Early Risers.

[iL Dottore]

45 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

 One factor was that the height limit was abolished and the shorter officers couldn't handle the long shields which were at least 6' long. 

One of the worst thing that they did with the Police Force was to do away with height and weight requirements. Looking at the news it's incredible how many, short, fat, short and fat coppers there are. Perhaps not as bad as in the US, but still.

 

I'm old enough to remember when a Policeman looked like a policeman and not like a fat kid playing policeman...

[DaveF]

I slept for over 9 hours last night, I must have been tired and didn't wake until almost 9.  I only got up once and went back to sleep again very quickly.

 

It's a fine morning though cool overnight, down to 9°C, it should reach 18°C by lunchtime then the wind will change to coming in off the sea from the east so it will get cooler.  It will remain there for the nesxt few days so it will only be up to 16-17°C for the next few days.  

 

Today I want to sort out the photos I took yesterday, I also have a podiatrist appointment later on and need to plan the best route to get there to avoid all the roadworks which keep moving around.  I may also have a walk while I am out.

 

David

[BSW01]

Good morning everybody 

I've skipped the last few days posts, so I’ll say congratulations or commiserations are sent as appropriate. 
 

Well, I’m back home from hospital, I got back last night at about 7:30, so we had a very late evening meal, but it’s great to be home. The operation has gone well, but I have to go back next week to have the catheter I’m currently wearing removed. I’m awaiting an appointment for that, which is due in the post in the next day or so. I’m also awaiting a follow up appointment for the implant, so it can be switched on and then I’ll be shown how to use it etc. 

 

As is the norm for hospitals, I didn’t get much sleep whilst I was in, being woken up at 12:30 for an injection , 3:30 for B/P tests etc, don’t help. But just sitting about all day, did mean I at least got some rest. I finished the book on Alex Harvey that I took in with me and a very good read it was too. I also did some sudoku puzzles and word puzzles to keep my brain active. Last night, I slept for over 7 hours, the best nights sleep I’ve had in weeks! 

 

I’m finding sitting upright on a hard chair a little uncomfortable at the moment, so the plan is to spend the next couple of days sat on the sofa reading. When I can sit upright comfortably, the plan is to do some small modelling projects. Making some corridor connections is one that I’ve got in mind, but I’ll probably leave that until sometime next week. 
 

Back later. 
 

Brian

Edited August 30 by BSW01

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Wouldn't work. The lower legs are protected by greaves.

Again, wouldn't work. They'd simply kneel and rest their interlocked shields on the ground

 

A giant magnet.

[PhilJ W]

43 minutes ago, BSW01 said:

Good morning everybody 

I've skipped the last few days posts, so I’ll say congratulations or commiserations are sent as appropriate. 
 

Well, I’m back home from hospital, I got back last night at about 7:30, so we had a very late evening meal, but it’s great to be home. The operation has gone well, but I have to go back next week to have the catheter I’m currently wearing removed. I’m awaiting an appointment for that, which is due in the post in the next day or so. I’m also awaiting a follow up appointment for the implant, so it can be switched on and then I’ll be shown how to use it etc. 

 

As is the norm for hospitals, I didn’t get much sleep whilst I was in, being woken up at 12:30 for an injection , 3:30 for B/P tests etc, don’t help. But just sitting about all day, did mean I at least got some rest. I finished the book on Alex Harvey that I took in with me and a very good read it was too. I also did some sudoku puzzles and word puzzles to keep my brain active. Last night, I slept for over 7 hours, the best nights sleep I’ve had in weeks! 

 

I’m finding sitting upright on a hard chair a little uncomfortable at the moment, so the plan is to spend the next couple of days sat on the sofa reading. When I can sit upright comfortably, the plan is to do some small modelling projects. Making some corridor connections is one that I’ve got in mind, but I’ll probably leave that until sometime next week. 
 

Back later. 
 

Brian

Welcome back Brian.

