Early Risers.

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

I learned yesterday that my CT scan will take place next Wednesday, 2nd December.  A large jiffy bag arrived, containing instructions and two lots of laxative.  I shall be glad when the procedure is over.  There is a list of recommended foods and a list of forbidden ones.  For some strange reason, pancakes may be found in both lists.  I am amazed at how quickly I have been given an appointment.  In the back of my mind is the feeling that there is something to be found and the quicker the better.  We shall see.

 

So we are to have a five day festive season.  For me, that will be more than enough.  I have not experienced it in the UK since 2004, thanks to to a mailshot from a travel company which enticed me into discovering how the Swiss do it.  But for that ruddy virus I would be sharing the experience again this year.  My seasonal travelling companion BokStein is absolutely right to laud the public transport of Switzerland, where in many respects 25th December is just a normal day.  In the UK there are, as I recall, few signs of life should one venture out.  I look forward with little enthusiasm to discovering this for myself.  

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Woke up this morning with a very painful eye ( the not yet lasered one). Her indoors can't see a trapped eyelash but.....it hurts...

 

Domestics to be done..

 

It is unfortunate that some see no need to follow the lockdown rules.. in reality they are far too flimsy to get a proper grip on the virus. I fear some who think a quick jab will allow them freedom to get back to a "normal" may not live to get a jab. The students in Headingley yesterday are taking no notice of social distancing... we should have done a South Australia lockdown.. shut everyone in for 6 days then one person allowed out to get food. Does lockdown work? Evidence from the Antipodes, China, South Korea indicate it does. Even here it has helped in some places to reduce the rate (but not around Leeds ...perhaps people here think they cannot catch it?).

 

 

Baz

[polybear]

10 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

... and a measure of stupidity ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/11/24/is-it-sensible/

 

 

Oh I do hope they give some column inches to the collapse of Ms Quinn's business, followed by the appearance of debt collectors on her doorstep removing personal effects, car etc....

 

9 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

It has produced an increase in youth loitering in groups, often drinking and / or smoking and certainly in numbers larger than the advice allows for. They are bored. They have nowhere to go. Staying home simply doesn’t cut it. And they see no reason to wear face-coverings.

 

 

Perhaps the introduction of "roving" ten tonners would help - flip up the canvas back and give a quick ten second blat with an M60 (other flavours may be available) should help dissuade such activity.  Perhaps HH has some contacts....

 

8 hours ago, PeterBB said:

Also discovered that 'Her Mees' have a telephone number but it is via a separate company that charge over £3 per minute!  That's one way to stop people complaining as it would cost more than a package was worth.

 

 

That would make a nice snippet for Martin Lewis on one of his Money Saving Expert TV programmes.....

 

7 hours ago, Simon G said:

Since returning home, I have eaten a toasted tea cake, 3 slices of bread and jam, followed by the 2 chocolate eclairs.  I could have had more, but that really would have been greedy! 

 

Throw in a mug of tea and we'll call it elevenses.  I do hope those eclairs didn't contain cream though - that would really spoil the occasion...

 

6 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

The State of Oregon started running a new public service announcement commercial on TV which I first saw last night. (I can't find it online yet.) It was a series of block capital questions on a stark yellow background (from memory) along the lines of:

• WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO PROTECT YOUR FAMILY?
• WOULD YOU RUSH INTO A BURNING BUILDING?
• WOULD YOU DIVE INTO A RAGING RIVER?
• WOULD YOU DONATE A KIDNEY?
• WOULD YOU WEAR A MASK?
• WEAR A MASK WHEN YOU VISIT FRIENDS AND FAMILY
• MASKS SAVE LIVES

I found it to be quite effective.

 

 

 

Perhaps the advert should read as follows:

• WOULD YOU RUSH INTO A BURNING BUILDING?
• WOULD YOU DIVE INTO A RAGING RIVER?
• WOULD YOU DONATE A KIDNEY?
• SO WHY THE F*** WON'T YOU WEAR A MASK AND STAY AWAY FROM OTHER PEOPLE??

