Early Risers.

[New Haven Neil]

A rather grumbly Fraggle - had an awful night, so little has been achieved today, a trip out for lunch and later for a brew, it the sun no less - sunshine, 17c, wow!  So I haven't actually seen any of it, as the telly hasn't been on.

 

I'm generally supportive of the working Royalty, but CIIIR isn't our King - I don't mean in the way the currently anti-royalists mean, he really isn't our King over here.  He  is the Lord of Man, as was his ma, but not the King.  One of those odd procedural things I suppose - but it is seen in that the Queen/King do not wear a crown on our Fraggly bank notes.

 

 

[Coombe Barton]

... why, arriving in the Abbey, did Bozo look like a sack of potatoes tied up with string? ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/05/06/no-zoe-data-but-a-warning-for-the-next-pandemic/

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Bear feels that if he was guilty of the alleged incident then the alleged victim would've held out for justice, rather than being paid off and letting him walk. 

I'm afraid you don't factor in the system of jurisprudence as it regards civil, rather than criminal law. As an example (political) consider the recent settlement between a supplier of voting equipment and a large media company. Everyone *knows* what happened. Essentially the same result. 

 

The result of civil lawsuits is sufficient monetary damages to pay the lawyers.  A settlement is preferable to actually trying the case, because even if you win, a successful verdict might be reduced or even overturned on appeal and either way it will take years to see any payments. With a settlement however, the payout is deterministic.

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

he is also King of Jamaica

Not for very much longer, I'd wager. Barbados cut the cord in 2021.

 

Edited May 6, 2023 by Ozexpatriate
Date

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

I suspect that when the big picture is looked at in retrospect the Coronation will have paid for itself.

I am of the opinion (absent data) that the ROI* on the firm of Windsor LLC is a net positive to the British economy, if not necessarily the Exchequer. It all depends on which firm of accountants is engaged to run the numbers.

 

* Return on Investment: There's a pun in there somewhere (le roi)

 

I'll reserve any opinions on the political efficacy of a constitutional monarchy in the former colonies - as distinct from the actual kingdom.

 

Signed, 

 

Still (technically) a subject of HM the King

[skipepsi]

17 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

... why, arriving in the Abbey, did Bozo look like a sack of potatoes tied up with string? ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/05/06/no-zoe-data-but-a-warning-for-the-next-pandemic/

The honest answer is he is a sack of .... and dressed up.

[Ozexpatriate]

11 hours ago, Grizz said:

Obviously the ‘work from home culture’ would not have happened as it did, certainly in the UK, without Covid. But the technology was obviously there to enable it to happen, otherwise it wouldn’t have. 

...

I do anticipate some slight hostile comments though.

Hostile? No, but ...

 

I managed multiple remote workers before the pandemic. The technology was there and we used it. (Web-conferencing, meaning telephone + screen, rather than video.) As a manager it was sometimes very difficult to determine whether employees were actually working*. At the end of the day results were all that mattered but it's a very squishy area.

 

* The same can be true of people at their desks at the office of course, but less so.

 

Much depends on the nature of the work involved. If it is truly all individual with occasional status meetings, then full remote can be effective - and prized by those avoiding the time/expense/tedium/dangers/lost productivity/minimized work-life balance of commuting.

 

Some collaborative work is effective remotely - we used to do a lot of presentation development/tuning in screen + telephone web-conferences.

 

For engineering design teams where physical proximity in problem solving can be more effective than web-conferences and messaging apps like Slack I don't think there's a real substitute for colocation.

 

As reported here, an engineering company with a large local presence is struggling with this - trying not to alienate workers who have had a taste of the good life in remote working through the pandemic.

[Gwiwer]

4 hours ago, polybear said:

It would've been interesting if the Train Drivers had decided to go on strike today - though I suspect that would've been one humongous PR disaster.

Does the crime of treason still carry the penalty of committal to the Tower of London?

 

I can't speak for the driver's union but the other mob have already shown they are prepared to avert a national PR disaster by changing the dates of their "action" when they learned that it conflicted with the national "poppy day" collections at railway stations.  

 

 

[pH]

I completely agree with this notice seen at a kids’ soccer tournament this morning. It’s just a pity that it all has to be said:

 

[Winslow Boy]

Bit like the signs they now have to stick at the edge of cliffs saying Danger long drop.

