Early Risers.

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare,

3 hours sleep so far, at least it was solid, the outside temperature is definitely higher, Ben the I'm too hot Collie has moved from bed to the bottom of the stairs.

 

My forepaws are throbbing with warnings of imminent rain. It's as well I never took up the guitar, I don't think forepaws would be able to cope with that , sailing and muddling.

 

Gwiwer's description of how they sell houses over in koala land seems oddly right for the Aussies reputation.

 

Houses here are still selling fast , just the odd one seems stuck, one wonders why, too much money or something wrong with the house?

 

If soggyness doesn't arrive first, I'll unload , mix and level 1/3 of a ton of sand and cement. The heavens can then add the water. Then it's more shelving work.

 

Time to try for more sleep.

[Ozexpatriate]

I learned a fun but useless piece of information this evening.

 

Sunday is the 60th anniversary of JFK's FCC Chairman, Newton Minnow, giving his first major speech wherein he described television (in 1961) as a "vast wasteland". 

 

One outcome of that speech was the creation of Public Television in the US, but in retribution for the speech, the producer of Gilligan's Island, Sherwood Schwartz, named the shipwrecked boat in the TV series the S.S. Minnow, not after a fish (which has plausible deniability), but the Chairman of the FCC for his comments.

 

Today, Newt Minnow is a spry and articulate 95 year-old.

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

It is not often that a miracle has a sequel.  Yesterday I discovered hanging baskets on sale at Tesco containing three strawberry plants in flower.  Naturally I bought one and it is sitting in the garden.  I happened to mention it to a friend on the phone last night.  Sensible chap that he is, he questioned my intention to take the plants out of the basket and plant them in the garden, pointing out with the wisdom that I have come to cherish that if the basket has rope attached it is intended to be suspended from something.  He is probably right, but I have nowhere to hang the basket unless I visit Wilko’s or another suitable shop and procure a bracket from which to hang it.  I’ll wait till it stops raining before I decide what to do.

 

At last there is a prospect of entertainment venues fulfilling their intended function.  For the first time for ages a brochure arrived from The Stables.  The listings include two concerts which are set to go ahead after several postponements and for which I already have tickets.  Both are due to take place in October, which gives five months for that ruddy virus to flare up again and mess everything up once more.  Pessimist?  Moi?

 

Continuing warm thoughts to Gordon and family and best wishes to all

 

Chris

[Joseph_Pestell]

8 minutes ago, chrisf said:

Greetings one and all

 

It is not often that a miracle has a sequel.  Yesterday I discovered hanging baskets on sale at Tesco containing three strawberry plants in flower.  Naturally I bought one and it is sitting in the garden.  I happened to mention it to a friend on the phone last night.  Sensible chap that he is, he questioned my intention to take the plants out of the basket and plant them in the garden, pointing out with the wisdom that I have come to cherish that if the basket has rope attached it is intended to be suspended from something.  He is probably right, but I have nowhere to hang the basket unless I visit Wilko’s or another suitable shop and procure a bracket from which to hang it.  I’ll wait till it stops raining before I decide what to do.

 

At last there is a prospect of entertainment venues fulfilling their intended function.  For the first time for ages a brochure arrived from The Stables.  The listings include two concerts which are set to go ahead after several postponements and for which I already have tickets.  Both are due to take place in October, which gives five months for that ruddy virus to flare up again and mess everything up once more.  Pessimist?  Moi?

 

Continuing warm thoughts to Gordon and family and best wishes to all

 

Chris

 

Much better to keep strawberries off the ground away from slugs and snails.

[polybear]

6 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

In the current climate they rarely make it to auction. Most are sold the second they go to market - the place across the road here went on the market Friday, "under contract" sticker went up over the 'for sale' sign 30 minutes after the Saturday morning open house. Most don't even get the For Sale sign up. Its crazy times.

