Early Risers.

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from Sidcup where the early frost - the heaviest of the week - has sublimed in the presence of the warming sun.

 

Thoughts are with young Master Hatt and also Dave's Dad and GordonS.

 

Referring back to Jonny's  point about not seeing skylarks, I too had not seen them since I was a kid when I used to see them over Ashdown Forest and the South Downs. I first saw this population 3 or 4 year ago and was most surprised; we are after all, well within the M25 and the area is more or less surrounded by suburbia.

 

After having sent my boss reviewed/approved response to the FD, all seems to be well again.

 

The day has a few things I need to achieve but hopefully I will be able to finish on time. So to do that I had best stop spending time here and get on!

 

Have a good day!

[tigerburnie]

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

If you think St George was bad for dragons, look up St Margaret of Antioch - patron saint of pregnant women. Dragons were evidently relatively common in the Levant in late antiquity.

Some might say that there are still Dragons, indeed many may have married one....................me? I couldn't possibly say on the grounds she might read this ................................

[jonny777]

Just had a call from the care home. Dad has deteriorated to the point where they would like me to consider agreeing to a DNR instruction in the event that he suffers some form of serious setback (heart attack, stroke, etc. ). 

 

It is a difficult subject to consider, and head versus heart really. 

 

 

[Gwiwer]

Afternoon all, welcome to POETS / FRY DAY.  

 

Apologies for my intermittent attendance here.  Life getting in the way of a good time again.  All's well.  

 

Today sees 3pm Friday Drinks with Former Neighbour (Next Door) who now resides farther down the block with Boyfriend Mk1 instead of University Flatmates Mks 2, 3 and 4.  It's her graduation and her 21st and she has a series of appointments lined up of which ours is the first.  "Pre-Drinks" in the language of today's younger people.  

 

Tomorrow should see Afternoon Drinks with Former Neighbour (Upstairs) who I haven't seen in almost a year despite her living barely a mile away.  I blame Boris.  She is notorious for last-moment cancellations and we have tried several times before to reunite ourselves.  Let's see what happens.

 

Before then deliveries are expected from Ocado (all there, according to the receipt and email alert), Amazon (with some urgently-needed rail joiners ), Hermes (with a new pair of beach shoes - for the garden!) and in response to an FOI (Fear of Incontinence  ) request This Mob will maintain our stocks of those most-needed supplies.  

 

Lots of writing and other assorted paperwork to deal with through the weekend.  And I am told there is G*****ing to be done which means Dr. SWMBO goes outside, tells me what to do and watches me do it  

 

I'll be back.  

 

 

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,

Shopping shopped with difficulty.

Not till the third pound shop did I find those cheap break off sharp knives.. it tells you a lot about GY it has 4 big £ shops in a small town.

None of them had cheap ibuprofen, normally 3packs of 16 for £1, they only had the branded stuff at twice the price of Tesco's own brand.

 

Books,  only one book on unmentionables was bought, that cupboard was nearly bare in the second hand bookshop. But The Works has the workshop guide to the HST at £5 if you're interested.

I did get the last copy of MRJ in Smiffs.

 

Lower paws now hurt after traipsing round town, though Ben was walked when I got back, two yellow flutterby s today.. ditch clearing machinery in use out there too.

 

The mobile home fridge has been brought to the house, it's now settling, it may become the house fridge, but if not, it will be useful while SWMBO decides if we will just have that instead of a fridge freezer in the kitchen.

 

Dad decided to have DNR on his paper work a couple of years ago, since then he's generally been better, except for a short period in feb 2020.

 

 Time to see if the eye covers work...

 

[PupCam]

2 hours ago, jonny777 said:

It is a difficult subject to consider, and head versus heart really.

A very difficult dilemma indeed, my thoughts are with you. 

 

Alan

[Ian Abel]

POETS... definitely taking advantage.

 

Yesterday flurry of activity as the Long Island client tries to determine/understand how the various pages of the Financial statement relate to each other

Same folks who designed/provided specs for all the report

 

After work foray to the local bike shop to obtain part for the Mrs bike - next challenge, faff with the brakes to get them working again!

 

Today we'll be having a non-Zoom (In PERSON, FINALLY) happy hour/dinner with our friends who've made it back safely from Arizona - yay!

 

Weekend expected to be quiet, but we all know how THAT goes - with a LOT of luck some muddling may take place.

To quote the grandpa from Grumpy Old Men - "you can wish in one hand and crap in the other, and see which one fills up first!"  

 

4 first thing with rain, will be chilly and wet most of the weekend with a high of 11 today, 9 tomorrow and 6 Sunday, overnights around ZERO  - where's SPRING already?!?!

 

Hope the weekend starts well for everyone.

[Joseph_Pestell]

4 hours ago, Barry O said:

 

Summer t shirts taken out of hibernation and ironed.

