Early Risers.

[Coombe Barton]

Grey and cool.

And so's the weather.

This attempt at a joke is recycled, maybe more than once.

[PhilJ W]

Just had a Farcebook friends request from a young lady with a photograph of a voluptuous young lady with oriental features. As usual I deleted such requests and blocked the sender but before doing so I noticed it was from a male.

[leopardml2341]

If I wanted to post something new I would have to clear the editor again today, but as I don't - I've left it 'as is'.....

 

Mornin folks.

 

I don't have much to report except for the usual South Derbyshire 'grey', so it's back to keyboreding and 'another day at the office'.

 

'til later.

[New Haven Neil]

Morning.

 

Leopard's grey has permeated the sky here too, 100% cloud cover predicto-guessed to last all day, but dry and 18c.

 

Little else to report, Mrs NHN off out in the camper with her mates on a picnic tour de rock, so a quiet day pottering on for me.  That bike carburettor will be the focus of my attentions, but the O Gauge is in the same garage. 

[southern42]

' morning all from red dragon land.

Another sunny day was forecast for today by the pine cone predictors but no evidence of it.

 

M word sacrificed for the G word for the third day on the trot, mainly clearing a walled section of crocosmia. A few finds, so far - a broken tile, a broken piece of guttering, and a copy of a well known children's song.

 

 

Yesterday, we went to West Shore. Ray had a committee meeting and I was keen to give his newly built O&K loco a workout. After returning to 7 1/4" gauge, you might think this would be a doddle. Er hum! Put it this way: Ray asked me if I enjoyed my ride (3 x 1/3 mile). Answer: Don't know. Too busy working out what to do and keeping it going!  It will come!

 

Some interesting differences between the two: Geirionydd (7 1/4") - no need to add coal on the lap (1/8th of a mile) but the injectors are used a couple of times; Tryfan (5") - feed it with coal (little and often being the general rule) and use the bypass valve to regulate amount of water in the boiler. 

 

 

Click and collect this afternoon, so the M word will no doubt get deferred until tomorrow.

Might get in a toot on the flute this morning.

 

Fitt  and  Elfie doing their bit.

 

Take care all and play safe.

_________

Best wishes

Polly

 

[Barry O]

Hair has been mown, sandwich prepared for her indoors as she is off to play in a recorder group.

 

It is sunny here now, hurrah!

Good news from @gordon s via @BoD..thanks BoD!

Baz

[PupCam]

Clear Prop,   Contact!

 

12 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

I truly don't know - and never did know - what caused people to turn in such directions.  Many of us have had turmoil and distress in our lives.  Some of the dossers would talk privately about their background though seldom about how and why they started drinking.  There but for the grace of <insert deity of choice, if any> go I.  And all of us.  

 

How very true.   So many factors involved in every individual's life, many completely outside their control and another set of individual characteristics that controls how they react to them.    It's amazing it doesn't go completely belly-up for people more often!

 

14 hours ago, brianusa said:

I prefer not to worry as it puts one at a disadvantage right from the start.  Instead accept whatever the outcome brings and start immediately to fight it off, rather than give into it.  I have had a couple of instances where worrying certainly would not have helped and in the end, there was no cause for worry as it was a simple procedure. Unfortunately,  some can imagine the worst and sometimes it turns out that way but positive thinking, not worrying, believe it or not is a powerful weapon in these circumstances or any other dire situation.

 

Yes indeed ..............

 

             .... but I now know from my very recent experience of being scraped off of the floor and being resuscitated that is easier to say than do and, to a large extent, is dependant on whether you have an optimistic or pessimistic character.   Buxxer!   That's put me at a disadvantage then!     What with this and Covid, not quite what I was hoping for from my new found freedom from that four letter word beginning with W!

 

5 hours ago, chrisf said:

You lot are wonderful.  Many, many thanks for the profusion of kind wishes yesterday concerning the bone scan.

 

As a newbie ER person I have been amazed by this thread and, more importantly, its inhabitants.       The concern and support for all experiencing trouble and trauma is most touching and the public and private messages I have received from you lot have been so gratefully received (although I'm still waiting for a certain bear to show up in person bearing copious quantities of LDC*).

 

* Pupper's "Cake of Choice" as mentioned previously by another ER is actually Bread Pud hint hint @polybear 

 

Back in the 70's (that'll be the school days then) a trip to my best mate's house was incomplete unless his mum had freshly made a tray of "her" Bread Pud.      Sadly she is no longer with us but her Bread Pud is still the Gold Standard by which all others are judged to this very day.    They don't come close!

 

5 hours ago, chrisf said:

I have a consultation on 19th August with Professor Oncologist and will have to contain my anxiety until then! 

