Early Risers.

[grandadbob]

Re suits:  After wearing them for about 30 years of my 38 years at work I now avoid them like the plague apart from weddings, funerals and formal nights on cruises.  Only got 2 now, one lounge and one dinner suit.  Likewise ties which I wore every day at work apart from the last few months leading up to retirement.  Still got an abundance of them but apart from a couple of black ones and two or three others I'm blowed if I know why I keep them all.

Normal attire these days is loose fitting cotton shirts (short sleeved in summer, long sleeved thicker ones in winter) and cargo trousers, joggers (no I don't go)  or shorts.  I don't like tee shirts or jeans any more.

 

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, woodenhead said:

Has suit wearing gone out of fashion apart from weddings and funerals,

I can't speak to British custom but as others have said, 'it depends' - largely on the venue. I would think a suit would still be suitable for a traditional church (or equivalent) venue, but I suspect that for many if not most it is no longer 'essential'.

 

The last wedding I attended was in a back yard in summer. I did wear a light sports coat, no tie, and a hat.

[BoD]

If any one does want ties I, like Baz, have loads lying about unused.   Be warned though, that most of them have very colourful Disney characters on them.  Or are in Sunderland colours with the club badge.

 

Sadly, like the only pair of polished shoes I now have,  the tie the gets used almost exclusively these days is black.

[polybear]

5 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

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.  

 

Bear collected a fair few BA Airmiles courtesy of The Great Empire (long haul in Club Class is rather "advantageous" when it comes to points....); I also have a BA Amex Card which also collects Airmiles - so long as I use that card it keeps the points alive and stops them being robbed from me.

 

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

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.

 

Granny was born in a Tank??

 

4 hours ago, BoD said:

Flippin’ eck.  Or words to that effect.

 

I need some 20mm  T2.5A fuses. Preferably ceramic but not essential.  £2.59 for 10 on Amazon.  Thinking about the postage and wait, I thought I would have a look at Screwfix.  They have fuses that size but Worcester Bosch labelled and with a replacement part number for their boilers. £27.99 for 10.  Can fuses differ that much in spec. and tolerances?   Like I said, Flippin’ eck.

 

Off to do more searches.

 

Sounds to this Bear like W-B takin' the p1ss.  I do know of a certain Great Empire that was charging six quid a piece for ordinary domestic 13A Fuses for Plugs - and that was in the 1990's....

 

Bear here.....

Coving fine filler applied - and sanded; most joints are "good to go", whilst a couple have had a second splurge.  If all goes to plan I'll be painting the coving and ceiling rose tomorrow.  Tick.

Apart from that, nottalot...apart from a certain Bear being rather naughty by adding some altitude to The Great Kit Mountain.  Oops.  The CAA have already said they want a red light on top.

Bear gone.

 

 

[BoD]

4 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Sounds to this Bear like W-B takin' the p1ss.  I do know of a certain Great Empire that was charging six quid a piece for ordinary domestic 13A Fuses for Plugs - and that was in the 1990's....

 

Maplin and before that Tandy/Radio Shack weren't always the cheapest compared to 'industrial size' suppliers but they weren't that silly expensive either. More importantly they were convenient and there when you needed things like this.

 

Before Maplin expanded onto the High Street I used to look forward to their yearly catalogue.

[New Haven Neil]

At sea, when on 'daywork' it was uniform (to suit climate - it changes, blues, red sea rig, whites) for breakfast, boiler suit (white = officer) until lunch, when uniform once again, then boilersuit for the afternoon, then uniform for drinkies and dinner, then casual in the officers bar until we fell over.  Repeat.   In NHS management, suit, suit, suit.

 

Now, raggy T shirt, cargo trousers, except today when we had that posh meal, chinos and a nice shirt.  It was really, really good too and Jayne was in fine form which makes us so happy.  The waiter mistaking Jayne for my wife didn't go down quite as well.

[pH]

17 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

A) Those who demand that we listen to the science seem to be genuinely oblivious to the irony, science isn't about just believing what we're told, the scientific method relies on challenging knowledge, testing hypotheses and independence of thought.

 

B) Telling people to listen to the science in the context of doing as they're told and to stop thinking about things isn't demonstrating faith in science, it is quasi-religious faith.

I’ve split these points out of your post to answer them separately.

 

A) I absolutely agree with what you’ve written, as it describes the practice of science. It’s how scientific knowledge advances, adding confirmation to current views, or disproving those views and pointing the way forward in a different direction.

