Early Risers.

[jamie92208]

41 minutes ago, chrisf said:

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 

Sorry if I'd misunderstood  your post Chris.  That's the fault of me reading too fast before the coffee has worked.  Not wanting to report is actually very common.  

 

Jamie

[polybear]

11 hours ago, leopardml2341 said:

SWMBO has been involved in conducting the trials of this (or similar) medication. Bit of a downside is that it involves regular contact with Covid Positive candidates, lots of ppe and cleansing needed.

 

Now what Pharmaceutical Company *might* be a worthwhile target for fellow ER'ers to invest in, one wonders......

 

10 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

The verdict is in:-

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

 

 

And it'll change nothing:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-56825871

It'll take the public to abide by the law, in conjunction with careful (though not overly intrusive) monitoring of Police behaviour and initial selection.  There will always be cases though.

One thing the case has done is given a very large wake-up call to all Officers that their actions are accountable; the risk is that Officers may start to become so paranoid about being charged for daring to ask someone what their name is that the baddies have free reign.

 

2 hours 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.

 

 

 

Bear got caught whilst on Holiday close to Lake Maggiore one year - I got taken in to the tune of 10 Euros  or so (but that's 3 LDC's, so pretty serious) whilst visiting Stresa - though the presence of the OH didn't help (that's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it....).  I realised afterwards, and was soooooo bl00dy mad at myself I spent the rest of the day keeping an eye out for him   And then I saw him, working his magic to a group of diners sat outside a restaurant....

 

I thrust the camera into OH's hand and off Bear went - she hadn't a clue what was going on.  I cornered him and stuck a paw out:

"Ten Euros!"

"What?"

"You heard - Ten Euros!!"

"Why"

"You f. know why!"

He must've realised he'd been rumbled.

He paid up and gave Bear ten Euros.

Not sure if this exactly covered my loss (+/- a little bit), but it was close enough.  If I'd known he would pay up so easily I would've gone for a twenty....

 

Bear very happy now, though the whole event had spoiled the day, and taught Bear an important lesson.

 

Stresa was very busy that day, as there was practice for a Powerboat Race on the lake the following day (the very, very big Powerboats - F1?) ; Bear doubly got his own back as I reported the scrote to a couple of Carabinieri (you don't mess with those guys - they take on the Mafia) who were on foot patrol.  I was confident they would find him without difficulty as he was about the only person in Stresa with dreadlocks.

 

Chris - no doubt your subsequent statement helped greatly; I'd not worry too much about not reporting it initially - sadly it's very easy not to report "low-value" crime nowadays, since the Police are so overworked that for many cases (including serious stuff) all you end up with is a crime number for your insurers.  There's no way you could know this guy was an habitual scrote with history.

Edited April 21, 2021 by polybear

[polybear]

p.s. Double bl00dy hell - it's 0900 and Bear STILL isn't dressed.....you lot are leading Bear into bad habits....

[Tony_S]

16 minutes ago, polybear said:

p.s. Double bl00dy hell - it's 0900 and Bear STILL isn't dressed.....you lot are leading Bear into bad habits....

I have been watching Slovenian bears on Facebook. They aren’t doing much at the moment, or perhaps they are avoiding the web cam. 
 

[Tony_S]

41 minutes ago, polybear said:

And then I saw him, working his magic to a group of diners sat outside a restaurant...

When we were in Stresa there were some evening meals served on the hotel terrace.The hotel had a uniformed and armed guard to deter sellers of souvenirs and sad stories. The guard must have been in his 70s and was a bit stooped but his uniform was immaculate. Unlike other guards he didn't have an automatic pistol he had an enormous revolver. 
Tony

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

A bit dull today and a little cooler too, not that it’ll make much difference to what I’m doing though. Last day at the coal face and hopefully tomorrow will be a cleaning up day. 

 

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

 

Brian

[jonny777]

Dry and sunny again here in North Somerset, but more of an Easterly breeze today. 

 

Depression seems to have gone away. It is a very strange beast - comes from nowhere, washes over everything like a tidal wave, stays as long as it fancies and then quietly moves on. 

