Early Risers.

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

Nope

Oh well, at least you got to stand where he did. He was much loved here, something about him just endeared him to the Australian supporters and the players. If Dickie Bird gave one of ours out it didn't seem as bad.

 

The same thing applied for Alan Knott, the UK wickie in the mid-seventies, we had a lot of time  for him, with his gloves and floppy hat he looked a bit like a flowerpot man.  Derek Randall too springs to mind, his cunning strategy of being humourous   won us over, they'd have both been welcome in the Australian team!

Edited April 20 by monkeysarefun

[skipepsi]

2 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Oh well, at least you got to stand where he did. He was much loved here, something about him just endeared him to the Australian supporters and the players. If Dickie Bird gave one of ours out it didn't seem as bad.

Because he was right.

[monkeysarefun]

3 minutes ago, skipepsi said:

Because he was right.

Plus, that thing he did with his finger, we'd all wait for it!

[polybear]

5 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

With a gag order in place?

 

Perhaps it's about time he was found in Contempt of Court and sent down to spend a night in the Cells - a communal one shared with Pimps, Druggies and Pushers.  And then he has to apologise to the Judge - or he'll get another go.

Won't happen, or course - more's the pity; it might just do him some good.  He needs a dose of Judge John Deed.

 

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

That'll be the DDT....now't to worry about there then......

 

 

Woah  there,  Mr Rent A Kill!

 

We only need to repel  them, not obliterate everything in the vicinity, and for that a consumer level insect repellant is completely  adequate.

 

True story! when I went to  Trever Grice's 9th birthday party at a picnic ground at Warragamba dam in 1973 , his mum - annoyed at the swarms of flies that descended on the food, sprayed Aerogard (a popular insect repellant here, ad slogan "Aveagoodweekend - remember the Aerogard") over the table, she tried to avoid the food but there would have been drift and overspray since she didn't mask the plates off first.

 

Lacking an authentic polaroid picture  taken on the day, I've invoked AI (but only because Grizz did first), to illustrate the situation. It misrepresents the number of kangaroos, there were 3 hanging around from memory.  They have learned to hang around picnic areas, apparently solely  in order get their photo taken, because  they never  seem to be interested in the food.

 

Edited April 20 by monkeysarefun

[Dave Hunt]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

And outside of London it’s a desert - with oases few and far between…

Certainly, you can get (pale imitations of) “ethnic food” (Asian, Indian [well, mostly Bangladeshi], Italian etc) but it’s nearly always what you could term “Hollywood Movie” food, as in “A Blockbuster Movie based on….” where the only thing that is actually original (authentic)  is the name used…

 

Oh, dear Flávio. I thought that you were immune from the ‘world stops north of the M25’ virus. Here in the frozen northerly outpost of North Hipposhire we actually have several really decent restaurants with 15 - 20 minutes drive of Hunt Towers. They include a very good ethnic Italian (run by and with food cooked by real Italians) ditto a few proper Indian and Bangladeshi places, Chinese and Asian fusion eateries, Greek etc. There are also some excellent places that have no claim to any specific ethnicity but serve very good food. Hollywood? No, not even as low as Hollywood on a good day and as for Hollywood’s interpretation of the Enigma story and the like, not in the same universe. Admittedly there are also the likes of McD’s, Greggs, Dominos etc. but they have spread from darn sarf and the North can’t be blamed any more than Ukraine for unwanted neighbours invasions.

 

Dave

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

We’ve got sunshine this morning, but it’s a lot colder than of late and the wind has gone too. I’ll be shortly heading off to Vickie’s to collect Ava, who is as usual spending the day here with us. I’m not sure what is on the agenda for today, but there’s definitely no baking involved, more’s the pity.
 

Anyway, must get going, back later.

 

Brian 

Edited April 20 by BSW01

[TheQ]

Ben would quite happily eat anything we gave to him, but he's not in a Labrador's league.

We are careful on what he gets, so "mixed" take away foods he doesn't get. Many human foods are toxic to Doggies.

 

Postie arrived, parcel with bits for lawn mower, too darn cold to be lying outside on the floor fitting that.

