Early Risers.

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[PupCam]

9 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

IIRC the NHS will only pay for standard size lenses. If you want them any larger you have to pay extra even if they are bifocals.

 

I didn't know they paid for any lenses!    If I understand the NHS website correctly, some people may claim a voucher towards the cost of lenses but it's not a huge contribution by the look of it and whilst I qualify on age grounds for a free NHS sight test I'm pretty sure that's all.      My optician has been offering photographs of the retina for comparison over time to show any progressive deterioration the cost for two "digital photographs" seems like another money making opportunity.  As I've thought that they could be useful in years to come I've coughed up and they are on my opticians records.    As I believe the eyes can tell those in the know a lot about the health of the individual perhaps "Free NHS retinal photographs" would actually be of significant value in the long term care of people?

 

Anyway, I wonder if I asked the opticians for copies of the photographs I have paid for I would get them?   

 

Cynical old Puppers thinks he already knows the answer to that!

 

Alan

[PupCam]

4 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear managed that whilst browsing the art section of The Range in Stevenage some years back, only for a H & W Team to appear from nowhere and walk right past.....

One of them was heard to say "Cor, that's a ripe one";  Bear was trying his very hardest to keep a straight face (a.k.a. Innocent Bear) whilst quietly cursing the cr@p Aircon in the shop.  A few minutes later (they obviously didn't learn their lesson) they headed right back again....

"Notniceeee" was heard.

Result.

 

It's official!    St Evenage stinks and it's all Bears fault!  

[Ozexpatriate]

Am tiring of this:

Weirdly it appeared shortly after my last post - at an approximate time when others were posting, which I can't explain.

 

It cannot be any fun for Mr. York. I will persevere. If it would actually help site resiliency, I would happily pay a modest subscription - though I don't need one with all the perq's relevant to people in the UK included in the "Gold" version.

 

As @AndrewC says, "a commercial grade product with a near 100% uptime" is an expensive proposition and the current implementation is clearly overtaxed.

[BoD]

Could Lemon Drizzle be the new Baked Beans?

Do we need SAGE to advise on this.

Perhaps Professor Ferguson needs to model the effect of LDC .

[Coombe Barton]

Just had my two year visual check and MOT on the eyes. I have one pair of varifocals an one pair fixed for close work (reading glasses if you like). The varifocals are quite OK for working, but the 'reading' ones allow same magnification vision through any part of the lens. I get the frames changed because I can't risk them falling apart, mechanical wear being a consideration. 

 

Well, I think I look quite sexy anyway. Other opinions are available.

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

 I suggested she came from Maitland in the Hunter Valley at which she almost fell off her chair.

Rick, you clearly have an ear for accents. I doubt I could ever do anything like that.

 

Which makes me wonder, there is a series of commercials, with very high production values, running on television here for Amazon Prime:

• Rapunzel
• Cleopatra has a change of heart
• Medusa Makes Friends
• Napoleon finds his true calling

(I suspect they might be broadcast outside the US as well.)

 

Where would you place the voice-over narrator's accent? (I can't tell if it's just one but the voice-overs sound similar.)

[Coombe Barton]

... and the joys of the A38(M) ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2022/01/24/use-of-stats/

[PhilJ W]

52 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Am tiring of this:

Weirdly it appeared shortly after my last post - at an approximate time when others were posting, which I can't explain.

 

It cannot be any fun for Mr. York. I will persevere. If it would actually help site resiliency, I would happily pay a modest subscription - though I don't need one with all the perq's relevant to people in the UK included in the "Gold" version.

 

As @AndrewC says, "a commercial grade product with a near 100% uptime" is an expensive proposition and the current implementation is clearly overtaxed.

I keep getting that as well, to get rid of it you just have to reload.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Well, today wasn’t entirely successful, they didn’t have the sensor in stock at Screwfix, but I ordered one which should be in tomorrow. So, then it was off to the big orange DIY shed, but in the end I didn’t buy the radiator, it turned out to be far too big for the bathroom! However, I did get a few other bits and pieces, so the trip wasn’t a complete waste of time. 

 

I spent the rest if the day pottering about in the cellar, mainly tidying up, but I also mixed some paint for the walls, the remains of a pale blue tub of emulsion mixed with the remains of large tub of white emulsion, which I’ll use as a sacrificial undercoat, to highlight any areas that may still require filling etc. 

