAY - will be watching much daytime TV as we all breath a deep sigh of relief and usher in what will hopefully be a very refreshing new leadership in the White House.

The previous tenant dragged his sorry arse out earlier today, maintaining his "baby throwing everything out of the pram" stance - good riddance says WE.

 

Probably a tad too early to start drinking at 11AM, but we'll see

 

Unfortunately, I can't actually take the day off, as the Long Island client has indicated there may be much to panic about today and tomorrow!  so I have to be "available" at least. Won't stop me enjoying the fresh air that will sweep through here...

 

Bloody cold here first thing down around -17. Overcast and a high of Zero expected...

 

Let the good times roll  

[Tony_S]

26 minutes ago, The Lurker said:

I never saw anything live out in rural Kent;

I remember going to  pub folk clubs in very rural Kent (I went to university in Canterbury). I have absolutely no idea where they were as we usually had to sit in the back of a friends van. 

Edited January 20, 2021 by Tony_S

[newbryford]

6 hours ago, grandadbob said:

 

 

I too nearly lost an eye when I was 3 or 4. 

 

 

You've certainly been making up for it since..............

 

Edited January 20, 2021 by newbryford

[simontaylor484]

I came close to losing an eye playing rugby at school in 5th form house match. Someone had plastic studs that had burred edges. The ruck collapsed i remember a sharp pain and feeling a wet sensation around my face. 

There was blood everywhere i was taken to hospital and superglued back together. I still have the scars on my eyebrow bridge of nose and side of nose

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Just had a bit of eyelid inspection, laying flat out on my bed. When I went to get up I was hit by the most excruciating pain in my right hip, far worse than anything Arthur Itis can dish out. It was even a bit of a struggle to get downstairs to take a couple of nurofen. I suspect sciatica but I'll have to try to get an appointment with my GP to make sure. The nurofen is beginning to kick in now and I can move a bit better but it still hurts.

[Gwiwer]

G'daft-a-noon all.

 

There has been much wetness about today although nowhere near as much as those Oop North have had to endure.  More than enough, however, to trouble Alf Rytiss moderately which is never a good way to pass the time of day.  

 

The House of Fun wasn't so much fun either with signals out at Wet Byfleet (probably on account of it being wet) causing major problems on all lines.  The already thinned-out service became virtually non-existent with gaps of over an hour between trains at times.  Remember, those for whom an hourly service is "good", that we are talking a normal service level of something every 2-3 minutes here.  

 

I haven't had a chance to read the past few pages so generic greetings will have to suffice for now.  It's a busy week with all the paperwork required for a group AGM having to be collated, prepared, approved, uploaded and circulated within a tight timeframe.  It will happen - it always does - but it uses up my muggertee-drinking time and prevents me from muddling.  

 

Speaking of which there's a spreadsheet full of numbers requiring my attention before I can hit "Enter" so let's hope I don't need more fingers and toes than I have.  "Carry one" was always tricky after using them all up .........  

[The Lurker]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

I remember going to  pub folk clubs in very rural Kent (I went to university in Canterbury). I have absolutely no idea where they were as we usually had to sit in the back of a friends van. 

Canterbury had quite a scene back in the day. One band that came out that was Caravan, to which my roommate introduced me as a student. One of their erstwhile members is now a Storyteller, which has involved him dealing with Mrs Lurker at school. She'd never heard of Caravan and was quite surprised that not only had i but that i had a copy of one of their albums lurking in the CD rack!

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl, 

Somewhat windy at the moment , with precipitation imminent, according to the radar.

 

The hedge smasher is busy around the lanes today. Hopefully the rain will wash the Thorns away.

 

Ben the sleeping Collie is cuddling up to me at the moment.

 

My parents got their first jab today.. yippeeeeee.

 

 

[The White Rabbit]

17 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

.... I know Jamie likes his Eccles cakes, polybear likes his lemon drizzle cake and Flavio likes fruit cake and his specialty ‘fruit and nut’ cake and I think H.H likes  everything. I like coffee cake but not too much butter cream and icing and certainly no nuts. Would anyone else like to make a confession?

 

Treacle tart is probably my weakness. Chocolate cake and spotted [Richard] always slip down easily and I occasionally have some ginger cake or tea-loaf but I don't have a lot of cake. Having just said that, following from yesterday's post, some LDC was baked and sampled. Turned out nicely but probably ranked about middling in my pecking order. 

 

 

I haven't been able to watch the railway architecture programmer as we don't have the channel, but if I get chance, I'll try to find the catch-up web-site. 

[The White Rabbit]

4 hours ago, Barry O said:

Can anyone else remember Heinz Tinned steamed apple pudding? Or their tinned steamed Syrup puddings?  they were lovely nut a real no no for a lot of us now.. PAH!