[Gwiwer]

5 hours ago, Sidecar Racer said:

if minorities of any ethnicity don't want

to be involved that's  it .

Point agreed and accepted.  So long as those minority ethnicities do not them complain about being under-represented in what area.  

 

It's a few years now since I was sent on a workplace training course to learn about equality and diversity.  I sat, I listened and probably learned a few things.  We had reached the final wrap-up when the course leader asked "Are there any other questions?"

 

"Yes. "

"This course has been about equality and diversity.  There are characteristics we cannot see such as sexuality and identifiers.  But why, specifically on this course, is every delegate white, and with one exception male, in a land where the population is very much more diverse, about 50% female and when we are here because we work in an industry which is well-known for being a large employer of non-white people from many backgrounds?"  

 

Cue awkward shuffling by the leader.  And various murmurings from around the room.  A few handshakes were offered and thanks proffered as we left the room in an otherwise uncomfortable silence.  

 

They never sent me on another course.  

 

 

[Gwiwer]

2 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Bit like the signs they now have to stick at the edge of cliffs saying Danger long drop.

Those signs are not an invitation to bare ones' buttocks and crouch over the cliff-edge in Position No.2 to test the drop! 

[Winslow Boy]

1 minute ago, Gwiwer said:

Those signs are not an invitation to bare ones' buttocks and crouch over the cliff-edge in Position No.2 to test the drop! 

 

To be honest I always suspected that the signs weren't there for the person ignoring them but instead for the person enforcing the restriction - no sign therefore yes its OK to jump off.

[Grizz]

1 minute ago, Winslow Boy said:

Bit like the signs they now have to stick at the edge of cliffs saying Danger long drop.

 
yeah that is so true…. But for billions of years the drop has never been the real problem…. the real problem is the ground… that is most definitely the real problem…. Well part of the problem… if you include gravity…lYes the ground and gravity…. That is the real problem……not too shabby considering how much anaesthetic I have consumed this evening….got to go now brefore I pass out….

 

Nighty night all….🤪….it has been a lovely day.

[monkeysarefun]

18 hours ago, Barry O said:

 

 

@monkeysarefun well your PM and the Kiwi PM are both here.. but are the Oz press still naked by the letter the soon to be crowned king sent to the Maori on Waitangi day.. but nowt to Oz on the non Australian Day??

 

@polybear..

 

That never even made the major news here, I only know about it because you broke the story on ER's!

 

Being this far away from corporate HQ the Royals play no real part in our life other than as  figures on Telly and in Womens Magazines and the occasional Royal visit so its going to live or die here based purely on the personalities that star in it.

 

Now that Sir Prince Philip (Mad Monk Tony Abbott knighted him for us), the Queen and Harry aren't around, the rest of them are so wishy washy and non-descript that  interest is pretty much zero.  Its like a long running TV show suddenly lost its 3 main characters and the extras had to fill in. 

 

 Watching the bit I saw last night, the most interesting of the current crop seems to be that lilttle Louis kid, maybe he could do a tour here to get things going again.

 

Oh yeah, The lady with the sword was a highlight too.

 

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Winslow Boy]

5 minutes ago, Grizz said:

 
yeah that is so true…. But for billions of years the drop has never been the real problem…. the real problem is the ground… that is most definitely the real problem…. Well part of the problem… if you include gravity…lYes the ground and gravity…. That is the real problem……not too shabby considering how much anaesthetic I have consumed this evening….got to go now brefore I pass out….

 

Nighty night all….🤪….it has been a lovely day.

 

Yes but before they gave a name to it the poor sod had no idea what to call the thing that was making him fall. So not only did he know he was going to die/horribly injured he just didn't know why. Isn't progress wonderful.

[Ozexpatriate]

21 minutes ago, pH said:

I completely agree with this notice ... It’s just a pity that it all has to be said

There's a story in the news of a Florida man who punched and knocked out the 63-year old umpire of his son's high school baseball game.

[monkeysarefun]

16 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

he decision makers don’t use public transport, the middle-class and much of the working-class have independent transport means, so the strikes are really going to hurt the poor and vulnerable the most. A bit of an own goal, I would say.

