Early Risers.

[Ian Abel]

POETS - definitely giving THAT a go

 

Remained inside yesterday, not venturing out in this stuff! Nothing else to report, oh well.

 

This AM went for the newspaper outside - -28!!!!! That's s0dding cold by ANY measure, for poor homosapiens. Filled the bird feeders also, they're devouring a LOT during this bad weather. Checked the bird bath also, they need the fluids too.

 

Sunny and -28, -11 the expected high.

 

Weekend has little AT PRESENT scheduled.

 

Tally ho.

 

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

FIrst off, not all posts read or rated - sorry, but 30747 wanted to "do the bookwork" - a weekly task which was last "done" before Christmas, so it took a while - she then wanted to "revise" all the figures for the move (they came out the same, surprise as nothing's changed), then to try to "estimate" how the final bill might look for the gas and leccy - that last was a nightmare, as the calculations of the gas are a bit tortuous, and are not on the "bill" that we get monthly, which is a joke - I eventually found the calculations of a PDF about four bills ago.  Then went to watch the recording of "The Apprentice" - Chrisf how right you are - I'd have fired the lot of them, and left BBC1 with some space for some decent television (is there such a thing?).

 

I need to go into Lancaster tomorrow morning, as the car decided to show a "fit new batteries to your key" message, so I used 30747's key which has not been used for anything other than opening the door since we got the car, and it gave the same message - I hope that Timpson do a BOGOF.

 

Generic greetings are, as ever on offer from this quarter, and

Regards to All

Stewart

 

Fans of Jazz might like this fusion of classical (Beethoven's Rondo in G Major, op129) and gypsy jazz - I think it is stunningly clever.

 

 

Tomorrow, I  may share a wonderful rendition of a Beatles song - ah hang it, I'll share it tonight

 

 

[polybear]

2 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Grange Hill, my Mum wasnt happy with us watching that for some reason. I can't remember why . it was before Zammo and the drugs though 

 

Bear's wild guess is that many schools now would make the antics at Grange Hill look like a Teddy Bear's picnic - no doubt thanks in part to the softening of rules over the years ("you mustn't shout at a 5th Form pupil who's punchin' hell out of a tiny 1st year in case they get PTSD etc. etc. ")

Cynical?  Moi?

 

In other news....

A successful visit to collect pills and raid the Co-op - 5L of screen wash for two quid seemed a pretty good deal, until they charged £3-85 for it   Fortunately I spotted it before heading home and they refunded the difference - down to an error on the shelf pricing.  Mind you, by the time I'd lugged it home - along with two four-pinters of milk plus various other items (no cake, amazingly) it didn't seem quite such a good idea after all.  Bear now has front paws that wouldn't look out of place on an Orangutan.....

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I was told earlier today that a local coach company were running a coach to a certain event at the Ally Pally on 19t/20th of March. I went to their website and too my surprise it said that the coach was fully booked! I then decided to give them a call (in case of any cancellations). The chap I spoke to explained that the fully booked message was a computer glitch and it should have read not accepting bookings yet.

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

No recent classroom experience would probably be considered a positive headteacher employment criterium but I think age would count against her. All the super heads seem to be much closer in age to the students than their parents!

That reminds me of when I worked at a school in Barking (as a poll clerk, the school was being used as a polling station) there was a teacher there who looked younger than some of the pupils. They say that when policemen start looking young you are getting old but teacher?

                                                                 Signed Methuselah

[PhilJ W]

Has @polybear found and tasted Charlie Bingham's lemon drizzle pudding yet? If so we require a full report (in triplicate of course).

Edited January 7, 2022 by PhilJ W

[PupCam]

1 hour ago, 45156 said:

Fans of Jazz might like this fusion of classical (Beethoven's Rondo in G Major, op129) and gypsy jazz - I think it is stunningly clever.

 

 

Tomorrow, I  may share a wonderful rendition of a Beatles song - ah hang it, I'll share it tonight

 

 

 

Think I'll give the fusion of classical and gypsy jazz a wide berth and just stick with the classical classical.

 

Emily Linge?   Now there is a very talented young lady who I will be listening to again!

 

Alan

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

They say that when policemen start looking young you are getting old but teacher?

One of my friends arrived for her first day of work as a home economics (food technology for our younger readers) teacher when she was grabbed and marched back out the door by what turned out to be a deputy head who said it was too early for pupils to be inside. He was a bit embarrassed! 

[polybear]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

Has @polybear found and tasted Charlie Bingham's lemon drizzle pudding yet? If so we require a full report (in triplicate of course).

 

Sadly not.... The net suggests Morrisons or Waitrose as likely targets for a raid, neither of which are within a Bear's normal hunting ground.  Certainly no mention is made on the Tesco website - perhaps discontinued?

