Early Risers.

[polybear]

Bear here....

Today's fun has been de-wallpapering (or should that be un-wallpapering?).

No, not the start of yet another Great Refurb (not on your Nellie), but removing a couple of drops of wallpaper in the Muddle Railway Room/Bear Cave that were split; that particular wall (a chimney breast in one corner of the room) has had a habit of a crack appearing over time for more years than I can remember (40+?).  The paper has been removed, the wall washed, the crack raked out, the wall primed with dilute PVA and then the crack filled; I suspect some areas may need a little more filler once sanded down tomorrow.

 

In other news.....

I've had a response to my enquiry regarding ownership of the Alleyway which serves the rear of Bear Towers - the Letting Agents (the bunch that the Council handed over their housing stock to) confirm that (a) they own it, and (b) they are responsible for maintenance - though Bear + other households will be equally liable for a share of the costs

 

BG

[Danemouth]

All  this talk of Spam reminds me of my retirement ten years ago. I was Information Security Manager at a small bank and my duties included the management of the spam filters on the email gateway.

 

My boss added a tin of said meat product to my leaving present - I ate it the following week in my luchtime snack -  our main meal is at teatime.

 

I don't recall ever having spam fritters.

 

Dave

[Tim Dubya]

45 minutes ago, Danemouth said:

I don't recall ever having spam fritters.

 

Get 'em on your bucket list 😜

[polybear]

2 hours ago, PupCam said:

How about allocating today as a design a model railway day in eager anticipation now the Great H/S/L Refurb is history?   Go on, you know it makes sense.     The longer you put it off the harder it is to start.   Just ask a certain Tripehound builder how hard it is to start-up again after a long lay-off a project.

 

Preparation of the Muddle Railway Room must surely qualify......

 

2 hours ago, PupCam said:

Having worked in an industry that closely specifies all sorts of things (I've used BS standard Sea Water for some trials relating to an item of  Naval equipment that used to move at a phenomenal rate

 

Was there such a thing as a BS Chicken for use with the Chicken Gun?

 

2 hours ago, PupCam said:

A colleague once had to use BS standard vomit when testing some oxygen masks

 

How on earth do you get BS Vomit?  Is there some calibrated guy called Stan who barfs in a bucket as required?

 

"Oi, Stan - more Carrots in the next batch...."

 

2 hours ago, PupCam said:

I'm not certain how you "return" a download if indeed it's necessary.    Maybe as it is legally a "borrowed" item perhaps you are technically obliged to delete it at the end of the period?    

 

The freebie talking books from the Library have a loan period, after which you're required to delete them from your Tablet etc. - IIRC there is some mechanism whereby if you don't do so they can detect it (apparently) and suspend/cancel your membership.

However, Cunning Bear has discovered that downloading onto a Lappy and saving it to hard drive doesn't seem to alert them if it's not deleted.

 

2 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Thats bils Xmas present sorted!

 

Perhaps there could be a Business Opportunity here.....

 

"Punk Rockers Barfing in Shop Doorways Calendar 2024"

 

 

Edited August 18, 2023 by polybear

[DaveF]

2 hours ago, PupCam said:

 

I'm not certain how you "return" a download if indeed it's necessary.    Maybe as it is legally a "borrowed" item perhaps you are technically obliged to delete it at the end of the period?    

 

 

 

I think that when you finish with it you simply select "return book" in a simliar way to returning a book you can borrow from Amazon as with Amazon Prime.  I'm not sure if it simply deleted or if the file is actually returned.  I do know that they know when it is returned as there is a maximum number of items you can borrow at the same time.

 

David

[PupCam]

21 minutes ago, polybear said:

Was there such a thing as a BS Chicken for use with the Chicken Gun?

 

More than likely ....

 

21 minutes ago, polybear said:

How on earth do you get BS Vomit?  Is there some calibrated guy called Stan who barfs in a bucket as required?

 

"Oi, Stan - more Carrots in the next batch...."

 

Just add diced carrot to the recipe for PC10 would make a good start  .......

 

 

[The White Rabbit]

25 minutes ago, polybear said:

... Was there such a thing as a BS Chicken for use with the Chicken Gun? ...