 

B) To me, this refers to the practical application of the current understanding of scientific knowledge. Yes, it can be thought of as ‘quasi-religious faith’! How many of us have enough scientific knowledge to understand in detail how aircraft stay in the air, or how the internet operates, or how mRNA vaccines work, never mind being able to understand all three things? In my opinion, at some point you have to accept the properly-reviewed opinions of the majority of experts in a field and, if necessary, act on those opinions. You must also be prepared to accept that the “properly-reviewed opinions of the majority of experts in a field” may change, as a result of the application of the scientific method, as described in A).

So I think it’s possible to think as I’ve described about points A) and B) without being ironic.

[polybear]

[woodenhead]

Science isn’t important!

 

Especially if you’re burning vinyl chloride in vast quantities in a town and it’s getting into the watercourses too.

[Coombe Barton]

... As any researcher knows, you can’t simply swap out one set of collaborative relationships, built up over decades, for new and different ones elsewhere – particularly as a product of political diktat. That’s not how science works. ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/02/12/no-new-data-today-and-science-suffers-from-lack-of-eu-agreements/

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

 

I'm going to stick my head up here, quite happy to have it blasted off though if someone disagrees, but I wonder if the failure to comprehend what science is about, is because there has been a downgrading in its popularity and a corresponding surge in none science or science 'light' topics in education.

 

Whether that is because such courses tend to be perceived as easier and so more likely to obtain a pass, which in turn ensures the education establishment it's existence is I think worth considering as well.

The National Curriculum in England does require a science element. For many years school students have dropped science. My wife went to a girls grammar school in the 1960s and studying physics or chemistry wasn’t encouraged at all, as they had to use and pay for the labs at the nearby girls independent school. When I taught science in the late 1970s and early 1980s it was easy then to opt for a science light GCE/CSE/ or non-exam stream. Girls were very under represented in any science except biology. 
Maths English and Science are somewhat protected but modern languages, geography and history are far more vulnerable. 
I suspect there always has been some difficulty about what science is because once you pass a certain level it is difficult. A few years ago my nephew was a couple of years into his PhD research into machine intelligence.  Aditi asked him what he was doing and he said he couldn’t explain it, except to another mathematician. Aditi said he should try. After a while he asked what she thought. She said that it was really just complicated statistical analysis. He did present her with a copy of his final doctoral thesis. 
Tony

[PeterBB]

 

@BarryO. I too have many many ties and a number of them were worn at specific events meetings related to them.  These days apart from the black just one.

 

Suits I have three and they all still fit ... the 'new one' dates back nearly 25 years and had to be bought after a move went 'wrong' and almost everything went into store.  We thought it would be a short time but it was 11 months before we managed to buy our next house.  In the meantime there was a family wedding and suit and tie were needed.  Last time a  suit and tie was worn was when working in a polling station.

 

These days most of the time is spent in 'old' clothes as if something needs repairing/cleaning I get on with it regardless of what I am wearing to minimise being told that I should not be wearing 'best stuff' to do that  so generally no tie.  I got used to no tie when the Red Cross changed the working uniform and since I was very active not wearing a tie stuck.  There is a caveat, if I am wearing a 'proper jacket' and the 'right shirt' then a tie is a must as far as I am concerned.

 

Memory triggered ... going back to early secondary school days uniform was black jackets, grey trousers and white shirts with collars and studs as well as the obligatory tie ... todays kids get it easy but don't seem to think so.

 

'Application' of science rather than research was my main work but yes, there were some 'original' application at times.

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by PeterBB

[Tony_S]

33 minutes ago, polybear said:

Granny was born in a Tank??

Winson Green Prison

[Ozexpatriate]

13 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

Especially if you’re burning vinyl chloride in vast quantities in a town and it’s getting into the watercourses too.

Are you referring to the derailment and fire in East Palestine, OH (on the Pennsylvania border and not far from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area)?

 

I don't think anyone is suggesting that this was not a disaster.

 

There's a lot of understandable skepticism that it is safe for residents to return despite air quality measurements returning to 'normal'.

 

[polybear]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just booked a table for Valentine's Day for me and the wife. Bound to end in tears though - she's cr@p at snooker.

 

Little Thelma

"Since Valentine's Day is for a Christian saint and we're Jewish," she asks, "Will God get mad at me for giving someone a valentine?

Thelma's father thinks a bit then says "No, I don't think God would get mad.

Who do you want to give a valentine to?" 

"The whole Isis group," she says.

"Why them," her father asks in shock? 

"Well," she says, "I thought that if a little American Jewish girl could have enough love to give them a valentine, they might start to think that maybe  we're not all bad, and maybe start loving people a little bit.

