Early Risers.

[J. S. Bach]

2 hours ago, Barry O said:

A glass of Kilchoman is us ready, as is a lump of coal and a silver coin to make sure my first foot goes well.

Hope everyone has health and wealth for 2021! Slainte!

Baz

Hmmm, I read that as Kikkoman and was beginning to wonder :

 

 

 

 

 

[J. S. Bach]

A blessed New Year to all RMwebbers and Night Owl from the Piedmont.

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by J. S. Bach

[BR60103]

Happy New Year to all.

I may have mentioned that Christmas Eve morning our PVR (the device that connects the TV to cable and does other useful tasks) quit working.  The symptoms were that it would stop taking instructions about 10-15 minutes after a reboot. I called tech support and got through immediately (!) and after a lot of checking, it was decided that we needed a replacement. In 3-5 business days. After a call to them on Tuesday, the item was left on the porch this morning. We had survived because I had a spare unit with much less functionality -- no recording, fewer stations. We managed to miss the Queen's message.

The new unit was hooked up in a few minutes -- I reused the old wiring -- and then I started programming.

The thing can decode 999 channels. We don't pay for that many and lots of what comes through is redundant or objectionable. (There were 8 in a row showing the same ****ball game.) Then I had to set up all the scheduled recordings. I lost all the previous recordings -- unwatched Harry Potter movies and 53 epsodes of Upstart Crow.  And the guide is showing "No Information" for all channels for Sunday and Monday.

They offered to send a tech, but we declined. We'll reconsider if there's a further problem later on.

Do I need to say there was no modelling today?

Nobody over here shoots fireworks for New Year.

[Kendo54]

12 minutes ago, BR60103 said:

Happy New Year to all.

Nobody over here shoots fireworks for New Year.

Unfortunately, writing from Alberta, we have had a few headcases with fireworks and it's only 10.00 pm !!!!

[AndyB]

Morning everyone.

No big plans for the day apart from our daily brisk walk around the neighbourhood to shake the cobwebs off.

I've a small admin job to do which involves an A4 folder, section dividers and a sense of purpose. 

In the meantime carpe diem!

 

 

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, inner temple hare,

Happy new year on this fairly randomly selected day, vaguely connected to the winter solstice, various Roman decisions, some ancient mesopotamian ideas, and the odd pope or two.

 

I think the TV presenter has been celebrating too well, she was saying this is "Time Square right now" as film of the face clock surrounding  Big Ben played, and the bell went bong.

 

Late getting to sleep , Short bit of sleep , more fireworks, slept through any that may have gone off at 00:00:00 woke up about 04:00.

 

I've had a reverse case to Combe Barton, in that one of the nurses in attendance when my trousers were being removed in hospital, was the wife of a fellow serviceman on the same shift and we'd attended a shift party in the previous few days..

 

There's a bit on television about Essex and the pandemic, reporting patients being shipped to Cambridge for treatment, well the Main Norfolk Hospital is reporting their highest ever number of Covid patients...but that's because they are being shipped there from Essex as well.

 

For some reason my left knee is playing up, I don't remember doing anything to it recently.

 

Traditionally we would take Ben the snoring Collie for a beach walk today, but there are too many visitors around, so he'll just get his normal walk ..

 

Plans for today, more making like a snowman...sanding the keel that is, and trim up the shelf unit again before trying it in position 2. If ok the the second unit may start assembley.

 

Time to roll over for more sleep..

 

 

 

 

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all and a warm welcome to 2021

 

There was me thinking that 2020 could not get any worse.  Wrong.  My 96 year old Aunt Gladys has caught the virus.  She lives in a care home near Bristol and I’m so glad I made the effort to pay her a visit back in September.  Five years ago I would have said that she was as tough as old boots.  Not any more she isn’t.  She is the aunt that I share with my cousin Brian [88C] and we are both apprehensive of the outcome.

 

Before that news broke I was determined to be a bit more positive in 2021.  I am keen to start going out and about and here and there again.  Having nowhere to go except the supermarket has long since lost any appeal that it might have had.  My top priority is a long weekend in Dublin at the end of June, embracing Dublin Pride but giving me time to do some tourism too.  As with many other things, I know when it is due to happen but not whether it will.  Last year all the arrangements except the travel were in place when they fell apart.  Much will depend on how long social distancing is maintained in Ireland.  If The Times is to be believed, and beware of what you read in the papers, the UK is destined for ‘freedom’ by Easter, meaning among other things that social distancing will be wrapped up quickly.  If that really is possible, it will enable the hospitality and entertainment industries, now all but ruined, to pick themselves up off the floor and slowly return to working order.  It will be a long job and I shall believe it when I see it.  For what it is worth I will be pleasantly surprised if life returns to something approaching normal by this time next year.

