Early Risers.

[tigerburnie]

6 hours ago, TheQ said:

Mooring Awl, inner Temple hare,

The wind is howling around at the moment, but no sign of white stuff.

 

Back in the days before some of my ancestors invaded ie pre 1066, the king theoretically was elected from any atheling,  ie those of Royal descent. However looking at who was chosen, it was more a case of chose someone else if the next in line didn't appeal and the next in line couldn't round up enough support.

So you got Aethelred the unready, the unready meaning badly advised, so I think he got power from a group of supporters who hadn't got a clue...sound familiar?

 

As for therefore being a possible choice for being in line to the throne, well every one with my surname has a slightly more than 50% chance of being a direct descendant of rulers of Tigerburnie land. So it's a good chance Tigerburnie and me are related.. as the occupiers of thrones north and south of the border were related in several ways..

 

I quite like watching American Football, the abbreviated 1 to 2 hour recorded version.. I made the mistake of watching the super bowl once.. 5 hours to play a 90 minute game.. is slow and tedious..

 

The pink pills I think are working, time to try for sleep part two, although it's getting perilously close to patrol time and brown eyes might have other ideas..

 

Time to..put this gadget down.

 

 

Sir John Mure married Lady Elizabeth Stewart in my family line, so King James the 1 is my 17 times Great Grandad 6 times removed by marriage........................................................allegedly!!

[Barry O]

The cricket has been interesting.. meanwhile next door is back onto turning the walls into swiss cheese.. I hope he doesn't get too upset when I start drilling sheets of aluminium tomorrow evening (badly) when leeds united try to play kickball...

 

Brightening up here but flippinfreezing!  (and no snow either!)

 

I am surprised Mr T spends so much..mind you he isn't paying.. you can take the man out of Ilkley but you can't take Ilkley out of the man* 

 

* substitute the original home of any Yorkshire born famous person...

Baz

[chrisf]

11 hours ago, Natalie said:

When and why did this thread become so nasty and vicious?  

It used to be fun and supportive but not now. 

 

Natalie, I am sorry that you feel this way.  AllI can say is that on several occasions I have been very touched by just how supportive the ERs community can be when I least expected it.

 

Chris

[jonny777]

As a meteorologist (retired) I am somewhat confused as to the sudden obsession with the lack of instantaneous snow. What does everyone think 'the beast from the east' means exactly? 

 

The fact that a low pressure was named storm Darcy by the KNMI (Dutch Meteorological Service) should give you a clue. The worst affected area is going to be the Netherlands. 

 

You may see fit to mock the lack of instantaneous snow in a country other than the one seriously affected, but believe me when I say, you will have seen enough of the beast and its winds from the east by this time next week, that you will be praying for mild, wet weather with low cloud and hill fog. 

 

As for curries, I am another who sees no point in burning my mouth in exchange for money. However, in the macho world which pervades a lot of society, one-upmanship rules; and if one person has three tablespoons of hot chilli powder mixed with his curry sauce, no one else can rest until they have had four tablespoons, or five tablespoons, or.... well you get the idea. 

 

On the royals, I quite like the monarchy as a whole. Yes they are a bit expensive and tend to live a life of disconnected ritual and routine, some of it handed down over the centuries; but I kind of like that pomp and pageantry combined with a hereditary factor rather than the republic version where the spoils are conferred on the one with the biggest ego/budget/BScampaign. I can't imagine a President Blair, or Branson, or Sugar, etc. 

 

 

Edited February 7, 2021 by jonny777

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Chilly here, and the odd flurry of the not forecast snow (as 30747 has reminded me - I don't make the forecasts, I just relay them to her).

 

A bit of skim reading has had to take place, as 30747 has suddenly decided that we need to own an overlocker (whatever that is - appears to be some sort of fancy sewing machine with multiple threads and needles) - I suppose she really means that SHE needs to own an overlocker to sit alongside the sewing machine which she bought a couple of years back and hasn't taken out of its case more than twice.

