Early Risers.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Goodnight all, from Greencountry.

 

Douglas

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all and felicitations to great uncle Coombe Barton

 

The surgery that I attend has been rebranded Fortress Paranoia.  As I stood by the ntercom button and speaker I was subjected to a tiresome fusillade of questions: is there anyone in the household who ...? etc etc.  When I told my remote inquisitor that I live alone she seemed put out that I had put her off her stroke. Eventually bolts and chains were rattled and shot, the door swung open and I was admitted.  As I entered I observed that if I had stood on the cartoon feet denoting the social distance I would not have been able to reach the intercom button.  For once Checkpoint Charlene was lost for words.  The waiting room looked strange with only three chairs.  I chose one but was not seated for long before the call came to the treatment room.  There, Nurse Jane was waiting with a syringe laden with the quarterly dose of Zoladex that keeps my cancer at bay.  All done, home I go.  Ruddy virus.

 

A fodder run will be done this morning.  Afterwards I may look at bits of the virtual global Pride on Facebook.  I would so much rather have been there, in Dublin, in the thick of it, and I'm sure that Leo Varadkar would rather have been marching in the Pride parade today than being sworn in as deputy Taioseach.  Maybe now I will learn not to be driven by excitement.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[polybear]

7 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

Not a bad job for a 20 year old. Three years later I was in Germany on Phantoms.

 

As a 21/22 year-old I got to help out with this:

 

 

It eventually ended up (I think) in Suffolk, at the entrance to a caravan dealership, looking a little ragged:

 

 

However, it was given a cosmetic restoration, to look somewhat better:

 

 

I did hear from the owner that some scrote had managed to get into the cockpit one night though, and nicked all the gauges etc., no doubt to put on Ebay. B'stards.

 

A real waste of a good aircraft, as I believe it was very low hours.  So many have gone the same way.

 

In my time, it used to be cared for by a guy called Des  ("Dezzie"); when something wasn't going right it was referred to as a "Black Anodic B'stard".  Happy days, that weren't appreciated as they should have been at the time.  Isn't that often the way though.

 

[Barry O]

Ey up! Been chuckinitdarn here for a while. Mugatea has arrived so TTFN

Baz

[TheQ]

Mooring awl, 

I had a better nights sleep despite the heat,  5 hours plus 2 on the sofa,  it's still 25C in the living room at 07:00 in the morning windows open. The stored heat in solid brick walls takes a while to disperse. 

The wake up at about 03:00 was a very heavy shower,  however it was so short,  it had stopped before I reached the bottom of the stairs. 

 

Ben the alarm clock Collie spent most of the night on the hard floor downstairs , cooler I think. 

 

On patrol it's definitely cooler out there, but the ground is dry and there's no water in the wheelbarrow. 

The grass jungle is definitely getting high,  it's over a foot in places,  mowing will definitely take place either later or more likely tomorrow depending on the rain.. 

 

A lot of grey clouds around,  with the high possibility of rain today is boat work in garage or marquee. 

 

A full English has been demolished during the typing of these notes,  a Muggacoffee partly drunk,  after Muggacoffee no two it will be

 

Time to,...

 

 

[iL Dottore]

13 hours ago, AndyB said:

...Never bought another Ford and never will again. I'm guessing from your post that 25 years on they haven't improved a lot!...

According to some,  Ford is an acronym for “Found On Road Dead“  I have only ever had one Ford in my life and that was a company Ford Sierra that I got with my first job (remember “company cars” in lieu of a better salary?). “Basic” about sums it up (a manual gearbox, no air-conditioning, a tinny little radio-cassette, no power steering, no power brakes and no power windows-amongst other deficiencies). A far cry from those cars that nowadays are sold as “basic models”.
The Sierra was “OK”, but didn’t sell me on the marque.

10 hours ago, brianusa said:

<<<<<<<<<<more to life than Meccano and train spotting>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

..................Decisions, decisions!

                                                          Brian.

Actually, no decision-making was involved. I was well aware, even at that tender age, that my - ahem – “faculties” would diminish over time and I could always return to both Meccano and to railway modelling once the first flush of youth had passed.

10 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Hey Poly - been out with your mates?

 

That’s clearly a staged photograph. Such an assembly of bears would quickly turn into what my police acquaintances refer to as, “an all-hands-on-deck Triple B shout“ (where Triple B stands for “Bears Behaving Badly“). Apparently, when they are out of their skulls on Hofmeister or Bärenfang it can get ugly real quick 

9 hours ago, TheQ said:

 ...I did put the A/C in the MhRC on,  Ben the thinking Collie immediately deposited himself below the cooling vents..

