Early Risers.

[Gwiwer]

In other news .....

 

We were up at 04.30 in order to get Dr. SWMBO onto the 06.03 train for London so as to be at a 13.00 meeting.  It won't happen.  

The line suffered overnight flooding and it is the morning after a strike day.  Her train is five carriages not ten and was overrun at Exeter by hordes trying to board.  That caused a 20-minute delay.  Now it has been diverted the Great Way Round owing to too much water over the tracks at Athelney.  Not just via Bristol but the longer way round via Parkway to boot.  she has just reached Swindon when she should have been into Paddington 20 minutes ago.  At least it's a 125mph electrified route all the way from Parkway rather than the 80mph or so on diesel up the Berks & Hants.  

 

Ah the joys ......

[monkeysarefun]

4 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

 

That could work, but be careful with wording. My advice would be that given how much it costs relative to what can happen if not properly done would be pay for some time with a solicitor. It'll cost and good ones know their value but it's peanuts compared to the cost for beneficiaries if it goes wrong.

 

 

I have a son and heir so I am committed to passing my earthly stuff to him, ( and he'll most likely just take the house, my superannuation and my ute and send the rest to Lifeline )  but if I had no one, I could either be all down about it which is self-destructive, or I could think up fun ways to get people to demean themselves in order  to get at it.

 

May I proffer this scene from the 1970 film "The Magic Christian" starring Ringo Starr and Peter Sellers as one way that may tempt @polybear as a method of getting  rid of his estate once he drops off of the twig??

 

 

Edited December 4, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[jjb1970]

I am in the 'enjoy what you have' camp. I  didn't get anything from my parents and didn't want anything, my father died before retiring and I wanted my mother to spend whatever time she had doing what she enjoyed without living with an aim of passing stuff on. 

That caused a lot of messiness as some accused me of shafting them by advocating that it was my mother's money to do with as she pleased. Money brings out the worst in people.  I  don't want this to sound conceited and arrogant but I was better paid than my parents by my mid 20's and in a whole different world by my early 30's, if anything it was me who should have been supporting my mother. That however was used to criticise me, the 'it's all right for you' sort of argument. My ripost to which was they'd had an education and a safe and stable upbringing, if they'd blown that so they were desperate for an old lady's money they should have been looking in a mirror. I hate difficult conversations in my private life, I am well paid to have difficult conversations on a daily basis but that's the last thing I want at home. However the flip side of all that practice is I am really not bothered about it if I can't avoid it and have skin like a rhino.

[monkeysarefun]

4 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

it's been in Truss-land

 

 

Jeez surely she wasn't around for long enough to rename the place after her?

 

 

 

(This pic is a perfect example of why we always say to UK visitors when it is raining "Well, I see you brought the weather with you!")

Edited December 4, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Dave Hunt]

4 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I helped dispose of the rail related collection of a former club member. ......  Believe it or not there was a Portescap there. 

 

I'll have that one too.

 

Dave

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

remove anything from the car that shouldn’t be there for tomorrow’s MoT and service. 

Let me guess -  Blow-off valve, burnout rims, and cherry bomb exhaust?

Edited December 4, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Dave Hunt]

4 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

 I think a big part of attitudes in Singapore is probably down to Lee Kuan Yew, I remember when Private Eye pretty much put him in the same category as Saddam Hussein and the Ayatollah as an authoritarian dictator, which in a sense he probably was but he made it a central pillar of government policy to sell a forward looking Singapore rather than dwelling on the past (he also had quite a complex relationship with Britain I think which defied simplistic categorisation as either pro- or anti-). 

 

When I was in Singapore in 1968-1970 we were basically preparing for handing over to Lee Kuan Yew and his people. All the Singaporeans that I had dealings with at that time, which included a neighbour who was chief of homicide in the police force and went on to be a government minister, were friendly and seemed pro British with no grudges or axes to grind. Certainly the people who would become the basis of the Singaporean air force were in that category. When we disbanded three of the four squadrons at Tengah in 1970, leaving just 74 Squadron Lightnings to continue for another year, we were thanked both officially and in private for our presence in Singapore, which had enabled the Singaporeans to establish their own machinery for government in a timescale that meant they could get it right without having to rush.

 

Dave    

[monkeysarefun]

38 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

When I was in Singapore in 1968-1970 we were basically preparing for handing over to Lee Kuan Yew and his people. All the Singaporeans that I had dealings with at that time, which included a neighbour who was chief of homicide in the police force and went on to be a government minister, were friendly and seemed pro British with no grudges or axes to grind. Certainly the people who would become the basis of the Singaporean air force were in that category. When we disbanded three of the four squadrons at Tengah in 1970, leaving just 74 Squadron Lightnings to continue for another year, we were thanked both officially and in private for our presence in Singapore, which had enabled the Singaporeans to establish their own machinery for government in a timescale that meant they could get it right without having to rush.

