Early Risers.

[tigerburnie]

Morning, more of the "G" word has taken place, we had a drop of rain last evening, not a lot but welcome all the same, sun is now out so we are off out somewhere, not decided yet what direction, but I'm sure my navigator will enlighten me soon enough, enjoy your day all.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

It’s dull at the moment but the sun is trying to shine, but the forecast is for rain at some point today. 

 

As Vickie and Ian are calling round this morning, I’m not going to do anything that will make a mess, well not until they’ve gone anyway! So I’ll just potter about in the cellar after I’ve watered the plants, this is just in case it doesn’t rain, as the weekend has been dry, (apart from Saturday/Sunday evening) when we were forecast rain. 

 

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

 

Brian

[Tony_S]

13 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

If your anything like me Tony, You would probably dig it WRONG.           

I suspect it may be what had to go in the hole to accompany the new Rose that requires the managerial input. The soil in the bed near the door needs some sort of transfusion and then something added to the soil where the new roots will be. It is now raining quite heavily and Aditi still intends to go and dig the hole. I will stand by to make tea or coffee. 
Tony

[PupCam]

Clear Prop!

 

On 19/06/2021 at 16:15, PupCam said:

On returning home Puppers had to apply himself to investigating why  the shower's waste water pump had ceased to pump.      Fairly predictable reason, the thing was jammed solid with a horrific mixture of discarded hair and slime.   Those that know Puppers will appreciate that he can not be the source of the hair!   Pump unit removed, cleaned and tested in the back garden.   Hmmm, it mostly works but can be reluctant to start when power is applied (by the float switch).   Further investigations reveal that the pump/motor seems to have a very slight tight spot at one point on its revolution.   It's difficult to know what to do with it really.   Awkward to remove the motor from the plastic housing (its likely those plastic clips will fail) and I have found out that the motor is sealed unit full of oil so probably best left well alone then!       The alternative is to replace it of course but the price is typically just shy of £300 although I have now found one supplier who says £250 but at the end of the day it's just a motor, a pressure switch and a couple of one way valves so it seems a mite expensive to Puppers - perhaps I'm just a cheapskate!

 

Puppers convinced himself yesterday (well, there was money involved!) that it would be worth giving the pump a try, it seemed reasonably reliable on the bench and maybe it could be galvanised into a action with a swift kick if necessary if it did stick.    Pump duly installed with no sign EVER of any intention at all to start .....

 

Mr Google has just been consulted; best price found was ~£235 which is much better than the joke RRP of ~£500!!!!!!!!!!!! and the common price of just under £300.     Pump duly ordered, credit card licking its wounds as we speak.

 

In other news:

I'm awaiting a follow-up call from the GP this morning.      My son suggested that when they call I should say "I'm sorry but all my appointment slots are full today, please try again tomorrow"       

 

That is sooooo tempting although I feel the "wider picture" must win in this situation and therefore I must bite my tongue on this occasion.   Shame ...

 

Greetings everyone.

 

Alan

[Tony_S]

1 minute ago, PupCam said:

best price found was 

I have noticed that the price of things like fans and pumps vary a lot for the same item, even ignoring the ones with really low prices but no stock. 

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from a Sidcup which is reposing under a grey pall of cloud, being doused in cold rain. Midsummer?

 

A very quiet weekend was had, chores fulfilled and sports watched. Now it is back to another week at work. Elder Lurker was supposed to be helping with sports days for a number of the years this week but I suspect that they will all be rearranged. One of the advantages of Covid is that they can't invite parents in to watch, which makes things much more flexible. Mind you, my parents were never invited to sports day when I was at primary school and there was no excuse about lockdowns back then!

 

Anyway I suppose I had better get on. Have a good day all

[Erichill16]

Morning, 

Been across to the lady opposite for a chinwag and a bit of the g word.

Pitstop and a cup of coffee. On that motor racing note, what did you think to the trophies handed out yesterday at the French GP.  They’re certainly going to look distinctive on the mantle piece.

 

 

[Tony_S]

30 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

On that motor racing note, what did you think to the trophies handed out yesterday at the French GP

On the live broadcast they showed the trophy being delivered. They didn’t trust it to Hermes!

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, jonny777 said:

 

I have a similar problem when SWMBO switches on her reading lamp - the tv goes blank. However, after about 10 seconds the picture comes back and the box doesn't re-set. I have put this down to some form of sensitivity to power surges. I'm afraid I gave up with phoning the company many years ago because I can't understand what the call centre staff are saying. Their fast talking sub-continent accent is far too complex for my ears. If I ask them to repeat their last sentence, they treat me as if I am some awkward 7-year old. 

What sort of bulb is fitted in SWMBO's reading lamp? If its one of those long life bulbs that could be the reason as when they are switched on they take quite a bit of power to start up. Best option is a LED bulb as they also give a better light for reading.

Edited June 21, 2021 by PhilJ W

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Morning, I have sole control of my life today.