So skim reading it be, and greetings are in offer to all, of course.  Dominik - that looked like a fun shift, but at least with the tracks to guide you, you don't need to worry about where you're going - it's all done for you.

 

Anyhows, this one popped into my spam box - oh how I wish that my email wouldn't do that - did it to an urgent message frim my BIL the other day too.  Guitarists listen and weep - this girl is GOOD

 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning (it was when I started reading ER's) all from Estuary-Land. The snow started here about an hour ago and is starting to settle. Best birthday wishes to ChrisF's aunts. I quite like curry's but like others I was never more venturesome than a Korma. However a few years ago I tried a Tandori and now that is my preferred Indian dish. Spicier than a Korma but IMHO the spices are more subtle.

6 hours ago, pH said:

This afternoon, we went for a walk round a local lake which forms the reservoir for a hydro-electric plant. The provincial electricity company provides recreation facilities around many of their reservoirs. (Don't worry, there are all sorts of precautions to stop people going down the penstocks.)

 

it had been raining lightly when we set out from home, but the rain had stopped by the time we got there. Here are a couple of general pictures of the lake:

 

 

 

 

General views in the forest through which the trails run:

 

 

 

This area of Canada is sometimes known as the 'Wet Coast', for obvious reasons. The rainfall encourages the growth of mosses. Here are examples of what can grow on trees:

 

 

 

My wife did a biology evening course. One of the assignments was to collect samples of 20 different mosses. She did that without going more than a couple of hundred yards from the house.

Is it not classed as a temperate rain forest? 

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

I actually have a degree of sympathy for Fergie. She was absolutely the wrong sort of personality to marry into “the firm”. I suspect that the sort of person who would be able to successfully marry into a Royal Family would be someone from another Royal Family (or very, very close to a Royal Family) - which probably goes along way to explaining the “why” of the Habsburg Lip...

 

Given how the various Royal Houses “put it about” over the centuries, shouldn’t it be more of a question of who is not related to the Royal Family, rather than who is?

On a slightly more serious note, I read in one book about the history of Britain that it is notable that there is no dimorphism between the aristocracy and the rest of the population of Britain, unlike on the Continent. Apparently, from Georgian times onward, the practice of marrying the wealthy daughters of successful merchants in order to replenish impoverished aristocratic bank accounts, has resulted in most of the British aristocracy managing to avoid the whole 12 finger business as well as keeping their gene pool similar to that of the rest of the population.

Certainly, an interesting theory.

 

The Habsburgs were so inbred that the last of the line , Charles VI was a slobbering impotent idiot. Even they didn't go as far as the Pharos's. DNA analysis of Tutankhamun has revealed that his parents were full brother and sister and that their parents were possibly the same. This would explain some of his congenital defects.

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

When I was a student in Huddersfield back in the early 70's there was a curry house near the railway viaduct on Bradford Road which we knew as Chiefeys.  It was of course, obligatory to call in for a curry on the stagger back from town on a Saturday night.  At the back of the shop was a huge and filthy old upright freezer.  There was much speculation as to the origin of it's contents.  Funny that we never saw many stray animals around.

 

Jamie

There was a fried chicken shop in Rush Green Romford that was shut down by the health inspectors when they found a dead dog in one of the freezers. It was the shop guard dog that had died on a Friday evening and they couldn't dispose of the corpse over the weekend and the weather was hot so they stuck it in the freezer.

[polybear]

53 minutes ago, BSW01 said:

On the agenda for today is applying the homemade decals to the turntable control panel. 

 

 

 

So that'll be 33, 45 and 78rpm then?

[New Haven Neil]

I don't as a rule nowadays eat curry that hot - it wasn't really by choice!  Previously the same dish had not been anything like as hot.  Your average Manxman doesn't eat spicy food at all, so all such meals here tend to be quite mild.  In days gone by, at sea I would eat the crew's curry on Indian crew ships, much to the disgust of my fellow officers, but I don't go for such hot things now.  It was still very tasty though, it is a very good restaurant.

