Early Risers.

[monkeysarefun]

43 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

Clear blue sky outside, bit of a scorcher, I reckon I could fry an egg on the pavement (literally, not just saying it for effect). A day for a sun hat or umbrella and staying in the shade.

Feels-like temp of 9 here and 90kmh wind gusts that'd blow a dog off its chain.

Edited November 21, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis woke me up at four this morning. Nurofen was taken and I managed to get back to sleep but I didn't wake up again until nearly eight. I'm now starting on bread pudding #2, I've crumbled the bread and covered the bowl to let it soak overnight, I've started adding the goodies including a miniature of rum then it will be stood for another couple of hours and into the oven tonight.

[Tony_S]

26 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Feels-like temp of 9 here and 90kmh wind gusts that'd blow a dog off its chain.

That seems similar to my memories of childhood summer holidays.

[simontaylor484]

Morning all 

 

I am back in the room

 

I can't catch up with everything I have missed but will offer congratulations and sympathy where needed.

The great bathroom refit has finished not without problems.

One of the new toilets has to be replaced as there is a pinhole leak in it somewhere.

We were also left without hot water. It looked like the fitter had destroyed the diverter valve. I had that replaced on my heating cover.

 

 

Although I couldn't fault the fitters work he didn't inspire confidence when he thought the radiators were electric. Especially when he was going to be changing 2 to towel radiators.

 

What is it with the bluudy video that comes across the phone screen I am sure it has been discussed 

[Tony_S]

I have to do some tidying.  A friend we haven’t seen for a while is coming for lunch. She babysits her grandson (11months) on Mondays so we will be having a small visitor too. 
I have just ordered a security camera. A car was seen driving up and down photographing parked cars in our road. A neighbour asked if they were lost and got a terse reply. They then drove off. Later that night a car belonging to a visitor next door parked outside our house was stolen. I think we are the only house in the road without any cameras or a video doorbell. 
Tony

[chrisf]

2 hours ago, chrisf said:

It is a long time since I tried to make an appointment with a GP.  I suspect that the pains which prompted me to see the vet will have gone before I get a response but you never know.

 

Chris

Update: my appointment is at 4.30 this afternoon.  When my legs work properly it is 10 minutes' walk.  As they are not working properly today I shall allow rather more.  I shall not worry about printers until I am more fully mobile.

 

Chris

[PupCam]

Morning All!

 

As some will know, I'm not a doggy person (dodgy maybe) or indeed, much of an animal person at all  (unless I'm eating them)  but ........

 

Ah!

 

13 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Evening All,

A busy day here and I think you know why.

Hovis came round at about 10:30 and various pieces of paperwork were exchanged and the tearful breeder left after showing us two of Hovis’s puppies which she is keeping.

These puppies were delivered by C section in July and poor Hovis has quite a scar to show for it.

She seems to have settled very well. After pacing around the house, possibly looking for Sydney, she spent the late afternoon watching me doing some paperwork and SWMBO doing some reading.

After tea we took her for an evening walk but she didn’t leave me a ‘hand warmers’ to pick up. We all settled down and watched a bit of tv (GP) and at 10.00pm I took her out again but still no deposit.

Its going to be a fine balancing act between comforting her over indulging her with affection. 
Anway, Goodnight from a very happy dad.

 

 

13 hours ago, PeterBB said:

In terms of new computer, old software no longer upgradedand of course losing functionality of useful programs and also previous scanner it does not have a direct USB - had to buy 'new type' to connect USB - or DVD functionality - very important as lots of photographic and other data stored on them - modern ones go on cloud but ... when internet goes everything stops.  Seems everything wants to go icloud  and icloud back-up so US.  Seems like a rant.

 

The cloud maybe a very convenient way to off-load the "back-up" problem but is a principle flawed IMHO.     The original images, documents, audio and video content that are mine belong on my equipment and are my responsibility and not to be dumped in some unknown server farm on the far side of the planet which, if I ask very nicely and possibly pay a fee in some form, I maybe given access to OR NOT if the company decides for whatever reason  it doesn't want to or can no longer be bothered to look after them or serve them.

 

No, I'm with @polybear on this one.

 

12 hours ago, PeterBB said:

Mobile screens are silly little thing s to do proper work on and if you need to read a document and need to refer back to a page its a function of rol back xN pages and then forward and back etc.  This is why proper computers with much bigger screens are better.  Do just occasionally wish I had a laptop but desktop beats thm all for comfortable use.

 

Yes they are and why I normally use a PC with a decent monitor for all my online activity.      BUT it's a buxxer carting that lot around and plugging it in when you're away from home .......

