Early Risers.

[grandadbob]

I actually reduced our CH thermostat from 20C  to 18C before Christmas.  If The Boss/Ice Maiden had her way we wouldn’t have it on at all! 

[polybear]

10 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

And there’s a fault on the earth.

Just on the phone to edf as their live chat is down.

ffs.

regards

pi$$ed off from Barnsley 

 

Has the builder been paid yet - and will these problems mean the Shopfitters will bump their price due to delays?

If you have a problem - and no-one else can help - call Bear n' Hippo.  Just make sure you have cake.  Lots and lots of.  And some more....

 

[polybear]

And Bear again....

Just had a link for this come in via email:

 

 

"Holds up to 113Kg safely - no need for extra battens or studs behind the plasterboard"

Any takers?

 

[Erichill16]

3 hours ago, AndrewC said:

It seems one out of favour oligarch has offered $1m in cash to any Russian general or group that removes and arrests putin. 

Is there a Gofundit campaign, I’d be happy to chip in with a couple of quid?

[TheSignalEngineer]

31 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

 

pi$$ed off from Barnsley

Sounds like a good move.

[Gwiwer]

Afternoon all.  That was three days in one, that was.  Phew!  

 

Anyone who attempted to travel through Richmond or Twickenham this morning may have been aware that the railway was put to the Wrong Sort of Use by a person at St. Margaret's shortly after 6.30am.  In fact it was the train directly behind the one I was travelling on which was involved and I just dodged that particular bullet.  

 

I didn't dodge any of the other bullets.  A platform filled with frustrated and (in some cases) abusive folk, and with two trains having arrived from Waterloo and going no further also adding to the numbers, required decisive action.   My assigned trainee was detailed to answer as many questions as best he could while I took charge of the PA mic. (one hand), two-way radio (another hand) and dispatch whistle / lamp (the two hands not already occupied  ) and got on with a day's work.  

 

Assistance was summoned to close the entry gates to prevent more people entering an already-full platform.  As luck would have it the crowd-control barriers remained in place which are there for yesterday's and tomorrow's tube-strike queue systems.  Management were quick to respond (for once) and prevent unsafe overcrowding arising.  We were also assigned some crowd controllers who had also been requested to manage any residual tube-strike congestion first thing this morning but were not needed in the event; rather than send them home we put these agency zero-hours staff to good use.  

 

Yours Truly spent the entire four-hour shift making PA announcements covering safety, alternative routes and altered stopping patterns.  In addition to which those trains which did run had to be seen safely away with very many more people aboard than has been usual for some time.  

 

I am pleased to report that not a single incident occurred despite what appeared at times to be disorganised chaos.  In fact the revised train service pattern was quickly established meaning we could give timely and accurate travel information and manage numbers on the platform.  

 

It is almost time to consider which of the bottles of red laughing water contains the best recovery.  There will also be a glass of Skye's finest throat-medicine with dinner.  

 

Tomorrow is another day - and another with no tube service meaning more disgruntled and displaced customers having to wait in the queues.  Ah well.  It's what I choose to do.  At least Miss Management took the time to thank some of us at sign-off which made a nice change.  

 

 

 

[simontaylor484]

26 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Has the builder been paid yet - and will these problems mean the Shopfitters will bump their price due to delays?

If you have a problem - and no-one else can help - call Bear n' Hippo.  Just make sure you have cake.  Lots and lots of.  And some more....

 

Earth faults can come from the supplier side of the meter then it becomes even harder to sort especially if the seals on the meter need to be broken someone from the supplier/distribution company need to come out and disconnect.

The earth problem can come from a neighbouring property or damaged cables outside not necessarily from inside your own propert

[Gwiwer]

34 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

I actually reduced our CH thermostat from 20C  to 18C before Christmas.  If The Boss/Ice Maiden had her way we wouldn’t have it on at all! 

By contrast I bump ours up some afternoons to 22C.  It's one of those remote things which is fitted to a wall and exchanges information with its boiler by means of blue teeth.  

 

The fitter had trouble finding a suitable location.  In the kitchen (where the boiler lurks in its cupboard) could result in a false-high reading when cooking causing the heating and hot water to run cold.  Too far away and the blue teeth wouldn't work.  It's on the wall just outside the kitchen door which happens to be a "warm" internal wall.  The sensed temperature is displayed on the unit and is often 2 degrees more than we feel it is in the lounge.  