 

We use a local family opticians for our glasses and they will fit new lens into old frames, so I use that if my frames are ok. 

 

Good wishes to tigerburnie for tomorrow’s appointment. 

 

Condolences to Warren on the loss of your mother. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[monkeysarefun]

4 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

I was attended to by a lovely young woman, bright, breezy, had all my pre-filled paperwork in her hand and who spoke with a distinctive accent.  I picked it immediately.  After a few minutes of the required chit-chat she then asked me "Do I detect a bit of an accent?" which drew the response that I had indeed lived in Oz for 17 years though along way from her.  Yes, she was an Aussie, she admitted freely.  I suggested she came from Maitland in the Hunter Valley at which she almost fell off her chair.  East Maitland - yes - how on Earth did you know?  The accent.  Aussies aren't renowned for regional accents but the Hunter has its own.  Think the equivalent of "Sarflunden" compared with the non-specific southern-English often heard.  It's stronger in the Upper Hunter Valley around Singleton and Muswellbrook.  Coal-mining towns, those, and with a way of life all their own.  Maitland is up-market by comparison but still regarded as the armpit of the universe by many other New South Welsh.

 

The Hunter is a bit of a weird  place where billionaires have horse breeding properties right beside open cut coal mines, and amongst it all are dotted the Hunter Valley wineries so you can do a winery and minery tour. 

 

Never been to any of the poorer towns there, though the poor aren't the coal miners.  Coal miners here don't trudge home all covered in coal dust to their terrace to play the Tuba like in Brassed Off or whatever, average pay ( so many get a lot more) for NSW coal miners is the equivalent of 85000 pounds once all entitlements and loading are  added, so miners are more likely to live somewhere like this, also in the Hunter - 

 

https://www.realestate.com.au/property-acreage+semi-rural-nsw-torryburn-138205410

 

For the equivalent price of an "average" Sydney house I wouldn't mind living there myself, I'd even put up with the funny accent. 

 

 

Edited January 25, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

to get rid of it you just have to reload

I can assure you that does not work *all* the time.

[BR60103]

4 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Rick, you clearly have an ear for accents. I doubt I could ever do anything like that.

 

Which makes me wonder, there is a series of commercials, with very high production values, running on television here for Amazon Prime:

• Rapunzel
• Cleopatra has a change of heart
• Medusa Makes Friends
• Napoleon finds his true calling

(I suspect they might be broadcast outside the US as well.)

 

Where would you place the voice-over narrator's accent? (I can't tell if it's just one but the voice-overs sound similar.)

Do they have voice over?  We only see them with the sound turned off. 

[BR60103]

I was seen very promptly this morning.  I have nor heard from the doctor, so I assume there is no major deterioration.

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

28 minutes ago, BR60103 said:

I assume there is no major deterioration

Hope so.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

I got RMweb is currently unavailable earlier but after a couple of reloading attempts it went.

Still dark and slightly misty.  A dull and cloudy day is forecast and it's currently 2°C.

Still photo sorting but it's getting boring now however I've started so I'll have to finish....eventually.

I have to escort The Boss to the dentist this morning so while she's being dealt with I will go for a walk. 

Time to take her a muggatea,

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

 

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a frosty Charente where RMW was also unavailable an hour sgo.  However  it worked on this attempt.  We went out to some neighbours for afternoon tea yesterday and had some very nice date and walnut cake with the tea.  I also had an hour in the shed in the evening. That finished when the temperature  dropped sharply and finger ends got too cold for fine soldering.  

 

This morning it's shopping time then I'm off to the Dr's for my 3 monthly prescription.  Not a lot else to report today but hopefully some more shed time will happen this afternoon.  At some point I may spend some time proof reading a chapter of a geneological book that a distsnt cousin in South Bend, near Chicago, has written.  He was one of my fathers geneological co conspirators in pre internet days.  The chapter I'm looking at deals with one branch of our common ancestors.  Mainly in Lancashire.  I'm actually finding it quite interesting.

 

Thoughts with BoD today and slso I hope that Tiger gets his peepers sorted.

