Early Risers.

[polybear]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

He’s a bit funny when it comes to cake: apart from not eating anything with coffee or walnuts in (which is, admittedly, but a small part of patisserie), he also detests cream - which immediately puts a huge slice of the wonderful world of patisserie out of his reach.

 

 

Bears are rather partial to Buttercream - though I can't remember the last time I had my snout in any 😢

 

2 hours ago, Grizz said:

totally agree…five a day is vital. 

 

Believe it or not, but this Bear has, for the last few months been hitting the magic 5 a day WITHOUT cheating - and quite often/usually 6 or 7 a day.

 

I've recently started chompin' on an Apple** a day (often two now) - though I've just discovered their benefits are significantly higher if eaten without peeling first (but washed), which I'm less keen on.  However, this does raise the question whether or not this means I'm scoffin' more chemicals n' pesticides as well?  Hmmm......

 

**All thanks to the rather lovely NNND - who regularly presents Bear with unused fruit n' veg when she goes on Hols rather than seeing it go to waste.

 

2 hours ago, Grizz said:

I’ve had to attend regular medicals for work over the years. When I reached 45 I was send for an extended medical, not sure why 45 was picked, but off I went. 
 

During the proceedings the doctor questioned me about my diet. But not before commenting that i could probably do with loosing some weight (bløødy cheek).  But from this comment I took the atmos to be a little more relaxed. 
 

She then asked me whether I was sticking to the five a day fruit and veg etc.

 

I replied that I religiously stuck to my five a day and that I did this as part of my commute back home ritual, every working day. And that it consisted of 4 cans of Strongbow Cider and a banana. 
 

My attempt at trying to lighten the event failed…spectacularly. She didn’t laugh, she didn’t even slightly smile, she remained expressionless…and then she said “I don’t think that you are taking this seriously Mr Grizz, this is VERY very serious, my decision will determine if you are fit to continue holding your safety critical licence…”

 

Suitably b*llocked I remained silent, apart from wishing her a good day.

 

Upon arriving back at our office I was met by my boss and invited into the conference room for ‘a chat’. 
 

The good doctor had raised a formal complaint with my boss regarding my flippant attitude….unbelievable.

 

Although she did green light my medical….

 

Now to be honest I had heard someone else use that line some years before and I’d been waiting a suitable opportunity to use it myself. Shame that it fell so flat. 
 

 

 

Miserable C0w - you should send a formal complaint to her Boss, saying if she doesn't lighten up a bit she'll be heading for a stroke.

 

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

Ey up!

Cake.. well @polybear you could try:

Chocolate and beetroot cake, courgette cake, parsnip and white chocolate cake carrot cake.. what more can you desire (and all of them were fine and tested by a very good group of people.. the Easter Bogglers who know a thing or two about tea and wads).

However did you survive visits to Armed Force Mess areas?  

 

The closest Bear got to an A.F. Mess Area was the Wardroom on a Far Eastern Navy Frigate - though the Chief of Navy + all v. Senior Officers were also in attendance.  The closest we got to scoff was water - warm water......which apparently is how it's drunk out there.  Unimpressed.

I've been in a fair few Crew Rooms in my time though - much more fun).

 

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

Since having our solar panels fitted our electrical "buy" from the grid has dropped like a stone. Just hope we continue to get the right uv levels.

 

The World is trying to reduce Global Warming.....Baz wants it.....🤣

 

ION.....

Danglin' done.  Tick awarded.

 

Right, off to wash & refit the guttering.

 

BG

[Barry O]

Been called in early for eye lasering..  it means I should have a nice afternoon...

Baz

 

PS @polybear so you missed out on Mess food and drink?  Pity that .. it was varied but could involve some serious alcohol intake!

 

 

[The Lurker]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

 

Ever since the EEC stopped Tate&Lyle importing cane sugar from Trinidad & Tobago.  You should see their huge sugar silo in Liverpool docks, still there....

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_%26_Lyle_Sugar_Silo

 

A parallel strips of metal factoid.  When the Liverpool Loop line was designed, T&L were still producing sugar in Liverpool, and used copious amounts of water extracted from boreholes as a coolant. When they closed down, the water table rose and now causes excess flooding in the Loop tunnel....

 

Even since Brexit, unless you can get a preferential tariff it is not economically viable to import sugar into the UK. We do it rarely and then as importer of record for a small margin. Apart from organic sugars where the premium is better.

 

on the water table front, London’s tube system is at risk from rising levels due to the general fall in industrial activity in the Thames Valley over the last 50 years 

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, Grizz said:

She then asked me whether I was sticking to the five a day fruit and veg etc.

