Early Risers.

[Coombe Barton]

Trying to get motivated against a feeling of completely stuffed up nasal passages. Admitting defeat is not an option, so I'd better get on with it.

[DaveF]

An early start this morning after quite a good sleep just as dawn broke revealing an almost cloudless sky with a northerly breeze again.  The thermometer says 0C, it feels colder so I decided it was time to put on a vest and turn the heating up to its winter setting.   More cloud is appearing but it is likely to stay dry until tea time when sleet turning to snow is forecast and it will get colder over the next few days.

 

The groceries came around 08.30, the e mail warned me of a different salad bowl which is OK.  I am not sure why I now have 2 cucumbers instead of 1, nor do I understand why I have a very large pork pie, 2.5x the size of the one I ordered.  I expect I will get it eaten, if I think I won't eat all of it the surplus can go to a neighbour.  I was only charged for what I'd ordered.

 

Nothing special is planned for today, it feels too cold to go out for a proper walk so I may just go out for a coffee or even just to a shop to get something I need, though there is no urgency.  Apart from that I think it will be a day of quiet pottering, perhaps some modelmaking, certainly some reading and I might look at some videos on YouTube a friend has recommended about things powered by electricity running on steel strips in Switzerland. They are by "lorirocks777" for those who like Swiss (and French) things.  According to the notes on Youtube they are all filmed by train drivers.

 

Or I might do something completely different like sort out my sock drawer!  I must check my winter socks which I wear when I go out for walks from now until Spring.

 

David

[PhilJ W]

12 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Trying to get motivated against a feeling of completely stuffed up nasal passages. Admitting defeat is not an option, so I'd better get on with it.

Welcome to the club.

[Tony_S]

30 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Looks a bit, well, bland to this Bear - though I'd test it....purely in the interests of Science you understand.....

They used to sell them in Tesco but a quick search online shows that if you want a ready made one you will need to put in an Ocado order. 

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

It is a challenging conundrum. PETA have a policy statement on the subject of no-kill shelters as the equivalent of lifetime, solitary confinement incarceration for unwanted animals.

 

 

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Apparently, in the American Dog (owner? aficionado? lover?) community, PETA are both infamous and notorious for being far too quick to euthanise dogs they get at their shelters. There’s quite a few grassroots organisations that organise rescues from high kill shelters (which presumably includes PETA run shelters) and transports and finds homes for the former doggy death row inmates.

 

There’s something very Stalinist about PETA;(in more ways than one). There are more than a few PETA extremists who believe there shouldn’t be any pets at all, perhaps these extremists regard dogs at their shelters in the same way Stalin regarded the returning Russian POWs from German camps - contaminated, suspect and to be ruthlessly eradicated at the slight sign of “wrongness”

Back in 2019 we visited a do on behalf of the Essex & Herts air ambulance. Someone bought along a small terrier dog in a buggy. It was explained to us that she was rescued from being euthanized after her mistress died and the mistresses family were going to have her put down. The dog was 16-17 years old (at least 112 in human terms), was deaf, blind and suffering from arthritis and unable to walk. Her carers took her out of the buggy and placed her on the ground. There were other dogs there and one of them started barking at the rest. With that she started shivering with fear but her 'carers' were to busy boasting about how many dogs they have 'saved' to notice.

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I enjoyed the discussion on 'trams' yesterday.

 

Everywhere I have lived was home (at one point) to extensive tramways* now mostly or entirely defunct. Even Southern California had (at one point) the largest electric tram system (they called them streetcars) system in the world, (not counting the Los Angeles Railway "yellow cars").

 

* Or interurban electric railways using a trolley pole.

 

Today I live not too far from what was the Oregon Electric Railway - an trolley pole-based system that included 122 (often quite scenic) miles of interurban route from Portland to the south. This is still operated by the Portland & Western - but not as an electric railway.

 

They defy semantics. When does a multiple unit tram become a "light rail"?  When does a single unit trolley system become a railway?

 

Nor do all trams run on rails. Aerial tramways are suspended from cables. And trolley-buses run on tyres without tracks.

In the UK it depends on under which act of parliament they were constructed. They could be built under the railways act, tramways act or the light railways act. A good example was the Southend tramways, although a street running tramway (with some private right of way) they were legally a light railway as they had been constructed under the relevant act of parliament.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

A bright, sunny, but frosty start to the day here in England’s northwest corner. Currently 1C out there, so I’m glad I’ve got some inside jobs for today, although I might try to get the last of the bulbs planted later if I have time. The main task for today is to retrieve all the boxes containing the Christmas decorations and tree etc, ready for putting up at the weekend, which is a job my me and Ava on Saturday. 
 

Yesterday’s hospital visit was interesting, the tests didn’t go quite as the doctor planned, but it did give him a good picture of my problem. So I have now been put on the waiting list for an artificial bladder sphincter. How long I’ll be on it is anyone’s guess, but at least there is now a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. 
 

Back later n

 

Brian 

Edited November 28, 2023 by BSW01

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Only one call out from bladder control last night and no trouble from Arthur Itis and about seven hours sleep so not a bad night in all. Bright sunshine but cold out there this morning so I'm contemplating the G word.

[Tony_S]

5 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear here.....

 

 

Nuff sed........

