Early Risers.

[Barry O]

2 hours ago, Peter Kazmierczak said:

 

 

Ours is wonkier than yours...

 

Not my problem.. not our fence..

 

Baz

[Coombe Barton]

... Domestically I’m up to date with the washing for the first time in ages. Not so the folding and putting away. ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/05/22/still-wobbling-round-and-a-withdrawal-in-protest/

[polybear]

57 minutes ago, DaveF said:

I didn't mention this earlier but my TV has a new "game".  Now and then it switches on at around 4.45 a.m.  Having looked at the Sony web site and various forums (fora?) it seems to be a problem with android TVs from time to time.  There are a lot of suggestions of how to stop it, the main ones being to make sure the batteries in the remote are OK so they do not provide spurious signals when no one is about and to check the settings of auto on and off and updates.  It can also happen if other devices can turn the TV on, such as things connected to HDMI sockets and devices which can cast to the set.

 

I am slowly working my way through the possibilities but I am also going to make sure that I set the sound to "Mute"  and set the volume to 0 when I switch it off so if it does come on at night it doesn't wake me.  

 

At the moment I suspect either the talktalk youview box which can behave oddly at times or the cast settings in Chrome, a couple of times I have found that Cast to TV is on when I have not told it to do anything.  The wonders of modern technology.  What actually surprises me is how many prople have the problem yet there seems to be no real solution - except to unplug the set.

 

 

David

 

Bear has a number of remote controlled plug adapters that are useful for turning off power at a socket when the socket isn't very accessible; I don't like leaving power to things turned on overnight or when not in use if I don't have to.

 

Bear here.....

Three upstairs doorframes prepped (light sanded, then vacuumed/wiped down with white spirit then tack cloth); very clever college buddy phoned during proceedings so that slowed progress somewhat, but not unduly.

The good news is the Muddle Engineering Group kicks off again this week 😁; the bad news is there are serious rumblings which suggest that all is not well (and some) and we may well be very close to losing the facilities.  Very, very big Turdycurses.

Din dins comprised of that most traditional Italian dish, Pizza Prosciutto con Ananas, with an Uovo** bunged on top for good measure and drizzled with Chilli Oil.  French Fries *may* have snuck in for good measure....

(**That'll be a Ham n' Pineapple Pizza with an egg on top).

 

After din dins I started painting door frames - the first (worst) one has a window above it so is a bit more of a paint to do.  However, after finishing that frame I was a bit concerned that the finish was appearing a bit more "matt" than I was expecting - I did add some Owatrol Oil to the paint so I'm wondering if that may be to blame.  I decided to stop at that point and I'll see how it dries before deciding whether or not to use the same paint for the other frames tomorrow. 

 

Postie delivered a wagon this morning (from the 'bay) which is as I'd hoped, so that was a tick.

 

Insofar as cameras goes, I used to have a Canon EOS 35mm camera; I then received a small Canon Powershot A310 (I think) that has a rather useful flip-out display.  However, since being given a phone with a camera I've not used the Powershot for quite some years; as for the EOS - well I sold the lenses on the 'bay some years ago (they could be used with the D models apparently).  Bodies, however, were almost worthless - when they did sell on the 'bay it was always for well under a tenner, so I gave it to the local (reasonable) Charity Shop instead.

BG

[Coombe Barton]

just inadvertently clicked on one of the ads for a green dress, and spotted the price.

No-one should regret spending our hobby - it was priced at multiples of Deltics.

[polybear]

1 hour ago, DaveF said:

It's been a peaceful day (so far).  The washing dried and has been ironed and put away and some old clothes which are too old to donate have been binned. 

 

 

Some (many?) Charity Shops are happy to receive clothes that are past their Sell-by date as they can get them weighed in as rag; a local(ish) Hospice Charity to Bear had a sign in their window a while back that (IIRC) they'd made something like £30K in a year from such clothes.

[45156]

Afternoon/Evening All

 

Well, the car boot was not a great cash booster - we only netted about £60, and wound up exhausted - I think we'll need to fnd a better car boot to sell off the stock coming out of the cabinet next week.

 

At the same time, we made £215 on eBay over the past week or so - whoopee - NOT.

 

Car needed an aircon regas, and was booked in today - and I asked if they could just adjust the handbrake when the car was in - went to Oxfam and left the car - got a phone call on the mobile - "you need new brake shoes on the back - the ones on there now are totally worn out.  The garage took me home in another car as mine was sitting there with the wheels off awaiting the new shoes  Came back about 4.30 and the total bill was - guess how much - yes £218 so we're £3 out of pocket (or £57 in pocket if you factor in the £60 car boot takings)  Wonderful.

