Early Risers.

[tigerburnie]

In other news, seems my cancer surgeon has done a runner to pastures new, but an associate rang to tell me the latest scan is all clear, but the kidney stone in the same kidney(well actually apparently it's more like half a kidney) is now over a  centimetre in size and it has got to come out...........................in the next fortnight................................and they'll hoick a lump of the enlarged prostate out whilst they're at it..................deep joy......................I'm falling to bits here, I'll be a mere shadow of my self soon.

[Ian Abel]

Happy birthday @New Haven Neil

 

Moaning...

 

The weekend... IT SNOWED... ALL BLQQDY WEEKEND!!!

Friday, battled the snow to a very enjoyable happy-hour at the neighbors. General consensus was that EVERYONE was/is done with snow for this season.

Saturday, Jemma dropped off Whitney, a few to-do items then, battled MORE snow driving to a Supper club for an "Oscar winners and runners up songs" sing-along and dinner. Excellent music and company of friends.

 

Clocks changed - Spring ahead style here overnight Saturday/Sunday so now we're blessed with it being lighter later in the evenings. I'm still confused/unsure how it really makes any soDDing difference in the grand scheme of things, and once again Congress (yeah, that august body of incompetent aresholes!!) are debating/weighing whether to stop p!ssing about with the clocks twice a year. Probably will result in the same as always, status quo.

 

Sunday... yes, IT SNOWED!!! Theme here it seems.

Decided on a lazy day, with the unfortunate exception of driving to the grocery store as we needed some essentials. 

 

The totals so far - this snow season we've had 80 inches and are now in EIGHTH place for snow since records have been taken, a billion years ago probably!! 

Another 5 inches, quite probable since the season lasts well into April, will put us in the top five.

 

Weather today, surprisingly and AMAZINGLY, NO SNOW!!! -9c first thing BRIGHT SUNNY DAY, -2c the expected high and sunny/clear all day.

 

Carry on...

Edited March 13, 2023 by Ian Abel

[DaveF]

Happy birthday New Haven Neil.

 

David

[Gwiwer]

3 hours ago, PupCam said:

Happy Birthday Neil!      

 

In Other News

 

It's VERY WINDY! 

Woteesed.  Happy Birthday Neil.  

 

The wind has relocated many of our plant pots, some are smashed but the contents safe, and was responsible for proving during the morning that one of my esteemed colleagues sports a wig!  

 

I'm off back to the pit hoping to shake this lurgy which is neither full on nor pussed off but that uncomfortable halfway stage where you feel bleurgh most of the time but not badly enough to justify staying home.  

[PhilJ W]

Happy birthday NHN.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Apart from when I got up this morning the arthritis hasn't bothered me to much today but the joints are still stiff. Its a bit drier today, with only the odd shower but none too warm and very windy. The garden wheelie bin has gone over, no sense in picking it up until the wind has dropped.

[petethemole]

Happy birthday to Neil.

[petethemole]

In other news, the wind noise overnight meant I woke up even more than usual.  I was a bit worried about the gazebo in the back but looked out and checked it at about 6.30 and it was fine.  It's an 'All Seasons' gazebo with a steel frame weighted at the corners, but the makers do suggest lowering the (adjustable) roof if there's a risk of strong winds.  I wasn't actually expecting winds that strong, plus it's a temporary store so is full of boxes.  It was OK on surfacing at 9, but while I was having breakfast it tipped up; the wind got under the sides and flipped it, nothing to do with the height.  It wasnt raining so I didn't dash out instantly but then Martyn and I removed the contents.  Half of it went into the shed I'm trying to empty  so it can be replaced.  While doing this two further squalls tipped it over more and moved it bodily sideways by its own length.  It was still blowing a hooley so I left it leaning on the fence and the therapy pool.  I had to accompany Mrs mole to a hospital appointment this afternoon so I couldn't get back to it when the wind dropped.  When we got back I was planning to look at it again but the electrics in the garden room/big shed had failed.  Investigation showed that the convection heater had shorted out internally.  Fortunately there was a spare in the little shed....behind all the boxes I'd just put in there. 

 

I'm currently hiding upstairs with a coffee and Johnny Walker, waiting for the third crisis.

[Barry O]

Belated Happy Birthday to our Sanddancer! Hope its been a good one!

 

Baz

[Barry O]

I don't like watching chefs who chuck salt (or any other form of condiment) into food. For some reason pepper is seen as a "must have" in fish pie.. yuk!

 

We used to add a little salt to our water for boiling veg. Gave up on that a long time ago.

