Early Risers.

[Ian Abel]

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

On pharmacies there's a slightly bonkers thing in Singapore. There are two big chains (plus a couple of smaller ones), Watson's and Guardian (both are international outfits) who seem obsessed with competing against each other. If you see a Guardian then as often as not Watson's will be next door or opposite (literally, not just quite close), it seems crazy to me as they sell exactly the same products, offer the same pharmacy services and prices are benchmarked.

They must be taking a page from the US playbook, or vice-versa...

The two major pharmacies here are CVS and Walgreens. Typically, they can be found in very close proximity to one another such as below;

what's even CRAZIER about this particular scenario is that Target (a well-known big-box "everything" store in the US) is literally one block behind where the picture is taken from, and they (Target) have an IN STORE CVS pharmacy as they contract with them since giving up their own pharmacies!!!

 

BIN day...

BINS out early, already serviced.

 

Yesterday, we discovered a Robin has taken up accommodation on the trellis under the eave by our porch/patio.

   

 

She seems fairly comfortable even in such close proximity to the house, hopefully, especially since she certainly saw plenty of movement while building the nest, she'll find it OK being here for the duration.

 

That was more than enough excitement for yesterday, nothing else worthy of reporting.

 

Sent out a "notice" gathering the neighbors for a Coronation Party Saturday evening - not going to try for the early real-time here, 4:30AM isn't anything I'm interested in.

We'll watch a rerun and have some drinks/appetizers. At least I'll be able to say I've attended TWO Coronation parties in my lifetime. 👍😃

 

10c at BIN time, and sunny. 22 the expected high. Weekend will be cooler (16c highs) and rain expected tomorrow and Coronation day. 

 

Tally ho.

Edited May 4, 2023 by Ian Abel

[Winslow Boy]

Here Jamie I know it's not good news about Jill's kidneys but taking it out on the chickens is not on old bean. That really is pushing it couldn't you have found a peripatetic  onion  seller to run over instead.

[Gwiwer]

7 hours ago, PeterBB said:

Gulls swopping down and tasking ice-creams is common on Jersey.  The kiosk owner has a notice to that effect on the kiosk and also tells customers to keep thewir ice-creams close to themselves.  SWMBOalso lost an ice-cream in this manner.

St. Ives gulls in Cornwall are famed for it and masters / mistresses of the art-form.  Beware anyone sitting around the harbour with unguarded food.  Ice-creams, pasties, saffron buns and indeed anything else is fair game.  It's the Herring Gulls that do it; the Common Gulls, Black Backs and the occasional visits by other gull species don't give rise to them learning this antisocial behaviour.  

 

Other parts of Cornwall are reporting increasing numbers of gull attacks on human food too.  It seems to be learned and copied from one bird to the next.  They are quite brazen and you often don't know anything until a large yellow beak whisks your lunch / treat away in a flutter of feathers and with a stink of stale fish! 

 

The gulls around St. Ives and western Cornwall generally are, accordingly, very large indeed and are among the largest gulls recorded.  

 

For those who are bothered a Herring Gull has the yellow bill with a red patch on the lower jaw, pink legs, white and pale grey plumage (with mottled brown on juveniles) and a black tail with white spots.  No other gull matches all these identifiers.  Only the Herring Gull emits the raucous and familiar "gully" cry, starting with the aggressive look of the open bill and for which it also has to perform the curious "looking at feet" move as seen in the clip.  

 

Advice - cover all food with a cloth or bag at all times; they'll find an easier target.  

 

 

 

 

[DaveF]

The Northumberland herring gulls can be a nuisance too but it is not common for them to take food directly from people. Perhaps it is because they have learnt that if they just hang around for a while someone will throw them a few chips.

They are also learning how to land in quite small gardens to obtain food from bird tables.  Fortunately they can take off again.

 

The black headed gulls also walk about near people about until someone feeds them.  Both types have learnt that if you stand by a car and look hopeful they may get food.

 

David

[jamie92208]

32 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Here Jamie I know it's not good news about Jill's kidneys but taking it out on the chickens is not on old bean. That really is pushing it couldn't you have found a peripatetic  onion  seller to run over instead.

Fortunately for the hens they don't quack. 

 

Jamie

[DaveF]

Now for today.

