Early Risers.

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all, and thanks to Rick for the warning

 

After the affair of the locked thread I am apprehensive of going anywhere near the Dart Castings stand at Nottingham since the lads know full well that I am an RMwebber, but I have until Sunday to worry about that.  Back to everyday nonsense!  A couple of days ago on the fodder run I found an empty display cabinet where the frozen peas should have been.  Was this a consequence of the snow?  Thankfully not.  Pesky Management had decided to move all the frozen veg.  Do they not realise that if one is in their shop at 8 am one wishes to be out of there PDQ and not tarry overlong?  As I forgot the butter that was the prime reason for my visit I chose a different source yesterday.  There I found an awful lot of salted butter and hardly any unsalted.  The bullet was therefore bitten and I took home a pack of Lurpak.  Such luxury.  I shall spread it wisely.

 

Tonight I will be at The Stables to enjoy Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman.  I hope that the ice cream lady has adequate stocks of honey and stem ginger flavour.  On the way I will give an ear to the revived Hitchhikers Guide on the radio, with the now poignant cameo role for Professor Hawking.  This morning a trip to Homebase or similar is a possibility because my soldering kit has outgrown its toolbox.  Before you ask, as well you might, stowing the contents more tidily will not work.

 

Andyram, I am sorry that you have not been shortlisted but you are at least spared from returning to the scene of the crime.

 

Apologies to anyone whose birthday, wedding anniversary or sad family event I have overlooked.  The rage which fuelled yesterday's post did not help me remember.  With that, warm thoughts and best wishes to all in distress, recovery or absentia.

 

Chris

[Barry O]

Hey up to all!

 

In Oz we had a transponder fitted to our hire car.

Not so in NZ , but the canny Kiwi give you alternative free routes.

 

Orlando tolls have always been a pain. When it was cash you never had enough change to pay so they are just continuing their "tax the tourists" approach.

 

I Have some exam papers to fill in for cricket umpire/scorer assessment training. These are in the "Action this Day" pile.

 

Have as good a day as you can, AndyRam see the email as a positive.

 

Baz

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Here.

 

A bad nights sleep waking after 4 hours, and not getting much sleep after.

 

Coming home, I think they have finished pulling all the beet now, half a mile of hedgeless field has a bank of beet lining the edge of the field. At one end is a machine that scoops the beet up and throws it into artics. Added to this, they must have had a good harvest, as the farmyard is now full of beet and the farmer that harvested his beet last week has had his beet pan filled up with the other farmers excess beet as well. I'm surrounded by one farm and effectively drive though another farm to reach the two way road.

 

I've only driven in two places outside ot the UK, one was the Falklands so no extra taxes there. The other was in Saudi where, if the local police hadn't been paid. Then a handy 100 Riyal Note (about £17 at the time) with  your driving licence, might well save untold grief at some spurious stop.

 

Taking Ben the Border Collie round for his morning patrol today, I observed, the sky was very red,  there was a strong south easterly with a lot of chill in it, also we have lots of daisies out, and there are daffs very close to opening. 

 

Time to take the measurements on this current shunt that has been cooking   warming up for the last ten minutes.

[New Haven Neil]

Morning - wow, persisting down, and has done so all night.  Lots of standing water about.

 

Black Rat Neil - that is a familiar cocktail! Off it all now though - mostly.

 

Rick, a wry grin about the Ides of March.  When I tell people my birthday is the 13th March, I often get a 'Oh the Ides of March' response and explain the Ides is the 15th - which they never believe.  And yes 81C, it was a Friday.

 

Off for a scan this afternoon, as if I'm not glowing in the dark enough already.  This is to benchmark things in the foot accurately, for review in the future.  Quite why yesterdays x-rays aren't enough I'm not sure, but the CT pictures are very interesting to look at when you scroll them about.  Feet are complicated.

[81C]

Believe me, there have been times when I felt like doing it myself - save the travel!

I know how you must feel I have a problem with bit's of me.    

[45156]

Morning All

 

Rainy here.  30747 has (again) been called in to work, as she appears to be the Pre-School's one woman sick/holiday/unexpected day off cover.  So it was an early rise in case her promised lift didn't happen.  Also several shopping runs today as I am bidden to pick some bedding from Laura Ashley who are meant to be having a 30% off event.  Also as a result had to take Lily for an early walk.  So I can now check in today, and for once I am up to speed with things.