 

Baz

 

Their vanishing from the shelves are one of the reasons I don't have as much cake now. Though I should probably have cut down a bit anyway. 

 

 

Away from such memories, it's still raining and the phone is still not working. BT's fault reporting just takes you round in circles. Double PAH! (With knobs on...). 

[grandadbob]

3 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

You've certainly been making up for it since..............

 

You don't know the half of it Mick!   and .....

...evenin' each.

Still wet and windy here so I ended up getting a bit damp putting the bins out ready for tomorrow.

Some good news this afternoon as we both received simultaneous texts from the quackery inviting us to go online and book Covid jabs so we're going 8.00 Sunday morning.  Could have gone before but we've got to go to a health centre where parking can be a bit of an issue so I thought it would be easier on Sunday.

Next task is to open a Shiraz wine box.  Label says it'll keep fresh for 6 weeks!  Won't last anywhere near that long in this house!

 

 

 

Edited January 20, 2021 by grandadbob

[The Stationmaster]

When it cimes to hospital appointment letters Mrs stationmaster seems to be some sort of magnet for correspondence.  Quite frequently she's had three letters in respect of one appointment and the record is five.  Most seem to emanate from our local 'almost' hospital which now has several outbased departments from the RBH using converted space in the never commissioned wards.  She's had letters bearing the same date which between them altered an appointment to a different date and then cancelled the altered appointment followed a day or two later by another letter confirming the date of the new (already cancelled?) appointment.   They really are a right shower.

 

The GPs surgery was rather good at one time at writing ambiguous letters but I got one of them sorted into logical sense by telling the Go what was being sent out in his name while the GD's presence on the PPG has played a big part in sorting out all the others which were either misleading or ambiguous.

Edited January 20, 2021 by The Stationmaster

[leopardml2341]

Where did today go?

[pH]

I had been reading for several months at school before it was discovered I couldn’t read (or, more correctly, couldn’t be bothered to read). 
 

There were over 50 kids in the class (you have heard of the baby boom?). Teaching of reading involved getting selected pupils to read the same passage one after another. As long as someone else had read it before me, I could memorize the passage, at least well enough to get through it. I was found out the day I was asked to read first.

[PhilJ W]

Hello again from Estuary-Land. I couldn't get comfortable in any position due to the sciatica (?) so I stretched out on the bed for half an hour. When I got up there was a twinge and then no pain and its been OK up to now. I'm debating as to whether or not to book a GP appointment. Normally I would do so as a matter of course but covid has changed all that. 

[polybear]

Bear took great pleasure in watching The Orange One getting evicted at long last Twenty one guns were fired shortly afterwards; sadly all were a cr@p shot as every one of the useless barstewards missed him.

Then the new Big Cheese got his feet well under the table at last, which Bear hopes will signal the USA turning a corner at long last.  That was until the National Anthem was sung murdered by ....wait for......Lady Gaga......  FFS, what bright spark thought that was a good idea?  Looks like the smooth turn has just become a three-point turn......

[simontaylor484]

The pain in my back/hip/knee is really bad this  evening cant sit or stand comfortably. 

Still could be worse people are flooded out near here and round the village where Jamie's Daughter and Granddaughter lives.

 

[PeterBB]

Received the letter for the jab inviting me to book an appointment.  There is a centre right next to our GP surgery but the nearest option given was an hours drive away and had space for 'Taxi drop off' or near the station so I was not very chuffed.  Contacted the surgery who said that the letters were national and they had theirs so would contact me as soon as they had caught up to attend the local centre.

 

Trombone ... enjoyed it during school days and remember well when our Holiday for Trombones duet sent the house down.  Still have a go but odd teeth/lack of teeth makes quite a difference.

 

Never ever went to hear a band apart from one (they had Red Dragons on their kit - early 60s) when on a field trip in Wales. I was present as the only student who could drive and had a van.  Did share school concerts with a future Rolling Stone and Will Abraham who did well as a trumpet soloist.  Most amusing was HMS Pinafore when playing a G-trom - the one with the handle for the far away notes and in the days before the Bflat and F became common.  My 'little' brother went to the Stones in the days before they became famous.

 

Hospital appointments - once had a DNA but objected strongly with the phrase 'All I needed was an invitation to attend in the letter sent'.  The result of this was far reaching on a personal level (I was a Path Lab Manager at the time) as it led to the consultant coming down to the lab to apologise and agreeing to see me personally (up to then it had been for years a 'routine check up' with a deaf ear).  The result was a further operation, some hearing returned and being able to go swimming without picking an infection up every time.