Early Risers.

[Gwiwer]

6 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

by the time I reached the end of the post I realised it was an understatement.

I have training and coaching qualifications. 
 

Even without prior knowledge of the subject matter and course material I could have done a much better job standing in a tub of congealed peanut butter with one hand tied behind my back. 
 

 

[jamie92208]

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

We had a communication from BT that they are planning to replace our phone line with “Digital Home”. The main landline phone will need be plugged into the router and any other landline phone or fax extensions plugged into a wireless adapter. Unlike the existing system the phone won’t work if there is a domestic power cut. Sounds fun.

Our landline is VOIP by Orange it also fails with the shortest power cut and we have to wait for the router to reboot. However we will retain it. Mobile reception is so patchy in the village that most of us use the landlines for reliable connections.

 

Beth's satnav is by Renault and does not like updating using a USB that has anything else on it. I keep one just for updates. It also has a strange feature.  When we get tothe French ferry port on journeys to the UK, I so eti es amuse myself by settiig up our UK destination.  It always routes us via Calais even if we are at St Malo.

 

As to PB's point about the con man getting away with it in the UK, it would all depend on uow keen the police officer it was reported to was.  With 3 victims, system, has been proved so there is a prima facie offence under the Theft Act.  IIRC Section 16 or 17, Crimibal Deception. The bouncing of cheques from two differ banks is good evidencevof dishonesty.  What has made a huge difference over here is that,

A) There are locally based staff in a local branch of the bank.

B)  The fact that the Notaire will almost certainly be on 1st name terms with the bank officials, and head Gendarme.  Once that triangle was set up things moved very quickly.

 

Jamie

 

 

[polybear]

25 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

2) Oh dearie me. Oh dearie me. It looks like that some of our fellow ER posters will be forced to abandon pre-millennial and turn of the century technology (2G 1991, 3G 2001) and be dragged - probably kicking and screaming - into the wonderful world of 5G (2019). It might even mean - Gasp! Schock! Horror! - getting a smart phone - with loads of “fun” apps.

 

 

Well it seems that after some investigation Bear's phone is an iphone 4s (I knew the first bit, but didn't know the 4s bit) and works quite happily on something called 3g.  Apparently the current model is a number 13 - and Apple want the best part of seven hundred notes for that (HOW f.MUCH??).

Signed,

A "I'll keep what I've got, thanks very much" kinda Bear

(And BT et all can go ** themselves and stop messin' with things that ain't busted....jeez they make enough profit as it is (BT made £21,370M in 2021, apparently)

 

7 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

The other thing about Amberley is they won't give us Polar Bear back.....

 

 

Can you blame them?

Polar bear display stuns Isle of Man shoppers - BBC News

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-46260817

Shocking - in public as well....

 

[PupCam]

Leave the hangar doors locked, no flying today.

 

4 hours ago, Barry O said:

It is either a HP printer problem.. (built in obsolescence??)  or Bangalore Telecom..

 

I know which one I would plump for.   Unusually, I'd let Bangalore Telecom off of the hook on this occasion.

 

4 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Her lesson to me is avoid falls.

 

Unfortunately I believe that to be one of the most important lessons in life.    It's importance rises exponentially with advancing years.

 

3 hours ago, AndrewC said:

Oh hell no. It is like the Darwin Awards meets Whackadoodles are us, and people of Walmart, all rolled into one big inbred mess. Half of me feels sorry they were gullible idiots & duped, half of me is happy they are out of the gene pool before they did any more damage.

 

Unbelievable isn't it.    I did find myself actually starting to feel a bit sorry for them in their total stupidity but I snapped out of that PDQ.   An acquaintance always used to say; "Stupid is as stupid does" which seems entirely apt.

 

3 hours ago, AndrewC said:

For those of you with dinosaur mobile phones, I have bad news. They will be obsolete in the next few years. For starters the nice <cough> people at BT/EE are decommissioning their 2g and 3g services in the SE. Large swathes of Kent and the boring borough will have their gsm signals switched off in the coming months. Looks like the cost of maintaining all the extra and life expired equipment outweighs the ever shrinking number of customers still using ancient devices.

 

I'd better start training mother up on the use of smart phones then!   We've got to start finding her an alternative mobile provider anyway as good old Virgin informed her the other day that her PAYG service will cease to be in January. 

 

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

We had a communication from BT that they are planning to replace our phone line with “Digital Home”. The main landline phone will need be plugged into the router and any other landline phone or fax extensions plugged into a wireless adapter. Unlike the existing system the phone won’t work if there is a domestic power cut. Sounds fun.

