Early Risers.

[TheQ]

The 3RR videos are coming in I particularly like this short one just down from the initial photo.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/306353193114566/permalink/1537679013315305/?m_entstream_source=group&anchor_composer=false

 

 

[polybear]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

It seems like Donk is upping the ante!

 

So, Captain Cynical will have to become really devious, underhand and just plain nasty!

 

Captain Cynical is thinking that the usual, and always successful, strategy is to turn off the financial taps!
 

When XXXXX,  ******* and §§§§§§ (amongst others) on the IoM realise they can no longer access their monies hidden in assorted Swiss banks, I am sure they will be more than eager to have a quick word with Donk to “explain the geopolitical implications of financial realpolitik”

 

Captain Cynical believes, like Churchill, that “jaw, jaw is better than war, war” (conflict really eats into CC’s “business opportunities”), so is amenable to talks about removing Spezzatino di Musso from the CCI GmbH canteen menu.

 

Furthermore, Captain Cynical is so impressed by Donk’s stubborn perseverance in the face of overwhelming and insurmountable odds, that he is thinking of offering Donk a freelance minion position in the CCI GmbH organisation…

 

**SPECIAL BEARY NEWSFLASH**

The Ruthless Supervillain Captain Cynical has been defeated by Donk!!  Following an initial attempt at willy-waving (against a Donkey??  C'mon, be serious....) CC soon realised that he was out of his depth and called for "talks".  

Initial reports suggest that Donk may well be amenable - just so long as CC realises that (a) he's bringin' the cake - oodles of cake - to include plenty of Carrot Cake and even more LDC, (b) Donk's most definitely DO NOT DO MINION, and finally (c) Donk may be prepared to consider an opening for CC in Donk Enterprises Inc.

 

Bear here.....

Today sees Bear danglin' on a paint brush - time to get the first top coat onto the Dado Rail methinks.  I have a cunning plan to secure sections of rail to the wall using the longest screws I can find, with numerous nuts between the rail and the wall to space it away.  I reckon this should allow easy painting without risk of stickin' it to anything else or spoiling the finish.  That's the hope, anyway.

Apart from that I do still have those Roses to dead-head.....

Bear gone....

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit grey this morning but not raining, at the moment but apparently some is on its way. Not that it matters as I am expecting a parcel today anyway. Will be moving things about indoors so I will be able to access the brick shed more easily. 

[New Haven Neil]

34 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

**SPECIAL BEARY NEWSFLASH**

snip<    ..... defeated by Donk!!  Following an initial attempt at willy-waving (against a Donkey??  C'mon, be serious....) 

 

 

 

Got it in one, m'learned Bear! 

 

Still, iD has been magnanimous in defeat, although why he thinks Donk would need a Swizz bank account when he lives on the Isle of Man defeats even his enormous (amongst other things) kapok and LDC fuelled intellect.

 

Puppers makes correct note of the electronics he was altering, once a hard drive video recorder doovery, now the imaging driver for the superzapper ray gun.  Especially with the new capacitors he replaced....lots of popped ones in there.

 

In the meantime, knowing my place I'm off down the garage to fiddle with motorbikes, which are declared by another to be insufficiently clean.  One is also off to pastures new later this week, after 32 years of ownership.  I suppose I had better finish it then...#cough#

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Another dull and wet start to the day here in England’s northwest corner. I was hoping to get the plants we bought yesterday planted up, but that looks highly unlikely today. So I shall spend the day in the cellar, as I also need to be a available to answer the door should my parcels arrive. So, I shall have a tidy up of my storage boxes, as I’m afraid at times I’ve literally just stuffed things in them, so some sort of order would be a good thing. 

 

I’m still getting those bl00dy adverts, despite buying the premium membership last night, PAH!

 

Back later

 

Brian

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

It was a bit cold and dull here but the sun has appeared and there are even patches of blue sky visible between clouds. We don’t measure cloud in oktas here now, we use kW generated. I am sure Aditi and I will soon get fed up of discussing energy management but her favourite apps were to do with weather so adding in the solar panel app on her phone has made her very happy. 
I am waiting for our food delivery. No substitutions or unavailable items today. Aditi won’t be supervising my putting away (I don’t know why I need supervising) of food as she is having a technical rehearsal with tomorrow nights French Circle lecturer. They like to check sound, camera and how well the PowerPoint or YouTube presentations work. Aditi said tomorrows presenter is very good so it shouldn’t take long this morning. One of the Circle members consistently criticises the sound and video quality of presenters. I don’t think she has realised it is her own connection that is struggling. 
Tony

[PupCam]

Morning (post-munch, how does that work at 10:15am?*) All!

