Early Risers.

[Hroth]

OMG

 

Just realised that Yeti is due an MOT in a months time....

 

[Sidecar Racer]

5 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Good moaning from the Charente.  Trainspotting to be done today plus a bit of shopping. 

 

We went shopping yesterday and visited various shops in Niort and ended up having a good Chinese buffet.  Not a bad day in all. On a rather different not

 

I am thoroughly enjoying paying visits to to a bald Eagle nest coutesy of YouTube.  

They are fabulous to watch.  The female, Jackie has just laid three eggs and is currently incubating then whilst sitting in several inches of snow.  Las years eggs didn't hatch so I hope that they have better luck this year.

 

Jamie

 

 Here's another nest camera .

 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Sorted the bits for the car, I've found where the various buttons are and what they do. My black bin was emptied this morning, at last after two requests. I'm just waiting for the 'how did we do' E-mail.

[Gwiwer]

Petrol is up by 1p a litre.  Probably down to the shootie-Houthis.  It's been 136.9p for weeks but waited until I was ready to fill up before rising.  

 

In other news there seems to be a log-jam in the supply-chain.  Sainsbury's were very short of E10 (only one pump out of twelve in service) and were all out of fresh chickens as well.  

 

Given last week's issue with the foul-smelling bird (pun intended) I wonder if they have discovered a wider problem.  I had a credit note for the chicken and had to press the Duty Manager to authorise it for an alternative product as none was available.  Sunday's roast will now be butterflied leg-of-sheep.  

[Hroth]

1 minute ago, PhilJ W said:

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Sorted the bits for the car, I've found where the various buttons are and what they do. My black bin was emptied this morning, at last after two requests. I'm just waiting for the 'how did we do' E-mail.

 

Good to hear that you're getting to grips with the new chariot.

 

Regarding the bin collection, if you are allowed a free-form response, something damning with faint praise might be appropriate!

 

[Ozexpatriate]

8 hours ago, TheQ said:

Unfortunately cookies,  because we are controlled by Bill Gates microchips.

I distinctly recall at the London Olympic Games, Britons celebrating Sir Tim Berners-Lee for inventing HTML* and HTTP and by extension the World-Wide Web.

 

* Where one would find 'cookies'.

 

Nothing to do with Microsoft. In fact Microsoft failed spectacularly to influence internet browsing with successive generations of internet browsing solutions. Did anyone use Explorer? Does anyone use Edge?

 

Cookies were invented by Lou Montulli while at Netscape Communications.

 

Edited February 2 by Ozexpatriate

[NGT6 1315]

Cheers all. Still meh because of the flu. Everything aches!

But on a lighter note: Public transport staff can relate…

 

 

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl, 

Decided to refit the rudder first, it was a bit awkward, propping it up tight under the boat, then going up above to attach the holding bolt inside the new rudder head. The wobbling of the boat on trailer, made the prop fall out a couple of times.  That's all done up now.

 

Then both rear quarters and the edge of the stern of BM were sanded, both may need a second sand and paint. But there's not a lot of that paint left and it's gone obsolete. I'd like to use up this paint this year, I certainly don't wish to waste it at £44 a litre for it's replacement.

The nearest, colour is a darker shade of blue, but it appears to be a brighter blue rather than a soft pale blue.

 

The stern edge about an inch in was sanded and varnished, that will need more coats.

 

Ben then took me for his full walk, I felt knackered, after yesterday's logging, and today's wielding  a sander.

Upper arms and chest are particularly tired...

 

Then the accounts were revisited, couldn't find anything to change so I've sent it to the club secretary to view.

 

As I'd spent the brownie points, I earnt some more by drilling out the backboard, Swmbo has almost finished the surface weave over the padding. She'll follow that with embroidery and and needle felting.

 

Then another of the Austin K6s was given the milliput treatment, 3D printing lines filled, a dash board, gearbox cover and seats created in the cab, and a missing bit of chassis made.

A decision was made with the distillery on the unmentionable, the main building is too Germanic, so will not be used, however the still room rear annex and chimney will be used. Work has started remaking  it into, its  new format.

 

,

 

 

[DaveF]

I had a pleasant morning  with an unexpected visit from the lady from the Age Concern office to do the paperwork for having a cleaner, so now Health and Safety and everyone else will be happy.  In due course I will receive a visit from the fire brigade as I count as an older person and therefore should be seen and given advice.  She timed it well, ringing the doorbell just as I was making coffee.

 

The rest of the morning I spent reading a magazine and doing puzzles.

 

After an early lunch I left for the hospital at about 1.05 and got there at 1.40 after an easy drive.  Their car park was full but there is 2 hours free parking on the road and there were spaces.  I had the necessary tests and answered lot of health questions.  My temperature was remarked on as being low (36.1°C) as usual and after sitting for a while my blood pressure was OK.  A note has been made not to give me food containing nuts and I was told I am in very good health.  I have been sent an e mail with a lot of attachments concerning dos and don'ts before and after surgery, they are the same as last time.  I did have to be stabbed twice to get a blood sample.

 

I got back to the car about 20 minutes before the parking time expired - as there are no cameras and no tickets I wonder how the council know how long the car has been parked on the road.  I had a pleasant journey back, I just beat the rush hour. 

 

My post was delivered while I was out, my last ever parcel from Hatton's was left with my next door neighbour, it will be opened after tea.  I will have a quiet evening watching a bit of TV and generally relaxing.

 

David

 

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I distinctly recall at the London Olympic Games, Britons celebrating Sir Tim Berners-Lee for inventing HTML* and HTTP and by extension the World-Wide Web.

 

* Where one would find 'cookies'.

 

Nothing to do with Microsoft. In fact Microsoft failed spectacularly to influence internet browsing with successive generations of internet browsing solutions. Did anyone use Explorer? Does anyone use Edge?

 

Cookies were invented by Lou Montulli while at Netscape Communications.

 

Back in 1992 I invented a form of HTML before anyone knew about it. It was to allow the legal database that I was working on to be used to fill in charge headings in custody systems that were also being developed. These often had two or sometimes three layers of nested options depending on the circumstances.  I sketched my thoughts out on a bit of paper, using the various types of brackets on the keyboard.  We marked up  all the several thousand charge headings and discovered that along with some other work on cross referencing coding systems , we had a saleable product. The system is still in use exactly as I sketched it out, 30 years later.  The whole system now  makes good money for my old force. 

 

Jamie

[Grizz]

Good news, good news,….well for me anyway. As I managed to get the Landy Defender started first thing this morning. Don’t know how or why, apart from I put a new battery on the fob and with a couple of seconds hesitation she fired up. 
 

So tonight she is back home at Grizz Castle. Tomorrow I’ll bung her battery on charge for a few hours, then have a go at trying to replicate the fault. My hunch is it is something to do with the alarm / immobiliser system. 
 

Spent the rest of the day on track. Think I might lower myself into a malt or three tonight. 
 

 

Al la Michael.

 

 

[The Lurker]

23 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

Home  of The Steepest Street In The World.

And the place that first solved how to run Cable Cars (a la San Francisco) round corners IIRC.

[DaveF]

I've just washed up the tea things.  As usual I turned on the hot tap and waited for the boiler to do its stuff.  The water stayed cold.

 

I went to look at the boiler - fault code says no ignition but the manufacturers web site gives other possible causes.

 

I reset it which produced error 168, so I reset it again and it worked.  I also noticed the pressure was low so have topped up the pressure - fortunately I know which taps to turn.

 

It now works but I will ring my boiler man and ask him to come and check it as the boiler is 15 years old.

 

David

[The Lurker]

3 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

 

 

Nothing to do with Microsoft. In fact Microsoft failed spectacularly to influence internet browsing with successive generations of internet browsing solutions. Did anyone use Explorer? Does anyone use Edge?

 

 

Yes and yes, sometimes. Explorer was the default on the work pc for many years. It then moved on to Edge, although Chrome is also used a lot. Recently they introduced their own “secure” browser which is basically chrome adapted by group IT.

