Early Risers.

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, from a very damp rock, 11c isn't too bad.  The trees are turning now, our acers look nice, the sycamores just go brown and litter the garden.

 

Freddy the fridge/freezer signed his death warrant at 0337 hrs this morning.  Doors definitely shut, P-Bear, and seals good.  Off out soon to investigate replacement/s.  Ominous sounds of a kitchen re-organisation heard this morning from the domestic authorities.  Actually I suppose I am now the domestic authorities, but without any apparent authority.  Pah.

[New Haven Neil]

10 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Dear Mr @polybear

 

We have been contacted by your consultant about your ward: Mr Basil Bear.

 

As your consultant will have already explained to you, Bilateral Ursine Coxrubigo with Spike Shedding is invariably fatal in patients like Mr B Bear. Although good hygiene and musculoskeletal support (as you have practiced with your ward) will keep the patient in a reasonable condition for a short period of time, ultimately deterioration will be so severe that euthanasia becomes the only option. The start of the patient’s rapid deterioration is invariably signalled by shedding spikes and refusal to eat LDC.

 

Currently, the only treatment available is BearFix: a monoclonal antibody treatment which prevents terminal deterioration in only about 10% of all affected patients. It is not currently available on the NHS as NICE (National Institute for  Health and Care  Excellence) has ruled that the QALY cost (quality-adjusted life year) is too expensive (Bearfix costs about £250,000 a dose and a minimum of four doses at three monthly intervals are needed to prevent deterioration in those 10% of patients who do benefit from such treatment. As currently there are no biomarkers to determine which patients would benefit from Bearfix treatment, all patients with Bilateral Ursine Coxrubigo with Spike Shedding would need to be treated with the drug at an immense cost to the NHS).

 

CCI PharmaCo will be shortly starting its Phase 3 study with its new and completely revolutionary trivalent monoclonal antibody (TriUrsoMab) - which has shown in its Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies to result in a lasting response in approximately 90% of treated Bilateral Ursine Coxrubigo with Spike Shedding patients with either a complete response (CR) or stable disease (SD) being maintained for up to 5 years.

 

As patients with full blown, progressive Bilateral Ursine Coxrubigo with Spike Shedding are very rare, we are writing to ask you if your ward, Mr Basil Bear might be interested in participating in the above mentioned Phase 3 study. If he agrees, we will forward to him an informed consent form (ICF) to be read and signed by him and countersigned by yourself. Following which, Mr Basil Bear will be provided with transport to our research clinic in Switzerland and evaluated to see if he would be eligible to enter our study. If eligible, he would be required to come to Switzerland (accompanied by his guardian) once every three months for assessment and treatment. The cost of this will be borne by CCIPharmaCo.

 

Please let us know as soon as is possible as to your and Mr Basil Bear’s decisions as only a limited number of places in this clinical trial are available.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Prof DrMed A Caduceus

Diector of Clinical Development 

CCIPharmaCo
(a division of CCI GmbH)

 

 

Donk Enterprises can offer an alternative treatment.

 

WD40. £4.95 a can.  Post free.  🤩

[Winslow Boy]

3 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

Morning, from a very damp rock, 11c isn't too bad.  The trees are turning now, our acers look nice, the sycamores just go brown and litter the garden.

 

Freddy the fridge/freezer signed his death warrant at 0337 hrs this morning.  Doors definitely shut, P-Bear, and seals good.  Off out soon to investigate replacement/s.  Ominous sounds of a kitchen re-organisation heard this morning from the domestic authorities.  Actually I suppose I am now the domestic authorities, but without any apparent authority.  Pah.

 

You are quite correct there young man. You are just the Domestic!

[jjb1970]

2 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Area under a "per-capita" curve is meaningless. Area under a "total emissions" curve is directly relevant to your point about historical emitters. It is the total mass in the atmosphere that is relevant.

 

What is interesting in the "per-capita" curve is the dramatic reduction since ~2020 for many western offenders.

 

The gulf oil states and a couple of island outliers* (using oil for electricity and water desalinization) are the worst per-capita offenders.

 

For example, New Caledonia is 1.6x the US, Curaçao is 3x, and Palau is 3.5x.