 

Hence it gets turned up for an hour at a time when sitting in the lounge gets slightly cool whilst not wasting energy by pumping 22C throughout the flat into otherwise empty rooms.  It's a little too much for our comfort to open the bedroom door and be hit by a blast of warm air and find the bed is toasting gently!  

[TheSignalEngineer]

10 hours ago, polybear said:

Nikita Mazepin's daddy; Jnr. is f.useless as a driver and only got the seat with Haas cos' daddy basically bought it for him.

I expect Jnr will be getting a very bumpy reception from the fans this season.

 

It seems that the Tennis lot are spineless as well - they're letting individuals compete "so long as it's under a neutral flag".  T0ssers.

Jnr may not have the chance. The UK motorsport people are refusing to recognize Russian licences apparently.

 

Regarding the tennis, the Ukranian young lady decided to play and smacked her Russian opponent 6-2, 6-1.

Prize money being donated to help the fight back home.

[polybear]

8 hours ago, grandadbob said:

I received an email from my energy supplier yesterday regarding price increases from the 1st April.  They are suggesting a figure of more than double what I was paying last year.  Not totally unexpected but it still hurts. 

 

Bear has just received such an email - all I can say is:

$G6%hg%3K8B%5v£$%IHDF^ 

It seems they're predicting another five hundred notes a year - which'll be b0llox cos' Bear's Gas meter is fubarred and they've been estimating my gas use for a while now (the meter is due to be replaced next week).

Even taking that into account there's gonna be a lot of very unhappy bunnies when they get similar emails - and a lot of people who simply have no chance whatsoever of paying.  It's fortunate that summer is coming - the real pain will be next autumn if the prices haven't dropped.

 

[NGT6 1315]

My dad messaged me saying he had watched German warships getting prepared to sortie to the Baltic. All I could reply to this was that this feels so like the 1980s!

 

I'm also reading Leipzig has been assigned the coordinating role for managing refugees arriving in Saxony - doubtlessly in no small part due to its partnership with Kiev.

[simontaylor484]

13 minutes ago, NGT6 1315 said:

My dad messaged me saying he had watched German warships getting prepared to sortie to the Baltic. All I could reply to this was that this feels so like the 1980s!

 

I'm also reading Leipzig has been assigned the coordinating role for managing refugees arriving in Saxony - doubtlessly in no small part due to its partnership with Kiev.

I was thinking similar thoughts earlier but a long the lines of Russian Subs in the Stockholm archipelago 

[simontaylor484]

Re oil and gas prices

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60584798

[polybear]

1 hour ago, NGT6 1315 said:

My dad messaged me saying he had watched German warships getting prepared to sortie to the Baltic. All I could reply to this was that this feels so like the 1980s!

 

Meanwhile the RN T45's are still awaiting engine fixes....

The word on the street is that the S.S. Waverley and the IOW Ferry are to be press-ganged.

 

Well it seems that the IOC are also to join the ranks of the T0ssers - Ruskie and Belarussian Althletes are being allowed to compete under neutral flags.  (Beary Thought for the Day:  when the Ruskies have been busted for drug-taking will that lead to a blanket ban on all "Neutrals"?  Could be interesting....)

 

And Abramovitch has confirmed he's flogging off Chelsea FC - now wouldn't it be funny if he flogged it, money into the Barclays, HMG seize the dosh quick before he gets his grubby paws on it....

 

And finally....

Bear "had a result" with a purchase (Choo Chooooo ) on the 'bay; however the system decided to keep Bear in suspense cos' it decided to display a message along the lines of "we're just trying to determine who's won - please refresh this page".  Several times, as it happens....

 

Also....

My Beary Radar senses that Oneweb can wave bye-bye to their 36 Satellites currently sitting on top of a Rocket in Russia.  Ouch.  

Edited March 2, 2022 by polybear

[simontaylor484]

I am afraid the IOC are as bent as the proverbial 9 Bob note the whole thing of host cities and that is as corrupt as a corrupt thing of your choice 

[NGT6 1315]

36 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

I am afraid the IOC are as bent as the proverbial 9 Bob note the whole thing of host cities and that is as corrupt as a corrupt thing of your choice 

 

The following so applies to the IOC and FIFA, to my mind...

