Early Risers.

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, Simon G said:

I have managed to take out a couple of wood pigeons with an air rifle in the past, but the crafty so and so’s seem to know now that I am after them and disappear quickly as I try to get into an accurate range!

When you are using an air rifle, the range at which you are forced to shoot at by the UK  air gun power limits means you are going to be in quite close, and the beady eyed beggars will spot you quite a way off.

 

The secret is not to try and stalk them, but lay up in a hide and shoot from cover.

 

Rifle selection also helps, as I found long ago that having a lightweight rifle with a minimal legal length barrel for close work, especially in buildings to be specially useful.  Outside I tend to use either a short carbine style out to about 30 yards and for longer range out to 50 yards (A long way for a sub 12ft lb gun to throw a pellet), I use a longer barrelled rifle with a bipod for support. 

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Attacked the large ant-hill in the garden this evening just before it got dark. Due to the lack of rain it was rock hard but that lack of rain also helped as by inserting the spade into one of the cracks in the dried out clay I was able to break open the ant hill. Managed to get the printer linked up to this computer this afternoon but most of what I want to print is on the old computer so I'll have to wait until the computer shop is open.

[AndyID]

59 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

Evening All,

Full day at work today and was having a better day of it than expected, until someone had to spoil it.

Customer accused us of being ‘all lies’ . Last month , if you recall we were having trouble with the delivery van and told this particular women we would not be able to deliver her medication that day  due to the van being out of action. We did managed to deliver it the next day. Nothing urgent, just her repeat.

Anyway she came into the pharmacy today. She had to wait 5 minutes for her prescription and wasn’t happy about the wait,  then it all ‘kicked off.  Called us liars , the van wasn’t broken etc. Anyway, as the 26year old got into her car she saluted us with a single finger gesture. What a pleasant young lady. 
Not at work until Tuesday now so time to relax (hopefully)

goodnight,

Robert

 

 

 

How charming. She is clearly not smart enough to realize that you should never upset a pharmacist. He might make a mistake and that could have very unfortunate consequences.

 

My dad was a pharmacist. As far as I know he never accidentally or deliberately bumped anyone off but I do know he prevented some doctors from killing their patients.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well the young lady that I spoke to yesterday at the big orange DIY shed, was true as her word, I got confirmation of my refund this morning, just after I’d posted on ER’s. I then made a start on the painting and had the door frame done before 11 o’clock, so sat in in the kitchen with Sheila and had a second muggertea. After that I went outside to the back garden and did a bit of tidying up, weeding and dead heading etc until it was time for dinner. The tidying up continued after dinner until about 3 o’clock when I packed up and came in for another muggertea. Whilst drinking said muggertea, I checked the Homebase’s website, as it has the facility to check the stock levels of your local stores. This revealed that the Altrincham store had the paint that I wanted. This is a very helpful feature, however, it also shows various other paint products, which when you click on a particular one you are interested in, tells you that this product isn’t available in store and isn’t available for ‘click and collect’ either! So, if you can’t buy it in store and you can’t order it ‘click and collect’ what is the f**king point of it being on the site in the first place? 

 

Anyway, later this afternoon, I set of to there. Upon arrival there was only a short queue, less than 12 in front of me and sure enough, when I got in I found what I wanted and even better, it was cheaper than the other place. Whilst there I picked up a few other bits that I was getting low on. So, tomorrow I will give the front door frame it’s last coat of paint and then make a start on building the arbour ready for painting. 

 

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[newbryford]

1 hour ago, Erichill16 said:

Evening All,

Full day at work today and was having a better day of it than expected, until someone had to spoil it.

Customer accused us of being ‘all lies’ . Last month , if you recall we were having trouble with the delivery van and told this particular women we would not be able to deliver her medication that day  due to the van being out of action. We did managed to deliver it the next day. Nothing urgent, just her repeat.

