Early Risers.

[Winslow Boy]

3 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Perhaps I should plant rhubarb on the front weed patch then, that has the grid that the septic tank discharges into below it. 

 

Jamie

As with wine the older it is the better the rhubarb.

[Hroth]

21 minutes ago, TheQ said:

I get home to find swmbo accidentally saw a bit of the British entry which seems to about men " enjoying themselves" in public toilets. She was most unimpressed , I suspect that the entry will go down like a lead balloon in many countries.. null points..

 

Apparently it was included in Semifinal 1 as a taster for the main competition, possibly to encourage others to vote for it on Saturday.  As one of the big contributors to Eurovision, the UK has right of entry into the final no matter what...  I often suspect that the UK entry is intentionally naff so the UK doesn't get anywhere near winning and the cost of putting on the next years show falls on the shoulders of some other country who has drawn the short straw. The UK got lumbered last year because the UK entry came second and Ukraine couldn't host for security reasons.  This years entry is not likely to get so close to the winners podium!

 

 

Edited May 7 by Hroth

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

My team won tonight 3-2, but unfortunately it was the second leg of a two legged affair and we lost 3-1 so I won be going to Wembley this year. Can’t say as I too bothered, last year was so disappointing I don’t think I could make a return visit.

Anyway back to work tomorrow for three days. 

Goodnight.

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Andy Hayter]

One other thing to be aware of regarding salt intake actually does not involve salt itself.

 

If you are in the habit of taking "soluble" pain killers like paracetamol/co-codamol etc.  or effervescent vitamins or supplements  (calcium or magnesium for example) then be aware that these are heavily loaded with sodium, which is the bad bit of salt intake.  A quick calculation on my 1g "soluble" paracetamol  tablets shows that the sodium content is the equivalent of just under 1g salt.  So 3 tablets in the day has consumed over  half your WHO advised sodium intake.

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, polybear said:

The queue starts behind Bear.....

 

Catalina II

I'm not sure why, other than because?  What is the market for this?

 

Aircraft customers turned their backs from amphibians (beyond small float planes, which are relatively common in the northwest of North America) long ago.  Though the PBY was the most produced flying boat of all time. (Someone needs to do some homework and fill in the production totals here.

 

Production on the Canadair CL-215 ceased in 1990. Japan still has the ShinMaywa US-2 in production. China has one too because of course they do.

 

Why not go the whole hog and build a Martin Mars replica?

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, TheQ said:

Personally if I had unlimited money for an amphibious aircraft,  it would be an updated Sunderland.. The flying porcupine was most civilised in having a kitchen on board and six bunks...

Nice picture of the flight deck of the Mars here on p24. It's huge for aircraft of that vintage.  Looks like a dance floor for the flight engineer and radio operator. The Mars had accommodation for a relief crew (4).

 

My cousin and her husband will visit soon. I think I can talk him into popping down to say hello the the Hughes H-4 Hercules. (Less than an hour's drive away.) That is a flying boat.

 

Last time I visited they had parked a B-17 under the tail plane of the H-4. It fit with plenty of room to spare.

[Ozexpatriate]

Swiss Army not-knife anyone?

 

CNN: The new Swiss Army Knife will be missing a key feature

 

I travelled by air recently - on Alaska Airlines (the same airline where I flew a 737-Max 9 in December and no doors fell off, though this time it was a Embraer 175, technically operated by SkyWest Airlines). On my return leg the eagle-eyed TSA spotted contraband - a mini Swiss Army knife (34mm blade) in the bottom of my briefcase. I don't even know how it got there, or how long it was there, but the passengers were saved from any attempt at mini-mayhem by its confiscation.

 

[BR60103]

5 hours ago, TheQ said:

The MRC went well, I do like this UV activated glue, it doesn't set till you point the mini torch at it. Then it sets almost instantly..

I think that the UV activated stuff is not really a glue. I don't think it has any sticky properties.

What it does is solidify hard. To have it hold bits together requires a hole (spherical) in both bits.

My dentist uses related stuff and it has to have a big cavity inside the tooth to hold the stuffing in.

 

[polybear]

8 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

Watched a bit of the Eurovision Song Contest Semifinal1.

 

Then I switched over to BBC2 and watched the RNLI sorting people out on the water, much more interesting!

 

 

Was that the one where the Cabin Cruiser was sinking nicely yet none of the occupants (all "senior") was wearing a lifejacket?

 

3 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

My cousin and her husband will visit soon. I think I can talk him into popping down to say hello to the Hughes H-4 Hercules. (Less than an hour's drive away.) That is a flying boat.

 

 

Not for very long, as I recall.

[PupCam]

Morning,

 

I'm a true ER today.   Can't sleep as the lurgy that descended on me shortly after my Covid jab the other week continues to develop.   No point laying in bed not being able to sleep so here I am.  

