Early Risers.

[Coombe Barton]

Late up again - feeling more like I've actually slept. Croissants and coffee consumed, and need to get on with what I should ahve been doing yesterday. Fortunately I did get all the washing done and the dishwasher is up to date, so that's progress, I suppose.

That coffee tasted good, but there wasn't enough of it so ...

[PhilJ W]

10 hours ago, The Lurker said:

Surely there are different pay rates for the same job within the US? That is prevalent in the Uk - some places especially London tend to be more expensive and command higher pay scales and so the work carried out is more expensive - I guess it is a vicious circle.

 

6 hours ago, pH said:

Overall, a very awkward situation. I’ve been on the “wrong” side of it where, within the same organization, the same work was being done in London and in the north of England at very different rates of pay. As you can imagine, that led to a certain degree  of unhappiness. There was no need for this, other than that staff doing the job in London had (of course) to be able to live there. This was many years ago - with modern communications, I would be very surprised if this situation is still the same. 

This was a bone of contention with local government and civil service salaries as the London weighting as it was called was separated into inner London and outer London rates. (Hourly paid workers got the same rate for the whole of London). This came to head with the abolition of the GLC as all GLC salaried staff were deemed that their place of work was at county hall in the inner zone even though their place of work was in outer London. When the GLC was abolished most of their staff were transferred to the outer boroughs though often working in the same space and at the same desk but receiving a larger salary than someone doing the same job for the same borough. It took a good ten years before the situation was settled and a common London weighting was awarded to all.

[iL Dottore]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

 

....Nottaproblem that the Bear has ever noticed when cooking Pizza n' Curly Fries.....

Has Bear ever actually hosted a dinner party/had friends over for dinner?

 

Making a meal from fresh ingredients and serving that meal to friends, be it simple (cheese omelette with a spinach salad with bacon lardons and balsamic vinegar dressing) or complex (12 course Japanese Kaiseki dinner) is immensely satisfying. Especially when said friends are appreciative of good food and wine. Much merriment and joyfulness is to be had... 🙂

 

An "in-joke" with Mrs iD if she is doesn't like a proposed menu choice (e.g. black pudding and scallops), is to say "fine - here's the tin opener and here is a tin of ravioli". But that, in the grand scheme of things, is only going to DEFCON 4.  Perhaps, should I need to raise the level to DEFCON 2, I should say: "fine - here's a voucher for a frozen pizza,🤢 there's a microwave. Have fun". 😆

 

I reckon should I do that, Mrs iD would be ready to have "frank and open discussions" about dining options faster than you can say Treaty of Versailles.... 🤣

[Tony_S]

6 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

An "in-joke" with Mrs iD if she is doesn't like a proposed menu choice (e.g. black pudding and scallops), is to say "fine - here's the tin opener and here is a tin of ravioli". But that, in the grand scheme of things, is only going to DEFCON 4.  Perhaps, should I need to raise the level to DEFCON 2, I should say: "fine - here's a voucher for a frozen pizza,🤢 there's a microwave. Have fun".

It sounds as if Mrs iD would be happy with the @polybear cuisine?

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Got here at last having spent the last hour reading, rating and answering posts here on ER's. No callouts from bladder control last night but Arthur Itis was having a go so when he did I took the opportunity to go to the bathroom. Bladder control will be busy this morning as I've just drunk my third muggatee. 😁

Edited December 10, 2023 by PhilJ W

[Tony_S]

9 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

had friends over for dinner?

If you have seen “The Revenant” Leonardo di Caprio has a bear over for dinner. 

[PhilJ W]

9 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Has Bear ever actually hosted a dinner party/had friends over for dinner?

 

Making a meal from fresh ingredients and serving that meal to friends, be it simple (cheese omelette with a spinach salad with bacon lardons and balsamic vinegar dressing) or complex (12 course Japanese Kaiseki dinner) is immensely satisfying. Especially when said friends are appreciative of good food and wine. Much merriment and joyfulness is to be had... 🙂

 

An "in-joke" with Mrs iD if she is doesn't like a proposed menu choice (e.g. black pudding and scallops), is to say "fine - here's the tin opener and here is a tin of ravioli". But that, in the grand scheme of things, is only going to DEFCON 4.  Perhaps, should I need to raise the level to DEFCON 2, I should say: "fine - here's a voucher for a frozen pizza,🤢 there's a microwave. Have fun". 😆

 

I reckon should I do that, Mrs iD would be ready to have "frank and open discussions" about dining options faster than you can say Treaty of Versailles.... 🤣

I only wish I could chef as well as you ID.  I am getting better at it though, largely helped by the modern cooking appliances such as microwaves and air fryers. They have one feature that goes a long way to making it easier, the timer. Before then if I wanted to cook a special meal I would end up with one part overcooked and one part undedone. Now I can prepare a meal and have every part of it ready and properly cooked. So its slow cooker for the meat, air fryer for the roast veg and microwave for the (parboiled/blanched) green veg. 

[jjb1970]

If I want to wind Mrs JJB up for a bit of harmless food related fun I wax lyrical on how wonderful Malaysian food like soto, rendang and laksa is, pull the pin and then step back very slowly.......

[Coombe Barton]

I do not have an air fryer. I do not have a slow cooker. I have buried the microwave. Therefore I cook on the stove. From scratch. I use heat and eat stuff when I'm too knackered to stand and do it myself, as I soon get fed up with the sameness of the flavours or if doing it myself would results of too much food, since I'm on my own. Some of the stuff I cook needs improvement. I use fresh or frozen veg as appropriate as that way I can vary the diet beyond the seasonal.