 

 

 

Regards to all

 

Jamie

[polybear]

6 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

https://www.realestate.com.au/property-acreage+semi-rural-nsw-torryburn-138205410

 

 

Hmmm...not too shabby.....

 

Today *should* see Bear remove the fancy light fitting (not quite Only Fools and Horses Chandelier though...)  from the lounge ceiling and temporarily replace it with a pendant whilst cleaning and painting of the ceiling happens; 10L of Dulux Trade Paint was ordered for this yesterday, which is eighty quid I'll not see again .  Hopefully I'll proceed to washing down the ceiling too....

 

Bear's News of the Day.....

Well there's stupid....and there's S-T-U-P-I-D.....

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/nephew-who-took-uncles-corpse-26030937?presentid=webnews&ocid=msedgntp

[chrisf]

Oh good, we're here after all.  Morning all!

 

On my doormat yesterday I found one of those cards that postie leaves when something will not go through the letter box and you have to fetch it from the sorting office.  MRJ readers will remember the card backed envelopes that prompted so many similar cards.  The one I have has no writing on it.  Does that mean that there is something with my name on it lurking in the sorting office?  I shall catch the bus into town later and investigate.

 

Nothing else to see here.  Move along.

 

Chris

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare..

 5 hour sleep then an indeterminate amount over a 3 hour period..

 

Got turned away by the RMWEB is offline earlier, but it seems to be OK at the moment.

 

I have a full eye test as an annual part of my diabetic monitoring, If I want a glasses prescription He'll issue one.. So I've stopped going to the opticians, unless I want a proper set of glasses.. As it is mine are for reading anyway and nothing special, so I have many pairs of the ultra cheap glasses scattered around the house, workshop and work. The Good pair resided by the side of the bed where I do most reading...

 

On a sailing equivalent of ER just had had an American spouting about how the Brits invaded the Wales, how bad they are.. and the Brits invaded Ireland (I think he was meaning the English). I had great fun pointing out the Welsh are the British and the first invasion  of  Ireland (excluding Vikings)  was of Norman knights accompanied by Welsh Archers...

 

I've shipped one thermometer out, and just started another, They still haven't released to me the major system due this week..

 

They have been fishing for information about me.. I'll have been here 15 years at the end of February I think they are planning something.. Also a friend here and  a sailor at the same club as me is also being investigated.. He's been here 40 years and is a senior design engineer..

 

Time to type in some more.

 

 

 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Grey and cold tis morning so whats new.

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Bear's News of the Day.....

Well there's stupid....and there's S-T-U-P-I-D.....

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/nephew-who-took-uncles-corpse-26030937?presentid=webnews&ocid=msedgntp

There's stupid and then there's STUPID. Apparently the guys a druggie so that sort of stunt should be expected.

[AndrewC]

Greetings all from the boring borough. 

 

I see once again the site is trying to drive Mr Y into an early grave. Can't see this being a good look for Warner's at all. If you were a newer subscriber to "gold" (not having empathy towards the poor b*gger trying to keep it online, nor the history of the forum) wanting the forum more than the other bits, would you keep subscribing? Likely not. I think it is reaching the point where the accountants have to either properly fund the tin & string behind the scenes, or flog it off. The half arsed attempts of the advertising intrusions must also be driving people away and leaving a poor impression of Warners. 

 

In other news, I used to use David Clulow for my specs. Bloody pricy but the shop in Canary Wharf & the staff were great. I still have my original set of specs that are usable for reading. Considering I've spent the past 41 1/2 years in front of a computer monitor, my distance vision is only just out of range of being able to drive without, and I only use glasses otherwise for close up reading and playing darts. I moved on as the previous employer had a vision benefit which originally allowed me to go to any participating optician (not Clulow sadly) and pick from a very limited range with limited options. After many complaints about the lack of quality, they changed to a SpecSavers package. That meant every 2 years I got a free basic test, a comprehensive test for £5 extra and most other things included. My last visit would have cost over £600 for everything but I only paid out £95 in the end. (transitions + varifocal + better quality lens) Sadly my new employer doesn't have anything, so I'm dreading the next visit. Like others, I wish they could/would refit existing frames. 

 

Today I've decided to take a flex day and I'm off to the shed for the next 8 or so hours. Coffee at hand and bbq lamb steaks tonight. 

 

Enjoy the day.