Early Risers.

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Apologies for absence are proffered from this quarter due to - broadband problems, laptop problems with a sticking windows update which would not go away, and which I think was allied to the broadband problem, as the windows update would not properly download - and my broadband has been so intermittent that it is likely that these issues have been related in some way.  Also, a bit of lack of mojo.  

 

Visited Sister Drac on Tuesday, after a lot of chivvying of my GP, as I have not had a diabetic check for over 12 months now, as these were not happening due to the usual excuse.  Got the outcome today by phone, and was delighted to learn that my HBa1c has actually dropped to 7.7 from 8.6 and my cholesterol has also dropped to 4.9 with LDL of 2.1 - and given that I am not sticking to my diet properly, and am not exercising enough, that is quite amazing.  I wonder whether the lab got my results mixed up with those of another diabetic patient???

 

Fodder run achieved, but I forgot a few items - drat!!!  Bank also visited, and a statement was actually forthcoming - but my winter fuel allowance does not appear to have arrived, though my Christmas bonus from the DWP has - wow a tenner will go a long way to covering the increase in the cost of food this year - NOT.

 

30747 goes back to work next Tuesday after the closure of her workplace as mentioned earlier in the week.

 

All I can offer is the usual generic greetings, and express a hope that all are well - if there is anything that I should know, perhaps some kindly ER would PM me with any significant updates.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

 

 

[simontaylor484]

I have only visited Liverpool on one occasion to visit the passport office when the airline wouldn't accept swmbos cos there was a tear on the page. There were still wheels on the merc when we came back. We parked underneath the Echo offices 

It was weird following the pedestrian exit signs and coming out in the office block.

[Chris116]

48 minutes ago, 45156 said:

Bank also visited, and a statement was actually forthcoming - but my winter fuel allowance does not appear to have arrived, though my Christmas bonus from the DWP has - wow a tenner will go a long way to covering the increase in the cost of food this year - NOT.

Good to see you back and good luck with the broadband and computer.

 

You have just answered my question about why I had received an unexpected £10 from the DWP, thank you it has saved me a phone call to check that I really was due the money. I too have not got my winter fuel allowance but the letter did say that I would get it before Christmas and despite what the shops think that does not happen until 25th December.

[The Stationmaster]

Afternoon all,

 

So GDB is expecting a four wheeled item by the sound of things - I hope he has stabling for the horse.  Amusingly our deeds have various things to say about outbuildings most of which are not permitted but we can have sheds and we are allowed to erect 'suitable stabling for a horse'. (which I have translated as a garage).

 

The electrician arrived in good time wand was well through his various tasks before we went out leaving the Lad in charge of site supervision.  Obviously that was successful because all the new/replaced bits were fully operational on our return.   The lunch was excellent - no other word for it although 'different' also qualifies in some respect thank to Paul Clerehouugh's approach to using his grown veg and meat etc from his smallholding.  Even better Mrs stationmaster said she was paying as my birthday treat (a month early) but we enjoyed it so much we have new booked for my real birthday and she can pay for that as well (I hope).  Excellent food, obviously cooked to order and no mean 'fine dining' pretensions about the size of the servings - my chicken liver parfait was best described as coming as a decent sized hunk and a lot more than you usually get for that sort of starter while the GD's crispy duck and cucumber etc offered as much duck as some places serve for a main course.  The GD and I both had the pork belly and pig cheek for them main and again it was a goodly helping although the gravy jus ran out a bit too soon for the amount of pork belly and it came with something which showed there really is part of a brussel plant which is nice to eat - the tops.  We added a side dish of heritage carrots for the experience - no purple ones but some white ones as well as some nice versions of the normal colour.  Feeling fairly well stuffed after two courses we opted for the pudding course as a takeaway so his ladship duly received some much appreciated tiramisu cheesecake after our return home.

 

Overall very good and thoroughly recommended for anybody who gets into this part of the world at some time (although the lane to get there is 'fun'  ).   Only two tables taken in the marquee but the main pub building was fairly busy so at least two places round here seem to be doing ok as we couldn't get into the Maltsters at greys hence going to the Crooked Billet.  And I noticed that the nearby 'Cherry Tree' also has a marquee in place for dining, and a fairly busy car park.

 

Not much else to report after that gastronomic enjoyment  -  and I got a pot of proper tea while herself and the GD had coffee after the meal, always worth good points.

 

Enjoy the rest of your day one and all and stay safe.

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

 “Thank you, we were so worried , would you like another slice of cake?”  
Tony

Isn't it a bit risky posting that statement here on ER's. I can already hear the thundering of hippo hooves and bear paws.

[Ian Abel]

POETS...

