Early Risers.

[iL Dottore]

Good Afternoon, One and All,

 

The more I hear about the stinginess of the former employers of many on ER, the more I am reminded of the exuberant generosity of the company I worked for for over two decades. Apart from profit sharing (via an, admittedly byzantine, share acquisition scheme), project related bonuses and "Spot Awards" (goodies handed out for doing something "not really in the job description" to a high standard [awards of £5'000 in cash with a certificate of appreciation were not unknown]. I managed to snaffle a few - one for working on the Y2K task force 😁), we also had departmental Christmas dinners (I think it was something like SFr600/person every two years) and departmental "team building" events in nice locations with all flights (business class) accomodation, food and drink taken care of (one year it was Bermuda, admittedly during the "off season", but still Bermuda). The absence of a Christmas box was not remarked upon (Christmas Boxes seem to be a UK thing: at the company where I started my career, in the UK in the early 80s, we got a decent Christmas Box containing - amongst other things - a ham, a bottle each of Gin, Rum and Whisky, A Christmas Cake, a bottle of port, chocolates, a voucher [for £50, I think] and some other things I don't remember).

 

Currently, as I am my own boss, I'm wondering what sort of Christmas Box I should give to the workforce....

 

Happy Days

[iL Dottore]

Now, returning to @TheQ's retirement for a moment: I'm wondering how many ERs are, as they say, "Sporting Gents" and like an occasional wager?

 

Captain Cynical is running a book on how long it will take before @TheQgets a panic stricken eMail (or other communication) from his former employer URGENTLY asking for @TheQto save their sorry ***** by fixing "X" (whatever "X" may be)

 

The current choices are:

1. Monday, December 19th
2. Before Christmas
3. Just after Christmas
4. January 2nd

 

Minimum wager is £5 payable to Ben "The Tout" Collie (Ben will split the proceeds 50:50 with CC)

 

Currently there is £2573 in the pot....

Edited December 16, 2022 by iL Dottore

[Danemouth]

22 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Currently, as I am my own boss, I'm wondering what sort of Christmas Box I should give to the workforce....

Something that runs on parallel bits of metal 😀

 

Dave

[polybear]

7 hours ago, pH said:

I flew from Toronto to Vancouver today and had a new experience - I was on an aircraft being ground de-iced - twice!

 

A winter storm was forecast to arrive in the Toronto area early in the morning with freezing rain, changing to snow later in the day. In fact, instead of being freezing rain, the early precipitation was ice pellets. When our flight loaded, it was just changing to snow. 
 

We went through de-icing (aircraft hosed with a light brown/orange fluid) and anti-icing (hosed with sticky green fluid) then joined the takeoff line. However, the precipitation mix was apparently still sticking, so our aircraft and the four in front of it in line were sent back for a second treatment. We eventually got off the ground two and a half hours after our scheduled time for leaving the gate.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_deicing_of_aircraft

 

I'd be having serious thoughts about whether or not I really wanted to be on that plane after all......

 

2 hours ago, PeterBB said:

As mentioned earlier no reception where I was last week but inspite of informing the electricity company of that fact repeatedly they did come to try and fit one ... thankfully BiL asked them to use their mobile to contact the company ... no meter fixed but, even now they still keep sending him letters asking him to have a so-called 'smart meter'.  

 

 

Bear's 6 month old smart meter still refuses to communicate with EDF 🤬 - I fed in the latest meter readings to their website yesterday; I also discovered yesterday that cos' their Smart (not) Meter is a pile of Poo I'll only get Bills twice a year now, when they decide if my Direct Debit is still appropriate.  So now if I want to know how much I'm spending each month I have no choice but to read the meters myself then do the sums.  T0ssers.  Yes, most definitely a rant.  My DD may also be far too high and they're sitting on a bluddy great credit that I don't know about.  Yep, Rant No. 2.

I think I'll look at jumping ship, if only to get Bills at sensible intervals.

 

Bear here.....

The Met Office is claiming it'll be -7C at Bear Towers at 6pm tonight. 🥶

This morning's fun has consisted of cutting out the old landing spindles - too late now.....

 

Somehow I've gotta make this lot look smart:

 

From this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

Banister Rail underside:

 

 

Discovering that both the Banister Rail and Base rail are morticed was a surprise - it's just a shame that the spindles weren't actually long enough to engage with the mortice slots at the top.

