Early Risers.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

The sun is shining and there is only a slight breeze, so the plan is to repaint our umbrella stand, outside using a rattle can. This is a job that’s wanted doing for a while, but the weather hasn’t been suitable. After that, I’m going to modify one of the bird feeders to stop squirrels and magpies getting at the contents. It’ll be an early dinner today as Sheila has a 2 o’clock appointment at the dentist, to have more work done on her replacement dental implants. Later in the afternoon, I’ll do the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix, this would usually have been done yesterday, but we had Ava round, so it was put back to today. 
 

Back later. 
 

Brian

[PhilJ W]

32 minutes ago, PupCam said:

I think I may have mentioned my frustration with one of my neighbour's garden illuminations previously.     For the most part it ultimately is of no consequence to and therefore nothing to do with me but when I'm out in the garden (being as quiet as a church mouse) trying to do some astronomy* they are a right royal pain.   One particularly evening they were outside and every two minutes I could hear "Alexa set the lights to blue" ...........  "Alexa set the lights to red" ...........  "Alexa set the lights to green".     You don't know just how close I got to shouting "Alexa turn the blxxdy lights OFF!" but I didn't and so far I haven't sent an Email either.

I'd experiment to see how quietly* you can instruct their Alexa then tell it to turn the lights off for at least an hour, then watch the fun as they try to find the fault with the lighting.  You could also leave an instruction to play 'Ride of the Valkyries' at full volume at three in the morning.😈

*Hopefully quiet enough for them not to notice

[PupCam]

11 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

**Castrol R used in motor sport is basically Castor oil, (hence the name Castrol). It was developed in WW1 as a lubricant for rotary aero engines. 

 

And was an extremely effective laxative when absorbed through the skin and/or inhaled apparently.  

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Not a bad night last night only I woke up after three hours due to a muscular spasm that made my upper left leg fold up which in turn made my lower leg swing like a pendulum around the dodgy knee. The pain was excruciating but fortunately only lasted about five minutes and I was able to get back to sleep for another three hours..

[polybear]

1 hour ago, DaveF said:

A dry cooler morning with the wind from the north.  It may stay dry.  So far the groceries have been delivered without any great problems, the substitutions are fine - I am happy to eat a Belgian bun rather than a simple ice bun.

 

Iced Buns have never been a favourite of Bear's - I find them dry & boring.

Belgian Buns, however.....

 

1 hour ago, DaveF said:

Today may involve some sort of excursion, I could do a bit of shopping as I have realised I have an M&S gift card which "needs" spending.

 

"At some point" Bear really ought to investigate buying a couple of pairs of posh** strides - since the Great D**t  has started I've discovered that 34"W strides no longer fit a Bear without looking like a tied-up sack of spuds ....and since many of those strides had been worn very little I was doubly p1ssed off.  🤬

 

(** I'm ok for jeans now though, having splashed the cash recently.  Panic over).

 

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

 

If we recovered waste products it should cut enormously our reliance on fossil fuels. Almost all vegetable waste could be used to produce ethanol and many diesel engines can run on vegetable oil*. Even lubricants can be vegetable based**.

*Also it doesn't have to be 'fresh', Most of the vegetable oil used to power diesel engines comes from catering. (Fish and chip shops, doughnut makers etc.)

 

There was a time when some diesel owners would convert their cars to run on veggy oil - however some cars were better than others as some would'nt tolerate it (IIRC some Pumps would be bvggered by it - and from what I understand they don't come cheap).

 

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

**Castrol R used in motor sport is basically Castor oil, (hence the name Castrol). It was developed in WW1 as a lubricant for rotary aero engines. 

 

ISTR that Castrol R is fine for racing engines where they are stripped and rebuilt at regular intervals; it's not so great for road use though.

Edited July 23 by polybear

[polybear]

Bear here....

 

Steaming done - Tick.

Hall & stairs Mickey'd.  Tick.

Parcel (a sale on the 'bay) posted.  Tick.

Now it's time for Mickey (the Miele) to visit the Highlands....

 

However....

NNND has decreed that she's working from home today.  Turdycurses.

 

And finally....

 

Postie Patricia has just delivered Bear's much-awaited new toy.  YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO.........

 

BG

 

[PhilJ W]

20 minutes ago, polybear said:

"At some point" Bear really ought to investigate buying a couple of pairs of posh** strides - since the Great D**t  has started I've discovered that 34"W strides no longer fit a Bear without looking like a tied-up sack of spuds ....and since many of those strides had been worn very little I was doubly p1ssed off.  🤬

(** I'm ok for jeans now though, having splashed the cash recently.  Panic over).

I had the same problem so I went over to braces.

[PhilJ W]

@polybear be careful, very careful.😄

 

Edited July 23 by PhilJ W

[jamie92208]

11 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

I'd experiment to see how quietly* you can instruct their Alexa then tell it to turn the lights off for at least an hour, then watch the fun as they try to find the fault with the lighting.  You could also leave an instruction to play 'Ride of the Valkyries' at full volume at three in the morning.😈

*Hopefully quiet enough for them not to notice

Long long ago before Alexa I had a problem with one set of neighbours playing their telly far too loud.  I did ask them to turn it down to no avail.  One night at midnight it was annoying me and the neighbours on the other side.  This was in a terrace.  My speakers were taken down and placed against the party wall and Led Zeppelin 1 was played at max volume for 10 minutes. You could almost see the wall bouncing.  I never had any more trouble. 