 

 

 

Well that sort of action (rather like my ex buying garden furniture) presages a rubbish summer.

[iL Dottore]

2 hours ago, jonny777 said:

Just had a call from the care home. Dad has deteriorated to the point where they would like me to consider agreeing to a DNR instruction in the event that he suffers some form of serious setback (heart attack, stroke, etc. ). 

 

It is a difficult subject to consider, and head versus heart really.

You have my sympathies. May I suggest that before signing any DNR paperwork you ask the attending physicians for their opinion on what they think the outcome would be for your father if he suffers a major medical event (Myocardial Infarction [heart attack] or CVA [stroke]) and is then resuscitated. Their honest opinion would, I believe, help you towards a decision you will feel comfortable with making.

 

iD

[simontaylor484]

Greetings all, best wishes to those who are ailing or gave ailing family members.

 

Pound shops my late Mil used to love em, they went on holiday to Blackpool me and soon to be swmbo met them there(this was a couple of weeks before we got married.) She must have gone into every pound shop possible. I have found it strange how pound shops sell 3 packs of pain killers try doing that in a Supermarket.

 

Been trying to order some meds from drs prescription line only open 10-12 constantly engaged blooming useless tried to get a phone appointment  none left.m

 

The surgery is getting worse but i dont want to change due to ongoing hospital treatment 

[simontaylor484]

Like Neil i am pleased the Subpostmasters have finally been cleared. It has been a travesty of justice for a number of years. Lives and reputations have been destroyed no amount of compensation will ever bring that back. It is another example of computer software being seen as infallible 

[Joseph_Pestell]

4 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Like Neil i am pleased the Subpostmasters have finally been cleared. It has been a travesty of justice for a number of years. Lives and reputations have been destroyed no amount of compensation will ever bring that back. It is another example of computer software being seen as infallible 

 

Computer software is only as infallible as the people that write the code.

 

With a lot of admin to do at the moment (move of house, new car, etc.), I am finding some really silly errors in the set up of websites. It's mostly due to people just adding standard widgets to the website rather than coding for themselves.

[TheSignalEngineer]

6 hours ago, Barry O said:

 

Congratulations! I have won a prize ( wellthat was the message from Bengaluru Telecom this morning  .. "my name is Philip".. yeh! Right!

Just give him the bank details for your Nigerian cousin.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis and Si Attica have joined in with the eczema to keep me sore. Ibuforen has been deployed and is starting to work. 

41 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Like Neil i am pleased the Subpostmasters have finally been cleared. It has been a travesty of justice for a number of years. Lives and reputations have been destroyed no amount of compensation will ever bring that back. It is another example of computer software being seen as infallible 

I see that the the head of the Post Office at the time is refusing to give any comment.

 

5 hours ago, jonny777 said:

Just had a call from the care home. Dad has deteriorated to the point where they would like me to consider agreeing to a DNR instruction in the event that he suffers some form of serious setback (heart attack, stroke, etc. ). 

 

It is a difficult subject to consider, and head versus heart really. 

 

 

My family are aware of my wishes if I am unable to speak for myself. I think that what ID has suggested is the way to go. An honest opinion as to his quality of life if there is a setback would help but its a decision I'm glad I don't have to take.

[iL Dottore]

10 hours ago, polybear said:

...Hmmm, iD has a nasty streak amongst that wise-ness....

Coffee and cream?  Now that's just plain spiteful. ..

Any moronic thug can be nasty, but in order to be a Supervillain you have to be nasty AND make it hurt. And to get into the really big league (and Captain Cynical modestly considers himself to be in the top 10 worldwide), you have to be nasty, make it hurt and do it with finesse, sophistication, panache and -dare I say it- with more than a soupçon of evil, black humour (which is why one of Captain Cynical’s newest anti-bear traps is a LDC shell hiding a lethal core of coffee cream and chopped walnuts and which explodes on the slightest and lightest paw contact. The backroom boys in the weapons development facility had a good chortle when they came up with that one!)

Another favourite of the lads is the claymore pizza which, when disturbed, sends out a shower of red hot, very lethal, chips saturating a 3 m radius (And you really don’t want to know what my Korean minion, Mr oddtask, can do with an accurate throw of a combat Pita bread...)

 

Now I am off to prepare a modest dinner: tortellini with a cream and ham sauce and a small mixed salad. No cake is foreseen.

[TheQ]

18 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

 

I see that the the head of the Post Office at the time is refusing to give any comment.

More importantly the head of the post office who got a Gong for it, during the prosecutions, is not saying anything either.

The current one can't say anything until the lawyers give the go ahead, as the post office is going to be hit with 500+ claims for compensation..

 

 

Now I love a coffee and walnut cream cake, so I should be safe from invasion by polybears, 

 

Unfortunately I'm now not allowed any cake at all, so polybears, just aren't interested...

