Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[Ozexpatriate]

On 14/10/2022 at 07:35, Winslow Boy said:

Tina Turner couldn't 'alf belt them out as well.

Apparently Mattel has just released a Tina Turner Barbie:
 

CNN: The queen of rock and roll is now a Barbie

[jjb1970]

6 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

After 3 blokes in the year below me at school managed to kill themselves on motorbikes in horribly gruesome ways I've never had the urge to get on one,  thus I know nothing about them or accompanying bits.

Therefore this story told to us at work a few years ago  by a still white-faced sargeant two days after it happened might have been an entire leg-pull in which case I'm open to a debunking.

 

Anyway he was travelling down to Canberra along the freeway In the wee early hours with his bikes cruise-control (I didnt even know  bikes actually had cruise control..) set at a smidge above the 110kmh speed limit.

 

Something which I forget made him open his visor momentarily but when he  clicked  it back into place he managed to get the thumbtips of both gloves caught between the visor and helmet. The thickness of the leather gloves made it impossible to pull them out and he couldn't reach the visor release buttons, so he's travelling along at a steady 115kmh with both hands attached to his head, and aware that within about 10km the road ended at a t-intersection. Luckily being early in the morning  there were no  other vehicles for him to weave around, which apparently is quite a tricky manoeuvre without hands.

 

I forget how he managed to finally release one hand and turn off the cruise control but it all obviously ended happily due to him telling us in person rather then by ouija board.

 

Like I said, it all may have been made up by him in order to make me look stupid in a railway modelling forum several years later but if so  something definitely made him still white and shaky looking  two days after!

 

When I was much younger, and before meeting Mrs JJB I dated a nurse who worked in A&E. She hated motorbikes with a passion, some of her stories were properly gruesome and stomach turning. I guess seeing young people lose limbs, suffer life changing spinal injuries, brain damage etc on a semi-regular basis will do that to people. I like motorbikes as pieces of engineering and like motorbike racing (much more exciting than F1 IMO) but after her stories I have never wanted to ride one.

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl,

Sleep not a lot, too many aches and pains from being on my feet or driving the Landrover, left knee is particularly unhappy. Pink pills for breakfast.

 

Ben the I want out Collie, has been out on patrol he enjoyed a snuffle around, while occasionally looking back and saying" come on catch up"..

Dull breezy and a bit of dew on the grass.

 

The apple crash feature has already caused false alarms, it especially doesn't like rollercoasters, I'm not sure how it would take to dinghy sailing with often rapid changes of direction and impacts as the helm hits the deck each side while tacking.

 

After breaky, I need to get the mast off the boat, remove a few ropes from the trailer, get the hatch covers on, then head to the sailing club.

 

Time to... Hobble.

 

 

 

[iL Dottore]

9 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Twenty minutes of a roofer's time?  One thousand six hundred and eighty seven pounds.  How's that for a cynical Bear? 🤣

You aren’t Captain Cynical - You are Scrooge McBear and I claim my £10….🤣

 

Seriously, If you get a qualified and skilled tradesperson, who uses quality materials, guarantees his/her work and pays him/herself and his/her staff a decent wage - then it won’t be “cheap”

 

TBH a lot of problems with the UK at the present is down to an insistence on “cheap” (at any cost!). The major thing that drives this thinking (I would argue) is the very low cost of most consumer goods where you can get a BluRay player, Mp3 player or airfryer etc. for very little money. It ignores the facts of mass production (sometimes in the millions), processes that can be automated, just adequate materials* and a very low cost workforce - often to produce items with a relatively short lifespan.

* e.g. mostly plastic chassis for a BluRay player instead of all metal
 

If the roofer was (a) doing a million roofs a year, (b) using robots to do much of the work, (c) using only “adequate” materials, (d) paying himself/ staff the absolutely minimum UK wage and (d) only providing a 2 week guarantee then maybe you’d get something closer to mass produced consumer-goods prices (possibly).

Growing up in the 60s, the following was drummed into me:

1. Never buy on credit, if you want something badly enough you’ll save up for it.
2. Always buy the very best of an item you can afford - even to the point going to the very upper limit of what you can afford - and keep it until it’s no longer repairable.
3. Maintain (and if needed) repair.