 

It's probably Man Flu but a Covid test will be done later when I CBA.

 

That is all ....

 

TTFN

 

 

[iL Dottore]

11 hours ago, The Lurker said:

I wouldn't; I like to think I am better than them.

As Nietzsche said “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you”

 

And yet there is a need for retribution (“deserved and severe punishment” Cambridge Dictionary).
 

Bringing back the stocks and pillory is an idea to consider. Widely used in Georgian times it was a punishment feared perhaps more than prison. In the stocks or in the pillory you were at the mercy of public opinion.
 

In some instances, where the prisoner had committed a “crime” that amused or pleased the populace - such as de-wigging a magistrate - the prisoner was brought wine, spirits and sweetmeats to make his time in the stocks very bearable; but when the crime revulsed and angered the populace - such as child abuse - then the prisoner’s time in the stock could - and often did - end very badly.

 

Call it true democratic justice: one man, one rotten tomato (or rock….)

 

Interestingly, the author Max Brooks in his book World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War put forward the notion that in a time when resources of any kind could not be diverted to run and maintain any sort of jail or prison system, justice would be served for serious crime by execution and for less serious crimes by time in the stocks. The latter “shaming” the perpetrator back to the straight and narrow (although I suspect the attendant ostracism and social isolation would be a major factor as well).

[Erichill16]

On 29/05/2020 at 21:37, Erichill16 said:

 

Regarding savings someone’s life I vividly recall an incident a few years ago when my Sil was very seriously ill hospital needing an urgent liver transplant. She would be leaving the hospital with a new liver or in a wooden box. Anyway, her consultant came round and said to a nurse in his entourage that her salt intake was to be reduced to an absolute minimum in order to reduce her bloating. He then said it want her to have 2 soluble paracetamolS four times a day. I just had to but in. Eight soluble paracetamol tablets contain the maximum daily recommended amount of sodium. He said if there was a problem the hospital pharmacy would notify him. I said I am a pharmacist and I’m notifying you. 
Next time I saw him he said I was quite correct. Well surprise, surprise. It does make you wonder how long he’d been prescribing soluble paracetamol but then again you don’t want to know. Anyway Sil got a transplant and is doing well.

Sorry about the ramble,

keep well,

Robert

Robert

 

@Andy Hayter mentioned the salt content of soluble medicines so I’ve copied this post I made a couple of years ago as I can’t be bothered to retell the episode. 
I’ve reposted it as it still troubles me and it’s important that people know about ‘ hidden salt’.

Edited May 8 by Erichill16

[iL Dottore]

9 hours ago, TheQ said:

I get home to find swmbo accidentally saw a bit of the British entry which seems to about men " enjoying themselves" in public toilets. She was most unimpressed , I suspect that the entry will go down like a lead balloon in many countries.. null points..

 

This effort, from Monty Python, is probably as good as - if not better than - 99% of the Eurovision Song Contest contestants since the competition started…

https://youtu.be/gwdGpGCGrzs?feature=shared

Edited May 8 by iL Dottore

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a Charente where it's sunny.  It's even forecast to get into the twenties later.  A good meal was had last night.  Today is the first visit to the Physio terrorist.  Beth is taking extra pain relief before she goes, then we are off to the war memorial for the liberation day ceremony followed by drinks and nibbles at the town hall.  

 

Jamie

[iL Dottore]

F

3 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Swiss Army not-knife anyone?

 

CNN: The new Swiss Army Knife will be missing a key feature

 

I travelled by air recently - on Alaska Airlines (the same airline where I flew a 737-Max 9 in December and no doors fell off, though this time it was a Embraer 175, technically operated by SkyWest Airlines). On my return leg the eagle-eyed TSA spotted contraband - a mini Swiss Army knife (34mm blade) in the bottom of my briefcase. I don't even know how it got there, or how long it was there, but the passengers were saved from any attempt at mini-mayhem by its confiscation.

 

In the aftermath of 9/11 I still had to fly a lot for work and the restrictions they brought in made travelling very tedious indeed. 
 

An acquaintance of mine, ex-military special forces and now working as a “security” consultant, was of the opinion that most of the restrictions were just “security theatre” and that he knew of quite a few effective ways of killing people just using household objects. The “security theatre”, he said, would neither deter or defeat a well-trained and determined operative.

 

A similar opinion seemed to be shared by others: on one BA long-haul flight shortly after 9/11, I was chatting to a stewardess about the replacement plastic cutlery issued instead of the usual BA metal cutlery and she thought it a bit pointless as the flight carried quite a few heavy - glass - champagne bottles which could very easily and quickly be turned into a very lethal weapon.

 

Paradoxically, the plastic knife supplied did a better job of cutting the food than the metal knife it replaced..

