Early Risers.

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[polybear]

Bear was fortunate in that the company line was to allow private copies etc. so long as you "didn't take the wee-wee" (their wording was a little more pc).  As if we would....

[PhilJ W]

15 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

We encountered the same problem at one of my Australian employments.  The bean-counters countered that by locking the copier to the FollowMe system which required each user to enter their unique PIN on the keypad to release the machine.  The system them counted copied made by each user and charged them accordingly.  Legitimate use was fee-waived; any question over excess use had to be supported by proven business requirements.  

We had a similar system with PIN numbers for each section. All but one section had the head of department on their backs if they went over an arbitrary number of copies. The one section that could use as many copies as it liked was headed by the head of departments 'bit on the side'. Then someone found out that sections PIN number and passed it around and everybody used it. It was never checked out when all the other sections use of the photocopier dropped and the one section who's PIN number was used of course was never checked despite their usage more than doubling.

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[PeterBB]

8 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

 

P-Bear, the way the washer sticks out from under the worktop a smidge (a little known metric unit) is the same as ours, it collects every crumb like a crumby magnety thing.  Does my head in, why cant they make then a little slimmer so they don;t stick out from a standard worktop.

Why did they make everything narrower in the first place (metric values?) and cupboards for dinner plates that are not deep enough to close the doors for said plates or modern fridge/freezers that are now so deep that they no longer fit in the space by the kitchen door where the predecessor ones fitted perfectly?

 

Polybears kitchen looks great and agree with the fact that only the 'bit by the stairs or whatever' had been actually shown before.  What will he do with his time now?

 

Edited October 7, 2021 by PeterBB
typo correction

[laurenceb]

Happy anniversary Mr & Dr Rick

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[Pacific231G]

Goodnight all

Today turned out better than expected. I had a meeting to do with the finances of my flying group in Hampshire but, with strong wind warnings from the Met Office, expected to just have the meeting and come home.  In the end I woke early so got down there with time for a few circuits (it was rather blustery but only gusting to 15kts and not the 28kt gusts they were warning of) followed by a proper English breakfast before the other two arrived. They do by the way do a very good breakfast at Popham and the airfeld welcomes visitors with far more interesting things to look at than the trucks on the A303 that you see from the nearby Little Chef !

After the meeting,  the promised winds had failed to materialise so I went down to Ropley to see what was doing on the Watercress Line. As usual in the week, the answer was nothing, but it makes a nice little sortie and I once lived in New Alresford. I then got home by about 2.30 so well before the M25 snarled up, which it usually does from 3 pm which tends to spoil a grand day out.   To cap the day off,  a book I'd ordered from France on night trains   that I thought had got lost in the post was waiting for me when I got home. 

 

I had my flu jab yesterday and though I felt fine all day- I wouldn't have flown if I'd felt rough-  I did start getting mild flu like symptoms after getting home so will have an earlyish night and a quiet day tomorrow.

 

Have a peaceful night and a good day tomorrow

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

It’s been a busy old day here, I got the small bits of pointing done around the cellar fireplace, I also removed and scraped bits of plaster of the subframe for the fireplace architrave. By this time the floor needed a bit of a clean so that was done. Afterwards, I went outside and all the plants that had temporarily been stored on the decking in front of the workshop.

 

After dinner I took it easy and made a start on the gable end of the engine shed workshop, my first attempt didn’t go as well as I’d have liked, so I gave it another go, which thankfully was much better. 

 

Rick and Sharon, happy anniversary for tomorrow.  

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

[Ozexpatriate]

For years I have observed that most motorists here choose colours for newish vehicles from a very limited palette - white, silver/grey, black, and sometimes maroon. Of course there are other colours (particularly in some makes like Subaru which is very popular here), but cars in these colours appear to be much less common.

 

Some of this of course is a bit of the Henry Ford, "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants, so long as it is black" and cars purchased from a dealers' lots will be in inoffensive colours.

 

Generally speaking I am not a fan of the ubiquity of white, grey/silver and black vehicles. Having said that, what I have found myself noticing recently is 'new' grey colours.

 

A Porsche I saw some months ago was decked out in a fog grey colour that would have been invisible in a fog. It was quite incredible. I think it is this (from a Porsche website), which apparently is called "chalk" and was listed as a "special colour" and costs an extra $3,270:

Brands like Honda and Toyota are in on the act too - I've seen new vehicles in "unusual" grey colours recently.

 

Toyota calls this "Lunar Rock", though I thought in natural light it looked more grey than this image.

