Early Risers.

[AndrewC]

10 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Looks like an alien invasion to me. They've brought the whole family.

All part of my cunning plan. By reversing the polarity of the neutron flow I am now able to captive breed them. (as seen  by Jr in the picture) I will soon have an army and be unstoppable. <insert maniacal laughter here> 

 

Moaning all from a frosty boring borough. 

The offspring called to say he was let go from work. He'd only been through 8 weeks of training & 6 weeks of actual work but they decided he was "too nice" to his customers. He is now hoping the company he actually works for will find him another customer service assignment but isn't too confident. I fear the bank of dad will be called upon once again in the coming weeks. 

 

Today is day 9 of the diet. No carb, no booze, no fun. Just 800 cals of protein & veggies. Another 12 to go before a plateau rest and a pint. Meh. Knee review with a new guy tomorrow. Different hospital, hopefully a better action plan. Covid basically f*cked up my physio & cortisone regime from 2 years ago, so now it is a case of trying to play catch up. I'm still predicting a new knee (or 2) in the next couple of years. 

 

Latte awaits, enjoy the day

 

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Frosty here and currently -2°C but the forecast is promising some sunny skies.

 

Nothing much planned today so will probably do more photo sorting.  @Pacific231GI've just looked in CCleaner and there is a duplicate finder tool but it looks all Greek to me so I think I'll leave it alone in case I break something!  (Highly likely)  Got rid of several hundred duplicates yesterday. It may be laborious but I'll stick with doing it manually as apart from the duplicates it's giving me the chance to weed out all the carp as well and there's plenty of that.

 

It's been a while since I had a decent steak so I may visit our friendly butcher later to see what's available.

Time for some breakfast,

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by grandadbob

[Andrew P]

1 hour ago, chrisf said:

How do

 

Barry O's surgery is not the only one which has reawakened to the presence of its diabetic patients after a long slumber.  Mine has sent me for several blood tests and summoned me next week for an audience.  I can hardly wait.  Meanwhile I am minded to venture out to St Neots Folk Club tonight to see Arthur Coates, an impressive young musician, who deserves a wider audience.  Sometime during today I need to do the fodder run.  It's all go.

 

Chris

Have you ever seen Chris Nevard  @Chris Nevardplay live Chris?

 

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

Ey up!

 

Interesting link @iL Dottore but one little smidgen of a problem. In a UK clinical research trial the direct link between diabetes and increased heart disease has been broken. I know this as I have taken part in the trial.…

That’s interesting. It’s been ages (quite literally a few decades) since I last really read any research in diabetes (though I’ve kept up with my “broad brush” knowledge).
 

I’m curious to know the name of the trial and whether or not the results have been duplicated elsewhere. Although there are exceptions (in oncology in particular), generally medical research requires at least one confirmatory trial before concluding that “X is better than Y” or “ A does/doesn’t lead to B”

 

Much as the NHS has its problems, one area in which Britain excels is in research (someone estimated that if British medical research got the same sort of money that’s doled out - yearly - to US researchers by the US NIH, Britain would be ahead in the Nobel Prize Sweepstakes by a country mile). Certainly in my line of work the MHRA is very well respected.

[Mike Bellamy]

8 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

ISTR that CCleaner has a duplicate file finding feature. It  looks at the contents of files rather than their titles.  I don't know what its overall reputation is.

 

Very many thanks for this and all the other responses over the last couple of pages - very much appreciated. I was going to quote each of the suggestions but then realised that I would end up with about half a page of quotes so if anyone else is interested in what was said just scroll backwards !

 

I had thought of asking the question in the "Photography" section but then realised that I would be overwhelmed with technical stuff from real experts and never make any progress.

 

 

38 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

The offspring called to say he was let go from work. He'd only been through 8 weeks of training & 6 weeks of actual work but they decided he was "too nice" to his customers. He is now hoping the company he actually works for will find him another customer service assignment but isn't too confident.

