Early Risers.

[Chris116]

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Something else I ordered from the US had been on a round trip of a few states via USPS but when it gets to the UK will be handed over to Hermes. 

You can count that as lost without trace. Hope the supplier has another dozen for you, one might make it to you.

[AndrewC]

Another fun filled afternoon. A practice strategy 'meeting'. In reality is nothing more than PowerPoint poisoning. The last time I was exposed to this much bullsh!t was in the cattle barns at the Calgary Stampede. 

[AndrewC]

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Apparently a pc monitor being delivered today can not be delivered “safe”. Now I know this means can’t be left in a secure place if we are out but it does generate visions of it being delivered by a sword swallowing unicyclist.

Something else I ordered from the US had been on a round trip of a few states via USPS but when it gets to the UK will be handed over to Hermes. 

 

As noted previously when 2 of our beer orders went "missing" from Hermes. 

 

[Ian Abel]

BIN day.

All done.

 

Yesterday another timely walkies with Whitney, returning to the car just as it started to persist it down!

Today, nothing much expected, though the Mrs will be accompanying Meagan to the vet with a sick (limping) chicken later in the day

 

Yesterday also received a package - unfortunately NOT for parallel steel - patio lights and hangers for same. Hoped to put them up today but the weather below will render that a non-starter looks like.

 

18 at BINS out, raining, supposed to make 23 for a high with rain, then rain, and...rain <sigh>

 

Carry on.

[The Lurker]

28 minutes ago, Ref44 said:

 

 

Who does their IT?

 

A lot of local and national government IT seems to be that way. According to Mrs Lurker, who worked in that field, a lot of it is down to poor specifications, or poor/non-existent system testing or both.

 

When HMRC were designing a new online filing system, they sent out their IT teams to taxpayers including us to discuss how their planning was going, where they were headed etc. We got our then head of IT involved and having had a long discussion on all things IT technical, almost all of which went above my head, his strong advice to them was "non, no, no, don't do it that way, here is what you should do." Needless to say, they did exactly what they were going to do anyway and it all failed when they came back to show us how it would work.. They then had to spend time and effort going in a different direction, although I will admit I could not tell you whether it was what our IT guy had recommend. What I can tell you was that they had employed IT contractors who had no idea about the tax system they were trying to deal with so my input went well above their head too!

 

[polybear]

Bear received a response from the Council following my "missed collection" submission:

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for contacting the Council.

The collection team has reported that your bin was unable to be collected because: excess Side Waste.

 

What Cr@p. 

Bear can remember when the bin man used to come round every back garden and empty "proper" dustbins one by one.  Nowadays we're about one step away from having to tip the cr@p into the bin lorry yourself - after first attending a compulsory H&S training course - that you have to pay for.  No wonder people fly-tip.  I gave up going down the big recycling center yonks ago as I got p1ssed off trying to dodge the nails and screws that littered the place - sometimes unsuccessfully.

Does that qualify as a Rant?

 

In other news:

Bear phoned Bosch to discuss dishwasher installation and QR codes.....

First suggestion was "Can you borrow a phone that works with QR codes....?"  No.

Then the Bosch website wouldn't recognise the model number, despite being offered in their own drop-down list....

So in the end the Customer Service Assistant sent Bear a pdf of the instruction drawing (I have a paper copy) and that allowed Bear to click the QR codes (never knew you could do that....) and get very helpful installation videos.  One twenty five minute phone call later and Bear had the info required.

 

Bear's Thought for the Day:

Why the F. don't Bosch include links to the videos on their website, or at least show printed links to the website addresses on the paper drawing included with the dishwasher?

Does that qualify as a Rant?

 

Bear has decided that toast and marmite is now justified, followed by a (big) chunk of SCC with a scoop of ice cream on the side.  It's been one of those days 

Edited May 20, 2021 by polybear

[AndrewC]

20 minutes ago, The Lurker said:

A lot of local and national government IT seems to be that way. According to Mrs Lurker, who worked in that field, a lot of it is down to poor specifications, or poor/non-existent system testing or both.

 

When HMRC were designing a new online filing system, they sent out their IT teams to taxpayers including us to discuss how their planning was going, where they were headed etc. We got our then head of IT involved and having had a long discussion on all things IT technical, almost all of which went above my head, his strong advice to them was "non, no, no, don't do it that way, here is what you should do." Needless to say, they did exactly what they were going to do anyway and it all failed when they came back to show us how it would work.. They then had to spend time and effort going in a different direction, although I will admit I could not tell you whether it was what our IT guy had recommend. What I can tell you was that they had employed IT contractors who had no idea about the tax system they were trying to deal with so my input went well above their head too!

 

Just wait until you get to play with CDS and TSS. 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, AndrewC said:

Another fun filled afternoon. A practice strategy 'meeting'. In reality is nothing more than PowerPoint poisoning. The last time I was exposed to this much bullsh!t was in the cattle barns at the Calgary Stampede. 

