Early Risers.

[big jim]

My eldest had a call from a local butchers earlier, he has a days trial next week in relation to doing an apprenticeship with them to become a craft butcher

 

he’s left school this year, obviously one of those who’s had his exams cancelled and was looking at going into theatrical lighting and sound etc but with corona virus the whole industry collapsed overnight so it made him think about a proper career
 

his year form teacher put him in touch with a butcher friend who gave him a trail the other week which he really enjoyed but unfortunately he can’t offer him an apprenticeship so he applied for a couple of jobs through the local college who work with a couple of the local butchers to offer the apprenticeships so here’s hoping he does well and gets on the course 

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

 

Remember in 50s/60s you had various Air Ferries, whereby you drove your car into a Bristol Type 170 Freighter, took your seat in the cabin and a little while later  you would be in Ostend or Rotterdam or Calais, ready for your onward journey? 

This is the Ryan Air version:

 

 

[NGT6 1315]

Oh, gee, may I add my congratulations to Jamie and Beth!

 

And Warren, I can relate to your anguish and to the raw nerves you describe. I do think people who are getting careless now can still put us back a few squares in the pandemic. Thinking of you and yours...

[iL Dottore]

18 minutes ago, big jim said:

My eldest had a call from a local butchers earlier, he has a days trial next week in relation to doing an apprenticeship with them to become a craft butcher

he’s left school this year, obviously one of those who’s had his exams cancelled and was looking at going into theatrical lighting and sound etc but with corona virus the whole industry collapsed overnight so it made him think about a proper career...

Although I’m sorry to hear that your eldest didn’t get a chance to go into the theatre, I’m pleased to hear that he seems to be happy to become a craft or master butcher.

 

Having been involved in a semi professional capacity in the theatre (acting,  directing and producing) I can say with the benefit of inside knowledge that all aspects of theatre are full of uncertainty even at the best of times – even for those at the top of the profession. With mandatory social distancing and the ever present risk of contagion of being in a confined space with a lot of other people, I don’t see the theatre getting back to even a shadow of its former self any time soon. Some of the top theatre actors are likely to survive this difficult period through voice over work, radio work and the like. But for the technical and behind-the-scenes people, I fear it will be very lean times indeed for the foreseeable future.

But, to go through an apprenticeship and become a master butcher, now that’s something I am very envious of. I am a very serious amateur chef and one of my greatest frustrations is that my butchery skills are very poor indeed. Despite knowing my anatomy and despite having all the right tools to hand, breaking down a carcass into usable joints and the like is a skill that I haven’t yet quite mastered. To say that my butchery is a lot of “hack work” is not understating the case.
 

And if your eldest can master the black art of getting a surgically sharp edge on the knives he wields, then I shall be forever in awe of him!

[Ozexpatriate]

47 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

And the problems if the aircraft landed in northern Queensland ...

The Gulflander might be hard pressed to haul additional stock. Once one has traveled from Normanton to Croydon and back again the options are limited.

[pH]

20 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

This is the Ryan Air version:

 

 

With a bit of practice, I reckon these guys could drop them right on the rails:

 

 

[big jim]

@iL Dottore I would have loved him to get into the technical side of the theatre, he says he may look at doing it as a ‘hobby’, not so much theatre though. the holiday park we have a van at has a pretty sophisticated PA and lighting system and he’s been told he could learn to use it, get trained on it properly as well as doing stage work, he could have worked toward an NVQ etc however as you know that’s all gone by the by now as it’s not even known if the park will open this year.

