Early Risers.

[Erichill16]

11 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Will the top of page 4 apply to you then Robert? 

I have a medical condition that I have already 
told the DVLA about. The DVLA gave me a 
licence when I first declared the condition and 
my condition has not changed. I have no other 
new medical conditions. Can I drive? 
As soon as the DVLA receives your correct and 
complete application for a new licence and as long 
as you meet all the Section 88 criteria you may drive

Something really strange happening.

I was told over the phone by DVLA I need ‘authorisation’ from my consultant and saw the clause in the document he emailed me but it seems to have disappeared from the one Ive posted!

[simontaylor484]

As no doubt M learned friend @jamie92208 will agree it's all as clear as mud.

 

 

[polybear]

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

I think some GPs go straight to the pharmaceutical option when it may be that making lifestyle changes would be just as effective and probably better for the patient.

 

For many Docs who are overworked etc. I suspect that scribbling a prescription and then shouting "next patient please" is a lot easier than trying to convince a Bear that LDC is damaging to your health and should be avoided...

 

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

I find vegan food problematic (for many reasons - including the environmental footprint) but I would never dream of going to a vegan restaurant and demand that they cook me a steak...

 

Not if you wanted to come out alive.....

 

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

I compared that to here where hardware  shop and restaurant owners  pay not only more, but also pay time and a half or double time on weekends, 4 weeks annual leave, at least  2 weeks sick leave, 18 weeks maternity or 3 weeks paternity leave,  2 days compassionate leave, 12 weeks  long service leave after 10 years service,  and at least 10.5% of employees wage on top of what they get in the hand into the employees pension scheme.

 

 

And that's why a bag of tacks cost fifty bucks down under....🤣

 

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

I was moved by the ceremonial and glad that Meghan was allowed into the ceremony. Not that I am enamoured with her. All in all a very moving occasion.

 

 

Had she not been allowed - whilst the rest of the Royal Family were - then the Royals would've been wide open (rightly so) to accusations of racism.

 

1 hour ago, Erichill16 said:

It seems a bit odd that someone can drive with a license that has expired with no further documentation.
 

 

I know if I were faced with such a situation then I'd want a piece of paper from a Doc etc. to say I was fit to drive pending the arrival of a Licence from the DVLA - if the worst were to happen and an accident caused then (call Bear a cynical ol' Bear) it might be surprising just how quick a Doc could deny all knowledge....

 

In other news.....

More sorting of gumpf carried out; Mr Open Reach arrived about 9am to investigate a noisy phone line...which took until 12-30 and involved diving into four separate holes in the ground, apparently.  Whilst it has yet to undergo a Beary Test it seems the problem is now fixed....

Incidentally, it seems that many Housing Developers are installing fibre optic cables to new build houses alongside underground pipes etc., which are then encased in insulation - which means that when a break occurs (it's glass...) it means the whole lot has to be dug up.  Bright - not.

As a consequence Bear was unable to get stuck into very much at all this morning as I was babysitting Mr. OR - plus I'd lost internet.  Pah.

This afternoon mainly consisted of a Co-op raid - and that's about this Bear's fun for the day...

 

And finally...

It seems "The Queue" (not to be confused with @TheQ) currently stretches from Westminster Hall to London Bridge.....(edit: and beyond - now heading for Tower Bridge).  Jeez.

Edited September 14, 2022 by polybear

[J. S. Bach]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 ...snip...

In other news.....

Not very nice methinks:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/staff-left-visibly-shaken-as-100-members-of-king-s-former-household-are-made-redundant/ar-AA11MYBW?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=e80cfbfe57d94337a6a2584a7b27957d

Maybe that clive character should be tossed also!

[Ian Abel]

HUMP day arrives

 

Nothing much to report from yesterday, all quiet, very pleasant.

Today will be much of the same, though the Mrs has a book club meeting tonight so I'll see what mischief I can get upto while she's away 😂

 

11C first thing, partly cloudy with a light breeze, nice but we really need some rain <sigh>, high expected to reach 26

 

Onward.

[Ian Abel]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

In other news.....

Not very nice methinks:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/staff-left-visibly-shaken-as-100-members-of-king-s-former-household-are-made-redundant/ar-AA11MYBW?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=e80cfbfe57d94337a6a2584a7b27957d

Whilst I agree that it's unfortunate, surely those staff could have seen it coming in some way since he now has very different duties and requirement and won't be doing much of what kept them all working?