And if other kids saw what I did and then they sent valentines to them, they'd love everyone a lot.

And then they'd start going all over the place telling everyone how much they loved them and how they didn't hate anyone anymore."

Her father's heart swells and he looks at his daughter with new found pride.

"Thelma, that's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard."

"I know," Thelma says, "and once that gets them out in the open, the Marines could blow the sh1t out of them."

 

Jacob, a Russian Jew, was finally allowed to emigrate to Israel. At Moscow airport, a customs inspector found a statue of Lenin in his luggage and asked, "What is this?"
"Wrong question, comrade” replied Jacob. “You should have asked, who is this? This is Comrade Lenin. He laid the foundations of Socialism and created future prosperity for the Russian people. I am taking it with me as a memory of our great hero."
The Russian customs official sent him on his way.
At Tel Aviv airport, an Israeli customs official asked Jacob, "What is this?"

"Wrong question, sir. You should be asking who is this? This, my friend, is Lenin, the Shyster who caused me, a Jew, to leave Russia in shame. I take this statue as a reminder to curse him every day."

The Israeli official sent him on his way.
In his new home in Tel Aviv, Jacob placed the statue on a table. The following evening, he invited friends and relatives to dinner. Spotting the statue, one of his cousins asked, "What is this?"
"This is five kilograms of solid gold that I managed to bring with me from Russia without having to pay any customs duty or tax"
The Moral: "Politics is when you can tell the same Sh1t in different ways to fool different people and still come out smelling like a rose

 

Two Irish farmers are walking down a road towards the pub, after a long days work, when they hear a motorcycle behind them. They are totally shocked to find that when the bike passes them, the biker is headless. The two men look at each other and shrug. They continue down the road because the call of the pub is getting stronger. As they go, a cyclist comes up behind them and, on passing them, he too is seen to be headless. The two old men shake their heads and continue to walk down the road.
After a few minutes, Mick, who's walking along the inside, turns to his companion and says: "You know what Shamus, I be thinkin' dat maybe you should be carryin' dat dere scythe on yer other shoulder".

 

A father buys a lie detector robot that slaps people when they lie. He decides to test it out at dinner one night.
The father asks his son what he did that afternoon. The son says, "I did some schoolwork."
The robot slaps the son.
The son says, "Ok, Ok. I was at a friend's house watching movies."
Dad asks, "What movie did you watch?"
Son says, "Toy Story."
The robot slaps the son.
Son says, "Ok, Ok, we were watching porn."
Dad says, "What? At your age I didn't even know what porn was."
The robot slaps the father.
Mom laughs and says, "Well, he certainly is your son."
The robot slaps the mother.
Robot for sale.

 

Vicar goes to the dentist for a set of false teeth.
The first Sunday after he gets his new teeth, he talks for only eight minutes.
The second Sunday, he talks for only ten minutes.
The following Sunday, he talks for 2 hours and 48 minutes.
The congregation had to mob him to get him down from the pulpit and they asked him what happened.
The vicar explains the first Sunday his gums hurt so bad he couldn't talk for more than 8 minutes. The second Sunday his gums hurt too much to talk for more than 10 minutes. But, the third Sunday, he put his wife's teeth in by mistake and he couldn't shut up.

 

Fred and Mary got married but they can't afford a honeymoon, so they go back to Fred's parent's home for their first night together. In the morning, Johnny, Fred's little brother, gets up and has his breakfast.
As he is going out of the door to go to school, he asks his mom if Fred and Mary are up yet. She replies, "No". Johnny asks, "Do you know what I think?"
His mom replies, "I don't want to hear what you think! Just go to school."
Johnny comes home for lunch and asks his mom, "Are Fred and Mary up yet?"
She replies, "No." Johnny says, "Do you know what I think?" His mom replies, "Never mind what you think! Eat your lunch and go back to school."
After school, Johnny comes home and asks again, "Are Fred and Mary up yet?"
His mom says "No." He asks, "Do you know what I think?"
His mom replies, "Ok, ok, tell me what you think!!!"
He says: "Last night Fred came to my room for the Vaseline and I think I gave him my aeroplane glue."

 

 

[PupCam]

Evening All!

 

Another day of "Not-a-lot" as I'm still lurgified (medical term).   

 

I did manage some "fiddling about in the garage" where a BSA oil pump may have been checked, cleaned and installed in a BSA crankcase.   It's coming together slowly!   I also took the opportunity to start a new storage box for "BSA engine parts that will definitely not be used now in this rebuild".   I'm pleased to say it's got quite a lot of bits in which means the boxes with "BSA engine parts for the use of" are now much emptier which also gives a lift to morale.    

