Early Risers.

[Gwiwer]

47 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

In four weeks time I will be in the caravan in Marazion for three weeks

And you will be most welcome.  We know we can trust you to drive, park and behave responsibly. 
 

51 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I won’t be bringing my Land Rover down to Cornwall for holidays again.

A genuine “Landy” is essential for many down here. Maids of all work and at home on the school run or rounding up livestock on the moors. 
 

It’s all the others ….. 🤣

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Just nodded off sat in the armchair, now I've got a stiff neck. Now to put the washing on, and then  continue the eyelid inspection, this time on the bed.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

I was rather surprised by this one. If it is based on browsing history, whatever algorithm it is is drawing some peculiar conclusions

Might be content specific. Much discussion of dogs here. Sometimes it's truly random anyway.

 

Quoted post edited for clarity.

 

Edited Friday at 15:51 by Ozexpatriate
Clarification

[PhilJ W]

3 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Might be content specific. Much discussion of dogs here. Sometimes it's truly random anyway.

Have you answered on the wrong thread?

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Fun fact - In the 1980's Trump put in a bid to run the newly built Star Casino  in Sydney. The Australian Federal police ran a background check on him and submitted a report that outlined his mafia connections and his fantastical business model that was based on his Atlantic City Casino business plan and recommended that his bid be knocked back. 

He tried to buy the Buffalo Bills NFL team. The NFL owners (who have been compared, unfavourably, with white southern plantation owners) did not want him in their club. He lost the bid.

 

Owning an NFL team is almost as good as having your own mint.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Have you answered on the wrong thread?

Phil, doesn't sound like you are jesting. Not the wrong thread. Did I misunderstand the advertising for dog worming medication?

[Tony_S]

25 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

genuine “Landy” is essential for many down here. Maids of all work and at home on the school run or rounding up livestock on the moors. 

The new Defender is bigger than my Evoque . The major difference is that modern Land Rovers float away in floods whereas those designated as “proper” sink.

All over the country there are lanes that really were not meant for motor cars and unfortunately many places that want to attract visitors to survive financially  seem to be located on them. I am surprised at the number of people driving who don’t seem to be able to cope with dual carriage ways and certainly not motorways. There are people out of their comfort zone everywhere as well as inconsiderate idiots who drive badly wherever they are. 
I would hate to upset local sensitivities by being a tourist in Cornwall so perhaps just staying away is kinder. 

Edited Friday at 15:33 by Tony_S

[polybear]

4 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

 

I found a spot in one of the old streets only locals use; barely the width of two cars and requiring confidence as well as skill to reverse-park to within 5cms of a stone wall then to un-park and drive out. I must have passed 20 parked cars with less than an inch to spare either side

 

That sounds like a road I definitely wouldn't be parking any car of mine down as it's just asking for it to be damaged by some hero who can't judge distances etc.

 

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

🕺😁👍🏻👍🏻

That looks utterly scrumptious

 

There, corrected it for you.....

 

content://com.amazon.cloud9.FileProvider/images/screenshot/1719587983847-12518773.png

Edited Friday at 15:36 by polybear

[PhilJ W]

7 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Phil, doesn't sound like you are jesting. Not the wrong thread. Did I misunderstand the advertising for dog worming medication?

I couldn't recall the post you were quoting so I scrolled back on ER's but I couldn't find it.

EDIT I've found it now, being an ad I ignored it.

Edited Friday at 15:41 by PhilJ W

[Ozexpatriate]

21 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

I couldn't recall the post you were quoting so I scrolled back on ER's but I couldn't find it.

This advertising for dog worming meds highlighted by @The White Rabbit

 

 

Number one influence on advertising is browsing habits. I would not be surprised if the browsing habits and demographics of all the people with the page open are considered, along with the content on the page. 

 

Google sets up mini 'auctions' for your eyeballs and the advertisers bid for the opportunity to be in front of you. Ingenious really.

 

For years Google had their own 'heuristics' (aka AI). With modern Large Language Model machine learning, there's no knowing how many inputs they can process at a time.