 

 

That it is aggregate emissions that count is clear in terms of climate science, however it's also true that if person A is responsible for emitting double what person B emits then person A is doing more damage and most would probably agree that person A has a greater responsibility to reduce their emissions. Per capita emissions in the gulf states are horrendous (they're very high in quite a few places), but why I choose some is that the gulf states aren't trying to emission  shame other countries (well, at least not to anything like the same extent. The same source gives the following for aggregate emissions, which shows China crossing over the US about 17 years ago, and the chart demonstrates the explosive economic growth of China. In 2020, US emissions were about 44% of Chinese emissions, but that should be seen in the context of being from a country for which population is about 24% of that of China. India's aggregate emissions were still way below the US in 2020 despite also having a population roughly four times higher. This matters, because the developing world (quite reasonably) wants a higher material standard of living, and providing that whilst reducing emissions will be rather challenging.

 

 

[jjb1970]

2 hours ago, The Lurker said:

There has to be a certain amount of sympathy with those nations which have developed later because, let's face it, we destroyed our forests long ago, etc. I

 

But I am interested in a couple of things in that chart - China is increasing at a vastly rapid rate and has overtaken the UK which is declining rapidly on a per capita basis, and also that Brazil is declining at present.

 

But looking the other way around, firstly China has a population of enormous magnitude and that means its current emissions are of far more impact than much smaller countries because of this, secondly although the cumulative figures are not good reading, the earth was absorbing CO2 at a rate that at least masked if not actually prevented temperature rise until at least the 1950s (let's face it, the early worriers/warriors re a warming planet were still warning about a new ice age coming in the 1970s - sometimes the same people, which kind of diluted the impact they wanted to make), and thirdly, we know a lot more now than we did in the 1950s. The Clean Air Act which started reducing pollution here was of course nothing to do with climate change, it was all to do with getting rid of pea soupers and the attendant health problems.

 

 

Indeed. I suspect China will show a deep inverted V shape. Their economic growth over the last 30 years has been ridiculous, but now their government is throwing money at clean technology and demanding that emissions are reduced, and in China if the government makes a demand it is just that, not a request that doesn't mean much. They're basically doing what every developed country has done, develop economically then clean up the mess later. I'd much rather they took a different path but we can't really blame them for it. I remember China in the early 90's, you only had to go a very short distance from the Bund in Shanghai and it really was poor. In rural China it was backwards and development was primitive (to be polite). I think because it is now a rich, highly developed country we forget just what it was like not very long ago.

I think the date we should have realized something needed to change was sometime around the mid-80's. By the early 90's I think it's fair to say there was a firm consensus and the information was there for us to see but despite a lot of talk it's only really comparatively recently most countries have really taken it seriously. And I can't criticise as I'm certainly not virtuous on the matter and haven't exactly pressured my elected representatives to be more active on the matter.

[jjb1970]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

Saudi winter games isn't quite as daft as it sounds.. Up in Tabuk we often had snow in the morning in the winter, Tabuk was only at 2500ft , up at Khamis Mushait it's nearly 7000ft. Even out at Riyadh in the desert the day time temperature in January is only 20C. (2000ft asl)

 

I remember Taif, up in the mountains. Spectacular drive up along a road like something out of Goldfinger and a very pleasant climate.

[iL Dottore]

49 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Donk Enterprises can offer an alternative treatment.

 

WD40. £4.95 a can.  Post free.  🤩

Yeah, Donk Enterprises Inc. do have a cheap product. So?

 

But can they provide @polybear and Mr Basil Bear free travel to Switzerland, accommodation in a 4-Star Hotel with all meals (inc LDC) provided 4 times/year?

 

CCI PharmaCo has very deep pockets.....

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by iL Dottore
Typo

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Somewhat dull here (both me and the weather) although there was some sunshine earlier. It's quite mild at 17°C but rain is forecast from about 13.00.

Late on parade here although I was up at 6.45.  The Boss brought me tea in bed (again) and that's were it ended up as I didn't grip the mug tight enough with my gammy hand and upended it over me and the bed.  Cue swearing from me and pursed lips from Herself,  bedding stripped and put in the washing machine and GDB on the naughty step!  

More pursed lips as "we need to have a clear out."  Apparently she wants to take a load of her books to a charity shop and wanted to take some of mine as well.  Absolutely no way is that going to happen and "words of advice" have been given.  A few years ago I decided to have a book clear out and got rid of a couple of hundred and have regretted it ever since.