 

We'll all need to install emergency power supplies soon, a diesel generator set in every home.   That'll save the planet.     Me thinks the modern option of ditching fixed installations entirely might be the way to go shortly.

 

2 hours ago, AndrewC said:

We dumped our BT line a couple of years ago. £31 a month for nuisance calls. SWMBO now just uses Whatsapp to contact her parental units. MiL really prefers the video chat. I do have one ancient phone that I'd love to be able to integrate with the computer or wifi to be used as a traditional phone but at the moment nothing exists apart from the BT Digital Home option, which isn't available here yet, and no doubt will be costly and again filled with spam, scam, and crap calls. 

 

I received an invitation the other day from BT advising me that perhaps it was time to "upgrade" my terminate at anytime landline facilities.     One of the two suggested alternatives would cost approximately another £11/month and the other another £18/month both "locked in" for another 24 months with with what benefit for me?

 

Stupid is as stupid does .......

 

58 minutes ago, polybear said:

Bear delivered Grandpa Bear's Radiogram to the Museum yesterday

https://www.amberleymuseum.co.uk/

An excellent museum IIRC (and I'm told it's moved on a lot since then) - it must be 20+ years since I was last there; the Curator offered to show me round but sadly time was against me, so she very kindly said that if I contact her at a later date then she'll arrange a complimentary pass and show me round - and hopefully the Radiogram will be on display by then 

 

I haven't been to the Amberley museum for something like 30 years.    Sounds to me like you would do well to ensure that you have some assistance & company when you set off on your long journey south of the river  

 

In other news:

 

You will find an extremely smug Puppers here in Puppershire today.

 

Puppers = 1         Dyson & Vacuum cleaner = 0   

 

The repair to the recalcitrant Dyson "Brush Bar" has been completed successfully.      I may bore you with a couple of photographs later and invite you to play a round of the engineering design game "Smart or Stupid".    Oh what excitement!

 

Other than that, we've been out this morning to buy the stuff that I was going to get yesterday but found I was too busy doing things like repairing vacuum cleaners, washing my hair  and generally "couldn't be bothered".     This means further DIY in the hall can now be done (Boo!) but, on the bright side, we stopped off at the local farm shop and stocked up with lots of fresh, yummy meat.      Looks like Shepard's Pie to night!

 

Toodle pip!

 

Alan

 

 

Edited October 14, 2021 by PupCam

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from LBG where I can see mackerel sky emerging from a lower level of grey cloud. Day 3/3 in the office this week.

 

I hope that the neurologist can investigate and find a solution for Simon's Mrs and that she recovers.

 

AndrewC's news about the removal of 3G equipment will affect me only if they don't up the 4G coverage on my train journey in. Mottingham and Lee are 4G deadspots and my phone attempts to pick up 3G - but fails - or it is so slow it might as well not bother.

 

Both my parents and the in laws use the landline. They are all on talktalk as are we and I think that makes the call free. Recently I have taken to using the mobile to call my parents because the phone filters have stopped working and I interrupt the internet - which in turn disrupts the access to the tv (and sky sports in particular). My BiL got my parents mobiles and my Dad occasionally uses his but otherwise it is not on. My Mum has one "for emergencies", but it will be no use because when one comes, she won't remember how to turn it on  or make a call with it because she won't practice. That's not restricted to oldies though. Younger Lurker won't use the phone we got him either, despite suggestions that he could look up all the F1 news he wanted...

[polybear]

12 minutes ago, PupCam said:

Unfortunately I believe that to be one of the most important lessons in life.    It's importance rises exponentially with advancing years.

 

Bear managed a pretty spectacular fall back in Chrimbo 2009 (I recall it well, cos' Momma Bear was ill at the time) when I fell on the ice outside the Dry Cleaners.  Bears don't bounce too well - and this one sure as hell didn't cos' it was pain like you would never believe.  Turns out I'd busted a couple of ribs - though the exact number remains a mystery cos' the doc said there wasn't much point sending me for an x-ray as I'd (a) sit for hours waiting - as everyone else was falling over too, and (b) they'd only tell me what I'd just been told.

I did learn that pushing a wheelchair up the slope at Potters Bar station with busted ribs ain't fun.....

 

12 minutes ago, PupCam said:

Unbelievable isn't it.    I did find myself actually starting to feel a bit sorry for them in their total stupidity but I snapped out of that PDQ.   An acquaintance always used to say; "Stupid is as stupid does" which seems entirely apt.

 

I snapped out of it PDQ too, though do have some mixed feelings about the inclusion of those, well, included on such a website and how their loved ones may feel about it.

