Early Risers.

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[chrisf]

How do!

 

Another bitty day yesterday, with some laundry storing up trouble in the form of ironing today or tomorrow.  One welcome distraction was rooting around in my collection of books to check whether Ambridge was based on anywhere in particular.  The next will be trying to find the rest of the books about The Archers that I possess.  Like so many other things, they are in the house somewhere.  Looking for something is always a voyage of rediscovery.  Lunch was gammon steak, leaving the remains of the stew for today and tomorrow.  JohnDMJ, I do not recall seeing any reference to e-numbers on the sauce mix packet and do not feel inclined to go through my dustbin.

 

Today I have to order my next batch of medication.  This does not include the pain killers suitable for assuaging my painful knee.  Fortunately the pharmacist at my local chemist will give me advice whether or not I ask for it.  I really need to buckle down to the exercises that the physio has advised me to do, though enthusiasm is sadly lacking.  It appears that the pain may have something to do with sitting around even more than usual, which sort of makes sense.  One thing is certain: I want to be in full walking order by early July.

 

The week ahead has not a lot in the diary, save for Area Group on Wednesday evening.  Last month we discussed, tentatively, returning to the pub and having a meal.  That day cannot come soon enough.  Neither can the announcement expected on Friday about what will happen with Sidmouth Festival this year.  I am expecting something to happen, not least because the organisers have been awarded loads of dosh from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.  I dare say all will be revealed in due course.

 

Best wishes to all on the sick list and everyone else

 

Chris

[jamie92208]

Good morning to all. It's sunny but still chilly. As usual when I went across to let thechens out, I was met by Harry the pheasant  and his two ladies. I am told by the powers that be that there are called Sally and Meghan.  They gather under the bird feeder to hoover up spilled grain.  

 

Not a lot got done yesterday but I did sort out some props for my Zoom presentation that's in a weeks time. I'm having a rehearsal tonight.  Various other jobs will be tackled, some grouting of tiles and demolishing the old and badly cracked chimniererre. This is going to be replaced by an iron wood burner that we have been given.  Not sure what else will get done.

 

Obviously congratulations  to Simon and his family are in order. Very glad that the young wallet opener has arrived safely.  

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Scheduled tasks for today... nil.

 

Potential tasks...well her indoors was muttering about "some things need doing" pah!

 

Oi have only stayed in Paris once. Cheapish hotel.. small but comfortable.  Local restaurant was, like Mike said really a steak and frites place. Lunch was provided by the French MoD.. and included a nice small bottle of red and some very mobile camembert. 

 

Time to.. go make the mugatea...

 

Stay safe, stay well.

 

Hope Daves Dad and Gordon continue to i prove health wise.

 

Baz

[Andrew P]

Its another glorious start to the day and week ahead I hope, here in Appy Amp Sher, the shorts need digging out from the wardrobe, and the grass may be cut later. 

 

Have a good day one and all, stay safe and well, keep as fit as you can and stay HAPPY.

 

Edited April 19, 2021 by Andrew P

[polybear]

10 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

... crafted by those who didn’t pass the IKEA entrance exam ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/04/18/is-the-holiday-worth-it/

 

Bear noted with interest the hand-driven compound mitre saw from Screwfix - searches could find nothing for Bear on the site, only leccy ones.  Bear has a very old (but rarely used) Nobex jobbie - very accurate; it had become very stiff to use so Bear stripped it to find four rectangular nylon bushes in the slide action.  Whilst nothing obvious was spotted, Bear decided to reassemble it with the bushes turned 180 degrees to even out any wear.  Initial reports suggest it might have improved the situation considerably, though I've yet to cut anything with it.  I did enquire about new bushes with the UK Importer (Axminster Tools - who were very helpful) but after investigation it appears that Mr. Nobex sold the rights to another company several years ago - and the new company don't supply spares for the older models.  An equivalent replacement is the think end of two hundred quid, with some users loving it and others saying it's not very accurate (the original Nobex were accurate to 0.06 degrees, supposedly).  Finding another make that isn't chinese junk proved unsuccessful so far.  So I hope my fix proves successful.

 

As for de-cluttering, Bear is also faced with that and has started accordingly.  Some things I could never part with, despite being of "no use"; however I am getting more ruthless as I'd rather have control to (hopefully) see them go to a new home than be chucked into a skip on my demise.  I plan to time the latter to coincide exactly with the exhaustion of the SCR.

