Early Risers.

[Winslow Boy]

3 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Bear does hope so.....I have a Prescription Prepayment Certificate......

 

Bear here.....

Coving "ongoing".  Slowly.

 

Today's Din Dins featured.....wait for it.....all five of that magical(?) "five a day" - which must be a "first" (I suspect I rarely manage that in a day).  But fer chrissakes' don't go spreadin' it about - Bear has an image to protect.....

 

In other news.....

Why don't the Gov. give the "owners" six months to declare who actually owns a Building - and if they fail to do so they get a red warning that if they don't comply in another 3 months then they automatically lose ownership and it'll be seized?  Not hard, not difficult surely?

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64536926

 

Bear gone.

 

I believe that's what the Communists did Bear only I don't think they bothered with the five month thing.

 

So Bears a commie hey!

 

A red under the bed!

[Tony_S]

50 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

I have yet to be struck by a falling com ........

We were at a friend’s firework party some years ago. A dead rocket fell out of the sky and hit me on the head. Some people thought this was quite amusing. Some wondered what the chance of it happening was. A little later I was hit again. People started moving away from me.

[jjb1970]

I've often wondered what happens to all those bullets that get fired into the sky from pistols, AK-47's and .50 M2 machine guns as part of traditional exuberant spirits and celebration in much of the world......

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl, 

Heavy frost on the hull required defrosting. This was done by putting a fan heater inside the hull, and putting the lids back on. Followed by drying the hull with a cloth and a cooperating great fried egg.

 

The hull was then painted, with "squall blue" paint, unfortunately that's now been withdrawn from the market, so I need to choose another blue variation for next year.

 

I then gave the centre console a coat of primer, it of course revealed more sanding required.

 

Ben took me for his long walk, which revealed a great wall of sugar beet. 15 ft high and 200 yards long. This is accompanied by a  beet pan full.

 

Thence to the chandler's, who couldn't find their supply of sail batten material that their computer says they have,  just one piece of 2.2metre length was found. I wanted 3M...  Anyway I've taken that at the price of 2M, will have to see if that plus the left over battens  from the previous sail will do.

 

Then to the radar museum which was a hive of activity, I was shown in via a fire door... They were installing a new front door... So after introductions, and some explanations, I was shown to a room of equipment I recognised.. Half of it I'd actually touched in my RAF life and I was informed that it would be my Friday empire as a guide, I just have to fill in a couple of forms being emailed to me.. 

 

In the meantime I'll be doing Tuesday mornings as part of the maintenance team. I'll make some notes on the equipment in that room and then do some research before opening day on 4th Apr..

 

Then to home via Tes and Coe for some essentials.

Checking the hull, on arrival,  the surface is now touch dry, so that's safe for any more frost.

 

[New Haven Neil]

A'noon, some ER, eh.

 

Miserable night, hips going bananas - so much for cortisone.  'Fail' being the operative word.

 

Finally managed to scrape out of my pit in time for pal H to arrive to continue with first aid to the old PC.  He found some memory strips in a local second hand shop, £4!  One was u/s, the other good so the PC has doubled its available memory for £2 from next to nothing (4Gb) to slightly more than nothing (8Gb).  It does now boot quite quickly as opposed to the ten minute wait previously, but as it is Win7 it is no longer security supported (and not clever enough to be win10'd) its days are numbered, but it is at least now usable.

 

Then a bit of shopping and a walk to try to get the hips to free up, did 2 miles, didn't work, still just as bad.  Future is looking prosthetic, but the foot rebuild must come first.  It may well be the foot causing it all as poor walking gait is the real issue here, I'm currently awaiting an appointment with a different physioterrorist who specialises in these things.  I may be some time, as the saying goes.

 

 

[Coombe Barton]

... Covid ‘shaming’ shifted focus from UK government failures, creating conditions in which people suffered shame and stigma was ‘cynical’ tactic to steer attention away from errors ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/02/07/covid-new-cases-still-up-nothing-from-on-high/

[DaveF]

7 hours ago, polybear said:

 

VSBT's; there's a lesson for us all.  As a minimum it's worth keeping an unprotected list of where savings, investments etc. are, but without sensitive details like values, account numbers etc. included.

These are rather a good idea too - free download:

 

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/end-of-life-planning/lifebook/

 

Thanks very much for this, I have bookmarked it as it is something I need to do - soon.

 

To anyone else I strongly recommend making sure someone knows where things are to do with finances, relatives, friends, possessions and so on.

 

If Mum hadn't been organised I would still be trying to sort out her estate, as it was it "only" took 8 months in all then I was able to a final statement of her estate - though that was for my interest as everything came to me and the total was a very long way below the threshold for death duties - she had paid for all her care over the years.

 

She had an expanding file in her spare room containing her will, deeds and lease of her flat, details of banks, funeral plan, details of  what she wanted at her funeral, premium bond reference number, flat and contents insurance, details of her care plan and other useful things.  It also contained Dad's will, death certificates, older family wills and probate valuations of things she had inherited. In her desk were her current financial book (she kept monthly accounts), a book with her passwords (including online banking), address book, book of telephone numbers and recent letters from friends, also a Christmas card and present list and a book of family birthdays and deaths.  Then there were box files with all her hospital stuff, old bank and credit card statements, and more family stuff.