 

the last lad who learned the ropes there had just (pre Covid) started his 2nd year on the cruise ships doing the lighting for shows and he also toured with ‘grease’ the musical doing the same but as with most in the industry is now out of work, as are my friends who Do the entertainment at the parks, I’ve lost work too as I do a few nights every so often DJing in a pub in Stoke, I’m certainly glad I only do it for a bit of pocket money and don’t rely on it as an income, I actually work for my nephew who luckily has a full time job too as his extra income from hiring out PA and DJ equipment has dried up, when the camps and pubs do reopen it’s going to be a completely different experience that’s for sure

 

as you may know I’m a huge west end musical fan (not a euphemism) and I too can’t see how it’s going to easily come back from this pandemic with the social distancing for both the audience and performers 

 

as for butchering I really hope he puts his mind to it, I certainly couldn’t do it, I can barely pick up raw bacon but he’s not bothered at all

[roundhouse]

I hope for Big Jims son  that it all works out and he doesn't get the chop

 

A lovely busy day today with  a trip to Mums to drop the food shopping then a walk into the village to get her frozen food as our freezer is already full to be bale to do so the previous day. A bit of gardening then start her car and leave running for a while so the battery keeps its charge. Nephews had a gift for me for doing all the food shopping with them being isolated with Mum (12 weeks without leaving mums). A new Dremel kit (via Amazon) which will no doubt come in handy. the plan for Saturday is that me and my other half visit Mums and have lunch in her garden ordered via the village fish and chip shop all socially distanced before tasking nephews to Heathrow for their trip back to HK and an overnight stay to await the tests then they have 14 days tagged quarantine so they say. Once clear of the they don't have to deal with social distancing, just riots.

 

No back in the garden under the shed canopy on the big laptop watching the G gauge going round and live railcam on in the shed. The Exmoor Beast was going to be my last beer of the evening but just one more - which one though

Edited June 2, 2020 by roundhouse

[New Haven Neil]

Evening.

 

13 days with no new cases here.  1 currently infected, 0 in hospickle.

 

Congrats to Jamie and Beth, we're a few years behind at 36.  

 

Warmest thoughts to those missing and struggling with the fallout of this awful disease.

 

Hereabouts we're in the twilight zone between death and funeral (such as it will be) for Anne, difficult times.  John asked me to speak at the funeral but I don't think I would be able to - I get choked at these times, we were very good friends.  We'll get the official (non-religious ceremony) to say the words.

 

I haven't posted a paneer photo for days, got a really dirty green and blackish one too.....I know my place when the Awlist is about.

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

17 minutes ago, roundhouse said:

I hope ... it all works out and he doesn't get the chop

Indeed, I hope he ends up giving everyone else the chop: lamb, pork, beef as the case may contain.

[Ozexpatriate]

An op-ed headline caught my eye today.

 

1918 + 1929 + 1968 = 2020

 

I skimmed the article. While it is US-centric, I thought the headline said it all.

[AndrewC]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Oh go on Andrew, unburden yourself, you are amongst friends, do tell us what you really think about your colleagues.

Let's just say there are several who if were set alight with stale or fresh petrol, I would not waste any of my urine to assist. 

 

Jim. In a past life I took a 3 year high school track and 2 years of technical college (plus a BA in broadcasting) doing cinema, stage, television, radio. At the time jobs were few and far between. I ended up staying with the "phone company" because I knew how to operate 2" video machines that were used to tape delay TV across time zones. I used to really enjoy theatre and studio lighting. Along with vision mixing it was my favourite job. With all the latest in computer lighting rigs and such, stage lighting has become very dull according to a few people I know still in the industry. Concert lighting is all pre-programmed and tweaked during rehearsals. Basically it is click start, then just make sure nothing goes boom. Most theatre lighting rigs are the same. Gone are the days when you had a 20 page "script" for lighting changes for a 2 hour play. Sound boards are a bit more hands on still but even that gets boring after a while. He is probably better off doing an artisan craft that is in demand. 

 

good night all. 

[AndyID]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

So - it would seem - all those zombie apocalypse films have got it dead wrong (no pun intended) when the survivors siphon fuel from abandoned cars several months after the fall of civilisation and then zoom off to safety in their vehicle

 

 

Presumably the former owners took the precaution of adding some stabilizer to their fuel tanks before abandoning their vehicles?

[JohnDMJ]

Heard anecdotal tell that a school had postponed its return yesterday due to a confirmed case amongst its population!

 

Given all the 'horror stories' one hears about, how long until a second spike?

 

A pessimist is rarely disappointed!

