Early Risers.

[4630]

9 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Just dull and dismal - no rain - yet. That joy is to come.

 

The same in this corner of West Yorkshire too.  It's like living surrounded by an 18% grey card and unfortunately SAD* will set in if this keeps up for long.

 

There is now a weather warning for spells of heavy rain until 23.59 just to round off the day.

 

The view from my 'office' window at the moment.

 

 

 

* https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad/overview/

 

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, DaveF said:

Does anyone recognise it?

Eurasian (or Common) Wren 

[Gwiwer]

Just now, 4630 said:

spells of heavy rain until 23.59

That’s very precise. They could have just said midnight. 
 

It’s like those delivery slots you get saying “Your item will arrive between 13.08 and 14.08”. And it almost always does land within the timeframe. 
 

Darn clever, these things. 

[4630]

4 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

That’s very precise. They could have just said midnight. 

 

As far as the weather forecast is concerned - spurious accuracy is the phrase that springs to mind.

 

Of course, West Yorkshire is a reasonably large county by UK standards and I'm pretty much at the western extreme of it.  So the forecast is probably trying to be too darn clever for its own good.

 

[Coombe Barton]

25 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

That’s very precise. They could have just said midnight. 

Possibly something to do with the algorithm that determines on which days the warning is displayed. Handling of 24:00/00:00 has always been tricky as different operating systems/apps/programmers/requirements can treat it differently.

[Winslow Boy]

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

That is because you are denying her the opportunity to,show how much she adores you by shaking water all over you to dry herself. A very soggy Robbie always stood right next to me when he shook himself dry, especially after hosing mud off in the back garden. 

The Boss doesn't do rain. Don't ask me why - it's something to do with the breed (a miniature Schnauzer before you ask). As a result I don't get soaked as she doesn't shake herself.

 

She does however enjoy the odd wade and even doggy paddle, which is highly unusual for the breed.

[Winslow Boy]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

 

Its STILL raining....  😟

 

It's got worse here. It seems to be coming in from the west. I think our Fraggle Rock correspondent is shirking his responsibility of intercepting the watery stuff.

[Winslow Boy]

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

She is so short she could only forecast as far north as Luton…

I have a stool that she's more than happy to borrow if that would help.

[Barry O]

Been shopping.. pah!

 

Just uncovered a sinister plot in the NHS. Get 2 teams to organise diabetic eye screening. Send out letters or emails inviting you in for an Opthalmic check... then get thec2cgroups fighting it out over who is seeing you... 

 

So 

1  before anyone does anything to the NHS... get Doctors and teams to talk to patients in understandable English with clear information about what it's all about.

 

If they are incapable of doing this .. ask them to emigrate to Oz pdq.

2  fire the BMA and let everyone train new doctors and nurses away from the numbers decided by the BMA...but this training must include finance and the use of communications skills.. 

 

Rant over.. it is just not good enough...

 

Baz

Edited 5 hours ago by Barry O
Spellung

[TheQ]

Computering done, hopefully successfully, unless the bank rejects something.

 

beep beep beep, rumble rumble rumble, yep they're loading sugar beet..

Warmer outside than in, 21C out there, bootiful sunshine.

Hence the egg box has dried enough to go back into the mobile home, as it won't drip gue anywhere.

Rain due around 00:00 to 15:00. 

One side still todo but that's curved so is going to be last to fit.

 

Also more ply cut up ready for the other matching board.

Also marked up some timber for it's support frame...

 

Swmbo bought ( for peanuts) at her weaving group a daylight battery mains light . The only thing is the battery is dead, opened it up, in there's a bog standard, lead acid battery of the type used in burglar alarms. Available for £10-20. Since second hand on eBay this type of light sells for £30, I've decided ordering a battery is economic.

 

An eyelid inspection is overdue..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[iL Dottore]

15 minutes ago, Barry O said:

.. get Doctors and teams to talk to patients in understandable English with clear information about what it's all-out.