 

Sorry to hear that - I thought the purpose of "Customer Services" was to be nice to customers and to try and give them what they want so that they are retained as customers - otherwise if you get things wrong too many times, your business won't have any customers. In my case, many years ago (40?), when I was riding the Black Horse, the Head Office Inspectors on an audit visit said that my lending to customers had been "Over generous at times and had put the Bank at risk" - but I always had happy customers . . . . 

.

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Went out like a light again last night and again didn't rise until eight. I went to bed slightly earlier as well as my IP pulled the plug for servicing just after midnight so no internet. Time to run a bath, be back later.

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl Inner Temple hare..

 

1.5 hours and woke with a start... don't know why.. but went back to sleep and got another 4 3/4 hours sleep after that..

 

Ben the Happy Collie was playing his games again outside... Even though it was very frosty... By the time we got back from patrol the landrover still hadn't defrosted it's windscreen with the engine running, first time this year it's been scraper and spray time..

vertically 100% vision, horizontally not so much.. to start I could use the headlights driving in but once past Stalham it was dipped all the way.. the journey took 15 minutes extra due to fog..

 

MS have excelled themselves this time with their updates .. Both computers now say I need a licence to use Office. I can see what was previously done, but not access it in anyway.. I raised a "ticket" with our IT last night before going home.. But their instructions this morning didn't work.. So I've raised another ticket..

 

Meanwhile I'm using.... paper.. By getting someone else to print out the page I would normally type the results into.. But there's only so  far I can go, as I can't process the results...

 

Interruption  by the online IT man .. after doing various things he admitted defeat they are sending a man....

 

Found I can do online MS Office work but not access anything pre the update.. So I've moved onto that "Gold" Temperature meter, as I hand started that yet..

 

Time to get one with it I've lost 2 hours already this morning.

 

 

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

It’s cold and frosty out there, I’m glad I’m stopping inside today. 

 

Not a lot else to report, but hopefully I’ll be back later. 

 

Brian

[Pacific231G]

Cold and foggy this morning though the fog has now cleared in this part of W. London. I've just played my weekly game of Covid Roulette in Tesco and noticed that they've widened some of their aisles. I also found a number of things on my list missing from the shelves including tissues, tinned anchovies and lemon squeezers so there are obviously still some supply chain issues. According to Tim Spector's weeky Zoe update we've passed the peak of omicron but not in Ealing where the incidence is going up again and we now have a hgher incidence than the surrounding London boroughs. I think a shortish walk today as I've got a pile of editorial work to do. 

 

[tigerburnie]

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Morning All,

 

Rather interesting all this discussion about Metformin (discovered in 1922) - it reminds me of my early career when I was involved in developing a treatment for diabetic neuropathy (the drug did work, but the line between effective dose and toxicity [or “frying your liver” - as a colleague put it] was very fine indeed). Back then (early 80s) there wasn’t much alternative to metformin, nowadays (as this review shows: https://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/type-2-diabetes/type-2-diabetes-treatments-newer-medications) there are quite a few alternatives. Their availability? I suppose that it’s all down to NICE.

 

@jamie92208 bemoans the fact that it is incredibly difficult to get blood out of him (it’s even worse than trying to get money out of him - or so I am told [and that’s bloody hard!]). Perhaps he should swing by Schloss iD. I can get blood out of anybody (and usually without the use of surgical instruments) - so would be happy to help Jamie in his hour of need. I just need to know how much blood (and plasma) I need to draw: 1 mL, 1 dL, 1 L or 1 dagL.

 

Whilst indulging in this morning’s stream-of-consciousness waffling, I’ve decided to come clean and confess my sins (takes deep breath): I’ve become addicted to woodworking videos on YouTube.
 

The very best (like JSK koubou - a Japanese woodworker)

 are without music and commentary and are inspiring (and soothing) to watch. The worst? Well, you wonder how they manage to keep fingers, if not hands, attached.

 

The downside of this is that I’ve started eyeing up (and in some cases - buying) inexpensive woodworking gear from Parkside (Lidl), Einhell and the like. So, my question to the assembled ER masses is: Any thoughts/recommendations regarding Parkside, Einhell and other budget gear (Lidl will be offering a portable table saw next Monday and I’m wondering should I/shouldn’t I?).

