Early Risers.

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all. 

 

It is good that we are back but rotten that the return brings so much less than good news in one go.  Condolences to Rick, Simon and Neil.  Andyram, you do not deserve what is happening.  What is it about "management" these days?

 

Postie brought the special delivery just before 1 pm yesterday.  An envelope full of travel documents does seem to have a boosting effect, possibly even boozing as my fingers just tried to say.  I had a few minutes with last year's Swiss timetable to rough out a few ideas and await confirmation of a possible bonus brief encounter, said he cryptically.  I don't seem to have a ticket for the RER across Paris but working out how to use the clunk-clunk-fumble machine to obtain one is surely part of the holiday experience.  Area Group last night swiftly became a multitude of separate conversations, as is only to be expected with 12 plus a guest at and near the table.  Summarising it for the newsletter today will be another matter.  My seasonal message is nearly ready for the copy bureau, the address labels are printed and the cards prepped.  I wonder what the new C*****mas stamps look like?

 

Today will see unspecified pottering once I have retrieved the car from its distant location.  An interloper snaffled the resting place across Mrs Electric-Chair's gate and other so-called spaces would not accommodate my relatively tiny Polo.  Hey, that's life

 

Warm thoughts to all in distress and recovery

 

Chris

[BlackRat]

Greetings rascals.

 

S.N.A.F.U.

 

That is all.

[westernglory]

Good morning all, where did everyone go yesterday?  ;-)

 

To Rick, Simon and Barry - my thoughts are with you......

 

The painter duly came yesterday and even in undercoat, the front door looks much improved - thought - leave it in undercoat and halve the bill?  No, I thought not. Top coat today then....

 

We thought that Team 'Five + 2 halves' (aka Desperados) had duly won the quiz last night - 37/40 is not to be sneezed at - until the usual suspects came in with 38  .......Darn and blast...:-)   Nice to see that the 'Yummy Mummies' (and some were), scoop the separate Dead or Alive £150 jackpot on the adjacent table though.....

 

May pop down to Norton Fitzwarren later to see one of those new fangled jobs en route Pz...

 

Have a good one...

 

Steve 

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Here,

Another good nights sleep was had.

 

I got home last yesterday afternoon to be greeted by a much happier Ben the Border Collier, bounding around in his normal fashion. Though SWMBO reported he spent much of the day hiding in his cage from the USAF playing top gun over our garden.

 

So once I'd unloaded the car, 25KG Potatos £5 or 75KG Potatos £10 from our local farm shop... I took Ben for a double run round the garden, He was so excited charging up and down, he missed the deer leaving rapidly for next doors garden.... SWMBO will be doing mass chip and mash making for the freezer over the next few days...

 

I notice my parcel from Crecy books hasn't arrived again, time for an email shortly I think...

I also need some longer green hair and some short brown hair for muddleing, so I think another order may be organised shortly before the rush towards the end of next month.

 

Time too.... rewrite some spreadsheets for the new equipment to take account of extra tests, and load some overnight automatic runs into spreadsheets for another equipment...

[Barry O]

It looks a bit wet outside...still I need to get myself down to the surgery with a letter which should result in a new prescription for different eye drops.

 

I intend to complete my tax return today....honest!

 

On other fronts I need to discuss with the I ET why they think I need to be paying full wack for membership rather than being "retired"..the difference being about 100 beer tokens!

 

Hope you all enjoy the day, nice to see Debs on top form...perhaps a visit to see Herculaneum Dock at Nottingham Show next March Debs?

Baz

[jamie92208]

Good morning all from the village that is still north of Ikea.   Not a good 24 hours in ER land. Condolences to Rick and supporting thoughts to Simon, Neil and Andyram.

Good to see more of Debs.

Anyway I managed to survive without this forum for a day.  I even did some muddling and some building shave progressed.

I also spent some time on the telling bone and made a strange discovery.  I may have discovered the secret plan to solve our budget crisis.   

 

Some 3 months ago I claimed my State Pension, online.  A few friends have been through the same process but I haven't actually had any paperwork.   Some money appeared in my bank yesterday but was not the expected amount.   Half an hour of phone calls later a strange story emerged.  A very nice young lady called Debbie in Newcastle informed me that my application had become a virtual one and that there was a glitch in the system.   Apparently a proportion of such State Pension applications ae being logged but then just sit there in the system without generating any actions.  The staff don't know they are there until some poor punter rings up and quotes the correct NI number for them to check.   Once they check the file can be made active but they apparently have no idea how many such cases are sitting there..  

 

Anyway the upshot of all this is that I will eventually get my pension but my first payment, which should be next week, is going to be delayed.   I was not best pleased with this but did not take my annoyance out on Debbie.   I didn't dare tell her that I have some very happy memories of young ladies with accents like hers from my basic training days.

 

On another note today is the day we start marking out our annual exhibition.  I obviously need to get my elastic tape measure out.  I switched my phone on the find an email from a layout owner who ahs suddenly discovered that his layout is 20' long and not 16' as he had told us.  Happy days.   Someone is going to have to suffer the cold draughts in front of the roller shutter doors.

