Early Risers.

[simontaylor484]

Looks like the eco nutters have climbed on to the Dartford crossing bridge. 

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

A bright and sunny start to the day here in England’s northwest. Once I’ve finished my breakfast I’m heading off to the local plumbers merchant to buy some plastic pipe and fittings to replace the drainage system for the washing machine. The current one, which is about 20 years old at least has screw fittings and one or two look like they are leaking a bit! I suspect it will be a lot easier to replace just the whole lot, instead of changing a couple of joints, so that’s what I going to do. 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. It was pouring down last night so Arthur Itis started his rain dance. Its now stopped raining and a couple of Nurofen have put AI back in his box.

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

As for “Neighbours”, it’s not quite my cup of tea – but anyone with half a brain would recognise the superiority of the beautiful people of Ramsay Street over the grotesque oiks, thugs, no-hopers and down-right criminal denizens of Albert Square.

I can proudly say that I have never watched either. My mum used to watch Coronation Street and Emmerdale  but I paid little attention to them.

2 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Got a payment of £66 into my bank account this morning from my energy supplier.  This is the first of the government energy support discounts but I find it rather strange that they're paying me the money instead of just knocking it off the bill.  I'm only going to end up giving it back to them!

 

My discount is added directly to my bill as I expect the repayment will be.

1 hour ago, TheQ said:

Just received the electrickery bill for the mobile home, their projected usage £100+ per month, actual usage including fixed charge roughly £40 and the account is already £540 in credit...

My energy bill is almost the same in credit and a few months ago when prices shot up they wanted to double my monthly payments despite my being a considerable amount in credit. I suggested a figure 50% above what I was paying and they accepted that without demur. I'm still paying more each month than the cost of the energy I'm using, even in the coldest months but no one knows if energy prices are going to rise again so I'm leaving things as they are as a 'buffer' against future rises.

[PhilJ W]

6 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Looks like the eco nutters have climbed on to the Dartford crossing bridge. 

They've closed the bridge so everyone has to use the tunnels causing more pollution. The bridge is often closed because of high winds anyway but the wind isn't strong enough at the moment. After last night's rain they must be soaked and with the wind chill factor at the top of the bridge they must be feeling pretty miserable by now, good!

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Nyda has got up early to put out the chairs and sell tickets to the crowds, who are already queueing outside the front gate of the Hippodrome, in order to witness the final touches to the summer house roofing exhibition.

 

The final touch being the roof cap, which is a bronze finished sphere.

 

Once this has been fitted I will stand astride this golden globe and make a long and tedious speech to the assembled masses below.

 

I will then make a dignified descent to terra firma and go for a well earned drink at the post production party.

 

Tame, very tame.  When the local shops were built (a tall 3 stories high) one of the builders did a handstand on the top of the chimney stack - there's a photo kicking around somewhere, though Bear doesn't have a copy.

 

4 hours ago, grandadbob said:

We're off on the first of 4 of our boys days out,  today it's to HMS Belfast. 

 

There's a rather nice machine shop on the Belfast - Bear would be very pleased with a similar setup.

 

4 hours ago, grandadbob said:

P.S.  Special pic for PB of yesterday's cake.

 

 

 

Please tell Bear that's Buttercream and not real cream - we need details......

 

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

@polybear I saw a documentary on lifesize rubber dolls in the States. They even had breathing motions on them, perhaps they could make a JA one 

 

Er, just what sort of programmes does ST watch one wonders?  On second thoughts, best not go there.......

 

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

Looks like the eco nutters have climbed on to the Dartford crossing bridge. 

 

Leave 'em up there.  I'd also impose a media ban (TV/Newspapers/Radio) on all such antics cos' no publicity isn't good for them.  It won't stop internet blurb, but it'll certainly help.

 

In other news......

The Bearmobile has been checked over and the battery is now on charge; I've also had a play with the new soldering iron and can confirm that it gets bluddy hot rather quickly - now to order some extra bits in useful sizes.  Incidentally, for @Tony_S (and anyone else with an Atten ST-80 soldering iron) this supplier seems to be the cheapest I can find for replacement (hopefully genuine) bits when also taking into account delivery costs (£2.99):

https://www.switchelectronics.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=atten+solder+tips

I believe the same tips also fit some versions of Hakko soldering iron.

 

[Tony_S]

5 hours ago, polybear said:

checked over and one of those clever battery chargers hooked up in order to give it a boost

I got one of those and it works nicely. However on my car the negative connector of the charger doesn’t go to the battery negative and it took a while to find a suitable bolt to attach it to as the charger leads were not very long. Also the battery lives in a plastic box so that has to be dismantled as well. Fortunately the clever charger is IP66 rated so it can sit on the windscreen as amazingly there is nowhere it can fit under the bonnet. The Evoque engine space is rather full. 

[Gwiwer]

Welcome to ER Moan-day. 
 

