Early Risers.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Some rain overnight but none now.  A breezy day with sunny spells forecast, clouding over this afternoon.  6°C now and may reach 12°C

Got the rest of the lights down at last and everything now packed ready for the loft so that will be done today.  There is Much Aching In The Knee at present, more than usual and it's becoming a bit very annoying. 

Joe's flight was 56 minutes late taking off but made up some time and was only about19 minutes late landing. He's  now back in his flat at UBC.   (always sends messages to update elderly relatives! 😀)

Today nothing too energetic planned except a walk to get some bread.  Will have to see if The Knee will let me get further than the shop as exercise is badly needed because there is an excess baggage situation in the waistline department.  Looks like a reduction/change in fuel intake has also become necessary.  

Would you believe that I've had an email from my energy supplier telling me that they undercharged me for my gas between May 2020 and January 2022!  After all that messing me about with the bills they come up with that.  It's alright though because apparently as it was over 12 months ago they are not allowed to charge for the billing error.  What a load of planks....and that's putting it mildly.  I think a snottocall/gram to the "advanced complaints resolutions specialist" is called for just to let them know what I think of their "efficiency."

Only other thing that needs doing today is to put out the bins later on, Saturday being our designated day this week.

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by grandadbob

[jamie92208]

8 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

Which only goes to prove that In Hertford, Hereford, and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen.

Nor in 'arrogate'

3 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Hey exactly the same thing has happened here but with giant thongs.

Those aren't what I would call thongs.

 

Anyway good moaning from the Chatente where we have established a source of fresh venison and wild boar.  We really are getting accepted by the locals.

 

Apart from that the deccies were taken fown wnd now reside at the top of the stairs.  The room looks rather bare.  It's also warm enough for us not to keep the fire going.  Just use the paraffin  heater for a couple of hours .  Anyway today has been decreed as aa trainspotting day so sandwiches are being made.  My only time constraint is that I need to be at Niort station at 17.35 to pick our friend up.  I'll do my best to have a good day.

 

Jamie

[grandadbob]

I mentioned planks earlier.  It seems there is a "spare" one in the news (again)

[Andrew P]

54 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

I mentioned planks earlier.  It seems there is a "spare" one in the news (again)

I don't pop in here often nowadays, but this caught my eye this morning.😆

 

We need MORE AGREE buttons.🤣

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The wind has dropped overnight but according to the forecast will pick up again later. Its also a full moon this evening and predicted to be clear over much of the country. As for the 'spare plank from th' I get the feeling that the book aimed at an American audience from what has been released so far.

[BSW01]

32 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

As for the 'spare plank from th' I get the feeling that the book aimed at an American audience from what has been released so far.

Well they do say that empty vessels make the most noise!😉

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

A bright but cloudy start to the day here in the northwest corner of England, where the temperature is currently 7C. Today will be back to the usual Friday routine, I shall shortly set off for my walk to the butchers for the weekly meat rations and pork pie for my dinner. Then it’ll be the Trafford for a few more bits and pieces, I’ll also call into WHS to see what they have to tempt me, but I do need some more acrylic paint as well. 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian

[polybear]

2 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Would you believe that I've had an email from my energy supplier telling me that they undercharged me for my gas between May 2020 and January 2022!  After all that messing me about with the bills they come up with that.  It's alright though because apparently as it was over 12 months ago they are not allowed to charge for the billing error. 

 

That's useful to know.....😉

 

Bear here......

Been up since silly o'clock for a 7am visit to Toolstation and Tesco for a raid; in particular I'd run out of Bran Flakes so they're now lighter to the tune of 6 Boxes.  They also had Chrimbo Cake (normally £6-50) on a clearance deal for £1-25 so a couple of those *may* have accidentally fallen into a certain Bear's Trolley as well.  Oops.

After that it was home via a local Plumber's Merchants - I needed a pair of full bore isolation valves and I don't always have much confidence in some of S/F & T/S cheapo offerings as these particular valves can sometimes have a PITA habit of weeping at the valve control; this particular shop also does Gas & Plumbing Services (they serviced Bear's Fire & Boiler rather well a few months back) and I figure that the bits those guys use are probably the same as those sold in the shop, so hopefully OK.  I'll only be using them so I can cut then isolate the pipes to the Radiator in the Hall so it can be removed; once a new Rad. is fitted they'll be turned back on again and probably never be disturbed again.  The price was pretty close to S/F and T/S prices too.

 

Right, Post Office & Chemist to visit.....

Bear gone.

