Early Risers.

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

Some matters arising this morning!  I think you'll find that Ernie drove the fastest milk cart in the west, and for the record my trip to Marrakech will take three days each way.  What a shame that the song was not called "Marrakech Semi-fast", though it does not have quite the same ring.  I reminded myself last night of Ffestiniog Travel's take on Marrakech: fly there from Gatwick and explore Morocco by rail.  I opted for rail all the way because I have never been to Spain.  An enforced break of journey in Barcelona offers opportunities to be a tourist.  One can liken flying to a cruise - oh look, another cloud, etc.  Mind you, with the speed of current high speed trains you have your work cut out to look at the scenery as it whizzes by.  It is so frustrating not to be able to proceed beyond the feasibility stage.  l can still dream though.

 

We touched on the differences between the English languages on either side of the Atlantic.  It is said that Sir Thomas Beecham took a phone call whilst in the USA from someone claiming to be from the local branch for the English Speaking Union.  Beecham said "I don't believe you" and hung up.

 

Finally for now, a sigh of relief.  My winter fuel allowance has been paid.  Better late than never.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

Edited December 10, 2020 by chrisf

[Barry O]

Ey up! Zoom based AGM undertaken..most of it worked well.

 

Was told that a great modeller and friend from Grimsby has Alzheimer's. Buggritt! Its up on a par with the big C and covids  as being not a good way to lose friends and relations.

 

Today involves a trip to the post office, a card delivery and .. well whatever I want to do.

 

Have as good a day as you can!

Baz

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Up early this morning as the sore foot has kept me awake. My own fault as I forgot to take a couple of Ibuforen last night. I've now taken a couple and the effect is almost instant. Now to catch up on that sleep, be back later.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Should be mainly cloudy and dry today although there is a chance of the odd shower.

I'm going out this morning for a couple of hours or so and all being well may return with something new(ish).

Have a good one,

Bob.

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl Inner Temple Hare,

A not so good nights sleep of about 6 hours in several pieces, and to took a long time to start. joints in my hands and my back were both complaining..

 

Ben the alarm clock Collie didn't help  he was an hour early.. It was dark cold and wet , but no frost, about 75% cloud cover..

 

We had a rubber chucker,   he threw it at one boy who flipped up his desk lid and hid behind it.. The rubber bounced off and when through a window... That was closed..

 

The comedy sanitizer struck again, pressed it and it shot all down the front of my white coat..

 

Much of my awake time was spent considering a safe way to turn the keel upside down or at least to an upper quadrant signal position.. a pile of bricks seems to be involved..

 

Missing letters from the English Alphabet are

Thorn (Þ, þ) , Today TH at the start of say "the" a "TH" almost including a buzz to it

Wynn (Ƿ, ƿ) ,  Today the Letter W

Eth (Ð, ð) ,      Today TH a soft TH as in "thought", particularly used at the end of word as in "worth"

Ash (Æ, æ),     Today  would be AE it's that sound now generally replaced with just A (not ah)

Ethel (Œ, œ)   Today a sort of OE sound now our words generally just use E

Yogh (Ȝ ȝ)        Today an NG sound 

Ampersand (&) was regarded as the 27th letter, said when reciting the alphabet

......x, y ,z and per se and

 

During þis I'm finishiȝ þe temperature meter, & ƿith 3 measurements to go..

 

Time for another one..

 

 

Edited December 10, 2020 by TheQ

[polybear]

1 hour ago, chrisf said:

I think you'll find that Ernie drove the fastest milk cart in the west,

 

 

Following on from previous posts, there are alternative lyrics for the "Ernie" song - most of which are far too unsuitable and likely to get me banned by AY (I've also long lost them anyway).  A flavour though:

"Now Ernie had a rival, an evil ****ing man - called one-b@ll Tex from Teddington and he drove the Durex van.  Poor Ernie also met his demise at the end of the song, just like in the original version.

[pH]

I left my cellphone service provider earlier this year. Our son has a family plan with much better terms and my wife and I transferred to that. I had a “pre-paid” plan with the previous provider, and there was a bit of money on it. The terms of the contract seemed to say that any money paid was not refundable, but I thought it was worth trying.
 

So, early in July I phoned and asked about a refund. If they had said “No” at that point, I would have grumbled but accepted it. However, the rep said “Yes”. (Whether he should have or not, I don’t know.) That started a series of phone calls, as various reasons were given why the promised refund had not turned up. At one point, I even had to open another account and be sent, and activate, a new SIM card. About two weeks ago, I was promised that I would receive a cheque in seven to ten days. As of this morning, no cheque had arrived, and I was preparing for the next phone call and wondering if it was worth escalating, just on principle. Then the mail arrived, including a cheque for $136.07!