 

The chainsaw repair was going well....was....until I blew the carb out with compressed air, not having seen a tiny spring still in place - it went into orbit.  New one en-route!  So it was back to log splitting, we have an electro-hydraulic splitter so it isn't too much of a task to split a month's worth, took maybe an hour and a half.

 

Mrs NHN still hedge laying, I'm keeping a low profile as my foot cannot handle standing on the sod bank at the bottom of the garden.

 

[greatcoleswoodhalt]

On 31/01/2021 at 10:09, jafcreasey said:

2°C

E 9kt, gusting 19kt

 

Brighter this morning however showers are threatened from 16:00, if the Met Office is to be believed...

 

The Big Garden Birdwatch will be completed after a walk though we'll be lucky to make double-figures if yesterday was anything to go by.  We ordered a couple of Flutter Butter feeders last weekend but think they probably arrived too late to entice any visitors.

 

For Mum's birthday yesterday Mrs C and I bought her a three course 'caddy' for dinner - "carefully prepared and oven-ready" - hopefully something a little different to break-up the monotony.  It was the closest thing to being able to host (as we would have done normally) and came from a chef she enjoyed watching on Great British Menu so hopefully a winner!

 

Roof repairs, first mentioned on here in November, are finally planned to commence tomorrow - any water damage in the intervening months hopefully only cosmetic.  Scaffolders arrived Wednesday, achieving a 'full house' on the stereotype bingo card.

 

As Fletcher (from Porridge) would say, "don't let the b*stards grind you down".

 

Stay safe.

 

1°C

N 16kt, gusting 32kt

 

Bitterly cold and snowing. 

 

Unfortunately little to report, once again, following another week of working from home.  The roof is slowing becoming watertight and will hopefully be finished this week, weather depending.

 

It was good to see the Isle of Wight Steam Railway announce details of their 50th Anniversary Gala in June, offering a flicker of hope on the horizon.  

 

Mrs C did her best to improve spirits yesterday arranging a 'cinema night' - pizza followed by my favourite, The Italian Job, which never gets old.

 

 

Talk of curry this morning means a request will inevitably now be submitted for next week...  A firm favourite (including Thai), though agree that heat shouldn't come at the expense of enjoyment!

 

Stay safe.

[iL Dottore]

Good afternoon all,

 

Mrs iD and of the Wolfpack are now off to the holiday hovel. And as for me: a very pleasant brunch was had. As described earlier it was with sausages, black pudding, white pudding, mushrooms, bacon and scrambled egg.
 

After enjoying my meal without the disapproving looks of my dogs (disapproving because they don’t get fed from the table). This was followed by a small, but perfect, bowl of mascarpone al limone, followed by un caffè corretto (an espresso which has been fortified by the addition of a shot of alcohol, usually grappa but in this case Italian brandy).

 

The erudite and informed discussion about the various types of curry is most interesting and most apt - given that tomorrow evening a lamb curry will be on the cards. I am not sure what it will be (probably a dopiaza), but as I toast and grind most of my own whole spices before using, I will definitely adjust the level of capsaicin in my meal accordingly. Having trained my tastebuds in Malaysia, I quite like to “feel the burn“, but chilli heat should not come at the expense of other flavours (I have an amusing story to tell about a bowl of curry mee, a hawker-stall in KL and jetlag, but that can keep for another time). As far as I am concerned, the chilli heat in any sort of dish should be sufficient, upon first sampling, to slap the tastebuds into wakefulness and full function. Once woken up, the tastebuds will do their job properly and you will be able to appreciate every subtle flavour nuance in the dish. So, with Mrs ID being away in the Holiday Hovel and enjoying her cheese and plain boiled potatoes, I can take this opportunity to fire up the afterburners for my meal tomorrow.

 

Now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, teens and tots, I am off to have a most enjoyable afternoon snooze. Something I rarely get a chance to indulge in.