 

Dave    

 

 

We do a lot of joint exercises with the Singaporeans amongst others. I do recall one back in the early 2000's. Me and my mate (sorry - My mate and I)  were up in RAAF Darwin installing some software in preparation for Ex SomethingOr Other.  The server room in those innocent times was in a building that also housed whatever that room is  - its  name escapes me -  that flight crew go to after they come in off the flight line. Once flight crew got into that room they were free to wander through the whole building. 

 

It was a 60''s vintage building and had those old-skool fake wood interior office wall panels   that had the top 12 inches or so as glass windows.   Anyhoo, we were working away when something made us look around behind us. In those windows we saw a combination of digital cameras being held up trying to take pictures, and  Asian heads appearing and disappearing repeatedly as they jumped up and down trying to see what we were doing. Obviously the Singapore Airforce contingent had arrived!

 

Equally fun is when the Indonesians arrive for a friendly visit. One of their "special"  Hercs invariably has engine trouble and has  to test it out by circling endlessly over RAAF Glenbrook and nearby  RAAF Richmond for some reason.

 

. Meanwhile other Indonesian officers get souvenir pictures of themselves on the base . Strangely these are never taken in front of the spectacular  backdrop of the  city skyline that we have, nor in the extravagant ornamental gardens and fish pond with fountain, but always seem to be in front of  the non-descript chapel building , which just happens to have an antenna array behind it. weird.

Edited December 4, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[New Haven Neil]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

Jeez surely she wasn't around for long enough to rename the place after her?

 

I normally suffix mention of the upper reaches of NHN Towers with 'no, not that one', take it as read please!

[polybear]

3 hours ago, DaveF said:

I asked about leaving things to a charity, the solicitor suggested that it might be sensible to give to them while I am alive and not to leave a bequest unless I was sure about what I was doing because of the issues others have already mentioned. 

 

 

I wonder if it's possible to include a clause in a Will which states that "if any scrote dare challenge my Will then any bequest to them is immediately forfeit?

 

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

Similarly.  

 

Dr. SWMBO gets 100% with a request, known to her, that she considers my sister, nephews and my chosen charity namely the RNLI.  The modelling stuff would very likely go through an auction house rather than a box-shifter.  The local shop, well-known to at least most of us here, doesn't deal in second-hand items at all. 

 

 

One potential issue there:  If something were to happen to you both simultaneously (eg Car Accident) then IIRC the Law considers that the older person predeceased the younger - in which case SWMBO would effectively inherit all your estate.  However, the "request" is merely that and I very much suspect not legally binding, meaning all would be distributed i.a.w. SWMBO's Will.

It may be that there's a Survivorship Clause in your Will:

"SWMBO gets the lot (with the request that....) on condition that she survives me by 30(?) days, otherwise it all goes to any Poly that Gwiwer happens to know.........

[southern42]

' morning all from red dragon land.

Cold 3C. Wet.

 

 Yesterday's online jobbie for lil sis done with one minute on keyboard, another on wotsapp exchanging information. I had two square-but-not-quite-square photos to put on two square items with a warning that the image going over the inside dotted lines may not print. So I messed around with a smaller non square image on top of the same image zoomed out to the edges of the placement square thus giving a border. It took awhile but I got them done. It meant messing around using a 2-photo image option rather than a 1-photo option but being used to using multi images helped immensely.

 

This morning was my third winter's-sit-on-the-floor-in-front-of-the-fire toot on the flute session. Beginning with a drag-Henry-around-the-floor routine, and getting things into place before I start, plus the warmth from the fire, helps get me in the mood - so far, anyway. The key to these sessions is the beat box. One intention - be able to play along with it! Not as fast as on the tutor's video, I started at 27 beats per minute on Saturday but have settled more comfortably at 29 bpm (4 notes to a beat).

I was quite very pleased to play the first line in three rounds of continuously playing it 7 times. After a while of trying to get it right, I finished playing the second line when I completed one continuous round of playing 7 times. At that point, confirming I am on the right track, at last, and making me feel optimistic about the next four lines, and on a high after I had done it, I decided to stop and put everything away.

 

This afternoon, I shall be working on my own online project...

but mugadecaf first, eh?

