Early Risers.

[Winslow Boy]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Aren't you the Scofflaw, Chimpey.

 

Well, you're now obviously "on the list" then

 

ps PB's "dishing it out", not taking it. I am certain he will have enough LEOs around him to protect him from nutters armed with spiders and snakes 

You've got another thing coming if you think I'm 'taking the spider' for The Bear.

[DaveF]

The system has decided that I really wanted to miss a whole page of ERs and instead give me two copies of this page.  I am gradually becoming somewhat disenchanted - to be honest for gradually read rapidly.

 

I saw the Northern Lights last night, just as a faint green and pink glow in the sky, if there were no street lights it would have been better.  I did think of going to the beach to look but decided I didn't feel like going out at 11p.m.  A friend has sent me some very good photos she took in her garden on the Lincolnshire coast - she lives outside a village so there are no street lights.

 

This morning is sunny and cold, down to 2°C last night.  I am now deciding what to do today - there seem to be a lot of choices.

 

David

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. For the first time for a while  I didn't sleep to well last night, someone in bladder control kept pressing the button so only about four to five hours sleep. Need to do some shopping today as the fridge is empty.

[PhilJ W]

Nearly forgot, I caught a slight glimpse of the Northern lights last night, after one when they switch the street lights off. Sunday night should be better as with a high pressure over  the country as a whole giving clear skies and around here the street lights go out at midnight on Sundays.

[The White Rabbit]

Morning all,

 

I missed the Northern Lights (again!) due to cloud cover and precipitation. But the photos people have taken look spectacular, including one on the Telegraph news site of Ribblehead viaduct. 

 

A cold night followed a very clear day, a wander was had yesterday and some ship spotting indulged in from the cliffs. Currently pondering whether to purchase a new pair of binoculars or a bigger telephoto lens. 

 

On the subject of 4th and 13th floors, one company used to get round potential superstitions by naming floors or 'suites' rather than numbering them. It also appealed to some individuals and organisations, "Oh, we're based on the Melchett Floor of the Fearnley Towers" or "...in the Barker-Finch suite in the Carleton Building you know..." rather than "...it's on the sixth floor of the Bloggs Building". 

 

ERs has been a bit shaky on the IT front, not as bad as some people are reporting but still a nuisance. I can understand why it's causing a lot of posters to get frustrated. For me it seems to go through spells of being fine and then being very temperamental for a while. Edit - it's just lost a bit of this OP! 

 

When it comes to awarding 'justice' to corporate miscreants, there seems to be a variety of ideas out there. But no-one's mentioned a Room 101 option yet. Different people are scared of different things - to use a commonly mentioned phobia, lock me in a room for 12 hours with lots of [British - i.e. not venomous or the size of tarantulas] spiders and I wouldn't be that bothered; I might even find it rather interesting. Other people might get very agitated. For them it would be a punishment. With a little imagination, I'm sure a group of ERs could devise ways of making the punishment fit the crime fit the person. And not leave any marks on the subject for the court or coroner to ask awkward questions about. 

 

The sun's out, so time togetonwithit as GDB might say. 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by The White Rabbit
lost a bit

[PhilJ W]

Talking of management miscreants this lot really take the cake.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/05/us/tennessee-impact-plastics-factory-helene/index.html?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc

[BoD]

31 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

When it comes to awarding 'justice' to corporate miscreants, there seems to be a variety of ideas out there. But no-one's mentioned a Room 101 option yet. Different people are scared of different things - to use a commonly mentioned phobia, lock me in a room for 12 hours with lots of [British - i.e. not venomous or the size of tarantulas] spiders and I wouldn't be that bothered; I might even find it rather interesting. Other people might get very agitated. For them it would be a punishment. With a little imagination, I'm sure a group of ERs could devise ways of making the punishment fit the crime fit the person. And not leave any marks on the subject for the court or coroner to ask awkward questions about. 

A bath of baked beans for ID?

[Andy Hayter]

The Northern/Southern lights became very Southern last night.

 

Back in May when the last major show happened I got a glimpse of wispy white features in the sky; confirmed as the lights via a very crappy hand held camera shot showing red.  Last night the greens and reds were visible to the naked eye down here - just about in the northern half of the northern hemisphere.

[iL Dottore]

5 minutes ago, BoD said:

A bath of baked beans for ID?

I could get into that (both literally and figuratively), just like one of my musical heroes - Roger Daltry - did for the cover of the album The Who Sell Out (great album by the way)

As long as I don’t have to eat them (and even then, I’d survive)

[polybear]

12 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

That's really sad, Bear and on far too many levels (and NO, I'm not being facetious).

