Early Risers.

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, Ian Abel said:

... closing arguments in the George Floyd case being presented as I write

Still being broadcast live by the networks here - and probably nationwide. I have some random red clay tennis on instead.

 

I am somewhat dreading the outcome, but irrespective of the decision, there will be ugliness on many streets across the nation. The rampant pandemic-induced unhappiness presents itself in many ways - including increased gun violence and increased agitation by those with an anarchic bent alike. I find myself frustrated by those who coopt peaceful protest for a genuine cause as a pretext for street violence and provocative lawlessness - as distinct from those who are so angry they don't make good choices.

[Coombe Barton]

30 minutes ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

I have one more trick to try and if it's still unreliable then looks like I'm gonna have to turn the aerial the opposite way round and receive West Midlands transmissions

Waltham on the Wolds transmitter was always problematic west of Victoria Park. I guess that you're on the west of Leicester. 

[simontaylor484]

@Sir TophamHatt you could get a signal booster that plugs in to the mains and the back of your tv so the ladders dont need to come out.

 

@polybearScrewfix  and Toolstation seperate their tools in to hand and power tools that could be why the non electric saw does not show up

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, Ian Abel said:

ZERO first thing with a couple of meaningless snow flurries, high to reach 5 later with cloudy skies all day.

We had record high temperatures on Saturday - summer-like high temperatures around 29°C all weekend. Slightly cooler today, but no precipitation forecast until next weekend. It's stunningly lovely weather for April.

 

Meanwhile the in the Rockies, (a decidedly more southerly latitude from here) it is snowing with record cold forecast for much of the country.

[brianusa]

4 hours ago, Ian Abel said:

Moanday...

 

Generally a good weekend was had, though "to-do's" managed to invade the little free time I was hoping for. All good in the end though.

Saturday saw us sort out various objects of interest the Mrs deemed needed "organizing", also hanging of a picture by a local artist that the Mrs wanted and was therefore secured as an early Mothers Day gift.

Had an exceptional dinner and game afternoon/evening with Trevor and Meagan - Mexican Train being the game of choice for the evening. I was an early leader then failed

Sunday the bicycles were retrieved from their winter hanging position in the garage, oiled/greased and initial forays attempted. Unfortunately the Mrs bike had a brake break so we had to return and I'm now in search of an open bike shop to obtain replacement parts.

 

Today, with closing arguments in the George Floyd case being presented as I write, we will grocery shop this afternoon for an impending siege possibility.

The streets of Minneapolis and some inner suburbs are starting to resemble Fallujah rather than a quiet upper mid-western city.

Possibly/probably some curfews will be in place the next few days, we will be listening for that information.

 

ZERO first thing with a couple of meaningless snow flurries, high to reach 5 later with cloudy skies all day.

 

Stay safe.

 

[Erichill16]

12 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

You’ve been done, son. No change from SFr 50 (not £50) would be not unreasonable, Having said that, near the Eiger SFr60 (£50) for two isn’t too unreasonable (but see below)

 

 

iD

I knew when I saw the menu but the visit was part of the daily itinerary and due to my diet it wasn’t worth trying to find somewhere else. We had planned to use the restaurant a couple of times due to its reputation regarding GF food but we soon made alternative arrangements. I thought it was a little strange as the staff hadn’t heard of gluten free beer, there’s quite a choice here in the uk.

Actually I should have typed ‘with a view of the Eiger’ rather than ‘near’.

Robert

[Ozexpatriate]

3 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

I thought it was a little strange as the staff hadn’t heard of gluten free beer

Is there a GF beer that comports with Reinheitsgebot* (barley, hops and water)? I presume not.

 

* Yes, I know this is German and not Swiss.

[polybear]

3 hours ago, southern42 said:

Just been informed that my Cakebox Challenge Entry now has its competition webpage:

 

https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/information/brm-cake-box-challenge-2021-the-cob?openPageId=26797249-8bb1-4995-8cb2-e08bef35fa75

 

Link to all entries is at the bottom of the page.  Really worth a look!

 

Polly

Must dash - mugadecaf and crumpets time.

 

 

Very nice; just one question though.....Who on earth recons that a "standard" cake box only measures 8" square?  A custard cream is bigger than that....

