Early Risers.

[jamie92208]

Anyway, good moaning from the Chzrente.  It's getting light. I have no idea what the day will bring but I am going to do my best to enjoy it.  

 

Jamie

Edited February 12, 2023 by jamie92208

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Slept badly again.. but .. hey ho! Time for more walkabout.

 

Baz

[TheQ]

Jamie had better not mention the , pied, toise , perche and arpent then.

 

Mooring Awl,

 4.5 hours sleep so far, not good.

Cause, thought of a couple of ideas for Blue Moon , one is definitely " in" the other a maybe.

 

Ben the sleeping Collie is still snoring.

 

One programme not mentioned so far.

It ain't half hot Mum,

 A fairly accurate account of a concert party in India / Burma. But very funny.

Based mostly in Deolali, the site in those days of the Real British India Army's mental Asylum.

56 episodes.

Not repeated because a former Captain in the Gurkhas, who was born in India, who spoke fluent Urdu, wore  tan makeup.

 

20 minutes I'll have to get up.

 

Time to.. do nothing..

 

[polybear]

7 hours ago, pH said:

A thought - would these units have been appropriate if the report had been discussing “Fat Man”?

 

It'd probably be censored for being not politically correct.....

 

7 hours ago, pH said:

We are the first house on our street. Drivers who realize they’ve made a wrong turn will often use our driveway to turn round. Sometimes they’ll clip the landscaping timbers at the side of the drive - I’ve had to replace several over time. 
 

I’ve thought about putting something more substantial and taller in their place. The problem is that we have to reverse down the steep drive into the street and due to combinations of frost, snow, inattention etc. I, my wife and visitors have also clipped timbers on the odd occasion.

 

What you need are some Thunderbirds Palm Trees.....

 

7 hours ago, BSW01 said:

After dinner she watched a couple of films, whilst I once again did some work on the kitchen plan and I’ve now come up with a plan that both Sheila and I are happy with.

 

Bear's kitchen planning tip of the day:

Watch out for the corners.....

 

https://advice.diy-kitchens.com/customer-questions/plan-kitchen-corners/

 

Bear here....

Today?  Dunno yet.

Bear gone.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Grey sky and no frost here.  A mainly cloudy, dry day with light winds forecast.  7°C rising to 10°C.

I had quite a good night's sleep, unfortunately somebody else didn't.  Apparently my snoring was to blame.  She seems to have forgiven me because she's just asked if I want the usual Sunday eggs and bacon.  That would be a yes please! 

After that we're going for walk but will avoid the local park as on a Sunday there are too many dogs running loose and bounding up to you  (The Boss does not like dogs much after being bitten as a child) and also lots of little kids playing organised football so it's a bit crowded and very noisy.

I then have a couple of financial tasks to deal with along with the monthly read of the energy meters.  I already know that this month's gas bill will be the highest so far but at least I can still afford it unlike many poor souls.

Yesterday's little painting task was completed so all is now ready for the next stage. .....maybe tomorrow....possibly? 

Rugby was watched in the afternoon and enjoyed, especially the Ireland v France match.  Today we have England v Italy and although Italy have never beaten England after watching both sides last week l wouldn't risk any money on the result. 

It's that time....togettamoveon.

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by grandadbob

[Grizz]

Morning All

 

Better sleep last night = Less Grizzly Grizz this morning. 😂

(I do acknowledge that the mood lift may have been influenced by me scoring a hit of Portugaise Custard Tarts yesterday)

 

According to Mrs Grizz I have been quite the ray of sunshine this morning….well so far anyway. 
 

 

Last Friday marked the opening of a medical Pandora’s Box for me. I have finally accepted that the pain at the base of my spine, my hips and internally isn’t getting better and isn’t just going to go away all by itself.
 
Que phone call to GP and resultant blood tests on Monday and Docs appointment Friday, which is alarmingly quick. In fact it is this that has unsettled me the most. The GP call was excellent and we engaged in talking through symptoms and timescales….basically facts. 
Over the last 25 years of so my job has involved me developing and maintaining a ruthlessly clinical, emotion free approach to work. “Just the facts”, to quote Columbo…. (wasn’t he the guy in the dirty Mac, who discovered America?)…Red Dwarf quote there.

