Early Risers.

[pH]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

… (you do all have a 3m length of 120mm skirting in the loft, don't you?) …

No, but I do have 1m - 2.5m lengths of various shapes of skirting from every room in the house that I’ve redecorated in the downstairs storage area.

[polybear]

The Headline says it all:

 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/inheritance-tax-discriminates-against-single-and-childless-people-like-me/ar-AA1coxfr?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=e4b9a894c22147b7893fdda3d74d7dca&ei=8

 

And that, fellow ER'ers, is a Humongous Beary Rant; sure, it won't worry me too much - but the thought of the Taxman sorry, person gettin' their sticky mitts on a big lump of Bear Castle doesn't exactly fill me with joy.  Of course I could always leave it all to the local Bear's Home.....or a P*litical Party (Charities & PP's are IHT exempt).

B'sterds.

[Ozexpatriate]

6 hours ago, Barry O said:

Breakfast in the garden this morning..

The plants look lovely Baz, but I was wondering where the breakfast is.

 

Unless this is a new vegan diet you've taken up?

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

all those Interpreters left behind (despite promises of Visas)

Many are in the US, many others are not.

 

Hindsight is always 20/20 (as they say) but had the prior government and armed forces of that nation not folded like a cheap suit the outcome (regarding interpreters) might have been different. 

 

The Doha agreement was signed in February 2020 with a planned evacuation date of May 2021. That was delayed by the incoming administration until August but as we observed it was ultimately more chaotic than what was likely planned.

 

As former UK PM, Arthur Wellesley (1st Duke of Wellington etc) said:

Quote

It is easy to get into Afghanistan. The problem is getting out again.

Just ask the (combined) ~4,500 members of the 44th foot and Bengali units massacred during the retreat from Kabul to Gandamak (late 1841 - early 1842).

 

The late, Mikhail G. would probably agree.

 

Edited June 11, 2023 by Ozexpatriate
2020

[New Haven Neil]

A'noon, late call.

 

Day in the garden, er, gardening.  The presence of anything else is purely circumstantial, awls may be hovering, they have been around today.

 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Not only hot today but the humidity seems to be on the rise. Spent the day doing housework so now I'm going to put my feet up.

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Many are in the US, many others are not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/03/revealed-uk-has-failed-to-resettle-afghans-facing-torture-and-death-despite-promise

 

Australia could be accused of similar tardiness though the change of government in July last year  has brought some improvements but theres still a backlog of 165.000 claims to assess - All in all its a pretty messy situation.

 

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/government-scraps-visa-for-afghan-interpreters-who-helped-australians/5wu2218as

Edited June 11, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

Another pitilessly sunny and warm (29°C is forecast) early summer day here. It was cloudy early but skies are intensely blue this afternoon. Tomorrow should exceed 30°C. No rain is in the forecast.

 

I'm watching (presumably) drunk Ontarians tunelessly serenading each of the Canadian golfers at the 14th tee of the Canadian Open tournament with "Oh Canada". I should be doing something more useful with my time.

 

In part the golf is on because I am feeling lethargic - the result of getting up early (at 6:00am) to watch the coronation procession for Serbian tennis. I headed out for my walk as soon as match point was concluded. At least the women's final yesterday was a more contested match.

[iL Dottore]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

The Headline says it all:

 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/inheritance-tax-discriminates-against-single-and-childless-people-like-me/ar-AA1coxfr?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=e4b9a894c22147b7893fdda3d74d7dca&ei=8

 

And that, fellow ER'ers, is a Humongous Beary Rant; sure, it won't worry me too much - but the thought of the Taxman sorry, person gettin' their sticky mitts on a big lump of Bear Castle doesn't exactly fill me with joy.  Of course I could always leave it all to the local Bear's Home.....or a P*litical Party (Charities & PP's are IHT exempt).

B'sterds.

And it’s not just inheritance tax. Married couples with children get quite a few text advantages denief to those without children. Plus, in many countries, the state actually pays you to have children (whether in the form of child support or tax rebates or similar, it’s still the state paying you to have kids. Not something really appropriate in today’s over populated planet) .

