Early Risers.

[Ozexpatriate]

11 minutes ago, BSW01 said:

We went through the same with Sheila’s Mum a few years ago, it’s never easy, but at least you’re able to be with her. 

A fall causing a subdural hematoma was the beginning of a downward path for my late aunt (oldest of her siblings). It does not feel like the right time for me to share the details. We are all thinking of Warren @BoD this evening.

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Meat Loaf had contracted Covid and had been "seriously ill"

CNN did not report anything to do with CoViD-19. They did say:

Quote

No cause of death was shared.

...

The singer acknowledged physical problems had affected his ability to perform. But in November, he posted on Facebook that he'd had four back surgeries and would be back in the studio in the new year.

 

"The back surgeries hurt everything. Before the back surgeries I was still trying to do shows, that's when some of you saw or heard of me collapsing on stage and finally stopping the tour in the UK. I couldn't hit high notes because of back pain. Not a slight back pain. Pain that would bring you to your knees," he wrote.

 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Ozexpatriate]

23 minutes ago, BSW01 said:

Like a few others have mentioned, trying to log on this morning was problematic. After 30 minutes I gave up, as I had things to do and places to go. 

Two days ago at this time it was completely pear shaped. At around 8:00pm GMT today (Friday) the site was up but performance was still awful.

 

Seems better now.

[monkeysarefun]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

It's now being reported - though unconfirmed - that Meat Loaf had contracted Covid and had been "seriously ill".  There are also reports that he had recently been supporting those who were critical of vaccine mandates in Oz; as to whether or not he was vaccinated isn't known - if he wasn't then what a waste.

Unfortunately here his legacy will always be marred by his prematch performance at the 2011 AFL Grand final, officially recognised as the worst thing that has ever happened anywhere.

 

In his defence but, walking out to see a heap  of Collingwood supporters in one  hit would have put anyone off their game.

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[iL Dottore]

You’re quite right @Gwiwer COVID remains an unpredictable beast, but so are a lot of viral illnesses. But there are a lot of infectious diseases out there that are equally nasty (if not more so) - such as Tuberculosis or Malaria - with equally appalling body counts; yet these (and other) diseases haven’t brought the planet to a standstill.

 

I suspect it‘s the combination of COVID being incredibly infectious, it having  quickly spread through the rich and interconnected “FirstWorld”, health services that no longer have experience in managing large outbreaks of infectious disease and (especially) a public who - for the most part - is ignorant of (and in some cases distrustful of) science and medicine that has put us where we are today. I remain convinced that “vaccine hesitancy” (to put it politely) and a cavalier approach to social hygiene by far too many has significantly contributed to the duration of the pandemic.
 

The question that has to be answered by all involved in the pandemic: politicians, scientists, physicians, economists and - of course - the general public is: at what point does COVID become regarded as an unpleasant illness that is only lethal to a few - the genetically unlucky and the elderly? When the mortality rate is equal to that of yearly influenza? By some other yardstick? I suspect there will come a point where “protecting the vulnerable” will become an unviable option - for one (or more) of a number of very valid reasons. And such an approach has precedent - we don’t protect the vulnerable against influenza (for example) - which can be equally deadly to the elderly and genetically susceptible.

 

Finally, a thought: could it be that a good part of how we - in the West - have managed (mis-managed?) the pandemic is due to the fact that death is no longer part and parcel of modern life, but hidden away and avoided by any means possible - even when death would be the most humane and fitting option?

[iL Dottore]

8 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

…CC, if Puppers uses his astronomical telescope to view the young lady's accoutrements, they will be upside down and thus defying gravity - you need a land lens (there may be a proper name for these, I forget - its been a long time since I had a telescope)  to correct the image for terrestrial use, and returning the fattyclappers to correct orientation.

There speaks the voice of experience.

How that experience was acquired perhaps we best not ask….

[iL Dottore]

Captain Cynical Industries GmbH Press Release.

 

CCI GmbH shareholders will be pleased to learn that at yesterday’s board meeting the preliminary evaluation of last year‘s company performance was so favourable that the board unanimously decided to provide each shareholder with a small token of appreciation for their support.

Personally selected by Captain Cynical, this 35 year old aged in cask Italian Brandy is greatly underrated.

