Early Risers.

[Gwiwer]

21 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

9 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

A dry temp of 35C really isn't that bad, 25C with 100% humidity is much worse to me. Thr challenging thing about acclimatising in SE Asia isn't temperature,  it is the humidity which is just as constant as the temperature.  Which is when you appreciate just what a difference a light breeze makes.

It's the humidity that makes all the difference.

Absolutely.  It's only around 18C here but with very high humidity and persistent precipitation it's very hard to dry the laundry and not easy to stay cool and fresh oneself  

 

I could use the dryer for some items but that's the last resort as it burns more power than we really need to use and generates heat we don't want right now.  

 

In other news some children from the midday parade have been seen dripping past the cottage on their way home with soggy banners and costumes.  The 3pm parade might be postponed.  Dr. SWMBO is in church staffing the cream-tea stall having baked three lovely looking cakes for it herself.  My contribution was to get them safely from A to B in pouring rain; no doubt I shall be required to also return the empty carriers home later.  

[jamie92208]

Bon Apres midi to one and all.  It's getting towards 30 here.  Yester day went well. The plumber appeared at 8.15 and left at 10.30 0having taken out the old boiler and fitted a new one. .  He reckoned that the old one was more than a third full of limescale from the hard water.  That makes sense as the element had gone near the bottom, probably from regular overheating.  

 

I had a good lunch and the tea and cake at the MRC meet and Andy and I still at and watched trains and out the world to rights for a couple of hours. 

 

Here much tidying up has been done as some friends are coming for drinks and nibbles this evening. A frittayavwith truffles in it has been decreed for tea. Most of the veg and all the eggs, plus the truffle are home grown. 

 

 We had our usual hour chatting to Rachel, Laura and Emilyhe first year report was read to us.  Excellent but she needs to improve her listening skills.  I wonder where that comes from.

 

Just before we rang them Beth announced that the  first plum tree needed picking and 10 minutes later 4.5kg of plums were in bowls in the kitchen.  The jam pan is now full and the jam jars are out.  It's a hard life but someone will have to eat the jam. 

 

Fi ally, when I went to check the hens this morning a juvenile barn owl was practising flying in the woodshed.  Lovely to see. Also they and the whip snakes do a great job in keeping the small rodents at bay. 

 

Jamie

Edited July 20 by jamie92208

[monkeysarefun]

2 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Must be like watching England play football...

 

 

 

 

By "football"  I guess you mean "soccer". After watching the World Cup or whatever its called back in 2022 I have come up with some suggestions on how to make soccer even more interesting than it undoubtably is 😒.

 

A)   Stop using that bloody  round ball. Any clown can kick a round ball in a straight line. Swap the ball for a pointy one and separate the wheat from the chavs.

 

B)  We have 4 limbs, so use them!, Watching soccer is like watching that bloody Riverdance dancing where you cant do anything with your arms.   Whats wrong with picking the ball up occasionally?  Lets make it that you can run with it, but to keep it honest you have to bounce it every 15 yards or kick it.

 

C) Get rid of the bloody goalkeeper. That position is just infested  by bludgers who  love to spend most of the match just standing around doing bu99er all while still getting the reflected team  glory should the rest of the team manage to actually kick the ball into the net at the other end.  Plus its inherently unfair if you are a short goalkeeper. You might be 5 foot 4 while the bloke at the other end is 6 foot 2, but are his goals higher to compensate? No they aren't. I'd be getting rid of the goalkeeper AND the top bar, which is discriminatory to short goalkeepers and potentially stops short people from embarking on a goalkeeping career. Which wouldn't even  BE a career if my advice is followed.

 

D) In a crowded island you need to make more use of your sporting facilities. Do cricket ovals get used in winter? I'd say that they CAN, if you use the same pitch to play soccer on.  Sure, its an oval but nothing  p1sses me off about soccer more than corners, the way they stick their arm up before kicking the ball, what's all that about?

No, have an oval field and corners just go away, which is good because they are just time wasting nonsense.

 

E) Cricket ovals are bigger so you need more players, thus allowing more people to get fit playing sport per hour.  Lets say that we make each team 18 players, so thats 36 on the field which is vastly more than the usual soccer team thus the fitness quotient per hour just goes up and England gets fit again and maybe even wins things.

 

F) "Oooh ow! that player on the other side messed my hair up with his slipstream! Oh, penalty please ref!!!!"  What the @&$@# is that all about? Bunch of girls.  Bodily contact should be encouraged and play must definitely NOT stop for injuries, unless the injured bloke is getting in the way of the game play.