 

 

Take care. Be good. Keep nice and warm/cool (select appropriate option).

Polly

 

Edited December 4, 2023 by southern42
typo/predictive text

[jjb1970]

43 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

We do a lot of joint exercises with the Singaporeans amongst others. I do recall one back in the early 2000's. Me and my mate (sorry - My mate and I)  were up in RAAF Darwin installing some software in preparation for Ex SomethingOr Other.  The server room in those innocent times was in a building that also housed whatever that room is  - its  name escapes me -  that flight crew go to after they come in off the flight line. Once flight crew got into that room they were free to wander through the whole building. 

 

It was a 60''s vintage building and had those old-skool fake wood interior office wall panels   that had the top 12 inches or so as glass windows.   Anyhoo, we were working away when something made us look around behind us. In those windows we saw a combination of digital cameras being held up trying to take pictures, and  Asian heads appearing and disappearing repeatedly as they jumped up and down trying to see what we were doing. Obviously the Singapore Airforce contingent had arrived!

 

Equally fun is when the Indonesians arrive for a friendly visit. One of their "special"  Hercs invariably has engine trouble and has  to test it out by circling endlessly over RAAF Glenbrook and nearby  RAAF Richmond for some reason.

 

. Meanwhile other Indonesian officers get souvenir pictures of themselves on the base . Strangely these are never taken in front of the spectacular  backdrop of the  city skyline that we have, nor in the extravagant ornamental gardens and fish pond with fountain, but always seem to be in front of  the non-descript chapel building , which just happens to have an antenna array behind it. weird.

 

The funny thing there is that Singapore is paranoid about security, even commercial airports and ports and train depots are protected places and photography is prohibited. And not 'prohibited but as long as you're not wearing a Chinese army uniform and taking pictures of our F15's it'll be OK' but actually prohibited.

 

They have to be realistic about smartphone cameras but if you are in a port or the perimeter or in the terminal of Changi airport with an actual camera you will be monitored and they enforce the rules. I sometimes go to Tanah Merah ferry terminal to photograph departures from Changi, in the car park, more than once security has came out and told me snapping the airliners is fine but don't take pictures of the ferry terminal (you can't see the airport from the ferry terminal as there's a tree line hiding it).

 

Yet, when they have open days you can photograph anything. When me and the boy went to Paya Lebar AFB open day you could walk right up to their G550 AEW, F15, F16, A330MRTT, C130, AH64D, S70 and other aircraft and photograph anything. Close up of all the odd looking target designators and electro-optical units on the F15SG or the bulges and antennae on the G550? No problem. Pictures of the base? Go ahead. Yet any other day you'd be arrested.

 

More oddly, when I was in Beijing Capital airport a few weeks ago I asked the airport Police if I could take pics and they seemed to think I was a bit odd for asking and said fine. I took loads of pictures with my mirrorless and nobody batted an eye lid. If I did that at Changi I'd be on shaky ground and they don't like it if you get a camera out (strictly speaking, you are allowed to photograph the aircraft, but not the terminal or airfield). Ditto ships, there are no rules against photographing ships but photography of the ports and terminals is prohibited even though the Internet is full of photographs showing just about every detail (half of them put out by the port authority). They're super paranoid about Jurong Island and the LNG terminal yet they have a large diorama model of the LNG terminal in the mritime gallery at Marina South Pier with photogaphs of the model explicitly allowed. It's a bit poor when Communist China is less paranoid about security than Singapore. 

[monkeysarefun]

14 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

 

The funny thing there is that Singapore is paranoid about security, even commercial airports and ports and train depots are protected places and photography is prohibited. And not 'prohibited but as long as you're not wearing a Chinese army uniform and taking pictures of our F15's it'll be OK' but actually prohibited.

 

They have to be realistic about smartphone cameras but if you are in a port or the perimeter or in the terminal of Changi airport with an actual camera you will be monitored and they enforce the rules. I sometimes go to Tanah Merah ferry terminal to photograph departures from Changi, in the car park, more than once security has came out and told me snapping the airliners is fine but don't take pictures of the ferry terminal (you can't see the airport from the ferry terminal as there's a tree line hiding it).

 

Yet, when they have open days you can photograph anything. When me and the boy went to Paya Lebar AFB open day you could walk right up to their G550 AEW, F15, F16, A330MRTT, C130, AH64D, S70 and other aircraft and photograph anything. Close up of all the odd looking target designators and electro-optical units on the F15SG or the bulges and antennae on the G550? No problem. Pictures of the base? Go ahead. Yet any other day you'd be arrested.

