Early Risers.

[J. S. Bach]

4 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Evening all from Estuary-Land. My census reminder arrived this afternoon complete with code to access the on-line form. Although its a bit early I opened the site and filled in the details, not difficult as its only yours truly to record. As a point of interest theoretically there should be no visitors or anyone visiting another household due to covid. The other item that arrived in todays post was next years council tax bill, an increase of £20 per year over last years.

Same here, I received mine (well, my address') last year and went online to fill it out; done in about fifteen minutes or so. I suspect the I was among the first to complete it as "why wait", get it over and done with. About three weeks later a reminder to do it was received but I suspect that was just an automated mailing; probably a lot cheaper to mail all than to try to sort out who has and who has not completed the form.

[pH]

Today's walk was round Bedwell Bay. Quite cool, with a bit of wind and snow flurries on the mountains in the distance:

 

 

There are 6 known shipwrecks in the bay, which is about 1 mile long:

- a WW2 subchaser, later converted to a fish packer

- a WW2 minesweeper

- a coastal freighter, built in Sunderland in 1890

- a small wooden schooner, not identified

- an unidentified 60-metre wooden ship, thought to have sunk in the early 1900s

- a modern steel barge

 

[jamie92208]

7 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I found the on off type of handbrake a bit of a pain in a hire car that had a manual gearbox but have no problem with the electronic ones in automatics. With my Evoque the car applies and releases the handbrake. I don’t think I have ever used the switch to override the system. 
Tony

The 7.5 ton bix vans I used to hire to transport my layout had a similar system using the air brake system, a llittle lever that just toggled thecparking brake on or off. That madecit interesting doing a hill start to turn off thecA62 into our village, on a hill at some traffic lights.

5 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

Same here, I received mine (well, my address') last year and went online to fill it out; done in about fifteen minutes or so. I suspect the I was among the first to complete it as "why wait", get it over and done with. About three weeks later a reminder to do it was received but I suspect that was just an automated mailing; probably a lot cheaper to mail all than to try to sort out who has and who has not completed the form.

We did the French census lin 2019.  The lady who is now the mayor, brought the forms round and I did it online for Beth and myself. About 10 minites for each of us. Very easy.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Good moaning.  The shower screen has finally arrived so hopefully  it will get fitted today. I had a good trip to Angouleme and after having coffee with an old work mate a

Te my sandwiches next to a railway line.  Todays task will be fitting the screen. A mate is coming to help.  Apart from that not a lot to report except that it is blowing a hoolie and a tad damp.  At least we are not in the expected path of Fraggle Rock.

 

Stay safe.

 

Jamie

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

By 8 am yesterday I had done the fodder run.  It went well until I discovered that only one checkout was staffed.  I now know that despite what I had been told the previous day Tesco does not sell feather dusters.  Imagine my surprise when I saw a member of staff - so much nicer a term than "operative" - using one.  It matters little.  In the evening I was part of a 60-strong Zoom gathering convened by the South Wales battalion of the Royal Corps of Train Spotters.  I had not seen the presenter, Emeritus Professor Stuart Cole CBE, since 1968 when we were both at the University of East Anglia.  It will be interesting to see whether we can manage to keep in touch.  We managed a brief exchange during the Zoom equivalent of the sound check but not long enough to cover 53 years.  Were it not for the prevailing conditions, his was a presentation that I would have happily driven to Radyr to attend.

 

Meanwhile I'm on Zoom again tonight.  This time it's an off-pattern offering from the Stevenage Locomotive Society.  The presenter is a fellow RMwebber.  Stap me, we get everywhere.  A book arrived yesterday.  The sound of Postie ringing my doorbell shattered the reverie induced by Prime Minister's Questions and summoned me to retrieve the cardboard oblong from the step.  The book is volume 4 of the T E Williams collection published by Irwell and as expected contains some nice stuff.  Amid all this activity I'm trying to write a presentation, to be delivered in two months' time.  Gulp.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Rain blasting at our windows this morning. Herself is off shopping shortly.. a waterproof coat will be required. Next doors wall foundations totally underwater.. apparently they can't fit a drain in the garden .. quelle surprise!

 

Her indoors had a Renault Scenic. The electronic brake was ok once you got used to it ..then it broke. It cost "HOW MUCH" to fix it. Her Jazz has a proper handrake, beat has an electronic hand brake but is fairly easy to start on an uphill slope.

 

Stay safe! Hope the Fraggles on the Rock are well tied down!

