Early Risers.

[BSW01]

Good afternoon everyone 

 

Late on parade today, but I've been taking advantage of the sunshine and been busy in the garden. So far 2 bags of leaves have been deposited in the leaf moud bin and I've picked the apples off the tree. 22 have been cleaned and are now in the cellar ready for eating. 

 

As a change from my normal Sunday activities, after dinner I shall complete the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix. The reason is that after I've had my pre-op covid test tomorrow, we both have to self isolate. 

 

Anyway, back to some more garden work. 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian 

[PupCam]

1 hour ago, Andrew P said:

The TRUTH is that they probably don't want the job, its to small and they only want, Carpets for a whole house etc.

 

That is probably the case.   

 

Whilst I have to keep reminding mother of the general point that Flavio made, £700 to fit £100 of Lino in a small bathroom is just taking the pee (how very appropriate!)

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, Andrew P said:

Car checked, no dents, phewwwwww.

You obviously don't live in France they are de riguer here.

2 hours ago, polybear said:

If you want to leave at ten, tell her to roll up at half nine....

 

That's exactly what we do. We didn't need to set off till 10.40 and she arrived at 10.35

 

We are now back from the said breakfast and it was excellent.  It would have been rude not to have a slice of one of the lovely cakes as well.

 

Jamie

 

[Gwiwer]

Goodnight all.

 

Oh.

 

It's not night???  It's Sunday lunchtime, you say???  

 

Guess I forgot to put my clocks back before going on holiday   

[Barry O]

So far today..progress ...nil.

 

Potential to continue to do sweet nowt?  High but may be reducing rapidly.. .

 

Bas

[45156]

16 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

We had that pneumonia jab too, a bit after the horse had bolted as we had already had it the year before, must admit I had never heard of it before and you are the first other person that I have heard of that has had it too.

I have, about ten years ago - and 30747 had hers about two weeks ago.  Mine was due to my diabetes, hers was because she achieves 65 next year.

 

Afternoon All

 

All posts have, for once, been read - though not all are rated.

 

Early start as I wanted to get some mastic round a small leak at the back of the bath, which only does its thing VERY occasionally, but as we've got a couple of months more here probably, I decided to do it.  Went to the garage around 08.30 and found that one tube of sealant was actually filler amd the other was black gutter sealant - so it was a trip to Screwfix as soon as they opened.  Meantime, I decided to take the circular saw to some scrap wood which has to go to the tip, and found that it has been buried behind a load of boxes which await our attention to be filled with household goods as their turn comes up for packing.  Not a good idea, as there was a boxalanche, and everything had to be restacked - still I got the wood cut down to fit the back of the car.  And of course, as I was "just going down to Screwfix - could you just pop into Lidl and get those odds and ends that we forgot".  Lidl at 10.00 on a Sunday morning is pretty horrendous, and is not to be repeated.

 

Still I have now had a good while on here while 30747 has a chat with her best friend for about an hour.

 

And my copy of the new Abba album arrived for the release date, and I was reminded of my age, as I can still remember their debut in the UK at Brighton in 1974.  It has to be said that the album is not bad at all.  I did see that it was recorded over four years, 2017 - 2021 though how this was kept a secret for three years is beyond me.  Their musicianship and arrangement skills are actually extremely good.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

 

Regards to All

Stewart

Edited November 7, 2021 by 45156

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

So far today..progress ...nil.

 

Potential to continue to do sweet nowt?  High but may be reducing rapidly.. .

 

Bas

Aditi is very amusing. She didn’t think I looked too well this morning and said I should take it easy today, have a good rest. Then asked if I would mind breaking up some broken trellis and a metal arch frame. I have done so. From the tools she had got out it did look as she had just been about to wield a sledgehammer. 
Tony

[iL Dottore]

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

It doesn’t matter what or how the money is distributed. In this case £700 for fitting £100 worth of vinyl flooring seems excessive and the friend of a friend needs to go elsewhere…

I was merely pointing out how companies can whack up the price of a job to silly money levels just by adding various processes and administrative items all of which have to be paid for (usually by muggins the customer).

 

Even so, I don’t disagree with those who postulate that paying £700 to install £100 of lino is excessive.