Aditi always replies that she considers 5 a minimum and likes them to be different colours too, but not too sweet as she has to consider her diabetes. Most doctors probably lose the will to live and regret asking her. 

[jjb1970]

12 minutes ago, The Lurker said:

on the water table front, London’s tube system is at risk from rising levels due to the general fall in industrial activity in the Thames Valley over the last 50 years 

 

I used to work at the Citigen CHP plant on Charterhouse Street in Farringdon. The plant goes quite deep underground,  its a  modern concrete structure built within a series of 19th century vaults and with a listed Street facade. We had dreadful problems as the vaults were below the water table level.

 

Our civil engineers kept advising higher management that accepting leakage was the least bad option, because of the nature of the vaults it was impossible to do the sort of work necessary to withstand the hydraulic pressure that would build up from trying to seal it. They finally listened when bricks were being fired across the vaults with speed and force that were outright dangerous 

 

We had a bore hole but drawing water was prohibited because they didn't want ground water to be depleted despite rising ground water now being a massive problem.

[jjb1970]

I finally got to experience an old comedy cliche today, at Changi beach Park there was a thud next to me which was a falling coconut. If only it had hit my bonce simultaneously with me slipping on a banana my life would have been complete.

[Tony_S]

5 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

We had a bore hole but drawing water was prohibited because they didn't want ground water to be depleted despite rising ground water now being a massive problem.

Not really a suitable area to open a golf course to make use of all that water. 

[Tony_S]

5 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

I finally got to experience an old comedy cliche today, at Changi beach Park there was a thud next to me which was a falling coconut. If only it had hit my bonce simultaneously with me slipping on a banana my life would have been complete.

Main news here today from Singapore seem to be Fernando Alonso driving over a monitor lizard during F1 practice. 

[pH]

2 hours ago, Hroth said:

When the Liverpool Loop line was designed, T&L were still producing sugar in Liverpool, and used copious amounts of water extracted from boreholes as a coolant. When they closed down, the water table rose and now causes excess flooding in the Loop tunnel....

 

My brother-in-law will be interested to hear that. He worked on the construction of the Loop, and there was plenty of water in places in the tunnel even then. They regularly had to change gearboxes on the tunneling machines in situ. (The machines didn’t like dealing with sandstone dust.) He said that lying on the tunnel floor with a stream entering your boiler suit through the neck and exiting at the ankles was a great incentive to get the job done quickly.

[pH]

7 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

I finally got to experience an old comedy cliche today, at Changi beach Park there was a thud next to me which was a falling coconut. If only it had hit my bonce simultaneously with me slipping on a banana my life would have been complete.

Depending on the height from which it was falling, your life could possibly have been completed.

[Gwiwer]

On 15/09/2023 at 07:47, polybear said:

Bear has only encountered an Earthquake once

I have not kept a true count but remember probably most. 
 

I was vaguely aware of one which caused dust to be rearranged and jars to jump when we briefly lived in Fareham and I was a very junior Gwiwer. 
 

London feels occasional tremors; I can definitely say I have felt two in my various years here and which could not be ascribed to anything else. Not the tube rumbling below the ground. Not the aircraft overhead. And not the neighbours asking if the earth moved for them darling. 
 

We experienced three in Hayle. All quite minor but quite distinct in that there was a cracking sound followed by the vibration. One caused a tiny crack in the ceiling.  The nocturnal one was a little more alarming because it woke us as the bed was vibrating. 
 

And there was Melbourne. In seventeen years I think we felt six tremors though more were reported which we didn’t notice. One was of sufficient strength and duration that SWMBO pulled me into a doorway with the advice that she learned in school; doorways are the strongest place inside the home.
 

One struck at work where I was in an open-plan office some 23 floors up from the street. We all heard it coming in the split-second before it arrived. A deep rumble. We then saw several waves literally passing through the building just as you can see on some of the more dramatic footage available on You Tube. Quite alarming at the time but it brought home to me the reality of the seismology I had studied at university and all the P, S and L waves that any quake generates. To actually see an earthquake pass through level 23 like a wave on the ocean was quite remarkable.
 

We temporarily lost power but the generators kicked in quickly. And ultimately no damage was recorded.
 

Friends out in Gippsland were less fortunate. All the glassware in their cabinets ended up smashed on the floor and pictures fell from the wall among other damage.  Their home, a typical Victorian timber country property, moved on its stumps and one of their horses was so spooked it had to be turned loose

 

When I got home that evening I checked our home and found a few cracked and broken items, a couple of hairline cracks in the walls, two model buses had left the shelf and met the floor - both have chipped paintwork and minor dents to this day. And outside on the large object of hobby interest  there was very little to report.  Just one wheel-set of one wagon was off the rails. 
 