Baz

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare,

4.5 hours sleep, followed by 3 hours of not very good semi dozing.. couldn't get comfortable.. 633/396.

.

Ben the I want  out Collie was in attendance today, the first time I've not had to put the exterior lights on to show him the way.. I even saw the great Fried egg in the sky.. The roads were running wet with water off of the fields and there were dry patches where the wind Hoolie blew across.

 

Someone mentioned all the road works appearing now the schools are open, this morning the council men were putting up road closed signs, between two schools .. it will be chaos later. I think I might divert slightly to the Orange shed route for going home tonight.

 

Of the roads yesterday going home they were extremely busy, this morning extremely quiet , most odd..

 

ChrisF  mentions seeing an old friend , I think my phone bills are going to get bigger... SWMBO's best friend from school spotted SWMBO's sister  somewhere on line, thinking it was her mother and contacted her..  After first checking who it was, she then asked for SWMBO's phone number. After sister checked it's OK, numbers were swapped and the first of no doubt many phone calls took place.

 

 Our census for which arrived a couple of weeks back  says the same in that if you can't use a computer use this email address,, but at the bottom of the page it also gives a phone number to ask for paper forms to be sent out..

 

At this moment a lot of Norfolk couldn't do that either way, as trees have taken down  power and telephone lines, Though not at our home or here at work.

 

I too dislike electronics in a Car, a car is an awful place for electronics , vibration, huge changes in temperature, and if under the bonnet wet and oily as well.. The landrover only has the radio that is electronic, and just the minimum of electrics required. Our current car has got ABS and electronic control of the engine.. We have had problems with the ABS sensors, didn't stop the car, but failed the mot..

I suspect what ever car is next will be more loaded with the unnecessary..

 

Time for me to go into battle with major system 2..

Edited March 11, 2021 by TheQ

[Andrew P]

Still a bit of a Hoooolieeeee but the bright thing in the Sky has appeared and it would actually be classed as a lovely morning if it wasn't for the wind.

 

I'll give the walk a miss for now, (yes I know Fair weather fairy, but I can live with that).

 

Liberal covering of Palm leaves from next doors Tree over the lawn, and a couple of the garden chairs look like they've been used overnight.

 

Have a good day one and all, stay safe and well.

[BlackRat]

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off for the jab I go,

Its one little prick,

I hope I don't get sick ,

Hi ho hi ho hi hooooo

 

Jab day folks.

 

Not much news, apart from making the decision to take early retirement some between now and next June.

 

Told my boss as I was asking for leave for July and August to go to America, which if we are allowed to go was booked 22 months previous.

 

He went on a bit about how I needed permission etc then was a bit startled as I stopped him and told him not to worry as if it was an issue I would save him any trouble and resign.

 

Luverly jubbly.

 

Happy daze!

[polybear]

40 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Her indoors had a Renault Scenic. The electronic brake was ok once you got used to it ..then it broke. It cost "HOW MUCH" to fix it. Her Jazz has a proper handrake, beat has an electronic hand brake but is fairly easy to start on an uphill slope.

 

 

 

Bear's Thought For The Day:

Can you still do a handbrake turn in a car equipped with an electronic switch?

 

As for cars that "put the handbrake on for you" (I believe a Range Rover was mentioned earlier) - what happens if it goes wrong and does it at sixty on a wet bend?

 

Bear could've got up a 5, when I woke up - nope.  And then at 6, when the alarm went off - nope.  Bear bought another 15 minutes - nope.  And then another - I finally surrendered at 0630.  It's windy.  Bear has already had to rescue the plastics recycling box, fortunately it hasn't thrown up all over the path.

[polybear]

7 minutes ago, BlackRat said:

Told my boss as I was asking for leave for July and August to go to America, which if we are allowed to go was booked 22 months previous.

 

He went on a bit about how I needed permission etc then was a bit startled as I stopped him and told him not to worry as if it was an issue I would save him any trouble and resign.

 

 

 

A mate of mine who worked in a cr@p job ("Design Certification" - makes watching paint dry exciting) asked his Boss:

 

"Do you want me three days a week or no days a week?"

 

He won

[BoD]

34 minutes ago, TheQ said:

 

 Our census for which arrived a couple of weeks back  says the same in that if you can't use a computer use this email address,, but at the bottom of the page it also gives a phone number to ask for paper forms to be sent out..