 

11 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Online opinions suggest that tank-based printers are best for people who print frequently (and in volume) but for people who print infrequently there can be issues with clogged nozzles.

 

That is exactly contrary to my findings.      My sporadic printing with my standard HP All-In-One perpetually frustrated me with it's clogged nozzles and false accusations of counterfeit cartridges.     It came close to be launched out of a first floor window so many times but it was saved by the addition of an  after-market CIS including "chipped" dummy cartridges.   A bit messy to set up but worked brilliantly for many years.   The printheads never clogged up AND I didn't need a mortgage to match Hewlett Krapard's pathetic and very thirsty income generation model (again IMVHO).     A while ago, I noted that the company that supplied the CIS still does them but no longer for HP printers.   A cynical person might conclude that they may have been got at.   Not me, of course!

 

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

And whilst cogitating on matters canine, recent posts have brought to mind the old saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” (actually you can, but they learn slower than when younger - like humans). I suspect that, were I to anonymously poll ERs, we’d find - not an age divide but a sliding scale of technology awareness and willingness to use it that correlates to date of birth: with near zero take up for those born 1945 - 1950 and increasing to near 100% take up for those born 1980 - 1990. And whilst there would be outliers, I think it would pretty much be an ascending slope (how steep is another matter).

 

As a general rule that may well be correct although I'm guessing not a linear function and with a large dispersion.

 

3 hours ago, TheQ said:

I must admit when I first zero'd a Fluke 752A Reference Divider in the RAF in 1978 (three years after I first started work), I didn't think I'd be doing the same just days before retiring..

 

Never used that particular instrument but have used a lot of excellent Fluke and (just to show I'm not biased after a previous comment) wonderful HP instrumentation* and computers (no, not laptops) over the years.    Particular Fluke favourites were their 1760A Instrument Controller and their 2400 Measurement & Control system.    Happy days!

 

* The rot set in when instrumentation was hived-off and re-branded Agilent.   The rest as they say is history.    Poor old Bill and Dave, must be spinning in their respective boxes.

 

3 hours ago, chrisf said:

It is a long time since I tried to make an appointment with a GP.  I suspect that the pains which prompted me to see the vet will have gone before I get a response but you never know.

 

Good luck with that Chris!

 

UPDATE:    Well done with that!

 

TTFNQ

 

Alan

Edited November 21, 2022 by PupCam
Updated Chris's bit

[southern42]

' morning all from red dragon land.

Chuckinitdarn.

 

Well, I was going to be creating a couple more online family calendars, variations of the first one. Some funny things were going on, like October's photo had disappeared - gone! I may have inadvertently deleted it but I could not import it again, or any other image come to that.

Messages were coming up with <<Ooops! Etc etc...>> so, I logged off but could not log back in!  When I went to the Homepage, I soon realised what was going on! The "Bl*ck Fr*d*y 50% off everything, now" gremlins at work, I assume! Say no more. I will try again, tomorrow!

 

Another mugadecaf until I work out what to do next*. Am I relaxed enough to tackle some muddling? Good question...

 

* <<That's easy >> Just looked at the time, I'll do an early lunch!

 

Keep safe. Be good. Be decisive.

Polly

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by southern42

[Sidecar Racer]

15 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

 

I ended up buying a cable in frustration.  It now means the printer does as it's told reliably every time but at the cost of having to unplug my image drive - which I make quite frequent use of - because I have only one available USB port.  

 

 

 

 

 You need something like this Rick . Use one port for multiple items .

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Atolla-USB-3-0-Hub-Port-Black/dp/B07DWZCSPM/ref=asc_df_B07DWZCSPM/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=344273843977&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2310052036690803644&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045659&hvtargid=pla-700367739818&psc=1

 

 

[Gwiwer]

1 minute ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

 

 You need something like this Rick . Use one port for multiple items .

 

 

 

 

I did think of using a hub. For some reason the Mac doesn’t like them. 
 

In other news the Little Red Driving Box passed its MoT with flying colours this morrning. Nothing unexpected was found during the service either.  Which is what I anticipated but it’s still somehow refreshing to be relieved of rather fewer modelling vouchers than might have been the case. 
 

