Early Risers.

[monkeysarefun]

2 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I vaguely remember that. I don't think we watched it. For the most part, Dad decided what we would watch - meaning what he wanted to watch. There was a lot of World Series Cricket on our television in the late 1970s.

One of the multitude of cop shows that Crawford Productions churned out at the time. I think every channel had one and they were on different nights at 7:30, so you could watch "Homicide" on channel 7 on Monday, "Division 4" on channel 9 on Wednesday and "Matlock Police" on Thursday.

 

Often the same minor actors popped  up playing different roles across the 3 programmes so for instance a fresh-faced barmaid in an inner Melbourne pub who witnessed a crime on Monday night, might have become a drug-laced streetwalker who got murdered two days later across on the other channel, before finding redemption as a Sunday School teacher the following night.

[monkeysarefun]

13 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

There was a lot of World Series Cricket on our television in the late 1970s.

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

17 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

I think every channel had one and they were on different nights at 7:30, so you could watch "Homicide" on channel 7 on Monday, "Division 4" on channel 9 on Wednesday and "Matlock Police" on Thursday.

We didn't watch the cops-and-robbers crime procedurals. 

 

Never watched Bellbird * either.

 

* I remember Bellbird being mourned as the longest running drama on Australian television when it ended after ten years. Neighbours has been going for 39 years now.

 

If the cricket wasn't on we'd likely be watching Britcoms** on ABC - or the US line-ups like Charlie's Angels/Love Boat/Fantasy Island etc.

 

** That vintage was probably On the Buses / Dad's Army / The Good Life / Are You Being Served etc.

 

Edited April 9 by Ozexpatriate

[jamie92208]

8 hours ago, DaveF said:

I spent some time this evening looking at brochures for river cruises.  It was quite easy deciding where I would want to go and a selection of dates.  I had a long think about the prices but decided that if I really wanted to go I could even though it would be just me which makes it more expensive.

 

But... the more I looked at the details the more two things struck me.  I looked carefully at the places I would be visiting and realised that I have been to them all before in the days when I took the car to Europe for three or four weeks each summer.  Since they are historic places much of what I would see I have already  seen back in the days when I was a lot fitter and could walk much further in  day.

 

Then I looked at the actual schedules and found that in every case a surprising amount of travel on the boats would be at night to give more time for the town visits.  If I want to go along a river I want to see it all go by me, good and bad not just the carefully chosen highlights.  It is rather like being on a train, I am the one spending all the time looking out of the window at the world going by.

 

I think I have too many good memories of just driving around stopping whenever I felt like it for as long as I wanted and finding a hotel for the night when I felt I had done enough driving.  I have never been on any form of package holiday or cruise and the more I think about the less likely I am to do so, even if it means I just travel more locally now I am older.

 

David

I know that we took a day cruise from near Koblez up the Rhine and there seemed to be a lot of  such Rundfartenschiff _IIRC.  If they cover other areas it  might be possible to do and extended journey with stops in hotels along the way.
 

 

8 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Counterfeit products …

And people smuggling.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from the Charente. Ears to be lowered later then shopping.   This afternoon some G work.

 

Here it is definitely getting warmer and spring has sprung.  The grass is growing very fast and we don't need the heating  much.   

 

One thing is that some red and black insects have come out of their hiding places.   At this time of the year they are often attached in pairs.   This they are known locally as Gendarmes.

However I don't know how this collection would be categorised.

Jamie

[pH]

There’s an open shed in a wooded area in town. At the moment, there is this lovely (and lovely-smelling) large block of red cedar in the shed:



With this message on it:

 

 

There has already been one pole carved in this shed. I believe the local indigenous band are using this, in part, to train young members in the required carving skills.

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Busy day yesterday and the "business" will continue through the next few days.

 

Local cricket Leagues are already starting to delay the start of the season.. my first two (non League) games are likely not to happen.. Good..  its horrible umpiring on wet pitches.

 

@BoD I rambert the wheeled stands. At first it had a large Black and White TV on it. Then a colour set, then a VHS recorder was added.. happy days catching up with Pugh, pugh, barney magrew, cuthbert, dibble and......

 

visitorbis already en route. Need to get my skates on!

 

TTFN!

 

Baz

[Winslow Boy]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

Good moaning from the Charente. Ears to be lowered later then shopping.   This afternoon some G work.

 

Here it is definitely getting warmer and spring has sprung.  The grass is growing very fast and we don't need the heating  much.   

 

One thing is that some red and black insects have come out of their hiding places.   At this time of the year they are often attached in pairs.   This they are known locally as Gendarmes.

However I don't know how this collection would be categorised.

Jamie

A squadron?

[TheQ]

I don't recall ever getting a printed hand out at any of the 5 schools I attended. You worked from books, the teacher wrote things on blackboards, you wrote all exams in full long hand.

Not till the RAF did I come across handouts and multiple choice questions.. RAF multiple choice often having 6 or 8 answers to choose from never just 4.

There was the big TV on a trolley at one school, only used in the gym, from the back of the hall you couldn't see a lot.

