Early Risers.

[iL Dottore]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

...Hmmm....so the same rigamarole for chips......

Rigmarole! Rigmarole?

 

Clearly, The Bear does NOT have a woman in his life.....

 

(any potential Polina Bear is gonna have an uphill battle on her hands)

Edited May 12, 2022 by iL Dottore

[polybear]

46 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Been there done that several times recently not helped by the games of the allegedly professional electrician who installed originally. I wouldn't pay them out in rubber grommets never mind brass washers 

 

Rubber Grommets? If only the leccy that rewired Bear Towers knew what such a thing even was, let alone how to use one.  If I had an LDC for every mains cable passing thru' a hole in a steel back box (with all the associated risks of damage from sharp edges....) I'd be A Very Happy Bear.  T0sser.

 

28 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

Tesco have been the worst (so far at least!) contender for cause of my Rant of the Week entry - appalling customer service. I rather think some ERs, if given that treatment, would have started rolling their sleeves up and looking for some spare chunks of timber. Not that Tesco are alone in local supermarkets not being able to do the basics. Just how hard d'you think it is to ensure if you change your opening hours, the web-site reflects this as does the sign next to the door. And don't let staff wave at the customers and shout, "Come back later". FFS! I doubt there will be a later. Serious snottogram sent. 

 

 

Snottograms are good - every time** Bear fires one off in the direct of the Co-op it results in a gift card thru' the post.  Not enough to get rich on, but ISTR one did get me an LDC.

(** Apart from the Snottogram complaining about the change from LDC to plain 'ol LC - still very nice but not a patch on the real deal).  T0ssers.

 

11 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Rigmarole! Rigmarole?

 

Clearly, The Bear does NOT have a woman in his life.....

 

(any potential Polina Bear is gonna have an uphill battle on her hands)

 

Uphill?  It'd take a special Bear-ess capable of passing the Interview.....🤣

(Actually, I could think of one or two that could breeze thru' the interview - but sadly for some strange reason they never submit their C.V.  Turdycurses).

[polybear]

In other news.....

Bear has been hearing about a passenger with no flying experience successfully landing a light aircraft after the Pilot collapsed; the video of the landing could almost be described as "textbook".  It also seems that ATC asked him to change/enter a Transponder Code - and he knew what a Transponder was without asking.  He's either somewhat of an enthusiast, or....there's a little more to the story than meets the eye.

Signed,

Not a completely convinced Bear.

 

And finally....

Bear was convinced some years ago that being inside a Tank wasn't a very good place to be, after seeing a video of a Tank (most likely in a Trials scenario) being hit with "something" that seemed to get the thing burning inside like a good 'un for some considerable time.  This latest link reinforces that view:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/18542403/photos-show-russian-z-tank-graveyard-ukraine/

[The White Rabbit]

39 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

Time to get back to it... 

 

... and goofing off again... actually waiting for a telephone callback and all the other outstanding jobs require concentration/no interruptions, so back to ERs. 

 

 

24 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Clearly, The Bear does NOT have a woman in his life.....

 

(any potential Polina Bear is gonna have an uphill battle on her hands)

 

3 minutes ago, polybear said:

Uphill?  It'd take a special Bear-ess capable of passing the Interview.....🤣

(Actually, I could think of one or two that could breeze thru' the interview - but sadly for some strange reason they never submit their C.V.  Turdycurses).

 

May I recommend a technical guide to assist? https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Avoid-Matrimony-Herald-Froy/dp/B001NN07AG - an essential reference work on my shelf. 

 

 

4 minutes ago, polybear said:

Snottograms are good - every time** Bear fires one off in the direct of the Co-op it results in a gift card thru' the post.  Not enough to get rich on, but ISTR one did get me an LDC.

(** Apart from the Snottogram complaining about the change from LDC to plain 'ol LC - still very nice but not a patch on the real deal).  T0ssers.

 

Yes, 'new, improved recipes' rarely are. IMHO... and everyone else's I speak to or read about ... in fact most of the English speaking world... 