 

On that note I will stop drivelling and get my breakfast.   

 

Jamie

[Ozexpatriate]

Am in the wilds of the Bay Area and amused by the "Storm Impact" scale presented on the local news weather report. Apparently a "3" (on a five point scale) means it is raining. OK it will rain heavily but the whole thing is a bit hyperbolic.

 

I love local TV  If it bleeds it leads, weather and sports at eleven. (Ten Central).

 

LA is by far the silliest. It's funny what they report when there really is no weather.

 

I will stipulate that Portland TV goes bonkers when it snows. 

[Gwiwer]

Morning all

 

Many thanks for your kind messages and thoughts.

 

Will take today offline.

 

Best wishes - see you tomorrow.

[Debs.]

Yet another brush with officialdom today; the endless round of advising various 'bodies' of John`s death, continues with an appointment at a local Job Centre......and no, I`m not entering the job market!

Evidently, I`m entitled to a bereavement allowance, but according to the DWP whom are trying to process my application; I "don`t exist!"......so today`s challenge will be to {officially} prove it!

It likely seems a case of "computer says no".......but interestingly; my providing them with a N.I number, a passport, a marriage certificate and a birth certificate; aren`t considered sufficient official proof of identity.

Existentially yours,

Debs.

[Simon G]

Debs, that just seems ridiculous. What more can you provide other than utility bills. I hope that you can sort it all out without any fuss or more grief.

 

This morning, I will be going, with two other members of the MRC, to start to clear the OO and G gauge stuff that we have agreed to sell for a former work acquaintance with a cut going to the MRC. It could take a while!

[Tony_S]

Jamie. My pension was applied for online but I noticed in all the messages that I should receive a letter at least two weeks before first payment. As I didn't, I phoned. My claim was in a pending queue. A nice man moved it to an "action" queue and everything happened from

then on as expected. Seems like a IT logic problem.

 

Debs. After years of filling in forms the civil service (or their privatised brethren) have got keen on face to face. I do hope they sort themselves out.

 

Otherwise not a lot happening here today. A package from darkest Essex should be arriving today. A new power supply for the kitchen radio. The old one fell apart. Aditi likes the radio on, usually Classic FM or selected Radio4 programmes.

Tony

[emt_911]

Morning all. Late on parade this morning but I needed the sleep.

 

A day of completing some of my admin before I finish my current role. Not too tedious but time consuming.

 

Time for another coffee.

[DDolfelin]

Yet another brush with officialdom today; the endless round of advising various 'bodies' of John`s death, continues with an appointment at a local Job Centre......and no, I`m not entering the job market!

Evidently, I`m entitled to a bereavement allowance, but according to the DWP whom are trying to process my application; I "don`t exist!"......so today`s challenge will be to {officially} prove it!

It likely seems a case of "computer says no".......but interestingly; my providing them with a N.I number, a passport, a marriage certificate and a birth certificate; aren`t considered sufficient official proof of identity.

Existentially yours,

Debs.

 

What a pain.

The only other thing I can think of is husband's Death Certificate (another costly bit of paper).

They may need an original of that rather than a copy.

Good luck with it all, Debs.

I'm sure we are all in your corner.

[jamie92208]

Yet another brush with officialdom today; the endless round of advising various 'bodies' of John`s death, continues with an appointment at a local Job Centre......and no, I`m not entering the job market!

Evidently, I`m entitled to a bereavement allowance, but according to the DWP whom are trying to process my application; I "don`t exist!"......so today`s challenge will be to {officially} prove it!

It likely seems a case of "computer says no".......but interestingly; my providing them with a N.I number, a passport, a marriage certificate and a birth certificate; aren`t considered sufficient official proof of identity.

Existentially yours,

Debs.

 

I wish you luck Debs and hope that it goes OK.  I had to help a friend of Beth's who had been widowed suddenly.   There were problems with his car and DVLA fined her £75 for not providing some information.   It took me a long time and several letters to get the charge rescinded.  However the worst bit for Margaret was the constant repeating of the details of David's death when she was struggling.  I had a very 'interesting' conversation with one of the officials at one point and then stings started to move. I was so annoyed at the way they treated her when she was at her lowest.   

 

Jamie

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The usual bin lorry chorus this morning but at least the (noisiest) bottle collection one is only fortnightly and not this week as I've come to the conclusion that some of my neighbours are dipsomaniacs. I have been lucky when dealing with officialdom, I've had very few if any problems, perhaps being involved with officialdom most of my working life has helped.

[Tony_S]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The usual bin lorry chorus this morning but at least the (noisiest) bottle collection one is only fortnightly and not this week as I've come to the conclusion that some of my neighbours are dipsomaniacs. I have been lucky when dealing with officialdom, I've had very few if any problems, perhaps being involved with officialdom most of my working life has helped.

Our neighbours usually fill our bottle recycling container after I put it out!