Captain Cynical was so impressed by this brandy, that - after having acquired this year’s bottling - he has decided to make it freely available to valued customers and friends.

 

Finally, the CCI GmbH board is also pleased to confirm that the company is on track to meet, if not exceed, the SFr 11,000 per share dividend announced at the last AGM.

 

Lucy iD

Head: CCI GmbH Corporate Communications

[chrisf]

I spent much of yesterday viewing some Portaloo Great Railway Journeys via I-player.  Today will be much the same.  This comparative idleness looks to be supplanted tomorrow by the frenetic activity associated with laundry so I must enjoy it while I can.

 

My bath calls.  Best wishes to BoD.

 

Chris

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Positive thought to @BoD. 

 

Not sure what to do today.  I haven't got anything planned but feel like I need to be doing something.. checked diary..nowt.  Asked her indoors...nowt... whatever it is must be important.. badgered to think what it is.

 

Booked Beast in for his service and mot in February. 1590 miles have been added since the last mot and service. I used to do double that in a month in one of my jobs.

 

News just in... my "something todo" is not the ironing or gardening.

 

Stay safe!

 

Baz

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a rather cool Charente.  Thoughts are with BoD this morning.

 

As mentioned we had a good trip out to Gateaux  yesterday. The portion size was rather large so that neither of us wanted a full meal for tea.  Poached eggs on toast sufficed for me. I then spent a happy hour in the shed weilding a soldering iron.  

 

This morning it will soon be time to have our usual hour with Emily and her mums. Both Rachel and Emily are recovering  well though Rona has hit Rachel harder than Emily.

 

After that an hour of wood chopping is on the agenda. We are having our neighbours  from across the road round for a meal tonight so there will probably  certainly some domestic engineering tasks to perform.  After lunch there is chance that I might be able to sidle across to the shed to strangle some wires and make LED's shine when needed.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[polybear]

8 hours ago, TheQ said:

.....that was hard work , there's some very hard grey  plaster? behind the normal pink stuff.

 

That's the stuff known as "hardwall" and is the basecoat for the pink skimcoat plaster on brickwork - Castle Bear has it on every wall in every room, except for where plasterboard has been added to box in pipes etc.

 

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Captain Cynical was so impressed by this brandy, that - after having acquired this year’s bottling - he has decided to make it freely available to valued customers and friends.

 

Finally, the CCI GmbH board is also pleased to confirm that the company is on track to meet, if not exceed, the SFr 11,000 per share dividend announced at the last AGM.

 

Lucy iD

Head: CCI GmbH Corporate Communications

 

But isn't the sole purpose of CCI GmbH to do unspeakably dastardly things to anyone that takes your fancy?  Surely "customers and friends" are therefore a bit lacking?  Or is that part of yet another cunning plan, thus avoiding dishing out the company bonus?

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare,

3.5 hours plus 2 hours plus 2 hours so sleep total was had not to bad.

 

Ben the I want out Collie was insistent on going out, he then took a toy with him. So he spent most of the time playing not doing what he should at that time of the morning. 

It's very very frosty out there, the very bright moon is causing shadows from the trees.

 

Rmweb took time to load again this morning but once up it seems to be operating as badly as it was on this tablet computer. Just under a quarter of the screen occupied by the stupid video, the show reply black bar won't go away, strangely it would yesterday.  

 

Plan for today,

Feed the cable through the conduit in, fix it in place and plaster over that, it being just a channel it's quite easy to plaster with just a straight edge, bit more fiddly around the pattress , but  experts still not required. Easier than the scenic plastering I was doing last night.. Shouldn't take too long, so I'll probably then go out, do some boat sanding and a coat of varnish on the boat seat.

 

Time too not do a lot...

 

[Mike Bellamy]

8 hours ago, TheQ said:

I drilled the 3 holes to mount  the downflow heater on the bathroom wall, that was hard work , there's some very hard grey  plaster? behind the normal pink stuff. The angle grinder didn't seem to notice except that it eat a few blades.

 

Our house was built about 35 years ago - I originally thought we had hard plaster but it's actually cement render over soft breeze block covered with a light plaster skim - but it's rock hard and needs a tough drill to get through.