 

🤬🤬

 

 

What is lurking under your bed? Perhaps it is a shadow, or perhaps not?

[Hroth]

21 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

What is lurking under your bed? Perhaps it is a shadow, or perhaps not?

 

It'll be the gazunda, he'll need a couple at least...

 

[Hroth]

I've just done a census on a tub of Celebrations.  The good news is that the number of Bounties appears to be fewer than in previous years, a mere 7 'orrible wastes of space!

 

I shall incorporate them in a Bounty-lovers Christmas Stocking!

 

[monkeysarefun]

3 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

We've had them since the beginning of the nineties so over 30 years. 

1986 for Adelaide. An apparent  feature are  sump buster devices  that rip  the sump out of    cars  that try  to use the track, though this little old lady has  managed to avoid them so far. 

 

Edited November 28, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[PhilJ W]

11 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

1986 for Adelaide. An apparent l feature  i s regularly placed  sump buster devices  that rip  the sump out of the bottom of any car that tries to use the track.

 

Is that supposed to be a moving picture?

[Hroth]

17 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

1986 for Adelaide. An apparent  feature are  sump buster devices  that rip  the sump out of    cars  that try  to use the track, though this little old lady has  managed to avoid them so far. 

 

 

Looks like a TT scale car on OO gauge track....

 

At least its not going the wrong way down a motorway or dual carriageway!

 

[monkeysarefun]

13 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Is that supposed to be a moving picture?

 

 

Is that what you call "videos"?🙂

Edited November 28, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

6 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear here.....

 

 

Nuff sed........

 

🤬🤬

 

 

What is lurking under your bed? Perhaps it is a shadow, or perhaps not?

Perhaps it depends upon whether or not one believes in fairies 

[petethemole]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

What is lurking under your bed? Perhaps it is a shadow, or perhaps not?

 Possibly a motif on the carpet, a looped electric cable, some thin rope, a long thin snake, or a Templot printout in Z scale. 

[iL Dottore]

5 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

 

Back in 2019 we visited a do on behalf of the Essex & Herts air ambulance. Someone bought along a small terrier dog in a buggy. It was explained to us that she was rescued from being euthanized after her mistress died and the mistresses family were going to have her put down. The dog was 16-17 years old (at least 112 in human terms), was deaf, blind and suffering from arthritis and unable to walk. Her carers took her out of the buggy and placed her on the ground. There were other dogs there and one of them started barking at the rest. With that she started shivering with fear but her 'carers' were to busy boasting about how many dogs they have 'saved' to notice.

Stupid *****. If you do really care about the animal, you do what's best for the animal. NOT what's best for your ego!

 

I love Lucy and Schotty dearly and I have absolutely no qualms about providing treatment for them in their old age - no matter the cost or (in some instances) inconvenience. The only thing that matters are the questions: "whatever I do, does it benefit Lucy or Schotty? Will it keep them free of pain? Will they be able to enjoy their lives after the medical intervention?" That's the ONLY thing that counts.

 

For example: dogs can get osteosarcomas (bone cancers), should this happen to either Lucy or Schotty, the questions are:

1. Will surgical removal benefit the dog (generally yes - although most of the times it involves a limb amputation)
2. Will the dog be able to withstand the surgery? (and here I'll defer to the vet)
3. Will the post-op recovery period be problematic for the dog (too long enforced inactivity? risk of infection? untreatable pain?)
4. Will the surgery allow the dog to have an adequate quality-of-life after recovery? (generally yes, dogs adapt quite well to having just three legs)
5. If surgical treatment isn't feasible, what other options are there? (in humans this would be drug treatment of one form or another and/or radiotherapy. With dogs there are therapeutic limitations often associated with the age of the dog)
6. If there are no surgical or other therapeutic options available, how do we manage the disease to provide the dog with the best (and longest) good quality of life before we need to send "them on their way"?

Incidentally, many of those questions are also relevant to human patients as well.

 

For a real dog lover, it's never about them, it's always about the dog!

 

Edited November 28, 2023 by iL Dottore
Spelling

[Tony_S]

We had the end of life discussion for Robbie with our vet about 6 months before he finally went. Surgery was not recommended at his age, medication and hydrotherapy gave him another 6 months of active life but as the vet predicted the medication would stop working. He wasn’t at all happy about his back legs not working. Perhaps we should have taken him to the vets that night but we waited until the morning but clearly he hadn’t got better. Right up to the end he was a good dog. 

Edited November 28, 2023 by Tony_S

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

What is lurking under your bed? Perhaps it is a shadow, or perhaps not?

 

That's Moz the Monster......

 

 

[Tony_S]

17 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

That's Moz the Monster

Never seen that advert! 

[Tony_S]

According to OneDrive this is what I was doing 2 years ago. Don’t remember taking the photo though!

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, petethemole said:

 Possibly a motif on the carpet, a looped electric cable, some thin rope, a long thin snake, or a Templot printout in Z scale. 

 

Or a LARGE SPIDER.....

 

🤪

 

[petethemole]

3 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Or a LARGE SPIDER.....

 

🤪

 

Now you've done it!  I was very careful not suggest that.

[TheSignalEngineer]

I had posted this elsewhere but thought some on here may like the idea. @polybear?