 

A miserable 15c and overcast, really not an inspiring day.  At least it is dry.

 

Not sure yet what to do, but that bike engine is looking at me with a glint in its evil eye.  I'll beat it yet....

 

Sun glasses work well when wanting to avoid the evil eye I've found.

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, Andrew P said:

If your anything like me Tony, You would probably dig it WRONG.           

 

Don't worry I have a piece of paper that says I'm qualified to dig holes yet I still dig them wrong.

[The Stationmaster]

Afternoon all,

 

Rain seems to have eased off but the sew aweed says that is only an illusion so we'll see what happens next.  So thus far the G word activity is deferred.  

 

No other items of massive import have occurred but I was amazed to read upthread of  roofing tiles only lasting 20 years.  That sounds like built in obsolescence to me presumably intended to keep manufacturers and roofers in work forever.   There is a bungalow at the top of our road which is roofed with cedar shingles and I can remember it being built which makes it at least 50 years old (more likely 60 in fact) and it has never to my knowledge been renewed.   Tiled and slated roofs around here, including the house opposite, are far older but if anything at all goes its some of the timber inside that has to be replaced and the outer covering is reused.

 

A foraging party has been despatched to Tesco so we'll see what the return with.

 

Have a good day folks and stay safe.

 

 

[Gwiwer]

Afternoon all.  What a miserable way to celebrate midsummer.  Wet, cold and windy.  Bleurgh.  Notter Pleasant Morning.  

 

Meanwhile idly trawling through vaguely work-related material I came across this little gem.  The many and often apparently-convoluted rules regarding our National Rail fares are indeed a complete and very complex minefield.  There are maps, codes, routing points and easements to take account of when you think of something as apparently simple such as "Route : Any Permitted".  What is a permitted route?  Let's not dwell on that here.  

 

The easements are largely to over-ride other rules in cases where service provision would work against the passenger's interests but some are "negative  easements" which restrict rather than allow certain options.  This usually involves preventing a double-back even when it seems the obvious route.  But one item did catch my eye and made me wonder why it was actually necessary.  Does anyone seriously consider that taking the train between London and Heysham, even though there is but one train a day. requires the somewhat indirect route via Fraggle Rock???

 

 

 

[polybear]

5 hours ago, jonny777 said:

 

I have a similar problem when SWMBO switches on her reading lamp - the tv goes blank. However, after about 10 seconds the picture comes back and the box doesn't re-set. I have put this down to some form of sensitivity to power surges.

 

2 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

What sort of bulb is fitted in SWMBO's reading lamp? If its one of those long life bulbs that could be the reason as when they are switched on they take quite a bit of power to start up. Best option is a LED bulb as they also give a better light for reading.

 

Sounds sensible - if that doesn't work then perhaps a surge & spike arrester adapter will help?

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

Does anyone seriously consider that taking the train between London and Heysham, even though there is but one train a day. requires the somewhat indirect route via Fraggle Rock???

 

 

 

That route to Heysham cropped up for me. Leeds to Heysham via Liverpool and Fraggle Rock for £17 or thereabout.  A long night on Douglas pier though. I caught yhd direct train from Leeds in the end.

 

Jamie

 

 

[Tony_S]

I didn’t end up digging the hole for the new rose. I was asked my opinion about which way looked best and did I think it was far enough from the wall. As by then I was dampened by the gentle rain I stayed out and assisted with some weeding. The ground is so damp the weeds were easy to remove and the path to the front door looks much neater now. 
Tony

[polybear]

Success

 

 

The corners came out pretty well from the outset - they've had a smear of caulk and will probably get a second dose tomorrow; I find that wiping excess caulk away without  removing any from the joint requires black magic, which Bear has yet to master.  I'm not happy about the gap above the door - it's been adjusted (there's not a lot) to it's highest position and the cornice is sitting flat on the top of the cabinet carcass, so it's not a fault of this Bear.  I have some panel off-cuts so a thin (5mm) strip will be cut tomorrow and I'll secure this to the underside of the front cornice section, which will sort the problem.  I'm also wishing now that I'd used blind screw fixings to secure the end panel (that's one of the tall & heavy ones) from inside the cabinet so they didn't show on the outside, rather than the chrome cabinet connectors I did use; the panel is only 19mm-ish thick, so wood screws don't have a lot to hang onto.  Too late now.  I might see if I can find some discrete cabinet connectors that are white rather than chrome - that would improve the look.

 

In other news:

The new door lock for buddy next door dropped thru' Bear's letterbox at 9am this morning - I ordered it at 3-30 on Friday so that's pretty good going.  The latch was the wrong way round (I was expecting that) but is reversible, so I swapped it before phoning buddy with the good news - he was even more pleased I'd swapped the latch too. 

Bear:  "You''ll miss this service when you bvgger off to God's Waiting Room"

Buddy:  "True, but at least my cake stocks will be safe"

Bear laughs uncontrollably.......

