Early Risers.

[Coombe Barton]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

I have long been a fan of, and friends with, Curry Corner atop Chapel Street in Penzance

I'll have to try it in the summer.

[DaveF]

Pages 12965 and 12966 are identical, this seems to be coming more common.  It's no wonder ERs loads so slowly, how does the server know which page to load when there are two the same?

 

I spent the first part of the morning moving the plants into the greenhouse and various other things from the greenhouse back into the garage onto the shelves where the plants spent their winter.  There are more plants than I had thought, only one died over the winter.  By the time I had finished I felt somewhat sore so decided to stop and leave other garden jobs for another day.

 

The rest of the morning passed pleasantly looking at new photos and a few hundred from 2010.  I was struck by how run down a lot of places look in 2023/2024 compared to 2010.  Some of the National Trust gardens are a shadow of their former selves with gaps where plants used to be and others in poor condition with an air of decrepitude starting to appear.  I suspect part of it is the idea that things should be untidy to let nature take its course.  I do wish they would think of all plants and animals not just the ones currently in favour.  For example "no mow May" is fine in theory but bad news for animals that prefer short grass - e.g.blackbirds and others who feed on worms and like short grass or bare soil.   Even the local gulls do not visit the long grass but go to lawns  to look for their food. The same is noticeable in some preserved railways and other visitor attractions, a general look of "visitors will come anyway even if it all looks a bit rundown".  I also sometimes get the feeling that the only really welcome visitors are younger people with small children, but perhaps I am being unfair.

 

After lunch I decided there were a couple of things I need so went into town.  On the way I called at the Lifeboat Station and bought some new mugs to replace some very old ones.  Then I did the rest of my shopping, as usual I was able to park just about outside the shop I went to.

 

As I still ache I then decided that sitting quietly with today's paper was a good idea, that plus TV/book will continue this evening.

 

I was planning on going to the monthly meeting of a group about small things that run on strips of nickel silver tomorrow but am still unable to sit comfortably on village hall type chairs, it makes my scar hurt so I will wait until at least May.  There is also the small problem of getting in and out of town with so many roadworks right now.  The traffic maps constantly show stationary traffic on the only two roads going inland, the level crossing on a road leading to one of those roads is now closed for the rest of the month to build a footbridge, while the other road is closed at night on and off and and has temporary lights the rest of the time.

 

David

Edited April 20 by DaveF

[TheQ]

Road works have gone mad here too, only not major, they are chucking gravel at everything.. but they appear to have put up all the signs up at once. No matter if that particular bit of road is being gravelled that day or even that week..

 

I do wonder if it's the national trust having a lack of volunteers, there seems to be a general lessening of people volunteering. Plus the NT has upset volunteers in many places with "woke" and politically correct interpretations of everything.. no doubt that includes gardeners used to keeping things  neat and tidy.

[Coombe Barton]

... 40 years ago this weekend moved into this house. Must get it sorted. ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2024/04/20/the-next-pandemic-im-more-of-a-luddite-domestics/

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, Captain Cuttle said:

The  torbay palm tree

That is Interesting. My father in law had some quite tall yucca that he grew just outside Nottingham. They were damaged in a big storm and were just shrublike afterwards.  So when I saw something that looked similar a few houses away from us, I just assumed they were big yuccas. Anyway more careful observation shows they are almost certainly Torbay Palm. The palm trees in Southend are Windmill palms.  
Our neighbour’s wisteria doesn’t like her bit of Essex, it only flowers on our side of the fence!

[polybear]

43 minutes ago, TheQ said:

I do wonder if it's the national trust having a lack of volunteers, there seems to be a general lessening of people volunteering. 

 

Bear started volunteering on the 8th February this year, having never done it before; I've done 19 days so far and it's the very best decision I've made in a loooooooong time and I benefit hugely from it - in particular the social interaction whilst working with friendly, welcoming people (all are - bar none) who are always appreciative, as well as the physical exercise** too.  I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone - pick a cause that's important to you and you find interesting and rewarding and give it a fair go; if it doesn't work out then there are plenty of others out there that'll be only too happy to receive your help.  Oh yes, and don't worry about travel costs etc. as some (many?) will pay reasonable travel expenses if you need them.  

 

**Not in the best of health?  No problem - there's such a variety of roles out there I'm sure you'll find something suitable.

