Early Risers.

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl,

Fell asleep very early, 1.5 hours, 3,5 hours , woke with a head ache, pink pills , 2.5 hours total 7.5 hours sleep a magnificent total for me.. Still have the remnants of that headache though...

 

Ben the decisive Collie after some thought, decided need was more important than the weather, so a full patrol was had...

Rain... Horizontal..

wind... Strong,

Temperature.... cold.

Cloud base... low

Perception.... yuk.

Spent most of the patrol hiding behind trees and bushes from the weather.

 

We have the first company visitor for some time, he's high up in a lab in Europe, I've an inkling he's scouting the bosses job to see if he want's it.. if he does it's certain he'll get it. He by far the most qualified candidate.. His official purpose for the visit is a site inter-comparison, as the company is trying to promote best practice between sites..

 

Time to... head for the lab...

 

 

 

 

[Barry O]

54 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

As a coda to the above: anyone had experience with Premier Inn (they have a self-service breakfast buffet 🤑)

 

iD

p.s. I wish we could have the old emojis back, the current collection isn’t inspiring

We stayed in one in Edinburgh. Proper porridge (made with water and salt) some black pudding and white pudding. They gad no haggis as it was in short supply. It was not far from the "Sheep's Heid" a very old pub which also served excellent food and drink.

 

Baz

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Her indoors has a medical procedure this week. A full blown covid test awaits her attention tomorrow followed by "flushitallout" drinks on Thursday.  Just hope Friday goes well!

 

@Robert glad to see you calling. Stay safe!

 

Hopefully @chrisfhas a good flight and a great holiday.

 

@iL Dottore... Kevlar should stop an arrow but I wouldn't volunteer to be the test target.. just in case.

 

A piece of useless information.. but one of the reasons why you don't volunteer as a "target". Take a normal (soccer) football.stand 2kmsaway from a Challenger 2 tank. 99 times out of 100 a Armoured Piercin Fin Stabilised, Discarding Sabot round aimed at the ball willhit the ball.. the 100th one, due to probability may miss... not to be tried!

 

Hopefully @KellyI making good progress.

 

Stay safe!

 

Have a good Monday!

 

Baz

[AndrewC]

Moaning from the boring borough. Another Monday. Blergh. Big steaming piles of crap to contend with today. 

 

I hope Chris is enroute by now. Just saw the news that SleazyJet have cancelled over 100 flights today so far due to covid staff shortages. 

 

Premier Inns are generally quite good. Still owned by Whitbread. I do prefer them to Travelodge or the lower end Ibis hotels. 

 

Like Baz I wouldn't want to be a test subject for arrow v kevlar. However, I have a fairly lengthy list of people I'd love to put forward as testers. With and without kevlar.

 

Not much to report. A quiet weekend puttering. Re-seated a slipped roof window in the greenhouse. Repaired the mounting bracket for one of SWMBO's garden mirrors. Finally put the last spindles on the stairs after a lengthy period of indecision between cutting short spindles where the banister meets the newel post, or just filling that small triangle of space in. Some darts in the man cave were played as well as some train time. 

 

That is all. Enjoy the day. 

[NGT6 1315]

Moaning awl. Chilly but sunny!

 

Forecast predicts rising temperatures and rain for the coming days, so I decided to have the summer tyres put on one week early - also because I know I have the time!

 

Feeling tense with everything going on in the world currently, so, please, be safe, everyone…

 

 

[simontaylor484]

1 hour ago, TheQ said:

Never pick up unexploded ordinance...

I have no live rounds Misfires etc....

Or empty cases in my possession Sir.

 

[Grizz]

11 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Or empty cases in my possession Sir.

 

…..Er but I’ve got loads and loads of live rounds though! 😂

[polybear]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Good Morning All,

 

Another Monday rolls around and today promises to officially be Not A Fun Day at all: I have PT scheduled for my hip - which has been playing silly bu99ers over the past few days. So an entertaining and pain-filled morning awaits.