 

9 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Over-rated, over-priced and, fortunately, over there.  We decided the €65 for the tour bus was ree-d1ck-you-less.  London isn't cheap but charges less than half of that to see probably rather more.  The hotel was rather poor and in a dodgy area but was the only one we could find within our price range that wasn't an hour from the centre.  We are fairly wised-up travellers and didn't expect much but we didn't even get the little we might have expected.   The fromagerie prices were also frightening.  

 

Bear always recalls reading an article that mentioned the Parisian fondness for dogs, whilst being less than keen to collect the sh1t they leave behind.  The wearing of wellies whilst wandering the streets of Paris was recommended.  No idea if that's still the case though.

 

Bear's Confusion of the Day

"Low Deposit Mortgage Scheme Announced"

First Time Buyers will get cheaper deals if they can stretch to a bigger deposit, analysts say

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk

 

In other news:

A bit more kitchen planning, listing stuff on the 'bay, a Co-op raid with maybe a walk thrown in.  That's the plan.

 

Bl00dy hell, it's 0809 and Bear's not dressed yet....

[jonny777]

Dry and sunny again here in North Somerset. 

 

Did I notice the mention of the dreaded word - shorts? 

 

No, no and a million times no. I have enough trouble trying to prevent that glowball in the sky from giving me skin cancer (from which a number of my relatives have succumbed), without exposing extra areas of my flesh to the problem. 

 

Although Covid has alerted me to how much society seems to run on personal vanity. I read of the queues at the barbers after lockdown was eased, and wondered why people are so obsessed with the length of their hair? Who are they trying to impress? And, another article told women that it was now ok to get out their favourite frock from the wardrobe; but if they enjoy wearing a frock so much, why not do it indoors or while in the back garden? It seems that a lot of people need an audience. (Edited: to say that, having read this again, I appreciate the irony of posting these thoughts on a forum; to an audience). 

 

However, Covid has convinced me that backwards time travel is not possible, because surely someone from the future would have come back and warned us in 2019? Although, I suppose if someone had warned us, the pandemic might not have happened and there would be no need for them to come back and warn us..... oh dear, I may need another lie down. 

 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2021 by jonny777

[iL Dottore]

15 hours ago, JohnDMJ said:

 

....I regret that your reference "Rompidenti" stretches Google beyond its limits. However, less cooking is usually better I find!

It means, basically, “tooth breaker” (if you want good online translations, ditch Google Translate and use DeepL - much, much better https://www.deepl.com/en/translator)

14 hours ago, polybear said:

....Bear wonders what the current prices of meals are in Swiss "Joe's Cafe" etc. establishments?  I'm not talking Michelin Star here - just high street, reasonably edible, live-on it kinda food.  Pizza joint... 

You’d be looking at about Sfr 15 - 30 a head for a lunch. Pizza generally is in the SFr 15 - 25 range per pizza.

Given Bear’s culinary - ahem - “quirks”,  a “Bear-Friendly” lunchtime “schni-po-sa” (schnitzel, pommes frites und salat) would go for about SFr 16.00 or so (though the frites would be frozen ready-mades)

13 hours ago, PupCam said:

....Talking of Doctors, oh how I'm looking forward to playing the "Appointment Lottery" on the telephone tomorrow morning at 8:00am sharp (probably) in the vain hope of getting a telephone appointment.   I remember the good old days when you could actually go to a doctor's surgery for a proper, face-to-face consultation.   Fat chance of that round here now!

A good friend, who practiced as a GP in Switzerland for 35 years before retiring year before last, is most scathing about NHS GPs - and that was before the current lock-down shenanigans.

My current GP (aka “The Boy Doctor” - given his age), has been running his GP surgery pretty much normally (apart from sensible measures taken to prevent contagion) ever since the first - very severe - lockdown ended. I’ve had no problems getting appointments as and when needed....

9 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

February 2020 SWMBO and myself had a medium pizza and soft drink each with a view of the Eiger. No change from £50.

Restaurant was in a nice location, but not on the main tourist drag, mainly locals using it. Ambiance was ok similar to a diner but did few slightly stained as we were the only non locals.

