Early Risers.

[polybear]

ION.....

 

This may be of interest:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68675348

 

- Bear checked earlier and has just discovered that my passport is valid for 10 years and 5 months - but there's at least an 8 month** window next year where I'd get bounced away from the Airport Departure Gate.....

 

**5 months plus a minimum of 3 months, as mentioned in the article.

[jjb1970]

I think I just had what was strictly speaking a breakfast meal for dinner. We went for the hotel buffet, which because it is still Ramadan was all Indonesian breaking fast food. Nice though.

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

I be that Attlee allowed the transfer of an Avon engine to the USSR and the copies they made powered the early Migs in Korea. 

Jamie

 

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Rumour has it the USA were somewhat unhappy (other words are available) about that little stunt....

I also heard that when a Soviet delegation were shown around the Rolls-Royce aero engine factory they were all wearing crepe soles to pick up any stray metal swarf or filings.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I was hoping to put my feet up this afternoon but the diary shows a busy weekend so I'm off out to do some shopping.

[Dave Hunt]

2 hours ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

 Simple solution , live in the caravan and just use the house for storage .

 

There was a chap I knew as a fellow member of the LMS Society who had a large garden layout that involved several sheds and much track. He sold his house on the understanding that he could live in a caravan in the garden and continue to run his railway and work in the sheds, which he did.

 

Dave

[PeterBB]

On the subject of downsizing ... still have stuff stored taking up valuable space but with all the 'living' on the ground floor although rooms smaller - very much modified since the move that included the loss of bedroom 4. The chalet style has a long room up top - that for the first time allowed a rr/at 21' to run at home ... enough said there is of course some take-over talk as a wardrobe from bedroom 4 needs moving somewhere but , there is room available  ...

[Hroth]

With real banks closing left, right and centre, (ie there's none within staggering distance of car parking) whats the best way to hand in a large quantity of "coppers"?

 

Just asking for the proverbial "friend"...

 

[Andy Hayter]

I have to agree totally with @iL Dottore's view on downsizing.  This is the biggest property we have ever owned and we could probably do with a few extra  square metres.  I miss not having a proper library.  

 

2 buildings;

Building one:  Ground floor and cellar (sloping ground means one side is at ground level while the other is below ground) - wine  and preserves cellar/tool shed plus laundry/pantry/plant room and oil store.  First floor - kitchen diner plus living room (OH hates "lounge" which she thinks belong only in airports).  Second floor bedroom and en-suite bathroom.  Third floor bedroom and shower/WC.

Building two:  Ground floor - open plan kitchen, diner, living room plus 2 bedrooms (one used more as storage) plus shower and WC.  Second floor open muddling area plus railway library and document archive.  

[Sidecar Racer]

11 minutes ago, Hroth said:

With real banks closing left, right and centre, (ie there's none within staggering distance of car parking) whats the best way to hand in a large quantity of "coppers"?

 

Just asking for the proverbial "friend"...

 

 

 Find a supermarket or other establishment with a Coinstar machine , they take you change for

a small % taken out and you can get the remainder , I have one in the Tesco near me and they will

either give you cash or I think you can get a voucher for an in shop spend . 

 

https://coinstar.co.uk/

 

 Use this to find your closest .    https://coinstar.co.uk/findamachine

 

 

Edited April 5 by Sidecar Racer

[Hroth]

1 minute ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

 Find a supermarket or other establishment with a Coinstar machine , they take you change for

a small % taken out and you can get the remainder , I have one in the Tesco near me and they will

either give you cash or I think you can get a voucher for an in shop spend .

 

 Use this to find your closest .    https://coinstar.co.uk/findamachine

 

 

 

I don't consider that Coinstars slice* of whatever you pour into their machines maw to be small, but I suppose that if you factor in your time to bag up a large amount of 1 and 2 pence coins to pay in to a bank or post office then its possibly worth taking the hit for coppers. I wouldn't go anywhere near them for any coins of higher value!

 

The local Morrisons has a Coinstar, when you've finished chucking in your cash it prints out a voucher which can either be taken to the customer service counter for a cash disbursment, or used to pay for shopping.  There's one in a nearby Sainsburys, but I've never looked closely at what the procedure is there.

 

 

* According to their website, there is a 25p transaction fee and an 11.5% processing fee for cash transactions

 

[polybear]

11 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

 Find a supermarket or other establishment with a Coinstar machine , they take you change for

a small % taken out and you can get the remainder , I have one in the Tesco near me and they will

either give you cash or I think you can get a voucher for an in shop spend . 

 

https://coinstar.co.uk/

 

 Use this to find your closest .    https://coinstar.co.uk/findamachine

 

 

 

Fees:

 

A 25p transaction fee and an 11.5% processing fee for cash transactions and an 8.9% fee for charity donations. All fees may vary by location.

 

I've never used such a machine (I did have a Bank within walking distance until a few months ago - it's still very close by but apparently now does pretty much everything EXCEPT accept or dispense money 🤬 really useful, that......T0ssers).

The option to donate to charity is useful though (never knew that bit) - assuming they have your favourite flavour available.

[polybear]

Beaten by the @Hroth.  Turdycurses.

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

However, Bear has just learned that Whiskey is apparently a UPF.  Bear thought he'd just mention that little snippet....

Well it certainly is when compared to baked beans.  I think they are merely processed (cooked). Whisky or whiskey doesn’t look anything like its source ingredients. 

[Hroth]

It used to be a flat 10% per transaction, which was bad enough.  Looks like the Coinstar beancounters have decided that they need to make more money as not enough people are using their woeful service.

 

I've not actually seen anyone using the machines in either Morrisons or Sainsburys...