 

 

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Tell me about it - back in my outpatients department manager days it was a very rare thing indeed, despite making over 49,000 appointments a year.   Our service level agreement was for 35,000 BTW - just think about that one for a while, those who criticise the NHS staff.

 

 

Bear ensured that sincere thanks were given to the GP at the Vets for the excellent (and very fast) service Bear received just prior to chrimbo - the symptoms and test results suggested that "getting a move on" was indeed A Very Good Idea - and they did.  Fortunately it came to nothing, thankfully - but it could very easily have gone the other way (in fact the GP had suggested I return the seat to the upright position, fold the tray away, tighten the seat belt and brace for impact...).  So thanks were indeed due.

 

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I find myself frustrated by those who coopt peaceful protest for a genuine cause as a pretext for street violence and provocative lawlessness - as distinct from those who are so angry they don't make good choices.

 

Including the sudden increase in those members of the population who feel a sudden need to go shopping for a 60" HD TV at 3am....

 

[Coombe Barton]

... one day ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/04/19/about-time/

[brianusa]

 

No longer will we listen or watch the many instances such as this that seem to dominate our airwaves.  The Capitol riots did it in for us along with subsequent unrest and disruption.  Its almost got to the point of see one, see 'em all!  Same goes for all the gun violence which seems to get worse each time.  Only in America!

     Brian.

[Erichill16]

15 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Is there a GF beer that comports with Reinheitsgebot* (barley, hops and water)? I presume not.

 

* Yes, I know this is German and not Swiss.

I’m not sure. When in Berlin a couple of years ago I did manage to get some German GF beer but can’t remember it’s name, certainly not one I’d heard of. I’ve not seen any gluten free beers in Switzerland but only every shop in supermarkets and buy from hotel/restaurant bars. It’s slightly odd as I believe Italy caters well for people with a gluten intolerance so thought a pizza restaurant in Switzerland would be at least aware of GF beer.

At the moment I’m drinking Peroni GF which contains water,barley,maize and hops. Barley contains gluten so the gluten must be removed in the process somewhere. As well as Peroni there’s also Estrella Damm and San Miguel available as well as a couple of bitters.

Robert.

[tigerburnie]

Early night required 

G'night all

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Not a particularly productive day here. Went with SWMBO and Mil to do the weekly shopping but not at a proper supermarket. In the afternoon,after an hour making some phone call that should only have taken 10minutes, I polished a turd. 
On a positive note I received a book I’d ordered a couple of day ago.

’Brutal Bloc Post Cards’, ‘a collection of Soviet era postcards documenting the brutal landscapes of the Eastern Bloc through its buildings and monuments.’ I may have a quick look at it. 
Early start tomorrow as we’re in charge of the nephews and Sydney  so I bid you  Goodnight. 

Robert 

[leopardml2341]

Evenin' folks.

 

I think I'm failing the ER bit of this thread......

 

Wil try and make a post tomorrow morning, that's if work doesn't get in the way (again).

 

On a separate note @andyram seems to have been in absentia for a while, hope you're ok mate!

 

Stay safe, sleep well and stay sane.

Edited April 19, 2021 by leopardml2341

[Dave Hunt]

Had a phone call today from the hospital to say that Dad has been declared medically fit for discharge. He still can't get out of bed, walk or even stand unaided, though, so they are looking to transfer him to a community hospital. With luck this could be Whitchurch, which is ten miles away, but it is equally possible that it could be Ludlow, which is over fifty miles away. Since the present policy is 'no choice' neither Dad nor I has any say in the matter. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

 

As an added bonus to the day my car's warning panel lit up like a Christmas tree on the way home from taking some stuff to the hospital for Dad this afternoon so it's visit the garage time in the morning. Fun or what?

 

Mind you, I got an hour in the workshop this evening and managed a spot of mod***ing without any major disasters so that was OK.

 

G'night all.

 

Dave

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Ploughing through Farcebook this evening I came across this, about Hollywood car stunts.

https://www.facebook.com/thisisinsiderentertainment/videos/156244576379806

I hope you all find it interesting.

 

[monkeysarefun]

Speaking of The Prisoner we're now allowed off the island even if it is only to New Zealand to mock  them when they say Fush And Chups.  The first of our travel bubbles, some of the other Pacific nations might come next since many of them avoided covid.