 

G) 1 point per goal? "Oooh we're behind with 5 minutes to go. Oh yay! we've scored  - now we are just the same score as the other team. I guess it'll be a draw for the millionth time." 

Look at ANY other football code in the first world and you'll see there's multiple ways of scoring, each with different points awarded to minimise draws AND to enable you to leapfrog the other team and go from behind to winning in the last few seconds.  Get that sorted.. 

 

Because that is  pure sporting excitement, going from behind to being in front. 

 

 In contrast  the soccer way of thinking "oh wow, now we'll have a penalty shootout!"  is NOT exciting at all,  no matter how hard the soccer "commentators"  try to spin it due to them getting kickbacks from those in the fast food industry who have a vested interest in making the sport look like its a bunch of blokes standing around doing f&$  all just so you don't feel bad doing the same,  but while eating a burger and chips. 

 

( Actually, penalty shootouts are  the number one reason why  civilised countries like Australia the US and New Zealand have banned soccer broadcasts  unless the  broadcast is in order to  make fun of soccer.  Especially the bits  watching various cry babies roll around and round in agony like they've been sprayed with fly spray because they got a love tap to the ankle.)

 

H) Finally the name "Football" is confusing, since it covers too many sports. Maybe change the rules as per above and just call it "Australian Football League". And why not? The ashes series is good fun, come join us in winter sports too! What have you got to lose?

 

Instead you keep getting sucked into   those European soccer cups etc despite the Europeans being d!ckheads and completelly corrupt when it comes to sport - will you never learn?

 

 

 

[Hroth]

@monkeysarefun  We've two codes of pointy ball football, with handling, multiscore opportunities and no goalie already.  I don't think we need another one, that appears to be officiated by ice cream men...

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

27 minutes ago, Hroth said:

@monkeysarefun  We've two codes of pointy ball football, with handling, multiscore opportunities and no goalie already.  I don't think we need another one, that appears to be officiated by ice cream men...

 

 

 

 

Well I'm just trying to help because soccer obviously just makes yous all  sad all the time because you seem to get disappointed at never winning it even though you invented the game, such as it is.

 

I was just hoping  to offer you a ground level entry into the AFL. Feel  free to look it up but AFL is the oldest codified football sport in the world, all others including soccer are Johnny Come Latelys and you could be part of a new tradition and put the two fingered salute to the Euros like we can do. 

Edited July 20 by monkeysarefun

[Gwiwer]

14 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

H) Finally the name "Football" is confusing, since it covers too many sports. Maybe change the rules as per above and just call it "Australian Football League". And why not?

Because the Australian game, along with its American cousin and the Rugby Football codes, are basically handball.  

 

Unless you are the goalkeeper you are penalised for handling the ball when in play in "football" which is very seldom called "soccer" in the UK because we all know what "football" means.  In other codes you may catch the ball, run with it in your hands and throw it.  

 

Yes there are multiple ways of scoring but surely "One goal = 1" is the easiest.  One run = 1 in cricket; they don't score on a points system there.  One shot in golf = 1.  And so on.  Other sports may vary.  

Yours

Captain Grumpy 😂

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

One run = 1 in cricket; they don't score on a points system there.

Come on think about it !!! 🙂    Hit it to the boundary its a 4, hit it over on the full its a 6. You can be 1 run  behind with one ball left and you can still win if you work it through deep fine leg for a 4.

 

In contrast if the same bloke who invented soccer had invented cricket then both teams  would be lined up taking "penalty shootout" pot shots at the stumps.

 

 

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

Because the Australian game, along with its American cousin and the Rugby Football codes, are basically handball.  

 

 

Handballing it won't get you a goal though, you need to peg it through the middle posts by kicking it  to get the 6 points.

 

 

You have to admit that soccer has an inbuilt weakness if you have to potentially  decide every &*&#$  major competition by having each team line up and take turns  attempting to punt the ball past the other teams goalkeeper?

 

Why not set up a chess set and have the 12th man on both teams (who are both chess grand masters) have a playoff? why not have a paint ball tournament, or a spelling competition, or a round of Charades  or The Hunger Games? 

 

 

Edited July 20 by monkeysarefun

[polybear]

Bear here....

 

Strides and a shirt smoothed with the hot thingy - that's a Tick.

