Early Risers.

[Ozexpatriate]

10 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I think that the qualifier (Top Speed) is the key here

In retrospect I should not have mentioned "top speed". It is not germane to the problem and introduced some potential confusion.

[AndyID]

7 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

Yahoo won the lottery again, 2 draws on the trot...………………..£8.20 total, so do I invest it or spend it on wine, women and song?

 

You'll have to go to Kirriemuir to do that.

[New Haven Neil]

Evening, from Fragatraz. 

 

Yes Dave, borders closed, both ways.  The few returning Fraggles caught off-world at the closure (they were warned...) have a fortnight's incarceration in a guarded hotel at a cost of a grand each, no choice. Or 4 weeks in the 'Jurby Hilton' if they really wish... there's a few locals in there currently who thought they could defy the law.  Some snowflake was on the radio saying it's harsh, well it's harsh if they kill someone by spreading the virus for sure, I have no sympathy.  One of them was 'known' to me in my previous employment, no surprise there.

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

35 minutes ago, AndyID said:

Don't get me started. The one that always frosts my horns, frequently used by the US polis and news readers is:

 

"The vehicle was travelling at a great rate of speed."

Perhaps the vehicle was accelerating very quickly?

 

Separate from the second differential, reporters are terrible with comparisons using a first differential. The velocity example was arbitrary but easiest to comprehend. (and it pained me to use mph). It could have been any data, even truly horrible statistics like COVID-19, per-capita fatality rates - as in "the UK has 2.12 times the COVID-19 per-capita fatality rate of the US" or "the UK has 112% higher COVID-19, per-capita fatality rates than the US".*

 

The "higher ... than" is technically not ambiguous in a rigorous mathematical sense, but being interpreted differently by different people makes it pragmatically ambiguous.

 

* Source: Google

UK: 39.16 excess deaths per 100,000 Britons

US: 18.41 excess deaths per 100,000 Americans 

[AndyID]

3 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Perhaps the vehicle was accelerating very quickly?

 

 

It's a good example of attempting to appear knowledgeable and ending up looking gormless

 

"high speed" or "fast" would be more accurate and a lot less confusing.

[AndyID]

59 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

I find Scottish salmon unless smoked is pretty tasteless compared to most types of Pacific salmon. Sainsbury’s frequently has Keta or Sockeye fillets. Not cheap but worth it. 

 

All the farmed salmon seems to be pretty devoid of any taste. If wild is not available I'd rather have the canned stuff from Alaska.

[brianusa]

14 hours ago, AndyID said:

Marmalade has been made. Most US marmalade is orange colored jelly with a few bits of orange peel to make you think it's actually marmalade. We made some industrial strength stuff by buying Ma-Made (Robertsons) cans containing actual Seville oranges and cooking it up in the jam maker. It's pretty inexpensive and jolly good too.

 

Something most can agree on - US marmalade is definitely not on!  We went the Robertsons route (until I found out there was no Golly any more) and now buy Duerr's marmalade which is much better, especially on what is called an 'English muffin' here, with lashings of melted butter.  Also, its discounted if you care to shop around!

     Brian.

[Ozexpatriate]

11 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Word, IMHO, is designed for those whose “communications” (for want of a better word) tend towards the - Ahem - less complicated end of the spectrum. I recall when MS Word was first introduced, at that time many of my colleagues were working with WordPerfect, which they preferred. Was WordPerfect the better system? Discuss.

 

8 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I was once told that Word Perfect was originally developed with typists having a big input. I certainly liked it and still have a copy running on an old computer. The story then went on that Mr Gates' suddenly found thst they needed a word processing package before they could achieve world domination. They thus cobbled together Word and it was a mess that has since been tweaked.

 

7 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I remember the educational word processor wars of 1986. One thing I do remember is that once it was established Microsoft would ask for input from users about tweaks or features they would like for Word.  Most of the requests each year had already been implemented and documented in the help system.  

 

7 hours ago, AndrewC said:

Good old Wordperfect. Way back when I was still doing desk side support. When Win 3.0 came along the secretaries and stenographers hated it. The reason? The win version of Wordperfect couldn't keep up with their typing speeds. There was only around 80 characters worth of buffer in the keyboard driver so the DOS version lived on for several years until the hardware could run WP for Win fast enough for these typists. MS Word and all the Office products have improved over the years. Not big on 365 but Office 2016 does what I need it to. At least you now get a common interface and can move bits between each application. Trying to embed a Lotus 123 spreadsheet into a Wordperfect document was a lesson in futility. 

Back in the day I extensively used Framemaker on UNIX systems. It was quite powerful. Prior to that I had used a text formatting system that used proprietary escape codes for a particular printer. Clumsy but it worked.

 

I was exposed to Microsoft Word on a Macintosh around 1991. I liked it and in some ways it was easier to master (and by that I mean all the more complex printing set ups, references, gutters, headers, footers, tables of contents etc) than any recent version of Microsoft Word.  

