Early Risers.

[The Lurker]

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

ALL custard? Or just that custard that comes from a packet/tin?

 

There is a huge difference between custard from a packet (mostly cornstarch, flavourings and annatto colouring), and a proper custard (or crème anglaise) which is made from just egg yolks, sugar, heavy cream and a vanilla pod (or vanilla essence/extract).

 

You can also have savoury custards: a particular favourite of Mrs iD is my version of Tom Kerridge’s lo-carb moussaka, which is made with a cheese custard as a topping and which is spectacularly more-ish

all (sweet) custards. It's the cream and milk - I think - but i will have ice cream. And I will have quiche and would probably go for the moussaka if you didn't tell me!

[New Haven Neil]

Still alive.  Just.

 

I'd like to meet some of those covid deniers and cough over them and allow them to share in our misery, this really is a nasty disease. We haven't felt this ill for a long, long time, so bad we have watched Homes Under the Hammer.

 

Amusingly, my appointment for the next covid inoculation has arrived for early next month - too late was the cry!  We're a bit behind the curve with that here this year, I'm on a priority due to some medical issues.

 

As for Banks, we recently opened a Lloyds current account due to HSBC closing our branch 'for our convenience' making the nearest one a 44 mile round trip.  All done in branch, but quite stringent checks.  We do also have an IoM Bank savings account, opened back in the 80's when you could walk in with a bag full of cash.  Those days have gone.  Ken Dodd was one of the more notorious users of that laxity, he had a 'reputation' here of turning up with suitcases with fivers sticking out of the zips.

 

OK off to feel sorry for myself again for a while.

 

[polybear]

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

In all, being seated for all eternity in a glass case in front of the Polybear Applied Engineering Lecture Theatre isn’t a bad way to be remembered.

 

Gt. Uncle Bruno took this third option:

 

 

He goes walkabout every Chrimbo for a stint at the local Garden Centre, which gives him a break from those bluddy schoolkids all takin' the p1ss and drawing cr@p pictures of him.

 

2 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

This is one area where a digital identity and ID card can be useful. To be clear there are arguments for and against and I cringe at the way a certain former Prime Minister appears every time there's a crises of any sort to claim the answer to everything is ID cards. However, I have to admit the Singpass system here does make some of these things much easier, they can scan a 3D barcode and I press a notification allowing them to do an ID check.

 

I'm all for an I.D. Card; no card - no medical treatment - or benefits - or booze/fags/vapes etc.

 

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

I've just watched BBC's 'Scammer interceptors'. It's frightening how easy it is for scammers to steal your money. I am usually very careful but even then I have received a scam e-mail that I didn't recognise as such, no harm was done as it was irrelevant to me. It appeared to be from Amazon Prime saying that I hadn't activated my Amazon Prime account, though I have had dealings with Amazon I have never opened any accounts with them. I told the e-mail sender that I did not have a Prime account, they apologised and I just deleted the e-mails. I realise now that it may have been scammers phishing for those with Prime accounts as their intended victims all had prime accounts.

 

 

Rule One:  Don't respond to a scam email, ever - it shows the sender that the email is both genuine and live, meaning there's a good chance you'll get a lot more in the hope they get lucky.

[polybear]

Oh yes.....

 

Apparently the NHS are advertising for a "Diversity and Inclusion Manager"

£96K to you, Sir.

FFS

[TheQ]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

Still alive.  Just.

 

I'd like to meet some of those covid deniers and cough over them and allow them to share in our misery, this really is a nasty disease. We haven't felt this ill for a long, long time, so bad we have watched Homes Under the Hammer.

Did you see a certain Bear in repose on the bed?

 

OK off to feel sorry for myself again for a while.

 

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Hroth said:

* Sadly not misty, so we couldn't see the traditional orange glow about the site...

I hope you're referring to the sodium lights. 😲

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Still a bit windy out  blowing any clouds through quickly. At the moment its dry but heavy rain predicted about teatime. Emptied the washing machine and hung the washing indoors to dry.

[TheQ]

Bin out with Ben who was getting desperate.

The garden is awash, the deepest I've seen it in the 25 years since we've been here, had a paddle around looking to see where we could drain it, but there are slightly raised concrete paths on the down slope side forming a dam. I think the most likely fix is several tons of gravel to fill in the muddy hollows.

 

The lanes Ben like are flowing with water, you can even hear it in places as it pours off the fields.

Down the bottom it's a foot deep so we have a very soggy doggy. 

 

As SWMBO has gone weaving, so it's my turn to cook dinner, with this weather a stew is in order.

Time to get something slow cooking..

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

Still alive.  Just.

 

I'd like to meet some of those covid deniers and cough over them and allow them to share in our misery, this really is a nasty disease. We haven't felt this ill for a long, long time, so bad we have watched Homes Under the Hammer.

My God, you really have got it bad!
 

