Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

'Sterds.  It seems that once a house has been burgled there's a 1 in 4 chance it'll be hit again; as to whether or not this will apply in the MRC's case is anyone's guess.  Time to invest in some particularly nasty scrote traps methinks.

It has been broken into once before, all that was taken was bags of crisps and Kit Kats from the canteen. There is a burglar alarm but the clubhouse is some distance from occupied houses.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

My car did pass its MoT, have its service and get its SIM card problem sorted. I haven’t got it back as I didn’t want to be trying to get to the garage by 5.30. We will go to. Chelmsford tomorrow after lunch to get it. While,I was waiting for Aditi this morning I had a look at the new cars. I don’t think I will be buying a PHEV Defender. It was over £100000.  Seats looked comfy though.

 

Very reasonable. That's only 12.5K per seat (if you get the eight seater). That's only about twice what I paid for IDSPIDY's seats and TBH they are not terribly comfy.

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[Erichill16]

Been busy again recently so as I can’t sleep I thought I might as well keep you informed.

Yesterday was the usual drudgery of a day involving mil, nephews and dogs but I managed a hour or so work which for once turned out quite productive. Sunday saw SWMBO, Hovis and myself have a couple of hours in Skipton. It was a late decision as we couldn’t decide  what else to do. On the way back to the car park I noticed the fish and chip shop that did gluten free fish and chips had re introduced them. Something to look forward to next time even though dogs aren’t allowed in the restaurant.

As for today, the same XXXX.

Hope everyone has a productive day,

Robert

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Still dark but dry and it should be a fine day with some sunny spells.  Currently 4°C,  may reach 7°C.

Went for a walk yesterday to ease The Back, that worked but now The Knee is playing up.

Also playing up is the multipoint locking mechanism on our front door which feels as if it's coming adrift.  I've got someone coming to look at it this morning.  If past experience is anything to go by it will probably end up being expensive. 

The Boss has got some friends visiting for lunch today so I will probably decamp to The Shed.

This afternoon I'm visiting the dentist for my 6 monthly checkup.  Everything seems OK in that department so with a bit of luck I will come away with nothing needing to be done.

Have a good one,

Bob.

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a rather cool Charente.  The decorations did get put up yesterday.  That's one job out of the way for 4 weeks, when they will all need to come down again.  In the evening we had a 3 way chat with Son Martin and partner Katie together with 11 yr old Ryan.  Martin was in Southend for work.  

 

Today it's shopping this morning then hopefully the tyre place will have rung to say that Beth's new car tyres have arrived.  They were closed yesterday.  Not a lot else to e lighten the world with apart from the fact that I have discovered that so eone has written a book called Day Dog. This is a semi fictional account of going to Giggleswick school in the mid 60's.  I was also a day dog in that era. If you passed your 11 plus the county sent you there as a day boy.  I'm now trying to locate a copy but Amazon keeps sending me round in circles. I don't do kindle.

 

Jamie

[polybear]

9 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Not a lot else to e lighten the world with apart from the fact that I have discovered that so eone has written a book called Day Dog. This is a semi fictional account of going to Giggleswick school in the mid 60's.  I was also a day dog in that era. If you passed your 11 plus the county sent you there as a day boy.  I'm now trying to locate a copy but Amazon keeps sending me round in circles. I don't do kindle.

 

Jamie

 

There's one showing now:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Day-Dog-John-R-Burns/dp/1980202230/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

 

If you need help just pm me.

Bear.

 

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

It’s still dark outside, but it’s cooler than of late, currently 0C out there, I may need a coat! The reason for my early rise is I’m due at the local hospital at 8:40 for a blood test. I normally go to our surgery, but apparently they are out of needles FFS! Once that’s done, I’ll return home, grab my car keys and head off to complete the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix. I’ve also had notification that Royal Fail are delivering a package today, only a week late! 

 

I forgot to mention last night, but Sheila has got an appointment for a consultation to have her eyes done privately. If all goes to plan, she may get them done before Christmas! I do hope it happens as she’s really struggling at the moment. 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian

[polybear]

9 hours ago, Tony_S said:

While,I was waiting for Aditi this morning I had a look at the new cars. I don’t think I will be buying a PHEV Defender. It was over £100000.  Seats looked comfy though.

