Early Risers.

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a still chilly Charente.  We still have snow lying around, which the locals say is very unusual. Variousctasks got done yesterday but due to thick mist and black ice my trainspotting got cancelled.  .however one bonus was that our local contractor was working nearby.  He bobbed up with his telehandler and moved a water butt from one corner of the garden to another.  That saved me a pain of a job.  

 

This morning we will, as usual or comme d'habitude' be talking to the girls.  Then some logs need sawing up.

 

Ttfn 

Jamie

Edited January 21, 2023 by jamie92208

[Grizz]

Morning All

 

Not a great nights sleep last night. However I had a good day yesterday.

Mostly I spent it in my muddle r**lway loft putting up a new stock storage shelf and installing new lighting…
 

At this point I have a confession fellow ERs….

Here goes….

 

My name is Grizz and I have been using ‘Light Bulbs’. There I’ve said it. I have been a regular user over the last 20 years, but recently I realised that I could no longer continue with this dirty habit, as part from anything else, it is very expensive.
 

Further I want to confess that I regularly used ‘Light Bulbs’ every time in went up to the muddle loft, using 6 x 60 watt and worserer even than that…

4 x 100 watt light bulbs…..          I know, I know….I am a bad man…a morally bankrupt individual.

However as of 18:37 last night I am now clean. I have now stopped using. 
 

To help break my habit, so far, I have install 5 x Samsung V-TAC 600mm 6400k, 20 watt led batten units. (Other led lights are available). 
Wow, what a difference it made. I no longer need to wear my reading glasses to see locos numbers on the layout. I quite possibly need sun glasses as it is now so bright. It really has made a huge difference. I plan to install two more units. These can now be switched on and off in groups of two, depending on where I am in the loft. 
 

There…I feel better now. Quite smug actually.  And at least the electric meter no long resembles a ‘Catherine Wheel’ every time that I go to ‘that room at the top of the castle’. Doubt that I’ll ever manage get off of Gretta’s hit list as we still use our wood burner, oil fired central heating and drive diesel vehicles. But I might only get life with no hope of parole when she takes over. 
 

Have a great day all.

 

ATB Grizz

 

 

 

[polybear]

Bear here.....

Ahh, the delights of doing the washing.  Deep joy.  Once that lot is on the go it'll be MIUABGAD; one job still to do as a part of the Great H/S/L refurb is to take a shuftie at the floorboards on the landing - some are in less than ideal condition after being grollied up by some Neanderthal Leccy some 30-odd years ago when the Council rewired the house, whilst others weren't screwed** down again after I'd lifted them to gain access as a part of the Great Kitchen refurb.  I need to see what needs doing - which are ok and which need replacing; it's slightly more awkward cos' the existing boards are 1920's imperial and new timber will be in metric measurements.

So that's a job for today.  Possibly.

 

(** Whenever I lift a board I always screw it down again afterwards, rather than nail it)

 

In other news:

 

One for Chimpy @monkeysarefun:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-64353334

 

And Tw@t of the Week goes to:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/driver-ignores-ice-completely-to-go-at-128mph-on-dual-carriageway/ar-AA16zJ3x?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=6bb10ffdc396461f86a610dee114f957

 

- there's a pretty good video of a separate incident in the same article where another Tw@t spins out and nearly causes a pile up.

 

Bear gone.

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl 

3.5 hours sleep, 2.5 hours sleep, 1 hours sleep, 1 hours sleep. A good total..

 

Frosty outside, but the Landrover last used at 22:00 wasn't iced up, the car not moved in several days is.

 

Ben the I want to play Collie found a ball he'd left out there before, so we just had a short game of kick the ball...

 

I put up led battens in the workshop, cheap ones from the house of strong ladies and was impressed. A couple of other working areas have since received them, and there is another pack of four ready to be installed. If I get round to working in the big shed for parallel bits of metal it and the loom shed they will be so fitted.

 

Plans for today,

Work on the boat, light winds and no rain forecast means I can take the covers off and put up the mast.

