Early Risers.

[Ozexpatriate]

17 minutes ago, tigerburnie said:

I don't know the answer, but I do believe that tribalism seems to be on the increase.

I think that is an accurate statement. I see lots of evidence for it in the English-speaking democracies with which I am familiar.

[PhilJ W]

15 minutes ago, polybear said:

In other news:

Bear spent the afternoon "deciding" on a Hob Splashback......I'm now down to four different options (none of which are any of those shown in a previous post)

.  I discovered that the manufacturer offers an image library of some 250 million different photos, illustrations and designs, all of which can be cropped etc. as required to suit.  No wonder Bear is feeling frazzled.

As an example, here are some images that other ER'ers may associate with, all available as a Hob Splashback:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I

Wot, and no LDC splashback?

[simontaylor484]

I must admit I did come across the Indian caste system at Bison s Iver works until then I thought it was well in the past.

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

4 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

I must admit I did come across the Indian caste system at Bison s Iver works until then I thought it was well in the past.

Officially it is, but centuries of tradition do not disappear by fiat. I've seen it present in inter-personal relationships in companies in the US.

 

Furthermore, caste is not the primary form of discrimination in India - that would be to restrict it to Hindus. 

 

A colleague, born in India, worked in the US and returned to India liked to make the analogy that despite being the largest democracy in the world, India is a collection of nations, each with their own histories, languages, ethnic groups, cuisines and religions, bound together politically, not unlike Europe, but with a greater level of diversity.

 

There's coded information in people's names - like their mother tongue, homeland and religion, that are well understood in India and not necessarily perceived by people outside India. All these are potential sources of tribalism and discrimination.

 

Such tribalism is also observable in some US 'tech' companies where people who can read the code might make assertions of the existence (for example, and purely hypothetically speaking) of say a "Telegu mafia"* where a perhaps a cohort of Hyderabadis might reach senior management positions within a company.

 

* Others are available.

[PhilJ W]

[TheQ]

Yes I remember Kandi submarine as he was often known. He had a nice line in terminology that from anyone else would have got you sacked.

I believe that Kandi's surname indicates Tamil origin as they usually have 5 syllables.

 

Just back from you know where , where some small dry stone walling , landscape gardening, and making out like a national service ERK was carried out.. that is painting stones white....or black or grey. Green brown and other colours will be applied next week no apartheid in stones..

 

Spotted a major error a pre hole in the ground area has sheet ply one side and slartybartfasts work the other, don't think they had ply lined cuttings.. corrective action required next week.

 

Edited July 16, 2021 by TheQ

[PupCam]

2 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

The db rating on your bin @polybear is the maximum amount of noise your bin will produce either being dragged out or the lid slamming down

A more useless bit of information (on the bin not the explanation!) is hard to imagine and an example of the over-the-top nonsense with which the planet is blighted these days.    Of course, if you are the test house paid to determine compliance with the requirement (who honestly would specify such a requirement!) then it's money for old rope a valuable income stream and a worthwhile contribution to modern living.

 

Now, if the requirement was to construct a wheelie bin that would effectively silence the screams of a bear trapped inside after the attempted, foolhardy exploitation of the local council's generous services by trying to smuggle a greater volume of waste material than the fortnightly household allocation by compacting said material into a significantly higher density, then that would be a most worthy endeavour 

 

In other news WRT:     Blackboards/Whiteboards etc.   

 

Frankly I despair of the ease of which offence can and is taken these days when none is intended or even thought of.   It's time the world got a grip!

 

Alan

[simontaylor484]

I suppose when you are emptying 1000 bins a day the noise exposure adds up.

 

When I worked for the Council i used to have regular hearing checks and I was only a litter picker/ driver of van and relief pavement sweeper driver 

[PhilJ W]

2 minutes ago, PupCam said:

In other news WRT:     Blackboards/Whiteboards etc.   

 

Frankly I despair of the ease of which offence can and is taken these days when none is intended or even thought of.   It's time the world got a grip!

 

Alan

The question is. Is it meant to offend? If it isn't then why bother?

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

I hope I haven’t offended anyone with my last post. Racism is not an issue to take lightly but my quip was about the ‘pc brigade’.

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I do not believe the term "blackboard" is considered offensive in the US, though it was colloquially called a "chalkboard" for generations.

 

Consider me amazed that it would be considered offensive in the UK.