 

Little to report from yesterday, Jemma and Brendan successfully went to Grand Forks and back, picking up their apartment keys and seeing the apartment for the first time in person. Sounds overall as expected, the rooms are slightly larger than appeared so they're happy with that.

Visited with us when they returned and came over to pick up Whitney, social-distancing and on the breezy porch, plenty of air movement and all of us wearing masks.

Grocery delivery went as planned, so we're set for a while

 

Given the announcement of the vaccine, we still, sadly, recorded over 3,000 deaths yesterday across the US, a daily high again

As many in the medical community are constantly pointing out, it's not a vaccine that'll solve the problem it's VACCINATIONS. Until then, folks STILL must social distance wear masks and be conscious that we all need to do our part. Sadly, a large percentage of the population still ignore the obvious reality of the numbers, so there's no guarantee we'll manage this thing successfully in the short term

 

Nothing much planned for the weekend, except week #3 of our Zoom solve-a-murder game with friends.

 

-2 and overcast first thing, all the way up to a steamy +2  for the high!

 

Enjoy the weekend...

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Found an e-mail in my in-box when I opened my e-mails supposedly from DPD saying that they had twice tried to deliver a package and there was a fee for re-delivery. I've read somewhere about this particular scam and took the appropriate action, forwarding it on to report@phishing.gov.uk before consigning it to the spam folder and blocking the sender. Arthur Itis keeps coming out to play so the ibuprofen has been deployed. The package that arrived this morning contained another diecast from Hong Kong, a lovely little model and a bargain as well. 

[Erichill16]

Come on GDB, the suspense is killing me!

[BoD]

Probably too busy playing with whatever it is.

[Barry O]

I hope he has  received it unlike youngest Herbert.. he waited 3 hours in his car for his delivery from Royal Mail.. which still hasn't arrived..he is a very unhappy bunny!

 

Baz

Edited December 11, 2020 by Barry O

[PhilJ W]

That makes the item I received this morning even more remarkable. I only ordered it on the 29th November and it arrived this morning from Hong Kong.

[simontaylor484]

39 minutes ago, Barry O said:

I hope he has  received it unlike youngest Herbert.. he waited 3 hours in his car for his delivery from Royal Mail.. which still hasn't arrived..he is a very unhappy bunny!

 

Baz

Some of ours came at 8pm the other day from Royal mail it was our postman who came earlier in the day

 

[Barry O]

Our new next door neighbours are already hammering at walls... obviously fits with the plan of doing the house up and selling it on!  from the sounds he is making I would suggest the laddo has some fairly carp tools.. and he does bathroom conversions(!).

 

Still no news from GDB.. he must be reading the manual..

 

Baz

[Winslow Boy]

1 minute ago, Barry O said:

Our new next door neighbours are already hammering at walls... obviously fits with the plan of doing the house up and selling it on!  from the sounds he is making I would suggest the laddo has some fairly carp tools.. and he does bathroom conversions(!).

 

Still no news from GDB.. he must be reading the manual..

 

Baz

Trying to figure out what's the on button is.

[Andrew P]

1 minute ago, Barry O said:

Our new next door neighbours are already hammering at walls... obviously fits with the plan of doing the house up and selling it on!  from the sounds he is making I would suggest the laddo has some fairly carp tools.. and he does bathroom conversions(!).

 

Still no news from GDB.. he must be reading the manual..

 

Baz

Or working out how to get out of it.

 

OR WORSE STILL, did work out how to get out of it, and banged his head on the door frame, sparked himself out, he fell over inside, that released the handbrake and the Car rolled forward and demolished the front of his house.

BUT I HOPE NOT.

[pH]

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

When I worked in an educational computer centre providing support for teaching and technical problems this often occurred. Someone would have a problem, we would sort it out perhaps as a result of recreating the problem on our system, discussing it with hardware and software suppliers. So many times you would get “that was simple, can’t understand why we pay you”.

Shades of Y2K!!

[Sidecar Racer]

19 hours ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

 Oh no that are not , lovely thing to play on . 

 

Just to add a bit to the above .

 

 

 

 

 

 I can't believe that was 30 years ago , It's hard to get down on my knees these days

so I doubt the above would be on the cards .

 

[roundhouse]

8 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

That's almost as annoying as an announcement about an announcement.....................

 

 

We were near Tower Bridge today where there was a temporary sign saying ' bollard ahead', next time there will probably be a sign saying ' sign ahead'

[Tony_S]

13 minutes ago, roundhouse said:

We were near Tower Bridge today where there was a temporary sign saying ' bollard ahead', next time there will probably be a sign saying ' sign ahead'

May have been warning about a stealth bollard. 

[Andrew P]

Just seen this on Facebook,     WHOOPS.

