Early Risers.

[Ozexpatriate]

12 hours ago, Barry O said:

Today, I have been informed, involves getting our spring clothes out and putting our winter clothes away. Not sure what that means..my clothes are "for use whenever required"

Would be a problem here today. We had substantial overnight snow, even down to the valley floor - hard to judge exactly how much fell because it began with rain and here it only accumulated on cooler surfaces* and it all melted very quickly, but perhaps 5cm, certainly not deep and crisp and even.

 

* In my neighbourhood, roads were too warm to accumulate snow.

 

Before today, measurable snow had never been recorded in April at the current official measuring point at the airport. (This is fairly recent, going back only to the 1950s. Other locations were used before.)

 

We're expecting snow down to 500' tomorrow.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land.

2 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Mars is more plausible than asteroids, though all of them would require artificial gravity 'assist' and intensive cosmic radiation shelters. Without those, strange human evolution might be very rapid.

 

The potential catastrophe you missed is a geomagnetic reversal. It could be devastating, and not just because of the WiFi outage.

Apparently the magnetic North Pole is in Siberia. Perhaps Poo Tin is trying to commandeer it?

2 hours ago, melmerby said:

Iceberg Lettuce? Rare as rocking horse dung.

Aldi, Sainsbury's & Asda all out of stock and pretty well anything close to being a salad item also OOS.

 

Don't tell me - there's a holiday coming up!🤫

Likewise in Tess Coes about half three this afternoon. It was not at all crowded and they had plenty of goodies in the reduced to clear at very low prices which I made the most of.

2 hours ago, melmerby said:

Fridge magnets would fall off............

And I've just forked out some tokens on magnetic couplers.

[Coombe Barton]

... today, a visit to Sister Dracula and for my feet to be tickled ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2022/04/11/ignored-for-ideological-reasons/

[zarniwhoop]

On 09/04/2022 at 05:22, iL Dottore said:

Finally, because I do subscribe to the UK guitarists’ magazines, I have been keeping up-to-date with what Epiphone have been releasing as of late: and the headstocks on the LPs and SGs still look all wrong (yet Epiphone Japan manages to make LPs and SGs with “proper” open book headstocks)

OK, I spent some time online last night looking at headstocks, and I can now see your point - it's a bit like discussions on the vestibule and end windows on a 4-VEP or 4-TC (I'm sure there are similar discussions among those who follow that other railway).

 

But I never look at the corners of the headstock when playing, and if I was in an audience I'd only notice the different name if lights were on it. So for me it's good enough. Weights remain to be determined.

 

Agree totally about speed knobs, will get some if needed (might want to change the potentiometers first).

[tigerburnie]

I just got a Canon C100 mkii movie camera, low hours with extras for a very good price, should be here at the weekend all being well. I'm keeping the dslr's for now, but my intention is to shoot shorts clips in my usual haunts and get some sound as well, just like Santa's coming...........................(I really should get out more) Until I am well enough to get out and driving there may well be a lot of things running on parallel bits of metal getting their pictures took.

[polybear]

20 minutes ago, zarniwhoop said:

OK, I spent some time online last night looking at headstocks, and I can now see your point - it's a bit like discussions on the vestibule and end windows on a 4-VEP or 4-TC (I'm sure there are similar discussions among those who follow that other railway).

 

But I never look at the corners of the headstock when playing, and if I was in an audience I'd only notice the different name if lights were on it. So for me it's good enough. Weights remain to be determined.

 

 

Bear has a Headstock - but mine looks like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dunno where the guitar bit fits in though.....

A Confused Bear

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[Pacific231G]

Frustrating few days. Best friend has a suspected fracture in her foot so needs an X-Ray but is reliant on Patient Transport -not a good thing to  be reliant on. After cockups on Friday and Saturday (PT turned up after 5.30 on Saturday and the local X-Ray Dept. fifteen miles away closed at 6 PM and in any case didnt have the referral the surgery should have provided. She actually saw a GP yesterday who seems to have had some specialty in orthopaedics and decided she really did need an X-Ray so transport booked for this morning.  This time It did turn up and she had the other scan booked for today (which PT had said they couldnt book tranport for because they've changed from 48 hours to two working  days which does not of course include weekends) however, when she asked about the X-Ray, the main reason for being there, she was told that they hadn't had the referral so no X-Ray. My friend is now left in double agony from her possibly broken foot and her hip (which had already left her totally unable to walk so social services want all but a statutary living allowance to pay for her carers)   

I think that despite, the above and beyond efforts of its staff,  the NHS really is falling apart and it can't all be blamed on Covid- it was already happening. That's not really a problem for our rulers who can afford private health (heck,  some of them could probably afford their own hospitals) but bad news for us ordinaries.

