Early Risers.

[southern42]

"Not available" came up a few minutes ago when I clicked on Notifications.

 

Sums up my day...or even me...very lack lustre after waking during the night due to clogging of the airways and not getting back to sleep again for ages even after taking some paracetamol, this time. Ah well. That's life.

 

TOTF🎶 looking promising though I have reduced my playing time, today. I did fancy a walk this afternoon, though, but I did not fancy doing it in the on-off-on again precipitation. Another time...

 

Is anyone else longing for "summer"...? 

 

Earlier today, Northern fulmar, Little Lola (now aka Lolita by the video Chat group), was captured on uToob on her own - Mum and Dad gone off fishing. So cute! This afternoon Lola back was with mum, Fiona.

https://www.youtube.com/live/43ttXiCUOF8?feature=shared

 

Take care. Be good. Keep your spirits up.

Polly

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Because the Australian game, along with its American cousin and the Rugby Football codes, are basically handball.  

No, "handball" is something that Continental countries play during the Olympics. It looks almost like soccer/English football except they only use their hands.

 

My French former colleague was quite keen on handball and disappointed that it had no presence in the US. (He is also a big fan of the French National, Marseilles and Portland Timbers soccer teams and the San Francisco Forty-Niners.)

 

Edited July 20 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

"Oooh ow! that player on the other side messed my hair up with his slipstream! Oh, penalty please ref!!!!"  What the @&$@# is that all about? 

5 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Because the Australian game, along with its American cousin and the Rugby Football codes, are basically handball.  

How about "dodgeball". It is played by children in the US. It is *not* for the feint of heart.

 

Taking one of those in the face is not fun. And the court (usually the school hardwood basketball court) hurts if you fall on it.

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

One shot in golf = 1.

Except in match play. And many 'celebrity tournaments'.

 

"Modified Stableford scoring method over the course of 54 holes" (apparently)

Quote

Players receive a point for par, three for birdie and six for eagle and two points are deducted for double bogey or worse. 

 

Edited July 20 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

"Apple Air Tags" ... they're rather useful for attaching to keys, suitcases, Hippo's** etc. so you can track them.  I'll have a play soon.

The Apple "Find My" app is very good.

 

A colleague was describing having lost an AirPod. (I think that is what the ear buds are called.)  He was at work and fired up the app - which geo-located to his home. Going home the app provided vectored directions. When he got to his closet/wardrobe the telephone started vibrating (he was 1m from the item). It was in the pocket of his folded trousers.

 

There are many many reports* of people finding luggage (stolen by airline employees) that contain Air Tags. Airlines insist they cannot find the items despite the customer giving them the address of the location. Obviously it is not recommended to retrieve your "lost" luggage yourself - though people have found them, stripped and in dumpsters.

 

* Easy internet search.

 

Even politicians are using them to find missing yard signs.

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, southern42 said:

Is anyone else longing for "summer"...? 

I've lots of summer to share. A little rain would be pleasant. We've not seen any in 22 days. We also have some smoke haze from wildfires but it is at altitude so the air quality is still good.

 

We had some dry lightning which kicked off a bunch of wildfires last week. There are a lot of them with a handful of large ones.

 

Next week sees some "normal" seasonal temperatures - 27°C - 29°C. It will make a nice change from the 36°C forecast for today.

 

My electricity bill arrived yesterday. It almost doubled from last month.

 

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

Now at six, the sky has gone very dark and its tipping it down

I'd be happy to take some off your hands - trade you 36°C sunny and hazy.

 

Edited July 20 by Ozexpatriate

[big jim]

I’ve got AirTags in various items, handy for my wallet as if I leave the house without it a notification pops up on my phone when I’m a few meters away from the house that been left behind so I can turn back and get it! 

 

similarly both of my bikes have them tucked away somewhere in hidden locations so if they get nicked I’ve got some chance of locating them 

[Ozexpatriate]

12 hours ago, TheQ said:

Against swamp cooler arrangements, is the fact we are surrounded by marshland or former marshland, trapped between the North sea and the Norfolk broads. We have high humidity anyway before adding more.