Much looking at websites has been carried out to see what my options are - Timber Spindles? Metal?  Glass?  Big problems with sizes, lenths, width etc. make the whole issue more than a bit complicated - timber spindles now start at 32mm upwards, so won't fit the 22mm slot in the Banister Rail (I can get 22x22mm Oak Timber - but I'd hoped for something a little more decorative without having to faff about too much).  I could use 32mm spindles and narrow the top to fit the slot, but a Base Rail to suit the 32mm spindles is too wide to fit on top of the existing base rail (it'd hang over the edge).  Metal spindles are available - I quite like some of the chrome or stainless ones available and they would be easy to fit.....if only they were long enough.....

This morning I looked at glass panels (several, with gaps in between and secured with Stainless Steel clamp brackets).  The cost isn't too scary after all; I'd need to fit a timber batten top & bottom to hide the mortice holes but that's no problem.  So that's favourite idea no. 1 at the moment, but this could yet change.  I don't need to decide for a while yet.

 

Oh bvggeritt - I've just realised that now I've removed the spindles I've nothing to strap the ladder to.  Turdycurses.

Right, din dins time then splurge PS on the baserail and underside of the banister rail.

Bear gone.

 

 

[pH]

7 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

I'd be having serious thoughts about whether or not I really wanted to be on that plane after all......

 

In that case, I would advise that you don’t fly from airports in a huge area of North America during winter months. De-icing operations are standard at many airports and their organization can be complex. Here’s video of the operation at Toronto taken (I think) in 2020:

 

North American commercial aviation would just have to shut down without operations like this.

[polybear]

37 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Good Afternoon, One and All,

 

The more I hear about the stinginess of the former employers of many on ER, the more I am reminded of the exuberant generosity of the company I worked for for over two decades. Apart from profit sharing (via an, admittedly byzantine, share acquisition scheme), project related bonuses and "Spot Awards" (goodies handed out for doing something "not really in the job description" to a high standard [awards of £5'000 in cash with a certificate of appreciation were not unknown]. I managed to snaffle a few - one for working on the Y2K task force 😁), we also had departmental Christmas dinners (I think it was something like SFr600/person every two years) and departmental "team building" events in nice locations with all flights (business class) accomodation, food and drink taken care of (one year it was Bermuda, admittedly during the "off season", but still Bermuda). The absence of a Christmas box was not remarked upon (Christmas Boxes seem to be a UK thing: at the company where I started my career, in the UK in the early 80s, we got a decent Christmas Box containing - amongst other things - a ham, a bottle each of Gin, Rum and Whisky, A Christmas Cake, a bottle of port, chocolates, a voucher [for £50, I think] and some other things I don't remember).

 

Currently, as I am my own boss, I'm wondering what sort of Christmas Box I should give to the workforce....

 

Happy Days

 

Those graded at "Level 5" and above at the Great Empire get a very nice bonus every year (IIRC in the region of £10K upwards - and it's almost unheard of for anyone not to get the bonus); the chances of an Engineering-Type being promoted to Level 5 nowadays are more than slim - you'd need to be Barnes-Wallis Mk.2 or play Golf with the Boss and buy the drinks afterwards in order for that to happen**

So who gets a Level 5?  Project Managers for starters.....

Bear's most excellent Boss - who could run rings round pretty much everyone in the Office on a Technical Level - never got his Level 5.  F. Criminal; his Boss was on record (several times, in fact) that "If you didn't have a Degree then you shouldn't be a Manager".  T0sser.

(**A certain Bear used that description to a Company Director when invited to a small Lunchtime meeting [= free Buffet.....].  He didn't like it much - he liked it even less when other long-serving employees at the same meeting agreed with me).

 

30 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Now, returning to @TheQ's retirement for a moment: I'm wondering how many ERs are, as they say, "Sporting Gents" and like an occasional wager?

 

Captain Cynical is running a book on how long it will take before @TheQgets a panic stricken eMail (or other communication) from his former employer URGENTLY asking for @TheQto save their sorry ***** by fixing "X" (whatever "X" may be)

 

The current choices are:

1. Monday, December 19th
2. Before Christmas
3. Just after Christmas
4. January 2nd

 

Minimum wager is £5 payable to Ben "The Tout" Collie (Ben will split the proceeds 50:50 with CC)

 

Currently there is £2573 in the pot....

 

Now are we talking "actually fixing", or advising someone else how to fix?

[iL Dottore]

10 minutes ago, polybear said:

…Now are we talking "actually fixing", or advising someone else how to fix?

Does it matter?
 

p.s. we now have £3’000 in the pot…

Edited December 16, 2022 by iL Dottore

[polybear]

18 minutes ago, pH said:

In that case, I would advise that you don’t fly from airports in a huge area of North America during winter months. De-icing operations are standard at many airports and their organization can be complex. Here’s video of the operation at Toronto taken (I think) in 2020:

 

North American commercial aviation would just have to shut down without operations like this.