Poo sticks for swmbo, which reminds me must do mine.

The bits for the boat arrived in Norwich, just too late for today's delivery here.

 

Bits for spinny thingy that arrived yesterday, fitted, as they're epoxied in place, that stops further work till Monday.

Now to research next bit of work on spinny thingy.

 

Then pay the last quarters electrickery bill for the MRC £608..

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I was peeing razor blades yesterday afternoon and evening, normal after the procedure I had at the hospital. This morning everything was back to normal however. Arthur Itis woke me up at :05.30 this morning but I went back to sleep for another couple of hours. The tablets I have been given are called Dutasteride. A vast improvement on what was done 35 years ago when my dad had prostate trouble when they put a micro Dyno-rod up the drainpipe to clear the blockage. It's now clear that a few things were due to the enlarged prostate such as urgently wanting to pee after sitting on a low seat for any length of time. 

[monkeysarefun]

10 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Ben would quite happily eat anything we gave to him, but he's not in a Labrador's league.

 

 

I had Cooper the Border Collie, he would eat everything, his epic most moment was when I took him for a walk and he dashed off into the scrub and came back chewing on something which once I'd finally wrestled it off him turned out to be a full packet of jelly snakes. I read somewhere later that that kind of confectionery isn't compatible with dogs but he came through it in one piece. 

 

Some foods are fatal to parrots too so I have to be careful with what treats I give Gary The Parrot and Buttons The House Budgie. . Avocado apparently is like Kryptonite to them, and mushrooms and onions are apparently also a no no.

 

Gary doesnt help by yelling out "YUM?!!" every time I open the fridge because I then  have to explain to him why the slice of pizza or whatever I'm heating up is out of bounds for him. 

Edited April 20 by monkeysarefun

[tigerburnie]

16 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I was peeing razor blades yesterday afternoon and evening, normal after the procedure I had at the hospital. This morning everything was back to normal however. Arthur Itis woke me up at :05.30 this morning but I went back to sleep for another couple of hours. The tablets I have been given are called Dutasteride. A vast improvement on what was done 35 years ago when my dad had prostate trouble when they put a micro Dyno-rod up the drainpipe to clear the blockage. It's now clear that a few things were due to the enlarged prostate such as urgently wanting to pee after sitting on a low seat for any length of time. 

I had my prostate lasered, it was described as like peeling an orange, but in reverse, they removed the inside and left me with just the peel(who only know why). Only side effect is I have been on anti-biotics for the past 12 months as an infection won't go away, so no alcohol, which is possibly a good thing giving my liver a holiday. I take no tablets for the prostate, just a statin and something for stomach polyps.

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

At the risk of sounding cynical, the aspect of diversity sorely lacking in work places (and perhaps society) is diversity of thought.

 

I am a marine engineer by training, marine engineers attend similar colleges and universities offering essentially the same syllabus everywhere and are assessed against the same criteria for their exams and to determine their grading. The result is that we all tend to think the same and fall into a common conception of conventional thought. Now in some ways that is unavoidable and a natural result of the nature of engineering but it also limits peoples receptivity to new ideas and change. And 'group think' introduces issues of its own. This isn't about prejudice in the usual sense but there's also an unwillingness to consider ideas outside our own experience.

 

In class I was authorised to approve stuff under alternative design and arrangement rules, meaning they were outside existing regulations, rules and standards and were done on the basis of first principles and analysis. The usual response of most to the proposals submitted for such approval was 'what idiot thought this would be a good idea?' and I'd say that in reality that response was justified by subsequent developments but if you don't remain open to such ideas you will lose the small minority of brilliant ideas which do rewrite the book and change how we think about things.

Analogous to giving career advice to a potential high flyer.   She wanted to do what others had done and be a butterfly with a couple of months in each department .  I advised against it but did try and set a placement up without success.   I advised her to go and spend a sold six months as section Sgt at the remote South Kirkby station with no backup within 15 minutes drive and a good collection of old longer serving coppers who were used to working in that environment.  She toddled off as an unhappy bunny.  I wanted her to have to live with the consequences of her decisions but she didn't think it would look good on her CV.   I will give her her due though.  At the end of the six months she came and thanked me warmly and said that after settling in she had not only enjoyed it but learned a lot.   

