Early Risers.

[Brian D]

4 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Where's Tarquin gone?  Is nothing sacred? 

 

 

Bad press imho. Apparently all said Tarquins are insulating something or other by supergluing them selves to motorways. A lot of em look like an age group who should know better, or is it "early onset", or has the world gone mad? 

[Ozexpatriate]

5 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

I thought that Flirts were a type of multiple unit made by Stadler.

Ah, like this I presume? I did not know that.

[Tony_S]

4 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

 

My guess would be that someone at the satellite provider has deliberately turned some knobs on the encoder to produce a higher level of compression to squeeze more content through a fixed bandwidth.

And make the upgrade seem better.  

[Tony_S]

13 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I have to say that made me smile. No offense to your young nieces - I won't suggest any flirts' names.

I did notice the autocorrect had corrected first to flirt. I thought I had corrected it before anyone had noticed. 

[monkeysarefun]

3 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I’ve only got one such monitor connected to mine. Just to show that occasionally when getting a new pc it may be sensible to RTFM after connecting the Alienware PC to power, monitor keyboard etc I couldn’t see how to turn it on. I looked everywhere for an on button. Not sure what caused me to press the alien icon, I had  assumed it was a badge. I did feel silly. 

 

 

But on the upside you do get to choose what colour you want the on switch to glow/pulse..   Along with choosing the LED  lighting scheme for the  rest of the box and the keyboard , that takes a surprising time to set up. Too many choices!

[polybear]

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

I saw the Big give advertised on You Tube the other day in the UK the Lichfield canal trust were asking for donations that were going to be doubled. They weren't the only charity involved.

 

 

"The Big Give" is now up and running - it ends at 12pm on the 7th December; any donations to charity are doubled at no cost to you (and I suspect Gift Aid with increase it yet further).  There's a huge range of charities - from The Big C to Hospices, Air Ambulances, Animals etc. etc.  There's even one for Bears 

I even found one for Hippo's....I think......

https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a056900001tyfMVAAY

Edited November 30, 2021 by polybear

[Tony_S]

1 minute ago, Tony_S said:

I did notice the autocorrect had corrected first to flirt. I thought I had corrected it before anyone had noticed. 

And the young ladies aren’t named after locos either!

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[Tony_S]

2 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

But on the upside you do get to choose what colour you want the on switch to glow/pulse..   Along with choosing the LED  lighting scheme for the  rest of the box and the keyboard , that takes a surprising time to set up. Too many choices!

The keyboard with led effects wasn’t available here with a full UK keyboard, only international layout. So I just ordered it with the fairly basic one. I do however like illuminated keys so I added a Corsair brand keyboard. The time to set up was basically to learn how to stop the rainbow and rainfall pattern effects and just have plain blue or white. I am very boring!

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Highlight of the day, fish and chips for tea after a tiring day involving bookwork and mil. Anyway it’s over now. So goodnight.

Robert

ps
Can feel a rant coming on, better save it for tomorrow.

[monkeysarefun]

9 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

The keyboard with led effects wasn’t available here with a full UK keyboard, only international layout. So I just ordered it with the fairly basic one. I do however like illuminated keys so I added a Corsair brand keyboard. The time to set up was basically to learn how to stop the rainbow and rainfall pattern effects and just have plain blue or white. I am very boring!

My home laptop is  a 17" DELL G7 which is pretty much  Alienware spec with all the LED options.  After 2 days of using it  with the keyboard and underside LED strips slowly scrolling through the entire colour spectrum via pretty colour pulsing effects  I too have set it to boring pale blue! 

Edited November 30, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[Tony_S]

11 minutes ago, polybear said:

I even found one for Hippo's....I think..

The Birmingham Hippodrome wasn’t for Hippos! I must have been there to see pantos when I was little. There were pantos at the other theatres too. I am sure we also,went to the “Alex” (Alexandra Theatre) and on a junior school trip to see “Toad of Toad Hall” at the Birmingham Rep.