[grandadbob]

Re backdated energy bills, this may be useful:

 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-energy-back-billing-rules#:

 

A walk has been walked, actually more limped,  The Knee is now extremely painful and The Hip has come out in sympathy.  Only just over 2000 steps which is nottalot.

Went to Asda and they're still flogging Three Barrels brandy at £13 a bottle so I picked up another one to add to the two in stock.  They also had packs of 4 mince pies for 38p so I couldn't resist a couple of packs of those.  It would have been most remiss of me not to take advantage of these kind offers ......did I mention excess waistline baggage earlier?  Note to self:  Must do better and find some willpower.

Time for some coffee and then I will begin the ascent of Mount Loftladder.

[southern42]

' morning all from red dragon land.

Woke up this morning and thought - hmmm...shepherd's warning!

Needless to say, it is now wet out.

 

A week ago, click n collect groceries delivered substitute pears - two bags of small yellow and red ones as hard as nails. I put half in the fridge and kept the others out to ripen. By yesterday, there was not a lot of difference in the ripening ones. Crumble (no, not chrimbo!) time! So, I bunged the pears in boiling, then cold, water, removed their skins (not as easy as it looked in the video!), quartered them, and layered them on top of some defrosted "Imperfect" summer fruits (blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, red currants, and blackcurrants) that have been lazing about in the freezer for quite awhile. A quartered plum in the middle flattened out the top ready for the crumble. Tasty! Definitely worth the effort and making again...

 

Toot on the flute next, after which I will think out the rest of the day - so many things I want to do.

 

Keep warm / cool. Be good. Enjoy the lightbulb moments...

Polly

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, southern42 said:

hard as nails. 

We had some bananas like that recently. They looked ripe, but the peel was very difficult to remove and the fruit was woody.  Only a quick blast in the microwave seemed to make them even slightly edible. 

[DaveF]

This morning is sunny, mild and windy.  Various chores have been completed and all the Christmas things are back in their boxes in the loft.  I've even polished some of the furniture.

 

Yesterday started with a trip to the surgery to drop off my poo sample which took a few minutes as the receptionist had to check I had put the date etc on the package before they send it off.  Apparently it is to look for specific bacteria in the colon etc.  I should get the results from it and the blood tests next week - if I hear nothing it means all is well.

 

It took a bit longer than I had expected so I didn't have time to return home to pick up the church keys, I had to go straight there.  Fortunately someone else came with a set of keys or the service would have started late if I'd had to return home to pick up mine.

 

Back  home I spent some time sorting out photos for a talk I am giving in February and making sure I know where and when I took them.  Evri delivered a parcel, the only problem was that the parcel had not beed sealed properly before despatch by the seller.  Some table mats I'd ordered had gone astray, when I told the courier he said that it explained why they found 2 packs of them at the office that morning.  It will be sorted out in due course, if they are undamaged he will redeliver, if damaged they will go back to the firm for replacement.

 

Later I developed a migraine which happens after any period of stress (ie Christmas and New Year etc so had a lie down while the tablets worked.

 

By the evening it had gone away so settled down and read quietly and watched a bit of TV.

 

David

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by DaveF

[Tony_S]

11 minutes ago, DaveF said:

Apparently it is to look for specific bacteria in the colon etc.

I had occasional bacterial tests done years ago when I first had bowel problems. Then no more stool sample tests until a few years ago. The faecal calprotectin test now available is incredibly good at identifying inflammation. Blood tests are interesting. When I was first unwell the standard ESR test implied I had no inflammation,  later on the CRP test definitely showed there was. 

Edited January 6, 2023 by Tony_S

[polybear]

2 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Went to Asda and they're still flogging Three Barrels brandy at £13 a bottle so I picked up another one to add to the two in stock. 

 

Bear buys bottles of Ribena at £1-50 when on special; GDB buys Brandy......🤣

[grandadbob]

Don’t like Ribena! 😀 However I do like blackcurrants especially in jam.

[The Lurker]

What about creme de cassis in a Kir Royale?

[The White Rabbit]

4 hours ago, BSW01 said:

Well they do say that empty vessels make the most noise!😉

 

There is a quote (attributed to many famous/infamous people, sometimes extremely dubiously) that 'it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt'. Perhaps we ought to teach this a little more at skool? 

[jjb1970]

On fruit, if you have deep pockets and are able to I recommend Japanese fruit. In some East and South East Asian countries it is considered very considerate and respectful to give people a gift of good fruit, and Japanese fruit is exceptionally good. I dunno what percentage gets pulped or gets skimmed off to industrial consumers but the fruit sold as fruit in high end fruit shops is perfect, blemish free and with superb texture and taste. However, it's not cheap. I love Japanese kyoho grapes but the Japanese ones are a luxury. China grows a lot of kyoho grapes but while they're very good as everyday grapes they're not like the good stuff from Japan.