My mum, who is 90, tried that line several times and it was always ‘experiencing a large number of calls’ and played her some inane music.  She got through once but, as she is quite deaf too, couldn’t understand the automated system.  Someone, somewhere  hasn’t thought this through. 
 

She gave me the reference number from the letter and after not a few calls I managed to get through, key in the reference number and she should get her form through the post.  Being of a certain generation she was already starting to chew about the £1000 fine for non completion that is mentioned somewhere in the bumph.

 

[iL Dottore]

Morning all,

 

Been absent due to work-quite a lot to do.

I am facing a quiet and busy few days ahead. Which is not the contradiction in terms as it appears: Mrs ID and the Wolfpack are up at the holiday hovel and I have a lot of “work“ work to do. So on the one hand, no domestic duties beyond which I choose to do myself and , on the other, lots of m*delling token generating activities.

 

The fallout from Ophrah’s interview seems to go on and on. The disturbing thing about this fallout, is that it emphasises how now in the Anglo Saxon world you are not really expected (allowed?) to have any sort of opinion other than the “approved” opinion and won’t betide you if you do.

As of late, watching from afar, it appears that if you have opinions other than that of the government in power or of the prevailing social orthodoxy at best you will be ignored, at worst you will be denied the ability to voice your opinion (or even suffer social and economic consequences). I think it would be very instructive for those who are now clamouring for certain voices NOT to be heard, to remember that many of those transformations of society that benefited so many people were initiated or championed by those who - at the time - were voicing unpopular opinions (e.g. “Give women the vote? Good God man, why? Are you mad? No respectable man would allow his wife to vote“ and so on).

 

In the absence of the Wolfpack, our friend Judy is coming by this evening with her dog Frida for coffee and a chat. For some reason Frida seems to trust me implicitly and I was the only one she allowed to bandage her paw when she recently damaged her dew claw. Judy maintains it was because “I know what I’m doing“ (which is a rather overgenerous estimate of my veterinary abilities); still, I have now been elevated to the role of “Uncle“ iD.

If I were to anthropomorphise the two female dogs in my life (the correct term for a female dog is, of course, a b1tch - but that now has unfortunate connotations in US and British English, thanks to “gangsta rap”). Lucy would be a strong and independent minded svelte redheaded “heart breaker”, whilst Frida would be a sultry Eastern European beauty queen (she’s from Romania). And if I were to anthropomorphise Schotty, then I think he would be a food and drink obsessed fine scale railway modeller (where railway modelling would take the place of his ball. Obsessing about fine scale back to back tolerances is nothing compared to Schotty’s obsession with his ball!)

 

Alas, work now beckons and I must disappear in to the office.

 

Enjoy the day!
 

iD

[Erichill16]

47 minutes ago, andyram said:

Poor game. I have seen better football played on local park pitches. I have seen snippets of Rooney’s interview which stated we had battled well. I am not going to suggest we descended to the hoof it level of our hosts because our football has been dire all season. A draw a fair result. Both keepers made one decent save each. We were a width of a post away from a winner. Barnsley should have had a penalty. The horrible little man with the whistle, Keith Stroud, always likes to be centre of attention but seemed to forget himself today and had a fairly quiet game. Usually his errors are against us, but today’s decision to book a Barnsley player for diving in the box after a clear foul by our player was a rare one in our favour. On most occasions he can’t point to the spot quick enough!

 Those are ninety minutes of my life I won’t get back, but made palatable by the two pints of Stout I consumed.

 

 Anyway, moving away from a load of balls! Greetings to one and all. Not much to report today apart from frustration at DPD. They have been delivering to my shop for 2 and a half years. They are well aware that I don’t normally open until 10.30am and that I live 40 minutes drive from the shop. It is therefore no help to send me an alert at 7.30am stating my delivery will be arriving from 8.15. Result being the delivery rearranged for tomorrow.

 

 

Stay safe.

 

 

Andy

Agree with most of what you say. We used to play the ball on the ground but passed it to death and eventually lost the ball and often a goal. I don’t like our style of play, there’s no finesse but it’s been getting results. Other teams are getting the hang of how we play and nullifying our game plan. Anyway we’ve avoided relegation so mission accomplished for this year. Pity the stadiums been empty because there would have been a great atmosphere with the position we’re in. Bought season ticket in June and never expected that I’d not get to see a match!
Robert

[Erichill16]

 

[Dave Hunt]

Morning All from a very windy North Hipposhire.