Anyway she came into the pharmacy today. She had to wait 5 minutes for her prescription and wasn’t happy about the wait,  then it all ‘kicked off.  Called us liars , the van wasn’t broken etc. Anyway, as the 26year old got into her car she saluted us with a single finger gesture. What a pleasant young lady. 
Not at work until Tuesday now so time to relax (hopefully)

goodnight,

Robert

 

 

 

I shouldn't suggest this, but can you add laxatives to her scrip?

 

[newbryford]

New car was collected yesterday. Red/black and very shiny. For some reason, the last few cars I have had do not have the "new car smell" that was one of those unique experiences of purchasing a brand new vehicle.

 

Social distancing was complied with as I was instructed in the use of some of the gizmos by the salesman, AKA my middle brother.

I can now use an app on my phone to remind me that it needs fuel, as well as other stuff such as tyre pressures. No doubt more discoveries will be made in the coming days.

Biggest thing from a driving point of view, to get used to is that it's now a 6-speed instead of 5.

 

We have a message system that prompts the user to press certain numbers.

One of them is "For urgent technical calls, press 2, otherwise send an email". This then routes to my desk.

 

First call today - not long after our lines go "live" at 10am. (Giving us an hour to get in front with overnight email traffic)

"It isn't urgent, but I pressed 2 anyway".

If it isn't urgent, then why press 2 and then admit that it isn't urgent.

In the words of AndrewC  - f*ckwitted c*ckwombling t*sser of an ar$ebadger.

 

And on that note:

 

POETS if you can. Even if WFH.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BR60103]

15 hours ago, NGT6 1315 said:

 

Following a suspected WW2 munitions find at an engineering site near Leipzig Hbf and several densely built-up living quarters in its vicinity, it is likely that an evacuation of up to 18,000 residents may become necessary during disposal operations. Consequently, a number of standby tram and bus turns were whipped up on short notice to provide additional evacuation capacities, and I was asked whether I could take an overnight shift from 2145 till 0335 on Saturday. 
 

Does the evacuation include a mystery tour of the town or just a visit to the depot yard?

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl,  Inner Temple Hare, 

6.5 hours sleep so far.. 

 

I had an air rifle,  and may still have,  it was last seen in my parents loft, safely out of the way of nephews and nieces when they started appearing..  They are well into having children of their own. 

 

Not that I was any good a shot,  either with that or an SLR,  no marksman for me, though SWMBO was. 

 

For me today the hippo bags advert is back,  but today is interleaved by car checking services,  and gym clothing.  None of which I'm likely to use. 

The most common adverts are radiators for some reason,  though the company I bought the new tin shed from turns up occasionally. 

 

Time to roll over and get more sleep.. 

 

 

[BR60103]

We are having a sorting of the back room where my spare stuff is located. SWMBO is looking at my magazines again -- 40 years worth disappeared when we moved. I noticed today that the "curtains" in one of the basement windows had big black marks on them. These were taken down and washed (they are actually big towels) and I found major black stuff along the window sill. So the rest of the afternoon was spentwashing that by leaning over the shelves while standing on a ladder. Black stuff dissolved in water and could be wiped off.

Trying to replace a couple of electric fires that went "poof". Circuit board for one is no longer available. I haven't found a new one that fits the bookshelf unit.

We have been promised thunderstorms every day this week. We did get a bit of rain today.

 

[J. S. Bach]

Good night owl from the Piedmont.

[iL Dottore]

7 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

... Lots of mountains but nothing quite as impressive as The Jungfrau...

Mrs iD,  who is Swiss, is very demanding in her definitions of what constitutes a true mountain. Recently we watched that most enjoyable film with Robert Redford and Nick Nolte, “A Walk in the Woods“, based on the Bill Bryson book. In the film, when the characters referred to the “ mountains” that they encountered on the Appalachian Trail, Mrs ID snorted in derision. “They are NOT mountains“ opined Mrs iD with emphasis “mountains do NOT have trees on the top of them“. Despite this topographical quibble, Mrs iD (and yours truly) enjoyed the film.