This is so I can measure the bottom of the jib, and hopefully do a trial haul up of the new main sail.

 

Time first for breaky and a muggacoffee.

 

 

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Frosty here but mainly blue sky and there is a glimmer of sunshine low in the East.  It should be a dry and fine chilly day with nottalot of cloud.  -1°C now, might reach 5°C.

Really feel for those people who are either not tech savvy or don't want the latest devices.  The Boss falls into the category of both and doesn't really do computers or smart phones.  She has got an iPad and a smart phone but apart from very basic tasks is not comfortable using them so most things like online shopping, banking and anything involving apps of any kind fall to me.  She is by no means stupid and has got a phenomenal memory but for some reason has a problem with "devices."   This does worry me because in the event of my demise she will need help but at least there are family and friends who can do that.  Many older people don't have that luxury.

 

Another parcel due today for Herself and Evri have been advising of progress and it will be here today.

 

I am currently thinking about looking into buying a small and economical dehumidifier for our smallest bedroom as we have a bit of a problem in there.   Has anybody here any experience of these please? According to a humidity gauge I've just bought the RH was 74% in there overnight.

 

Rugby to watch later and tonight we've got some friends visiting for dinner.  Looking forward to that as knowing them it will be a very enjoyable but long evening/night.

 

Those magic words have just been uttered....timetogettamoveonthere'slots to do!"

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

[Winslow Boy]

25 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

Good morning all,

Frosty here but mainly blue sky and there is a glimmer of sunshine low in the East.  It should be a dry and fine chilly day with nottalot of cloud.  -1°C now, might reach 5°C.

Really feel for those people who are either not tech savvy or don't want the latest devices.  The Boss falls into the category of both and doesn't really do computers or smart phones.  She has got an iPad and a smart phone but apart from very basic tasks is not comfortable using them so most things like online shopping, banking and anything involving apps of any kind fall to me.  She is by no means stupid and has got a phenomenal memory but for some reason has a problem with "devices."   This does worry me because in the event of my demise she will need help but at least there are family and friends who can do that.  Many older people don't have that luxury.

 

Another parcel due today for Herself and Evri have been advising of progress and it will be here today.

 

I am currently thinking about looking into buying a small and economical dehumidifier for our smallest bedroom as we have a bit of a problem in there.   Has anybody here any experience of these please? According to a humidity gauge I've just bought the RH was 74% in there overnight.

 

Rugby to watch later and tonight we've got some friends visiting for dinner.  Looking forward to that as knowing them it will be a very enjoyable but long evening/night.

 

Those magic words have just been uttered....timetogettamoveonthere'slots to do!"

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

 

I would check whether your windows are OK, in particular the vents as it sounds like a lack of ventilation.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I didn't go to bed until gone two this morning. What happened was that I 'missed' Amanda and Alans Italian job, no problem as I watched it on I-player. However I-player is now set up to show the entire series back to back including those not yet broadcast. So I watched next weeks program, and the next and so on until I'd seen the whole lot! As soon as I've finished this its back to bed for some more eyelid inspection.  

[PhilJ W]

Oops, nearly forgot, this was on the breakfast show this morning.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-64352634

A lenticular cloud, nothing unusual even here in the UK but catching the setting sun makes it look alien.

[Tony_S]

6 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

would have is deciding on the colour. Grey-green is more 'prototypical' for most stormy weather/heavy seas, but most people associate 'blue' with the colour of water so that is always a good choice - viewers will recognize better it as 'water'.

The sea off the coast of the British Isles isn’t the same colour as that children typically use to paint their “our seaside holiday” pictures. I was really amazed on my first trip during summertime to, the Mediterranean where the sea really looked blue.

[PeterBB]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear here.....

.

 

(** Whenever I lift a board I always screw it down again afterwards, rather than nail it)

Totally agree about this and have never replaced with nails in any home.  Use screws in everything rather than nails - son says sometimes spoils the look but it's always strong.

[grandadbob]

1 hour ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

I would check whether your windows are OK, in particular the vents as it sounds like a lack of ventilation.