 

 

 

But you'd assume a knock-on effect - those who usually get the train have to get the bus or drive themselves and thus clog up the roads causing disruption for all commuters and travellers?

 

Here during industrial disputes rail workers have been turning  off the ticket barriers instead of striking, hurts the government but everyone else benefits! win win.

Edited May 6, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Sidecar Racer]

13 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

Point agreed and accepted.  So long as those minority ethnicities do not them complain about being under-represented in what area. 

 

 That was a big thing though , now it seems  to have gone the other way and from things like tv adverts

 it looks like all families are not only  of different ethnicities but have adopted children from a third one .

 

 Okay I know and except that it does happen , but it's become a bit obvious that it's all playing

to the situation you have highlighted .

 

 Many years ago the next door neighbours daughter had married a great guy from the

West Indies , possibly Jamaica , but they lived 'oop north' so there was the situation of Black Dad,

White Mum and slightly less dark son who spoke with a broad Bolton accent .   😀

 

[Ozexpatriate]

In the (so-called) "sport of kings" today:

 

CNN: 7 horses have died at Churchill Downs since the start of Kentucky Derby week

 

The mile and a quarter, "fastest two minutes in sports" is yet to be run. (There were commercials on that channel as I typed but just called 'riders up'). The broadcast for a two minute event lasts five hours (reminding me of another event* today) and still has most of an hour to go.

 

* That one has a post-match commentary show on presently. That is nauseatingly unwatchable.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

It’s been a very busy for both of us today. I made a batch of almond scones this morning, it only takes about an hour and a half from start to finish but the end result is well worth it. Despite having be told yesterday that the gift shop in Dunham Massey would be open, when we got there it wasn’t! Sheila was very disappointed, but my wallet was. After dinner I spent an hour on the computer in the office and then started preparing the vegetables for tonight’s vegetarian lasagna, I made a huge batch of the filling, big enough for 2 more portions to be saved and frozen for future use. After tea, we opened a bottle of Merlot and watched some recorded TV.

[monkeysarefun]

11 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear feels that if he was guilty of the alleged incident then the alleged victim would've held out for justice, rather than being paid off and letting him walk. 

Monkeys feels that if he was innocent of the alleged incident then he would have held out for justice rather than paying for it to go away  and  thus have  it forever hanging over his head causing him to be banned from everything for ever more and totally bugg3ring up his life.

Edited May 7, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[monkeysarefun]

9 hours ago, grandadbob said:

There are various figures being quoted for the cost of the Coronation of £50 million up to £100 million.  

 

Well the flypast wouldnt have cost much!  That's the bit I was waiting for. 

 

Should have known when I turned it on and saw the umbrellas.

 

 

(Written in Sydney - where it's raining at the moment too!)

Edited May 7, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[monkeysarefun]

12 hours ago, TheQ said:

The exaggerated expense often includes military wages who would have been paid anyway and get nothing extra for it.

 

 

I was working at Maritime HQ in Sydney when the Tony Bullimore rescue happened.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/from-the-archives-1997-yachtsman-tony-bullimore-defies-death-20191219-p53li6.html

 

So much whinging by certain in the media etc about the cost (I think it was $6million) and how they should bill him, completely ignoring the fact that servicepersons wages etc that they were factoring in were paid anyway,  or that regular exercises replicating that situation cost as much, and that the experience gave those involved and those in charge invaluable experience and knowledge about how to conduct rescues in the future. For instance the P3 Orions were operating at the extreme limits of their range and were taking off completely overloaded with fuel, it initially  wasn't sure if they would get lift before the end of the runway. (in fact I seem to recall something about them having to take off in the early hours because the heat of the day made a difference,  such were the limits they were flying at...)  That kind of thing is never exercised due to safety concerns etc, so having to do it in real life was a unique opportunity for all. 

 

The naval  guys I worked with reported how when they walked down the street in uniform at lunchtime afterwards they were amazed at the number of times they were congratulated and hugged and so on by random passersby so the rescue had immense public support, just not amongst the paid-to-whinge in the Murdoch empire.

Edited May 7, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[monkeysarefun]

Speaking of rescues, they probably found her by the drunken singing.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/missing-woman-found-in-high-country-after-surviving-five-days-on-lollies-wine-20230505-p5d67a.html