Early Risers.

[The Lurker]

The memory is indeed a strange thing. I can remember being pushed in my pushchair past roadworks at the end of the road my parents still live in, when it was not a through road; but by the time I was 18 months old it had been completed. So not quite as far back or as detailed as Rick’s.

 

I also have some distinct false memories; I can clearly remember watching Kevin Moran get sent off in the FA Cup Final while at uni . The trouble is, that was the year before I went!

 

 

[pH]

I got 10/10 on the citizenship test, though having seen the answer to the NI question, and making a pure guess at one other. Does that mean I would be let back in?

[zarniwhoop]

On the subject of memories, in the past few days I've remembered a little (basically, the location, and what I was apparently doing) of a couple of (separate) dreams I've had in the past - one of them I had several times over a period of probably months, but I don't think I've had it for at least two years - and then while trying to get to sleep the other night, something triggered my recollection of it. Before that I did not remember it at all. And for the other, I've now again forgotten what it was about.

[andyram]

Evening all and I hope you are well. The words "teacher appraisal" fills me with dread as it brings back memories from those old days in teaching. It was used by the demon headmaster as a way of forcing me out as part of his money saving drive. These days I am on the other side of the fence, conducting appraisals with the assessors who form part of my team. I always try to keep things supportive and understanding. 

 

The irony is that I also had my appraisal today and thankfully all went well. I needed some good news after yesterday's disasters.

 

On the subject of yesterday, my friend was in touch this morning. I was not sure that would have happened. Admittedly it was to complain about the fact her car would not start and she was stressing about how to get to work. Something is better than nothing. Which is certainly the best phrase for the shop today. A miserable, wet day in Matlock Bath resulted in very few customers, although there were one or two this morning and my parents dropped in for a chat this afternoon. Hopefully there will be better weather and a few more customers tomorrow.

 

Best wishes

 

Andy

[polybear]

6 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Dr. SWMBO was obliged to go through that process.  She described it as irrelevant and demoralising.  She held UK residency previously but that lapsed during our 17 years in Australia.  Much as my right to return to Australia ceases to be automatic after next year though it can be renewed annually as a former resident.  

 

She found it hard learning all the kings and queens, wives of Henry VIII, captains of soccer teams and past politicians.  She found the practice questions in the book challenging and just days before the test was scoring either just above or just below the pass mark.  

 

When she sat the test she was assigned a centre which turned out to be a scruffy little computer shop in the seedier end of Hounslow.  They asked her if she was in the right place twice before even allowing her in; clearly she was not in the demographic they had come to expect in an area where migration is very high and which has long been one of London's boroughs where non-white far outnumber white faces on the streets and in the census results.  She passed with full marks and reported finding the actual test questions easier than those in the practice book.  

 

She then had to attend somewhere in the City of London to have her Right to Remain (which is what they call it now) added to her passport.  Again she was asked whether she was at the right place and again mentioned that she was almost the sole white face among a large number of others.  When she produced her paperwork the official attitude very suddenly changed.  From "Are you in the right place?" to "Dr. xxxxxxxxx; please to come in there's no need to wait with the rest.  Can we get you a cup of tea or coffee?  Please take a seat and our adviser will be with you very soon."  

 

She described that in two contexts.  One - "The power of having Dr." in front of her name and Two - blatant racism favouring her over others when most of the queue was non-white and, as she described, most women were wearing Burka or similar attire.  

 

Makes you think.  Does not necessarily make you proud to be British.  

 

Rather than all the endless silly questions (who really needs to know the names of Henry 8th's SWMBO's FFS - Bear could probably name one [Anne Boleyn?] and maybe guess a couple more if presented with a list of names).

What would be FAR more appropriate would be a written and spoken English Test, with a reading test thrown in - and to a decent level as well; Janet & John doesn't really fall into that category somehow.

Such a test would be of benefit to all concerned - both the applicant and the UK population as a whole.

I'll classify that one as a Rant too.

 

8 minutes ago, pH said:

I got 10/10 on the citizenship test, though having seen the answer to the NI question, and making a pure guess at one other. Does that mean I would be let back in?

 

As a Bona Fide member of ER'ers I'd say your card is pretty much marked - so not a f. chance.

 

Bear here......

Fun & games at the M.E. Group; Bear's fun included turning the end of an 8" long lump of 3.5" x 3.5" steel bar to produce a short piece of 58mm dia. round bar; the general consensus amongst us was that 70rpm was a much better idea than 800rpm - and with the assistance of a revolving centre in the Tailstock thrown in.  Fortunately all played nicely - the metal stayed put in the chuck (always a good thing) and no sight of Poly Blood was seen.  Tick.

As for tomorrow, well I s'pose I'd better do some more fillin' n' sandin'.  Hooray....

Bear gone.

[NGT6 1315]

Cheers all. May I just leave this here before eyelid inspection commences…

 

 

 

They just don’t do music with passion like that anymore nowadays, eh?

 

Nite awl…

[zarniwhoop]

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed

Start again, do it properly!