[Ozexpatriate]

9 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

I note clarity of language was missing from the description of Car A in which it was described as a 'performance car' - which is somewhat misleading because all cars have a performance of some kind although obviously the level of their performance can vary considerably.  More properly it should be described as a 'high performance car' to more correctly indicate what it might be capable of doing.

So stipulated, but moot to the question. I would suggest "high performance car" is as equally vague as "performance car" since the performance aspect - speed, acceleration, efficiency, range, etc is not specified by either description.

[J. S. Bach]

12 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

Before anyone gets too jumpy, it's a shotgun, not an assault rifle,

 

However, taking it on grouse shoot would not be considered sporting.

 

 

I prefer the Streetsweeper:

[Ian Abel]

Bog rolls have arrived and are under suitable guard

Scary that the most interesting/exciting event of the day is the arrival of bog rolls!

 

[Ozexpatriate]

11 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

America whilst admirable and great in so many ways, is also guilty of inflicting the most evil business practices on a hapless world (may I say three words and three words only? OPEN  PLAN  OFFICES!!!).

Open plan offices are verily the devil's work.

 

It is amusing to see "open plan offices" for the post-COVID-19 world. Local TV news channels have been showing videos from an office in China (I believe) showing changes made for social distancing In addition to perspex shields in face-to-face workstations, 2m radius floor markings are being added to maintain spacing. They remind me of the black and yellow wasp stripe tape on the floor in industrial applications. Funniest were the medallions on the floor in the corners of a lift saying "stand here" (or the equivalent) to maintain social distance. Two people per lift? Sure, that'll work.

 

The whole point of open plan offices was to reduce real estate costs under the smoke screen of collaboration. I'd suggest that a walled office is the right answer in the post-COVID-19 world. (In my last job, *most* employees, except those in facilities frog marched into the great open-plan office showcase, still had walled offices.)

[polybear]

2 hours ago, AndrewC said:

I find Scottish salmon unless smoked is pretty tasteless compared to most types of Pacific salmon. Sainsbury’s frequently has Keta or Sockeye fillets. Not cheap but worth it. 

 

1 hour ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

If you mean farmed salmon, I agree, fairly tasteless. Not even that good smoked.

 

I recall a TV interview with a Salmon Farmer in Scotland; he mentioned that you have to be careful with wording on packaging:

 

1. "Smoked Scottish Salmon" means you're buying Scottish Salmon that's been smoked.

2. "Scottish Smoked Salmon" means you're buying any old Salmon that's been smoked in Scotland.

It's all in the detail, and I'm sure no-one is out to deceive....(yeah, right...)

[jamie92208]

5 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

 Funniest were the medallions on the floor in the corners of a lift saying "stand here" (or the equivalent) to maintain social distance. Two people per lift? Sure, that'll work.

 

At our force training school the lift had a manufacturers plaque saying 12 people max. Underneath was a printed notice saying.  "Not more than 8 officers in the lift at any one time."

Jamie

Edited April 29, 2020 by jamie92208

[Coombe Barton]

23 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I was exposed to Microsoft Word on a Macintosh around 1991. I liked it and in some ways it was easier to master (and by that I mean all the more complex printing set ups, references, gutters, headers, footers, tables of contents etc) than any recent version of Microsoft Word.  

In the early days of PCs I was trying to find a word processor the customer liked. Nothing suited.

Phone call one day said stop searching, they'd found one. We asked what it was. Came the answer  -  edlin.

[Ozexpatriate]

9 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Why do men have nipples?

I think you answered your question, but in a slightly different vein, why do some snakes have a pelvis?

[Gwiwer]

19 minutes ago, Ian Abel said:

Bog rolls have arrived and are under suitable guard

Scary that the most interesting/exciting event of the day is the arrival of bog rolls!

 

 

Thank goodness for that.  I had an intentionally raging-hot curry last night!  Cauliflower and spinach with a sauce based on Madras paste and a teaspoon of Naga paste added for extra fire.  So far no additional sanitary precautions have been required  

 

Today's delivery was the new shoes ordered last week.  Tomorrow we are due to receive a fruit, veg and meat delivery from our currently-regular ex-catering supplier.  Not so cheap but it's always been good and the cost includes delivery which I can value at around £5 of the £55 paid.  And they don't have economies of scale that supermarkets can apply so we are paying for good food, not pre-packed stuff, delivered to the door with one step in the chain (the shop) taken out.  

[Tony_S]

I don’t really like salmon...

[Gwiwer]

11 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Two people per lift? Sure, that'll work.

 

I noticed at the House of Fun earlier that the previous notices "Maximum 2 people per lift to avoid spread of Covid-19" have been replaced with much wordier versions - less easy to read in the short time you are likely to be waiting - indicating that "Lifts are freely available for the use of all passengers.  To meet current government guidelines only ONE person at a time may use the lift unless travelling together as members of the same family group".  