 

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

**SPECIAL BEARY NEWSFLASH**

The Ruthless Supervillain Captain Cynical has been defeated by Donk!!  Following an initial attempt at willy-waving (against a Donkey??  C'mon, be serious....) CC soon realised that he was out of his depth and called for "talks".  

Initial reports suggest that Donk may well be amenable - just so long as CC realises that (a) he's bringin' the cake - oodles of cake - to include plenty of Carrot Cake and even more LDC, (b) Donk's most definitely DO NOT DO MINION, and finally (c) Donk may be prepared to consider an opening for CC in Donk Enterprises Inc.

 

Bear here.....

Today sees Bear danglin' on a paint brush - time to get the first top coat onto the Dado Rail methinks.  I have a cunning plan to secure sections of rail to the wall using the longest screws I can find, with numerous nuts between the rail and the wall to space it away.  I reckon this should allow easy painting without risk of stickin' it to anything else or spoiling the finish.  That's the hope, anyway.

Apart from that I do still have those Roses to dead-head.....

Bear gone....

 

 

Ah I feel the Bear has excelled himself there with factual, straight to the point, truthful reportage!   (Just wondering if he'd had an contact with T Rump?    No, thought not)

 

I feel it deservers an award and I was toying with the idea of promoting an award for such posts, perhaps to be known as "A Puppy" maybe?    

 

I'll have to think of the level of sponsorship I can stretch to as I am, of course, a "Poor Pensioner" TM  

 

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

Got it in one, m'learned Bear! 

 

Still, iD has been magnanimous in defeat, although why he thinks Donk would need a Swizz bank account when he lives on the Isle of Man defeats even his enormous (amongst other things) kapok and LDC fuelled intellect.

 

And that's a good reply too!

 

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

Puppers makes correct note of the electronics he was altering, once a hard drive video recorder doovery, now the imaging driver for the superzapper ray gun.  Especially with the new capacitors he replaced....lots of popped ones in there.

 

There are no flies on Puppers although, as a former colleague once said and rather uncharitably I thought, "you can see where they've been"!

 

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

In the meantime, knowing my place I'm off down the garage to fiddle with motorbikes, which are declared by another to be insufficiently clean.  One is also off to pastures new later this week, after 32 years of ownership.  I suppose I had better finish it then...#cough#

 

Noooooo, don't do it!   It doesn't take up that much room, you know you love it and more importantly you know you'll regret it as it disappears from view for the last time .... Sob!

 

In Other News

 

Puppers was frustrated by the relentless march towards complete and exclusive "Online, can't speak to a human" commerce yesterday.    Specifically, he feels that he needs some gadgets to assist in the colllimation of the Pupperscope as his attempts so far with a "simple but easily made by anyone with a lathe" eye cap have been to say the least, sub-optimal.   So, having undertaken extensive internet research (but still being an almost complete Noobi in the world of astronomy) I actually wanted to confirm my thoughts by speaking to an expert at the Emporium prior to pressing "Add To Basket".  

 

Of course, the compute effectively said  No!  by failing to provide a phone number on the website.   Not to be outdone, Mr Google came up trumps with the magic sequence of digits and so a call was placed.   The answerphone said "We are an online retailer only, sends us an Email and we'll get back as soon as we can, so clear off ***".

 

Turdycurses!   I wanted to place the order early yesterday so there was at least a chance that I would get it before the long BH weekend.    I finally got a reply to my queries in the early evening so, as I received an appropriate answer, an order was sent late last night.   It will be a race against time to get it with RM's 48 Hour service that they use.     I should add that as my status had been elevated to "Slightly Miffed" I had looked for alternative sources for the same gadget  in the spirit of "I'll take my business to someone who will speak to me".   Alas I searched in vain.