[Tony_S]

3 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

My home laptop is  a 17" DELL G7 which is pretty much  Alienware spec with all the LED options.  After 2 days of using it  with the keyboard and underside LED strips slowly scrolling through the entire colour spectrum via pretty colour pulsing effects  I too have set it to boring pale blue! 

My car is installed with all kinds of led lighting for knobs dials and inside storage spaces. I have set them to very dull red. 

[Ozexpatriate]

8 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

The top one hundred names chosen for new-borns. And some that are so out of fashion that no child has been given them. https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/family/top-100-baby-names-2021-25575274#source=push

I was trying to decipher where this data actually came from. The article references a source called "BabyCentre" but links to another Daily Mirror page.  This seems like a sample of people who volunteer this information rather than actual demographic data.

 

In the US, the Department of Social Security keeps track with their Popular Baby Names website. (They register birth names for social security cards.)

 

You'll see a lot of names in common with the UK, though it does say this about "Tarquin".

Quote

Tarquin is not in the top 1000 names for any year of birth beginning with 1900.

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by Ozexpatriate

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

The Christmas tree and decorations have been extracted from the staircase area and are now in the large cellar room, waiting to be brought upstairs tomorrow morning. The tree will then be assembled and the decorations added, that’s my day sorted out for tomorrow then. 

 

After that, I double checked all the printed sheets for the water tower, just to make sure everything was there, which it was, so that’s all ready for Ava and me to assemble on Saturday. 

 

This evening, we had our weekly conversation with Vickie. There’s not a lot to report that hadn’t already been mention Saturday when they called to pick up Ava, but it’s always nice to have a chat. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[monkeysarefun]

26 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

In the US, the Department of Social Security keeps track with their Popular Baby Names website. (They register birth names for social security cards.)

 

Our individual state governments  make top 100 data available, eg NSW

 

None of the most popular names  in my class of 1981 - David, John,  Paul and Mark - crack the top 100,  now its Theodore, Xavier, Kai and Beau. 

 

And no Bruce, Sheila  or Kylie - stone the flamin' crows!

 

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Ozexpatriate]

14 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

... now its Theodore, Xavier, Kai and Beau. 

Pull the other one!

 

Theodore? Like this:

 

More seriously, for 2020,

 

Seven of the top ten NSW boys' names match in the top ten USA boys' names.

Six of the top ten NSW girls' names match in the top ten USA girls' names.

 

That's surprisingly consistent.

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[BR60103]

I am now getting spam eMails where the sender or title have the letters double spaced or certain ones replaced with numbers/symbols.

I suspect this is to confuse or elude the spam filter, the way some persons try to evade the profanity filter.

 

[iL Dottore]

20 hours ago, TheQ said:

Weatherspoons has announced a deal with Budweiser group.. To allow premium beers to be sold... (John Smiths and Strongbow to be dropped)

 

Stella, Corona, Bud, and Bud light...    Premium beers???

You are, as they say, having a larf?
In Switzerland we have our own “home-grown” yellow fizzy water with alcohol with one brewery dominating the market (at least in German Switzerland) and this is competitively priced. So only poseurs drink the (expensive) imported stuff. 

Why they do? I don’t know!

19 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

A bit more about Carl Hiaasen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Hiaasen Many of his books are chronological so its better to start with his first novel 'Tourist Season' but I would also recommend 'Lucky You' and 'Skinny Dip' for aficionados of Tom Sharp.

Thanks for the tip. An order for a boxed set and a few individual novels has been placed.

14 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

The top one hundred names chosen for new-borns. And some that are so out of fashion that no child has been given them. https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/family/top-100-baby-names-2021-25575274#source=push

Poor little bleeders. Do the parents realise the hell their kids are going to go through at school named Willow or Neo? (I should know, growing up in the UK in the 60s having an Italian name that doesn’t translate into English was no stroll in the park, I can tell you). Furthermore, assuming the kids with those names manage to make it through puberty, in the job market they’ll be up against people named John or Susan and companies can be very conservative in that regards (with all else being equal when competing for a job, my money would be on Jane Mary Brown rather than Willow Sunrise Nova Smith)

13 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

No, I really mean 'on something' and if it's that good can we all have a bit of it?

