Early Risers.

[jjb1970]

An excellent lunch of naemyong noodles today, splendid. Naemyong are Korean buckwheat noodles, served cold. The noodles are boiled but quenched and the broth is chilled, often with cold boiled beef. It doesn't sound especially appetizing and I must admit the first time I tried it my reaction probably included a naughty expletive but I developed a liking for it. Done well it is excellent, but you need good buckwheat noodles, as with many dishes which are quite simple there's nowhere to hide so if the noodles aren't good the dish will not be good.

[New Haven Neil]

Mrs NHN just arrived back having given up trying to get to work - road blocked with morons who can't drive to the conditions.  I doubt there's an inch of snow. #sigh

[Winslow Boy]

46 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

The Big City,  just now.  Pretty.

 

 

Please Sir can we have some snow!

 

None here. Zip. Narda. We less snow. Snow we not. Lovely clear blue skies. Not. Overcast and snow expected for 2 pm - I do like how the manage to get the weather so precise. Do you think I should complain if it starts fifteen minutes later.

 

That's me done. Off to walk DD on snow free ground.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit chilly this morning, -7C first thing this morning and still -6C. Managed to get five hours sleep last night as the eczema was behaving itself and Arthur Itis is taking a break. Not a lot to do today, might do a bit of shopping this afternoon but will still have to defrost the car first.

[pgcroc]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

The Big City,  just now.  Pretty.

 

Does Manx radio broadcast pictures? 

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

This walkabout malarkey is tiring but good for the body and mind.  Nice food has been eaten, good beer and wine gas been drunk... back to walkabout..

 

Stay safe!

 

Baz

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Grey and dull, there’s no snow here, but there’s quite a bit of frost on the ground, but with the temperature currently at - 5C outside, I think I’ll stay in doors today. So, yet another day of unspecified pottering will take place. 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian

[DaveF]

It's sunny with hardly a cloud in the sky this morning and only -3C.  Most of yesterday's snow is still lying, especially in the shade.   I feel tired, I didn't get to sleep until the early hours.

 

Yesterday's hospital trip to collect things went well, I have read through the documentation about having a colonoscopy and the diet instructions.  I am trying not to think too much about it.  The bags of stuff to empty me have also been checked and the instructions read.

 

The hospital as usual was very quiet, I saw three people go into outpatients, on the walk to my destination I saw five other people, all staff.  When I arrived at the endoscopy unit the waiting room was empty and it took about thirty seconds to pick up my stuff then I was out again.  The hospital is right on the edge of Ashington about 2 minutes from the main road and is very easy to get to by car.

 

After I left the hopsital I decided some fresh air would do me good so I drove a short distance to the country park and parked the car overlooking the lake where I sat for a while having a look at the birds before venturing out for a walk.  I was able to look at the Woodhorn narrow gauge railway which runs from Woodhorn Museum to the lake.  Sadly the railway is currently closed as it has run out of money, it is not part of the museum so all the funds come from tickets and the volunteers.

 

I was back home, via the beach in time for coffee.  Then the rest of the day passed quietly.  I recently changed an e mail password for an account I rarely use which meant that the e mails to that account were no longer collectd by gmail, it took ages to sort out.  I got a few odd jobs done and thought about more things I don't really need which may go to make more space.

 

The evening was the usual Monday quizzes - I could do a few of the questions and then continuing to read the adventures of Poldark.

 

 

Woodhorn Queen Elizabeth 2 country park lake

 

 

Woodhorn Queen Elizabeth 2 country park lake again

 

 

Woodhorn country park footpath

 

Blyth Battery

 

David

 

 

[jjb1970]

This is quite entertaining:

 

https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-international-stateless/2023/01/1f6a7653-ce-delft_co2-emissions-from-private-flights-to-the-world-economic-forum.pdf

 

Ordinarily I'm not a fan of Greenpeace but CE Delft are a pretty decent environmental consultancy and I know one of the two authors (we're old sparring partners at IMO) and he's a bright guy who does a good job based on my experience of his work.

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

What is this thing 'snow'?🤣

 

Funnily, I had a chat with my assistant this morning who is making a trip to Washington DC with me next month. She asked if it will be cold and should she take a coat .... Might be a good idea, good chance of snow and temperature below zero. The poor girl is now suffering some sort of anxiety attack, her life experience being that 20C is the lower limit of what humankind can survive.

We went to a wedding in the Lake District in December 2019.  The bride was from Singapore. She and many of her family were well travelled and used to such things but some of the bridesmaids had never seen such weather conditions before. They didn’t complain about standing outside for loads of photos with snowy scenery but they did move back inside quite quickly as soon as the photographer finished. 