 

Andy, sorry that you didn't get shortlisted, but perhpas (just perhaps) it is for the best - I have always felt that any return to a past employer, home, whatever, doesn't work too well.

And good to hear the Black Rat has managed to lose a lot of tablets, and also some weight - always better to use nature's own cures whenever possible.

Also the mention of the long term blood sugars test which all seasoned diabetics get a couple of times a year (the HBa1c test) which is a much more accurate measure than the instantaneous blood glucose test.

Interested to read about the machinations of car hire and road tolls.  Thankfully, we here do not have all that many compared to other countries.

And of course, the usual generic greetings are offered from here to all who need or deserve them.

 

Mick, an interesting aside about Jim Bowen (I didn't see any RIP thread for him - perhaps he has been too long out of the public eye).  I have some tenuous connections with him, as he lived in the Lune Valley for years.  He lived in the former station building at Arkholme, which was on the still open Leeds - Carnforth line, but the station got a Beeching's Powder.  He sold that up, and moved to Caton (twin village to this one), where he had a flat in a disused cotton mill.  When he moved up the valley a bit, I "inherited" his old fax number as my new phone number.  When I worked at BT, we were permitted to get our home move orders processed by a colleague, and also to pick a number.  When BT's calls were handled purely on a regional basis (those were the days), all calls for Lancashire were taken in Lancaster, and colleagues used to tell of Jim being quite pushy in getting memorable mumbers even though they were normally reserved for business use - known as Golden Numbers and normally at a charge.  So when he left Caton, his fax number became spare, and I inherited it on my move.  He used to drive a Roller with the reg J80WEN but changed it to a different vehicle and number after he left the BBC for an alleged racist remark.  And once, we were on a team bowling evening at Morecambe, and he and his family were there for a few frames, and he had booked the very end lane, and also the two next lanes which remained unused so that he and his family had privacy. 

 

Anyways, I'd best get on, there's other threads to read.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

 

ps now found the RIP thread and have put a similar comment there.

Edited March 15, 2018 by 45156

[jamie92208]

I can echo Rick's thoughts about the Ides of March.   I have memories of when our school did Julius Ceasar.  The producer was one Russell Harty and for some obscure reason I was cast as Brutus.   Things went fine till a rehearsal cashed with a school model railway club session.  I obviously chose the MRC and so have the distinction of having been sacked by Russell Harty and that is not an excuse for an EA.   

 

I only used cash for tolls last time I was driving in the US but that was 2012.   We've got a transponder for use in France that's very useful and saves us a lot of time at certain busy toll booths.  

 

Anyway a good day was had yesterday.  Beth's hospital visit went well and then I got some parcels posted and also got three more fold up crates of models out of my modelling room.  

 

Off into Leeds this morning to return some stuff then the charity shop with various bags.  More tidying then this evening it's off to Brighouse to a favourite restaurant for our annual "Absent Friends" meal.   A suitable glass of red will be raised to all 4 of our parents.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[TheQ]

I think most of us on here, are tending on the side of Decrepit.

[Happy Hippo]

 

'Rent a transponder from the car rental company. The company pays the toll charge and debits the credit card you used for the rental. That way, you avoid any extra charges on top of the toll (though you are paying something for the transponder). We did that when renting in Florida some years ago, knowing that there were toll roads on our proposed route.'

 

 

It really depends where you are.  I was offered this service when I was in Boston going up to Vermont a few years back.

 

I declined as the transponder fee was something like $20 per day.

 

My 5 day trip tacked up about $5 in toll charges, so I'd have been well out of pocket.

 

When we are in Florida, I tend to use the International airport at Orlando, and the main road to the airport is a toll road. 

 

However, the 527A  provides a non toll entry to the airport from the south.

 

Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted and can certainly save you a few pennies 

[New Haven Neil]

Yup - middle age is crepe, then I am told it gets worse when you enter old age....

 

4 operations in 5 years is enough for me, but many folk are in a far worse place.  We should be thankful we are able to be here.

