Early Risers.

[Ozexpatriate]

Speaking of internet connectivity, late night television made fun of this as the "most Canadian" news story ever:

 

Beavers chewed through a cable and knocked out internet service to hundreds in a Canadian town

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Happy Birthday Andrew P and great news  regarding Mr Hunt Senior. Also glad that Lucy is also making progress. 

In answer to Flavio’s question,as a kid I always liked the monorail(?) in the villain’s  underground base in one of the James Bond films. Can’t remember which one it is  though.

Coincidently I’m reading ‘Squeezing the Orange’ by Henry Blofeld  and it is said that Ian Fleming got the name of villainous character, Ernst Stavro Blofeld from from Flemings  association with Henry’s father.

Went to Fox valley and had a takeaway burger from Zorro  Lounge  and despite what I said yesterday about their menu, it was awful. SWMBO has made me a coffee cake so not all bad news on the food front.

Been chasing people up regarding the new  building but not sure any progress was made.

Goodnight.

Edited April 28, 2021 by Erichill16
Add sentence

[Coombe Barton]

1 hour ago, Erichill16 said:

Been chasing people up regarding the new  building but not sure any progress was made.

 

Son (plumber) says that all his friends across trades, after a very slack time last year, are now fully booked for ages. Great for them and possibly a recognition of people not spending and then realised that they could do what they wanted about house improvements.

Quick progress is no longer on offer.

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2021 by Coombe Barton
Now makes sense

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well, not long after I’d posted this morning’s post, it started to rain, it wasn’t heavy rain, but it continued for quite a while and it was wet. Although it didn’t rain all day, I’m glad I decided to stay indoors as I was toying with the idea of moving the water butt, but chose to carry on with the cellar instead. We had another downpour this evening, which was a lot heavier than this morning as we could actually hear it hitting the windows. 

 

Anyway, all the cellar lights and wiring have now been installed, power has been connected and the room looks so much brighter now. I was initially pleased with where I’d placed all light fittings, however, I wasn’t completely happy with the 2 that are closest to the cellar door and window. The one above the door looked too close to the left hand wall, whilst the other, which is above the window looked too far away from the wall to its right. As they are only temporarily fitted, it was easy enough to adjust them. So I moved them about 12” to the right, as you look out towards the garden, spacing them equally from the walls on either side and it looks a lot better. I’d initially thought of putting them in that position when I first drew up plans for the lighting, but decided that they looked neater (on paper anyway) in straight lines. I’d just finished the connecting the lights when Sheila shouted down to me informing me that it was time for dinner. 

 

After dinner, I once again swept and mopped the floor, as apparently I left dusty footprints in the hall yesterday afternoon. But it was quite strange when I went down to the cellar and turned on the lights, because there wasn’t the flicker and hum that used to happen with the old fluorescent fitting. The fitting was probably 50+ years old, it was in the cellar when we bought the house, 41 years ago and it didn’t look new then! However , it’s given good service throughout the years and given the number of times I’ve whacked it with a length of timber, or broom handle, I’m surprised I’ve never smashed the tube, but I’m not sorry to see it go! I’ve also got a couple of extra inches head room too! It’s currently stood up in the corner beside the door and will eventually go to the tip when I next do a tip run. 

 

Glad to read that Dave’s dad will (hopefully) soon be moving to Whitchurch. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[Pacific231G]

1 hour ago, Erichill16 said:

In answer to Flavio’s question,as a kid I always liked the monorail(?) in the villain’s  underground base in one of the James Bond films. Can’t remember which one it is  though.

Coincidently I’m reading ‘Squeezing the Orange’ by Henry Blofeld  and it is said that Ian Fleming got the name of villainous character, Ernst Stavro Blofeld from from Flemings  association with Henry’s father.

 

The villain's monorail ("transport system of the future" - always has been and always will be) was in You Only Live Twice where Blofeld was using a space capsule swallowing rocket launched from a hollowed out volcano in Japan to try to start WW3 but I think it also appeared inside the nuclear submarine swallowing  "super-tanker" which villain Stronberg was using to try to start WW3 in The Spy Who Loved Me. Bit of a common theme there I think.

 

On getting names for fictional characters, In the early 1980s  I was amused by my News Editor's name being Richard Horrobin, given the bad character of the Horrobin family in The Archers, until he told me that they were named after him.  Ambridge is supposedly in the countryside somewhere vaguely between the West Midlands and Worcesterhire so, when the Archers production team was based in the BBC's Pebble Mill studios and they needed a new surname they chose (with permission) that of someone working there. The idea was that the names available would be a suitable mixture of those native to that region and incomers and more credible than names dreamed up by the scriptwriters. 

