Early Risers.

[Barry O]

1 hour ago, Coombe Barton said:

... weekend beckons, but with not as much work done this week as I thought I would get done I know what I’m going to be doing ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/02/17/peaked-ons-figures-say-up-for-last-week/

I thinks its time for radical action. No jabs means no trip to hospital as others need the bed more. Fully jabbed.. no problem. Time for consequences to be shown to the great unjabbed...

 

Baz

Edited February 17, 2023 by Barry O

[Tony_S]

36 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Margate

Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs is said to have said that  "it was his desire to "walk into a Margate pub as an Englishman and buy a pint of bitter" "

Shouldn’t have robbed a train then. 

[Erichill16]

2 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

.

 

The NHN's did once visit Margate, having also endured the disappointment of the Hornby factory experience, we won't be going back to either in a hurry.  There are far nicer places in the UK to visit - indeed, almost everywhere is nicer.....

This talk of Margate reminds me of a Morrisey song. Please listen to the lyric it’s, it’s,  ….well so Morrisey.

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by Erichill16
Original video was terrible, lip syncing

[jamie92208]

19 minutes ago, zarniwhoop said:

Why, oh why, oh why ?

 

The local Sainted buriess has installed exit gates. The idea is that you scan the barcode from your receipt, and the gate opens. Why am I one of the few people for whom it never works ? On monday or tuesday, one of the gates was buqqered and half open but kept showing red on the sensor. Today the security guy sorted out someone on the right gate, then went over to help someone on the left gate. So I tried the right gate and it refused me too. Went to the small queue on the left gate, by this time the security guy was not in evidence. Two people went through, it refused me. One of those people came back to help me, but he couldn't get my receipt to work either. Eventually the guard reappeared and used a card. Meanwhile a large number of people had used the other gate without problems.

 

And I hadn't even ranted about their lack of Perrier this year. Remember when using cans was the big idea, to reduce usage of plastic ? No badoit for a long time, but cans of perrier were convenient and easily recyclable. Looks like that is so last year, and the idea of wine in cans seems to have also all but stopped.

 

Meanwhile, I'm getting severely p155ed off by the interstitial glucose sensors - lots of "try again in 10 minutes" over the past few weeks, readings when in the main part of the target zone (above 5 up to 10 mmol/L) generally agree with blood glucose, but at the bottom of the target range (3.9 to 4.9 mmol/L) and below they often read way below the blood glucose, and above the target range they often read way above. Seems to be a quality control issue now that v2 is on general prescription. I'm expecting a replacement for the sensor which ended early last Saturday morning (instead of at 10pm this Monday), but I seem to be spending too much time checking the sensor, and contacting the helpline. Double plus unimpressed.

Beth is having similar troubles with her libre 2. One senspr failed yesterday morning so she replaced it.  After waiting the usuaan hour forvit to activate it toldd her that the signal had been lost. Everthing tried so after lunch I rang the French helpline. No one spoke English but I persevered  and we eventually  got some error codes which told her that it wasn't the reader but the sensor. End result yet another spare sensor will arrive in 3 days time. It will have to wait a fortnight. Fortunately  the 2nd spare sensor is working and Beth still has a spare.  That's theconly upside ofvthe failures, if you play your cards right you can buildvip a stock.  The French system only allows 25  per year from the pharmacy.  Hope you get sorted.  We can't usecthe English Abbott helpline for advice unfortunately.

 

Jamie

[polybear]

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I’d love to give it a go…

 

BUT although it’s affordable they don’t ship outside the UK or US 🥲😡

 

**SPECIAL BEARY TIP OF THE DAY**

(Assuming you're ordering it from the Company and not from Amazon)

 

Use Code AST100 at Checkout and it'll get you a cool one hundred quid off.......

 

Now that's gottabeworth an LDC.....😁

 

 

 

 

[grandadbob]

Evenin' each,

I am glad to report that my DIY task was finished this afternoon and Brownie points have been banked.  It's only taken about 3 weeks for a 2/3 day job but never mind.  The downside is that The Knee is somewhat painful (that's an understatement) due to kneeling whilst painting.  I won't be doing anything else like that now until the Spring....at the earliest.

 

Had a message earlier from Steve and we've arranged another visit to the Cabinet War Rooms in early March.  You may remember that our previous visit in November had to be abandoned half way round when the fire alarms went off and the building was evacuated.  We've still got to organise the Imperial War Museum and RAF Duxford visits.

 

Pizza and fries tonight, not exactly good for the diet but never mind, I enjoyed it along with the glass of red that accompanied it.

Now waiting for The Boss to watch her soap and then I can see the first half of the rugby.  This will be interrupted so we can view Death in Paradise and I'll watch the second half after that.  

Cheers.  🍷

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by grandadbob

[Ozexpatriate]

9 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

 ... we visited the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials, the Vietnam memorial and a few other places. The memorials are stunning at night, this was around midnight.

9 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

Something that impresses me about the USA is the ideals upon which the country was founded.

I'm guessing not, but did you see the George Mason Memorial? (It's across the street from the Jefferson Memorial.) It is quite modest and when I last saw it (long ago) it was not well kept.