 

Plus, in many countries, the taxman preferentially targets that stratum of society, which is “too rich for handouts, too poor to hide the money!“. Another foolish move, because – as history has shown – once the middling classesget squeezed beyond tolerance, revolutions happen.  When you look at who really masterminded, the French revolution, or the Russian revolution (amongst others), it was resolutely, moderately wealthy, middle-class men that drove the revolution – whether or not they spouted slogans like “power to the people“ or “ workers of the world unite“..

[Barry O]

Been doing cricket admin for the last 3 hour.. pah! Got loads more to do this week.. pah! Found out about a guy I have a lot of time and respect for has the big C .. big time PAH!

Better get some sleep before something else appears through the window.

 

Night to most, morning to others.. even afternoon to some!

 

Baz

[PhilJ W]

3 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Plus, in many countries, the taxman preferentially targets that stratum of society, which is “too rich for handouts, too poor to hide the money!“. Another foolish move, because – as history has shown – once the middling classesget squeezed beyond tolerance, revolutions happen.  When you look at who really masterminded, the French revolution, or the Russian revolution (amongst others), it was resolutely, moderately wealthy, middle-class men that drove the revolution – whether or not they spouted slogans like “power to the people“ or “ workers of the world unite“..

Indeed, it goes back to the (so-called) 'Peasants revolt' of the 14th century. Most if not all of the leaders were from the emerging middle class. John Ball was obviously literate at a time when even some monarchs were illiterate. Wat Tyler* would probably have been self employed. Today Wat Tyler would be a self employed builder driving around in a Transit van with a copy of the Sun on the dashboard. *A tyle was actually a brick not a tile which was spelt as it is today. As is probably well known is that Che Guevara trained to be a doctor but less well known is that Lenin was a minor aristocrat.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Its still 19C. according to the thingy at the bottom of the screen and the humidity is palpable. Will still be able to sleep though as it has no effect on me.

[Ozexpatriate]

16 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Lenin was a minor aristocrat.

Based on an award his father (Ilya) received in 1882, when Vladimir was 11.

 

Wikipedia:

Quote

... Ilya obtained a job in Nizhny Novgorod, rising to become Director of Primary Schools in the Simbirsk district six years later. Five years after that, he was promoted to Director of Public Schools for the province, overseeing the foundation of over 450 schools as a part of the government's plans for modernisation. In January 1882, his dedication to education earned him the Order of Saint Vladimir, which bestowed on him the status of hereditary nobleman.

 

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

I’ve had a good day in the garden, when I packed up at dinner time, I’d half filled the garden waste bin. As I mentioned earlier, I spent the afternoon in the workshop, not doing a great deal, but it was nice to get a few hours in there though. The coming week is a very busy one, health wise. Tomorrow morning I’ve got an 8:15am appointment at The Christie for a CT scan, I’ll be at the hospital for about 2 hours or so for this one. Then on Friday I have another appointment at The Christie for a bone scan. This one is at 11am this time, but I’ll be there about 4-5 hours for this one. In both cases I’ll be taking something to eat, drink and also something to read. 
 

Goodnight all

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[iL Dottore]

Good Morning All from the Land of The Rising Sun.

I’m now having breakfast (huge breakfast bar) On the western selection they had something @polybear would head straight for (can you guess what is?)

I tried a bit of the western food (very nice, but only lukewarm 🙁)

I ended up having a Japanese breakfast

Much, much better…

I had mentioned that the Japanese do things…well…. differently: Eagle eyes might spot the serving dish of Brussel sprouts on the left (which kind of makes sense: baked beans make you fart and so do Brussels sprouts)

[TheSignalEngineer]

A bit on the warm side in the Dark Peak over the last couple of days. The late afternoon rain hasn't done much to improve the comfort level This morning was a case of hiding under the trees when watching the cricket rather than being wrapped in two coats and the picnic blanket. Good match this morning for the U13s. Sammy score a quickfire 30 to retire not out. In the opposition reply little Tommo did a great dive to take the pace off a certain 4 and reduce it to two, next ball stopped another drive towards the boundary saving 4 runs and then took a brilliant diving catch with his trademark roll on the ground to dismiss their leading scorer. Come the last over Sammy returns to his old 'Death Bowler' role, four needed off the last two balls, a dot all and single - victory by two runs.