 

ONE APUS STACK COLLAPSE LOSSES EXPECTED TO TOP $200M

Shippers and forwarders with shipments on board the ONE Apus have been warned to expect General Average to be declared on the casualty.

The 14,000 teu vessel suffered a massive container stack collapse en route to Long Beach after encountering heavy weather near Hawaii on 30 November.

The carrier confirmed that 1,816 boxes in total had lost overboard, including 64 dangerous goods (DG) boxes, abandoned its original route and returned to Japan, berthing at Kobe on Tuesday.

Marine claims consultancy WK Webster, which has a team of surveyors at Kobe and has undertaken an initial inspection using drones, said the early indications were that thousands of containers had been damaged, beyond the boxes lost overboard, with total losses expected to amount to millions of dollars.

“With 1,816 containers lost overboard and what looks to be thousands more collapsed throughout the deck, the total cargo/container losses arising out of this casualty will of course be very substantial. We anticipate that cargo losses, on the basis of average containerised cargo values, may reach $200m or more,” it added.

The firm said it was still waiting for the carrier to release the vessel’s container stow bay plans, “which will assist greatly in identifying the impact of this incident to individual cargo interests”.

It added: “General Average has still not been declared, although we continue to believe that this is a likely eventuality. If General Average is declared, GA securities will be required from all surviving cargo interests on board.”

And it warned shippers and forwarders eager for the release of their cargo that they may be in for a long wait, as the location of the casualty as well as its deployment on a THE Alliance service meant it was subject to a variety of jurisdictions.

“In terms of liability, the issues involved in this casualty will be both complicated and span several jurisdictions – Singapore, the US and Japan being notable examples.

“Cargo affected by this incident will be being carried by a range of different contractual ocean carriers and freight forwarders, and each will be subject to differing contractual terms, including, importantly, in relation to the law and jurisdiction applicable to claims.

“The extent to which the carriers’ liability is established will of course depend on a large number of factors, all of which will be closely investigated and evaluated,” it said.

The note further explained that total losses may well also exceed the applicable vessel limitation figure, which is usually “established by reference to the tonnage of the vessel pursuant to international conventions, but possibly also by reference to the vessel’s value”.

“While the ONE Apus is a very new vessel and with a very high value, we anticipate that vessel limitation will be a relevant factor and a key issue moving forward,” WK Webster said.

[grandadbob]

Evenin' each,

I is here!  This morning, 9 minutes after receiving a phone telling me to expect a phone call I received .....wait for it..... a phone call.  It was THE phone call telling me to get on my bike into my Duster and hotwheel it to Epsom. The ##### ####### actually stands for motor vehicle and as a couple of you rightly surmised I've bought a new car.  1st prize for guessing I believe goes to Keith Tetsudo and runner up was Simon.  However I haven't bought a hybrid but have changed my diesel Duster for a petrol Peugeot.  I bought the Duster 31 months ago as a third choice after being let down on a couple of other vehicles after being quoted ridiculously long delivery waits.  It's not a bad car at all but is fairly basic and before I shuffle off this mortal coil I fancied something a lot better.  The dealers have been pestering me for a few weeks offering me upgrades etc so I decided to see what was available.  I was originally looking at a brand new car but spotted a one year old vehicle with only 1300 miles on the clock at what I think was a reasonable price.  After seeing and test driving it I couldn't believe my luck because it is to all effects brand new.  For the past year it's been used by the dealer's financial director's wife and spent most of its time sitting on their drive going nowhere.  They gave me a very good deal on the Duster saying "it's the best and "cleanest" one we've ever had back."

All this means that I now possess this:

 

 

Peugeot 3008 1.2 Puretech Allure EAT8 Auto

 

It is by far and away the nicest car I've ever had (or driven) in 55 years but it will take me some time to learn how to "fly" it properly.   It's got what they call an "i-cockpit" and is all very complicated  although I'm sure that our resident airman would laugh at that.  After a few hours playing today I'm gradually finding my way around all the dials and menus.  Do I need all that kit?  - Nah probably not but as I said earlier at the beginning of this saga on Tuesday you only live once.  It's been a sh!t year  (nowhere near as bad for me as thousands of others) and I just want to have a bit of fun.

The only problem is of course that at the moment I really shouldn't be going very far and only for essential journeys but let's hope things improve somewhat in the next couple of months.  

 

Now celebrating with a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

B.Onkers of Sutton.

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2020 by grandadbob

[Andrew P]

Just now, Andrew P said:

Just seen this on Facebook,     WHOOPS.

 

ONE APUS STACK COLLAPSE LOSSES EXPECTED TO TOP $200M

Shippers and forwarders with shipments on board the ONE Apus have been warned to expect General Average to be declared on the casualty.

The 14,000 teu vessel suffered a massive container stack collapse en route to Long Beach after encountering heavy weather near Hawaii on 30 November.