 

Time for bed.  

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2021 by Pacific231G

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[J. S. Bach]

45 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Son (plumber) says that all his friends across trades, after a very slack time last year, are not fully booked for ages. Great for them and possibly a recognition of people not spending and then realised that they could do what they wanted about house improvements.

Quick progress is no longer on offer.

 

Makes more sense to me and reads better if "not" is "now".

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, Pacific231G said:

Bit of a common theme there I think.

Dr. Evil:

Quote

Let's just do what we always do. Hijack some nuclear weapons and hold the world hostage. Yeah? Good!

(Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery)

 

You can go a long way with Bond films with the same basic evil plot.

 

An incomplete list from the top of my head:

 

Space "laser": Diamonds are Forever, Goldeneye, Die Another Day

Start WW3: Dr. No; You Only Live Twice; The Spy Who Loved Me; The World is Not Enough

Hijack nuclear weapons and hold the world hostage: Thunderball*; Never Say Never Again*

* Exactly the same story

[monkeysarefun]

6 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Anything by the Dead Kennedys, but my favorites are

Nazi Punks F*** Off

Holiday in Cambodia 

I Kill Children and 

California Uber Alles.

But for an sheer aural abuse you can’t beat

So What? by Anti Nowhere League.

I haven’t got a copy of the above as the lyric is absolutely filthy, you ain’t gonna hear it on Smooth Radio.

Google it at your peril!

  "I love you" by Barney is apparently  the most often used song in the CIA's arsenal when inflicting psychological torture on someone via music played very loudly over and over and over...

 

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[monkeysarefun]

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Some power line adapters also include a WiFi point for connecting WiFi devices to the extended network. I have never used one so can’t say how good or bad they are.

I've got a Netcomm one with wi-fi transmitter at the remote end.  I get 97mbps from the wifi router at the modem but only  about 15 to 20mbps from  the wi-fi  on the adapter, which is ok for what I use it for. 

[Erichill16]

4 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Son (plumber) says that all his friends across trades, after a very slack time last year, are now fully booked for ages. Great for them and possibly a recognition of people not spending and then realised that they could do what they wanted about house improvements.

Quick progress is no longer on offer.

 

 

 

Thanks for your reply.

Cant sleep. 4:20 am

Trying to get planning permission and then permission from the NHS is always going to be a timely process. My angst is with the builder leading me on as I know all tradesmen are busy now. Six weeks ago he was interested, and kept asking for further information and finally he said he would come last week to visit the site. On Monday got a curt letter saying he hadn’t time to quote or do the work so what had changed over the weekend. I had originally told him I knew he was busy and  I was willing to wait. I’m happy to wait but would like to get a contractor sorted as with an NHS relocation  you have to complete within a set period or re-apply.

Ive also heard tradespeople are busy rectifying botched DIY  jobs that have been done by over enthusiastic amateurs.

Robert

[iL Dottore]

21 hours ago, Andrew P said:

Well they say the Sun shines on the righteous, and it certainly is today, as I celebrate another rotation of Planet Earth. 71

I was hoping for a Bentley or Aston Martin from my dear wife but more than a little chuffed with this little beauty.

 

Have a good day one and all and stay safe.

 

A belated happy birthday to you, good sir!

As I am a bit sketchy on the various types of bass guitar produced by Fender, can you tell me if the model above is a Precision or a Jazz bass.

I have to confess that, and I don’t know why, a rosewood fretboard neck on a Fender Electric guitar or bass looks totally wrong to me (rosewood fretboards are definitely a Gibson feature), it has to be maple. Equally odd is my feeling that the only great electric guitars made by Fender are the Tele and the Strat; the others (Jaguar, Mustang....) all seem like something from a 1960s Sears catalogue, back when Sears was trying to break into the youth market.

Leo Fender definitely got it right when he came up with the Telecaster and Stratocaster and how can you improve on perfection?

13 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

I read that as ruthless in the bedroom ...

12 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Is that an allegation?   

Allegedly...

Although I’d be intrigued to learn what CB means by “ruthless in the bedroom” 

9 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Anything by the Dead Kennedys, but my favorites are

Nazi Punks F*** Off

Holiday in Cambodia 

I Kill Children and 

California Uber Alles.....

