Early Risers.

[Sidecar Racer]

10 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

 

 

I'm intrigued by "Dorado". I have no idea what that is supposed to be in Italian. It means "gold" in Español - as in "el dorado".

 

 

 Google translate gives me ' Golden ' for Dorado in Italian , so similar to the spanish .

[Sidecar Racer]

10 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

 

  20 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

The whole of America can’t think this, can it? 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

John, I imagine that's rhetorical?  The answer is of course not, but ...

 

 4 years ago 74 + million did .

[jjb1970]

One of the few things I miss about being at sea is the night sky. Mid-ocean is like seeing the sky for the first time. 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, PupCam said:

Anyway wish me luck in precisely 2 hours time.

Aditi and I had our flu and Covid jabs yesterday. Her  arms felt a bit sore at the injection sites, mine didn’t. As we felt ok, we drove to Hyde Hall gardens and had a pleasant walk. This morning we both felt a bit “yuck”. In Aditi’s case, feeling tired, in my case as if I were on a ship at sea moving about slightly. We had the over 65 flu and Moderna Covid vaccines. So no particularly horrid after effects .  time the jabs were administered at our usual pharmacy. Aditi said how pleased she was at the advice about her new medication she had received from one of the younger staff by telephone in the week. The pharmacist (about our age) laughed and said “that was me”. 
 

Edited 8 hours ago by Tony_S

[PupCam]

1 hour ago, Darlington_Shed said:

 

I fear you misunderstand, Puppers old boy. My post was a feeble attempt at humour. I've not had this year's vaccine; I appear to have contracted Covid on the day the invitation arrived in my email inbox. Now that I am recovering from Covid, arranging the jab will be a priority on Monday.

 

Whoops!   Sorry DS!     You do have to watch those Emails though, you can pick up some very nasty viruses from them .... 😬

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Have to getamoveon now as time seems to evaporate. Time to run a bath, be back later.

[Debs.]

Mum (94) and I had our concomitant COVID and Flu immunisations administered on Wednesday at our local community pharmacy.

We both felt a bit 'bleh' the next day, and my entire upper arm was seriously painful, whilst Mum's arm not much at all, perhaps an indication of her age-reduced immune response.

We're both extremely appreciative to have the protection offered by the vaccines; though perhaps the protection option should be extended equally to all citizens who wish to have them.

[polybear]

2 hours ago, PupCam said:

But don't worry it's not a system problem or anything to do with the fact that the particular thread has over 13500 pages!   

 

To be brutally frank;  the fact that some others with completely different hardware, software and system configurations "do not experience any problems"  counts for nowt when, as far as I am aware, there are no published specifications for the necessary hardware and software required to access Early Risers (note I DIDN'T SAY access RMWeb) and actually it is extremely tiresome for those that do !!!!!!

 

Still, nothing to see here - quite literally on occasions.

 

Perhaps Bear should start an alternative thread....now then, what to call it....

Perhaps E.....oh, hang on...tried that and got a Red Card.....

I Know!!  How about "Got so P1ssed Off with the Fuggin' thing I gave up and came here instead" thread?

[polybear]

4 minutes ago, Debs. said:

We're both extremely appreciative to have the protection offered by the vaccines; though perhaps the protection option should be extended equally to all citizens who wish to have them.

 

Seconded!!  It would've saved A Certain Bear half a Deltic** 😡

 

(**Have I mentioned that?)

[PupCam]

2 minutes ago, Debs. said:

We both felt a bit 'bleh' the next day, and my entire upper arm was seriously painful, whilst Mum's arm not much at all, perhaps an indication of her age-reduced immune response.

 

That's an interesting point / theory.    Perhaps my reduced immune response will counteract the potential for feeling 'bleh' tomorrow 🤞 as I will be visiting a large hall containing a very large object built by a well known music 'personality' and his mates which is regularly found in a cathedral.   No aches so far but it's early days!

 

 

 

[Sidecar Racer]

20 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Seconded!!  It would've saved A Certain Bear half a Deltic** 😡

 

(**Have I mentioned that?)