 

I have another CT scan on Friday and a scheduled cardio consultation in October!    I will be phoning the hospital up later next week to try and bring any pronouncements and action plans forward because I can't be hanging around like I am now till then!

 

5 hours ago, chrisf said:

The scan itself was I had expected – having to lie still for nearly half an hour while the machine moved very slowly from one end of me to the other.  If anything the three hours of boredom between receiving the injection that makes everything show up on the scan and the scan taking place was excruciating.  I should have realised that there would be nothing to do and it was my own silly fault for not remembering to take something to read – War and Peace, perhaps. 

 

After the first flush of relatively rapid motion during my scan I thought they'd stopped and were waiting for phase two to start.    After about five minutes I realised that my view of the little display screen that I could see had changed ever so slightly and that in fact it was all going on.    It's desperately difficult to keep perfectly still for that period of time!  

 

Where did you have to go Chris?   Was it the mobile scanner at Milton Keynes?    If so, it would have been the same scanner.   The chap said that it does a couple of days in London, one in Stevenage, one in Milton Keynes and I think one in Reading and Bristol!    It's lucky, it gets Sundays off ........  (probably for maintenance!)

 

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

A sound approach, Brian. I always take the attitude that whatever the doctors are searching for is either there or it isn’t there and there is F***all I can do about it.  So best get the test over and done with and, if there IS anything there at all, the earlier it is found the easier it is to deal with!

 

Indeed and I whole heartedly agree with the sentiment - pretending something isn't there and hoping it will go away is foolish much better to get it sorted ASAP and in fact so disappointing that the current extended delays to so many people's treatment is actually storing up more problems for the future for both the individuals and the NHS.

 

3 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

As to Dr Google, it's a curse.

 

I try very hard not to refer to Dr. Google although I have relied on  Dr Browser and specifically the NHS website extensively during recent months due to the extremely inconsistent level of detailed information I have received on my conditions / situation so I've had to fill in the gaps!    I figure that the information on the NHS website is the information the NHS staff would have given me had they had the time, the chance, the opportunity and in isolated cases if they could be arxxxx.     That said, I would like to say that the care I have received from so many (and the vast majority of) people throughout the NHS recently  has been superb and we'll say no more on the one or two little anomalies.   

 

Alan

[Pacific231G]

Good noontime all

 

I know the Tour de France isn't to everyone's taste (for me it's as close as I'm likely to get to seeing the French countryside this year) but, looking at the timings for today's sixth stage, it includes, at 65.5km to go, Ecueillé at 56.7 Lucay-le-Male and, at 46.1 Valencay, all three in Indre.

Ecueillé happens to be the HQ of the preserved southern section of the metre gauge Blanc-Argent railway, Luçay-le-Mâle used to be where it met the section of the line still in public use. Valençay   is now the southern end of the section still running as a public railway since SNCF closed the section between there and Luçay, a section which the SABA preservation group have been working to take over and may have done by now.  Whether we'll actually get to see any of the line today is anyone's guess as the route doesn't actually appear to cross the line but preserved railways are generally quite good at putting on a bit of a show when the Tour passes close enough to them. 

I used to imagine (not seriously)  that TV directors covering the tour were under orders to avoid showing railways because they're sponsored by car makers. The sad truth is that the real reason you see fewer railways (either when the route runs alongside or when it crosses them at level crossings) now than ten or fifteen years ago is because so many of them have disappeared. While the branch lines had mostly been goods only for decades, they were still at least  railways but the all conquering truck has now swept most of them away.  

Edited July 1, 2021 by Pacific231G
clarity

[simontaylor484]

Afternoon all

 

A bit of a slow day so far, forms have come from the DVLA to reapply for my licence. I wasn't really bothered about having it back but life could become difficult without it i hate having to rely on others. My eldest has transport to college provided by taxi due to his disability sometimes they don't turn up it would be useful to be able to get him there quickly.

  Although we get shopping delivered and the added cost not much more than the petrol you would use and the massive time saving factor. It's other things that need doing that are proving problematic for example i have a couple of old tv's to get shut of that couldn't go in the skip. Bil would probably take them to the tip but its a putting him out and last time I went i got a puncture.

 

All i have seen of this years T de F is the carnage caused by the possibly German (going by the German for gran and grandad on the sign) woman with her sign causing an epic crash and entanglement.

   I wonder if she will end up being Sued and with a stretch inside.

 

Regarding ruined beers Stones bitter was ruined when production was moved from Sheffield. As was Morlands when the Abingdon brewery was shut and moved to Greene King

[Dave Hunt]

Greetings. My apologies for not posting messages of support and/or sympathy for those ERs who are  suffering in any way but since my Dad returned to his house I've been more than a little busy and my time on RMW has suffered as a result. Although I've done a bit of posting on other forums the reduced time available and sheer volume of traffic on ERs has  militated against taking part properly but I've now managed a quick scan through the pages I've missed and can offer my sympathies to Chrisf and the other sufferers.

