Early Risers.

[Sidecar Racer]

14 hours ago, BoD said:

I have on (rare) occasions tried to think about the immensity of the universe and time and even what was before and is after that. 

 

 

 My way is to imagine that you are in a large empty building ,empty factory size ,

the air has dust floating in it , we are just one of  those specks of dust .

[PupCam]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

In other news.....

Very weird Beary dream last night - the Bearmobile was getting serviced; the garage was totally underground and the B.M was a Black Ford Capri (never had - nor wanted - one of those, and definitely not a black one).  When I got the car back (and whilst still in the garage) I lifted the bonnet to make sure all looked ok, only to discover the entire engine bay was full of water (the engine was submerged) right up to the top of the inner wings......I pointed this out to the main main who promptly shouted "quick, turn it off - you'll ruin the speakers....".  

 

I'll have what he's having ......

 

Night Awl!

 

Alan

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well it didn’t get warm on the way to the butchers this morning, instead the skies darkened and it started raining. Luckily I was almost home by then. Anyway, a pork pie was procured for dinner and very nice it was too. My trip to the Trafford Centre was uneventful and no magazines were purchased. By the time I’d got back from the Trafford Centre, the missing package had finally been delivered. When I placed the order early last week, we had an email from the supplier, thanking us for our custom and would we leave feedback on his social media site. Well, neither Sheila nor I DO social media, so that’ll be a no. However, if we did, I don’t think he’d like what we would have to say anyway. Just prior to that packages arrival, my latest MERG package arrive, so after dinner, I went down to the office and printed out the building instructions for my latest purchases. Once that was done, we then sat and watched last nights ‘Question Time’. As always, this program was very entertaining to say the least, but I’ll say no more as it would stray too close to politics. 

 

Rick, good luck with your walk tomorrow. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[J. S. Bach]

51 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 My way is to imagine that you are in a large empty building ,empty factory size ,

the air has dust floating in it , we are just one of  those specks of dust .

No, we are just a molecule riding that speck of dust.

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Another week over.

 

spoke to mum this evening and she sounding a bit rough which is to be expected as she’s got covid. It’s a bit worrying  as she’s in her 80’s, suffers with her breathing and is on steroids. Fortunately my sister lives close by (relatively speaking) but she’s also got the ruddy virus.

Ive been threatening to get some pieces of metal out of the shed which are held 45mm  apart by pieces plastic. Perhaps this might happen over the weekend, black dog permitting.
Been for physio today on my arm and now treatment is aimed at restoring strength..

Goodnight,

Robert

[J. S. Bach]

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

I saw the first combine of the season myself this afternoon on the school run 

Speaking of combines, I followed this for a while in Texas:

 

[figworthy]

6 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

What a hoopy frood. 
 

I have argued, since first reading HHGTTG, that the Answer to Life, The Universe and Everything is in fact not the well-quoted 42 but 54. 
 

Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect pull letters from the Scrabble bag and spell - to Ford’s surprise - “What do you get if you multiply six by nine”. 
 

At which point it is revealed that Planet Earth has been a giant computer program all along and that Deep Thought has been misprogramnmed therefore arriving at the incorrect answer of 42. 

 

 

If you are using base 13, then 6 * 9 is 42.

 

Adrian

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[monkeysarefun]

42 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

It's 10 in the morning you naughty stop-out!

Edited July 16, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

My air conditioning seems to be described as climate control. I just set it to what seems appropriate.

3 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Same on my Volvo with climate control. I usually set it to auto and let it run.

My almost 20 year old vehicle also has climate control. It is very effective. I don't notice any performance difference irrespective of whether the air conditioning is on. I rarely do anything to it - other than switch it to the demist option during the rainy season. I use a constant temperature setting year round, though I do turn it up a bit if I've been driving for a long time - the interior starts getting cold.

 

[BR60103]

In Three Men on the Bummel, there s a delightful segment where he distinguishes between bicycles for riding and those for overhauling.  He claims that once a bike has been overhauled, it can not be ridden again.

But the overhauler can do his bit inside, what ever the weather is.

 

[chrisf]

Mission Impossible today - a visit to town in search of a new pair of jeans.  Ideally they will look good as well as fit properly.  Since when was this an ideal world?

 

Chris

[TheQ]

I think I've only had about two pairs of jeans in my life, trousers for wearing around have always been down graded smart or work trousers or before that down graded school trousers.. Though these days in this garden,  overalls are worn to protect myself from nettles, brambles and insects. Light weight summer overalls today.. Since in 6 months or so the need for work trousers will cease and smart occasions are already kilted. The situation will have to be reassessed.