 

First viewings of Buddy-next-door's house was Monday, and it was listed as SSTC on Friday (though may have been sooner).  Be interesting to know what the offer price was - there is little doubt that SWMBO will be more than amenable to offers from Guzumpers, should that arise (I do know that the house six doors away experienced just that a few months ago when it went up for sale).  Bear suspects it's a Good Time to be an Estate Agent....

 

 

5 hours ago, BSW01 said:

From seeing numerous people, of varying ages and ethnicity, all walking about both the Trafford Centre and Costco, who were not  wearing their masks properly, forced me to the conclusion that there must be a lot of people living in the Manchester area that ONLY breathe through their mouths    . These folk stand out in a crowd, as you can distinguish them quite easily, because they wear a mask that only covers their mouths! Well who’d have thought there were such clever people living among us mere mortals eh?  Grrrrrrrrr. 

 

Bear does suspect it's technically possible - this is based on the fact that, based on the experience of many years, Bear has come across numerous people who only ever talk thru' their ar5eholes.

 

5 hours ago, southern42 said:

We had travellers come round about once a year, knock on the door, ask if they could have our metal stuff lying outside the door (old pipes, mostly), saw I had a little 'un or two, and gave ME money for letting them have it!  Pleasant chaps!

 

Bear had a scrappie collection several years ago by an Asian Husband & Wife Team - very polite.  I did recall thinking that they were risking treading on some very nasty toes though.  Never did see them again, thinking about it.

There does seem to be a lot less scrappies around - the days of ringing a bell seem to be long gone.  I think I can just about remember a horse-drawn ("Steptoe" style) collection or two when I was very young.

 

5 hours ago, southern42 said:

It was a day for remembering Mum with the top of a broken stalk of a garden bluebell. I could not bear to toss it into the garden waste bin, so popped it into a small plastic medicine glass where it has been blossoming,

.

 

 

Bear does the same...

 

In other news:

Bear was up at 05-10am.....(TMI Alert)......I needed a No. 1 and since the alarm was set for 6am I figured there was little point in going back to bed again.

A cr@p night (and some), due to the unexpected onset of inner thigh cramp - both simultaneously.  If you've never had that fun then believe me, you've never lived.  One leg went on to persist on & off for quite some time, which was a real bundle of fun.  Not.  Bear suspects it's all part of "The Revenge of the Leccy Cable" - being scrunched up kneeling on the floor for hours on Wednesday fixing that bl00dy cable.  Ok, I get the point Mr. Cable....I surrender and promise never, ever to do it again - just lay off the midnight cramp PRETTY PLEASE WITH SUGAR ON?  I'll even give you a lump of LDC as an apology....

[Joseph_Pestell]

8 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

The English housing market is flawed.

 

Offers should be binding subject to any nasties coming up in surveys.

 

Home owner information packs were introduced by the Blair government but unfortunately hit the vendor with all the costs and wasnt enough in tge right direction. Energy efficiency is one area where the majority of the housing stock is pre war is pretty useless.

 

Home Information Packs potentially saved all parties involved in the transaction a lot of cost and inconvenience.

 

Amazingly, most houses in the UK are purchased without being surveyed at all other than for the mortgage company to put a value on the property as security.

 

As you say, the Blair govt introduced HIPs (and EPCs) but failed to make them compulsory after a big campaign by the Daily Mail. I don't understand the point of being a politician if you are going to let newspaper editors have all the power. Minister involved at the time was Yvette Cooper (Mrs Balls). I have still not forgiven her.

[TheQ]

Mooring again,

No rain here yet, but it's dark with heavy clouds to the west, and the great fried egg has just disappeared to the east, and it's now darker than it was earlier.

 

Ben the seaweed inspector Collie dragged me out a short time ago, he was reluctant to go far from the house, he expects wet..

 

Yep I've had double cramp.. not nice, cramp is  the reason I introduced bananas into my workday diet..

Our strawberry plants are on shelves on the outside of the sheds, it was a way of giving somewhere for SWMBOs vast array pots.  It has the additional advantage of uniting the different 3  styles of shed and the garage. More will be put up at some point in the future. Needless to say with many frosts, and northerly winds it will be some time before our strawberry's start flowering.

