Early Risers.

[iL Dottore]

Good Morning All,

Lucy continues to do well. We have another vet appointment this morning which may/may not require her to be hospitalised for an infusion depending upon whether or not the vet thinks Lucy remains dehydrated (‘though Lucy has been eating well and I’ve been making sure that her food has been somewhat “soupy” so she gets plenty of fluids).

 

Those wishing to be sociable over the Christmas period are likely to be disappointed as the Western World is stumbling towards further restrictions thanks to the omicron variant of the coronavirus. Unfortunately, it’s too soon to determine whether or not this variant is more “benign” than the others (although definitely more transmittable), though the CDC is cautiously optimistic.

 

As the unvaccinated will remain a reservoir of potential mutations, I wonder if this will be our future: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/10/south-korea-cuts-human-interaction-in-push-to-build-untact-society

 

And on that note I remotely wish you a great POETS day

 

iD

[jamie92208]

8 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

All this talk of carrying knives made me recall an incident that was relayed to me by a colleague when I worked for the city of London. He was the supervisor for the grounds maintenance team in the square mile and had been looking at some plots in the barbican that we were responsible for. Anyway PC plod turns up and starts to question him, turns out he had been spotted 'acting suspiciously' I.e going behind shrubs etc. So this goes on for a bit and he's telling them who he is and why he's there then PC Plod says why have you got a knife. So he explains that he has a knife because a) he might need it for his job b) its a pruning knife so not something you would use to stab someone with. In the end they rang his boss who vouched for him. For those of you who may not be familiar  with a  pruning or cuttings knife is a bit like a pen knife bout 3" long but with concave blade. 

It's some years since I wrote law notes but if my forgettery  is correct, the offensive weapons legislation all have the rider " without lawful authority or reasonable excuse" attached to them. There are also specific statutory defences available for people such as a workman carrying his tools who grabs a tool to defend himself or another person.

 

Anyway, good moaning from a still dark Charente.  We had a reasonable day out to Niort with the hospital in the morning then shopping.  I also bought some 40/32 trousers.

 

Today I am off to Ruffec for a discussion about DCC, then an afternoon trainspotting.  A good prospect.

 

Regards to all especially Lucy and her staff.

 

Jamie

Edited December 10, 2021 by jamie92208

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Dry start and forecast to be a coldish day with sunny spells and the possibility of a shower or two.

Sad day today as we're off down South for the funeral of our dear friend Nigel.  Not looking forward to that.  We're only going to the service and won't be going back for the wake as we believe it will be too crowded.  I've already done an LF test and The Boss will be doing one shortly.  Ours are just up the nose jobs and have been for some time.   As Tony says ordered direct from gov. website via NHS app and normally delivered next day.

Farewell for now,

Have a good one,

Bob.

Edited December 10, 2021 by grandadbob

[pH]

8 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

It's intriguing that the word is possibly an origin for the term "Canuck" and that the Vancouver NHL team would choose it given the historical association with early, non-first nation settlement.

 

That article is the first time I’ve ever seen the suggestion that ‘Canuck’ is derived from ‘Kanaka’!

 

Here’s the Canucks’ own explanation of their name:

 

http://teamnameorigin.com/nhl/nickname/vancouver-canucks

 

It doesn’t rule out an earlier derivation for the name ‘Canuck’, but the team didn’t go any further back than the cartoon character Captain Canuck (or maybe Johnny Canuck) for their name.

 

(Incidentally, most of the team information on that page is at least 4 years out of date.)

 

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, windy dans le rock, 5 of those C's to ponder.

 

Good news re Lucy, and other medical reports seem acceptable.

 

My Leatherman knife blade is 3 1/2 inches long, just looked at it - so not a Mick Dundee job but just out of the acceptable range.  It really wouldn't be an issue here anyway unless used in anger, and most of the plod know me anyway as I used to work for them.  As my old boss is now a Superintendent I think he would vouch for me enough to make a bobby back off.

 

Bile club today, car powered I should think as roads are filthy after the storm and it isn't that nice out.

[pH]

1 minute ago, New Haven Neil said:

Bile club today, car powered I should think …

Specializing in rants?

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

We get our tests via the charity emporium her indoors volunteers at.

Last night's Zoom must be a first.. a talk on a layout in Australia received by members and guests of Leeds MRS CIO.

 

A lot of talking followed the presentation.

 

Today involves a stroll to the butcher for some of their excellent smoked bacon  a growler or two plus a lamband mint and meatandpotato pie for the weekend.. I will need the sustenance as her indoors has proclaimed Saturday to be "T" day..as in erecting the Christmas tree in its stand in the music room. PAH!

 

This will be a long job but once in place herself puts all the ornaments, balls,tinsel etc on it.. I am not "arty" enough to do it.