I have yet to see Earth Lights but several friends have done so. Some more than once. 
 

 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Gwiwer

[jjb1970]

1 minute ago, Tony_S said:

Main news here today from Singapore seem to be Fernando Alonso driving over a monitor lizard during F1 practice. 

 

It pains me to read that, I like monitor lizards, splendid things. 

 

I have been successfully avoiding the F1 race, aside from the crowds and the crazy prices I am not into F1. As much as I like cars F1 really doesn't do it for me. I  used to love it in the 80's.

[PupCam]

Morning All!

 

4 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

In Cascais (Portugal), there is a vegetarian restaurant/teashop that does spinach cake.

 

One to be avoided then!

 

2 hours ago, DaveF said:

Please note that the paragraph which follows is not fiction or a dream, it was the NHS this morning at my surgery.

 

I was up early this morning to get my flu jab at 08.02.  I left home at 07.40, parked easily and joined the queue in the surgery foyer at 07.45.  The door opened at 07.50, we walked slowly along, pausing briefly at reception to state our names to the two smiling receptionists.  As we continued along the corridor to the doctors' consulting rooms we took off our coats, coming to a halt by another receptionist who was saying hello to people and greeting some by name.  A little further on 4 consulting rooms were in use, as each nurse jabbed one person she stuck her head out of the door to say "Next Please".  On going in she checked I am over 21, have never had an allergic reaction, as I answered she injected me and I was on my way out of the door.  I walked along the surgery's back corridor back to the entrance and was in my car by 07.55 and back home at 08.01.

 

I did ask another receptionist who was guiding people to the exit about Covid jabs - they have done so many they have run out of vaccine  and are waiting for more to come, then I will be contacted.  I think so far they have done about A to C in terms of surnames plus vulnerable patients.

 

It would be fiction round these parts .....

 

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Believe it or not, but this Bear has, for the last few months been hitting the magic 5 a day WITHOUT cheating - and quite often/usually 6 or 7 a day.

 

I've recently started chompin' on an Apple** a day (often two now) - though I've just discovered their benefits are significantly higher if eaten without peeling first (but washed), which I'm less keen on.  However, this does raise the question whether or not this means I'm scoffin' more chemicals n' pesticides as well?  Hmmm......

 

A good wash of the item and you'll be fine.    The chemicals on the apple are the least of your worries.   Don't over think it ....

 

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

PS @polybear so you missed out on Mess food and drink?  Pity that .. it was varied but could involve some serious alcohol intake!

 

Not Applicable for the Beary one!

 

ION

 

A quick nip out to fill up the RD with Go-Juice at the local Esso station.    I'm hoping their Premium Unleaded is still 0% Ethanol although I did see mention a while ago that that was all going to change - Mega TCs!

 

I'm gradually going round inspecting the machine and numerous little jobs are appearing (as they always do).  I'll do those, particularly the safety related ones (e.g. I note that the front wheel castellated axle nut is sans a split pin) immediately.   The other more significant but cosmetic ones can take their time e.g. the left and right engine casings could do with the black paint stripping off and re-painting as could the tin ware.     It'll never be a concours machine (well at least while it's in my ownership) but a general tidy up would be good.

 

Off to see Junior Puppers and Junior Junior Puppers (x2) this afternoon as I'm home alone - Mrs Puppers and the other Junior Puppers crossed the Royal Boarder Bridge yesterday and are currently probably causing havoc in Scoootland!

 

TTFN

 

 

[Hroth]

35 minutes ago, pH said:

My brother-in-law will be interested to hear that. He worked on the construction of the Loop, and there was plenty of water in places in the tunnel even then. They regularly had to change gearboxes on the tunneling machines in situ. (The machines didn’t like dealing with sandstone dust.) He said that lying on the tunnel floor with a stream entering your boiler suit through the neck and exiting at the ankles was a great incentive to get the job done quickly.

 

I think the design anticipated some water ingress, but the drainage pumps were designed to cope with that.

They weren't happy with the rising water table....

 

[Hroth]

3 hours ago, DaveF said:

I was up early this morning to get my flu jab at 08.02.  I left home at 07.40, parked easily and joined the queue in the surgery foyer at 07.45.  The door opened at 07.50, we walked slowly along, pausing briefly at reception to state our names to the two smiling receptionists.  As we continued along the corridor to the doctors' consulting rooms we took off our coats, coming to a halt by another receptionist who was saying hello to people and greeting some by name.  A little further on 4 consulting rooms were in use, as each nurse jabbed one person she stuck her head out of the door to say "Next Please".  On going in she checked I am over 21, have never had an allergic reaction, as I answered she injected me and I was on my way out of the door.  I walked along the surgery's back corridor back to the entrance and was in my car by 07.55 and back home at 08.01.