 

The above statement has just made me think I've not considered that with the planned future layout of boat shed and marquee position.. I shall think about that before breakfast

 

But first

Time for a  muggacoffee .

 

[TheQ]

The trouble with hips is they are put together by the seller, does anyone trust them ? No,  they have to get all their own searches anyway. So generally they are a waste of time.

 

As for a full or partial , or minimum survey I just got the minimum. Even on that I spotted things when I looked on a pre-purchase visit, that the report didn't mention.

 

This house had stood for nearly 100 years survey or not, it will still be standing long after I've gone...

[iL Dottore]

19 hours ago, polybear said:

....Bear favours an alternative approach to the problem - place SAS Snipers in known problem locations with a "shoot to kill" instruction.  Should have an effect PDQ....

Mr P Bear is being rather boring in his robust approach to said thievery, Captain Cynical (who is somewhat of an amateur historian) firmly believes that the end meted out to Emperor Valerian or General Crassus would be more appropriate (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/heres-what-happened-people-who-were-executed-having-molten-gold-poured-down-their-throat-180951695/)

7 hours ago, BSW01 said:

..From seeing numerous people, of varying ages and ethnicity, all walking about both the Trafford Centre and Costco, who were not  wearing their masks properly, forced me to the conclusion that there must be a lot of people living in the Manchester area that ONLY breathe through their mouths    . These folk stand out in a crowd, as you can distinguish them quite easily, because they wear a mask that only covers their mouths! Well who’d have thought there were such clever people living among us mere mortals eh?  Grrrrrrrrr. 

This angers me as well, from what I’ve read in the online British newspapers the police will fine you for having a sandwich with a friend outside, separated by a considerable distance, yet will do nothing about those people who are improperly wearing masks (and, in truth, much more likely to spread the virus). Captain Cynical is of the opinion that the only appropriate punishment for these people is to have the mask firmly superglued to the bridge of their nose.

Whilst on the subject of the pandemic, I note that on another thread (as well as in various media outlets) there is much support for the temporary suspension of patents regarding the COVID-19 vaccinations. Unfortunately, this is well-meaning but ultimately dangerous; not only because of the potential damage it could cause to the whole area of intellectual property rights, but primarily because by waiving patents you are asking for a tsunami of poor quality and fake vaccines. The whole purpose of producing anything under license (or, for that matter opening a franchise of a well known company) is that every single step of the production process is proven to meet the standards required for the quality (and in this case the efficacy and safety) of the product. A useful analogy would be to waive the patent on Mickey D’s “secret sauce”, thus allowing anyone to whip up a batch of “secret sauce” using poor quality or substandard ingredients, slap it on a horse meat burger and sell it on as a proper MickeyD Big Mac.
 

Although it’s hardly a problem in the west, in many poor countries fake medication is a huge problem, setting aside for the moment the financial and reputational cost of fake medication to the patent owner, fake medication is – at best -  barely effective, generally it’s ineffective if not downright lethal. Unsurprisingly, organised-crime plays a significant role in fake medication, and it is understandable why: apart from the huge profits to be made from selling (at the best) sugar pills as the real thing, there is also the added advantage for the criminal gangs that smuggling and selling fake medication incurs but a fraction of the often Draconian punishments that are given out for narcotics smuggling and dealing.

 

Whilst on the subject of illegal activity, once again I am going to try my hand at perfecting my choux pastry and creating a decent Paris-Brest today. I think I have correctly identified the weak points and today’s effort should be up to scratch.

enjoy the weekend

iD

Edited May 8, 2021 by iL Dottore
Typo

[Barry O]

Ey up!

All the different sea weed wanglers seem to have got the forecast for today correct. Rain started just before 7am...PAH! Tomorrow looks a bit better but we shall see.

 

The house auction game has appeared in the uk too. It used to bbe only unsellable houses, now its across the board. An easier return for Estate Agents??

 

We had a mortgage survey plus our own survey done here. The mortgage survey said we had damp..well we did have a leaky radiator valve. 