 Don't think so.  All windows in house replaced 3 years ago and it's not lack of ventilation.  There is a 9"x9" air vent in that room which is always open and we also leave the small fanlight slightly open.  This does make it the coldest room in the house and the problem has only got bad this winter which just happens to coincide with us turning the heating right down.

Edited January 21, 2023 by grandadbob

[jamie92208]

Logs chopped, trainspotting arranged, sun shining brighter  and homemade ginger and rum cake to go with the coffee.  Not a bad start to the day.

 

Jamie

[Lochgorm]

7 hours ago, BR60103 said:

We bought a new Internet radio today. This has been a long time in the works.

Due to deterioration of the music provided by the CBC, we now listen to American PBS classical music stations over the internet.

Last spring when I was changing the clock in one radio, I managed to lose 2 stations (by overwriting them).  I then found out that the radio would not search for stations as the company that provided the list was no longer providing it.  A couple of new radios would still find them.

Then something went wonky and the first radio would no longer talk to our modem.

We had a backup in the main room as the cable TV carried the nearest station. Then, over Christmas, our TV black box stopped working and the replacement never worked.  The cable co. said that they were obsolete technology that they were phasing out. So we went to the new technology. But that system doesn't have the radio stations in its lineup.

Last night I found that one store has a small stock of radios. So this morning was spent driving halfway across the big city and back again.

Setup took about half an hour.

Everything is wonderful again.

 

Don’t need a radio!  I only listen to BBC R3 after lunch finding the mornings full of gratuitous waffle and Classic FM is banal beyond belief.  So I am long acquainted with American PBS services.  I think that TuneIn has something to do with the unavailability of some stations.  However, enjoyment is maintained by streaming these stations directly using their apps on my phone and blue toothing the music over to the info.  Sanity prevails (KWMU-3 from St Louis is a favourite).

Charlie

[grandadbob]

Well I "gottamoveonandlotstodo" have been done so I'm now off the hook and Brownie points banked.  Just had a call from Steve and he's invited himself and partner to lunch which is great as we've got a bit of catching up to do so GDB had best be about it!

[polybear]

2 hours ago, grandadbob said:

I am currently thinking about looking into buying a small and economical dehumidifier for our smallest bedroom as we have a bit of a problem in there.   Has anybody here any experience of these please? According to a humidity gauge I've just bought the RH was 74% in there overnight.

 

 

Bear has one - made by Ecoair and used in the Conservatory; I find it very useful on wash days cos' I can hang the laundry on racks in there and the Dehumidifier sucks the damp out overnight (I don't have a tumble drier).  Cost to run?  No idea - but the rated input is 230 or 340W (there's two speeds) so I'd guess a helluva lot less than a T.D.  It has a digital display for the damp level and you can set it to what you want - I run mine at 45 or 50%.  It'll suck out a tank of water on a laundry day - probably 4L or maybe a little more; the water is useful for use in Steam Irons and I believe plants like it better than tape water as well.

 

1 hour ago, PeterBB said:

Totally agree about this and have never replaced with nails in any home.  Use screws in everything rather than nails - son says sometimes spoils the look but it's always strong.

 

Absolutely - and a lot easier to take to bits again in the future should you need to.

[Tony_S]

I was very brave and went out while it was still frosty this morning to test my car. I didn’t bother to fit the sim in the replaced sim holder yesterday. They said they had tested it with one from another car and it worked. My sim needed a new adapter to turn it from nano sim to micro sim. The previous one had got damaged. Anyway I inserted it and it worked straightaway. In fact it fitted better than it ever did, so I suspect the old fitting was always faulty. I had no way of knowing, I just thought it was a poor design before. After I got back from Chelmsford yesterday I went to the local very good tyre dealer to order a set of tyres for the Evoque. I wanted all season tyres but also wanted some that would be legal in some of the countries Aditi is hoping to visit. I have a feeling some of her spring and autumn plans might include times when winter tyres were recommended. So I found two tyre brands that would fit and have approved markings. I had read some reviews comparing both types from a Canadian website and it clearly preferred one brand over the other.  So I asked the nice man at the tyre shop and he said the same. Should be available at the beginning of the week. While my car was at the Land Rover garage they gave me a quote for new tyres. They were considerably (nearly £90 per tyre more!) more expensive than the specialist tyre place. 

