Early Risers.

[Winslow Boy]

The point I was making is that man has been interfering with his environment in one form or another since he came on the scene. If we collectively decided to all go vegan tomorrow the environment would change. Whether it would be for the better or the worse depends upon you own individual viewpoint. But it would change. 

 

So for just for the moment try and get your head round that you are asking all nine billion (think that's right) to agree to do the same thing. I'll leave you with that thought.

[Coombe Barton]

46 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

The term forest does not necessarily mean just trees. Think of the New Forest or Hatfield Forest which both consist of a mix of open grassland and wooded areas.  

Forest in that context is the hangover from Royal Forest, a hunting area reserved for the monarch to hunt in. From the dictionary on my Mac

 a large area covered chiefly with trees and undergrowth: a pine forest| [mass noun ] :  

a large tract of forest. • historical an area, typically owned by the sovereign and partly wooded, kept for hunting and having its own laws. •

 [in place names ] denoting an area that was formerly a royal forest: Waltham Forest.

 

And of the origin:

 

Middle English (in the sense ‘wooded area kept for hunting’, also denoting any uncultivated land): via Old French from late Latin forestis (silva), literally ‘(wood) outside’, from Latin foris ‘outside’ (see foreign).

 

The meaning has changed over time

[polybear]

7 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

“We Serbs are a proud European people. Throughout history, we have never attacked anyone, we only defended ourselves.

“We are humans, and you, sir, are not.”

 

 

 

Bear has just one word to say to that Pr1ck:

Srebrenica.

He can stick that right up his ****

 

2 hours ago, PupCam said:

(By the way @polybear what ever happened to your Arduino homework?   The dog can't still be eating it (particularly as you haven't got a dog!) .   

 

Bear viewed it this very afternoon......

 

In other news:

Bear's first Model Engineering Class of the New Year. 

 

 

[J. S. Bach]

Well, I look out my back door and see forest; no royal hunting allowed there!

 

I took this very shortly after I moved here in 2015:

 

 

This was taken in 2017 after I decided not to mow back there anymore:

 

 

This was taken in 2021; it is hard to see but there are a few trees starting back there:

 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2022 by J. S. Bach

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

I had a very pleasant afternoon in the workshop with Charlie. He brought his new model kit and when it got time to pack up, he’d completed it, it’s now ready for painting, which he is hoping to do next week when he comes round again. I, managed to get the lighting installed in the latest building I’d been working on, so now that is ready to have the roof and chimneys fitted. It’s been a long time since I’ve spent some time in the workshop, probably before my operation, which was in early November and I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m happy to say that things seem to be getting back to normal now. 

 

Goodnight all

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[J. S. Bach]

Youch, I just looked tonight's updated forecast :

 

"Snow, mainly between 1am and 5am. Low around 26. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 9 mph in the evening. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible."

 

So much for my Friday morning breakfast and shopping trip!

 

And tomorrow night it is supposed to get down to 18º F!!

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[Ozexpatriate]

23 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

Total nighttime snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible."

...

And tomorrow night it is supposed to get down to 18º F!! (-8°C)

So, warm compared with Minnesota and a dusting compared with British Columbia? Stay safe and warm.

 

No snow here. Plenty of it remaining high in the mountains, but all the snow that accumulated since Christmas at lower altitudes (and there was a lot of it above the valley floor) was melted by rain from our atmospheric river which will continue through tomorrow. It has been raining for a few days.

 

There is flooding everywhere in the usual trouble spots. After being closed for snow last week, I84 is now closed due to flooding this evening in exactly the same location as a fatal mudslide last year.

 

Being a central Pacific atmospheric river, (formerly called a 'pineapple express') temperatures are around 10°C rather than the freezing weather we had last week.

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[BR60103]

Pronouns:

I have decided that my pronouns will be Whosoever and Whomsoever. and get them straight.

In the second person, Thou and Thee. Verbs must have appropriate endings.

 

I am in favour of restoring the death penalty for those who destroy things older than they are.

 

I have made 2 lab appointments today.  One is with countess Dracula. The other is a second ultrasound on my leg. They still haven't told me if it's a boy or  girl.

 

[pH]

4 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Being a central Pacific atmospheric river, (formerly called a 'pineapple express') temperatures are around 10°C rather than the freezing weather we had last week.