I didn’t know that you’re into “easy listening”

6 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

...I always liked the monorail(?) in the villain’s  underground base in one of the James Bond films....

Monorails are so yesterday for the trendy, with-it supervillain. Captain Cynical has a Maglev for getting around his extensive underground lair (the Alpine Redoubt (tm) is but a small part of the sprawling CC empire).
 

As for the comment about Nuclear Weapons and “Space Lasers”, Captain Cynical finds such things to be totally passé. Viruses (or is that virii?) - both computer and biological - are the way ahead for the ambitious supervillain eager to hold the world to ransom (in fact Captain Cynical has two that are “ready to go”: the first [computer] will completely erase Farcebook after 48 hours unless neutralised by a key that only Captain Cynical has*; the second [biological] very nastily ensures that anti-vaxxers do come down with the diseases they refuse to be vaccinated against).

 

And on that happy note, I bid you all a happy hump day!

 

iD

* but with this virus, there may be a risk that the world’s governments might reply “yeah, whatever”

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all, but not multitudinous.  Yes, Rick, it was indeed Noel Edmonds who used to say it on the radio.

 

I managed to leave the shopping list at home when I did the fodder run yesterday.  Somehow I managed to remember all but two of the items on it.  Fortunately the porridge oats will last until the next time I go shopping but I did pop down to the corner shop in the afternoon to buy the weekly donation to charity - sorry, lottery ticket.  Apart from that, little of note happened.  I scanned a couple of photographs to go in my presentation and searched fruitlessly in a pile of books for a couple more.  It will be all right on the night, just over three weeks hence.  I hope.

 

As I type this there is something on the news about boosting access to cash in places where the banks have given up and gone.  How on earth did we reach this lamentable state of affairs?  One answer, I submit, is the growth of on-line transactions, driven by the banks themselves and aggravated by that ruddy virus which has made people wary of handling cash.  I find myself using one of three credit cards on the fodder run just to keep the cards alive.  Long before the virus took hold I recall sitting in the pub under St Pancras station and being appalled that customers were using cards to pay for one drink.  In the pub concerned one is not offered the piece of paper generated by the till and gets a dirty look if it is requested.  Do people not keep track of their spending these days?

 

Now we have someone spouting about self-drive technology on the roads!  Brave New World, I hate you.

 

Best wishes to all 

 

Chris

 

EDIT: I forgot to rejoice that Dave's Dad is being moved to Whitchurch - very good news!     

Edited April 28, 2021 by chrisf
left something out

[leopardml2341]

12 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Yes, there's mains in the shed; the devices you are referring to are called Powerline Adapters - I've no experience of them, but a quick check reveals they would come in more expensive than the twenty quid TP-Link wifi extender currently in the post.  I'll let you know if it's any good.

I'd be interested to hear how you get on with that extender, Mr B.

 

If your incoming ISP connection is fibre, it'll probably be ok. However if you're on copper my suspicion is you will notice a considerable loss of bandwidth and thus perceived speed, as it itself is a wi-fi device and needs to use the same router channel to extend it.

Edited April 28, 2021 by leopardml2341

[Tony_S]

25 minutes ago, chrisf said:

Do people not keep track of their spending these days?

We do, with online banking we can see transactions almost instantly if we want to. 

[leopardml2341]

Right!

 

Before work swallows up most of my day (as yesterday), I'd better say morning to all.

 

Grey and damp here in South Derbyshire with evidence of overnight rain which will be good for the plants planted and seeds sown yesterday.

 

I see there's been quite a bit of positive news across ERs in the last day or so, that's good.

 

Belated happy birthday to Andrew P.

 

For now the alarm has sounded, the shower beckons and then back to the (home) desk.

 

Until later; make the most of your day whatever it delivers, planned or not.

Edited April 28, 2021 by leopardml2341

[Andrew P]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

A belated happy birthday to you, good sir!

As I am a bit sketchy on the various types of bass guitar produced by Fender, can you tell me if the model above is a Precision or a Jazz bass.

I have to confess that, and I don’t know why, a rosewood fretboard neck on a Fender Electric guitar or bass looks totally wrong to me (rosewood fretboards are definitely a Gibson feature), it has to be maple. Equally odd is my feeling that the only great electric guitars made by Fender are the Tele and the Strat; the others (Jaguar, Mustang....) all seem like something from a 1960s Sears catalogue, back when Sears was trying to break into the youth market.

Leo Fender definitely got it right when he came up with the Telecaster and Stratocaster and how can you improve on perfection?

