Early Risers.

[J. S. Bach]

On 04/01/2022 at 09:28, polybear said:

 

Bear calls it torture.

From a Bear that's just had double egg, bacon, beans and....wait for it....fried bread 

 

 ...snip...

 

Reminds me of what is called French toast over here. Dip the bread slice in whipped egg then into the frying pan, flip it over after a bit then remove and eat. Note that I like mine drowning in maple syrup.

[Coombe Barton]

... and setting fire to a chopping board ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2022/01/05/second-highest-day/

[grandadbob]

We had our first lot of double glazing fitted in 1987 - aluminium with hardwood frames.  Done by local highly recommended firm and it served us well for 32 years but was getting decidedly tired.  It was also becoming a pain having to re-coat the frames , especially the first floor windows.  Decided to have it replaced in 2019 with UPVC and used the same firm.. Once again they've done a lovely job,  very efficient and no mess at a reasonable but not the cheapest price.   Quite noticeable that the house is a lot warmer now (I believe the modern ones are more thermally efficient) and we don't need the heating on as much or as high.  Even more so now after adding extra loft insulation last September.

 

[grandadbob]

FFFFFFlip!!!!  I seem to be repeating myself & have reported to mods.

Edited January 5, 2022 by grandadbob

[TheSignalEngineer]

2 hours ago, Ian Abel said:

Recycling - another of those mysteries. We participate fully and our locale does an extremely good job of separation/pickup.

We HOPE that once it leaves here it is truly dealt with appropriately/correctly.

We have three bins.

Green is for garden waste and food waste. It goes to a specialist facility for composting.

Brown bin for mixed dry recycling of paper, glass, cans and certain plastics

Black bin for general household rubbish. 

Collections are fortnightly. Since we have had the recycling bins our black bin is only about half full after two weeks instead of being nearly full every week.

 

At least three local shops collect small batteries. Electrical appliances go to the local recycling centre, as do a number of other things like metal and timber. You can also dump a couple of sacks of rubble there on each visit.

[Coombe Barton]

1 hour ago, J. S. Bach said:

And some done by the store:

 

Errrmmmmm - thanks but no thanks 

[TheSignalEngineer]

57 minutes ago, pH said:

As the article says, Hoffa being buried there is an urban legend, but there’s a bit of a ‘kicker’ part way through the article!

Unfortunately I get a 'Not available in your country' message.

[Coombe Barton]

27 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

French toast over here. Dip the bread slice in whipped egg then into the frying pan

Eggy Bread - as taught to me by Sandy. It was a holiday thing. Never tasted the same at home.

[simontaylor484]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Is that a fairly recent installation, and would that be around the frame, or the opening windows within the frame?  At some time in the future (TBD) Bear Towers will need new windows at the front, and Anglian could be on the list of possibilities - or not.

The dreaded double glazing seems to be hit and miss depending on who (as in what team of fitters) actually fits them.  "Safestyle UK" most definitely WON'T be on the list to be considered, by the way......

The draught comes from around the frames even though I have put beading and frame sealant around the insides. The windows were fitted in 2007 when the house was built.

I am trying to save up a little to get our bedroom window replaced as a starter for 10. I would get a local firm to do it. The big boys have a habit of going bust Everest, Coldseal I think Safestyle went bust too.

There is just so much in this house that needs replacing bathroom suite, garage door the window with limited means I have to prioritise. I have done the front door to a composite door a new kitchen a new boiler new shower room. 

I have the spare bedroom to do, new flooring in 3 other bedrooms as well as decorate. I need to board some of the loft out for storage. Convert loads of single gang plugs into doubles 

Quite honestly the list is endless its like painting the Forth Bridge or pi**ing into the wind

[grandadbob]

Oh dear, Steve has just sent me this pic of "Tigerpuss."  Poor little fella has just been "done."

 

[Pacific231G]

9 hours ago, BoD said:

 

I'm not quite sure Baz.  At Dawdon at one time there was just a vent pipe to the open air.  Now though they have added facilities to take flood water from the mine and extract heat from it.  At the moment the heat is just used to heat their facility there but there are plans to use it to heat a, yet to be built,   housing development.

 

Still doesn't answer your question about the methane though.

 

You can see the oiginal vent pipe and newer facility here

 

Link

 

 

 

 

I remember stopping in Caerphilly in 1991 and seeing, to my surprise, a small fenced off compound (about the size of a neighbourhood electrical substation) in the car park with various pipes coming out of the ground and notices on the fence warning of "blackdamp".  It must have been an old mineshaft but surprisingly close to the town centre.