Then it was the dreaded G-word - roses dead-headed (long overdue), green stuff cut, various bushes cut.  Fortunately, sorry I meant sadly it started peeing just after 1pm so Bear scarpered (the wheelie bin was virtually full** anyway - and had already received the "Bear jumpin' up n' down inside it treatment" so that kinda limited any more fun.

 

**I reckon just enough room left so Bear can chop the front lawn at some point.

 

Din dins scoffed - 25% UPF, 3 of the Beary 5-a-day done.  That's a Tick (others may disagree....)

Oh yes, and The Big River actually managed to discover the letter box earlier...wonders will never cease...

 

Right, MIUABGAD....maybe a hilly wander if it's not gonna pee down.

 

BG

 

 

 

 

Edited July 20 by polybear

[polybear]

[TheQ]

Decidedly unpleasant all morning, twas hot and very sticky.

So I was out there applying anti rodent mesh to 4 doors, they'd attacked.

While out there I measured for mesh to stop them getting under the caravan, and all round any wooden sheds.

1 Deltic later...

 

Retired to muddling shed, did some muddling, then fell asleep in the heat.

I'm being summoned outside.. at least the sea breeze has started.

[monkeysarefun]

12 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Decidedly unpleasant all morning, twas hot and very sticky.

So I was out there applying anti rodent mesh to 4 doors, they'd attacked.

 

 

 

5mm gal mesh? Anything bigger and the rats just walk through it.

 

They chew through aluminium and stainless steel fly wire on the windows here, I am presently playing wits against one that comes in each night through means unknown and chews the plastic bottom of Gary The Parrots cage, attempting to get in there. 

[polybear]

13 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

5mm gal mesh? Anything bigger and the rats just walk through it.

 

They chew through aluminium and stainless steel fly wire on the windows here, I am presently playing wits against one that comes in each night through means unknown and chews the plastic bottom of Gary The Parrots cage, attempting to get in there. 

A steel tray wired to the mains?

[polybear]

Bear here….

Part- way thru’ a hilly wander; the first pit stop since before Bear’s Lisbon jaunt.  Oh yes, and they’ve got a rather foxy new waitress…..

 

BG

[monkeysarefun]

10 minutes ago, polybear said:

A steel tray wired to the mains?

 

I bought a novelty pen for work which zaps you when you push the top button to protrude the nib.

 

The only person that ever got zapped by it was me, because I'd forget it was a novelty pen and take it from my desk and press the button whenever I wanted to write something.  No one else in the office fell for it, mainly due to me going "I hate this *@&$@*$ pen!!!!" whenever I tried to sign my timesheet,   and so they  learned to avoid it.

 

In the same way, I would very quickly electrocute myself on any 240V rat trap based steel things that I had laying around. 

 

 

Edited July 20 by monkeysarefun

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Not done a lot today, still hot and muggy. Yesterday when in Tess Coes I spotted these.

 https://www.glutenfreedoll.com/2014/06/nakd-fruit-and-nut-bars-review.html

So I tried them quite tasty and UPF free. And each bar is one of your five a day. They are simply fruit and nuts compressed into a bar with no additions, not even sugar. 

[TheQ]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

5mm gal mesh? Anything bigger and the rats just walk through it.

 

 

Yes exactly or as its sold here, 1/4 inch

The summons was to extract two equipment boxes from a shed,

remove equipment foam ( glued in),

put equipment box back in shed in new position,

Place Ben's washed and very dried bedding placed inside along with his cage and some toys.

Second box placed on top ready for more of his bedding.

Retired hot and sweaty.

 

Something for jjb.

https://news.sky.com/story/two-tankers-collide-and-catch-fire-near-singapore-13181076

Edited July 20 by TheQ

[PhilJ W]

One result of yesterdays computer outage is I can't get into X/Twitter, I just get a message saying I'm blocked.

[The White Rabbit]

Today's conspiracy theory: Maybe the IT issues stem from a cunning plan by those who aren't members of the Donald Fan Club? 

 

Speaking of rats, I've found the best methods of control are either terriers or shooting. Mice, it's peanuts in traps - they move too quickly - at least for me - to hit them. 

 

Thoughts with the Q for memories of Ben. 

 

Hot and sticky here despite it raining for much of the day. 

 

It's been wearing today, not much done, have had to stand by for most of the day waiting around. My father's health has just taken a big turn for the worse. 