Perhaps you could accidentally post the PowerPoint presentation Aditi has prepared for the next French conversation Zoom evening. Something to do with TinTin. 

[Gwiwer]

10 hours ago, TheQ said:

As for Gwiwers comments about incompetence..  There is one obvious example of the statement... Politicians ... of all parties...

And in the next breath ..... because as we all know common sense and competence have not always gone hand-in-hand with rail operations

 

10 hours ago, TheQ said:

As for Gwiwers Future it looks like he'll be directly or indirectly be working for Great British Railways.. 

It's far too soon to know what the effect will be.  We received a letter today explaining that my employer will be one of the first to transition off EMRA into the new arrangements which was going to be the case anyway.  The difference is that we have some idea now what the new arrangements might look like.  It appears - so far - that rather than TUPE us again (most of use are TUPEd over from Stagecoach days) we shall remain with the same employer but the scenery will change around us.  More new managers - of course - bringing with them big ideas and making some waves.  

 

Safety will not be compromised.  A change one particular new face tried to impose without either warning or negotiation very recently has been ignored.  Some of us have received letters reminding us that failure to comply constitutes a disciplinary offence.  The union has been alerted and has informally (thus far) suggested that any change to a safety-critical working method must first be approved by the relevant safety standards manager and be negotiated through aforesaid union.  Their advice is to disregard the letters but keep them in case of need.

 

In other news your scribe managed to be in the right place at the right time today - thanks to fortuitous rostering - to announce the passage of a famous and costly water-boiling object.   Not just passively observing its passage but in charge of the platform at the time and with the unique opportunity to make a suitable PA announcement.  Including, of course, the advise to "Stand behind the yellow line"   You don't get to do that every day.  

 

Dr. SWMBO is recording her Radio 3 interview as we speak.  I shall find out how it went when she emerges.  I expect stress and mutterings of doing it wrong when she is one of the best on the planet at doing it right.  According to no less a person than Sir David Attenborough.  And Sir Pawsworthy Pussycat has had his annual tricycle ride to the vet for the required jab but complained vocally all the way there and back about the wind blowing through his carrier.  First world problems, eh?  

 

I am required to create dinner.  I'll be back later.  In between times I am continuing to read through the Gummint's publication on the creation of GBR.  If my employer's initials stand for "Something Will Run" then GBR might be "Government Bureaucracy Returns"

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Chris116 said:

You can count that as lost without trace. Hope the supplier has another dozen for you, one might make it to you.

I think it may actually be the last of a limited edition! 

[Barry O]

chuckinitdarn.. again!  PAH!

 

Watching the methods used for building a fence from dwebe next doo. Dig hole. Put piece of 4 by 4 into hole. Hit with large mallet. get 4 inch by 1/2 inch planks. Get son(?) to hold in place.. apply am electric screw inserter (well you don't need to predrill holes do you?)  and put one screw in each plank at the uprights. (why bother with more than one screw?) .. so they  definitely don't plan to be here for a long time(!).. a strong gale should blow it over... mind you he did learn not to park on the shale out front.. but the concrete blocks he had to put under the wheels are still in the shale... No wonder he has no work installing bathrooms(!)

 

I foresee GBR costing lots of money and failing spectacularly...

 

Baz

[Chris116]

8 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I think it may actually be the last of a limited edition! 

I would say that it is sunk without trace but I doubt that it is a boat or submarine!

[southern42]

' afternoon all from red dragon land.

Wet and windy or Chuckinitdarn and blowing a hooley - whichever you prefer.

 

This afternoon's click n collect groceries sorted and stored away.

Thumb (almost recovered) and opposite index finger (yes, cut the other day on scissor blade whilst cleaning it!) both received a new plaster.  BoDitis? Is it catching one wonders?

Hope BoD is well, by the way.

 

Toot on the flute the last few days, despite the plasters over the holes, has been promising, Today? Less said....  

 

Listening to Boy George. 'Nothing' to watch on the screen was handy when doing the click n collect when I kept it full screen - not distracted!   Playing it again so I can listen to the words and move to music!

 

 

Fitt  and  Elfie keeping pace.

Take care all and play safe.

_________

Best wishes

Polly

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. The water infection is still there but its receding. Very windy outside but no rain but distant thunder can be heard. Still feeling cream crackered so it will be an early night tonight.

[polybear]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Bear has decided that toast and marmite is now justified, followed by a (big) chunk of SCC with a scoop of ice cream on the side.  It's been one of those days 

 

No Ice Cream....

Hippo - emergency beam out......

[J. S. Bach]

6 hours ago, Tony_S said:

 ...snip... Something else I ordered from the US had been on a round trip of a few states via USPS but when it gets to the UK will be handed over to Hermes. 