 

I used to be on a Local Pharmacy Committee which was a non paid post and it met on an evening after work. It was made  up  from local contractors, large and small, from owner pharmacist up to represents of big national companies like Lloyds and Boots. I resigned after about 10 years in the position due to a number of reasons but one of the main ones was the way you had to phrase your comments so precisely so as not to offended anyone. Some of the members, especially from the big boys sent area managers who spent all their time ‘talking the talk’ going from one pc meeting to the next. It just got too stressful.  

I have an interesting story about the time when I was working as a pre-registration pharmacist for a couple of Indian brothers and all employees went for a Christmas do and there was a Bernard Manning type comedian doing a turn. (Un)fortunately I will not recount the story here.

After the fiasco this morning I managed to do some of the g word this afternoon and after tea a bit of ‘shed time’ out on the patio. Thats the first ‘shed time’ for several months and it’s in response to events earlier this week. Life is too short and one day there won’t be a tomorrow, so better crack on.

Goodnight,

Robert 

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well it has been a scorcheroo here, temperatures hitting 25C this afternoon! Blue skies clouds only visible in the far distance. 

 

This morning I had finished both shopping trips before 11 o’clock, however, like that last few weeks (probably nearer 6 weeks) there were no pasties, so I bought a pork pie instead. So after I had had a nice cold drink, we set off for the craft shop about after half past eleven, getting there just a few minutes before it opened. I predicted this morning that the plastic would take another big hit. I was correct, but we did get a couple of nice (Sheila’s words) ornaments for the garden as well as 2 good specimens of Sidalcea plants too, which I hope to plant out tomorrow afternoon, once I have finished what I want to do in the cellar. 

 

I spent part of the afternoon going through the latest paperwork from my pension provider. I had asked for some additional quotes last week, these arrived this morning, but they missed one off! This necessitated a phone call and after a short chat, hopefully I should get this one next week. However, what I did notice is that in the 4 weeks between the two sets of paperwork, my pension pot has increased a fair bit, happy days. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[PeterBB]

Miss a few days and wow 10 000 plus.  Message from 'the one' and also sad news of another very earlier contribute - Gordon - condolences.  Skimming through picked the terrible assault in Dom's family group - really diabolical,

European flooding - thoughts with the families of those who have perished.

 

Currently have BiL in house where SWMBO is making sure that he recovers appropriately from his recent op and a visit from a friend known for well over 70 years but not seen for many many - a very pleasant afternoon yesterday. Otherwise not been on the computer much but spent a lot of time at the club doing unmentionable things to help things that run on parallel tracks ... apart from packing stuff away.  The g word keeps cropping up as well (pun not intended).

 

Saw (something odd happened on my computer) something about batons skimming through.  I have a simple one that was obtained in the 1950s but cannot now remember when it was last used, it was never handy (pun not intended)  when more recently needed and extended hands were used.

 

One wonders whether Bear ever goes into any other room that his 'potentially palace of a kitchen'

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, BSW01 said:

Well it has been a scorcheroo here, temperatures hitting 25C this afternoon!

I guess many things are relative. Here it was a delightful 26°C - no need to run the air-conditioner.

 

After our extreme heat wave broke, we've had consistently almost perfect summer weather for a week or so. Sadly, no rain for a month, or in the forecast, so the television weather presenters are in time-filling mode. The wildfire "smoke" forecast is a nightly thing, but last night two different channels took the educational route.

 

Apparently large wildfires (such as the "Bootleg" megafire in Southern Oregon, which has burned more than 225,000 acres and is the largest in the country right now) can create what are called pyrocumulonimbus clouds, also known as Cumulonimbus flammagenitus. Conditions are dry but whatever moisture exists in vegetation and soil in the burned area, evaporates in the fire. The updraft of the fire causes this to condense at high altitudes and form thunderstorms which can create dry lightning and possibly, new fires.

 

The fires literally create their own weather.

[BR60103]

We took avantage of a day with no thunderstorms predicted and went to Stratford.  We patronised a few stores and then had the audacity to go into a restaurant and sit while they cooked our take-out (which we then took out). Stratford is home to our Shakespeare festival and it is just restarting. Audiences are severely restricted so far, but they may be expanding and we may get some tickets soon.

There was a tornado in a town a couple of hours away that destroyed a street's worth of houses. 

One of our music groups may be giving a concert tomorrow -- max. 100 people.