 

Just so long as it was fully defrosted! 

[Tim Dubya]

12 minutes ago, DaveF said:

 

I think that when you finish with it you simply select "return book" in a simliar way to returning a book you can borrow from Amazon as with Amazon Prime.  I'm not sure if it simply deleted or if the file is actually returned.  I do know that they know when it is returned as there is a maximum number of items you can borrow at the same time.

 

David

 

I am guilty of ordering a cd, instantly getting the link to download it, doing so and then cancelling the order and getting a refund.  Of course I didn't feel bad about it at the time as I was a tax payer (unlike Amazon).

 

Anarchy init 😕

[Ian Abel]

2 hours ago, zarniwhoop said:

Social Media considered harmful, #94

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-66523341

Has some potential to be considered for the Darwin Awards, if they manage to do it "correctly" I guess!! 🤪😮

[iL Dottore]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

It's probably the same as Tesco's they have to pay for their coffee..

What kind of mean, penny pinching organisation makes their staff pay for their coffee?

 

At the hospital I worked at there was always coffee available (although there was a limit on the amount of coffee supplied each month to the wards) and the ER had a huge coffee urn in the waiting room for waiting patients, relatives and staff. It may not have been the best coffee in the world, but it was hot, wet and caffeinated and together with donuts and chocolates (often donated by grateful patients) we had enough coffee and sugar to keep us going through the night.

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

Spam fritters at school were spam dipped in batter and fried, then left to congeal in a " hot" box dripping with fat as it had nowhere to drain as it cooled.

 

And served with mushy peas and about four soggy chips 

[Gwiwer]

4 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

What kind of mean, penny pinching organisation makes their staff pay for their coffee?

Mine. The employer doesn’t even provide coffee. It’s strictly BYO - Buy Yer Own. 

[zarniwhoop]

9 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

What kind of mean, penny pinching organisation makes their staff pay for their coffee?

 

At the hospital I worked at there was always coffee available (although there was a limit on the amount of coffee supplied each month to the wards) and the ER had a huge coffee urn in the waiting room for waiting patients, relatives and staff. It may not have been the best coffee in the world, but it was hot, wet and caffeinated and together with donuts and chocolates (often donated by grateful patients) we had enough coffee and sugar to keep us going through the night.

If free coffee is provided by the employer as a regular feature then it is almost certainly taxable as a benefit in kind.

 

I had to support a payroll system in the past, years of fun with the variations of taxable items, and their reporting. after a taxation manager was appointed to ensure the organisation (an electricity board,) was not hung out to dry by the Inland Revenue.

Edited August 18, 2023 by zarniwhoop
Explain how I have such arcane knowledge

[Coombe Barton]

... And now it’s the weekend! ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/08/18/wobbling-again-another-new-variant-detected-in-uk-jabs-may-be-on-sale/

[polybear]

55 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

What kind of mean, penny pinching organisation makes their staff pay for their coffee?

 

 

Even The Great Empire provided freebie, tea, coffee & hot chocolate.

Amazingly....

 

18 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

... And now it’s the weekend! ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/08/18/wobbling-again-another-new-variant-detected-in-uk-jabs-may-be-on-sale/

 

Potentially £102 for a private jab?  I wonder if that's just the vaccine cost, or if there's more on top for the jabber?  That price will put many off.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I used to love spam fritters when I was young. Spam was sliced, dipped in batter, deep fried and served straight from the fryer with chips. Only thing to be careful about was the retention of heat, if you were not careful you could burn your mouth. You can now get ready to heat and eat spam fritters from the supermarket, my friends young son was into them a couple of years ago.

5 hours ago, TheQ said:

Storing 25kg bags of salt that just happen to be leaking, will kill off leylandii , kills everything else off too...

 Many years ago I had Japanese Knotweed in the garden. I cut it down to about six inches and filled the hollow stems with rock salt. It killed it off and other plants grew on the plot the year afterwards.

[Dave Hunt]

15 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

A technical question for the membership: without stripping a car back to bare metal and re-spraying, is there any way to easily convert a gloss finish to a matte finish? 

 

About 200 cans of Testors Dullcote should do the job.

 

Dave

[polybear]

Bear here.....