[81C]

 

'Rent a transponder from the car rental company. The company pays the toll charge and debits the credit card you used for the rental. That way, you avoid any extra charges on top of the toll (though you are paying something for the transponder). We did that when renting in Florida some years ago, knowing that there were toll roads on our proposed route.'

 

 

It really depends where you are.  I was offered this service when I was in Boston going up to Vermont a few years back.

 

I declined as the transponder fee was something like $20 per day.

 

My 5 day trip tacked up about $5 in toll charges, so I'd have been well out of pocket.

 

When we are in Florida, I tend to use the International airport at Orlando, and the main road to the airport is a toll road. 

 

However, the 527A  provides a non toll entry to the airport from the south.

 

Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted and can certainly save you a few pennies 

 

I thought you were a Hippo not a Duck. 

[Happy Hippo]

I thought you were a Hippo not a Duck. 

Duck?

 

You'd better!

 

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Plenty of rain overnight and a breezy day with heavy thundery showers a possibility.

Bin day here and quite amusing to see two bin lorries meet on the sharp bend near our house and the drivers having an "After you... No after you" moment. 

Today we will be on our usual pilgrimage to Sainsbury's. "We must keep to the list!"   Snigger....Yeh right! I have other plans.

Have a good one,

Bob. (who likes to live dangerously         )

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone

 

Sheila has now gone to her Zumba class, despite the rain, she has decided to walk as she says it’s her warm up before starting her class. As for me, I’ve got a small fodder run shortly to pick up a few things that I couldn’t get the other day. I usually go on my own as I generally stick to what’s on the list without many deviations.

 

Other than that I’ve not got much planned for the rest of the day, maybe I’ll fit the door hinges etc, or maybe I’ll leave all that until tomorrow, I’ll see how I feel when I get back.

 

Back later.

[tomparryharry]

Good morning folks,

 

A wet & miserable day in not-so-sunny Newport. The dogs are very firmly anti-rain, so only a quick trip to the garden. Decorating continues, and when I get the chance, over to Youtube for having a look over the shed building tutorials. Mrs Smith has asked for some chain maintenance on her motorbike, so that's a job between cups of tea.

 

 

As I write this, it looked dull & miserable. However, it started to brighten up! The clouds have lifted slightly, and visibility much improved.

 

Have a great day folks, and enjoy.

 

Ian.

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

Aditi and our overnight guest have departed for a morning of French language activities.

I haven't got to prepare lunch as our guest will depart for Hull when she and Aditi return from Leigh on Sea.

I don't plan to do much today anyway. We did think about going to the nearby big city (Chelmsford) to do some non-food shopping but that can wait for another day.

It is rather overcast and damp here this morning. We have a yellow snow warning for Sunday. Aditi is going to see some ballet on Sunday, not Basildon this time though, it will be in Westcliff.

Tony

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Mrs Stationmaster has just departed for the hairdressing establishment so i hope they don't tell her to come back tomorrow.   Once upon a time  the shop it occupies was one of the town's two toy/model shops with this particular one being very much the major when it came to modelling materials although heavily aircraft oriented.  Now of course you can't even buy a tube of balsa cement in the town  and 'dope' has a completely different meaning from the days of Keilcraft balsa framed aircraft kits.  the shop next door, now an estate agent's establishment sold stuff like sports gear and fishing tackle and things for 'country pursuits' such as shotguns and, of course, air rifles.  Not surprising I suppose that you can no longer buy a shotgun or even an air rifle in the town but rather odd taht wilth plenty of accessible river bank you can't even buy a fishing rod or get you maggot tin refilled.    I sometimes wonder if progress is all it's cracked up to be?

 

Anyway back to earth and a search on the net for travel insurance returned some fascinating results and a range of prices from £250 to near £700 for a year (for Europe only) - if you could get a shotgun round here I think that flamin' meercat and his mate would be first in the firing line as they offered only one 'comparison' while another site offered about 15, including the one the meercat had summoned up.  The search will continue and I think speaking to a human bean might produce more sense.  I'll probably start with that Lucy Walker who graces our tv screens dressed up like some sort of important naval officer.