 

That’s the system that’s been, and still is, causing our problems. It hit a mass of very cold air, causing the heavy snow we had. It has pushed the cold air mass east and is now supplying straight rain, in considerable amounts. We are going to be well off for slush for some time.

[chrisf]

Morning all

 

I watched The Apprentice last night.  Heaven help British industry!  The producers of the programme must have gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid including anyone with a measure of competence.  I doubt that my young friend who has sold his soul to the devil that is Amazon has the time to watch the programme but I would love to know what he thinks of it.  On past form, as the series develops I will not know whether to laugh or cry.

 

This morning I will be having breakfast with a friend in my local 'Spoons.  We have a matter of mutual concern to resolve which is best done over a pint and a plateful.  Later in the day I am to have yet another blood test.  The vet has not told me why she wants me to have it but I suspect that it has something to do with my type 2 diabetes.  The surgery sent me the form via my phone.  If they had used e-mail it would have been a simple matter to download it but I ended up fetching the form from the surgery.  Why is nothng simple these days?

 

Chris

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

A visit from British Gas to mend a leak in our boiler is scheduled this morning. It has been delayed by "emergency" call outs so I hope it happens OK today. A joint is weeping.. but it is getting worse.

 

I must go for a stroll to the bakers for a loaf and some buns.. but, rather than the forecast snow it is chuckinitdarn  here and has been for most of the night (according to her indoors).

 

Thoughts are with all our missing ERs and one in particular who is off for some pre-op tests today.

 

Stay safe!

 

Baz

 

 

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, world.

 

4c on the rock with a feels like of -2, which would count as warm to Ian.

 

iD, I am sure Charlie had the Pfizer vaccine, under close observation. As she works in the hospital and (slight bias) is a very popular girl due to being, er, nuts basically, they are looking after her very well, of course she is needed back at work desperately.  Her character has seen her though this, she is very strong in mind despite just being a slip of a thing, and even less of her after this illness.  Many tears have been shed here out of sight of her.....but she's winning now. 

 

I'm off to the blood-letter today too, diabolical test time, not really fair to do an HbA1c just after the non-denominational holiday period, but I'm quite strict with myself in that regard.  Plus Gisele the vampire girl is a treat for the eyes, we have a laugh as she is also T2DM, so we compare notes.  

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a Charente where some blue sky us starting to make itself visible.  No snow but we did have frost yesterday -3  to start with.  I did have a good day though. Instruction  in the dark arts of DCC in the morning then a few hours watching trains. It was sunny but a rather chilly breeze kept us in the car most of the time.  Andy, my spotting mate was p1ssed off as he has discovered that he needs to keep his sling on for 6 weeks, not 3 after the op he had to repair a shoulder tendon.  A weekly trip trackside seems to help though.

 

Not sure what today will bring but I'm sure that some jobs will be suggested soon.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare,

Finally a good nights sleep this week, 7 hours with just a couple of wake up and turnovers..

 

No pink pills nor liquid sleeping aids were taken , which is probably why my left knee is complaining , either that or it's joined in the weather forecasting looking at the soggyness expected tomorrow..

 

We have flood alerts anyway due to high tides and a northerly. Now the rain is joining in..

 

My first week of not working on a Friday starts with...

Working on a Friday.

Due to the bank Holiday on Monday, I'm running short of my 37.5 hours. so I'm going to do 4 hours to cover that and to build up some leeway for future days off. I was about to book a day off for SWMBO's Birthday, then realised it's on a Friday so  I don't need to..

 

The annual bill for the sailing club membership and moorings came in.. Just looked at the possible mooring fees for the Blue Moon.. £300 a year it doesn't matter whether you are a 16ft open keel boat or a 32ft open keel boat it's still £300. I'm going to measure my mooring pen for the motorboat to see if I can get her in there alongside.. If I put her on the list for moorings on the clubhouse island, they're £450 for 6 months...

 

Admittedly a commercial mooring for her would be much more. They normally charge for a minimum of 30ft and you'll be lucky round here not to be charged at least £25 a foot.

Just looked up south coast fees.... Cheapest I've found would be £1300 a year at a yacht club (+£500 a year membership), some marinas are proudly saying moorings from £3196...

 

Doing another Temperature meter at the moment.. Should be finished soon..

 

Time to get on with it..

 

 

[Mike Bellamy]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

 

A visit from British Gas to mend a leak in our boiler is scheduled this morning. It has been delayed by "emergency" call outs so I hope it happens OK today. A joint is weeping.. but it is getting worse.