[PupCam]

Morning All!

 

8 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

.... and if you lose connectivity how are you meant to find out?

 

And that is the fundamental point;   There are a significant proportion of society that don't have any "connectivity" to lose.   They haven't got and can't get "connectivity" whether that be due to age,  medical conditions and a host of other considerations.    And that is why it is discrimination and should be made illegal IMVHO.    Time for another GOGGTL chapter .... 🤣

 

In Other News

 

Next door neighbour sent me a text this morning at 8:55 to say he and some mates were going over to Dunstable Gliding Club for brekki and did I want to accompany them.   He'd be leaving just after 9:00.    Unusually he was driving not riding (freezing fog here today) and would have loved to have joined them - I've almost forgotten what a Full English looks like!     Only snag was I was still in bed .........  Another time then.

 

Puppers has recently cleaned up the little Beeza's two flywheels (removed burs from the original big-end tapers, cleaned out oil ways etc etc), cleaned all of the grease off of and out of the new big end shaft, cleaned the conrod and cleaned all of the grease off of the big-end rollers (all 30 of them).   The big-end tapers havd been lapped into their respective flywheel holes and the whole kit and caboodle cleaned to within an inch of its life and then lightly oiled and bagged up.      So yesterday I thought I'd assemble the crankshaft.  When I tried previously it was relatively easy to get the rollers in the big-end as they were held in place with thick grease but not now.    Still a couple of narrow rings of large bore heat shrink sleeve came to the rescue and I managed to get the conrod on!    Crankshaft is now assembled and when the neighbour comes back hopefully he'll give me a hand truing it up.      Small steps towards getting the Beeza back on the road but at least they are all going in the right direction!

 

TTFNQ

 

Alan

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

The sea off the coast of the British Isles isn’t the same colour as that children typically use to paint their “our seaside holiday” pictures. 

The colour we perceive the sea to be is also heavily influenced by what is above and below it. 
 

On a “clear blue day” with a calm sea over a sandy bed it can indeed appear bright blue.  But over rocks and weed it can appear green-brown. Stir up the sea-floor sediment in rougher weather and that same bit of sea can appear any shade of brown-green. 
 

Remove sunlight and substitute cloud and the apparent colour of the sea darkens towards inky green. 
 

It’s the same where ever you go. I have enjoyed crystal-clear water appearing to be bright blue in Cornwall, far north Scotland (Scarfskerry to be precise) and in Australia. I have also seen all shades of green/brown in many of those same places in different conditions. 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Lochgorm said:

Classic FM is banal beyond belief.

I wonder how Aditi will react when I inform her that her alternative listening  to Radio 4  is “banal beyond belief”. 
I listen to a lot less radio than I used to. When I used to travel to and from work the radio programmes kept me entertained in many a traffic jam. 

[Coombe Barton]

Before the programme on Radio Three at the moment the announcer warned about the language in the program. First time I've heard that This is Radio Three in  the afternoon. Ive just listened all morning. I do not find mornings on R3 as previously described.

[BSW01]

Good afternoon everyone 

 

Late on parade as I've been busy setting up the new PC along with one or two there minor tasks. It's all set up now, I'm just in the process of transferring all the files from the old PC to the new one and whilst I'm at it, getting rid of some old, unwanted or no longer needed stuff at the same time. 