 

Jefferson (and the committee of five) largely plagiarized* much of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence (which you photographed) from Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights (drafted May 1776). 

Quote

Section 1. That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

 

* open to interpretation, but the coincidence is uncanny.

Quote

The Committee of Five is thought to have drawn on it when they drafted the United States Declaration of Independence in the same month (June 1776)

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

7 hours ago, TheQ said:

tiny window slot in the middle where you can just see a slice of the object.

Not on a Windows/Chrome platform. Perhaps it is not well configured for tablet/mobile platforms. It looked great in Chrome.

[New Haven Neil]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I used to go to Margate quite a lot, Herne Bay too when I was a student in Canterbury. Some friends had a flat in Herne Bay so it got visited most weekends. When we all lived in halls in the final year, Margate was often visited.  Or just for a change , Ramsgate, to watch the hovercraft arrive and depart. 
Tony

 

I have a group of friends in Whitstable - Herne Bay is a swear word to them!  There is a ...mmmm.... certain amount of discord between the two towns.  The Whitsables are also full of criticism of their town being full of 'DFL's'.  Down From London - ie second home owners.  It is quite cool and trendy there now.  This depends upon your personal viewpoint of course!

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Adult white men mainly.

Usually property-owning or tax-paying adult white males. It also varied by state. In Massachusetts you had to be Congregationalist until disestablishment in 1833.

 

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Other countries were not much better. Until the end of the First World War many men did not have the vote in the UK. It was 10 years later that women got the vote .My grandmother was in her thirties then. 

Of course in Britain around the time of the founding of the US, those professing Catholicism could not sit in Parliament until the Catholic Relief Act of 1829.

 

The Kiwis were first with women's suffrage in 1893. Australian women* were granted suffrage in 1902 - and the right to stand in Federal Elections (the latter being a worldwide first).

 

* Except indigenous people

 

It's worth noting that there is nothing in the US constitution that explicitly guarantees equal rights to women. 

[Tony_S]

33 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

The Kiwis were first with women's suffrage in 1893. Australian women* were granted suffrage in 1902 -

The then Territory of Wyoming granted women the right to vote in 1869. 
In Iran and the UK senior religious persons get seats in legislative assembly. Women bishops can sit in the House of Lords but the Iranians have other religions represented. 
Some countries have their suffrage so universal it is not unknown for winning candidates to have 105% of the vote. 

[monkeysarefun]

5 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

One night in Broadstairs was enough to have “been there done that”

 

 

As A Half Man Half Biscuit enthusiast I assume that their song from  The Cammell Laird Social Club album  got a play while you were there?  Maybe the town could put up a Half Man Half Biscuit statue to entice the crowds, like The Beatles statues in Luverpul, or the Bon Scott one in Fremantle WA. I'd go see it as long as I didn't have to go more than 5 minutes out my way.

 

It might catch on, after all The Beatles changed planes in Walnut Ridge in Arkansas  during their 1964 US tour , in honour of that  there is apparently a Beatles statue, Beatles cutouts,  a big Yellow Submarine and an annual festival. 

Edited February 17, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Gwiwer]

AS a HMHB fan I wasn't able to commemorate their career on this occasion.  Dr. SWMBO isn't a fan and was rather miffed at having been blissfully unaware of the local "Blues Bash" over this weekend.  Had she known she might have book for tonight not last night.  

 

In other news her mobility issues have flared up again.  Walking more than a few steps, and those very slowly, has become painful.  That limits any form of activity and made even the relatively short walks into and out of town last night excruciatingly painful and very, very slow.  "Walking from bench to bench" as she puts it.  This morning in Margate was, if anything, worse taking almost an hour to complete the half-mile or  so from Cecil Square to the railway station.  

[PupCam]

 

Evening All!

 

2 hours ago, polybear said:

**SPECIAL BEARY TIP OF THE DAY**

(Assuming you're ordering it from the Company and not from Amazon)

 

Use Code AST100 at Checkout and it'll get you a cool one hundred quid off.......

 

Now that's gottabeworth an LDC.....😁

 

I DO WISH YOU HADN'T SAID THAT !!!!

 

In Other News

 

Today I have mostly been fitting replacement LED strip lights in the garage.    So much better than fluorescents!   

In order to get the last one in place I had to remove the Tripehound wing panel storage rack (6 wing panels of course) dangling from the ceiling close by.     They have always obscured the light falling on the Myford so I thought I'd take the opportunity of re-siting the storage place further down the garage.

 

Wow! It's going to be great using the Myford when I will actually be able to see what I'm doing!

 

I've been wondering about how to source replacement pushrods for the Beeza engine.   The old ones don't directly match the now correct cam followers and replacement (either new or second-hand)  ones aren't exactly thick on the ground for this not overly numerous 80+ year old machine.   You may recall the agro of sourcing a replacement crankcase!

 

Anyway, after applying a good coat of looking at and some fiddling with old and new tappet adjusters it became apparent that  I  could easily match the new followers to the old push rods with a simple 5/16" 26tpi  stud and a couple of lock nuts. 