If I were your attending doctor I would  arrange for immediate inhalation therapy - a suitably calibrated mixture of motorbike fumes, steam locomotive exhaust and single malt whisky fumes should be beneficial 😁

 

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

Amusingly, my appointment for the next covid inoculation has arrived for early next month - too late was the cry!  We're a bit behind the curve with that here this year, I'm on a priority due to some medical issues.

Unless medically contradicted, I’d still get the next scheduled CoVID inoculation anyway. I’ve had 4 so far and I should sign up for the next round (together with the yearly flu inoculation)

2 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Still alive.  Just.

I'd like to meet some of those covid deniers and cough over them and allow them to share in our misery, this really is a nasty disease.

 

Quite.
 

I was lucky inasmuch as CoVID wasn’t too bad to me and lasted about 10 days (the last bout of influenza I suffered was worse) although I did have a degree of “long CoVID” - (mostly fatigue) which is just now abating. The thing is, with the vaccination you can be seriously ill, but without the vaccination you can be seriously dead.

 

Those cretinous “anti-vaxxers” who claim that it’s no worse than the flu, clearly haven’t seen what influenza can do. Both can be devastating and fatal diseases (ask those ****** who claim that flu is no big deal, why are updated & new flu vaccines rolled out each year*? Or why the immunologically compromised and over 65s are strongly urged to get the yearly flu vaccine?)

 

Anyway, get well soon, both of you.

 

iD

 

* “to boost pharma company profits is NOT a valid answer!

[jjb1970]

I'm trying hard not to laugh at work, I had better not bore people with the details but there's a classic case of turkey's voting for Christmas and then whinging about the consequences in the wonderful world of shipping. The EC and ports in Southern Europe didn't take seriously warnings that Port Said and Tangier Med are just as useful as Mediterranean trans-shipment hubs as ports like Goiai  Tauro, Valencia and Algeciras if there's suddenly a big financial incentive to move.

[iL Dottore]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Gt. Uncle Bruno took this third option:

 

 

He goes walkabout every Chrimbo for a stint at the local Garden Centre, which gives him a break from those bluddy schoolkids all takin' the p1ss and drawing cr@p pictures of him.

Out of curiosity, where is Uncle Bruno holed up?

It seems not to be a Museum in Britain due (a) the absence of broken “interactive audiovisual features”, (b) an absence of dumbed-down labels using large font and teeny, tiny, simple words - explaining the bleeding obvious, (c) it doesn’t seem to be “de-colonised” (d) I can’t see any “pushed-by-shoshul-meeja” b******s and (e) it’s clean and in good repair…

 

Or have my recent visits to London’s Science Museum, Natural History Museum, The Maritime Museum and IWM biased my opinion of museums in Britain somewhat???

[Hroth]

22 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Out of curiosity, where is Uncle Bruno holed up?

It seems not to be a Museum in Britain due (a) the absence of broken “interactive audiovisual features”, (b) an absence of dumbed-down labels using large font and teeny, tiny, simple words - explaining the bleeding obvious, (c) it doesn’t seem to be “de-colonised” (d) I can’t see any “pushed-by-shoshul-meeja” b******s and (e) it’s clean and in good repair…

 

Or have my recent visits to London’s Science Museum, Natural History Museum, The Maritime Museum and IWM biased my opinion of museums in Britain somewhat???

 

No, sometimes your characterisation is charitable, and the actuality is worse than can be imagined...

 

[Winslow Boy]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

Oh yes.....

 

Apparently the NHS are advertising for a "Diversity and Inclusion Manager"

£96K to you, Sir.

FFS

Me me me I'm diverse. Very diverse so I've been told.

[DaveF]

I've had a peaceful day but perhaps not too restful.  After dealing with the groceries I went outside to do some gardening, rain promptly started, though the Met Office had said today would be dry.  So I went into the greenhouse and potted up some ordinary hyacinths to have in the house in the early Spring - I don't buy prepared ones to flower around Christmas, I like to have them indoors in late February when it is usually really miserable and dull.  By the time that was done the rain eased so I tidied up some fuchsias which live in tubs and put them in the greenhouse, they are semi hardy and survive under unheated glass better than being left outside.

 

Then it rained harder so I came back indoors and dealt with some e mails.  By now the Met Office had changed their forecast to rain.  This meant the rain stopped so I went outside and planted about 200 bulbs in tubs and around the garden which took until early afternoon with breaks for coffee and lunch.  I also got some more tidying up done, various annuals and some weeds went in the bin.

 

After that I went to the local shop and bought a few bits and pieces before going to have a look at the Quayside which was quiet as all the fishing boats have gone and the beach.  The beach now has a lot of stones scattered about and the sand level has dropped by a couple of feet in places.  It will gradually come back as long as there aren't any more easterly gales.  However it is not low enough to uncover the reamins of trees which once grew on dry land where the sea now, the the sea level having risen over the last few thousand years.

 

Then it was back home for a cup of tea, I must be feeling tired as I fell asleep and ended up drinking almost cold tea when I woke again.  Later this evening I shall once again watch Maigret in French on TPTV, doubtless as usual the sub titles will be useful.

