Early Risers.

[Ozexpatriate]

12 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

It can be spelt either way, my name is spelt with two L's.

Yes indeed.

 

I do suspect that in the case of HRH, The Duke of Edinburgh it is the Greek spelling ( Φίλιππος ) that is influential. With one lambda, the translated result is one "L". I of course have no idea what is on his actual birth certificate / naturalization papers etc.

[Barry O]

Goodnight all!

Baz

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Dare I mention that Arthur Itis and his sidekick Si Attica seem to have gone into hiding. I'm certainly not going to look for them.

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Firstly I hope Gordon S is doing well and agree with most  that HRH The Duke of Edinburgh did a fine job. 

Not been around today as late morning SWMBO and myself went down to Newark to visit my sister in her new house.(well she mored  in last August but we haven’t been able to visit). Fortunately the weather was fine and not chilly so we sat in the garden for a couple of hours then we took her dog for a walk.

She been out and got me some lemon drizzle buns but being gluten free they are I hope not attractive to bears. Anyway the remaining ones will be eaten by tomorrow.

Been a long day so I’ll bid you all a goodnight.

Robert

 

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

After this morning’s 2 shopping trips, the rest of the day was spent resting! Although I did do some work on working out ratios for some gearboxes I want to make for the engine shed doors. I want doors to go from closed to open in around 4 seconds, I settled on 3.75 as it makes the maths easier. The doors will move 90 degrees, which would be 1/4 of a revolution, so 4 x 3.75 makes 15 seconds for 1 revolution, meaning a final speed of 4 rpm. The next step will be to measure the speed of the motor, then I can work out a final ratio. For my calculations I’ve assumed the motor does 13200 rpm, to get a final speed of 4 rpm I need approximately 3300:1

 

This evening, we didn’t watch any TV, not that there was much to choose from! Instead we resorted to the digibox and watched some recorded TV instead, it’s always good to have back up. So we watched a couple of documentaries about WWII and a few some old episodes of ‘The Repair Shop’ far more entertaining than what was being broadcast, plus it freed up a bit more space for future recordings. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Pacific231G]

 

A sad day, though I think everyone who ever met the Duke of Edinburgh must has been interviewed for TV news today. In truth there's nothing much else that a national broadcaster can do on such an occasion than stay with it; there's not really a point where you can go break away and get back to general entertainment. As so often is the case I found that BBC World Service got it right with a coherent and properly respectfull hour long programme going through his life with just enough detail and nobody being asked how they felt. 

For the national networks, certainly the BBC, the tribute programmes and probably the whole transmission schedule, would of course have been prepared well in advance and kept up to date. Live contributors would have been discretely approached some time in advance. 

My impression is that Prince Philip (It IS one l) was a man who served his adopted country well and faithfully from the time he joined the Royal Navy at the start of the war (in which he was mentioned in dispatches) and through a lifetime of carrying out an incredibly difficult role and finding ways to make it meaningful.

 

Time for bed.

Edited April 9, 2021 by Pacific231G

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, inner Temple Hare,

About 4 hours sleep so far, at least I got to sleep straight away, more I hope to come. Woke with some pain from the wrong , "right" elbow I think I slept on it badly, that has eased now. Both forepaws very stiff.

 

Dad met a random selection of Royals, as a senior civil servant at Edinburgh castle, mostly the royals were technically "off duty" behind the scenes at the time. 

 

It was pretty obvious that something was seriously wrong with Prince Philip, when he was smuggled out of hospital, normally you get the royal standing at the front door, thanking the senior staff as they leave.

 

HRH Prince Philip was a great sailor, sadly, he was too busy to do as much as he liked, a famous reported incident on the water, was someone not realizing who he was  shouted from boat to boat, "who do you think you are? Do you think you own the water?" His reply was " no but my wife does".

Princess Anne is a pretty good sailor too, having won races locally.

 

Strangely reading an strange book last night "the truth behind pub facts"  managed to mention both Bears and hippos in the same paragraph. The truth,  being bears having a common ancestor with dogs,  hippos with whales, camels and pigs.

 

Plans for today,

 Drill some holes in the trailer with the new set of cobalt drill bits.

 

Slightly alter a couple of uprights on the display level for SWMBOs doggy models for better viewing.