 

HOW MUCH??  Bluddy Hell.  And a leccy range of "up to 27 miles" 😭

The Bearmobile came new in 2016 for 9K (they're somewhat more now though), so eleven of them plus six Deltics and several LDC's with the change.

 

8 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Splitting it generated a price of £66 each. 

 

You can email Amazon Tokens for n'owt.....

 

8 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

It has been broken into once before, all that was taken was bags of crisps and Kit Kats from the canteen. There is a burglar alarm but the clubhouse is some distance from occupied houses.

 

Sounds like you need an Autodialler added to the alarm system (easy and not too expensive) - if there's wifi in the MRC then you could add an Alexa and indoor camera to check if there are scrotes inbound in the event of an alarm.  Maybe some steel bars across the windows and doors too.

But for a bit of fun you could add a few of these too:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alarm-Security-Burglars-Intruders-Galvanized/dp/B09HHLFMFX/ref=sr_1_3?adgrpid=52044863663&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzOLNzsPk-wIVpGLmCh0DAQ-KEAAYAiAAEgL0wfD_BwE&hvadid=259118489644&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9045983&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=634004155208569021&hvtargid=kwd-436121914751&hydadcr=28148_1724781&keywords=shotgun+alarm&qid=1670313756&sr=8-3

 

You'll need to add the cost of a mop & bucket though, for when they sh1t themselves.

 

Bear here.......

The coving is looking "pretty good" - but will get a last coat this morning just to be sure; the joints seem to have come out pretty reasonably too.  I'll also bung one last coat on the ceiling rose and with luck get that fitted & wired this afternoon.  Apart from that it'll be MIUABGA.

Bear gone.

[polybear]

19 minutes ago, BSW01 said:

I forgot to mention last night, but Sheila has got an appointment for a consultation to have her eyes done privately. If all goes to plan, she may get them done before Christmas! I do hope it happens as she’s really struggling at the moment. 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian

 

Isn't it amazing just how quickly things happen when you wave a cheque book........

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Slept in !! Her indoors woke me up at 03:30 as she was awake. I was told to go back to sleep.. which I did. Now its my fault she hasn't completed somebody her tasks. Pah!

 

I am off to let Sister Drac (or rather one of her Draclettes) drink take a blood sample. My self test today says hb1ac is about 40..Good..  just hope their test comes back with the same !

 

Time to get going.. the sleep has done me a lot of good as I felt poorly yesterday..much better today.

 

@Gwiwer.. Royal mail track and trace or signed for must have gone up a lot on the last 3 months.. under 2kg it was far cheaper than Parcel Farce.

 

Stay safe!

Baz 

[DaveF]

I'm waiting for the groceries to come so I thought I'd start to write my daily summary.  It's a cold grey morning with periods of rain coming in from the sea.  In the distance I can hear the bin lorry, doubtless in due course it will go backwards past my house at high speed as usual to save turning round at the end of the road.  Then he comes back forwards to empty the recycling bins.  

 

Yesterday started as usual with housework, washing and so on.  Then I made a quick trip to the pharmacy to get something for my sinusitis - I ended buying the steroid spray I use for hay fever, it seems to be doing the trick.  The good bit was that I had enough points on my loyalty card to pay for it.  Afterwards I drove to the edge of town which simply means a couple of hundred yards along the road until it ends by a field. I then had a pleasant walk along the trackbed of the old waggonway which now is a tarmac covered path.  There are still quite a lot of hips and haws, some of the latter bushes were being "guarded" by vocal blackbirds.  There were fewer people about than usual probably because it was a raw day.

 

I had a talk on the phone with Lee, the son of Betty who lives next door to Mum's flat, he will take over responsibilty for fixing the gutter leaks if they are not dealt with before the sale completes.

 

I spent the afternoon completing my Christmas card list and managed to get quite a few written and ready to post.

 

The evening was the usual TV quizzes, listening to the radio and reading a magazine.