 

[Ozexpatriate]

7 minutes ago, JohnDMJ said:

... a school had postponed its return yesterday ...

I don't know that there are any US schools that will return to in-person instruction until the Autumn at the earliest.

 

Certainly not locally.

[AndyID]

Did somebody say chops? I could go a couple of lamb chops right now.

[Simon G]

Oh no, we are back onto the subject of food again!  I am still hungry and seem to have been all the way through lockdown!

[AndyID]

3 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

That was the third outfit of the day, the wedding dress, then a blue corduroy skirtvand jacket, then into more comfortable attire ince we had booked in at the hotel and removed all the confetti. I managed with a suit forvthe first two but had also gone to jeans by the time that photo was taken.

 

 

We got off to a flying start. We were supposed to fly from Glasgow to Munich the following morning where a bus would take us to the Austrian Tyrol. Unfortunately one of the engines on the Bavaria Flug BAC 1-11 had a lubrication failure when it ramped up the power for takeoff. We had to hang around the airport for about eight hours waiting for a replacement aircraft.

 

Just over a week later we were on a bus tour to The Dolomites when the driver heard on the radio that the Israeli Olympic Team had been massacred.

[Coombe Barton]

... and a horse's eye ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/06/02/getting-unstalled/

[Gwiwer]

4 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

the female gender much prefer to walk around the town in what might politely  be described as excessively short shorts.

That is definitely the case at the House of Fun.  Not just today but for several days past.  Since the apparent invitation* to travel to anywhere in England for recreation, in fact.  We have been entertained by a number of cases of bare-cheeked face and of too-much-information in all areas.  It must be said, however, that under the current restrictions we are only enjoying around 10% of the normal levels of what some choose to call "eye-candy"   

 

3 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

The Gulflander might be hard pressed to haul additional stock. Once one has traveled from Normanton to Croydon and back again the options are limited.

There's a whole lot of nothing there.  There is a whole lot of nothing along the trip too although the regular crew make what they can of it and I believe they still stop and brew up for all aboard at pre-determined lineside stops.  A little two-carriage train on an isolated line in an isolated wilderness is a very strange survivor in the 21st Century but remains just popular enough to survive.  It's a heck of a trip to get there in the first place though.  

 

* That is how a small but growing number of the Great English Public is interpreting current "guidelines", rightly or wrongly.  Trains to the coastal resorts have been much busier in the past few days notwithstanding the good weather of several weeks.  Reports from the weekend include the fact that several London - Brighton and London - Bournemouth trains arrived carrying standing loads at their destinations despite attempts to limit numbers boarding at each station.  Eastbourne was destination of choice today with your scribe having been asked several times from where and when the next train departed.  Throughout the present emergency, until late last week, customer enquiries have been almost non-existent suggesting that very nearly all of those still travelling are regulars who know their way.   

[pH]

35 minutes ago, AndyID said:

We got off to a flying start ... We had to hang around the airport for about eight hours waiting for a replacement aircraft.

... or not!

Edited June 2, 2020 by pH

[Barry O]

Exhibition cancellations.. i need to avoid it....there are people on there who need help to live. And others who obviously do no muddling at all but know a lot about puttingon exhibitions...not!

 

Baz

[Mike Bellamy]

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

Maybe it’s because I am, more or less, a Londoner Mike, but I can’t see London as a honeymoon destination: Edinburgh? yes, Dublin? certainly, Paris? definitely! But London?  I suppose (he says dubiously) there are indeed romantic locations in London. Trouble is, at the moment I can’t think of any (unless you subscribe to “the romance of train travel“ and have marked  Waterloo Station, Paddington Station and Victoria Station as places suitable for re-enacting Brief Encounter or the like) 

 

 

A short holiday was all we could afford and as my wife had never been there, we spent the time walking around the main tourist sites such as the Tower of London, Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace - thank goodness we didn't take the rain with us - remember this was early February.  We did travel by train and so got to see both Grantham station and Kings Cross !

[Barry O]

Goodnight all!

Baz

[tigerburnie]

G'night all