03.45. Alarm call

04.00. Check flight radar and Heathrow arrivals

04.02. Confirm flight now expected at 05.03 (two minutes early!) 

04.30. Depart for airport

04.57. Park in Business Car Park, exit car and with impeccable timing watch QF9 land right beside me. 
05.15. Arrive in terminal ℅ shuttle bus

05.28. “Bags arriving” message comes up

At various times - recall the final scene from “Love, Actually” shot here and consider what sort of greeting might be appropriate

06.10. Finally (due to a delay in the baggage hall) ….. 

 

In other news I have picked the best day to not attend the House of Fun. There is major disruption due to the engineers who occupied our track all weekend to replace some track having broken something at Shacklegate Junction in the process. Compounded by another fault at Mortlake.  I’m sure they coped without me!  

 

 

[polybear]

18 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

05.28. “Bags arriving” message comes up

At various times - recall the final scene from “Love, Actually” shot here and consider what sort of greeting might be appropriate

 

 

"OK, so what prezzie have you bought me?"

[Tony_S]

6 hours ago, grandadbob said:

government energy support discounts but I find it rather strange that they're paying me the money instead of just knocking it off the bill.  I'm only going to end up giving it back to them!

It would appear that the Government has listened and will end the scheme in April, one year earlier than first announced. I believe that it is also now normal to include “at the time of writing” after the word “Government”. 

Edited October 17, 2022 by Tony_S

[Sidecar Racer]

3 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

 

 I have been reading through the series of Vera books for the last couple of weeks, and found last night after turning the light off, my head was inventing words as if I was still reading - continuing the story I had put down. 

 

  I had better go back to books where I just have to read the pictures I think.  

 

 

 

 Best strike Playboy off the list .   😳

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

continuing the story I had put down.  But my own version of it, I

Aditi always used to fall asleep towards the end of Midsomer Murders or Miss Marple. Etc. and would ask who had committed the crime. I frequently made up an alternative ending . So when watching a repeat she would start off saying that she was sure we had seen it before and then at the end be surprised. 

Edited October 17, 2022 by Tony_S

[Tony_S]

5 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

Very nice but and there's always one isn't there, who is she?

I don’t know but she seems to be wearing some boots on her arms. Is that something Antipodean?

[Gwiwer]

14 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

"OK, so what prezzie have you bought me?"

"THIS ..... is Harriet" 😜

 

(Copyright acknowledged - fair dealing applies) 

[New Haven Neil]

If we had a house number, it would be 31.  But when the Post Office here allocate numbers etc, any house names come first, then any remaining houses get numbers.  So the Manx Post Office database just has our house name. 

 

All the databases that businesses get sold, allocate 31 to our house as well as the name for some reason, also the other named houses get numbers, all of which are not necessarily in the right order!  Tommy Cooper stylee.  Luckily the posties are on the case, and always deliver the right stuff to the correct-ish addresses!

 

Today however, the error is that of the sender, as I ordered a brake van kit, and have received modification parts for something from Bear's Great Empire, a Handley-Page Victor.  Some poor chap in N Ireland is going to have a brake van behind his Victor scaryplane.  Sender was very helpful and not a little mortified!

[PupCam]

5 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

Very nice but and there's always one isn't there, who is she?

 

Does it matter ...... 😂

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. The protesters on the QE2 bridge are still there as of five minutes ago. Most of the traffic has now cleared, half an hour delays (which is good for the QE2 bridge). Apparently the police are content to leave them (only two protestors) up there. 

[Gwiwer]

12 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. The protesters on the QE2 bridge are still there as of five minutes ago. Most of the traffic has now cleared, half an hour delays (which is good for the QE2 bridge). Apparently the police are content to leave them (only two protestors) up there. 

They'll need a pee and a poo sooner or later.  And maybe a pizza as well.  They'll come down of their own accord.

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

They'll need a pee and a poo sooner or later.  And maybe a pizza as well.  They'll come down of their own accord.

That is probably best, it wouldn’t be right to endanger some police officers trying to remove them. However if the climbers are experienced I suspect they would do whatever those mountain climbers who spend a considerable time climbing a difficult rock face do. If they are on the Essex side of the bridge I suspect the police will adopt the same approach as they did to the oil depot tunnellers , that was that they had put themselves in a self declared risk and they were welcome to come out at any time. 

Edited October 17, 2022 by Tony_S

[DaveF]

Sunday could again be summed up as a quiet peaceful day.  There were the usual phone calls and e mails to old friends and then a trip to church for the communion service.  The vicar is back from his holiday, clearly his arm is still giving him problems as he did everything one handed.

 

I went home via the beach and had a quick walk along the promenade for a change.  Despite it being Sunday it wasn't too busy.  The sun was out but there was quite a strong wind.  While I was there two ships entered the harbour, though one of them went again a few minutes later, an offshore small work boat/tug.  The other was a container ship on its regular scheduled service between some British and European ports.