 

Talk later!

 

iD

Edited February 7, 2021 by iL Dottore

[Gwiwer]

Afternoon all and welcome to Sunday.  A day not living up to its name at all but neither is it living up to the dire predictions of Exeter's Seaweed Prognostications Department.

 

We fully expected to awake to a snowy universe outside based upon the warnings.  Instead we awoke to a bone-chilling cold but precipitation totally absent.  There was no snow.  No ice.  And no rain either.  Just grey and a fresh breeze blowing.  

 

Since mid-morning we have had light flurries of polar snow (the small-grained stuff rather than the big fluffy crystals which are temperate snow) though nothing has settled and the volume has been small.  The forecast now suggests we shall remain clear of the worst of it.  Dr. SWMBO has ventured forth fully rugged-up for a short walk; she almost turned back in on the doorstep after feeling the strength of the wind, which has picked up a little, and its biting coldness.  She should swap places with me at silly o'clock tomorrow outside for hours at a time!  

 

Awaiting Ocado who have subbed a couple of items one of which must be returned; they have swapped a zero-sugar product for a full-sugared one which SWMBO is unable to eat.  Other than that we continue to have full orders and haven't had anything missing for many weeks now - and very few substitutions.  

 

I feel it might be Muggertee No.4 Time.  Anyone else want to join me?  Synchronised online tea-slurping could become a "thing"   

 

[Winslow Boy]

In relation to the meat contents of curries I recall being told by my father who was an environmental health inspector, of an establishment that hosted a meal for several of his colleagues only to have a number of them succumb to food poisoning. Needless to say how that tale ended.

 

One other thing he advised was that if you wish to avoid food poisoning was  to always have the grilled gammon.

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

There was a fried chicken shop in Rush Green Romford that was shut down by the health inspectors when they found a dead dog in one of the freezers. It was the shop guard dog that had died on a Friday evening and they couldn't dispose of the corpse over the weekend and the weather was hot so they stuck it in the freezer.

That's their story!  

 

I once found myself served something which was described as "chicken and pineapple" on the menu board but which, upon opening, looked a little different to all previous chicken.  It tasted a little unusual too but not entirely unlike chicken.  I didn't finish it.  I wasn't sure of its credentials.  

 

The Health Inspector visited a couple of days later and found several deceased cats in their freezer, suitable prepared as chicken-replacements.  They closed the establishment on the spot.  The proprietor reopened it the next day.  

 

A random visit to the area 42 years later found the same Chinese Takeaway trading under the same name and indeed the very same (and now very sad-looking) sign.  I didn't bother paying a visit.  

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,

I say to those who doubt royalty in the UK, think of your most hated prime minister, with presidential powers...

 

Tis blowing 50mph + here, North Easterly, and darn cold. The local weather station saying -3C which according to an online wind-chill calculator is  a "feels like" -14.1C

 

I'm awake after an extended eyelid inspection, after  the long walk with Ben the I don't care, we're going Collie, wrapped up in bed getting warm.

 

Just a light coating of vertical snow so far, not much has arrived horizontally, but what has, has coated vertical surfaces white, trees, buildings, and while out there, me.

 

I can see  waves of white stuff hurtling past the windows.

 

Pre being turned into an icycle, three shelves and one end wall vertical were attached to one of the previously built shelf units. The two remaining bits of wood for that side have been made to measure, painted, and are drying in the workshop.

 

Planned trailer work has been suspended, as I couldn't find the ear defenders. They are helmet attached anyway, so I've ordered a pair of 34db SNR defenders for the workshop.

 

Final decisions have been made on the trailer rebuild, weather permitting, two more sections need to be cut from the old flatbed, then some long sessions cutting and grinding to shape in the workshop. Before paint galvanising, top coating and assembly.

 

Dinner , a hot stew will arrive shortly, the bathroom heater is on ready for a long soak, but first..the afternoon build up the fire session.