 

[pH]

I thought we were going to get some rain a couple of hours ago. There definitely was something coming down on the 3500 foot mountain about 5 miles north, and it looked as if it was moving towards us. The clouds made it, but no precipitation. The forecast is for rain overnight, though.

[Ozexpatriate]

48 minutes ago, pH said:

The forecast is for rain overnight, though.

Good luck. No rain forecast here (or evident in the sky).

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

Last night’s concert must have pleased the performers as well as the audience.  It was Ninebarrow’s first gig for 17 months.  Fortunately they remembered what was required of them and the 65 minutes flew by.  I have never been in a venue quite like last night’s!  It was surrounded by shops, many still open, and I resisted the temptation to buy a snack at Pret a Manger.  The dominant feature, more than a slight distraction, was a huge rotating inflatable earth.  I did wonder how far it would bounce if it broke loose but fortunately we will never know.  Right at the end of the gig a memory was jerked.  Ninebarrow ended their set with a farewell shanty which I recalled being performed on my first visit to Sidmouth, in 1975 (!), by the man from whose singing it has been widely collected.  That is how you make a happy man feel very old.

 

Bear may be horrified to learn that I have not only heard of Boney M but saw them two years ago, at Bristol Pride.  On the same bill that day were A1, who are a bit old now to be called a boy band!  Meanwhile I look forward to tomorrow’s event in the grounds of Hatfield House.   A day bathed in sunshine and music will suit me fine and I have plenty of sun cream to take with me.  For eight hours or more I will neither know nor care what is happening in the rest of the world.  The despair at the latest actions of those who rule us can wait till Monday.    

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris   

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a sunny Charente. 26 yesterday allegedly 28 this evening.  Thevpool is warming up.  

 

A good dayboutvwasvhad yesterday  to the model railway group. Held in a membersvlovely garden with a bring and share lunch.  Ken's widow Lyn was there in good spirits and is goi g to continue to build his model railway.  Help has been offered from various quarters. A good chat was had on all sorts of topics.

 

The news that France is to remain on the quarantinrvlist in the UK was not unexpected but will have mightily displeased a neighbour. She was meant to go back last Monday but delayed her departure for a week to avoid the Q word. Now she will have to quarantine anyway.  Forca variety of reasons we have no sympathy.  

 

Off to do somebpool maintenance  soon then we are out for lunch at a friends. It should be good.

 

As to coded communication to betray origins, try talking to peop,e from Northern Ireland.  School, name, address, accent and which sports they support can all betray which sidevof the religious divide they are on.  I sawvit happen at work when colleagues from NI met up.

 

Jamie

[polybear]

14 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Wot, and no LDC splashback?

 

Bear didn't want to be accused of being so predictable, but since you've expressed concern here's one I ate earlier:

 

 

13 hours ago, PupCam said:

Now, if the requirement was to construct a wheelie bin that would effectively silence the screams of a bear trapped inside after the attempted, foolhardy exploitation of the local council's generous services by trying to smuggle a greater volume of waste material than the fortnightly household allocation by compacting said material into a significantly higher density, then that would be a most worthy endeavour 

 

 

Ah, but when precisely does a "Bin" become an "Overloaded Bin"?  I can recall when the bin men came round into the back gardens of every house (fighting off rabid dogs in the process), emptied the dustbins (proper metal dustbins) and took them back to the truck for emptying manually.  And travel was on a platform on the back - none of this air-conditioned cab nonsense for them.  Now we do 90% of the job for them, for bvgger all pay.  And the bins are on wheels.....

 

edit:  And yet they still manage to leave the street looking like Beirut after they've been....

 

12 hours ago, PeterBB said:

One wonders whether Bear ever goes into any other room that his 'potentially palace of a kitchen'

 

Other rooms?  Well I'm off to hoover the loft in the next half hour or so.  As for the kitchen, well there's been zilch progress for a few days - that happens more than it should.  Must try harder.......

Edited July 17, 2021 by polybear

[Barry O]

Lots of blue sky and sun here this morning. Good!

Off to umpire later but first I must let loose the shark for cleaning purposes as a visitor will be arriving later.

 

The bin team have visited the other side of the street already. They sem incapable of returning the wheelie bins anywhere but on the edge of the path around here. As a young student I had to collect full metal bins, empty them into the wagon and return them from whence they came...I must have been mad!

 

Time for my muhatea.

 

TTFN

Baz