Early Risers.

[southern42]

' afternoon all from red dragon land.

Sun and blue sky sneaking out behind the cloud with rain coming up behind. Still 10.8C though.

 

More tabla beats sounded out from the beat box for me to match up to on the flute, this morning,  two groups of two notes posing a finger action problem and, thus, a timing problem with quick double tapping on successive and alternating notes. I cannot blame stiffness or age because when I was younger this sort of stuff was beyond me! Least ways, the length of time required to drum it into me was scarce back then.

 

Click and collect groceries, later, so time to sort out some lunch.

 

Polly

 

[DaveF]

38 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Bear has a policy of keeping even very out of date batteries (any obvious degradation and they're binned though); I simply measure the volts with a DMM and if they're on the money then they're kept.

Otherwise you can easily have situations where a battery very close to being past it's life expiry date gets fitted to a device and then a few days later it's "out of life" yet working rather happily.  I've had batteries that are well in-life yet leak (I'll not buy "JCB" batteries from Home Bargains for this very reason as I've had several showing that problem.)

 

 

That's what I do with ones which are only "a bit" out of date.  These were dated 2012 - 2015.  They didn't show much sign of life.

 

I agree about certain batteries which leak - even Duracell can do that from time to time.

 

David

[TheQ]

5 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Thats not the way they do ‘business’ in Switerland!

Ask Credit Suisse about how to do business...☺️

 

At stupid o'clock, this morning I turned on the TV and it was a programme about the swiss railways.

Just as I started watching. The main line to Germany was blocked by a errant lorry .. on being hit by a train the line was covered in.....

 

 

 

Swiss sausages!!!!

 

Bodgery unlimited...

On removing a couple more under stairs cladding planks I found....

 

That the outer reinforcement beam goes from floor to upstairs floor.

The other two don't or don't sort of.. they are about 8 ft long but the length needed is just over 10ft.

So they just stuck another piece (or two pieces ) on the end and nailed more bits on the side between the two..

 

This has changed the design of the outer bookshelves, much more reinforcement has been added, the stairs are being assisted in staying up by the bookshelves or will be when I've finished. I've also got to change the design of the top of the bookcase to hide the bodgery.

As it is there is already a lot less creaking and groaning from the staircase... Just more from my knees.

 

We had heavy rain this morning, it has been followed by continuous drizzle.

[Gwiwer]

54 minutes ago, PupCam said:

Just remember, it's your NHS and it's there waiting for you ......

But it keeps you waiting for it.  

 

Dr. SWMBO tried to book a GP's appointment today and was told the next available was in May 🤯🤬   She doesn't know whether or not she will be unwell in May yet.  But she does know that her hospital consultant is awaiting blood test results; only the surgery can do the bloods, apparently.  Until that's done her entire medical requirements are being delayed potentially leading to a deterioration in any underlying condition.  

 

Is that why we are called a "Patient"? 

[Gwiwer]

G'dafternoon one and all.  Welcome to Friday and the weekend.  And a happy St. Pat's Day to anyone who chooses to celebrate it.  

 

Another slightly frustrating day at the House of Fun but this time largely thanks to quirks of the rail ticketing systems.  

 

(1) Customer booked to travel yesterday afternoon asked if she could use her ticket this morning.  Yes you can use a pre-purchased / issued ticket if the original date was a strike day but you are asked to travel as close as possible to the booked time.  So no, she could not use the (very busy) 08.28 train when she was booked on the 15.27.  

 

(2) Customer with an m-ticket bought via a popular website / app which masquerades as a rail operator's business.  Booked travel was London to Exeter on the 09.27 but not direct (as out 09.27 is) but via Basingstoke and Reading!  On top of that she had a message via the app stating that "Your train time has changed to 09.28".  The 09.28 is a direct train to Reading.  Then she had further message stating that as her booked train was cancelled she could use the next available later service.  No train was cancelled.  She would have caught the 09.58 to Reading but missed her booked connection to Exeter and was fretting about being charged for a new ticket with or without a penalty fare on top.  I have no idea why the app booked her or messaged her as it did.  The original train ran and would have reached Exeter slightly earlier than the route via Reading.  Even our control room couldn't resolve that.  We had to leave it to the discretion of GWR staff noting that the Trainline (whoops, did I say that) had delayed their customer by at least an hour.  

 

And now.  Friday Rant Mode.  I dropped Dr. SWMBO at a location near Richmond after lunch as a part of her work.  There were, among many other road-users, a few c0ckwombles.  One who reversed from a driveway on the opposite side of the road right across a mini-roundabout and into my path.  A toot on the tooter was acknowledged with a raised middle finger.  