Yesterday I missed his away seniors match as I took Tommo to Crewe as promised a while ago. He came on to bowl with the opposition 90-1 chasing 192 to win. In his first two overs he reduced them to 92-4. He came back later to take the last two wickets leaving them 125 all out. His final figures were 5 wickets for 7 runs off 5.3 overs. He came home proudly clutching the match ball handed to him by the opposition.

[Ozexpatriate]

Television here is already deep in the summer doldrums - exacerbated by the ongoing writers' strike which has silenced late night (and their humourous takes on the news of the day).

 

This evening sees the "Tony" awards for Broadway productions - broadcast twice - live and tape-delayed three hours later.

 

Public television is in the middle of one of their utterly unwatchable 'pledge breaks' - donate now and receive a tote bag / coffee mug etc.

 

It pretty much leaves sports - and there is plenty of that for the people who care about the basketball and hockey finals or college baseball.

 

Newton Minow's "Vast wasteland" indeed.

[jjb1970]

These days what TV I watch (which is all streamed, I am struggling to remember the last time I watched broadcast TV) is Korean. K-drama is variable like any other source but the good stuff is outstanding. 

 

Production values are movie standard, extremely high. The standard format seems to be a 16 episode story arc, episodes are 60 minutes or longer. In most cases they do a single series and move onto the next show (though not exclusively so) avoiding flogging dead horses. A lot of it is romantic light entertainment and comedy, but some of the crime, drama and dark stuff is compelling.

 

I am currently going through an older one, 'Signal'. It's a crime drama with a slight sci-fi twist, two police detectives can communicate across time. There's an excellent vigilante one called 'Taxi Driver', and a great one to try is 'Crashlanding on You' about a chaebol heiress who lands in North Korea after a paragliding accident.

[Ozexpatriate]

For ursine aficionados:

 

CNN: [Black] Bear walks out of ocean onto crowded Florida beach

 

The Gulf Coast of Florida is not where I would expect to encounter a Black Bear.

[monkeysarefun]

14 hours ago, southern42 said:

 

Watch what you say about that! I have just had it for lunch.

 😋

Same here, or the Australian version at least. 

 

Which just has random words on it's label now to see if we notice.

 

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

Which just has random words on it's label

150g! That's a very small jar of Pizza Vegemite.

 

Are you quite sure you are eating enough of it to be considered properly 'Stralian. We might have to have some blokes come 'round and sort things out.

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

It pretty much leaves sports ...

Case in point, following this evening's home match* for the local (English) football team (unusually on cable, rather than behind the Apple TV+ streaming paywall) presently, the Sunday afternoon's Demons** v. Collingwood AFL game is now on the same channel.

 

* The struggling Timbers grabbed the three points to put them above the playoff line (for tonight at least.)

 

** I did not know they used George M. Cohan's "You're a Grand Old Flag"*** as their song - which usually refers to the "red, white and blue". Cohan also wrote  "Over There", "Give My Regards to Broadway", and "The Yankee Doodle Boy" and was played by Jimmy Cagney in "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942).

 

*** Now it's an earworm!

 

Edited June 12, 2023 by Ozexpatriate

[monkeysarefun]

33 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

150g! That's a very small jar of Pizza Vegemite.

 

Are you quite sure you are eating enough of it to be considered properly 'Stralian. We might have to have some blokes come 'round and sort things out.

still using up the lockdown supplies, when you had to just buy whatever you could get!

[Ozexpatriate]

3 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

still using up the lockdown supplies

I looked up the "Mitey Meals" advertising campaign for the labels. I could imagine Vegemite as an ingredient in Phở or stir-fry, but there isn't a world* where I want it on my pizza, or nachos.

 

* Perhaps that hellscape of a parallel universe exists in some dimension but I'm glad it's not mine.