[PhilJ W]

1 minute ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

A giant magnet.

Roman greaves were usually bronze.

[monkeysarefun]

11 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Roman greaves were usually bronze.

 

 

[Compound2632]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

UK police forces did adopt the testudo with long shields.  Front row vertical, the edges were curved and interlocked with your neighbour.  Second row had theirs above their heads to protect the front three rows.  Very effective.  However static lines of defence were not very good and went out of favour. One factor was that the height limit was abolished and the shorter officers couldn't handle the long shields which were at least 6' long.  You couldn't mix the short and long shields.   

 

The Ashmolean Museum has a plaster cast of a Roman bas-relief depicting a legionary recruit being measured with a height stick; apparently the minimum was 5' 7" in modern(ish) units, though this may have been reduced over time. Maybe one's height determined which cohort one was assigned to, with a view to the practicalities of forming testudo. I'm sure some of the Midland Directors had had a full classical education:

 

MR Traffic Committee minute 17101 of 2 May 1871:

 

Standard for Men in Goods Department Service

                              The difficulty of keeping up the Staff in the Goods Department in consequence of the minimum standard being 5 ft 7 in, was explained, and it was

                              Resolved that the standard for Candidates for employment in the Goods Department be altered to 5 ft 6 in.

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

One of the worst thing that they did with the Police Force was to do away with height and weight requirements. Looking at the news it's incredible how many, short, fat, short and fat coppers there are. Perhaps not as bad as in the US, but still.

 

I'm old enough to remember when a Policeman looked like a policeman and not like a fat kid playing policeman...

I thought long and hard about the height requirement and certainly being 6' plus a helmet and being broad shouldered certainly helped in a lot of situations.  However I served with many shorter officers who took seconds to no one. One5'5" former ripper (a type of miner), was nearly as wide as he was tall and I've seen 6' 4" beanpole who were useless.  A policewoman on my shift in Huddersfield was about 5'4" but was always first into a fight and would always emerge with a prisoner in tow.  I felt  that the powers that be should have devised some sort of test for 'bottle'. 

 

Jamie

[DaveF]

Living in Northumberland I am not far from Hadrian's Wall and visit some of the forts and the wall itself from time to time.  Much of the area still has very few people living near the wall.  It is always fascinating to wander around the remains of the forts and try to imagine what it was really like - especially on cold wet days.

 

Of course a lot of the troops in the garrisons were not from Italy but all over the Roman Empire, it must have been a shock for some of them, Northumberland/Cumbrian weather can be a bit extreme at times.

 

I've been through the photos I took at Seaton Delaval Hall yesterday, a small selection are below.

 

Samson slaying the Philistine, 18th century.

 

The formal gardens with the Hall beyond.  The light made it look like a very old fashioned picture postcard.

 

This photo is the right way up!  The Delavals had a odd sense of humour, after an evening of partying a guest might be taken back to what he though was his room only to find that everything was upside down.  Other practical jokes were played on guests as well.  Can you find the mistake?

 

Spiral staircase in the Hall

 

The stables

 

David

[Tony_S]

10 minutes ago, DaveF said:

Can you find the mistake?

Yes.

[polybear]

35 minutes ago, DaveF said:

This photo is the right way up!  The Delavals had a odd sense of humour, after an evening of partying a guest might be taken back to what he though was his room only to find that everything was upside down.  Other practical jokes were played on guests as well.  Can you find the mistake?

 

 

The wallpaper maybe?

[Andy Hayter]

The dangling hair of the wig.

[rockershovel]

6 hours ago, TheQ said:

Of course being a British, it gets a bit complicated.

Up until 1948, you weren't a citizen but a subject... After  that it became a bit woolly you were sort of in-between until 1st Jan 83.. then we became citizens.

Did  you notice any difference?

Though those of already in the military had sworn to be a loyal subject of HM the Queen.