 

I've no problem with de-icing (standard practice for decades); it's the fact that several aircraft had to go back so the Pilot can shout "Oi, Bert - do it again. Properly this time....."  😀 

[polybear]

32 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Does it matter?
 

p.s. we now have £3’000 in the pot…

 

Option 3 methinks; they'll try and avoid 1 & 2 cos' the Boss will be saying to the Apprentice "You're the Man now - FIX IT!!"

Why 3? Well the Apprentice has been off over Crimbo and forgotten everything that @TheQ has taught him.....

 

p.s. I've sent the cheque direct to Ben - don't want any cross-border fees or exchange rate losses, now do we?  I've leave it to CC to get his wedge direct from Ben.  Good luck with that one.

[southern42]

' afternoon all from red dragon land.

Getting warmer: 2.2C AND sunny! Signs of snowcumhailcumfrostcumice meltdown.

 

Congrats @The Q on your retirement. Have a good un!

 

Interesting day, yesterday. Sis wotsappd me asking for some help with a problem due to the freezing weather. Ongoing all day and into the evening while I was trying to catch up on jobs, especially wrapping of presents. A lot of my messages were to reassure her. I did have to pass my phone to Ray in the afternoon when I had an online meet-with-friends chat. Though, by the time I was able to join them, my body was shutting down and my head was pretty brain dead but it was nice to be able to just sit and listen and enjoy the conversations, chipping in occasionally.

 

Wrapping up of presents resumed after watching Judge John Deed on last night's tv. By bedtime, all were parcelled up ready for Ray to drop off at the Courier* collection point this morning. One family sorted. Parcelled up another this morning.  Hopefully, we will be able to deliver the others in person which will remove the haste in getting them done.  I have gone a bit OTT in wrapping them up this year - I bought a 10m reel of 1cm white ribbon to tie them up and some really nice tropical leaf and flower wrapping paper - some (more traditional) green Christmas tree design paper is standing in reserve in case I run out. Gift tags are homemade on the MacBook, printed off, cut out and folded. I do while I can. There have been so many Christmases when I have not been in top form but I must not be too bad, this year, as I found myself making the most of it. Still got a long way to go though.

 

* With the problems with postal strikes, this seemed the better option.

 

Time to get ready for the click and collect groceries. Yes, it IS Friday and NOT Thursday! A temporary shift to accommodate the next two week's C&Cs.

 

Keep warm / stay cool. Be good. Go for it!

Polly

Edited December 16, 2022 by southern42

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

I'd be having serious thoughts about whether or not I really wanted to be on that plane after all......

At Calgary (flying toGatwick) we were de-iced three times. The second was due to a delay at the gate. We were then taken to some other place for de-icing. It was so windy it wasn’t successful so we had to go back to the gate area.  After that the pilot said the take off protocol after such an event requires a full power takeoff. That was really quite exciting. 

[Winslow Boy]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Those graded at "Level 5" and above at the Great Empire get a very nice bonus every year (IIRC in the region of £10K upwards - and it's almost unheard of for anyone not to get the bonus); the chances of an Engineering-Type being promoted to Level 5 nowadays are more than slim - you'd need to be Barnes-Wallis Mk.2 or play Golf with the Boss and buy the drinks afterwards in order for that to happen**

So who gets a Level 5?  Project Managers for starters.....

Bear's most excellent Boss - who could run rings round pretty much everyone in the Office on a Technical Level - never got his Level 5.  F. Criminal; his Boss was on record (several times, in fact) that "If you didn't have a Degree then you shouldn't be a Manager".  T0sser.

(**A certain Bear used that description to a Company Director when invited to a small Lunchtime meeting [= free Buffet.....].  He didn't like it much - he liked it even less when other long-serving employees at the same meeting agreed with me).

 

 

Now are we talking "actually fixing", or advising someone else how to fix?

 

So Bear how long did it take them to approve your early retirement application? Eighteen days you say. I would have thought 18 minutes would have been too long to be honest. Was someone on the phone when it came in.

[Erichill16]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

This morning's fun has consisted of cutting out the old landing spindles - too late now.....

 

 

 

 

If  you wanted spindles removing you should have let me know. While at university an acquaintances rented property  and transformed it from a ‘decent’ student house into some thing like The Young Ones residence. No spindles left, all been kick out. The rest of the house wasnt much better. 

[PhilJ W]

4 hours ago, BoD said:

Morning all

 

Relatively mild here but still not mild enough to melt the lying snow and the car will need ‘sorting’ before we go anywhere.  Where I live we have a large storage heater. It’s called the North Sea*.  Winter temperatures are always a degree or two warmer here than even a mile or so inland.  We can have no snow but there will be a good covering there to. It works against us though when the wind switches to the north and east.  We can get the hammer then.