 

You’ve been done, son. No change from SFr 50 (not £50) would be not unreasonable, Having said that, near the Eiger SFr60 (£50) for two isn’t too unreasonable (but see below)

8 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Having holidayed in Paris and Swizzerland in quick succession, as in four weeks, 12 years ago (50th birthday & silver welding anniversary) we found Switzerland (RhB areas) cheaper than Paree.  Which doesn't say much for Paris! Jeepers it was expensive.  Couldn't even afford a big mac there now. Should I want to. =no.

 

I think I missed congratulating Simon on his entry to the wallet-emptying phase of his life!

TBH Neil, where the RhB runs through aren’t exactly the most expensive parts of the country (try around Geneva or the ski resorts patronised by the glitterati for that). Paris, like most big cities that get loads more tourists than visitors (I make a distinction between the two), can be eye-wateringly expensive

8 hours ago, Tony_S said:

When we were in Switzerland we went to the Piz Gloria restaurant on top of the Schilthorn. This had featured in the James Bond film starring George Lazenby. Aditi was determined to eat there, everything seemed to carry the usual premium that you might expect but we went for the all you can eat (drink was Prosecco) buffet for 30 CHF each. I think we did quite well. 
Tony

 

Good value for money, methinks.

7 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

....but the food prices were simply ridiculous. ....

Forgive me for being cynical, Neil (puts on Captain Cynical spandex) but I doubt that any of those establishments made much use of pre-prepared food and the microwave. Even the simplest of Bistros pride themselves on the quality of their food - no matter how simple (but if we are talking about heavily touristed areas then all bets go out the window....)

5 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

....Part of the problem nowadays is having a next to worthless £ which automatically means everything costs more because we tend, naturally, to convert the price to the money we use regularly....

That’s the problem, Mike. The exchange rate for pounds is very much in my (Swiss) favour. When I came to Switzerland in 1989 £1.00 would buy you SFr 3.50, then for the longest time it was about SFr 2.50 to £1.00. Currently, £1.00 only buys SFr 1.25. This makes London, Paris, Tokyo for me, very affordable.

As for your second point, it took me the longest time to accept prices in SFr without converting - in my head - to GBP. Nowadays almost the opposite happens: not having lived in the UK for a number of decades, I haven’t become inured to the slow and inexorable price rises of everything in £, so when I meet up with the “Brains Trust” in a pub and the pub ask £5.00 for a pint of beer, my first reaction is “whoah, that’s a lot” (my GBP frame of reference for pub prices being way out of date), but then I convert to SFr (it’s SFr 6.37) and then it’s “that’s not bad for a large beer” (in CH a “grosses bier”, a fraction over a pint, comes in around SFr 7.50 - SFr 8.50).

 

Well dentist visited, appointments set for getting dental crown measured and fitted, so it’s “hi-ho, hi-ho it’s off to work we go”.

 

Have a splendid Monday

 

iD

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, from a sleepy Fraggle.  Internal battery is flat, 0830 rising again, I'll get a reputation.  This is presumably after yesterday's trudging through the glen with the field archery club.  I'm used to walking, but not to negotiating a setting bog. (It's drying out, you'll recall).

 

10c here currently, hazy sunshine, and a 'honey-do' list waiting for me. Pah.

[PupCam]

15 hours ago, PupCam said:

Talking of Doctors, oh how I'm looking forward to playing the "Appointment Lottery" on the telephone tomorrow morning at 8:00am sharp (probably) in the vain hope of getting a telephone appointment.  

I must be getting better at multiple phone operation! 

 

I encountered a new step this morning; instead of going from "We're Closed" straight to "Permanently Engaged" I got straight through (well after the 5 minute monologue about Covid)  to a receptionist and a telephone appointment was arranged for today.  It was even narrowed down to an AM appointment!     

 

Puppers is now confused and will need to lie down for a bit....

[TheQ]

Many years ago when Crufts was still in  London, we took a cheap deal on a hotel near by,  Meals not included...

 

SWMBO being picky we perused the menu soon after we were in the room... Ouch.. Double ouch.. So I took a walk down the nearest corner shop bought a pint of milk and a packet of Wheetabix, that was breakfast. Total price, that of a cup of coffee down stairs.. As intended already,  loaf of bread was bought and fillings. That was lunch, Crufts food prices were ridiculous even back then. The room kettle was used to make a flask of coffee...

Evening meal.. a chip shop down the road..

 

It was fairly obvious they were attracting people to stay with low prices, then trying to recoup money  by charging huge prices for meals..