We really just can’t win. Keep the information simplistic and we are “treating patients like morons“ treat the patients like adults and provide them with a pared down version of the medical situation and we are not being “understandable“

 

The NHS and a lot of the British public really do have to move away from the “me doctor, you patient“ dichotomy, where the patient is a passive recipient of medical care. Nowadays the expectation is (at least on the continent) that the patient will participate actively in their own medical care. Which does require some effort on the part of the patient.

 

Edited 6 hours ago by iL Dottore
Typo

[The White Rabbit]

3 hours ago, Hroth said:

"Unannonced"?

 

Yep. Saw that before posting but it's part of the picture and I didn't have the time to stick it in photoshop and correct the typo. You win ERs proofreader of the day award ... no cash, just the honour and glory. 😜

 

2 hours ago, Hroth said:

Its STILL raining....  😟

 

Snap... 😟 It's been like a soundtrack of a lavatory attendant's shift on match days. 

[Ian Abel]

HUMP day...

 

Yesterday just working.

We had some landscaping done, the tree in front needed to have the roots that are emerging sorted, border created and the area mulched.

Not particularly obvious, the new mulch color shows the area, the circled spot is where the tracks stop currently, they went off to the right around the bush...

 

Bonus is, I can now extend the garden "transportation system" further, hopefully around the tree, just need to spend $$$ on more track!

Jemma dropped off Whitney and we had a brief chat before she heads to Austin and the F1 race.

 

Today, not much other than work. Mrs off to lunch, some autumn yard work - lawn aeration to be precise - being done later, same team that did the landscaping. Seem to be a good crew, recommended by the next-door-neighbor.

 

Later we'll watch game 3 of the women's basketball final, hoping for a win to put our team ahead in the best of 5 series.

 

Weather  -> we hit the first below zero temperature since spring, was -1c and sunny first thing, a "bit nippy" retrieving the newspaper. High of only 17c forecast.

 

Onward.

[DaveF]

It has remained dull and damp all day, there is a yellow weather warning which came into force at noon and lasts until midnight for possible heavy rain - up to 50mm or more.  The local forecast shows some rain around midnight with fog or light rain for now.

 

Now more about the wren on the bird bath photo this morning.  After lunch I heard the sounds of wrens, looked out of the window and saw two wrens on the fence having a shouting match.  One is "mine" which lives here which is drab grey brown, the other was the brighter reddy brown one from the bird bath.  After a while the latter flew off and my wren returned to his usual place in the weigela from where he ventures out to feed.

 

I had a short walk this morning, apart from that I stayed indoors and have needed thte lights on all day to see to read.  I laid some turf this afternoon, on the model.

 

At lunchtime I tried some frozen salmon with a herb and lemon crumb and dressing.  Like many of these things I ended up knowing it was salmon by the colour and texture of the flesh.  The herbs more than somewhat overpowered the fish for me.  I usually have fresh salmon but the quality recently has not been as good as usual.   I really much prefer most of my food very plain, no herbs, dressings etc.  If I want a sauce I can have one but over 90% of the time I don't.  Fish in plain batter or breadcrumbs is fine but it is even better as just fish to which I can add tomato sauce, lemon juice or whatever if I really want it.  I am probably old fashioned in my food tastes.

 

David

 

 

[Barry O]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

We really just can’t win. Keep the information simplistic and we are “treating patients like morons“ treat the patients like adults and provide them with a pared down version of the medical situation and we are not being “understandable“

 

The NHS and a lot of the British public really do have to move away from the “me doctor, you patient“ dichotomy, where the patient is a passive recipient of medical care. Nowadays the expectation is (at least on the continent) that the patient will participate actively in their own medical care. Which does require some effort on the part of the patient.

 

Trust me.. I am trying but forcthe last 12 months my health has suffered due to a complete lack of joined up communications which should be clear and precise. As an engineer it was seen as incompetence if you could not communicate with customers (including other engineers) clearly and in a straight forward way. It was no good speak8ng rocket science speak to a customer.. they needed to know how vital all joined up...