Bill Bryson, like Stephen King and Larry Niven, is one of those authors whose output is always acquired whenever something new comes out. Always enjoyable, and in the case of Bill Bryson, always informative.

6 hours ago, tetsudofan said:

 

I was about to send an email to my MP on Monday but by chance looked at one of the feeds and saw that my MP was one of the first (together with another local MP) to state their views which happened to be the same as mine.

 

Quickly changed the content of my email saying that I was pleased to see what he had posted and that I agreed with him completely.

 

Keith

What ever you may think of your local MP’s politics, I think it is important to give praise when praise is due, because it then makes criticism more effective.  I firmly believe that if you continually denigrate someone because of their political inclination, they will just “turn off“ and ignore everything you have to say. And therefore any truly important point that you may have to make will be ignored, as it will be lost in the “background noise”. Whereas if you criticise that individual fairly, giving credit where credit is due but also pointing out where you think they are making mistakes, then it is much more likely they will - at the very least - concede that you have a point to make.

Perhaps it’s because, as a Swiss citizen, that I am used to politics that involves coalitions of parties running things and so I am used to the idea of listening to your political opponents. That doesn’t mean, necessarily, that you agree with their point of view, but it does mean that you get a different perspective on the matter in hand  And by working together can arrive at a solution that whilst not “optimal” in terms of ideological purity, is acceptable to everyone and gets the job done.  Adversarial politics as currently practised in the UK and in the US is ultimately, I believe, destructive to the country.

6 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Evening All,

Full day at work today and was having a better day of it than expected, until someone had to spoil it.

Customer accused us of being ‘all lies’ . Last month , if you recall we were having trouble with the delivery van and told this particular women we would not be able to deliver her medication that day  due to the van being out of action. We did managed to deliver it the next day. Nothing urgent, just her repeat.

Anyway she came into the pharmacy today. She had to wait 5 minutes for her prescription and wasn’t happy about the wait,  then it all ‘kicked off.  Called us liars , the van wasn’t broken etc. Anyway, as the 26year old got into her car she saluted us with a single finger gesture. What a pleasant young lady. 
Not at work until Tuesday now so time to relax (hopefully)

goodnight,

Robert

Given that the efforts you are making, Robert, in these difficult times I find the actions you report of this young lady to be perfectly repugnant. Your restraint is admirable! Now, I don’t know if this is a possibility for pharmacists in the UK (or even desirable, for that matter) but can you refuse to fill a patient’s prescription if that patient is - for want of a better word - uncooperative. Politely informing the individual in question that they should take their business elsewhere?
One of the drawbacks, in my view, to the otherwise admirable British characteristic of tolerance and “live and let live”, is that the British will put up with situations that would get their “excitable” European cousins spitting with rage, if not taking to the streets and throwing rocks at the forces of Law and Order.

An anecdotal case in point: when I was living in the UK I once had a pub lunch with some friends and when my hot pie came with stone cold vegetables. I politely informed the server that this was unacceptable and that she should take the plate away and bring me bring me some hot food. One of my dining companions was most indignant that I “caused a scene“!

5 hours ago, AndyID said:

...As far as I know he never accidentally or deliberately bumped anyone off but I do know he prevented some doctors from killing their patients.

Swiss pharmacies are required by law to review the prescription with the patient and to repeat and reinforce the doctor’s instructions for how that medication should be taken (this, obviously, incurs a small charge which is added to the cost of the prescription). I think this is an sensible  approach to take, although as I am “in the trade“  I don’t need this sort of double checking.

4 hours ago, newbryford said:

New car was collected yesterday. Red/black and very shiny. For some reason, the last few cars I have had do not have the "new car smell" that was one of those unique experiences of purchasing a brand new vehicle....

I don’t recall whether or not you mentioned the marque of the car you have just purchased, but I am thinking that, possibly, the presence or absence of a “new car smell” is down to the chemicals and solvents used in the manufacture of the vehicle, which may vary between manufacturers. Our last new car, our ever trusty Skoda Yeti (a.k.a. Hettie the Yeti) had the “new car smell” when we collected her. Something which lasted a few months despite the powerful “eau du chien” odour emanating from the cargo compartment.