 

 

Here I have had my hearing tested, as instructed by SWMBO and No 1 son.  Result, no problem at all.  The technician has now learnt a new English phrase,  Male Selective Deafness, which I am now being accused of suffering from. 

 

Jamie

Edited July 23 by jamie92208

[polybear]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

I had the same problem so I went over to braces.

 

Rock on Tommy....

 

 

[polybear]

Junkie Sharks.  Nothing to worry about there, then.....

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cek9mr43x1xo

[Hroth]

6 minutes ago, polybear said:

Junkie Sharks.  Nothing to worry about there, then.....

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cek9mr43x1xo

 

You can tell its been on the coke, look at its EYES!!!

 

According to the article, its from coke lab effluvia or user piss.  It might also be from sharks noshing on the cargo from abandoned cocaine subs....

 

 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narco-submarine

 

 

Edited July 23 by Hroth
Spelin anna link

[iL Dottore]

Good afternoon, 

I am not a particularly felicitous lagomorph at the moment. Despite being doped up to the eyeballs (muscle relaxant, an opioid and two types of NSAID), I still had a very unpleasant night (worse than Sunday night - the day of the accident). I think that I’ll up the frequency of the opiod to the maximum prescribed: every 6 hours, but only for today and tomorrow. After which I’ll go back to taking it PRN.

 

I suspect that I have various types of muscle injury - with the pain from one masking the pain from the other. So an improvement in one injury isn’t readily perceptible as the pain from the second injury is no longer masked. Still, I have a follow-up GP appointment tomorrow, so I’ll be able to review treatment and diagnosis.

 

So what have I been doing whilst suffering on my “bed of pain”™? Well mostly watching YouTube videos of people restoring old things. There’s one fellow who goes by the moniker < Cool Again Restoration> who not only does some very nice restorations, but also has an utterly amazing set of skills: wood turning, milling, sandblasting, powder coating (paint), laser engraving and nickel and chrome plating – amongst other skills. I certainly would like to have both his skill set and his workshop set up.

 

About the only downside to watching his videos, and those of similar individuals, is the realisation that in Switzerland (at least) a lot of the machinery and materials used in these projects is either not available or horrendously expensive! Americans, in particular, don’t really realise how lucky they are with what they can get in terms of tools and materials for the hobbyist. 

 

I am green with envy!

[iL Dottore]

Thinking about all the gear that is now available to the hobbyist (or can be simply built by a skilled hobbyist) got me thinking about what would a modern state-of-the-art workshop for modelling the unspeakable (M**** R*******) contain?

 

I would suggest

• 3-D printer (resin)
• 3-D printer (filament)
• Laser cutter/engraver
• Micro CNC milling machine (such as The Carvera from Makera [no, really, that’s the name)
• “Tabletop“ table saw*
• “Tabletop“ chop saw*
• “Tabletop“ mini disc sander*

The latter three (asterisked) have been built by a very talented Vietnamese YouTuber called Vang Hà and are ideally sized for the small scale modelling we tend to do. And they are built out of PVC piping of all things.

 

Here is his mini table saw project:

Notable by their absence or photo-etching, resin casting and vacuum forming; the reason being, they all have been superseded by newer technologies (specifically the first three bullet points

Edited July 23 by iL Dottore
Added link

[The Lurker]

4 hours ago, PupCam said:

A soggy morning to you!

 

Well, it's persisting down in Puppershire.    At one point  the plan was to retrieve the RD today from last Saturday's 2 stroke show.    I'm glad that that plan was scrapped because, as you know, I don't do "wet" on a motorcycle these days and the revised plan enabled me to take it to Woburn on Sunday so rather by luck than judgement a right result in the end.

 

Talking of motorcycles ......  Hmm, the neighbour relations doesn't sound good news for @polybear which is unfortunate.    Personally, I'm of the view that people should be able to do as they please in their own properties within reason occasionally even if it causes a slight disturbance to those around them  providing that such disturbance is short lived and at a reasonable time of day (like "Core hours" that we had at work if I can remember that far back).      Hence, if I need to run the engine of one of my bikes for 5 minutes occasionally at some point between, say, mid-morning and mid-afternoon I will do so and if Mrs Miggins doesn't like it well that's just tough luck.   If I did it every hour on the hour every day that would be completely unreasonable and I would deserve a visit from the Environmental Health Officer at the very least.    

 

I think I may have mentioned my frustration with one of my neighbour's garden illuminations previously.     For the most part it ultimately is of no consequence to and therefore nothing to do with me but when I'm out in the garden (being as quiet as a church mouse) trying to do some astronomy* they are a right royal pain.   One particularly evening they were outside and every two minutes I could hear "Alexa set the lights to blue" ...........  "Alexa set the lights to red" ...........  "Alexa set the lights to green".     You don't know just how close I got to shouting "Alexa turn the blxxdy lights OFF!" but I didn't and so far I haven't sent an Email either.