I had assumed so. Box fans in window openings may help - if you have a temperature gradient where the ambient air temperature drops after sunset lower than the interior temperature.

 

I turn my air conditioner off once the ambient air is lower than the interior air. In the early morning I open the kitchen door and use a high volume fan* to blow some cooler air in. The temperature on the thermostat will drop by a couple of degrees in less than 30 minutes. 

 

* Bigger than the box fans.

 

Fans are great. I wish I had thought of installing a ceiling fan in my bedroom when I built the house. (A retrofit would be difficult - there is a room above, so I'd have to fish wiring and holes in studs/joists would be required).

 

[The White Rabbit]

2 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

... Hornby Dublo.  Yup, 3 rail.  ....  Anyone got a front bogie for an A4? ...

 

Sorry - sold all the HD bits some time ago. Unless someone's PM'd you, is it worth putting a post in the 'wanted' section on here? Also, there is a Vectis auction next week, including some HD - https://www.vectis.co.uk/model-train-auction/2024-07-25 - I know most lots will probably be too much and have too much unwanted material but it might be worth a look/try? Some items go for what I think are exorbitant prices but others are more reasonable and you can sometimes pick up a bargain. 

 

1 hour ago, southern42 said:

... Is anyone else longing for "summer"...?  ...

 

I'm longing for some balance. Yesterday was hot and sunny, weather for taking it easy and drinking plenty of water/fruit juice. (I have recently bought a fruit squeezer for extracting the juice and am using it for DIY lemonade). Today was a chilly start then went to stuffy, sultry and soggy without any pleasant bits in between. A few days (or more?) of sunny intervals and moderate temperatures would be most welcome. Any rain to be well forecast and not last more than 2-3 hours... 

 

Edited July 20 by The White Rabbit
grammer

[Tony_S]

It’s been “phew,what a scorcher “ here in Iceland today, though the temperature dropped rapidly after 6pm while we were queuing to get back on the ship. We,saw a geothermal power station, volcano craters, geysers , waterfalls and the place where the American and Eurasian plates meet. 
Time for dinner now. 

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Which of course, they don't. I remain convinced that most of them in ERs are related to having to index/load some chunk of 13243 pages.

 

I can *almost* guarantee a long delay or timeout responding to a post where the reply will appear on a later ER page. And indeed it 504'd just now:

 

 

EDIT:

Two "reply" posts this morning - two 504s.

Now three 504s - all occurring when a reply occurs on a later page.

 

Plus an attack intercepted by my anti-virus provider.

 

 

Rumour has it that Bear *may* have (after suggestions from others) had a fix for that....but.....🙄 

 

2 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

The Apple "Find My" app is very good.

 

A colleague was describing having lost an AirPod. (I think that is what the ear buds are called.)  He was at work and fired up the app - which geo-located to his home. Going home the app provided vectored directions. When he got to his closet/wardrobe the telephone started vibrating (he was 1m from the item). It was in the pocket of his folded trousers.

 

There are many many reports* of people finding luggage (stolen by airline employees) that contain Air Tags. Airlines insist they cannot find the items despite the customer giving them the address of the location. Obviously it is not recommended to retrieve your "lost" luggage yourself - though people have found them, stripped and in dumpsters.

 

* Easy internet search.

 

Even politicians are using them to find missing yard signs.

 

"The Boss" at the Warehouse knew exactly where her suitcase was.....and it wasn't on holiday with her cos' some f'wit had unloaded it from the aircraft....

[polybear]

2 hours ago, big jim said:

I’ve got Air Tags in various items, handy for my wallet as if I leave the house without it a notification pops up on my phone when I’m a few meters away from the house that been left behind so I can turn back and get it! 

 

similarly both of my bikes have them tucked away somewhere in hidden locations so if they get nicked I’ve got some chance of locating them 

 

I now have one on Mickey's keys, one in the holiday bag and probably one hidden in Mickey as well (as a Tracker in case some thievin' scrote nicks Mickey - unlikely but possible).