 

David

 

[Winslow Boy]

45 minutes ago, BSW01 said:

Good morning everyone 

 

It’s still dark outside, but it’s cooler than of late, currently 0C out there, I may need a coat! The reason for my early rise is I’m due at the local hospital at 8:40 for a blood test. I normally go to our surgery, but apparently they are out of needles FFS! Once that’s done, I’ll return home, grab my car keys and head off to complete the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix. I’ve also had notification that Royal Fail are delivering a package today, only a week late! 

 

I forgot to mention last night, but Sheila has got an appointment for a consultation to have her eyes done privately. If all goes to plan, she may get them done before Christmas! I do hope it happens as she’s really struggling at the moment. 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian

 

Will be keeping my fingers crossed as well Brian as I know what your going through. Mums eye was the reverse with bright sunlight in the summer being the worst.

[Erichill16]

Morning All,

Sun is shining here and it looks like a pleasant day outside.

Just trying to decide what to do with the dogs and mil. Today nephews come for tea so a busy afternoon so we’d better make a decision soon,
Back later.

 

[Mike Bellamy]

15 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

So yesterday she found water pouring through the ceiling and discovered the bath upstairs was leaking from around an insecure drain.  Having spoken with her housing association today they promptly arrived and ..... disconnected the heating!!!  Because it all runs off one boiler.  So there they are, sitting in a cold (and draughty) house, no heating, no hot water and the next date anyone can apparently come to fix the problem is ............ 10th January 😯 😥

 

Unbelievable - if the leak couldn't be fixed then if the two bath taps (and shower?) had been installed correctly, then they should have isolation valves somewhere so that would prevent further use and stop water leaking from the waste pipe. As an alternative, all that was needed was to tell your friend not to use the bath !!

 

We had a similar situation a couple of years ago with father-in-law who had a faulty gas fire and the 'engineer' cut everything off at the meter. When we found out, my son (Gas Safe Registered) did a 100 mile round trip for 10 minutes work to just disconnect the faulty appliance and got everything else working again.

 

We had an accident with our caravan at the end of July (white van man hit us in the rear in slow moving traffic). To maintain the warranty on a nearly new caravan, it has to go back to the factory for repair . . . . . . 9 months later in April !!!

.

[New Haven Neil]

Urg. 2c.  Not used to that on Fraggle Rock, but as it is still and sunny the day should improve.

 

Had a bit of a lye in until 8, as I managed to fall asleep as Mrs NHN went to work.  I feel better for it, as my sleep is down there with Eric/Roberts. ie not a lot.  Duff hip does not like this cold damp weather at al.

 

Off to the Bright Lights of Royal Ramsey today, bit of shopping (urg again) and joining the library down there.  As a non-resident of said conurbation I have to pay twice as much, the difference four and a half miles makes on a small rock.  A walk may be had if the hips don't seize in the cold, which is a common problem I find in poor weather.  As I get colder (despite the exercise) they get very tight and painful.  Middle age is pants, but better than the alternative.

Edited December 6, 2022 by New Haven Neil

[pH]

13 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Much, much cheaper in the long run - they don't need to send emergency crews out in the rain and wind and snow every time the line from the transformer falls down or the transformer on the pole gets struck by lightning, or the pole gets hit by a car. The increased reliability of a buried supply is vastly higher.

 

The installation of a buried supply is more expensive than a pole-mount transformer.

 

 

 
There are trade offs. Overhead is quicker and cheaper to install initially, especially long runs. Underground is generally more reliable and so cheaper to maintain, but (important in the kind of areas where you and I live) at least as vulnerable to serious earthquakes. And once there’s been serious disruption like that, you’re doing an almost complete rebuild which would be cheaper and quicker (again) with overhead.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Not a good night last night as Arthur Itis was having a party and invited both hips along.

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Sounds like you need an Autodialler added to the alarm system (easy and not too expensive) - if there's wifi in the MRC then you could add an Alexa and indoor camera to check if there are scrotes inbound in the event of an alarm.  Maybe some steel bars across the windows and doors too.

But for a bit of fun you could add a few of these too:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alarm-Security-Burglars-Intruders-Galvanized/dp/B09HHLFMFX/ref=sr_1_3?adgrpid=52044863663&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzOLNzsPk-wIVpGLmCh0DAQ-KEAAYAiAAEgL0wfD_BwE&hvadid=259118489644&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9045983&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=634004155208569021&hvtargid=kwd-436121914751&hydadcr=28148_1724781&keywords=shotgun+alarm&qid=1670313756&sr=8-3

You'll need to add the cost of a mop & bucket though, for when they sh1t themselves.

