Early Risers.

[Ozexpatriate]

14 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

But what really angers me is when patients are convinced that “alternative medicines” are better treatment for their cancer than those offered by their Oncologist and thus put off having “proper treatment” until it’s too late (believe me, any “alternative medicine” cancer treatment that really worked would soon be used by Oncologists on a regular basis).

We occasionally see missing persons cases where the parent of a pædiatric oncology patient flips out and absconds. There was a case here a couple of years ago where a parent was wanted for felony criminal mistreatment and custodial interference for refusing treatment of her child.

 

CBD* oil is popular as an alternative medication. It has some medical efficacy, but I suspect fewer applications than what many people believe it can provide.

 

* Cannabidiol - a cannabis derivative where the THC is removed

 

Then there is prayer as an alternative to medical intervention. There have been multiple cases locally in the last couple of decades varying from felony criminal mistreatment to manslaughter for 'faith healing' parents who refuse medical treatment for their children.

 

Edited April 3, 2023 by Ozexpatriate
Spelling

[polybear]

3 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

... Annual leave, so doing the domestic thing. And getting quotes for kitchen units. All I can say is - ‘ow much!!!!???? ...

 

One word:  DIY Kitchens**

 

https://www.diy-kitchens.com/

 

(**Er, that may be two words.....or is it four?)

 

Bear looked at rather a lot of kitchen units and these are as good as any I saw - and better than many, at a fraction of the price, with a huge range of styles, sizes and colours.  Oh yes, and they come ready assembled.  Bear is very, very pleased with his units.

 

If a kitchen fitter is involved and is waving Magnet etc. brochures that's cos they get a big fat back-hander from the company.  How does Bear know this?  Well I've got a Magnet Trade account - and they give two receipts - a real one for the fitter and a copy + 10%-ish buried in the prices for the customer....

 

In other news.....

How many wallpaper drops completed today?  Two.  Yes, TWO...or 2....or 1+1......in Bear's defence I got an unexpected visit from Buddy over the road just as I finished the first drop, so that delayed proceedings somewhat.

Wottab'sterdjob - the long drops were a real p1g to do indeed - the longest was something like 4.6m, with the second nottalot less.  Discovering how to match the patterns (it's a heavy random swirl a bit like Artex) was, well, "interesting" -  I suspect the NNNND learnt some new words unlikely to be in the OED during that fun.  Of course the matching procedure had to be carried out with a roll of paper in one paw, the loose end of the paper in another and whilst balanced on The Ladder of Death and trying to find the match before I could mark and cut the paper to the correct length.

On wet n' sticky wallpaper over 4m long actually keeping that pattern match as the second drop was applied to the wall alongside the first was a right b1tch as well - only a slight stretch in the paper (pretty unavoidable) and the match goes off.....

In practice it seems to have come out ok though, and once finished and painted *should* look pretty good; the pattern is doing a really good job at hiding the cr@p walls so that's A Big Tick.

 

Fortunately the worst two drops are done - and by the next drop the length will already be down to 3.5m; the shortest drops will be 2.4m.

The bad news is the paper texture means a sh1tload of paste is needed for each drop - a new tub is due to be delivered tomorrow (at twenty five quid a throw) and its possible I might just need more after that one too.  TC's.

 

In other news.....

 

Way, way, WAY beyond Rant......

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-65160098

 

And finally....

The man who murdered nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel has been jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 42 years in prison.  Good.

 

Bear gone.

Edited April 3, 2023 by polybear

[Ozexpatriate]

5 minutes ago, polybear said:

One word:  DIY Kitchens**

Dear @polybear, while the results you have shared are impressive and one imagines are certainly less expensive than work contracted out to professionals, the anxiety, stress, injury, etc evident in your daily progress reports are an effective deterrent to ever attempting anything of the kind.

[Tony_S]

9 minutes ago, polybear said:

means a sh1tload of paste is needed

That had reminded me. Dad never let anyone else watch him hang wallpaper but my brother and I certainly were given the job of mixing paste. Do,I assume from your post that it is ready mixed nowadays?