 

I have thought they'd be very good as trackers for mo'sickles (hidden in a suitable, dry location - air filter box or headlamp shell maybe?); as single items they're under thirty quid (I got four for £82 on a Prime deal) and none of the fees that vehicle trackers often have.

 

You could also use them as trackers for expensive choo choo's in case of theft - they're small enough to fit inside a Tender, for example.

[Coombe Barton]

... When medieval people drew a tiger they’d heard of this animal but never seen one so the gave it the body of a lion and the head of a wolf. It became known as Tiddles. ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2024/07/20/retirement-realisation-amazon-again-tales-of-the-tiger-cleaning-caravan/

[polybear]

Bent (or at least incompetent) Coppers:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx920kqgkx9o

 

"The review found that local police ignored evidence that directly pointed to one of their own officers - Michael Holman – who later went to prison for another crime and died in 2015"

 

And after all she's been thru' I reckon sorting her Social is the very first thing they should do for her:

 

"Defence lawyer Sean O’Brien told the Star that she will still need help because she has spent most of her life in prison and was ineligible for social security."

 

'sterds doesn't even come close.

[Ozexpatriate]

29 minutes ago, polybear said:

Bent (or at least incompetent) Coppers:

Another "win" for the Innocence Project.

 

Most police are neither bent nor necessarily incompetent. There is however soooo much community pressure on them to make an arrest and for prosecutors to try alleged perpetrators so that:

1. the victims have "justice" and
2. community can feel safe

That there is often very little regard for the facts. Juries are very likely to convict if there is a "confession", so what happens? 

 

The police get "confessions". All signed sealed and delivered - "justice" for the victims, and the "perpetrator" put in jail, all wrapped up with a bow. Like this.

 

It is all to often the "go to", particularly in smaller communities. They often also protect their own.

 

Edited July 20 by Ozexpatriate

[polybear]

ION....

 

It's been announced that Snooker legend (and six-times World Champ) Ray Reardon died yesterday; I really used to enjoy watching him in the "Pot Black" Snooker TV Series (whatever happened to that?). RIP

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/articles/cjewjqnqwv4o

[Sidecar Racer]

23 minutes ago, polybear said:

ION....

 

It's been announced that Snooker legend (and six-times World Champ) Ray Reardon died yesterday; I really used to enjoy watching him in the "Pot Black" Snooker TV Series (whatever happened to that?). RIP

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/articles/cjewjqnqwv4o

 

 You are a bit late to the game Bear .  

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I managed to recover my X (formally Twitter) account. All other social media accounts appeared to be working normally when I checked them. A bit cooler today but still the high humidity even this late at night.

[Mike Bellamy]

 

On holiday in Norfolk - today we went to the RAF Radar Museum at nearby Neatishead but unfortunately we didn't get to meet @TheQ who is normally there as a volunteer on Fridays - we had to be elsewhere yesterday. Fascinating place with so many different rooms to explore all telling part of the story of the development of radar and especially the involvement of Neatishead which ceased operations in 2004. There is however a new bit of kit there now, moved from the coast near Cromer as it was in danger of dissapearing into the North Sea so Neatishead is operational again. Also thought of @Dave Hunt as there was a Tornado cockpit there to climb into and in another room was a video running showing Phantoms chasing Russian Bears. On a map showing Bloodhound sites was Barkston Heath which brought back memories as it was just over the road from our Scout campsite where I spent many weekends in the late 1960s/early 1970s - the landing lights went right across our field.

 

There was however a minor disaster which no doubt TheQ will get to hear about as I managed to spill the entire contents of two full cups of coffee all over the cafe table, chairs and floor resulting in a shout for assistance - three staff were involved in the clean up and refused my payment for replacements so my fiver went in the donations box.

 

Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Erichill16]

9 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

E) Cricket ovals are bigger so you need more players, thus allowing more people to get fit playing sport per hour.  Lets say that we make each team 18 players, so thats 36 on the field which is vastly more than the usual soccer team thus the fitness quotient per hour just goes up and England gets fit again and maybe even wins things.