 

Fingers crossed. It's not really the compo, I'd just like to be treated with some respect and consideration. Not like this:

 

but not being ignored or treated with contempt (such as V signs and body language a toddler could identify as hostile) when I'm trying to spend money with them. Plenty of other supermarkets to spend it with. I contrast it with my bank, who when they made a mistake, apologised, put it right and sent me a load of biscuits. 

 

 

[AndrewC]

1 hour ago, The White Rabbit said:

Tesco have been the worst (so far at least!) contender for cause of my Rant of the Week entry - appalling customer service. I rather think some ERs, if given that treatment, would have started rolling their sleeves up and looking for some spare chunks of timber. Not that Tesco are alone in local supermarkets not being able to do the basics. Just how hard d'you think it is to ensure if you change your opening hours, the web-site reflects this as does the sign next to the door. 

One of my biggest hates are businesses that can't properly keep their operating hours up to date. Restaurants & bars seem to be the worst offenders. Only last week we schlepped a good km out of our way to visit a brewery tap room that said it opened at noon on their website, Google, and on the f*cking sign on the door. Did they open at noon? Did they b*llocks. We got there at 2:30 and they still hadn't opened. No response from their social media either. Asshats. It seems to be a British & European thing about not posting hours or adhering to posted hours. Ahh, we'll open when we feel like and close when we can't be arsed to stick around. Then they wonder why they are going out of business. 

[Ian Abel]

BIN day... glad I didn't put the BINs out late afternoon like some folks do.

We had a 70+mph winds and thunderstorm system pass through the area with tornado sirens going off around 8PM and there were BINs everywhere when we got back from our evening out!!!

 

Yesterday uneventful save the above weather - the Mrs book club event went extremely well and everyone loved the author presence.

He's a very interesting and entertaining character.

We DID shelter in place at the end of the event due to the weather situation. Took about 30+ minutes for the storm system to blow through.

Some places had flash flooding and reports are there were 2+ inches of rain in many places around the area.

 

Today - destined to be quiet <phew> though a SMALL chance of further storm activity late in the day.

 

15 first thing and overcast, high of THIRTY TWO expected, blimey, and we were freezing our arses off three weeks ago! 🤯

 

Onward.

 

[TheQ]

A few days ago I did a snottogram on Facebook to a posting by a well known sailing magazine. A big article about the British Moth sailing dinghy at the Welsh Harp sailing club which is in London.

 

 The posting got blocked as being offensive by META.. All I said was were they trying to offend all their Welsh, Scots and Irish readers  and sailors of the British Moth.... Since every reference in the article was the "English" dinghy, in the English country side with English Sailors (they weren't all English sailors).

 I've just been on the sailing magazine website and all but one reference to England has been removed and replaced by UK  or British..

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

…It'd take a special Bear-ess capable of passing the Interview.....🤣

(Actually, I could think of one or two that could breeze thru' the interview - but sadly for some strange reason they never submit their C.V.  Turdycurses).

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

In the animal world in most species (incl humans) it’s the male that has do all the heavy lifting to persuade the female that he is the right choice of mate from many (and he does this by fighting off other rivals, having more spectacular colouring/plumage, showing he’s a good hunter [by bringing the female “gifts”], having a better mating dance etc.). All the female has to do is say “yes” or “xxxx-off”. And woe betide any male who “tries his luck”, many a young male carries scars from a p1ssed off female.

 

The @polybear has to persuade and convince the Bearess (or sow - to be pedantic) he’s the right one, not the other way around…

[jamie92208]

Good afternoon  from the Charente  where the sky has started leaking. Fortunately  as Beth and I had just finished cutting our respective areas of grass.  This morning we werecoff at sparrow wind  aka 07.15 to take Beth to Physio at Niort.  The upshot of this was that I was able to spend 3 hours on the station watching trains. I'm easily pleased.    The bees are now nearly gone. I will be giving the stragglers some more encouragement  this evening.  Onviously I didn't have time to post this morni g.

 

Regards tonall.