 

In the latest honours list the award of the OBE to Craig Stephenson for “services to the Senedd [parliament] and equality” is of interest because Craig is also Chair of the South Wales Gay Men’s Chorus.  I hope that Pride Cymru returns at the end of August so that among other things I can enjoy seeing and hearing the Chorus again.  Given the numbers involved – 15,000 or so marchers in the parade and a comparable number at the festival – social distancing will have to be long gone before that happens.  Heck, it costs nothing to dream.

 

Best wishes to all, especially Gladys

 

Chris

[jamie92208]

Good moaning to all and of course sundry.  It was a wierd new year for us, no friends round, family a long way away etc.  The village was silent.  Beth and I drained a bottle of cheap pink fizz from Noz, wildy expensive at €1.80. With the hours difference  we both felt there wasn't much point staying up till midnight to text the family.

 

Yesterday we got quite a lot done, sanding down a wall, then polishing the tiles on one wall in the bathroom. Just 3 more to go. 

 

Today a leg of lamb is going to be sacrificed in a good cause and a friend is coming up to help dispose of it.  I didn't get the ironing done so that pleasure awaits me.  

 

Rick, thanks for posting that U2 track, it brought back some wonderful  memories for me of cycling in the Colorado rockies in 2005. I went past the entrance to Red Rocks that day as I headed up towards Kenosha pass from Golden 2 days before my Avatar was taken. Red Rocks must be a spectacular place to attend a concert. 6000' up in a natural bowl in the Front Range. The music is brilliant as well.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

 

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by jamie92208

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Woken up by the central heating kicking in. Time to..go for some extra sleep!

Baz

[iL Dottore]

16 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

So now some half wit has decided not to give people the second shot of the Pfizer vaccine but to give morer initial shots instead.  Pfizer have said that they haven't tested that scenario and can only confirm the efficacy of teh vaccine if teh second shot is given three weeks after the first....

That is truly scary! It’s as if they deliberately want to encourage the virus to spread and mutate. An incomplete vaccination is worse than no vaccination at all. The only thing that I can surmise is that some senior trouser polisher in PHE/NHS/Ministry (undoubtedly promoted to where he/she is because of the ability to parrot the “correct” dogma) has concluded that by making the vaccine allocation go twice as far by not giving it properly, he/she will “look good” and get a bigger/better gong at the yearly honours shindig.

If they do go ahead with this approach and new mutations arise that are even more deleterious to the host, then it is quite feasible that the UK as a nation will be quarantined. 2021, for the UK - given the behaviours of government, populace and certain parts of the NHS - could well be worse than 2020....

16 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

Well to use that well known phrase 'Houston I think we have a problem'. 

 

Well when I say 'we' I'm not referring to those good Norther folk who are used to such trivals but rather those soft southeners - BBC types particularly, who go to pieces when confronted by more than several flakes of the white stuff, no not milk....

....Cocaine???

12 hours ago, TheQ said:

Ben the scaredy Collie is hiding in his cage, the cockwombles have started the fireworks here. Enough to be heard over the TV disaster movie. The fireworks are at least 1/2 a mile away.

Despite the Gemeinde fireworks display being cancelled, there were enough morons around who had bought fireworks and were letting them off (probably in their own gardens) for poor Schotty and Lucy to have a bad time of it: Schotty was barking every time there was a loud bang and Lucy was lying stiff as board on the bed with wide staring eyes. Finally, about  2am, it all petered out and we all could get some rest.

I read, somewhere (can’t remember which newspaper or even which country) that there is consideration being given to banning firework sales to and use of fireworks by the general public. I hope that such legislation goes through.

(BTW does anyone know the German for “cockwomble”?  It’s not a word I’ve had the necessity to learn until now. Apparently, to prevent firework parties and the attendant close contact between individuals, Germany banned the sale of fireworks this Christmas. So, naturally, morons drove to Poland - where fireworks sales were not banned - to stock up)

9 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

I've got my ticket for travelling for the next few weeks.

