Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

1 minute ago, PeterBB said:

Getting ahead of global warming?

I did note that one of the wines mentioned, Selkirk Island is only bottled in Scotland, it originates in Chile. It actually comes from Selkirk Island off the Chilean coast. So named as it was where Scotsman Alexander Selkirk was marooned. His story (with a few embellishments) was turned into Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.

[simontaylor484]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Would that have been Bishop Eric Treacy. Apparently  when Ian Allan published his autobiography Ian expressed an opinion that the chapters dealing with his spiritual life needed editing a bit. Treacy replied that reading them would be good for the souls of the typesetters of Sheperton.

 

Jamie

Alas no although i believe he was Bishop of Pontefract in the 60s

It was Stephen Plattern that was incumbent at that time till he was replaced by Tony Robinson no not Baldrick.

[simontaylor484]

Lovely photo of the Granddaughter Jamie.

 

Talking of minority sports on tv i used to love watching lawn mower racing and tractor pulling.

 

Cant do with Strictly or any of these im a has been make me famous again programmes. As for Britains got talent pah. Cant stand pj and duncan or whatever the pair of talentless geordies call themselves these days. 

[Coombe Barton]

1 hour ago, PeterBB said:

Getting ahead of global warming?

There were vineyards in Britain in Roman times, not quite as far north as Scotland, mind you. Probably got wiped out by Dark Age volcanic eruption effects

 

• Locations unknown, first one possibly from North America, second from tropics
• AD535/6 and AD542
• Byzantine historian Procopius 536, “during this year a most dread portent took place. For the sun gave forth its light without brightness … and it seemed exceedingly like the sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear”.
• A failure of bread in the year 536 AD – the Annals of Ulster
• A failure of bread from the years 536–539 AD – the Annals of Inisfallen
• Low temperatures, even snow during the summer: China harvest delayed
• Crop failures
• A dense, dry fog in the Middle East, China and Europe
• Drought in Peru, which affected the Moche culture
• Disappearance of people writing about their times - hence Dark Ages

 

This from my Climate Change lectures

Edited December 14, 2020 by Coombe Barton

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

It is bright and breezy here and so Aditi is outside sorting out  her bulbs for planting. 
My day started with a “do you think it should sound like that?” about the elderly Magimix food processor. The manufacturer label states November 1986. It is a very substantial motor but the drive spindle  cover wouldn’t come off to release the motor so I could look at the top bearing.  The official suggestion is to lever it off with serving spoons making sure the food processor body is protected with cloths. I now see why one reviewer states that this does work but she had to remove plastic shrapnel from her husband’s face. After a couple of bits whizzed past my head I decided I would leave it, order a new part (all of £3) and crush the old part with a Mole wrench when the new part arrives. Aditi seemed dubious about destroying a part to remove it but I found a YouTube video showing someone whacking it with a hammer to shatter it. There are not many parts for this food processor still available but it was first introduced in the mid 1970s so we can’t really complain. 
Tony

[New Haven Neil]

Pah.  Mrs H had applied for a new job (she's a career civil serpent) and unusually for her it was a promotion (she had thought she wasn't interested in going higher) as it was a really interesting post.  Advertised as a full time permanent post.  Just noticed in time, job offer was temporary appointment 12 months....after which she would have lost her job and redundancy rights - 32 years..... furious phone call to HR produced a 'we changed our minds, didn't we tell you, ah well never mind' sort of response.  Official complaint being worded as we speak, not that it will come to anything.  Spitting feathers.

[PeterBB]

23 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

There were vineyards in Britain in Roman times, not quite as far north as Scotland, mind you. Probably got wiped out by Dark Age volcanic eruption effects

 

 

This from my Climate Change lectures

Rings a bell, also more recently than that from Icelandic volcanoes the number of deaths at a time that only recently have been sorted as coming from those volcanoes gave some 'darker' times.

[Tony_S]

14 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

for a new job

That sort of thing happened to Aditi so often. Job descriptions written to favour the chosen one. She just got fed up of being overlooked and seriously being told she was “too nice” for senior management posts. Hence why after 30 something  years she went to another job. Even they tried to pay her about  £5000 less than she had been led to expect. Something “surely you didn’t expect to start at the top of the pay scale? “ . She said “well not until I was told I would be appointed at that increment”. They said it wasn’t their policy to start at the top of the scale”. She said it was her policy not to accept less offered and she was worth it. They complied. I know all this as she had the phone on speaker and I was listening in!

Edited December 14, 2020 by Tony_S

[Coombe Barton]

6 minutes ago, PeterBB said:

Rings a bell, also more recently than that from Icelandic volcanoes the number of deaths at a time that only recently have been sorted as coming from those volcanoes gave some 'darker' times.

Also

https://www.medievalists.net/2018/04/volcanic-eruptions-in-the-6th-century-plunged-eurasia-into-hunger-and-disease/

and

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-19760-w

And now from Central America

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2019/09/07/mysterious-volcanic-eruptions-that-plunged-europe-into-the-dark-ages-pinpointed-in-central-america/?sh=1fde72444d87

or Iceland

https://www.history.com/news/536-volcanic-eruption-fog-eclipse-worst-year

Thought they'd be better for sausage rolls, but still ...

