Early Risers.

[Tony_S]

Back from our journey down the High Road. Pharmacy continues to operate a safe system for collection. Aditi didn’t seemed stressed by the trip outside the house and has been singing away to herself (only I am close enough to notice that a capella she is not quite in tune) since getting back. Today it was Joni Mitchell songs rather than Beach Boys. 
I have had a letter from the hospital but it is just a copy of the letter to my GP asking for my dosages to be doubled and then a blood test, I will get a call about it next week. 
Tony
 

[Shedman5]

Afternoon, dry and sunny but with 50km winds apparently. Leaves all over the place and trees bending!

 

My scheduled journey to the tip takes place later on this afternoon having made an appointment on line.  These were in 30 min slots so I will be interested to see if its one person/car per slot. I can't use different skips ie wood/metal etc. Everything is bagged up for the Non recyclable  skip, I reckon it will take me around 8 mins max to unload so we will see what transpires.

 

As for job titles having spent time working for an American company I just smiled at the titles and all the acronyms  that followed. Having the title of Executive Vice President did not really mean a lot, nor did some of the others printed on my business cards over the years. It did seem though that fancy job titles were the in thing. Maybe I should get some business cards made saying  

Executive Financial Director  Shedman Towers whereupon my other half  can simply have Boss lol!

 

Enjoy the rest of your day

[Coombe Barton]

2 hours ago, southern42 said:

 

 

When at Leicester University I was lucky enough to attend some concerts with David Munrow. Found this by him of the above
 

 

[petethemole]

Longish job titles translated into German can be fun.  One of my colleagues was for some time Director of excavations at Lower High Street, which for fun we rendered as OberNiederHochstrassesausgrabungsfuhrer.

 

 

[BoD]

Thank you for the good wishes folks.  They are both only 41 with no known medical issues so, as pointed out, chances of a positive outcome are good.

 

Every dark cloud has a silver lining ....... he’s back.

 

 

 

 

[Barry O]

The asphalt has been laid.I did enquire about sealing the joint.."we don't do that its not necessary" was the  reply. ..I pointed out that was why their road repairs kept failing..he was amazed by this and said "you could well be right"

 

Blowing a proper hoolie here. Trees getting some serious bashing. 

 

Jet2.com are preparing to fly again. Two being wheeled about on the stands at LBA.

 

When I need to I can be  very quiet and quite verbally deadly. I always remember some feedback from a management assessment centre

"Barry realised that we have a flaw in our team task.  He convinced all but one of his team to look at a problem a different way.  He then spent 3 minutes explaining the error of his ways to his team mate..he decided that Barry was right and never realised he had a strip of skin 5 inches wide missing from his body"...

 

Baz

Edited May 22, 2020 by Barry O

[Gwiwer]

6 hours ago, Barry O said:

 

BoD hope everything goews well. Very worrying times.

 

Sentiments echoed from the Hill of Strawberries.

 

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

YOO HOO BOB!

Is UHU Bob any relation to the Simpsons Sideshow Bob?  And how well does he stick to things?

 

3 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

A bit windy here but the predicted showers earlier this morning seem to have blown through though there was a dark and ominous cloud earlier.

Snap.  Cooler and breezier than predicted which made the first seasonal wearing of short-sleeve shirtage a little brisker than it needed to be.  But matters came good later in the morning and all was well.  

 

The House of Fun was blessed with a visit from the Top Dog today.  One Mr. Hopwood appeared, complete with camera crew, to film something or another.  And in an outstanding example of leadership in a crisis how many of his ground staff did he speak to?  How many were thanked for coming in to work every day no matter what?  For keeping the wheels turning despite any and all challenges thrown at them?  None.  I counted them all twice.  Cheers.  Sir.  I know you are a busy chap with much on your mind but how much effort would it have been to acknowledge just one of those numerous staff you ignored as you ambled past in your bright red tie .........   Even the local pre-recorded announcements done by a duty manager to which we have all listened every hour on the hour for the past three weeks thanking all station staff for their hard work were turned off today.  At least someone took the trouble   

 

It is Friday the First of the Next Long Weekend.  It is definitely beer o-clock despite the increasing level of Beafort Scale outside.  I could stay and debate folk music at length with Chris, Flavio and no doubt others but instead I shall conclude my ten albums "thing" with a bit of a catch-all.  I have never been able to pick between Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here as single works; both are utterly majestic and moving pieces of music in several parts.  Somewhere between the classical and the rock in structure and form.  Both have specific and particularly moving memories for me.  But since visiting the Pink Floyd Mortal Remains exhibition relatively recently I have had to place Comfortably Numb as a single track much higher up my list of all-time most moving pieces of music.  Those who visited the exhibition may recall the final room where you simply milled around, sat on the floor or were entranced - in the literal sense of the word - by not just the music and the possibly the video with it but the astounding quality of the sound achieved.  I have never heard reproduced music sound like that.  95% like being in a live concert hall and indeed much better than some concert sound systems I have endured.  So I present 10 of 10, in no particular order and with a good many personal favourites just outside the "cut" which another day would have made it.  

 

Pink Floyd.  Delicate Sound of Thunder.  

 

 

Excuse me while I apply the headphones and sink myself, unashamedly, into some mighty fine music.  

Edited May 22, 2020 by Gwiwer

[TheQ]

That's annoying about half this post disappeared..  

The wind arrived at about 10:00, the sun about 13:00.

 

In the  tin shed about 1/2 the floor  has been done,  there is enough Stirling board left to do about another 1/4.

Other than that I have melted another 20kg of lead for the keel,  Ben didn't come in except for when,  the flyboys   (USAF)  have been making lots of noise, Ben then came in the garage and hid under a bench in the corner. 

 

The text was lost because I received a phone call from work, So I  had to put this tablet down.  Basically I've been ordered back from the 1st of June,  two weeks short of the 12 isolation period, because I'm actually not of the government must isolate list,  but on the next list down.  Plus I have things not on any list, which they don't take account of . 

 

The other news from work is my lab is broken, or at least the a/c is, with no ETA on its repair, so I will have to work in a corner of the main lab till that's fixed.

Also we have to use half our leave by 1st Sept.  So after a week's handover from the boss he's taking a week off. 

Since I have to put in leave,  I'll put in for the first week in August which is the sailing clubs regatta week,  I doubt it will be held though. The nearby sailing club that holds their regatta the week before ours has just cancelled.. 

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by TheQ

[Coombe Barton]

1 hour ago, Coombe Barton said:

When at Leicester University I was lucky enough to attend some concerts with David Munrow. Found this by him of the above
 

Decided that tonight's blog will feature the music of David Munrow.

[Kingzance]

1 hour ago, Coombe Barton said:

When at Leicester University I was lucky enough to attend some concerts with David Munrow. Found this by him of the above
 

 

Gently she adresses the flautist with the admonishment:
"Mind where you're poking that damn thing boy!"

[MichaelE]

I managed to get the grass cut yesterday morning, wet as it was. It still hasn't dried out all the way yet and it rained briefly again overnight.

 

Well, it looks better than it did after five straight days of rain.

 

I also used a light grey wash on the rock wall for the railroad and today I'll wash on a darker grey to complete it.

 

I went to the package store to get beer for yesterday afternoon and was greeted with a very pleasant surprise. The owner finally ordered up some Hofbrau beer from München for me. He bought all the distributor had which was five cases. I really enjoyed that beer yesterday and plan on a few more this afternoon.

[tetsudofan]

1 hour ago, Shedman5 said:

Afternoon, dry and sunny but with 50km winds apparently. Leaves all over the place and trees bending!

 

My scheduled journey to the tip takes place later on this afternoon having made an appointment on line.  These were in 30 min slots so I will be interested to see if its one person/car per slot. I can't use different skips ie wood/metal etc. Everything is bagged up for the Non recyclable  skip, I reckon it will take me around 8 mins max to unload so we will see what transpires.

 

As for job titles having spent time working for an American company I just smiled at the titles and all the acronyms  that followed. Having the title of Executive Vice President did not really mean a lot, nor did some of the others printed on my business cards over the years. It did seem though that fancy job titles were the in thing. Maybe I should get some business cards made saying  

Executive Financial Director  Shedman Towers whereupon my other half  can simply have Boss lol!

 

Enjoy the rest of your day

 

Seems as though different councils are using different arrangements. I had a slot for today from 1:45pm to 3:00pm. They are doing five slots a day with 30 minutes break between each slot. They recommended turning up early, not leaving it to the last moment.

 

I turned up at 1:30pm expecting to find a queue of cars but no, I was the only car there. A large tipper lorry was leaving the tip and as soon as he as out of the way a guy checked my car details, gave the thumbs-up to the guy standing by the gate and I was waved in.

 

In normal  times there is enough space for 9 cars a time (3 rows of three) but now it is now marked for 4 cars.

 

Got rid of all my garden waste and other bits and pieces and was on my way out at 1:45pm at which time there were nine cars waiting. Spoke with one of the guys working there and he said that after some problems when the tip reopened the system seems to be working well.

 

Only downside I can find is that you have to wait 25days before you can make another booking.

 

Keith

[polybear]

As I retired on 30th April I was somewhat bemused to receive a payslip thru' the post today

I spent the last 5 weeks of my working life (*see note) on "Authorised Absence, Paid" (that's HR speak for Gardening Leave, though they wouldn't authorise Gardening Leave when my Boss asked for that by name....).

I'd only used 7 days of my 9.5 days annual leave entitlement before I went on paid absence, so missed out on the last 2.5 days.

Well today's payslip was to inform me that Human Remains have just paid me for 2 days leave I didn't take

I take back all I've said about HR.  But only for today, mind.  Normal service will be resumed tomorrow, bright and early.  I could ask about the half day, but I've a feeling that could alert them to their c*ck-up in paying me the other 2 days, so I think I'll keep schum....

 

*Working Life?  I've worked far harder since retiring.......

[iL Dottore]

2 hours ago, BoD said:

...Every dark cloud has a silver lining ....... he’s back.

 

Whoah! Ladeeez an Gennelmen, da Dawg Is IN da House!

That, mah man,, is one maity fain looking hound....

 

Signor BoD, I presume he is a distinguished, stately, albeit older, gentleman with impeccable taste and manners. Di sicuro un Cane di Qualitá!

 

iD

 

p.s. Hope all goes well with son & partner.

[J. S. Bach]

11 hours ago, chrisf said:

 

 ...snip... Glenn Miller’s “American Patrol” now has its own clog dance thanks to Lizzie Dripping from Sheffield, ...snip...

Chris

My all-time favorite "swing era" song, although it really is not a swing song, it dates from 1885. I first heard/played it on a 1920's QRS(?) piano roll with lyrics.  This roll (still in their inventory!!):

 

 

More information courtesy of Wikipedia:

"American Patrol" is a popular march written by Frank White (F.W.) Meacham in 1885. It incorporates both original musical themes by Meacham and melodies from American patriotic songs of the era such as "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean," "Dixie," and "Yankee Doodle." Composed for piano, it was then arranged for wind band and published by Carl Fischer in 1891. Copyright was assigned to Meacham's widow, Cora, in 1912 and renewed in 1919.

Glenn Miller's Orchestra recorded a swing version of the march arranged by Jerry Gray in 1942 which was released as a 78 single on Victor Records."

 

 It has taken me a while to post this as I started wandering through YouTube's various versions of this looking for the words (no luck even with DuckDuckGo!) and a lot of diversions; my morning is shot. I started at 0930 or so and it is now 1150! Anyway Chris, thank you brightening my morning with some favorite music.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by J. S. Bach

[iL Dottore]

10 hours ago, JohnDMJ said:

 

Naughty Boy (and you need to see the original post as to why..) 

7 hours ago, Tony_S said:

...Poorly dogs. Robbie loved the white fish and plain boiled rice so much when ill he was very reluctant to go back to his normal diet. 

Tony

Please don’t give Lucy any ideas, she can be a finicky eater at the best of times (Although, I think she would claim that she has a refined palate). Schotty, on the other hand, it’s basically a furry food specific vacuum cleaner on legs

5 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

YOO HOO BOB!

 

Has he fallen over yet?

And you’re a naughty boy as well! 

5 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

..but then SNCB is rather odd in some respects)...

But can’t you say that about Belgium and the Belgians in general?  (Mettre un chapeau en étain et se retirer à distance de sécurité/Zet een blikken hoed op, gaat met pensioen op een veilige afstand.)

4 hours ago, Shedman5 said:

...Executive Financial Director  Shedman Towers whereupon my other half  can simply have Boss lol!..

Sorry to rain on your parade, but it ain’t going to work. Although I have my own company and I am founder, managing director and current CEO  And although I have packed the boardroom with my acolytes: Schotty – head of security, Lucy-boardmember without portfolio (It’s amazing how the promise of of a wienerli or two can swing a boardroom vote my way), but with Mrs iD being the CFO it means that all purchases are heavily scrutinised and are mostly vetoed. 

3 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

...  Pink Floyd.  Delicate Sound of Thunder.  

Excuse me while I apply the headphones and sink myself, unashamedly, into some mighty fine music.  

Mighty fine music it is indeed. But is The Delicate Sound of Thunder better/worse/as good as Pulse? Discuss.

(For what it’s worth I think the interpretation of Shine On You Crazy Diamond is marginally better on the Delicate Sound of Thunder album).

I too was lucky enough to be a) in London at the time and b) to bag a ticket to the Their Mortal Remains V&A exhibition. Apart from the superb music and music reproduction... the gear man, the gear...

2 hours ago, polybear said:

...I take back all I've said about HR.....

Why?  

For is it not written “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach and those that can do neither go into HR” 

 

iD

Edited May 22, 2020 by iL Dottore

[J. S. Bach]

11 hours ago, polybear said:

 ...snip... Going back many years now (20+?) my friends over the road (now sadly no longer with us ) purchased some sort of clever box that hooks up to the telly (recorder, player, decoder type of thingummyjig IIRC) from Curry's.  The salesman convinced them that a "special SCART Lead that was oxygen free (WTF) with gold plated pins was essential with this particular item, and of course not included in the box".  An extra seventy-odd quid later for the lead.....

Personally, I've never had a problem those from Poundland.

You want to read a bunch of horse patootie, go to any audiophool audiophile forum and read about wires. I can personally vouch for an experience that I had at a friend's stereo setup. Someone brought a set of patch cords to demonstrate on his way to the buyer and put them in my friend's stereo; after he took them out and put back my friend's original cords (cost @ $200.00), I and another person could not detect any significant difference! Oh, the cost of the demonstrated cables? Are you sitting down? $35,000.00!!! The gray ones to be exact:

 

Me on the other hand:

 

10 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

It was probably an earlier version of one of these https://www.denon.com/en-gb/category/homecinema/avreceiver. They are quite versatile with oodles of inputs and outputs at the back.

In regards to cables, as far as I am aware, for digital equipment they either work or they don’t (I understand back in the analogue days cable quality did make a difference). I suspect that the only time you’d hear a difference between a cheap cable and an expensive one, would be with a really, really, really expensive high end system (and even then, maybe/maybe not).

iD, I had not read your post before I posted but my experience kind of bears out some of what you said. High price does not always equal best sound.

 

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by J. S. Bach

[tigerburnie]

Back in the day I used to make up leads for bands using co-axial, the main reason was we often used to pick up CB radio and passing taxis radios on the unscreened copper, nuisance noise seemed to be worse with old valve amps like Hiwatt and Marshall, WEM were solid state and were a lot less noisy. Fast forward to the car factory and equipment that that was measuring volumes and pressures, the panels were fitted with noise reduction equipment to ensure there was no corruption from things like fluorescent lighting.

[iL Dottore]

LUCY UPDATE

Lab results back, all WNL. Temperature WNL (I really have to get a dog suitable thermometer) and medications duly injected.

Final Diagnosis: Gastritis with rupturing of some small veins at the gastroesoephagal junction due to forceful vomiting. Unpleasant in the short term for Lucy, but not a major medical issue.

Discharged into my care with a tub of Barium Sulfate to sprinkle on to her food for the next few days.

My thanks to all for the support.

iD

[J. S. Bach]

4 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

When at Leicester University I was lucky enough to attend some concerts with David Munrow. Found this by him of the above
 

 

I have an lp with that painting on the cover but it ts not that one; I do not remember what it is at this time but it definitely not a flute piece and it does not have that bird mask on it.

Edited May 22, 2020 by J. S. Bach

[J. S. Bach]

4 hours ago, petethemole said:

Longish job titles translated into German can be fun.  One of my colleagues was for some time Director of excavations at Lower High Street, which for fun we rendered as OberNiederHochstrassesausgrabungsfuhrer.

 

 

A friend of mine says that it means "Floor Sanding Machine Rental Place".

 

 

[Erichill16]

I had a few days in Chester between Xmas and new year and was wondering around the city centre when I heard a distinctive sound. It was Ed Alleyne-Johnson busking. I’ve bumped into him before in York quite a number of years ago and always end up having a chat and buying his latest album.Nice chap. 
I studied at Bradford University and New Model Army were the local band so saw them there a few times.

Positive thoughts to everyone, their relatives and pets.

Robert

[Tony_S]

38 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

LUCY UPDATE

Lab results back, all WNL. Temperature WNL (I really have to get a dog suitable thermometer) and medications duly injected.

Final Diagnosis: Gastritis with rupturing of some small veins at the gastroesoephagal junction due to forceful vomiting. Unpleasant in the short term for Lucy, but not a major medical issue.

Discharged into my care with a tub of Barium Sulfate to sprinkle on to her food for the next few days.

My thanks to all for the support.

iD

Dear Lucy, You really should be insisting on cod or haddock  and plain boiled Basmati rice. Probably best to make sure no cheaper substitutes are used by foillowing the human at all stages of preparation. 
Seriously,  my Robbie was a complete nuisance when we were cooking fish. He normally kept out of the way when food was being prepared unless a high speed leap or pounce was needed to intercept something dropped.  We still remember the look of disgust when he retrieved a sprout. 

Edited May 22, 2020 by Tony_S

[polybear]

Well Harry the Hedgehog had a good scoff of the doggie food, but was no-where to be seen this morning - so it looks like he used me as a Hotel for maybe one night.  Not a problem, except the b'stard nicked all the soap......

[BoD]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

Signor BoD, I presume he is a distinguished, stately, albeit older, gentleman with impeccable taste and manners. Di sicuro un Cane di Qualitá!

He is indeed older, thirteen and a half, as evidenced by his muzzle, but he could never be described as distinguished or stately. He still believes he is a pup. Pick up his lead and he bounces in a way that makes Tigger look positively arthritic.

Manners - impeccable.  He has never had any real training but nine times out of ten he does exactly as you would want him to without being told. The tenth he is open to bribes with a treat - he is a Labrador after all.  He doesn’t suffer in any way with the weight or arthritis problems often associated with this breed especially as they get older.  Perhaps because he has always enjoyed long walls.

 

We consider ourselves lucky to be able to ‘dog sit’ him so much.