So I have chosen to adopt this approach with own health. Documenting my symptoms and daily recording exact information on how often, levels of, etc etc. 

Pandora’s Box could perhaps be the wrong analogy, perhaps it is more like Schroedinger’s Cat. As it has the potential to be both nothing serious and something serious at the same time, in this period between finding out through testing and awaiting the results. But for me the Pandora’s Box moment was contacting my GP, to set the ball rolling.
Prior to that, other than the pain and discomfort, I was happy living in blissful ignorance. A normal life. It is that action that has lobbed the metaphorical rock into the air, that has the very real world potential to smash up my Lego. 
 

Wow…just read that back. That was probs waaaay too deep for a Sunday morning. And there was Mrs Grizz saying what a little ray of sunshine I was this morning.….well that didn’t last long did it? 😂

 

So I have decided to try to take my mind off the potential upcoming Armageddon by going up into my loft and doing some muddling for the day. Muddle bridges don’t build themselves and perhaps I might not have as many opportunities to choose to spontaneously do this care free activity in the future. 
 

In other news, our oldest cub is back in the homeland with his girlfriend, visiting our family and our house (So wish I was there right now.) they have been looking forward to this for some time as this is her first visit to DK.
 

Mrs Grizz is off horse riding again this morning. With the weather as calm as it has been down here in the Deep South, it is best to make the most of it whilst we have still got it. Her new ‘Field Ornament’ isn’t so keen on going out for rides in the p7ssing rain. (Don’t blame him, I wouldn’t either). 
 

As I write this Grizz Castle is perfectly quiet, apart from the ticking of the clock in the hall, which is quite soporific. Peace and quiet….

 

Have a great day all. 
 

ATB Grizz
 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Grizz
Missed out ‘Not’ and spelling

[jjb1970]

I'm heading off to Washington DC for a week, flying the overnight ANA flight to Tokyo then on to DC. I'm not a big fan of long haul flight but if you must flay long distances then the good seats with ANA are a good way to go. I'll be deeply engrossed in thoughts of saving the world for a few days, so I don't want anyone flying or using energy while I'm away, my flight will emit enough for all of us, toot toot!

[Coombe Barton]

I wrote these some years ago because I was getting questions from younger researchers about the common units they were finding in documents in both measures and money. I'd lived using them and could translate relatively easily.

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/historic-british-coinage/

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/ancient-and-non-metric-measures/

 

 

 

 

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, I wonder if there is a unit of sleep quality - or lack of....ZZzzzzz another miserable night.  Tried the harder mattress from the guest bed - to hard!  Numb arms.  

 

Off for a posh Sunday lunch today with a group of friends, old fashioned English meal in an old fashioned hotel.  Wildly popular, they have to do three 'sittings' every Sunday.  Going with some of the archers, and Jayne of course - coming out of her shell now so we're doing everything we can to encourage her back into a wider social circle.  Our pal Steve the retired builder has done some internal work to her cottage this week, she's very pleased with that so is finally, finally, full of positive vibes.  It's been nearly 8 years, bereavement can be so cruel.  Her boss (Attorney General!) has finally agreed for her to work from home 90% of the time (she reviews proposed legislation for ambiguity and contradiction) which has really helped, she is not a confident driver in winter.

[Gwiwer]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

picograms per light-second

Trains per hour?  
Cheese-gratings per pizza?

Pobble-beads per square black-hole?

[Winslow Boy]

 

The issue is due to the classification of the land - highways or whatever the equivalent is for the IoM, own 1.5 m from the kerb edge ( there exceptions to this) and anything placed on it such as a concrete or timber post is classed as a 'permanent' structure. Can't remember if shrubs are but what I have seen used are planters or large pots. Of course you run the risk of them being 'acquired' or damaged but they will not have any permant impact on the land.