 

Jamie

[monkeysarefun]

I've never had to suffer through a job interview, all my job moves have been via people recommending jobs to me, or  letting me know there was an opening and then me calling them up and asking what they are offering, or just getting offered  a job via someone in another company I was dealing with approaching me.

 

Then once I got a high enough security clearance the world that I  work in  was my  lucrative oyster. Its easier to teach someone who already has the right clearance the required skills, than it is to get a clearance for a skilled up person, so as a bonus I get lots of free training.

 

I'd have no time for sitting in front of some idiot asking me what my aspirations were or whatever, or why I didnt talk  with the right stupid sounding plumy bullsh1t accent or why  my tie wasn't stripy enough,  - or  why I dont even  own a tie, come to that. 

 

Actually, I don't think any of that would apply here unless you were going for a job at Rugby Australia, or maybe it applies in banking or when  joining our version of the conservative party

 

Here it would  be more like "What footy team do you go for?...     What, a Manly supporter?!     F ^%#    off before I call the cops!"

 

Life is too short to sit through all that nonsense and there's heaps more opportunities and much better paid jobs  down here than what those corporate interviewy  types have to offer. 

Edited April 20 by monkeysarefun

[Barry O]

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

And outside of London it’s a desert - with oases few and far between…

Certainly, you can get (pale imitations of) “ethnic food” (Asian, Indian [well, mostly Bangladeshi], Italian etc) but it’s nearly always what you could term “Hollywood Movie” food, as in “A Blockbuster Movie based on….” where the only thing that is actually original (authentic)  is the name used…

Have you ever got north of the M25 recently? Obviously not as your very broad brush view needs to be revised pdq. Why?

 

In Leeds and other cities, towns and villages, I am certain that the choice of foods.. generally available prepared by at least first generation visitors (as in Chinese, Thai, Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani and both Greek and Turkish) as well as Italian  restaurants  serve food just like it says they are described. I didn't notice any majore differences on my travels.  Unfortunately I await a visit to a local Japanese restaurant to check it out.

 

Our local chefs may not be too pleased about your views..

 

Food in Switzerland ( on my business vists) was never really that exciting...even when prepared in the General in charge of Army caterings Castle!

 

Baz

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

17 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Have you ever got north of the M25 recently? Obviously not as your very broad brush view needs to be revised pdq. Why?

Same thing happens here from those who have never been here - we eat mainly bbq'd Witchety grubs  and pies  or  something apparently.  Actually being a hugely multicultural country so close to Southeast  Asia and the South Pacific and  blessed with the ability to locally grow every type of fresh food our restaurants are brimming with diversity and authentic flavours as well as great fusion combinations.

Edited April 20 by monkeysarefun

[Dave Hunt]

1 hour ago, TheQ said:

Ben would quite happily eat anything we gave to him, but he's not in a Labrador's league.

 

Some friends had the archetypal Labrador and when they were staying with us once it stole and ate a two pound block of Stilton; the result was its banning from any room we were in due to the eye-watering noxious vapours. In contrast, our Lab/Collie cross Sam, although he would gleefully eat anything he was given, would not touch food until he was told he could. He would sit gazing into his full food bowl (and drooling) until we said, "Go on then" and we could leave the coffee table with plates of food all over it safe in the knowledge that although he would sit looking longingly at the contents he wouldn't touch anything, even if left alone in the room. 

 

Dave

[monkeysarefun]

4 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

He would sit gazing into his full food bowl (and drooling)

When I was much younger my parents had an Irish Setter that would sit by the tea table watching us eat. Her drool  would gradually descend from each side of her mouth and eventually join up so it looked like she was wearing  a drool stethoscope. Then she would shake her head and cover us and our food in dog spit. 

Edited April 20 by monkeysarefun

[Dave Hunt]

10 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Same thing happens here from those who have never been here - we eat mainly bbq'd Witchety grubs  and pies  or  something apparently.  Actually being a hugely multicultural country so close to Asia and the South Pacific and  blessed with the ability to locally grow every type of fresh food our restaurants are brimming with diversity and authentic flavours as well as great fusion combinations.