Had to make a phone call to the pharmacy as I've been waiting for some pills since last Thursday,  apparently they haven't got enough to fill the prescription but will now send what they've got as I will run out later this week.

Time spent in The Shed yesterday was quite frustrating as things have suddenly started derailing and I can't figure out why.  More investigations shortly, in fact very shortly as I keep getting pestered to "help" somebody with tasks domestic and I'm not in the mood!

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

[PeterBB]

7 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

I find this site a bit of a time waster...

 

https://www.mylifeelsewhere.com/

 

 

The site interesting but:  

Pedantic probably but I was always of the opinion that you compared something WITH something not to something.  This is the same as different FROM rather than different to and the latest (from lazy people?) think instead of THING.

 

These things really grate (another word with many meanings) with me.

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, The Lurker said:

Apparently no-one does that anymore.

 

Those of us who are critically vulnerable (and still are more vulnerable according to the Zoe project) still report even our negative tests. A positive test or being unwell enough to suspect Covid with three consecutive negative gives access to antiviral medication. 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Tony_S

[southern42]

1 hour ago, DaveF said:

 

Just a note at the start of my day to say thanks for the useful comments about diet after my post yesterday.

 

One thing I didn't mention is the conflicting advice depending on whether you speak to someone about possible diabetes, gut problems or those dealing with cholesterol.  If only one could obtain advice which didn't "improve" one condition at the expense of possible "worsening" of others.   

 

When I took Mum to see her Crohn's nurse consultant she always discussed my gut with me as she said it tends to run in families.  She said it is a good idea to keep a food diary whenever you think you have a problem as it is rarely one food alone which causes problems.  I have found it is always a combination over a period of time, often started by eating something on a different day from usual so it intereacts with some other food.  

 

I always check what is in food I buy, especially anything ready prepared.  I also eat out very rarely as I can never be sure what will be in the food.

 

All I wil do is continue to eat but at the same time make sure I get a somewhat better blance than recently. At least I know why my diet changed and how to get it right.

 

Lastly a quick question.  I can eat raspberries but not strawberries.  Any idea why one upsets me?  I can only think it is because strawberry seeds are on the outside where they can diectly touch the gut wall.

 

David

 

 

 

 

 

A few interesting things about strawberries with a mention of raspberries and blackberries. Other sources needed to show how they differ nutritionally or digestively, though. 

https://www.thespruce.com/fruits-with-their-seeds-outside-3269379

[DaveF]

Yesterday's main event was a trip to the dentist after breakfast for a check up.  I was able to park outside the door, I am always pleased I live in a town where parking is free and it is usually easy to find spaces  Fortunately nothing needed doing, a small chip I'd noticed on a tooth can safely be left as it is only on the surface of the enamel.

 

The hygienist was free so I had a good clean and descale while I was there. I came out with a new small toothbrush to tackle an awkward tooth which is by itself as well as some free samples of toothpaste.  Perhaps I should add that I am an NHS patient.  I need to go back for another check in the New Year, they will let me know when they want me to go.

 

Then I did the usual check on the flat and on to the beach for a walk before coffee.  After that my post came with letters about Mum's gas and electricity, SSE refer bereavement cases to a "bereavement specialist" after some months.  I rang them and discussed issues and pointed out that I will pay the bills after probate is granted as they are debts of the estate not me.  They were happy about that so they will contact me every four weeks - or I will ring them once probate occurs.  To be honest I could easily pay them myself as it isn't a large sum but didn't feel like doing so yet!

 

This morning (Wednesday) they rang me while I was out for my walk, I rang them back and got a very apologetic man who said they should not have rung as there is a note that the next contact is due in November.  I expect someone looked at the day not the month!

 

Lunch was a simple tuna (in spring water) and salad.

 

In the afternoon I gardened, most of the wallflowers are now in and more plants removed, more weeds have gone.  Hopefully by next Spring I shall have the garden back to how I like it.

 

I was a bit stiff by then so went for another walk and got nearly back home when the rain started - the last 100 yards was a very brisk walk.

 

David

[southern42]

36 minutes ago, PeterBB said:

The site interesting but:  

Pedantic probably but I was always of the opinion that you compared something WITH something not to something.  This is the same as different FROM rather than different to and the latest (from lazy people?) think instead of THING.

 

These things really grate (another word with many meanings) with me.