 

All I can think of is the company quoting £700 for the installation would be gluing the lino to the floor using astonishingly, incredibly and obscenely expensive hide glue made from the hides of rare and endangered species 

[Gwiwer]

Whilst discussing the whacking-up of prices it did not go unnoticed that the price of motorway petrol (E10) varied more than somewhat from that available in other locations.

 

Supermarkets around Cornwall - typically £1.419 / litre 

Branded service stations on main routes Cornwall to Somerset - typically £1.449 / litre

Apparently independent service stations in Cornwall - only found one and that was asking £1.479 / litre

Supermarkets in SW London / Middlesex - typically £1.429 / litre

Branded service stations around SW London / Middlesex - typically £1.459 / litre

Apparently independent service stations in SW London - typically £1.459 / litre

Motorway service stations along M4 / M5 what ever the branding - in the range of £1.629 to £1.669 / litre   

 

Who is ripping who off???  I know there are arguments about cost-to-supply and "captive markets" along motorway routes but surely it costs more to supply small quantities to the local outlets in a regional (and in some cases slightly remote) area.  I know, also, that there are arguments about fair pricing when supermarkets can retail fuel cheaper than some places can purchase it but the differential doesn't seem to be much at present.  Cut-throat profit margins?  Well you have to remain as competitive as you can to stay in business in an age when loyalty cannot be replied upon.  

 

We refuelled ourselves at not unreasonable prices several times but the car was not refuelled along the motorways.  Had I been in urgent need I would have taken the next exit and found somewhere offering the stuff at around 20p / litre less than motorway prices.  

 

[TheQ]

The reason motorway service stations are so expensive for everything, is the sites are rented off HMG at enormous cost.

 

Afternoon Awl, 

Mountings for blocks in the steering moved, steering tried , much better but still needs improvement. There is no choice but to make a steering quadrant, I didn't want to do so for this system and rudder. There are no commercial quadrants that would fit, even if they did it would be in excess of 200 muddling tokens..

Making the quadrant is next weekends task I'll draw it up during the week. I also need to look at reinforcing the steering columns,they wobble a bit too much...

 

After that, the holes through the cockpit sides, and the cockpit sides surrounding were sanded again and painted again.

 

Ben was taken for a different walk, SWMBO is looking at walking to her art group, but shortening the route by using rights of way.. Unfortunately the first RoW stops 100 yards short of the second  with a small scrub and trees field in the middle with no RoW. Both RoW are dead ends which seems a bit odd. Further investigations required on that one. ( I've looked on the county definitive map).

[Gwiwer]

14 minutes ago, TheQ said:

The reason motorway service stations are so expensive for everything, is the sites are rented off HMG at enormous cost.

True on the face of it.  The differential in fuel costs is currently enormous but it hasn't always been so.  A few pence, sometimes 10p.  Not 20p or more.  We paid almost the same for Costa coffees on the M4 at Membury and M5 at Taunton Deane as I do at work.  They also participate in the brand loyalty scheme meaning one of my drinks was free.  Coffees actually cost somewhat more at Cornwall Services (but still Costa who have everything tied up these days, it seems) off the A30 near Roche which is not a motorway site. 

[Coombe Barton]

... and a sticky upholstery problem ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/11/07/plan-b-still-on-the-cards/

[Tony_S]

23 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Unfortunately the first RoW stops 100 yards short of the second  with a small scrub and trees field in the middle with no RoW. Both RoW are dead ends

One of our friends lives in Norfolk. Over the years he has acquired various small bits of land adjacent to his property. He has a right of way across his land. It begins and starts on his land with no connection to anywhere else. One of the pieces of land had an electricity supply to a derelict stable. He traced it back to a property . The owner that had no idea it was there or knew anything about the stables. All was disconnected safely.

Tony

[polybear]

5 hours ago, Tony_S said:

It does seem expensive if it is just the vinyl floor covering. Will there be a new floor and special underlay too? We had a quote for replacing about 100 sq metres of carpet from a shop just north of Enfield. There was a huge charge for disposal of carpet that they said their local council insisted on. We went for a more local carpet supplier. Their charge for disposal was very small, he said they sold the old carpet to an underlay manufacturer, so it didn’t go to landfill. 