 

TTFNQ

 

Alan

 

*        It's called breakfast 🤣

**      Crickey that word twice in one post!

***    I added the last bit for effect

 

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by PupCam

[iL Dottore]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

**SPECIAL BEARY NEWSFLASH**

The Ruthless Supervillain Captain Cynical has been defeated by Donk!!  Following an initial attempt at willy-waving (against a Donkey??  C'mon, be serious....) CC soon realised that he was out of his depth and called for "talks".  

Initial reports suggest that Donk may well be amenable - just so long as CC realises that (a) he's bringin' the cake - oodles of cake - to include plenty of Carrot Cake and even more LDC, (b) Donk's most definitely DO NOT DO MINION, and finally (c) Donk may be prepared to consider an opening for CC in Donk Enterprises Inc.

Dream on, Bear. Captain Cynical just wanted to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. As you @polybear believe that a negotiated win-win solution is "weakness", then I'm afraid that you (and your acolytes) will be in for a rude awakening.

 

He who controls the money, controls the world. And once Captain Cynical has frozen all your assets, acquired your property(ies) through eminent domain (Captain Cynical has "acquired" politicians and civil servants at all levels across the globe), crashed your credit rating to zero and bought the factories that make your LDC and quadrupled the price (as well as closed down all the oven chips production lines), then you may be more willing to view a negotiated win-win solution as a positive

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Got it in one, m'learned Bear! 

 

Still, iD has been magnanimous in defeat, although why he thinks Donk would need a Swizz bank account when he lives on the Isle of Man defeats even his enormous (amongst other things) kapok and LDC fuelled intellect.

 

Puppers makes correct note of the electronics he was altering, once a hard drive video recorder doovery, now the imaging driver for the superzapper ray gun.  Especially with the new capacitors he replaced....lots of popped ones in there.

Sorry, NHN, but you certainly got the wrong end of the stick, there. CC wasn't offering anything (apart from the possibility of a profitable Minion consultancy), but pointing out that once certain high ranked, rich and influential Manxian individuals find their Swiss bank accounts frozen, Donk would be "invited" to see the error of his ways.

 

In future, I would be most cautious in accepting any sort of advice or support from our resident Ursus maritimus, when hungry they are extremely unpredictable, fearless towards people and are known to kill and sometimes eat humans. A Donk (even with a side order of oven chips) would be a mere snack to a really hungry Ursus maritimus.

[Barry O]

1 hour ago, BSW01 said:

Good morning everyone 

 

Another dull and wet start to the day here in England’s northwest corner. I was hoping to get the plants we bought yesterday planted up, but that looks highly unlikely today. So I shall spend the day in the cellar, as I also need to be a available to answer the door should my parcels arrive. So, I shall have a tidy up of my storage boxes, as I’m afraid at times I’ve literally just stuffed things in them, so some sort of order would be a good thing. 

 

I’m still getting those bl00dy adverts, despite buying the premium membership last night, PAH!

 

Back later

 

Brian

Brian,

 

Have you set the "themes" bit at the bottom of the page?

 

Once you link your account and do that.. no more ads

 

Baz

[Barry O]

Sense prevailed.. no cricket in Macclesfield for me today.

 

Yipppppppeeeeeeddddoooo!

 

Oops... that means ironing must be done instead. PAH!!

 

BAZ

[grandadbob]

Well the Harvester trip was interesting.  Turned up at 8.55 for our 9.00 booking and they hadn't opened.  Bloke wandered round from another door about three minutes past to open the door from the outside as there was a problem with a lock.  Twelve builder types arrived at the same time saying they had a booking for eleven but would one more be OK.  Judging by the muttering and then audible swearing when the bloke disappeared out the back it possibly wasn't OK.  He then came back and plonked them all right next to us even though there were plenty of other tables available and there was plenty of ripe language from them as well.  Then matey said to us "We've got a bit of a problem with the grills, the engineer's only just finished so breakfast will take 30-40 minutes.  That was the final straw so we upped and left with The Boss giving him some "advice" about swearing etc.  Judging by the look he gave us I don't think he was happy about that but I just really wanted him to respond and then I would have weighed in.  I think the look on my face  may have made him think twice. 

We then went to another local Harvester where we were welcomed (without booking) with open arms by a lovely young lady who couldn't have been more attentive.  The breakfast wasn't bad either although the 1250ish calories made a mess of my diet today!  I'd go back to that one again but obviously not to the first one.