 

Quite what the people's status was during the dictatorship of Cromwell I don't know.. Depressed maybe...

 

Mooring Awl,

2.5 hours sleep medium awake, 3 hours sleep and an unexpected 1/2 hours sleep. Which means I'm running late.

 

Time to get ready for the museum.

 

 

It was less confused than you might think. It was always intended that UK nationals would become citizens of the nascent EU. The problems were;

 

- not extending EU citizenship to Commonwealth countries automatically 

- smuggling the whole thing past the intransigent Brits, who (given the chance) would reject it.

 

The only question was how. 

[Ozexpatriate]

7 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

In some ways I'd argue it's not that far removed from offering opportunities for professional training and higher education to get young kids from poor backgrounds to sign up.

Enlistment rates for minority communities in the US are higher than others.

 

                     White    Latino  Other

Enlistment: 50.4%   18.4%   31.2%

Population: 59.3%   18.9%   21.8%

 

Reference

Edited August 30 by Ozexpatriate

[Ian Abel]

POETS, definitely!

 

Yesterday a pleasant "exchange of ideas" with some friends earlier in the day.

Then work then a very enjoyable evening with some choir members at our favourite watering hole. Managed to avoid the 1+ inch downpour just as I was arriving.

 

Weekend is a long one, thanks to the US Labor Day, celebrated (if that's the correct idea) on Monday.

Nothing particular planned other than the arrival of a new bed and "smart base" tomorrow morning. Rather alarmed at the potential for an early awakening as their delivery instructions suggest they will call 2-3 hours before the allotted arrival time. Given they deliver between 8am and 4pm we're NOT looking forward to being half-awake expecting a call as early as 5am 😲

 

Rest of the weekend COULD include extended sleep if the mattress/smart-base live up to expectations 😀

Otherwise we'll certainly find something to do, even if it's just relaxing and enjoying the end-of-summer as decreed by the passing of Labor Day.

May be an impromptu happy hour in the neighborhood, which I would be happy to initiate if no-one else is forthcoming.

 

Weather supposed to be pretty great all weekend with sun, no forecast rain and highs at a very pleasant 23c - 26c all weekend. Overnight lows now dropping to around 15c

 

Hope the weekend starts well for all.

[DaveF]

4 hours ago, DaveF said:

 

This photo is the right way up!  The Delavals had a odd sense of humour, after an evening of partying a guest might be taken back to what he though was his room only to find that everything was upside down.  Other practical jokes were played on guests as well.  Can you find the mistake?

 

 

The room is meant to be as it would have been in the late eighteenth century.  The lights could not have pointed down then as they would have been candles.

 

David

[Ozexpatriate]

6 minutes ago, Ian Abel said:

Weekend is a long one, thanks to the US Labor Day, celebrated (if that's the correct idea) on Monday.

Being celebrated here by the workers of two supermarket chains gong on strike.

 

A 'posher' chain has a one-day strike on Sunday. In the other, (a local chain absorbed some years back into the Cincinnati monster) has local employees already on strike protesting lies they were told regarding the planned acquisition of the next biggest chain.  There are FTC hearings over the proposed merger.

 

In them we learned:

Quote

A top Kroger executive admitted under questioning from a Federal Trade Commission attorney on Tuesday that the grocery chain raised its egg and milk prices above the rate of inflation

 

 

[DaveF]

The day has gone smoothly since this morning's post here.  After the photos from yesterday were dealt with I worked on some other recent photos I'd taken with my phone.

 

After lunch I spent a while in the garden before going to the podiatrist to get my feet dealt with.  It was quite busy, I had to park 6 doors along from his surgery.

 

I decided to come home via Azure in Cramlington, a garden centre which is also a charity training and employing disabled people.  I called in to buy some marmalade which is an obvious thing to get.  I also bought almost enough bulbs to put in the pots in due course to flower next Spring.  As I tried to leave I decided my car must be invisible as a car backed out just as I was going to go past its parking space, so I stopped hurriedly.  Then as I drove a little further along the car park another car turned across right in front of me to go into a parking space.  I was glad to get onto the road.

