Early Risers.

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Happy Birthday to Simon, I hope you’ve had  managed an enjoyable day.

Didn’t manage evening post last night as I decided to have a little bit of eye lid inspection  after tea and didn’t get up until this morning. Yesterday wasn’t a particularly good day, hence the early night, but today has been better.
Yesterday afternoon  next door neighbor told us he was having his side of the border trimmed today  and the bloke doing could do our side as well. SWMBO usually likes  to do it herself with me being the laborer and it usually take us the best part of a week to do as it probably 100ft long,  8ft high and 6ft deep but we decided to let the professionals do it this time. This has been one of the jobs that’s been on my mind recently. I did notice on their vehicle  signage that mentioned  ‘landscape gardening’ and ‘ mini-digger hire’ and with SWMBOs permission I asked if they could prepare the ground for a form of garden feature that runs on two parallel strips  of brass rail. It’s something I’ve intended doing since we moved here in 2004 but never got round to doing as I don’t want to start, ruin the garden and then run out of enthusiasm. The problem is that the site is on a slope and quite a bit of engineering, both civil and structural will be needed so it must be planned out quite thoughly  before any sod is cut, or this silly sod will be in big trouble. Anyway they can do the necessary so all I need to do is draw up some plans.

Managed to get next VAT return ready for filing and with Syd being here today turned out ok.

Robert.

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[andyram]

A very late good evening and also birthday wishes to Simon. I hope you had a good day. 

 

I note Rick's comments about refusing to attend a vaccine centre at Selhurst Park due to footballing loyalties. I understand it only too well. There is no way I would attend any such appointment at the City Ground. Very pertinent point tonight considering a certain Derby V Forest game at Pride Park this evening. Always a tense game, especially having to watch it at home in the same room as my Forest supporting wife. A 1-1 draw was probably more than we deserved but it was good for marital harmony.

 

 I wonder if Rick can clear up a confusion I have always had. I can understand that many footballing rivalries can develop from close proximity as tonight's game Man Utd V Man City, Liverpool V Everton etc. But London based Crystal Palace V Brighton?? Please explain?

 

The recent conversation about "houses" in school has been interesting. During my childhood school experience I never encountered the house system. It is something which is gradually coming back into the education system. The notorious headteacher, who forced me out the profession, introduced it at my old school. The courses were named after local parks including Calke, Kedleston, Chatsworth and Rosliston.  Amber's school adopted the house system last year with houses named after famous Britains including Shackleton, Nightingale and Lenny Henry of all people. 

 

 Tomorrow it will be an early start. I have date with the needle at 8.40am.

 

Stay safe.

 

Andy

[Erichill16]

On 24/02/2021 at 17:28, iL Dottore said:

 

A certain amount of co-pay does mean that the system does not get abused as much as it does in the NHS. 

I think this is part of the issue here. There is no incentive not to have what is on offer for ‘free’.

This may seem a little harsh but ‘customers’ can make/accept appointments and not turn up without any sort of admonishment. I’m sick of going to clinics and seeing signs to the effect ‘X number of patients have missed appointments this month’. I wonder how many missed appointments there are in the US and Switzerland.
On a similar note it’s disgusting what ‘customers’ bring back to the pharmacy as waste medication. I’ve mentioned it before on here or The Night Mail regarding the woman who brought back 10 Seretide inhalers at approximately £70 each. Her attitude was, it doesn’t matter it didn’t cost me a thing. There was over £1k worth of medication from her that went to the incinerator. If she had to pay just £1 for each item she may not have taken them in the first instance if she didn’t want them. Though this is an extreme example,  the amount of waste we have to deal with is ...............
I could go on but I may bore you,  I may upset someone , I may get into trouble,I may say something unprofessional and more importantly it’s getting late. So goodnight again.

Robert

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

First off, happy birthday Simon. 

 

When I sat down to redraw the corner of the layout, my mind was completely blank, I just couldn’t think what to do. So I decided to measure up (on the drawings) for the boards for the helix and storage area of the layout. I then worked out just how much track I’ll need for them both. Working out how much plywood sheets was fairly easy to do, 4 sheets of 8ft x 4ft of 9mm ply will do the lot. But I’ve yet to work out how much wood I need for the support structure, I’ll do that another day. The track work was another story, as there are lots of curves etc to measure, anyway it finally worked out at 105 yards, but I’ll add a couple extra just in case there are any mishaps. On top of all that I also need 28 sets of points and a couple of diamond crossings too. So I think I’d better start saving up some modelling tokens. 

