Early Risers.

[The White Rabbit]

Afternoon awl,

 

Soggy Sunday is more Wild Weekending at the moment. There is some rain but it's been blown about 90 degrees to the vertical... I'm very glad I'm not on the upper slopes of Dentdale. 

 

Salutations to Baz's lass, hope you both have a good day. And while on personal matters, best wishes and positive vibes to il D's Lucy. 

 

I got down to the village fete yesterday for a couple of hours, watched various people having Fun on assorted stalls, including the archery, quintain and pillow-pole stands. I was tempted by the former but felt too knackered to have a proper go, so left after a little while. Maybe next year. Certain bits were rather boggy but no standing water and no wellies required. Some attendees were in fancy dress but of a different sort... 

 

On the subject of central heating, perhaps I could mention 'hypocausts'? Whatever you think about the Romans' morality, ethics and politics, they were first class engineers. I reckon even today they can teach us a thing or two. 

 

Various bits done on things the awl disapproves of, including sorting out (I hope!) an issue with some salmon pink and brown items from Sheffield, as originally requested from Widnes. 

 

One 'advantage' of inhospitable weather is time spent in the kitchen doesn't feel like time stolen from work outside. Of which there is a sizeable list. Gnocchi yesterday after the fete, lamb shanks today for mittagessen, potentially with Rabbit's leek and cheese quiche to follow later this pm. 

[polybear]

2 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

The driving factor is the criminal gangs organising the boats. Not all of the illegal immigrants head for the UK, far more prefer Germany for example and many prefer other countries in Europe. So much so that border checks are being reintroduced in the EU. At least the new government is taking steps to short circuit the flow by processing immigrants in Albania following the lead of the Italian government.

 

The chances of getting rid of the Gangs is diddly squat - there's just too much money it for v. little risk.  In my book the best bet is to dissuade the illegals sufficiently to make them realise that coming to the UK isn't such a bright idea after all - so stop running a BF/RNLI taxi service (respond to those in genuine distress by all means, but don't go routinely patrolling/looking for them), no free accommodation (I wonder what they get in France?  Also those born in the UK don't get it - pretty much every large town/city in the UK is testament to that) and no free handouts etc.  Also, no lifelong right of residency in the UK - incl. those subsequently born in the UK).  If the person is a Genuine Asylum Seeker (which will exclude 99.9999% of those coming from Europe) then they should be dealt with differently, however.

 

If Bear were to arrive in Oz/N.Z./USA etc. in a Rowing Boat it'd be (a) a Bluddy Good Trick, and (b) I'd be out PDQ I'm sure.

 

Harsh?  Some may think so - but if you don't hit the problem HARD then you'll NEVER stop it.

 

And yes, you can consider that a Big Fat Rant.

 

22 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Apparently not https://lenews.ch/2024/03/22/recent-swiss-fire-deaths-prompt-calls-for-fire-detectors/#:~:text=Ireland and UK%2C homes must,Europe there are no requirements.

 

 

Whilst Building Standards in Switzerland may well be higher (certainly so I'd say, judging by the cr@p the developers are getting away with now) I very much suspect that the primary causes of death are nothing to do with electrical faults in a building; I suspect they are caused by cooking, smoking, faulty white goods, kids playing with matches, charging E-Bikes etc.

[Tony_S]

8 minutes ago, polybear said:

faulty white goods,

Not cleaning fluff out of tumble dryers used to cause a few fires. Ours has all kinds of fluff sensors but having had one of the older ones with heating elements we got in the habit of fluff removal each time we use it.

[Coombe Barton]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

I an not much up to speed on English Channel operations other than what is broadcast on news media. But I suspect certain lifeboat crews will be a little hacked off at the thought of being tasked with constant patrols or daily “shouts” to uplift casualties.

 July 2021 - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jul/28/rnli-hits-out-migrant-taxi-service-accusations

 

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has hit out at accusations it is operating a “migrant taxi service” by rescuing people at risk of dying in the water as they cross the Channel in small boats, which the charity says is its moral and legal duty.

 

Responding to accusations from Nigel Farage that it is facilitating illegal immigration, the volunteer lifeboat charity said it was “very proud” of its humanitarian work and it would continue to respond to coastguard callouts to rescue at-risk Channel migrants in line with its legal duty under international maritime law.

Don;t want to stray into politics, but what Garage said was despicable.

 

It's what RNLI crews VOLUNTEER to do. No compulsion, no pay, putting themselves in danger, sometimes paying the ultimate sacrifice (Penlee, 1981). the RNLI is a charity.