 

In fact the taste of a decent LDC is rapidly becoming a distant memory for Bear - I did peruse those in the Co-op earlier (which were THE Premier LDC), but they're still in Bear's (very) Black Book (or should that now be Book of Colour?) for snaffling the icky sticky gooey bit in the middle ; now they've also wacked the price up they're well and truly in disgrace.  Their only hope is if I happen to see a discounted example whilst in a moment of weakness....

Besides, I'm still working my way thru' the Chrimbo Cake Goodies (various) Mountain....

 

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by polybear

[petethemole]

I was in Sainburys yesterday and saw one of these reduced to £8.  Being Type 2 I refrained from acquiring it to test on Bear's behalf. https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/birthday-and-party-cakes/sainsburys-loaded-lemon-drizzle-cake-863g

Edited January 7, 2022 by petethemole
left out link

[Coombe Barton]

... The one country that stands out as not taking action to protect its population is England" ... (Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales) ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2022/01/07/rising-nearly-everywhere/

[iL Dottore]

51 minutes ago, polybear said:

…In fact the taste of a decent LDC is rapidly becoming a distant memory for Bear… 

Forgive me if I have not one scintilla of sympathy, my Dear Bear. You have a brand new kitchen, you can read and you are not “a bear of little brain“.  So, get a good cake recipe and…

Bake Your Own LDC, Bear!

 

If a simple Supervillain like me can bake cakes, so can a DIY Maestro like The Bear.

 

Captain Cynical 

p.s. baking it yourself means that a) it’s cheaper, b) it’s better and c) you can stick in as much “sticky gooey stuff” as you can handle!

[simontaylor484]

We have had the upset this afternoon of a death in the family. Sil's Husband he was taken into hospital boxing day and died this afternoon he was 55 considerably older than Sil but still leaves 3 kids 10 and under without a Dad. It's the same Sil who I committed on before xmas that had ruined xmas for certain people. I couldn't stand him I will be perfectly honest and he knew that cos I told him still I wouldn't wish death on him.

 

To make matters worse he died in York hospital (he was originally from York) til Sil bled him dry and he sold his house then she frittered  that money away and ended up living in a council house in Airedale.

If I wrote everything that went off between them no one would believe it

[pH]

6 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

A good example of this is white bread. Until the development of the Chorleywood baking process in the immediate post-war period, white bread was expensive and not something a lot of people would regularly eat …

White bread was the staple in Scotland for many years. It was/is know as ‘plain’ bread. Here’s a recipe for it with an indication that the recipe was in use at least in 1800, if not before:

 

https://electricscotland.com/food/recipes/plainbread.htm

 

I think what you’re describing is known as ‘pan’ bread. That did have overtones of ‘exclusivity’ at one time - accents from certain areas were described as ‘pan loaf’.

 

[Tony_S]

I thought the Chorleywood process enabled the lower protein wheat grown in England to be used in bread making. My parents told me wartime bread wasn’t as white as prewar bread. They were far from wealthy so white bread must have been normal. They thought of brown bread as being for special occasions. 

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

That forecast was for my friend's location in Baltimore ...

My forecast was much better : "Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 45. Northwest wind around 8 mph."

Glad to hear it. No need to feel embarrassed.

 

The forecast I saw on the national news last night showed no snow south of Virginia so I didn't think you would see any.

 

I find the New York-based national news curious. There will be a passing mention of a blizzard in Nebraska with obligatory photographs of highway pile-ups in whiteout conditions that lasts mere seconds and then an in-depth analysis of (much lower) snow depths forecast for every city and town in the northeast.

 

I don't suppose this sort of thing is much different for broadcasts emanating from London* or Toronto.

 

* Not the one in Ontario.

 

[Ozexpatriate]

I skimmed all the posts related to "Grange Hill". They all went over my head, having utterly no idea what it is. I didn't bother to look it up. In context I get the impression that I'm not missing out on much. Please don't feel obliged to fill me in.  I think I can safely pass on this one. 

 

There was momentarily enough of a sun-break to cast a shadow this morning. First time in several days. It's raining again now and  more rain is forecast through Saturday morning, but drier weather should materialize over the weekend. My walk this morning involved only a few raindrops and the raingear was not necessary.

 

The town of Astoria* (in the very northwest corner of Oregon) had more than 5" (127mm) of rain yesterday. (Not an all time record, but the most since 1914.) We had much less. Astoria is a very damp place. Movie fans can find scenes filmed there in The Goonies, Short Circuit and Kindergarten Cop.

 

* (Very) temporarily called Fort George during the War of 1812 and commemorated in the name of the Fort George Brewery located there.

[Ian Abel]

Pah! Been waiting for it to "warm up" to run a couple of errands - fat chance, the expected high of -11 has now been pushed to 2AM, WHAT?!?!?!

-17 now and I guess we're going to go get a few "things" we need in an hour or so...

[Ozexpatriate]

6 minutes ago, Ian Abel said:

I guess we're going to go get a few "things" we need in an hour or so

Such temperatures are awkward. At least you can heat up the car before getting in on your outbound trip.