Who know how exactly the royal household staff is organized but changes were inevitable, especially with him already stating he wanted to streamline and reduce the burden/cost to UK taxpayers, of the royal family/monarchy.

 

No doubt I'd have not been happy were I in that position but seems to me he's stuck between a rock and a hard place. I bet all those clamoring for reduction in the costs will now turn around and berate him for putting people out of work! Can't win sometimes.

 

[J. S. Bach]

41 minutes ago, polybear said:

 ...snip... Incidentally, it seems that many Housing Developers are installing fibre optic cables to new build houses alongside underground pipes etc., which are then encased in insulation - which means that when a break occurs (it's glass...) it means the whole lot has to be dug up.  Bright - not. ...snip...

Not that much of a problem, there are repair kits just for that event and have been around since fiber was introduced. Many years ago (early 1980s) when I was working for a temporary agency, I was sent to the warehouse of a regional long-distance carrier* whose system was 100% fiber. We stocked a few of those kits. Basically for a break, one had two options:

1. Cut out a length on either side of the break and splice in a new segment.

2. If there was enough slop slack in the fiber, drag the two ends together, snip off the ragged ends, clean up the remaining fiber ends and splice them together.

 

The procedure was relatively simple but somewhat time consuming. I suspect forty years of fiber progress has introduced better/quicker methods but the above is what I remember.

 

* Miami - Ft. Lauderdale - Orlando - Jacksonville - Tallahassee - Atlanta (over a leased Georgia Power fiber circuit); one thing that still sticks in my mind was the absolute clarity of the audio compared to a twisted-pair circuit.

 

PS: In the three or four months that I was there; I do not remember sending out any of those repair kits.

 

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by J. S. Bach
To add some information.

[pH]

I ordered an item through Amazon, from a supplier in California. It made its way up the west coast to Kent in Washington State, 250km south of here. It has now been flown to Toronto, 4400km east of here, presumably to make its way 4400km back west through Canada. 
 

Somebody’s algorithm needs tweaking (and that is not a euphemism!).

[Adam88]

Regarding high costs in Switzerland there are some fundamental exchange rate factors.  When I first visited Switzerland (albeit as long ago as 1970) there were about 10CHF to the GBP.  Now because of the relative strength of the Swiss economy and numerous devaluations and inflationary pressures on the pound the two currencies are almost at parity (1.1:1).

[polybear]

19 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

Not that much of a problem, there are repair kits just for that event and have been around since fiber was introduced. Many years ago (early 1980s) when I was working for a temporary agency, I was sent to the warehouse of a regional long-distance carrier* whose system was 100% fiber. We stocked a few of those kits. Basically for a break, one had two options:

1. Cut out a length on either side of the break and splice in a new segment.

2. If there was enough slop slack in the fiber, drag the two ends together, snip off the ragged ends, clean up the remaining fiber ends and splice them together.

 

The procedure was relatively simple but somewhat time consuming. I suspect forty years of fiber progress has introduced better/quicker methods but the above is what I remember.

 

* Miami - Ft. Lauderdale - Orlando - Jacksonville - Tallahassee - Atlanta (over a leased Georgia Power circuit)

 

PS: In the three or four months that I was there; I do not remember sending out any of those repair kits.

 

It appears some developers aren't installing in a manner that enables easy repair - once the cable is in it can't be accessed or removed/replaced.  And when a fault is discovered whilst a development is ongoing it bites 'em back.  Good.

 

[jamie92208]

46 minutes ago, Ian Abel said:

Whilst I agree that it's unfortunate, surely those staff could have seen it coming in some way since he now has very different duties and requirement and won't be doing much of what kept them all working?

Who know how exactly the royal household staff is organized but changes were inevitable, especially with him already stating he wanted to streamline and reduce the burden/cost to UK taxpayers, of the royal family/monarchy.

 

No doubt I'd have not been happy were I in that position but seems to me he's stuck between a rock and a hard place. I bet all those clamoring for reduction in the costs will now turn around and berate him for putting people out of work! Can't win sometimes.

 

I agree with that. I suspect that alternative posts will be found for most of these staff but that theclegal notice had to be given.  As you mentioned if it hadn't happened  peopke would be moaning about extravagance.   It may just have been a bit of much raking. Now would any journalist do that...

 

Jamie

[polybear]

Aha.... Bear's sussed it.....

 

 

 

The Artist draws the piccy on a Laptop, then hits the "Print" button....