 

Despite coming from a South Wales family and the fact that I was returning from filming underground in Penallta Coliery (the last coal mine in the Rhymney valley) a few months before it closed, I  didn't even know then that Caerphilly had had any mines (though I've just read that seventy of the three hundred coal tips considered to be potentially dangerous in South Wales are actually in Caerphilly) 

 

This thing itself was more than just an open pipe. It had some kind of valve set up so I assume it only opened when pressure built up in the old workings below. 

Such a release would likely include blackdamp- an asphyxiating mixture of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapour. but the idea of releasing it in the middle of a town did seem rather alarming.  I had visions of people coming into the town to do their shopping suddenly keeling over in the car park from gases released from below. Presumably the pipework in the compound was there to prevent that.   

 

While visiting the Canadian Vimy memorial near Bethune  a few years later I came across fields in apparently open country below the ridge with not very tall pipes sticking out of them with plumes of vapour pouring out. I assume these had been airshafts rather than the sites of actual pitheads and, unlike the Caerphilly set-up  these were just open pipes with no apparent gubbins attached.  I have no idea if they're still there or if the mine gases are now managed in some way.

 

Update: I found this article from the BMJ  looking at occurences of "stythe" or blackdamp in former mining areas.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1882904/

Edited January 5, 2022 by Pacific231G

[PupCam]

4 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear was just thinking how nice the garage at Puppers Towers would look - and how warm & soft underfoot it would be with a nice 80% wool/20% nylon Axminster Carpet covering the floor. 

 

Puppers could be All Ears Gripper rods

 

10 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

The windows were fitted in 2007 when the house was built ........

 

There is just so much in this house that needs replacing bathroom suite, garage door the window with limited means I have to prioritise.

 

What!      ~15 years old!      Confirms my suspicions of modern building standards.      Call me old fashioned but I believe that most if not all of a house should last at least long enough to pay the mortgage off!

 

In other late news:

 

Puppers had a quick play with the old Newtonian Reflector this evening.    It's early days but quite fascinating.

 

Trust me, you could see all four Galilean moons through the 'scope.   I think I need to look into camera options.

 

 

[Winslow Boy]

1 hour ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

About 35 years ago we had some double glazing fitted and it was rubbish. We eventually had to take the company to court as they seemed incapable of getting them wind and watertight. Although that was a bit of a nightmare they made a settlement offer the day before we were due to go before the judge. They ended up paying for Everest to take out their windows and redo the job. In the end I had the pleasure of getting them to come along in a company van and take the remains of their windows away. They went bankrupt a couple of years later when the local council claimed against them for not complying with the specification for fitting replacement windows to 500 houses. Ouch!

 

What worries me about that last sentence is that they had obviously been awarded  the work by the council. That means  they got it because they were cheapest. Says a lot for the council's due diligence doesn't it.

[pH]

57 minutes ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

Unfortunately I get a 'Not available in your country' message.

The article talked about the rumour, now considered to be an urban myth, that Hoffa was killed and buried under the playing surface at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. The bit of the article I referred to said:
 

“Not that other bodies weren't unearthed during the construction of Giants Stadium 34 years ago. Kossler recalled how contractors would call the county prosecutor's office every time they dug up a corpse, but eventually decided it disrupted the work too much.

"After about the fifth one, they stopped," he said.”

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

... and setting fire to a chopping board ...

Been there. Done that. I still have a wooden chopping board with a curious black spiral seared on the back. It is exactly the same shape as a heating element of the electric range top (hob) in my old apartment.

 

Having a small kitchen and being lazy about keeping surfaces clear, the most reliably clear surface was the stove top and I developed a foolish habit of using it as an additional food prep surface.

 

The eagle-eyed might notice two spirals. (I'm not proud of that.) Once should have been enough.

 

Edited January 5, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, J. S. Bach said:

Reminds me of what is called French toast over here. Dip the bread slice in whipped egg then into the frying pan, flip it over after a bit then remove and eat. Note that I like mine drowning in maple syrup.

 

1 hour ago, Coombe Barton said:

Eggy Bread - as taught to me by Sandy. It was a holiday thing. Never tasted the same at home.

Pain perdu en Francais.  Usually involves milk and vanilla with the egg. The bread should not be 'fresh'. Brioche is popular.

 

I have a (very) small seasonal Panettone which is quite perfect for this application. (It's not really on the permitted list, but I will manage the portion size as a forbidden treat.) I won't be dusting it in icing/powdered/confectioners sugar.

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Pacific231G said:

I agree but note the safety line and harness. Probably more scary than actually dangerous but I really don't like the look of the open hooks screwed into the slats.

 

36 minutes ago, PupCam said:

What!      ~15 years old!      Confirms my suspicions of modern building standards.      Call me old fashioned but I believe that most if not all of a house should last at least long enough to pay the mortgage off!