 

I messaged the Council to report "missed Bin" - as the green bins in the street weren't emptied yesterday or today; they responded pretty quickly to say they weren't emptied cos' the road was blocked off due to the drainage works yesterday - which is what I was expecting.  However, they made no mention of when they might be emptied - do we wait another two weeks until the next slot, or leave the bins out front for X days in the hope they do put in an appearance?  Rant #1

 

I also phoned the County Council to enquire about when the tree outside Bear Towers is due to be pruned - the local council (who used to do it) told me a few days ago that it's "now the responsibility of the County Council".  And the response from the CC?  "Well they never told us it's now our responsibility....."  Rant #2

 

I had an email reply from the 3rd Party Insurer, saying they'd pay out the thirty four quid for train fares & fuel mileage (the latter as "a gesture of goodwill") - but as for compo for the aggro etc. etc. - forget it.  Not that I was expecting they would anyway.  I should've got them to fork out for a hire car for four days and left it parked outside Bear Towers just to p1ss 'em off.  Rant #3.

 

I had an email from Amazon Prime - it seems that, as from 18th September, they'll now be charging Prime members (£95/year) for delivering items costing under twenty quid - £1.99.  T0ssers.  Rant #4.

 

And finally.....

An email told me that Amazon had delivered my latest parcel (I thought I heard the garden gate open) - yet there was no knock or doorbell ring.  So Bear is thinking "B'sterd has dumped it on the doorstep & scarpered" - so I'm all lined up for a Rant.

But when I checked it was small enough to post thru' the letterbox, so no knock/ring required - thus depriving me of a Rant.  Which is Rant #5.

 

Bear Gone.

[New Haven Neil]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

What kind of mean, penny pinching organisation makes their staff pay for their coffee?

 

The NHS I worked for!

 

At Trackshack we provided all staff refreshments, as much as they wanted.

[Winslow Boy]

17 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

The NHS I worked for!

 

At Trackshack we provided all staff refreshments, as much as they wanted.

All did I say All well I meant All of the councils I worked for made you pay for any tea or coffee and steady Bear cake.

Edited August 18, 2023 by Winslow Boy
Not shocking enough.

[polybear]

7 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

The NHS I worked for!

 

At Trackshack we provided all staff refreshments, as much as they wanted.

 

Including Cake?

And Pizza?

And Curly Fries?

 

 

[Dave Hunt]

Spam? Lovely stuff raw or grilled but not fritters.

 

Free coffee? Aircrew in the RAF were allowed a sum for each flight that varied with the length of sortie. I can't remember what the sums were but they were enough to keep Squadron coffee bars stocked with coffee, tea, sugar & milk.

 

Amazon prime? I predict that the number of parcels from Amazon to Hunt Towers will decrease dramatically from September 18th. The only reason for paying the higher prices on Amazon is that delivery is free with prime.

 

Dave

[polybear]

11 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Amazon prime? I predict that the number of parcels from Amazon to Hunt Towers will decrease dramatically from September 18th. The only reason for paying the higher prices on Amazon is that delivery is free with prime.

 

Dave

 

Bear mainly has Prime for the TV service, though the free & fast delivery is very useful; I've ordered two cheapo items in the last couple of days that have been delivered quickly (one ordered this morning was a £3.75 packet of Wallpaper Paste that was delivered this evening - the very same packet in Wickes is £5.60).

[polybear]

In other news.....

I'll just leave this here:

 

"Tony Chambers, the chief executive who presided over the hospital where Lucy Letby murdered seven babies and attempted to murder six others, left with a pension worth £1 million and went on to hold a string of other lucrative NHS positions.

The married 57-year-old spent the start of this year as interim chief executive at The Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in West Sussex, earning the equivalent of a £200,000 salary, before he stepped down in June"

 

 

[PhilJ W]

About time I had a rant. Farcebook was so slow last night I had to give up, no wonder they are losing members. When I first started using Farcebook about ten years ago it was user friendly and you could customise the way it was presented, now its take it or leave it. A good example is the new posts column, when I switch on there is usually 20+ new posts, you would think it would be easy to put the list in some sort of order such as chronological but it is in completely random order.

Edited August 18, 2023 by PhilJ W