....Laptop has the craney thingee set up as a printer - which has a paint brush gaffer taped to the basket.  Simples.

Edited September 14, 2022 by polybear

[TheQ]

The Q , isn't in The Queue, because my knees and back couldn't take it, just sitting on the sofa my left knee is being annoying..

I did read elsewhere the redundancy notices were put out because it's a legal requirement.. Once you know how many posts are to go, you must tell all possible people that might get the push as soon as possible. Even if a large proportion might get redeployed.

Had Harry not bailed out, he might have taken some of the staff with increased duties, and I suspect Andrews demotion will have lost some posts as well.

 

This afternoon I discovered that the place I'm my Named after in Africa means Highland, which is quite appropriate, with my interest in Highland Railways and kilts..

[simontaylor484]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

I agree with that. I suspect that alternative posts will be found for most of these staff but that theclegal notice had to be given.  As you mentioned if it hadn't happened  peopke would be moaning about extravagance.   It may just have been a bit of much raking. Now would any journalist do that...

 

Jamie

It will be the standard 90 day notice just because you recieved the notice doesnt mean you are out of a job.

 

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I find vegan food problematic

What rice and beans and vegetables? Perfectly healthy and generally amenable to sustainable practices, sadly with the exception of water-hungry nuts or the silliness of growing rice in deserts. These are "vegan" foods.

 

Colour me confused.

 

Unless you are talking about manufactured meat protein substitutes.

 

Oops, missed @monkeysarefun continuing this discussion:

3 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

But maybe I've got it wrong, wouldn't be the first time!

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[polybear]

40 minutes ago, TheQ said:

I did read elsewhere the redundancy notices were put out because it's a legal requirement.. Once you know how many posts are to go, you must tell all possible people that might get the push as soon as possible. Even if a large proportion might get redeployed.

Had Harry not bailed out, he might have taken some of the staff with increased duties, and I suspect Andrews demotion will have lost some posts as well.

 

It'd be reasonable to argue that the Queen's Staff are out of a job as well, and since King Charles' role has changed significantly then the roles of his staff would change significantly as well; therefore perhaps all staff concerned should be eligible to reapply for the new roles generated?  Or perhaps that's what they do have planned?

 

In other news....

Bear is currently playing Bullsh1t Bingo with a Bank - all I want to do is close the bluddy account (that I haven't used for years).  Want a bigger credit limit?  Sure, just log on and do a couple of clicks and you'll probably get it**.  Want to close your account?  Oh no, Mr Bear - you'll have to phone and play B.S. Bingo for that one.  T0ssers.  That's a Rant.

 

(** In fact a CC has just advised that they're gonna double Bear's limit without even being asked - and I never even get remotely close to the old lower limit as it is.  Don't want the new limit?  Then you have to tell us - or we'll double it anyway.  No wonder people get into debt.  That's definitely a Rant as well.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, Ian Abel said:

surely those staff could have seen it coming in some way since he now has very different duties and requirement and won't be doing much of what kept them all working?

Not only that but HM the King has been very clear that he wants a "smaller" monarchy irrespective of sacred tradition. This inevitably means fewer jobs for retainers, hangers on and those in service to the royal persons. 

 

Fewer assistant handwipers to the groom of the royal stool one presumes.

[iL Dottore]

5 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

What rice and beans and vegetables? Perfectly healthy and generally amenable to sustainable practices, sadly with the exception of water-hungry nuts or the silliness of growing rice in deserts. These are "vegan" foods.

 

Colour me confused.

 

Unless you are talking about manufactured meat protein substitutes.

 

Oops, missed @monkeysarefun continuing this discussion:

 

Yep, them things (and the milk and cheese substitutes)

 

Rice, beans and vegetables I don’t consider as vegan food - they’re just food!
 

I’ve always wondered – and this is a very philosophical point – are you truly a vegetarian or a vegan if you eat meat and dairy substitutes? Surely a vegetarian or vegan diner would avoid anything even vaguely resembling “meat“ to keep to their philosophical outlook?

[iL Dottore]

5 minutes ago, polybear said:

….In other news....

Bear is currently playing Bullsh1t Bingo with a Bank - all I want to do is close the bluddy account (that I haven't used for years).  Want a bigger credit limit?  Sure, just log on and do a couple of clicks and you'll probably get it**.  Want to close your account?  Oh no, Mr Bear - you'll have to phone and play B.S. Bingo for that one.  T0ssers.  That's a Rant.