 

I do have two Swiss Army penknives..indeed one was given to me by the Tank Training team in Thun many years ago. Handyfor various things including opening beer bottles and yanking corks out of wine bottles.

 

Tea drinking now retired.

 

Stay safe! Hopefully our "missing" visitors are ok.

 

Baz

[polybear]

10 hours ago, PupCam said:

I will mention two things briefly;    Bread Pud        Hush Hush      Hmmm, does Puppers need one?

 

Puppers is retired - so need automatically becomes wants.....

(And if you want a H-H you'll need to be very, very quick - like today - and that'll take some searching for as well....)

 

 

10 hours ago, PupCam said:

Nice new floor looks good, hall & stair carpet happens tomorrow.

 

Bear predicts substantial loss of Canine blood should Puppers tread SAE30 from the garage onto the new carpet....

 

8 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

You can’t trust everyone to tell the truth, but I wouldn’t want you to miss the party. 

 

Will that be 12-30 for 1pm, at Number 10?  Just checking....

 

7 hours ago, petethemole said:

I have a Leatherman with a 3" non-locking blade.  

 

Bear has a cheapo Leatherman lookalike-ish jobbie.  I must dig it out and put it back in the jacket pocket for the next time I need to cut some of those bl00dy nylon straps....

 

In other news....

More battening today......I may be some time.....

[AndrewC]

Greetings from the boring borough. 

 

TFIF

 

Glad to see Lucy improving. 

 

Test and x-ray results are back. As predicted both my knees are totally f*cked. Formal consultation next Thursday. Now I have to contact castle Doom to book with the GP. I'd have better odds on the Euromillions than getting to actually see a human there. 

 

SWMBO's Chrimbo party is now in limbo. They've pushed the pause button on it for now. I'm waiting for the penny to drop on our "party" in Newcastle next week. Can't see it going ahead as it means about 40 out of 55 of us on trains, hotels, taxis, and the event itself. Another pack of tests ordered, just in case. 

 

edit: oops, forgot to paste in the bit about knives. The part of law around, legitimate, reasonable, etc is usually down to the plod. On the FB BBQ group I belong to there have been a few stories around brain dead police trying to charge and confiscate legitimate BBQ equipment only to have someone higher up put the kybosh on it. I've got a pair of 14" Old Hickory knives that would probably scare the crap out of most people. They look more like machetes. I box and disguise all of my knives when I transport for cooking or sharpening. 

 

 

Little else happening. Enjoy the weekend. 

 

Lastly, Canada has a solution for people whinging about testing: 

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by AndrewC

[TheQ]

Mooring awl, Inner Temple Hare..

Around 6 hours sleep not too bad I suppose.

 

With reference to the Banned Knives in the Bears comments.

There is a long list of banned items of weaponry on the HMG website, all are listed as totally banned with no justification for carrying them. It includes...

 

Butterfly knives Also known as ‘balisongs’. A handle that splits in the middle to reveal a blade.

Disguised knives A blade or sharp point hidden inside something that looks like an everyday object such as a buckle, phone, brush or lipstick.

Flick knives or gravity knives Also known as ‘switchblades’ or ‘automatic knives’. Folding knives where the blade opens automatically, by gravity or by pressing a button or something else on the knife.

Stealth knives Non metal knives or spikes which are not made for use at home, for food or as a toy.

Zombie knives A knife with a cutting edge, a serrated edge and images or words suggesting it is used for violence.

Swords, A curved blade over 50 centimetres, with some exceptions such as antiques, swords made to traditional methods, or swords made before 1954.

Swordstick, A hollow walking stick or cane containing a blade.

Push dagger, A knife where the handle fits within a clenched fist and the blade comes out from between two fingers.

Blowpipes, Sometimes known as ‘blow guns’. A hollow tube out of which hard pellets or darts are shot by the use of breath.

Telescopic truncheons, A knife that extends automatically, or by pressing a button or spring that is in or attached to the handle.

Batons Straight, side-handled or friction-lock truncheons.

Hollow kubotan, A cylinder-shaped container containing a number of sharp spikes

Shurikens, Also known as ‘shaken’, ‘death stars’ or ‘throwing stars’. A hard non-flexible plate with three or more sharp radiating points, designed to be thrown.

Kusari gama, A sickle attached to a rope, cord, chain or wire.

Kyoketsu shoge, A hook-knife attached to a rope, cord, chain or wire.

Kusari or ‘manrikigusari,’ A weight or hand grip attached to a rope, cord, chain or wire.

Handclaws, A band of metal or other hard material worn on the hand, from which sharp spikes come out.

Footclaws, A bar of metal or other hard material worn on the foot, from which a number of sharp spikes come out.