 

My waterworks are slightly less troublesome today and I have been reading and noting the various comments about hernias and surgery - I will contact the surgery later this week to arrange to have a discussion about what to do.  I may do it by writing using e-consult as then I can make sure no details are omitted by me.  Then I expect there will either be a phone or in person consultation.

 

The Evri courier arrived while I was having my coffee, the parcel contained 2 new sweaters I had treated myself to in a sale.

 

David

[polybear]

9 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Me me me I'm diverse. Very diverse so I've been told.

 

Apparently one of the required qualifications is a Degree in Shed Management.....

[polybear]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Out of curiosity, where is Uncle Bruno holed up?

It seems not to be a Museum in Britain due (a) the absence of broken “interactive audiovisual features”, (b) an absence of dumbed-down labels using large font and teeny, tiny, simple words - explaining the bleeding obvious, (c) it doesn’t seem to be “de-colonised” (d) I can’t see any “pushed-by-shoshul-meeja” b******s and (e) it’s clean and in good repair…

 

Or have my recent visits to London’s Science Museum, Natural History Museum, The Maritime Museum and IWM biased my opinion of museums in Britain somewhat???

 

Gt. Uncle Bruno hangs out at the Tring Branch of the NHM - he even heads up the "Galleries" page:

 

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/tring/galleries.html

[iL Dottore]

3 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Gt. Uncle Bruno hangs out at the Tring Branch of the NHM - he even heads up the "Galleries" page:

 

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/tring/galleries.html

Thanks PB

 

It does look like the "London Luvvies" (other words are available) haven't yet wreaked havoc on this museum - definitely someplace I'd like to visit!

[Peter Kazmierczak]

10 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Apparently one of the required qualifications is a Degree in Shed Management.....

Those 66s need a lot of managing, to be fair.

[Ian Abel]

11 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

The only contentious issue with Christmas Pud is do you have (a) custard, (b) brandy butter or (c) heavy cream with it?

YES 🤣

Actually, my preference is (b), home made of course. Others in the family choose any/all of the above. 

They delight in my lighting of the pud when served, though that CAN be fraught with potential issues, depending on how much brandy is consumed before dribbled over the pud!

 

Chooseday.

Yesterday essentially quiet, Whitney retrieved by Jemma once she got in from the Austin F1 Grand Prix trip.

 

The local area colours are peaking - taken over the weekend walking Whitney;

 

The homestead;

 

Weather today, 12c and overcast first thing, showers expected most of the day with a high oc 16c

 

Back to work...

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Out of curiosity, where is Uncle Bruno holed up?

Looks like Hertfordshire to me. Tring probably.

Just noticed Mr Bears earlier answer. 

Edited October 24, 2023 by Tony_S

[45156]

Afternoon All,

 

I've been very crook this last couple of weeks - last Monday went to the ANP as I needed more antibiotics - she also took bloods "just to be sure".  Got a nocturnal phone call from Shropdoc out of hours service to start drinking as much water and other fluids as possible, and to discontinue three medications immediately - two hours after I had taken all three!  Then to make an urgent appointment at the GP for more blood tests, and an urgent consultation with a GP.  I had already got a phone call booked and that was converted to the face to face with a GP.  Then for the past week, I've had daily blood tests and also phone calls and another face to face.  I have, to say the least been a bit worried - and today was no better as yesterday's blood test failed, and I had to go down today for an urgent new one.  Well, to cut a long story short, I've just had a phone call from the senior partner, to say that despite all that has gone over the last  week,  this latest test has come back with all my levels almost normal, and my kidney function a lot better.  So now that's cleared, let's get working on getting the blood sugars back down.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[DaveF]

I forgot to mention earlier that before tea I went up into the loft and brought some things down to sort out.  One was a large box of family tree items, a cousin has asked if I have some information, I'll look in  the next few days.  I also want to try to tie up a couple of loose ends about both Mum's and Dad's ancestors if I can, it might be pleasant to do over the winter.

 

The other stuff that came downstairs is my Christmas "decorations", now I have boxes of both mine and Mum's it is time to sort them out and get rid of ones I don't like or are worn out.  I believe that some of the tree baubles are over 100 years old, the newer ones have proved to be much more delicate.  I remember that when I was a small child the baubles were always called shiners, presumably because they shone in the light.

 

I think I've just realised why I am sitting here feeling so tired this evening, I must try to pace myself.

 

David

[PhilJ W]

My thoughts go out to the families of the sailor who died and the four missing.

https://news.sky.com/story/british-cargo-ship-sinks-off-coast-of-germany-several-missing-after-collision-12991375

Note that the ship was registered in Douglas I-o-M. 

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Apparently one of the required qualifications is a Degree in Shed Management.....

Don't worry I took that as part my degree in Garages and there uses in unusual leisure occupations. It was one of the options. The other was Attics and there uses.

[New Haven Neil]

6 hours ago, TheQ said:

Did you see a certain Bear in repose on the bed?

 

 

We did indeed, particularly cute feet we thought.  Not likely to be related then.....😆