 

I was taught that there were two expressions: compared TO (noting likeness) and compared WITH (noting difference and similarity). I suspect that different TO and different FROM have similar meanings if, maybe, lost in the past.

Having said that, I do not think about which to use in every day conversation, right or wrong, only if I need to use it in something written, these occasions getting scarcer as the years go by!

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by southern42

[TheQ]

I compare between two items...😀

[The Lurker]

It's amazing what you're not taught. My basic education started in the early 70s and I was taught no English grammar in any formal kind of way (although I do remember a secondary school history teacher having a bash at it in 1st year). My primary school was very much into "funky" ways of learning; they used Pitman's ITA for teaching all children to read (rather than those who struggled, which ITA was designed for). When those children got to about 7 they had to learn all over again because the alphabet and spelling was different. I avoided that because I could read when I got to school, which made me extremely unpopular with the teacher who seemed forever to be looking for ways at pushing me back - eg back to the easy books because my handwriting was messy (but only for as long as it took my Mum, a teacher herself, to walk down to the school and complain). They also used the Kent Maths Project, which, whilst it gave me an understanding of set mathematics which I would not see again until my O level years, failed to teach me hundreds, tens and units. The school I went to in Singapore for a year were horrified and I always seemed to play catch up with maths from then on. (well that's my excuse, anyway).

 

These days the kids learn so much grammar that they find it hard to get their creative writing to flow nicely (per Mrs Lurker's observations) - they're too busy with the checklist to make sure that they have alliteration, a fronted adverbial, a subjunctive clause etc. I think I have said before that my personal theory is that the way that they teach grammar now is the education system's revenge on Michael Gove for insisting that grammar be part of the curriculum; make it so formulaic and heavy that it gets quietly dropped after a few years. Mind you, it's not been dropped yet!

[Tony_S]

21 minutes ago, southern42 said:

I do not think about which to use in every day conversation, right or wrong, only if I need to use it in something written, these occasions getting scarcer as the years go by!

 

I just ask Aditi. I suppose she was able to spend more time at school studying English. I did more woodwork. 

[Tony_S]

7 minutes ago, TheQ said:

I compare between two items...😀

The John Lewis website allows 4 items to be compared. 

[southern42]

' morning all from red dragon land.

Rain on and off. Last night's wind has eased off.

Outdoors down to 9°C.  Indoors up to 18.3°C. Hands a bit warmer!

 

Toot on the flute coasting to a halt.  One twiddly bit taking an awful long time to master! I have had so many things to master in this game I feel it would be a pity to skip over this one (an old cheating habit of mine) especially as it is a common feature in this stuff. It involves making a weak sounding note into a strong(er) one by adjusting the blowing angle; getting the last two fingers to move up and down together evenly giving a consistent change of note while the adjacent two fingers remain over their holes, and a few more refinements... and someone once said to me, playing a single tune on a flute was so much easier than playing the piano. <<I don't think so!>>

 

Muddling also came to a halt as I waited for some varnish to dry and harden. I brushed it on the remaining transfers which will have the fake weld lines placed on top. This is an attempt to stop the transfers softening and getting damaged. 🤞

 

Plenty of odd jobs but where to start....

I know! Make a mugadecaf.

☕

Take care. Keep warm. Hope your day goes to plan.

Polly

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by southern42

[Tony_S]

16 minutes ago, The Lurker said:

a fronted adverbial, a

Prose created to demonstrate use of fronted adverbials is really irritating. I am sure using it would have generated “don’t do this” when I was at school. It, and all the other items in your list were included so that tests taken by children could be marked quantitively rather than qualitatively. It is easier to count use of alliteration and fronted whatsits than to assess a story written by the child. Former Education Ministers loved league tables. 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Tony_S

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, southern42 said:

 

A few interesting things about strawberries with a mention of raspberries and blackberries. Other sources needed to show how they differ nutritionally or digestively, though. 

https://www.thespruce.com/fruits-with-their-seeds-outside-3269379

We used to collect a few blackberries when we went on walks to bring home to Matthew’s rats (Norah and Smudge). They would hold a blackberry , and nibble each tiny ball of the fruit. They didn’t seem to eat the seed, and would clean them off their face. However after a few blackberries they looked like something from a horror film with stained faces. After finishing they did clean themselves. or each other up. 