Knuckle dusters, A band of metal or other hard material worn on one or more fingers.

Cyclone or spiral knive,s A blade with one or more cutting edges that form a spiral and come to a point.

Belt buckle knife, A buckle which incorporates or conceals a knife.

 

Justification for carrying is always interesting, in the back of the landrover is my muddling tool box with various knives blades etc, including a full size stanley knife with a locking blade.. You can just imagine some baby officer arresting me for having that in a tool box, in the locked back of the landrover.. I watched one of those UK police programs where they did that to someone with a leatherman type tool in the tool box in the boot of a car... No it didn't get to court, but it did give the man arrested a lot of inconvenience  and he had to go to the police station again to recover the leatherman..

 

 

Just turned on 120 Amps of shunt... it's going to get warm in here...

 

T'is exceedingly soggy outside it has been chuckitdarn since about 03:00 , puddles are over maximum size and flowing down the roads, some roads have water from side to side...

 

Time to... start typing number....

 

PS I've been known to wander around the outside of my place carrying a Billhook  that might upset some people..

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by TheQ

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I was feeling a bit cream crackered last night so it was the hot-milk/rum/paracetamol last night before bed and a good five to six hours sleep. Not a lot to do today as I did a big shop on Wednesday and I have plenty of supplies in. Time for muggatee and after checking the rest of RMweb continue reading the novel

[Barry O]

Woa!  Sun shine, blue skies, breezey but reasonable.. just a tad cold for my walk !!

 

Baz

[simontaylor484]

Good morning all 

 

Glad to see Lucy is improving 

 

Last night/early hours of this morning Rolo the dachshund has joined the list of poorly doggies 

    He was fine when I went to bed I am often the last up this morning we woke up to find he had been sick all over the place almost as if he had been a human out on the ale. He seemed a little subdued before school run but he was waiting behind the door when I got back.

  I feel really upset that he was ill whilst I slept Andi couldn't help him. I have given him plenty of water available to him and will see how he goes.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

It’s raining, what a surprise! As it’s Friday that means a trip to the butchers and the Trafford Centre are the plans for the day, after that there’s nothing else planned. 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian

[Winslow Boy]

3 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

It's some years since I wrote law notes but if my forgettery  is correct, the offensive weapons legislation all have the rider " without lawful authority or reasonable excuse" attached to them. There are also specific statutory defences available for people such as a workman carrying his tools who grabs a tool to defend himself or another person.

 

Anyway, good moaning from a still dark Charente.  We had a reasonable day out to Niort with the hospital in the morning then shopping.  I also bought some 40/32 trousers.

 

Today I am off to Ruffec for a discussion about DCC, then an afternoon trainspotting.  A good prospect.

 

Regards to all especially Lucy and her staff.

 

Jamie

 

This would have been the late eighties/early nineties Jamie and suspect it was more a case of 'snobbery' as residing in the Barbican was seen as being a 'cut above the rest' and not wanting the 'oinks' in.

[Andrew P]

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

Good morning all 

 

Glad to see Lucy is improving 

 

Last night/early hours of this morning Rolo the dachshund has joined the list of poorly doggies 

    He was fine when I went to bed I am often the last up this morning we woke up to find he had been sick all over the place almost as if he had been a human out on the ale. He seemed a little subdued before school run but he was waiting behind the door when I got back.

  I feel really upset that he was ill whilst I slept Andi couldn't help him. I have given him plenty of water available to him and will see how he goes.

I hope Rolo is better soon Simon.

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from a clear but slightly chill Sidcup. No news yet on whether we will be expected to be in the office next week but I can't see it. They had mulled wine yesterday at 4 for christmas jumper day. I don't possess said item of apparel but always happy to chip into the charity jar and it seemed rude not to have some mulled wine when people had gone to all that trouble....

 

Good to read that Lucy seems to be showing signs of recovery but so good news re Rolo.

 

And I think that Chrisf will be reasonably relieved that he is in a no change position.

 

Work is fairly quiet today - no questions from the auditors today - but I don't want to speak too soon about that!

[iL Dottore]

2 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

…..Last night/early hours of this morning Rolo the dachshund has joined the list of poorly doggies 

    He was fine when I went to bed I am often the last up this morning we woke up to find he had been sick all over the place almost as if he had been a human out on the ale. He seemed a little subdued before school run but he was waiting behind the door when I got back.

  I feel really upset that he was ill whilst I slept Andi couldn't help him. I have given him plenty of water available to him and will see how he goes.

Poor old Rolo. 
When you took him out for his usual walks yesterday, Simon, did he eat anything he shouldn’t have? Was he eating grass? Either of which could contribute to the vomiting.

