Early Risers.

[Hroth]

28 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Oh don't you go all technical on me Bear. Green and spiky. Green and Spiky. You'll be saying what type of green it is next. Have you cut the grass yet?

 

Proper green like the GWR, or the odd, soapy greens preferred by the likes of the Southern and LNER? Or that sort of bronze green favoured by the Highland Railway? 🤔

 

Exit, stage left.....  🤪🤪🤪

 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[Winslow Boy]

12 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Proper green like the GWR, or the odd, soapy greens preferred by the likes of the Southern and LNER? Or that sort of bronze green favoured by the Highland Railway? 🤔

 

Exit, stage left.....  🤪🤪🤪

 

Oh Lord another one. That's all we need.

[Hroth]

Its almost as if a certain political party doesn't want to win the election...

 

The return of National Service

 

[NGT6 1315]

Evening/moaning awl. Long time no see, again…

 

I believe I mentioned our worries about FiL‘s health before, so that’s what kept me from posting for so long. Though in hindsight, I feel like I’d have been better getting things off my chest soonest during the past few weeks.

 

Either way, following his latest round of chemo for his liver tumour, several complications occurred. He had contracted a post-op bacterial infection but was discharged without it having been properly treated to eradication. This necessitated his readmission after a couple of days, and it eventually turned out he had developed a liver abscess which took quite a while to get under control. They took him into the infectious diseases ward, which we feel was a good call to provide comprehensive treatment.

Right now, he’s obviously still severely weakened by this ordeal, but scheduled to be discharged on Wednesday. For the time being at least, he will require at-home care, which we needed to get organised in recent weeks.
We also needed to rearrange some furnishings in the house, which, shall we say, was more exhausting than I thought. My back certainly hurt after today’s jobs were done…

 

As for how things will continue from here, my guess is as good as any. In any event, he won’t be able to receive any further chemo due to excessive risk after his infection, so it‘ll remain to be seen whether this may cause the cancer to spread again.

 

Though from what Elise and Marie (SiL) relate from their visits, he seems to be at peace with himself right now, even if with a fair amount of brain fog. That certainly counts for something, too, but still, it seems so unfair that he was so seriously affected by some bug after he had been able to keep his cancer in check for several years.

 

Here‘s hoping that we ourselves will always remain hale and healthy, is all I really can say right now. There’s always chance involved, of course.

 

Please do stay safe and healthy everyone, too. Life is just too precious.

 

 

[pH]

9 hours ago, Tony_S said:

We have a fairly slow growing pine at the bottom of the garden. Over 30 years ago there was some vague plan of bringing it in every Christmas but we never did as it looked nice just growing. It has some cones for the first time this year.

 

 

We had a live Christmas tree in a tub, about 5 feet tall. I think we had it in the house in the tub over two Christmases, then permanently planted it out in the back yard. 
 

This is it this afternoon:
 

 

I think we’re going to have it cut down, as it’s overshadowing next door’s yard. There was a time when I would have done it myself, but not now.

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, pH said:

This is it

What is that? Fraser Fir?

 

It's too bushy for a Douglas Fir - unless that's because it didn't grow "naturally".

 

Edited May 26 by Ozexpatriate

[jjb1970]

6 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I think that assertion is really about the insanity* of approving Barbarossa at all - rather than the logistical details - particularly the reversal of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. I still can't help but think Stalin would have been content to coexist with a Nazi occupied western-Europe.

 

* Particularly with the glaringly obvious Napoleonic precedent.

 

One presumes after the failure of Sea Lion, *something* needed to be done to per perpetuate the mythos and maintain a war footing.

 

Of course it was suggested in the jail-authored 'my struggles' (which I won't quote literally).

 

There was a sort of bonkers inverse logic. Putting aside the deep hatred of the USSR among senior national socialists the military 'logic' appears to have been that Britain's hope was that the Soviets would go to war with Germany and open a second front (the great heresy of German thinking after their WW1 experience) so the answer was to...open a second front against the USSR to bring Britain to its senses.