[jamie92208]

Good moaning. First off you discovered  my typo test yesterday, i did indeed purchase forty sq ms of tiles and not 490.  Much of yesterday was spent wrestling with the French  healthcare site trying to set up online accounts for 3 of us. I was told many many times thst the info I was entering was incorrect. When this was 4 easily checked bits if information, name, social security number, dob and postcode I understandably got rather frustrated. We had discovered and English speaking helpline earlier but of course it closed fir 2 hours at lunchtime. Eventually  after 14.00 I got through to a very helpful young lady and controlled my temper. It turned out that when we had registered originally, accounts had been set up but not activated. WHY COULDN'T THEY TELL US THE ACCOUNTS ALREADY EXISTED.  I did not swearcat the young lady and the first of the 3 accounts is now validated and working. Morning wasted. Pah.

 

Anyway the rest of the day went well and we have now finished the oatmeal biscuits.  In the evening we watched Macron's presidential address with simultaneous translation.it's not going to make much difference to us.one set of friends have invited us for Christmas dinner as son and wife are joining them from Spain.  We are going to politely decline and sacrifice a guinea fowl ourselves. We probablt won't come to the UK until vaccinstions have been rolled out.

 

Anyway shopping to be shopped so regards to all.

 

Jamie

[polybear]

In other news (well the BBC actually):

I hear that PPE price rises have cost us £10bn.  I do hope that after all this bunfight is over the Gov will seek to identify any company guilty of blatant profiteering and cross them off their "approved suppliers" books?

[Erichill16]

28 minutes ago, polybear said:

In other news (well the BBC actually):

I hear that PPE price rises have cost us £10bn.  I do hope that after all this bunfight is over the Gov will seek to identify any company guilty of blatant profiteering and cross them off their "approved suppliers" books?

I bet these companies disappear as quickly as they appeared. Wham, bam thank you mam.

 

[NGT6 1315]

Moaning awl. Currently sitting down with the inhaler, so plenty of time for saying hi!

 

Chilly but sunny outside, which is a combination I don’t mind at all. Not a lot to report other than that. On the COVID front, state governors seem to consider an extension to the Christmas school holidays, meaning them starting a couple of days earlier than normal. Opinions seem to differ on how to best ensure schools to remain open while at the same time reducing interaction - also in the sense of reducing crowding on public transport - and infection risks, though. There are models of alternating self-study at home and in-school teaching being promoted, as well as the (to my mind, logical) choice of mandatory mask wearing in earlier years than had been the case up until now.

 

Be safe, everyone...

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

I’m up a bit earlier than usual as I’ve to be at the surgery for what will become a lifetime of (possibly life saving?) injections, aka, a needle in the belly! This will be the first one at the surgery and from here on they’ll be every 13 weeks, something that Chrisf knows all about. My appointment is at 9:10 and as it’s about a 15 minute walk, so I’ll leave home around 8:50 to give me plenty of time to get there, as the roads might be busy with the school run etc! 

 

After that it’s get back home, change into my working cloths and head down to the cellar for some more paint removing, I’m hoping to finish the section next to the door today and maybe even make a start on the 5ft long section. 

 

Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. 

 

Brian

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Dull and dry here but light rain is forecast for later.

Nothing much happening here but I did manage to secure a Sainsbury delivery slot for the 23rd December at 12.35 this morning.  They were giving early access if you hold a delivery pass.  

I'm still aching from yesterday's walk and feel a bit carp but I'm hoping another stroll in the fresh air will improve things.

Have a good one,

Bob.

[jonny777]

A dull and miserable day in Somerset. I can't even read the paper without a light on. 

 

I won't go into too many details, but I have a dairy intolerance. I can cope with small amounts of semi-skimmed milk, but that is about it. Virtually no butter, cheese, cream or anything which originated from a cow. Any excess will bring on severe stomach cramps, sweating, dizziness and the toilet trots. 

 

Surprisingly maybe, I can eat pizzas when they are made with proper mozzarella from buffalos. When M&S took over Ocado at the end of August, I decided to give their ham and pineapple pizza a try and was amazed to find I had no problems. Therefore M&S ham & pineapple pizza became a regular treat through September and October. I also braved the pepperoni version once, but it was too hot and spicy for my liking. 