 

Mooring Awl,

5 hours sleep, then a couple of hours of intermittent dozing..

Ben the I want out Collie, took me on patrol, a light dew this morning, very sunny out there, he had a snuffle around but not that enthusiastically.

 

Even without the blade, combine harvesters drive along our road with the tyres on both sides running onto the verges. No tractors with trailers of grain so far this morning, that means they've either broken the combine, or are carting the grain out of the area in the opposite direction.

 

Spring tides today, a forecast of 31C and not a lot of wind tomorrow. Added to that low tide is just after the first race tomorrow, so the afternoon races will be during the least wind and maximum tide.. it could be a struggle to get back to the club on the return legs of the races.

With the sun forecast tomorrow, I've already decided it will be a long sleeved shirt, actually an ex Saudi uniform very very light khaki shirt and straw hat. Except for my sailing trainers, the overall appearance will be very 1930s, though I don't have a linen jacket, and the blazer will be left at home..

 

I think it's,

Time for breakfast .

 

 

Edited July 16, 2022 by TheQ

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Good luck with the walk @Gwiwer.

 

Blue skies with the odd wispy cloud here today. Could be warm umpiring this afternoon.. I had a discussion with some of the umpires organisers in my league yesterday suggesting we start games earlier than 1 pm when it's hot.. (9am was my suggestion).. that went down like a wet balloon...pah!

 

I do have jeans but most of my day trousers are Craghoppers ones. They have an "Outlet" store next to the casvegas exit of the M62. Comfy with loads of pockets.

 

Time to..drink me tea then kick Saturday into operation.

 

Stay safe!

 

Baz

Edited July 16, 2022 by Barry O

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Sunny here and  no surprise really that it will be another very warm day.

I cannot stand too much heat so if it's hot in the car I use the air-con all the time and I'm not bothered about the extra fuel consumption.   I've got a couple of long trips next week and it will be used for the duration  .My comfort whilst driving is far more important than saving a few extra quid.

Been up since 06.00 to make sure that I don't miss the first rugby match of the day like I did last week.  There are 4 to watch throughout the day so I may be a tad occupied.

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

[Barry O]

19 hours ago, PupCam said:

 

I always understood a common cause to be lack of Potassium.      Time to scoff a banana?

I find a quick glug of diet Indian Tonic water helps to calm cramp down.

 

Baz

Edited July 16, 2022 by Barry O
spulchkr

[Gwiwer]

Making my way to the start at Windsor Racecourse 

 

 

[jamie92208]

 

17 hours ago, polybear said:

 

The recommendation is to use aircon once a week or so as it keeps the seals in good nick - which is kinda handy cos' they keep the gas in.  Some systems (the latest ones?) use a certain flavour of gas that can make your eyeballs bleed when you get a refill bill apparently.

In my 18 yr old Volvo I keep thecaircon on and still get over 51 mpg with a 2.5 l diesel lump under the bonnet.

13 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

What a hoopy frood. 
 

I have argued, since first reading HHGTTG, that the Answer to Life, The Universe and Everything is in fact not the well-quoted 42 but 54. 
 

Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect pull letters from the Scrabble bag and spell - to Ford’s surprise - “What do you get if you multiply six by nine”. 
 

At which point it is revealed that Planet Earth has been a giant computer program all along and that Deep Thought has been misprogramnmed therefore arriving at the incorrect answer of 42. 
 

Alas it is now far too late to discuss this question over Pan-galactic Gargle-blasters with the late Douglas Adams. Unless a wily editor of HHGTTG can send us back through a temporal warp and allow us to spend the evening dining at Milliways. 
 

You've all gotbit wrong.  The answer iscof course 27.  That's the dimension in inches that a layput crate must have to get through a single width doorway.  

8 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

I saw the first combine of the season myself this afternoon on the school run 

Our combines are back in the shed mostly here with the wheat, barley and rape harvested. The straw has mostly been baled and carted. The next harvest will probably becthe sunflowers but thet are still looking nice in yellow.  We never see combines before noon as they wait for the dew to be burned off to get a better price at the silo.  As the strawciscin many of the fields are being harrowed now.

 

Anyway good moaning from The Charente.  It was slightly cooler yesterday but is due to be warm again today.  42cis forecast for Monday.  

 

I picked my mate Andy up and we went to a MR group meeting then as we were passing Poitiers stopped for a few hours trainspotting from the multi storey car park.a very good time was had.

 

Now it's time to talk to the girls and then muck the hens out.