 

Jamie

[iL Dottore]

…to continue…

Hushed David Attenborough voice narrating…

It is spring and the @polybear is hunting for a suitable mate. There are two Polina Bears near his territory that have now come into oestrus. After having ignored the females for so long, the @polybear has become fixated on the younger sow. Exhibiting his springtime finery of pressed jeans, the @polybear does a little rumba to entice the Polina Bear out of her den (also called a “house”). The Polina Bear sticks her muzzle out and sniffs inquisitively, but does not return inside. Encouraged by this, the @polybear moves to the next part of the mating ritual - placing a freshly unwrapped LDC in front of the sow’s den as a gift…

[PupCam]

4 hours ago, PupCam said:

Today the old Mondog is having a service and will hopefully pass another MoT at 187,000+ miles.   Fingers crossed!

 

I'm pleased to say Monty made it and lives to fight another day!    That's good, he's got to go on an expedition to St Evenage tomorrow.

 

12 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

In the animal world in most species (incl humans) it’s the male that has do all the heavy lifting to persuade the female that he is the right choice of mate from many (and he does this by fighting off other rivals, having more spectacular colouring/plumage, showing he’s a good hunter [by bringing the female “gifts”], having a better mating dance etc.). All the female has to do is say “yes” or “xxxx-off”. And woe betide any male who “tries his luck”, many a young male carries scars from a p1ssed off female.

 

The @polybear has to persuade and convince the Bearess (or sow - to be pedantic) he’s the right one, not the other way around…

 

Another image of Bear I have no wish to conjure 😂

 

1 minute ago, iL Dottore said:

…to continue…

Hushed David Attenborough voice narrating…

It is spring and the @polybear is hunting for a suitable mate. There are two Polina Bears near his territory that have now come into oestrus. After having ignored the females for so long, the @polybear has become fixated on the younger sow. Exhibiting his springtime finery of pressed jeans, the @polybear does a little rumba to entice the Polina Bear out of her den (also called a “house”). The Polina Bear sticks her muzzle out and sniffs inquisitively, but does not return inside. Encouraged by this, the @polybear moves to the next part of the mating ritual - placing a freshly unwrapped LDC in front of the sow’s den as a gift…

 

And that has to be the winner of "Post of the Week", no question!  🤣🤣

[Barry O]

@iL Dottore.. I can only speak for Challenger 2 design. We had Army tankies with us all of the way through the design and delivery process. As a few cam to us after Gulf War 1 they did bring a lot of battle experience. Only one thing caused a concern.. not enough storage for personal items.  A litre bottle of spirits would fit in an empty charge bin..very handy for cold nights in Bosnia!

 

German designs are weak as they have had no combat experience since 1945.

 

The Americans have everyone sticking ideas in.

 

The Swiss designed tank (PZ68/88) made use of knowledge gained by the Israelis in the very short war in the Middle East..  hence its upgrade in 1988.

 

The Russians.. if we have more tanks than the opposition has we will win (until they breakdown or blow up) has not changed since T34 days.

 

Baz

Edited May 12, 2022 by Barry O

[Pacific231G]

On 08/05/2022 at 19:27, grandadbob said:

Totally different company to P & O Ferries but unfortunately a lot of people don't know this so the cruise company have a campaign going to distance themselves from the ferry company:

" The campaign aims to clarify that P&O Cruises is not affiliated with P&O Ferries and is part of an entirely separate company. P&O Cruises is owned by leisure travel firm Carnival Corporation, whereas P&O Ferries is owned by shipping and logistics business DP World."

 

Carnival Corporation own this lot:  Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruises (Australia), Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard.

 

Edit:  Simon beat me to it.

Thanks Bob (and Simon) , that's good to know. I'd often thought that P&O ferries had inherited quite a lot more of its DNA from Townsend Thorsesen  than from the company that operated the Canberra.

I was really sorry when SeaFrance went out of business.  They did a very decent meal- far better than P&O's authentic British MOTO service area offer- and their staff had a stake in the company. I've not used DFDS. 

[pH]

On 11/05/2022 at 04:58, jamie92208 said:

There appears to be a shortage of Weetabix in  La belle France.

 

There has been a shortage of Kelloggs products here. At first, it was due to a strike. But even after the strike was settled, it’s taken some time for supply to be restored. Various brands are re-appearing on the shelves at different rates. It has been close to a year since ‘classic’ All-Bran has been available - no sh1t!