 

As Terry Pratchett observed (and I paraphrase) the very rich manage to spend much less than poorer people on the essentials in life as they only buy the very best and never throw anything away!

 

Edited October 16, 2022 by iL Dottore
Emphasis

[Winslow Boy]

37 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

You aren’t Captain Cynical - You are Scrooge McBear and I claim my £10….🤣

 

Seriously, If you get a qualified and skilled tradesperson, who uses quality materials, guarantees his/her work and pays him/herself and his/her staff a decent wage - then it won’t be “cheap”

 

TBH a lot of problems with the UK at the present is down to an insistence on “cheap” (at any cost!). The major thing that drives this thinking (I would argue) is the very low cost of most consumer goods where you can get a BluRay player, Mp3 player or airfryer etc. for very little money. It ignores the facts of mass production (sometimes in the millions), processes that can be automated, just adequate materials* and a very low cost workforce - often to produce items with a relatively short lifespan.

* e.g. mostly plastic chassis for a BluRay player instead of all metal
 

If the roofer was (a) doing a million roofs a year, (b) using robots to do much of the work, (c) using only “adequate” materials, (d) paying himself/ staff the absolutely minimum UK wage and (d) only providing a 2 week guarantee then maybe you’d get something closer to mass produced consumer-goods prices (possibly).

Growing up in the 60s, the following was drummed into me:

1. Never buy on credit, if you want something badly enough you’ll save up for it.
2. Always buy the very best of an item you can afford - even to the point going to the very upper limit of what you can afford - and keep it until it’s no longer repairable.
3. Maintain (and if needed) repair.

 

As Terry Pratchett observed (and I paraphrase) the very rich manage to spend much less than poorer people on the essentials in life as they only buy the very best and never throw anything away!

 

 

Here, here my Italian friend.

 

We seem to have gone down a rabbit hole of wanting stuff now and funded by cheap credit.

 

What really annoys me though is the abuse that this causes with products being made as cheaply as possible, often in undesirable conditions and then being asked to pay absurd prices simply because its got some fashionable logo on it.

 

This is compounded when it inevitably goes wrong and the manufacturer blames us and we accept it because we are to 'British' to object.

[polybear]

8 hours ago, Tony_S said:

After much reading of stats and prices guess what I bought back in July? It seems fine by the way. Mine came from Amazon too. It replaced a dead Maplin device. 

 

Bear also has a Maplin 45W jobbie - though sadly the largest chisel bit is 2mm, which doesn't make for great heat transfer on bigger bits (this is where oodles of fellow ER'ers point out suppliers of bigger bits that'll fit the Maplin jobbie....); what's more I have oodles of spare bits and a spare heating element too.  Still, it'll make a useful "spare".....

The new iron is 80W, so should be somewhat nicer to use as well.  It also has adjustable "sleep" and "turn off" functions.

I did ponder a Weller jobbie; the range of available bits was rather nice - the prices of those bits was rather less nice....(some were twelve quid a piece, which is nutz).

 

8 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

I forget how he managed to finally release one hand and turn off the cruise control but it all obviously ended happily due to him telling us in person rather then by ouija board.

 

Bear wonders how he ever managed to get promoted to Sargeant (promoted "out of the way" perhaps?) when he's doin' 70mph and thinks it a good idea to take both paws off the bars....

 

2 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Apparently Mattel has just released a Tina Turner Barbie:
 

CNN: The queen of rock and roll is now a Barbie

 

I wonder how many millions TT got paid for the rights to her image?

 

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

When I was much younger, and before meeting Mrs JJB I dated a nurse who worked in A&E. She hated motorbikes with a passion, some of her stories were properly gruesome and stomach turning. I guess seeing young people lose limbs, suffer life changing spinal injuries, brain damage etc on a semi-regular basis will do that to people. I like motorbikes as pieces of engineering and like motorbike racing (much more exciting than F1 IMO) but after her stories I have never wanted to ride one.