 

 Not that anyone noticed .😆

[Tony_S]

I have spent the afternoon wrapping up a set of bathroom scales to be returned. We bought them in March but they are now dead as dead can be. Pity because they seemed accurate and looked rather nice. John Lewis customer services seem to have transferred to South Africa. The first two attempts failed as the agent couldn’t hear me. A couple of dead ends after pressing button 5. The I got through, very clear line, unfortunately the agent insisted I rang technical suppprt despite my “it’s an electronic bathroom scale, it is dead”. Anyway tech support didn’t take long, I am sure the nice lady was stifling a giggle and to do we exactly what to say (politely of course). So back again and the final agent was very good but clearly had no concept of the product. We found an alternative, ours had been discontinued. Then I had to get Aditi as the original had been purchased on her credit card to approve my choice of alternative. Doing the swap tomorrow at Waitrose as it would be quicker. I wonder if the scales had failed as I had for the first time dipped below my target weight. 
iman now waiting for a package from Amazon. Years ago Matthew gave me a 2010 vintage laptop, when he replaced it with a Mac before he went to Utrecht. I  always intended to use it for my trains but it has been standing for about 6 years. I have got it as good as it is going to get but it is still rather slow. So I ordered a reconditioned Dell from Amazon for not a lot of money. If it isn’t any good it can go back. Not bothered if it has a US or International keyboard which seem to upset some people. I have been sent a security code to identify myself to the courier, which is amusing as I have bought more expensive items before , but perhaps laptops are “special”. Perhaps I should video it when I unbox it, in case it isn’t a laptop.

[Two_sugars]

Good dafta noon everyone . . . weather is BRRRRRRRR.  .struggled to 10c with a stiff westerly . . 

 

I should have had me Flu Jab yesterday, but I cancelled it, and booked an appointment with a doctor instead . . .at the "other" i.e. original sugary . . .Easington instead of Peterlee. Got in sooner that way, but parking is of the "back street" variety.

 

A new Doctor who called me in about 10 mins. late because of the patient before me taking more time than allowed. . . . The Doctor apologised for the smell in his room, which had me smiling . . . . It smelled like the previous patient had a large bag of , , , VERY GOOD GEAR . . .like man . . . .

 

Anyway, doctor decided I needed to donate a blood sample, so that is arranged for Monday. . . . hope the weather is a little kinder.

 

Keep smiling everyone . . . .

 

John

 

 

[The White Rabbit]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

ION....

 

I see the PM has b*llokked one of his own - for telling the truth about a certain shipping company.....

So much for his Team's support for employee rights....

 

'An Inconvenient Truth'... part 941? 

 

43 minutes ago, polybear said:

Perhaps Bear should start an alternative thread....now then, what to call it.... 

 

ERs the Sequel? ERs Part Deux? ERs rides again? The magnificent awl of ERs? 😉

 

One thought which occurs to me is that the [active] F1 thread only covers the current year. While maybe not as popular as ERs or TNM, it's up to 64 pages for 2024. Would a yearly ER thread avoid the IT and frustration? (That's not a request or recommendation, just a passing thought). 

 

I know there are other threads with a page count numbered in the hundreds and I don't often have any issues loading or reading those - but we're in the tens of thousands. Like many others, this is the thread which is most prone to 'sulking'. Occasionally TNM but nowhere near as much as ERs. I think it would be a shame if we lose contributors because of the IT issues and I think this is a real threat. 

[DaveF]

As it was sunny I decided to go out this morning and visited Bolam Lake again for a walk and to continue playing with the camera.  I noticed several cars parked without displaying either a car park ticket (and they are free for up to 1 hour) or a disabled badge.  The local warden turned up in his electric van and proceeded to take a note of the cars and photos of them so they can be dealt with.  I had a useful chat with him about the tickets as the lake has 3 car parks, he says thay don't mind which car park you get the ticket from if you move to another one afterwards, as long as it is a Bolam Lake ticket.

 

I had two pleasant walks as I visited two of the car parks and was back home via the local shop in time to get lunch.  This afternoon has been spent  working on photos and looking at old photos.

 

For once ERs worked this time.

 

Young swan at Bolam Lake - hardly a cygnet now.

 

Bolam Lake

 

Mallard at Bolam Lake

 

Jetty at Bolam Lake

 

David

Edited 5 hours ago by DaveF

[pH]

10 hours ago, Barry O said:

..... the KDF 9 parts were still around in various rooms.. it all looked fearsome.

 

The EDSAC 1 computer at Cambridge University was built, in part, round the walls of a room (or perhaps, rooms). When it was decommissioned, parts of it were left attached to the walls. In the 1970s, when staff who had worked on it were retiring, a piece of the remains would be taken off the wall, bronzed, and given as a leaving present.