 

I like to get the natural taste of the food I eat.. but I do it curries (which have flavours of there own)

 

Baz

 

[polybear]

3 hours ago, Ian Abel said:

Clocks changed - Spring ahead style here overnight Saturday/Sunday so now we're blessed with it being lighter later in the evenings. I'm still confused/unsure how it really makes any soDDing difference in the grand scheme of things, and once again Congress (yeah, that august body of incompetent aresholes!!) are debating/weighing whether to stop p!ssing about with the clocks twice a year. Probably will result in the same as always, status quo.

 

 

Now if a certain Bear didn't know better I'd say that sounds dangerously close to being a Rant.....🤣

 

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

I'm off back to the pit hoping to shake this lurgy which is neither full on nor pussed off but that uncomfortable halfway stage where you feel bleurgh most of the time but not badly enough to justify staying home.  

 

The only justification this Bear ever needed for staying home was full sick pay.......

 

Bear here.....

 

HAPPY BEARY BIRTHDAY WISHES TO NEIL!! 🏍️

 

And VSBT's to TB @tigerburnie - hoping all goes well.

 

This afternoon did indeed see some wielding - I finally managed to fit the brake ratchet loop and lever to the wagon; I most definitely learned some new words in the process though.  I suspect the shaping is not all it should be, but at least they (a) look reasonable, and (b) seem securely attached.

 

I also had a bit of a lucky result when putting some recycling into the bins in the front garden; I noticed what I thought was a bit of cardboard wedged between the green wheelie bin (that's the garden one that the effin' council charge forty-something quid a year to empty 🤬) - it actually tuned out to be half the sticky label off the lid to tell the binmen I was all paid up - no sticky label with 2023 on it means they don't empty the bin.....

It's now re-attached until the next label (2023 - 2024) appears, which should be in the next month or so.

Bear gone.

 

 

[The Johnster]

 My parents both did their share of the cooking and were both alumni of the 'tablespoon of salt and boil it to death' school of vegatable cooking.  So I was primed to rebel against this in the strongest possible terms when I left home half a century ago, and have only in the last few years been using very small amounts of salt in my boiled veggies.  Meat or fish gets 'Kuharek', a Polish salt-based spice mixture which The Squeeze introduced me to and which is highly reccommended.  Mixed with lemon it is miraculous on roast, grilled, or fried chicken!

 

I am an inveterate user of melted cheese (vintage cheddar or Collier's Strong only, please) on top of things (there is no aspect of human behaviour or experience that cannot be improved with a layer or melted cheese on top of it, I'm 71, who gives a wossnim about BMI?), and will sprinkle a little black pepper over it during the cooking so that the grounds sink in a bit.  Breadcrumbs (real breadcrumbs from stale bread, not the 'golden' ones you buy in packets) will lift such a topping as well.

[monkeysarefun]

Pity the rest of you all cos you didn't think up Chicken Salt!

 

 

https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/what-is-chicken-salt-australian-article

Edited March 13, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

12 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I find snobbery, and its brother inverse-snobbery, to be an almost uniquely Anglo-Saxon (if not British) phenomena.

Flavio, are you confining that observation to food? 

 

I have observed many snobbish tendencies exhibited by people of all stripes in other areas.

[Ozexpatriate]

11 hours ago, Barry O said:

He reckons most Americans have very simple tastes but want quantity.

Many do, many don't. It's an unreliable generalization. It's a fair generalization to say that less expensive restaurants will tend to serve larger portions and there are patrons who like that. It's not even close to being universal.

[Ozexpatriate]

8 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

a bit of Labrador in him (as in “if it smells OK and lies still long enough I’ll eat it” bit of Labrador)

Having had an English Labrador, the lifespan of almost any stationary human food on the floor is measured in milliseconds.

[Ozexpatriate]

8 hours ago, polybear said:

the...  only bit that would interest me would be when the doggies are bombin' over the assault course with the owner running beside them.  Why?  Cos' it looks like woofums is having a lot of fun.

7 hours ago, TheQ said:

Ben ... probably would have liked the assault course, but both he and us are not capable now..

The most entertaining televised dog competition I have seen is a long distance jumping contest into a swimming pool. (I guess it is called 'dock diving'.) The water dogs really seemed to enjoy it - and everyone gets splashed or covered in spray as they shake off.

 

Much like any track and field event, the novelty quickly wears off however.

 

Edited March 13, 2023 by Ozexpatriate

[Gwiwer]

52 minutes ago, polybear said:

The only justification this Bear ever needed for staying home was full sick pay.......

True.  But there's still a strong sense of duty hereabouts.  And as it's a strike week the default position is that we are not paid for strike days if not at work unless we have previously submitted a medical certificate.  I guess a death certificate would also count but (1) I don't feel like requesting one of those just yet and (2) they still might not pay me on account of my inability to resume work!  