 

Tomorrow it's the charity warehouses in Hereford, then a quick check on the cabinet and the charity warehouses in Leominster.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[45156]

7 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

just inadvertently clicked on one of the ads for a green dress, and spotted the price.

No-one should regret spending our hobby - it was priced at multiples of Deltics.

Why not go RMWeb premium, then you would't get such shocks.

[45156]

5 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Some (many?) Charity Shops are happy to receive clothes that are past their Sell-by date as they can get them weighed in as rag; a local(ish) Hospice Charity to Bear had a sign in their window a while back that (IIRC) they'd made something like £30K in a year from such clothes.

No - not many - just some - quite a few can't be bothered with the hassle of storing them - I know as I have worked in a number of charity shops and none has offered that facility - and when I suggested it. that was the answer

[Ozexpatriate]

7 hours ago, TheQ said:

Just try typing in newport, there's at least  one in each country of the UK, in fact 14 of them and 56 round the world...

We have one here in Oregon. I worked in one in California (though technically it was Newport Beach).

 

Oregon also has a Springfield. There are 67 of those in the US, the first being named for the one in Essex.

 

There are a lot of locations named Portland too - 32 worldwide and 22* in the US.

 

* Other websites suggest >30 in the US.

[Ozexpatriate]

6 hours ago, polybear said:

Take it back to the dealer and get it fixed under warranty.....

Ford caused a stir a little while ago when they filed a patent that a 'nice' feature of fully autonomous vehicles is that if the buyer does not make payments on the loan the vehicles can repossess themselves by driving back to the dealer to turn themselves in for resale.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, DaveF said:

I didn't mention this earlier but my TV has a new "game".  Now and then it switches on at around 4.45 a.m. 

My Samsung television has done that occasionally - it is quite rare but has happened a handful of times. No idea how/why. At first I wondered if I had fallen asleep with it still on - but am now convinced it was gremlins.

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, Ian Abel said:

... later this evening/tomorrow we're supposed to get more of the Canadian fire residue back here, there goes trying to breathe easily

Wildfire smoke is nasty and pervasive. It's hard to fully comprehend how nasty it is until one experiences it firsthand.

 

The Alberta pall has not (so far) made it to northwest Oregon. We are back in a 'normal' onshore flow which is keeping it away from us.

 

Additional wildfire teams have been dispatched to Alberta. May 19:

Quote

Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Montana are combining to send 125 personnel and equipment as part of the Northwest Wildland Fire Protection Agreement.

 

[Ozexpatriate]

16 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

With/without roller blackout blinds or switchable LCD polymer films, you’re not going to have many secrets in your secret supervillain lair with acres of windows..

The secret parts are deep underground of course. The glasshouse is needed for the ostentatious display - glittering parties with the beautiful people, etc.

[Andy Hayter]

3 hours ago, DaveF said:

I didn't mention this earlier but my TV has a new "game".  Now and then it switches on at around 4.45 a.m.  Having looked at the Sony web site and various forums (fora?) it seems to be a problem with android TVs from time to time.  There are a lot of suggestions of how to stop it, the main ones being to make sure the batteries in the remote are OK so they do not provide spurious signals when no one is about and to check the settings of auto on and off and updates.  It can also happen if other devices can turn the TV on, such as things connected to HDMI sockets and devices which can cast to the set.

 

I am slowly working my way through the possibilities but I am also going to make sure that I set the sound to "Mute"  and set the volume to 0 when I switch it off so if it does come on at night it doesn't wake me.  

 

At the moment I suspect either the talktalk youview box which can behave oddly at times or the cast settings in Chrome, a couple of times I have found that Cast to TV is on when I have not told it to do anything.  The wonders of modern technology.  What actually surprises me is how many prople have the problem yet there seems to be no real solution - except to unplug the set.

 

 

David

If the suspicion that the turning on is linked to one of your connected devices, it may well be the Youview box.  If Freeview works at all like Freesat then the boxes get software updates - usually in the middle of the night.   We have a Humax receiver that turns on for 2 minutes or so at 4am CET every night.  Fortunately that is all it does and it then switches back off again.   

[Ozexpatriate]

10 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I find this one difficult. I agree with the basic premise and that euthanasia is kinder in many cases, however I also worry about the potential for such laws to be abused and lead to some rather dark places. And trying to draft laws that properly address problem cases whilst still being workable is notoriously difficult.