 

More snooker watching today, as have completed tub watering already. Water butts still half full, so no immediate panic over prolonged dry weather. Mind you the back garden ones do hold 700 litres between them.

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. For bears information I was dressed before nine, but only just. I have a few bits for the scrap man, who usually drives slowly around the estate ringing his bell. Just heard the bell but by the time I'd got to the door he'd gone past, drat! I won't leave the items out as there are members of the travelling community about.

3 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

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..

 

Its now night time on the other side of the world but you can see two koala's fast asleep one showing their posterior to the camera. Might have to delay my shopping trip today as DHL have informed me that they are delivering a parcel at the time I usually shop. 

[PhilJ W]

I looked again and now the one showing his posterior has moved slightly and been joined by a mate.

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Vaccinated we have been - by a rather non-retired looking l retired nurd se who had volunteered to get back into jabbing patients.  as ever I of course caused some confusion becaudse I noticed on the form that you were supposed to be checked to see if you had ever been given adrenaline.  i wasn't asked last time but I was given some as a topical application to staunch a nose bleed - a right bleeder - back c.1982/4.  However the concern is about it being injected to deal anaphylactic shock so I was duly jabbed and back to the aching muscle.  I was even gven a piece of cotton wool to hold down on the jab site in case blood flowed forth - agains something I didn't get last time round.  I think I'll be asking to see retired nursey again in future should she happen to spend more time working at the surgery as she very definitely knew her business.

 

The queue situation wasn't as bad as Tony experienced but there was a lack of social distancing on the part of some participants and the amusement of a bloke standing immediately outside the door who called his wife to join him as soon as the door was opened - and they were left standing there as four other individuals or couples were called in before them, all of whom had to get past them.   Social distancing wasn't much seen around the route to/from the surgery although one very polite young lady on her way to school did say thank you when I moved of the pavement for her.  A great pity the parents - of both genders but manily female - delivering their offspring to the junior school had all too obviously not been brought up to a similar level of politeness or have an understanding of social distancing and getting a move on instead of yacking away while slowly walking along a narrow footpath as we waited for them to get clear of it.  It would appear that despite high property prices in our area stupidity and possession of money remain uneasy bedfellows.

 

As Harrods caff wasn't open when we returned home we had no opportunity to waste our hard earned pensions on their nonsense and came home to make a cuppa.  Sick squid for a sausage roll strikes me as daylight robbery and £2 for two slices of bread as an extra with breakfast is on a par with grand larceny.  It's no wonder they've got such a low rating on Trip Advisor.   Here's a link to their menu for those of you witha strong bank balance and a lot of nerve (if the link works)

https://d1c96hlcey6qkb.cloudfront.net/b460d838-2f28-4ead-8832-f90e7ce67346/5870e2daaea649baac43a4e8a341ec2e?response-content-disposition=inline%3B filename*%3DUTF-8''H_cafe_post-covid_v3.20210408123447178.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&Expires=1619092800&Signature=S11NXgGrHHQEFa60~PELmtnNrigVLLI3Kw5m~WvFD1HNFMs4cHI9h2ozdM4m~Y7UMvoLAuRDCF2JuAr4qntsWmdPCsXNYp~4LPTEfSulJ5betCkKc7w0lHRAH1bch2uq-1QEh7Xv7dzA4dSt1FJaWZ9zRA-jAqS4DIP6TwrkOGzE5Yl0C3cu7uU0BpZK9M-bZpulrFH-90tNrV2edUykaIdbje4OqdZEZDX3p8cqDrDYrzcyQmnhV2o-y~p4uSwxMqflTdjRDseG1tvvX7u~s2x85~22pw~tAVLlimiH1vFIMfdlcyuI32oIfmcJmxrgRBXXvFMQN3iaaWpaMgLP4g__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAI33AGAEAYCXFBDTA

 

Have a good day one and all and stay safe (which hopefully will be easier for you than it seems to be round here)

[Erichill16]

On 19/04/2021 at 22:49, Barry O said:

@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.

 

Baz

Thanks for that, Ive tried their “Scarborough Fair” but they do another one. Not that easy to get down here but Cannon Hall farm shop does stock Wold Top but its alway crowded there.