 

Just after I wrote my very short note this morning it was time to go and unlock the church.  I set off as usual but got caught at the temporary traffic lights and when they went green the car at the front of the queue didn't notice until another car hooted.  In the end the vicar got there just before me and unlocked.  The service went well as usual, the only small issue for me was that whoever last used the communion set hadn't refilled anything ready for today.  Just after the service the flower arrangers arrived to start preparing the church for the Sunday services to celebrate the Coronation. 

 

After coffee at church I went into town to do a little bit of shopping, I needed some Anthisan but somehow also end up up with two crossword puzzle books and some cheap novels.  Perhaps fortunately the charity shops didn't have anything of interest today.  On the way back to the car I realised that I have been intending to restart my library membership which lapsed a while ago.  It only took a few minutes, no need for id as my records were on the council's system as a council tax payer.  I now have my new card and might even go in and borrow some real books sometime.  The main reaon to rejoin is to take advantage of "Borrow Box" which has books and magazines you can download for 14 days and "pressreader" which allows acccess to over 7,000 newspapers and magazines from many countries.  All of course "free" but funded from Council Tax so I may as well take advantage of it.

 

Back home I had a long chat on the phone with a friend.  I also had an e mail to tell me that Bill Hampson who I knew at the Tanfield Railway has died.  I also knew him a long time ago at work through involvement in projects to raise students' aspirations in science and technology.

 

Then it was time for a quick lunch - a Kornish pasty (that is what the baker calls them), I presume they may not follow the real recipe but they are very tasty.  Then despite the cold wind - and it really was only 9C - I went into the garden for a while and also sowed some coleus seeds in the greenhouse.,  I also did a bit of model stuff.

 

Now it is time for tea, the news, a book, music and TV till bedtime.

 

David

[New Haven Neil]

Evening all, from a rock basking in the dulcet sounds of the lawnmower.  Even better, I'm not driving it.

 

I got theraped this afternoon, pleasant girl, understands my situation and had even read my notes first - wonders will never cease.  Usual sort of hideous exercises, but one thing that came to light was I have been positioning a leg in bed in a 'forbidden' way, although it eases the pain apparently it is making it worse.  Allegedly.  Quite happy to give it all a go, anything that may help is worth a try.

 

Mrs NHN moved offices today, and it has all turned to turdycurses, there just isn't enough room.  Because of the confidential nature of her work (boss's PA) she has to have a position where no-one else can see her monitors - this has not been done, and her desk is half in a walkway!  It appears some of the other staff that have moved there 'got there first' and bagged space, there is going to be tears.  Mrs NHN came home early having just walked out, and left it to the office manager to sort out hopefully. The boss is actually off island until Wednesday, there is going to be one huge explosion when he gets back if its not done.  

[PhilJ W]

7 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

I note some are still in pain and taking tablets for aches and pains associated with Arthur Ititus, did any of you mention to your GP about Piroxicam Gel? Only I have no cartilages in my knees and three discs in my spine have also gone(I am now two inches shorter than I used to be). I am able to go fishing, walk miles up Glens and even climb Munroe Mountains pain free(mostly) and I have no stomach ulcers, just a thought!

I do use it if the arthritis/sciatica is really bad.

6 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

Which only shows that those white supremacists banging on about the "purity of the white race" have totally got the wrong end of the stick.  Mind you, these are the idiots who think a few minor genetic adaptations to less sunny climes  created some kind of overall superiority. 

Black or dark brown is the normal colour for humans. Paler skin is an adaption to enable individuals who have migrated to cooler climes to absorb vitamin D from sunlight. It has been reckoned that in 5,000 years from now most of Australians, even those of pure European stock will be black. Neandertal DNA has not been found in anyone of pure African  decent. 

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I suspect it is because they really want you to use one of their preferred repairers.

Almost certainly, for preferred substitute cheapest. Many years ago I had an Anglia estate, someone ran into the back of it and my insurers told me to take it to a repairers about ten miles away, and a couple of miles from the nearest bus stop. When I went to collect it I found that they had forced the lock on the tailgate despite having the key to hand. A word or two with the insurance company ensued which resulted in the lock being repaired. I insured a later car with the same insurers and that was damaged when another driver drove out of a side turning and left a scrape down the side. This time though I chose the repairer who done a very good job. I chose the repairer because they were local, had a good reputation and were able to do the repairs within a couple of weeks. The insurance company was miffed because they were the most expensive.