The carrier confirmed that 1,816 boxes in total had lost overboard, including 64 dangerous goods (DG) boxes, abandoned its original route and returned to Japan, berthing at Kobe on Tuesday.

Marine claims consultancy WK Webster, which has a team of surveyors at Kobe and has undertaken an initial inspection using drones, said the early indications were that thousands of containers had been damaged, beyond the boxes lost overboard, with total losses expected to amount to millions of dollars.

“With 1,816 containers lost overboard and what looks to be thousands more collapsed throughout the deck, the total cargo/container losses arising out of this casualty will of course be very substantial. We anticipate that cargo losses, on the basis of average containerised cargo values, may reach $200m or more,” it added.

The firm said it was still waiting for the carrier to release the vessel’s container stow bay plans, “which will assist greatly in identifying the impact of this incident to individual cargo interests”.

It added: “General Average has still not been declared, although we continue to believe that this is a likely eventuality. If General Average is declared, GA securities will be required from all surviving cargo interests on board.”

And it warned shippers and forwarders eager for the release of their cargo that they may be in for a long wait, as the location of the casualty as well as its deployment on a THE Alliance service meant it was subject to a variety of jurisdictions.

“In terms of liability, the issues involved in this casualty will be both complicated and span several jurisdictions – Singapore, the US and Japan being notable examples.

“Cargo affected by this incident will be being carried by a range of different contractual ocean carriers and freight forwarders, and each will be subject to differing contractual terms, including, importantly, in relation to the law and jurisdiction applicable to claims.

“The extent to which the carriers’ liability is established will of course depend on a large number of factors, all of which will be closely investigated and evaluated,” it said.

The note further explained that total losses may well also exceed the applicable vessel limitation figure, which is usually “established by reference to the tonnage of the vessel pursuant to international conventions, but possibly also by reference to the vessel’s value”.

“While the ONE Apus is a very new vessel and with a very high value, we anticipate that vessel limitation will be a relevant factor and a key issue moving forward,” WK Webster said.

BTW, anyone seen Bob @grandadbob?

[Andrew P]

7 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

Evenin' each,

I is here!  This morning, 9 minutes after receiving a phone telling me to expect a phone call I received .....wait for it..... a phone call.  It was THE phone call telling me to get on my bike into my Duster and hotwheel it to Epsom. The ##### ####### actually stands for motor vehicle and as a couple of you rightly surmised I've bought a new car.  1st prize for guessing I believe goes to Keith Tetsudo and runner up was Simon.  However I haven't bought a hybrid but have changed my diesel Duster for a petrol Peugeot.  I bought the Duster 31 months ago as a third choice after being let down on a couple of other vehicles after being quoted ridiculously long delivery waits.  It's not a bad car at all but is fairly basic and before I shuffle off this mortal coil I fancied something a lot better.  The dealers have been pestering me for a few weeks offering me upgrades etc so I decided to see what was available.  I was originally looking at a brand new car but spotted a one year old vehicle with only 1300 miles on the clock at what I think was reasonable price.  After seeing and test driving it I couldn't believe my luck because it is to all effects brand new.  For the past year it's been used by the dealer's financial director's wife and spent most of its time sitting on their drive going nowhere.  They gave me a very good deal on the Duster saying "it's the best and "cleanest" one we've ever had back."

All this means that I now possess this:

 

 

Peugeot 3008 1.2 Puretech Allure EAT8 Auto

 

It is by far and away the nicest car I've ever had (or driven) in 55 years but it will take me some time to learn how to "fly" it properly.   It's got what they call an "i-cockpit" and is all very complicated  although I'm sure that our resident airman would laugh at that.  After a few hours playing today I'm gradually finding my way around all the dials and menus.  Do I need all that kit?  - Nah probably not but as I said earlier at the beginning of this saga on Tuesday you only live once.  It's been a sh!t year  (nowhere near as bad for me as thousands of others) and I just want to have a bit of fun.

The only problem is of course that at the moment I really shouldn't be going very far and only for essential journeys but let's hope things improve somewhat in the next couple of months.  

 

Now celebrating with a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

B.Onkers of Sutton.

 

 

 

Stunning Bob, So we can ignore my post above now then, haha.

 

I have the 308 Allure Estate and love it apart from the heater being touch screen which I find dangerous when trying to change it whilst driving.

But for comfort, looks, economy, space and TOYS they are a superb product says the man who was Business Manager for Peugeot for many years.

Well done and a GREAT CHOICE.

Edited December 11, 2020 by Andrew P

[New Haven Neil]

8 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

BTW, anyone seen Bob @grandadbob?

 

Behinnddd youoooooo

[simontaylor484]

Oh no he isnt