 

 Both Jill's and my car's (VWs) have electronic hand brakes (I suppose parking brake would be a more accurate term) with an optional switch selection that enables the system automatically to apply it when the car is stationary. It then automatically releases when traction is applied, hence  hill starting is simply a case of driving away. Having said that, I still prefer an old-fashioned hand brake and have a sneaking suspicion that any repairs to the system would be 'kin expensive.

 

We have also received our census forms with the idiotic suggestion that if a paper submission is required it should be applied for on line. The term d*ckheads springs to mind.

 

Have a good day y'all.

 

Dave

Edited March 11, 2021 by Dave Hunt
The stupid predictive text changed census to consistent

[Mike Bellamy]

1 hour ago, BoD said:

 

She gave me the reference number from the letter and after not a few calls I managed to get through, key in the reference number and she should get her form through the post.  Being of a certain generation she was already starting to chew about the £1000 fine for non completion that is mentioned somewhere in the bumph.

 

 

BoD - why not just fill in the details online for her which is what I have done for father-in-law who has just gone into a care home for respite care as he is classed as 'normally living there but temporarily away on Census day'. The leaflet says that you can complete the Census before 21st if you are not expecting any changes to your 'household' and so we dealt with ours the day the letter arrived.

 

I have now looked again at my letter and have realised that you are given a 10 digit reference number to phone with as well as 16 combination of numbers and letters for your 'household reference code' - why not have the same reference for both options?

 

Also I note that the letter gives the phone number to call in large print at the top of the letter and again in smaller print at the end as an alternative to going to the website - it's also on the back of the purple leaflet enclosed with the letter so I don't think it's fair to complain about email being the only way to contact.

 

I think I read somewhere that this will the last time the Office for National Statistics will have a Census like this as most (if not all) of the information is now available from other sources - I guess they'll just track us using the microchips implanted with the vaccine !!

.

Edited March 11, 2021 by Mike Bellamy

[Tony_S]

Good morning.

Sunny but rather blustery weather so far today. 
Shopping will arrive later this morning. No shortages or substitutes. I will play the find a space game in the freezer later. 
Tony

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

what happens if it goes wrong and does it at sixty on a wet bend?

It would probably make an unpleasant smell. 

[tigerburnie]

Morning, wet and windy last night, but now dry and bits of blue sky amongst the clouds allowing the sun to peep through, still cold, only 7 degrees so any of the "G" word will be inside the greenhouse. Might run some wheels over parallel bits of metal too. What's all this census talk? not heard anything in Wee Jimmie Crankie land??

[BSW01]

13 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

It would probably make an unpleasant smell. 

Would that be inside, or outside of the car?

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from Sidcup where it is grey and very windy. The panels on next door's fence are hanging on by threads. He's been saying he'll have to get round to putting more solid panels with a gravel board in for a couple of years now, especially as his daughters are now 5 and 3 and love the garden. Maybe this will give him the impetus he needs. It has not been bothering us.

 

I took Younger Lurker off to his first full day back at school. He seems to be OK about it - he even managed to more or less do the tie!

 

Mrs Lurker reports that there are vast numbers of flowers laid for the lollipop man.

 

And now on with some work. 

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

The rain has stopped, the wind has almost gone, but the sun is shining, albeit on and off at the moment. The garden is far to wet to do any sort of hard landscaping so I’ll give it a miss as there’s a possibility of more rain later on today. 

 

My car has lots of electronic gadgets in, A/C, built in sat nav, Bluetooth for the phones, music is via a USB socket and it has heated leather seats and a heated steering wheel, which I’ve used only a couple of times. Sheila likes the heated seats! The dash also tells me the pressure of my tyres, my average mpg etc. Thankfully, it has a proper hand operated hand brake in the usual place, just behind the gearstick. 

 

We've had a leaflet saying that the census is coming, but as yet we haven’t received the actual census form. It’ll make boring reading in 100 years time as there’s only the 2 of us here. 

 

Not a lot planned for the day, I might get the turntable from the workshop and set it up in the cellar and test it along with the remodelled test track. 

 

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

 

Brian. 

Edited March 11, 2021 by BSW01

[Tony_S]

11 minutes ago, BSW01 said:

Would that be inside, or outside of the car?

Both possibly. 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Bin day today, started as usual by the lesser spotted glass and bottle wagon as its the every other week that it appears. Blowing a hooley but dry outside, I heard my garden wheelie bin go over earlier so its going to remain where it is until the wind drops. Got to go and run a bath now, be back later.