Early Risers.

[Gwiwer]

Evening all,

 

It has been ridiculously cold for these parts.  Considering the grass wasn't even crunchy when I left for the House of Fun at 05.30 I found that surprising but the numb extremities told their own story.  All's well now that it's time to hop back into the warmth of the sleeping car.  

 

I have an annoying habit.  Well more than once actually.  I seem to be incapable of losing things.  In much the same way when I was once told to "get lost" my reply was "I'm sorry, sir, I don't think I can".  Eidetic memory has good and bad points.  I haven't been formally diagnosed but those who know me well suspect it.  I have photo-retention of maps once sighted and can navigate successfully through towns I have never set foot in.  I once described not only the route but all the turn signs to an Australian making his first visit to the UK and wishing to drive from the hire car base at Heathrow to a village in rural Somerset.  Upon his return he expressed amazement that everything was exactly as I had recited from memory.  

 

But the one thing I cannot find for the life of me is that missing part from the IKEA kit

 

G'night all.  It's a three-dogger.  Stay rugged up.  

 

 

[pH]

Once upon a time, claiming allowable dental expenses for the last year involved writing a short letter, attaching a photocopy of a single sheet of supporting information and posting it to an office of my previous employer here in Vancouver.

 

Arrangements have changed in the last year. Today I started to claim for 2019. So far, I have spent three hours online and on the phone, talked to people (very polite and helpful) in eastern Canada and Ireland and paid to join a retiree organisation I had no reason or desire to join previously. Having declined to sign up for online completion of claim forms and payment by direct transfer to a bank account, for which I would have had to supply bank details, I am now in possession of a printed claim form. 

 

I will now fill this form in, attach photocopies of two sheets of supporting information, and mail it off to offices of an insurance company in Ontario. I.e. I'm now at about the start point of the process as it was in previous years.

 

This better go well from now on, or you may hear the scream of frustration in the UK!

[Ozexpatriate]

Before retiring last night I had the opportunity to watch some of the first round of the Australian Open tennis, played live and broadcast on ESPN2 in the US. At bedtime, the match being broadcast was V. Williams v. Gauff. 

 

Re-broadcasts of yesterday's first round matches were available in at least three different timeslots today on Tennis Channel and ESPN2 cable channels. In every instance, the re-broadcasted match when I tuned in was V. Williams v. Gauff! I understand the interest in this match between two Americans but three re-broadcasts of the same match! Somehow this match was prioritized over even Serena Williams' match or Federer or Djokovich or Barty.

 

Furthermore, and curiously, match point was confusing yet ESPN2 did not even show a replay of match point, though Tennis Channel did.

[leopardml2341]

Evenin'all.

 

Work was very Mondayish, including a bit of a disagreement with a colleague.

 

Also just had some new glasses 2nd attempt that still don't seem to suit; do any opticians reside in ERs? - I'd like to discuss if possible so that I can go back to my optician and have an informed conversation.

 

A visit to the supermarket on the way home yielded some reduced price goodies and an unexpectedly tasty meal was had.

 

Anyway, time for bed, hoping that all are well or if not then improving and that the car will be easier to defrost tomorrow than it was this morning.

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Just before Christmas I purchased a Stollen cake. I put it in the top of the cupboard out of site in case I was tempted. That worked a little bit too well as I only rediscovered it this evening. A few slices went down well with the mugs of tea this evening and theres still some for the next couple of days. 

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well the sun has shone all day, but it has been quite cool, I don’t think it got into double figures. It hasn’t been very busy here on the domestic duties front only 1 washing machine load was required today, so I’ve spent quite a biter time completing some MERG kits, 14 in total today. I don’t think I’ll get that many done tomorrow though, as I will need to bake some cakes for Wednesday evenings meal. Evie has asked for chicken curry followed by red velvet cakes, the curry is simple, I raided the freezer for the sauce, which is now sat on the kitchen worktop thawing out!

 

Goodnight all. 

[The Stationmaster]

'night all.G

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BR60103]

No real problems today.  We signed our new land lease -- the government changed the regulations on what had to be included and the residents' committee and the management negociated for a year to figure out an acceptable one. It took less than a half hour today (after all the other prep) but the poor girl in the office has a couple of hundred to do in addition to her regular work.

Other than Monday housework, the day was pretty relaxed.

 

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

There has been quite a significant temperature drop overnight.  It's down to -4°C this morning.

 

It looks like today is going to be a rather busy one - so I guess I had better get on!

 

Have a good day everyone...

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

The car will need defrosting, it is -1 C this morning. Off to Southend soon.

Tony

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

Yesterday's shopping expedition was successful and thanks to Debenhams I now have a box of new handkerchiefs in every conceivable shade of blue and very reasonably priced too.  I hit the High Street early, before the news came of the collapse of Beales.  Bedford said farewell to Marks and Spencers and British Home Stores some time ago.  What is to happen to all these empty shops?  Not even the charity and coffee sectors can absorb all that floorspace.  At this rate we will have people living in town centres and going to out-of-town complexes to do their shopping - or, worse still, doing it all by mail order.  Several times a week a parcel arrives for the nice people next door and muggins finds himself taking it in for them.  One day they will be at home when the man from Amazon arrives and I will die of shock.