 

(** In fact a CC has just advised that they're gonna double Bear's limit without even being asked - and I never even get remotely close to the old lower limit as it is.  Don't want the new limit?  Then you have to tell us - or we'll double it anyway.  No wonder people get into debt.  That's definitely a Rant as well.

Mrs iD and I are the bane of our credit card issuer for the simple reason we pay off our credit card bill, in full, every month when it arrives. They don’t earn a single penny of interest off us (although being a financial institution, they still are able to extract money from us for this and that – although as not as much as they would like!). Another advantage, is we rarely - if ever - go beyond 1/10th of our upper credit limit (the consequence of which is that we have never been asked if we want to increase our credit limit - no money in it for them, y’see).

Nowadays, post-pandemic, I find myself using the direct debit card a lot more frequently, thus minimising the fees we need to pay out for such services.

 

I reckon taking on a bank is even more futile than taking on City Hall. At least City Hall can find itself in an politically embarrassing position and backtrack. Banks don’t even have the human decency to be embarrassed by what they are doing.

[Ozexpatriate]

22 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Yep, them things (and the milk and cheese substitutes)

 

Rice, beans and vegetables I don’t consider as vegan food - they’re just food.

I would assert that rice, beans and vegetables are food that is permitted to and eaten by vegans, therefore, "vegan food".

 

I concur with your assertions regarding manufactured protein substitutes and I know that you do apply that same concern to any processed industrial food (which I see often in your posts) - I think factually your objection is really about industrial foods, rather than industrial foods for vegans.

 

By the way, I am 100% with you on medium-rare beef and the notion that no chef worth his salt* would not properly season his/her/their food.

 

* Yes a pun, feel free to groan.

  

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

The problem is ... with vegan food - as is explained in this BBC news article:  https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200211-why-the-vegan-diet-is-not-always-green

...

But I think it would wise to avoid meat and dairy substitutes and eat locally sourced fruit and veg (no more avocados shipped in from S America, etc.)

There is a lot of confirmation bias in your post around "vegan". In one place you describe rice, beans and vegetables as "just food" yet avocados are now "vegan food"?

 

I had avocado for breakfast this morning. It likely came from Mexico, but might have come from California. (I didn't check.) Certainly not local, but much closer for me than for Europeans. Every year the organization promoting avocado export from Mexico blows most of their annual budget on a commercial during the Superbowl. It is a very important crop there.

 

I agree with the factual content of your post. Avoiding industrial food and non-local food is a very good idea.

 

Even non-sustainably transported plants* have a cumulatively lesser environmental impact than raising, slaughtering and transporting livestock.

 

* Except nuts. Nut 'milk' is probably the least sustainable food on the planet.

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

16 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

I’ve always wondered – and this is a very philosophical point – are you truly a vegetarian or a vegan if you eat meat and dairy substitutes? Surely a vegetarian or vegan diner would avoid anything even vaguely resembling “meat“ to keep to their philosophical outlook?

The point is not eating animal products - usually either religious or a personal ethical choice. You're not eating a bear if you eat a cake shaped like a bear.

 

A former colleague was a reasonably observant but pragmatic Hindu (vegetarian + dairy). For example, she would ask for the non-fish sauce curry base at Thai Restaurants. If however someone was sharing a birthday cake, she simply wouldn't ask if it had eggs - as a politeness.

[Ozexpatriate]

12 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

... they still are able to extract money from us for this and that – although as not as much as they would like!

They make money per transaction (from the vendor) and (usually) annual fees - certainly if your card is associated with points accrual (like airline miles).

[simontaylor484]

Royal staffing 

I would expect reorganization of the staff throughout the "Firm"  as The King stated some of his charity and other work would be handed off to others. I would Assume some of that would go to the new Prince of Wales 

I believe also Prince Edward will eventually become Duke of Edinburgh once the dust settles 

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

At 08.00 the men with the diggers turned up and we now have several large holes at the front of the house where the new fosse is to go.  They have hit several problems and it looks as if we will need two pumps to cope with unexpected levels.  One to take the grey waste from the bathroom and utility room round to the front and one to take the liquid outflow from the new fosse into the soakaway system.   We learn something every day.  I now need to sort out electrical supplies for the two pumps.  

Is there an option to (perhaps at a future date) intercept the grey water for reclamation for purposes like irrigation? (I know you have your rainwater tank.)

[simontaylor484]

I kept a credit card for emergency use I pay for a small monthly subscription with it just to keep it open