 

 

There were baked beans in a separate pot but The Boss had those.  Along with the above I managed a couple of slices of toast and marmalade and a couple of coffees.   Still feeling somewhat full so although the sun is shining the walk has been put on the back burner for now.

 

 

 

 

 

[New Haven Neil]

Tch, swiss bank accounts indeed.  We have no use for such frippery, being offshore from the tomato (bleah) eating masses of the UK, never mind 'Urip'. 

 

Puppers, the thing is it has hardly been ridden since we moved here 20 years ago, is difficult for me now with reduced mobility, and it really isn't that nice to ride.  Once upon a time it had knobbly tires and high mudguards and made a reasonable trail bike, as if nothing else it is torquey, but upon returning it to standard it just feels like a 45 year old bike.  The engine is much rebuilt, but still feels.....lacking, somehow.  It starts OK, runs OK, just doesn't seem to make the power it should. All parameters OK, but it is a heavy old thing, maybe I just don't have the patience for it any more.  Better gone, someone approached me to buy it, so no regrets.

 

[woodenhead]

Had to chat to a person at Ebay yesterday - could wait for them to call me (20 mins) or use a real live person webchat (1 min wait).  Took the web chat option and a lovely lady solved my delivered but apparently not dispatched conundrum in a couple of clicks.

 

Sometimes non human human contact can work, just like to have the choice.

[Tony_S]

10 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

Had to chat to a person at Ebay yesterday - could wait for them to call me (20 mins) or use a real live person webchat (1 min wait).  Took the web chat option and a lovely lady solved my delivered but apparently not dispatched conundrum in a couple of clicks.

 

Sometimes non human human contact can work, just like to have the choice.

Some of my more effective business communications in recent years have used webchats or Twitter. Twitter is good, send a message to a company Twitter page of the “You do not seem to be responding to my emails or phone calls, is there a problem?” often (quickly too!) results in a request to direct message my query resulting in a satisfactory solution. 

[DaveF]

 

I spent yesterday morning sorting out things at  home, all the things i have brought back from Mum's so far now have a place in a cupboard or drawer - but my bin was full to the brim for today's collection.

 

After lunch I went to the flat and cancelled the phone and broadband account - duing it from the phone there to make quite sure they cancelled the right account.

 

On the home I went via the cemetery to make sure the grave had been properly filled in - as expected it had been.  The flowers were still there so I had another look at them and worked out who had sent what - it was all such a rush on the day of the funeral.

 

I spent most of the rest of the day making a list of things to discuss with the solicitor today about the will and selling the flat.

 

Lastly I did some ironing and managed to catch the palm of my hand on the iron as I moved it to let it cool.  Fortunately I was standing next to the kitchen tap so it so I cooled the hand and it should be OK.

 

David

 

 

 

 

[simontaylor484]

Afternoon all 

 

More painting today the basecoat has been finished and we cracked open the tester pot and put a patch on the wall by brush to see what its going to look like. I usually use rollers but it wasn't worth the hassle with a roller just to do a test patch. It's a trade paint and is nice and thick so I am hoping for a good result 

[simontaylor484]

Dreaming I'm always dreaming.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-61596796

 

Wonder if it will go as well as the last 2 schemes Kevin McCloud was involved in one. The second involved Wheldon Road which is still an industrial wasteland although houses have now been built on the old Fryston pit site. There was meant to be a marina built in the old colliery basin but that never came to fruition 

[polybear]

3 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Better gone, someone approached me to buy it, so no regrets.

 

 

If a certain Bear had lived on a certain island then a certain new owner would've had a fight on his hands for that very nice little number.....

 

In other news.....

A morning spent danglin' on a paint brush - I didn't dangle any of the Dado Rail from the wall in order to paint it after all; instead I used the old Lounge door supported on trestles as a work surface instead, along with plastic spacer shims to keep the rail clear of the surface as the paint dries.  I also added maybe 10% Owatrol Oil to the paint, which certainly seems to have worked well so far in making the paint more user friendly; it remains to be seen what the finish is like when it dries - watch this space.....

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,

Tis bucketing down and the temperature has dropped...

 

Gate and fence moved, in several stages due to intermittent rain.