 

After an early lunch I went to a meeting at Longhirst of the local group which is interested in small electric things on nickel silver strips 9mm apart - could they be small electric mice?  As well as looking at peoples' latest purchases we saw an interesting set of photos from someone who really knows about these moving things - he spent much of his army career involved with full size ones at a high level.

 

On the way home I arrived at the level crossing near the village and found that the lights were flashing and the barriers down, I saw two fast moving things go by, one of a variety I'd not seen before.  Back at home it was time for toasted muffins followed by an evening of TV and a Poldark book. 

 

David

 

[iL Dottore]

5 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Expensive.  Worth every penny/schilling/Euro/Manx Groat though!

 

NHN's 50th treat, urrrrrr 14 years ago.

 

The Glacier Express travels regularly through the station serving the Holiday Hovel/CC's Mountain Redoubt, although it doesn't stop there.

They now have a very luxurious package (Excellence Class Classic) which is heavily booked out in advance (the first available seats are not until December 12th) Two tickets in this class - one way (Zermatt - St Moritz) cost a total of CHF1'476 (about £1'300). But what an experience (see: https://shop.glacierexpress.ch/gex_en/specials/daytrips/glacier-express-excellence-class).

 

Here's a review: https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/travel-guide/a27613054/glacier-express-switzerland-launches-excellence-class/

 

One drawback is that the available souvenirs are pretty poor - if you want a souvenir Glacier Express train in HOm - you'll have to hunt it down and they cost a pretty penny. A total of a few hundred SFr if you want to have a BEMO starter set (if you can find one, that is)

 

Captain Cynical rents out part of his Alpine Redoubt™ tunnel network to the MGB (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furka_Base_Tunnel) 😃

[simontaylor484]

I have a Halfords/Ring battery charger/maintainer. My car could do with a battery maintenance cycle before winter hits. Like Tony's its ip66 I just run an extension cable to the garage door then plug it in.

 

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

"THIS ..... is Harriet" 😜

 

(Copyright acknowledged - fair dealing applies) 

 

In your dreams, Sonny Jim.....in your dreams.....🤣

 

Bear here....

....who's just had leaflet thru' the door from a gaff in the village called "The Tanning Box".  Now why on earth would a Poly want a Tan, FFS?  Or may be they're hoping I'll go for one of their other offerings:  Dermal Filler (is that like Polyfiller - if so I've got a sh1t load in the shed, and it didn't cost me £180 notes....), Russian Lip Technique (Huh?  Is that some built-like-a-Ruskie brick sh1thouse female weightlifter givin' you a snog?  If so they'd have to pay me an awful lot more than the £210 offered on the leaflet), Botox (call me a scaredy Bear, but the idea of having ultra-poisonous stuff pumped into the Beary mush doesn't appeal somehow - nor does the £100+ price tag) or Semi-Permanent Eyebrows (on a Bear??).

 

In other news......

There ain't none - Bear's Tigger Bounce is somewhat broken this afternoon; a distinct feeling of "can't be ar5ed" currently exists at Bear Towers.  TC's.

[iL Dottore]

4 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

In your dreams, Sonny Jim.....in your dreams.....🤣

Oh, I don't know.

 

@Gwiwer has always struck me as being a bit of a (retired) roué/"babe magnet"/lady-killer/libertine/rake/lothario (add the sobriquet of your choice). Apart from a near encyclopaedic knowledge of alcohol (and as they say "candy is dandy, but likker is quicker") he also worked/works on the railway - and easy access to rapid transport to "somewhere else" is always a boon in times of (ahem) "misunderstandings".

 

An easy charm (ranging from a courteous 0.5 watt friendly glimmer to an impressive 1000 Watt Casanova smile) doesn't hurt with the ladies either.

 

Perhaps it is as well that he has been tamed and "reigned in" by Dr SWMBO

 

[Tony_S]

22 minutes ago, polybear said:

a gaff in the village called "The Tanning Box"

We have just been out to the High Road so Aditi could collect a repaired bag from the repair shop and a small sack of medication from the pharmacy. She commented on the way back that yet another nail/face/tanning establishment had opened. One appears every time we go out (which isn’t that often but…). I wondered if such places are like the sweet shops in central London that are allegedly useful for money launderers. 
Tony

[BoD]

Afternoon all from a beautifully sunny but somewhat windy Costa del Durham

 

I had my flu jab this morning at the GP surgery.  Arm a little bit sore but no big issue.  When I booked  by phone I asked if I could have a Covid booster and flu jab at the same time. I was told  ‘yes, but covid clinics’ were Wednesdays and Fridays but were all  fully booked.  Still, this was only on Friday so I was pleased to take an appointment for the flu jab today.   As I was leaving the surgery I asked reception if they had arranged any further covid clinics, “oh, we’ve plenty of appointments this Wednesday if you want one” they replied.  Ah well, back again on Wednesday, I guess, thankful to be getting one after all.

Edited October 17, 2022 by BoD