 

12 minutes ago, PupCam said:

I haven't been to the Amberley museum for something like 30 years.    Sounds to me like you would do well to ensure that you have some assistance & company when you set off on your long journey south of the river  

 

Hmm, there could be a plan there....

 

12 minutes ago, PupCam said:

In other news:

 

You will find an extremely smug Puppers here in Puppershire today.

 

Puppers = 1         Dyson & Vacuum cleaner = 0   

 

The repair to the recalcitrant Dyson "Brush Bar" has been completed successfully.      I may bore you with a couple of photographs later and invite you to play a round of the engineering design game "Smart or Stupid".    Oh what excitement!

 

You mean to tell Bear that you've cheated Mr James Dyson (Sunday Times Rich List 2021, No. 4 in the UK at £16.3B) out of yet another sale?

 

 

[J. S. Bach]

5 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

 ...snip... They're not perfect. One day this summer when the highway traffic was particularly diabolical, I wanted a more relaxing alternative. I couldn't make it recognize the route below until I reached the far shore.

 

I sure hope that is a ferry that you are sitting on. As I understand it, water is generally under the bridge!

[J. S. Bach]

1 hour ago, The Lurker said:

...snip... Younger Lurker won't use the phone we got him either, despite suggestions that he could look up all the F1 news he wanted...

Maybe he would prefer this on his desk:

 

 

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

The sat nav update didnt complete downloading last night  I feel like re enacting the printer scene but using a pick axe handle.

If the Volvo system uses the same system as the JaguarLandRover maps the download will stop if the PC goes to sleep or shut down. The mouse or keyboard needs an occasional wiggle to prevent it, or alternatively turn any energy saving off on the pc.  

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

 

Beth's satnav is by Renault and does not like updating using a USB that has anything else on it. I keep one just for updates. It also has a strange feature.  When we get tothe French ferry port on journeys to the UK, I so eti es amuse myself by settiig up our UK destination.  It always routes us via Calais even if we are at St Malo.

The one we had in our first Freelander was like that too. Well, until I went into options and selected “ferries” as a possibility. 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Apparently the current model is a number 13 - and Apple want the best part of seven hundred notes for that (HOW f.MUCH??).

I know that even £150 is more than free but you can get a perfectly adequate Samsung A series smartphone from John Lewis (out of stock today though) for that much. There are alternatives to iPhones. 
 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, J. S. Bach said:

I sure hope that is a ferry that you are sitting on. As I understand it, water is generally under the bridge!

There was a time when film or tv programmes with a car chase just had to include a leap over water. 

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,

The funeral went well, extremely well attended, the surviving son attending with the help of two nurses, I suspect I know who the dark suit will be worn for next...

I then dropped SWMBO off at the wake, and went home to walk Ben, he was not happy I'd gone out with SWMBO but not come back with her.

 

After the walk I phoned the garage by conventional landline to find out .....

 

Two tyres,

Two front ball joints, 

One seat belt, that being the problem, he hadn't managed to source one when I called ...

Ring again this time tomorrow..

Then back to the wake.. it went well,, tons of food will be left over.. interesting chatting to various people. SWMBO had somehow mentioned a certain hobby, when I arrived I was asked to explain.

 

Our phone line line fails if there is a power failure anyway, we are fed from a node by a road 1/2 a mile away, that's from a green box a further mile away from the exchange 3 more miles away.

 

If we lose 3g for our phone only mobile, I'm not sure if I'd replace it, it's on its first £10 and we've had it maybe 10 years..

 

SWMBO has disappeared into the pantry, the waterproof table cloth material for the shelves has arrived.. That will mean we can see some kitchen surfaces soon.

 

Also arrived some new insulated leather gloves for me to drive in.. I must be getting old...they have tweed backs...

 

Oh did I mention the boat cover material arrived yesterday, in blue of course, looks good.. so it will get laid out on the boat tomorrow to be marked out for cutting...

 

Eyelid inspection time...

[Ian Abel]

Moaning, BIN day.

 

Yesterday, another round of "we need to fix the financial statement for $xxxx in the wrong place"...

So it goes every time we get to month end reporting to the board bored??

 

"Orily men" working apace, expecting to be finished today except for possibly a section of fencing/decorative panel to hide some utility meters that mar the scene.

 

Schola rehearsal after the happy hour get together tonight, that about covers it all

 

Brisk at BIN time, only 7 but a slight breeze blowing, remaining overcast most of the day with a high of 13 probable.

 

Enjoy the day.

[NGT6 1315]

Cheers, everyone. Quite wet and autumnal outside!

 

Feeling somewhat ropey today. Dunno why, but I did get some work done at least.