 

Bear was half-watching one of those "heli-meds" kinda programmes yesterday - there was a young lad who'd come off his Motocross bike and buggered his leg big-time; at a guess he was maybe 10 years old or so.  He'd previously had a bleed on the brain because of the bike, and this latest one required an op. plus a year in plaster.  It still hadn't put him off riding it.  I do wonder about the parents though - if I were one of them I think I'd be saying "right, enough's enough".

Written by a Bear who - looking back - was a very lucky young cub to come thru' various bikes unscathed ("several" who rode RD250's didn't.....).

 

7 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

You aren’t Captain Cynical - You are Scrooge McBear and I claim my £10….🤣

 

Seriously, If you get a qualified and skilled tradesperson, who uses quality materials, guarantees his/her work and pays him/herself and his/her staff a decent wage - then it won’t be “cheap”

 

If iD is happy to pay Bear's "cynical rates" for 20 minutes work then I'm available, can travel....🤣

Seriously though, Bear has employed the services this past year of a Carpet Fitter (two, actually), a Plasterer (twice), a Tiler (twice) and several guys on the Roofing Team - all quite happily.  Oh yes, and a Gas Man (twice) - the first job was to cap off the kitchen gas pipe; that really was "money for old rope" - though in fairness he did do a drop-test afterwards to check for leaks in the system - I would've been "very p1ssed" if he hadn't.  The second gas job was servicing the gas fire and boiler (different guy, same very small local company) - and I'll freely admit it was the best service that system has ever had (the British Gas boys were a total f.joke).  There have been numerous reports over the last couple of years in the UK regarding gas explosions (very, very messy) and if DIY gas work is revealed then (a) you're in deep, deep, do-do, and (b) the Insurance Company will laugh and walk, clutching all their money in the process.

Incidentally, some Bozo has just got (IIRC) 11 years (much too light in this Bear's book) for causing an explosion that killed a 2-year old.  He thought it ok to cut thru' a gas pipe with an angle grinder......

 

Bear here......

Today's very un-fun involves washing the Bearmobile - made all the less easy due to the hose pipe ban, so much pouring of a watering can is expected.  Turdycurses.

 

In other news......

Breaking out into a cold sweat?  Sleepless night?  Endless Nightmares?  Can't concentrate due to the worry?  Well fear no more......

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63273943

Bear very happy.

 

[jjb1970]

This is on a sign outside the local MRT station warning people not to be naughty. This would be condemned by many in Europe and I myself never advocated for such punishment but I can't help thinking that Singapore is more right than wrong in prioritising the right of the majority to live in a safe, low crime environment. Corporal punishment here is pretty brutal, those wielding the cane know their trade and make sure it hurts, I am guessing it's not something people want to experience twice.

 

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Haway the Lads!  At last another win for Sunderland!

 

Busy day yesterday culminating in a trip to a pub with her indoors and youngest Herbert. Very enjoyable!

 

Woken by heavy rain stotting off the bedroom windows at 6am. Managed to get back to sleep and woke up ay 7:47am.

 

Blood sugars tested..seem fine.

 

Both of my Honda Civics had an auto call out if they broke down. I found this out when calling the AA once.. your driver is on his way.. about 10 minutes and he should be with you.. and hecwas..

 

I did watch a bit of the RugbybLeague yesterday. England smashed the Samoans.. purebrute force with some lovely skills to use that force well.

 

Herself has refilled the compost bins (daleks) and also our council recycling (brown) bin. She managed to find some more of our Pentland Firth spuds to dig up.. bumper crop this year!

 

Time for a mugatea...

 

Stay safe!

 

Baz

[chrisf]

For the past few weeks my Sunday evenings have been spent being utterly captivated by David Attenborough's "Frozen Planet" TV programmes.  The series ends tonight, though tonight's episode will be repeated next Sunday afternoon.  His must be the most accessible way of presenting wildlife and climate change issues.  Yes, I know: I spend too much time watching TV.  That is how I know just how much of what is shown is tripe.

 

Chris 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Thanks to Arthur Itis most joints were seized up this morning and I could barely move. But I had to move before I wet the bed as painful as it was. However as soon as I started moving about the stiffness and the pain went. I haven't even needed to pop any pills but will take a couple before going out to the swapmeet.