 

We had a slight smell of gas from our boiler which son investigated - he is Gas Safe registered and so knew what he was doing. Tested pressure which was fine and no evidence of a leak. However when he took some of the boiler apart there was the smell of gas again and although he couldn't find anything using his test gear, he could just hear something but only when the boiler was lit. Obviously nothing too serious otherwise the garage would have blown up! After spending a lot of time trying to find the problem, he said that the only option left was to try the old fashioned way and he lit a match. There was just the slightest sound and a minute flame just for a couple of seconds but enough to establish where the fault was.

 

As part of the gas valve, there was a rubber diaphragm with a tiny pin hole. The boiler was probably 30 years old from when the house was built and the part was obsolete, but Plumb Centre has six in stock across the country at a cost of about £250 but the local branch couldn't find out where they were located and said it might take a week or two to get one. Simple answer was to use a puncture repair outfit from a local hardware store for £2.. This was enough to stop the leak and get us working again for a few weeks as he was already scheduled for a boiler replacement moving it into the loft area. When removing the old boiler the metal flue through the garage wall disintegrated with rust and he said that if the boiler had been in the house and the wind in the wrong direction, the fumes would have blown into the house with possible fatal consequences. So much for the certificates provided when we bought the place about 12 months earlier.

.

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from  a cold but frost free Sidcup. Younger Lurker has been deposited at school, Elder Lurker has not yet emerged from his pit - I think he will probably do a lateral flow test tomorrow to prove himself covid free once more. 

 

Work continues to be a little slow as people return from the holiday period. Even my e-mails to an Italian colleague got an out of office - I then remembered that it was Epiphany and that's a day off in various countries.

 

Ah well I guess I had best get on with some work! Have a good day all

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Breezy start with some blue sky and sunshine along with a few clouds.  Currently 3°C with the chance of scattered showers this afternoon.

Bit late getting up today so The Boss fetched me tea in bed which was a nice surprise.

Another "nothing planned day" so I may possibly visit The Shed.  However it might be a bit cold down there as I lent the convector heater to next door on Tuesday because their gas boiler died and the repair man can't come until this afternoon. 

Time for some porridge.

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by grandadbob

[polybear]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

As she works in the hospital and (slight bias) is a very popular girl due to being, er, nuts basically, they are looking after her very well, of course she is needed back at work desperately. 

 

Buddy at College reported that his Daughter - and others in the London department she works in - have been placed "on notice" that they could be called to work on the wards at any time cos' they're so short of staff.  Which department does she work in?  The test labs., usually dedicated to testing blood etc. etc. and usually from people too stupid/tight/lazy/all of the above to get immunised before they go on Hols to far-flung places - and come back to the UK with lurgies such as Malaria and worse and end up in Hospital as a result.

How much do the staff in the dept. know about nursing etc.?  About as much as a Bear does.....

 

In other news....

Bear is a very late riser today, having watched "The Patriot" last night, which didn't finish until silly o'clock.  I was left with the thought that a Tomahawk makes for a magnificent implement in the right hands, though it's best to be on the blunt end at all times.

 

Bear's plan for the day?  MIUAIGA....

[tigerburnie]

Morning all, off to the funeral of my wife's best friend, last year was not a good year we lost some good people.

[Barry O]

Gasman has been.. a slight blockage has been cleared..apparently the "person who fitted the boiler" installed it incorrectly   erm..Guess who installed the boiler..British Gas....ermm foot..shoot in yourself the..rearrange accordingly. 

 

Ozzie umpires can make some absolute howlers...

 

We all do but today's was a better!!

 

After snow showers we have a bit of sun and I may chance a walk to the shops  

 

 

Baz

[PupCam]

Morning All!

 

Joke of the Day

          

             Using the NHS App to get a collection code for Lateral Flow Test kits from your local pharmacy .......

 

What a complete farce, I'd best stay indoors then.

[45156]

14 hours ago, Mike Bellamy said:

 

 

Like Tony, I use BT Mail and everything is working as expected for both send and receive, on PC, laptop and Android phone

.

And so is mine tnis morning - thanks

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Another dull and wet start to the day here in England’s northwest. It has just stopped raining, but it looks like it could start again at any minute. My next task would have been to walk to the butchers is now going to be heading to be going to the Trafford Centre as it’s just started raining again. I shall call at the butchers on my way home. 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian