Early Risers.

[Kingzance]

3 minutes ago, pH said:

 

Perceptions of food as 'poor' or 'rich' can change: 

 

https://gizmodo.com/lobsters-were-once-only-fed-to-poor-people-and-prisoner-1612356919

 

In fact, in places, lobsters were so plentiful that they were ground up and used for fertilizer.

As were oysters, another staple for the lesser peoples I believe!

 

Anyways, here is the shipping forecast for NEHerts for anyone sending goods to KZ Towers: cloudy, winds southwesterly 4 to 5, occasional showers, visibility good - but not good enough to glimpse the BoB fighters over-flying the very inspirational gentleman Colonel Tom Moore. Good on you sir!

 

SWMBO, having been glued to the BBC’s version of The Truth for the past two and a half hours, is presently abluting so orders are yet to be disseminated. I hope to be allowed out to obtain some fresh vegetables from a nearby “sells everything” shop. A nice piece of rump is now slowly thawing in the chill drawer of the fridge as I fancy a bit of that tomorrow. I believe that I have been let down by Spiratronics so will be working in an unnatural and inverted position later to lay identically coloured wires for the separate circuits that are the Up Main and the Down Main lines approaching Kingzance terminus station, goods facility and fish dock. Whether in reality I achieve my immediate and longer term plans is to be seen. At least I now have a decent selection of vehicles that can be hauled or propelled by green kettles, some of which have burnished copper chimblies, others having water containers arranged along the sides of the kettle elements. It being Thursday, I have a virtual meeting of the Camera Club to attend this evening after a dose of The Clap.

 

Be good, be careful, I’m off to Baz it now.........

 

 

[iL Dottore]

4 hours ago, TheQ said:

...The frightening thing was I signed away my life with the Hofficial secrets act for over half my life. ...

Frighteningly, I also had to sign the Hofficial Secrets Act for a short term job in a mail room at (the then Government owned) British Telecom. Sadly, I was not part of any clandestine monitoring programmes that, at the time, BT was rumoured to run (presumably for GCHQ or the like).

When I was growing up, I always thought of the OSA as the way the UK protects its' military and economic secrets from the "Bad Guys". Now, I conclude that it is there to prevent the public finding out about how - too often - "Whitehall"  manages to cock things up.

3 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Funny you mention it. I almost brought it up earlier along with the "snakes with pelvi" reference.

 

A compatriot and fellow "banana bender"* is one of the most egregious proponents of the mythical Fred Flinstone epoch, sponsoring both the Creation Museum and a Noah's Ark "replica" in Kentucky. He left Australia a little after I did, to find more fertile ground for his hypotheses in the US bible belt.

 

* Which Aussies will recognize as a Queenslander.

Of course Noah saved all the beasts of the Earth by leading them into the Ark two-by-two... assuming that Noah had access to -196*C Freezers, a method for surrogate motherhood and a 100% success rate in birthing the resultant full-term foetuses. I reckon that the only way for Noah to have had two of every beast on Earth in that size Ark would have been if he had had each pair (male and female) as frozen embryos and even then, I reckon he could have only gotten a fraction of Earth's biota into the Ark. Furthermore, what about those species that reproduce parthenogenetically? Or those, such as the Angler Fish, where the male is fused to the female's body after the male finds the female - pretty difficult when you have a benthic lifestyle. Not your basic "male and female"!

I may be biased, being a scientist by training and inclination, but I would argue that life - for pretty much everybody on this planet - has improved immeasurably since we swopped "The Ancient Scrolls of Mu" for science and engineering. Life rarely is, nowadays, "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" - as Thomas Hobbes put it.

35 minutes ago, pH said:

Perceptions of food as 'poor' or 'rich' can change: 

https://gizmodo.com/lobsters-were-once-only-fed-to-poor-people-and-prisoner-1612356919

In fact, in places, lobsters were so plentiful that they were ground up and used for fertilizer.

Very true. Here in Basel, Salmon (from the Rhine - Yes! from the Rhine!) were so plentiful that Salmon was fed to apprentices until (IIRC) they revolted. Oyters were plentiful in Victorian England (and the famed Steak Kidney and Oyster Pie/Pudding far from being a luxurious treat was a way to stretch a small amount of meat) and so on.

Who knows, maybe in the future, fried chicken may replace Smoked Salmon as a luxury item due to there being very few chickens around (a distinct possibility given in what appaling conditions most of the world's chickens are kept in. Disease is rife, ameriolated by the abundant use of antibiotics: so Hello sort-of-healthy chicken and Hello Mr MRSA...)

Edited April 30, 2020 by iL Dottore
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[roundhouse]

Parcel just arrived and brought to the shed by my other half.Its about to be given a good run. I like receipts like this!!

 

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by roundhouse

[Kingzance]

3 minutes ago, roundhouse said:

Parcel just arrived and brought to the shed by my other half.Its about ot be given a good run. I like receipts like this!!

 

 

Could that be a result of your entering the virtual festival’s prize drawer? Bachman have already been in touch to arrange my prize too.

[petethemole]

You've just told us all where you live (in case it you didn't mean to).

[Coombe Barton]

15 minutes ago, petethemole said:

You've just told us all where you live (in case it you didn't mean to).

He must be Ford Prefect in disguise

[roundhouse]

16 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

He must be Ford Prefect in disguise

I realized after posting it. Good job its in outer Mongolia

[Shedman5]

Morning, dry, blue skys with intermittent cloud and a gentle breeze here. Didn't post yesterday I simply forgot!

 

We did go out yesterday to a food wholesaler who had decided to supply the public, we did have to make an appointment to get in but the trip was worth it flour, pasta yeast and other items bought.

This morning we went to get a few fresh items from a local supermarket , funny looks all-round as we had surgical gloves and face masks on, got a telling off from my other half for taking the gloves off the wrong way on returning to the car!  Also I found that I needed to position the face mask carefully otherwise my glasses steamed up! The joys of having a ex nurse for my other half who did a spell in Infection control.

 

The shed beckons but awaiting a delivery of a few items due to today which I need to progress a project.

 

Enjoy your day and take care

[roundhouse]

1 hour ago, Kingzance said:

Could that be a result of your entering the virtual festival’s prize drawer? Bachman have already been in touch to arrange my prize too.

Yes it was and just what I would have selected had I been number one to select. I had been toying with a 4TC but had resisted due to our friend Southern layout not having any more shows in the foreseable future.

 

Its now being pulled with 33105.

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

It isn’t quite as overcast as the last couple of days and it isn’t raining. 
We had waffles and fruit for breakfast. I don’t think I have had wholewheat waffles before but they were as the recipe promised fluffy and light not like Ryvita.

KZ, have you tried Rapidonline for electrical stuff. I know they are on the Essex side of the country but they do deliver to Herts. 
 

We will have to sort out medication collection next week. The last 6 weeks seems to have flown by for some reason. 
 

I got the letter from someone who signed as  Matt from the DHSC yesterday. I won’t be joining those of you trekking to Wetherspoons in the foreseeable future it would seem. I wonder if other ministers will be writing to me. 
 

It is really quite sunny now but Aditi has told me it won’t last. 
Have a good day.

Tony

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, petethemole said:

You've just told us all where you live (in case it you didn't mean to).

I wonder if he has a stock of cake?

 

[Tony_S]

Aditi has just informed me that she is going out to the garden to break up her chicken manure which had gone solid. Exciting times here...

[Tony_S]

3 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I wonder if he has a stock of cake?

 

Are you offering to deliver some?

[Happy Hippo]

Just now, Tony_S said:

Are you offering to deliver some?

No merely wishing to assist in the removal of any accidental stockpiling that might have occurred.

[Happy Hippo]

4 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Aditi has just informed me that she is going out to the garden to break up her chicken manure which had gone solid. Exciting times here...

It's easier to handle as a solid:  The fresh stuff does get stuck under the fingernails!

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The other day I decided to sort out my 'day out' bag. A shoulder bag in which I carry items such as tote bags, folding umbrella, pens, notebooks, spare glasses and other items deemed neccessary. Among the items was hand sanitizer, I'd forgotten completely that I had it. Its in the form of a pen like dispensers so they don't hold much but I have four at 50p the lot. I found them in Tess Coes battered boxes, normally they would have cost a £ each. One is now in the car, another in my pocket and two are back in the bag.

4 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

John, colour me intrigued. 

 

A singularly famous 18th century founding document of the United States begins (in cursive) with "In Congrefs" where the cursive f as a "long s" is quite notable. The transition from "f" to "s" is an interesting one. Use of the long "s", along distinct from the Gothic "s" and "ß" is interesting.

Same as the Y as in Ye old Tea Shop. Y was used as shorthand by Victorian typesetters instead of 'th' so it should be pronounced 'thee' and not 'yee'.

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Your wish is my command:

 

 Hippo's and fairy lights don't usually come to mind at the same time.

Edited April 30, 2020 by PhilJ W

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Occasional rain - mainly when i needed to go out in it.  Needed ?  Ah there lies a tale.  For the second day running a parcel from Cornwall has reached us - yesterday's was from Camborne containing an item for his ladship, one of these new fangled modern 'lectric mocolotives although quite how it will manage without overhead knitting baffles me.  Today's was far more important and was addressed to the household management from a concern based in Scorrier and is a gift from our offspring intended to offer a modicum of relief from catering duties,.  From which you might work out that contained  examples of a Cornish comestible encased in pastry and containing - if correct -  pieces of beef skirt, potato, and 'turnip'  (a West Country name for swede).  A grand tasting will be convened tomorrow evening when the entire household will be present for the evening meal;  the $64,000 question will be are they as good as the local management's makings?(see illustration below).

 

So why did I need to go out?  The contents of the package needed to be 'quickly' put into the freezer but the ready use freezer in the kitchen only had room for 50% of the goodies so the rest had to be conveyed to the reserve stock freezer which lives in the garage - and you need no further elucidation regarding whom that duty fell to.

 

So unless the Postie brings forth any further excitement (highly unlikely) that episode looks like being the highlight of today, if not the week.  Although if she's running very early the Good Doctor aka Station Cat might time her arrival home this evening to match the clapping of hands and fireworks etc session although I think that unlikely as she won't officially be off duty in time.

 

Havea good day one and all.   And don't look out on your lawn if you have one and it's anything like ours where we can actually watch the darned grass growing thanks to all the rain and well warmed soil.  I must see how the bamboo is doing as it often manages several inches of growth everyday in this sort of weather.  A(nd stay safe

 

And congratulations to Polybear on exiting the official world of work.  Welcome to the OFs' club - but don't forget to keep yourself busy.

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by The Stationmaster

[Happy Hippo]

2 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Morning all,

 

Occasional rain - mainly when i needed to go out in it.  Needed ?  Ah there lies a tale.  For the second day running a parcel from Cornwall has reached us - yesterday's was from Camborne containing an item for his ladship, one of these new fangled modern 'lectric mocolotives although quite how it will manage without overhead knitting baffles me.  Today's was far more important and was addressed to the household management from a concern based in Scorrier and is a gift from our offspring intended to offer a modicum of relief from catering duties,.  From which you might work out that contained  a dozen examples of a Cornish comestible encased in pastry and containing - if correct -  pieces of beef skirt, potato, and 'turnip'  (a West Country name for swede).  A grand tasting will be convened tomorrow evening when the entire household will be present for the evening meal;  the $64,000 question will be are they as good as the local management's makings?(see illustration below).

 

So why did I need to go out?  The contents of the package needed to be 'quickly' put into the freezer but the ready use freezer in the kitchen only had room for 50% of the goodies so the rest had to be conveyed to the reserve stock freezer which lives in the garage - and you need no further elucidation regarding whom that duty fell to.

 

Sio unless the Postie brings forth any further excitement (highly unlikely) that episode looks like being the highlight of today, if not the week.  Although if she's running very early the Good Doctor aka Station Cat might time her arrival home this evening to match the clapping of hands and fireworks etc session although I think that unlikely as she won't officially be off duty in time.

 

Havea good day one and all.   And don't look out on your lawn if you have one and i';s anything like ours where we can actually watch the darned grass growing thanks to all the rain and well warmed soil.  I must see how the bamboo is doing as it often manages several inches of growth everyday in this sort of weather.  and stay safe

 

And congratulations to Polybear on exiting the official world of work.  Welcome to the OFs' club - but don't forget to keep yourself busy.

 

I've just flooded the office in dribble!

[Happy Hippo]

Some of you may have realised that I have a motto:

 

Eat to Live. Live to Eat.

[Kingzance]

Oh Mr (and Mrs) Stationmaster, how delicious they look! Ah yes, remiss of me not to mention Polybear and his final commute - well done sir for surviving, now you'll wonder how you ever had time to work for someone else!

Thank you Tony_S for the suggestion but I have spent nearly two hours on my knees - they are telling me they have had enough already - doing what is necessary to excite the relevant strips with the wires that I have, including red and black, whilst these sections would have been purple & grey (Up) and Orange & Pink (Down). The reason these have to be different is that they are effectively potential reversing loops. At their junction, and seperated by insulated joiners, there is a diamond crossing for which the polarity of the crossing frogs need to change according to the route set. I therefore have installed a programmable logic relay to switch polarity according to the route selected. I hope the programming of that relay is correct and that the whole works - it has been a long time getting to this stage!

[Tony_S]

46 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Some of you may have realised that I have a motto:

 

Eat to Live. Live to Eat.

Could have been my dear wife’s family motto.

One of their family businesses in India does have a motto, though I suspect it would be a mission statement nowadays. 

Edited April 30, 2020 by Tony_S

[roundhouse]

44 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I wonder if he has a stock of cake?

 

No cake but plenty of beer

[Coombe Barton]

49 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

 

 

Do you offer a delivery service?

 

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

I've had to skip about five pages today, as I was up early to do an early supplementary fodder run, as there are a few things that Aldi sell and which Lidl don't.  Also, the recently fettled door needed some work which I was expecting, as the job that was agreed was that it would be returned "as is" and that I would fill the screwholes, do the sanding, and then repaint.  So I've only just got to turn the laptop on, and there are, of course, other sites which need to be visited, so generic greetings, and I really hope that we are all well.

 

It does get me away from the Great British Sewing Bee, which 30747 is watching on recorded TV.

 

Back tomorrow

Regards to All

Stewart

[Tony_S]

18 minutes ago, roundhouse said:

No cake but plenty of beer

A friend informed us yesterday that her husband was not happy as she hadn’t mentioned that the online shopping beer was a substituted variety. I suggested that she could direct him to an online beer warehouse but he called out to say he had arranged a consignment from Adnams brewery. 
Tony