[tigerburnie]

Morning all, it's dry here, not frosty but overcast and rather gloomy, we may go for a cycle ride later and a bit of the "G" word, I might have a look for my muddling mojo as I seem to have lost it again......................................

[polybear]

41 minutes ago, PupCam said:

I must be getting better at multiple phone operation! 

 

I encountered a new step this morning; instead of going from "We're Closed" straight to "Permanently Engaged" I got straight through (well after the 5 minute monologue about Covid)  to a receptionist and a telephone appointment was arranged for today.  It was even narrowed down to an AM appointment!     

 

Puppers is now confused and will need to lie down for a bit....

 

Puppers has been lulled into a false sense of security.  I hear GP's are taking part in a new "gullible" study.....

 

29 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Many years ago when Crufts was still in  London, we took a cheap deal on a hotel near by,  Meals not included...

 

SWMBO being picky we perused the menu soon after we were in the room... Ouch.. Double ouch.. So I took a walk down the nearest corner shop bought a pint of milk and a packet of Wheetabix, that was breakfast. Total price, that of a cup of coffee down stairs.. As intended already,  loaf of bread was bought and fillings. That was lunch, Crufts food prices were ridiculous even back then. The room kettle was used to make a flask of coffee...

Evening meal.. a chip shop down the road..

 

It was fairly obvious they were attracting people to stay with low prices, then trying to recoup money  by charging huge prices for meals..

 

Been there, done that.....

When I first went to Korea (2000) a work buddy warned me about the food (he was there in the late 80's).  He (knowing my, er, eating preferences, advised me to take as many mars bars, kit kats, cup a soups as I could carry.  When I was there, the Koreans had discovered western food.  Pizza?  No problem, sir.  Much of my life support system came back home, unopened (not the choccy stuff, strangely....).  I was doing the DIY brekkies though, cos' that worked out rather lucratively on the expenses.....

 

[pH]

48 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

When I came to Switzerland in 1989 £1.00 would buy you SFr 3.50, then for the longest time it was about SFr 2.50 to £1.00. Currently, £1.00 only buys SFr 1.25.

Two of us hitched to Lucerne in 1966. (The original aim was to get to Rome, but that turned out to be too ambitious.) The exchange rate then was about 12 Swiss francs to the pound.

 

Evening meals were very repetitive for the 4 or 5 days we camped there - a roast chicken, bread and yoghurt from a supermarket, eaten at the lakeside. Dessert was several large glasses of Eichhof beer. We found quality and pricing very acceptable!

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

It’s a bright sunny start to the day here in England’s northwest. However, I shall be spending this week in the cellar as I’m making a start on removing pulling the ceiling down. It’ll be messy and mucky but it’s got to be done, it’s really the last big preparation job that’s left, after that the new stuff starts to go in, instead of old stuff coming out. Before I start though, I’m putting heavy duty dust sheets on the dining room floor, which is directly above the cellar, to reduce the amount of dust that will inevitably get through the gaps in the floor boards!

 

Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. 

 

Brian

[PupCam]

10 minutes ago, polybear said:

Puppers has been lulled into a false sense of security.  I hear GP's are taking part in a new "gullible" study.....

You are probably correct and Puppers has just fallen for it!   

 

Still, looking on the bright side, clearly your cynicism level is still improving after the recent setback.   Spill the beans, how much LDC medication did you have yesterday?

Edited April 19, 2021 by PupCam

[Tony_S]

29 minutes ago, polybear said:

When I first went to Korea (2000) a work buddy warned me about the food (he was there in the late 80's). 

I have never been to Korea (Aditi very nearly booked a cruise that went there) and so we have only eaten in Korean restaurants in London and Dublin. Of course they have have been doing Korean food in the same way as Indian restaurants do Indian food in the UK. The tearoom in one of the Southend parks served Korean food at weekends for a while a few years ago. We never went as we only went to that park on weekdays when it was less busy. 
Tony 
 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Woke up this morning about seven and looked out and it was very foggy. Its now cleared and it looks like we're in for a good days weather. Tea has brewed so back later.

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

18 hours ago, PupCam said:

 

A good friend, who practiced as a GP in Switzerland for 35 years before retiring year before last, is most scathing about NHS GPs

The CQC report on my GPs practice rated them as good. I am inclined to believe them and also would agree with them. Just thought I would put this in as people are quick to complain when something goes wrong but rarely comment when things work. One of the main complaints about GPs is getting an appointment. To see why I suggest people should look at how many health professionals as a percentage of population there are compared to other countries. What was it about the NHS GPs that the retired Swiss GP found to be scathing about. I really can’t think of anything about the family members I know who are general practitioners that deserves that term. 