 

On the way back two cyclists were weaving in and out of traffic, lane-changing and jumping red lights as it suited them.  I had got well ahead of them and reached a point where the marked cycle lane was blocked by a (legally-stopped) van unloading furniture.  Only half of the car lane was blocked but as the line of cars slowly got around the obstruction, keeping left to avoid oncoming traffic, one of the cyclists rode very fast up my left-hand side and tried to cut in front around the van.  We might have been six inches apart as I jammed both brake and horn on together.  He took exception to that and yelled something about "Right of way".  Which I had.  Because his lane was fully obstructed and mine wasn't.  Therefore I was proceeding cautiously ahead and any vehicle which undertook me on the left and cut it was in the wrong.  

 

I have been a cyclist for very many years.  I cannot wait for the day when over 16's have to register their bikes and pass a competency test before they ride on the road - and just to be clear this would include an absolute ban on pavement riding unless using a marked shared-use path.  Quite why anyone should be able to get away with flagrant and dangerous disrespectful road use is a major source of frustration.  And frustration breeds anger which can lead to unsafe driving.  We have ANPR in many places now.  How hard would it be to extend that to a bike plate on the rear (as is the case with the trial-scheme e-scooters) for which an annual fee of perhaps £25 was required?  

Rant over.  It is time for a snooze before I need to make the return trip and collect her.  After which it will be time for Friday Drinks.  

 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Not much trouble from arthritis or sciatica at the moment, probably because I am sitting  on a stool that doesn't put pressure on the hips. However being wood and hard it leaves me with a numb bum.

[Winslow Boy]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

But it keeps you waiting for it.  

 

Dr. SWMBO tried to book a GP's appointment today and was told the next available was in May 🤯🤬   She doesn't know whether or not she will be unwell in May yet.  But she does know that her hospital consultant is awaiting blood test results; only the surgery can do the bloods, apparently.  Until that's done her entire medical requirements are being delayed potentially leading to a deterioration in any underlying condition.  

 

Is that why we are called a "Patient"? 

 

What's all this about it being our NHS. I thought the message had got through to everyone that the the NHS is in in fact a scheme to keep highly qualified artists off golf courses and a means of repayment for young persons so that they don't hang around on street corners intimidating other young persons from mugging old ladies.

 

Are you saying this isn't true?

Edited March 17, 2023 by Winslow Boy

[TheQ]

I find Mrs Gwiwers situation with getting appointment odd. In our surgery, if you try to get an appointment for a normal request yes you might wait a couple of weeks. But if you got a request fro a hospital for blood tests, or something else requested by a hospital, you'll be offered something in the next few days, especially as it's the vampire you need for that not a doctor.

 

Just woke after a eyelid inspection, feel rather rough, forepaws are complaining like it's first thing in the morning.

[Ian Abel]

POETS, may NOT happen!!

 

Yesterday, enjoyable rehearsal even though it was !@$!@$!@#$ SNOWING all evening. Very slick roads due to the temperatures forming icy patches.

 

Today, panic ensued at the client as they can't get their Cash Flow statement for the auditors to balance, only a $1M off! Frantically having me try and find what account(s) they've managed to miss from one side or the other ... arrggg...

 

Weekend includes tomorrow evening going to dinner and the theatre with friends.

Sunday I'm off to Jemma and Brendans to watch the F1 race. Mrs, as yet, undecided if she'll tag along.

 

Sodding weather down in temperatures -13c first thing, sunny, -7c the expected high. No precip forecast until Tuesday at the earliest.

 

Carry on.

[The Lurker]

17 minutes ago, Ian Abel said:

 

 

Today, panic ensued at the client as they can't get their Cash Flow statement for the auditors to balance, only a $1M off! Frantically having me try and find what account(s) they've managed to miss from one side or the other ... arrggg...

 

 

I am surprised they did not fudge it through Taxes. That's what everyone else does. 

[Coombe Barton]

... St Patricks Day 2023. Birthdays: today my grandfather would have been 141, my mum 109, and Kerry 20 as she was a stray from Ireland and so we made her official birthday St Patrick’s Day, ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/03/17/new-infections-28-up-in-a-day-raccoon-dog-origins-of-covid-and-opera-helps-long-covid/

[BR traction instructor]

Close of play today…just the flashing to add and front earthworks to do…

 

BeRTIe

Edited March 17, 2023 by BR traction instructor

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I think they do.

I got that impression from @jjb1970's post that they were clever enough to detect an anonymous location via VPN.

17 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

in the few minutes before the system recognized a VPN we found the same flights for less than half the fare they were charging in Singapore

Which I found interesting.