 

Work is very quiet, so I can take the day off (nothing to deliver until Thursday) and hunt for a hotel in Edinburgh. I’m off to Edinburgh in October and I’ve already booked my flights, but I still have to book a hotel - and the prices in Edinburgh are as high as in London (and that’s off-season, heaven knows what the prices are like during the Ednburgh Festival).

 

There’s one place which looks most intriguing - a hotel in a brew pub (with loads of freebies in each room), but at £254/night I may pass up on it. I may end up with a reliable Accor hotel (Novotel,  Mercure, Adagio) or perhaps try the Ibis Styles (also by Accor) and recycle the money saved into whisky.  I’ll have to find out whether or not the Accor hotels offer a “Full Scottish” for breakfast as opposed to a “Continental Breakfast”, the absence or presence of the opportunity to scoff soss, black pud, bacon, eggs, haggis and mushrooms to start the day may be the deciding factor

 

Any suggestions as to a decent place to stay will be welcomed.

 

Enjoy Monday

 

Bear has stayed at The George (top of the list here) on numerous occasions when working with The Great Empire:

https://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/georgehotel-edinburgh.en-gb.html?aid=356930;label=metagha-link-LUGB-hotel-102499_dev-desktop_los-1_bw-14_dow-Monday_defdate-1_room-0_gstadt-2_rateid-0_aud-0_gacid-6623578758_mcid-10_ppa-0_clrid-0_ad-1_gstkid-0_checkin-20220418_lp-1006574_r-334439683963047982;sid=fd5720756712f445b7bd17afdbd356d5;all_sr_blocks=10249997_328285313_2_2_0;checkin=2022-04-18;checkout=2022-04-19;dest_id=-2595386;dest_type=city;dist=0;group_adults=2;group_children=0;hapos=1;highlighted_blocks=10249997_328285313_2_2_0;hpos=1;matching_block_id=10249997_328285313_2_2_0;no_rooms=1;req_adults=2;req_children=0;room1=A,A;sb_price_type=total;sr_order=popularity;sr_pri_blocks=10249997_328285313_2_2_0__18615;srepoch=1649056519;srpvid=791333027c2700ad;type=total;ucfs=1&#hotelTmpl

 

 

Close to the Railway Station, good location etc. etc.  Worked for this Bear and I'd think about spending my own gronkits there (but probably hunt for something cheaper first).

 

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

p.s. I wish we could have the old emojis back, the current collection isn’t inspiring

 

This Bear concurs - I really, really miss my YAHOOOOOOOOO emoji

 

Bear here.......

Danglin' wallpaper day today - Bear's creative flair (huh?) can be let loose at long last.....

 

In other news....

There's dumb, and then there's.....

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/325176?presentid=webnews&ocid=msedgntp

Still, at least he might make an interesting experiment for the meds.

 

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOO.......

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/tv/ant-and-dec-fans-devastated-over-saturday-night-takeaway-announcement/ar-AAVNYfd?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=8b8de6a65c58486588cce91b1f8a528c

Peace at last.

 

And finally......

Does this Bear look bovvered?  Maybe they'd like to swap places with those on the receiving end of Poo Tin's WAR in Ukraine (there you go Kremlin - Bear said it) and the Ruskie retreat.  F&**^^%$$ B'stereds.

https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/billionaire-russians-living-uk-in-6900475?presentid=webnews&ocid=msedgntp

Edited April 4, 2022 by polybear

[New Haven Neil]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I think that with the advent of the rifle, pistols and revolvers people have forgotten how powerful and deadly a longbow can be. The French certainly found out at Crécy and Agincourt (at Crécy, according to modern research, a longbow could send an arrow through the plate armour of the time at 225 meters).
 

I wonder how a kevlar vest (or any other modern body armour) would fare against a longbow?

 

Correct me if I’m wrong @New Haven Neil, but aren’t bows to all intents and purposes silent as well?

 

Not quite silent at the release, there is a twang, but putting another couple of those Tribbles on the top and bottom of the string does reduce this, some of our archers use them.  Also shock absorbing 'doinkers' on the bow limbs helps, but they're not allowed in bare-bow competition, OK for our informal rounds though.  The arrow in flight does make a very slight swishing sound, but not the Strongbow advert version!