[Gwiwer]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear always recalls reading an article that mentioned the Parisian fondness for dogs, whilst being less than keen to collect the sh1t they leave behind.  The wearing of wellies whilst wandering the streets of Paris was recommended.  No idea if that's still the case though.

When (and where) we visited the dogs were, as is Parisienne and broadly French tradition, revered and got seats to eat and drink at café and restaurant tables.  We knew that was the custom but still found it offputting. 
 

There was dog waste on the streets but not excessively so. It probably only got noticed because in the two countries we call home picking-up is both a legal requirement and almost universally observed. 
 

What troubled us possibly more than the dogs were the West African street people. Begging to the point of violence, filthy, aromatic in the least-pleasant way and freely making use of shop doorways and other corners for their own natural functions. Eeewww 

[Pacific231G]

Another lovely sunny day for not sitting in front of the PC doing editorial stuff - which is what I should do today.

 

On restaurant prices. I found in Paris that, if you had a travel pass, the best bet was to take the metro a couple of stops to "some place de ..." ioutside the central area. There any of the cafés would do a very decent plat de jour or three course prix fixé lunch for about 2/3 the price of a cr*p one in the tourist or main line termini areas. As always, eating where the locals eat, makes sense. 

I once got a very good deal, possibly from SNCF, on a three night stay in the Montparnasse Mercure with a great view from about the sixteenth floor of the approach tracks to the terminus (actuially not that interesting as it was just TGVs and suburban sets seen as it were in T scale) This was a much more upmarket hotel than I normally stay in  but i was rather taken aback to see that they wanted something like €20 for the buffet breakfast. It didn't take me more than about five minutes to find a local café round the corner that would do a perfectly good petit dejeuner for about 4€ (5€ if I wanted an egg)  

 

[BSW01]

Currently sat having a well earned muggertea, enough ceiling has been removed to almost fill one sack. It's now quite heavy and I won't put anymore in it. These are industrial grade very heavy duty sacks picked up from my last employer, so there is little chance of them bursting. Tea now finished, so it's back to work for now. 

[PupCam]

11 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

The CQC report on my GPs practice rated them as good.

Indeed, as is my own however that rating was applied 4 years ago (in fact I rated the practice myself as very good because, at the time, it was). 

 

However time has moved on and, just the same as most other places, a number of extenuating circumstances apply e.g. huge increase in local population, cutbacks, cutbacks and more cutbacks, staff retention difficulties because of the pressure etc etc etc and  I fully appreciate the mounting pressure and difficulties they are working under.   And if I'm reminded any more that "There's a pandemic on you know" I'll scream!

 

BUT when an individual has been trying to speak and better still see a doctor for many weeks to manage recent health problems with very limited success and that process is frustrated to the point which results in 111 advising of a post-midnight nocturnal A&E visit (Oh yes and by the way don't drive yourself there .... ) it is VERY hard to be totally objective.      Personally I find not being able to breath at times quite scary!    

 

Anyway, I await further developments as we speak.

[iL Dottore]

51 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

The CQC report on my GPs practice rated them as good. I am inclined to believe them and also would agree with them. Just thought I would put this in as people are quick to complain when something goes wrong but rarely comment when things work. One of the main complaints about GPs is getting an appointment. To see why I suggest people should look at how many health professionals as a percentage of population there are compared to other countries. What was it about the NHS GPs that the retired Swiss GP found to be scathing about. I really can’t think of anything about the family members I know who are general practitioners that deserves that term. 

He wasn't scathing about the quality of the GPs as medical professionals, but rather everything else - patient difficulties in getting appointments, difficulties - as a professional - in getting specialist treatment appointments for patients as and when needed, (not when some admin somewhere decides to hand out an appointment).

 

Overall, UK trained physicians are rated very highly amongst professionals over here as clinicians, who feel that they (that is the UK practicing MDs) are let down by woeful administration and a frequently cumberome, slow to respond and insensitive NHS bureaucracy.

 

But it is just one Swiss (retired) GP's opinion.

 

iD

Edited April 19, 2021 by iL Dottore