[The Lurker]

Greetings from the Boring Borough where today the neighbours moved out after being next door since 1987. They have moved to Chestfield near Whitstable.

 

This week has been a long one. FiL was buried in Spennymoor on Monday and we were up there for a few days before, visiting old haunts like South Shields. Inspired by DaveF I took a few snaps of the beach but sadly for Neil, none of the little railway. They had an 0-4-0 running -smelled like a real steamer.

[grandadbob]

Evenin' each,

Oh me and my big mouth!  In my post this morning I made the mistake of mentioning that The Hip and The Knee had been behaving lately.   We went for walk, about a mile and a half and on the way home The Hip decided to give me a nudge and remind me that he was still there and the b#gger is still niggling me several hours later.  Only resorted to parrotseatemall for now but if it carries on something stronger may be required.

However there are two lots of  good news:

Firstly, after a good once over with the doctor The Boss's problem with her calf seems to be a muscle strain and nothing more sinister although we'll be keeping an eye on it.

Secondly, I have found my lost ring.  I'd given up searching but when I went to put my trainers on in the hallway prior to our walk I found it sitting on top of one of them.  How the hell it got there I haven't a clue, it's a tight fit on my finger and can't fall off or even be shaken off, it takes a firm pull.  I do remove it when I'm doing certain tasks but cannot for the life of me think why I would have taken it off in the hallway.  One of life's little mysteries I suppose.  Really pleased though as it has great sentimental value and I was quite upset that I might have lost it.

Also spent a couple of hours in The Shed and apart from watching things go round and round planted about a dozen trees (4mm to the ft type, The Shed's not big enough for the real thing!)

Soon be time to settle down and watch some rugby so farewell and enjoy the rest of evening.

Edited February 2 by grandadbob

[DaveF]

I've just unpacked the Hattons parcel, inside it was a nicely boxed Swiss self propelled item by Minitrix.

 

It said it was preowned but there isn't a speck of dust on it and the wheels are spotless.  It had clearly never been oiled.  I am delighted, it was a real bargain.

 

David

[Ian Abel]

POETS, we'll see...

 

Good happy hour and rehearsal last evening, except for the news that one of my buddies was in hospital having emergency surgery for a small intestine issue! Don't communicate with him daily so was very unexpected, as I'd only heard from him Monday and all seemed fine. We, the choir, recorded him a get well chant that will hopefully lift his spirits. Mrs spoke to his wife this morning and sounds like he'll have a couple of weeks of recuperation before we manage our next dinner together.

 

Not much planned for the weekend, always hopefully that means I'll have free time for hobbies, seldom comes to fruition thought <sigh>.

At least the weekend weather looks promising, may get some time outside in spring-like weather.

 

0c first thing, sunny and a high of 6-9c expected all weekend with highs above zero.

 

Tally ho.

[New Haven Neil]

21 minutes ago, The Lurker said:

visiting old haunts like South Shields. Inspired by DaveF I took a few snaps of the beach but sadly for Neil, none of the little railway. They had an 0-4-0 running -smelled like a real steamer.

 

Indeed, a railway owned by a good friend and where I drove for many years.  The loco was Brock, a visiting engine and is indeed a steamer, as are the other two, and a lister diesel thing.

 

This is the bigger resident.

 

[Peter Kazmierczak]

We went for a walk this morning. Some 3,000 steps from our front door we find this...
It's purported to be one of the most decorated ----way bridges in the country. It once carried the main London to Weymouth line.

[Coombe Barton]

... student email - “What do I need to do?”- Response: I sent you a 1250 word email saying exactly that. That’s the email you’re replying to. ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2024/02/02/covid-enquiry-not-much-productive-phone-policy-gove-and-ppe/

[pH]

1 hour ago, DaveF said:

I've just washed up the tea things.  As usual I turned on the hot tap and waited for the boiler to do its stuff.  The water stayed cold.

 

I went to look at the boiler - fault code says no ignition but the manufacturers web site gives other possible causes.

 

I reset it which produced error 168, so I reset it again and it worked.  I also noticed the pressure was low so have topped up the pressure - fortunately I know which taps to turn.

