Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

I don't think the poor s*ds on board saw it in quite that way.  The Mayday calls sounded rather panicky which is hardly surprising because if that ship was a loaded dry bulker it wasn't going to be on the surface for very long once it had started to break up like that and there wouldn't be much time to get off it.

There is a bit more film of the incident. The crew escaped unhurt and you can see in the film other vessels quite near, indeed in the longer film is footage shot from one of those vessels.

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[BR60103]

I decied to retire when they were changing the technology faster than I could learn it.

We have a cell phone. Dayle got one when she retired and was driving about on her own a lot more. I think she's on her third and this does all sorts of things that we don't understand. I get to carry it when I go out alone. We tend not to have it on unless we need it.

We use internet banking. Dayle is very much into it after a reluctant start but we mostly use our home machine. We have another one that we take on holidays.  

There was a thunderstorm and tornado warning yesterday. We watched it on TV but it disappeared quickly. Turned out that someone at the weather network had pushed a wrong button. Cell phone users received a warning.

 

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

PhilJW mentions the bad manners of some mobile phone users.  Those clowns ought to realise that the instrument is a tool and not a master, though I would be the first to admit that this can be easier said than done.  My android phone is complex compared with the £20 Nokia that served me well for many years.  In addition to speech and text, mine has the facility for me to interrogate my bank account and, no doubt, do things with it.  I can take indifferent photographs with it once I have remembered how to get it to capture an image of what I see rather than one of me.  I see no reason to clutter it with travel tickets or use it as a surrogate bank card and even less to have it clasped to my ear constantly.  To some this may appear heresy, but I switch it on only when I am likely to use it and do not always take it with me when I go out.  Sometimes when I give my landline number I am asked if I have a mobile, I tend to reply "Yes, thank you" and leave it at that.  By not dishing out to all and sundry my mobile number, which I still have trouble remembering, I am spared many of the nuisance calls that infest my landline.  I would be the first to agree that the thing has its uses, especially in cases of emergency.  There are weeks when it and I do not trouble each other and that's fine by me.

 

On the subject of finances, I use Paypal should that be the wish of the payee.  I account for the sum involved as if it were a debit card transaction.  If it has evils I am blissfully unaware of them.  I could get quite nostalgic about cash.  It must be three months since I drew any notes out of a cash machine and the payment of cash for my haircut last week was my first use of it for ages apart from the weekly donation to charity, aka the lottery ticket.  Whether this is a welcome consequence of having had nowhere to go except the supermarket is a good question.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[Joseph_Pestell]

Tell me about it! someone texted me at 03.00 this morning. Unable to sleep since.

[jamie92208]

1 minute ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

Tell me about it! someone texted me at 03.00 this morning. Unable to sleep since.

Mute the phone at night.....

 

Good moaning from The Charente.  Off to The Danglies with Beth's car shortly.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[polybear]

7 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Why not carry a photo of yourself giving a big thumbs up as they  are sticking the needle in your arm?

 

 

Hmmmm.......you've given Bear an idea....

Intravenous  LDC

 

6 hours ago, BSW01 said:

Later in the afternoon, I added a few more items into my ‘trunk’ at Hatton's, to the equivalent of the cash I’d parted with this morning for the skip. My excuse is that it’s only money I’d have spent if I’d been able to attend a few shows!

 

That's a big 'trunk' if Bear's experience of checking out skip prices is anything to go by.

 

In other news:

 

Any excuse to waste money:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-56913993

 

And I wonder what the victim thinks of the "sentence" (if you can call it that) dished out:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-56916809

I just hope the motorcyclist can bring a claim against the car driver's insurance policy.

 

Off to investigate the Aygo later - hopefully vast amounts of LDC will be involved, though lesser cakes are more than acceptable.

06:46  Really on a roll today....

 

[polybear]

9 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Mute the phone at night.....

 

 

 

...after returning the favour.  Several times....

[TheQ]

12 hours ago, pH said:

Maybe I should try that .  Apart from regular changing of the filters and occasional removal of registers and vacuuming out of the ducts immediately below, we’ve never had any duct cleaning done.

Yep there was a fire at Heathrow due to one of the fast food chains not cleaning their ducts..

As a maintenance technician for Tes and oc it was our duty to change filters (136 of them in one store) , wash the reusable ones and clean the ducts as far as I could reach. There were specialist teams called in every so often, who had tools and machinery to go all the way down the ducts..

 

One of my less pleasant tasks was digging out the below floor grills in the entrance to the store, shovel, face mask, rubber gloves and complaining customers you were getting in their way... It was a definite fire hazard with all the smokers hanging about outside the front of the store...

[pH]

3 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Yep there was a fire at Heathrow due to one of the fast food chains not cleaning their ducts.....

All that’s going through these ducts is hot air, from the furnace to heating registers in the floors (mostly) and some in ceilings. It is filtered, but some dust does get through and dirt can fall though the floor registers. That’s what duct cleaning gets out. I don’t think there’s much risk of fire.