Long before 9/11, delayed by fog at Linate airport I ended up chatting in an airport cafe to a Carabiniere about this and that. I asked him how many smugglers and drug traffickers did their airport security systems nab, the answer was “very few, mostly clueless chancers” The serious players being nicked by a combination of intelligence, being grassed up and targeted surveillance long before they got anywhere near an airport. Anti-terrorism activities are probably along the same lines - but on steroids.

 

I’m not against airport security, far from it, but some of the restrictions do seem to be crafted by lawyers seeking to avoid ministerial culpability for even the most unlikely of events. 
 

I can just imagine a Yes Minister sketch.

 

Hacker: so you’ve banned taking a platypus on board an aircraft?

Sir Humphrey: Yes, minister

Hacker: But why? Has a platypus ever been used in a highjack or any sort of violent crime for that matter

Sir Humphrey: No, minister. But it is theoretically possible that one could be used in such a crime. So we banned them.

[skipepsi]

Awake at silly o'clock 6.30 as my sleep machine started pulsing , after only 4 hours sleep I don't have my wits about me to fix it. Sleep attempt two...

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Was that the one where the Cabin Cruiser was sinking nicely yet none of the occupants (all "senior") was wearing a lifejacket?

 

 

Yes.

 

I thought it would have had a reasonable bilge pump but obviously it wasn't up to much.  Turned out that the return coolant hose on the port engine had slipped off and the engine had been busy filling the bilges...

 

At least he had the sense to get out of the shipping channel!

 

If you've seen the similar mountain rescue programme, they were the equivalent of doing a spot of fell walking in tshirts, jeans and flipflops.

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

41 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

 

 

 

 

Hacker: so you’ve banned taking a platypus on board an aircraft?

Sir Humphrey: Yes, minister

Hacker: But why? Has a platypus ever been used in a highjack or any sort of violent crime for that matter

Sir Humphrey: No, minister. But it is theoretically possible that one could be used in such a crime. So we banned them.

 

 

They are venomous so I wouldn't want to be threatened with one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No, seriously, they actually are.....

 

 

Edited May 8 by monkeysarefun

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Getting ready for a quick visit to Coniston meeting some university friends. Could involve eating and drinking.

 

Got to go.. bags to be packed, car to be loaded..

 

Baz

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Up a bit earlier than usual, as I have a 9:10 appointment at the surgery for my 3 monthly hormone injection of Zoladex, the mainstay in my fight with cancer. There are no firm plans after that, so it’s looking like another morning in the garden, followed by an afternoon in the workshop.

 

Back later. 
 

Brian

[TheQ]

4 hours ago, BR60103 said:

I think that the UV activated stuff is not really a glue. I don't think it has any sticky properties.

What it does is solidify hard. To have it hold bits together requires a hole (spherical) in both bits.

My dentist uses related stuff and it has to have a big cavity inside the tooth to hold the stuffing in.

 

There's two different types at least, a UV activated resin which has the properties you mentioned.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LETS-RESIN-Bonding-Seconds-Adhesive/dp/B0CVXG71CX/ref=asc_df_B0CVXG71CX/

 

and a UV activated cyanoacrylate super glue..

https://www.intertronics.co.uk/product/born2bond-light-lock-uv-cyanoacrylate-adhesives/

 

Mooring Awl,

5 hours sleep woke with great pain from left shoulder and neck,  2.5 hours sleep woke with no pain , must have been sleeping awkwardly.

 

Ben was so out cold snoring this morning, that he didn't notice I was getting up, until I went to get my boots from the under stairs drawer. He did enjoy a happy patrol and explored a few areas we don't normally go, might be due to having cleared access over the winter and then kept it mowed..

 

It's another cold grey misty morning out there, the grass being wet due to dew and mist condensating on the trees.

 

Plans for today..

Routine accounts for the MRC, otherwise known as a copy and paste of last months bank account into the spreadsheet then remove extraneous information especially blank spaces. .. Plus one minor change to the presentation of the quarterly accounts.. does not affect figures..

 

Activate banking machine for our show. 

 

Maybe spinny thingy again..

 

But first muggacoffee time 

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, from a dull but dry rock that manages 14c.  Mrs NHN off now on Wetkneesdays, so my tie is not my own.  A bike ride is forecast, with mates Johan and Steve.  J is Belgian with a surname that begins with a Z  (no, not Zarniwhoop) and is unpronounceable by the average Geordie/Fraggle cross.  He's a bit....lot..... of a Harley guy but really nice, quiet sort.  Not Harley typee at all really, but likes his huge bikes.

 

The ride will surround locating a cafe for brunch, via small lanes whenever possible.

[PupCam]

Covid -ve  so that's a relief ..... 😀

 

I feel a day of sitting down barely moving is in order,  I feel the brain will be doing all (if any) of the work today.

 

TT