Robert

[jonny777]

£6 for a sausage roll does border on the criminal. My advice for very late in the year, is wait until after Christmas when supermarkets are selling perishable items cheap. They will often have sausage meat stuffing at half price or less. I bought 1kg of the stuff which was divided into four and added to the freezer contents. A half pack of puff pastry will produce over a dozen roll-sized squares - add an amount of sausage meat, with egg wash sealant; and bake. 

 

These home made varieties are not only cheap, but they will look and taste far better than anything bought over the counter. Add a few selected dried herbs to the sausage meat for variations in taste if you prefer. 

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

When we were in Stresa there were some evening meals served on the hotel terrace.The hotel had a uniformed and armed guard to deter sellers of souvenirs and sad stories. The guard must have been in his 70s and was a bit stooped but his uniform was immaculate. Unlike other guards he didn't have an automatic pistol he had an enormous revolver. 
Tony

 

Bear has been to Sir William McAlpine's excellent Steam Open Days at Fawley Hill (his home, or was) a couple of times (sadly unlikely to occur again since his death).  Security was handled by retired Gurkha's - most looked in their 70's -or older - yet they had an aura of "don't mess with me, sonny, cause you will regret it"; they were the nicest, friendliest guys though.

 

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

Morning all from Estuary-Land. For bears information I was dressed before nine, but only just. I have a few bits for the scrap man, who usually drives slowly around the estate ringing his bell. Just heard the bell but by the time I'd got to the door he'd gone past, drat! I won't leave the items out as there are members of the travelling community about.

 

 

Is not the scrappie also a traveller though?

 

54 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

The queue situation wasn't as bad as Tony experienced but there was a lack of social distancing on the part of some participants and the amusement of a bloke standing immediately outside the door who called his wife to join him as soon as the door was opened - and they were left standing there as four other individuals or couples were called in before them, all of whom had to get past them.  

 

Bear encountered a situation whereby someone invited Bear to go before him once, but lived to regret it.  He was trying to position himself to be next to a window in a Helicopter Underwater Escape Training Course, and he wanted to be first out.  But rescue divers are no dummies and they clocked what was happening, so Bear went out as No. 3 (which was plenty long enough I can tell you) and he went out as No. 6.....

 

54 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Sick squid for a sausage roll strikes me as daylight robbery

 

 

 

Not to mention the same for a ham n' cheese toastie on the kids' menu.

Bear is used to a big Full English with tea n' toast thrown in for that kinda money.  Or rather, was used to it.....C-19 means such delicacies haven't been so much as seen or sniffed for over a year.....

[New Haven Neil]

Pah.  Bl**dy covid, shouldn't have mentioned it - two unexplained cases - self isolating though.  Not sure what that will mean for our newly found freedom, but I suspect not a lot, the Chief Minister hinted there would/could be no more full lockdowns.

 

Gurkas, Dad's eldest brother was one of the British soldiers that were with them in the war, in some kind of liaison role, he was a sergeant.  He thought the world of them, as people and as fighters - I think he was in Burma (makes sense!) with them.  He used to parade with them at the Cenotaph on remembrance day. He was like them - nicest bloke you'll ever meet, but hard as nails, I admired him massively.  Mrs NHN met him only once just before we married, he died not long afterwards, it was of great importance to me that they met for some reason - I'm very glad they did, the got on like a house on fire.  Kindred souls.

[Joseph_Pestell]

Fog in the Channel. Continent cut off.

[The Stationmaster]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Bear has been to Sir William McAlpine's excellent Steam Open Days at Fawley Hill (his home, or was) a couple of times (sadly unlikely to occur again since his death).  Security was handled by retired Gurkha's - most looked in their 70's -or older - yet they had an aura of "don't mess with me, sonny, cause you will regret it"; they were the nicest, friendliest guys though.

 

They've been used on a number of occasions at the Fawley dos but what hasn't been there when I've been there is the excellent Ghurka Kitchen. food stall which does some very nice curries and appears a t certain events - particularly ewoodcote Rally, in our neck of the woods.  