 

 

Bear missed that little detail    Bl00dy hell, my home-built conservatory beats that by a good ten years (it's now 24 years old) and still as good as gold.

 

5 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

What worries me about that last sentence is that they had obviously been awarded  the work by the council. That means  they got it because they were cheapest. Says a lot for the council's due diligence doesn't it.

 

And no doubt when the company went bankrupt they left the council to pick up the tab - or ignore the fact that the windows weren't up to spec.

When Bear & Momma Bear bought the council house (which had gone thru' a refurb programme about 3 years earlier) I enquired as to whether or not the timber treatment warranty could be transferred into my name; the woman at the council said it could - for a price - but said not to bother as they'd just had problems with the company shutting up shop and changing their name from "Timber****** 1991 Ltd"  to "Timber*******1992 Ltd" and starting up again.  Of course the new company had nothing whatsoever to do with the old company (yeah, right...) and so existing warranties were worthless....

B'stewards.

[pH]

10 minutes ago, polybear said:

… they'd just had problems with the company shutting up shop and changing their name from "Timber****** 1991 Ltd"  to "Timber*******1992 Ltd" and starting up again.  Of course the new company had nothing whatsoever to do with the old company (yeah, right...) and so existing warranties were worthless....

B'stewards.

Quite a common practice here, apparently. A subsidiary company will be set up to build a specific development - housing, commercial etc. Development completed, company wound up - no ongoing liability.

Edited January 5, 2022 by pH

[BoD]

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

We used them to fit a back door recently on the garage.

Wouldn’t it have been easier to fix the brakes?

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, Ian Abel said:

Yard waste - various floral remains, leaves, tree trimmings etc. The autumn/fall major leaf fall from the tree is mostly mulched back onto the lawn or removed by the lawn care guy.

In the Chicago suburbs we didn't mulch the leaves, and had to pay per paper sack for collection. The local supermarkets and hardware stores sold yard waste stickers and the regulation-sized, large paper bags. No sticker, no collection.

 

12 hours ago, TheQ said:

Prices per 80 litre sack or single item at a recycling centre.

...

Scrap metal - no charge

There are apparently scrap metal merchants who are happy to pay (no questions asked, one assumes) for catalytic converters. It seems to be the latest property crime fad sweeping many cities in the US. Teams of three (getaway driver, armed lookout and cutter) quickly remove catalytic converters from parked cars with a circular metal saw - even in broad daylight in places like the airport car park. It's the sort of story that local news loves to run, putting the aggrieved car owners on television.

 

I suspect there are actually very few of these people in any location but they appear to be quite industrious.

 

Recycling of a sort, but very unhelpful.

[polybear]

7 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

There are apparently scrap metal merchants who are happy to pay (no questions asked, one assumes) for catalytic converters. It seems to be the latest property crime fad sweeping many cities in the US. Teams of three (getaway driver, armed lookout and cutter) quickly remove catalytic converters from parked cars with a circular metal saw - even in broad daylight in places like the airport car park. It's the sort of story that local news loves to run, putting the aggrieved car owners on television.

 

I suspect there are actually very few of these people in any location but they appear to be quite industrious.

 

Recycling of a sort, but very unhelpful.

 

This has been a problem in the UK for several years; apparently some CATS can sell for several hundred £ at the scrappies (certain MERC/BMW Models, for example).  A CAT from my Rover 214 (RIP Ricky the Rover ) sold for forty quid perhaps ten years ago at the scrappies.

They have made attempts to clamp down on this - scrappies can no longer pay cash for scrap, and also require photo ID and proof of address.  No doubt there are still some dodgy ones willing to risk it though.

[Ozexpatriate]

5 minutes ago, polybear said:

This has been a problem in the UK for several years ...

Here too, but seems to be "enjoying" a resurgence recently - perhaps because of improvements in cutters? (Or some other socio-economic factor?)

[brianusa]

2 hours ago, grandadbob said:

FFFFFFlip!!!!  I seem to be repeating myself & have reported to mods.

Happens to us all - just as long as you don't mumble!

 Brian.

[PhilJ W]

3 hours ago, Graham108 said:

My parents has serious problems with Anglian years ago when they replaced the conservatory windows & roof panels - leaked constantly during even light rainfall.

I was told to avoid Anglian about forty years ago and I knew a few people who had problems with windows provided by Anglia. I had my windows from Zenith over thirty years ago and I've never had any problems with them except when moisture got between the panes of glass on a fanlight. I couldn't find the paperwork but they replaced the glass under warranty as they kept their records and it was still in warranty. Unfortunately they went bust during the last recession. 

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Just checking in. Been very busy so not up to date so hope all is well.

Goodnight,

Robert