Apparently, so I am led to understand, the smell of a new car is so beguiling that you can buy aerosol sprays to spray inside the cabin of the vehicle to replicate the new car smell. The sort of thing that might be advantageous when you are trying to offload a low mileage, less than 18 month old vehicle.

 

Enjoy POETS day (and JohnDMJ, enjoy POTS )

 

iD

[AndyID]

23 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

“They are NOT mountains“ opined Mrs iD with emphasis “mountains do NOT have trees on the top of them“. 

 

No problem in Scotland then. They are well above the tree line but not much over 4000 feet. But they are also extremely dangerous. Conditions can go from Summer to Arctic Winter in no time at all.

 

Despite its diminutive stature Ben Nevis is quite impressive when you view the whole thing from sea level.

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

I viewed with much interest the TV programme featuring the Duke of Cambridge and some footballers.  Anything that raises awareness of mental health issues is to be commended.  I will not labour the point but it really is good to talk, however difficult it can be.  I learned the hard way that there is no shame in asking for help and I am glad I did.   Our future King is as fine an ambassador for mental health issues as we could have.  

 

My thanks to Joseph and Mike for helpful advice freely proffered re my embryonic jaunt to Marrakech via Spain.  My intention is that the trip will happen in 2022 but the road to hell is paved with good intentions, is it not?  The doodlings so far draw on what is to be found on the website called The Man In Seat 61, which I find inspirational.  Already I have found an overnight train from Tangier to Marrakech.  Including Madrid in the itinerary is looking like more of a challenge and the apparent absence of a direct train from Paris is telling me something.  Whatever else happens, another attempt at getting to Dublin in mid 2021 must take precedence.  Any more helpful thoughts will be gratefully received!

 

Flavio, the person who is known to some MRJ readers as Mrs Trellis uses his real name when writing letters to the editor!

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[Joseph_Pestell]

13 hours ago, Barry O said:

 

 

No county cricket until after 1st August. 

 

 

 

I don't understand why cricket should be delayed so long. There is less contact than in football and the crowds for most four-day championship games can easily be socially-distanced.

Edited May 29, 2020 by Joseph_Pestell

[roundhouse]

6 hours ago, newbryford said:

New car was collected yesterday. Red/black and very shiny.

 

 

Disappointed in the colour

 

Our newest car is now approaching 12 years old and has only recently gone over 20k on the clock, oldest is 25 and around 72k with the layout shifter 15 years old and 77k although that wont be gettig much use this year. No plans to change any of them yet.

 

However the layout shifter will be used today now that the builders merchants that have the paving we are after in  stock and are now open to turn up and purchase plus a phone call a few minutes ago I got straight through to their Gatwick branch. I would like ot pick up 12 slabs this morining but that might be overloading the car a bit so probably just 6 and if they are suitable once  laid and deemed suitable then I will order a lot more for delivery.

 

Also have a few wires to connect up on the two newly laid sidings on the High Line in the shed.

[polybear]

9 hours ago, TheQ said:

This was while watching old "grand designs" wondering where do these people find the money from!!!

 

Not to mention the energy....

 

8 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Evening All,

Full day at work today and was having a better day of it than expected, until someone had to spoil it.

Customer accused us of being ‘all lies’ . Last month , if you recall we were having trouble with the delivery van and told this particular women we would not be able to deliver her medication that day  due to the van being out of action. We did managed to deliver it the next day. Nothing urgent, just her repeat.

Anyway she came into the pharmacy today. She had to wait 5 minutes for her prescription and wasn’t happy about the wait,  then it all ‘kicked off.  Called us liars , the van wasn’t broken etc. Anyway, as the 26year old got into her car she saluted us with a single finger gesture.

 

If she was able to come into the pharmacy, why does she justify wasting your time with a home delivery?  With behaviour like that it seems a good scheme to ban her from your books.  She might think twice then, or more likely put a brick thru' your window.  Delightful person.