 

However, at a strictly practical level, German planners were fully aware of multiple issues which made invading the USSR a bad idea (put simply they were biting more than they could chew even in 1941 when conditions were better for them than they'd ever be again in the war) yet their answer was to just assume everything would work and they'd achieve a quick victory anyway. And that wasn't conforming with a political decision, the German planners themselves had a lazy assumption that they would win based on complete self assurance (a bit like the Sardaukar in Dune). A matter which has recieved more attention in recent years is the divergence between Adolf and the Generals on strategic aim. Halder et al were obsessed with taking Moscow, Adolf wanted to take the rich economic prizes of Ukraine and Leningrad and saw Moscow as a secondary objective to be taken after securing the North and South. So they basically planned a campaign around Moscow, ignoring the political directives assuming it'd all work out which had terrible results for Germany in the summer of 1941 as it created a sort of political paralysis for a short but key period in the campaign. Whether the generals were right or wrong (it's highly unlikely taking Moscow would have triggered a Soviet collapse) their objection wasn't to invading the Soviets but rather the strategy proposed.

 

In his book 'The Blitzkrieg Legend' the German official historian Karl-Heinz Frieser posited that the quick victory in France had catastrophic consequences for Germany as it convinced their generals that tactical and operational planning could substitute for strategy and inculcated a belief in short, sharp campaigns.

[jjb1970]

In fairness Donald can't be blamed for the collapse of Eastern, he bought part of a failed airline which subsequently failed but Eastern was already a corpse. Frank Lorenzo is the guy to blame for that wreck.

[pH]

58 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

What is that? Fraser Fir?

 

It's too bushy for a Douglas Fir - unless that's because it didn't grow "naturally".

 

I couldn’t be more specific than “conifer” 🙄. However, those who know tell me it’s a spruce of some kind.

[Ozexpatriate]

54 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

Halder et al were obsessed with taking Moscow, Adolf wanted to take the rich economic prizes of Ukraine and Leningrad and saw Moscow as a secondary objective to be taken after securing the North and South.

I distinctly remember the 1970s "World At War" documentary series emphasizing the shift south east from Moscow - after not taking the city quickly following Zukov's counter-offensive before the end of 1941) as being related to capturing the oil fields of "the Caucasus" - a bit vague, though Azerbaijan did represent 80% of Soviet oil supplies at that time. (Of course in the 1970s no one talked about "Azerbaijan".)

 

Operation Operation Edelweiß (the primary objective being Baku) was the plan by the summer of 1942. Rostov-on-Don (east of Ukraine, on the NE corner of the Sea of Azov and the "Gates of the Caucasus) fell in July of 1942.

 

Kazakhstan was oil rich as well and Volgograd / Stalingrad is the 'gateway' to Kazakhstan from the west - it is 150 km from the Kazakh border.

 

(I'm presuming in your post you meant Stalingrad rather than Leningrad. The Wehrmacht laid siege to Leningrad in September 1941, essentially abandoning the siege to press on to Moscow in the Autumn of 1941.  Leningrad was a primary objective of Operation Barbarossa from the beginning.)

 

Edited May 26 by Ozexpatriate

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl,

3.5 hours sleep short awake, 1 hours sleep short awake. 3 hours sleep a good total for me.

 

So I took Ben the sleepy Collie out an hour early, everything dripping wet due to a recent rain shower, puddles aren't at maximum. He's now on the first dose of the reduced amount of his pills, second today, he seemed a little stiff this morning, but that happens occasionally anyway.

 

Random thoughts of sign placing have occured, as there are two more than last time. In 15 minutes I depart.. upsetting Ben the snoring Collie.

 

That spitfire that unfortunately crashed was formerly the gate guardian aka plane on a stick, at RAF Locking, where ground  radar, comms , and simulator techs were trained.

 

If they bring back national service they are going to have to close all the asylum seekers ex military bases and reopen them for the military.. RAF Locking for instance has been demolished like many others and turned into a housing estate and RAF Coltishall is now a prison.

 

Time to finish this muggacoffee.

Edited May 26 by TheQ

[iL Dottore]

6 hours ago, Hroth said:

Its almost as if a certain political party doesn't want to win the election...

 

The return of National Service

 

Oh, I don’t know. Switzerland still has National Service (and after your initial service you are required to be in the reserves and undergo yearly 2-week “refreshers [for want of a better word] until your 40s) and it seems to work out. The (sadly early deceased) partner of our Swiss vet friend was a lawyer defending or prosecuting criminal cases and he claims (and I have no reason to doubt his veracity) the majority of the criminals were foreigners - the Swiss being but a small proportion of the incarcerated. This, he claims, is partly due to the discipline and values imbued during National Service.

 

Whilst, traditionally, a large military - with/without National Service - was a good way of thinning out that troublesome male age group (mid teens to early 30s), today’s sensibilities no longer allow for campaigns in far off places with plenty of casualties. And the sort of casualty rates considered as acceptable in Victorian and Edwardian times would have The Guardian and soshul meeja go into meltdown.