 

Speaking of sat navs requiring updates, I noticed ours showed a map update this morning, too. To simplify matters, I downloaded the entire package and nipped outside to install it from a flash drive when I needed a break.

 

Thinking of everyone under the weather...

[tigerburnie]

It seems there is an upside to the chaos in the NHS, SWMBO got a hip and a hand x-rayed and out the door in less than 10 minutes, it has known to take close to an hour for the same pre-covid.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. After a long hot bath and application of ointment I'm feeling a lot better. My visit to the Uckfield exhibition is more likely as I didn't feel up to it this morning. I gather a few ER's will also be there. 

6 hours ago, grandadbob said:

 

Baseball bats?  Sorry old boy but this is England don't you know?   Would a cricket bat suffice?  

It would be a waste of a good cricket bat but a baseball bat doesn't matter.

[pH]

46 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

It would be a waste of a good cricket bat but a baseball bat doesn't matter.

Who remembers the backstory to Trevor Eve’s character ‘Shoestring’ in the TV series of that name? He’d worked in IT and had taken a fire axe to a roomful of disc drives (1970s versions, about the size of washing machines), necessitating a career change.

Edited October 14, 2021 by pH

[PupCam]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

You mean to tell Bear that you've cheated Mr James Dyson (Sunday Times Rich List 2021, No. 4 in the UK at £16.3B) out of yet another sale?

 

Yes, Puppers' Patented Patience and Persistance (and a bit of nowse) has enabled me to repair the defective brush head.     I'm guessing it is a "no we don't repair those Sir but we can provide you a brand new replacement" item.      The cost of said replacement item appears to be ~£60.

 

And now, your chance to play Engineering Design; "Smart or Stupid"!  

 

Cue the music and the dancing young ladies (sorry, young persons who identify as "Gender Non-specific Entertainers") .....

 

Here is the salient part of the defective item.  It is the "Elbow joint" that connects the brush head to the "Stick" tube.  

 

OK, Note how:

 

1) The moderately stiff red and black wires that provide power to the motor in the brush head leap across the void at the pivot which allows ~ 90 degrees of movement.    A flexing movement that occurs almost constantly as you Beat as you Sweep as you Clean  (that reference is just to amuse the old members of the audience).

 

2) The wires are rigidly clamped either side of said pivot

 

3) The red wire has said, "Right that's enough, I'm out of here" and the black wire isn't far behind with the insulation already cracked.

 

 

 

So the question is;     Is  this a Smart Design or Stupid (bound to fail) Design?

 

Well, I don't know, you'll have to help me with this one 

 

Anyway, the hardest part of the repair is disassembling the brush head to get to the bits, find some suitable wire to make the repair and get all the B bits back together again .......

 

I managed to find some suitable wire, heavy duty Hitec Servo extension cable since you asked,  and I included a cunning loop in both wires at the point of the pivot to allow the conductors to flex rather than bend as the joint moves.     To leave a bit more space for these I left out a little plastic cover that clips over this part of the joint stops you seeing the failing wires (oh, how cynical of me!).    The result is that it all seems to work and I can keep my eye on those pesky wires without having to take it all apart again.

 

 

Well, let's see what breaks on it next and of course, there's always duff batteries to fall back on.

 

Alan Smuggly Puppers

 

[TheQ]

20 minutes ago, pH said:

Who remembers the backstory to Trevor Eve’s character ‘Shoestring’ in the TV series of that name? He’d worked in IT and had taken a fire axe to a roomful of disc drives (1970s versions, about the size of washing machines), necessitating a career change.

We had an airman posted in to our station  who had got bored one night and smashed every dial on an old Radar. He arrived with us after his time being locked up.. needless to say it didn't get him out of the RAF.. he wasn't allowed to be left with equipment on his own..

[polybear]

59 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. After a long hot bath and application of ointment I'm feeling a lot better. My visit to the Uckfield exhibition is more likely as I didn't feel up to it this morning. I gather a few ER's will also be there. 

It would be a waste of a good cricket bat but a baseball bat doesn't matter.

 

Bear prefers a Big Stick With a Nail Thru' it.

Cheap, easily replaced - and fully customisable - as in "what size stick would Bear like this week?"  followed by "And what type of nail - 6" Annular Ring Shank Nails as per usual?"

 

15 minutes ago, pH said:

Who remembers the backstory to Trevor Eve’s character ‘Shoestring’ in the TV series of that name? He’d worked in IT and had taken a fire axe to a roomful of disc drives (1970s versions, about the size of washing machines), necessitating a career change.

