Early Risers.

[Hroth]

 

 

That ain't a Cornetto, its a Nasty Nestle ripoff...

 

[monkeysarefun]

6 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

Losing a companion like a dog or cat is losing a member of the family.

 

 

Dogs in particular I've found - though I'm not dissing cats. Its just that dogs can become part of your daily routine, whether its  the daily walk around the block or  walking them down to get the daily milk and paper, when they are gone the loss seems bigger because a part of your day has disappeared too and walking without them is just not the same. 

 

Sorry to hear about Ben @TheQ, he reminded me of my Border Collie Cooper, he too had issues with his legs towards the end - and he loved bacon. 

[Coombe Barton]

Condolences to @TheQ. Run free, Ben.

[polybear]

35 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

 

That ain't a Cornetto, its a Nasty Nestle ripoff...

 

 

At a fraction of the price....the going rate for one of the above (or a strawberry one - "several" of which were sacrificed last week) was 1.90 Euros (£1.61).

[4630]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Bear here.....

 

Just spent a week in Lisbon - much of it exploring & riding the Vintage Trams:

 

 

and scoffin' Pastel de Nata:

 

 

 

 

Incidentally, do any of the usual suppliers offer anything similar in the way of taste to "the real deal"? 

 

 

Both Lidl and Sainsburys offer their equivalent.

 

Not a patch on the real deal, unfortunately, but might be worth giving them a try.  Especially in your current circumstances, where your Covid symptoms might mask their non-authentic taste.

 

Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery @polybear, particularly if this is your first encounter with Covid.  
 

 

 

Edited July 2 by 4630
Aid clarity

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Bear here.....

 

Just spent a week in Lisbon -

I have just been preparing for our trip to Iceland and I was reading one of those  “things  you need to know “ articles and I thought of you. One fact was that there are very few spiders. Also there are pizzas. The pizza information wasn’t in the article. My Kettering sister in laws friend took her parents and two visiting Swamis (they are a Hindu family) to Iceland for her 50th  birthday. They are all vegetarian. When asked what did they eat while there, the answer was “pizza, a lot of pizza”. 

[Coombe Barton]

... We’ll see on Friday how these pan out. Predictions have been disastrously wrong before. ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2024/07/02/election-projections-day-long-meeting/

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Just spent a couple of hours watching Siddy Holloway Secrets of the London underground followed by Bangers and Cash, then I nodded off. Now to read some threads on RMweb and tackle Farcebook.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

When ever I’m working in the front garden, I always put the tools I’ll be using in the wheelbarrow and take them all round in that, it means that I only need to do one trip. 

 

The front garden didn’t take as long as I thought it would, so once done, I packed up my tools and pushed them back round to the shed. I then applied the a new dose of nematodes to the garden in a (forlorn) attempt to get rid of slugs. Then I took a look at a solar light that had stopped working, that turned out to be an easy fix, as a lead had come of one of the battery terminals. A quick clean up of the terminal and cable and I then re-soldered it all up and tested it. It worked, yahoo! This nicely brought about dinner.

 

After dinner, I couldn’t be @rsed getting out the chop saw, so I sat at the work bench and did a bit more of the loco chassis. Today it seemed to be one of those days where you take 1 step forward, then 2 steps backward, pah. 

 

I’ve still not got the car back yet, but I’ve had an update, new battery required and also a new wiper motor. The battery will get done today, he’s still waiting for the wiper motor. 

 

Q, sorry to hear about Ben, pets really do become part of the family, they also leave big holes when they’re not around anymore? I’m sure you’ll miss him very much. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Gwiwer]

10 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

@TheQ  Sorry to hear that Ben has passed.  Wishing you all the best.

 

Likewise from here.  Whilst I am openly "not a dog person" pets of all kinds are always family and their passing must be respected and mourned likewise.  

[Two_sugars]

Sleep well Ben . . . 

 

Goodnight everyone . . 

 

John

[Gwiwer]

5 hours ago, pH said:

Are they still crewed mostly by ex-RN pilots from Culdrose?

I doubt it.  The old operation closed down some years ago.  The heliport site in Penzance was bought by the big orange supermarket after fierce local opposition (to losing noisy helicopters???) and there was no plan to maintain the link.  

 

Whilst freight is shipped year-round by sea and mail goes by air unless the weather prevents flying the passenger ferry to the Isles is seasonal due to there being very minimal demand in winter and the usually-rough crossing making it one only used when unavoidable.  The freighter Gry Maritha will carry a handful of passengers if booked.  

 

Fast-forward a number of years.  Plans were made for a new heliport site at St. Erth station.  This would have the advantage of offering large park & ride facilities for the service and for the railway.  Environmental concerns and the significantly increased cost of the additional flying time compared with Penzance ended that plan but the railway did get its large P&R scheme which has replaced the cramped facility at Lelant Saltings.  Finally another site was located for a heliport just opposite the old site and on farm land.  Again there were objections but the business case was stronger than at St. Erth.  And a couple of years ago the new service started.  Using smaller aircraft than previously and at very much higher fares.  