 

Anyway, things are beginning to look up a bit to the extent that Jill and I are contemplating going away for a short while after stocking Dad's cupboards, preparing some ready meals for him and arranging for someone to pop in and check on him. The likely sojourn will be to help a dear friend celebrate a significant birthday and to that end I will be baking one of her favourite cakes - lemon drizzle. Hence the actual date will not be revealed until after the event in case of night raids by bears and hippos.

 

Stay safe and enjoy what is left of you day.

 

Dave

[Tony_S]

The nurse was very pleased with my results and progress. My Hba1c is now 41 something or other units and my cholesterol reading is 3. According to their scales I have lost 10kg since February. We did discuss the side effects of metformin and I said as they are not consistently present I will carry on for a while longer. Not a problem to be prescribed alternatives or combinations. My feet are fine and blood pressure/ pulse are excellent. Not surprising due to all the heart medication!
Tony

[AndrewC]

I'm now officially an old f@rt. My 60+ Oyster Twirly card has arrived. A week early just to rub salt in the wound. Oh well, at least I'll be saving a fortune on commuting..... oh wait. I work from home. Oh well, at least it will save me the price of a couple of pints when on a London beer crawl. 

[simontaylor484]

@Dave Hunt glad to see your Dad is improving.

[Gwiwer]

29 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

My apologies for not posting messages of support and/or sympathy for those ERs who are  suffering in any way

Likewise including Dave whose text I quote.  

 

I have said it before and it is in no way diminished but you will always find support and friendship offered here.  

 

I know some of us regularly, and others less frequently, exchange private messages off-board.  I do too at times.  Their absence in any individual situation should not be misinterpreted in any way as overlooking or lack of empathy for anyone's circumstances.  Most often it's a factor of my personal time coupled with the Spectrum Brain which seems hard-wired to not start a conversation (but which will always respond if spoken to) with anyone bar a few apparently random exceptions.  Can't explain that; it probably doesn't need explaining.  

 

In other news there has been a warming object visible aloft today on occasions and I intend to take full advantage of its generosity shortly with a drink or two out on the lawns.  Followed by hours typing the minutes of last night's committal committee meeting.  The things we volunteer for, eh?   

[Erichill16]

6 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

The things we volunteer for, eh?   

Or get volunteered for.

[Andrew P]

6 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Good to hear that @chrisf's scan went well and he hasn't irradiated half of Milton Keynes. Bin day today with the lesser spotted glass and bottle wagon in full voice to start the dawn chorus.

Your lucky, were not aloud to put glass in our Bins, it has to go to a Glass Bin down the Road, which is always overflowing onto the Pavement / Sidewalk / Footpath.   SO, a car journey is reqd every few weeks.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. While I was in the bath this morning the postie called with a parcel so I asked her to put it in my hidey hole. When I came down to retrieve it I realised it was for someone a couple of streets away (but the same number) so later I will deliver it to the correct address. Puppers, thanks for reminding me that I still have half of the bread pudding in the cupboard, now reduced to a quarter that will be consumed with this evenings muggatee (if it lasts that long). My mum made the best bread pudding when I was younger, my siblings had both got married and setting up their own homes by the mid 70's so I often had a tray of bread pudding to myself, unless my dad got in first.

[Barry O]

Been a strange sort of day.. on returning from the barbers and making and eating lunch I have been busy mending objects which can not be mentioned here followed by booking some hotel rooms for a "elder stateman" (actually I am the only man attending) in September. Good job I rang today as the room we were in this week is closed for the next phase of renovation....bit more expensive but a sea front "suite(!) has been booked along with a number of other single rooms.   A bit early to book our evening meal in Steels in Cleethorpes but it will be done shortly.

 

The eediiott next door has been building a "shed". It is a kit of parts but he has altered the rood design. It s, however, pebble-dashed.. so it isn't the "In " garden design ... it must be.. cheap(!). It has taken two days so far to almost finish it.. working with his "mate" God knows what the luxury house extension will turn out like - it is scheduled to have the in colours.. grey window frames, paintwork etc with white pebble dash.. As Dr Eldest Herbert said... "decking like that is very 1990s" apparently..

 

Chish and Fips for tea again with Yorkshire caviar and scraps.. yummy!

 

@Tony_S  congratulations on the Hb1 wotsit.. mine is the same, my cholestorol is lower. Weight loss since January also aoput 10kg. But I am trying to get rid of the metalformin and go onto empagliflozin which is better for you but is more expensive.