[Tony_S]

When I bought my present car, the dealer noticed a mark on the bonnet. I couldn’t see it but they wanted to deal with it at their body shop. I was happy with that but the body shop wasn’t actually theirs but one they used. The car was trailered to what on Google Maps looked like a farm.  I needn’t have worried as when I Googled the business I suspect my Evoque was the lowliest vehicle there.  Did a good job too. 
My Scenic was tail ended some years ago. The insurance wanted to write it off as the repair exceeded the value of the car. The repairer wasn’t happy. He wanted a “proper” assessor not someone ticking a yes/no box on the computer. It got repaired. The difference in estimate v value was only a couple of Pounds!

[Ozexpatriate]

9 hours ago, The Lurker said:

I have read that there is a lot of sensitivity around the extraction of potential DNA from the ancestors so I guess like in the US we may never know - some of the earliest evidence of man predates the Clovis culture by some considerable time - granted the potential 27,000 years old cave evidence in Brazil is fairly tenuous / but it is fascinating- just as the diaspora of sapiens, interbreeding with our Neanderthal, Denisovan and potentially others along the way is.

Yes, "Kennewick Man" was from the Pacific Northwest. His remains have been reinterred.

 

There were a lot of crazy theories about the population of North America and the problem presented by glaciation. Most of them seem to have overlooked what is now the prevailing theory and obvious in retrospect, that maritime/littoral expansion down the west coast (using kayaks and the like) can easily explain pre-Clovis habitation. 

 

While not pre-Clovis, the Fort Rock sandals in Central Oregon are in the range of 10,400 to 9,100 years old and demonstrate a people capable of advanced weaving.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I went upstairs lunchtime, sat down on the bed and promptly fell asleep for a couple of hours. Fortunately I didn't fall off of the bed. Lasagne for dinner tonight.

[Ozexpatriate]

9 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Only one item in the news until the weekend, two days to go and its getting a bit tedious IMHO, not that I'm anti royal but its all the sycophancy that goes with it.

Very little in the news here. People may find that unsurprising but big royal events are normally covered with great gusto in the US.

 

Mind you I don't watch the morning infotainment programs that feed on celebrity/lifestyle/gossip, and with the Writers Guild Strike, late night shows are in reruns.

 

There was a nice story on the King's grandmother* on CNN online the other day.

 

* Not the one you might guess (Princess Alice of Battenburg).

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

ER continues to be educational. I had to Google the chimichurri. 

Chimichurri is delicious, particularly with beef steak. I'm not sure what "Chimichurri melt" is. (I'm guessing butter infused with chimichurri.)

[PhilJ W]

Further on the Neanderthals, they actually had bigger brains than modern humans and by the time the Cro-Magnon came along had been around about 250,000 years, we have only been around for 40,000 years.

[Ozexpatriate]

52 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

Mrs NHN came home early having just walked out, and left it to the office manager to sort out hopefully.

Hopefully no one will figure out that the problem might* be solved with one of those thin film privacy screens.

 

* They are really effective from side/angled view, but not direct frontal view (obviously).

[Ozexpatriate]

7 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Further on the Neanderthals, they actually had bigger brains than modern humans and by the time the Cro-Magnon came along had been around about 250,000 years, we have only been around for 40,000 years.

While the "Neanderthal football fans" comments are indeed funny, they are likely misinformed and probably based on fallacy.

 

It is illustrative of 'human' nature that the "natural superiority" of H. Sapiens is assumed - based purely on imagined illustrations of Neanderthal brows projecting a lack of intelligence.

 

I wonder if the Chimpanzees (P. troglodytes) and Bonobos (P. paniscus), with territories north and south of the River Congo respectively, think each other is stupid. We share 98.8% of their DNA.

[The Johnster]

22 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Chimichurri is delicious, particularly with beef steak. I'm not sure what "Chimichurri melt" is. (I'm guessing butter infused with chimichurri.)

 

'Melt' usually seems to mean 'with melted cheese', as in Tuna Melt Toastie, which I had for my brekkies today, and very good it was as well with a bit of black pepper on top.  There is, IMHO, no aspect of human endeavour that cannot be improved with cheese, or more cheese in the case of cheese, but it is possible that I was a mouse in a previous existence...