 

Thought for The Day:

Since the Media are so intent on seeing people sacked for *apparently* being guilty of breaking the rules, does that mean that all photographers and reporters seen outside a certain chief advisers' house all jostling shoulder to shoulder for position will be sacked too (or blacklisted, if independents) ?   They sure ain't 2m apart.......

 

[Joseph_Pestell]

Today (and probably the weekend as well) off to a poor start. My dental bridge has snapped in two. Last time that I needed emergency dental treatment, it took most of the day to sort out. With current restrictions in place, who knows how long I will be without most of my teeth! I should have bought soup when at the supermarket yesterday.

[AndrewC]

greetings all from the boring borough. 
 

More of the shed painted. Over half way now. Seems like a reverse Tardis. Bloody bigger outside than in. 
 

We seem to have an abundance of nuisance birds as opposed to nice ones. Pigeons, various. Seagulls. Magpies. Crows. Bexley Parakeets. Starlings. In the minority there are a couple of nesting pairs of house sparrows that feast on the feeder and a pair of great tits that nest in the bay tree next door. 
 

Robert, I’m hoping standard regs around refusal of service apply to pharmacies. Hopefully you can tell “Karen” to jog on. 
 

SWMBO’s Birthday today. Will be underwhelming to say the least. Just waiting for Tess & Co to open so I can grab brekkie fixings. Ribeyes, hasselback spuds, and asparagus on the bbq for tonight. 
 

Second round of lattes have been delivered. Enjoy the day. 

[Barry O]

1 hour ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

I don't understand why cricket should be delayed so long. There is less contact than in football and the crowds for most four-day championship games can easily be socially-distanced.

Soccer is deemed necessary to make "the people" believe everything is back to normal, cricket isn't.  

Of course soccer is also big money and the premiership players will be feeling the pinch. The players are still testing positive but the show must go on......

 

Baz

[Barry O]

Ey up! Woke up very early and listened to the birds singing...lovely!

Camper vans.. yes they are on the move round here ! Dead of night..one at 11pm last night, two this morning while i listened to the birds.

 

Final top coat of paint to be added this morning..then a start to reglossing the rest of the conservatory. 

 

We do live in strange times. While out clapping last night it was decided we will all still venture out next Thursday..maybe to do a mini clap but mainly to do a mental health check.

 

We were all amazed at our new notyetfinished footpath. It is a complete mess.. perhaps they should have used the time to do something else.. i, personally,  didn't realise how many different grades of asphalt there are..3 used here to date!

 

Time to finish my mugatea, positive thoughts to all! BoD hope things are ok with you and yours..probably a nice day to heas to a place by a river...

 

Right Friday! Lets get you sorted..Now!

Baz

[Happy Hippo]

24 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

 and a pair of great tits that nest in the bay tree next door. 

To be able to look out of the window and see them must be a great way to start the day!

[Dave Hunt]

Our supermarket delivery came yesterday but there was some confusion over which bags belonged to which recipient that resulted in a bit of toing and froing by the lady driver but we got there in the end. By the time we'd disinfected everything and put it away the whole process took well over an hour and a half. The afternoon featured a session in the workshop where, for once, everything went as planned then in the evening we had our first BBQ of the year.

 

There's a young pigeon that seems to think we are it's friends and isn't apparently afraid of humans. It comes to the bird feeders while we are close by and will sit on the edge of the bird bath without moving while we are walking past or working in the garden. Yesterday it even flew down and perched on the patio table while Dad was sitting there having a coffee. Unfortunately it also seems unconcerned about Horace the cat so unless it changes its ideas I think its days may be numbered.

 

Today's activities are as yet undecided except for finishing a large muggocoffee, a virtual POETS happy hour with some ex-RAF buddies at 1700 and the preparation of some nice looking hake that our local market fishmonger delivered on Wednesday.

 

Hope your day is a good one.

 

Dave

 

 

 

Edited May 29, 2020 by Dave Hunt
Bl**dy predictive text!!!