[polybear]

36 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Something for jjb.

https://news.sky.com/story/two-tankers-collide-and-catch-fire-near-singapore-13181076

 

Oops, that was careless.  Saying "sorry mate, didn't see you" when it's a Tanker kinda stretches the credibility somewhat.

 

ION.....

 

Hilly wander wandered - Izzy tells me that's 8.1K steps today; dunno if that's good or not.

 

The Big River delivered a new toy (well, four actually) to Bear Towers today - "Apple Air Tags" (they were doing a good deal on them on "Prime Day" earlier in the week); the Boss at the Hospice mentioned them - they're rather useful for attaching to keys, suitcases, Hippo's** etc. so you can track them.  I'll have a play soon.

 

**Could be a good plan for discovering Big H's secret cake store....

 

Nearly tea-time...oh good....😁

 

BG

[DaveF]

The shopping went well this morning, a walk round Lidl meant I came home with some bags of potting compost and a tray of Sempervivums as well as the food I had planned for.  On the way round some cans of ice tea jumped into the trolley.  At home I usually make suitable tea and put it in the fridge, the cans are just to take with me when I go out and may want something to drink.  I also visited small Asda (not the big one less than a mile from it) and got more bits, including 2 paperbacks I wanted at a bit under half price.  I managed to resist the temptation of their cheap preowned CDs and DVDs.  I also noticed they now have a photo booth which could be useful if I need new ID photos for anything.

 

Much of the rest of the day has been split between the cycling and golf on TV, both have been enjoyable.  I also looked at more old photos and captioned another batch of Swiss photos for flickr (and here).  I spent a short time in the garden deadheading and removing a few weeds, more sweet peas have been brought into the house along with some raspberries for tea.

 

This evening is going to be another very old Dixon of Dock Green, after that I'm not yet sure.  It is becoming even more humid, I think it will rain in the next couple of hours.  It is only 21°C outside, a bit over 26°C in the house.

 

David

Edited July 20 by DaveF

[New Haven Neil]

Evenink.

 

Odd day, even odder or more odd reading about warm dry weather - it's been a grim mizzly morning here, and an afternoon of persisting down.  Still is.

 

Went round to elderly mate's, to help him with his Hornby Dublo.  Yup, 3 rail.  It's is his first ever venture into model railways, and the aged stuff suits him.  Lets just say he isn't going to be using DCC in a hurry.  I gave it all to him, it was given to me years ago to try to find a good home for it, got there in the end.  Locos are dead, so my job is to try to find a spark of life in them while he cleans track etc.  Anyone got a front bogie for an A4?

 

ION err....it's still raining.

[Ozexpatriate]

11 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

As the various permutations of “RMWeb not available“ seemingly happen at random

Which of course, they don't. I remain convinced that most of them in ERs are related to having to index/load some chunk of 13243 pages.

 

I can *almost* guarantee a long delay or timeout responding to a post where the reply will appear on a later ER page. And indeed it 504'd just now:

 

 

EDIT:

Two "reply" posts this morning - two 504s.

Now three 504s - all occurring when a reply occurs on a later page.

 

Plus an attack intercepted by my anti-virus provider.

 

Edited July 20 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

10 hours ago, polybear said:

Why is that whenever the words "sourdough" are added then the price of a loaf seems to triple?  Is there some magic, ultra-expensive ingredient?  Or maybe it takes a lot longer/more effort to make?  Or is it simply a marketing rip-off?

There is a special ingredient - the starter.

Quote

The "celebrated" San Francisco sourdough is a white bread characterized by a pronounced sourness, and indeed the strain of Lactobacillus in sourdough starters is named Fructilactobacillus sanfranciscensis (previously Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis), alongside the sourdough yeast Kasachstania humilis (previously Candida milleri) found in the same cultures.

 

9 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

It takes longer (time = money), has to use quality ingredients (quality = money) and requires more work than the Chorleywood process (labour = money).

It's really about the starter - and keeping it alive in a commercial bakery setting.

[Ozexpatriate]

9 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Wet Wet Wet here. 

A beautiful Scottish summer's day is also on display at Royal Troon.

 

Precipitation was 6mm per hour when I started watching.

[Hroth]

Rain promised at two didn't arrive until four, and was very light.  Now at six, the sky has gone very dark and its tipping it down, warm and muggy.  We may get the thundery spell promised for three...

 

Methinks the weather gods have taken their eyes off the ball!

 

Edited July 20 by Hroth
couple of typos