 

 

Good Morning ID. That is a Fender Squire 60's Classic Vibe Pression Bass, I also have one in Race red with a P/J Pick up configuration, and that now has a white scratch plate, unlike in the photo below. I then have a pair of Jazz Basses, a Fender Squire 60's Classic Vibe in Daphne Blue that now has a cream Scratch Plate for more of a 60's look, again not as in the photo. Lastly I have the Benson Jazz Bass with a Alder Body and finished in Tobacco Sunburst. Then there is the Strat in Fiesta Red with Gold Hardware AKA Hank B Marvin, and the Jasmine Acoustic made  by Takamine.

Re the necks, All the Necks are Maple and with either Rosewood or Indian Laurel fingerboards. The Darker woods give a warmer sound as I'm sure you know, and which I prefer on a Bass, Maple Fretboards came back into fashion on Basse's in the 70's for Funk Slap Bass and a brighter tone. 

BTW, They all have stands now.

 

[Tony_S]

 Morning all.

It isn’t frosty. I noticed this while putting out the bin bag. Non recyclable this week. We may need a trip down to the pharmacy today to collect medications. Aditi has a Zoom meeting tonight for French conservation. I will find a film to watch. 
Tony

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

It is cleaning day here today.. and this must be done in a timely way as we have a visitor to the garden on her way as I write this .. ETA 11:15.

 

Getting wet and cold yesterday means I have very unhappy knees and a stiff back. Pah!

Great news regarding Mr Hunt Senior.. is @Dave Huntgoing to fly escort duty to make sure his trip goes well?

TTFN

 

cleaning duty calls!

[Mike Bellamy]

 

Went to Grantham to continue house clearance and so that SWMBO could visit her dad. Each time she goes to the care home, they give her a lateral flow test and then she has to go back in half hour for the result - well this time it was inconclusive and was not a definite positive or negative so she couldn't see her dad and we were both recommended to get a proper covid test just to make sure we are ok. That is booked in the Toyota factory car park (very close to Andy - Mr Leopard) this morning where they have a drive in testing centre. We don't have any symptoms and have both had our first Pfizer jab - in fact the second is due on Saturday so we are 99% sure the lateral flow was at fault with a false positive - or at least inconclusive. I will let you know as soon as we get our results - hope all ok as we are booked to go away with our caravan on Saturday after our jabs !

 

We took a car full of junk to the tip and have brought home 13 boxes of stuff - I think there are 6 large boxes of LP records and old 78s to sort through and another couple of boxes of CDs - they are almost all opera, classical or stage/film musicals - probably nothing there that we would listen to but we need to look through them first. A few bits for ourselves or Ebay and the rest to charity shops - and that's only partially cleared a couple of rooms - still lots more to do. He had been on his own for almost 40 years and didn't throw much away - we were really surprised at the number of records as he although he had a nice Pioneer Hi-Fi system, his lady friend neighbour said it hadn't worked in years - and when my wife was still at home she didn't remember him listening to music. Perhaps it was a bit of an obsession buying them - especially as many had charity shop price labels on - a bit like some who hoard model railways and must buy everything that Hornby produce.

Edited April 28, 2021 by Mike Bellamy

[polybear]

8 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

SWMBO has made me a coffee cake .....

 

What did you do wrong?

Or do you actually enjoy such things?  Hmmm, must be a punk rock thing - isn't milk and orange juice another....

 

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Although I’d be intrigued to learn what CB means by “ruthless in the bedroom”

 

Get the room decorated - by the weekend (it's Thursday evening...) - Mother's moving in......

 

In other news:

Bear has decreed that today is now a "make it up as I go along" (MIUAIGA) day.  Seems like a plan.

0728.  Better.

[Andrew P]

Well firstly THANKS for all the kind Birthday wishes, I hope I ticked a thanks to them all, but if I did miss any then I do apologise profusely.

 

The day was very pleasant, we went to the Stanstead House Garden Centre, Dee wanted some Cards and also some Bird Food, and a look around, and then the idea was a nice cup of coffee and cake. Unfortunately the Café area was closed, and yet it had been open in previous lockdowns with outside and well spaced seating in the Conservatory area. SO, instead we purchased a fresh from the delivery Van big chunk of rich fruit cake, brought that home and I made the coffee and we chilled out at home.

 

A dull start here today, so looks like I might need to go into the POD, do a few bits to the Unmentionable and play some Guitar.

 

Have a good day one and all, stay safe and well, the Sunshine is due back tomorrow.