 

Fingers are very much crossed for Gordon, Dave's  dad and our Lady of the awls, Debs.

 

Hopefully our missing ERs may venture past at some time.

 

Stay safe!

Baz

Edited May 8, 2021 by Barry O

[jamie92208]

Good moaning.  The hens are up and about. 4 eggs from 4 birds yesterday so they got some lettuce and a tomato as a treat.  Yesterday went, 3 hours wasted waiting for DPD but all 5 parcels arriived on 1 van so I don't have to go back apart from waiting for an Ikea( wash mouth ou) delivery next week. This is all at the house we look after.    Anyway today is Emily chat day so that will happen in half an hour.  Lunch of a Frittata, using fresh eggs has been promised.  I might even get on with sone muddling in the shed later.  

 

Thoughts with the Hunts, junior and Senior and Gordon S.

 

Jamie

[Andrew P]

11 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

It's been a very mixed day. This morning started with a small victory when my campaign to get Dad taken for his second Pfizer vaccine succeeded - the hospital have so far declined to do this as they weren't prepared to fund transport to take him to the vaccination hub on the basis that it wasn't essential treatment but after I managed via a very helpful nursing sister at the hub to contact the Trust CEO they changed their minds.

 

Then the hospital doctor rang and asked me to go and see her (it's only a 24 bed community hospital with a single visiting doctor). She told me that Dad's general health has declined markedly, particularly his eating, and he is only able to take in liquids. Hence he is going on Tuesday for an emergency endoscopy and she warned me that on the basis of her examination the results may be not exactly encouraging. 

 

I then went to see Dad and he was quite distressed by the trouble he has getting to sleep. The ward sister said that he keeps asking for Jill or me at night so as of tomorrow they are allowing either of us to go in the late evening at about 2130 and sit with him in an attempt to get him to sleep. Jill is doing it tomorrow then we are taking it in turns. 

 

Funnily enough, despite all this and the black dog trying to get out of his kennel my modelling mojo is still flickering and I actually managed to do an hour in the workshop this evening. Is that strange?

 

Dave  

So sad to read this Dave, I had similar with my Mum, and so I know from experience that burning the candle at both ends will effect you as well, so please try and balance things out. We all want what is best for our Parents and I kept saying its pay back time for all the love and care that I had from them as a child, but you, like me, are not young chickens that can still run around like a 20 year old. 

 

You and Jill take care my friend. thoughts are with you.

Edited May 8, 2021 by Andrew P

[Andrew P]

As Baz would say, Its chukkin it down.

 

That is to say its raining very hard, so I won't be venturing out for a walk today.

 

Time for ablutions and breakfast I think.

 

Have a good day one and all, stay safe and well  and try to keep dry..

[monkeysarefun]

5 hours ago, TheQ said:

 

Gwiwer's description of how they sell houses over in koala land seems oddly right for the Aussies reputation

Real estate regulations vary from state to state. In NSW at least once an offer is accepted contracts are signed and exchanged. At this point the sale is legally binding for the seller while the buyer has a 5 day cooling off period. A deposit, typically 0.25% of the purchase price is payable by the buyer at this time.

 

Once this contract exchange has occurred the sale must progress, there is no possibilty of gazumping or the seller demanding extra money because someone else offered them more. Settlement is typically 6 weeks after contract exchange, once title searches, building inspections etc have been carried out.

 

Seems to work ok.

[jonny777]

Wet a nd windy here in North Somerset. 20mm of rain overnight, but it seems to have eased off now. 

 

We had paid for a full survey when we bought this house in 1987. The survey pointed out a few minor faults, but said we should insist the vendor install new guttering before we considered moving in. 

 

We couldn't be bothered to stir things up, so moved in and had to exist with the condemned guttering. We forgot all about it, and the whole lot was eventually replaced in 2009 (i.e. 22 years later) after not really giving us any problems, but it just looked rather life-expired by then. 