 

My wife’s name is on the cheque, since it had originally been her account, but she says I put in the effort, so I can have it all. As they say, I won’t spend it all in one shop.

[Sir TophamHatt]

Morning all

 

Dark one this morning.  Getting bored of this cold-ish but not frosty cold weather here in the Midlands.  Seems lots of people have had snow.  Our street is just wet, wet and damp.
Swapped my shift to an early instead of a late.  Now have 8 days off.  Oh the joys of shift work + annual leave + Christmas time.

 

Still looking at a new car but this morning, no ABS light and no slipping with cruise control so I may get a few more months out of it yet.

[jonny777]

It is a dry and bright start in North Somerset, and a little less cold than of late with a temperature of 7C. 

 

I had the best night's sleep for ages, after going to bed just after 10pm and falling asleep soon after that. I next woke up and looked at the clock which said 6:45 am. Wow! Not done that for a while. 

 

I found an unopened jar of mincemeat at the back of a cupboard yesterday, and so I shall make a batch of mince pies today and see what they taste like. A dash of brandy on the mincemeat ought to put paid to any bacteria which might be lurking, although the jar is nicely sealed.

 

My Boston Sausage order came yesterday. Lots of sausages, some raw haslets for baking, and a few pork pies for the freezer. I am now set up for a month or two. 

 

[jamie92208]

Good moaning.  It's bright and sunny outside but was wet in the night. The builder got most of the bathroom floor tiled, however the adhesive hasn't fully gone off overnight. Fortunately he has some othe stuff to do. I spent the afternoon shoping for various bits and bats.

 

This morning it's my turn to write C*******s cards and then post them, apart from that make coffee forvPaul the builder when required and keep the fire going. We are now back to slow burning well seasoned oak, it only needs a log per hour or so.  Perhaps I could try burning politicians very slowly, it would be more amusing.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[AndyB]

Clear editor.

Morning all

 

For once a "no meeting" day so a chance to set up the work till Easter for the team.

 

Tried to start a thread last night and wanted reference another thread by embedding a hyperlink.  Rather strangely the hypllink hauled in the right text but images from a completely different thread. Weird.

 

I may investigate purchasing a new phone today. A larger screen and better camera would be useful. An ability to phone people may be of interest, but not essential. 

[Chris116]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

We are now back to slow burning well seasoned oak, it only needs a log per hour or so.  Perhaps I could try burning politicians very slowly, it would be more amusing.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

Trouble is they have no substance so the fire would go out in a minute. 

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Up a bit late today, when I woke up, Sheila was lying on her side, so I put my arm around her, pulled up close to her  and promptly fell back to sleep, waking up 30 minutes later with pins and needles in my arm and cramp in my foot!

 

Now back to today, the sun is shining, at 6C it’s a little warmer than it’s been for the last few days. I forgot to mention yesterday that one of my packages arrived but Sheila’s didn’t, but I’m not required for door service today so I can crack on moving stuff about in the cellar, so I’d best get started. 

 

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

 

Brian

[Simon G]

Morning all,

Cold and breezy here today, so this mornings walk cannot be described as pleasant.  I had a hood up as well as a woolly hat, and my head was still cold while in the wind.  Now sitting with a cup of coffee and contemplating what to do next.  The layout beckons!

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

It doesn’t seem to be raining though I am quite damp. I collected all the bird feeders and washed them. We haven’t been filling them this year as we couldn’t get bird food easily but Amazon have loads now without ridiculous postage charges.  When our neighbours are away we usually get lots of birds on our feeders but not this time due to lack of food. We had more birds nesting this year though. Our ivy was a multi species nursery. Anyway the seed is arriving today and I didn’t like the look of the feeders.

The Waitrose delivery came. Aditi rejected two items, swing bin liners (we don’t have a a swing bin (compostable caddy bags requested) and umami paste (she wanted tomato purée). That seems to be the excitement for the day. I have a parcel due sometime, and it is train related. I am not sure what method the train shop in Sheffield use for their free postage items but today would be the earliest I might expect. They don’t send tracking numbers. There should be a slot car arriving too. The collectors market must be strong as unboxed or damaged box items sell for considerably reduced prices. I will play with it anyway so I don’t care. 
As I am not planning to go anywhere until next year (or not without a woolly hat) I will cut my hair today. This is in case I make a mess of it and have to set the clippers to very short to sort it out. 
Tony
 

 

[Barry O]

PAH!  ever tried wrapping a "sock knitting kit"?  well .. don't even try to!