 

It now works but I will ring my boiler man and ask him to come and check it as the boiler is 15 years old.

 

David

I hope it’s nothing serious. Our gas-fired boiler let go at 1.30AM last Sunday. Our son, who was sleeping in the basement bedroom, heard water running and woke us up. There followed 3 hours of moving stuff out of the way of the flood and mopping things up. The boiler was one month short of its 10 year life - such precision! 
 

I phoned our ‘boiler guy’. As soon as he saw the caller-id, he asked “Boiler, Pete?”. This is the third one he’s replaced for us in 41 years. He’s from Sheffield, British Gas trained and we played soccer together here for several years. (I have asked him why they don’t do e.g. “20 year” boilers. He said they used to carry them, but people didn’t want to pay the extra cost, so they stopped.)
 

Old boiler removed, new one installed and working by 2 o’clock Tuesday afternoon. Only serious damage as a result of this incident is to the bank account.

[PupCam]

Evening All!

 

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Back in 1992 I invented a form of HTML before anyone knew about it. It was to allow the legal database that I was working on to be used to fill in charge headings in custody systems that were also being developed. These often had two or sometimes three layers of nested options depending on the circumstances.  I sketched my thoughts out on a bit of paper, using the various types of brackets on the keyboard.  We marked up  all the several thousand charge headings and discovered that along with some other work on cross referencing coding systems , we had a saleable product. The system is still in use exactly as I sketched it out, 30 years later.  The whole system now  makes good money for my old force.

 

As long as the system wasn't named Horizon we'll be alright ....... 🤣

 

ION

 

Just before 8:00am there was much commotion outside.    The crane truck was back to remove the old post.   By 8:15 two had become one.      Nice to see the way the flippin heavy and cumbersome pole was gracefully plucked from its socket and delicately manoeuvred between the tangle of overhead cables and deposited gently on the truck.   And all done with such apparent ease.

 

 

Then the "Mud Truck" returned to fill the swimming pool.  The off-loaded mud was firmly tamped down prior to final tidying of the pavement line and replacement Tarmac being laid.      Only time will tell if there was sufficient mud and adequate tamping (by the presence or absence of future sinkage)!

 

 

(Excuse the ghostly reflection of Puppers' hand!)

 

Important ION

 

I managed to speak to  @polybear this morning and even better managed to tempt him from his den to visit Puppershire.    

 

Long story short;    The dog is still out but quieter than it has been.   He's still in the tunnel but hopefully there's some light at the end of it now 🤞

 

And while we're on the subject, more best wishes to other ERs currently MIA.

 

TTFN

 

 

 

 

Edited February 2 by PupCam

[woodenhead]

Took a little trip out from Manchester today to a little village in Cheshire called Audlem.

 

It's got a rather long flight of canal locks and we had a nice walk along the towpath, it was even quite mild and sunny.

 

But the big news was we found a pub restaurant with typical pub meals at typical pub meal prices that was almost entirely gluten free and very enjoyable to eat as well.

 

It was called The Lord Combermere and it was wonderful, pity it is an hour's drive from my home down the M6 too boot.

 

Hopefully Cheshire East won't impose car park fees on the only public car park in the village as it's a lovely little place, with a lovely restaurant as well.

 

Wait this isn't Trip Advisor, it's Early Risers - oh well.

[Tony_S]

I went out for my routine blood test this morning. I had to go in the Fiesta as someone had parked their car so close to mine I couldn’t get in. Aditi was very apologetic. I then went to get my hair cut after some unusually subtle suggestions. Business was quiet at the barbers. He was asleep in a chair when I arrived. 
As it was quite a bright day Aditi suggested a walk at Hyde Hall Gardens. We only got as far as walking across the car park and went in to the restaurant near the entrance for lunch. We usually walk up the hill to the other restaurant! We had a walk round some of the lower level gardens and also had a look at the geese (two varieties)  . Aditi bought a plant too. 
We haven’t done anything since arriving home other than drink tea and read. I didn’t even want anything to eat. 
Tony

 

Edited February 2 by Tony_S
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