38 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

This is on a sign outside the local MRT station warning people not to be naughty. This would be condemned by many in Europe and I myself never advocated for such punishment but I can't help thinking that Singapore is more right than wrong in prioritising the right of the majority to live in a safe, low crime environment. Corporal punishment here is pretty brutal, those wielding the cane know their trade and make sure it hurts, I am guessing it's not something people want to experience twice.

 

Probably less severe than in days past.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

A quick look in before I head off to Warrington to visit the model railway show. As usual I’ll be wearing my ‘Old Git’ hat if anyone wants to say hello. 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

I wonder how many millions TT got paid for the rights to her image?

So where's the Jenny Agutter Barbie huh?

[iL Dottore]

43 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

So where's the Jenny Agutter Barbie huh?

Don't start MaF - you'll get @polybear going all "unnecessary" and then having to have a lie down with a cold, wet, cloth across his brow.....

[Gwiwer]

11 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

After 3 blokes in the year below me at school managed to kill themselves on motorbikes in horribly gruesome ways I've never had the urge to get on one,  thus I know nothing about them or accompanying bits.

I have always maintained that I wouldn’t be seen dead on a motorbike and certainly not alive. They hold less than zero interest for me and I too have lost colleagues through motorised mishaps. 
 

Pedalling my own two wheels, however, was for many years a greatly enjoyable hobby and a handy means of getting the formerly-impecunious Gwiwer around. It didn’t serve to get a “date” home nor could it ever be called a “babe-magnet” but the purpose was usually well served nonetheless. 
 

It was the move to Australia which effectively ended my enjoyment. There seemed to be a national sport there of intentionally unseating cyclists from passing cars. 
 

I still have two wheels. The bike has been out just twice this year. Both times for a 2-mile round trip to a riverside picnic spot. So very different to the days when I could cycle across London from Victoria to Stratford - obeying traffic lights and speed limits - in under 30 minutes. That’s faster than the tube and a time even “white van man” would be happy with. 
 

In other news Dr SWMBO is in flight as we speak returning to the Hill of Strawberries. She has just checked in from the refuelling stop at Perth prior to the long non-stop haul to Heathrow. 
 

 

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Dry here and we've had some sunshine but it's now clouding over.  Some rain due this afternoon.

Late on parade again due to lying in after a really great night out.  Went to  a 60th birthday party and it was terrific.  They're a Jamaican family with 4 adult kids and are really lovely people.  Must have been at least 150 people there and the evening had a definite Caribbean flavour.  Lashings of hot food as our friend's cousin owns a cafe and was there with loads of stuff and about 8 staff to serve it all up.  It looked great but I didn't get to sample it as I'd eaten before I went out.  Always do if going to a party and knowing that the drinks will flow.....they did!  Did come away with some lovely cakes which will be sampled later.  Main entertainment was a solo singer with backing tracks and boy was he good.  Quite an oldish guy with long flowing grey beard and hair but he could sing.  So good in fact that  Nicki & Darren have spoken to him about singing at their wedding next year.

 

My car (Peugeot 3008) has got the automatic & manual emergency assistance gadget.  Don't know if it works,  don't want to find out!  

 

Today will be spent doing nottalot except catching up on some recorded TV and  watching rugby later.  Great close match yesterday between Gloucester and Bristol with only 3 points separating them.  Today's game is Quins v Leicester so I suspect TB & DH will be shouting loudly for the Tigers.  I won't! 😂

More coffee needed so farewell for now.

Have a good one,

Bob.

[DaveF]

 After breakfast yesterday I decided that I had no reason to do any shopping so went straight out for a walk in the gentle rain which was falling.  It was surprisingly pleasant, I was out for about 45 minutes and did not get too wet - my old waterproof jacket is still waterproof.

 

A bit later I had coffee and looked my recent photos and some older ones on the TV - but why is Chromecast (or Windows) insisting on having the elapsed time since starting showing photos at the bottom right of the screen - fortunately in grey so it is not too visible?  I can't find anything on the web about it.  Doubtless it is an update which hasn't been properly tested.