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Today will involve keeping watch on some washing which I have to hang on our whirlygig in the garden. Pah!

 

I need to rewrite my notes from our on line AGM last night. Fingers crossed we will be having an exhibition at the end of October.

 

In other news... well the temperature has dropped, my back has seized up.  Herself has gone to moreasons then she is off to the Charity shop. If you have things to donate to these shops please do so as supplies are running out ( at least the shops in Leeds and Didsbury are).

 

@TheQ there was a  number of fires at Heathrow while I used to work there.  Food outlets mainly. Big problem in T1 used to be the state of the "sewers ". Our team sorted them as we were being blamed for "flushback".

 

Time to drink my mugatea.

 

Hope Dave's dad has completed his move OK. Positive thoughts to all ERs, especially those who are "missing" and those who are not well...

 

Baz

Edited April 29, 2021 by Barry O

[Andrew P]

Morning all, well it looks like another cracking day after yesterdays blip = dull / rain / dull / sunny / dull / rain / sunny affair. 

 

Time for a walk, even though the back is giving me jip for sitting in the chair for to long yesterday.

 

Have a good day one and all, Stay safe and well, if in doubt, have a SHOUT.

[Andrew P]

I've had 2 properties with Warm Air Heating, UUUGGGGGHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[Andrew P]

I had to up grade my Mobile Phone to accept the NHS App last year. 

Things I like;

Phone Calls,

Text,

What's App,

Photos, (although very little used).

Internet,

 

Never use for,

Banking,

Paying Bills,

Killing Spiders..

[Andrew P]

Again, being Ex Motor Trade, I well remember the first Mobile Phones and Car Phone, Especially at the Car Auctions at Blackbush etc, you would see Guys and Gals walking around carrying a large black box.

[Sir TophamHatt]

Good morning!

 

The boy is loads better now - back to normal... apart from waking at 3:30am this morning.

Then I found I had locked the cat in the back - eek!

 

Doing my token one day in the office this week.

 

Had a strange day yesterday.  Was going to do some computer stuff when the graphics card said there was an update.

Duly clicked "update" and it appeared to crash while uninstalling the current graphics stuff.  Quit that and restarted.  Then the PC went into recovery mode.  That's fine, whatever but it couldn't connect to "the cloud" to download Windows and reset it.  Right.  Went to the HTPC and created a windows install on a memory stick.  Went back to the PC and booted it up, but nothing appeared on the screen.  The self-check (called a POST - Power On Self Test) where computers sometimes beep, nothing.

Then the graphics card stopped working.  Found an HDMI cable and connected the motherboard to the screen, still nothing.  Reseated the RAM, nothing.  Checked the PSU by using wires and a multimeter, all fine there.  Took the CMOS battery out of the motherboard and disconnected the power.  Still no joy.  It really is a puzzle.

 

Promptly ordered a new motherboard, hoping something has just corrupted with the old one.

I don't mind resetting Windows as it's hassle but perhaps the only way.  I store all documents and important things on other disks anyway so it's only a few programs to reinstall.

Talk about hassle.

 

But it did give me a half a day to read Midnight in Chernobyl, which I didn't remember that it's only been a few days since the 35th anniversary.

Started watching the drama about it again.  It really is strange, the whole thing.

 

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, chilly 6 feels like 3c here, but sunny and dry.  Might run the water vapour powered things in the garden.

 

I really enjoyed, if that's the right word, reading Midnight in Chernobyl.  Eye opening both stupidity and bravery, as well as a demonstration of everything that was wrong in Soviet Russia.  Not sure that much has really changed - some, but not a lot, with the current administration seemingly winding the clock back.

 

Cracks me up with gloves and covid - folk get in their cars after shopping wearing them, drive with them, spreading anything they have touched into their cars - then take the gloves off, get the shopping out of the car, move it up the drive etc..... And while I'm on - wearing masks in the car when they are on their own? Achieves what, exactly?

 

Still just 13 active cases here, 2 in hospital.  we did have one case of unknown transmission, but I note from the dashboard that has disappeared, presumably traced.  That isn't reported on the news as it isn't bad news....pah!

[Mike Bellamy]

8 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Yes it's a right nuisance if you have to do the chip & pin nonsense as I did in WHS the other day.  

 

That is a built in security measure in case your card had been lost or stolen as it could then be used numerous times up to the £45 limit until the card is blocked.

 

I understand that these security measures differ between providers - some have a limit on the number of times a contactless card can be used before you have to enter the PIN to prove you are the authorised account holder - others have a financial limit - say after spending £200 in a day then you need to use the PIN to reset the clock and start again.

 

There have been proposals to increase the transaction limit and so if that happens, I guess the card providers will have to review their security limits.

.

[polybear]

Bear got a call - the garage had arrived to collect the Aygo - which duly started.....