 

The rest of the world is currently looking iffy until 2024 apparently, I guess we'll all be getting a bit sick of Pacific Island holidays by then.

 

Airfares start  around $400 return, not sure how that is compared before all this so I can't say if they are pricing it low to get business back, or high to recoup losses. Just converting that to pounds is a bit  meaningless given difference in cost of living  and wages so as a comparison that's about a quarter average weekly earnings here so based on that it would be 190 pounds return.

 

kia ora.

 

Edited April 19, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[Barry O]

@Erichill16..wold top brewery do a nice gluten free beer..as recommended by one of the Boggle group. We are hoping to have a Bogfall get together in September..a week of walking, eating , drinking etc  in Robin Hoods Bay...fingers crossed it all goes ok.

 

Had a while sitting in the garden today. Her indoors has decided she wants to move...this could get expensive...

 

Off to see Dr Eldest Herbert tomorrow.  We all have had negative covid tests so will meet up for a walk and a picnic tomorrow. 

 

Cup of decaff required..TTFN

 

Baz

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

I’ve made quite a bit of progress in the cellar today. About 20% of the ceiling had already been removed, it was like that when we bought the house 41 years ago! Today just over 50% is now gone and there are 3 large bags of rubble waiting to be shifted. I’ve also resisted the fluorescent light fitting, so the next section can be removed easily. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get another 25-30% done tomorrow, the remaining bits on Wednesday thus leaving Thursday as a cleaning up day. 

 

Yesterday evening, I thought of a way to minimise the amount of dust that would be created by today’s task. In addition to laying the dust sheets on the dining room floor, but this involved the use of quite a lot of water. So I ran the hose pipe from the garden into the cellar, set the hose to a fine spray, then sprayed water on the floor and then on the section of ceiling to be worked. I then removed a small section of the ceiling, just large enough to get the head of a hose pipe in. I then sprayed water turn in the gap between the top of the ceiling and the underside of the floorboards. Waited a few minutes for the water to soak into the plaster, then with a hand saw I started cutting, removing small sections, each about 5in by 12in. These are easy enough to hold onto and I can then put them straight into a bag. So far it’s been quite successful, enough for there to be no dust upstairs in the dining room, earning me quite a few brownie points! The only downside to this method is the cellar floor is getting very muddy, but I can live with this, if the mess stays contained to just the cellar, meaning a lot less cleaning is required upstairs. 

 

After tea I set up a fruit tea loaf, this will be left to soak overnight, it’ll get baked tomorrow afternoon. 

 

After tea I completed the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix, nothing out of the ordinary, but the cafes and bars near by all seemed to be busy!

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[The Stationmaster]

4 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

You could always fit a booster to the aerial. I had one until I went over to cable. Only down about one is it is fitted to the aerial and would mean getting the ladders out again to fit one.

The bloke who installed our tv aerial used a meter to test the signal strength as he was aligning the aerial.  We wanted a transmitter that pumps out BBC South but he couldn't get a very good signal off it and was in fact getting a stronger signal off Crystal Palace on the back of the aerial so he turned the aerial round and aligned it on Crystal Palace, alas.   Ee do havea signal booster but then we do distribute the signal around the house to a total of 5 different tv sets so a booster is earning its money.  The installer's view was that boosters are pointless if you aren't getting a strong enough signal in the first place because - as he explained it - a booster can't boost what isn't there to boost.   

 

if you can improve the gain on the aerial that is a different matter but indoor boosters, he explained, won't really help if you're getting a patchy or weak signal in the first place.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[Ozexpatriate]

3 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

if you can improve the gain on the aerial that is a different matter but indoor boosters, he explained, won't really help if you're getting a patchy or weak signal in the first place.

Generally I would agree.

 

I had a situation with a television where adding a pre-amplifier made all the difference. In this case I suspect that the signal conditioning pre-amp inside the TV was damaged during a thunderstorm. We took it to a nearby TV repair shop* where, connecting it to their antenna with a strong signal, they could not diagnose a problem. Adding an external amplifier, that television worked fine for years whether connected to an antenna or cable TV. It didn't work without it.

 

* This was probably more than 25 years ago when such a thing existed. Even then they were becoming rare.

 

Different situation when only some signals can be tuned.