 

Whilst National Service does have many positives, these are only achieved if everyone does National Service (and in these enlightened times that includes Women). But Britain being the way that it is, I suspect that little Tarquin and Clarissa’s upper middle class, Guardian-reading, Islington parents will find plenty of ways to get their little darlings off doing National Service; the Kevs and Tracies from the tower blocks and council estates will have no such options.

 

Not that I’m cynical or anything…

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Somewhat dull here, it was pouring earlier and we have a mixed bag of weather forecast.  Sunny spells, rain, hail and thunder are all possible.  12°C rising to 22°C.

Great rugby match watched yesterday which went to extra  extra time (27 minutes instead of 20) but Toulouse prevailed in the end.

Lots of visitors due today and guess who has planned a BBQ!  Could be a bit soggy. ⛈️

Thames Water still haven't arrived to sort out the sewer, good job we managed to partially fix it. They'll probably turn up for the bloody BBQ.

Must go, I have a cake to bake.

Have a good one,

Bob.

Edited May 26 by grandadbob

[jamie92208]

@grandadbob I hope that you get your sewer sorted. Not nice to solve.

 

Here we just have the fosse septique so visitors have to be reminded not to put things like wipes and certain other things down the pan.  They clog the filters. 

 

Here we had a pleasant evening at some friends last night. Ian was playing his guitar. The combination of good conversation, live music, a variety of alcohol whilst sitting round a fire pit was very pleasant. 

 

The market beckons this morning then we will be playing Belote this afternoon. 

 

Regards to all and of course Sundry.

 

Jamie

 

 

[DaveF]

It rained hard enough in the night to wake me, then I couldn't get back to sleep and I felt rough.  This morning I woke when my alarm went off and realised I had the tail end of a migraine.  Having got up and had breakfast I feel somewhat better but still a bit washed out.  When the alarm woke me I was convinced it was the phone and panicked because I thought it was Mum with a problem, then I remembered her funeral was two years ago yesterday which explained everything.  I always get a migraine the day after somethine stresses or worries me.  I had tried to avoid thinking about it yesterday which might not have been a good idea.

 

Today will be church, lunch and probably scanning photos again.  The next album is mainly very small prints at 6 or 9 to the page so I'm just going to scan complete pages at a reasonably high reolution, I can always enlarge images on the screen if I want to and I doubt I'll look at them more than once or twice.  They are not photos I'll be sending to my cousins, jut my bit of the family on holidays in the early 50s.

 

David

[polybear]

10 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

And suffer you will when Mr DVT comes to join you on your flight.

 

Not for nothing do medics in Oz refer to DVT (deep vein thrombosis) as "the economy class syndrome". Oz actually happens to be one of the leaders in the field of vascular medicine (I wonder why? 😁)

 

Given half the chance, DVTs will kill you (or make you want to die - if a thrombus breaks off and lodges in the heart, lungs, kidneys or brain and doesn't kill you outright).

 

 

Bear wears the fancy socks on LH and goes for regular walks.  Seems to work ok so far 

 

10 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

Oh don't you go all technical on me Bear. Green and spiky. Green and Spiky. You'll be saying what type of green it is next. Have you cut the grass yet?

 

Oh yes, and cut the hedges too (including the neighbour's sides - not that I ever get anything to scoff for my trouble 😢).

Do try to keep up.....

 

9 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I also remember to tell Aditi her garden looks lovely. This makes her very happy. 

 

It also instils a feeling of "if it ain't busted, don't fix it"

Cunning.

 

8 hours ago, Hroth said:

Its almost as if a certain political party doesn't want to win the election...

 

The return of National Service

 

 

Forcing Teenagers to do things they have absolutely no interest in doing - which will just make them a PITA for the Organisations concerned.

There's one guy (a Volunteer in his 40's/50's?) at the Hospice Warehouse that already has a reputation for being unreliable and not turning up when promised, meaning one of the Drivers is left without help (not funny).  As a result he's asked to volunteer less as he's just not dependable.

 

5 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

What is that? Fraser Fir?

 

It's too bushy for a Douglas Fir - unless that's because it didn't grow "naturally".

 

 

Tall green spiky one.

Edited May 26 by polybear

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

I am supposedly umpiring a set of old boys at Ampleforth today. Weather forecast says.. no chance.. I await a phone call to say.. Don't bother.. hey ho !

 

More wire strangling undertaken yesterday.. a fair bit left to do.. pah!

 

I am suffering from ICBA at the moment.. u sure as to why. I think I need a holiday..