 

A few months before she died she went through all her jewellery with me and we made a list of every gold and silver item detailing where it came from, in some cases the cost and gave each item a code according to where it fits in her jewellery box so I can identify everything.  In due course I will get them valued and decide what to do with them, but before then I will photograph everything as they are bound to get mixed up during valuation.  She separated all the "costume" jewellery and put it in a separate box at the same time, as it is relatively worthless.  She also briefly told me about the items of silver, china and so on, where they came from and which might be worth selling.

 

Lastly she made it quite clear that I was free to sell/give away/keep anything, there was nothing to go to any specific family member unless they asked for something.  Hence I was perfectly happy to pass things on to church, I now know where the things went, all to deserving people.  

 

Her organisation made things much easier for me and greatly reduced the stress.  Doing the same things for my stuff is one of my priorities, including listing model railway stuff and writing down possible ways to dispose of it - because I don't have any close relatives who know what I've got.  At the moment a neighbour has a set of my keys and knows how to contact my solicitor and where the most important things are in my desk as a start.

 

David

[Barry O]

@New Haven Neil yep my cortisone injection is a bust too. There must be something better for bursitis than a cortisone injection and some exercises.

 

Wills, power of attorney all sorted ages ago. List of passwords.. done. Accounts .. available to both Herbert's so hopefullall should be OK for tidying oyr estate up.

 

No news from little sis.. which is a tad worrying but she did say she had to go to sort out some of the issues ASAP.

 

As for bullets in the air @jjb1970..what goes up.. must come down...

 

Baz

[TheQ]

When I was in Saudi there was a wedding venue nearby one of the compounds that the Brits lived in...

Often shots would be fired.. AK 47 was common, you could buy one in town for £150 ish.

What comes down? A round through a plastic table outside, that a family was sitting around..

There had been representations to the authorities before. This time they listened and moved the wedding venue out into the desert.

[Ian Abel]

3 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I've often wondered what happens to all those bullets that get fired into the sky from pistols, AK-47's and .50 M2 machine guns as part of traditional exuberant spirits and celebration in much of the world......

Baz beat me to it, but I do seem to recall that there have been occasions of folks being hit by the "coming down" ammo. Lower velocity so not as bad as standing in the direct line of fire but seems some of the yahoo element at firing ranges in the US have manage that sort of thing when acting like aresouls (spelling to avoid the dreaded censor).

 

Chewsday, nothing much to report from yesterday other than a flurry of report updating for the client.

Otherwise, calm.

 

Going through my aging pictures I offer this one below, mostly because a similar picture of this vehicle parked in our cul-de-sac (sans human occupant) has stumped the WhatsApp group of remaining members of the 8 families. I'm going to post this, especially as one of the "younger" ones commented on the previous picture as "...has to be a dumb guest at #2 or #3...". We lived at #2 and I was visiting over Christmas '79, none have twigged, yet  😃

 

I give you, yours truly with the Avis Daimler Soverign I had rented after zipping across the Atlantic in Concorde - those were the days;

 

Weather maintaining an uptick, -1c and sunny first thing, +2c the high forecast. Starting to lose some snow cover and wet roads appearing from all the runoff.

 

Onward.

 

[polybear]

4 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

I believe that's what the Communists did Bear only I don't think they bothered with the five month thing.

 

So Bears a commie hey!

 

A red under the bed!

 

Bear's just been outed by Comrade Winslow.  Turdycurses.

 

Bear here....

Coving still ongoing.....small Tick.

On the subject of writing down Passwords, obviously there are security implications in the event of a break-in etc. (or dishonest friend/relation - it does happen); many financial institutions such as Banks won't refund stolen money because they'll deem it was your fault for not protecting passwords etc.

In many cases there is no need for a relative to have Banking Passwords etc. in the event of death - a visit to the relevant Bank and they'll sort it.

Sadly there is little choice for many of us but to write passwords down though - remembering an RMWeb or Ebay password is easy enough because they probably get entered regularly, but for others perhaps only needed once a month or even less it's not so easy.

One way is to have three separate notes hidden in different locations around the house, as follows:

1.  Barclays

1.  Username:  Bear

1.  Password:   LDC123

- so only one piece of paper is useless.  And no, they're not my passwords - or my Bank......

[polybear]

[Compound2632]

35 minutes ago, Ian Abel said:

Baz beat me to it, but I do seem to recall that there have been occasions of folks being hit by the "coming down" ammo. Lower velocity so not as bad as standing in the direct line of fire but seems some of the yahoo element at firing ranges in the US have manage that sort of thing when acting like aresouls (spelling to avoid the dreaded censor).

 

Ah - you mean aerosols - spraying in all directions?

Edited February 7, 2023 by Compound2632

[BoD]

22 minutes ago, polybear said:

If I had 50p for every time I failed a maths exam I’d have at least £7.80 by now.