Yesterday I was in the local JS and wanted to buy some red plonk. Before the b word which may not be spoken in civilized company, I usually bought French or Italian. Nowadays I want something not too strong (I envy those who can drink the water of life regularly, even at good times in my diabetes management it either screws up my blood sugars, and/or gives me a hangover, so I reserve it for special occasions), and preferably with a screw cap (tend to keep better if I spread it out over 4 days). So, with the reduced value of the £, and added overheads for importers, my choice is wider. Unfortunately, red wines from Oz, S. America and indeed mediterranean Europe tend to have more alcohol than I prefer.

 

Anyway, I found something labelled 'Pinot Pinot' (yes, pinot noir) and only 12.5%. And from North Macedonia (glad to support them in some way, pleased they have come to an arrangement about what to call themselves with the Έλληνες). I guess this must be one of the many new trading opportunities (or maybe the only one) opened up by that word I will not speak.🙂

 

But wait, it seems it was imported in bulk (no problem with that, for plonk), but bottled in a place outside this septic isle, this other eden. For sensitive imperialists, I will name that place in a language they are unlikely to understand:  baile átha Cliath

So, not exactly a new trading opportunity :-(

[polybear]

11 minutes ago, andyram said:

Evening all and I hope you are well. The words "teacher appraisal" fills me with dread as it brings back memories from those old days in teaching.

 

The Appraisals at the House of Fun were known as "One to Ones" (that was the Official Term - the more accurate term was "Total Waste of f.space").

Both Bear and Boss/Buddy shared exactly the same opinion of them - which most definitely wouldn't have been approved of by HR.  So how did Boss manage to get Bear even remotely interested enough to show up for said 1-2-1?  Bacon Roll Bribery, that's how.  

[AndyID]

10 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

The USN/USAF guys on exchange with the RAF were amazed that they were expected to take all the leave to which they were entitled. I once spoke to one of the first USN pilots we had telling him that he'd better take some leave as his leave year was coming to an end and he still had two weeks to take. His response was that anyone in the USN who took all his leave entitlement was seen as 'not being a team player' or some such nonsense and stood about as much chance of promotion as a whelk in a supernova. I disabused him of the notion that we took the same view and told him to bu**er off somewhere for a couple of weeks. Shortly before he was due to go back to the States I was talking to his wife at a party and she said that she would really miss the RAF's attitude towards leave.

 

Dave 

 

That's pretty much universal in corporate US too, particularly for anyone in some sort of supervisory position. And even when you are on vacation you are expected to check email etc and be prepared to get right on it if there is any sort of crisis.

 

Being encouraged to take vacation or go on a business trip to a distant location is typically a good indication that your position is about to evaporate.

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Taken Hovis down to Newark to see Mum and take her out for dinner. Sister popped round to Mum’s despite being under the weather and we ended up home rather later than usual.

Hovis was very good in the car, sat in her harness alone on the back seat. I took her for a walk alone(without SWMBO) which worked out better than I would have thought but Hovis certainly likes going outside.

Nothing much else to report but I’d better get some work work done tomorrow, I’m well behind and another month is nearly ended.

Goodnight.

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, pH said:

I got 10/10 on the citizenship test, though having seen the answer to the NI question, and making a pure guess at one other. Does that mean I would be let back in?

 

45 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

As a Bona Fide member of ER'ers I'd say your card is pretty much marked - so not a f. chance.

 

 

 

You can always try for downunda citizenship -  just need to know your Maloo from your Monaro and which end of a snake not to touch. Oh, and theres also a test.

 

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship/test-and-interview/prepare-for-test/practice-test-new 

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Another successful day working in the underfloor storage area. This morning I managed to fit the support beam in place and after fitting wedges at both ends the beams above are now solid as is the beam supporting them. I then gave the flooring a final sweep before cleaning it all with a bucket of soapy water. Once the flooring had dried I made a start on painting the walls, I’d not done very much when it was time to stop for dinner. 

 

After dinner Charlie called round and we spent a very pleasant afternoon in the workshop. He’s now almost finished his figure, whilst I decided to do something a little different, I threaded some rail chairs onto some short lengths of bullhead rail, jeez, what a tedious job that is, I’m not going to make that a habit! 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. A very interesting talk this evening at Seers. It was about the Tay Bridge disaster and the Quintinshill disaster. There was nothing new about the Quintinshill disaster but it was well illustrated and gave me a better understanding of the events surrounding the accident. The Tay Bridge disaster was a different kettle of fish. The speaker put forward the suggestion that it was a fault with the locomotive that precipitated the disaster. Photographs of the locomotive taken after recovery were used to illustrate what might have happened. The leading bogie of the locomotive, a 4-4-0 had an inverted leaf spring on each side with the ends attached to the axles, the axles were also connected by a tie bar each side. On the left hand side it could be clearly seen that the tie bar was broken just ahead of the second axle. This would have caused the locomotive to derail to the right. Damage on the right hand side is commensurate with striking the bridge girders. The locomotive then bounced off of the girders and then hit the girders on the left hand side. The force of the impact made the support columns fail.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

You can always try for downunda citizenship -  just need to know your Maloo from your Monaro and which end of a snake not to touch. Oh, and theres also a test.

