Early Risers.

[Erichill16]

34 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

Just a point, I've heard nothing on any News Channel about CV in Russia. We have heard about Europe, Asia, USA, Canada, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and many more, but I've nothing from any reports coming out of our friends in Russia.

Has anyone on here heard anything?

BBC news website has some information. Go to ‘news’ then ‘Europe’ . As expected MR Putin is not social distancing. Interesting read.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Sunshine and mainly blue sky here. A fine but coolish day is promised.

My fast has been broken and two soft boiled eggs were enjoyed from our rations. There seems to be a major shortage of them around here. Didn't get any on our delivery and neither did our neighbours on theirs from a rival supermarket.  The Boss has been checking dates on stuff in the fridge to make sure we eat stuff by (or not long after) its use by date so we don't waste anything. 

The kids will be "Facetiming" her later for Mother's Day but presents in the form of "fizz" and flowers were delivered to the doorstep yesterday. There were tears for a few minutes. She is finding it much harder than me being confined to barracks.

Sainsbury's have rearranged their "Happy Hour" for NHS staff. They will now be able to shop every day from Monday to Saturday between 7.30 and 8.00 before the shop opens to anyone else. Great idea and should help them a bit. They will be emailing those of the elderly and vulnerable today that they know about with information on when delivery slots will be available.

The G word has been mentioned here a couple of times over the past few days. I believe that shortly we will actually be doing something.

Keep calm and KBO,

Have a good one if you can,

Bob.

 

Edited March 22, 2020 by grandadbob

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

It is sunny here, but only 5 or 6C. No rain now or forecast.

MiL has been very concerned about her brother who lives in Delhi. He hasn’t changed his routine of going to his office (although he ceased trading 20 years ago) and then spending the day/evening at the tennis club. It wasn’t until there was a government curfew that he stayed in. MiL said he is lazy and also can’t do anything for himself not even make a cup of tea. There are Coronavirus cases in his locality. 
Aditi was threatening to get the electronic keyboard out and learn to play it. At least it isn’t a violin! Hopefully she will be distracted by the garden. 
Tony

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, Kingzance said:

I

The pleasant lack of aircraft overhead leaving / arriving at London Luton or London Stansted brings back memories of an Icelandic volcanic eruption. That brings me on to ask if bailing out airlines (as it seems that we’ll known Spanish airline BA is requesting) is a reasonable use of public funds? Please feel free to debate - I am leaning towards the NO camp based on the need to support more critical systems and people in this country, the negative impact of air travel in terms of the environment and, last but not least, the appalling Michael O’Leary further claiming that any subsidies would be totally unfair unless he was allowed loadsamoney. We are all going to have to get used to a different world post this so why shouldn’t these global players also be similarly affected? And I write this with a grandson who really wants to be an airline pilot!

I'm afraid that in a global downturn, then airlines will be badly affected and their employees subjected to either reduced rates of pay or termination of their employment contracts.

 

One might look at this as being similar to that  same fate suffered by UK railway employees during the early and mid 1960's as track mileage reduced  and  the passenger and freight services were cut back. 

 

A lot of loyal employees  found themselves out of a job.

[grandadbob]

10 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

 Aditi was threatening to get the electronic keyboard out and learn to play it. At least it isn’t a violin! Hopefully she will be distracted by the garden.

Now there's an idea. There are 3 guitars and an amplifier sitting upstairs which haven't been touched for several years. I wonder how well that would go down with Management if I dug them out! 

 

It wasn't so much the poor playing that caused problems in the past, it was the even worse singing that sometimes accompanied it! 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2020 by grandadbob

[Ref44]

A trip to the local Co-op in hope rather than expectation yielded a good result. Whilst there was no sugar, I did manage to get a jar of Canderel. SWMBO normally consumes large amount of sugar and the lack thereof was prompting complaints. Hopefully some Brownie points have been earnt. I also managed to get a 4 pack of toilet paper, which, if common sense returns, should see us through to the point when more regular supply is available. As it is a nice sunny day, another attack of the lawn is will be in order. Yesterday reduced the height, whats left will now be drier, so a presentable finish may be obtained.

[Happy Hippo]

As an ASFP, my unenforced isolation is beginning to cause problems.

 

Despite being confirmed modeller of 7mm scale models, unhealthy thoughts have begun to resurface about a return, in a small way( 4mm), about blue stuff in the Welsh valleys in the early 1970s.

 

Gwaelod Uchaf may be seen as a design based on one of Iain Rice's masterful creations.

Edited March 22, 2020 by Happy Hippo

[roundhouse]

6 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Morning all.

It is sunny here, but only 5 or 6C. No rain now or forecast.

MiL has been very concerned about her brother who lives in Delhi. He hasn’t changed his routine of going to his office (although he ceased trading 20 years ago) and then spending the day/evening at the tennis club. It wasn’t until there was a government curfew that he stayed in. MiL said he is lazy and also can’t do anything for himself not even make a cup of tea. There are Coronavirus cases in his locality. 
Aditi was threatening to get the electronic keyboard out and learn to play it. At least it isn’t a violin! Hopefully she will be distracted by the garden. 
Tony

 

 

In Italy they are singing along with muscians on the balconies.