Edited 5 hours ago by pH

[Coombe Barton]

Just back from Warley at Statfold - a yes.

[polybear]

23 minutes ago, Two_sugars said:

Good dafta noon everyone . . . weather is BRRRRRRRR.  .struggled to 10c with a stiff westerly . . 

 

I should have had me Flu Jab yesterday, but I cancelled it, and booked an appointment with a doctor instead . . .at the "other" i.e. original sugary . . .Easington instead of Peterlee. Got in sooner that way, but parking is of the "back street" variety.

 

A new Doctor who called me in about 10 mins. late because of the patient before me taking more time than allowed. . . . The Doctor apologised for the smell in his room, which had me smiling . . . . It smelled like the previous patient had a large bag of , , , VERY GOOD GEAR . . .like man . . . .

 

Anyway, doctor decided I needed to donate a blood sample, so that is arranged for Monday. . . . hope the weather is a little kinder.

 

Keep smiling everyone . . . .

 

John

 

 

 

18 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

ERs Part Deux? 

 

That sounds kinda familiar....

 

18 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

Would a yearly ER thread avoid the IT and frustration? (That's not a request or recommendation, just a passing thought). 

 

Now that sounds like a rather sensible idea - perhaps those posts older than a year old could be saved in a read-only archive in order to avoid any potential upset?

 

 

[Andy Hayter]

1 hour ago, Debs. said:

 

We're both extremely appreciative to have the protection offered by the vaccines; though perhaps the protection option should be extended equally to all citizens who wish to have them.

 

There is a belief that you just protect the vulnerable; however most cases of transmission are going to be between the socially active - school children, people who work in large groups, people who attend major events etc..  By allowing/encouraging the virus to spread among these socially active groups, it encourages spread to the vulnerable through their occasional but necessary links to the outside world.

 

 

[jamie92208]

4 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

One of the few things I miss about being at sea is the night sky. Mid-ocean is like seeing the sky for the first time. 

 

I just have to walk up our garden when the street lights go out. It's fabulous. 

 

1 hour ago, The White Rabbit said:

 

'An Inconvenient Truth'... part 941? 

 

 

ERs the Sequel? ERs Part Deux? ERs rides again? The magnificent awl of ERs? 😉

 

One thought which occurs to me is that the [active] F1 thread only covers the current year. While maybe not as popular as ERs or TNM, it's up to 64 pages for 2024. Would a yearly ER thread avoid the IT and frustration? (That's not a request or recommendation, just a passing thought). 

 

I know there are other threads with a page count numbered in the hundreds and I don't often have any issues loading or reading those - but we're in the tens of thousands. Like many others, this is the thread which is most prone to 'sulking'. Occasionally TNM but nowhere near as much as ERs. I think it would be a shame if we lose contributors because of the IT issues and I think this is a real threat. 

I often have trouble getting onto the last page of ER's.  However trying to get onto the Prototype discussions (not Questions) forum can often result in a wait of several minutes. 

 

Jamie

[petethemole]

I haven't found access to ER's a major problem.  I occasionally get "Community unavailable", less than daily and not only on ERs, no classes 503 or 504.  The PC does occasionally cease talking to the internet in general but I think that's down to age and possibly OS.  I'm on W8.1 using Firefox with uBlock Origin 3.

 

ION I just got (sort of) chatted up in a pub, which was nice.  Sadly I had to come home to cook, which I'm about to do.

[PhilJ W]

Attention all skywatchers.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2024/10/12/saturday-comet-tracker-when-and-where-to-see-the-bright-comet-tonight/

Sadly there will be too much cloud around here.

[KeithMacdonald]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

It would've saved A Certain Bear half a Deltic** 😡

 

Is that some new slang for £100?

[TheQ]

Evening Awl, just 

 

Before racing, decisions.. do I wear the one piece, waterproof overalls, or the top of the two piece and hope...

 

Went for the one piece..

 

Also before sailing discussions on whether there will be enough wind.

 

Gentle sail up to the broad, increasing wind..

Course for both races

Windward to buoy 4S, leeward but off set to starboard buoy 5P, away from the start line windward to buoy XS,  close reach to 3S, almost run to 2S, long almost Run to 1S, and repeat, 4 times.