Edited April 20 by polybear

[iL Dottore]

5 hours ago, Barry O said:

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

I most definitely agree there. The ingredients are superlative, the technical prowess of the chef’s exemplary and the dishes….. meh!
 

Fortunately, albeit later than most of Europe, the Swiss-Germans are rediscovering some of the almost forgotten dishes of their great-grandparents and their great-great grandparents. Definitely rustic (involving easily available local ingredients: pig, potato, cabbage, eggs, milk, cheese, onions) they are frequently hearty stick-to-your-ribs stuff. Forget boring Züri Gschnätzlets mit rösti, Bündner Gerstensuppe from Graubünden or Cholera from the Wallis are much, much better.

 

As for non-European food: forget it

[Ozexpatriate]

7 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Lacking an authentic polaroid picture  taken on the day, I've invoked AI

And a nice job it did too, though the Arrowroot biscuits are the wrong shape and there are too many of them. On the plus side the guests seem to have the correct number of appendages, though some might be missing some legs.

 

The kangaroo paws are right sketchy.

[Ozexpatriate]

7 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

he came through it in one piece

Did the jelly snakes have a similar fate?

[iL Dottore]

8 hours ago, polybear said:

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

 

 

 

Nah…

 

… Judge Dredd!

[Ozexpatriate]

6 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

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

It was very much the thing back in the day - I'm talking 1970s - 1980s. If you wanted to be on the barrister-to-QC track or a naval officer above a subbie you had to have the right background - attending the right high-school was a good start.

 

I doubt those things are still true. I was quite amazed at the cosmopolitan turn Australia had taken after I had a hiatus between around 1987 and 1992. I had never seen a Thai restaurant in my life in Australia. I disappear for a few years and suddenly they were everywhere. In the mid-1980s finding a coffee shop selling espresso was difficult though Italian restaurants had them. (There was one I frequented that also sold gelati.) By the 1990s they were everywhere.

[Ozexpatriate]

7 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

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.

Not before 1990. See above.

 

Much had to do with the formal abolition of the White Australia Policy, and the integration of refugees from Vietnam (and others) crossing the Timor Sea being integrated in society rather than being isolated in migrant hostels. There was such a facility in Wacol (between Brisbane and Ipswich). They were kept 'apart' for a long time.

 

EDIT

There was a conscious rebranding in the business world - examples include the Australian Open tennis, the "Grand Slam of the Asia Pacific" and the Bank of New South Wales rebranding itself as "Westpac" (bank of the Western Pacific) etc.

 

Edited April 20 by Ozexpatriate

[iL Dottore]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Bear lives north of the Mickey two-five so that just goes to prove that iD's "sophisticated and urbane acquaintances" 🤣 were talkin' complete cobblers.......

I think that the mediarati and “delightful young things” in Islington would say that that kinda proves their point…..🤣🤣🤣

[Ozexpatriate]

7 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

Some friends had the archetypal Labrador and when they were staying with us once it stole and ate a two pound block of Stilton;

My boys have a story of a pizza they left unguarded on a low coffee table while they played video games. Naughty lab! They knew better though and they knew it was on them.

 

We had conditioned the lab not to steal food from the kitchen counters or dining table. This was accomplished through means of a slice of bread connected by string to a large tower of empty aluminium, 12 oz / 375 ml, beverage containers that cascaded, clanked, clanged and bounced onto a naughty lab. She never did it again. Anything placed at her level was fair game.

 

Edited April 20 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, DaveF said:

Pages 12965 and 12966 are identical, this seems to be coming more common.

Just ignore it Dave. It sorts itself out quite quickly. Click back to the Wheeltappers page and then click on the last ER page. It will probably be reregistered automatically.

 

The length of this thread might well be the source of this problem. Suggestions to start afresh might be the best solution.

 

Biggest problem would be naming a replacement thread. "New Early Risers" would cease to be "new' in a heartbeat. "Early Risers Redux" would be my suggestion, with the first post linking to the old thread. Best to pick a date - like the first of a month. @Barry O Baz could post "White Rabbits" and off we'd go.

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

My father in law had some quite tall yucca that he grew just outside Nottingham.

I find it surprising that they would thrive in that climate. They do prefer 'dry'.