A very wet day has developed but the worst is forecast to clear just in time for my trip up the chimney at Battersea later. I purposely booked 15.40 hoping there might be some nice low-angle light. At present all there is to be seen from the top is cloud so 🤞🤞

[iL Dottore]

I’ve just received a lengthy eMail from the company organising my trip to Japan. Knowing I would like to have a comfortable railway journey between places I’ll be visiting, they suggested the following:

 

With overnight accommodation:

https://www.jreast.co.jp/shiki-shima/en/

https://www.twilightexpress-mizukaze.jp/en/ 

https://www.cruisetrain-sevenstars.jp/english/  (although you can’t just turn up and buy a ticket - you have to enter a lottery and - if your number is drawn - be ready to fork out immediately to secure your ticket)

 

Without overnight accommodation

https://www.jreast.co.jp/saphir/en/

https://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/english/booking/pdf/00_363_201016.pdf

 

Mind you a bog standard Shinkansen is a pretty decent way to travel:

https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/shinkansen-train-types#N700_N700A_series

The interesting thing is that both JR and BR were privatised (JR in 1987 and BR in 1994 - 1997). In japan the privatised railways came up with this to attract passengers https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/shinkansen-gran-class In Britain you got this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51302755

 

What on earth were the politicians and DfT thinking of.

[DaveF]

I got up fairly early this morning but have been busy since then.  It was sunny first thing with a nice white frost, the first this autumn, about -1C in the garden.  After doing some house jobs I checked the flat, the heating hadn't been on as it was still 13C inside - it is well insulated.

 

Yesterday was a typical Sunday, with phone calls and e mails to friends - all is well with everyone.  Then went I to church where I was reading a lesson again, I read the right bit.  After church I went and parked at the beach and just had a walk on the promenade.  An Arklow ship was leaving the harbour, it had been unloading alumina for the last few days.  There were three tugs waiting to go in to move a ship.  The sea was calm, the sun came out and it was a lovely November day, cool and fresh but nice.

 

Then it was home for coffee and to cook a good lunch.  After a short sit down I went in the garden and took out the rest of the annuals and removed some creeping buttercups and dandelions which were in the wrong place and hence count as weeds.  There isn't much left to do now.

 

Later I went for another walk as I felt stiff, the walk cured it for once.  The evening was a mix of TV, music and reading - another Poldark novel at the moment.

 

David

 

 

[southern42]

52 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

I did think of using a hub. For some reason the Mac doesn’t like them. 
 

...snip

 

Google: "mac usb hub".  There seems to be quite a few out there.

As a Mac user, I just googled it myself, for reference.

 

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by southern42
insert missing word

[polybear]

5 hours ago, TheQ said:

I've been considering printers, we've a colour A3 inkjet printer that hasn't been used for years. I'm going to have to see if I can revive that, as it's only 16 days inc today till I can no longer used the company A3 laser colour printers.

 

There's few people I miss after leaving The Great Empire; I really, really do miss the A3 Colour Printer/Scanner though 😭.  It was perfect for emailing stuff into work then printing it; the scanner was very, very fast too - rumour has it that a certain Bear even scanned the first 150 Issues of a certain Magazine onto DVD😉 - which saved a lot of space on the book shelves....

 

5 hours ago, TheQ said:

If it doesn't revive, then it looks like a laser printer will be required, as they are from what I can find, are the most suitable for intermittent use.

 

Though not the best if you're into printing Templot Templates apparently - the heating of the paper causing distortion of dimensions.  An inkjet is best for that function.

 

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I have to do some tidying.  A friend we haven’t seen for a while is coming for lunch. She babysits her grandson (11months) on Mondays so we will be having a small visitor too. 
I have just ordered a security camera. A car was seen driving up and down photographing parked cars in our road. A neighbour asked if they were lost and got a terse reply. They then drove off. Later that night a car belonging to a visitor next door parked outside our house was stolen. I think we are the only house in the road without any cameras or a video doorbell. 
Tony

 

I'm not a great believer in cameras being much of a deterrent during night-time theft etc. - all the scrote needs to do is wear a mask.  Some months ago a neighbour discovered that the steering wheel of their Beemer had been nicked during the night (getting more common apparently - the airbags are bluddy expensive and in short supply); their Ring Doorbell recorded much of the action but identifying them was hopeless.  Apparently it took several hours; I've not seen the car back again so it's either taking a very long time to fix or it's been written off.

Someone in the village has a T-shaped Bar set into their drive immediately behind their car - I guess it's removable/folds down so you can drive away.  Just don't forget.....

 

16 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/shinkansen-gran-class 

In Britain you got this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51302755

 

What on earth were the politicians and DfT thinking of.

 

And just how long do you expect such a fancy train to last in the UK?  The scrotes will be slashing the seats before your very eyes....

 

Bear here.....

Still filling walls - hopefully I'll perfect judging just how much filler to mix so it doesn't harden before I've managed to apply it.....

Bear gone.