 

And on that Joinery note, I bid you an enjoyable Tuesday.

Problem I have found with "cheap" tools is they are cheap for a reason, this doesn't matter for occasional jobs or even "one offs". I bought a circular saw to do one job in a house renovation, it did that job subsequent jobs have been a bonus, but as there are sparks coming from the brushes in the motor(old technology in cheap stuff), means it is close to going in the bin. The opposite was a hand drill I bought 40 years ago, done many jobs and is only just showing signs of need for a replacement. How much work is your equipment going to be doing, if it's a significant amount, then I would pay a bit more, there's some good single phase electric tools out there, not industrial strength, but good for the hobbyist.

[polybear]

3 hours ago, AndrewC said:

The offspring called to say he was let go from work. He'd only been through 8 weeks of training & 6 weeks of actual work but they decided he was "too nice" to his customers.

 

 

Huh? 

 

3 hours ago, Mike Bellamy said:

Sorry to hear that - I thought the purpose of "Customer Services" was to be nice to customers and to try and give them what they want so that they are retained as customers....

 

Bear can only think that he's been giving the Customer "too good a deal" - or agreeing that the Customer is actually right and the Company did it/got it wrong - thus costing the Company money when he corrects the failure.  Great for the customer, p1sses off the Boss.

 

In other news....

Washing done, Bear pit changed, new Hippo Detectors successfully tested 

Split chassis?  Er, still on the list....

 

And finally....

I see the poisonous little Troll (of Barnard Castle fame...) is stirring the sh1t again.  No hard proof, apparently - but he's prepared to swear under oath....  Must be true then - mustn't it? 

Edited January 18, 2022 by polybear

[tigerburnie]

Customer services are a bit like human resources, sole function is to be in denial and bully people if the opportunity arises it would seem.

[iL Dottore]

May I remind @polybear of a truism - valid in so many endeavours - “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”

[AndrewC]

3 hours ago, Mike Bellamy said:

Sorry to hear that - I thought the purpose of "Customer Services" was to be nice to customers and to try and give them what they want so that they are retained as customers - otherwise if you get things wrong too many times, your business won't have any customers. In my case, many years ago (40?), when I was riding the Black Horse, the Head Office Inspectors on an audit visit said that my lending to customers had been "Over generous at times and had put the Bank at risk" - but I always had happy customers .

In his case he was doing point of contact for an insurance company that will remain nameless for now. The issue is he has a heart and empathy. Despite their adverts saying how often and fast they settle claims, the opposite is actually true. After starting the truth came out and he was basically told to be rather ruthless in trying to find a way to deny a claim. As he said, it wasn't the job he was promised, and he had a hard time telling some sobbing granny they weren't going to pay for her leaking roof to be fixed. (or similar) I think he is well out of it, but it shows they treat their minions with the same contempt they show their customers. I had a policy with them for several years with the car. One year they just went and more than doubled the premium. The Meerkat came along and together we gave "that" company the 2 finger salute. 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Pacific231G said:

I also found a number of things on my list missing from the shelves including tissues, tinned anchovies and lemon squeezers

We have a whole delivery missing today. We normally use Waitrose and they have been great throughout the last couple of years but there are a few things they don’t sell so we put together an Ocado order for today. At 6pm yesterday Aditi got a message stating our delivery had been cancelled as they couldn’t put a charge on our card. No idea why, the  card is fine, no one else has a problem. We have resubmitted it for a delivery tomorrow. The payment procedure said the card was verified too. Not impressed for our first use of their service. 

[TheQ]

The man from IT fix it... by the simple expedient of deleting  Office on both computers and then reloading them.

Just in time to.. do Some work have lunch break..

 

A tomato has just escaped and landed on my white lab coat, good job there's two clean lab coats in the drawer..

[Barry O]

@iL Dottorethe paper is due to e published shortly - while the results have been shared via an on-line learned gathering the paper has been delayed by the CoVids...  Meanwhile he is emailing the Doctor who needs to be given a bit of direction.