 

We're from a demographic that often owns dogs - more likely than some other generations. How many pages contain at least one post about a dog?

 

I see a lot of advertising for a NY-based department store selling high-end women's apparel on sale - much of which would take a very confident woman to wear, and is not available in larger sizing. I can assure you that I've never bought any such item. But the ads keep coming. It doesn't help if you click on one - even accidentally.

 

I do occasionally purchase from online direct to consumers retailers. When you click on their email links, even in an incognito window, they can track the pages you open. I routinely get emails saying "take another look" at pages I opened and halted on - even in an incognito window where cookies/history is not stored on my computer.

 

The arrow on the top right of a quote is supposed to take you back to the post.

It doesn't work anymore - it just takes you back to the page.

 

Edited Friday at 15:59 by Ozexpatriate

[DaveF]

I've kept myself (fairly) usefully occupied today.  During the morning I went through the rest of the stuff from the boiler cupboard, including the two old first aid kits which came with cars.  They have gone into the bin, most of the things had expired and I wouldn't trust anything which is mean to be sterile after 6 or more years in a packet.

 

I got a bit of work done on a model and then had to stop to allow some glue to set properly, more may be done tomorrow.  While I had coffee I had a "play" with the TV I bought last year and have tried using the remote with voice control and added a few extra apps for watching some German stations on line though not all programmes are available as some come up with the message that they only have rights to show it in Germany.  I also found a useful radio station app which gives access to some Swiss and German radio stations I quite like.  I know I can get them all on my laptop and stream them to the TV but having on the TV is a bit easier.

 

I'd just finished that when Scott came and serviced the boiler, Claire is on holiday in Florida!  I have arranged for him to give me a quote for a walk in shower in the bathroom.  Having the boiler serviced which doesn't cost much is worth it as there is then no call out fee for repairs, I just pay for parts and labour as and when needed.

 

This afternoon I took a bag of books and some clothes to a charity shop and then went to the model shop in town.  It's been there for 7 years and I only found out about it by chance today when I was looking something up on Facebook.  He only has a small number of railway items, he concentrates on military modelling but has a very good range of acrylic paints, some scenic stuff and plastic card.  I just bought grass tufts and some small paint brushes I needed.  I should add it is on a side street off a road I very rarely use which is why I didn't know about it.

 

This evening will be the usual music and then TV.

 

There have been a few light passing showers today, it is much fresher.

 

David

[PupCam]

2 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

If only the US was the same - to see the orange idiot endlessly bleating about how great his poll numbers are, is nauseating and comes across as infantile boasting that would get short shrift here.

 

The second highlighted phrase is almost unnecessary  🙂   Some might suggest that the second is in fact the very definition of the first of course I wouldn't have the temerity to do so myself 😉   I would say that that's a cracking observation though.     And we thought we were between a rock and a hard place in the UK! 

 

I think we may find Robert Blackstock's recent, pointed question  “Are you two really the best we’ve got to be the next prime minister* of our great country?” may well develop universal application.    I suppose I'd better stop there ...

 

* insert roles as applicable

 

TTFN

 

 

 

 

[Danemouth]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

That sounds like a road I definitely wouldn't be parking any car of mine down as it's just asking for it to be damaged by some hero who can't judge distances etc.

 

 

There, corrected it for you.....

 

content://com.amazon.cloud9.FileProvider/images/screenshot/1719587983847-12518773.png

 

Wot!!! Straight chips and not curly ones @polybear

 

You should hang your head in shame 😁

 

Dave

[PupCam]

Oh yes a chug was chugged.  I hadn't realised that the event this weekend is actually a 3 day event starting today so my plan to go and have a coffee and catch up with some old "Dawn Patrol" model flying chums couldn't work; I wasn't about to pay £29.00 (including my SVAS discount) for a ticket to go and spend ( a little) money in the cafe for an hour or so.   