[Pacific231G]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

In other news.....

Bear has been hearing about a passenger with no flying experience successfully landing a light aircraft after the Pilot collapsed; the video of the landing could almost be described as "textbook".  It also seems that ATC asked him to change/enter a Transponder Code - and he knew what a Transponder was without asking.  He's either somewhat of an enthusiast, or....there's a little more to the story than meets the eye.

Signed,

Not a completely convinced Bear.

 

 

If the passenger doesn't panic and manages to use the radio it's usually possible to get them down in one piece. The aircraft sometimes gets a bit bent from a heavy landing but a good talk down could well result in a good landing.

At most aerodromes there's far more runway than a light aircraft needs to land so no great precision is needed so a gentle descent to ground level should do the trick.

Update. I've just watched the video of the Florida incident and that seems to be exactly what the ATCO (who is also a flying instructor) got him to do. It wasn't a text book landing, It was rather fast and the nose wheel was bit low,  though not badly so, but it was perfectly adequate. The aircraft is a high wing Cessna and they're fairly docile aircraft that generally don't try to bite you.

The Cessna Caravan needs a 762m runway and Palm Beach International has 3448 m.

 

I always encourage my passengers to handle the controls and explain to them how to make a Mayday call if something should happen to me.

I can't though think why they wanted him to change the squawk unless it was to identify the aircraft's position. in that situation you want to keep things as simple for the unexpectedly student pilot as possible.

 

It certainly wasn't the "miracle" that local news stations claimed but hats off to both men for handling the situation so well.

Edited May 12, 2022 by Pacific231G

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Come over a bit grey and cloudy this afternoon but still staying dry. No cooked meal today, just a pork pie and salad, thats all I fancied. SEERS test track night tonight so a chance to run in my latest acquisition that runs on two parallel strips of metal.

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, pH said:

There has been a shortage of Kelloggs products here. At first, it was due to a strike. But even after the strike was settled, it’s taken some time for supply to be restored. Various brands are re-appearing on the shelves at different rates. It has been close to a year since ‘classic’ All-Bran has been available - no sh1t!

Funnily enough All Bran, which is an essential ingredient in my breakfast mix, has never been out of stock over here.  I'm not sure where ours is made.  I will have to look.

 

Jamie

[Gwiwer]

G’devening all. 
 

Busy day today. Straight home from work, changed, 30 minutes later straight back on the train to meet with a friend up from Cornwall. 
 

We met with Dr. SWMBO who gave us a tour of Kew Gardens which Harry had never visited before. 
 

Not one to make regular trips to large cities he was in town having been invited to yesterday’s Buckingham Palace garden party.  He wasn’t overly impressed with tge wet weather, endless queues, lack of shelter and absence of seating but was grateful for the invitation. 
 

Here’s a few views from this afternoon. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TheQ]

Of squawlks, I would know how to operate the IFF as I used to maintain the ground stations , quick selection of 7700 should bring some attention.

Also of squawlks, my old Stomping ground or RAF Neatishead has finally been sold after 15 years on the market, minus a couple of bits, the RADAR museum, the Type 84 Radar with its SSR (IFF) a listed monument, and a tiny bit still used by the RAF.

It's been sold to..   a robotic self driving car company who'll use the peritrack as a test road, and the hangar that housed a mobile radar as a factory...

 

In other news, I've just today received my claim form for my GEC pension, with a provisional pay out date, the day after I've decided to leave my current company.😃

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, polybear said:

It also seems that ATC asked him to change/enter a Transponder Code

In his 'spare' time the ATC was a flight instructor on the same model Cessna that experienced the emergency.

 

Oops - missed this:

2 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

the ATCO (who is also a flying instructor)

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

13 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Something likely to be used in future warfare is Virtual Reality, ...

 

If it is used to control drones/robots/machinery from a distance (e.g. the operative is sitting in a VR machine in Aldershot is “in” the tank he/she is controlling in the warzone), would it be a “safe” war for the operative ...

6 hours ago, PupCam said:

Already happening .......

Yes, very much so.