 

 

Man back using a very blunt drill in a very small drill is drilling in the walls .. again.. he still hasn't realised these houses were built with very hard (?engineers?) bricks and he needs a proper drill and masonry drill bit - possibly a diamond tipped one woudl eb more suitable... a complete feckwit at large!

 

 

Baz

 

[PhilJ W]

8 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Man back using a very blunt drill in a very small drill is drilling in the walls .. again.. he still hasn't realised these houses were built with very hard (?engineers?) bricks and he needs a proper drill and masonry drill bit - possibly a diamond tipped one woudl eb more suitable... a complete feckwit at large!

Baz

He should try drilling my walls. Normal cavity walls but the inner skin and some of the internal walls are box tiles, even harder than engineers bricks.

[New Haven Neil]

As Baz and many discerning diabetics know, a lot of the previous 'facts' about the disease are in fact nothing of the sort - recent research has debunked a lot of of previous thinking.  The link between fats and heart disease is another - looks like it was actually smoking causing it, but smokers weren't detailed in the research because everyone took smoking for granted then. Side issue....

 

I don't need metformin to control my blood glucose, cutting carbs (the thing they said didn't work) and cutting out the obvious things (LDC etc) does the job mostly, but I have the additional sh!t shower of reactive hypoglycaemia, so if I do get a high spike, I then spike the other way and crash.  Dangerous and unpleasant.  GP not really interested, diabetes 'specialist' nurse is years out of date (cares more about football results) but when our practice also awoke recently and I had a review, a new younger practice nurse was a breath of fresh air, up to date and helpful - at last.  My GP is worried more about the effects in kidneys,and he's right - I have a new issue being investigated.  Buqqer.

[Tony_S]

I hope I have sorted the food delivery out. I phoned the credit card help line and a very nice lady put me through to the security team and I spoke to  another very  nice lady who said the security system had blocked last nights payment and had put a hold on the revised order. She could not see why but reset and cleared everything to stop tonight’s payment being rejected. 
Tony

[chrisf]

2 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

. I also found a number of things on my list missing from the shelves including tissues, tinned anchovies and lemon squeezers so there are obviously still some supply chain issues. 

I would be horrified to find that tinned anchovies were not available :-)

 

Chris

[jamie92208]

3 minutes ago, chrisf said:

I would be horrified to find that tinned anchovies were not available :-)

 

Chris

And there were no Eccles Cakes yet again in Intermarche this morning. What is the world coming to.

 

Jamie

[The Lurker]

It seems Tony has probably had a worse experience with one Ocado delivery than we have had with them in the entire 13 and a bit years we have been using them - we started when Mrs Lurker was heavily pregnant and not very well with Younger Lurker. The emotions were really playing havoc because I remember her gushing "it's transformed my life" after the second delivery! I don't think we have ever had a delivery cancelled and only one has been so late that it had to be rearranged for later in the day - they'd rung re a problem in the depot. Maybe we have just been lucky.

[Tony_S]

3 minutes ago, chrisf said:

I would be horrified to find that tinned anchovies were not available :-)

 

Chris

Dishwasher salt seems to be unavailable locally.  Our neighbour asked Aditi to add some to our Ocado order which was mysteriously cancelled yesterday. I have about 100kg of water softener salt pellets in the garage. I suspect that would work in a dishwasher!

[polybear]

1 hour ago, AndrewC said:

In his case he was doing point of contact for an insurance company that will remain nameless for now. The issue is he has a heart and empathy. Despite their adverts saying how often and fast they settle claims, the opposite is actually true. After starting the truth came out and he was basically told to be rather ruthless in trying to find a way to deny a claim. 

 

Hopefully one day an employee will shaft them with secret recording and snaffling emails to "out" them good n' proper.

 

59 minutes ago, TheQ said:

A tomato has just escaped and landed on my white lab coat, good job there's two clean lab coats in the drawer..

 

Bear used to wear a white lab coat that, despite being "clean" was so stained with years of mechanical work it was a mess - but "clean", if that makes sense.  I used to wear it in and out of the office when heading to and from the workshop building.  I often got frowned at by the Project Exec, though he never actually said anything.  That's one reason I kept wearing it - the guy was a T0sser and bugging him was nearly as good as cake.