Edited February 7, 2023 by BoD

[The White Rabbit]

3 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I've often wondered what happens to all those bullets that get fired into the sky from pistols, AK-47's and .50 M2 machine guns as part of traditional exuberant spirits and celebration in much of the world......

 

47 minutes ago, Barry O said:

... As for bullets in the air @jjb1970..what goes up.. must come down...

 

31 minutes ago, Ian Abel said:

Baz beat me to it, but I do seem to recall that there have been occasions of folks being hit by the "coming down" ammo. Lower velocity so not as bad as standing in the direct line of fire ... 

 

... but can still be nasty or even fatal: https://science.howstuffworks.com/question281.htm 

[Barry O]

1 hour ago, Ian Abel said:

Baz beat me to it, but I do seem to recall that there have been occasions of folks being hit by the "coming down" ammo. Lower velocity so not as bad as standing in the direct line of fire but seems some of the yahoo element at firing ranges in the US have manage that sort of thing when acting like aresouls (spelling to avoid the dreaded censor).

 

Chewsday, nothing much to report from yesterday other than a flurry of report updating for the client.

Otherwise, calm.

 

Going through my aging pictures I offer this one below, mostly because a similar picture of this vehicle parked in our cul-de-sac (sans human occupant) has stumped the WhatsApp group of remaining members of the 8 families. I'm going to post this, especially as one of the "younger" ones commented on the previous picture as "...has to be a dumb guest at #2 or #3...". We lived at #2 and I was visiting over Christmas '79, none have twigged, yet  😃

 

I give you, yours truly with the Avis Daimler Soverign I had rented after zipping across the Atlantic in Concorde - those were the days;

 

Weather maintaining an uptick, -1c and sunny first thing, +2c the high forecast. Starting to lose some snow cover and wet roads appearing from all the runoff.

 

Onward.

 

Didn't recognise you in that coat!

 

Baz

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. And yet another do nothing day. Well not quite, I booked  a minibus on behalf of SEERS this morning. Fords at Dunton have a minibus that local organisations can use free of charge*. Its understandably very popular. *Return it with a quarter tank of fuel, no other cost involved. 

[Ozexpatriate]

8 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

... one theory is that we should use space based mirrors to reflect solar rays onto an incoming meteor/comet and by burning off part of its mass, alter the trajectory so it misses the earth.

Such orbital mirrors are the plot device in a number of 007 films. The issue with such a thing (were it feasible, and I'm not so sure about that) is having it pointed not at asteroids but, by accident or malfeasance, the earth.

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I've often wondered what happens to all those bullets that get fired into the sky from pistols, AK-47's and .50 M2 machine guns as part of traditional exuberant spirits and celebration in much of the world......

It is a small fraction of gun-related fatalities, but of course it happens.

 

Here's an old BBC story from 2011.

 

The Turkish bridegroom who killed three relatives at his wedding by firing an AK47 stands out.

[pH]

Results of anti-aircraft fire can be similar to firing handguns into the air. I’ve read of kids in the UK collecting shrapnel off the streets after night raids in WW2.

[Coombe Barton]

4 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

It is a small fraction of gun-related fatalities, but of course it happens.

 

Here's an old BBC story from 2011.

 

The Turkish bridegroom who killed three relatives at his wedding by firing an AK47 stands out.

From the article

As a result, a number of US states including California, Texas, Arizona and Ohio outlaw firing a gun into the air. In Minnesota, it is specifically forbidden in cemeteries.

@Ian Abel - Huh????

[pH]

5 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

In Minnesota, it is specifically forbidden in cemeteries.

@Ian Abel - Huh????

Salutes over a grave?

Edited February 7, 2023 by pH

[PhilJ W]

3 minutes ago, pH said:

Results of anti-aircraft fire can be similar to firing handguns into the air. I’ve read of kids in the UK collecting shrapnel off the streets after night raids in WW2.

There are records of anti aircraft shells falling to earth and causing injuries and even death.

[pH]

2 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

There are records of anti aircraft shells falling to earth and causing injuries and even death.

Depending on the type of fuse - air burst or not?

Edited February 7, 2023 by pH

[Ozexpatriate]

16 minutes ago, pH said:

Salutes over a grave?

One imagines professionals do not use live rounds. Amateurs however ...

 

I regularly hear gunfire (from the firing range* at a local gun club). I notice it more when the weather is cloudy/raining. I would have thought that cloud would deaden the sound but my current hypothesis is that the gunfire reports bounce off the cloud. I don't notice the gunfire so much when the weather is clear. It's hard to imagine members rushing out the firing line whenever rain threatens (though I imagine it is sheltered to some extent).

 

* >2km away as the crow flies

 

The other day I heard what was unmistakably a short burst of fully automatic fire. (This is rare.) And what I presume was a tannerite** explosion.

 

** exploding target material with a well-earned reputation for starting wildfires. One assumes it would be safely used on the range - and there is little wildfire danger there.

 

Edited February 7, 2023 by Ozexpatriate