 

Casual observation suggests that demand for the lifts is very small anyway - they have mostly been used by passengers with larger baggage and / or buggies none of whom are currently travelling - so one at a time is easy to manage.  But impatience is clearly getting the better of some people who seem content to ride 3 or 4 to a lift and are not apparently related in any way.  

 

The number cannot be enforced.  There is no legislation allowing that.  Medical advice has been and remains that the virus is most commonly transmitted through bodily emissions (sneezes, coughs, possibly perspiration) and one needs to be in close contact with an infected person for 15 minutes.

 

We are just being cautious and discharging our duty of care.  

[Ozexpatriate]

6 hours ago, Ian Abel said:

... the assistant arsewipe-in-chief manages to go to one of the most prestigious hospitals in the country and forgo every sane/stated control.

Google Ron Desantis* wears a mask.  Hilarious!

 

Lest this be considered political, I shan't include a link.

 

* Governor of Florida. 

[TheQ]

Evening awl,  our red cross parcel of milk and bread arrived without armed guard.. 

 

The attempt to use layers of lead sheet in the keel mould failed,  even with much hammering I couldn't get it to lay flat enough. In the mould the lead so far was 4 inches depth, out of the mould compressed by clamps 2.5 inches. I just can't get the amount of lead in I need like that. 

So casting it is,  it doesn't need to be a solid lump,  but pouring in small amounts at a time for ease of making and safety,  it will at least eliminate air gaps.. 

So work has been suspended while I gather the necessary,  leather apron,  and gloves, helmet with visor, respirator.  I've laid a sheet of fibreglass cloth to protect stuff from splashes..  Work will be in the garage on the concrete floor ,  but with all the doors open. 

 

So back to building an HF 200 radar I cut the 12 wedge shaped strips glued them in threes,  flat,  then bend them at the joints when almost set.  Two threes were then glued together, then the two sizes.  

A circle was then glued in at the base to hold it's shape,  and the at the top.  So I have a cone similar to the picture below but 1/148 smaller.  Picture has a Type 85 in the background on top of the R12 building which is where I spent most of my RAF life.. 

 

The modulator building for the T84 radar,  has had some strip glued and sanded along the roof edges to simulate the concrete roof over hang. 

 

 

[AndyID]

2 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Evening, from Fragatraz. 

 

Yes Dave, borders closed, both ways.  The few returning Fraggles caught off-world at the closure (they were warned...) have a fortnight's incarceration in a guarded hotel at a cost of a grand each, no choice. Or 4 weeks in the 'Jurby Hilton' if they really wish... there's a few locals in there currently who thought they could defy the law.  Some snowflake was on the radio saying it's harsh, well it's harsh if they kill someone by spreading the virus for sure, I have no sympathy.  One of them was 'known' to me in my previous employment, no surprise there.

 

 

 

i wish we could do something similar here. We've been lucky so far with very few cases locally but I think that's about to suddenly change. There is no restriction on movement and now that the weather is good people are coming here from all -over. There's a car at one of the houses down the road that has driven here from Florida! I know it's not a rental car because they come here every year.

[TheQ]

27 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I think you answered your question, but in a slightly different vein, why do some snakes have a pelvis?

Because their name is Elvis? 

[leopardml2341]

Today is done, 

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gBzJGckMYO4

 

Goodnight all.

[Ozexpatriate]

Salmon.

 

My world view of salmon changed dramatically upon moving to the Pacific northwest.  In my formative days I loved the tinned red salmon and potato cakes that my mum sautéed. In California I don't recall ever eating it, and was exposed to dreary grey, farmed Atlantic salmon while living in Chicago. All this changed when I arrived on in the northwest.

There is nothing quite like wild caught cold water Pacific salmon, particularly the King/Chinook and Coho. Sadly, and despite desperate efforts to reinvigorate them, fisheries are largely destroyed. The history of 19th century salmon fishing on the Columbia is desperately sad, wanton destruction. They were of course ignorant of the consequences but the consequences were dire.

 

Every Spring I live in hope that King salmon from the Copper River in Alaska will be available. Last year I checked and checked at a supermarket with a good fish counter - they promised it - but somehow I missed it. This year, restaurants won't be snapping up the whole catch like they often do, but not going frequently to the supermarket during quarantine, I'll probably miss it again.

 

I have been purchasing frozen sockeye fillets advertised as wild caught from Bristol Bay. They are OK but somehow feel very processed.

 

The scariest thing about farmed salmon is their unnatural colour. Not eating their natural crustacean diet, they are fed dyes to look pink. Actually the disease potential with them swarming in pens is scarier, but the dye has a 'gross out' factor.

 

Edited April 29, 2020 by Ozexpatriate