6 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

Did you find out which one of your neighbors shopped you? 😀

 

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

We had a nice lunch with Aditi’s Mum yesterday. It wasn’t quite as planned as she had frozen one of the items  instead of putting it in the fridge overnight but we sorted it out. Over afternoon tea we got her chatting about her life before the family fled from what is now Pakistan. Her cousin (two families lived together ) was supposed to get married but didn’t want to, she wanted to study mathematics. So MiL, who wanted to go university the following year suggested her cousin went on hunger strike but MiL secretly passed her food and water.  The deception lasted 3 days after which the family accepted the girls were going to study more. Aditi wondered what happened to make her Mum so conventional and authoritarian when Aditi was a teenager. 
On the way home on the M25, we overtook a motorbike. It was in the second lane, doing about 50mph. As I went and was checking the mirror just to make sure I was quite clear, I realised the bike had no headlight on. 
Anyway I have been tasked today with sorting out why the en-suite extractor fan is noisy. The instructions state the motor is removable for cleaning. Perhaps it is. Otherwise it will be a trip soon to Screwfix to collect one. 
Tony

[New Haven Neil]

Thought provoking, Ian.  It is Highways here too, as part of the Department of Infrastructure. 

 

In the village of St Mark's they had an issue with speeders, so made chicanes of planters about three feet square and four feet high on alternate sides of the road.  First weekend, someone drove straight into one!  They had reflectors.  Must go by that way and see if they're still there.  Or what's left of them.

 

Next thing was one of those signs that shows your speed and a smiley/sad face.  These are seen as a competition by the kids to see how fast they can drive through them.  Speed cameras are not in legislation here, not sure why they have not been introduced- possibly because the Courts system couldn't cope with the number of prosecutions they would bring.....Harry The Hat who does 40 everywhere in his rusty Allegro Vanden Plas would be forever getting done.  the kids would just slow down where they are.  Then cut them down.

[Tony_S]

23 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

Trains per hour?  
Cheese-gratings per pizza?

Pobble-beads per square black-hole?

My favourite unit that I came across during my education was the “barn” used by particle accelerator physicists. Originally defined in fractions of square angstroms but now in metre squared. 

[Winslow Boy]

14 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

Thought provoking, Ian.  It is Highways here too, as part of the Department of Infrastructure. 

 

In the village of St Mark's they had an issue with speeders, so made chicanes of planters about three feet square and four feet high on alternate sides of the road.  First weekend, someone drove straight into one!  They had reflectors.  Must go by that way and see if they're still there.  Or what's left of them.

 

Next thing was one of those signs that shows your speed and a smiley/sad face.  These are seen as a competition by the kids to see how fast they can drive through them.  Speed cameras are not in legislation here, not sure why they have not been introduced- possibly because the Courts system couldn't cope with the number of prosecutions they would bring.....Harry The Hat who does 40 everywhere in his rusty Allegro Vanden Plas would be forever getting done.  the kids would just slow down where they are.  Then cut them down.

 

You could try getting permission for the planters given that you'd already been contacted by them. Would certainly stop the neighbour in his tracks if he moaned again. Those blasted cameras are every where here. Traffic lights being the favourite. A couple got attacked I seem to recall. The speed indicators do recall the speeds as I've seen a print out showing the various speeds - 66 in a 30 mph zone!

[The White Rabbit]

Morning all,

 

I bought a small microwave 27 years ago. It's had a couple of long holidays when it was 'the spare' but still works. I like it when things last... 

 

We've had a couple of vans drive over the grass corners on our road recently, really churned them up and up to two-three feet from the kerb. Another foot and one of them would have taken the road name sign out, which wouldn't have done much for his bodywork either. I'm supposed to avoid heavy lifting at the moment otherwise I'd have had a look at our spare stone pieces and offered them to the bloke on the corner as a deterrent against a repetition. 

 

As far as science and research is concerned, I would like to suggest a suitable motto could be 'the mark of intellectual honesty is the soliciting of contrary evidence and theories'. Though probably in Latin! Perhaps 'character probitatis intellectualis est sollicitatio contrariorum testimoniis ac theoriis' according to Google? 