Then add two more shelves above.

Demolish leftovers of MDF,  there are a pile of 7 and a bit inch wide planks, left over from the library's 10inch shelves cutting from 8ft by 4ft sheets.

 The hallway shelves will be just 6 inches deep, so producing shelving blanks and firewood.

 

Time for more sleep..

 

 

 

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

The sad passing of Prince Philip was extensively reported yesterday, as is only right and proper.  However, feel free to disagree with me but I consider that the BBC lost all sense of proportion in the extent of its coverage.  I wonder what else happened yesterday?  On past form we will never know.

 

Puppers, what makes you think that I am going overseas at this precise moment?  It is of course illegal at present to travel overseas.  In the hope that this will not always be the case, I have booked two weeks in Morocco – in November!  By then, I imagine, the travel industry, which has been brought rather too close to its knees, will have made those who rule us realise that their insistence on an expensive Covid test is neither realistic nor consistent when they are giving away much cheaper ones.  If my trip be cancelled, I will not have to pay through the nose for a test and I keep my money.  We shall see what happens.

 

Something nice did happen yesterday.  Whoever chooses the records played on Tesco’s tannoy made the inspired choice of “My baby still cares for me” by Nina Simone.  That is the slinkiest record I know.  It injected just a little pleasure into the task of pushing the trolley/zimmer frame round the store.

 

Best wishes to all.  Honest.

 

Chris

[iL Dottore]

11 hours ago, PupCam said:

I'm afraid Chris we'll have to agree to differ on this.     Personally, I can't see that an overseas holiday is actually that essential just at the moment as we attempt to extract ourselves from the grip of this evil pandemic (unless of course you run an airline or hotel in wherever ...)  and, bearing in mind that the country (and the world) has just about been bankrupted by it, I think that the cost of a test imposed by a self-inflicted trip away is not actually that unreasonable. 

Well, quite.  I think there are too many people who cannot think beyond their own personal space and contemplate on how this pandemic has affected their own country and the world, not just themselves.

To be quite frank, although painful in the short term, in the long term I think the loss of cheap, mass tourism can only benefit both the environment and the communities which were (pre-pandemic) devastated by hordes of unthinking, uncaring tourists just ticking off their Instagram inspired bucket list (either that or -worse- because the destination offered “a cheap piss up and a larf”).

 

Although the past year and a half has been mostly bad news, the good news this week was that the Italian government has finally banned the huge “cruise“ ships from entering Venice.

 

Although not wanting to return to those days when only the Über-rich could afford to travel abroad (although nowadays the Über-rich rarely go “commercial”).  If people had to save up and/or think twice before travelling because overseas travel having realistic costs (no more flights to Prague for £10) and entry requirements (CoVID vaccination proof or just-before-departure test) I think that communities and environment would benefit.

 

Unfortunately, there is too much money to be made providing instant gratification to the mass market (“saving up” for something is such a quaint notion nowadays, so Fifties) so things are unlikely to change that much.

7 hours ago, PeterBB said:

....One of the great problems in recent years with student names was that so many of them were incorrectly spelt and caused no end of problems not to mention others with such long names...

Not so new, Peter. When I was a graduate student teacher, lecturing undergrads in the late 70s, it was a truism amongst us GSTs that if a student had a name like John or Susan, then they would tend to be on the right-hand side three-quarters of the bell-shaped curve; but if they had a name like “Moomshine-Bluebell” or “positive Wasserman” (don’t ask) then 99 times out of a 100 they would do badly/fail (and the 1/100th would do spectacularly well).

 

The topic of given names evokes a strong reaction from me, having spent my childhood (late 50s/60s) in the UK bearing an untranslatable name, unlike my brother who was blessed with not one but three Christian names that translate well into all European languages (“Christian name” - now that’s a term you don’t hear any longer, one used to have a Surname and a Christian Name [presumably deriving from christening]. German just has name and vorname).

 

And on that linguistic note I bid you a great weekend!

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Temperatures are low, potential rain showers in mid afternoon..it mustvbe cricket time!

 

Although herself has a league game to acore today my game is a friendly starting at noon. Hope I can remember the Laws....