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis is having a go again so Nurofen has been taken. Getting back to Malta, it is one of the few places in Europe where you can get a decent cup of coffee and decent tea in the same place. If you do have tea many establishments use bottled water as the tap water is de-salinated sea water which makes terrible tea. Another place to visit is the old capital Mdina, many of the buildings date back to Roman times.

[polybear]

4 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Dear @polybear, while the results you have shared are impressive and one imagines are certainly less expensive than work contracted out to professionals, the anxiety, stress, injury, etc evident in your daily progress reports are an effective deterrent to ever attempting anything of the kind.

 

Certainly the kitchen was a lot more involved and took a huge amount of planning and thought, in general (and looking back) I did enjoy much of it;  the reason I don't use professionals (unless I have to - Roofers, Plasterers, Granite Worktop Installers or Gas People) is that I find it really, really hard to locate excellent ones now; the vast majority of so-called pro jobs I see I can usually spot cr@p bits a mile off and think that I could've done a much better job - simply because I can spend the time taking great care and also researching beforehand what I don't know.  And if something doesn't come out as I want it then I'll try again until I'm happy - a pro may well ignore it and rely on the Customer looking at the overall effect rather than the little details.

Also, being able to look back at a job and think "I did that" is priceless.

The money saved is a bonus, though I'm fortunate in that whilst I can afford to get a pro in, for much of the time I don't need too.

 

As for injury, well yes "The Paw" has been a right PITA but IIRC I came out unscathed from doing the Kitchen and Lounge (apart from the odd cut finger or ten...); I suspect "The Paw" resulted from simply looking upwards whilst I did the Hall Coving so in many respects I was just bluddy unlucky really.

 

2 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

That had reminded me. Dad never let anyone else watch him hang wallpaper but my brother and I certainly were given the job of mixing paste. Do,I assume from your post that it is ready mixed nowadays?

 

Yes I'm using Ready Mixed paste; the mix it yourself stuff is still very much around and in use (and a lot cheaper) but for heavy papers such as those that Bear has been using (both Lining Paper and Wallpaper) they need the extra strength that a Ready Mix gives.

 

[Sidecar Racer]

5 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

 

 Dealing with Greek shipowners is painful, they can dig their heels in over the most silly things,

throw tantrums and behave in ways which might be politely described as unreasonable.

 

 

 Their Restaurant owning Cypriot cousins can be of similar attitude .

  trade is quiet , we are not making money , what do we do ?

 Put the price up .

 

Also.

 

 Story related on an ex-pat Cyprus forum , may not be word for word but the gist is .

 

 We sat on the beach today , watched jet ski rental guy set up , hire 30 Euros for

30 minutes , no takers all day so later in the afternoon went and offered 25 Euros ,

 No No , cant do that will lose money . Ended up going home with no rental at all ,

so accrued the cost of getting to and from the beach at a cost to him while could

have 50 Euros for 2 ski rents .

 

I found the Cypriots to be really nice people open and friendly , but then like Malta

there is a lot of British history in Cyprus .

 

 

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

44 minutes ago, polybear said:

Certainly the kitchen was a lot more involved and took a huge amount of planning and thought, in general (and looking back) I did enjoy much of it;  the reason I don't use professionals (unless I have to - Roofers, Plasterers, Granite Worktop Installers or Gas People) is that I find it really, really hard to locate excellent ones now; the vast majority of so-called pro jobs I see I can usually spot cr@p bits a mile off and think that I could've done a much better job - simply because I can spend the time taking great care and also researching beforehand what I don't know.  And if something doesn't come out as I want it then I'll try again until I'm happy - a pro may well ignore it and rely on the Customer looking at the overall effect rather than the little details.

 

 

 Fair enough if you like doing that kind of thing I've given up doing most stuff myself because tradies knock it over in a tenth of the time and apart from a plumber I got once, are surprisingly good value when compared to the time I would have to spend sourcing materials, struggling with heavy items by myself, taking the old stuff to the tip and all  that kind of nonsense.