 

 

[Natalie]

, I am going to take a break from posting here as I am a little fed up of the political postings and the language that is being applied to people or groups who are not responsible for the atrocities of a madman that happens to share their nationality.

 

This thread is not the correct place to do so in my opinion. I keep my politics out of here as they are probably considered contentious by some. Sorry but this is how I feel.

[grandadbob]

Evenin' each.

Our energy supplier estimates that we will be paying an extra £900  in the coming year so some more steps will have to be taken to reduce our usage.  Looking at the past 4 months readings we haven't used as much gas as the previous year although whether that's down to the extra loft insulation I installed in October or the weather not being as bad I'm not sure.  Possibly a combination of both.  The big 3 costly electrical appliances  are the tumble dryer, dishwasher and washing machine and although the latter 2 are A++ and A+++ energy rated the first is only a B so The Boss has been instructed, yes instructed to cut down on its use until we can find a better one.  To be fair to her as soon as the weather is right it hardly gets used at all. 

Tonight, along with Bangers and Mash I also finished off the surplus pancakes.  I'm now on my second glass of Aussie Durif Shiraz and feeling,  shall we say,  quite full.  

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. On the news reports, Germany is considering restarting some 'mothballed' coal fired power stations. Problem is of course they are highly polluting, especially those that burn 'brown coal'. They are also considering nuclear power stations but they will take years to make operational. On the subject of heating, my thermostat is on an internal wall but the nearest radiator, in the utility room has been disconnected for years. The coldest part of the house is the bathroom and the upstairs corridor leading to the same. They both are on the exposed side of the house and are noticeably cooler by about three degrees, when there is a north west wind in particular. There is a heated towel rail in the bathroom but all it does is heat towels. However the hot water pipe to the bath runs along the skirting board down one side of the room and that heats the room to a comfortable temperature whenever a bath is run. Instead of turning the thermostat down in one hit I've turned it down one degree every morning. it will be turned down to twenty tomorrow morning and possibly to nineteen on Friday.

[polybear]

23 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

Evenin' each.

Our energy supplier estimates that we will be paying an extra £900  in the coming year

 

Ouch....

 

23 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

so some more steps will have to be taken to reduce our usage. 

 

It's when SWMBO cuts the plug off your Hammant & Morgan that things get really serious....

 

23 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

..... so The Boss has been instructed, yes instructed to cut down on its use until we can find a better one. 

 

Do let us know what Ward you're on....

(It may be worth working out the "payback time" for savings made using a new Drier vs. the purchase cost - unless of course the existing one is on it's last legs anyway)

 

 

[simontaylor484]

German coal is more lignite towards the former East Germany . I am not sure if the Germans still mine in the Rhur valley. 

[NGT6 1315]

@PhilJ W, yeah, there's indeed a debate on what the current situation should mean for the future of energy supply here. Though in my impression, it isn't likely that past decisions to withdraw from both coal and nuclear power will be overturned wholesale. That being said, increasing independence from foreign energy sources (and Russian fuels in particular) and expanding the use of renewable sources seem to have acquired much additional significance. There have also been calls for major expansions to national fuel reserves, primarily with a view to increasing resilience to crises such as the current one

 

Furthermore, government plans to significantly increase military funding reserves by around €100bn have been made public.

 

 

[NGT6 1315]

7 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

German coal is more lignite towards the former East Germany . I am not sure if the Germans still mine in the Rhur valley. 

 

Coal mining in the Ruhr area ended in 2018. Power generation from coal of any kind is scheduled to end in 2038, as per the Coal Power Reduction and Termination Act of 2020.

[Ozexpatriate]

48 minutes ago, Natalie said:

I am a little fed up of the political postings and the language that is being applied to people or groups who are not responsible ...

 

This thread is not the correct place to do so in my opinion.

Natalie I understand completely. Many (if not most) of us are saturated with images of this tragedy on television.

 

I do think it is impossible for ERs as a community to completely ignore the current situation and I was genuinely interested to hear the posts from people with personal connections to the affected region which I found insightful.

 

But as you say, politics is best avoided here. 

 

EDIT:

I'll add that people have differing perspectives on what constitutes as 'politics'.

 

Edited March 2, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[PhilJ W]

My energy supplier hasn't yet upped the payments but I'm well in credit. In fact my account is in credit all year round. Last year I asked for and got a refund but this year because of the price increase but I will ask for only a small increase to match what I am using.