 

I sometimes get very concerned when my GP refers to the NHS medical wicki.. then tries to bullsh1t there way outvof the corner they have got into.

 

Here I am 2 weeks since my heart monitor results have been assessed and an outcome agreed.. with no official result heading my way...jeez.. how to add to people's stress levels...

 

Baz

[New Haven Neil]

3 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

I think our Fraggle Rock correspondent is shirking his responsibility of intercepting the watery stuff.

 

Sorry, but here it is just fist and mog, so we're not really filtering out the droppy stuff that actually falls out of the sky rather than hanging in it, stationary wise.

 

Went out just to collect a new Workmate type thing from Screwfix, Mrs NHN came along, next thing we're looking at a new (ish) car for me.  This might end expensively.  To be fair I'm struggling to get out of my current ride, (i30) but thought I would tough it out a while longer.  The Financial Secretary has decided otherwise, it would seem.  Train budget looking very shaky.

[BoD]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Nowadays the expectation is (at least on the continent) that the patient will participate actively in their own medical care. Which does require some effort on the part of the patient.

 

I didn't need to see a doctor for many years and I did notice a definite shift in that direction compared to how I remember it. The GP asked me what I would like to see happen rather than telling me.   Mind you, I was remembering it when you had your GP who knew you and your family and would come out to you 24hrs a day if necessary.  I'm not commenting on the 'quality' of the change just saying that that is how it used to be and the fact that it is indeed changing.

 

I'm not sure that active participation is always a good thing for some people though.  My sister often gets patients demanding antibiotics (and other things) when their use is not indicated.  They can often become abusive, occasionally violent,  when refused. Even when given a clear explanation.  That though, is probably a wider societal problem rather than an issue with the concept of greater patient participation.

[PupCam]

Afternoon!

 

3 hours ago, 4630 said:

 

As far as the weather forecast is concerned - spurious accuracy is the phrase that springs to mind.

 

Of course, West Yorkshire is a reasonably large county by UK standards and I'm pretty much at the western extreme of it.  So the forecast is probably trying to be too darn clever for its own good.

 

 

I've always said that weather forecasting is all about timing, any twit can say it's going to rain, it's going to be sunny the trick is knowing when!  OK, perhaps an exaggeration so let's say it's 90% about the timing then.

 

I suspect that 23:59 is quoted as that's the end of the Wednesday forecast.    Perhaps there's another weather warning for Thursday?

 

3 hours ago, 4630 said:

 

The same in this corner of West Yorkshire too.  It's like living surrounded by an 18% grey card and unfortunately SAD* will set in if this keeps up for long.

 

There is now a weather warning for spells of heavy rain until 23.59 just to round off the day.

 

The view from my 'office' window at the moment.

 

 

 

* https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad/overview/

 

 

I have to say that's a much better view than I used to have when I had the misfortune of working.  At some points my view used to look over towards Stevenage town centre and that was enough to give anyone Stevenage Affected Disorder*.    Mind you in distinct contrast to the sight of Stevenage, in the early Hatfield days one might be working and then a noise would start faintly and then get ever louder.  This was a sign to immediately down tools and race outside and stand on the grass or apron or wherever one found oneself and marvel at the  glorious sight and sound of two Rolls Royce Merlins flying in close formation kept apart by a the DH Mosquito**.

 

* Note That isn't to belittle those unfortunate souls who are really affected by SAD.  I'm sure that everyone "gets a bit down when it's dark and gloomy"  but I appreciate it can be quite terrible for those that actually suffer from the full-blown condition.    Indeed in one largish office I worked in that had no windows and a high density of people we had a number of "daylight lamps" for just this reason.   

 

** Sadly lost in a tragic crash in 1996 - Gone but not forgotten.

 

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

We really just can’t win. Keep the information simplistic and we are “treating patients like morons“ treat the patients like adults and provide them with a pared down version of the medical situation and we are not being “understandable“

 

The NHS and a lot of the British public really do have to move away from the “me doctor, you patient“ dichotomy, where the patient is a passive recipient of medical care. Nowadays the expectation is (at least on the continent) that the patient will participate actively in their own medical care. Which does require some effort on the part of the patient.