 

 

[NGT6 1315]

Well, my hunch seems to have been correct. Following a call from one of our shift planners (who himself seems to have been called in outside of normal hours, as they’re not normally in office on Sundays) who asked if I would agree to doing an overnight route inspection shift.
I also volunteered for possible similar shifts in the coming nights, should they be required. With temperatures predicted to plummet as low as -17°, that may well happen. He said they’re presently planning from one day till the next, but he’ll get back to me as soon as he knows more.

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, TheQ said:

 

I say to those who doubt royalty in the UK, think of your most hated prime minister, with presidential powers...

Some countries manage to have a democratic system without electing dictators. I know this isn’t a popular view in the UK and the feudal system will continue for quite a long time. 

[Barry O]

I had a "mixed grill" in a Restaurant in Ankara, Turkey a few years ago.. It included cat chops.. and cat has a very powerful and distinctive taste and texture ....

 

No snow here still but .. it is very, very chilly.. (as in flippinfreezing!)

 

Been catching up on some reading  -  luckily this has not required to much thought as my brain has decided to go on go slow!  (must be the cold as, unlike trolls my brain doesn't work as well in the cold(!)

 

 I have been "constructing" the fortnightly Leeds MRS CIO Newsletter.. boy do we, as a society have members with a very wide modelling base.

 

Now for a mugadecaff.

 

Stay warm!

 

Baz

 

@monkeysarefun  in your case.. stay cool!

[tetsudofan]

Well, the Met Office forecast did not look dafter than ever this morning as down here in the south east corner of Kent we got exactly what was forecast - snow and its still snowing now. First time my Japanese-style teahouse has got covered in snow:

 

 

as did the stone lantern on the left side of the garden:

 

 

OK, not as much snow as we got a few years ago:

 

 

but we got snow as forecast.....and it came in from the east as forecast as can be seen by the amount of snow on the side of the other stone lantern in a more exposed part of the garden facing eastwards:

 

 

Keith

 

 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Snow had arrived as predicted but has only settled on cars, flat roofs and plants, its not settling on soil or roads and pavements. With a predicted low of -2 C. here tonight we can expect the roads and pavements to be skating rinks by morning. Muggatee awaits be back later.

Edited February 7, 2021 by PhilJ W
spill chucker

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

That's their story!  

 

 

The dog I mentioned was a fully grown Alsatian.

[simontaylor484]

Birthday wishes to Chris s  Aunts

 

We had heavy rain last night that changed to snow and settled but turned to rain and disappeared

 

when we used to get calls for dead cats when we got there they had often gone it always used to make you wander where too.I

 

There was a Chinese restaurant near xscape that has bad press when someone eat there and had to go to the dentist with toothache it turned out of was a pet microchip stuck in their mouth.

 

There was another Chinese 100yards away that got closed down twice. The first time for running a brothel upstairs the second for storing meat outside 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Covidiots again, this time someone sent out to rescue them has been badly hurt.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-55970536

 

[Danemouth]

50 minutes ago, tetsudofan said:

Well, the Met Office forecast did not look dafter than ever this morning as down here in the south east corner of Kent we got exactly what was forecast - snow and its still snowing now. First time my Japanese-style teahouse has got covered in snow:

 

 

as did the stone lantern on the left side of the garden:

 

 

OK, not as much snow as we got a few years ago:

 

 

but we got snow as forecast.....and it came in from the east as forecast as can be seen by the amount of snow on the side of the other stone lantern in a more exposed part of the garden facing eastwards:

 

 

Keith

 

 

 

 

 

Not running trains then Keith? 

 

Dave

 

 

[NGT6 1315]

Well, I just learned not just one but both of our snow ploughs derailed as the day went on. That must have trashed route service plans for good, I guess!

[New Haven Neil]

No snow here, just a few flakes whizzing around in the wind occasionally.

 

Last time it snowed here at sea level ish properly was 7 years ago IIRC.