Not First Class? Or doesn’t your particular routing run rolling stock with First Class accommodation? Mind you, if all you have is commuter style standard class rolling stock, then it makes sense to go via the kitchen so you can take advantage of the refreshment facilities absent from your route.  On second thoughts, as you are obviously issuing the ticket for personal use, why didn’t you issue a first class “go anywhere at any time“ railway pass of the type used by senior rail officials? (Mike, [The Stationmaster], could advise).

 

Well, it has been an interesting year and looks to continue in the same vein for the immediate future. I have been fortunate inasmuch as neither the pandemic nor the associated restrictions have had much of an impact on me beyond the cancellation of some post-op physiotherapy and the rescheduling and re-booking of planned trips- business and holiday - to the UK (all relatively minor inconveniences compared to what many have experienced). Furthermore, I have not been affected by any of the psychological sequelae of the restrictions and lockdowns: as I’ve posted before, there’s much to be said in favour – nowadays - of being a self-contained, asocial Misanthrope. Not only that, but my consulting company has really taken off in 2020. So, in all, I managed to survive 2020 relatively well (thanks, in no small part, to having 24-hour personal trainers and psychotherapists available in the form of Lucy and Schotty). 

 

So, here’s to wishing you all a Happy New Year (and to having the fortitude to endure the next few months as the vaccination programmes get rolled out and life - eventually - becomes less restrictive).

 

ID

[polybear]

22 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

BTW does anyone know the German for “cockwomble”? 

 

Bear's Google Translator tells me that the German for Cockwomble is...Cockwomble.....

However, the German for Cock is apparently Schwanz, so maybe Schwanzwomble?

 

Beary wishes for a happy and healthy new year to all, with oodles of endless LDC to all - just so long as it doesn't create a shortage for Bear though.  There are limits.  And if cake is off-limits, then whatever floats your boat as a substitute.

Some nobs thought they'd set a few off yesterday evening, though nothing like previous years.  As for midnight, well there must've been a ceasefire or a complete depletion of ammo supplies cos' this Bear heard now't.

 

Beary fun for today will be that effin' kitchen refurb...again.  Now on the latter prep stages so the plasterer can come in and do his stuff; he did phone and suggest coming in next week, but that's a little soon so I've put him off until mid-Jan.  Today will see the hoovering of a couple of walls to remove dust after fitting the EML, plus there's some paint-stripping to be done, sink unit to be cleaned out of dust, wooden battens to be fitted around a doorframe lining (to give the plasterer an 'edge' to plaster to).  Not sure how much of that lot will get today though - we'll see.

 

 

[Tony_S]

Good morning. 
It is cold and cloudy here. 
I have no idea what is planned for today, apart from porridge for breakfast, and watch a concert from Vienna
Best wishes to all.

Tony

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by Tony_S
Forgot Vienna!

[leopardml2341]

Happy New Humbug to all.

[jonny777]

Another -3C minimum here in North Somerset. Best wishes for 2021 to everyone. 
 

Prayers for Chrisf’s Aunty Gladys. Let us hope she is as resilient as my father who is a year older at 97. He has survived the virus but according to the care home staff it has knocked him back, but my brother delivered him a replacement wheelchair and so he can just about get from his room to the communal rooms. 
 

SWMBO’s birthday today, and my presents seem to have gone well, especially the Asian spice veggie cookbook which she is now reading in bed. 
 

As for breaking ice on ponds, I believe it should be done especially if there are fish underneath, as they will suffocate from lack of oxygen if the ice remains for more than a day or so. Similarly, amphibians which hibernate at the bottom, and will die if oxygen levels fall very low. 
 

Very white outside, and so I will have to top up the bird feeders and give them some unfrozen water. 

[Grizz]

Good Morning and Happy New Year to all. 
 

Start as you mean to go on as the saying goes.

 

This mornings breakfast is Danish Karry Sild, which is marinated herring (definitely not the same as roll mops what ever anyone says) on Rye bread, with boiled egg and Aalborg schnapps.
 

Mrs Grizz, who is Danish, reliably informs that Danes don’t eat this for breakfast, they do eat it for other meals but not breakfast. I could eat this every day. Mrs Grizz’s Mor Mor (Mums mum) used to drink a glass of Aalborg schnapps for breakfast every morning and lived into her late 80s. I might make drinking Aalborg Schnapps every day my New Years resolution. 
 

Edited January 1, 2021 by Grizz
Forgot the photo

[New Haven Neil]

Well the NHN predictions were only 50% accurate - we went to bed at the normal time but the cockwomble didn't set off fireworks!