[polybear]

17 minutes ago, DaveF said:

Yesterday's hospital trip to collect things went well, I have read through the documentation about having a colonoscopy and the diet instructions.  I am trying not to think too much about it.  The bags of stuff to empty me have also been checked and the instructions read.

 

 

The "thinking/worrying about it beforehand" is IMHO by far the worst bit; the magic jollop works rather well (I've since learnt that using a straw makes it better to take) and the actual procedure was pretty interesting - I got to watch it live on telly.  All in all, no worries - having a tooth taken out was far worse.

[New Haven Neil]

Mrs H given up with the thought of going to work today - locals are blaming a bus stuck on the hill going south from Laxey, but the bus (she was on) isn't stuck, it is blocked in by cars that skidded on the hill and were then abandoned. Drone photo posted by a local.

 

[pH]

9 minutes ago, polybear said:

(I've since learnt that using a straw makes it better to take) 

 
You mean “very slightly less awful”.

[New Haven Neil]

53 minutes ago, pgcroc said:

Does Manx radio broadcast pictures? 

 

Yes, they're very clever.

 

Or it just may be, they have a website.....with community webcams on.

 

No trains today on the mountain railway.

 

[polybear]

8 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

Mrs H given up with the thought of going to work today - locals are blaming a bus stuck on the hill going south from Laxey, but the bus (she was on) isn't stuck, it is blocked in by cars that skidded on the hill and were then abandoned. Drone photo posted by a local.

 

 

Bear deliberately used to take the country lanes home from work after heavy snow cos' everyone else wouldn't risk it - so they spent hours in traffic jams instead.....

 

5 minutes ago, pH said:

 
You mean “very slightly less awful”.

 

True; I was also told (too late) that I could've mixed it with orange juice to make the taste a bit less toxic.  It seems to get worse the more you drink.

[New Haven Neil]

Meanwhile, somewhere darn sarth in the UK...

 

[Tony_S]

19 minutes ago, polybear said:

True; I was also told (too late) that I could've mixed it with orange juice to make the taste a bit less toxic.  It seems to get worse the more you drink.

Did you have Klean-prep or Moviprep? Don’t think I could cope with sucking the Klean-prep volume through a straw. I have found that sipping it doesn’t suit me either. I have given up on mixing it with other things.  So I drink half a large glass and then have some lemonade to cover up the  taste. At the end of 2021 I had three colonoscopies in three months so was getting quite used to the taste of such preparations. 

[The White Rabbit]

13 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

I am looking into having such an alarm. .... 

 

It can be useful 'insurance'. I know you mentioned a neighbour had a key, if you think it might be a while before moving, a keysafe might be worth thinking about too, to ensure easy access and ensure you're not going to have the front door broken down unnecessarily (giving you another headache at a bad time) by police/firemen should your neighbour be out or on holiday. Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss, I have some experience with keysafes which might help if you did decide to get one.

 

2 hours ago, polybear said:

... These links may be useful:

 

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/assistive-technology/article/telecare-information-for-the-elderly-adCkx1V2ifWh

 

and:

 

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/assistive-technology/article/how-to-buy-the-best-personal-alarm-aiDEp0U1Tdr2  ... 

 

 

Yes. There's a lot of variety and choices. I would second Tony's advice about checking 'future-proofing' [telephone compatibility] and make sure you get any confirmation/reassurance about this or specific features you want in writing. 

 

12 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

Some of pendant ones operate on a tilt meter/ motion principle. So if they suffer a really sudden fall they go off. They also activate if they stay still for a long time.

 

Friend of mums had one which she kept forgetting to turn this off when she put it down and they kept ringing her up. Her son said they started to charge her after so many (three?) false alarms.

 

The first bad fall my mother had after getting a pendant was detected by one of this type. The monitoring people were on the ball and responded very promptly, with people heading to her before (if she'd have been the sort of person to swear) she would have finished with the bad language. 

 

I'd also recommend potential customers check about the settings for any 'immobility time outs', otherwise I'd be concerned that if they sleep soundly and don't move, it could generate a false alarm. 

 

And let the alarm company know if a wearer needs to go into hospital so they can 'suspend' service. It's worth adding this to a 'checklist' of things to do/check for a carer/friend/relative/neighbour/other to work through if there's an emergency admission, especially if it's someone who isn't familiar with your 'domestic circumstances' - no euphemism implied, just we all live differently and it's easy to overlook things in the heat of the moment. Been there (sadly...). 

[jjb1970]

I've just been enjoying a balmy evening on the bedroom balcony, watching the sun go down and became fixated on one of the cats that inhabit the street. They're all house cats (not wild) but nobody owns a cat and they tend to roam and go home when they need something.