 

Last time I had some in was just before lockdown. I have a raised L shaped deck on the back of the house, which due to the slope is almost double-story at its highest point. One of the posts had sunk slightly, and the beam that runs along the side length had twisted.  (Its the beam that runs along the LHS that the guttering is attached to  in this photo...) 

I called a builder,  he and his 2 offsiders arrived, replaced and realigned the post and replaced the 10 metre by 10 x 4 side-beam. Took the 3 blokes about 3 hours, final price including the timber  and labour was around $1100,   afternoon tea and a carton of beer. (last two items weren't in the quote, its just something you traditionally do here when the job is a good one.!)

 

I dont think I could have got the timber beam alone  for much less than that , and there's no way I'd have managed to replace that beam two stories up by myself. They even took all the old stuff away with them.  I'm still not sure how they made much out of it, but I certainly dont feel ripped off. 

 

5 stars.

Edited April 3, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[polybear]

Buddy who visited Bear today told me he'd just had a quote to trim some trees in his back garden - fourteen hundred quid for what I suspect is a day's work at most; no idea how many guys would be on the job (2 or maybe 3 I suspect).  When he nearly fainted and said he'd need to get more quotes the guy said he'd like the job and asked what my Buddy thought a fair price would be - Buddy wasn't going there and repeated he'd get more quotes, at which point the Tree Guy reduced the price by four hundred quid.....

Buddy is still getting more quotes....

[polybear]

Currently watching "Unstoppable" with Denzel Washington on ITV4; all about a runaway train.  Tis' the usual Hollywood action disaster movie but watchable all the same.

[Winslow Boy]

37 minutes ago, polybear said:

Currently watching "Unstoppable" with Denzel Washington on ITV4; all about a runaway train.  Tis' the usual Hollywood action disaster movie but watchable all the same.

 

I like Denzel. He's a good actor.

 

This might come as a surprise so don't read this till after the film has finished e but the train gets stopped, he gets to retire and the female dispatcher gets promoted.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well, I’d forgotten that it’s half term, so the roads weren’t as busy as I’d expected them to be! Consequentially, our journey to the hospital was a lot quicker than expected, we left home at just after 12 o’clock and were in the car park before 12:30! When we got to the ward for Sheila’s assessment, there was nobody there and we were booked in at about 12:45. Sheila was given a questionnaire to fill in, she hadn’t finished completing it when she was called in. The actual assessment took only 20 minutes and once finished, she was allowed to go home and we were back at the car around 1:15 and home for before 2 o’clock. So, we ended up having a late dinner, but as we usually eat around 1:30, we were only about an hour or so later than normal. She wasn’t given a date for her op, but the assessment is valid for 6 months, but she was told that the waiting list isn’t very long so it could be sooner than that. 

 

As for the afternoon, well, it wasn’t real worth starting anything else, so we watched last Friday night’s Gardner’s World. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. The Nurofen is keeping Arthur Itis quiet but I'll take some more before bedtime. A bit late as I watched the archaeology program with Alice Roberts on BBC4. a bit of catching up is now due so I'll be back later.

[Coombe Barton]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

One word:  DIY Kitchens**

 

https://www.diy-kitchens.com/

 

(**Er, that may be two words.....or is it four?)

Thanks - another source

All I want is flatpack units - I'm doing it myself anyway. And that was the price I got - and even then   - " 'ow much???!!!!"

I will be shopping round

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Coombe Barton]

17 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

ut what really angers me is when patients are convinced that “alternative medicines” are better treatment for their cancer than those offered by their Oncologist and thus put off having “proper treatment” until it’s too late (believe me, any “alternative medicine” cancer treatment that really worked would soon be used by Oncologists on a regular basis).

When Sandy was in the early stages having chemo in February 2019 I was strongly told by my uncle's granddaughter (at his funeral - he was 102) that we should stop demo and use bicarbonate of soda. Her other half told me that Sandy should use meditation.

 

Fast forward to late February/early March 2020 when she told me that "I've done my research" and that Covid was a hoax. And then said that a load of her friends had unfriended her because of her views. Well, she was speaking to another one, for the last time.