[simontaylor484]

I saw this and thought of someone 

 

[iL Dottore]

10 minutes ago, polybear said:

....And just how long do you expect such a fancy train to last in the UK?  The scrotes will be slashing the seats before your very eyes....

Sadly, you are probably right...

[simontaylor484]

I think you can only deter the opportunist tea leaf with cctv etc the more professional blagger will know all the tricks to evade cctv.

 

A mate of mine had his car broken into in a restaurant car park. The thieves escaped cctv id by using rear fog lights to dazzle the cctv hiding the registration plate. This was a number of years ago 

[zarniwhoop]

Hope everything went well for @Grizz at Barcombe on Saturday, and that neither he and his family, nor those they know, were affected by the road accident https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-63694203

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Just put the bread pudding into the oven and the house is full of the smell of spices. Problem was I made the mixture a but too wet so I had to add a few extras to mop it up, A butterscotch Instant Whip done the trick (cornflour and dried milk). Last time I didn't think to check the smart meter to see how much the oven costs to run, 80p an hour! Baking bread pudding is the most use the oven has had in years. Compared to the microwave and air fryer using a tenth of the energy and the slow cooker even less I won't be using the 'big' oven very often.

[Ian Abel]

Ahhh Monday.

 

Busy weekend, lots of running around/errands Saturday, Sunday up early to sing with the schola at 9 and 11am!

-7C heading out Sunday early and didn't warm up much all day. Good day to stay in, read, nap and generally stay warm 😃

 

This week will be very short as Thursday is Thanksgiving Day here, and we (my company along with many) get Friday off also.

Will avoid Black Friday, unless I find something online, the shops are always stupid, and I've NEVER undertaken to subject myself to that idiocy. 🤯

 

Tally ho.

[PeterBB]

10 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

a sliding scale of technology awareness and willingness to use it that correlates to date of birth: with near zero take up for those born 1945 - 1950 and increasing to near 100% take up for those born 1980 - 1990. And whilst there would be outliers, I think it would pretty much be an ascending slope (how steep is another matter).

And on that philosophical note: Happy Monday!

As one pre-dating the given birth year parameters I can confirm the minimal awareness and willingness to use 'modern technology' especially when it does not work for local parking  ... still not been to a bank since pre-Covid and therefore 'coin poverty' making it doubly difficult to pay for parking anywhere but where posssible would much prefer to use cash.

 

[PeterBB]

4 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

I did think of using a hub. For some reason the Mac doesn’t like them. 

Having bought the USB-C to USB adaptor Was ale to connect a hub and, so far, no problems ans of course can still use my 'old' USBs.

[DaveF]

10 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

 

I suspect that, were I to anonymously poll ERs, we’d find - not an age divide but a sliding scale of technology awareness and willingness to use it that correlates to date of birth: with near zero take up for those born 1945 - 1950 and increasing to near 100% take up for those born 1980 - 1990. And whilst there would be outliers, I think it would pretty much be an ascending slope (how steep is another matter).

And on that philosophical note: Happy Monday!

I was born in 1949 so almost at the end of your first cohort.  I am happy to use technology and rarely use cash, though I carry some for parking machines as some privately operated car parks in Northumberland have no mobile signal - e.g. Northumbrian Water reservoirs, National Park.

 

Apart from that I enjoy most technology - I worked as a software consultant after I retired from teaching, and have some smart home items I use all the time.

 

Perhaps it is parental influence.  When I was in my early 20s my mother was one of the first people in Britain to use a computer for writing school timetables, I was doing the same a few years later.

 

David

[DaveF]

About three weeks ago I sent off a number of stamps to Royal Mail to "swop out" for the new ones which they call "barcoded".

 

I sent off a few ordinary 1st and 2nd class stamps and quite a lot of large 1st class which I have had for a long time and rarely use.  They were "gifts" for taking part in mail surveys.

 

Today I received a letter from Royal Mail containg 51 new 1st class stamps in return.  I am very pleased as I now have at least a year's supply of stamps I can use.  I had assumed I would receive "like for like" but that is not how it works.  I also made a small "profit" as thery seem to round up the value of the stamps sent in.

 

David

[monkeysarefun]

9 hours ago, polybear said:

I want to be sure I have full control over all my stuff (a "sorry" from some Big Company to say the lot has been lost cos' their wotsit packed up/caught fire/got nicked etc. doesn't really cut it with this Bear) - just ask AndyY about that side of things (it seems RMWeb photos are lost forever).

I also don't trust other companies when it comes to security - you never know who may be searching through files etc.

 

Polybear cloud nightmare.

 

"Can I download my microwave  recipe files I backed up  please?"

 

 

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by monkeysarefun