 

17 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Trust me.. I am trying but forcthe last 12 months my health has suffered due to a complete lack of joined up communications which should be clear and precise. As an engineer it was seen as incompetence if you could not communicate with customers (including other engineers) clearly and in a straight forward way. It was no good speak8ng rocket science speak to a customer.. they needed to know how vital all joined up...

 

I sometimes get very concerned when my GP refers to the NHS medical wicki.. then tries to bullsh1t there way outvof the corner they have got into.

 

Here I am 2 weeks since my heart monitor results have been assessed and an outcome agreed.. with no official result heading my way...jeez.. how to add to people's stress levels...

 

Baz

 

Both sides of a very nutty if not impossible problem to crack.     I have to say that generally speaking it's been the communication and administration sides of the many faces of the NHS that I've experienced that have been found wanting the most in the time leading up to and the years since my Great Inconvenience.     I've said it before that the NHS is perhaps the greatest example of the Curate's Egg there's ever been and it is wrong to say that it's all great or it's all rubbish.    I would add that where people do great work in it I suspect it's  often despite not because of "The NHS".

 

ION

 

A temporary repair to an aging flat roof has been made.   The roof is way beyond the expected lifetime of such a thing so I suspect "Mucho Deltics" will be required at some point over the coming months for a proper repair or perhaps more likely a complete replacement.  Shame as I suspect that when it was done originally (~30 years ago and Before Puppers) it must have been a very good job indeed.

 

A walk has been walked although only one of the shorter ones around the village and that wore me out.  Need to keep an eye on that I'm thinking.

 

Have I mentioned I thought Prof Cox was very good on Monday night?  I hadn't realised, as one of the adverts from the old days used to say, "there's so much in it",  in this case the solar system.   Particular interesting to learn about the poor old, downgraded Pluto.

 

I'm itching to have a go with my "new" astrocamera + lens combo as I'd like to see if I can get anywhere with Andromeda in light polluted Puppershire.   A quick look out of the window reveals 10/10s cloud cover    ......  PAH!

 

TTFN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well the rain has been relentless, it’s never stopped, it slowed down a few times, but it never stopped. It was that bad, I even put a jacket on when I went down to the workshop, not because it was cold, but to prevent myself getting wet. 

 

In the end, I didn’t have to make a new drill guide for the helix jig, as I had enough 1/8in rod to replace ALL the 3mm wooden dowels. I knew I had a few lengths of 1/8in silver steel rods, so I dug out the box containing them, excepting to find around a dozen. When I opened the box, there were over 43 13in lengths and a shorter piece. I suspect that the box originally contained 48, but I can’t remember what I did with the rest of them. I can get 7 dowels, each just under 50mm long out of 1 rod, so I’ll still have lots left over. 

 

So, all I needed to do to the jig was to open up the 3mm holes in the 2 drill guides, to 3.2mm, which is just about the clearance size for 1/8in. I’ve tested this modified jig, on the 2 pieces that I’d snapped the wooden dowels in and it worked a treat. The dowels are a nice tight fit, no glue will be required, so I began making some more dowels. The rods are covered in a very thin film of sticky grease, so they’ve needed to be cleaned first. However, I speeded up this process by putting each rod in the lathe, setting it at a mid range speed, then holding a small piece of fine emery paper against the rod, both cleans off the grease polishes it at the same time. By the time I’d packed up for the afternoon, I’d made just under 50 dowels, but I’ve prepared another 3 rods ready for cutting. 

 

Below is a photo of one of the boards with new dowels fitted. 