 

When living in Chicago in winter it was always a struggle to dress appropriately for the house → car → car park → shop (and return) trip.

 

If in the car for any length of time, (with car heaters, with heated seats, being very effective these days) the layers you need for the brief outside time quickly become insufferably hot in the car and difficult to remove if driving. Then once you get inside somewhere you have to carry all those layers around until it is time to go outside again.

 

I can remember pumping gas/petrol in shirtsleeves in freezing weather because it was too much trouble to dress and undress for being outside for a minute or two at a time. Nor did I want to spill fuel on nice leather gloves.

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[polybear]

2 hours ago, petethemole said:

I was in Sainburys yesterday and saw one of these reduced to £8.  Being Type 2 I refrained from acquiring it to test on Bear's behalf. https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/birthday-and-party-cakes/sainsburys-loaded-lemon-drizzle-cake-863g

 

Now Bear would be more than happy to test that on your behalf - just address it to Mr. Bear, Bear Towers.....

 

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Forgive me if I have not one scintilla of sympathy, my Dear Bear. You have a brand new kitchen, you can read and you are not “a bear of little brain“.  So, get a good cake recipe and…

Bake Your Own LDC, Bear!

 

If a simple Supervillain like me can bake cakes, so can a DIY Maestro like The Bear.

 

Captain Cynical 

p.s. baking it yourself means that a) it’s cheaper, b) it’s better and c) you can stick in as much “sticky gooey stuff” as you can handle!

 

Bear will happily do so, just as soon as I can stop having to be "DIY Maestro".  Multi-tasking isn't one of Bear's strong points....

 

In other news.....

Bear phoned buddy from work home earlier - he's booked himself a taxy ride in a Lancaster for later in the year, and is also looking at booking a flight over the White Cliffs in a Spitfire (though he needs to juggle his fear of flying for that one - though he has managed to fly to the States some years ago - but not in a Spit).  Is Bear Jealous? 

I looked at the Taxy ride earlier, but the next slot is November, so I'll set a reminder for mid-2022 to book a more sensible slot for 2023.  As for the ride in a Spit, getting my head around a 45 minute flight for the best part of a £Ton a minute (I'll let you do the maths) would be a real struggle.....

 

Tomorrow sees wash day fun - deep joy.  I also have a cable in the hallway that I might just channel into the wall - even more joy.....

Edited January 7, 2022 by polybear

[monkeysarefun]

37 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I skimmed all the posts related to "Grange Hill". They all went over my head, having utterly no idea what it is. I didn't bother to look it up.

Mate the ABC played it here, think "Glenview High" but its raining all the time and Sigrid Thornton isnt in it.

[PupCam]

28 minutes ago, polybear said:

Bear will happily do so, just as soon as I can stop having to be "DIY Maestro".  Multi-tasking isn't one of Bear's strong points....

 

And he's already got other homework on his list

[Erichill16]

8 hours ago, PupCam said:

 

Phone up all the local pharmacies on the off-chance (if everyone does that there's going to be an awful lot of wasted pharmacy time just answering the phone!)?    

 

Miffed of Mid-Beds.

Too right mate.

 

P!ssed off of South Yorks.

[Ozexpatriate]

I haven't tried to source one, but based on news reports, CoViD-19 rapid test kits seem to be mostly made of Unobtainium here in the US too.

[TheQ]

The car is already frozen up having been nice and warm 4 hours ago when I got home from work.

 

Earlier things were a bit strange outside, a small vehicle with bluey

 flashy lightys went past, followed by a larger  vehicle with bluey flashy lightys using noisy thingy , shortly after, two more small vehicles with bluey flashy lightys.

 

Shortly after larger vehicle and one smaller vehicles went back with out noisy thingies. Shortly after lots of vehicles without flashy lightys.

 

On the way to the MRC another larger vehicle with bluey flashy lightys was passed.

 

Tonight was successful more imitation of slartybartfasts work.

 

It's expected to warm up over night with lots of rain tomorrow.

 

Goodnight Awl.

[zarniwhoop]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I thought the Chorleywood process enabled the lower protein wheat grown in England to be used in bread making. My parents told me wartime bread wasn’t as white as prewar bread. They were far from wealthy so white bread must have been normal. They thought of brown bread as being for special occasions. 

I remember reading that in wartime the 'British Loaf' was much closer to wholemeal (maybe 81% or 85% extraction, so omitting bran), and that bakers were not allowed to sell bread until it was a day old.

 

A while ago (maybe repeated in 2019) I watched programs on baking in England through the ages - by Victorian times the pressure for low prices and white bread led to "additives" - ISTR arsenic was mentioned.

 

Diverging from the topic, as a home baker (sometimes), I find it strange that English breads normally used yeast (originally, from ale) whereas in much of Northern Europe sourdough was common.