The driver was politely informed by the owner all about Crank and Cam Position Sensors - and no, they often don't register a fault code when they go wrong.  Luckily Bear had yet to start loading the car with tools, but no LDC for this Bear today

 

So the next plan was to investigate the Amazon Smart Plug in the shed; I positioned one of the new Wifi switches very close to the Smart Plug so I could drive either one On/Off.  All seemed fine for 99% of the time, then the Smart Plug started coming back with "device unresponsive" messages (this is the second plug I've tried in this location - and both plugs are absolutely fine when used in the house) - and now it's just thrown it's toys out of the cot big time and won't play at all.  The new Wifi switch is currently proving to be as good as gold however; I've just tested it with the new Wifi extender switched off and early signs are it still plays happily.

Bear has concluded that a different make of Wifi plug is needed in the shed (the Wifi switch works very well but is really designed for fixed installations).  Some research required.

 

Still no news on the kitchen delivery

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Dry, sunny but cold this morning. I will have to check with the local electoral office as I haven't received my postal vote yet but I fear that if somethings gone wrong its a bit to late. Item on the Breakfast Show about some scrotes phoning up people who's dogs have gone missing and demanding money or they'll kill the dog. In almost every case they do not have the dog and are just scammers. Some are so confident stupid that they gave their victims their bank details. I thought that if I have their bank details and they want money put into it I'm sure there's some Nigerian gentlemen who will oblige . 

[PhilJ W]

Someone definitely looking for a Darwin award.

https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/19265959.motorbike-speeds-oncoming-traffic-a127/?ref=rss&IYA-reg=bb90737e-d6c0-449b-a4c2-694f121acce4

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl Inner Temple Hare,

5 hours plus two and a bit hours sleep, slightly interrupted by Ben the howling Collie who let out a long low howl while he was asleep..

Ben did enjoy a long snuffle around, funny how he starts limping when he's supposed to be coming back to the house.....

 

That ship video has been kicking around the boats forums for some months..

 

Dust is surprisingly flammable.. explosive even...

 

It's well known the Baddies in James Bond are named after people he didn't like particularly from his school days, (even Scaramanga).

The Blofields / Blofeld live fairly close to me on  their large estate. The Blofields of previous generations were not well thought of locally having closed off several broads with doubtful legality. The current generation seems a lot more sensible.. But they've kept the main Hoveton Main Broad closed, except for paid for tours, but are getting government money for it's ecological restoration.

 

Hoveton Little Broad - Wikipedia

 

Fish Legal forces Environment Agency to back down over Hoveton Great Broad fish barriers - Angling Trust

 

I left the new calibrator on an overnight automatic run.. It didn't do well, the previous users had set something up electronically inside .. so I had to change all that, and start a rerun an hour ago.. About another hour to go on this section..

 

Re run finished Ok, back to measuring resistance...

 

Time to measure..

 

 

 

 

 

[jamie92208]

Back from The Danglies now and time for another muggacoffee.  I had a good afternoon yesterday trainspotting with Andy.  My tasks today appear to mention the G word but as it's quite cool these may wait till this afternoon.  About 4.45 we will need to head back to The Danglies to pick up Beth's car. On the way bavk I'll have to pick up fish and chips.  Not a bad life.

 

As to technology, some I love sone I hate.  Without internet banking we would be stuffed, as we need to maintain accounts in 2 currencies and 2 countries.  However I still insist on having my UK bank statements posted as I don't trust them to keep 5 yeats worth electronically and we may need to produce 5 yrs worth at some point for French citizenship if we go down that route. I'm happy with elevtronic payments but avoid Paypal if I can.  

 

Jamie

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

It’s a beautiful sunny day, the sky has blue patches but there are a few clouds about. The main task for today is to empty, clean and then re-site the water butt, then put the water back in, that’ll take some time. Then the last few bits of paving can go into the skip, which is a mini skip, (7ft long, 4ft wide, 3ft high) not a full size one and only cost me £100. Money well spent as far as I’m concerned, as it would’ve taken at least 20 trips to the tip to get rid of that lot, then I’d have had to clean the back of the car out. After that it’ll be another lazy afternoon. 

 

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

 

Brian

[PupCam]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

Someone definitely looking for a Darwin award.

https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/19265959.motorbike-speeds-oncoming-traffic-a127/?ref=rss&IYA-reg=bb90737e-d6c0-449b-a4c2-694f121acce4

I may have mentioned this before, I have no problem with Darwin award candidates doing away with themselves by whatever means they choose. 

 

In fact, the quicker they make way for the rest of us the better BUT it's always those that are involved in the inevitable collateral damage I feel so sorry for whether they be directly involved in the act or are the poor souls that have to clean up afterwards.   If only there was an unmonitored, unattended, giant Room 101 where these idiots could go and win their award without bothering the rest of humanity!

Edited April 29, 2021 by PupCam