 

 

[Tony_S]

I arrived at Lakeside nice and early but parking was easy and plentiful. I arrived a little early for my Apple Genius appointment and a nice young woman checked me in, and said I would be seen shortly. She also took a brief description of the problem with my computer , but my Genius  arrived and said my comments online had been quite clear. He assured me it wasn’t going to be a problem. It wasn’t. I just had to wait about 40 minutes to watch the disc image load and install and restore the computer to the state I wanted. I said I was very happy to sit and watch the progress line move along. All very efficient. 
Tony

Edited 3 hours ago by Tony_S

[polybear]

BH....

 

Bear has been looking for suitable Cr*mbo Prezzies for fellow ER'ers...

 

First, Puppers @PupCam....

 

 

Second, @Grizz...or @Dave Hunt....or Big H @Happy Hippo....or....

 

 

As for this one, well it obviously needs someone who's into "Artisan" and "unique"....so who better that our very own @iL Dottore.....

 

 

(seen this morning whilst delivering to one of "our" shops).

 

And finally....a nice T-Shirt for Wubbleyuu Bee  @Winslow Boy....

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by polybear

[polybear]

Meanwhile...

 

Following the downright despicable disappearance of Bear's original Tigger Mug from the W/H Kitchen several weeks ago, Bear was presented a very nice new** Tigger Mug found by one of the Sorting Room Stars this morning....

 

 

 

(**The second Tigger Mug I've received, in fact - the W/H Boss actually went online and found one for me a week or so ago; they're "like that" at the W/H.....)

 

Both Mugs now reside at Bear Towers - I consider them "too good" to risk losing/damaging at the W/H.  Huge, Huge, Huge Tick awarded to those concerned....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Coombe Barton]

1 hour ago, PupCam said:

I suspect that 23:59 is quoted as that's the end of the Wednesday forecast.    Perhaps there's another weather warning for Thursday?

No, but there's a choice of other days. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings

This is the current crop.

[pH]

I took a son to the airport at silly o’clock this morning. He couldn’t have made his flight comfortably using public transit, very little of which was running at that hour (a consequence of using a budget airline!).

 

Driving west along an east-west city street, the almost-full, yellow, setting moon was just touching the road surface at the crest of a small rise ahead. It looked like we were driving to the moon.

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, PupCam said:

Both sides of a very nutty if not impossible problem to crack.     I have to say that generally speaking it's been the communication and administration sides of the many faces of the NHS that I've experienced that have been found wanting the most in the time leading up to and the years since my Great Inconvenience.     I've said it before that the NHS is perhaps the greatest example of the Curate's Egg there's ever been and it is wrong to say that it's all great or it's all rubbish.    I would add that where people do great work in it I suspect it's  often despite not because of "The NHS".

Nail! Hammer! Head!

 

I suspect that Baz is the victim of the (unfortunately) typical NHS incompetence. Undoubtably, 90% of Baz situation is due to crap administration, with only a small percentage down to poor communication skills on the part of the doctors (however, to be fair, to communicate effectively with a patient you need time and that is something most NHS doctors don't have). 
 

Using a medical wicki kinda thing is, per se, not necessarily a matter of concern. With the thousands of medications out there it's impossible to know every single potential interaction - especially for drugs used in a therapeutic area outside one's own specialty. For example:  I haven't worked in Diabetes for about 30 years now and whilst I do recall the management of a diabetic patient in the broadest terms, damned if I know what type of insulin now available is best suited for a patient with - say - congestive heart failure.

 

One of the root causes of BaZ and Puppers bad experiences is that the NHS has no competition. Despite many people "going private" for most things it's either the NHS or nothing. In countries using a variation on the Bismarck system, apart from a few very, very highly specialised things patients have a choice: GP, Surgeon, Diabetologist etc. Any GP practice, clinic or hospital that was as bad as many in the NHS system would soon find itself without patients as patients would simply walk away and find someone or something better.

 

My (retired) Swiss GP friend once put it very succinctly: "my livelihood depends upon my reputation and a good reputation is hard to build and easy to loose. That's why my practice is efficient and patient centric"

Improve the competency, flexibility and willingness to change in much of the NHS and you'll see improvement. Throwing more money at it, without fixing fundamental problems, ain't the answer.