 

The lurgi is still making its presence felt.  Today it was not at 3 am as is so often the case but when I got up a couple of hours later.  Fortunately the diary is not too crowded for the next few days and - famous last words - I have time to gather my strength before the next long journey.  Tomorrow evening I should be OK for an evening trip to Dunstable Downs amid good company.  I hope to travel a bit further afield at the weekend but I will not commit myself just yet.  Meanwhile there are a few tweaks to make in the arrangements for my trip to Dublin in June.  That is a trip that I will make come hell or high water and I will have more to say about it nearer the time.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[AndyID]

Just finished watching the first series of "Reprisal". Extremely violent but an interesting story-line.

[Shedman5]

Morning,  we returned home last night after a couple of days away in the Lake District which was very pleasant, up early this morning to deposit other half at the railway station as the is off to London for the day.

Thus I have the day to my self with only a couple of small jobs to do.

Time in the shed is a real possibility!!!

 

Enjoy your day folks

 

Alan

[BoD]

Morning all.

 

no frost here this morning although there has been for the last couple of days.  Still quite refreshing though and a beautiful sky as the sun started to colour it in.

[Barry O]

Frost? Nope...but a kangaroo airline turned the air con off while they fixed a fault (plane developed this as we were getting on..it had been on the ground 4 hrs. .pah!) Do I get delay repay???

 

Morne Morkel joined us for the flight. Pleasant guy.

 

Now off to get provisions in..the coles is a good 15 minutes walk away

TTFN

 

Baz

[jamie92208]

Morning all from a sunny but distinctly cool bit of the Charente. The grass loks a little crunchy.  The ironing awaits. Then I'm cashing in all my stock of brownie points snd setti g off to Angouleme.  Ostensibly this is to buy a new valve for the pool but the station is nearby and I plan to spend an hour or so there watching big things that move on strips of metal 1435mm apart.  Fortunately  the station has plenty of cover plus a cafe and other essential facilities. 

 

Tony, I hope that your day goes well.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[andyram]

Good morning wishes to you all with supportive thoughts and healing wishes to those who require them including Sherry and also to ChrisF. 
 
 A dull Tuesday morning is dawning although it is not looking like it is quite as cold as yesterday judging by the reduced frost level outside. Hopefully that will mean the school run will be less treacherous. The pavements and side streets were like glass yesterday morning and I had to make the trip twice after Amber left her water bottle at home! 
 

 The shop does not open on a Monday but the day still proved to be busy. I have inadvertently landed myself the role of chair of the committee running our new local community centre (long story), so yesterday morning I was there volunteering to serve the drinks at the mother and toddler group. It has only been running for three weeks so it is all hands on deck to try and get things established and find more helpers.

 

 In the afternoon and evening I was busy marking more assignments ahead of the invoicing deadline. The bill was duly submitted last night and stands to be my best ever payment which, in view of current circumstances, is no bad thing. 
 

Today it is back to the shop and a hope for an increase in trade. Things are tight at the moment after the recent challenges. It is frustrating when trade is hit by things that cannot be controlled. The flooding in November being the main cause. I can feel the kennel door breaking open again and the black hound reappearing. In the last two years or so I have battled the beast brought about by that bullying headteacher. That sapped the confidence which left me unable to cope with the incompetent management and unreasonable out of hours communications whilst at the next school. These led to the trip to the doctor and  the illness being diagnosed. I hoped that the move out of teaching would help, although I knew it would not be easy. Since then I have been the victim of an online fraud attack, had trade decimated by the floods and have also been let down by two model clubs who, having booked me for shows forgot, and did not honour their bookings. These are all issues beyond my control and I do wonder how much more can go wrong before things turn around. Hmmm may that is my “Blue Monday” post a day late.

 

Have a good day all.

 

Andy

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare. 1048 / 656

 

A surprisingly good nights sleep, 4.5 hours followed by 3 hours near enough solid..

 

Also Surprising, Ben the changeable Border Collie decided he wanted out,  typical , me having to stand there on the very crunchy grass..

 

it was a proper chiselling job getting the screens clear, but I was glad I had the heater fixed, yes I have that unusual thing a Landrover with a working heater.. However I don't have a working radio, last time out it was working... this morning it wasn't.. Ah...

 

I'm somewhat chillier now, I've just been outside and unplgged the radio, having fiddled with it on the way in I have no idea whether its turned on or off.  I don't want it to burst into life during the day and flatten the battery..

 

There was no gof outside when I drove in an hour and a half ago, now it's a pea souper..

 

3 cockwombles on the way in, two exceedingly slow.. 40 and 35 on a 60mph road, and one Ford Ka Van doing 50+ weaving in and out of the traffic  in the 30mph limit of Wroxham..

 

During the typing of the above a major system was retrieved from the user who wanted it back over night, and 4 resistances have been measured on it..

 

Time to measure the 5th..