 

However, the last two ham & pineapples have resulted in the pizza-cramps-trots at 2am. Now I can't believe that my digestion would accept the same pizzas for 8 weeks with no problem, and then suddenly turn against them. My only conclusion is that, in an effort to increase profits, M&S are cutting costs with their pizza products by using 'fake' mozzarella made from cow juice, and hoping the customer will not notice. Well my stomach has noticed; and now it will be back to the Chicago Town version, which are the only other ones I can cope with. 

 

Someone mentioned Union Blues jeans. Sadly that name rings alarm bells for me, as I have had them but resolved not to buy them again because of problems. I can't remember whether it was one or all three of these, but I had problems with too low waistbands, jamming zips and splits appearing in the fabric (well away from seams) around my bum area, or down the back of the legs. I may have just been unlucky, and had some from a bad batch, though. 

Edited November 25, 2020 by jonny777

[tigerburnie]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

In other news (well the BBC actually):

I hear that PPE price rises have cost us £10bn.  I do hope that after all this bunfight is over the Gov will seek to identify any company guilty of blatant profiteering and cross them off their "approved suppliers" books?

They were mostly mates of Boris weren't they?

[New Haven Neil]

Morning.

 

Not bad here, chilly 4c and a lot of condensation on everything.  3 mile walk after dropping her ladyship off, it was rather dark.....

 

 

Baz, there is evidence rather closer to home that lockdown can work.   The 10 cases here currently, all of whom are one related group, are due to people travelling back from the UK after treatment or are returning residents given permission to travel back (detailed information not in the public domain to protect identities) - as all have to self-isolate anyway after return, there are no community transmission cases.  One is hospitalised, others not so ill.

 

 

[jamie92208]

39 minutes ago, tigerburnie said:

They were mostly mates of Boris weren't they?

Or of various special advisers if reports are to be believed.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Back from shopping.  The sun is glorious and we have blue skies. A lovely day to be made the most of.

 

Jamie

[Dave Hunt]

Yesterday I made a couple of schoolboy errors that cost me the morning. Jill announced that the freezer needed defrosting and although she would do it, could I help move the baskets of contents into the kitchen? I duly did so and just to show willing cleaned the baskets - after all, the odd brownie point comes in useful. Then, just as I was about to slope off to the workshop a friend of hers rang to see how we were getting on so (and here comes the first error) while she was chatting I put some bowls and things into the freezer to contain the meltwater. "Ah," said herself as she came off the 'phone just as I was arranging things, "If you're taking over I can get on with..........." Bu**er! That was the next hour or so taken care of. After I finished that Jill was doing something in the front garden to do with plants and stuff (is it apparent that my knowledge of gardening is somewhat shallow?) so just before exiting stage left to the workshop I misguidedly uttered the fatal words, "Anything else I can do Dear?", in full expectation that the response would be, "No, thanks, you get on with what you have to do." Schoolboy error number 2. Then, after lunch, since it was my turn to make dinner, a significant part of the afternoon also evaporated. Ah, well, such is life I guess.

 

I'm off to the workshop now but the first job there is to fix Jill's watch strap. That should take all of a couple of minutes but I'll later claim that it was a long and complicated job.......

 

Stay safe everyone and avoid the gangs of idiots that now seem to infest everywhere.

 

Dave

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Like Rick and the Q I had a bad night last night. When I went to bed last night the sore foot wasn't causing too much grief only for it to wake me up at gawd-knows-what-hour feeling like my foot was being stabbed by a red hot knife. I eventually went back to sleep but didn't wake up until nearly nine. 

2 hours ago, polybear said:

In other news (well the BBC actually):

I hear that PPE price rises have cost us £10bn.  I do hope that after all this bunfight is over the Gov will seek to identify any company guilty of blatant profiteering and cross them off their "approved suppliers" books?

As HH would say Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.

51 minutes ago, tigerburnie said:

They were mostly mates of Boris weren't they?

Not all of them, some were/are mates of cabinet ministers.

Just a thought. In the news this morning is that Meghan Markle has suffered a miscarriage and my sympathies go out to her as they would to any mother to be in those circumstances. The news set me thinking, if she has a healthy child that child will most likely be born in the US and have dual citizenship. What if that child grows up and becomes US president and during that presidency a disaster befalls the British royal family and he/she becomes next in line to the throne. Better not think about it too much, King Donald anyone?