[petethemole]

4 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear was convinced some years ago that being inside a Tank wasn't a very good place to be, after seeing a video of a Tank (most likely in a Trials scenario) being hit with "something" that seemed to get the thing burning inside like a good 'un for some considerable time.  This latest link reinforces that view:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/18542403/photos-show-russian-z-tank-graveyard-ukraine/

Since the early '70s I have read many memoirs, histories and accounts of armoured warfare, mainly in WW2 but including WW1 and the Spanish Civil War, and I quite agree.  When I was about 13-14 a friend's father bore extensive scarring on torso and neck, from escaping a burning Grant in North Africa.  I don't tick "like" on posts about Russian tanks being blown up; however much I disapprove of Putin, the tankies are just guys doing a job.

[Ozexpatriate]

10 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Clean up was simple, the lid came off and was easily cleaned, the oil ladled out, filtered and stored and the fryer oil container wiped out with a paper towel, washed with a little soapy water, rinsed and dried. The only downside was filtering the oil, I used a small funnel lined with muslin so it was slow going - a larger funnel will be acquired.

I'm sure the results were terrific, but cleaning up fryers is a P.I.T.A. 

 

Cooking for one, I don't like to have to use more than two saucepans/pots/etc if I can avoid it. Fryers are way beyond what I will put up with, though shallow frying in a sauté pan is something I will do occasionally.

 

What kind of oil do you use? Peanut oil (which has a high smoke point) is popular in the US.

 

With the ongoing tragedy north of the Black Sea, we can anticipate a global sunflower oil shortage in a few months - along with a global wheat shortage (particularly in Africa where they import extensively from the region).

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[iL Dottore]

3 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I'm sure the results were terrific, but cleaning up fryers is a P.I.T.A. 

I quite agree, Although I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to clean up this particular fryer from Aldi (especially considering it’s rock bottom price of about US$30).

I reckon that with a bit of practice, I can get the oil filtering and fryer cleanup done in under 10 minutes.

3 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Cooking for one, I don't like to have to use more than two saucepans/pots/etc if I can avoid it.

Surprisingly, although I love to cook for company (and have a few times cooked a four course meal for about 30 people each time) when I am by myself – if I cook for myself - I tend to do one pot meals:  A lamb tagine with fenugreek, my “swamp“ gumbo (which really should be served with rice, something I don’t usually eat as I am on a low-carb diet), slow cooker lamb shoulder and so on.

Paradoxically, some of the one pot meals found in my various cookbooks, are actually quite complicated to prepare (at least in terms of ingredients prep).

6 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

…What kind of oil do you use? Peanut oil (which has a high smoke point) is popular in the US.

I was using, at least yesterday, an unspecified “vegetable oil“, probably a mixture of different oils. It was alright, but I do prefer to use peanut oil or sunflower oil when I can. Fortunately, none of my friends suffer from peanut allergies.

 

But for all-round simplicity, you can’t beat cooking sous-vide: once the meal has been prepped and have the sous-vide pouches filled and sealed, you just put things in the water bath and forget about them.  As long as they spend enough time in the water bar to cook properly (which varies from recipe to recipe) then you can leave the food in the water bath for as long as needed because the food will not and cannot overcook. And if you are clever with your selection of dishes (in other words they all are cooked at a certain temperature) you can cook every single course in the water bath at once.

[grandadbob]

Evenin' each,

A pleasant couple of hours spent in the garden this morning planting more "stuff."  Don't tell anyone but although I don't normally like gardening I actually enjoyed it this morning.  Perhaps I'm sickening for something or possibly the years of banging my head against hard objects have now caught up with me.  I have a horrible feeling that The Boss is still not satisfied with "her" gardening efforts so suspect that yet another garden centre visit is on the cards.

The Metronidazole seems to have worked on my toothache/infection and I've just taken the last pill.  I have been advised that I should wait at least 48 hours before having any alcofrolic drinks in case of adverse reactions.  Never done that before,  have had a drink the next day without any problems but I will, for once in my life, do as I'm told.

Time for some coffee.

TT* for now.

 

*Ta ta or Teetotal,  take your pick.

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by grandadbob