 

[Andrew P]

5 minutes ago, andyram said:

Good morning wishes to you all with supportive thoughts and healing wishes to those who require them including Sherry and also to ChrisF. 
 
 A dull Tuesday morning is dawning although it is not looking like it is quite as cold as yesterday judging by the reduced frost level outside. Hopefully that will mean the school run will be less treacherous. The pavements and side streets were like glass yesterday morning and I had to make the trip twice after Amber left her water bottle at home! 
 

 The shop does not open on a Monday but the day still proved to be busy. I have inadvertently landed myself the role of chair of the committee running our new local community centre (long story), so yesterday morning I was there volunteering to serve the drinks at the mother and toddler group. It has only been running for three weeks so it is all hands on deck to try and get things established and find more helpers.

 

 In the afternoon and evening I was busy marking more assignments ahead of the invoicing deadline. The bill was duly submitted last night and stands to be my best ever payment which, in view of current circumstances, is no bad thing. 
 

Today it is back to the shop and a hope for an increase in trade. Things are tight at the moment after the recent challenges. It is frustrating when trade is hit by things that cannot be controlled. The flooding in November being the main cause. I can feel the kennel door breaking open again and the black hound reappearing. In the last two years or so I have battled the beast brought about by that bullying headteacher. That sapped the confidence which left me unable to cope with the incompetent management and unreasonable out of hours communications whilst at the next school. These led to the trip to the doctor and  the illness being diagnosed. I hoped that the move out of teaching would help, although I knew it would not be easy. Since then I have been the victim of an online fraud attack, had trade decimated by the floods and have also been let down by two model clubs who, having booked me for shows forgot, and did not honour their bookings. These are all issues beyond my control and I do wonder how much more can go wrong before things turn around. Hmmm may that is my “Blue Monday” post a day late.

 

Have a good day all.

 

Andy

I have a second Cousin, who is a Headteacher at a primary school in the North of England. He is off work with Stress at the moments and has been for many Months.

The School has Pupils that speak 32 different languages, they have 19 full time interpreters, and some of the kids from some African continents, not only do not know how to use cutlery, but even at age 6 or 7 are not toilet trained, and just do their business wherever they are, i.e. in the Classroom or Playground, so they have helpers that have to grab them and take them to the toilet and clean up any mess. God only knows what their homes must be like.

I could not even to begin to imagine working in that environment, and seeing the bright kids held back because of all this.

He and all Teachers have my greatest respect and support.

[Happy Hippo]

21 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

but even at age 6 or 7 are not toilet trained, and just do their business wherever they are, i.e. in the Classroom or Playground, so they have helpers that have to grab them and take them to the toilet and clean up any mess. God only knows what their homes must be like.

My Daughter used to be a teacher in the Reading area.

 

There were children who were starting school who were not toilet trained, some still in nappies!

 

Their ethnic background was white and of British descent.

 

I'm sure it's not a localised issue.

 

My daughter has no intention of going back to work as a teacher; the Obergrumpenfuhrer gave up teaching; our neighbour did likewise

 

There does seem to be a trend towards experienced teachers giving up and going onto other things for the sake of their health, both mental and physical.

 

 

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Quite frosty here still with a temperature of 0°C but it should stay dry with some sunny periods.

The Boss is off to see the hair mechanic later, glad my hair service doesn't cost as much. Actually mine costs nothing as The Boss does it.

I'm tasked with waiting in for parcels, one for herself and one for me but nothing that would excite anyone here. I also expect to get parcels for neighbours as that is almost a daily occurrence here and all the local couriers and postie know we'll take them in.

Usual Tuesday visit from Joe and Gemma today. Joe will be here for lunch as well as being a 6th former he gets more freedom. Gem will be here after school. Before Christmas she was quite worried about her GCSE mock exams and was ill at the time but she's actually done very well with only one hiccup.

I have considerable sympathy for anyone suffering stress related problems at work having suffered myself many years ago and being off for 9 months.  My Boss was very supportive and wanted me back in the same position but I decided enough was enough and chose to take a lesser job within  the company. This resulted in a reduction in salary (which reduced my pension) and the loss of a company car. It was the best decision I've ever made in my life. (Apart from The Boss and kids of course!)  I still get the hound trying to escape but that's more to do with annoying ongoing health issues that come with getting older.

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

 

[Sir TophamHatt]

Morning all.

 

What a cold one it is!

 

Didn't wrap up the car last night so had to spray it this morning (weather said it wouldn't drop below freezing).  However, upon writing this, it has reminded me to get the blanket from the car to dry it out at work.

 

Go me!

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

It’s a bit fuller than yesterday and cool (4C), but thankfully no frost. I’ve just unlocked the front door for the first time since I locked up on Friday night. Once I’ve administered Sheila’s first round of eye drops I shall head off and complete the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix, calling at the butchers on my way home for some chicken for tomorrow nights curry. I’m then hoping to get an hour with the soldering iron before dinner. After dinner I shall be making a dozen red velvet cupcakes so that’s the afternoon taken care of. 

 

Tony, I hope all goes well for you at Southend hospital. 

 

Back later.