 

I also found out a piece of interesting but not particularly useful information the other day. Apparently, in 1938 Neville Chamberlain ordered the security services to tap all the phones of Winston Churchill and provide him (Chamberlain) with transcripts. This seems to be because Churchill was meeting with Labour politicians in order to get a vote of no confidence in the then PM passed in the Commons, and install a coalition with Churchill as the leader. 

 

I never knew that. 

[jonny777]

12 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Evening.

 

Johnny, Jersey's EU non status is the same as ours of course.  Folk just don't get it!

 

 

 

Yes Neil, but the problem for Jersey, since Brexit, has been that the French will either not allow non-EU vessels to land their catch at French ports, or impose so much paperwork that the fish have gone rotten before it is completed. 

 

Now this means that the number of Jersey boats currently fishing has declined, and the French have muscled in to increase their number of boats in Jersey waters in order to take advantage. This has led to the current licensing system which forces the French skippers to provide proof of their longstanding fishing history in Channel Island waters, which of course the newcomers can't. Hence no licences for them. 

[leopardml2341]

Mornin'

 

C@rp weather here in South Derbyshire, it won't stop me going for a planned beer meet up this aft'noon though

 

Just caught up on yesterday's ERs, best wishes to all who ail.

 

Sausage butty and a cuppa calling - back later.

Edited May 8, 2021 by leopardml2341

[Winslow Boy]

Well good morning Manucpia or at least it would be if if I could see past the bloomin' rain. 

 

Yesterday was a day of mixed blessings having started of fine but cold but then mid day decided to let rip with hailstones and other forms of liquid. So much for the weather forecasts. Luckily me and the hound were able to sit it out in the car. She, that is the hound, then went on a walk round what used to be an old colliery. Their are several such sites all within a relatively small area. All of them have been reclaimed by nature so make a change from our usual walks.

 

Talking of chin straps I read that both the south African and Indian variants have appeared in one of the 'suburbs' of the conurbation aka the city of Bolton leading to an upsurge in cases. Me thinks some travellers have been praticising that well known 'economical with the truth' statement - yes officer I swear my test came back negative before I boarded the plane in India/south Africa. So folks it looks as if we will be having that third/fourth er five wave after all.

 

So on that cheery thought I leave you to go foraging for brekkies. Wish me luck I may be gone some time.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis was doing his rain dance this morning but the Nurofen has been deployed.

3 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Bear had a scrappie collection several years ago by an Asian Husband & Wife Team - very polite.  I did recall thinking that they were risking treading on some very nasty toes though.  Never did see them again, thinking about it.

There does seem to be a lot less scrappies around - the days of ringing a bell seem to be long gone.  I think I can just about remember a horse-drawn ("Steptoe" style) collection or two when I was very young.

 

We still have a scrappie who rings a bell as he drives his truck around the estate. Problem is by the time I hear the bell and get to the front door he's disappearing down the road. Now to run a bath, be back later.

[leopardml2341]

2 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Me thinks some travellers have been praticising that well known 'economical with the truth' statement - yes officer I swear my test came back negative before I boarded the plane in India/south Africa.

Methinks only two words - selfish b@st@rds.

 

Applies equally to all who disregard any guidance for others' safety not just covidiots.

 

Best leave it there methinks

 

Methinks me is doing a disproportionate amount of thinking this morning.

[PhilJ W]

Oops, nearly forgot.

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Mr P Bear is being rather boring in his robust approach to said thievery, Captain Cynical (who is somewhat of an amateur historian) firmly believes that the end meted out to Emperor Valerian or General Crassus would be more appropriate (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/heres-what-happened-people-who-were-executed-having-molten-gold-poured-down-their-throat-180951695/)

 

iD

I always understood that Valerian was captured by the Persians and their king Shapur used him as a living footstool. When Valerian died he was stuffed and mounted and continued to be used as a footstall. 

[leopardml2341]

Whereas I thought Valerian was a herbal aid to sleeping .

 

Which, incidentally, doesn't seem to work for me.

Edited May 8, 2021 by leopardml2341

[PupCam]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

As for a full or partial , or minimum survey I just got the minimum. Even on that I spotted things when I looked on a pre-purchase visit, that the report didn't mention.