 

Tomorrow is another day.  I'll make the decision at a true Early Riser's hour when which ever of the alarm or the bladder wakes me first.  

[Tony_S]

16 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

The most entertaining televised dog competition I have seen is a long distance jumping contest into a swimming pool. (I guess it is called 'dock diving'.) The water dogs really seemed to enjoy it - and everyone gets splashed or covered in spray as they shake off.

 

Much like any track and field event, the novelty quickly wears off however.

 

When we took Robbie to the local dog show he couldn’t enter the water leap completion as he was a few days short of a year old.  However having seen his mighty leaps across the water courses (raised flood defences) in our local park he would have done very well. He did sometimes end up in the water but wasn’t bothered.  If he was more interested in following a trail he would sometimes be on the opposite bank to me. If I called him, he sometimes ran back to the bridge but usually chose to leap. This was when he was young. Later he would swim across, rather than attempt a big leap.

[Ozexpatriate]

It is a properly rainy day here. It has likely been raining pretty consistently since yesterday evening and the streams are up. I haven't seen them so full in months.

 

Very damp out walking. At points the rain would lighten up, but quickly return to a steady but not heavy rain.

 

It is supposed to taper off later in the day. It's the most rain we've had in a while. We need it. We still have a precipitation deficit of about 36mm, but the snowpack is good (at about 124% of normal) - hopefully the rain won't get to it. It shouldn't. the snow level was around 5,000' and dropping with a cold front arriving today.

[45156]

Afternoon All,

 

Happy Birthday Neil - hope it went well.

 

We are now the proud renters of a cabinet in one of Leominster's many antique centres - and very strangely, one of my colleagues there is a lady with whom I worked at BT in Lancaster - we both got p*ssed off with BT and with Lancaster, and both moved to the West Midlands - but it is a strange coincidence that the two is us are renting space in the same antique centre - no doubt we will reminisce over the cr*p time that we both had there when we meet up - which we will, as she has a larger unit, and has an attendance requirement of one day a week - cabinet renters are exempt from this.

 

Boxes that we sent to the loft are now retrieved, and the next few days will spent in buffing up the stock, and pricing up.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[Hroth]

48 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Having had an English Labrador, the lifespan of almost any stationary human food on the floor is measured in milliseconds.

 

WIth Labs thats the least of your worries. Friends of ours had a Lab that found two dead bodies (on separate occasions) in canals.  They were terrified of finding a third, the police were already looking sideways at them with the second...

 

Lovely dog!

 

[Tony_S]

29 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

WIth Labs thats the least of your worries. Friends of ours had a Lab that found two dead bodies (on separate occasions) in canals.  They were terrified of finding a third, the police were already looking sideways at them with the second...

 

Lovely dog!

 

One Christmas Eve, I had taken Robbie for a walk in the park down by the railway line.  It was a dark and stormy night (late afternoon really), the rain was lashing down. Being a working cocker, the dog didn’t care. Anyway he leaves the path and runs into some bushes. After a while he comes out with a wallet in his mouth. When I swapped it for a biscuit, I found it had a driving licence and £10 in it. At that moment this was a bit like the beginning of a “Midsomer Murder” so I thought I had better enter the shrubbery just to check. We didn’t find anything else. Trying to get the wallet deposited with local police wasn’t easy. 

[New Haven Neil]

Evening orl, thanks for all the birthday wishes.  A nothing special day as Mrs NHN was at work, I was mostly doing housework!

 

I did once come across a body just after moving here, a motorcycle accident where the rider had hit a stone wall on a bend at Bulgam Cliffs, flown over the wall, ten feet down onto the Manx Electric Railway track, and with rare skill managed to hit a OHLE powerpole and broken his neck.  DOA.  I arrived presumably just after it had happened as it is a reasonably busy road, jumped over the wall at a lower part with another motorist, found no pulse and neck very obviously broken - other guy turned out to be a nurse who declared it not worth doing CPR. Bike was on a test run from a local bike shop, he had been seen going bananas on it just beforehand - 1000cc Aprilia, very fast.  

[polybear]

2 hours ago, The Johnster said:

I am an inveterate user of melted cheese (vintage cheddar or Collier's Strong only, please) on top of things (there is no aspect of human behaviour or experience that cannot be improved with a layer or melted cheese on top of it, I'm 71, who gives a wossnim about BMI?), and will sprinkle a little black pepper over it during the cooking so that the grounds sink in a bit.  Breadcrumbs (real breadcrumbs from stale bread, not the 'golden' ones you buy in packets) will lift such a topping as well.

 

Fried egg on baked beans on melted cheese on branston pickle on toast.....

.....topped with ground black pepper & salad cream.....

Separates the Bears from the Boys.  Go on, give it a try - it's worth it.