Early Risers.

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

it is something you deride in your 30's and 40's, then wake up one morning

I suspect we thought we would like a campervan/mobile home to wander the country with. However I think  now that we are over 70,  Aditi would do that if it was the only way of getting a holiday, she would prefer not to. Even the cottages she had chosen for our holidays are at the “nice” end of the market even if they began life as part of a stable block. Anywhere I wouldn’t mind staying in a motor home would probably have narrow road access and limited public transport once there. 

One might think,as it is just two of us now that we could go at a moments notice. In theory we could, our passports are well in date, we have worldwide travel insurance and we aren't likely to,go anywhere where courses of vaccinations are required. However there is the matter of being on call for Aditi’s mother, who is 95 and lives round the corner from Aditi’s sister. When Aditi’s sister goes on holiday, Aditi and her brother visit their Mum more frequently and would go in the case of an emergency. Things like falls ar covered by a local service. She had overnight carers and various daytime care visits. The sisters husband has recently been very critical of us going on holiday. Apparently giving a years notice, as for cruises, or just for once recently when we decided at short notice to go to Yorkshire is unreasonable. We only book cruises for times when they never go on holiday and booked the few days in Yorkshire with full cancellation options just in case MiL was unwell. All this was in response to Aditi asking if we could be informed of changes made to MiL’s care package so we could explain it to her when she rang us to ask why carers were arriving. Just telling her we didn’t know wasn’t much help. Then in addition to trying to make us feel unreasonable for going on holiday we were informed that we should be grateful for how they had “protected us” after our son died. At this point in the telephone conversation (on speaker) I got rather annoyed, and didn’t hide my anger. There has been no further contact.  The good thing is that I no longer have to politely listen to crackpot conspiracy theories.

Edited March 12 by Tony_S

[polybear]

5 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

The sisters husband has recently been very critical of us going on holiday. 

 

Let me guess....the same rules don't apply to him.....

[polybear]

Oh yes.....

Bear saw one of these during my wander yesterday....

Brace yourselves......

 

 

[polybear]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Pedestrian.

 

What you need is one of these:

 

https://www.migaloo-submarines.com/m5/

 

And it's definitely one of those "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" purchases

 

I'll believe all the PR Hype when he's actually built a real one......

 

ION......

VHBAW's to @New Haven Neil and Mrs. N on the occasion of their Ruby Anniversary 👏 🍰

(Apparently that's 40 years - jeez......)

[Tony_S]

5 minutes ago, polybear said:

Oh yes.....

Bear saw one of these during my wander yesterday....

Brace yourselves......

 

 

Aditi “it looks horrible, dark green would be nice”

[Gwiwer]

'dafternoon all.

 

Amid all this debate around manipulated images and the alternative uses of hairspray I am happy to record that I would dearly love to manipulate the image I see in the mirror each morning.  I don't recognise him.  He looks like my father but I am a generation younger .......

 

As for hairspray I shall resist the temptation to test the awl.  Let's just say I don't need it for the purpose it suggests on the tin.  

 

After a two-week interval I was back on watch this afternoon.  The gap was because (1) we had guests staying and (2) there wasn't a convenient shift where trainer and trainee could coincide.  Quiet would describe today's watch with just a mere handful of fishing vessels pursuing their quota of Euro-cod and only three commercial ships passing in four hours.  The recreational users aren't too far away though; in a couple of weeks' time we expect the local cove boats to be out and about (weather permitting) and the first of the visitors to be literally testing the water (weather usually immaterial) and discovering that it is (a) cold and (b) a powerful force to be reckoned with.  

 

I should be passed for solo watches by early summer.  

 

But now - muggercoffy the third.  

[DaveF]

The rain didn't follow the Met Office timetable this morning, it ran late so I was able to have a walk before coffee.  After that I did some modelmaking and started to look through today's post.  The last few days I've had a lot more post than usual, about five items a day.  Each day there is one magazine or similar, the rest are catalogues which I always glance through just in case there is something I can't live without.

 

Since lunch I've managed to fall asleep for a few minutes despite the noise of a carpet fitter working next door, the rain then stopped so I looked round the garden and finished making some plans of what to do with some overgrown heathers.   Then I did some very gentle work with a hoe to deal with some weeds.

 

The evening looks like being crossword, read, perhaps some TV.

