Early Risers.

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

But is "Ingenuity" really a stupid name?

I don’t think it is a stupid name. It was developed using the name Mars Helicopter and schoolchildren were offered a chance to name it. A child from Alabama won. The helicopter is unofficially “Ginny”. 

[simontaylor484]

4 hours ago, Ian Abel said:

consider commenting to them, but given the propensity to find folks being shot for looking sideways at someone else here now, I decline to make any comment!

Sounds like some of the pubs round here except it would be a fist not a gun certainly 20 years ago it was like that

[leopardml2341]

Another day, another dollar! (sic)

G'night all, time for the comedy club on R4 extra.......

[simontaylor484]

Yam yam not heard that since the yard at Bison Lichfield. 

Youze was another one

[Tony_S]

I haven’t got a sore arm or head after my Second Astra Zeneca jab. I don’t really have any reaction after the first one either. I suppose something could still happen, not that I particularly want any. The weather was warm and sunny so there was no problem queuing outside today. The only reason there was queuing was people were turning up too early and messing up the queue. 
Tony

[PhilJ W]

The verdict is in:-

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/breaking-derek-chauvin-found-guilty-23943835#source=push

 

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

... schoolchildren were offered a chance to name it

Similarly for the rover Perseverance. It is nicknamed "Percy".

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Barry O]

Goodnight all!

Baz

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

More progress has been made in the cellar today, with another large section of ceiling removed. I’m about 80% of the way there now, approximately 120sq ft of the ceiling has now gone and there’s about 30sq ft left to remove. That’ll be gone tomorrow, hopefully before dinner if it goes as well as it did today. 

 

Before starting work, I move the 3 sacks I’d filled yesterday and by the end of today another 2 joined them on the patio, there’s a 6th bag part filled in the cellar and I’ve another 2 bags left, so hopefully that’s enough. 

 

The floor had dried out over night and left a fine coating of grey dirt/dust covering it, so I then gave the floor a sweep before I started, it sounds a bit daft, but it felt very slippy underfoot until I’d done so. However, when I’d finished today, I turned the hose on the floor and swilled it off. The floor has a natural slope towards the door, so the water collected there by the door frame. Originally it would have run outside under the door into the drain, but the new double glazed doors means that it can’t do that now, so I just bailed it out with a plastic dust pan, straight into the drain, it was quite effective. I did this a couple of times and the floor looked a whole lot better afterwards, so hopefully I won’t need to sweep it before I start work tomorrow morning. 

 

Once I’d finished I got washed and changed, although to be fair, once I’m booted and suited there’s not much left of me to be seen. Think of the people you see on TV, dressed in white hooded overalls, blue gloves and wearing masks, seen entering a crime scene, that’ll give you some sort of idea as to what I’m wearing. I just don’t have the ‘blue overshoes’, but I do have safety glasses and heavy duty leather work gloves as well, you can’t be too careful with this sort of schtuff can you. 

 

Once cleaned off, I went into the kitchen and finished making the fruit tea loaf that I’d left soaking overnight, then popped it in the oven for a couple of hours, the aroma coming from the kitchen later on was lovely.

 

Whilst I was busy in the cellar this morning, it suddenly occurred to me that yesterday, was exactly 41 years to the day that we moved into our house! Bl00dy hell, whoooooosh, where did that go?

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[iL Dottore]

8 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

At least Midgard is preferable to realm of Hel / Helheim in the roots of Yggdrasil.

 

Do you ascend back to Asgard via the Bilröst (rainbow bridge)?

 

Do watch out for Jörmungandr in the encircling sea.

Read much Norse mythology lately?

7 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

At least it's not "Copter McCopter Face".

 

Quite! I think asking the great British public to name something is an exercise in futility. “Boaty McBoatface”?  Really? Of the hundreds, if not thousands of more inspiring, more appropriate and just more sensible names, the British public decided on “Boaty McBoatface“. But there again (puts on Captain Cynical spandex), many europeans do regard taste and sophistication as things with which the “Great British Public” have but a fleeting acquaintance!

7 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

A total waste of money!

I couldn’t disagree more. A lot of the advances in medicine, advances we now take for granted, have come out of the various space programs.  Nonstick coatings, new types of plastic, ECG telemetry, advanced ceramics not to mention great advances made in materials technology,  all have their roots in the various space programs, scattered across the globe.