[Dave Hunt]

5 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

The food scene in Britain is much more diverse than Singapore.  Singapore has superb local (Singaporean, Chinese, Malay, Indonesian south Indian and peranakan) food and the other SE Asian food options are superb, and there are plenty of excellent Japanese and Korean places. However looking beyond SE and East Asia people seem a lot less open to foreign food and it's noticeable that the three ethnic groups often stay within their own track. A lot of Chinese Singaporean people never eat Indian food for example. The usual multinationals are well represented (McD, BK, KFC, Pizza Hut, Nando etc) but good non-Asian food isn't that common. Our favourite is a Swiss place, marche movenpick which is very good.

 

There used to be a very good Italian restaurant on Orchard Road. Probably long gone by now.

 

Dave

[Tony_S]

4 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I find it surprising that they would thrive in that climate. They do prefer 'dry'.

Aditi’s Dad’s garden had very light rapid drying soil. He actually grew all kinds of things that weren’t supposed to do well in the Midlands. Down here in Essex, yucca and agave  grow fairly well. Historically really dry except for the last couple of winters which have been wet, and not particularly cold. 

[Ozexpatriate]

1 minute ago, Tony_S said:

Historically really dry except for the last couple of winters which have been wet, and not particularly cold. 

Let's hope the gulf stream keeps doing its thing.

 

The high desert here is dry and the soils have a lot of pumice (from all the volcanoes) and drain rapidly. Juniper and sagebrush dominate with ponderosa/lodgepole pine closer to the snowline.

[PhilJ W]

9 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Aditi’s Dad’s garden had very light rapid drying soil. He actually grew all kinds of things that weren’t supposed to do well in the Midlands. Down here in Essex, yucca and agave  grow fairly well. Historically really dry except for the last couple of winters which have been wet, and not particularly cold. 

Well Essex is one of the driest counties in the UK. Canewdon, just north of Southend is often in the record books as the driest place in the UK.

[The White Rabbit]

14 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

... And trying to erase all background information can be counter productive, if I see a CV from someone who has done well but not spectacularly so from a background which might be challenging I'd put a lot of weight on their human qualities, more so than someone who ticks all the academic boxes but who really should do so given their path through life. ...

 

I have occasionally been involved in interviewing and the last time I did so, one of the candidates was someone with a relatively poor example - but she acknowledged this and said it was due to lack of opportunity to demonstrate skill/judgement. Having been in a very similar situation myself I knew she was completely correct and made allowances. I favoured her over other, more 'privileged', work backgrounds as she had made more of a poor situation than others had done when things were much more in their favour. Value added, not % mark of the end result. Anyone can be a genius when it's all going your way, true ability is being able to turn things around when you inherit a [carp] starting position. 

 

12 hours ago, Grizz said:

... At interview it is likely you would be asked subtle scenario questions that would be used to determine or identify your like political view point. Especially for managerial positions. 
I have personally witness this.... 

 

Plus one... Whether consciously or not, there is (IMHO/experience) a definite trend to favouring a certain sort of mindset - I would be less concerned if it was a mindset which gave good results. But it seems to be geared to causing maximum harm to our society and the workplace while claiming to be something every 'right-minded person' should be jumping up and down and applauding. And if you dare offer an alternative view, you get the sort of dirty looks the kid which shouted the emperor has no clothes received ... right before he was disembowelled with a halberd on the orders of the captain of the palace guard. 

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

Left to their own devices, a relatively homogenous work group will hire someone just like themselves by whatever common denominator with which they identify (age / race / gender / ethnicity / politics / all of the above). The result is group think and a cliquish "in-group" / "out-group" mindset.

 

It's primate behaviour and therefore "normal".

 

Consciously hiring with diversity in mind (with the role-appropriate qualifications met) is outside the 'comfort zone' for most but it produces better results.

[Barry O]

37 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

There used to be a very good Italian restaurant on Orchard Road. Probably long gone by now.

 

Dave

Didn't see one last year but we  did try the Mowe pick as per @jjb1970 s suggestion. Brilliant place!

 

 @monkeysarefun that platter looks nice. I noticed that an australian acquaintance was ar Crab Shack in Wellington Harbour recent where the staff wear t shirts telling everyone "We have Crabs"

 

But tye food is very nice  including the huge green lipped mussels and orange ruffle.. 

 

Baz

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Shopping done and put away and now I feel knackered so some eyelid inspection is due.

[Tony_S]

5 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

Free advice to anyone out there who hates rice and noodles

I like noodles and rice  ! Last ones eaten were rice noodles.