Alas, no. The only “mind altering substance” I’ve ever used is alcohol and even then (mostly) in moderation. Back in the 60s and 70s when my contemporaries were “turning on, tuning on, dropping out” (or getting “bladdered”) I was doing “none of the above”.

Friends at the time claimed that I was “born aged 45”

8 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

If that is the same as the Samsung 112 inch or something  we have at work its actually tiled screens rather than one single big panel.  (the article demanded I disable my adblocker and I said no)

Apparently, it is just one large panel and (if I correctly recall a tech article I quickly skim-read), Samsung is on the way to making the first Million Pound TV - which is/will be only available “to order” and will be as big as the side of a house.

(I’m surprised about the ad block thing, I didn’t have that problem - perhaps because I’m outside of the UK and it’s geo-restricted?)

7 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

…..I always used to joke that I was going to call one of the kids Jesus, you could imagine the looks shouting them in for their tea. 

A not uncommon name amongst Latin-Americans, although apparently it's pronounced (more or less) as Hay-sus as opposed to Gee-sus.

 

Rough night post-booster vaccination: couldn’t sleep more than an hour at a time and had plenty of muscle and joint pain to enjoy as well. Not helped at all, by Lucy - quite literally - jumping on my chest at 2am as she wanted - not to go out - but a change of room and sofa….

 

Happy Hump Day

[chrisf]

Greetings

 

After the collapse of my festive arrangements I had hoped to have Christmas dinner out rather than fending for myself.  A few phone calls have put paid to that idea.  My first choice restaurant is, unsurprisingly, fully booked on Christmas Day and my second favourite will be closed.  Oh well, if I can’t have the best I shall just have to make do and muddle through.  At least if I do have to cook I will not be wasting so much time watching seasonal tripe on TV.

 

Before that, I am having lunch today with a friend in Peterborough.  We have a favourite gastro pub in Helpston and on past form should have it very much to ourselves. 

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris   

[jamie92208]

 

 

7 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Ah, like this I presume? I did not know that.

And their earlier range was called KISS.  At least one person in Switzerland has a sense of humour.

 

As to Tarquin, we have plenty in France.  However it may well not be the name on their UK passport. We use it  as a generic term for Brits with a certain accent thst can be heard sounding off in bars and other public places. Usually about the French.

 

Anyway it's wet and still dark here.  Much discussion was had last night about our UK trip. It all depends on how long our PCR test result will take to come back.  

 

Chris, I hope that you do get something sorted out for Christmas. PlanB for us is dinner with a couple of friends.  However we would  much prefer to be watching a certain 2 year old unwrapping parcels.

 

Now to gird my loins for the day ahead.  I did a 4 mile walk in the afternoon  sun yesterday. Today it's raining and windy so felling two dead and Ivy covered trees is not on the agenda.  Probably the ironing and some tidying in the shed.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[JohnDMJ]

Morning Awl.

 

45 minutes ago, chrisf said:

Greetings

 

After the collapse of my festive arrangements I had hoped to have Christmas dinner out rather than fending for myself.  A few phone calls have put paid to that idea.  My first choice restaurant is, unsurprisingly, fully booked on Christmas Day and my second favourite will be closed.  Oh well, if I can’t have the best I shall just have to make do and muddle through.  At least if I do have to cook I will not be wasting so much time watching seasonal tripe on TV.

 

Before that, I am having lunch today with a friend in Peterborough.  We have a favourite gastro pub in Helpston and on past form should have it very much to ourselves. 

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris   

 

Ch*****as rarely enters my plans these days. 'Lunch' will most likely comprise a large tin (contents of) of twiglets and baked beans on toast.