 

More oddly, when I was in Beijing Capital airport a few weeks ago I asked the airport Police if I could take pics and they seemed to think I was a bit odd for asking and said fine. I took loads of pictures with my mirrorless and nobody batted an eye lid. If I did that at Changi I'd be on shaky ground and they don't like it if you get a camera out (strictly speaking, you are allowed to photograph the aircraft, but not the terminal or airfield). Ditto ships, there are no rules against photographing ships but photography of the ports and terminals is prohibited even though the Internet is full of photographs showing just about every detail (half of them put out by the port authority). They're super paranoid about Jurong Island and the LNG terminal yet they have a large diorama model of the LNG terminal in the mritime gallery at Marina South Pier with photogaphs of the model explicitly allowed. It's a bit poor when Communist China is less paranoid about security than Singapore. 

 

 

Military exercises -  its all fun and games! They work  both ways, Singapore etc gets to come here and exercise in huge battle spaces while we get to check out their latest stuff. Underneath  all the friendly joint-exercise good feeling stuff Its understood that everyone will be doing their best to check out what the others have.

 

There  was a massive panic here  a few years ago,   our Defence Secret Network   was run on infrastructure owned  by a company that the Singaporean government paid way above the ticket price to buy.  Much scrambling and panic to get it back in Australian hands, annoyingly the government of the day had veto rights on  the  sale but for some reason the relevant minister couldn't see the issue with  our national secret network running on wires   that were now  owned by Singapore.   I assume he now has a lucrative consultancy over there. 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

which just happens to have an antenna array behind it. weird.

It would be so tempting to place a few antenna that looked impressive and new but were just decoys. 

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,

 

Started filling in pension final paperwork, most of it is info they already have..

 

Like name and address... So who did they send it too?

 

Paperwork of MRC accounts done,

 

Bills of MRC done,

 

Excel spreadsheets of accounts half done.

 

Investigating why TV is unable to down load films, internet is showing a 30% failure of ping rate.

 

Now awaiting callback from BT.

[jjb1970]

I think it was Lee Kuan Yew who said Singapore needed to be a toxic prawn. They take defence extremely seriously, being a small and very rich country with much bigger neighbours on either side, made worse by the fact their relationship with Malaysia and Indonesia has often been rather troubled. Nowadays they have a very good relationship with Indonesia (a cynic might say they're brought together by a shared hatred of Malaysia but I wouldn't stoop so low) but that relationship has been very troubled and Singapore still doesn't like the fact they named a Corvette after Usman Harun who is considered a terrorist by Singapore and Malaysia from the days when Singapore and Malaysia were united and had a shared fear of Indonesia. I think it's a general truism that countries which face  threats take defence seriously.

[jjb1970]

4 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Started filling in pension final paperwork, most of it is info they already have..

 

Like name and address... So who did they send it too?

 

 

 

A while ago I got a credit card and applied through my banking app, it really annoyed me that when applying from my account area which is secure, and for which I had to provide all sorts of documents to open I still had to provide all the same documents and go through the same security checks as to open our bank account. It begs the question of why they even bother offering a linked application option from the banking app, I could see zero advantage or benefit compared to being a new walk in customer.

[Tony_S]

49 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

It's a bit poor when Communist China is less paranoid about security than Singapore.

Russia,or at least the bits we were in, was strange. Photography within the St Petersburg cruise port was forbidden. It looked like just about any other cruise port. Apparently we were not supposed to take photographs as we passed Kronstadt Navy base. I think that was to avoid embarrassment at the state of the Baltic Fleet. In some touristy places, photography was banned unless you paid a fee and got a sticker for your camera. 

Edited December 4, 2023 by Tony_S

[jjb1970]

It's one of the things I still find admirable about the UK. While we have our fair chair of petty jobsworths and budding tyrants you can use a camera pretty freely in Britain without feeling furtive and wondering whether you'll be arrested even in completely innocuous places. Airports, ports, railway stations etc. In that regard I think we're in a minority, certainly based on my experience.

[jamie92208]

3 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

I'll have that one too.

 

Dave

Too late it's installed in a loco already. 

 

Jamie

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Let me guess -  Blow-off valve, burnout rims, and cherry bomb exhaust?

Mud mainly, plus about a years worth of bits and pieces stuffed in the glove box. I have remembered to place the wheel nut locking thingy somewhere obvious. 
The car doesn’t look too bad after a wash and vacuum. I am not sure if it gets serviced first or  has the MoT test first. The brake pad wear light has just come on but that is an MoT advisory I think. I want the pads changed anyway, I don’t like warning lights and  dashboard messages. 