 

But after 2 falls and a submission it is now wrapped as are the rest of her indoors presents..

 

 

Hopefully GDB will return with newish shiny non railway orientated purchase shortly.. lets hope it all goes well!

 

baz

[BoD]

Morning all

 

I had my nine monthly check up at the eye infirmary this morning.  (I did phone up to make sure that it was ok so soon after coming out of isolation and they were fine with that).   Appointment was for 8.50 and I had had the preliminaries and was seen by my consultant, given a very thorough check over and was out by 9.30. Very efficient.  It is always a relief to be told that there has been no deterioration in my eyes so I am good to go for another 9 months.

 

Have a good day folks.

[The Stationmaster]

G'day all,

 

Somewhat soggy outside and I expect it isn't particularly warm either but then it is December, I think.   Flavio's point about using different languages was interesting - I always used to find in discussions with French colleagues that 'non',  with more than a touch of gallic accent & emphasis, was far more effective at getting the message over  than simply saying 'no' (or even saying 'no' very loudly).    At one meeting one of our Belgian colleagues was busily explaining something to the French  (duly speaking French) and I queried, in English, something he had said and he replied in German - such are the linguistic abilities of many Belgians that they can readily slip from one language to another mid sentence.  It was rather good fun at times working for a company which officially worked in two languages for most things but used a third, on occasion,  in Belgium (and fourth one when in Germany).   But then I used to keep a copy of the timetable for the then Moscow - Berlin train on my office wall, in Russian - and our Deputy MD would come in and read the whole lot off in English without a pause while most of us could barely get past Moscow until we reached Poland.

 

All of which means there's little else to talk about as I'm about to get involved in shifting things about in the dining room ready for one of Mr Sparks (yes, really) electricians to do his stuff tomorrow.  And we're off to this place for lunch, out in the marquee -

http://thecrookedbillet.co.uk

http://thecrookedbillet.co.uk/our-menus/

 

Have a good day one and all and stay safe.

[J. S. Bach]

3 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

 ...snip... Perhaps I could try burning politicians very slowly, it would be more amusing.

Regards to all.

Jamie

But, think of all the air pollution!

[New Haven Neil]

Mor...oh.

 

I felt really tired this morning, so nipped back to bed after taking Debs for her bus.  Surfaced well after 11, feeling still rather groggy, but I always do after sleeping in the 'day'.  Just one of those 'not quite right' feeling days.

 

8c and dampish looking outside now, I need to walk to the shop to get milk to see if that gets things pumping about a bit better.

 

 

[simontaylor484]

Afternoon 

 

Been messing about hours trying to set up a new mobile for eldest for xmas.

If i go round in circles any more i am in danger of disappearing  up my own ar$€.

 

Back and left leg agony the boss has sent me to lay on bed for a bit.

Hope every body is ok 

[PhilJ W]

Hello again from Estuary-Land. I'll have to check my weight as I think I'm loosing some, not that losing weight is a bad thing but I've done nothing to make me lose weight. It might be due to my being a bit 'loose' on Sunday, that lasted until yesterday. All I know is that I've had to adjust  things like braces (suspenders* to our American cousins) to the extent  of buying a smaller pair. BIN day today I can hear them outside. Basildon is one of the few places that is offering corvid tests for those who want them even if there is no contact with anyone with the disease but you have to telephone first but with only four numbers to call for an appointment all lines are busy.

*Another word with a different meaning either side of the Atlantic. When I was a nipper I thought that many American actors were cross dressers when they spoke of wearing suspenders.

Edited December 10, 2020 by PhilJ W

[grandadbob]

2 hours ago, Barry O said:

Hopefully GDB will return with newish shiny non railway orientated purchase shortly.. lets hope it all goes well!

 

 Not quite Baz although no major problem.  Deal has been finalised but the item won't be ready until late this afternoon so I'm going back in the morning for it.   I can say though that Bobby is a very Happy Bunny indeed.  

[BoD]

Is it a new hoover?

[Barry O]

a mini brewery?

 

Super duper first aid kit?

 

bump cap?

Hard hat? 

 

Miners hat and lamp?

 

go on @grandadbob giz a clue....

 

Baz