 

No regrets - just couldn't put up with any more hurt.

[jjb1970]

On Greeks, I sometimes used to attend meetings in Piraeus and it was like being in a meeting with Stavro Blofeld and his minions, some dark, wood panelled room with a table made to withstand a nuclear blast with supervillain shipowners discussing their next attempt to take over the world. It was great.

 

Whatever I might say, I have genuine respect for those I dealt with if for no other reason than the fact they never broke an agreement. And not just in a technical sense of the 'we only agreed this, not that' sort, they always fully honoured what they agreed. I found that a rare and commendable quality. It seems to be a cultural thing in that world, anything is fair game in discussions and when trying to get their way but to break an agreement was a taboo. It's why they are able to do things based on verbal agreement with their underlings sorting out details like contracts..... You might pull a fast one and win once, you'll find yourself blacklisted in their informal channels and believe me, they never forget.

 

It's something I argued over with people in bodies like the European Commission. They hated the Greeks because they were so difficult to deal with. I used to ask the question - which is better, a partner who says all the right things and is easy to deal with but who ignores anything they don't like about whatever is agreed, or someone who might be a nightmare to negotiate with but who will honour whatever is finally agreed?

[AndyID]

2 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

On Greeks, I sometimes used to attend meetings in Piraeus and it was like being in a meeting with Stavro Blofeld and his minions, some dark, wood panelled room with a table made to withstand a nuclear blast with supervillain shipowners discussing their next attempt to take over the world. It was great.

 

Whatever I might say, I have genuine respect for those I dealt with if for no other reason than the fact they never broke an agreement. And not just in a technical sense of the 'we only agreed this, not that' sort, they always fully honoured what they agreed. I found that a rare and commendable quality. It seems to be a cultural thing in that world, anything is fair game in discussions and when trying to get their way but to break an agreement was a taboo. It's why they are able to do things based on verbal agreement with their underlings sorting out details like contracts..... You might pull a fast one and win once, you'll find yourself blacklisted in their informal channels and believe me, they never forget.

 

It's something I argued over with people in bodies like the European Commission. They hated the Greeks because they were so difficult to deal with. I used to ask the question - which is better, a partner who says all the right things and is easy to deal with but who ignores anything they don't like about whatever is agreed, or someone who might be a nightmare to negotiate with but who will honour whatever is finally agreed?

 

For my sins I was managing the joint development of a chip with a little outfit called Intel. The business guys were still arm-wrestling over the contract when both engineering teams had completed their designs 😄

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

A light frost this morning but we now have blue sky and sunshine.  It should be a fine dry day with plenty of sunshine and light winds.  Now 1°C, might reach 14°C.

AWOL yesterday, just didn't get a round tuit due to various reasons including having to rush off to help Abbie with a minor crisis, all resolved now.

The Back seems to be behaving however the "G" word is being bandied around so I may have to take avoiding action.

The Boss requires transporting to and from the hair mechanic later but not much else planned apart from chasing up the chemist for an overdue prescription delivery, they were still waiting for one of the items yesterday.

Have a good one,

Bob.

Edited April 4, 2023 by grandadbob

[iL Dottore]

Good morning all (I think),

I find myself dealing with a bit of a paradox: whenever I have a good night’s sleep (so more than about four hours), when I wake up, I always feel more tired than when I have a poor night’s sleep (four hours or less). Does anyone else have this intriguing problem?

Some random thoughts:

On a philosophical note: the discussion of politics is forbidden on the forum (and quite rightly so, as intelligent, respectful, political debate without animosity seems to be a relic of the past nowadays), but what do posters think of the philosophical position that every decision a person makes – from choosing to buy a Bachman locomotive vs a Hornby locomotive to choosing a government - is a political decision? Presumably, this is the Butterfly Effect from Chaos Theory as applied to daily life.
 