 

This was a lovely looking ginger cat, stalking some birds inside some bushes and was in full on hunter killer mode. There is something compelling and oddly beautiful about watching a cat stalking prey, there is an elegance to their movement, something slightly scary about the intensity and way they can display incredible patience as they manoeuvre into position silently. In the end it failed (which I was happy about) as the birds managed to fly off and it appeared out of the bus without a bird but it was quite something to watch its movement.

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Did you have Klean-prep or Moviprep? Don’t think I could cope with sucking the Klean-prep volume through a straw. I have found that sipping it doesn’t suit me either. I have given up on mixing it with other things.  So I drink half a large glass and then have some lemonade to cover up the  taste. At the end of 2021 I had three colonoscopies in three months so was getting quite used to the taste of such preparations. 

 

Bear had Movi-prep; once diluted as per the instructions there was rather a lot to drink over a period of time.  In the end I would down it as fast as possible whilst dreaming of LDC.

 

2 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

 

It can be useful 'insurance'. I know you mentioned a neighbour had a key, if you think it might be a while before moving, a key safe might be worth thinking about too, to ensure easy access and ensure you're not going to have the front door broken down unnecessarily (giving you another headache at a bad time) by police/firemen should your neighbour be out or on holiday. Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss, I have some experience with key safes which might help if you did decide to get one.

 

 

The two things I'd recommend with key safes are:

(a) mount them on something very, very strong - and use rawlbolts and not rawlplugs (a jemmy will soon lever a box off a wall secured with the latter - they can then disappear, open the box and they've got your key).

(b) mount them somewhere hidden - I see far too many that are obvious from the street, which both invites scrotes to have a go at opening them and it also advertises that someone less able is probably in the house.

 

The "Sold Secure" Website lists several that are approved:

https://www.soldsecure.com/approved-product-search?standard_grades=&keyword=&product_types=111

Edited January 17, 2023 by polybear

[The White Rabbit]

30 minutes ago, polybear said:

... The two things I'd recommend with key safes are:

(a) mount them on something very, very strong - and use rawlbolts and not rawlplugs (a jemmy will soon lever a box off a wall secured with the latter - they can then disappear, open the box and they've got your key).

(b) mount them somewhere hidden - I see far too many that are obvious from the street, which both invites scrotes to have a go at opening them and it also advertises that someone less able is probably in the house...

 

Definitely. One consideration is house insurance - keysafes in themselves don't normally invalidate this but you have to meet certain conditions, one of which is securing them to [something very solid] and they recommend other measures, such as concealing them, for obvious reasons. Which can sometimes be tricky in an emergency, as part of the police response is to check the obvious surrounds of the door for such a safe but if you've hidden it or have it some distance away, they could easily miss it. 

 

The supplier I used provided certain bolts and a special tool for installation/removal. The heads were hidden behind a blanking plate within the safe and given the layout it would not have been at all easy to access this. Yes, a scrote could have brute forced it but the degree of force required (with associated noise) would have been more than just making a forcible entry through a door or window anyway. 

[PhilJ W]

Thats one problem I have that there is nowhere on my property suitable for a key safe. The (small) front garden/drive slopes up towards the house and the front of the house has no nooks or crannies to hide a key safe.  

[TheQ]

This has come up on one of my forums,

https://film.iwmcollections.org.uk/record/40623

The Type 85 radar, which was one of the two main radars when I was at work.

Note, the picture of the radar head rotating is a 1/3 scale prototype.

Edited January 17, 2023 by TheQ

[45156]

19 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

 

Yes, just by the Springs Branch near the castle. On a later visit I spilt some jelly on a shirt and that never washed out properly either. After a few visits I stopped going.

 

Me too, but I found that Drake and Macefield produced a pie more suited to my taste - served cold (or warm if desired) and a lot less peppery.  And about 50p cheaper as well - and their sausage rolls - just divine.

 

Afternoon All

 

Not a lot to report - ordered another cubic meter of logs on Sunday - delivery was to be in about one to two weeks, but he's just phoned to ask if he can come now - in fact he's just been and helped us to stack them all - and he's taken our order for next winter - he has some favoured customers who get this special treatment, as well as a slightly better price - about a fiver less.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

Edited January 17, 2023 by 45156

[The White Rabbit]

1 minute ago, 45156 said:

Me too, but I found that Drake and Macefield produced a pie more suited to my taste - served cold (or warm if desired) and a lot less peppery.  And about 50p cheaper as well - and their sausage rolls - just divine.

 

Yes, (IMHO) the best butchers in the area. Also represented in 1:76 scale by a certain local miniature builders' merchant...