 

I put a very ordinary photo on flickr yesterday, not in my opinion good enough to use in a slide show.  It was picked up as one of the day's better photos by flickr Explore so it has now had 3,500 views, a lot of "faves" and comments.  It is of something not really allowed on here, I'll just say it was taken at York, the numbers 4 and 7 feature in it and the word Brush may come into it.

 

David

Edited March 12 by DaveF

[DaveF]

Where has everyone gone this evening, am I missing a big event somewhere?

 

David

[TheQ]

I was at a place of unmentionables, from which I've returned early, for two reasons, the club has no water, so I'll be sending an email to the landlord shortly. Second my back really hurts, I spent some time at the MRC lying on the floor.

Now home in bed, having taken pink pills. I'll see if I can stretch my legs out in a minute.

The MRC went well, except for cutting it short,  everything I tried to do worked.

 

Of lying on the floor, our missing member mention a week or two ago has returned, he went to the Norfolk and Norwich A&E, wife driving. Walked to the door and collapsed... He spent a week in intensive care, COPD, pneumonia etc.. so what was he doing tonight? Yep standing outside for a fag..

 

Legs straightened, not too much extra pain, 

Now to send that email before finishing a muggachoccy.

Good night Awl.

 

 

[southern42]

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Aditi “it looks horrible, dark green would be nice”

 

Totally agree as I hate pink! Never did pink (by choice, anyway), much preferred red and yellow, blue and yellow, and green and orange.

 

Strangely, back in the 90s when I did an art and design course, one of the general studies topics was a hypothetical discussion on a world where everything was yellow. It was shortly after this that the world, for real, became pink - for women, anyway - although pink windsurfing sails were already the thing around here. It was not long before I saw a family sitting in front of me on the bus into town. Baby was in pink, the baby's buggy was in pink, the new mum was in pink and the new mum's mum was in pink. Had it been in London, they would probably have been on a bus that was pink. Our course discussion never went anywhere near that depth of thinking so although we had discussed the topic I was totally unprepared for such saturation of colour, and I still hate pink. 🎀 😁

 

Green: guess what colour my new outfit is in...(not been able to find much in that for years, now everybody is wearing it...fashion mongers, that's what it is!) but it does make a change from pink!

[Coombe Barton]

... Today has been characterised by me saying to students the equivalent of “No, I’m not going to do your work for you.” ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2024/03/12/covid-enquiry-wales-day-10-and-the-little-ice-age-and-violins/

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Dinner tonight was cottage pie with mixed vegetables followed by bread and butter pudding and very nice it was too. When my Senior Citizens Railcard arrives I will set about taking a few breaks, maybe a few days in North Wales travelling on things that cannot be mentioned that travel on parallel strips of metal a little closer together than usual. Now to tackle Farcebook.

[polybear]

25 minutes ago, DaveF said:

Where has everyone gone this evening, am I missing a big event somewhere?

 

David

 

Bear's here......

.....I did disappear for a while - a nice, Hippo-free wallow.

 

1 minute ago, TheQ said:

Of lying on the floor, our missing member mention a week or two ago has returned, he went to the Norfolk and Norwich A&E, wife driving. Walked to the door and collapsed... He spent a week in intensive care, COPD, pneumonia etc.. so what was he doing tonight? Yep standing outside for a fag.....

 

Some people you just can't help....

 

ION......

 

Jeez.....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-cambridgeshire-68538480

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-68518332

 

BG

[New Haven Neil]

5 hours ago, polybear said:

 

I'll believe all the PR Hype when he's actually built a real one......

 

ION......

VHBAW's to @New Haven Neil and Mrs. N on the occasion of their Ruby Anniversary 👏 🍰

(Apparently that's 40 years - jeez......)

 

Thank you Bear, have been muchly quiet as we're away celebrating in furrin lands - the Lake District - but return very soon-ly.  The small matter of becoming more aged tomorrow too, or earlier today according to an old school pal who is now a vicar in New Zealand.  I have explained he cheated me out of 12 hours of life!

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

More progress has been made in the cellar, one more section of skirting board has been fixed to the walls and the gaps filled in the sections fitted on Sunday. I only have the skirting boards to fit on one wall, plus a short bit about 6in long, which needs to be fitted between the corner and the door frame afterwards. However, before I can fix anymore to the walls, I’ll need to get some more glue, as I ran out this morning. 
 