 

btw.  At the quoted rate, if you fed in £10 worth of coppers, you'd get a voucher for £8.62.  £1.38 isn't exactly a small sum to hand over for counting....

 

 

[Winslow Boy]

5 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Well it certainly is when compared to baked beans.  I think they are merely processed (cooked). Whisky or whiskey doesn’t look anything like its source ingredients. 

It'll be due to being kept in those 'burnt' oak barrels that does it. You mark my words. Could we apply for a grant to pay for a scientific study.

[Hroth]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

Cheese n' sliced Tommy Omelette (not sure if the sliced-from-a-block mature cheddar falls fouls here) with fresh Broccoli, Cauli, Peas/Green Beans/Sliced Carrot (ok so those bits were frozen - but I think that's allowed)

 

Sounds nice, apart from the white and green trees.....

 

2 hours ago, polybear said:

However, Bear has just learned that Whiskey is apparently a UPF.

 

Wouldn't surprise me, it tastes like meths anyway!

 

[Winslow Boy]

2 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Sounds nice, apart from the white and green trees.....

 

 

Wouldn't surprise me, it tastes like meths anyway!

 

Well your off the 'tasting' panel. 

[Hroth]

5 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Sounds nice, apart from the white and green trees.....

 

 

Wouldn't surprise me, it tastes like meths anyway!

 

 

After posting that. I got a

 

 

notification, although it had actually been accepted.

 

 

[Tony_S]

5 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Well your off the 'tasting' panel. 

Panel tasting notes, Definite hint of pyridine detected…

Edited April 5 by Tony_S

[Coombe Barton]

3 hours ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 Simple solution , live in the caravan and just use the house for storage .

Now there's a thought ...

[Hroth]

6 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Now there's a thought ...

 

If I'd done that two and a half years ago, I'd still be living in the caravan.  As it is, it's just the garage, smallest bedroom and conservatory that are unusable.  My study is usable but filled with unsorted items and the shed is fully functional!

 

[polybear]

39 minutes ago, Hroth said:

btw.  At the quoted rate, if you fed in £10 worth of coppers, you'd get a voucher for £8.62.  £1.38 isn't exactly a small sum to hand over for counting....

 

With reasonable digital kitchen scales you can simply weigh the money (assuming it's sorted) and do it that way - the weight of a quid's worth of 1p's etc. is easy to find on the net.

 

33 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Sounds nice, apart from the white and green trees.....

 

Hence the Mint Sauce neutralising agent......

[iL Dottore]

Paradoxically, plain frozen veg are frequently better than fresh (by "plain" I mean unseasoned/unspiced or otherwise altered). The reason being that within hours of being picked the veg have been washed, graded, lightly parboiled (to remove any surface nasties) and then flash frozen. "Fresh" vegetables in the supermarket may be anything but - having been stored - sometimes for months (e.g. apples) - in special warehouses. There are certain vegetables, such as potatoes and onions, that do store well; however, how they are stored is important. From personal experience (and experimentation) I can say that unwashed potatoes last a damn site longer than washed potatoes even if stored correctly. Presumably, the light dry dusting of earth left on unwashed potatoes form some sort of protective barrier (but don't ask me what). Many professional chefs swear by frozen peas as an acceptable substitute if you cannot get same day picked fresh peas

 

Defining whisky as a UPF doesn't surprise me - although I think that's really stretching the definition of UPF. Granted the various processes of taking the raw materials and turning them into whiskey are indeed transformative, but (with the exception of the really cheap and nasty stuff) everything involved in the process is (or should be) traditional only relying on all natural ingredients. The addition of the sort of chemical stabilisers, emulsifiers, antioxidants and the like found in processed food is very much frowned upon.

 

Wine, on the other hand, is a completely different kettle of fish. There seems to be periodically regular scandals involving adulteration of wine and the passing off of cheap wine as it's more expensive cousins.

To claim that baked beans are merely cooked in a tomato sauce and tinned is, at best, disingenuous. If you look at the fine print on the label you will find the usual rogues gallery of emulsifiers, stabilisers, antioxidants, et cetera, et cetera. Although to be fair some brands are much much better than others.

 

As for those ER miscreants who disdain that glorious beverage known as "the water of life" I think I must introduce them to my Hibernian friend who introduced me to the pleasures (and the correct way of) drinking whisky. A very large bearded gentleman, for whom tossing a cable is no more of an effort than tossing a used toothpick into an ashtray,  would definitely be keen to "correct and re-educate" those people who deride that fine Scottish liquid from heaven.

[Hroth]

2 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

With reasonable digital kitchen scales you can simply weigh the money (assuming it's sorted) and do it that way - the weight of a quid's worth of 1p's etc. is easy to find on the net.

 

 

But you still have to sort the 1p sheep from the 2p goats.  You can't mix 'em in coin bags!

 

[jamie92208]

45 minutes ago, Hroth said:

It used to be a flat 10% per transaction, which was bad enough.  Looks like the Coinstar beancounters have decided that they need to make more money as not enough people are using their woeful service.

 

I've not actually seen anyone using the machines in either Morrisons or Sainsburys...

 

btw.  At the quoted rate, if you fed in £10 worth of coppers, you'd get a voucher for £8.62.  £1.38 isn't exactly a small sum to hand over for counting....

 

 

On a totally unscientific set of observations those machines do very well from certain lower demographics.  There were always families crowdedcroundvthevonebin Asda at Morley.  I use my small change to pay for things.  I've never met a shopkeeper or market trader who doesn't like change. 

 

Suisvout, 3 hours of grass cutting done whilst Beth trimmed with the new lighter strimmer. 

 

Jamie