 

Ava hasn't joined us today as she and Vickie both have flu. 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian 

[Tony_S]

5 hours ago, grandadbob said:

She has got an iPad and a smart phone

Aditi got a smart phone and a tablet long after many others did.  It wasn’t due to any problem with IT , she was happy using all kinds of programs on computers but apart from,using a phone as a phone she wasn’t bothered, especially when she was still working. She did have a Kindle, mainly for books to read on holiday. The smartphone was acquired because she wanted a camera, then of course apps like WhatsApp are good for contact with a worldwide family. She then wanted a tablet to read books from the Essex Library service. I found an old one but it wasn’t very good so she got a good one. It gets used a lot now. 
Most of her IT problems are caused by impatience. Her laptop is old and a bit slow and if something doesn’t happen she will click again, hoping it will. She doesn’t seem keen on replacing it, I think she just likes it, she did write her doctoral dissertation on it. 

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl, 

I see Gwiwer has been up at the Castle of Mey... Visiting the Queen Mums home?

Sailed past there, having put into Scrabster for sail repairs.

 

The thing I remember up in Highland waters was when it was absolutely calm you could see the sea bottom a long way down..

 

I'z knackered, I've been up and down ladders more times than knees would like.

Cover was removed with difficulty, it was stuck to the hatch covers with ice.

I wanted to put up the mast but the normal way of doing so from being inside the boat behind the mast step wouldn't work, because of electricity cables over head.. they're insulated so electricity itself is not the problem, it's just in the way.

 

So I had to put up two stepladders In front of the boat, put the mast on that, then climbing. Up on the furthest from the boat it was inserted into the Tabernacle once wedged into that at an angle, I then climbed the nearer one to the boat, and lifted up the mast to a steeper angle wedged again,  then 

up the steps onto the boat, and lifted the mast vertical.

Side stays were then attached to keep it in position.

 

The jib was hauled up and marked for completion. Then put away awaiting time.

 

The centre console was placed and marked up to fit the bottom of the boat.

 

The new boom requires a different adapter (gooseneck) to the mast, I've already taken the complete fitting off the mast. The old adapter was pinned in place to the slide, but the pin was a Rivet,. a very strong rivet.

One end was ground off and a drift used to hammer it out, eventually, with a 5lb hammer..

 

The new adapter was put in place on the slide and the rivet hammered back in. The assembly refitted to the mast. Then the new boom plugged in and the halyard used to hold the boom up.

Standing from the side it looks right.

 

There was a small puddle of water inside, so that was mopped up.

 

Everything was then put away in reverse order.

 

 

[Tony_S]

I am being organised. Aditi said my sock drawer was untidy. She decided she would reorganise it. She was most amused to find a glove puppet (a giraffe) stuck at the back. 
A new drawer liner has been ordered too. William Morris pattern apparently. My great grandfather was called William Morris but not the Arts and Crafts one, he was the Winson Green prison one. 

[polybear]

2 hours ago, PupCam said:

In Other News

 

Next door neighbour sent me a text this morning at 8:55 to say he and some mates were going over to Dunstable Gliding Club for brekki and did I want to accompany them.   He'd be leaving just after 9:00.   

 

Plenty of notice there then........

 

2 hours ago, PupCam said:

Only snag was I was still in bed .........  

 

Disgraceful.  Bear can't remember the last time I was still in bed at 0900 - I did intend on a "late one" this morning (= 0700) but the "Bear needs a Wazz Alarm" went off at 0540 so I bounced crawled out of the Pit at that point and didn't return.

 

Bear here......

Washing done.  Tick.  Numerous faffing around tasks done.  Tick.

Landing Carpet lifted, along with the underlay; the latter was cut up & bagged ready disposal dumping in a hedge opposite Puppers Towers 🤣 ).  Tick.

Initial impressions are the floorboarding isn't as bad as first feared - with a bit of thought I should be able to get away without having to renew any bits.  A proper look/screwing bits down will be carried out tomorrow; the carpet has been loosely re-laid until then.

Postie delivered a collection of unassembled whitemetal, brass & NS bits, complete with a set of round things named after a certain Essex Town; I've not investigated further as yet.

The very good news is I received an unexpected text from the Guy who couldn't collect Bear's DIY bits - the outcome is he collected them early this afternoon, meaning a third of a Deltic in Bear's pocket and a big hole in the muddlin' room.  Double Tick.

Bear gone.