 

School houses, at junior (primary) school they were 

Drake,

Nelson,

Raleigh,

Wellington. 

 

At secondary (high) school they were

Egerton,

Ellesmere,

Irwell,

Trafford. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[The Stationmaster]

Evening all,

 

Happy birthday Simon.  

 

I can remember a few things about being 44 the main one being that the Western Region came to an end and I became redundant,  The better part of that memory was that instead of getting a redundancy notice I was promoted.    But it was not a very clever promotion in one respect because due to loss of an allowance my income was gong to drop so I told them I wanted a bigger salary (not that you did that sort of thing on BR at my level!).  But I duly ended up with a real salary increase so I wasn't too unhappy with the result and I was also able to plan my new office to give me a view of the railway.

 

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[Dave Hunt]

A belated happy birthday to Simon.

 

This evening I've managed to move around fairly easily without my back howling - just a gentle whimper from time to time so an improvement there. Another fillip to my mood has been the beautiful clarity of the sky with lots of lovely bright stars and a full moon; just what the doctor ordered.

 

G'night all.

 

Dave

[J. S. Bach]

I think that I am going to punch out early tonight so Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, inner temple hare,

6 hours solid sleep, a large Highland Park certainly helped.

 

Age 44,  the year I came back from Saudi, and therefore got to permanently live in this house, which we'd bought several years before. This was early planning for retirement, we knew roughly where we wanted and what type of house was required. It also gave us the chance to get established long before actual retirement, so getting organised for living out in the countryside. It's allowed us to join clubs,get settled. So having a life that won't have the twin challenges of retiring and moving at the same time.

 

Forepaws are happier than they have been for a few days, today's planned insults to them are.

Clearing a blockage in the pipe to the cess pit, followed by rubber gloves to bin, overalls to washer.

Weigh trailer, prop up trailer on blocks.

Fettle trailer flatbed section, paint two pieces with zinc 

Build a section of shelving, this one is more complicated as it's the bridging unit over the TV, so has a longer span, therefore it needs reinforcement and assembly before installation.

 

Time to try  for sleep part 2

 

[iL Dottore]

13 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

.....ate breakfast (two opted for the shovel, but iD wouldn't have been impressed with the fare, a bit ordinary and pricey)...

Oh I don’t know. It depends what is meant by “ordinary”. If it is simply bog-standard commercial soss and Danish bacon going for a tenner or so, then I’d definitely be unimpressed; but if it was high quality soss and bacon from a great local butcher, then I’d be happy.

 

I think people get the wrong idea about what it means to be a “Gastronaut” - it doesn’t mean “expensive” (‘though good ingredients can be) nor does it mean “complicated” (‘though some dishes can be), it’s all about quality ingredients prepared with skill and passion. I’d rather have a simple supper of a piece of a good quality mature Cheddar, some homemade bread, unsalted butter and a really good pickled onion than a mediocre meal from a restaurant who - how can I put it - sings from the right hymn book, but doesn’t know the words or music.

13 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

...I have reached the ripe old age of 44 today

 

We had houses at high school

 

...King Edward

Lyon...

So named after potatoes or potato dishes? What was the nickname of your school sports team “the tubers” perchance?

 

Happy Birthday, Simon. But given your age, are you really old enough to play with the big boys on ER? We are, undoubtedly, a bunch of crusties (average age: crumbling), but we are good natured and tolerate the enthusiastic exuberance of yoof with good humour.

6 hours ago, andyram said:

...I note Rick's comments about refusing to attend a vaccine centre at Selhurst Park due to footballing loyalties. I understand it only too well. There is no way I would attend any such appointment at the City Ground...

You’re having a larf, aren’t you? Surely even the most partisan of supporters has the brains to put aside petty sporting rivalries and look after his/her well-being and that of his/her neighbours? If not, the words “foolish” and “cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face” jump, unbidden, to mind. 

 

I’ve now been rumbled by Mrs iD about the Telecaster (OK, which one of you barstewards grassed me up?) and I have just been subjected to a “Mrs iD Questioning” (like a Gestapo interrogation, but rougher) over my planned Fender Telecaster purchase. Several fingernails and broken teeth later, Mrs iD has accepted that the purchase is both necessary nor too excessive. Later today, I’ll be calling the store that is offering the exact guitar I want to find out more about it (it’s a demo model) and reserve it - if it meets my needs..