It reminds me of Sherwin-Williams'* color of 2022 which I saw advertised recently:

* (a US paint manufacturer)

 

Honda calls this "Sonic Pearl":

Apparently the Pantone color of the year for 2021 was a combination: "Ultimate Gray + Illuminating":

 

Grey kitchen cabinetry seems to be all the rage too. I'm not sure why exactly I posted this nonsense, but apparently "grey" is very much on trend. It won't last of course.

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by Ozexpatriate

[BR60103]

3 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Some of this of course is a bit of the Henry Ford, "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants, so long as it is black" and cars purchased from a dealers' lots will be in inoffensive colours.

 

My father told me that Ford did offer a number of different shades of black; I don't know if blackberry black was among them.

 

Much shopping day. Last night, at midnight, I ordered a new book for SWMBO.  I was horrified that their reply showed our old address (8 years ago). I had to cancel the order and redo it. This time I had it sent to the nearest store and there was an eMail this morning that it was there. I also managed to change my address.

Had a haircut.

We had made miniature versions of our COVID certificates. These will be in our wallets.  I took to the same place my father's genealogy charts showing his family going back several generations. There will be copies for my sister and her two sons.  They include the great-uncle (?) who went over Niagara Falls without a barrel.

I'm not getting any obtrusive advertisements. Not sure if it's an ad-blocker (I thought it was disabled) or the time I increased the type size and the sidebar disappeared.

 

[chrisf]

Greetings, with happy anniversary wishes to Rick and Sharon

 

Day 1 of the beer festival came and went and so did I.  The first night is seldom particularly busy and thus it was this time.  The beer menu is good, with many beers that I do not know [yet].  The food is up to standard and I enjoyed the chicken and mushroom pie.  For buying drinks patrons must buy tokens and redeem them rather than just handing over their hard-earned as was the case for so long.  This year there will be no music, which I think is a wise decision.  Think about it: if you want to hear the band you can't because people are talking, and if you want to talk you can't hear what is being said to you because of the music.  This morning there are aches and pains, but not in my head.  The festival re-opens at noon.

 

Not a lot else to say today, except best wishes to all

 

Chris

[jamie92208]

Good moaning.  Happy Anniversary  to Rick and Sharon. Also warm thoughts towards Simon and family.

 

We went to the hospital at Niort yesterday and Beth had some anti pain patches applied to her feet, whilst I went and sat on the station. My reveriecwas interrupted by a call to go back and act as interpreter.  I sort of managed that and after a quick lunch we came home.  Beth went to bed forva while and I inspected my eyelids in a chair.  I even managed to cook some sirloin for tea,   thevpatch appears to be starting to do it's job.  We are due back for a repeat in December.

 

The ironing and some minor tasks in the shed await me today.  I may even linger in the shed and fire up a smouldering iron.

 

Regards tonall.

 

Jamie

[polybear]

7 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Generally speaking I am not a fan of the ubiquity of white, grey/silver and black vehicles. Having said that, what I have found myself noticing recently is 'new' grey colours.

 

Many moons ago (30+) a manufacturer showed a car at the motor show that was white at the front and black at the rear (or was it the other way round?) - the transition from white to black was seamless and apparently it looked stunning.  Until one of the magazine hacks asked "Yeah, but who can colour match it after a prang?".  Glum faces all round....

 

7 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

A Porsche I saw some months ago was decked out in a fog grey colour that would have been invisible in a fog. It was quite incredible. I think it is this (from a Porsche website), which apparently is called "chalk" and was listed as a "special colour" and costs an extra $3,270:

 

 

It really, really p1sses me off that car manufacturers use colour as an excuse for whacking big premiums on the price of a car; I can understand a reasonable cost increase for metallics etc., but not "ordinary" colours.

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Happy Anniversary to Rick and Dr Sharron!

 

Simon, hope your goidvlady feels better today.a very worrying time for you and your family.

 

Dr Eldest Herbert back on LBC News this morning..he is in fine form...

 

Today I might get some muddling done.. but there are lots of other things to do..  Pah!

 

Her indoors off to moreasons..then off volunteering so It should be quiet here.

 

Time to drink my mugatea!

 

I understand that some of our "missing ERs are ok... including @Grandadbob, @Roundhouse, @the stationmaster and @Dave Hunt...fingers crossed all goes well for the latter in a further operation on his hooter.

 

Stay safe!

 

Baz

[New Haven Neil]

 

 

Morning, and best wishes to Rick & Sharon, and supportive thoughts to those in need.

 

Windy, wet but 15c sur le rock this morning, and a day of domestic servitude beckons.

 

This....!

 

8 hours ago, PeterBB said:

...snip..... or modern fridge/freezers that are now so deep that they no longer fit in the space by the kitchen door where the predecessor ones fitted perfectly?

