polybear

Bear here.... Busy day today - I went for a spark spark ride into a nearby town for a wander round the shops and a lunchtime snackaroonee at one of the Cafes in the Town. The first port of call was one of "our" Charity Shops in order to ask if they'd like some Picture Frames and a Book I just happened to take along for the ride - "yes please", so that was a Tick. As I sort of "knew" the Manageress she offered me a freebie Tea, which was an added bonus. After that it was a recce of (primarily) the Charity Shops in the Town, of which there are "numerous". Now if anyone had suggested to Bear a year ago to go look in a Charity Shop for clothes it would've be met with a big "Er, no thanks...."; now it's a different matter, however. Now that I'm "in the trade" so to speak I know the process involved (and I also have a pretty good idea what to look for; you'll be amazed at just how much new unused stuff with labels still attached can appear in some shops - for stuff to make it to the shops it has to make a pretty reasonable standard; if shops were to sell cr@p then (a) no-one would buy it, (b) the word would soon go round that "everything is cr@p", and (c) it'd be commercial suicide. Was today's exploits worth it? Take a look.... Two shirts (Burton smart short-sleeved Casual - brand new with labels still attached - £8.50, plus a Top Man T-Shirt - £5) A Top Man "thick" long-sleeved shirt (£7) A Top Man Jacket (£6 - I was amazed at that - I was expecting a twenty). A pair of smart M&S Leather Shoes - as new and with zero wear on the soles (£8 - they're a current line on the M&S website at sixty-five notes). A quick add-up (in conjunction with a squint at the relevant websites) and I reckon there's two hundred notes worth there - all for under thirty five notes. What could Bear spend the money saved on? Oh look, it'd pay for a Deltic..... And in the process the likes of Scope, Mind, Willow plus A.N. Other make a few shekels in the process - I reckon that's worth a Big Tick..... All items (except the shoes, of course) have now been thru' Bertie the Bosch (not that any showed any signs of actually "needing" it) but that's "just Bear....." On the way home (post-spark spark) and whilst encountering one of the hills ("the long drag) that features on Bear's Hilly Wander I got a sudden desire for a Belgian Bun (white icing n' cherry etc.); now as I needed to hit the Co-op for milk prior to returning to Bear Towers I thought I'd just take a squint.... The result? Well it seems that the bluddy things are the wrong side of 350 calories 😢 Oh Turdycurses....I'm sure iD will be most impressed when Bear says they stayed put in the shop (honest Guv.....). Now whilst Bear was gazing longingly at The Cake Aisle a rather nice young Shop Assistant enquired if Bear needed any help.....I replied that "I'm looking for the Calorie-Free Cake...." What does she do? Only starts looking for such a thing...... I had to explain that such a thing just doesn't exist 😢 - but if she'd like to invent such a thing she'd become an overnight Millionaire......

Any idea of the Leccy vs. Propane cost comparison?

The link doesn't seem to work ☹️

Bear here…. Spotted in an Oxfam Bookshop earlier….😱 At least they were thoughtful enough to put it on the top shelf…. BG

Bear rather likes the idea of using a Snowplough…and yes Grizz, you can drive…. Wrongful imprisonment, probably. Leaving someone to watch over them and let them out as soon as they ask should avoid that one though.

Now if I were A Cynical Bear I could almost smell a big, fat corrupt Rat in there somewhere…..

Did you remember the "God-given right to stand in the middle of the busiest aisle chatting to your buddies about anything & everything totally unconnected with muddlin' ticket"?

Bear can do posh....I scoff my Pizza using a knife n' fork too - none of this "get yer paws all stained n' stikky" pizza slices nonsense. How very uncouth.

And making it an automatic, cash-less system a few years back was a HUGE improvement They'll not think it so clever when they get 2 years in The Big House as well. Bear Towers has oh, hang on....had a gas cooker so lack of tea (or din dins....) was never a problem during power cuts - though the gas had to be lit with a match cos' the power cut fu'barred the ignition. Of course post-Great Kitchen Refurb it's all different now - but I do have a single camping gaz burner in the shed if things gets desperate.... Pretty Please.... You're on The List 1.5 times..... What you might call an easy commute then....

Bear here..... A day of doin' "stuff" today - including two loads of washing via Bertie the Bosch and a fair bit of "sorting, various". The three bedroom drawers containing Momma Bear's things were decidedly difficult and resulted in barely anything to part with; I might have a second attempt in a day or so..... Sh*d wood? Still where it was..... New Choo Choo? Still untested.... I did manage to re-attach a button onto a pair of shorts though - and without sticking the needle in the paw either, which is nothing short of a miracle. Huge Tick. Din Dins today featured one of those Crusty n' Mollokky (ok, summink like that) Pizzas oh, hang on - Pizzetta's (that's a diddy Pizza, by the way - resulting in a Bear that feels cheated ☹️) with CF's er, Chips oh, hang on...a Broccoli/Cauli/Carrots side-order 😢. Somehow it didn't quite "do it" like wot a Dr. Oetkers Pizza + CF's would do. Can't imagine why..... Nearly time for Bear to climb the little wooden hill methinks.... BG

Did you manage to wangle a Ticket in the end? It'd be pretty P.P. if they won't let you play too - whenever there's piccies of the Great & Famous in the press collecting Gongs they seem to have family with them. Bear's Thought For The Day: Who rescues the Lifeboat Crew if it all goes bad and the weather is too rough for the SAR Heli?

Bear too; I'd love one but the way the tw@ts drive around Bearsville would mean I'd worry sooooo much about kitty getting squidged under some a55holes's car.

Not if the car catches fire....

Bear found the following during his sort-out exploits today: A (partial?) copy of The Daily Telegraph dated 21st April 1949: One of the main headlines was this:

There are two catches: 1. It's (usually) only 3rd Party Cover - so if you crash someone's else's Merc and it's your fault the insurance won't pay up (a little detail worth remembering if you ever let someone else drive your car on that basis). 2. The vehicle you are driving on that basis usually HAS TO BE INSURED on another Policy (such as one held by the vehicle owner). I never realised this until I started watching some of those programmes about the Traffic Police etc. And from the number of people that seem to get nicked I'd say I wasn't the only one.