 

During the morning the sun came out so I was to garden after lunch.  I got some of the climbing and rambling roses tidied up and trimmed, I also tied in most of the new growth from which the new flowering shoots will come next Spring, I have left the most awkward one on an arch for another day.  I managed to find enough chrysanthemums to pick to fill a vase.

 

Then I watched the Rugby League match which was very enjoyable and a superb result.  The evening passed quickly with music, a magazine and an old Maigret on Talking Pictures.

 

I could have summed up the day in one short sentence - " It was a quiet and very relaxing day".

 

David

Edited October 16, 2022 by DaveF

[jjb1970]

2 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

So where's the Jenny Agutter Barbie huh?

 

Do her as she was in Logan's Run please🤣🤣

[jamie92208]

Good afternoon  from a sunny and warm Charente.   The market has been visited and lunch has been eaten. The shed is beckoning and a 60w Weller soldering iron awaits some use.   Not a bad prospect.  It's a very pleasant 22 degrees at the moment.

 

I have had motorbukes butbonly Honda 50 and 70 step throughs.  I felt much less safe on them than I do on my push bike, that I still ride.  There used to be a whole ward at the old Pinderfields  hospital in Wakefield,  full of young men who had comeboff their bikes. Often with bromen femurs from when thevbike fell on one of their legs.  I also yad to deal with a couple of fatals involving 2 wheel transport.  Not nice.  However my eldest is a biker and has just spent 9 days in Nortern Spain and southern France touring with his fiancee as pillion.  

 

Not for me.  I have a very good friend  from University days who had a Bonneville.  His first wife left him for another woman and the divorce was a bit messy.  He kept the Bonny and still has it.  I think hevgot the better partvof the bargain.

 

Jamie

[polybear]

5 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

 

Seems fair to this Bear......

Incidentally, does our Fraggle Correspondent know if the Fraggle crime rate went up/down/stayed the same when the Birch was stopped?

 

5 hours ago, chrisf said:

Yes, I know: I spend too much time watching TV.  That is how I know just how much of what is shown is tripe.

 

Chris 

 

What Bear wants to know is how on earth the Dingle's van ever passes an MOT?

Askin' for a friend......

 

4 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

So where's the Jenny Agutter Barbie huh?

 

You can't buy class.......

 

Bear here.....

The Bearmobile is now gleaming once again; that's 3 hours of a Bear's life that'll never be seen again.  Today's din dins involved a couple of snaggers plus fake Auntie Bessie's (=Lidl) in the AF - 25 minutes instead of 35 in the oven.  Another Tick.

 

I heard from Buddy over the road yesterday - it seems his Sis was approached by some low-life as she left Lidl yesterday, who then proceeded to utter the words "Gimme yer money".  She told him to do one (or words to that effect), at which point he opened his jacket to reveal the handle of a F.G.Knife stickin' out of his belt.  Zero security at Lidl, incidentally - fortunately other shoppers plus a member of staff appeared so she used that opportunity to foxtrot oscar PDQ.  Or at least as fast as she could whilst driving her mobility scooter.  B'sterds.

[simontaylor484]

Afternoon all

 

Finished off moving stuff in the garage another load gone to the tip 

Another load will be ready to take in the morning.

Got shut of some timber offcuts I have been hording for a few years. 

It's nailed on I will need them

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Again much skipping has happened, for various reasons - so all I can offer is the usual greetings.

 

Not a great deal has happened here other than a few boxes resorted from the loft.   Oh and sanding down some filler round the doors and staining it to as close a match as I have been able to mix.

 

We've both got sore arms (both arms) and generally feel a but MEH today - hence the inactivity.

 

Oxfam tomorrow, MEH permitting.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

Edited October 16, 2022 by 45156

[iL Dottore]

6 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

So where's the Jenny Agutter Barbie huh?

In the absence of a JA Barbie Doll, perhaps this may entertain a certain bear:

https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/1545282/Jenny-Agutter-stuns-never-seen-before-pics-young-news-update-latest