In this theory, it would seem that (for sake of argument) @polybear’s decision to have chips and sausages instead of pizza tonight will influence the outcome of the next general election. It’s all kind of abstract and seems to involve the sort of mathematics that uses loads of letters, brackets and parentheses instead of numbers… 

 

I note with some dismay, @Coombe Barton experience (as recounted in his last post). It seems that, thanks to social media, we are now hearing - far too often - from the sort of people who would write to their local newspaper/council/MP in green crayon on lined paper. Instead of such missives being binned (as would have happened in the past), these bizarre and unscientific views get widely circulated and thus can influence the naïve, the vulnerable and the simple-minded.
 

I have also noted, since the 1970s, that the anti-scientific views – held by the extremes on both the left and the right – have become much more widely distributed. I suspect the increasing complexity and sophistication of modern technology, engineering and science (so biology, physics, medicine and the like) a lack of basic understanding of such topics coupled with a populist disdain for “experts“, has led to this situation (one of the many erudite conversations I had with my GP friend during the pandemic was about how incredibly ignorant most people are about basic science and how their bodies work).

 

Finally, I had planned to have a nice quiet day today, doing a little pottering around and working on memorising key set phrases in Japanese for my Japanese holiday, but a lot of work came in last night - which means i’ll be hard at it from about 2 pm to 10 pm tonight! But, hey ho, it brings in the £££££££

Edited April 4, 2023 by iL Dottore

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

It's sunny here this morning.. but cold.. very cold.. so I mY just push the lawnmower round to reduce the height of the grass. Pah!

 

After a meet up last night I need to get my head into gear on what could be a great step forward for our cricket members in our region.. some brown paper and post it notes are required first. (Always great to use for designing or mapping processes).

 

Time for my mugatea then onward and upward! 

 

Enjoy your day!

 

Baz

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl,

6 hours solid sleep followed by another hour, a very good night for me that had been helped by a glass of Lidl's finest amber liquid.

 

SWMBO's late aunt and uncle used to go to Malta every winter , it was cheaper to pay for bed and breakfast in a hotel there, than keep the heating on all winter in the UK.

 

I suspect Pete the Mole and I would spend time on Malta wandering around the many historic sites there.

 

A kitchen refit is on our to-do list, a large section will be repainted doors, then I will extend an awkward corner ignored by the original fitters, by building a made to measure section in ply, and then painting that to match. Since we are inheriting a fridge freeze and fridge, in black, the colours of the painted units will be selected to match but give, reflected light.

 

Plans for today,

Wheelbarrow more rabbit spoil to the raised bed, 

Loppers out for some brambles 

Await incoming fridge freezer.

 

Time for muggacoffee number 2

[Winslow Boy]

6 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

On Greeks, I sometimes used to attend meetings in Piraeus and it was like being in a meeting with Stavro Blofeld and his minions, some dark, wood panelled room with a table made to withstand a nuclear blast with supervillain shipowners discussing their next attempt to take over the world. It was great.

 

Whatever I might say, I have genuine respect for those I dealt with if for no other reason than the fact they never broke an agreement. And not just in a technical sense of the 'we only agreed this, not that' sort, they always fully honoured what they agreed. I found that a rare and commendable quality. It seems to be a cultural thing in that world, anything is fair game in discussions and when trying to get their way but to break an agreement was a taboo. It's why they are able to do things based on verbal agreement with their underlings sorting out details like contracts..... You might pull a fast one and win once, you'll find yourself blacklisted in their informal channels and believe me, they never forget.

 

It's something I argued over with people in bodies like the European Commission. They hated the Greeks because they were so difficult to deal with. I used to ask the question - which is better, a partner who says all the right things and is easy to deal with but who ignores anything they don't like about whatever is agreed, or someone who might be a nightmare to negotiate with but who will honour whatever is finally agreed?

 

I think that is something to do with the nature of the set up. I noticed it withe dealings with large orgisations, particularly government. They tend to take what I would call a 'lazy' approach ie not say anything until the work etc was in progress and then expect everything to stop so that they could go over it with a fine toothcomb. Fortunately I didn't have that many dealings with HMG and its many tentacles but what I did drove me mad.

[TheQ]

The failures of many HMG military contracts, are caused by the men from the ministry repeatedly changing the specifications during development.