 

Jamie

 

 

 

 

[BoD]

43 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Blue skies with the odd wispy cloud here today. Could be warm umpiring this afternoon.. I had a discussion with some of the umpiresorganisers in my league testerday suggesting we start games earlier than 1 pm when it's hot.. (9am was my suggestion).. that went down like a wet balloon...pah!

A few years ago local leagues were reorganised with one league suggesting day long games rather than just Saturday afternoons.  There was a general hoo-haa and upheaval because many players said they were only allowed out to play on an afternoon if they completed various domestic tasks on the morning.

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2022 by BoD

[iL Dottore]

23 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Bear recalls mention of a Mercury Chemo that was "pretty nasty" - has Bear got this right?

 

Mercury has been used in the treatment of cancer – although the one reference I found after a quick search dates back to 1898! Mercury is a heavy metal (and no, @Erichill16, I don’t mean the sort of music you consider a bit namby-pamby 🤣) and has used throughout history to treat a multitude of diseases. Probably it is best known in the UK for being a treatment for syphilis (historically).

 

Like other heavy metals, mercury will certainly kill cancer cells – but that’s because it kills cells - full stop. So even if it is efficacious in treating a disease the associated toxicity is so considerable that you would be trading a short-term gain (If indeed there is any benefit) for long term health problems. There is no cure for mercury poisoning and the WHO has listed Mercury as one of the 10 chemicals of major public health concern. Incidentally, many homeopathic remedies (and not just for cancer) and many so-called “alternative” medicines contain not inconsiderable amount of Mercury (and other heavy metals) and are thus best avoided (The FDA has, on numerous occasions in the past, seized shipments of alternative medicines because analysis had shown how toxic they really were).

What you may be thinking of, my dear Bear, are the platinum based chemotherapeutics. They are a very important weapon in the treatment of cancer and since their introduction they have been refined to increase efficacy and decrease toxicity. The first generation Platinum-based chemotherapeutics had a very narrow therapeutic window. For example: one of the first of them, Cisplatin, would fry your kidneys  given half the chance. But nowadays not only do we know an awful lot more about how the platinum-based drugs work, but we also have much more sophisticated methods of administration and of monitoring.

 

Given that until recently and the immense advances in cell biology and the resultant impact on pharmaceutical development, cancer was more often than not a death sentence. People would try anything – either as patients or as clinicians. The following is an interesting read: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK547260/

 

(sorry to drone on a bit, but cancer treatment is not only my area of professional interest but I also find it fascinating in it’s own right)

Edited July 16, 2022 by iL Dottore
Bloody iPad autocorrect

[iL Dottore]

18 hours ago, chrisf said:

You are not alone in your suffering.  When I am afflicted I have to grimace and bear it because my then GP told me that there was no remedy, or was it that she did not know the cause?  Probably both.  I wonder what happened to her?  The last time I had them was in both legs at 2.15 am - must be a couple of weeks ago now.   My reaction tends to be "Oh ****, not again".

 

Chris

I think that your GP was fobbing you off. Even a rudimentary search of the Internet (okay, I know what I am looking for) will turn up information about nocturnal leg cramps written in an accessible way for laypeople. Like this example: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/14170-leg-cramps 

 

Not only does it suggest a number of possible reasons for the cramps (and I know, Chris, there are one or two things there that are relevant to you) but it also gives some very helpful advice about how to manage and how to prevent leg cramps yourself.

[iL Dottore]

10 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Very weird Beary dream last night - the Bearmobile was getting serviced; the garage was totally underground and the B.M was a Black Ford Capri (never had - nor wanted - one of those, and definitely not a black one).  When I got the car back (and whilst still in the garage) I lifted the bonnet to make sure all looked ok, only to discover the entire engine bay was full of water (the engine was submerged) right up to the top of the inner wings......I pointed this out to the main main who promptly shouted "quick, turn it off - you'll ruin the speakers....".  

How many times do I have to tell you?

Leave the mind altering drugs to the grown-ups that can handle them!

[iL Dottore]

15 hours ago, polybear said:

iD will be stunned to hear the Bear has too - with not a chip nor Pizza in sight.  For din dins it was Penne All'Amatriciana (a personal favourite of mine) - though the recipe came out of one of Momma Bear's magazines many, many moons ago (with Beary adjustments thrown in for good measure) so is not perhaps strictly  authentic.  Tasted bluddy good to this Bear though.  And now I have Rhubarb Crumble on the go - I even grewed me own Rhubarb too - no tinned/shop bought cheating in sight.  The custard may be coming out of a tin though.

As the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”

The Bear may not be Masterchef material, but Ready Steady Cook I believe is within reach!