Unfortunately there is no land line and mobile reception is poor. The alarm was installed after the last break in. They broke into the kitchen as before by removing a pane of glass in the window. Fortunately the layouts and tools are kept at the other end of the building and they would have to get through three locked doors to reach them.  

[Coombe Barton]

Sleep ...

 

A lot better for the past few days as I've completed most of the work (mine and others') that I have deadlines for this term. Stress does that. 

Now sitting completing the remainder, much of which is routine.
 

And correcting a typo which refused to be corrected until I realised that what I was trying to correct was a bit of dust on screen, a d'oh moment.

[Tony_S]

19 minutes ago, pH said:

Underground is generally more reliable and so cheaper to maintain, but (important in the kind of areas where you and I live) at least as vulnerable to serious earthquakes

My brother was the commissioning engineer on a telecoms project in Pakistan. This was a fibre optic link, underground for security purposes. It had just been installed and he was there to make it work when an earthquake introduced a significant vertical displacement breaking the cable. 

[jjb1970]

Well, Sunday is sorted, with a ticket for Yujang Wang with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Santtu-Matias Rouvali at the Southbank bought. Yuja Wang is a wonderful pianist, sometimes people accuse me of living in the past as most of the performances I listen to are older recordings, pianists like Emil Gilels, conductors like George Szell, Karl Bohm and Karajan. However, it's more a reflection of the recording industry and the way many classical labels and performers push out cross-over releases and repetoire I'm not particularly interested in. However I think Yuja Wang is wonderful, she could make a huge amount just churning out the same old same old but she has a very adventurous and interesting repertoire, including promoting contemporary compositions. Her Ligeti performances have been excellent (another contemporary pianist I love is Pierre Laurent Aimard, synonymous with Ligeti) and she is a pianist of rare skill and substance. Really looking forward to it.

[BoD]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

I am off to let Sister Drac (or rather one of her Draclettes) drink take a blood sample. My self test today says hb1ac is about 40..Good..  just hope their test comes back with the same !

I had my bloods tested for my yearly review a fortnight ago.  Follow up is not for another couple of weeks yet - by phone.  Fortunately I can log in to ‘the system’  and see the results for myself.  Hb1ac was 47.  Whilst not ideal it is ‘within’ my target range.  I would obviously prefer it to be lower and I know I have been lax over the last few months so some changes are necessary.  The myriad of other tests were all ‘normal’ apart from two which were ‘Abnormal but expected’. I’m not sure exactly what that means so will query it.  My GP signed the tests off as No further action required.

 

Morning all

 

Chucking it down here and forecast to last until later this afternoon.  Today is one of the days we look after our Grandson so plenty of playtime and other activities to do. I think a nappy may need changing. At least I don’t have Covid then.

[southern42]

' morning all from red dragon land.

Cloudy. Wet. Colder first thing at 3.7C.

 

C cards list done. I guess writing them out will begin after lunch. <<big breath>>

(Some editing tools still absent from the menubar.)

 

Time for a quick toot-on-the-flute. Yesterday, I started adding some twiddly bits to verse 2 beginning with the easier ones since I know how to play them, now. It is putting them into a different sequence of notes that takes the time and concentration, not to mention getting the fingers to get their act together but it is coming along!

 

Polly

[grandadbob]

Sometimes I get taken by surprise.  Cheery young fellow came to look at my front door,  said, "Hmmm, might need a new locking mechanism but I'll have a fiddle with it."  Five minutes of fiddling later it was fixed and ......no charge!!!

A grateful GDB of course offered him a nice "drink" which he tried to refuse but I insisted.  Top lad. 

I then went for a walk to Asda to get some bread but both The Knee and The Hip protested.  I'm certain the cold weather doesn't help at all even though the temperature has now rocketed up by one to 5°C.  It is bright and sunny though.

Got back and The Boss has just made some sausage rolls to accompany lunch with her friends so I decided that they should be tested before unleashing them on other people.  I think they're OK but might need to test a couple more!  😂

Edited December 6, 2022 by grandadbob