 

Yes, just the lino - it already has a new floor.

Shop north of Enfield?  Fishpools maybe?

As for carpet disposal, Bear has that coming up soon; the council will collect single items (e.g. a sofa) for thirty-odd quid, but if you want rid of a carpet they have a "half a van" charge of £75 .  I'm hoping that there'll be enough room in next-doors' skip for a very large lump of it (I'll be cutting it into bits to make it easy for a lonesome Bear to shift single-pawed).

 

In other news:

Notalot for this Bear today, though a surprise bout of a bit of lug'ole ache is killing the bounce somewhat.  I must crack on tomorrow though; the Wickes delivery of Expamet mesh is also due as well.

[PupCam]

Greetings one and all.

 

I was dragged kicking and screaming (Yeah right!) out on the AJ this morning by a couple of mates.       It appeared the AJ would have rather stayed in bed as it had sumped and proved to be extremely difficult to start (as it would with the drag from a crankcase full of oil acting on the crank/ flywheels) but we got it going in the end and set off and gathered in the old market place in Hitchin for a change.  We partook of refreshments in a local cafe, spoke to other bikers, put the world to rights and then set off for home.   It looks like the AJ needs a little bit of TLC too as it was coughing and banging at times.

 

I was speaking to a chap who was a member of the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club who had a a Kwacker tripple (don't know what model as they were the "opposition" and of little interest when I were a lad) and he said, unprompted from Puppers, words to the effect of "It's a shame they've screwed up Old Warden. I used to enjoy going over there on a Sunday morning but I'm not paying fifteen quid to get in just to buy a cup of coffee!".     He took the words right out of my mouth ......

 

Alan

[Tony_S]

17 minutes ago, polybear said:

Shop north of Enfield?  Fishpools maybe

Yes. However we did decline the carpet purchase but bought a load of furniture from them. We had been looking for replacement sofas for years and couldn’t find anything we both found as comfortable as the old but getting progressively tattier furniture. We sat down to discuss the carpet quote and realised we both liked the sofa and chairs. The manufacture and delivery from Norway of about 3 months was nothing compared to how long we had been looking. 
Tony

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. No sign of Si Attica today until I indulged in a bit of eyelid inspection and then he made a sneak attack as I got up. Still hanging around despite the application of creams and Nurofen. Made a few purchases at the toy fair which I can't mention here. The Battle of the Somme has restarted here, a lot louder than last night.

[Ozexpatriate]

11 hours ago, polybear said:

I'd like to see a competition where the Judges and Pro Chefs fight it out with their cooking.

Iron Chef. (Originally Japanese - they use really impressive cutlery.)

 

Wikipedia:

Quote

Ryōri no Tetsujin, literally "Ironmen of Cooking"

 

[polybear]

Bear's Sunday Funnies.....

 

Give a man a fish and he can eat for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he can annoy the French for the rest of his life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got talking to a chap at the Post Office the other day. When I asked him what he did for a living, he told me he prepared meals for the homeless, druggies, drunkards, and general low-lifes.
I said "That's really good of you who is that for - the Salvation Army?"
He said "No, I work as a chef at Wetherspoons".

 

11:45 Arrive at the crime scene 
11:45 Examine body, signs of a struggle 
11:45 Found murder weapon in storm drain 
11:45 Realise watch is broken

 

In the great days of the British Empire, a new Commanding Officer was sent to a South African bush outpost to relieve the retiring Colonel.
After welcoming his replacement and showing the usual courtesies (gin and tonic, cucumber sandwiches, etc.) which protocol decrees, the retiring Colonel said, "You must meet my Adjutant, Captain Smithers, he's my right-hand man and is really the strength of this office. His talent is simply boundless.”
Smithers was summoned and introduced to the new CO, who was surprised to meet a hunchback, one eyed, toothless, hairless, scabbed and pockmarked specimen of humanity, a particularly unattractive man less than three feet tall.
"Smithers, old man, tell your new CO about yourself."
"Well, sir, I played cricket for England, won the sword at Sandhurst, won the Military Cross and Bar after three expeditions behind enemy lines. I've represented Great Britain in equestrian events and won a Silver Medal in the middleweight boxing division of the Olympics. I have researched the history of...”
At that point, the Colonel interrupted. "Yes, yes, never mind all that, Smithers, he can find all that in your file. Tell him about the day you told the witch doctor to **** off."