I would have thought that USPS would hand it off to Royal Mail. Whenever I have gotten something via RM, it has always been handed off to the PO.

 

As an aside all of the carriers that I have had both here and back in Ft. Lauderdale have been stellar. The one in FTL, I could almost set my watch by; she would show up between 1000A and 1051A almost every day. I would sit on my porch and chat for a minute or so with her.

[JohnDMJ]

Good evening all from what seems to be an area of increasingly blustery wind with the potential for more than just a little light drizzle (no, @polybear, not of lemon!)

 

Only one comment from above posts:

 

11 hours ago, TheQ said:

As for Gwiwers Future it looks like he'll be directly or indirectly be working for Great British Railways.. 

The lettering on UK yacht sails for international events is GBR.. sponsor ship anyone?

 

Didn't it used to be just the letter 'K'? That's what my Marblehead yacht carries, although it has not been in the water for some years!

 

Dilemma: which to do first; eat or look at an errant Z21 WiFi Hub?

Edited May 20, 2021 by JohnDMJ

[J. S. Bach]

42 minutes ago, Chris116 said:

I would say that it is sunk without trace but I doubt that it is a boat or submarine!

Lionel did offer a submarine on a flatcar at one time!

 

https://www.lionelsupport.com/media/servicedocuments/71-6351-250.pdf

[JohnDMJ]

1 hour ago, JohnDMJ said:

Dilemma: which to do first; eat or look at an errant Z21 WiFi Hub?

 

Errant WiFi hub investigated. Norwegian Blue found.

 

Dinner Time!

[simontaylor484]

@polybearyou are the second person i know that raids the Co op with a sackbarrow. My erstwhile collegue Smurf who has been mentioned on these pages and TNM regularly raids the Airedale Co-op with a sack barrow to carry his packs of lager home

[simontaylor484]

The number of times we were given forms to sign at the Council and we were told by the Union rep not to sign them because they had not been agreed 

[The White Rabbit]

22 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

After several days trying to get some sense out of 'the system' regarding Dad's current treatment (or rather lack of it) I finally got a breakthrough. When he was transferred last Friday from Whitchurch hospital to a nursing home in Shrewsbury, my understanding (and Dad's) was that  it was supposed to be for a continuation of his rehabilitation and I had been promised by the ward sister at Whitchurch when I voiced some misgivings about the transfer that he would continue to receive physiotherapy. However, when he was seen at the nursing home by a doctor he was told that he didn't qualify for physiotherapy unless he funded it himself, which caused me to see red and to question the veracity of the Whitchurch personnel - fairly forcibly. Today, though, Dad was visited as a result by a social services lady who then rang me to say that the problem had arisen because the doctor at Whitchurch had put on Dad's notes that he didn't want to return to his home but wanted a permanent place in a nursing home, so his present situation was just a holding arrangement pending such a move. Apparently his situation had been discussed with me (true) and I had agreed to him going permanently into a nursing home (false) as well as being told that in this case he wouldn't receive any more physiotherapy (also false). I leave it to you, gentle reader, to gauge my reaction to this. Fortunately the social services lady seems to be a nice and understanding human being who has realised the error and is working on having Dad's status changed so that he is classified as a patient needing rehabilitation care, including physiotherapy, with a view to returning home in due course. I await developments.

 

Oh, sadly, this is so familiar. Some minor differences but the same old story, mainly due to:

 

21 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Through our trials and tribulations with the health care and social services is that some of these so called professionals just do not listen

 

Professional deafness, but not in a good/tactful way. The system and procedures are more important than patients and their family. 

 

I forecast any appeal for groundcrew would lead to the positions being oversubscribed. If you're not already doing this, copious notes made at the time, with names, dates, locations. And I hope it works out well asap. 

 

 

Meanwhile, I'll get back to knitting thermals and building a large boat... doesn't feel much like May. Double Pah, with an extra scoop of Huh. 

Edited May 20, 2021 by The White Rabbit
.

[polybear]

33 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

@polybearyou are the second person i know that raids the Co op with a sackbarrow. My erstwhile collegue Smurf who has been mentioned on these pages and TNM regularly raids the Airedale Co-op with a sack barrow to carry his packs of lager home

 

No lager.  Just cake....

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

70mm of rain.  It is fair to say it is sipping down, several trees down too.  May....pah.

Could you send some of it this way?

 

We're on our third day of forecast isolated showers. It rained for half an hour on my walk today. A very gentle rain. So gentle that the concrete path in front of my house still had dry spots when I got home.  I doubt there was enough to mist the rain gauge.

 

On Monday it started to rain at the beginning of my walk. By the time I had satisfactorily adjusted the hood to my raincoat it stopped, more quickly than it started.

 

Official reporting stations in the area are airstrips. Yesterday no rainfall was measured at PDX yet a small airport south of the metro area saw over 8mm.

[leopardml2341]

I've had to put the heating on