 

@iL Dottore for some people the cheap holiday abroad gets them out of their everyday hummy drummy existence. Lots of people who make a living supporting these holiday makers have little or no other income... and are facing major problems regarding food and survival. A balance has to be struck.. venice have banned the cruise ships far too late.. but they are ill prepared for a continuing downturn in visitor numbers.. very Catch 22.

 

What are the alternatives for joe ou lic? Can they afford them ? We already see mental health issues as a problem..stopping all holidays won't help... consequences are very rarely thought through..if even thought of...

 

TTFN

 

Baz

[TheQ]

I make a point of calling it a Christian name.

Of which my first is of a WW2 battle in Africa that few of heard of, and as far as I know I'm the only one in the world with it.

My second Christian name, is normally a Scottish surname, there used to be a web site with counts of the number of people with that Christian or surname.. There were 175 people in the UK with that name as a Christian one.

[Andrew P]

Dullsday again, but never mind, its the weekend so I get 2 days of from doing bu66er all and can enjoy relaxing over the weekend.

 

Roof all sorted yesterday, and the man, 67 years old,  was up there in a Tee Shirt (NO hard hat, safety harness, steel toed boots, in fact he had trainers on) and did a splediforious job. Modern technology in the form of a camera in a phone enabled him to take pics of the problem, and the damage, and finally a couple of progress and finished photos for his records, and for us to see before parting with the Wonga.

 

No walk today, the back has already issued instructions on that front.

 

Have a good day one and all, stay safe and well, pump the iron if you can.

[Mike Bellamy]

1 hour ago, chrisf said:

I consider that the BBC lost all sense of proportion in the extent of its coverage.  I wonder what else happened yesterday?  On past form we will never know.

 

I think yesterday was the first time in 12 months that the BBC News at 10pm did not mention any of the usual Covid statistics.

[TheQ]

18 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

Dullsday again, but never mind, its the weekend so I get 2 days of from doing bu66er all and can enjoy relaxing over the weekend.

 

Roof all sorted yesterday, and the man, 67 years old,  was up there in a Tee Shirt (NO hard hat, safety harness, steel toed boots, in fact he had trainers on) and did a splediforious job. Modern technology in the form of a camera in a phone enabled him to take pics of the problem, and the damage, and finally a couple of progress and finished photos for his records, and for us to see before parting with the Wonga.

 

No walk today, the back has already issued instructions on that front.

 

Have a good day one and all, stay safe and well, pump the iron if you can.

Are you sure?

https://www.workwearexpress.com/footwear/safety-trainers?gclid=CjwKCAjw9r-DBhBxEiwA9qYUpbVUO8qJ7-vhulMCWVkQZEB5J9qo9g3UYdWToPNAR-0msRJBhOSJVxoCTfEQAvD_BwE

[polybear]

7 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

She been out and got me some lemon drizzle buns but being gluten free they are I hope not attractive to bears.

 

 

Bear is happy to perform a full, free technical appraisal of such a device - just post' em down.  Sadly the tests cannot be performed on a non-destructive basis though, so return isn't possible.  Hic...

 

3 hours ago, TheQ said:

Strangely reading an strange book last night "the truth behind pub facts"  managed to mention both Bears and hippos in the same paragraph. The truth,  being bears having a common ancestor with dogs,

 

 

3 hours ago, TheQ said:

 

................hippos with whales, camels and pigs.

 

 

 

Bear's sayin' now't......

 

3 hours ago, TheQ said:

Plans for today,

 Drill some holes in the trailer with the new set of cobalt drill bits.

 

Bear wishes you much better luck than the numpty (who obviously knew less than diddly squat about all things DIY) on a recent edition of "A Life In The Sun" on TV the other day.  He managed to bend a 7mm-ish masonry drill at 90 degrees to the drill chuck....

 

1 hour ago, chrisf said:

Something nice did happen yesterday.  Whoever chooses the records played on Tesco’s tannoy made the inspired choice of “My baby still cares for me” by Nina Simone.  That is the slinkiest record I know.  It injected just a little pleasure into the task of pushing the trolley/zimmer frame round the store.

 

Love the video:

 

 

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Although the past year and a half has been mostly bad news, the good news this week was that the Italian government has finally banned the huge “cruise“ ships from entering Venice.