 

The tribble on the arrow is for spotting, and colours of course identify the archer. We did get that one out eventually, they are carbon fibre arrows with a silicone lubricant (steady!) sort of stuff on them for that very reason, but that one did take a bit of heaving out.  We also use a grip made of some very odd feeling stuff that does really get a hold despite said silicon.  At a tenner or so each we don't like to lose arrows but there is often the odd one we have to give up on finding or getting out.

[Grizz]

29 minutes ago, Grizz said:

…..Er but I’ve got loads and loads of live rounds though! 😂

Ta Da……

 

5.56…..  . 303…..7.62……. .22 and 12 Bore…..happy days. Just done a bit of reloading of the 5.56. I used to enjoy archery as a kid as well but my dad and most of uncles and their mates were all shooters. Not all of them but most had served in the military so we used to get to go to military ranges for shooting days. As a ten year old it was amazing and I guess that’s where my safety career got its grounding. I came home with so many 7.62 bullet belts over the years. Which at the time was soooooooo cool as I was into Judas Priest at the time and they all wore them. 🤣  
 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by Grizz

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Raining steadily here and has been for a couple of hours.  Current temperature is 6°C.

Yesterday was spent taking it easy and the rugby was enjoyed immensely with Quins winning at London Irish.

Nottalot happening today apart from taking  Joe home later and possibly visiting Sainsbury's.

Have a good one.

 

Bob.

Edited April 4, 2022 by grandadbob

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

I just had a look and it appears that this morning’s EasyJet flight to Mallorca is “boarding” so hopefully ChrisF will be on his way soon. 
It is wet and overcast here. Not much happening today. If it warms up a bit I may finish off restoring a strawberry pot. Functionally it will be fine but I think some more Milliput will make it look nicer. Aditi has ordered new strawberry plants. Out existing ones in the garden are getting old. 
Tony

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

Never pick up unexploded ordinance...

I have no live rounds Misfires etc....

 

I've seen trees that have incorporated pieces of fences , not just the odd bar, into there trunks but I think a narrow is asking a lot.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Well it’s quite a bit warmer than it was yesterday, 9C out there, but it’s a lot wetter! I’ll shortly be heading off to complete the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix, which won’t take long. I’ve unlocked the back garden gate just in case the window cleaners call whilst I’m out, but given the weather I doubt they will. The rest of the day is a MIUAIGA as nothing has been planned. 

 

Stay safe, back later. 

 

Brian. 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit wet this morning but predicted to clear up later. Watch out though according to the seaweed stranglers the cold weather will be back for the weekend.

21 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

I've seen trees that have incorporated pieces of fences , not just the odd bar, into there trunks but I think an arrow is asking a lot.

I've seen pictures of a tree growing round an engine and gearbox from a truck and a bicycle. 

 

[PhilJ W]

And even more strange ways for trees to grow.

Even a hand grenade.

 

[simontaylor484]

Morning all

 

I hope @Chris F has managed to get off on his hols.

 

Just bought my E Cig hope I can get on with it ok 

 

Nothing much to report today so far

[PhilJ W]

Apparently they identified the owner of the bike in the tree. He is now 91 years old. When he was in his teens the family home burnt down and the neighbours rallied round and made donations to cover what was lost. Among the donations was the bicycle which proved to be too small. He tried it out by riding through the local woods but left it leaning against a tree when it proved to uncomfortable for him to ride. The intention was to retrieve it but he'd forgotten where it was left. Here's another one.

[Pacific231G]

Breakfasted well and am in the middle of the week's first frustration which is trying to communicate with OVO Energy who've taken over my SSE account. To say I'm unipmressed with OVO would be a major underestatement.

It's raining pretty continuously here in W. London but fortunately I exercised well yesterday.

UPDATE

I did eventually manage to talk to  a human being who was helpful. 