 

* Not been a problem this year then

 

As for today?   Well we'll be amusing two of the grandchildren today but I think a trip up the park might not be an option

 

Right, I'd better get a wriggle on.

 

TTFN

 

 

I found that I could leave an "Alexa, lights off" message on a colleagues answerphone and Alexa would duly oblige. I discovered this because he had spent months building himself a raspberry pi and then a switch do this, all so he did not have to walk across the room and flick the switch, and his work included an app on his phone that told him whether the light was on or not. All very clever, of course, but it amused me that he was then in fear that I would do another time when his other half was in the house but not bothering to answer the phone....

[TheQ]

My landrover can run on 50% vegi oil in the summer but at the moment diesel is cheaper.

 

Banking sorted I hope..

Some muddling done, head down to the mobile home shortly to clear up the snowstorm.

[Gwiwer]

15 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Are you part Vogon?

Let me check.  Bring on the Poetry Appreciation Chairs.  

[PupCam]

47 minutes ago, TheQ said:

My landrover can run on 50% vegi oil in the summer but at the moment diesel is cheaper.

How does the excise duty work on that then?  🤔

[polybear]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

 

So what have I been doing whilst suffering on my “bed of pain”™? Well mostly watching YouTube videos of people restoring old things. There’s one fellow who goes by the moniker < Cool Again Restoration> who not only does some very nice restorations, but also has an utterly amazing set of skills: wood turning, milling, sandblasting, powder coating (paint), laser engraving and nickel and chrome plating – amongst other skills. I certainly would like to have both his skill set and his workshop set up.

 

About the only downside to watching his videos, and those of similar individuals, is the realisation that in Switzerland (at least) a lot of the machinery and materials used in these projects is either not available or horrendously expensive! Americans, in particular, don’t really realise how lucky they are with what they can get in terms of tools and materials for the hobbyist. 

 

I am green with envy!

I used to watch “Norm’s Workshop” and it rapidly p1ssed me off cos’ the real world just isn’t like that.

 

1 hour ago, The Lurker said:

I found that I could leave an "Alexa, lights off" message on a colleagues answerphone and Alexa would duly oblige. I discovered this because he had spent months building himself a raspberry pi and then a switch do this, all so he did not have to walk across the room and flick the switch, and his work included an app on his phone that told him whether the light was on or not. All very clever, of course, but it amused me that he was then in fear that I would do another time when his other half was in the house but not bothering to answer the phone....

 

Now if Clever Puppers @PupCam were to hack into next door’s Alexa account then he could turn things on and off to his heart’s content - or even better delete devices…..
 

12 minutes ago, PupCam said:

How does the excise duty work on that then?  🤔

 

ISTR you register with Customs & Excise as some sort of mini fuel supplier then make declarations as to how much iffy fuel you’re using and pay duty accordingly….

[Erichill16]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

 

 

I suspect that I have various types of muscle injury - with the pain from one masking the pain from the other. So an improvement in one injury isn’t readily perceptible as the pain from the second injury is no longer masked. Still, I have a follow-up GP appointment tomorrow, so I’ll be able to review treatment and diagnosis.

 

Beginning to sound like a professional footballer.

BTW hope Mrs iD is taking care of your every need!

[polybear]

Bear here…..

 

Double hilly wander mode - just about to exit the pits…..

 

ION…..

 

Only the Conservatory still to explore with Mickey the Miele….sometime…

 

BG

[iL Dottore]

8 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

Beginning to sound like a professional footballer.

BTW hope Mrs iD is taking care of your every need!

Thank you for your good wishes, the comparison with a professional footballer made me smile.,

[TheQ]

42 minutes ago, PupCam said:

How does the excise duty work on that then?  🤔

You are allowed to use 2500 ltrs of vegi oil a year for personal driving without payment of taxes, no need to register,  you must keep a record of vegi oil usage dates etc and that's it. So in my landrover that's roughly 17,500 miles a year I've only exceeded 5000 miles in a year once or twice. Now I'm retired it's much less. 

 

However...

Diesel is now approximately £6.50 a gallon, vegi oil £ 8.50 a gallon, since Mr poo tin decided he wanted Ukraine, vegi has become much more expensive than Diesel. That's unless you can source used oil, but you have to clean that before use.

 

Snowstorm cleared up , now to think of what 's for dindins, ready when swmbo comes home from weaving.

Edited July 23 by TheQ

[Erichill16]

15 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Thank you for your good wishes, the comparison with a professional footballer made me smile.,

Good job it wasn't funny enough to make you laugh or you may have strained another muscle!

[iL Dottore]

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Let me check.  Bring on the Poetry Appreciation Chairs.  

Thank you for that introduction....

 

An Ode To Early Riders

Crispy lie the gnarlhops pon the grebe of day

Mamchu!

Manchu!;

Manchu!

Glab the snuckets to their weeves as splotz falls like snow!

And the frangs ooze their ichor into the desolate warbled.

'We die at last" the saddened nins emote with ecstatic vizz.

Heat Death of The Universe 

 

I thank you