 

And on that note, I shall limp - broken but unbowed - into the weekend.

 

iD

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all, with belated birthday greetings to Simon

 

The custard hunt yesterday was successful.  Four drums of the own brand product cost me a little more than half the price of the well known brand.  It can be worth shopping around.  I do this for petrol when I can.  Before yesterday the last time the Polo's tank was topped up was early December.  Unleaded is now 14p a litre more than it was then.  As one of my alter egos, Mr Growser, might have said, "Disgrrraceful!"

 

School houses: At Derwentwater County Primary School, Acton, they were Red, Blue, Green and Yellow.  At Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith, there were no houses.  Whether there are now I couldn't tell you.  At Huntingdon Grammar School, now Hinchingbrooke, there were Cromwell [after Oliver, naturally], Montagu [after the Earls of Sandwich], Pepys [after Samuel] and Vesey [after an obscure archdeacon].

 

In the outside world there are stirrings, and, let it be whispered, dates to put in diaries.  What could possibly go wrong with that bit of forward planning?  Plenty!  What would life be without diary clashes?  Empty!  I am now wondering where else I should be on Saturday 11th September apart from marching through central London with 30,000 other people at Pride in London - which is normally in June or July, but that's a bit of a dodgy prospect this year.  I'll know soon enough.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a cooler but dry Charente. It is alleged that it will stay dry all day. Thecplan is of course to talk to the dirls and see what new words Emily has learned to say. That's the first thing. After tat mynplan is to retire to the shed and complete the work on the gate. There is a chance that it will be rehung today. Not a lot else to report so I will say, 

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[polybear]

 

8 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

When I retired I did consider Ipswich but the more I looked into moving the more I felt like 'why bother'. Also I have many good friends locally and where I live there is good access to all the facilities I need so I decided to stay put. 

 

Very wise - you're not a Bear by any chance are you?

Rule 1 often gets overlooked:  If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

If Bear had a cake for everyone who'd spent £££ moving, only to regret it afterwards, then he'd be a very happy Bear with oodles of cake.  Some hope - at the last stock-take (yesterday) it appears that I'm down to my last two Mr. K's Lemon Bakewells, with possibly some Jaffa Cakes "somewhere"  (down to the joys of having no kitchen, everything that belongs there is now "somewhere", with that being defined as in the area between the front and back garden gates).  At least the bikky tin is in no imminent danger of expiring.

A replenishment exercise from the SCR is in order I think.

 

7 hours ago, andyram said:

I note Rick's comments about refusing to attend a vaccine centre at Selhurst Park due to footballing loyalties. I understand it only too well. There is no way I would attend any such appointment at the City Ground.

 

 

Bear shares iD's confusion.  Is not such an event the equivalent of an "Away Win"?  Bear thought that was rather desirable?

 

7 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

I think this is part of the issue here. There is no incentive not to have what is on offer for ‘free’.

This may seem a little harsh but ‘customers’ can make/accept appointments and not turn up without any sort of admonishment. I’m sick of going to clinics and seeing signs to the effect ‘X number of patients have missed appointments this month’. I wonder how many missed appointments there are in the US and Switzerland.
On a similar note it’s disgusting what ‘customers’ bring back to the pharmacy as waste medication. I’ve mentioned it before on here or The Night Mail regarding the woman who brought back 10 Seretide inhalers at approximately £70 each. Her attitude was, it doesn’t matter it didn’t cost me a thing. There was over £1k worth of medication from her that went to the incinerator. If she had to pay just £1 for each item she may not have taken them in the first instance if she didn’t want them. Though this is an extreme example,  the amount of waste we have to deal with is ...............
I could go on but I may bore you,  I may upset someone , I may get into trouble,I may say something unprofessional and more importantly it’s getting late. So goodnight again.

Robert

 

Bear suggests a system whereby all those on a certain minimum income are charged (how about twenty quid?) when making an appointment with a GP  (maybe fifty quid for a hospital visit?); a "show" prevents the charge being actioned - a "no-show" and you've lost your money.

 

Momma Bear was prescribed some form of energy drink (I forget the name, very common though & often prescribed for those unable to eat normally, for example; available in all sorts of flavours - Vanilla, Coffee, Strawberry, Banana etc etc).