 

There are many examples of regionally sensitive pricing - even separate from local tax or regulatory fee implications.

[New Haven Neil]

Wales.

 

Rained.

 

Is all.

 

[pH]

Here’s our mailman delivering the post today:

 

[polybear]

4 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

I have been a cyclist for very many years.  I cannot wait for the day when over 16's have to register their bikes and pass a competency test before they ride on the road - and just to be clear this would include an absolute ban on pavement riding unless using a marked shared-use path.  

 

Not forgetting compulsory 3rd Party Insurance.  Oh yes, and the rules religiously enforced with decent penalties....

[polybear]

Bear here....

More wielding?  Nope.  Instead the afternoon was taken up by sorting & ordering "BA Fixings, Various" from Amberly Components (they have 16ba fixings, including 1.5mm A/F nuts) and Chronos (they have a smaller range - but a lot of their BA prices are rather good compared to other suppliers - and free postage too).  I took the opportunity to order numerous sizes - prices won't get cheaper in the future that's for sure.  

I also splashed the cash on a second iron to fit the temperature controlled solder station - it'll save having to keep swapping bits (usually when they're still hot....); the plan is for a larger bit in one iron and a much smaller one in the second for delicate work.  

The downside of all this is that Bear waved bye-bye to half a Deltic today.  Poo.

 

Bear's Tool P0rn Tip of the Day:

These a rather useful - basically a short n' dumpy fibreglass brush for cleaning, er, "things" 😉:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172574168007

 

Not only are they cheap & very effective, I've also found they don't shed the dreaded bristles that go everywhere (especially into a Bear's Paws).

Bear gone.

 

 

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

.. St Patricks Day 2023

Another year since my late partner abruptly left this world at the age of 28.  Never an easy day but it's one I generally keep quiet about.  

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, pH said:

Here’s our mailman delivering the post today:

Noting the shorts (in addition to the "Top o' t' mornin" hat), we finally broke 15°C yesterday - our warmest day in 140 days (since late October). Today should be equally nice, though there is a little thin high cloud.

 

Rain is forecast to start again Sunday.

[Ozexpatriate]

35 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

Never an easy day ...

Sorry to hear that Rick. And awkward to be reminded annually by a day of 'festivities'.

[AndyID]

7 hours ago, DaveF said:

 

That's what I do with ones which are only "a bit" out of date.  These were dated 2012 - 2015.  They didn't show much sign of life.

 

I agree about certain batteries which leak - even Duracell can do that from time to time.

 

David

 

For correspondents in USA I have been told that COSTCO's own Kirkland brand batteries are actually made by Duracell. They sell both.

 

This may be an urban myth of course but they both seem to last about the same length of time.

[Dave Hunt]

Today would have been my Dad's 100th birthday party had he not died last June. By one of those spooky coincidences I got a letter this morning from NS&I enclosing a £25 cheque that one of Dad's Premium Bonds has won (I'd decided to keep the bonds until the anniversary of his death).

 

Dave  

[monkeysarefun]

34 and sunny  today and 38 and sunny  tomorrow, and I have the whole weekend to spend with an all-terrain vehicle called a Ford "Courtesy Car" due to the fact that the dealership who were responsible for making good the result of them not using a spanner to tighten up the transmission drain plug didn't bother to call me to say I could pick up my car until 5pm, by which time I was back at  home and  not willing to drive the hour there and back to get my car.

 

There are several south coast beaches I've not been to due to the road down to them being a bit rough for my own car so this is the perfect weather and opportunity to check them out......

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Day worked out just as I thought but fil popped round in his classic Mini Cooper. Not an original from the 60s but one from the late 90s.

I was hoping to visit the modelling room this evening but by the time we’d finished tea it was a bit late and I couldn’t be bothered. A bonus was I managed a small amount of work work.

Sydneys stayed over for a sleepover as we usually take him out on a Saturday morning so it was pointless taking him home.

Swbo watching a bit of tv while I’m listening to Spear of Destiny courtesy of Alexa.

For those going to Ally Pally over the weekend, have a great time and don’t forget your wallet!

Goodnight,

Robert

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. The arthritis is grumbling again so its time to get out the Nurofen. I've now got to find a copy of my dads death certificate though he died more than 32 years ago. We opened a joint account to pay for the shared items such as utilities/council tax etc. and I kept it going after he died. I then had a dispute with the bank where my personal account was held so I  closed it and carried on using the joint account as my personal account. Now they have sent a letter addressed to my dad asking for ID. I contacted the bank and they are making the necessary alterations but require a copy of dads death certificate.