 

Plan B was to wait at the public entrance (burried deep in the estate in the middle of a field half way along the new lane ~1.5 miles long from the public highway to the actual Collection hangars with acres of grass either side) , call my chum and have a chat there (i.e. outside the event).    Plan B wouldn't work because according to the head jobsworth sitting in his little truck "my motorcycle and myself represented a danger to his staff" (in the middle of this field).  So I just turned around and left.  

 

Time for Plan C then.   I  rode along the public roads to the normal (aka the original entrance) that because it's an event had the gates closed and manned by a couple of cheery Shuttleworth volunteers (who admired the Beeza😃), I pulled off the road, my gloves, and my helmet in that order and phoned my mate. 

 

 

He and his wife came over and we had a rather pleasant chat for ~ half an hour over the gate.    He mentioned that not a lot had been happening during the day although there is a short air display planned for this evening.  The evening displays are usually excellent and I hope that the conditions will settle enough for them to allow the wonderful Edwardians to fly.    Anyway, It was really good to catch up with them; they are a nice couple and we haven't seen each other since well before Covid probably about 2016.  It would have been even nicer with a coffee and a bit of cake!

 

Oh yes, uninteresting fact Number 162:    It's a 3 mile drive to get to the other side of the gate from where the photograph was taken which is why so many people were hacked off when the gate was permanently shut under the previous "regime".    Hmm, that reminds me, I wonder how the Watercress Line is doing these days?

 

This was perhaps our (the Dawn Patrol's) most spectacular collection of WW1 aeroplanes at Old Warden back in 2013 IIRC.  Happy days as the say!

 

 

TTFNQ

 

 

 

 

[iL Dottore]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

@iL Dottore

I’ve eaten this so you don’t have to….

How very noble of you PB.

When you lunched today at The Happy Food Chemist, were the stabilisers, emulsifiers, flavour enhancers and anti-oxidants fresh in?

 

Edited Friday at 17:39 by iL Dottore

[Tony_S]

What is the stuff in the little ramekin next to the lemons and sausages. The only thing we have a bit like that is some multicolour peppercorns (they came with a peppermill)?

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Danemouth said:

 

Wot!!! Straight chips and not curly ones @polybear

 

You should hang your head in shame 😁

 

Dave

Bear has a wide repertoire of culinary delights to choose from…..

 

1 hour ago, PupCam said:

Oh yes a chug was chugged.  I hadn't realised that the event this weekend is actually a 3 day event starting today so my plan to go and have a coffee and catch up with some old "Dawn Patrol" model flying chums couldn't work; I wasn't about to pay £29.00 (including my SVAS discount) for a ticket to go and spend ( a little) money in the cafe for an hour or so.   

 

Plan B was to wait at the public entrance (burried deep in the estate in the middle of a field half way along the new lane ~1.5 miles long from the public highway to the actual Collection hangars with acres of grass either side) , call my chum and have a chat there (i.e. outside the event).    Plan B wouldn't work because according to the head jobsworth sitting in his little truck "my motorcycle and myself represented a danger to his staff" (in the middle of this field).  So I just turned around and left.  

 

Time for Plan C then.   I  rode along the public roads to the normal (aka the original entrance) that because it's an event had the gates closed and manned by a couple of cheery Shuttleworth volunteers (who admired the Beeza😃), I pulled off the road, my gloves, and my helmet in that order and phoned my mate. 

 

 

He and his wife came over and we had a rather pleasant chat for ~ half an hour over the gate.    He mentioned that not a lot had been happening during the day although there is a short air display planned for this evening.  The evening displays are usually excellent and I hope that the conditions will settle enough for them to allow the wonderful Edwardians to fly.    Anyway, It was really good to catch up with them; they are a nice couple and we haven't seen each other since well before Covid probably about 2016.  It would have been even nicer with a coffee and a bit of cake!

 

Oh yes, uninteresting fact Number 162:    It's a 3 mile drive to get to the other side of the gate from where the photograph was taken which is why so many people were hacked off when the gate was permanently shut under the previous "regime".    Hmm, that reminds me, I wonder how the Watercress Line is doing these days?