 

In other news we learned today that neighbour (aged 97) who suffered the loss of his cat last week also lost his wife yesterday.  We have never met her; she had been in a residential care facility due to advanced dementia for the past several years.  The poor chap - who is a lovely old boy - must be wondering who's next.  

 

[Darlington_Shed]

11 hours ago, TheQ said:

Ben the for ever resting Collie

 

That's a real heartbreaker. So sorry to read this.

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I have just been preparing for our trip to Iceland

Much more predictable cruising than the Caribbean at the moment. Hurricane Beryl* wrought havoc in the Windward Islands and is headed for Jamaica right now. It is projected to later strike the Yucatan. Cruise lines are altering itineraries to avoid the central Caribbean right now.

 

* Earliest recorded Category 5 storm.

[Ozexpatriate]

Meanwhile, this was sunset last night.

[jjb1970]

I can think of worse places to be. While the hot spots are crazily over developed and over run there are still plenty of beautiful spots in Bali. Terrific food. It kind of reminds me of Spain where tourists from Northern Europe  look for (insert country of choice) bars to eat and drink when they're in a country with a magnificent culinary heritage.

[jjb1970]

Talk of tattoos made me start thinking, and inspired me to develop a new circular business plan. As y'all know, the circular economy is good for the environment, re-use things and develop synergies (I award myself a gold star for using that word) to reduce waste and demand on resources. As always, I am on the leading edge and will be rolling out my latest ventures soon:

 

1. Mad Doc JJB's tattoo studio, we will tattoo anything on anyone (as long as they can pay), all for value for money prices. By smart operation (eliminating unnecessary hygiene requirements and providing opportunities to people with no talent willing to work for cheap) we can pass on the savings to you! And remember, all customers get a free swastika tattoo on the forehead and a 10% discount voucher for the Doctor JJB tattoo removal clinic.

 

2. Doctor JJB tattoo removal clinic. Nothing distresses me more (other than not making money) than the sad plight of those saddled with tattoos they regret. Frankly it fills me with rage there are tattooists out there who will happily maim people for no better reason than to make money. Doctor JJB uses our very own almost pain free (people pass out within a couple of seconds of starting then don't feel much until they wake up) Eezy-go process involving a belt sander. All customers get a 10% discount voucher for a skin graft to repair the calamitous damage from the Eezy-go process at Professor JJB's plastic surgery clinic.

 

3. Professor JJB's plastic surgery clinic, specializing in skin grafts for people who have been exploited by cowboy tattoo removal outfits preying on the dim. All customers get a 10% discount at Mad Doc JJB's to get a tattoo to celebrate their pristine new skin.

 

Circular environmentally sustainable solutions for a better future from the name you trust - JJB. That's smart thinking.

[TheQ]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/07/02/bacteria-found-in-multiple-tattoo-ink-brands-study-suggests-what-to-know-about-tattoo-ink-infections/

[polybear]

8 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I have just been preparing for our trip to Iceland and I was reading one of those  “things  you need to know “ articles and I thought of you. One fact was that there are very few spiders. Also there are pizzas. The pizza information wasn’t in the article. My Kettering sister in laws friend took her parents and two visiting Swamis (they are a Hindu family) to Iceland for her 50th  birthday. They are all vegetarian. When asked what did they eat while there, the answer was “pizza, a lot of pizza”. 

 

Bear "may" have had some Pizza whilst in Lisbon (purely for scientific purposes you understand....) - one of which was, well, quite frankly CR@P and most definitely an offence under the trade descriptions act 🤬.

As for @iL Dottore's rule never to eat in any restaurant that gives the menu in both local language as well as english - good luck with that one in Lisbon.  In fairness there were one or two here and there - but from what I could see were fine if you like seafood (Bear doesn't), otherwise forget it.  However, Bear was eating in restaurants in the backstreets of the Alfama District, with two of them being Fado**  restaurants so I reckon you'd have a job to find anything more "local" than that (unless you like fish, that is).

 

**Fado music - certainly an "acquired taste"; Bear never quite managed it - all lyrics being in, well, Portuguese doesn't make it any easier.  I would've far preferred it if there was just the guitar music and no singer....