 

Mind you, I think that the famous Aussie pies (including those 'floating' in soup, although mine always seemed to sink) are actually generally very good. And as for the seafood - yum yum.

 

Dave

Edited April 20 by Dave Hunt

[Tony_S]

Robbie never stole food until he was eight. He needed an emergency operation that involved remove of testicles. After that the coffee table could not have food left on it. Otherwise no change in behaviour after the op.  

[jjb1970]

We had roast duck tonight, there's a good roast meat shop at the local MRT station which is cheaper than making it at home, and although it looks like just roast duck it's actually quite a convoluted and time consuming process to make Chinese roast duck. 

[monkeysarefun]

10 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

And as for the seafood - yum yum.

 

Dave

 

 

Personally I am not a seafood fan but I still admire it when I see it served up. The "Seafood platter" would be our version of the "Full English Breakfast" as far as how it is held in reverence or whatever by our respective societies. . 

 

The seafood platter is a menu option for dinner time rather than breakfast,  best ordered when sitting on the deck of an RSL or surf club in a coastal town, watching the diehard  evening surfers ride the waves before the sun sets and the night sharks get them.

 

Edited April 20 by monkeysarefun

[jjb1970]

I'm off to Brussels tomorrow for a week. I was meant to fly Lufthansa but got a cryptic message saying my connection  'wasn't granted' which apparently is their way of saying they've cancelled so figure out some other way to get there. Listening to German friends and colleagues I may have dodged a bullet as Lufthansa seem to be all over the place. So it's Turkish via Istanbul, the New airport at Istanbul is vast, very impressive. 

[monkeysarefun]

10 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Robbie never stole food until he was eight. He needed an emergency operation that involved remove of testicles.

Jeez, who's testicles were they?!?!

[Dave Hunt]

3 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

Personally I am not a seafood fan but I still admire it when I see it served up. The "Seafood platter" would be our version of the "Full English Breakfast" as far as how it is held in reverence or whatever by our respective societies. . 

 

The seafood platter is a menu option for dinner time rather than breakfast,  best ordered when sitting on the deck of an RSL or surf club in a coastal town, watching the diehard  evening surfers ride the waves before the sun sets and the night sharks get them.

 

 

That brings back many happy memories of sunset feasts in Palm Cove north of Cairns.

 

Dave

[jjb1970]

57 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

I've never had to suffer through a job interview, all my job moves have been via people recommending jobs to me, or  letting me know there was an opening and then me calling them up and asking what they are offering, or just getting offered  a job via someone in another company I was dealing with approaching me.

 

Then once I got a high enough security clearance the world that I  work in  was my  lucrative oyster. Its easier to teach someone who already has the right clearance the required skills, than it is to get a clearance for a skilled up person, so as a bonus I get lots of free training.

 

I'd have no time for sitting in front of some idiot asking me what my aspirations were or whatever, or why I didnt talk  with the right stupid sounding plumy bullsh1t accent or why  my tie wasn't stripy enough,  - or  why I dont even  own a tie, come to that. 

 

Actually, I don't think any of that would apply here unless you were going for a job at Rugby Australia, or maybe it applies in banking or when  joining our version of the conservative party

 

Here it would  be more like "What footy team do you go for?...     What, a Manly supporter?!     F ^%#    off before I call the cops!"

 

Life is too short to sit through all that nonsense and there's heaps more opportunities and much better paid jobs  down here than what those corporate interviewy  types have to offer. 

 

That tends to be the best way, as usually both parties have an awareness of each other and know what they're getting. In Britain it tends to be smaller organisations that do it, or it is very senior roles as in regular companies there are all sorts of interview and selection processes. 

 

A way around it is the hiring manager, if they know who they want, will write the job spec in such a way that their choice is the only one that fits. Quite often you see jobs with ridiculously specific demands as they want an internal candidate but have to advertise externally because of company procedures. Wasting peoples time to tick a box.