Early Risers.

[Barry O]

5 hours ago, Andrew P said:

Ocado delivery this morning.

 

FROM Essex?

 

We live in Hampshire, and there is a distribution centre in Andover? 

They had a big fire at one of their distribution warehouses recently,  (two cheaper than human  "pickers" collided and caused a fire)  ... that may be why??

 

Baz

Edited July 26, 2021 by Barry O
Spellung

[simontaylor484]

My next delivery of deck boards is confirmed for tomorrow morning. Not a problem i have got the framework all prepared they should (touchwood) go straight down. I ordered another pack of 200 screws i don't need that many more but its only cost £2 in effect. The delivery charge was £5 For the boards but if i added the £7 screws delivery became free. The problems are 1) the weather the seaweed twirlers have put out a yellow weather warning for thunder storms.

2) Swmbo has decided that she wants some boards putting the other way on between the 2 sections of decking. We have decking across the back of the house there is a small step down for the last 7' for the French doors. The boards run parallel to the back of the house. She wants me to put some boards in at 90 degrees to them. So it looks like it will be another order of boards. I have a couple of lenghts of treated CLS timber in the Garage i can cut and some gang nail plates i have in stock that will need bending in the vice. The gang nail plates were found in a trolley in Wickes car park that some one had forgotten to pick up.

  We have at other times found a 10m tape measure and a five pound note. My workbench in the Garage was an off cut of worktop someone had dumped in B &Qs car park

[leopardml2341]

Aft'noon, today is Cuba revolution day and in honour/memory of all those involved as well as a brilliant holiday we had there in 2014 swmbo and I are just about to partake of the traditional Cuban drink (or two) of Canchanchara.

 

It's a mix of white rum, iced water honey and lemon juice and rather fine it is too - garden/summershed here we come.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. 

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

I assume FedEx thought a hub at Newcastle would be fairly central, it isn't at all far from the M6.

Tony

 

1 hour ago, trevora said:

Newcastle-under-Lyme or upon tyne

It just said Newcastle on the tracker. Anyway the box arrived at half past three and I've been unpacking it. It contained a selection of diecasts and I've been sorting them into keepers, those suitable for modification. Those to passed on and a couple for the charity shop. In all not a bad haul for the price. Favourite has to be a fire engine  in Essex fire brigade markings with Burnham- on-Crouch marked on it depicting one that was stationed there when I lived there.

[Ian Abel]

Monday, the week starts here after another weekend spent doing "something" though beats me how two entire days can fly by and seemingly little gets done!

 

Saturday various tasks followed by another family dinner with Trevor, Meagan and her brother, his wife and Meagans' mother. 

Sunday hot out, spent some time setting up a spray area in the garage for the Mrs to spray a couple of wooden tables she wants to us around the porch/patio/garden.

 

Jemma returned from her trip, we checked the latest developments at their rental place, not quite finished yet.

 

Overnight around 3-4AM pretty severe thunderstorms passed through, fair amount of rain, but probably not much effect on the overall conditions here.

Today Jemma drives to Grand Forks for a few days to do more packing, Mrs off to her book club.

I WAS going to meet up with our friend while his Mrs accompanied her to the book club, BUT, they have just informed us they were exposed to COVID (no details yet!!), so are off to get tested and will avoid contact for the appropriate amount of time  Fortunately we're all vaccinated, at least.

 

Work then a solo relax while the Mrs is at book club

 

20 first thing, overcast, sticky and a high of 33 expected, maybe more thunderstorm activity later.

 

Tally ho.

 

EDIT/NOTE: SIX years ago today I was headed off to the Long Island client to do "4 days training..." 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Ian Abel

[Andrew P]

40 minutes ago, Barry O said:

They had a big fire at one of their distribution warehouses recently,  (two cheaper than human  "pickers" collided and caused a fire)  ... that may be why??

 

Naz

Yes, we saw that and had NO delivery last week, and then an e-mail last night saying would be here this morning from its Distribution Centre in Essex.

 

Bloody Robots, they think there clever.

[polybear]

27 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Swmbo has decided that she wants some boards putting the other way on between the 2 sections of decking.............So it looks like it will be another order of boards.

 

 

Now if only she'd told you when you ordered the first batch then you wouldn't be looking at a second delivery charge.....

A new kettle has just arrived from S. America - so no more need to boil water in a pan when I want a cuppa.  In fairness the new Induction Hob is just soooooo fast at boiling water.  Impressed.

[simontaylor484]

There is a Newcastle in Co Down i think there is one in Shropshire and then there is Newcastle Emlyn.

 

I once bought some parts for the Merc from EBay i thought they were coming from Newton Abbot and got confused when they were tracking as Belfast it was Newton Abbey or Newtonards they were coming from

[simontaylor484]

2 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Now if only she'd told you when you ordered the first batch then you wouldn't be looking at a second delivery charge.....

A new kettle has just arrived from S. America - so no more need to boil water in a pan when I want a cuppa.  In fairness the new Induction Hob is just soooooo fast at boiling water.  Impressed.

She used to be contrary now she isnt so sure

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, trevora said:

Newcastle-under-Lyme or upon tyne

The one near the M6 with a FedEx hub.