 

 

 

We had a fridge freezer fail in warranty.  It was replaced by an identical one......that wasn't.  Identical that is. Looked the same, same model number, but the gubbins wasn't though and as a result the kitchen had to be altered to accommodate it!  That was marginally cheaper than the alternative.

[polybear]

9 hours ago, PeterBB said:

Why did they make everything narrower in the first place (metric values?) and cupboards for dinner plates that are not deep enough to close the doors for said plates or modern fridge/freezers that are now so deep that they no longer fit in the space by the kitchen door where the predecessor ones fitted perfectly?

 

When buddy next door moved house their old fridge freezer was one of those US style double-door jobbies; it was left behind and included as a part of the house sale....

 

9 hours ago, PeterBB said:

Polybears kitchen looks great and agree with the fact that only the 'bit by the stairs or whatever' had been actually shown before.  What will he do with his time now?

 

 

Many thanks; I've tracked down a few "before and after" shots.  See if you spot which is which....

The next job is the lounge - that starts in about 30 minutes.....

 

 

 

 

Edited October 7, 2021 by polybear

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare.

not a good nights sleep, 1 hour then couldn't sleep for ages , went down to the sofa, fell asleep almost instantly, though did the usual wake up to turn overs several times.

 

Ben the I don't like the Dark Collie came to the door this morning, peered out into the gloom , looked at me sadly, said no and returned to his bed..

 

All Petrol stations between home and work now have fuel, but the independents have £30 limits, Tesco I think have turned down the fuel pressure, it took a looooong time to put 45ltr into the Landrover... Meanwhile a young female came in and filled her small white car... I doubt she put in more than 5ltr

 

Of the 5ltr... the latest figures show al this chaos has been caused by on average an extra 5ltr per registered car being put into tanks...

 

Car colour, we never have white, grey or black difficult to see the first two in fog the other at night especially with no street lights round here..

 

Photo copiers,  we have several here at work, all networked so you can send scans direct to your company email, and then forward to home, I will miss them at the end of next year..  Once retired , We do need a new scanner, and the printer will need resurrecting from it's dust covered slumbers in the corner of SWMBO's craft room.

Officially there is no copying for private use here, but everyone does it , and you won't get comments unless you do something stupid.

 

I know Dave Hunt is around, he was in Hippo land (the Night Mail) yesterday.

 

Time to get on with some work the overnight run part 2 has just finished

[polybear]

7 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Car colour, we never have white, grey or black difficult to see the first two in fog the other at night especially with no street lights round here..

 

Bear has had a black car.  Once.  It'll not happen again.....

Current car is white.  Not nearly as bad as you'd think

I need to book the service & MOT today as both are due next month; Mickey has only done 1200 miles since the last ones; fortunately the service this time is just an oil & filter change plus a look-see, so should be cheap.  Ish.....

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

It is rather overcast here. It doesn’t matter we are not planning to sunbathe. There will be a tip trip and charity shop visit at some time today. 
I don’t think we are going to have many long journeys this winter so I bought a    new battery charger for the car. This is supposed to keep “stop start” batteries in good condition. I don’t think my battery has been sufficiently charged for the stop start to work recently.  I will have a look after breakfast to see what the result of an overnight charge is. 

My SiL won’t be seeing her patients face to face today. After doing so since Covid began been she has now tested positive for Covid as have both my nieces. Their primary school closed some classrooms for a “deep clean” yesterday. SiL wasn’t well enough to even work remotely yesterday. 

 

When we replaced our 40 year old freezer with a new one a couple of years ago the new one was much larger for the same internal volume. The casing was much thicker to cope with more insulation. The new one uses a lot less electricity than the old one. 

 

Tony
 

[AndrewC]

Greetings all from the boring borough. 

 

Thoughts again with Simon. I can't imagine the stress and frustration in all the back and forth but still no answers. 

 

Happy 26th to Rick & Sharon. Many more I hope. (we beat you by 4 1/2 months. ) 

 

It is a good thing it isn't Yodel (yokel) delivering fuel. They'd have just thrown it over the fence after keeping you waiting for 2 days beyond what their delivery text said. 

 

I had always wondered why bland colours were so popular with cars. Turns out, it is easier to sell and re-sell. Just like a home with neutral walls and carpets. I had a Mustang in what Ford called pewter. Sort of a grey/silver/gold fleck colour. It never really looked clean. Apart from the Freelander which was a dark grey, all my other cars have been primary colours. The Disco is bright Firenze red. About as close to the old American cherry red of days gone by. I can't figure out why a non-white Land Rover is at least £650 more though. 

 

coffee time and off to work. Enjoy the day. 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Bin day today and first as usual was the lesser spotted glass and bottle wagon so no one is still asleep. The weather looks good for the weekend but according to the forecast its going to be cold next week.