 

Bear recalls mention of a story from Boss No. 1 of a guy at Vickers Shipbuilders (back in the 70's? - Boss used to work there too) when there had been big redundancies.  Apparently shortly afterwards someone on the night shift went thru' a new-build ship with a fireman's axe - thru' every main cable loom in the ship.

So they thought:

(a) Must be someone with a grudge....

(b) A good understanding of ship's electrics (power still being on - and 3 phase)

(c) On the night shift

Well it seems that a leccy had been made redundant - and re-hired as one of the yard Firemen on the night shift (presumably on a lot less money).

It set the build back over a year, as in-line joints on a new build weren't allowed and in many compartments other trades had also been in (pipework etc.) so making access to renew difficult/impossible.

ISTR the culprit did some serious prison time as a result.

 

[TheQ]

When GEC started making redundancies, just after reducing the generous redundancy payments down to state minimum. Someone climbed over the partitions to leave a steaming one in the middle of the managers desk...

 

[Barry O]

45 minutes ago, PupCam said:

 

Yes, Puppers' Patented Patience and Persistance (and a bit of nowse) has enabled me to repair the defective brush head.     I'm guessing it is a "no we don't repair those Sir but we can provide you a brand new replacement" item.      The cost of said replacement item appears to be ~£60.

 

And now, your chance to play Engineering Design; "Smart or Stupid"!  

 

Cue the music and the dancing young ladies (sorry, young persons who identify as "Gender Non-specific Entertainers") .....

 

Here is the salient part of the defective item.  It is the "Elbow joint" that connects the brush head to the "Stick" tube.  

 

OK, Note how:

 

1) The moderately stiff red and black wires that provide power to the motor in the brush head leap across the void at the pivot which allows ~ 90 degrees of movement.    A flexing movement that occurs almost constantly as you Beat as you Sweep as you Clean  (that reference is just to amuse the old members of the audience).

 

2) The wires are rigidly clamped either side of said pivot

 

3) The red wire has said, "Right that's enough, I'm out of here" and the black wire isn't far behind with the insulation already cracked.

 

 

 

So the question is;     Is  this a Smart Design or Stupid (bound to fail) Design?

 

Well, I don't know, you'll have to help me with this one 

 

Anyway, the hardest part of the repair is disassembling the brush head to get to the bits, find some suitable wire to make the repair and get all the B bits back together again .......

 

I managed to find some suitable wire, heavy duty Hitec Servo extension cable since you asked,  and I included a cunning loop in both wires at the point of the pivot to allow the conductors to flex rather than bend as the joint moves.     To leave a bit more space for these I left out a little plastic cover that clips over this part of the joint stops you seeing the failing wires (oh, how cynical of me!).    The result is that it all seems to work and I can keep my eye on those pesky wires without having to take it all apart again.

 

 

Well, let's see what breaks on it next and of course, there's always duff batteries to fall back on.

 

Alan Smuggly Puppers

 

beautiful design - designed to fail resulting in users paying out more spondulicks to repair the carp design. The hose support design is nearly as bad..

 

And the Big Boss man is, apparently a Fellow of some Engineering Society..  glad I am not in that Society but in a proper Engineering Institute!

 

BAz

 

[New Haven Neil]

59 minutes ago, Barry O said:

beautiful design - designed to fail resulting in users paying out more spondulicks to repair the carp design. The hose support design is nearly as bad..

 

And the Big Boss man is, apparently a Fellow of some Engineering Society..  glad I am not in that Society but in a proper Engineering Institute!

 

BAz

 

 

Absolutely, having battled with ours on several occasions - horrid thing, but I want our money's worth out of it!  NHN, ex-MIMarE. Oh and MCIPD but I keep that quiet given the love for HR on here! Oops. 

[polybear]

1 hour ago, TheQ said:

When GEC started making redundancies, just after reducing the generous redundancy payments down to state minimum. Someone climbed over the partitions to leave a steaming one in the middle of the managers desk...

 

 

Bear will see you and raise you......

Whilst not widely known, it seems that someone positioned a steamer inside one of the photocopiers at work - on top of a bit that would gradually warm up as the day went on and use of the copier increased.

It seems that a "bit of a sh1t stink" would gradually drift around the office as the day went on, yet attempts to trace the source proved unsuccessful.  Until a visiting Service Engineer was called to look at an unrelated fault....

 

One of the buildings (100 or 200 - I forget which)** also had what had been dubbed by the cleaners as "The Phantom Sh1tter" - who had the strange habit of smearing **** around the inside walls of a cubicle from time to time.  As far as I know the culprit has never been traced.  Weird.

 

** ISTR that Puppers happened to work in one of those buildings.....

Incoming......