Smart Dog! Unlike Lucy, who whilst being a very sensible and intelligent little dog, does tend to be a bit bonkers in her sunbathing – as the attached cartoon shows!

Edited June 27, 2020 by iL Dottore
Typo

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

It is raining, and quite breezy here. 
When we first moved to this part of Essex, Fords were the most popular car. So many people worked at Fords or Ford related businesses. It was only awful after sales service by a local dealer that sent us off into the world of Renault  and Vauxhall. The Volvo was a gift not a purchase but it was awful enough to decline another used Volvo from Aditi’s Dad. That was when we bought the Clio.

Aditi’s Fiesta has been fine and no problems with the local service place. It is next door to Ford’s research and development facility so I suppose it helps!

Tony

 

[5 C]

Morning awl from a rainy Bedfordshire. Doors and windows are open as far as the rain will allow, in an attempt to cool the house down. It's not really working.

 

More sad news to start the week, when I learned of the passing of a friend. She'd just started on a drug trial for her cancer but had contracted sepsis. A lovely lady, who was always happy and always smiling in spite of much adversity over the years. She'd remarried a few years ago and seemed very happy. A reminder, if it were needed, that the virus is not the only health care story in town.

 

Nothing has been seen of the unwelcome visitor and the council pest control officer took away the undisturbed bait trays earlier this week. That's not to say "noises off" aren't still being heard. My neighbour is still hearing noises in her ceiling and I hear them from the eaves and adjoining wall. All the neighbours are now on the look out and conducting investigations. When I was first invaded, being a responsible and considerate neighbour I warned next door to be aware and she mentioned it to a couple of the other neighbours. I don't have a problem with that - the houses are connected and we're all having problems. It's emerged that one person had an invasion that pre-dates mine but had said nothing to anyone. She had "got her son in" to sort the problem out. Quite what he did or didn't do we don't know. It would be nice to have known so we could have taken precautions.

 

First load of washing has been done, porridge has been eaten and a third muggertea will be brewed shortly. A bacon, egg and mushroom sandwich will be looked forward to later.

 

Enjoy your diem, however you choose to carpe it.

 

Regards to awl.

[Mike Bellamy]

10 hours ago, TheQ said:

 

I think Intu owned about 15 Shopping Centres mostly the big ones.. 

 

 

More like 14 and a half - the Broad Marsh Centre in Nottingham has been closed for more than 12 months, partially demolished and under redevelopment. However all work stopped a couple of months ago - not virus related but because it was already obvious that they were rapidly running out of cash. Local TV news reported last night that Nottingham City Council actually own the land and so a rather complex legal situation to sort out. I always thought it strange that Intu bought the Broad Marsh when they already had the Victoria Centre which in my opinion as a very occasional shopper was a better place to visit.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

It was raining earlier but has stopped for now. More to come and the chance of sunny spells later.

I've had several Fords over the years, mainly company cars - Escorts,  MkV Cortina, Sierras,  Mondeo and more recently a Focus which I got rid of a couple of years ago.  The only one that I had problems with was a diesel Escort whose turbo was forever playing up. Also had a 1947 Morris 10, 1953 Austin Somerset, Austin 1100, Hillman Minx Series VI, Hillman Avenger, Vauxhalls (Shove-it and Cavalier) 2 Rover 600s, Lexus IS200SE and currently a Dacia Duster.  Worst of the lot the old Somerset, it was always breaking down and my favourite was the Lexus, wish I still had it.

Raining again so it has been decreed "we" are not walking this morning but "need" to do some domestic tasks. My assistance has been requested

 

Have good one,

Bob.

Edited June 27, 2020 by grandadbob

[tigerburnie]

Morning, no sign of rain here, but then due to the thick sea harr, not much sign of anything, including the neighbours house over the road, I could see the pesky rabbit in the back garden though, maybe a bit of target practising this morning then. Take care and enjoy the weekend all.

[tigerburnie]

Got "run Rabbit run" as a pesky ear worm now...……………………………..

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Woke up earlier this morning to the sound of heavy rain but its stopped, for now. There's a bit more to come according to the weathermen but should be dry tomorrow. Douglas, there is a way of stopping birds flying into windows, I think I posted it here on ER's a few few months ago. It consists of painting a series of very thin vertical lines on the inside of the glass 4-6 inches apart.  You can use something that can easily be removed but the lines can easily be replaced after window cleaning. If you don't want anything on the glass vertical blinds can also be effective. Most birds will not fly through what they see as a vertical gap unless it exceeds their wingspan somewhat. Now off to run a bath, be back later.