Many many years ago when the relatively newly-wed Puppers bought a semi-detached property they had a full structural survey done to be sure all was well.  It reported that the older style house was built with a solid 9" brick wall which had then been pebble dashed.

 

Soon after we moved in we had need of the services of a replacement window company.  When the chap came round to survey/measure up he was perplexed by the unusual shape of the external window sills and queried the construction of the walls.   We mentioned the findings of the FSS and he said OK but was still perplexed.

 

Sometime after we got chatting with the old boy next door (OK, he seemed old to us he was probably 60ish) and mentioned the window man's puzzlement and how we'd had to tell him about the construction of the walls as detailed in the FSS.   He'd lived there man and boy as it was his parents house originally.   He said words to the effect of "Hold on boy, they're not solid brick walls! Oh no.   That'd be timber framed with brick in-fill.   Years ago we suffered penetrating damp and they cast a layer of concrete over the walls and then pebble dashed them.   'course, the window sills weren't long enough then  so we had to nail extension pieces on".   At that he disappeared in to his house and returned a few minutes later brandishing an old photograph of himself as a young boy in the front garden with our, I have to say, rather attractive looking timber framed house as a backdrop.  

 

As you might imagine this sent us into us into a bit of a spin with thoughts of all sorts of disasters rushing through our minds.    We were going to  have a jolly good whinge and say we'd sue but thought we'd probably just end up with the cost of the survey being refunded and us left high and dry, Up Sh1t Creek looking for a paddle if it all went pear shaped.    So we decided to let it lie quietly and then, if we had any trouble in the future, go back to the surveying company with all guns blazing.    As we moved from that property ~25 years ago and it's still standing it seems that we were OK.

 

Buffer!  With the benefit of hindsight we should have got that £350 back at the time after all!     Anyway, you  won't be surprised to learn that Puppers has a slightly jaundiced view of such things (and those that pedal them) these days.

 

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Captain Cynical (who is somewhat of an amateur historian) firmly believes that the end meted out to Emperor Valerian or General Crassus would be more appropriate (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/heres-what-happened-people-who-were-executed-having-molten-gold-poured-down-their-throat-180951695/)

 

Oh excellent!  Now that is vindictive!   

 

Not certain that they would actually deserve gold but I believe molten lead would be similarly efficacious

 

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Whilst on the subject of the pandemic, I note that on another thread (as well as in various media outlets) there is much support for the temporary suspension of patents regarding the COVID-19 vaccinations. Unfortunately, this is well-meaning but ultimately dangerous; not only because of the potential damage it could cause to the whole area of intellectual property rights, but primarily because by waiving patents you are asking for a tsunami of poor quality and fake vaccines. The whole purpose of producing anything under license (or, for that matter opening a franchise of a well known company) is that every single step of the production process is proven to meet the standards required for the quality (and in this case the efficacy and safety) of the product. A useful analogy would be to waive the patent on Mickey D’s “secret sauce”, thus allowing anyone to whip up a batch of “secret sauce” using poor quality or substandard ingredients, slap it on a horse meat burger and sell it on as a proper MickeyD Big Mac.

 

Although it’s hardly a problem in the west, in many poor countries fake medication is a huge problem, setting aside for the moment the financial and reputational cost of fake medication to the patent owner, fake medication is – at best -  barely effective, generally it’s ineffective if not downright lethal. Unsurprisingly, organised-crime plays a significant role in fake medication, and it is understandable why: apart from the huge profits to be made from selling (at the best) sugar pills as the real thing, there is also the added advantage for the criminal gangs that smuggling and selling fake medication incurs but a fraction of the often Draconian punishments that are given out for narcotics smuggling and dealing.

 

An interesting, sensible and typically insightful view iD , thank you

 

[PupCam]

2 hours ago, Barry O said:

Fingers are very much crossed for Gordon, Dave's  dad and our Lady of the awls, Debs.

 

Hopefully our missing ERs may venture past at some time.

 Seconded.