 

End of phoodiephilosophy statement

[jjb1970]

On prices in Hawaii, it isn't helped by the fact that sea links between Hawaii and the rest of the USA are domestic and so have to be carried by coastwise qualified vessels as per the Jones Act, which inflates shipping rates. I've never seen a rational argument in favour of the Jones Act that holds water. It hasn't protected US shipbuilding or the US flag fleet. Actually, the US flag and crewing thing isn't such an issue, the killer is having to build ships in the US using US steel and equipment, that inflates new build costs massively to the point much of the coastwise qualified fleet is like a floating museum.

[Hroth]

Thanks to Storm Elin*, the Dalek** incarcerated in a corner of my back garden attempted to make a break for freedom last night.  Sadly it tripped and I found it rolling about, frustrated and angry.

 

Now that the rain has stopped, I may return it to its place.  Perhaps after lunch?  Muahahahaha!!!

 

* Apparently another fancy of the Irish meterological service.

** A conical composting bin.  I may decorate it with sink plungers, broom handles etc...

 

[Sidecar Racer]

2 hours ago, Hroth said:

A terrific stab at a typical early 50s British car

Just one very minor point.....

Your windscreen wiper blades seem slightly too long......   🤔

 

 

 Not a problem , the printed ones are lacking window glass altogether .     😎

[jamie92208]

48 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

On prices in Hawaii, it isn't helped by the fact that sea links between Hawaii and the rest of the USA are domestic and so have to be carried by coastwise qualified vessels as per the Jones Act, which inflates shipping rates. I've never seen a rational argument in favour of the Jones Act that holds water. It hasn't protected US shipbuilding or the US flag fleet. Actually, the US flag and crewing thing isn't such an issue, the killer is having to build ships in the US using US steel and equipment, that inflates new build costs massively to the point much of the coastwise qualified fleet is like a floating museum.

Isn't there some sort of monopoly as Matson seemed to be the only carriers that I saw.  They also controlled the freight go American Samoa. 

 

Jamie

[Hroth]

21 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

 Not a problem , the printed ones are lacking window glass altogether .     😎

 

More cutbacks....

 

[jjb1970]

17 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Isn't there some sort of monopoly as Matson seemed to be the only carriers that I saw.  They also controlled the freight go American Samoa. 

 

Jamie

 

There's only a handful of coastwise qualified liner vessels, the two leaders are Matson and Crowley. Some of the routes are de-facto monopolies as the costs, barriers to entry and market make it difficult to support anything else.

[Sidecar Racer]

2 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

More cutbacks....

 

 

Post war economics . ....each car comes with a set of goggles .

Edited December 10, 2023 by Sidecar Racer

[Hroth]

Just now, Sidecar Racer said:

 

Post war economics . ....

 

No wonder that by the end of the decade a politician would be able to claim that we'd "never had it so good".

 

BMC was able to sell cars with winscreens as standard, not an optional extra!

[Flanged Wheel]

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

On prices in Hawaii, it isn't helped by the fact that sea links between Hawaii and the rest of the USA are domestic and so have to be carried by coastwise qualified vessels as per the Jones Act, which inflates shipping rates

Similarly, if you are US military (or any federal employee I think), you have to travel on US carriers if available regardless of the cost. I dread to think what it does to the travel budget. On a few occasions, Uncle Sam funded my travel - the associated bureaucracy was simply horrific. If you want to make any US Serviceperson shudder, simply say “DTS” (Defence Travel System) and watch them quake.

 

30 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

 

There's only a handful of coastwise qualified liner vessels, the two leaders are Matson and Crowley. 

This explains why all the containers I saw in Alaska and Hawaii were Matson branded. I did wonder why they had a monopoly.

[PhilJ W]

34 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

Post war economics . ....each car comes with a set of goggles .

Military surplus ones?

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Choices to be made this afternoon, which film to watch on BBC. Chicken Run on BBC1 or The Titfield Thunderbolt on BBC2, both films though not on at exactly the same time overlap. Time to toss a coin.

Edited December 10, 2023 by PhilJ W

[New Haven Neil]

A'noon.

 

One of those days - Mrs NHN powered!  After several actions that were less than advised this morning, Ended up with her accessing 'Patient Access' for some blood test details, forgetting her password and blocking both her and my access to err, Access.  #sigh#  Why use my e mail address when she has her own - so despite different user ID's it assumed both accounts were being altered. Locked. So now to fix everything that got broken this morning (Tony understands this I recall) and try to sort out access to Access later.

[Coombe Barton]

... Today – trying to get on with things, but slower than I hoped. Tomorrow it’s in for support sessions, thankfully not until 11. ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/12/10/sounds-of-the-season-2023-08-covid-rishi-to-come-and-building-design-and-maintenance/

[Tony_S]

18 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

Tony understands this I recall

I may have understood something once but I am beginning to wonder nowadays! Though I did have a minor triumph recently on Aditi’s behalf. She was really frustrated with a a password problem. I had a look and soon sorted it . The little caps lock led was illuminated. 
 

[New Haven Neil]

3 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I may have understood something once but I am beginning to wonder nowadays! Though I did have a minor triumph recently on Aditi’s behalf. She was really frustrated with a a password problem. I had a look and soon sorted it . The little caps lock led was illuminated. 
 

 

Rather than IT or whatever it's called this week, I did mean the things in the kitchen etc that 'fail to perform' or things that 'become disassembled'!  Our ladies apparently have the ability for this to happen at random.  The password thing was because she has a new laptop that had 'failed to remember' her log ins. Well it didn't know them to begin with, dear....it's new....and that was when the fight started, as they say! 🤣

[New Haven Neil]

2 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

to the point much of the coastwise qualified fleet is like a floating museum.

 

Not the same thing really as they are fresh water Lakers, but I saw this yesterday - 80 years old!