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Sorry to hear of your problems with bureaucracydom Debs - it's amazing how some things have to be so absolutely correct before they will do anything apart from moaning that they haven't got the necessary whatever (commonsense?) to do anything.  Fortunately however all went well with Newcastle for my pension and equally things worked out OK on both occasions progressing my parent's deaths through the various mills of officialdom - apart from part of the bank who were still writing to my father 5 years after he'd died (and who therefore got both barrels of my venom on more than one occasion).

 

GDB is clearly no sort of 'professional' paperwork hugger - the best one I've ever come across was a chap I worked with at various times over the years and of whom it was said that he photocopied every bit of paper before throwing it away.  But he was an excellent mine of generally little thought about and usually irrelevant information so that when, for example, you needed to know the length of the platform at some obscure station deep in the backwoods he had it on file 'somewhere'.

 

Have a good day one and all and may it go well for those battling with 'the 'crats' and generally improve in outlook for those with recent losses.  I, of course, will be off on the faux Friday mission - so I'm told.

[Horsetan]

....GDB is clearly no sort of 'professional' paperwork hugger.....

 

He's more comfortable hugging power tools.....whilst they're still switched on.

[grandadbob]

Shopping done and essential ie  beer supplies topped up. I was then asked to ferry The Boss to Nicki's house as they and Abbie are going Ch######s shopping.

I'm now back and a peaceful relaxing time is in front of me. Several hours of it if past history is repeated.   

Edited November 16, 2017 by grandadbob

[81C]

Shopping done and essential ie  beer supplies topped up. I was then asked to ferry The Boss to Nicki's house as they and Abbie are going Ch######s shopping.

I'm now back and a peaceful relaxing time is in front of me. Several hours of it if past history is repeated.   

I can go one better next week SWMBO is off to her aunt's on the south coast for 4 days.            

[Horsetan]

Was surprised to catch someone on duty, so the prison visit is booked for next Tuesday morning. Excellent!

[Judge Dread]

Evening - at last, as Keith says!

 

My day went from bad to worse, the &^%$ing mail plane didn't go AGAIN last night, so that is every parcel from Friday after 4 to Tuesday at 4 not moved off the runway - cue a zillion phone calls and e mails to complain about lack of goods being delivered.  The trouble with being consistently fast with delivery means folk notice when it's not......   #sigh#

 

IoM Post said they had made 'alternative means' organised today to get the post away - really not good enough though.  No-one in IoM Post can ever remember two consecutive days of fight failure, but surely the aircraft folk must have known the plane was not able to be repaired in time.  Or were they waiting for parts in the.......post.......     /rant.

My order from you of the 14th has just arrived. Two days travelling time is no problem to me. Thanks to all concerned. I must order kippers again from Peel by post, very nice although I was reprimanded at work for the smell which drifted throughout the building. My boss did ask for the address so as he could order some! 

Happy days, they won't come back you know.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

One of my occasional visits. I am now equipped to write a considerable volume, working title 'places to look when the demented hide their medications'. My dear wife (who has always had a competitive streak) today reported a 'personal best'  for her radiotherapy, back at the office under an hour from departure (20mins each way between Snorbens and Mt Vernon, and about 18mins to book in, change, get arranged on the linac, irradiated, change, and depart). Very impressed by the organisation at Mt Vernon, really efficient. Fight the good fight people whatever the trouble may be.

 

 

..On Tuesday I scanned the job pages and found a tempting deputy head post. Probably a bit too soon to consider jumping ship...

 I'd suggest the days of winning brownie points by sticking at it are long past. Being in a place where you can confidently give of your best is much more likely to work for you, both for your personal health and wellbeing, and in fulfilling whatever career ambitions you hold.

[Purley Oaks]

My condolences to Rick on the loss of his aunt.

 

And thinking of you, Simon G.

 

Sorry to hear about the problems your having, Debs - the system here in Edinburgh is good inasmuch as the Registrar also informs all other state departments about the death, so pensions, passport, driving licence and so on are all cancelled. But when I registered my father's death in Croydon two years ago they didn't use that system which just adds a lot of minor irritations.

 

Bright and sunny today with a pale blue sky but really chilly outside today with a keen-ish wind making it colder. And to think the maximum temperature for Saturday's match at Murrayfield is expected to be 6C. Brrr!

 

Hope you're staying warm

 

Mal 

[TheQ]

Just depressed myself by making my first pass at this years assessments.. It is of course written in American HR carp, the only way to complete it is to lie. Many of the "example text answers" are only good for power point bingo. Dilbert here we come...

 

So to cheer myself up, I've looked at the next 3 days forecast since I'm off work tomorrow, dry mostly sunny, but ****** chilly especially Sunday

 

Friday and Saturday, I'm going to try to complete wall  /post box construction  This will require clothing and overalls and thick padded coat and gloves and woolly hat and woolly lined riggers boots...

 

Sunday, it looks like we'll get the sailing in, High tide is about 15:00, that means for the first 2 races we'll be at maximum tide change, but with a north westerly of up to 22mph that won't be a big problem,. Maximum tide speed is around 2mph where we sail, which doesn't sound much, but that is one third of the maximum speed of the boats we race, failure to take account of the tide means you lose the race by a long way..     high temperature of....7C.

 

Right, time to type in some results, then tidy up the lab and go home