 

@NGT6 1315 hope fil is kept comfortable.. sounds a nasty do..

 

As for DVT I wear the socks and avoid sitting at the back.. no room for my legs mean I start to feel pain after an hour or so.. no good at all!

 

Enjoy your day!

 

Baz

[Winslow Boy]

40 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Bear wears the fancy socks on LH and goes for regular walks.  Seems to work ok so far 

 

 

Oh yes, and cut the hedges too (including the neighbour's sides - not that I ever get anything to scoff for my trouble 😢).

Do try to keep up.....

 

 

It also instils a feeling of "if it ain't busted, don't fix it"

Cunning.

 

 

Forcing Teenagers to do things they have absolutely no interest in doing - which will just make them a PITA for the Organisations concerned.

There's one guy (a Volunteer in his 40's/50's?) at the Hospice Warehouse that already has a reputation for being unreliable and not turning up when promised, meaning one of the Drivers is left without help (not funny).  As a result he's asked to volunteer less as he's just not dependable.

 

 

Tall green spiky one.

Now now my Dear Bear don't go getting all touchy and everything. You are at least going out in the garden- that's the green space by the way where the green things are (see what I'm doing there) so you do at least get credit for that.

 

And about doing the hedge - neighbours side, you shouldn't be so antisocial. That's typical of you young Bears nowadays. If your going to do a job that should be reward enough.

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, from a dull rock that is 15c, weather foreguess much like Bob's, just about anything could happen.

 

iD's advice re DVT should be heeded - a good friend, who posts elsewhere here and is very well known in Manx railway circles recently had the holiday of a lifetime to Australia.  A couple of days after his return he fell very ill indeed, and is currently in the UK in a specialist hospital.  He won't recover to anything like his old self, if indeed he does recover.  Very, very sad indeed.

 

Our day will involve a trawl around the pits and grandstand to observe preparation for the TT proper, first practice tomorrow evening.

 

Nice to see Dom @NGT6 1315 post, although his news was difficult.  Great new avatar though.

 

Take care out there.

[iL Dottore]

10 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

Proper green like the GWR,

It’s SO refreshing to stumble across the odd corner of sanity on ER…

10 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

Oh Lord another one. That's all we need.

Indeed we do, Winnie Old Boy.

 

Be not misled by that entity that currently goes by the misnomer of GWR. That “Train Operating Company” (put in quotes for reasons that regular users of that service can attest to) bears no resemblance to the real thing.

 

No, the one, the true and the only GWR (d. 1948) provided excellent services and took good care of its employees (although, perhaps, not paying them abundantly. But which railway company did back then?). Folded into BR, the GWR managed to retain a lot of  its identity as BR(WR).
 

Then armageddon happened: Britain privatised its railways: badly, short-sightedly and incompetently….

 

Edited May 26 by iL Dottore
Completed sentence

[grandadbob]

Cloud-sunshine-rain-now sunshine again but about to cloud over.

 

Just had a call from Thames Water, "engineers" should be phoning shortly.

 

Cake baked and now cooling.

[iL Dottore]

I just read this in Jay Rayner’s restaurant review column:

 

< Customers at the Coronation pub in Southville will be charged 30p extra per drink if they order them in person at the bar, as against ordering via a QR code and having them delivered to their table. Landlord Ben Cheshire explained to the Telegraph that it was better for his staff. ‘This takes the stress away rather than having to constantly interact with different people for eight hours straight,’ he said>
(my underline).

 

I reckon that that landlord needs to get mentally tougher staff. In the 60s, 70s and 80s I don’t recall reading any accounts of teenagers and young people having stress related breakdowns working in a pub. (Certainly there were other problems, but… stress from interacting with other people???)

 

[Grizz]

12 hours ago, polybear said:

VVSBT's to one of the BBMF Pilots who died today when the BBMF Spitfire they were flying crashed at Coningsby 😢

Very sad indeed. It is so easy to forget that there is still a risk of a catastrophic incident occurring when you see these vintage machines in the sky. Fortunately they are few and far between, but nonetheless, still very upsetting. 
 

On Friday morning I was peacefully stat at a table enjoying the sunshine in the grounds of Grizz Castle, shortening chainmail, when a ‘Spit’ broke the silence. On this occasion it was at some height, but its distinctive sound could be clearly heard, and I was able to stop what I was doing just in time to grab my iPad and take a not very good snap. 
 

 

When edited at maximum zoom it doesn’t do it justice, as the shape seems distorted. But it was definitely a Spitfire. 
Looking back I am pleased that I took the snap.