 

A great new year to all, supportive thoughts where needed, and I'm off to meet pals for breakfast out.

[Dave Hunt]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

........does anyone know the German for “cockwomble”?  It’s not a word I’ve had the necessity to learn until now. 

 

Not a direct translation but I seem to remember friends in the Luftwaffe referring to such halfwits as scheisskopfen (not sure if I've got the spelling correct) or armleuchteren, which I think is the equivalent of d*ickheads.

 

Dave

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I was actually in bed by 12 last night, the earliest I have gone to bed since before Christmas. There was a brief flurry of fireworks at the witching hour then it went quiet. Muggatee awaits, be back later.

[PhilJ W]

Oops, nearly forgot:-

2021

When Corona is a drink.

When Donald is a duck.

When tiers are on a wedding cake.

And when the only bubbles are in champagne.

[leopardml2341]

17 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

.........referring to such halfwits as scheisskopfen (not sure if I've got the spelling correct) or armleuchteren, which I think is the equivalent of d*ickheads

Literally; sh!theads but possibly equally sh!t for brains - S4B

[Erichill16]

Morning All, 

A happy new year to all.

we had some fireworks last evening but I think by midnight they all been used up as I fell asleep well before that time and didnt get disturbed.

Better get a shift on, sprouts to be peeled as mil is coming round and Sydney needs his walk.

Till later,

Robert

[NGT6 1315]

Cheers, everyone.

 

Happy New Year to one and all. As I wrote elsewhere, let‘s do our own little parts to make it a better one than the last one.

 

Fireworks did occur last night, though mainly from gardens and backyards where available, in my impression. The streets were barely populated in any case. No all-night tram services were provided either, so I was home a bit after 2200 hours.

 

I did have to report a case of graffiti on one of my trams. Furthermore, it looks like that depot supervisor I recently had to file a grievance against due to unacceptable manners opposite me hasn’t learned from that, so because a mate from our tech group overheard him foul-mouthing our group as a whole as a „nuisance“ (in far less polite terms, apparently) and specifically voicing a desire of placing harm on me specifically, it looks like further disciplinary action may be necessary. 
 

It‘s things like these which have kept my nerves frayed for months on end now. This has to stop. Period.

 

Now tidying up a bit around the house.

 

Later...

[BlackRat]

Greetings one and all and my best wishes to you and yours for a better 2021, and a healthy and happy new year.

 

Funny, prosperity doesn't really seem to matter now does it?

 

All very subdued here, tho we had son and his family over, and managed a takeaway and a lively 8 year old kept us all going.

 

Predictions now seem pointless, but at least if you're reading this....... you're still alive!

 

Stay safe, normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!

Edited January 1, 2021 by BlackRat

[Winslow Boy]

1 hour ago, jonny777 said:

Another -3C minimum here in North Somerset. Best wishes for 2021 to everyone. 
 

Prayers for Chrisf’s Aunty Gladys. Let us hope she is as resilient as my father who is a year older at 97. He has survived the virus but according to the care home staff it has knocked him back, but my brother delivered him a replacement wheelchair and so he can just about get from his room to the communal rooms. 
 

SWMBO’s birthday today, and my presents seem to have gone well, especially the Asian spice veggie cookbook which she is now reading in bed. 
 

As for breaking ice on ponds, I believe it should be done especially if there are fish underneath, as they will suffocate from lack of oxygen if the ice remains for more than a day or so. Similarly, amphibians which hibernate at the bottom, and will die if oxygen levels fall very low. 
 

Very white outside, and so I will have to top up the bird feeders and give them some unfrozen water. 

The way to remove ice in ponds is to pour boiling water on it. If you break it, it causes trauma to fish and amphibians. You can leave a ball floating on the surface to deter ice from forming. Any pond with fish ideally needs to be at least 18 - 24" deep. Ice only causes problems if  it remains for a long time.

[Happy Hippo]

3 hours ago, chrisf said:

 

 

There was me thinking that 2020 could not get any worse.  Wrong.  My 96 year old Aunt Gladys has caught the virus.  She lives in a care home near Bristol and I’m so glad I made the effort to pay her a visit back in September.  Five years ago I would have said that she was as tough as old boots.  Not any more she isn’t.  She is the aunt that I share with my cousin Brian [88C] and we are both apprehensive of the outcome.