[polybear]

3 hours ago, TheQ said:

Tried to pay a small bill for ending SWMBOs brother for cancelling his car insurance.. they won't talk to me even though I'm offering them money and have all the correct details.

 

 

Oh well....looks like they'll have to send the Bailliffs's round to SWMBO's brother's house for non-payment.  I don't rate their chances highly though.

 

Bear here.....

Much buggeringabout taking photos - move Mickey off the drive to get good shots, take lots of photos, put Mickey back on the drive, upload photos to the Laptop, rename the files - followed by numerous attempts to email them back to the Dealer - they had to be spread over three separate emails in the end due to the file sizes.  I've had confirmation that they landed safely and have been forwarded to the Insurance Company, so that's a Tick.

 

Then it was a bit more architrave work - 2/3rds (= one side and the top) of another door frame now complete, with the r/h vertical (that'll need scribing to the wall) still to do; what is apparent is that much faffing around will be required when fitting the pieces to the frame due to uneven wall levels.

 

In other news....

The "other side of the road" opposite Bear Towers now has the traditional concrete stains running down the road - all thanks to the Concrete Guys this morning 🤬 T0ssers.  I've yet to see any of those guys ever clean up properly after they've finished.  That's a Rant, by the way.

Fortunately the staining does seem to fade before too long and disappear, from what I've seen of other work in the street.

 

In other, other news....

It seems the RMT have been given the green light to continue strike action until November.  Turdycurses.

 

Bear gone

[Ozexpatriate]

15 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

'Melt' usually seems to mean 'with melted cheese'

I imagine you are correct, but as chimichurri is usually very runny, it is not dissimilar to mint sauce* in consistency, I don't know how you would get it to stick under the cheese for preparation at home - unless 'some assembly is required'.

 

* Though with more garlic/parsley/cilantro** solids.

 

** which you might call coriander. Here the leaves are cilantro and the seeds coriander.

 

Edited May 4, 2023 by Ozexpatriate

[polybear]

22 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Hopefully no one will figure out that the problem might* be solved with one of those thin film privacy screens.

 

* They are really effective from side/angled view, but not direct frontal view (obviously).

 

Bear had one at work...came in handy when viewing RMWeb or the 'bay.....

[AndyID]

4 hours ago, woodenhead said:

I've a rat in my garden if you're in need of a snack, it passes through daily on it's trips between gardens

 

That's no way to refer to a politician.

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

The boss is actually off island until Wednesday, there is going to be one huge explosion when he gets back if its not done.  

We await reports of the sticky brown material making contact with a fast-spinning object. 

[The Johnster]

2 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

While the "Neanderthal football fans" comments are indeed funny, they are likely misinformed and probably based on fallacy.

 

It is illustrative of 'human' nature that the "natural superiority" of H. Sapiens is assumed - based purely on imagined illustrations of Neanderthal brows projecting a lack of intelligence.

 

I wonder if the Chimpanzees (P. troglodytes) and Bonobos (P. paniscus), with territories north and south of the River Congo respectively, think each other is stupid. We share 98.8% of their DNA.

 

I suspect the chimps probably think the 'bos are lazy feckless sex-obsessed hippies living on benefits, and the 'bos reckon the chimps are power-structure obsessed fascists.  Anthopomorphising animal behaviour tells you more about the anthropomorhising humans than anything about animal behaviour...

 

Sapiens, having developed technology at the cost of having to work it's *rse off to pay for the comforts it provides, and involved in wars, crime, and other unpleasantness, is arguably less intelligent than dolphins, which get to play around  and socialise all the time and seem generally not to be stressed out much about it.  If a dolphin could operate a model railway, I'd want to be one.

[The Johnster]

3 minutes ago, AndyID said:

 

That's no way to refer to a politician.

 

No need to insult a perfectly innocent rat by equating it to a politician, Andy...

Edited May 4, 2023 by The Johnster

[Ozexpatriate]

2 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

Anthopomorphising animal behaviour tells you more about the anthropomorhising humans than anything about animal behaviour

Which makes a lot of assumptions that humans are the only mammal possessing consciousness/self awareness.