When Momma Bear had no further use for them I had maybe 30 or more unopened; no way was I going to bin them (they're expensive, and it would be a real waste) - the district nurses had a few (they were limited on storage apparently).  The rest went on Ebay, of all places, and made a decent price.  All the money went to the Isobel Hospice at WGC.

(Incidentally, Bear does suspect that there are those - without good reason - who sell on prescribed items via the 'bay (not drugs) as a profit making exercise.  I'm sure that blood testing strips is one such item, from past memory.)

 

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

I fear today may involve a bit of the "G" word.. pah!

 

Very quiet this morning .. apart from our resident Blackbird which was singing away quite merrily outside our bedroom window about 6 am this morning. Speing is hurling towards us..great!

 

Dr Eldest Herbert got his jab last night..a Pfizer one  hence the phone call to come asap. But, her indoors not happy..he got... a sticker.... as ifbit makes any difference.

 

I would support charging for no shows at NHS appointments and also a charge for calling an abulance when it isn't needed. In New Zealand if you call an ambulance for no good reason you have to pay.. number of calls received dropped dramatically.

 

 

Saw our next door neighbour yesterday. They have a 4 month old American Akita pup. He is already large but neighbour reckoned that he will stay small..yeh! Right!

Time to finish my tea and see what else is happening in the world.

 

Have a great Saturday!

Baz

 

[Mike Bellamy]

26 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Dr Eldest Herbert got his jab last night..a Pfizer one  hence the phone call to come asap. But, her indoors not happy..he got... a sticker.... as ifbit makes any difference.

 

The sticker I got after my jab had the time written on it so that they knew what time I was allowed to leave after the mandatory 15 min wait in case of immediate side effects.

.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The sun has burned off the frost this morning and its warming up nicely. Its Captain Tom's funeral today and I'm reflecting on the connection with my friend who died on Thursday and my late father. All three served in the XIV Army and held the Burma Star. What we owe that generation is uncalculatable, as one of the next generation who benefitted the most from their sacrifices we should honour and respect them.

[Winslow Boy]

I have like most ER's, can I call myself one? as although not as young as Simon at 44 I'm not old enough to be in the same category as the majority of the rest of the 'old farts club' as NHN so elegantly puts it, been following the thread about school house names.

 

I can't recall whether either of my primary schools had them but my secondary one did. Remembering what there names were though is another thing. So here goes. There was Nightingale (which I was in), Riley and Snape. I seem to think there were several more but I can't recall what they were.

 

In terms of why they were chosen that is easily. Nightingale and Snape were both named after large manufacturers who were present in the city. I say present as even then, some forty odd years ago, then were in severe r decline and did in fact close several years later. But the fact still stands that they were Salford 'born' and so something to be proud of. There was a lot of rivalry between the two cities, Salford and Manchester as technically Salford is the older and did for a number of years have the mayors r official residence of the 'upstart' in it. Unfortunately or fortunately? depending upon your stance that seems to have been forgotten although there are times when Manchester could do with being taken down a peg or two.

 

I will finish on the following. Like several ER's I am bemused at the 'aminosity' between rival football clubs. I shouldn't be as my father was heavily into football, even starting a football club - which furthered the careers of several players and is even now proceeding up the various leagues courtesy of the Class of '92 and a far east (Singapore?) backer to hopefully challenge the other two 'big girls blouses' of the conurbation.

 

So it is on that note I sign off to go foraging for something to eat and drink.

Edited February 27, 2021 by Winslow Boy
Names never was much good at getting them right.

[Andrew P]

Great weather, great walk, now into the POD once more dear friends, into the POD once more.

[Andrew P]

School houses;

Toilet block,

Bike Shed,

Back of the Bike Shed.

 

My School wasn't that posh.

[Dave Hunt]

Ah, the back of the bike shed - AKA smokers' corner.

 

A lovely spring morning here in North Hipposhire. Not sure whether my back is yet up to walking any distance but a spell in the workshop is a distinct possibility before rugby is watched in the PM. 

 

Have a a good weekend everyone.

 

Dave

[PhilJ W]

8 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

School houses;

Toilet block,

Bike Shed,

Back of the Bike Shed.

 

My School wasn't that posh.

Mine was the same, not so sure about the back of the bike shed it was an all boys school.