 

I rang Ryanair to book a flight.

The call-taker asked "How many will be flying with you"?
I replied "How should I know, it's your plane"

 

Jack decided to go fishing with his buddy, Bob. They loaded up Jack's station wagon and headed north.
After driving for a few hours, they got caught in a terrible blizzard. They pulled into a nearby farmhouse and asked the attractive lady of the house if they could spend the night.
"I'm recently widowed," she explained, "and I'm afraid the neighbours will talk if I let you stay in my house." "Not to worry," Jack said, "we'll be happy to sleep in the barn. We’ll be gone at first light." The lady agreed and they settled into the barn for the night.
Come morning, the weather had cleared, and they went on their way.
Nine months later, Jack got a letter from an attorney. After reading it, he thought for a few minutes and realized he must be the widow's attorney. He called up his friend Bob and said, "Bob, do you remember that good-looking widow at the farm we stayed at?" "Yes, I do."
"Did you happen to get up in the middle of the night, go up to the house and pay her a visit?" Jack asked. "Yes, I have to admit that I did." "Did you happen to use my name instead of telling her your name?" Jack asked.
Bobs face turns red and he said, "Yeah, I'm afraid I did."
"Well, thanks!" Jack replied, "She just died and left me everything!

 

I pushed my way through to get on the bus first and I quickly took a seat.
Some bloke then came up and said, "Mate that's my seat, I always sit there."
I replied, "Who do you think you are?"
He said, "The driver."

 

A tramp goes into the ironmongers, walks up to the counter and says "Gissa bottle o' meths."
"Be off with you, "you'll drink it!"
"Shan't," says the tramp, "Go, on please."
"I told you, you can't have it 'cos you'll drink it!"
"Promise I won't," says the tramp.
"OK, OK - here you go, 85p," says the ironmonger.
"Any chance of one from the fridge?"

 

A biologist, a chemist, and a statistician are out hunting. The biologist shoots at a deer and misses 5 feet to the left. The chemist takes a shot and misses 5 feet to the right. The statistician yells, "We got 'em!"

 

 

Bear's Favourite of the Week goes to:

 

[simontaylor484]

Evening All 

 

Absolutely cream crackered tonight didnt sleep well last night  slept across the bed just dropped off to sleep. 

Just packed the Mrs a bag of clothes for next week i will take through tomorrow. Been a cleaning day today and ironing school uniform.

 

Had an aircraft circling round for over an hour so I opened up flight radar its a Police fixed wing aircraft its left a right snail trail on the map.

 

I have noticed in the recipe for jugged wallaby there was no jug.

 

Anyway I am going to watch Dick and Angel Strawbridge on 4+1 then it's nighty nights from me

 

 

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Iron Chef

TV to flake out to.  Only ever shown late at night (as in early morning) so far as I recall in a time slot likely to mean many viewers were the worse for a night's wear in drinking establishments.

 

I watched too many of those shows.  I even remember a very few where the Iron Chef was actually beaten!  

 

Maybe there's a future for me as "Iron Chef - Cornish" when I get old and fat enough  

[brianusa]

5 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

True on the face of it.  The differential in fuel costs is currently enormous but it hasn't always been so.  A few pence, sometimes 10p.  Not 20p or more.  We paid almost the same for Costa coffees on the M4 at Membury and M5 at Taunton Deane as I do at work.  They also participate in the brand loyalty scheme meaning one of my drinks was free.  Coffees actually cost somewhat more at Cornwall Services (but still Costa who have everything tied up these days, it seems) off the A30 near Roche which is not a motorway site. 

Enjoyed your trip through Cornwall; done it myself a few times!  I have long weaned myself from worrying about the price of petrol and now utilise the nearest convenient station.  Lifes too short!

  Brian.

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Si Attica won't go away but he seems to have quietened down recently after some bed exercises. No, not that but laying on the bed and manipulating the affected leg. It seems to have given some relief but its still painful.