I can't speak to the Swiss law, but the Oregon Death with Dignity Act has been in place for a quarter of a century. Most of the controversy was around the (as enacted) residency requirement. There is no substantial movement here to overturn it.

 

It is not euthanasia in so far as the participant self-administers the lethal dose.

 

It does require that the participant has a terminal condition and is in full control of their faculties, including the ability to self-administer the lethal dose. Depression is not a legitimate reason. People who oppose this sort of law assert that 'doctor shopping' is a means to subvert this.

 

For many it is comforting to know that the option is there - and go through the process, but not to completion.

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

I was hoping to avoid it but it looks as if I will have to make a visit to Tess Coes. Just for bread and milk, just to see me through to a 'big shop' at the end of the week.

I have to do a pharmacy run. I was there on Friday and the refill for a script that I did not realize* would run out on Saturday was not ready. They are now closed on the weekends so I missed a dose on Sunday.

 

* Because of the multiple packs of desiccant obscuring the bottom of the bottle.

[The White Rabbit]

22 hours ago, polybear said:

Posting a piccy of that yumminess is decidedly unfair....

Bung some chips n' beans with it and a certain Bear would be all smiles.

 

Bear too can enjoy this without opening himself to allegations of betraying his culinary principles. It's a dish you could spend a lot of time and trouble over - or use some 'cheat' ingredients. I've provided Tesco links, other brands are available:

 

• One oven dish/tray, approx 12 inches by 8 wide and 2 deep,
• Pastry - yes, better to do your own but https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/268973059 is a big shortcut. It more or less fits our oven dish - use a knife to cut slits a couple of inches long in the pastry near the corners and it slots in easily. It also comes with a paper lining, cut down this to avoid it catching fire in the oven and it saves greasing the tin. 
• Leeks, say about two thirds of a pound - c300g in new money. Cut into half inch slices and part cook - boil or fry (or microwave?) to taste. Various options, including https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/253555998 - in the past I've partially substituted shallots or onions, so long as these are par-boiled as well, they work well.
• Grated cheese, around 100-150g - I used mature cheddar but good quality red leicester will work well too. If you're feeling decadent, a dozen small pieces of Camembert added on the top of the mixture just before you put it in the oven also add flavour. 
• For the filling, beaten eggs and creme fraiche to taste. I used two eggs and most of a 300ml tub of creme fraiche - https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/263772685 - for some extra richness, you could add around 25g of melted butter or (if applicable) the oil you cooked the leeks/shallots in. Much more and I think it could be too stodgy - but it's down to personal taste. 
• The secret ingredient (and another 'cheat' timesaver): https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/297461051 - Good cooks could produce their own version of this but whatever you use, mixed in with the eggs and creme fraiche this really adds flavour without being overpowering. 

 

Timing, I gave it ten minutes at Gas Mark six on the top shelf, then moved to the lower middle shelf for a further 30 minutes (probably the equivalent of Gas Mark four). I didn't use the top shelf for oven chips but could have done... so Bear can have his quiche and oven chips too*. Word of warning if anyone does have a go at this - our oven is gas and has some pecularities, so I'm wary about giving precise timing/heating advice - more modern ovens, especially electrics, might only need half an hour. Try 25 minutes and check, usual story, when a rounded knife comes out clean and the tip is piping hot, you should be able to think about serving. Though I would rest it for a few minutes first. Four good size portions or many more for entertaining/nibbles. The photo from the weekend shows two portions, end to end. We actually had ours with peas, salad and a glass of something 'hic!'. And the other two portions for tea tonight. 

 

Though I wouldn't mind having a go at triple cooked chips with this! 

[The Lurker]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

We have one here in Oregon. I worked in one in California (though technically it was Newport Beach).

 

 

The one in Oregon has a distinctive bridge 

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Ford caused a stir a little while ago when they filed a patent that a 'nice' feature of fully autonomous vehicles is that if the buyer does not make payments on the loan the vehicles can repossess themselves by driving back to the dealer to turn themselves in for resale.

 

Bear has images of a driver fighting with the steering wheel and pedals whilst shouting "Oh no you don't you b'sterd....."

 

[monkeysarefun]

5 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Like the payout on my life insurance? 

 

 

I looked it up, its a Tuesday. Maybe think about changing your usual Tuesday routine on that day.