 

I did ask another receptionist who was guiding people to the exit about Covid jabs - they have done so many they have run out of vaccine  and are waiting for more to come, then I will be contacted.  I think so far they have done about A to C in terms of surnames plus vulnerable patients.

 

Vaccination coverage is very patchy.

 

My surgery isn't getting any flu jabs in until mid-October, and mine is booked for the 19th October.  As for Covid jabs, they haven't any scheduled at all at the present!

 

[The White Rabbit]

Afternoon all,

 

A grey day here, a hint of rain in the air but not even 'dreich', let alone cyclonic rain or drizzle so far. It's a bit cooler as well, with the wind blowing, Rabbit's ears were been blown about a bit and today saw the first outing of the woolly hat for many months. No moths flew out, which was a good start. 

 

Treacle tart was created yesterday, I played with the recipe ratios/quantity of ingredients a bit, much less sugar and it still tasted fine. When at the railway, one of my jobs was to order the sweets for the shops. Despite my weakness for treacle tart and an occasional chocolate cake, I don't think I have much of a sweet tooth and hardly ever have sweets or crisps. Or much cake. I didn't sample the goods much but relied on feedback from others and the sales figures. Some of the fudge flavours were somewhat eyebrow lifting, we didn't quite have beetroot and walnut fudge but some sounded like they might have been invented by Del-Boy or a dentist desperate for business. The plain butter fudge was by far the most popular, followed by variants such as coffee or chocolate. I tried to vary the sweets a bit, having a selection of traditional favourites (e.g. Liquorice allsorts, Pontefract cakes, Dolly mixture, Cinder Toffee) and some of the more modern mixes. 

 

One all day breakfast cooked for lunch, premium sausages and bacon, eggs and the black pudding recommended by Tony. And some baked beans ... not as recommended by certain others... As mentioned yesterday, I had planned to have some rye bread to accompany this but it wasn't to be, so some ciabatta was substituted. An apple was sliced and added, sounds a bit strange for a breakfast but I've found it usually works well with sausages and bacon dishes. I leave the skin on but do give it a really good wash under the tap before slicing. I also enjoy most ciders but have never (officially at least) claimed they are part of my five a day. Unfermented apple juice is different and less likely to antagonise doctors without a sense of humour*.

 

With UV light, I've no experience of filters but have found net curtains can really help reduce UV fade, even on north facing windows. I've been following comments about solar panels as depending how things in 'Life' generally go in the near future, it's something I will look at myself. 

 

* At a healthcheck, going through the usual lifestyle interrogation, "Smoke"?

"No, never".

"Drink"?

"Well, it's a bit early for me but I'll keep you company if you're having one".

(Poisonous glare that could scratch glass)... 

A little later, time for a urine specimen to be taken, waving a sample bottle about on the other side of the [rather large] desk, "Could you fill this for me"?

"Well, not from here doc but pass it over and I'll do my best".

(Second poisonous glare)... but she really did lay herself open to such comments! 

[45156]

2 hours ago, Hroth said:

My surgery isn't getting any flu jabs in until mid-October, and mine is booked for the 19th October.  As for Covid jabs, they haven't any scheduled at all at the present!

You ought to complain about that to the health authority - the government has brought the Covid and flu jabs programme forward to try to stem off a new variant - I saw a queue outside the surgery at Craven Arms this morning, and ours are booked for next Saturday afternoon, and one of my neighbours who is immunocompromised had hers at the surgery last week.

 

Afternoon All

 

Been AWOL most of the week - sorry - must report to the head's office for six of the best. 

 

However, been quite busy with various jobs, trips away and so on.  Two trips to Shrewsbury last week - one to get a bank statement, which proved not possible as their machine was out of order - I kicked off as I'd driven over 25 miles to get to a branch, and they eventually relented, and printed one at the counter - I've a feeling that it won't be long before my bank statement has Nationwide at the top.   Then as we were in town, visited the antique centre, where 30747 saw a lamp that she really liked, and I talked her out of it - FOOL - and she rang them and asked them to keep it for a couple of days - so another trip to pick it up a few days later - I'll never learn. 

 

But I thought I'd share this with music lovers - Karen Carpenter would be pleased.

 

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[polybear]

5 hours ago, Barry O said:

PS @polybear so you missed out on Mess food and drink?  Pity that .. it was varied but could involve some serious alcohol intake!