 

 

* That’s probably true of the whole county, Maritime Temperate climate and all that, but we notice the effect quite markedly on the coast.  

When I lived in Burnham-on-Crouch it was always warmer in the winter and cooler in th summer than only a couple of miles inland.

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Currently, as I am my own boss, I'm wondering what sort of Christmas Box I should give to the workforce....

 

Happy Days

A liquid one (alcoholic).

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

I could use 32mm spindles and narrow the top to fit the slot,

Is there a reason why the mortises can’t be made bigger to 32 mm. 32mm chisel and a mallet, whack, whack, done? I did pass O level woodwork. I suspect the teacher was quite surprised though. 

[Tony_S]

10 hours ago, pH said:

went through de-icing (aircraft hosed with a light brown/orange fluid) and anti-icing (hosed with sticky green fluid) then joined the takeoff line.

In the departure we had at Calgary I noticed the orange and green sprays but didn’t think to enquire about what each one was. I did wonder if it was an Irish holiday. 
The gate delay was caused because the ground crew couldn’t get the luggage access open as it was frozen. They were trying to remove the bags of some people who hadn’t boarded. They passengers then turned up and were only allowed to board as it was quicker than trying to retrieve their bags. As they disappeared into business class, the captain announced in English and French what had happened and mentioned that the passengers had got lost in between check in and security. This did cause much amusement on board as at that time at Calgary they were right next to each other. 

[monkeysarefun]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Captain Cynical is running a book on how long it will take before @TheQgets a panic stricken eMail (or other communication) from his former employer URGENTLY asking for @TheQto save their sorry ***** by fixing "X" (whatever "X" may be)

 

The current choices are:

1. Monday, December 19th
2. Before Christmas
3. Just after Christmas
4. January 2nd

 

Minimum wager is £5 payable to Ben "The Tout" Collie (Ben will split the proceeds 50:50 with CC)

 

Currently there is £2573 in the pot....

 

Captain thingy seems to be losing his gloss,  mate!

I thought he'd have been all over the NFT lurk ages ago, but he's been shown up by the Donald - who's even infiltrated  my RMWeb advertising....

 

 

 

Must Try Harder!

Edited December 16, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[Tony_S]

47 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Captain thingy seems to be losing his gloss,  mate!

I thought he'd have been all over the NFT lurk ages ago, but he's been shown up by the Donald - who's even infiltrated  my RMWeb advertising....

 

 

 

Must Try Harder!

I am surprised those cards weren’t issued as a new Top Trumps Card series. 

Edited December 16, 2022 by Tony_S

[Tony_S]

The Sim socket in my car has failed again. I won’t be bothering to get it seen to yet, I will get it looked at after Christmas. In the meantime I have put the sim in a surplus mobile phone and set it up as a mobile hotspot. The car seems quite happy running off that. It actually boots up the traffic info quicker than the built in system. 

[Dave Hunt]

18 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Tele-communications have obviously changed since I was there in the 80's - back then if you wanted to make a non-local  call you had to go the the telephone exchange in St George, speak to an operator through a window grill, then wait outside  for a few minutes while they connected it and then a loudspeaker would announce when your call was ready and tell you  which numbered phone in the bank of wall-mounted phones it was on....

 

When we lived in Singapore we made a call to our folks in UK on Christmas Day 1969. We had to book it two weeks in advance for a particular time slot that lasted fifteen minutes.

 

You're right - telecommunications have changed out of all recognition!

 

Dave 

[The Lurker]

Before we moved to Singapore in 1974, we didn't have a phone at home. But in Singapore we did. My Mum could not understand why my best pal and I had to have a phonecall about an hour after school each day!

 

When we moved back to our house in England, the tenants had had a phoneline installed. And that, I suppose, is why my parents have a home phone now - they are still in that house!

[PhilJ W]

B******s

https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/two-foxes-killed-another-seriously-7939341?IYA-reg=bb90737e-d6c0-449b-a4c2-694f121acce4

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I needed  to do a little eyelid inspection this afternoon but when I went to get off of the bed Arthur Itis jumped in. Nurofen has been deployed and is taking effect. Temperature according to the thingy at the bottom of the screen is now -1C, definitely a night to stay indoors. 

[PhilJ W]

I thought sheep flocking was illegal.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175533434705

[Gwiwer]

10 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

Not at all. It's well known that Décembre 15 is "Manger le Chat"

 

So long as it is “manger le chat”. Never be tempted, in polite company, to refer to a female cat in French using the feminine gender 🤣