[southern42]

19 minutes ago, The Lurker said:

It's amazing what you're not taught. My basic education started in the early 70s and I was taught no English grammar in any formal kind of way (although I do remember a secondary school history teacher having a bash at it in 1st year). My primary school was very much into "funky" ways of learning; they used Pitman's ITA for teaching all children to read (rather than those who struggled, which ITA was designed for). When those children got to about 7 they had to learn all over again because the alphabet and spelling was different. I avoided that because I could read when I got to school, which made me extremely unpopular with the teacher who seemed forever to be looking for ways at pushing me back - eg back to the easy books because my handwriting was messy (but only for as long as it took my Mum, a teacher herself, to walk down to the school and complain). They also used the Kent Maths Project, which, whilst it gave me an understanding of set mathematics which I would not see again until my O level years, failed to teach me hundreds, tens and units. The school I went to in Singapore for a year were horrified and I always seemed to play catch up with maths from then on. (well that's my excuse, anyway).

 

These days the kids learn so much grammar that they find it hard to get their creative writing to flow nicely (per Mrs Lurker's observations) - they're too busy with the checklist to make sure that they have alliteration, a fronted adverbial, a subjunctive clause etc. I think I have said before that my personal theory is that the way that they teach grammar now is the education system's revenge on Michael Gove for insisting that grammar be part of the curriculum; make it so formulaic and heavy that it gets quietly dropped after a few years. Mind you, it's not been dropped yet!

 

Apart from Kent Maths Project, those methods were included in my time training to be a teacher with the philosophy becoming interpreted as what the child wants rather than what the child needs. I want to blow my whistle and do my own thing...rather than actually learn something which might be useful.  Thankfully, where I taught, we had none of this. It did not come in until our kids went to school in the 80s. From a brilliant start with the three Rs - reading, writing and arithmetic - and an excellent standard of handwriting, a change of head teacher saw all standards dropping. The graded reading and maths schemes were thrown out with a general decline all round. A new head took over two years later and started to turn it around but I think the damage had been done. Thankfully, our kids did not suffer too much.  Worse, was an Evening Class tutor I met in the 90s who said she was angry that she was not taught to spell, finding it a great handicap in her profession of teaching others. It is certainly not a good selling point!

[jjb1970]

The local supermarket dropped an entertaining klanger yesterday. They were playing Christmas jingles, I thought to myself that it's a bit early but didn't think much of it. Tonight they were playing Indian music, I asked the cashier what happened to Christmas and she laughed and said 'wrong play list, should be deepevali'😯🤣

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

. Tonight they were playing Indian music, 

I suspect Aditi would recognise the music as being Indian but would have no idea what it was. When she and her sister were little and living in Yorkshire, they were bought lots of European classical records by their Dad who thought it was important to be aware  of the culture they were living in.  Indian music was something their Mum listened to. Aditi was only really interested in the Beach Boys and Bob  Dylan. She doesn’t know anything about Bollywood stars or their songs. 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Tony_S

[The Lurker]

21 minutes ago, southern42 said:

 

Kent Maths Project

it even merits its own small wikipedia page

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Mathematics_Project

 

Although that talks about it applying from age 9, I am fairly certain the principals were flowed down the school too.

 

I remember the school mentioned as being its originator. I would have come across them in school sports

[jjb1970]

10 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I suspect Aditi would recognise the music as being Indian but would have no idea what it was. When she and her sister were little and living in Yorkshire, they were bought lots of European classical records by their Dad who thought it was important to be aware  of the culture they were living in.  Indian music was something their Mum listened too. Aditi was only really interested in the Beach Boys and Bob  Dylan. She doesn’t know anything about Bollywood stars or their songs. 

 

I'm guessing it's an Indian equivalent of the sort of awful festive muzak played on a continuous loop and which drives people to the threshold of homicidal rage in British shops. My dad was an opera and classical music enthusiast but he never pushed it on us, his attitude to music was like his attitude was like his attitude to religion and many other things - if we wanted to find out more we could but it wasn't for him to push his ideas and preferences on to others. I ended up becoming a keen enthusiast of opera and symphonic music at least partly as a result of him playing it a lot, passive music appreciation I suppose. However, I ended up with very different taste, my dad thought that opera ended with Verdi and very much shared Rossini's opinion of Wagner (he has lovely moments but awful quarters of an hour) whereas my own favourites include Prokofiev, Bruckner, Richard Strauss, Ligeti and John Adams.