 

Though in my final year at my final school I was involved with filming the school " play" with a huge video camera and recorder. It wasn't actually a play that year, they were trying to do some sort of morecambe and wise type show.

 

We got TV in time for the 66 world cup, we went to the outer Hebrides in 71 where there was only black and white BBC1 and snowy at that, until the early 1980s. TV has never been much of my life.

 

I didn't get a TV till I left RAF trade training, then I bought a VCR in the mid 80s, to time shift Open university programmes that were on when I was at work. Swmbo uses the PVR, but other than initially setting it up I've never touched it.

 

Mooring Awl,

2.5 hours sleep, 4 hours sleep I needed that.

 

Ben can I go out please Collie has taken me on patrol, he wanted some reassurance, due I think, to the noise out there, it's windy again, but dull grey and damp.

 

I do have the TV on while having breakfast, they are doing a bit about planting sycamores.. I don't need to be planting them this year, the grass is covered in little seedlings. Must  get mowing, but it's too wet again.

 

Hmm

Hints from Ben and dirty looks from him at this gadget.. 

 

Where's my bit of bacon he's saying..

 

Time to head to the kitchen.

 

 

[Compound2632]

2 minutes ago, TheQ said:

I don't recall ever getting a printed hand out at any of the 5 schools I attended.

 

That was in the days when schools could afford class sets of textbooks. Handouts are a false economy - the economics of poverty, locked into spending more because one doesn't have the capital to afford that which would save money in the long run.

[New Haven Neil]

Morning.  Urf, 6c, wet wet wet, 70mm of rain in the gauge and it is still falling, the Doozers are making Arks.

 

I recall getting a print of outlines of countries etc being made into our exercise books with a big roller thing, blue ink everywhere.  Then we had to put towns etc on to them from whatever was going on the blackboard.  I still can place Jerusalem as our RI teacher was a lover of these roller maps, he did however fail to instil much religion in me. 

 

Strangely, due to his surname being very distinctive, I realised his son was a customer at Trackshack, and we have met up here as he is a keen sailor and sails over for TT. He doesn't do religion either!  Small world.

 

At primary school we had one of those Gestetner copy machines, only the School Secretary ( a fearsome woman) was allowed to operate it.  I have no recollection of what we got on the handouts, just that the machine fascinated me.

[polybear]

10 hours ago, PupCam said:

Whoops, I nearly became a supporting statistic for that a few years ago.        My birthday treat turned out to be getting an electronic device implanted in a hurry.   Perhaps the most worthwhile present I've ever had, I must get the battery checked soon 🤔

 

 

I'll bring my AVO - how long can you hold your breath for??

 

10 hours ago, DaveF said:

I have never been on any form of package holiday or cruise and the more I think about the less likely I am to do so, even if it means I just travel more locally now I am older.

 

David

 

Nor has this Bear - I book "free cancellation" accommodation (usually an apartment) on Booking.com, then arrange the flights to suit.  Add a hire car (which I try to avoid now), a room at the Airport on the way out and airport parking.

 

10 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Counterfeit products …

 

Beware:

 

Looking for a fake Prada? An phony Gucci? An ersatz Louis Vuitton? A pirated copy of Mission Impossible or Microsoft Word? Street vendors in Italy (most of whom are from Senegal) will be happy to accommodate you, but watch out: A law makes buyers of counterfeit goods liable for fines of €3333 to €10000, and some tourists have already learned that Italian police can be a more expensive threat than purse-snatchers and pickpockets.

 

9 hours ago, skipepsi said:

You are a light weight Bear now...

 

At least that'll mean I make less of a hole in Puppers' @PupCam's block paving as I get splattered.....

You're not exactly sellin' the idea to me though, strangely....

 

7 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

There are usually drug  sniffer dogs at the public entrances to concerts and music festivals. Strangely there are never any at the artists and VIP's entrances - that'd give the dogs a workout.

 

I guess the VIP's are users, whereas the Plod are looking for the dealers - who are far more likely to be mixed in with The Great Unwashed.

[polybear]

**Beary Newsflash.....**

 

EDF have made "Some Exciting Changes" to Bear's Leccy/Gas Account.....

 

Wait for It......

 

Drum Roll.......

 

They've given Bear a new Account Number......

 

Huh?

 

Oh yes, and just to p1ss off those of a Puppers - like @PupCam outlook on life, you can no longer pay them by cheque any more; if you simply MUST insist on such archaic technology you have to pay the cheque in at your local Post Office.  If you still have one......

 

T0ssers.

I reckon that's a Rant.

 

 

[DaveF]

When I started teaching we had Bandas and the Roneos which needed to have a typed stencil for them to work.  The VCR was reel to reel tape, we had one TV camera which was rarely used as there weren't any TVs in the labs.

 

In those days we had textbooks.  Later when I was a head of department in another school I queried the text book buying system through the council where they added a 10% handling fee to the retail price.  As I was new I pretended I didn't know, did a deal with a publisher and got a 30% discount. I got told off but then everyone else did the same, after about a year the council scrapped their purchasing system.  It was exactly the same when buying paper.