[Coombe Barton]

39 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

My assistance has been requested

Is that "requested" as in "volunteer" in the army?

[PhilJ W]

Nearly forgot, had a quick look at the papers this morning, it looks as if the WAG* wars are hotting up. *Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy FYI.

[grandadbob]

18 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Is that "requested" as in "volunteer" in the army?

 Yep and I always seem to pull latrine duty!

[JohnDMJ]

Good Morning! (or I think it is still morning)

 

Two days of doing as little as possible  or necessary.

 

3 hours ago, chrisf said:

Greetings one and all and felicitations to great uncle Coombe Barton

 

The surgery that I attend has been rebranded Fortress Paranoia.  As I stood by the ntercom button and speaker I was subjected to a tiresome fusillade of questions: is there anyone in the household who ...? etc etc.  When I told my remote inquisitor that I live alone she seemed put out that I had put her off her stroke. Eventually bolts and chains were rattled and shot, the door swung open and I was admitted.  As I entered I observed that if I had stood on the cartoon feet denoting the social distance I would not have been able to reach the intercom button.  For once Checkpoint Charlene was lost for words.  The waiting room looked strange with only three chairs.  I chose one but was not seated for long before the call came to the treatment room.  There, Nurse Jane was waiting with a syringe laden with the quarterly dose of Zoladex that keeps my cancer at bay.  All done, home I go.  Ruddy virus.

 

I recently had to book a blood test; Checkpoint Charlene enquired if I was coming by car, which I had planned so to do. She recorded my registration number and told me to wait in the car until called. I enquired as to reporting my arrival and was told not to worry. At the appointed time, I was sitting in my car, facing the surgery when the practitioner came to the surgery entrance, identified the registration plate and pointed to me. I followed him to his room where he duly extracted the blood. He then 'escorted' me to the exit (not their regular route!) IMHO, a well thought out process, presuming you arrived by private car!

 

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

According to some,  Ford is an acronym for “Found On Road Dead“  I have only ever had one Ford in my life and that was a company Ford Sierra that I got with my first job (remember “company cars” in lieu of a better salary?).

 

Given the current stress levels, I may consider my work venue in a new light!

[JohnDMJ]

18 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Nearly forgot, had a quick look at the papers this morning, it looks as if the WAG* wars are hotting up. *Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy FYI.

 

Who?

[Happy Hippo]

44 minutes ago, tigerburnie said:

Got "run Rabbit run" as a pesky ear worm now...……………………………..

Mine is currently 'Beds are burning' by Midnight Oil.

[Chris116]

3 minutes ago, JohnDMJ said:

 

Who?

Two over made up nobodies who latched onto the High salaries of those who chase fake pigs bladders. 

[Tony_S]

32 minutes ago, JohnDMJ said:

Given the current stress levels, I may consider my work venue in a new light!

Do you have a few quiet days of stocktaking to look forward to?

[Coombe Barton]

38 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

 Yep and I always seem to pull latrine duty!

Bog standard, then

[JohnDMJ]

28 minutes ago, Chris116 said:

Two over made up nobodies who latched onto the High salaries of those who chase fake pigs bladders. 

 

Ah! those who contribute to 22 overpaid actors chasing  pig's bladder around a bit of grass!

 

It's just not cricket!

Edited June 27, 2020 by JohnDMJ

[Happy Hippo]

35 minutes ago, JohnDMJ said:

 

Who?

Nothing to worry about:  you'd have more excitement if you spilt a tin of dried paint.

[JohnDMJ]

Morning, Tone,

 

4 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Do you have a few quiet days of stocktaking to look forward to?

 

Quiet? No doubt the phones will still be manic with the usual volume of c0ckwombl3s. Still, probably not my problem for the next week; my line manager will be fielding them although I seem to be his first port of call if he can't handle them!

 

Since 30 March, I've been covering or assisting 4 colleagues; since 15 June I've now added one more!

 

My take on stock take: 1, 2, many. Hopefully, I'll end up on the data entry side again rather than physically counting but if a line reaches its 3rd recount, I'll often go and do it myself!

 

Interesting aside to that, last year we had a discrepancy on a particular paint. I sent it back for a recount; came back as a discrepancy so I sent it back again and it still came back as a discrepancy. In all cases, the numbers varied wildly between counts, so I went to count for myself and agreed with one of the figures so I asked the guy who'd done the last recount how he'd arrived at his figure and discovered that his lot were in one part of the warehouse whilst mine were in the 'correct' location. (We try to keep stock lines in single locations!) The total was correct to the stock level expected.

 

If things go beyond about 19:00hrs, the Retail Director usually sends out for pizza or McDs for all.