 

Bear has witnessed Such vessels navigating the Canale di Fusina" - it really is a "You CANNOT be serious??" moment.  Think driving a Challenger Tank along a garden path....

The locals will no doubt be very glad too - when the grokkles decamp off the ship they clog the place like there's no tomorrow, buy a cappucino and a snow globe then clear off back to the ship - the meals on ship are bought and paid for, after all....

 

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

 ......but if they had a name like “Moomshine-Bluebell” or “positive Wasserman” (don’t ask) then 99 times out of a 100 they would do badly/fail (and the 1/100th would do spectacularly well).

 

If only the parents of such offspring stopped to give a thought about the consequences of such names when little Tarquin etc. starts school....assuming of course that such parents are indeed capable of thought.....

Incidentally, Bear did Google "positive Wasserman";  now that would REALLY be an unfortunate name.....

 

In other news:

Bear now has an appointment with a paint brush (and roller), which should be for the last time (on this room at least)

 

[polybear]

23 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

Roof all sorted yesterday, and the man, 67 years old,  was up there in a Tee Shirt (NO hard hat, safety harness, steel toed boots, in fact he had trainers on) and did a splediforious job.

 

 

A neighbour of Bear had scaffolding put up for ONE missing roof tile....all courtesy of the insurance company.  No doubt their excess payment/hike in subsequent premiums for making a claim far exceeded what it would have cost for a man with a ladder.

[Andrew P]

15 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Are you sure?

https://www.workwearexpress.com/footwear/safety-trainers?gclid=CjwKCAjw9r-DBhBxEiwA9qYUpbVUO8qJ7-vhulMCWVkQZEB5J9qo9g3UYdWToPNAR-0msRJBhOSJVxoCTfEQAvD_BwE

WOW, a far cry from my days of wearing steel toe capped boots. Cheers.

[Andrew P]

9 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

A neighbour of Bear had scaffolding put up for ONE missing roof tile....all courtesy of the insurance company.  No doubt their excess payment/hike in subsequent premiums for making a claim far exceeded what it would have cost for a man with a ladder.

Old man with Ladder, he say; No problem, Bungalow with low roof. 

[chrisf]

Bear, I love the video too!  Apologies for mis-remembering the title.

 

Chris

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit chilly this morning but Arthur Itis has been put back in his box by a brace of Nurofen.

9 hours ago, chrisf said:

Greetings one and all

 

The sad passing of Prince Philip was extensively reported yesterday, as is only right and proper.  However, feel free to disagree with me but I consider that the BBC lost all sense of proportion in the extent of its coverage.  I wonder what else happened yesterday?  On past form we will never know.

 

Something nice did happen yesterday.  Whoever chooses the records played on Tesco’s tannoy made the inspired choice of “My baby still cares for me” by Nina Simone.  That is the slinkiest record I know.  It injected just a little pleasure into the task of pushing the trolley/zimmer frame round the store.

 

Best wishes to all.  Honest.

 

Chris

BBC news as usual goes OTT with such happenings. For your information World War III has just started, only joking of course, or am I?

Just about to play Nina Simone for the third time, be back later. 

Edited April 10, 2021 by PhilJ W

[jonny777]

3 hours ago, chrisf said:

Greetings one and all

 

The sad passing of Prince Philip was extensively reported yesterday, as is only right and proper.  However, feel free to disagree with me but I consider that the BBC lost all sense of proportion in the extent of its coverage.  I wonder what else happened yesterday?  On past form we will never know.

 

 

 

Chris

 

Just you wait until Brenda dies. You have seen nothing yet. 

 

Anyway the BBC will stop fawning when the bosses consider they have done enough for their knighthoods. 

 

But back to less cynical subjects, it is a grey but dry morning in North Somerset. I can see some blue sky in the distance, but it doesn't appear to be coming this way. 

 

I was quite shocked and saddened this morning to read of the medical problems Tracy Emin has had to endure. She had a large internal cancerous tumour on her bladder, which has now been removed; but the surgeons also took out her uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, lymph nodes and part of her . She now has a urostomy bag, which must be a nightmare - and she is only 57. At least her latest 3-monthly test has come back as 'clear', which is good. 

 

I give thanks that so far I have managed to survive with all my bits intact.