There seems to be no sign of any further big events at Fawley Hill at the moment although there was talk of Mr Bill Memorial  event but Covid put the mockers completely on that.  Lady M was the main push behind having the big events and she's still going strong .  She's well into various local things although she's given up organising the money raising for the Regatta fireworks display.  And the coypu with a strong inclination to go walkies hasn't escaped for a year or two either.  Last time I was up there was at the filming of the final of the C5 layout competition series.

Edited April 21, 2021 by The Stationmaster

[polybear]

On the BBC TV Lunchtime news they mentioned the scramble for people to return from India; they also mention that from 25th March to 7th April some 3000 people arrived from India, with 1 in 20 (5%) testing positive for Covid.  So some bright spark gives four day's notice before the drawbridge is raised

[Tony_S]

19 minutes ago, polybear said:

o some bright spark gives four day's notice before the drawbridge is raised

I suspect most of the people travelling to the UK from India at the moment are British citizens or have right of residence so the main difference after Friday morning is that they will have to quarantine in an approved hotel rather than at home. 

[The Lurker]

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I have been watching Slovenian bears on Facebook. They aren’t doing much at the moment, or perhaps they are avoiding the web cam. 
 

Mrs Lurker has been watching those too. She saw some appear at the weekend. Or may be they were excerpts that had been collected.

 

She is a big fan of bears. That is one of the reasons we "need" to go back to Canada. Boo the Bear at Golden stayed out of sight on the warm sunny day we were there. This time she wants to do a bear lodge/grizzly type watching thing. 

[Tony_S]

1 minute ago, The Lurker said:

Mrs Lurker has been watching those too

Having visited Slovenia a few years ago for a brief summer holiday I get various Slovenian travel posts on Facebook. Slovenian Bears Live Webcam appeared recently. There are lots of photos. They look rather healthy bears!
 

[polybear]

4 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I suspect most of the people travelling to the UK from India at the moment are British citizens or have right of residence so the main difference after Friday morning is that they will have to quarantine in an approved hotel rather than at home. 

 

True - which surely is much better as there is very little chance of not abiding by the rules, which is a real risk when trusting people to "do the right thing" in their own home, surely?

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from Sidcup. The morning dawned grey and misty. the emerging blue sky was then covered with grey cloud and it remained noticeably cooler. A glance at the window now tells me the clouds are clearing.

 

Today has been a day of phone calls, most of which have resulted in follow up work. I have also had to sign a document which was picked up by a courier. It's been so long since we (the company) started trying to sell a property in Moscow that PoA I gave last year at the start of lockdown has expired and I need to give a new one. A shame they only realised yesterday evening that this was required because the deal was due to go through today and now won't! i am not holding my breath that it is sold on the revised date next week as we have tried to sell this property at least 5 times in the last 5 years. Property prices have fallen considerably in Moscow in that time. Or maybe the dollar/rouble exchange has changed.

 

Time for a quick trawl round the rest of the site before the next call!

[Sir TophamHatt]

Good afternoon!

 

A lot cooler today here in the Midlands, which is a shame as I've somewhat become a little accustomed to the warmer weather.

Made me think when the last time we had rain was though.  I couldn't actually say.

Although a weather man on the radio was saying a dry April usually means a wet summer, naming 2007 and 2011 as two years where this pattern came true.

 

Had a relaxing morning before work and have lined up a job for tomorrow morning, which hopefully won't take too long.

Hope everyone is keeping well!

[Tony_S]

40 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

True - which surely is much better as there is very little chance of not abiding by the rules, which is a real risk when trusting people to "do the right thing" in their own home, surely?

I suspect the main concern is people flying via a third country not on the red list and not telling the truth about the red list country. It is probably much harder now though to be deceitful. Aditi was surprised India wasn’t red listed earlier when Pakistan and Bangladesh were. I suspect politics. Aditi’s relatives all seem to have had a first dose of vaccine and are waiting for their second.  The main one they get is a licensed version of the Astra Zeneca product. 
Tony

[monkeysarefun]

6 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Aditi was surprised India wasn’t red listed earlier

Or just stuck everyone on the red list right at the start, things would be in a much better state a lot earlier.