[PeterBB]

1 hour ago, jonny777 said:

 

 

Someone mentioned Union Blues jeansbut I had problems with too low waistbands, jamming zips and splits appearing in the fabric (well away from seams) around my bum area, or down the back of the legs. I may have just been unlucky, and had some from a bad batch, though. 

Too low waistbands seems to be a common theme in all menswear.  The other thing is this idea of going up in 2" categories for size.  This means that the 'lower' size is just too tight and the 'next size up' needs a tight belt to stop them falling down.  That in itself is uncomfortable. Just when will the trade come to the idea that 1" , computer design etc can do this easily for cutting, is needed because 2" is one great jump up.

Edited November 25, 2020 by PeterBB
spelling

[Sir TophamHatt]

Morning everyone.

 

Todays task is to finally buy a 3D printer.

Mainly for printing board game pieces, and while resin is better quality, the extra hassle is not worth it.

I will probably mosey into creating things for model railways.  I have seen one thing that I think is a pretty good idea.

 

The good lady took our Son out.

She thought she'd get some baby milk so promptly bought some from the shop.  However upon getting home, realised she'd left it on the roof of the car while strapping said Son in.

I told her I'd have got it off if I was driving!

[PhilJ W]

As I said I've had no problems with Union Blues jeans and they even offer a high waistband pair. One drawback as with many other jeans is they are not colour fast, not a problem as I wash my jeans separately from other items. No trouble with belts either as I wear braces.

[TheQ]

Talking of belts, at the weekend I drilled 3 more holes, 1.5 inches apart in my main leather belt..

 

on the shortening side..

 

one I need,

one it's heading that way,

The third being hopeful..

 

Reducing carbs helps..

[New Haven Neil]

6 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Talking of belts, at the weekend I drilled 3 more holes, 1.5 inches apart in my main leather belt..

 

on the shortening side..

 

one I need,

one it's heading that way,

The third being hopeful..

 

Reducing carbs helps..

 

I lost so much waist I had to cut the belt short as the flappy end was getting annoying - almost on its second turn around!  Just by reducing carbs, yes.

[petethemole]

I like Union Blues jeans, but get them from charity shops when I see them*.  I wear other brands but they get the most wear.  They last quite well, the pocket used for change being the first to go. I prefer the lower waistline.

*Almost all my clothes come from charity shops, most are nearly new when bought.  I do draw the line at underpants and socks!

 

In other news, living with the resident conspiracy theorist is getting tedious.  I avoid discussion as it leads to arguments, but I still get (mis)information.  Fortunately I spend most of my time upstairs.

 

Martyn starts at the Xmas post as a mail sorter next Monday.  He had his induction yesterday and came in with a hi-vis vest and an ID lanyard.

 

I have some Ebay sales to pack up so I'd better get on;  I've a feeling I'm running out of card-backed envelopes (for vintage comics etc.) So I must check in the loft.

 

Have a good day, stay elfy.

 

[grandadbob]

The rain arrived a bit earlier than expected so I didn't go for a walk and took the car for a burst down the A3 instead. 

Was my journey really necessary?  Well, I needed to get some more diesel as I was running on fumes, the last time I filled up was in March.  Also I haven't used the car since lockdown 2 started and after it stood idle for a couple of months in lockdown 1 I ended up with engine management warning lights staying on and had to take it to the garage to get sorted. They did suggest giving it the occasional run so that's now done for another 2 or 3 weeks.

The Boss has just asked me to finalise tomorrow's online shopping list so that's next.  Sod's law says that later on I'll have to "re-finalise" it.

Edited November 25, 2020 by grandadbob

[polybear]

3 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

I bet these companies disappear as quickly as they appeared. Wham, bam thank you mam.

 

 

The press seem to be taking semi snide comments that the government didn't have sufficient stocks of PPE to deal with the virus.  They fail to understand that such items have a use-by date, so big stocks would most likely end up costing money to be stored then thrown into landfill unused....

 

2 hours ago, jonny777 said:

Surprisingly maybe, I can eat pizzas when they are made with proper mozzarella from buffalos. When M&S took over Ocado at the end of August, I decided to give their ham and pineapple pizza a try and was amazed to find I had no problems. Therefore M&S ham & pineapple pizza became a regular treat through September and October. I also braved the pepperoni version once, but it was too hot and spicy for my liking.