Edited December 4, 2023 by Tony_S

[The White Rabbit]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

a) I wonder if it's possible to include a clause in a Will which states that "if any scrote dare challenge my Will then any bequest to them is immediately forfeit?

 

b) One potential issue there:  If something were to happen to you both simultaneously (eg Car Accident) then IIRC the Law considers that the older person predeceased the younger - in which case SWMBO would effectively inherit all your estate.  However, the "request" is merely that and I very much suspect not legally binding, meaning all would be distributed i.a.w. SWMBO's Will. 

It may be that there's a Survivorship Clause in your Will:

"SWMBO gets the lot (with the request that....) on condition that she survives me by 30(?) days, otherwise it all goes to any Poly that Gwiwer happens to know.........

 

a) Sadly, I doubt it - I suspect the courts would be likely to judge such a term would restrict the individual too much. If there is anything which might achieve this, I suspect it's rather technical/specialist and for the super rich rather than the average bear (or rabbit). 

 

b) Something which it would be prudent for spouses in particular to consider. Anyone (actively) considering this may also wish to ask m'learned friends if you can specify the type of 'survival' - fully hale, hearty and compos mentis ... or on a drip in ICU? It might cost a bit more creating the will but could save a heap of trouble if Fate decides to be cruel to you/the family. Or the money going in care home fees or being tied up in limbo while someone's in a long term coma/PVS etc. 

 

And arranging for substitute beneficiaries in case the intended ones have predeceased you or gone out of existence is prudent. Perhaps it all sounds very cynical but I did learn a bit about the law of succession when taking my degrees and after reading some of the caselaw ... wow... as has already been said, £££ (or $$$$) doesn't half provide an opportunity for people to show their true colours. I reckon it's fair to say there's more moral turpitude in the law of succession than in criminal law. 

[DaveF]

It is still raining and was dark by 16.00 after a very wet day.  The forecast now says it will stop around breakfast time tomorrow.  So I have stayed in today but don't seem to have sat down much.

 

The rest of the washing got done, dried and where needed ironed and put away.  My Christmas letter got written, it didn't take long and it will only go to a small number of people so I was able to be quite selective about what goes into it, just things they will all be interested in - so no references to wheels or rails.

 

I've sorted through a pile of bookazines and magazines, some have gone in the bin.  I think others may follow in a few days when I have thought about them a bit more.  More importantly I found two books of trackplans of areas of the NER so that was pleasing, I thought I still had them but couldn't remember where they were.  They are now in the right place on a bookshelf.

 

I've had a look at the model stuff I did over the weekend and it looks OK so the rest can be done over the next couple of days and then a lot of bits and pieces can be put away - with some in the bin.  I am trying to get out of the habit of keeping small off cuts of mounting board etc when I know I have several unused sheets safely stored in the house.  Why do we keep 2"square bits (a slight exaggeration) thinking they might come in useful?

 

The next job is to print off the letter and write the Christmas cards and in due course post them.  I've checked the last posting dates and some must go this week.  Having learnt how long it takes to do posting labels online I think I may just call in at the local post office who will simply put the right stamps and an airmail label on for me.

 

As usual tea will be eaten soon, as it is Monday I shall watch some of the quizzes and read a bit - or do some puzzles in a magazine.

 

David

[The Lurker]

Greetings from what was a very wet piece of the Boring Borough when I got up this morning - the rain woke me several times but fortunately it did not rain on any of us on our various peregrinations. My boss showed us pictures of the snow she'd got in Switzerland and I used that as part of my reasoning not to have a business trip there next week....

 

We are inching our way towards concluding year end. The trouble is the auditors occasionally ask new questions. I have had to go back to one location with something I thought the auditors had accepted but have now realised they don't understand and want new evidence....I think we will have to start telling them that the deadline means exactly that. But it doesn't help that group finance announce they are going to make a couple of changes but then take ages to do so. There are several I am waiting for, one of which I was informed of about 2 weeks ago which still has not been put through. 

 

EDIT - earlier in the day I heard the sound of bagpipes. They played for 5 minutes or so and then stopped, only to start up again a while later. Then a piper came round the corner leading a funeral procession. Not sure which house it had come from - clearly not someone I knew (despite having lived here the best part of 20 years!)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2023 by The Lurker

[Tony_S]

21 minutes ago, The Lurker said:

My boss showed us pictures of the snow she'd got in Switzerland

We had pictures of snow from Zurich sent to us as well. My nephew and his partner live there and were out for a walk. It looked slightly more had settled than here in Essex.