Making sure he has plenty of water is a good start, but I would also recommend – if he is off his feed – to boil up some chicken and rice and keep it relatively soupy: when he wolfs it down (and rare are the dogs that can resist boiled rice and chicken) then he will be getting plenty of liquids into him as well as providing for his nutritional needs.

If it lasts beyond two days or so (and/or he remains lethargic and out of sorts) then a quick trip to the vet is probably in order. Many canine diseases are eminently and easily treatable if you get them early enough.

My best wishes for a prompt recovery for Rolo from whatever ails him.

[Gwiwer]

6 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Order them online. They usually arrive next day. 
https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests

 

Even our local pharmacy advises we do this alrhough freely hands out packs of test kits as well. We asked for a box and were given three. 
 

It’s Lie-day Frunch-time. The sun is working but its heater is still broken.  The kitchen has been cleared for the weekly arrival of Captain Ocado (one substitute but otherwise everything’s there) with the first slightly-boosted delivery for the Festive Season.  Tins, packets and tubs of items not requiring chilling or eating quickly this week. Frozen goods next week. Fresh on the delivery just before C*******s itself.  And for good measure (also hedging bets in case of a change in circumstances) there’s a small back-up delivery from Waitrose and another from our butcher both in the days before. 
 

All that remains is to write a handful of cards - most greetings are sent electronically these days -  and wrapping a couple of gifts. Oh - and a check of and top-up-as-required of the drinks cupboard. Can’t allow too much blood into the alcohol system can we?   

 

Stay warm. Stay well. Stay safe. 

[simontaylor484]

Rolo seems much more lively this afternoon he has drunk plenty of water. He has also eaten some of his dry food. He will be having roast turkey and boiled rice at tea time Kierans college class have made xmas dinner and he is bringing leftovers home. I will do some book in the bag rice some for Rolo the rest I will put some sweet and sour sauce in.

Thanks for all the supportive messages 

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Well there's a turn up - two days running - still a lot of use of the computer for other purposes, but 30747 is at her art group, and I have a chance to get some RMWeb time in.

 

Not all posts read, but I'm getting the gist of the animal ailments.  Flavio - hope Lucy continues to improve - she has been through it.  Simon - with Rolo, I suspect he has been eating grass which dogs do when they are a bit sickly, and then they throw it up in a quite alarming way and then more or less continue as though nothing had happened.  Lily once did that, and then she didn't throw up as expected, and a day or so later, she excreted something rather resembling a small haystack,  Did you find any traces of grass in his vomit?

Whatever caused it, I'm pleased to hear that he's on the mend - if he shows a relapse or doesn't continue to improve, then you know what to do - off to the vet's.

 

Nothing much else to report, and I can only, as usual, offer my sincere generic greetngs to the ailing and the celebrating.

 

Must go and get the dinner on in preparation for 30747's return - two home made individual cottage pies, with a veg pot.  I've also got a few more threads to visit - I have been absent from Big Jim's thread since the last week of November, so must get caught up there, as it is a great insight into modern freight operation on the big railway.  Also been missing on Waverley West for even longer - most remiss.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[Ian Abel]

@simontaylor484 good to hear Rolo is perking up, may it continue...

 

Yay! POETS

With yesterday panics out of the way and the reports all "supposedly" provided to the board yesterday, I'm expecting and planning on a POE

 

Yesterday rehearsal went smoothly, now't much else to report.

 

Today though - the calm before the storm - literally.

We're about an hour or so away from the first winter storm hitting us. Anywhere from 4 - 15 inches of snow depending on the location.

Here in the south suburbs we're told it'll be 4 - 8 by late evening, the more southerly metro area, about 15 miles south, could get 15!

Jemma and Brendan are due in around 7pm from their short vacation in Phoenix, and aren't looking forward to the prospect of a white-knuckle drive from the airport.

 

Yours truly already was at the store for a few required items so the plan should be to STAY IN once it starts and watch a winter wonderland unfold.

 

-5 overcast and oddly calm first thing, still calm now - strange since the storm is supposed to be pushing up from the south. High of -1 forecast

 

Onward, enjoy the start of the weekend.

Edited December 10, 2021 by Ian Abel

[simontaylor484]

Rolo has wolfed down turkey and rice and is enjoying being fussed over by the boys.

He is running round the house at full doggy speed.

 

As an aside if there are any other Volvo lovers Guy Martin is modding a 240 estate for a folk race in Sweden his channel is Guy Martin Proper.

 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Finished reading the novel (the Richard Osman one). It keeps you guessing until the last page, even better than his first novel. Not much else happening today but I'll be getting the dinner ready shortly, bangers and mash. Be back later.

[Barry O]

seem to have spent today ironing out problems caused by others.. I may have to open a bottle of Red to calm my nerves!

 

Baz