[Compound2632]

21 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Any moronic thug can be nasty, but in order to be a Supervillain you have to be nasty AND make it hurt. And to get into the really big league (and Captain Cynical modestly considers himself to be in the top 10 worldwide), you have to be nasty, make it hurt and do it with finesse, sophistication, panache and -dare I say it- with more than a soupçon of evil, black humour

 

... and a white cat.

[simontaylor484]

Id has the wolfpack so I don't see.him needing the cliche of the White cat

 

I wonder if Fujisu will see any fallout seen as they are the producers of the Horizon system.

 

[JohnDMJ]

Good evening at the close of another week of lunacy at the house of incredulity! When last seen, the doors to the asylum were well and truly off of their hinges and on lorries departing, at speed, in diverging directions. Result: lunar ticks everywhere with their 'phones!

 

Hey Ho! C'est la Guerre!

 

47 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Any moronic thug can be nasty, but in order to be a Supervillain you have to be nasty AND make it hurt. And to get into the really big league (and Captain Cynical modestly considers himself to be in the top 10 worldwide), you have to be nasty, make it hurt and do it with finesse, sophistication, panache and -dare I say it- with more than a soupçon of evil, black humour

 

And, if carried out correctly, the subject of your villainy thanks you for what you have done!

 

Edited April 23, 2021 by JohnDMJ

[Pacific231G]

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

Like Neil i am pleased the Subpostmasters have finally been cleared. It has been a travesty of justice for a number of years. Lives and reputations have been destroyed no amount of compensation will ever bring that back. It is another example of computer software being seen as infallible 

A friend of mine has just told me that one of her neighbours is a widower because his wife, who was a sub-postmistress, killed herself while facing such unfounded accusations of fraud and theft. It really is high time that the bosses of large organisations were made properly accountable for behaviour like this: accountable to the point of facing jail and personal ruin. Unfortunately, they're more likely to get knighthoods.

I remember hearing The Great Post-Office Trial, the series about the scandal that R4 have been running  this week, in May last year and it was chilling. It was far more than just a belief in the infallibility of software - is anyone really still stupid enough to believe that ? - but more a refusal to take responsibility for it when it became obvious and a willingness to let others suffer to cover up the errors. 

[polybear]

9 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Poly Bear , we have a Miele oven, two in fact and we’ve not had any trouble.
 

 

Many thanks - Bear took the plunge this morning and went for the Miele; it's not due for delivery for a fortnight (my choice) and I can cancel at any time before that - or change the delivery date - so if I do change my mind there's no problem.  It seems they were down to their last two in stock (which may or may not have been true) so I had to act; I got a very good deal compared to other suppliers (including taking away the old gas cooker that's seen 20+ years of faithful service ) - and giving me fifty quid trade-in for it at the same time

 

9 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Just been seeing on the TV about the sub-postmasters wrongly convicted due to the post office and software suppliers inaccuracies and the subsequent cover-up.  As I was a subbie in 2003, it makes my blood run cold, there but for the grace of (insert deity to choice) go I.  We used different software here.... 

 

Bear has heard various radio news reports and interviews throughout the day, plus the TV news this evening.  F.criminal - there's no way the compensation they'll get will be anywhere near enough - and it won't make up for a ruined life in any event.  One Postmistress interviewed said that the whole saga didn't even involve the Police - how that worked I've no idea, but it seems it did.

 

9 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

The Fray Bentos pies are still OK (as of my last sampling a few years ago) the current puddings (in a plastic microwaveable basin, not a tin) are the ones that are pretty dire. I bought three as an indulgence from a shop specialising in British Food, tried one - awful; tried a second - still awful and the third is gathering dust...

 

 

Smother the third in neutralising agent (aka brown sauce) and it'll be fine edible.....

 

10 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

My family are aware of my wishes if I am unable to speak for myself. I think that what ID has suggested is the way to go. An honest opinion as to his quality of life if there is a setback would help but its a decision I'm glad I don't have to take.

 

Bear has an "Advance Decision" document - and carries a card in my wallet to that effect.  There are various injuries and conditions that, given the choice, I'd much rather bang out than carry on.  Blindness and being quadriplegic being just two of those listed.

 

4 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Now I am off to prepare a modest dinner: tortellini with a cream and ham sauce and a small mixed salad. No cake is foreseen.

 

Sounds nice - chips would set it off a treat though.  The omission of cake is a mistake though - a decent pud might just save the day though....

 

In other news:

Which? Magazine has just published a Caterpillar Cake Test (you can't accuse them of being behind the times I s'pose) - M&S, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Co-op and Asda.  Sadly Aldi wasn't included, as it wasn't available in the shops (but see below...).