 

Hooray!    I feel an order to Tracy Tools for a set of taps and dies coming on 😀

 

Night All!

[polybear]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

As A Half Man Half Biscuit enthusiast ..........

 

Who??  This Bear has never heard of them.

 

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

It might catch on, after all The Beatles changed planes in Walnut Ridge in Arkansas  during their 1964 US tour , in honour of that  there is apparently a Beatles statue, Beatles cutouts,  a big Yellow Submarine and an annual festival. 

 

Never been a Beatles fan - the odd tune might be "OK" but little more than that.

 

24 minutes ago, PupCam said:

 

Evening All!

 

 

I DO WISH YOU HADN'T SAID THAT !!!!

 

One thing that did strike me is that it's 2ft (600mm) diameter and well over 12" high so takes up a fair bit of room; keeping all those gears etc. dust free would ideally require a display cabinet.

 

24 minutes ago, PupCam said:

Anyway, after applying a good coat of looking at and some fiddling with old and new tappet adjusters it became apparent that  I  could easily match the new followers to the old push rods with a simple 5/16" 26tpi  stud and a couple of lock nuts. 

 

Hooray!    I feel an order to Tracy Tools for a set of taps and dies coming on 😀

 

Night All!

 

If Bear doesn't have the necessary T & D's then there's a very good chance I know a man that does......😉

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Just finished watching 'Death in Paradise' where the inspector was himself charged with murder. Inevitably his innocence was confirmed and the guilty party identified. The unexpected was who the guilty party was but I'm not going to say in case anyone is yet to see it.

[polybear]

Bear here.....

Now the Big River may come in for a bit of flack (deservedly so when it comes to tax n' all that) but a certain Bear ordered ten 100mm diamond needle files at 10pm last night - they arrived before 9am this morning (Amazon Prime).  Tick.

 

In other news....

It seems some tvrd has just been sentenced to 12 years for spying for Russia 😡 - they should've given the b'sterd a lot longer than that, followed by kicking him out to Russia permanently once released.  He might not find the place quite so nice after all.  Yep, Rant.

[TheQ]

Evening Awl,

Lots of UFLs around this evening, Up From Londons, to their second homes. Very heavy traffic for here.

 

Evening at the MRC very successful, it takes 3 hours to change a flat sided laser cut kit into a board on board model with lots of tiny plasticard strips..

Another building to do next week.

 

Our local Tes and Coes have just added a steel barrier /  one way opening gates, so you can only escape via the tills. The big stores have had this for some months. I guess it's cheaper than the security guard who used to visit some days. Though someone had stolen all the tomato's not single one of any type in shop.

 

The wind has died to nothing out there, the forecast was mid 20s mph rising to mid 40s mph at stupid o'clock in the morning.

 

Muggachoccy gone

Good night Awl.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Since this morning’s earlier activities and then shopping trips I’ve done bu99erall and as such I feel a lot better for it. 

 

PB. The valves in question are old, very old, they were put in when the heating system was installed back in July 1986. The valves have a fibre washer that fits in between the 2 valve halves and I’ve found that they do deteriorate over time. In the past I usually change the seals in one radiator about once every 5 years or so. Two to go in the same week has never happened before! Since the system was put in, I’ve replaced 4 of the radiators and added an extra one, putting in new valves each time that don’t require seals to be fitted. I think part of the problem is how vigorously Sheila cleans around them, knocking the valves etc with the vacuum cleaner. So, I’ve decided that in the summer when the heating isn’t required, instead of replacing the seals, I’ll replace the radiator valves. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Who??  This Bear has never heard of them

Yeah? Given your love of a good rant I assumed "National Shite Day" would be your personal   anthem.

 

[The Lurker]

16 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Yeah? Given your love of a good rant I assumed "National Shite Day" would be your personal   anthem.

 

It’s on one of my Spotify playlists

 

there’s man with a mullet going mad in Millet’s 

Edited February 18, 2023 by The Lurker

[Ozexpatriate]

10 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

It is my understanding that the civic buildings were designed in that way ie to impress any visiting dignitary.  A bit of one up man ship you might say.

 

Unlike London where the buildings arose organically often have to fit into medieval street patterns.

In Europe it was royal palaces that were designed to impress visiting dignitaries. They happily pulled down any medieval stuff that was in the way. 

 

As is possible with a created federal capital, Washington, DC was planned* - by Pierre L'Enfant. In the implementation, many of the more grandiose features of his plan were not implemented - like his vision of a Presidential Palace.  What is now the national mall was intended as a grand avenue. None of his proposed canals were built.

 

* Also Canberra, Brasilia, etc.

 

The plan is intentionally centered on Capitol Hill with congress at it's core. Like most capitals, much evolved over time and while there there is a lot of neo-classicism, it's not all cohesive. Most of the 'civic' buildings (government offices) are not impressive at all.

 

EDIT:
But I would argue that the Federal monuments were designed to impress Americans - not visiting dignitaries - creating a tangible manifestation of national ideals.

 

Edited February 18, 2023 by Ozexpatriate

[zarniwhoop]

8 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Were they pearly gates?

Nothing to do with Billy F. Gibbons as far as I know.