 

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship/test-and-interview/prepare-for-test/practice-test-new 

Passed with 95%.

[jjb1970]

Dealing with the home office can be exasperating. I remember Mrs JJB getting her leave to remain and citizenship, it was a lottery as the people seemed to fall into one of two types, extremely helpful and polite, or wilfully awkward with an attitude. Depending on luck of the draw it could either straight forward and painless, or give me an insight into why people snap and go on murderous rampages. 

You do see a different perspective to life if you are connected with someone of a different race or ethnicity. Especially for 'chinese' people there's the whole issue that being ethnically Chinese and being of Chinese nationality are not necessarily the same. There are many millions of 'chinese' people who have as Chinese as ER people and who in most cases have never been to China and with no desire to ever visit. Mrs JJB has never been to China and doesn't speak any of the Chinese languages yet she knows all about the evils of being Chinese after 20 years in the UK and Europe. Especially during the pandemic some people felt emboldened to be very open with their prejudices. It's something that amuses me about Singapore, the number of European, US, Australian etc people who launch of on rants about China and Chinese people and wonder why it isn't well received. Something like 75% of Singaporean people are ethnically chinese, they're not Chinese and certainly aren't stooges for the CPC but they don't usually take kindly to sweeping statements about their ancestral heritage. It amazes me so many don't bother doing any homework at all before travelling. 

[southern42]

‘ night all and nos da.

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, BSW01 said:

 I threaded some rail chairs onto some short lengths of bullhead rail, jeez, what a tedious job that is, I’m not going to make that a habit! 

 

And quite unnecessary. Just because that's the way they build real railways it does not mean we cannot use our own methods if we want to.

 

 

I had this printed not so recently. The shiny bits are where I scraped the paint off the nickel-silver U section cap I stuck on top of the printed rail to make it conductive.

 

This method allows you to make track and turnouts to pretty much any scale/gauge/rail profile/ your heart's desire, for peanuts!

 

Unfortunately that's the way we have always done it 😀

 

 

 

 

[J. S. Bach]

14 hours ago, polybear said:

 ...snip,,,

Bear had a bash at this test:

https://xd.wayin.com/display/container/dc/3c50aee9-b20d-4d3e-8f7e-95f9e94209d8/details

- I got 6/10; the pass mark is 75% apparently.  Looks like I may be off to Rwanda at some point......

(Totally f.pointless questions in the test, such as "What percentage of the UK Population lives in Northern Ireland?")

I got 4/10. Funny, I did get the Northern Ireland answer right! 😺

 

Edit: I took the "test" right after reading Bear's post, before going on to any others.

Edited November 25, 2022 by J. S. Bach
To add some information.

[Ozexpatriate]

13 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear had a bash at this test:

https://xd.wayin.com/display/container/dc/3c50aee9-b20d-4d3e-8f7e-95f9e94209d8/details

- I got 6/10; the pass mark is 75% apparently.  Looks like I may be off to Rwanda at some point......

(Totally f.pointless questions in the test, such as "What percentage of the UK Population lives in Northern Ireland?")

13 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

9 out of 10, got caught out on the same NI question. (Answer is 3% not 5% as I gave.)

12 hours ago, TheQ said:

All but 1 right on the quiz, but most of them are history and that's one of my favourite subjects..

Not being at all British, I thought I'd have a stab at it. I guessed a couple and got 9 out of 10. I missed the date of banning RC service in Scotland by 10 years - the one guess I missed.

 

[Ozexpatriate]

12 hours ago, Tony_S said:

On PBear’s test I got St David’s day wrong and the date when something happened to Catholics in Scotland. 

9 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I managed 9, just the one about Catholics in Jock land got me.  However  as I've already left it shouldn't affect me.

With four answers each separated by only 10 years, that was impossible to guess accurately* - you either knew it or not.

 

* beyond the 25% probability

 

Frankly not really a useful citizenship question I think. A better question in a similar vein of religious freedoms (or otherwise) would have been to ask when the Roman Catholic Relief Act** took place - with a wider range of dates. Going with the inclusive rather than the exclusive part of the timeline reflects the country better I think.

 

** of 1829

 

Edited November 25, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

On the opposite season the emergence of the yellow wattle flowers also spell doom and discomfort for many.

I would expect the wattle pollens to be much worse than the Jacarandas. I never had any such issues growing up.

 

Douglas Fir pollens can be nasty here. Everything turns yellow.

[J. S. Bach]

3 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

You can always try for downunda citizenship -  just need to know your Maloo from your Monaro and which end of a snake not to touch. Oh, and theres also a test.

 

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship/test-and-interview/prepare-for-test/practice-test-new 

Scored 95%, the only one that I missed was the colors of the Aboriginal flag. Note that I took this before proceeding to read any further posts.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Passed with 95%.

I actually missed question 17: Should people in Australia make an effort to learn English?

 

Perhaps I should worry about my passport being renewed? 😉