 

Not a lot done here. The rugby was watched yesterday pm, like GDB I enjoyed Ireland-France, two good sides playing well and with no partisan feelings for either side, I could really appreciate the play. Scotland-Wales was painful... and after last week I wouldn't care to bet tuppence on the outcome of England-Italy. 

 

Time to think about doing something other than procrastination ... 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by The White Rabbit
PS...

[polybear]

2 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I'm not a big fan of long haul flight but if you must flay long distances then the good seats with ANA are a good way to go. 

 

As are Air Miles.  When you're retired you'll be very very glad you did.  Ask Bear how he knows......

 

In other news......

Bear has sanded the joints on the coving; I've just given the joints a wet-wipe to get rid of any dust and now a few areas will get a second dose (using fine surface filler this time) to get rid of any remaining surface blemishes.

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Had a cough last night so not too much sleep. I've developed a cold and the mucus has run down to my throat causing the cough. Its settled now but a bit of eyelid inspection will be required.  

[Tony_S]

22 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

the mark of intellectual honesty is the soliciting of contrary evidence and theories'. Though probably in Latin!

“Science” is basically all about testing hypotheses. Unfortunately for some reason some people just will not accept that their test/proof is not supported by evidence or replication. I find it amazing that flat Earth or young Earth beliefs still exist or worse are being more widely promoted. 

[Tony_S]

I have had breakfast. I have opened the loft hatch and lowered the ladder. Last time I tried to lower the ladder it took half a day to unjam it. It worked nicely today. Aditi asked me to wait a bit before I dismantle the fan as she wants to use the shower. This is  a good excuse to do nothing for a while. Otherwise I would suggest she used the one in the main bathroom. 
Tony

[Gwiwer]

Morning all.  Welcome to a Sun Day which is not living up to its name.  

 

It has been a slow start after a less-than-ideal night's sleep and parts of me are feeling the effort expended yesterday in digging over 25 yards (metric equivalents are available) of garden bed ready for the new season.  A few muggsercoffy and a couple of cross ants croissants improved matters somewhat.  I also learned that croissants work better with raspberry or strawberry jam than with black cherry.  At least, being Sunday, the coffee jug was deployed meaning ground coffee (rather than tree, bush, shrub or instant coffee) was enjoyed.  

 

Today shall be a festival of laundry, book-compilation and cat-patting.  There is no need to press the uniform for tomorrow.  The alarm has been cancelled for a week.  

 

Dr. SWMBO continues to cough and de-clag as she recovers from what the test strips suggest was no more than a cold.   

 

In other news one of the fringe-benefits of doing the gardens is that neighbours stop and chat.  Several did so yesterday.  Among their idle gossip and long-time-no-see chat I learned that Neighbours (Upstairs), they of the large black nocturnally-woofing beast, have been served notice.  They have never been quiet, have never spoken to us, have no consideration for the peace and quiet of anyone around them and have, it seems, now sufficiently upset the agent that their tenancy is not being renewed.  

 

The official reason given is that the landlord wishes to renovate the flat.  That much is true; the upstairs flats are now being renovated and sound-proofing fitted as they fall vacant. These people have probably generated complaints from across the block.  I don't know what they do for a living but they keep irregular hours and don't seem to do an awful lot.  They might possibly have made irregular or not an awful lot of rent payments.  We don't know when they might leave; they'll have to find somewhere else first willing to take them on what ever reference our agent provides.  And a big black labrador who sometimes barks furiously at any hour of the day and night.  

 

In further news a cluckbird is to be sacrificed later which usually cheers the mood no matter what the day has brought.  

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

4 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I'm not a big fan of long haul flight but if you must flay long distances then the good seats with ANA are a good way to go. 

 

As are Air Miles.  When you're retired you'll be very very glad you did. 