I am sure that if someone nowadays would make a remake of James Burke’s “Connections“ they would be able to trace how putting a man on the moon lead to the iPhone (does anyone else remember the TV series “Connections“? It was made back in the days when you actually did have intelligent and informative TV programmes, like Connections or The Ascent of Man or World At War [sadly, it seems like Dear Old David A is the only one still making that sort of program nowadays])

6 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Evening all from Estuary-Land. The European super league is being scrapped. Barca and Atletico have also pulled out, good job too. All those billionaire club owners should look on the bright side, there won't be so much money for them to count.

As far as I am concerned, the whole exercise was a cynical attempt to increase their already astronomical revenues. Many decades ago, it was said that “rugby is a game played by hooligans and watched by gentlemen, whilst football is a game played by gentlemen and watched by hooligans“ Captain Cynical would observe that today: “football is a game played by the grossly overpaid and watched by the grossly underpaid”.

Not being remotely interested in the “beautiful game“, I really don’t pay too much attention to football and all that surrounds it, but one thing did pop up over my radar horizon was of the simply enormous cost of attending a single match (let alone buying a season ticket for a well known club).
Another football “factoid” that floated into my peripheral vision, was the complaint made by many veteran football enthusiasts that football - once a low cost entertainment for the working class - has now become the province of the well-heeled middle-classses who have jumped on the fashionable football bandwagon and pushed up the prices of everything associated with the game.

Up early today, went to bed fairly early but had an uncomfortable night, Nothing of great import, just the usual deterioration of a body that is long past it’s “best before date“.

 

Finally, an update for those amongst you who are patisserie aficionados: The profiteroles turned out pretty well given that it was my first attempt at making Choux pastry; I will be working on a better recipe for the pastry this weekend and making chocolate eclairs and, if there is enough choux pastry left over, possibly a cream bun or two. And if that goes well, then I will attempt a Paris- Brest (with a home-made praline buttercream filling).

 

Happy Hump Day

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare,

7 hours sleep minus two medium length wake up and turn overs...

 

As to the boot a thing on plastic, I think eventually one day there will be a super European League, within the current authorities control, but including promotion and demotion from lower leagues. But quite how , that's arranged, I don't know. One team from each country could mean 55 teams, clearly too many. Also a small countrys team from say Albania  would probably lose every match...

 

I'm now on part two of the week having crossed the hump.. I've taken Friday off, we will be going shopping Friday, GY or Cromer / Sheringham providing they stay zero cases of Covid. We will go early arriving at opening time, stay masked all the time, and leave before the lunch time crowds..

 

Ben the snoring Collie has yet to awake,  he's late, and if I don't move so will I be.

 

Time to get up.

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

I don’t think I have shared this tale with gentle readers before and you will soon see why.  Last September I became a victim of crime.  A stranger engaged me in conversation in Bedford town centre and by a process that I do not fully understand even now managed to con me out of £20.  It left me feeling foolish and humiliated.  Had it been left to me the matter would not have been reported to the police.  That it was is down to the young man responsible for monitoring the town centre CCTV, who saw the whole wretched incident and summoned the law.  Later that day a WPC called on me and took a statement.  It turned out that the offender was well known to the police.  In March he appeared at Luton Crown Court on half a dozen charges and was found guilty.  Sentencing was adjourned for reports to be prepared.  I learned yesterday afternoon that he has been sentenced to 54 months in prison.  While this is good news, it does not make me feel better for not reporting the crime myself.

 

I share Younger Lurker’s enthusiasm for the late great Keith Floyd.  My cousin Mike Foren, sadly no longer with us, was named in the credits of some of Keith’s programmes as videotape editor.  Sadly I could never persuade him to show me the out-takes.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[AndrewC]

Moaning all from the boring borough. Off shortly for a round of spinal origami. At least it gets me out of the house on a chilly Wednesday morning. 

 

I'm so looking forward to this new Super League. Just think. Barcelona v Real Madrid EVERY Wednesday for 38 weeks of regular season, then playoffs, and finally the Super Cup. All for the low low price on Amazon Prime of 75€ a month. <chortle> As one person on Twitter commented, they'd seen Sugababes lineups that lasted longer than the ESL. 

 

Enjoy the day. 

[monkeysarefun]

35 minutes ago, chrisf said:

Greetings one and all

 

I don’t think I have shared this tale with gentle readers before and you will soon see why.  Last September I became a victim of crime.  A stranger engaged me in conversation in Bedford town centre and by a process that I do not fully understand even now managed to con me out of £20.  It left me feeling foolish and humiliated.  Had it been left to me the matter would not have been reported to the police.  That it was is down to the young man responsible for monitoring the town centre CCTV, who saw the whole wretched incident and summoned the law.  Later that day a WPC called on me and took a statement.  It turned out that the offender was well known to the police.  In March he appeared at Luton Crown Court on half a dozen charges and was found guilty.  Sentencing was adjourned for reports to be prepared.  I learned yesterday afternoon that he has been sentenced to 54 months in prison.  While this is good news, it does not make me feel better for not reporting the crime myself.