 

Does Monkey has any views on this?
Walking Football 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_football

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

ION....

 

It's been announced that Snooker legend (and six-times World Champ) Ray Reardon died yesterday; I really used to enjoy watching him in the "Pot Black" Snooker TV Series (whatever happened to that?). RIP

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/articles/cjewjqnqwv4o

That was surprisingly popular here on a Friday night in the early/mid 70's.  Which was surprising given that Australia didn't get colour TV until 1975.

 

I well remember watching it before then as the players pocketed  balls of various shades of confusing grey.

Edited July 20 by monkeysarefun

[monkeysarefun]

4 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I'd be happy to take some off your hands - trade you 36°C sunny and hazy.

 

 

 

That Antarctic whatever-it-was-called  did its thing,  the snow bunnies look happy down at the Snowies.

 

 

https://www.ski.com.au/snowcams/australia/nsw/thredbo/thredbo-fridayflat.html

[BSW01]

Goodnight everyone 

[zarniwhoop]

5 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

There is a special ingredient - the starter.

 

It's really about the starter - and keeping it alive in a commercial bakery setting.

Yes, for a commercial sourdough bakery  the baker is a slave to the starter.

 

Somewhere I've got a book of recipes and anecodotes from a Californian baker (?Gayle's bakery ?) who, on his holidays in Europe, gradually learned the various ways of making real bread, and that adding fats was not the way to do it. Several of the bakers  he mentioned spent most of the day doing the baking and sleeping just enough to wake up when the bread was ready, then delivering loaves to customers.

 

For a home baker making bread irregularly, a starter is a female dog - sometimes placid, sometimes hyperactive. I used to make wholemeal (I need the fibre) sourdough regularly (probably overbaked, very low rise and very hard to cut for the first couple of days, but it kept well and tasted brilliant). And in winter I sometimes made Vollkorn (with bread spices in the South German or Austrian style).

 

But when the first lockdown arrived, supplies of my preferred wholemeal flour (Dove's strong wholemeal) dried up. And then the "use less electricity to prevent blackouts" approach meant I stopped baking. I can now often get the flour, but my methods have changed. I'm currently hoping a mostly wholemeal spelt dough will rise - a bit early yet, might take another day before it is ready to form a loaf.

 

This is from my current "refresh the starter, save 2 parts, make a loaf, and if that works  refresh the starter and then use the spare part for something different " approach. So, I've made a couple of wholemeal sourdough recently, and for this experiment I'm adding salt to the initial stage - don't do that if the starter is to be kept, it will get very salty - which should help strengthen the dough but also slow it down. The trouble is, baking sourdough can be very technical, and suites a certain kind of obsessiveness.

 

But Vollkorn was the real b1tch - really needs some rye grain, which I do not currently have, and needs to me made in a loaf pan with a very wet dough, then wrapped in foil and baked in a low oven (nominally 80˚C in my case, but no idea how accurate that temperature is/was) for at least 14 hours (16 hours would be better) to get the Maillard reaction - a bit ducky ;-)

 

And then leave it for a couple of days before starting to slice it, so that the moisture  sorts itself out.

 

But the worst part of making it at home in small quantities is the accuracy of the measurements (oh, and the need to add water after the dough is formed until it reaches the goldilocks stage of hydration - I need to count the carbs, so adding more flour "as needed" screws up my measurements and removing excess water from a dough is "somewhat hard" ;-)

 

For a commercial bakery, if too wet you just add another sack of flour for the quantities you are making. And yes, flours vary from time to time.

 

A couple of weeks ago I finally managed to get a new digital scale which looks as if it is accurate (unlike my last 2 or 3) so I'm sort of back in business - but because of how (variably) long the process takes, and the need to be around when attention is needed, I've mostly been making yeasted wholemeal (quick, maybe 6 hours using a sponge with dried yeast started in sugar).

 

But the squeamish should probably not look at the history of what has gone into long-lasting starters (think of the 49ers, probably with not particularly clean hands).