 

A Certain Bear doesn't drink - and never has.  Hangover?  Wotsthat?  Wine?  Brake fluid (and yes I have tasted finest Girling DOT3 - don't swallow it, it'll kill you).

When I first started in the Trials Dept. - a Department involving much travel, Hotels, Restaurants....and drinking......when the Lads discovered I didn't drink their immediate reaction was "You can't work here!!";  very shortly afterwards a more forward-thinking p1ss'ead said "Hang on Lads - he can drive!!"

Happy all round.

 

ION.....

First coat of danglin' almost completed on Window 1 - the window beading will get a coat later when the sunbuggersoff and the temperature drops a little.  Why do it separately?  Well the time for keeping a "wet edge" is decidedly slim, so any messin' about with fiddly bits is is best done as a separate exercise, for this Bear at least.  Partial Tick awarded.

After that the guttering and drainpipe was washed and refitted, so that's a Tick.

 

I've also started watching a Will Smith film about the lives of Venus & Serena Williams - excellent so far, and not "death by Tennis" either.

 

BG

Edited September 16, 2023 by polybear

[jjb1970]

Does anyone pay for Disney+ streaming?

 

We got it bundled as part of our broadband package along with a Samsung 43" TV (I like the TV, none of could care less about Disney+). Now I have just received an e-mail from Samsung, well done for buying one of our phones have some free Disney+ as a thank you.

 

Everyone I know who has Disney+ got it as a freebie, virtually nobody says they'll keep it if they have to pay for it 

 

Which begs the question, are free subscriptions included in their subscriber count, and if so what percentage of subscribers are only there because it was a freebie?

[Andy Hayter]

Almost certainly counted in the subscription count.  Even though you have not paid for it - at least directly - Samsung will have had to shell out something but probably at a much reduced corporate rate.

[Grizz]

19 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

A Certain Bear doesn't drink - and never has.  Hangover?  Wotsthat?  Wine?  Brake fluid (and yes I have tasted finest Girling DOT3 - don't swallow it, it'll kill you).

Wow…..Respek!
 

I admire your strength old beary buddy.

….corse I couldn’t do it myself. 
Bin an imbiber of alcoholic liquids from my young young cub days…..well it all started in ‘The Cubs’ actually…..IIRC it was shortly before we accidentally burnt Arkela to the ground, in that whole ‘let’s see how much we can drink without taking the bottle out of our mouths, whilst lighting the fire with an accelerant….unpleasantness…😬

[Barry O]

Just after posting on ERs this morningI had a phone call. "Can you come in early for your laser appointment?"  You bet your bottom bippy ! Says I ( anyone else remember Rowan and Martins Laugh in?) So off we went. Tests conducted and back home by 12:30. Ginormous headache so some paracetamol taken and a bit of eyelid inspection undertaken. The laser had punched holes in my eye but eyelids are fine. Did feel the wack when the laser was fired.

 

So..watched a bit of cricket.. the Lads have won at kickball (H'way the Lads).

 

Still feel a bit head achey but that's fine.

 

Baz

 

 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Barry O

[Ozexpatriate]

7 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

SWMBO pulled me into a doorway with the advice that she learned in school; doorways are the strongest place inside the home.

Perhaps or perhaps not. It was the collective wisdom, but is no longer recommended. It is a dangerous premise that doorways are the strongest place. It all depends on the wall. Doorways offer no protection if they pivot on the plane of the door.  A doorway adjacent to a corner made by two load-bearing walls would be a good call.

 

The safest place is to lie on the floor immediately next to, but not under, a large sturdy piece of furniture - like next to a bed in a triangular pocket made with the mattress (as hypotenuse) supported by the bed and floor.

 

Such triangular pockets are the survival spaces in a serious earthquake. Falling ceilings (including joists) can form a similar 'hypotenuse'.

 

Don't go outside of a masonry building unless you can immediately get quite far away - falling bricks are very, very dangerous and whole façades can fall in a single slab.

 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

Does anyone pay for Disney+ streaming?

I keep telling my son that I will subscribe but haven't. They have a *lot* of content I would watch - Pixar movies and Star Wars mostly, but also ESPN+ sports.

 

It was US$15.99 per month, but pricing is highly variable. An online check suggest that "Premium" is now $10.99/month or $109.99 annually. They have just announced a $1.99/month service which includes advertising.

 

[Coombe Barton]

... In the middle of writing this blog decided to go and see how the fridge was defrosting and found a sharp bit. Pink ice. ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/09/16/no-new-zoe-figures-cases-still-increasing-1-92-of-the-population-have-it/