 

I share Younger Lurker’s enthusiasm for the late great Keith Floyd.  My cousin Mike Foren, sadly no longer with us, was named in the credits of some of Keith’s programmes as videotape editor.  Sadly I could never persuade him to show me the out-takes.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

 

Speaking of CCTV have you checked out the koala cam at the Lone Pine Sanctuary? Ultimate slow TV, nothing happens until you nick off to get a cup of tea, come back and find they've moved..

 

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Strange dream last night. Me and her indoors were going to a cricket match up in the Dales. A cow sat down in front of beastie..then another one sat down at the back. Hernindoors started to get annoyed.. then the farmer turned up and started to give us verbals about knocking his cows over.. that is when her indoors went apesh1t! Luckily I woke up.. lets hope it never happens!

 

Today ..its cleaning day... car windows to be cleaned sas well as house internal glass faces..pah!

 

Time for my mugatea then!

Stay safe!

Baz

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a sunny Charente.  Harry the pheasant only had one lady in attendance this morning. The girls have been let out and as I walked up through the shec it seems that a family of black redstarts are in residence somewhere.    

 

Various jobs were done yesterday, i even strimmed round the pool base and then finally trimmed the bitscof felt and old liner that jutted out round the pool bottom rail. It looks a lot neater.  Today will be started with ironing then no doubt some unspecified potterring.  

 

As to football.  I have very little interest in the game itself, though it was a good sourcecof lucrative overtime for me in the 80's. I do however enjoy watching the results tables and the way the numbers work out. Who the actual winner of a leaguevis, is immaterial to me but the various permutations  and possibilities  intrigue me. Like Brian, with his cellsr ceiling I always work out how much remsins of a job.  When I was removing tiles from the bathroom floor, I knew each day how many I'd done and how many remained. When we drive back to the UK (almost a forgotten pleasure these days), I like to have the satnav on so that I  can watch the distance wind down, and amuxe myself by working out what fraction or percentage  remains.  Beth can't understand  it but do I care.

 

Chrisf, please don't beat yourxelf up about the young man who is now eating porridge for the next 2 years or so. To have received  a sentence as long as that he must have been avprolific thief and probably many of his victims could not afgord the loss. Just hope that he gets some help to sort out his life whilst inside.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[TheQ]

Hmm the Latest covid figures are out for Norfolk... 9.5 per 100,000 in North Norfolk, 17.1 in GY, (UK national average 26.8) no covid patients in critical care in any of the Norfolk Hospitals..

 

Ben enjoyed his patrol looking for MR fox again... dull over cast but less misty than yesterday, water still dripping off of the trees though.

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, from a dull-ish rock lounging at 9c.

 

The day should be pottering on filled, lots of little tasks to be completed, nothing big on the go bar that &^%$£"! bike engine, which I think I have diagnosed.  Parts incoming, we'll see when they arrive!  Re-using almost 50 year old parts is an issue, and making others, as many are not now available.  I'll get there, I will not be beaten!

 

Only 5 active covid cases now, no newbies yesterday.  Awaiting developments with bated breath, as the great Manx public now mix freely with one another.  The old farts breakfast club run was nice yesterday, I had missed male companionship more than I realised in lockdown.  We went all the way  to Castletown, which was busier than I have seen it for quite some time, folk enjoying their freedoms.

[chrisf]

23 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Chrisf, please don't beat yourxelf up about the young man who is now eating porridge for the next 2 years or so. To have received  a sentence as long as that he must have been avprolific thief and probably many of his victims could not afgord the loss. Just hope that he gets some help to sort out his life whilst inside.

Jamie,  I am not beating myself up about the man now convicted.  The police have thanked me for helping them to put him behind bars.  Where I find fault with myself is in not reporting the offence.  What if the vigilant young man on the CCTV had not been watching the crime unfold?  If his other victims had been equally lily-livered he might still be at large.

 

Chris 

[leopardml2341]

Mornin' folks.

 

Typically dull grey in South Derbyshire.

 

Laundry in the machine, breakfast consumed, inbox visited and now off to do some soldering.

 

Stay well, stay safe and most of all stay sane.

 

Bye for now.