Early Risers.

[Ian Abel]

BIN day PAH!🤪

Last week, having missed the BIN day as they'd NOT shifted it one day due to the holiday, and they arrived almost at sunrise, so NO CHANCE to get the BINs out once I heard the trucks.

Fast forward to this week - we got over a foot of snow in the 24-hours up to late last evening and had to wait until our "guy" came to plow the drive etc., which we didn't expect to happen until late at night.

Yours truly, needing the facilities around 1:30AM then moved the BINs to their required spot, this was planned, I'd just check if I got up and move them once the driveway was cleared.

GUESS WHAT!!! It's now closing in on 11AM and the BIN trucks have not been heard, even though all the schedules say they will pick up on the regular day i.e. today.

I'm sure its snow/weather related, but last week was pretty much the same/as bad, and the buqqers were here o'crack sparrow!!! <GRRRR>

 

That's MY rant for the day. Otherwise, fairly quiet here, especially given we had a 24-hour+ continuous snow event, so we weren't going ANYWHERE! The Mrs did take a short walk during a break in it yesterday and reported it "looks lovely" out.

 

Pretty much up to our bums in snow as can been seen from these morning shots.

 

-11c first thing and sunny, high expected to reach -1c

 

Tally ho.

 

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, Darlington_Shed said:

a tumbler of claret every evening keeps a person astonishingly regular.

Usually at 2.45am. 
 

Ask me how I know 🍷🤦‍♂️

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. The mattress topper arrived at lunchtime. It comes in its own carrying case, about 1 X 1 metre by 10 cm deep. One side is clear and I was thinking that it would make a great stock carrier with suitable dividers and stiffening were to be added. It is closed by a zip that runs along the entire top and sides. 

[AndyID]

On 04/01/2023 at 00:04, polybear said:

 

First job of the day will be to haggle with Plusnet regarding the next contract price - if it's carp then they can keep it and I'll jump ship; I've spent the last few months changing to an alternative email address so that's no great issue - I'll still ask to keep my old email address as that's now do-able and free, apparently.

 

I twigged long ago that it's best to avoid using any internet provider's email address. They are just traps to make it a pita to switch.

 

I've switched providers many times but I'm still using the same Yahoo email address that I've used for twenty years.

[Ozexpatriate]

9 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

... amusingly note Mrs NHN's Jewish bestie does have Christmas deccies - go figure, I must ask her about it.

7 hours ago, The Lurker said:

Hanukkah? The week coincided with Christmas this year.

It is commonplace for Jewish people in the US suburbs to put up holiday lights - most often in white and blue.

 

There's also the somewhat controversial notion of the Hanukkah bush. I couldn't tell you how common these actually are, as distinct from intentional irony and an 'in-joke'.

 

[Coombe Barton]

... Christmas lights down and boxed. Just hope that I haven’t caught an elf in the box (one called Jack) because if you get an elf in the box one year, then get annoyed so that when you them out the next Christmas you find that they’ve spent their time tangling the lights. ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/01/05/sounds-of-the-season-2022-23-40-more-positively-downwards/

[Ozexpatriate]

Anyone else notice a forum format change and some subtle software changes?

 

My old window size now results in the stuff that used to go at the bottom of the page, (like popular posts etc) now consume a lot of real estate at the right of the window.

 

Narrowing the window banishes them altogether, but the window is now narrower than I prefer for other websites that I use.

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Anyone else notice a forum format change and some subtle software changes?

 

My old window size now results in the stuff that used to go at the bottom of the page, (like popular posts etc) now consume a lot of real estate at the right of the window.

 

Narrowing the window banishes them altogether, but the window is now narrower than I prefer for other websites that I use.

Can't say I have noticed any difference here as yet.  Maybe I'd need to log-out-log-in.  The need to remember pusswords means that for sites where there is no critical security threat such as this one I tend to stay logged in.  Anywhere with financial transactions or personal details beyond a name and email address are always logged out of.  Every time.  Even when the site itself should not be storing my personal details.  Nowhere on the internet has my payment cards on file with my knowledge and consent, for example.  

 

In other news a very curious day at the House of Fun with widespread industrial inaction.  The Green Train Railway stated that no trains would run - and indeed had their parts of the station cordoned off completely - yet at least four did so in a four-hour period.  Three green ones and a red one.  None stopped to serve the "closed" station but were conveying passengers though only a very few.  Our mob ran the "strike service" which is now a far-too-well-rehearsed operation covering just a couple of routes.  No-one has yet explained why this results in some usually very quiet stations receiving double the normal level of service while most of the network is entirely closed.  I learned many moons ago not to look for logic on the railway.  Our trains were much busier than they had been because we picked up a lot of the Green Train Railway's people who had reached Wombletown via tram from Croydon and piled into our trains there for London.  The result was 12-car trains conveying full crush loads the like of which has not seen since before the Wuhan Woohaa struck.  