 

 

Edited December 14, 2020 by Coombe Barton

[Tony_S]

I don’t have a specific reference but I distinctly remember in history lessons at school being told about the banks of the River Severn being used as vineyards in Roman times.

I suppose it must have been a bit like the modern banks of the Mosel and Rhine. 

[John Wass]

9 hours ago, TheQ said:

Sprouts,  best cooked with butter, small pieces of bacon and chestnuts.

 

 

I agree but I'm banned from eating them now as I have to take Warfarin after two heart operations. I was allowed one sprout with my C..............s dinner as our two daughters use too be long, long ago, but now all gone! 

[simontaylor484]

A couple of years ago the management of our Council Department asked for volunteers for redundancy/early retirement. 3 guys in our yard jumped at the chance. All 3 applied and got a letter to say that they had been accepted and given a letter with a date for retirement. Lets call them Bob, Neil and Tony.

 Neils wife tendered her resignation from her job so they could enjoy time together. Bob was going to do odd jobs/handyman paid jobs.

 A week later they were called in and told there had been a mistake and they werent allowed to go at that time. Luckily neils wife was able to cancel her resignation.

   Neil and Bob retired a year and a half later anyway and Tony left at a similar time to a new job. 

  All management created was a lot of bad feeling in the workforce iirc the union wernt much help and some lads cancelled their subscription. 

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Alas no although i believe he was Bishop of Pontefract in the 60s

It was Stephen Plattern that was incumbent at that time till he was replaced by Tony Robinson no not Baldrick.

Odd title, the suffragen Bishop of Pontefract, deputy to The Bushop of Wakefield but whose official residence is, or was, at Dewsbury, the same distance west of Wakefield that Pontefract is east. 

 

Jamie

[simontaylor484]

Yes its weird the Bishop of Wakefield s residence is called Pontefract House. Eric Treacys sucessor became archdeacon of Pontefract a guy called Ted Henderson he officiated at my mum and dads wedding and christened me when he was vicar of Darrington

[The Stationmaster]

Afternoon all,

 

The good Count's daughter has been visited with a successful removal of the requisite quantity of the red liquid.  Hopefully OI will not be in there again for at least a month nd maybe be longer if I get a decent number from the result.  Our new local shopping 'area' has been opened and the largest unit has been taken by Majestic Wine which provided several minutes of very interesting window shopping - clearly they seem to think the local area might actually be like the way many think of it in terms of social pecking order.   All the other new created shops in teh devlopemnt are empty - no surprise there.   We've also acquired something elsewhere in the town called a 'mini market' and the no fodd items clearly were biught in from a job lot of whatever came as cheaply as possibl - I doubt that it fits the locality at all in marketing terms.  The was even a customer in there. noisily bewailing the fact that she couldn't unlock her mobile 'phone and going into hysterics because she had lost all her contacts - I noted the 'market' didn't appear to stock address books (and presumably neither did anywhere else she has shopped in the past?).

 

Lots of unmasked dumbos around the town although 100% observance in shops.  Then home to watch the Christmas tree wranglers in their task before putting yesterday's leftover pasties in the oven to be reheated for lunch - and very nice they were too but of course they are 'proper job' anyway.  I believe there might be some dining room tidying required now it has its Christmas tree and i have definiteluy got orders to clean the vacuum plus any the mess made by the tree (artificial) wranglers.

 

Enjoy the rest of your day folks and stay safe.

 

PS I'm on warfarin (hence today's blood test) and have been for over 20 years but I have never been warned off brussel sprouts in consequence (which would have been very handy although they are coked here in butter and without spending hours in a pan so they taste fairly sweet)

[polybear]

10 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

A couple of years ago the management of our Council Department asked for volunteers for redundancy/early retirement. 3 guys in our yard jumped at the chance. All 3 applied and got a letter to say that they had been accepted and given a letter with a date for retirement. Lets call them Bob, Neil and Tony.

 Neils wife tendered her resignation from her job so they could enjoy time together. Bob was going to do odd jobs/handyman paid jobs.

 A week later they were called in and told there had been a mistake and they werent allowed to go at that time. Luckily neils wife was able to cancel her resignation.

   Neil and Bob retired a year and a half later anyway and Tony left at a similar time to a new job. 

  All management created was a lot of bad feeling in the workforce iirc the union wernt much help and some lads cancelled their subscription. 

 

A mate that I worked with had a similar experience:  accepted for VR (with a good wedge to look forward to), so sold up and bought a place just outside Pickering, N.Yorks.  The plan was to rent a room above a pub near work (Stevenage) until the release date.  Then HR had a change of heart, and VR was cancelled.  Barstewards.

So he's living above a pub during the week and commuting back home (200+ miles each way) on Fridays and Sundays.  Then he was diagnosed with The Big C.  Surgery, chemo etc. etc. and was off for a long time.  When he returned he had to see the company doc (aka HR Lapdog) - he was expecting the doc to say "you've had enough, I'm recommending early retirement on medical grounds".