We always used Seatguru to identify the best seats.  Once Emirates had their fleet of A380s as staple on the Dubia - Melbourne and Dubai - London flights we knew which seats to book.  The London aircraft have the higher-density seating (an extra three rows iirc) meaning it wasn't as simple as always looking for 43A or 43K.  A better row on the high-density aircraft was 45.  A or K for window seats without the inward curve of the body towards the front restricting your space nor the lack of overhead lockers caused by the configuration of the cabin.  Added to which you were among the first to be served by the trolley and were only a few rows back from the lavatories and could always see if there was a queue.  

 

I had to leave my quite considerable total of air miles behind when the need to fly long-haul ended around six years ago. They expire after three years in most cases.  I still have a few but their value gets donated to the Emirates Foundation in lieu of being any use to me.  I don't altogether agree with the way of life in Dubai but when in Rome ..... and we only ever transited their airport (which I accept supports their regime) and never entered the city itself.  

[DaveF]

It's dull again today, quite mild and I am keeping myself occupied.

 

Yesterday morning I had a lovely walk along the beach towards Seaton Sluice, only about 1.5 miles but the distances are gradually getting longer.  By the end of the day the phone said I'd done 3.2 miles in all.  There were a number of people on the beach, most acompanied by at least one dog.  The dogs were all well behaved, most of them were spending as much time as possible playing in the sea.

 

Then I came home, had coffee and a biscuit and looked at this week's photos on the TV followed by some from the early 1980s - not my best ones so I have not seen them for a long time -probably not since I scanned them around 2003.

 

In the afternoon I made a determined effort to sort out more books.  I have now got all the books on bookshelves, including ones about paperweights which had gone in the loft while I decided what to do with Mum's collection - which I am now keeping and so need the reference books.

 

I did wonder whether to take George Dow's trilogy on the Great Central Railway to a charity shop.  It is one of my favourite railways and I often look at the books so I decided to keep them. It is perhaps as well, the ones on ABebooks sold singly range from around £20 to £60 with dust jackets, sets of three are shown at £99 to £175 depending on condition.  I think I'll keep them and if I ever want to sell them will go to a good secondhand dealer.

 

The more interesting of the other books to go will also be checked.  2 boxes I gave away last month were not worth much though.

 

I also did more sorting out in the garage and greenhouse.  I checked the dates on which I usually prune shrubs and roses and have decided they would be better left for another week or two.

 

The evening was as usual - I did watch Portofino on ITVx and wondered why I bothered - some of the people do not seem to fit into the period very well, they seemed a bit too modern.  Doubtless it is the writer and producer who do it to appeal to "modern" young people.  

 

I think part of my scepticism about dramas set in the period comes from talking to my Great Aunt when I was in my early twenties.  She had travelled a lot in the 1920s and 30s and often talked about places she'd been, hotels, people she met and what they did.  When I really knew her she acted the part of a little absent minded old lady quite well, but she was actually very clever and alert and was fluent in German and Russian, and had lived in both Berlin and Moscow after the war.

 

I tried to get her to tell me what she did but all I got was "I'd have to talk to the Admiral I reported to and he would remind me of the official secrets act".  I once asked Dad and he thought it was something beyond the day to day work of an Embassy but she wouldn't tell him either.

 

My grandparents also travelled a lot at the same time.  I once stayed in a hotel in a village by the Rhine and was asked if I had relatives who had stayed there.  Apparently every time a foreigner booked the owner looked up the name in old hotel registers to see if anyone with the name had been before  So I was very surprised when he told me that Harold and Kathleen (my grandparents) had stayed there in the 1920s, before Dad was born.  I knew it was true because their middle name was right.  Somewhere in the family albums are some photos of the place at the time.

 

David

Edited February 12, 2023 by DaveF

[jjb1970]

Home for the next 6 hours. They serve excellent sake on ANA.

 

[Tony_S]

18 minutes ago, DaveF said:

So I was very surprised when he told me that Harold and Kathleen (my grandparents) had stayed there in the 1920s, before Dad was born

“There is a small matter of the bar bill…”

My great grandfather used to get a few repeat and generational visitors at the place he worked at in Birmingham. My grandmother was actually born there, in a turret.