 

And in other news it has been decided that we shall sell the house in Australia although the time is not yet appointed.  We are awaiting advice on tax liability and the current state of the property market there; the latter seems to have peaked and there's always a slow-down over Christmas and New Year.  We need to give the tenant a month's notice - only a month because at their own request they are on a month-by-month lease having started on yearly.  And we need a reliable person to go in and check it over then arrange for a quick spruce-up for sale without spending a fortune.  It could be a renovator's delight.  

 

1970s-built brick veneer 4-bedroom house, 2 lounge rooms, large central kitchen-diner and two bathrooms on large 5-sided detached outer suburban block, quiet court location, easy reach of award-winning beaches, railway, shops, open bushland and Mornington Peninsula wine region.  40 minutes by feeway* to the city.  4-car port.  Large trees shading property to the front, grass and smaller trees to the rear.  Owner has re-plumbed, reroofed and partially rewired property within past 10 years.  Tentative sale price IRO $650,000.  

 

* That's like a freeway but isn't free to use.  e-tag or account required.  

 

Anyone fancy an escape?  

 

[Winslow Boy]

4 hours ago, Ian Abel said:

BIN day PAH!🤪

Last week, having missed the BIN day as they'd NOT shifted it one day due to the holiday, and they arrived almost at sunrise, so NO CHANCE to get the BINs out once I heard the trucks.

Fast forward to this week - we got over a foot of snow in the 24-hours up to late last evening and had to wait until our "guy" came to plow the drive etc., which we didn't expect to happen until late at night.

Yours truly, needing the facilities around 1:30AM then moved the BINs to their required spot, this was planned, I'd just check if I got up and move them once the driveway was cleared.

GUESS WHAT!!! It's now closing in on 11AM and the BIN trucks have not been heard, even though all the schedules say they will pick up on the regular day i.e. today.

I'm sure its snow/weather related, but last week was pretty much the same/as bad, and the buqqers were here o'crack sparrow!!! <GRRRR>

 

That's MY rant for the day. Otherwise, fairly quiet here, especially given we had a 24-hour+ continuous snow event, so we weren't going ANYWHERE! The Mrs did take a short walk during a break in it yesterday and reported it "looks lovely" out.

 

Pretty much up to our bums in snow as can been seen from these morning shots.

 

-11c first thing and sunny, high expected to reach -1c

 

Tally ho.

 

 

I think there are a few people in France who would give their hind teeth to have some of that.

 

There are a lot of ski resorts that have had to close due to lack of it.

[Dave Hunt]

Jill and I have had four red cars between us - two Fords, one Nissan and a VW - and none has faded. The worst car I ever had for paintwork problems was a silver Ford which turned a patchy dull grey after about eight years.

 

Dave

[figworthy]

10 hours ago, polybear said:

 

As if by magic......

 

 

 

And then there's this :

 

 

Adrian

[BoD]

9 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Bear saved me digging up a photo of the Triumph - in real life it is a lot brighter than the piccie

I’m much brighter than I look in piccies too.

 

Don’t you lot even think about a reply ………

[Ozexpatriate]

On 04/01/2023 at 14:11, Winslow Boy said:

For vehicle colours I've had a red & silver (fiesta), white (another fiesta), red (ditto), dark blue (Clio), red (Clio again), pale green (Laguna), Grey (Magan) and red (ditto).

24 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Jill and I have had four red cars between us - two Fords, one Nissan and a VW - and none has faded. 

Re: Car colours

 

BMW seems to think people might like one that changes colour with the operator's mood:
 

CNN: Watch this color changing BMW in action

 

From CES 2023.

 

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

We have a "bomb cyclone" off the coast. It is hammering California but not making much impact here, other than creating a southerly flow resulting in a balmy temperature of 12°C at 9:00am this morning when I set out for my walk. (I think it was about 4°C at the same time yesterday.)

 

At one point it had Category 3 Hurricane strength winds, but it's not a hurricane since it did not form in tropical waters. Meteorologists made much mention of it lately and I wondered what the definition actually was. (The answer: a cyclone experiencing "bombogenesis" of course!)

 

From some time ago I remembered that it was a rapid intensification of a low pressure system that dropped 24 millibars in 24 hours. Apparently it is more than that. 

 

So apparently the threshold is:

 

sine(latitude) / sine(60°) x 24

 

So at my latitude a drop of 19.6 mbar / 1.96 kPa over 24 hours would be a 'bomb cyclone'. (For what it's worth.)

 

The datum of 60° is based on Stockholm - the definition was determined by a Swedish meteorologist.