Nope.  His exact words (I got it direct from my mate) were "I don't know what you're complaining about, you should be grateful you're alive....".  My mate came very, very close to decking him....

My mate had to stick the place for a while longer (a year plus?) but then called time and banged out to live in near Pickering.  Then The Big C returned......and he didn't get long

Some years later I stayed in a holiday cottage in the same village as he moved to; the next door neighbour was the local vicar; I asked if he knew my mate - he did, and knew his wife/widow well.  It turns out the vicar now had the same allotment plot as my mate.  Small world.

 

In other news:

Co-op done, cards posted.  Regulars may recall the saga of the Co-op Apple Pies purchased from the Co-op as they didn't have any mince pies left   Only when I sampled one it was filled with mincemeat = result.

Anyway, I flagged this up to the Co-op via email; it was obviously a labelling error at the factory, but could've had implications for anyone with an allergy.  Anyway, the Co-op sent me a five quid gift card today, so a result

Only the Co-op got their own back , as I wanted a couple of "special" *mas cards for the OH plus her daughter.  Six quid later...I could've got them much cheaper elsewhere, but by the time I'd made a special journey car, maybe got stung for parking, fought off the cockwombles etc. etc. it just wasn't worth the aggro....

[Barry O]

The Marie Celeste  has not sorted my prescription yet...

 

Dentist appointment for rtomorrow is OK for 8:30am which is good as my absent filling is starting to hurt!  Phone call to answer Covid questions taken and all answered.

 

London into Lockdown.. no  surprises but its a big area Hope it works better than the Tier 3 in Kent is doing.. figures still on the up there. Ours are falling .. which is good but we still see blips in some parts of Leeds. WOuld be really nice to know why these are happening.

 

Gave up muddling when I knocked a bottle of plastic weld over.. PAH!

 

Luckily nothing damaged!

 

Baz

[Barry O]

I had a bit of an upset with my "boss" (only ever saw him twice in 2 years) and he decided my job was redundant.. in praise of HR though how he did it and what he said meant the Company had to pay out more money as part of an agreement as the HR Lady said "you could have us over a barrel at a tribunal.. how about £x?"  a years salary.. yes please.. took it and walked a happy bunny.. He was asked to leave 6 months later when it transpired he was working for both  the company and as a consultant for a competitor....

 

Baz

[New Haven Neil]

Its not Tribunal applicable, but they shouldn't have upset the wife of someone really HR qualified - just run rings around a little pr!ck and put the fear of whatever up him while reaming a new one for him.  No idea, no CIPD qualifications, just promoted out of their depth as usual.  Interesting when asking who HIS boss is, that it turned out to be someone I managed some time ago.  Also unqualified.  I asked him to pass on my congratulations they were still winging it, which didn't work with me!  Cheered me up, that bit.

[simontaylor484]

Sounds just like the Council

[BoD]

39 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Lots of unmasked dumbos around the town although 100% observance in shops.

Not having been out a great deal recently, today I went to by a Christmas Card for Valerie.  The card shop is quite small, just two aisles,  clearly marked up one side along the top and down the other to where the checkouts are.  They were only allowing so many in at a time with a member of staff on the door allowing one in as one left.  There was a small queue outside, all masked and socially distanced.  So far so good.  Once inside people followed the arrows in a steady flow and it was working well - apart from two.  They were up and down both aisles and stood and had a long chat only a matter of inches from each other totally blocking one aisle.  
 

The two concerned?  Not teenagers,  younger adults, middle aged or even the feckless but grey haired elderly people who at a guess would be at least in their seventies.  There could be any number of reasons why they behaved like this but it made the whole experience quite uncomfortable. 
 

 

[Tony_S]

21 minutes ago, BoD said:

but grey haired elderly people

Definitely the grey ones, not fluffy white like mine! 
Back in the day when we went on cruises Matthew said he was shocked at the flagrant non compliance with the Norovirus precautions by what he described as “old people”. 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I wangled early retirement, only by a few months though. My line manager had a blazing stand up row in the office with the head of HR which resulted in my line manager telling the HR person to stick the job where the sun doesn't shine and walking out of the door. This was at Christmas so I waited until just after Christmas and then all innocent like asked HR what was happening about my early retirement. The answer was "What early retirement?", "The early retirement Mr. ******* (the line manager) had agreed too." In normal circumstances they would have checked but they didn't in this case due to the way he left. So a couple of months later I got the early retirement. One of my former colleagues met up with our ex manager a couple of years later and when he was told of what I had done he was highly amused and said that if they had ever asked him he would have told them that he had agreed I could take early retirement.

[The Lurker]

On 12/12/2020 at 17:09, Barry O said:

Result!  Lincoln 0 Sunderland 4... I will now go and lie down in a dark room.. I may be sometime!!

 

Baz

it probably says something about how far the mighty Sunderland have fallen that you're pleased about beating Lincoln City!

[PhilJ W]

Just been announced we are going into tier 3 from Wednesday. It applies to all boroughs in Essex south of Chelmsford and Maldon as well as Epping. I was was planning to do a bit of Christmas shopping  later this week but thats off until the new year.