 

In much later years when I was a senior member of staff we always looked for the best price and saved a great deal of money.  We even managed to get a local firm to operate one of the three school kitchens, got better food and it was cheaper. 

 

David

[Winslow Boy]

10 minutes ago, polybear said:

**Beary Newsflash.....**

 

EDF have made "Some Exciting Changes" to Bear's Leccy/Gas Account.....

 

Wait for It......

 

Drum Roll.......

 

They've given Bear a new Account Number......

 

Huh?

 

Oh yes, and just to p1ss off those of a Puppers - like @PupCam outlook on life, you can no longer pay them by cheque any more; if you simply MUST insist on such archaic technology you have to pay the cheque in at your local Post Office.  If you still have one......

 

T0ssers.

I reckon that's a Rant.

 

 

I have thrown my supplier into a bit of a wobbly as it's algorithm is saying it's having problems taking my readings. That wouldn't have anything to do with the fact I've turned the gas off and I'm running on batteries would it now. And the reason for this. Well m' lord the sneaky so and so's wanted more mullar didn't they. So I thought two can play at that. Oh the thrill of being able to stick it to the greedy so and so's. Sorry went a bit light headed there.

[The Lurker]

10 hours ago, BoD said:

 

It is only ever ER’s where this happens.

 

Is our allocated share of server space full?   (of ******)?

Have the admins shifted us to 64Mb dial up to save the rest of RMweb?

Do the computer generated images offend the computer generated guardians of bandwidth usage?

 

Have we overstayed our welcome?

 

Or has the Awl detected too much forbidden  info and decided that Enough is Enough?

[DaveF]

Another dull dismal morning with gentle rain.  The groceries have comeminus one item, CoQ10, which isn't needed in a hurry so I will order it again and see what happens.  I have about 6 weeks supply of it in stock.  It is just that it costs about twice as much from anywhere else.

 

Leonie should come and clean today, I will get on with working on the model and other odds and ends.  Unless the rain stops I won't be going far.  One shrub in the garden still needs a trim to remove some dead bits but it isn't going to get done today, it is far too wet.

 

David

Edited April 9 by DaveF

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

However I don't know how this collection would be categorised.

CRS?

[TheQ]

Look away now.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-gloucestershire-68735058

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Another dull start to the day here in the damp northwest corner of England. So, I’ll definitely NIT be doing any work outside today. So, with a bit of luck, it looks like I might get that 3 way point finished today! 
 

Back later 

 

Brian 

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

you can no longer pay them by cheque any more;

Guess how EonNext insist on paying me for the electricity I sell to them…

Not only by cheque but an “unsigned “ cheque which the bank phone app doesn’t recognise, requiring a trip to the bank, which have all closed in Benfleet. Fortunately the Post Office counter in the Coop still has cheque paying in facilities. 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Not a bad night last night, bladder control woke me up just after five  but I soon went back to sleep afterwards. Not sure what to do today, it's a bit too windy for the G word so it looks as if I will have to make a start on the pile of washing up besides the kitchen sink.🥴

[jamie92208]

10 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Morning.  Urf, 6c, wet wet wet, 70mm of rain in the gauge and it is still falling, the Doozers are making Arks.

 

I recall getting a print of outlines of countries etc being made into our exercise books with a big roller thing, blue ink everywhere.  Then we had to put towns etc on to them from whatever was going on the blackboard.  I still can place Jerusalem as our RI teacher was a lover of these roller maps, he did however fail to instil much religion in me. 

 

Strangely, due to his surname being very distinctive, I realised his son was a customer at Trackshack, and we have met up here as he is a keen sailor and sails over for TT. He doesn't do religion either!  Small world.

 

At primary school we had one of those Gestetner copy machines, only the School Secretary ( a fearsome woman) was allowed to operate it.  I have no recollection of what we got on the handouts, just that the machine fascinated me.

 

Yes I remember those roller maps,  

 

As to stencils, my father, who taught chemistry, ended up having to cut stencils himself for his exam papers each year.  A new school secretary had very kindly corrected his spelling of chemical names when cutting stencils for him, so Alkenes and alkynes all became Alkanes. 

 

 

8 hours ago, TheQ said:

Look away now.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-gloucestershire-68735058

The hobby certainly helped me through a very bad patch in my last two years at work. 

 

Jamie

Edited April 9 by jamie92208

[polybear]

2 hours ago, DaveF said:

In those days we had textbooks.  Later when I was a head of department in another school I queried the text book buying system through the council where they added a 10% handling fee to the retail price.  As I was new I pretended I didn't know, did a deal with a publisher and got a 30% discount. I got told off but then everyone else did the same, after about a year the council scrapped their purchasing system.  It was exactly the same when buying paper.

 

 

A Cynical Bear might even think that someone on the Council was receiving plain brown envelopes.....

 

[polybear]

I know of a Bear that could very easily getintoratheralottatrouble if placed in the same situation.....

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-68732879

 

🤬🤬