 

You should do what the late, great, ChrisF and JohnDMJ always did at Christmas - take a railway tour of Switzerland (they did so every year with the same travel company). It allowed them, also unattached bachelors with no close relatives, to avoid the whole Dickensian "Christmas Carol on Steroids" commercial sell-fest that the Yuletide season has become in the UK (Christmas is much, much less commercial and more low key in Switzerland).

 

It was also good for their sanity: both ChrisF and JohnDMJ said that  NOT being in the UK over Christmas was infinitely preferable than staying at home and feeling glum, bereft or worse.

 

Yes, it costs a few Deltics, but a small price to pay to be able to get through the UK Christmas season and come out the other side with sanity and dignity intact.

 

Sanity?  This Bear?  Rumour has it what little I had went years ago....

Dignity?  Well you can't get much more dignified than scoffin' Pizza with a knife n' fork.

 

Seriously, I'm actually hoping the Warehouse will help me stay sane - "we" only shut for two days over Chrimbo (actually I'd quite like to come in and do some sorting instead....)

 

Incidentally, do you know what Tour Company ChrisF used?

 

12 hours ago, Chris Snowdon said:

It's your wall and it's your choice, but I would leave that as it is.  Big, maybe, but perhaps just right?  I've got a nocturne by Grimshaw which is just slightly smaller than that.  So unless you really hate that frame, keep it as it because the dark frame draws the eye inwards.  The moon, clouds and sky part is excellent, the shadowing on the buildings less so, but that is a lovely piece!  See also various Grimshaws of Glasgow, Newcastle and Sunderland quaysides.

 

I have a second piccy as well - the smaller version; I had the chance of this so got both just in case I had a problem finding a suitable location for the big piccy.  I much prefer the frame on this one so would like a similar style on the big piccy:

 

Small Piccy:

 

 

Small Frame:

 

 

Big Frame - I don't like the hessian bit much:

 

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Chris Snowdon said:

Can't get to sleep.  Can't get this image out of my mind's eye.  Am positively haunted by it.  The moon and clouds bit is good...

 

I know the feeling....

 

7 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Isn't  he that bloke who's scared of spiders?  "everyone falls around laughing" would be more likely!

 

They won't be for long.....👿

Edited 3 hours ago by polybear

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, The White Rabbit said:

With a little imagination, I'm sure a group of ERs could devise ways of making the punishment fit the crime fit the person.

 

 

I just read  what mine would be.  Oasis have announced Australian concert dates  so I now have this  nightmare image of being trapped in Accor Stadium with 83,000 Brit backpackers all singing  bloody Wonderwall. 

Edited 4 hours ago by monkeysarefun

[iL Dottore]

11 minutes ago, polybear said:

Incidentally, do you know what Tour Company ChrisF used?

 

Ffestiniog travel: https://www.ffestiniogtravel.com/escorted-tours/europe-christmas-tours/switzerland

 

Not inexpensive (by UK standards) but it’s all in and full board, plus you have the opportunity to use your railpass to go “off grid” (so to speak). You can also “tweak” the holiday to your needs. ChrisF and JohnDMJ spoke well of this travel agency.

 

Given how “the black dog” has taken you out of action the past few Christmases, leaving the UK would do you good.

 

ChrisF and John DMJ so loved this Christmas trip that they came every year until 2020 (then the pandemic happened and soon after we lost both of them) - even though they had to make an obligatory stop off at Brig each year to meet up with some Swiss weirdo…

[iL Dottore]

6 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

I just read  what mine would be.  Oasis have announced Australian concert dates  so I now have this  nightmare image of being trapped in Accor Stadium with 83,000 Brit backpackers all singing  bloody Wonderwall. 

Oh dear, Chimpey…

 

You really shouldn’t have told me about that….

 

Captain Cynical.

[scottystitch]

24 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Sanity?  This Bear?  Rumour has it what little I had went years ago....

Dignity?  Well you can't get much more dignified than scoffin' Pizza with a knife n' fork.

 

Seriously, I'm actually hoping the Warehouse will help me stay same - "we" only shut for two days over Chrimbo (actually I'd quite like to come in and do some sorting instead....)

 

Incidentally, do you know what Tour Company ChrisF used?

 

 

I have a second piccy as well - the smaller version; I had the chance of this so got both just in case I had a problem finding a suitable location for the big piccy.  I much prefer the frame on this one so would like a similar style on the big piccy:

 

Small Piccy:

 

 

Small Frame:

 

 

Big Frame - I don't like the hessian bit much:

 

 

 

 

 

I know the feeling....