 

This was perhaps our (the Dawn Patrol's) most spectacular collection of WW1 aeroplanes at Old Warden back in 2013 IIRC.  Happy days as the say!

 

 

TTFNQ

 

 

 

 

 

(a) Now if Puppers had been a fellow Exhibitor then perhaps you’d have a freebie pass…

 

(b) Are some people just total C0cks?

 

(c) What have the Watercress been up to?

 

20 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

How very noble of you PB.

When you lunched today at The Happy Food Chemist, were the stabilisers, emulsifiers, flavour enhancers and anti-oxidants fresh in?

 

 

Would iD believe that every item is organic and artesinal? 
Thought not….

[Tony_S]

With all the dietary advice available I wondered if the breakfast menu on the new ship we will be going to Iceland on was very different to previous voyages. I found a sample menu

I don’t remember the Avocado on toast being offered before  but I may be wrong. 

No chips, just hash browns or sautéed potatoes. 

 

 

 

[Coombe Barton]

3 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

And you will be most welcome.  We know we can trust you to drive, park and behave responsibly. 

With my maternal grandmother's family name being Carbis and my maternal grandfather's ancestors being shoemakers from Penzance, I'm still an emmet, grockle or bleedin' tourist. My grandfather spent some of WWII on Mount's Bay Boom Defence stationed at Mousehole., the doesn't;t make me any less of a foreigner.

Although I like to think I know how to drive on the roads of Penwith.

Local  question - is the Cook Book still open or has that folded?

And would you recommend the Dog and Rabbit?

[Tony_S]

1 minute ago, Coombe Barton said:

And would you recommend the Dog and Rabbit?

Pub or pie?

[polybear]

9 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

With all the dietary advice available I wondered if the breakfast menu on the new ship we will be going to Iceland on was very different to previous voyages. I found a sample menu

I don’t remember the Avocado on toast being offered before  but I may be wrong. 

No chips, just hash browns or sautéed potatoes. 

 

 

 

Bear can live on that….

And they’ve got beans too 😄

[Coombe Barton]

37 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Pub or pie?

Cafe in St Just

 

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Would iD believe that every item is organic and artesinal? 
Thought not….

Certainly not on that plate….

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Bear can live on that….

And they’ve got beans too 😄

That’s just the breakfast menu too. The waiters tell you, have what you like. If we have to go on a tour that means we miss the restaurant breakfast the self service breakfast is pretty good, light breakfast until 7am then everything. The new ship, Queen Anne, has a few differences, they have added a Japanese restaurant to the additional cost options. And a chef who has been on TV has worked over the pub grub option. After many years of going on cruises we have only ever been to one formal afternoon tea, we usually head for the self service tea. The dinner menu often tries to include something influenced by the last port of call. Hopefully not rancid shark when we are in Iceland. 

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

With all the dietary advice available I wondered if the breakfast menu on the new ship we will be going to Iceland on was very different to previous voyages. I found a sample menu

I don’t remember the Avocado on toast being offered before  but I may be wrong. 

No chips, just hash browns or sautéed potatoes. 

Possibly added to keep the vacationing hipsters happy???

 

Eggs Benedict are a frequently made quick lunch and I’m able to source the muffins from a local baker and the ham from a local butcher that cures his own ham and the eggs are free range. I must confess that I sometimes use ready made restaurant grade hollandaise (which is made from all natural ingredients and has to be consumed as soon as opened).

 

A variation of Eggs Benedict is Eggs Florentine where spinach replaces (or in some recipes is added to) the ham.

One thing that does annoy me, and seems to be a trend in British restaurants, is having explanations of what a dish IS on the menu. Understandable when it’s something like “Full English: your choice of sausage, egg…..” but Eggs Benedict? Or Avocado on Toast?

 

Really?
 

Is culinary knowledge so poor in the UK that a dish as renowned as Eggs Benedict has to be explained?