 

Made a very good start, to windward of the lead boat, but half overlapping him.

He accelerated away being a 10% faster boat. During the tacking up to the first buoy one other boat got past.

On rounding towards buoy 5,  the others were close behind, blocking BMs wind untill they all swept past. Rounded bouy X close behind, from then on it was follow the leader and try not to lose to much distance.

Around half an hour in the lead dinghies caught up ,  which is about right as they started 3 minutes behind, and are between 5 and 10% faster..

At the end BM was still on the same leg as all but the leading two boats, about half the dinghies had not over taken.

So there's a good  chance of BM being well up the finishing results.

 

Race 2,

Same course very gusty increasing wind.

Started well again in second place but no overlap this time. Held  a high course, the boat that was third aimed lower and faster.. then tried to tack early but I got him port starboard afterwards more yards I tacked . One more tack and BM reached buoy 5 in second place, on the run down to X most of the fleet got past but not the last 2. They past on the leg up to 3..

Follow the leader time.. in the rain yep the welkin had opened, very soggy we got, .. decisions to wear one piece waterproof suit a good one.

With the rain most of the wind died, very slow for most of the race.

 

Finished well up on handicap and only one dinghy had got past..

 

Returned to the club in the wet, tied up outside the club, packed up the boat but left it there, as we'll be racing tomorrow. Left for home land rover paddling on the roads, water filling roads side to side.

 

Soggy kit , boots, gloves, hat, buoyancy aid all steaming by the fire..

 

Home made steak and pygmy pie has been had, most enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by TheQ

[PupCam]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I have spent the afternoon wrapping up a set of bathroom scales to be returned. We bought them in March but they are now dead as dead can be. Pity because they seemed accurate and looked rather nice. John Lewis customer services seem to have transferred to South Africa. The first two attempts failed as the agent couldn’t hear me. A couple of dead ends after pressing button 5. The I got through, very clear line, unfortunately the agent insisted I rang technical suppprt despite my “it’s an electronic bathroom scale, it is dead”. Anyway tech support didn’t take long, I am sure the nice lady was stifling a giggle and to do we exactly what to say (politely of course). So back again and the final agent was very good but clearly had no concept of the product. We found an alternative, ours had been discontinued. Then I had to get Aditi as the original had been purchased on her credit card to approve my choice of alternative. Doing the swap tomorrow at Waitrose as it would be quicker. I wonder if the scales had failed as I had for the first time dipped below my target weight. 
iman now waiting for a package from Amazon. Years ago Matthew gave me a 2010 vintage laptop, when he replaced it with a Mac before he went to Utrecht. I  always intended to use it for my trains but it has been standing for about 6 years. I have got it as good as it is going to get but it is still rather slow. So I ordered a reconditioned Dell from Amazon for not a lot of money. If it isn’t any good it can go back. Not bothered if it has a US or International keyboard which seem to upset some people. I have been sent a security code to identify myself to the courier, which is amusing as I have bought more expensive items before , but perhaps laptops are “special”. Perhaps I should video it when I unbox it, in case it isn’t a laptop.

 

We definitely need an unboxing video (just to show we are hip and trendy)

 

2 hours ago, DaveF said:

As it was sunny I decided to go out this morning and visited Bolam Lake again for a walk and to continue playing with the camera.  I noticed several cars parked without displaying either a car park ticket (and they are free for up to 1 hour) or a disabled badge.  The local warden turned up in his electric van and proceeded to take a note of the cars and photos of them so they can be dealt with.  I had a useful chat with him about the tickets as the lake has 3 car parks, he says thay don't mind which car park you get the ticket from if you move to another one afterwards, as long as it is a Bolam Lake ticket.

 

I had two pleasant walks as I visited two of the car parks and was back home via the local shop in time to get lunch.  This afternoon has been spent  working on photos and looking at old photos.

 

For once ERs worked this time.

 

Young swan at Bolam Lake - hardly a cygnet now.

 

Bolam Lake

 

Mallard at Bolam Lake

 

Jetty at Bolam Lake

 

David

 

WOW!     Some stunning colours there David (even though I'm "colour vision challenged" * )

 

* Does that make me disabled?  Asking for    @iL Dottore    a friend.

 

51 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Is that some new slang for £100?

 

£85      -  The Accurascale Deltic currency seems very stable which is interesting as you'd think it would rise now there are none in stock but there you go.