 

 

They won't be for long.....👿

My mum has that self same picture on her wall.

 

Best

 

Scott. 

[polybear]

1 hour ago, The White Rabbit said:

When it comes to awarding 'justice' to corporate miscreants, there seems to be a variety of ideas out there. But no-one's mentioned a Room 101 option yet. Different people are scared of different things - to use a commonly mentioned phobia, lock me in a room for 12 hours with lots of [British - i.e. not venomous or the size of tarantulas] spiders and I wouldn't be that bothered; I might even find it rather interesting. Other people might get very agitated. For them it would be a punishment. With a little imagination, I'm sure a group of ERs could devise ways of making the punishment fit the crime fit the person. And not leave any marks on the subject for the court or coroner to ask awkward questions about. 

 

Did Bear mention he's terrified of Pizza, CF's, LDC, Treacle Pud n' Custard....honest.....

[monkeysarefun]

42 minutes ago, polybear said:

I have a second piccy as well - the smaller version; I had the chance of this so got both just in case I had a problem finding a suitable location for the big piccy.

 

 

Just for fun I described the scene to AI to see how close it would get - 

 

 

 

 

 

My request for adding pretty girls in Australia Flag  bikinis earned  me a yellow card   and a knock back though. (maybe I should have said "pretty ladies" instead!)

 

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by monkeysarefun

[monkeysarefun]

21 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Oh dear, Chimpey…

 

You really shouldn’t have told me about that….

 

Captain Cynical.

 

 

 

Luckily I didnt mention my second greatest fear - getting air-dropped onto Bondi or Coogee Beach on Christmas Day! 

 

 

 

  D'oh!

 

 

[PhilJ W]

9 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Nice to know your loved ones are safe.

 

It was a bad storm. People died. Homes were flooded, tornadoes created damage (in addition to the hurricane-force winds). Still, the destruction is not as bad as it could have been.

 

The worst case scenario is for the south side of they eye-wall to hit the opening to Tampa Bay. (The center hit just south of there, perhaps no more than 20 miles.)

 

I saw a picture of a skip on top of a house - resulting from a tornado spawned by the storm in Palm Beach Gardens.

And some of those deaths were unnecessary.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/05/us/tennessee-impact-plastics-factory-helene/index.html?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc

[Grizz]

22 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

i see some fair skinned Scottish folks have brought their national sun umbrellas with them….

Edited 3 hours ago by Grizz

[Hroth]

Here's something for PB!

 

I was in Tess Co's and picked up a copy of their freebie mag.  The cover illustrates a "Pumpkin and Blue Cheese" pizza on a Tesco sourdough base.  Instructions for construction on p62.

 

Apparently yummy, though I think I'd give it a miss...

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Hroth
minor typo correction

[monkeysarefun]

50 minutes ago, Grizz said:

i see some fair skinned Scottish folks have brought their national sun umbrellas with them….

 

 

 

The sun here is next-level ferocious, even on the gentle days

 

For instance tomorrows forecast:

 

 

Sydney area 

Min 15

Max 20

Shower or two.

Cloudy. Medium chance of showers,

Fire Danger - Moderate

Sun protection recommended from 9:20 am to 4:00 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 7 [High]

 

On untrained Northern Hemisphere skins without 50+ sunblock,  exposure  leads to at a minimum an uncomfortable few days, and at worst hospitalisation. 

 

When I was up in Townsville I was having an afterwork beer or 4  on the deck of The Brewery pub. It overlooks the jetty where the ferries and catamarans from Magnetic Island disgorge their passengers.  Most passengers were Brits or Germans and while many had taken sun  precautions there were enough glowing beetroot red ones to make it an entertaining couple of hours, speculating how their next few days would be. 

Edited 2 hours ago by monkeysarefun

[Tony_S]

12 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

On untrained Northern Hemisphere skins without 50+ sunblock,

I took my factor 50 to Iceland , just in case…

[monkeysarefun]

7 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

ll have enough LEOs around

 

I'm not sure what a LEO is there. Hopefully it is different from here where it is   slang for w*nker, after the character Leo W*nker that was in the Paul Hogan show in the 1970's...

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

6 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I took my factor 50 to Iceland , just in case…

 

 

Well the thinning of the Ozone layer over the southern latitudes is leading to an increase in non-melanoma skin cancers down here, especially in Tasmania, so perhaps the same occurs as you approach the north pole...

Edited 2 hours ago by monkeysarefun

[iL Dottore]

@monkeysarefun a LEO is Law Enforcement Officer, not necessarily police, who are (usually) entitled to use lethal force.

 

It’s a US term

 

Edited 2 hours ago by iL Dottore