Lots of reinforcement added, but would it survive a force 10??? Probably not.

Wooden spacers fitted to gate posts removed, surprisingly easy, even though they were through bolted, and after over 30 +  years the nuts hadn't rusted solid..

 

Noticed the garden isn't square, it's at probably 80 degrees, I've decided which fence the shed will be parallel to, but have yet to mark out due to the rain.

 

Somewhat damp at the moment as it rained ( big crash of thunder too) while taking Ben the now snoring Collie  on his big patrol.

 

Time for an eyelid inspection before peeling spuds..

[Tony_S]

I have just had an NHS Email inviting me to apply for my Spring Covid vaccine booster. This will be my fifth jab! Booked it for Monday at the pharmacy I get all my medication from. The NHS instruction says to take a medication box or a letter. Not exactly a problem, I have both but I am due to collect a prescription from the pharmacy anyway. 
Had anyone else been offered a fifth jab yet?

Edited May 31, 2022 by Tony_S

[Tony_S]

I have just rechecked and this the jab invitation was asking me to apply for the fourth one I had in February. So not a fifth one. What confused me was the description of “Spring Booster”. It wasn’t called that back in February. 

[Tony_S]

No, it appears I was right first time and confused myself. I found the fifth dose information from Parliament!
 

Quote

The Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, later confirmed that all four parts of the UK intended to follow the JCVI’s advice. The spring booster campaign began on 21 March 2022 in England and is expected to run until the early summer.  The ‘Spring dose’ will be a fourth dose (a second booster) for those in the first two groups and a fifth dose for those who are immunosuppressed. NHS England estimates that around 5 million people will be eligible for a spring booster dose. The JCVI has also advised that a further booster in the autumn of 2022 is likely to be advised for people who are at higher risk of severe Covid-19.

 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. The vixen was on her own in the garden this afternoon, as it was raining its no surprise that the cubs were somewhere else but certainly not far away. She's certainly an attentive mother as the cub she is still suckling is a bit smaller than the others, the runt of the litter.

7 hours ago, BSW01 said:

I’m still getting those bl00dy adverts, despite buying the premium membership last night, PAH!

 

Back later

 

Brian

 

5 hours ago, Barry O said:

Brian,

 

Have you set the "themes" bit at the bottom of the page?

 

Once you link your account and do that.. no more ads

 

Baz

Me too, I couldn't find themes at first then I found it right at the very bottom.

[Ian Abel]

On 27/05/2022 at 23:27, iL Dottore said:

Never one to abandon an obsession willingly, I looked for another large scale Routemaster bus and I found the Revell 1/24 kit. As it was available for a reasonable price on amazon.de I bought one (the price since I purchased it has doubled, almost literally overnight). And in due course a suitably large box arrived. And here the fun and games begin.

 

I also obtained one of these beauties, a few years back now, ready to be built once I can dedicate the appropriate amount of time  -really looking forward to it.

 

Checking in after a long and busy weekend - 4 days completely packed with activities, NONE of which included muddling ☹️

 

Various flurries of activity around the patio/house Saturday as we (I'm the driver) obtained flowers for various pots in the front and back of the house. Also shopping for new fan for the porch, as the current/original/old piece of carp decided to throw in the towel...

 

Sunday, helped our friends moving "stuff" from their house to storage in preparation for their house going on the market - they're overwhelmed with what they need to do, almost ALL a result of my new most hated personages - Real Estate Agents - they have a lot to answer for when it comes to what they think needs doing to a hourse that's already in excellent shape, updated and recently decorated! After that we all visited a locl brew pub, first class, then decided on a take-out chinese for dinner on their patio.

 

Yesterday, still MORE shopping for various patio and front garden flowers and pots to p!ss in put them in - special requirements for the Mrs demand several locations be visited to obtain just the right selection of items.

Late afternoon family dinned orchestrated by Jemma, Trevor and Meagan at Jemmas' place.

 

There went the weekend, and still no forward movement on things muddle-like.

Weather varied from delightful, to too warm/humid, to serious thunderstorms last evening with 2" of rainfall in about an hour+.

 

Working today and a few more errands to run later - may even manage to install new porch fan if time permits.

 

12 overcast and very windy first thing, 21 the expected high with rain off and on.

 

Tally ho.