 

The new box plus the other 4 sets of (scaby) crankcase castings, crankshafts, a cylinder and cylinder head could well form the basis of the  new "Puppers Old Bike Bits" Ebay store.     If I could get all the money back that I've lashed out speculatively to get enough bits for "one good one" that would be terrific but any money I could get back once the bike is going again will be considered a result.    I'll need expert guidance from a seasoned Ebayer.   Come to think of it it would be better if I could sub the running of "Puppers Old Bike Bits" out to such an experienced person (or Bear 🤣).    Well, the great H/S/L refurb will be finished soon and he'll need something new to get in the way of actually building a model railway  and I probably CBA.

 

One thing I am still short of is Pushrods, x2, for the use of.     The pushrods when I got it are not correct.   They had to match the incorrect cam followers some Joker, sorry, "a previous owner" (no sniggering at the back @New Haven Neil) had forced into the poor defenceless little thing.      Although it will be a bit of hybrid when its finished at least it will look like something that could have come out of the factory rather than the aftermath of a pregnancy termination.   At least a little engineering sympathy has been lavished on it during my ownership which is more than can be said for its time under the Joker's jurisdiction! 

 

Anyway, I've been sniffing around the internet in all the usual places for such things.    Plenty of tumble weed but no correct pushrods.   This could still be a long job .....

 

TTFNQ

 

Alan

 

 

[Coombe Barton]

Talking about clothes fitting from when we were younger ...

We were married in 1985 and I can still get into some of the the wedding clobber. 

 

The tie.

[New Haven Neil]

4 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Talking about clothes fitting from when we were younger ...

We were married in 1985 and I can still get into some of the the wedding clobber. 

 

The tie.

 

I resemble that figure - one time racing snake, currently barrage balloon.  No barrage, honestly, not weather.....

[Hroth]

20 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

 

 

 

Ironing boards?

I'd be looking at whatever is reduced to the right of them!

 

[polybear]

22 minutes ago, PupCam said:

The new box plus the other 4 sets of (scaby) crankcase castings, crankshafts, a cylinder and cylinder head could well form the basis of the  new "Puppers Old Bike Bits" Ebay store.     If I could get all the money back that I've lashed out speculatively to get enough bits for "one good one" that would be terrific but any money I could get back once the bike is going again will be considered a result.    I'll need expert guidance from a seasoned Ebayer.   Come to think of it it would be better if I could sub the running of "Puppers Old Bike Bits" out to such an experienced person (or Bear 🤣).    Well, the great H/S/L refurb will be finished soon and he'll need something new to get in the way of actually building a model railway  and I probably CBA.

 

Bear can do that.....usual commission applies**

(**A slice of LDC for every sale.....🤣)

 

22 minutes ago, PupCam said:

One thing I am still short of is Pushrods, x2, for the use of.    

Anyway, I've been sniffing around the internet in all the usual places for such things.    Plenty of tumble weed but no correct pushrods.   This could still be a long job .....

 

 

PM the details to Bear...I like a challenge.....

 

15 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Talking about clothes fitting from when we were younger ...

We were married in 1985 and I can still get into some of the the wedding clobber. 

 

The tie.

 

Bear can still get into the (one and only) suit purchased 32 years ago.

[tigerburnie]

I can still get in one of my suits I bought in the mid 1980's, it's a wet suit made from stretchy neoprene.........................

[monkeysarefun]

4 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Why was it short-lived? 😉

Actually, less so for the historical connotations and more so because it was pointed out the wisdom of having people wearing labels out in public  that basically said "I have access to secret stuff!"., They were replaced with more generic logs, I assume much to the dismay of Canberra based IT nerds who had suddenly found themselves to be incredibly attractive for some reason to dazzling young ladies from China, Singapore and Indonesia etc when they were out buying lunch in Canberra coffee shops. ..

Edited February 13, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[polybear]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If I found out I only had 

a week to live. I'd spend it

with my mother in law.

 

I'd be the longest week of my life.

 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land.  The cold refuses to go away, in fact its getting worse as I'm now running temperature. At least I no longer have a sore throat and the covid test is clear. The cough is a lot better as well.

[Ozexpatriate]

26 minutes ago, polybear said:

Interesting way to say that 3 out of 4 homeless people are men

Except, of course, the context of the article was probably to disabuse the notion that homelessness is confined to men.

 

Some 2017 data (no doubt worse now) for Portland:

• 16% of individuals experiencing homelessness were part of households with children
• 37% of ... individuals were female, 62% were male, and 1% identified as transgender.

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Ozexpatriate
Clarification