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,

Two barrow loads of rocks/ bricks/ broken concrete, moved to loom shed site.

Old under stairs cupboard demolished, 114 years of dust disturbed. It was obvious the cupboard was built after the house using the left overs from the house build.

A few things found that changes the design of the new cupboard slightly.

The changes caused a few discussions on decoration and layout of hallway furniture.

 

Stage 1 tomorrow is to lift half the old carpet, underlay, gripper rods and prepare the area for a laminate floor. The floor has been chosen and I will go fetch on Monday.. one problem there are 12 Weeks of road works starting outside The big orange shed, they are installing more cycle lanes.

 

Ben took me for a long walk, he was of course paddling quite often. Then he made a mistake and went in Deep one up to his ohh that's cold.. and rapidly climbed out again...

 

[Sidecar Racer]

6 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

As for the 'spare plank from th' I get the feeling that the book aimed at an American audience from what has been released so far.

 

 Well a vast number seemed to believe everything a certain President said .   😎

[45156]

Afternoon All,

 

Sorry for absence, it couldn't be helped - laptop just needed for so many other matters - much skipping has happened.

 

43 years ago today, 30747 and I got wed on a very snowy January 6th in 1979, and it was a very close call due to the weather, and also to the fact that the ring was bespoke, and being made by a jeweller in Brighton, and the day I was due to collect it, the Brighton line was closed due to the Patcham collision.  It's fair to say that we've had many ups and downs since, but have managed to stay the course, and both now are retired and moved to somewhere that we both want to live.

 

No comments from this quarter about recent royal revalations, other than to say that it has kn*ckered our attempt to watch or record a new Midsomer Murders on Sunday, as it appears that the royal takes precedence, and our recorder is now showing a scheduling error.

 

I haven't seem any comments about the Apprentice, as I have skipped - also managed to avoid any spoilers on the radio - so once I logoff, I am off to watch the recording.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[New Haven Neil]

Um, forgot to post this morning.  Too busy building hunger for the Old Farts club brunch.

 

Only 5 today, the flu, not woo flu, lurgy has claimed one, another just recovered from it, one has some kind of meningitis that isn't the nasty one apparently.  One working - the 'youngster'.

 

Keith that had the flu reckons it was actual flu, not man-flu, he has never felt so ill with it previously - he's 72.

 

Rattly old Mamod stationary engine returned to its owner, he's as pleased as punch it now runs.  it is pretty worn, but they're just toys really.

 

 

[Ian Abel]

POETS/BIN day!

 

No BIN trucks yesterday, everyone waited/watched in anticipation, to no avail. <sigh>

 

Nothing much else happened. The snow is actually becoming a problem here (horrors!!) mostly because there's less and less space to pile it up as the plows come by.

Today they have additional equipment out pushing the snow onto the front garden areas, to get the streets wide enough for the school buses room to navigate.

 

Jemma finished her OE on the 767-400 yesterday and since her January schedule doesn't start until 17th., they tagged her (her choice to accept/pick it up) for a round trip to Heathrow tomorrow as they're short of pilots, lots calling in sick with this winter weather.

I don't even want to tell you how much she'll get paid for the overtime-type flight, it's staggering!! 🤯🤪

She'll drop Whitney off tomorrow morning before heading to JFK to start the trip.

 

Tonight, our first Zoom happy hour evening with our friends who've now deserted to Arizona for the winter, whimps  😀

Tomorrow, a concerted effort to get all Christmas decoration down and packed away.

 

-14c and sunny first thing, high of -8 expected.

 

Enjoy the start of the weekend

[grandadbob]

3 hours ago, The Lurker said:

What about creme de cassis in a Kir Royale?

 

Not really a cocktail drinker Lurks and I'm not that keen on shampoo. 🤪

 

Mount Loftladder was conquered with no mishaps so all traces of Christmas have now been hidden away.  

The Knee still hurts and I've now decided that I will be in agony for weeks as Management "swore" at me earlier.  She used rude words like painting and decorating!  I will admit that some needs doing but I'm not in the mood at the moment .....never am really.

Tonight there are a couple of programmes "we" want to watch on the box so it looks like I'll be recording the rugby for later viewing after Herself goes to bed.

[Coombe Barton]

2 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Mount Loftladder was conquered with no mishaps

Where is grandadbob and what have you done with him? :)

 

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by Coombe Barton
typo - what else