Edited April 4, 2022 by Pacific231G

[PeterBB]

15 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

 

We’ve been having issues with the discharge of SWMBO’s car battery over the last few months and wondered if it was due to the glove box light staying on when the box was closed. We used a mobile phone camera to check. The light did go out so not the cause of the battery issue. In the end a new battery was purchased, £160, ouch, but it’s a ‘stop/start’ battery.

Expensive items that only work stop/start on a 'full battery'... soon stop working in slow moving traffic jams.

 

[monkeysarefun]

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 The French certainly found out at Crécy and Agincourt (at Crécy, according to modern research, a longbow could send an arrow through the plate armour of the time at 225 meters).

Also it'd be a bit embarrassing if you  got done in by an arrow that had a  pink fluffy thing on the end of it like in Neil's pic I reckon. It'd be like the archers are just having a laugh at your expense.

Edited April 4, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[New Haven Neil]

You can see the doinkers on Deb's bow here, the black things pointing forwards.

 

 

Mick's bow here has the silencers, 'Tribbles', on the bow string top and bottom.

 

 

As to why trees get hit - there is a clear shot here, but only just.  This sort of thing makes field archery so much more of a challenge than target, where they stand in one place and whack a load of arrows into a round target.

 

 

  @Winslow Boy if it is a healthy tree, they are really hard to get out, sometimes impossible.  There's a few around the glen!  That one yesterday was dead. (Edit - the tree, that is....😜).

Edited April 4, 2022 by New Haven Neil

[BoD]

Morning all.

 

I had  to drop the car at a garage this morning as the boot latch refuses to unlatch and I’m sick of putting things in via a lowered rear seat.  Not recommended for someone of my girth.  I booked the car in last week, told the garage owner what the fault was and he told me the make of the car.  He wasn’t on the computer looking up its service records either.  According to him it’s a common fault with this manufacturer.

 

Anyway,  after dropping the car off we decided on a cooked breakfast before walking home.  It was our first one for I don’t know how long and all the more enjoyable for it.  It was just as well we were fortified because the walk home was directly into a strong wind.  Fortunately, it was only a couple of miles, which is about all I can manage now since the dreaded lurgy.  Knowing my luck, when I go back the wind will have swung  through 180.

 

Mutt is now demanding a walk too.  No rest for the wicked.

[Pacific231G]

12 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Woolwich ferry 1961.

 

That's an excellent find Phil. Curious that they were side loading ferries and also curious that the engineer was in uniform rather than a boiler suit.  In the 1950s the RN built a number of diesel electric paddle tugs to handle the berthing of aircraft carriers. The separate drives to each paddle wheel made them far more manouverable and the paddles provided better braking than screws. 

The steam powered Woolwich ferries were replaced in 1963 by diesel electric vessels fitted with Voith Schneider Propellers which provide thrust in any direction so are widely used by both ferries and tugs. 

I saw the RN's diesel tugs  around Devonport in the 1960s when I think one of the Torpoint chain ferries was still steam powered.

[PhilJ W]

3 minutes ago, Pacific231G said:

That's an excellent find Phil. Curious that they were side loading ferries and also curious that the engineer was in uniform rather than a boiler suit.  In the 1950s the RN built a number of diesel electric paddle tugs to handle the berthing of aircraft carriers. The separate drives to each paddle wheel made them far more manouverable and the paddles provided better braking than screws. 

The steam powered Woolwich ferries were replaced in 1963 by diesel electric vessels fitted with Voith Schneider Propellers which provide thrust in any direction so are widely used by both ferries and tugs. 

I saw the RN's diesel tugs  around Devonport in the 1960s when I think one of the Torpoint chain ferries was still steam powered.

I was a frequent traveller on the old steam ferries in the fifties and sixties. I seem to remember the cranks were a bronze colour. Perhaps thats why none were preserved, too valuable as scrap. Two interesting facts in the film that I was unaware of. The fact that they burnt coke, not surprising with two massive gasworks just down river, and that they were built on the Isle of Wight. I wouldn't want  to make a sea journey on one without checking the weather forecast (they were sent to Holland for scrapping).