[polybear]

4 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

I twigged long ago that it's best to avoid using any internet provider's email address. They are just traps to make it a pita to switch.

 

I've switched providers many times but I'm still using the same Yahoo email address that I've used for twenty years.

 

Bear has pretty much done that now - keeping the old one is purely to see what if anything comes in (very little) and advise the sender (if appropriate) that I have a new one.

 

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Anyone fancy an escape?  

 

 

Complete with en-suite snakes n' spiders?  Nottalot.....🤣

 

25 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Re: Car colours

 

BMW seems to think people might like one that changes colour with the operator's mood:
 

CNN: Watch this color changing BMW in action

 

From CES 2023.

 

 

 

 

 

IIRC Vauxhall did a similar trick maybe 30+ years ago - they had a car at the motor show that was black at one end and white at the other; the colours seamlessly blended from one end to the other.  By all accounts it looked fantastic....until......

....a Journalist asks.....

"How do you colour match it in the event of accident damage?"

Oops.

[AndyID]

15 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

We have a "bomb cyclone" off the coast. It is hammering California but not making much impact here, other than creating a southerly flow resulting in a balmy temperature of 12°C at 9:00am this morning when I set out for my walk. (I think it was about 4°C at the same time yesterday.)

 

At one point it had Category 3 Hurricane strength winds, but it's not a hurricane since it did not form in tropical waters. Meteorologists made much mention of it lately and I wondered what the definition actually was. (The answer: a cyclone experiencing "bombogenesis" of course!)

 

From some time ago I remembered that it was a rapid intensification of a low pressure system that dropped 24 millibars in 24 hours. Apparently it is more than that. 

 

So apparently the threshold is:

 

sine(latitude) / sine(60°) x 24

 

So at my latitude a drop of 19.6 mbar / 1.96 kPa over 24 hours would be a 'bomb cyclone'. (For what it's worth.)

 

The datum of 60° is based on Stockholm - the definition was determined by a Swedish meteorologist.

 

Which only goes to prove that In Hertford, Hereford, and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen.

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

I think there are a few people in France who would give their hind teeth to have some of that.

 

There are a lot of ski resorts that have had to close due to lack of it.

 

No shortage here at the moment. This was yesterday at Lookout Pass. It spans the Idaho/Montana border.

 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I won't be putting the mattress topper on until the weekend when I change the sheets. The problem is where to put it in the meantime. When I was in Tess Coes this afternoon I noticed that they still had venison steaks and they were on special offer, I'm tempted to make a venison casserole.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well today I’ve been to much pottering in the cellar! Little bits of tidying up were done, a second coat of primer was applied to the 1/2 scale signal arm, as I was unable to do this yesterday due to the weather. Just after midday my 2nd parcel arrived and after opening I was able to confirm that all the 3 coaches contained within were exactly what I ordered and in perfect condition, even the boxes were blemish free.

 

After dinner my usual Thursday workshop guest showed up and we spent a pleasant afternoon together, each busy doing our own particular thing. We knocked off early as Charlie wanted to get back as he was phoning a mate for a chat, but before I took him home, he sat and had a chat with his nana, which she enjoyed very much. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[jjb1970]

I got home last night and this had appeared at the end of the street 😳

[BR60103]

Spring thaw has set in.  We are being warned to stay away from the rivers as they will be in flood.

Our bin day was late this week due to New Years.  Some had their bins out on Tuesday. Ours was picked up at 8:59 on Wednesday morning (bin 1), then about 12:30. Our neighbour didn't realise that he'd missed the first one. Historically, the pickup has been close to 11:30.

 

[monkeysarefun]

2 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I got home last night and this had appeared at the end of the street 😳

 

Hey exactly the same thing has happened here but with giant thongs.

[TheQ]

You type in giant thongs in the UK and something frightening might show up.

 

Mooring Awl,

A better night's sleep, of about 6.5 hours. Plus some semi dozing on the sofa.

Ben the alarm clock Collie has tried to get me up for work, he's now asleep back in his pit.

 

Car colours,

Green, Morris 1100

Blue, Anglia van

Green, ford zodiac

White, wolesley 1885

Blue, mini van

Red, triumph 1500 fwd

A strange metallic colour between brown and gold, Chrysler alpine

Red, triumph 2000,

Blue , triumph 2000

Orange, yugo

White, ex ambulance camper,

Red, ford Sierra 

Red, Kia pride

And currently

Blue Kia, rio

Landrover 110 1984, that is red fading to pink, with a white roof, all topped by lichen.

 

Today's plans,

If it ain't raining then move more soil,

Then start cutting the stack of plywood into a kit of parts.

 

Shortly I'll patrol with Ben, before breakfast.

 

Time to... Do nothing..

Edited January 6, 2023 by TheQ