 

Sounds to Bear like the answer could well be DIY Pizzas - your creativity knows no bounds...

 

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

Then, just as I was about to slope off to the workshop a friend of hers rang to see how we were getting on so (and here comes the first error) while she was chatting I put some bowls and things into the freezer to contain the meltwater. "Ah," said herself as she came off the 'phone just as I was arranging things, "If you're taking over I can get on with..........." Bu**er! That was the next hour or so taken care of. After I finished that Jill was doing something in the front garden to do with plants and stuff (is it apparent that my knowledge of gardening is somewhat shallow?) so just before exiting stage left to the workshop I misguidedly uttered the fatal words, "Anything else I can do Dear?", in full expectation that the response would be, "No, thanks, you get on with what you have to do." Schoolboy error number 2.

 

 

Beware the Hun out of the sun.  And never, ever flight straight and level for more than a few seconds - and for Chrissake's keep one eye glued on that rear view mirror....

 

I hear that a teenager has admitted to doing 180mph on a motorcycle during a police chase.  Where was this misdemeanor carried out?  The M1? Nope.  M25? Nope.  Some remote road out in the sticks? Nope.

How's about North London....  Jeez

 

I've just had a leaflet thru' the door from some bunch you've never heard of, offering various Gardening, Brickwork etc. services and with just a couple of mobile numbers as contact details.  Among tasks listed are:

Drive Waise

Fancing

If their work is a good as their spelling I thing I'll give them a wide berth.

 

I had an email from Freecycle/Freegle yesterday, which reads as follows:

WANTED: Garage equipment (Standon SG11)

Garage equipment

I want all garage equipment, jacks, stands, tools, compressor,

Not so much as a please, b0lloxs or thank you.  Seems good manners have sailed past this individual, though he has more than his fair share of wishful thinking. Tw@t

 

And on a final note, I see Mr Biden is sticking his nebby on over Ireland, saying he doesn't want to see Guards at the Border following Brexit.  Are we swapping Brussels for D.C. perhaps?

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Having had a look at the official version of the Christmas unlocking (a lock up ???, sorry - more like a cock up). I was puzzled to see there was no date given for Lockdown 3 which will no doubt inevitably result from mid January onwards because every halfwit in Britain (which alas equates to a very substantial proportion of the population) will regard it as a free for all and will ignore even its limited strictures.  Overall it appears to imply that you can be in Tier 3 in England, or Tier 4 in Scotland, on 22 December, then ignore many of those restrictions until they restart on 28 December.  I was left wondering if it's me or them but then of course I remembered that they are politicians and have therefore undergone brain cell transplants in order to take the reins of Govt in their own patch of Britain.  I wonder if there will be anybody left to vote for any of them, whatever their politics, when they come up for re-election?

 

Somewhat amusingly the implied Christmas travel arrangements of the 5 day 'window' take me back to the good old days of Christmas travel peaks when  25 December fell on a Friday and of course the vast majority of people didn't have umpteen weeks off over the Christmas/New Year period.  It was always something of a toss up to work out if the outward peak would be on the 23rd or 24th although over the years it increasingly moved forwards to the 23rd when Christmas fell on a weekend.  The return day was also something of a guessing game when the  25th fell on a Friday but even with the 28th being the substitute Bank Holiday Sunday return travel was always heavy and the 28th tended to be light.    The real problem was trying to predict what would happen if Boxing Day was on the Sunday and would people head home on the Monday Bank Holiday or would they wait until the Tuesday?  In some respects it got a lot easier when more and more people tended to have leave for the whole week between Christmas and New Year but the guessing, sorry 'forecasting',  game then moved to what would happen after New Year's Eve.  

 

If they still have the old details I wonder how many train operators will be looking back through old traffic notices or calling on retired planners to ask how to deal with this one?   All of which of course has to assume that NR is not following the more recently established idea of digging up important chunks of railway over an extended Christmas period.  I bet (and hope) there are some interesting conversations going on in the rail industry since all this lot has become public knowledge because somehow replacement 'buses aren't exactly the remedy in social distancing times.

 

Back to today and the rain has stopped and I think herself is planning to visit the town as we have a cheque to pay in plus, so I'm told, some more shopping is needed.

 

Have a good day one and all and stay safe.

Edited November 25, 2020 by The Stationmaster