 

And some have not been able to save lives. Phil Shannon MBE was on the Sennen lifeboat that tried to get round Lands End to help the Solomon Browne, but they couldn't. This news article mentioning Phil Shannon's retirement.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-30477521 They commit, and for ever; quote - "Mr Shannon said: "I've reached the end of the line, regrettably. I wish I could do it all again. I'll always be watching out, wondering what's happening."

[Hroth]

We've been promised much rain this evening, and more tomorrow, so its a comforting thing that I put a lamb casserole on in the slow cooker this morning.  I've not decided whether to boil up some spuds to go with it or to do a baked potato and dump the serving of casserole on top of it....

 

Of course, the remainder will go into the freezer as individual portions for when I can't decide on what to have for tea!

 

I can smell it, calling to meeeee......... 🤪

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Hroth
miner spelin problemette...

[polybear]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

But turning the heating on/off, on/off, on/off is a recipe for burning money. Each time you †urn the heating on it has to burn energy to get the temperature up to a comfortable level and as it gets colder and colder, the amount of energy needed to “warm up the place” increases. But when you heat the place and keep the heating ticking over, instead of turning it off, then you are burning a lot less energy as you are just replacing the heat that is lost through normal use of the house (assuming that you have some degree of insulation)

 

 

The Beary Gas Fire went on @ 0700(?) @ Warp Factor 9 for maybe 90 minutes; it hasn't been on since; Stylish Bear is currently dressed in Jeans (Wrangler, no less) and a shirt.  Do I feel anywhere near cold?  Nope....

 

ION....

 

Shedwood done, din dins done, ironing done, new shoes given a polish for that extra bit of shine.  I reckon that's a Tick.

Now it's time to look at G & L Suppliers....

 

BG

[rockershovel]

Why AC in UK? Not so many years ago I would have agreed that it had little application but No 1 Son's house is unpleasantly warm and stuffy from late spring to early autumn. It is SO insulated and has so little effective ventilation ..

 

Hotels are a different matter. They DO need effective ventilation and/or AC. Prem Inn in particular are well aware of this, along with the Travelodges on motorway sites where you can't open the windows for traffic noise. They are no longer cheap and it simply isn't good enough. 

[Coombe Barton]

Looking at the forecast we've won some more yellow warning of rain on Monday and Tuesday. I do not have to drive in it.

[DaveF]

The sun decided not to bother putting in an appearance today, it remained hiding behind the cloud and it has stayed cool.   It was cold in church as the heating is not yet on, we simply cannot afford it as much as we might like.  When I got to chuch I realised it was the 5th Sunday in the month which means it is a different service so I had to check what I needed to do and when.

 

Lunch was a simple and presumably healthy salad, though many would quibble about the ham I had as the meat part for a change. Then I fell asleep reading part of yesterday's newspaper but that could have been caused by the wine I had with the salad.

 

Since then I have been sorting out things to go in the bin.  I am wondering if I will ever use the old throws in the bottom of the wardrobe but they are in good condition so perhaps I should keep them just in case.  However a number of other things have gone.

 

David

Edited 1 hour ago by DaveF

[TheQ]

Almost evening Awl,

Forecast rain tomorrow and Tuesday, wind 30 mph tomorrow and possibly gusting 50 Tuesday. None of it dyed yellow.

 

The Sailing report,  wind southerly very light to start with slowly increasing all day, this meant close hauled with the possibility of a short tack on the first leg. A semi run round the corner to buoy 2, long tack short tack back to one, a very broad reach to X, then back up river again.

Sunny when I arrived then it went grey and chilly for most of the day, then the sun came out as we packed up..

 

Sadly for the first 3 races I had no one to play with, there was a major White boat event just 4 miles away, so they went.

So my major task was not to lose distance on the previous fleet the who started 5 minutes ahead, in the first race with very light winds I got to within 20 ft of their last place boat. But about 200 yards behind at the finish , but BM probably beat them all on handicap.

 

Second and third races didn't do so well, with increased wind BM got left behind but may have split the fleets.

 

4th race was combined bermudan class, so some boats to play with.. BM made good start... So did everyone else we were line abreast just behind the line as the buzzer went off. As everyone else was in faster boats, BM was soon last, but kept up well, wasn't till the third leg BM dropped behind a bit so there's a good chance BM wasn't last on handicap.

 

SWMBOs Trimmingham Trosh went better today, probably due to better weather, though there was a surplus of helpers as some turned up who hadn't signed on to do so. She, like me, got very cold though, I don't think it topped 13C today.