I'm feelling very angry seeing a close friend suffer so much so I'd better say no more lest I get all political.

Edited April 11, 2022 by Pacific231G

[melmerby]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

 

In Bear's experience Fly Spray seems to fix 'em pretty sharpish.....

 

 

 

What has a huntsman spider ever done to you?

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

This morning’s visit to the surgery was uneventful. My appointment was at 9:20, I arrived just after 9:15, I was seen on time and on my way home at 9:25! All very efficient and the nice weather made for a pleasant walk. 

 

Once back home, I picked up the car keys and set off to collect Ava. I gave her a biscuit and made her a drink before I set off for Sainsbury’s, whilst Ava stayed in with Sheila to do some sewing. No former colleagues were met whilst out this week, so it was all over fairly quickly. After dinner, Ava decided to read the new book we bought her, but after about an hour she fell asleep. But, as she was stopping for tea with us tonight, we decided to her rest. She finally went home just after 7 o’clock this evening. She’ll next be with us on Thursday and she and Charlie will both be stopping for tea. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

One creature you should never kill is spiders. They do a very good job of disposing of the real nasties such as flies. In fact I've noticed over the last couple of years there seems to be a shortage of them.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[monkeysarefun]

10 hours ago, polybear said:

In Bear's experience Fly Spray seems to fix 'em pretty sharpish.....

 

 

 

Mate absolutely no one tries to spray Huntsman  spiders with flyspray!

 

You know in Formula one when a car pulls up into the pits and a little bit of smoke comes out from somewhere so everyone appears with fire  extinguishers and goes nuts and after they've finished the car is just a white shape covered in a huge mound of foam?   Thats what Huntsman spiders look like by the time you've got them sprayed with  enough flyspray that they even notice.  If you were to come here to try it you'd discover that you run out of flyspray first, but   you  wouldnt want to go off to the shops to get more because you need to keep an eye on the Huntman because otherwise it'll disappear and you'll live in dread wondering where it'll turn up next so you'll have to order it online and  when the package turns  up you'd open it and because its you with your online ordering luck who ordered it you'd find you've been sent   a gearbox for a Sherman Tank or a kindle edition of the  Magna Carta or the end bit of Beethovens unfinished symphony and so on  and by then the huntsman would have recovered and gone back to sitting on the wall above your bed  so you may as well have manned up in the first place and taken him outside in a Chinese food container like you're meant to.

 

And by doing that not only have you not caused the  horrible painful  choking  death of an innocent creature but as a bonus you  feel a million bucks afterwards knowing that in this milquetoast world where other "men"  run to twitter to have a cry because  their Barrista  has made  their soy coffee wrong or the daily wordle is a word they've never heard of you are like some alpha frontiersman in comparison. 

 

 In reality though you never get to feel this  because Huntsman spiders use speed to catch their prey and so are faster than you'll ever be so  even if you do get the container over it successfully it'll escape before you can cover it and either drop onto your face (because Huntsmen always hang out on the ceiling or wall above your head...) or run down  your arm and disappear over your shoulder. At this point the true test of manhood comes into play because your bodies natural defence mechanism is to  run round and round in circles flapping at your back while screaming loudly . Those few that are able to withstand  doing  that truly are men among men.

 

I saw a US  ad for some  rambo style automatic machine gun with mega magazine and tacticool colour scheme  that they  can buy and  the tag line was simply "Man card issued!"  and I thought to myself that its so much  easier for them over there!

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

46 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

"Man card issued!"

Remington were successfully sued for that ad campaign in connection with one of their products being used in a school shooting. (The laws being what they are, they weren't specifically liable for their product being used to kill children.)

[Ozexpatriate]

With rain and snow overnight a local creek (by my dentist's office) was full. While there I noticed this:

I first wondered if it might be a beaver, but no, it was the biggest nutria* I've ever seen - at least 1m from head to the end of it's tail. According to the dentist's staff, this is Norman. (There's a Norma as well.)

 

* An invasive species from the continent of rodents of unusual size (South America).

[pH]

5 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I first wondered if it might be a beaver, but no, it was the biggest nutria* I've ever seen - at least 1m from head to the end of it's tail. According to the dentist's staff, this is Norman. (There's a Norma as well.)

 

* An invasive species from the continent of rodents of unusual size (South America).

My brother-in-law has just moved from a lakeside house near Houston. They had problems with nutrias burrowing into their property along the banks of the lake, causing the banks to collapse and steadily erode away. (That wasn’t why they moved, by the way!)