 

 

[polybear]

8 minutes ago, TheQ said:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/07/02/bacteria-found-in-multiple-tattoo-ink-brands-study-suggests-what-to-know-about-tattoo-ink-infections/

 

Nothing to worry about there then.....😱

[iL Dottore]

15 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

 

I also tend to ignore 'experts'. This may sound stupid and a bit Michael Gove-ish, but I am interested in several hobbies which are either quite techie or which attract serious enthusiasts. Audio, photography, model trailways and also a bit of cycling. Ask an audiophile for advice about an amplifier or speakers  and you can very quickly descend into an alternative universe of full on swivel eyed bonkersness populated by angry people who 'know' their highly subjective opinion is not only right but that anyone with a different opinion should be shot. Ditto cameras. You'll enter a world where buying new gear every 6 weeks transforms your photography, bonkers ranting about why anything less than full frame is junk, how going from a 40MP to a 60MP sensor is night and day blah blah blah. And we all know how some people can end up looking bonkers on the subject of model railways. I find that reviews aimed at casual users are more useful than 'serious' ones as they tend to focus on stuff that might matter to most users than pushing borderline mad opinions.

But you ignore true experts at your peril.

 

The original Michael Gove quote in full was “I think the people in this country have had enough of experts from organisations with acronyms saying that they know what is best and getting it consistently wrong”

 

And he has a point.

 

As bad as many of these experts from organisations with acronyms can be, they can be beacons of sanity compared with the self-appointed expert. Which, I would argue, covers those highly opinionated “serious” amateurs @jjb1970 wrote about.

 

There was one poster on RMWeb who was a self-appointed expert who thought he knew everything about colour and colour perception and was quite insulting to anyone that challenged his world view - even if such “challenges” were science-fact based. And after insulting you, he would triumphantly crow that he knew best because he’d been “professionally painting models for 25 years”  I felt like retorting “I have an acquaintance who is a butcher, he has been cutting up carcasses for 25 years. Professionally cutting up meat for 25 years doesn’t make you a ****** brain surgeon”.

 

He is no longer on RMWeb

 

I work with internationally recognised experts in the field of oncology and almost to a man (or woman, for that matter) they freely admit that they know a lot, but they don’t know everything. Certainly there are a lot of disagreements between these experts - but disagreements based on knowledge and interpretation of that knowledge. No one disputes that successfully treating colon cancer involves surgical resection of the tumour followed by adjuvant therapy (chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiotherapy etc). The disagreement arises on whether or not you also give neo-adjuvant therapy before surgery (depends) and what sort of adjuvant therapy do you use. The beauty of science is that (unless the politicians get involved) it is based on facts and as more data is accumulated the facts change - what was weak support for X, become strong support for X and so on. Which is why medical conferences, journals and organisations are so important: they set and communicate the “gold standards” for treatment. Most change is incremental, but sometimes treatments come along that radically change how patients are treated, pretty much overnight (such as with Trastuzamab which has completely altered the management of HER2+ breast cancer patients). 
 

Real experts change their minds as the data changes.  As John Milton Keynes famously said (quoting Paul Samuelson) “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”

 

As Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote:  “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds“

[polybear]

Bear here......

 

Good 'ol WooFlu continues to be the gift that keeps on giving - but in Bear's case nottalott, I'm very pleased to say; hopefully it'll stay that way too.

Today sees Bear doing, well, dross stuff; Bertie the Bosch was driven yesterday so that's a Tick.  I do have numerous items requiring ironing though (oh Poo) so that's on the to-do list.

 

I heard from the Accident Repair Centre whilst on hols, to tell me they had the bits in stock to fix Mickey and "when can we collect?"  After telling them that was "kinda tricky, as Bear is currently in Lisbon" it was a case of "give us a call when you're back etc."  I can give them a call today to see what they say regarding the WooFlu etc. and take it from there - they may not want Mickey just yet; I do need to clear out all assorted dross, cake etc. from Mickey beforehand though, so that's also a "today" mission.

 

I sold a few bits on the 'bay whilst on hols, so they need packing up ready to post (taking sensible precautions in the process - mask, paw sanitiser etc. - though IIRC from iD's previous posts some time ago ISTR that the chances of anyone catching the Wooflu in such a manner is decidedly slim).

 

The good news is that I do appear to have a buyer for Harry ☺️ (though Deltics have yet to change paws) - not quite as much as I'd hoped 😐 (but not far off either - so definitely not a ☹️).  The good news is no listing fees or final value fees either 😉, so that's a Tick.  Some chancers were contacting me with "would you accept?" offers well below the start price - in one case by a grand.....🤣

 

A friend and neighbour did a small Co-op mission for me yesterday, so that's a Tick; she also posted Bear's voting slip at the same time - I didn't really want to vote for any of them, but in the end went for the one that I hope will cause the least amount of damage.......

 

Right, time to wriggle.....

 

BG

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

@TheQ sorry to hear about Ben.. we will all miss him.

 

Masham was its usual self yesterday. Lovely ground, nice people and excellent cricket teas.

 

The game was not demanding and definitely played in the right spirit..

 

Our next round of home away matches include Cheshire, Lincolnshire and Shropshire...starting next Tuesday...

 

Today is tidy up day to be followed by more wire strangling...pah!

 

Stay safe!

 

Baz