 

I stopped the beach and had yet another walk along the promenade, the wind was much cooler having gone round to the east as forecast and it is more hazy.  I was back home in time for a cuppa before writing this.  

 

David

[Coombe Barton]

... Today has seen a lot of time on the phone - a lot of it on hold. ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2024/08/30/postcards-from-home-2024-10/

[PupCam]

Evening

 

9 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

One of the worst thing that they did with the Police Force was to do away with height and weight requirements. Looking at the news it's incredible how many, short, fat, short and fat coppers there are.

 

7 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I thought long and hard about the height requirement and certainly being 6' plus a helmet and being broad shouldered certainly helped in a lot of situations.  However I served with many shorter officers who took seconds to no one. One5'5" former ripper (a type of miner), was nearly as wide as he was tall and I've seen 6' 4" beanpole who were useless.  A policewoman on my shift in Huddersfield was about 5'4" but was always first into a fight and would always emerge with a prisoner in tow.  I felt  that the powers that be should have devised some sort of test for 'bottle'.

 

Although Jamie has obviously got copious experience in this matter, for me I can't help thinking Flavio has a point.   The thing is when Policeman were 6' 2"+   and built like the proverbial out-house it acted as visual deterrent and in many cases I should imagine the actual strength, bottle and skill of the Officer(s) was almost academic.; the sight of them was enough to nip a lot of stuff in the bud.   Mind you, unless all of the Police Officers are low-profile midgets (probably not allowed to say that now) we don't see any around anyway!    But that's another discussion which might touch on bean counters.

 

ION

 

Mrs P & JP are up in London's theatre land this evening.     Guess who is on taxi duty from the station at1/4 past very late this evening! 🤣

 

The basic 2nd MPCB is now up and running having beaten the I2C data bus into submission.    It appears to work in complete harmony with MPCB #1 as it should which is nice.  The black kettle can now move (and stop) in both directions and announce it's arrival and departure as required.   The next task will be to get the "Shoveling black stuff" effect working.   JJP particularly likes that feature as it includes a  representation  of a fiery inferno whilst operating.

 

This video appeared via Faceache today (see, it has its uses) .      Sammy Miller is an absolute legend.  

Even if you skip over the new bikes stuff at the beginning look at him on the AJS7R at ~8:30.   He's 91 for crying out loud!    Brilliant.

 

 

TTFN

 

 

 

[Gwiwer]

21 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

RMweb is getting slow again.

Oh good. 
 

Fewer pages of ER to scan-read and wonder what I’ve missed 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I know it's a bit late but a bit of eyelid inspection and watching the cricket highlights from Lords accounts for the time. Dinner's also a bit late and the micro's just pinged so I'll be back later.

[Gwiwer]

An interesting day. 
 

1.  Friend whose third marriage recently failed has been in need of supportive words. 
 

2.  Friend who has chosen to leave her marriage after her husband transitioned and now has her gender reassignment certificate has been in need of supportive words. 
 

3.  Friend (former Neighbour (Upstairs) at the Hill of Strawberries) who is short of a partner but clearly feels in need of one and is paying a therapist for advice has been in need of supportive words. 
 

I never turn my back on friends. The door is always open. But if they all turn up at the same time we’ll need an annexe. 
 

In other news it’s been a cracking day with lunch and (fission-chips) supper taken out in the garden. Yesterday a large paddle-steamer came by. Today a blue and white train arrived. Both from Scotland. And it’s been the old Cornish tradition of Crying the Neck in the field down the road after harvest. 
 

I might stroll into town in a bit. The colours in the sky are amazing. There’s a comfortable number of folk about. And it’s POETS day. 

[Hroth]

For some reason, I went through today convinced it was Saturday!