 

When chasing into the wall for additional electrics, I used a circular saw with a diamond blade and a vacuum attachment to collect the dust - of course it didn't get all of it and everything was still covered - SWMBO left the dust where it was and said it was a protective layer over the furniture and not to clean it up until all of the work was finished.

.

[Mike Bellamy]

8 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Rmweb took time to load again this morning but once up it seems to be operating as badly as it was on this tablet computer. Just under a quarter of the screen occupied by the stupid video, the show reply black bar won't go away, strangely it would yesterday.  

 

I have seen others saying about slow loading but I haven't experienced that at all - I view on a large PC screen so the small video just plays with itself in the corner and gets ignored. However I can understand the frustration for those using tablet or phone. It was several weeks ago now that Andy said a paid for solution was imminent.

.

[BoD]

Morning all

No change

Thank you for thoughts

Knackered  - so no ‘work events’ for me this weekend.

[45568]

I have not been to the train shed for a week!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-22/perth-records-record-fifth-consecutive-day-over-40-degrees/100775652

I am getting withdrawal symptoms.

Cheers from Oz,

Peter C.

[Andrew P]

My wayward Mouse has responded positively to a good talking to and has behave fairly well over the last couple of days.

I'll wait and see how long it lasts.

 

Have a good day one and all, and thoughts still with @BoD and his Family, and any other on here that need care etc.

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

….Surely "customers and friends" are therefore a bit lacking? …

Not necessarily; CC, of course, has friends (nearly all in the same line of work) and I have plenty of valued customers who hire me to do dastardly deeds on their behalf.

 

Because of client confidentiality all I can say is that (amongst others) a number of ERs have hired CC to “solve problems” for them…..

[Northroader]

Re the slow loading times, yes, I’ve had it ever since the last software change. There is now a tag appearing at the top of the page “No Google Ads..” which is a glorified Gold Member scheme with all the extras at a price, quite understandable really. Me, I model in pregroup O and just want RMweb no hassle access without all the trimmings which I wouldn’t use.

Edited January 22, 2022 by Northroader

[Coombe Barton]

3 hours ago, chrisf said:

looks to be supplanted tomorrow by the frenetic activity associated with laundry so

Looks like @chrisf has this planned.

Mine is usually triggered by "Oh sh1t, have't got any knickers."

And I must remember to iron the shirts as the coming week is the first of teaching. As I haven't seen it since early December, now to find the iron ....

[New Haven Neil]

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

There speaks the voice of experience.

How that experience was acquired perhaps we best not ask….

 

May I refer the right honourable gentleman to one's maritime past?  As to what sex-starved merchant navy officers used telescopes for when approaching port is best not discussed.....

 

In other news, 8c on the rock, overcast, dry and off, like Jamie, to split wood.  Hydraulically though (no, not iD's brandy), not with that axe, Eugine.  

 

Hold that result, Mrs NHN just cutting the grass, so I have a bit longer on here.  Grass grows all year around here due to lack of coldness in the winter.  We also have a lot of very dark skies, good for anatomy by telescope star gazing. 

 

Out tonight with friend Jayne for a Thai meal, pub 100 yards from her gaff has a nice Thai restaurant.  Handy.

 

 

 

[PupCam]

Morning All!

 

Continued SPTs for BoD.

 

2 hours ago, polybear said:

But isn't the sole purpose of CCI GmbH to do unspeakably dastardly things to anyone that takes your fancy?  Surely "customers and friends" are therefore a bit lacking?  Or is that part of yet another cunning plan, thus avoiding dishing out the company bonus?

 

I think our bottles must be "Lost in the Post" (along with a load of other things) Bear!

 

In the meantime while I wait for Postie to not turn up with the goods again I'm off to solder some current limiting resistors

 

Alan

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. As I'm going out this afternoon I got up early, had a bath and have just finished breakfast. Now I've got a couple of hours of thumb twiddling before I go out.

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

There speaks the voice of experience.

How that experience was acquired perhaps we best not ask….

When I lived in Romford a young lady across the way never bothered to draw her curtains. She wasn't that far away so there was no need to point a telescope in her direction.

10 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Looks like @chrisf has this planned.

Mine is usually triggered by "Oh sh1t, have't got any knickers."

And I must remember to iron the shirts as the coming week is the first of teaching. As I haven't seen it since early December, now to find the iron ....

Ironing, what's ironing?