 

Baz

[polybear]

1 hour ago, chrisf said:

Greetings one and all

 

You lot are wonderful.  Many, many thanks for the profusion of kind wishes yesterday concerning the bone scan.  I have a consultation on 19th August with Professor Oncologist and will have to contain my anxiety until then! 

 

 

This Bear would hazard a guess that it if you've not heard anything in the next week or two then no news is very good news.....

 

 

44 minutes ago, pH said:

Lytton in BC set all-time Canadian temperatures records on each of the last three days. It was evacuated this evening as a fast-moving wildfire approached it. The fire is now in the village and a second fire is also approaching:

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-wildfires-june-30-2021-1.6085919

 

 

The thought of losing EVERYTHING in a fire is one of the few things that Bear would really, really struggle with.  Sure, a house can be rebuilt, new clothes bought etc. but it's all those "special" things that money can't put a price on.  I have a Hard Drive kept securely & remote from the house that has many photos, videos etc. for that very reason.

 

Bear spent the morning working on the kitchen sink plumbing, which has included having to cut a slot in the left side of the sink base unit in order to provide clearance for the monobloc tap pipework.  I also discovered that the copper pipe tails supplied with the tap, whilst being highly desirable to use (there's little risk of failure) would be nigh on impossible to plumb in unless you're (a) very, very clever at plumbing, and (b) know far more naughty words that Bear does (and I know a LOT).  On top of that I also discovered that the comprehensive plastic plumbing kit supplied with the posh German sink isn't compatible with UK drainage pipework, being a different size...

So it was off to a certain very good Plumbers Merchants in Stevenage for suitable pipework and drainage fittings, along with a pair of flexible tap tails that are hopefully much better quality than those from the likes of the sheds.  Then a visit to Toolstation for some silicone sealant saw a total of some sixty notes disappear.  Turdycurses.

 

I saw buddy next door earlier - seems buyer No. 2 had tried to knock fifteen grand off the price (No. 1 was twenty five grand).  Basically she wanted buddy to pay the stamp duty, plus a bit.  She was told where to go (though buddy wants to agree - and then change his mind in a fortnight - "you p1ss us about, we'll p1ss you about");  a new viewing is planned for this evening.  Time to crank up the Sex Pistols Album - and tune up the chainsaw in the back garden......

[Tony_S]

Update on my diabetes review. The nurse said she was going to talk to my GP about my willingness to carry on with metformin for a while as it was was dealing with blood sugars nicely although there were side effects. At 5pm I had a phone call from the nurse who following discussions with the gp who thought  I should change to an alternative medication and has already transmitted the prescription to the chemist. All I have to do is collect the tablets and a couple of blood test forms. I really can’t complain at all about how I am looked after here. 
Tony

[Barry O]

2 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Update on my diabetes review. The nurse said she was going to talk to my GP about my willingness to carry on with metformin for a while as it was was dealing with blood sugars nicely although there were side effects. At 5pm I had a phone call from the nurse who following discussions with the gp who thought  I should change to an alternative medication and has already transmitted the prescription to the chemist. All I have to do is collect the tablets and a couple of blood test forms. I really can’t complain at all about how I am looked after here. 
Tony

Can I see your nurse drac.. Still waiting for the outcomes of my review 3 months ago....

 

Baz

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

empagliflozin

That did not suit Aditi at all! The diabetic nurses thought it may help her but it didn’t . They found another medication which was fine. Being at work, grabbing snacks instead of proper meals didn’t help her diabetes one bit. Since retiring she has had good control. 
Tony

[polybear]

7 hours ago, PupCam said:

......although I'm still waiting for a certain bear to show up in person bearing copious quantities of LDC*.

 

A certain Bear was under the impression that the legendary generosity of Puppers would be displayed with oodles of cake provided.....

 

7 hours ago, PupCam said:

* Pupper's "Cake of Choice" as mentioned previously by another ER is actually Bread Pud hint hint @polybear 

 

Noted....Bear has no idea when BP was last sampled.....10+ years?

 

7 hours ago, PupCam said:

I have another CT scan on Friday and a scheduled cardio consultation in October!    I will be phoning the hospital up later next week to try and bring any pronouncements and action plans forward because I can't be hanging around like I am now till then!

 

October??  That's just silly.  American Express?  That'll do nicely, Sir (does Puppers still have the Credit Card from the Great Empire....?)

 

 

2 hours ago, Barry O said:

.......Yorkshire caviar .....

 

Let me guess - Mushy Peas?

 

 

[leopardml2341]

Evening folks, had mi tea/dinner/supper and feeling decidedly fat!

 

Beyond,  not a lot else to report - though it has brightened  (and warmed) up a bit.

[simontaylor484]

I too have had an expensive day

Electric bill council tax to pay then Swmbo birthday presents purchased and then 40 quid worth of spare parts/consumables for various bits and pieces