This afternoon I fitted the brackets for the 2 roller blinds, one for the outer doors, the other for the window. This now means I’m now almost at the end of the great cellar refurbishment, so that’s one very big ✔️ 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[Erichill16]

12 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Never fear - Bear soon found the answer......

 

 

Isn’t that a Lima model with the pizza cutter wheels?

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BR60103]

I had a note today that one of my cousins has died.

He was approaching 90.  I didn't see him very much as he lived in the Boston area, but we got along well when we did.  

Donald Foster Mallinson    R.I.P.

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

9 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear saw one of these during my wander yesterday....

Barbiecore is still a thing.

 

Search for "Barbie's dream Range Rover" - more "Pepto-pink" than that one.

 

There was a mirror, hot-pink Mystère back in 2013 - so hardly new.

 

Edited March 13 by Ozexpatriate

[Flanged Wheel]

On burgers, our favourite family guilty pleasure in the US was Sonic Burgers (hmmm mozarella sticks…).

 

Surprisingly, we’ve found that McDonalds isn’t quite as widespread around the world as you might think. We’ve come across far more KFC outlets. In fact, fried chicken seems to be eaten pretty much everywhere on the planet. There are also many KFC ripoff outlets, usually just changing the first letter. So depending on where you are you get JFC, BFC, PFC and the very unappetising sounding CFC…

 

When we’re in the UK, our default Saturday night meal was homemade burgers in handmade bread rolls. It definitely wasn’t healthy (cheese and bacon in the middle, potatoes cooked in beef fat) but we did know exactly what went into them and they were all fresh ingredients.

[iL Dottore]

13 hours ago, polybear said:

Oh yes.....

Bear saw one of these during my wander yesterday....

Brace yourselves......

 

 

THAT is hideous (and the pink colour scheme does it no favours).

 

I used to hanker after having a Land Rover, but that sort of went the way of the Dodo when they discontinued the “real” Defender back in 1997 (LR now have the “Defender 110” in their range - but, as I see it, it’s not a “proper” Landrover - just another Chelsea Tractor). In the past you had the Land Rover Defender, The Toyota Land Cruiser and The Mercedes G Class - all of which had their own unique look and were built like tanks. Nowadays? They all look alike and it’s hard to vision them doing anything more demanding than taking Tarquin and Clarissa to school in Chelsea or Kensington.

 

It seems that I’m not the only one thinking that a proper Land Rover would be nice to have. Jim Ratcliffe, the Billionaire, also thought that way and having a bit more spare cash than most of us decided to do something about it and came up with this: https://ineosgrenadier.com/en/gb/ Were I (now) in the market for an off-roader, I’d certainly be very interested in a Grenadier.

 

As it is, I am in the market for a tiny city runabout. What the Chinese are doing in this area is quite eye-opening. They are building a lot of different micro and mini-EVs: they are not very fast (mostly < 70kph) and they don’t have an extensive travel range (often under 150km) - but that’s not the point - they are designed to zip around town, park anywhere and charge rapidly. The Chinese are definitely the world leaders here (and have started to tie-up with the likes of Opel and MB)
 

Unfortunately, the choice of Chinese micro EVs is rather limited in Switzerland, but the Swiss have come up with the Microlino - a modern Bubble Car that is a nippy little EV: https://microlino-car.com/en/

 

It gets pretty good reviews as well:

 

[jamie92208]

I'll stick with my old grey Volvo as long as it keeps going.  20 years old this year. 

 

It's misty and foggy outside.  I got the small mower to start yesterday. When the weed patches dry out that pleasure awaits.  This morning a neighbour and I are going to clear a blocked grate in the garden of the house over the road.  The owners are in the UK but the grate effects other houses if it's blocked.  After that the agenda is clear. 

 

Jamie

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Happy Birthday to our Sand Dancer! @New Haven Neil. Hope you have a great day!

 

Busy day.. some shark wielding then a trip to see a friend and drivel on with some like minded individuals and an inspection on progress of a model of Osbaldwick.

 

Time to get my body into gear!

 

Stay safe and well!

Baz

[Hroth]

 

Happy Birthday to Neil

You're just as old as you feel!

And in case that just don't work

Put your feet up and relax!

 

e j thribb

 

Hope you have a good day!