 

Have a good day one and all

[81C]

Morning all,

 

Mrs Stationmaster has just departed for the hairdressing establishment so i hope they don't tell her to come back tomorrow.   Once upon a time  the shop it occupies was one of the town's two toy/model shops with this particular one being very much the major when it came to modelling materials although heavily aircraft oriented.  Now of course you can't even buy a tube of balsa cement in the town  and 'dope' has a completely different meaning from the days of Keilcraft balsa framed aircraft kits.  the shop next door, now an estate agent's establishment sold stuff like sports gear and fishing tackle and things for 'country pursuits' such as shotguns and, of course, air rifles.  Not surprising I suppose that you can no longer buy a shotgun or even an air rifle in the town but rather odd taht wilth plenty of accessible river bank you can't even buy a fishing rod or get you maggot tin refilled.    I sometimes wonder if progress is all it's cracked up to be?

 

Anyway back to earth and a search on the net for travel insurance returned some fascinating results and a range of prices from £250 to near £700 for a year (for Europe only) - if you could get a shotgun round here I think that flamin' meercat and his mate would be first in the firing line as they offered only one 'comparison' while another site offered about 15, including the one the meercat had summoned up.  The search will continue and I think speaking to a human bean might produce more sense.  I'll probably start with that Lucy Walker who graces our tv screens dressed up like some sort of important naval officer.

 

Have a good day one and all

"Simples" Mike "Simples"    

[81C]

Duck?

 

You'd better!

 

You're close.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from a rather damp Estuary-Land. The usual bin wagons dawn chorus enhanced (?) by the fortnightly glass and bottle collection. I have a Dartford crossing account from its introduction but in that time I have only used it once (twice if you count the return journey).

 

Morning all.
Beware the Ides of March



.

Thats all mumbo-jumbo. signed Julius Ceasar.

[45156]

Back after  walkies, and shopping collection. 

 

Cockwomble of the day week month lifetime was today.  Our twin villages have all been bestowed a 20 mph speed limit, which is observed by most.

 

However, on my way back from the shops, I was going on to the Post Office, and it's 20 mph all the way from the main road.  So, as I joined the road through the villages, I was followed by a grey hatchback which I've seen before, and which started to flash me from behind, even though I was already exceeding the 20 mph limit, and he tried to pass, to be thwarted by an oncoming delivery van.  So I stuck to 25 mph, and as I turned off the the Post Office, was rewarded for breaking the speed limit by a collection of gesticulation, and a blast from the horn, as cockwomble shot past me at about 40. 

 

I think I've seen this clown before, and he seems to treat the local roads as his own personal racing track. 

 

I got caught at 35 in a 30, but this idiot seems to get away with it all the time.

Edited March 15, 2018 by 45156

[Robert]

You're close.

 

You certainly wouldn't want to be too close...

[Barry O]

Back after  walkies, and shopping collection. 

 

Cockwomble of the day week month lifetime was today.  Our twin villages have all been bestowed a 20 mph speed limit, which is observed by most.

 

However, on my way back from the shops, I was going on to the Post Office, and it's 20 mph all the way from the main road.  So, as I joined the road through the villages, I was followed by a grey hatchback which I've seen before, and which started to flash me from behind, even though I was already exceeding the 20 mph limit, and he tried to pass, to be thwarted by an oncoming delivery van.  So I stuck to 25 mph, and as I turned off the the Post Office, was rewarded for breaking the speed limit by a collection of gesticulation, and a blast from the horn, as cockwomble shot past me at about 40. 

 

I think I've seen this clown before, and he seems to treat the local roads as his own personal racing track. 

 

I got caught at 35 in a 30, but this idiot seems to get away with it all the time.

check his number plate then tell the police....oops doesn't work here only in New Zealand...

Baz

[Barry O]

We have been sorting our holiday snaps.

Saw this one.. GDB very rugby-ish.



Seen at the TUI University

Baz
 

 

Fixed to get rid of the echo...

Edited March 15, 2018 by Barry O

[roundhouse]

We have been sorting our holiday snaps.

 

Saw this one.. GDB very rugby-ish.

 

Tui poster (1024x737).jpg

 

Seen at the TUI University

 

Baz

We have been sorting our holiday snaps.

 

Saw this one.. GDB very rugby-ish.

 

Tui poster (1024x737).jpg

 

Seen at the TUI University

 

Baz

You must have liked that , taking the photo twice