 

3 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Nothing gets ironed here unless it is work uniform, required to be worn at a significant event (wedding, funeral etc) or I am being taken out somewhere that a casual shirt and good jeans are not good enough for.  All of the foregoing are rare except for the uniform.  And strictly speaking that gets "pressed" rather than "ironed".  

 

 

The worlds energy expended on ironing has decreased markedly since poor old chrisf passed on.

[Ozexpatriate]

9 minutes ago, polybear said:

the steering wheel and pedals

Steering wheel?

Pedals?

 

Not necessary in a fully autonomous vehicle. (Reliable full autonomy is still a way off of course. Some of the biggest problems are negotiating emergency vehicles/cones/etc for temporary roadworks/emergencies etc (including 'wrong way' routing) and variable conditions like snow that obscure the road and environment. The presence of bicycles can cause them confusion as well.)

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by Ozexpatriate

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Wildfire smoke is nasty and pervasive. It's hard to fully comprehend how nasty it is until one experiences it firsthand.

A very distinctive smell.  Burnt grass and eucalypt combined, usually.  The smoke is thick and yellow akin in colour to a London fog for those who remember, glowing a weird orange when close to the fire-front.  Smoke in the atmosphere changes the appearance of the sun to blood red and the moon to muddy brown.  That in turn gives rise to very strange sunrises / sunsets.

 

I have been too close to a major bushfire front more than once.  I also had the very unnerving misfortune to witness the Victorian "Black Saturday" catastrophe unfolding as it happened.  From what should have been a safe distance of around 100kms but there was no safe distance on that day nor the many which followed.  Very,  very nasty indeed.  I still have on file somewhere some images of a wedding taking place in the Yarra Valley wineries.  The ceremony had been halted because the fire-front came racing over the nearby hill.  Closer inspection of the picture shows the vines and surrounding bush already well and truly ablaze a long way ahead of the front and within metres of the wedding.  I believe everyone got out safely but only by the skin of their teeth.  

 

I have told the story before of how we were driving back from Loch Sport to Melbourne, aware that there was a major bush fire developing around the Morwell open-cut mine area.  That was the route we had to take home.  It was shown as open.  We approached the area and could see the smoke rising, then were diverted off the freeway by police and directed into town.  As we approached town the smoke thickened considerably and turned that orangey colour which said the fire front was very near.  We were met with another road block and told to go back to the freeway.  We (and numerous other motorists) told the road-blockers that police had closed the freeway and sent us this way.  We were then directed along a road leading north and - eventually - out of town but as we drove along we noticed everyone outside their homes and back fences / yards already alight.  At one point we could feel the heat of the fire but couldn't see for sure where the main front was; we might have been headed straight for it.  

 

After a very anxious several minutes of driving as fast as conditions allowed the smoke began to thin.  More minutes and we were clear of it.  We found a way around the northern edge of the mines and through back-roads towards home.  It was only when we got home that we learned that the road we had just driven along had been claimed by the fire not five minutes after we went through with the loss of most homes.  Not something I would choose to repeat.  We had been sent that way because the various emergency services could not communicate directly with each other; they used different radio channels and frequencies which resulted in near-disaster when the freeway (which was never actually blocked by the fire) was closed and we were sent almost into the active front.  

 

Australian bush firefighters are mostly, by long tradition, volunteers.  There is no way I would volunteer to fight those conditions.  You would have to pay me a lot of Deltics.  Respect, however, to those (some of whom are personal friends) who choose to uphold that tradition.  

[monkeysarefun]

2 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

 

Oregon also has a Springfield. There are 67 of those in the US, the first being named for the one in Essex.

 

 

 

Does that include the one in The  SImpsons?

 

Many places here are named after places in the UK, I guess that early arrivals wanted to be reminded of pleasant places back home. We have several   Balmorals, Yorks and  Brightons.

 

We have no Grimsbys Sloughs or Scunthorpes.

[Gwiwer]

1 minute ago, monkeysarefun said:

Many places here are named after places in the UK

They even got a lot of them geographically correct.  Along the south coast of Britain are Shoreham, Brighton, Hastings and Rye for example.  And along the south coast of Australia (if one includes the bay), are Shoreham, Brighton, Hastings and Rye.  Only Brighton is out of place coming before Shoreham when driving outbound from Melbourne.  

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Wildfire smoke is nasty and pervasive. It's hard to fully comprehend how nasty it is until one experiences it firsthand.

 

During the height of the 2019-20 bushfires here an elderly lady got off a Brisbane flight in Canberra, went into distress  and died on the tarmac. This is what it was like at the time.