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[iL Dottore]

8 hours ago, zarniwhoop said:

OK, I spent some time online last night looking at headstocks, and I can now see your point….

 

Agree totally about speed knobs, will get some if needed (might want to change the potentiometers first).

 

7 hours ago, polybear said:

Dunno where the guitar bit fits in though.....

A Confused Bear

For both the Bear and Zarniwhoop, this is what I mean about the Epiphone Japan Headstock:

That, my dear Bear, is a headstock.
 

According to what I have read, the Japanese Epiphones are made by Fujigen in Japan and are extremely high quality. (as are the lower budget, but equally good quality, “Orville by Gibson“ [also with the  “correct” headstock]). Some reckon that the Japanese versions are even better than much of the Gibson USA production.

Like with all Japanese made products, the quality and finish is extremely high. I am not sure whether or not Epiphone in Japan is still making the open book headstock Les Pauls and SGs (supposedly only for the Japanese market, but there are Japanese dealers who will ship them) but the Orville brand is now out of production (but fairly easy to find). It used to be that you could get these guitars at very competitive prices, unfortunately the prices are now starting to rival that of Gibson USA models. Certain used ones, because of the rarity (and playability), are now going for some serious money.

 

Interestingly, I was looking at the English website pages of a few Japanese guitar shops and although they do feature Japanese Epiphones, they never show the Epi Japan headstock in full. I wonder why.

Edited April 12, 2022 by iL Dottore
Typos

[iL Dottore]

Good morning all,

 

Some worrying news to relate, alas. My GP called me yesterday (yes, my GP not an admin) and informed me that my PSA results were significantly elevated - necessitating a prostate MRI and - depending on the scans - possibly a biopsy. I should have the scan shortly after Easter (i.e. in about a week).

 

Having worked in oncology for a good 20 years or so, I know full well where this is leading (or could lead). So I am not exactly the happiest of super villains at present. Still, it could be worse: prostate cancer (if it is indeed that, It could also be benign prostatic hypertrophy) is eminently treatable and unless one is unlucky enough to have an aggressive form, curable. On the positive side, if a negative case scenario does play out, I can stop with this sodding diet and tuck in while I can, comfortable in the knowledge that thanks to the various therapies - my weight - due to treatment related cachexia and other factors - will plummet. 

 

Having a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine (the brain) bolted into a Robin Reliant body is indeed a curse.

[chrisf]

Flavio, I too have prostate cancer and have had it since at least 2015.  At the moment it causes me no trouble, but I know that it has the capacity to turn round and bite me.  There are many worse cancers to have!  I take some comfort in having survived for more than the allotted three score years and ten and hope to emulate my last surviving uncle who became a centenarian just after Christmas. 

 

Of more concern to me at the moment is the back pain.  I was on the phone to Stalag Surgery for over an hour yesterday morning, more than half that time being spent waiting for the phone to be answered.  I am told that a physiotherapist will call me early this afternoon.  All being well, the pain will subside in good time for me to march at Pride in London on 2nd July.  Whether I will be allotted a place in the parade is another matter.

 

Some laundry was done yesterday and some ironing is due this morning.  It is as if I had never been away.

 

Chris  

[TheQ]

no ... this is a head stock.. and there are bigger

 

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a temporarily dry Charente.   Much domestic engineering was done yesterday. Today I'm off shopping shortly then more domestics as the boss is due home this afternoon.  I have to decide whether to cook stew and dumplings or fish pie.  Beth is bringing her friend Margaret with her along with Teddy the golden retriever.  We are now dog sitting till Margaret returns from the UK after Easter.  I am designated dog walker.  He is a lovely dog and I will try and post some photos in due course.

 

Flavio, sorry to hear your news.  Though as Chris has said, eminently liveable with  these days. My late Orthopod friend, John Patrick used to delight in telling us that far more men die with prostate cancer than of it. I wish, you and the other sufferers on here well.

 

Now time to get my backside off the chair and go and get things done.

 

Jamie

 

 

[Barry O]

Ey up!

That's a tiddly headstock that is. We had one enormous lathe in Leeds which was sold on when we moved into the new shed..not sure what they used it for. We also had an Innocenti which we could clamp a tank hull to machine the turret bearing face. Now that was ginormous!

 

Fingers crossed for you @iL Dottore. Hope it works out OK.

 

My workbench is now over cluttered so I need to spend some time finishing "projects" today. Her indoors is hovering with the "blackbagofdoom" for anything still incomplete at the end of the day. Pah!

 

I need toget my tea drunk then start the tidy up.

 

Stay safe!

Have a great day!

 

Baz