 

Best for taste goes to......Charlie the Caterpillar, from the Co-op   (any Beary favouritism towards the purveyor of the world's finest - so far - LDC is purely co-incidental.....).  Just over sick squid, to you....

 

Best for appearance goes to.....Cecil the Caterillar (Waitrose).  Seven quid......

 

It seems that the M&S Colin the Caterpillar got top marks from some taste testers, and lowest from the others.....

 

Sadly Bear wasn't invited to be on the testing panel

 

As for Aldi's Cuthbert the Caterpillar - he's been absent since February, no doubt due to the legal action by M&S.  But now Cuthbert's back - at least temporarily - with profits going to cancer charities:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/aldi-bringing-back-cuthbert-caterpillar-23945734

 

Bear's fun for the day has involved testing the two in-line WiFi switch modules intended to switch the lights beneath the kitchen wall units on & off.  Simple enough, thought Bear....

Jeez, what a b'stard job - took probably 5 hours

First you need to download an App (a what??) - so Bear manages - after much fighting - to do this via his Amazon Tablet.  However, despite doing this via that tablet, the App went onto the Samsung Tablet   Then I had to register via the App - despite it being a pile of cr@p - "verify by putting the piece of jigsaw into the hole".  Only the piece is visible, and for 99% of the time the jigsaw isn't - so take a guess, buddy.....

Then it was back to the Amazon Tablet to get the switch working and controllable via the Alexa thingummy.  Only the instructions that come with the switch were written by a bozo....

And still the b. things wouldn't work......

I then discover that the switches work on 2.4GHz - and Bear's new Router is on 5Ghz So into the Router settings and spend ages experimenting until I discover how to make it work on 2.4Ghz - at that point the switches start playing  

But now Bear discovers that all other WiFi devices won't work, cos' part of the frequency change involved (possibly unnecessarily, but too late now) changing the Wifi Name....

So five Alexa gadgets, plus two smart plugs (one of which is a b'stard to get to) all need updating - and each and every one of those is as temperamental as the Wifi switch modules....

Scream?  Oh yes.

 

The only (possible) ray of sunshine is that the smart plug that used to work quite happily when in the shed (and controlling the garden water feature) but then stopped working when the new router arrived might just start working again, hopefully - it seems that 5Ghz has a shorter range than 2.4Ghz, so that would explain things.  Maybe.

 

Is this what's known as progress?  Hmmmm......

[Sir TophamHatt]

11 hours ago, Andrew P said:

Firstly thoughts for Sir Topham Hats little one.

 

21 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Hope the little one gets better quickly

 

11 hours ago, Barry O said:

 

@Sir TophamHatt hope the youngun is feeling a lot better.

 

Thanks everyone :)

 

After 11 hours of sleeping he seemed a little better this morning.  Negative covid test, so that's all good but still not right.  Then it went downhill when Mrs Topham Hatt had a shower; lots of crying and not really being sure what he wanted.

But a pretty nice walk to the park, seeing some doggies and laughing at them, plus a little go on the swings seems to have kick started his recovery!

He was quiet on the way and way back but as soon as he got home we decided to do some gardening and he was out toddling all over the place.  Had a fair amount of fish pie for lunch, although not so much for tea but no lethargy into the evening so that's a huge step forward.

 

I think another good nights sleep and a day of fun filled swings and dog laughing and he'll be back to his usual self.

 

First proper bit of "sick but don't know what's wrong" completed!

Parenting level 2: Loading!

[PhilJ W]

50 minutes ago, TheQ said:

More importantly the head of the post office who got a Gong for it, during the prosecutions, is not saying anything either.

 

Thats the one I was referring too, hopefully there is a way that they can take the gong from her.

15 minutes ago, Pacific231G said:

A friend of mine has just told me that one of her neighbours is a widower because his wife, who was a sub-postmistress, killed herself while facing such unfounded accusations of fraud and theft. It really is high time that the bosses of large organisations were made properly accountable for behaviour like this: accountable to the point of facing jail and personal ruin. Unfortunately, they're more likely to get knighthoods.

I remember hearing The Great Post-Office Trial, the series about the scandal that R4 have been running  this week, in May last year and it was chilling. It was far more than just a belief in the infallibility of software - is anyone really still stupid enough to believe that ? - but more a refusal to take responsibility for it when it became obvious and a willingness to let others suffer to cover up the errors. 

Very true, but I doubt that those responsible will be taken to task. 

[simontaylor484]

It's amazing what a cuddle from mummy will do, sometimes it can make Dad feel a little inadequate (I know it from personal experience) 

 

with our two boys both been autistic we still sometimes have to play the guessing game as to what's wrong they are 16 and 11

 

[Ozexpatriate]

10 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Bit less good news for dragons.

And adherents of St. Edmund (the martyr), patron saint of Anglo-Saxon England, at one time living in the time of dragons (of Wessex).