[Tony_S]

I once went to a shoe shop in Newcastle (the under Lyme version). I said I would like to try a particular shoe in 9 1/2 or 10 please. The assistant said we don’t keep stock in such large sizes and they would need ordering. I think I went to Hanley (Stoke) instead. I have always wondered since if the residents of Newcastle have particularly dainty feet. 

[simontaylor484]

22 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

The one near the M6 with a FedEx hub.

The Fed ex hub is Newcastle under Lyme. Although Fed ex class it as Stoke on Trent

[Compound2632]

17 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

The Fed ex hub is Newcastle under Lyme. Although Fed ex class it as Stoke on Trent

 

These big firms do struggle with the nuances of local geography. There was considerable offence take when a Tesco Local opened on our road (occupying the former pub) distributing bags branded Tesco Lower Earley. We are of course Maiden Erlegh - a solidly-built Gough Cooper 1960s hilltop estate, nothing to do with those 80s rabbit hutches on the flood plain of the Loddon.

[brianusa]

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

A new kettle has just arrived from S. America

Are there no local kettle vendors a little closer than S. America?We get ours at Target!

  Brian.

[Ozexpatriate]

5 minutes ago, brianusa said:

Are there no local kettle vendors a little closer than S. America?

A "coded" reference to the largest river in South America, (or more clearly, a very large online store, offering smiles from A » Z ) I thought.

[Coombe Barton]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

I once went to a shoe shop in Newcastle (the under Lyme version). I said I would like to try a particular shoe in 9 1/2 or 10 please. The assistant said we don’t keep stock in such large sizes and they would need ordering. I think I went to Hanley (Stoke) instead. I have always wondered since if the residents of Newcastle have particularly dainty feet. 

Try getting a size 15 - anywhere. It's a problem for both my son and myself.

[Ozexpatriate]

A querulous Monday in Wheeltappers it seems.

 

If people don't like Amazon, there's no need to do business with them. Personally I prefer to spend elsewhere, but sometimes there is just no beating their convenience. Their "bad" corporate behaviour is only so because the governments of the world permit them (and often encourage them) to behave in a such manner regarding tax shelters. Companies like Apple Computer are no different. Amazon certainly don't treat their warehouse employees well, but neither did centuries of British mining companies*. I wonder if some correspondents' impressions would be the same had the company been created in the UK.

 

* Other examples, long considered "backbones of the economy" are available

 

Delivery companies seem to be a popular target. I can relate that in the US, UPS delivers sterling service.

 

One that I have trouble with is DHL. A large multinational toy company (headquartered in Denmark) from whom I purchase directly in the US, uses FedEx for most items and DHL for others. (Either service is free with a sufficient purchase.) The FedEx packages arrive very promptly.  Based on the tracking (which takes weeks to become visible) the DHL shipments sit in a sorting facility in Georgia** for two or three weeks until they are handed off to the US Postal Service which then delivers them in a couple of days. Why is this? Who knows? (I've also had DHL completely lose items shipped from abroad.)

 

** The US state, not the country known for stews and very indifferent wines. (I did enjoy a meal in a Georgian restaurant in Tel Aviv. It was fun. They were very proud of their wine. They shouldn't have been.)

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Ozexpatriate

[brianusa]

Mike. I did figure that but threw in Target before I realised that Target may not be known in the UK.  Is it?

   Brian.

[Tony_S]

Just now, Coombe Barton said:

Try getting a size 15 - anywhere. It's a problem for both my son and myself.

A work colleague had  similar problems . She was shoe size 14. Styles available were not exactly fashionable. 

[Tony_S]

2 minutes ago, brianusa said:

Mike. I did figure that but threw in Target before I realised that Target may not be known in the UK.  Is it?

   Brian.

I am fairly certain it doesn’t exist in the UK but I suspect many people know the name. US popular culture references are not exactly rare here. 

[Ozexpatriate]

2 minutes ago, brianusa said:

Target may not be known in the UK.  Is it?

I don't believe Target operates in the UK. 

 

They do operate in Australia, but carry different lines and mostly focus on apparel and housewares, rather than the 'box mart' version in the US with groceries, pharmacy (now CVS) etc. I think Australians have clung to the unofficial "targé" (tarjay) nickname longer. I don't hear that much here anymore.

[TheSignalEngineer]

3 hours ago, Andrew P said:

Ocado delivery this morning.

 

FROM Essex?

 

We live in Hampshire, and there is a distribution centre in Andover? 

I didn't think Andover was functioning yet after the fire, which was caused by a battery charging fault on a robot. Last robot incident was at Erith.

[PhilJ W]

31 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Try getting a size 15 - anywhere. It's a problem for both my son and myself.

And I thought I had trouble finding size 12's.

[Andrew P]

19 minutes ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

I didn't think Andover was functioning yet after the fire, which was caused by a battery charging fault on a robot. Last robot incident was at Erith.

Yes, apparently Erith was where ours would normally come from at the moment.

[pH]

42 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I don't believe Target operates in the UK. 

 

They do operate in Australia …

They tried expanding into Canada. It was a complete disaster. They lost over 2 billion and closed all of their stores after just over 2 years.