 

[TheQ]

Remotes generally work of some sort of light waves, it's quiet possible that a light bulb may produce false signals on switching on or off while slowly failing and that interferes with the box or TV.

It's equally possible someone nearby is switching on some sort of radio equipment that is interfering with one bit of TV box..

 

I've been playing with boat handicaps again, I found another later article by the lady professor discussing what she'd been doing. In it was another formula, 10B based on of course 

10A , but it didn't work. A couple of hours later I found the mistake I had a raised to the power of symbol ( upside down v ) instead of *, changing that made the formula work. ( This keyboard doesn't have the symbol).

 

Then I noticed 14A and 10A had the same error but it had less effect.  24 X 3 formula lines to change later and it all looked a lot better. All this has one advantage..the handicap number is more advantageous by about 1.5%

 

 

[polybear]

£200M (?) out of the Defence Budget:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-57556938

- I bet that one went down well with the Armed Forces.  Not.

[Pacific231G]

Good day all from a grey and wet West London.

I've just heard from my oldest friend that her GP has told her that the hospital has decided not to proceed with her well overdue hip replacment because of her diabetes. She had that when her other hip was replaced three or four years ago and I don't think it's any worse now . Before Covid the surgeon had told her to lose weight before he'd do the operation which she has. At that time she was walking with a stick, now she can hardly move,  is having to use a frame, is in constant agonising pain, terrified of falling and sometimes can't even get out of bed. Understndably she was in tears when I spoke to her after lunch. Given the backlog I'm  wondering if they're rationing surgery to the more straightforward cases.  My friend  is in her late sixties but is in a worse place than my mother was in her late nineties.

Not a good day!

 

Edited June 21, 2021 by Pacific231G

[Ian Abel]

Monday it is...

 

Busy weekend here;

Saturday up fairly early (all relative!!) and off to Trevor and Meagans to help build her new chicken coop and run.

Entertaining, and fortunately not too hot. We managed - with TWO trips to the hardware store, in spite of both products coming complete with "ALL necessary hardware" - to get the old one removed, ground prepared, new coop and run built and electrikery installed in about 8 hours! That's me knackered by 8PM Saturday.

Mrs was out at a nieces kids dance recital for the late afternoon/evening, so left me to recover with a shower and couple of G&Ts - partially comatose time she got home

 

Sunday/Fathers Day. Most enjoyable, spent the afternoon with Trevor and Meagan "NOT building anything"  and had a very nice Indian meal.

We opted for a take-out and Trevor and I actually ENJOYED being caught in a downpour dashing between the restaurant and the car on the pick-up, First rain we've had in weeks so well pleased. Temperature also dropped 10 degrees F from the time the rain started, so a lovely refreshing event.

 

In the evening went to see "In the Heights" with our friends. First theatre experience since COVID struck. Anyone wanting to see something fun, musical, amazing choreography and with ZERO violence, be sure to take it in. The music is great, the storyline delightful and overall happy, the ending heartwarming, just all round a great show to garner the return to theatres.
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jon Chu don't disappoint with this project.

 

Today, slow work day, and this evening the Mrs has her book club so I get a guys night when we put the world straight amidst wine, cheese and whatever else we can muster

 

With the rain storm yesterday and a cold front crossing us, it was a delightful 10 overnight/first thing and only 19 and partly cloudy for the day.

 

Stay safe and well.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Went to take a bit of eye-lid inspection after lunch and just came out of hibernation. Joints are a bit stiff as they are most mornings. I'll look up the fares to Fraggle Rock from Estuary-Land but I seem to recall some organised rail tours being advertised before covid which although more expensive would mean less organization. Kettle is about to boil so I'll be back later.

Edited June 21, 2021 by PhilJ W

[petethemole]

Solstice blessings to all ERs.  And a soggy, gloomy one it is.  My bus to Eastleigh carried a number of India supporters who had spent the morning at the Rose Bowl in the hope of play, but had given up and headed for Parkway Station for trains home.  Time to put the tea on, unload shopping and feed Tigger, who has been head-bumping me for a while.

 

Stay elfy.

 

PS I went downstairs to realise the heating had come on, because I left the back door open earlier for Tigger to go out and the wind blowing in was cool enough to trigger the thermostat.

Edited June 21, 2021 by petethemole
more stuff

[leopardml2341]

Back from mi short break to Barmouth,  fantastic weather and a great time had.

 

As there's 13 pages to catch up with, please forgive me if I just take the cop out and offer generic  greetings and we'll wishes to all in need of them. 

Edited June 21, 2021 by leopardml2341

[PhilJ W]

3 hours ago, petethemole said:

PS I went downstairs to realise the heating had come on, because I left the back door open earlier for Tigger to go out and the wind blowing in was cool enough to trigger the thermostat.

My heating has come into play its that cold. 13C. outside according to the weather thingy. Summer solstice? as Baz would say, Pah!

Edited June 21, 2021 by PhilJ W