 

I will keep an eye on local Benfleet news if there is rise in bad language and abuse across the streets

[Kingzance]

2 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I'm afraid that in a global downturn, then airlines will be badly affected and their employees subjected to either reduced rates of pay or termination of their employment contracts.

 

One might look at this as being similar to that  same fate suffered by UK railway employees during the early and mid 1960's as track mileage reduced  and  the passenger and freight services were cut back. 

 

A lot of loyal employees  found themselves out of a job.

I am forming my opinion based upon how air travel and capacity has mushroomed since the start of the century Richard. Of course any reduction will cause some people, who may be very qualified in a niche sector, to be made redundant. The fact that until very recently you could fly from a London air terminal to Glasgow for less than a third of the rail ticket and the airlines involved made a profit shows that the demand could and should be in part managed by the rail sector and a good bit of the other part mopped up by video conferencing - at which we will all become more proficient in the coming weeks. Of course there will be circumstances where these options will not work but the use of private / company transport would plug those gaps. Certain places, such as Jersey and Newquay, were only served by one airline but that airline was allowed to fail only weeks ago. Why would a UK based airline such as FlyBe before its possible bail-out by a consortium be left to wither whilst the likes of BA, owned by a Spanish conglomerate, be supported? No, these carriers wanted to operate in a free market and should have considered the risk.

 

The UK needs to invest more in its emergency infrastructure, education and social care rather than bail out big business - else we will be doing exactly the same as in 2008 when the banks who caused the financial mayhem came out of it better than small businesses, savers and small investors. I would hope we can learn a lesson from that, given how the still partly nationalised RBS group is still paying leading salaries and bonuses in that sector. If the banks were that good now, they would be back in private hands but some aren't so how long would an airline be on the state books for, still taking obscene payments for their directors and executives?

[BoD]

Morning all

 

My sister works for the NHS and was unable to get many staple supplies last week.  On her way to a 12 hour shift she called into Sainsbury’s to get a sandwich. Unfortunately and unbeknown to her it was at that time that only elderly and vulnerable were allowed to shop.  Despite wearing her NHS ID, being in uniform and explaining that she only wanted a sandwich for lunch the manager on the door wouldn’t let her in.  She even asked if she could be escorted to the sandwich area and out again or pay for a sandwich, any sandwich, and have it brought out.  Nope.  
 

I know they have brought in the rules for a good reason but they are not laws (yet) and surely a little flexibility and common sense should be allowed.

 

Tony: unlike violins, most electronic keyboards have a socket for headphones.  

Edited March 22, 2020 by BoD

[Dave Hunt]

Morning All. Nothing of real note from your North Hipposhire correspondent except that some muddling was done yesterday but just keeping up with Baz's suggestion that a post a day keeps the blues away. It's a sunny day here with the prospect of porridge in five minutes followed by FaceTime with our grandkids in Chesterfield and Leatherhead.

 

I shall refrain from saying anything about the behaviour of the f***wits in deference to my blood pressure and the desire not to be thrown off RMW.

 

Stay safe and well people.

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

30 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

I shall refrain from saying anything about the behaviour of the f***wits in deference to my blood pressure and the desire not to be thrown off RMW.

Obviously, someone is still a tad annoyed about my footprints in his lawn incident! 

Edited March 22, 2020 by Happy Hippo

[AndrewC]

moaning all. Twas the end of my 7 day isolation but with the pubs closed and the streets, shops, etc still filled with idiotic, greedy, selfish, arsebadgers, I may as well stay in for another week or 2 or 3......

 

I've heard about massive panic buying of paint this week. Obviously spurs supporters looking for something similar to watch while the footie is cancelled. 

 

16 minutes until beer o clock. < Belgian beer, Belgian timezone. 

 

Enjoy the day. 

[grandadbob]

41 minutes ago, BoD said:

Morning all

 

My sister works for the NHS and was unable to get many staple supplies last week.  On her way to a 12 hour shift she called into Sainsbury’s to get a sandwich. Unfortunately and unbeknown to her it was at that time that only elderly and vulnerable were allowed to shop.  Despite wearing her NHS ID, being in uniform and explaining that she only wanted a sandwich for lunch the manager on the door wouldn’t let her in.  She even asked if she could be escorted to the sandwich area and out again or pay for a sandwich, any sandwich, and have it brought out.  Nope.  
 

I know they have brought in the rules for a good reason but they are not laws (yet) and surely a little flexibility and common sense should be allowed.

 

.  

 

Manager? Moron more likely. The sh!t should be named and shamed!

Having seen some of Sainsbury's "managers" in action at close quarters and heard about them from The Boss who had 37 years experience of them some couldn't manage a p1ssup in a brewery. *

 

 

* Although as in all walks of life there have been some notable exceptions.

Edited March 22, 2020 by grandadbob

[Barry O]

Sunny here. A bit of making items unmentionable on this thread about to start. 

Youngest Herbert rang to tell her indoors to have a safe Mothers Day. So far they reckon 1 million jobs have gone in the licence trade. Trade in shops etc (off trade) in booze has gone through the roof.

 

Video call expected from Dr Eldest Herbert expected soon.

 

Baz

 

 

[Andrew P]

1 hour ago, grandadbob said:

Now there's an idea. There are 3 guitars and an amplifier sitting upstairs which haven't been touched for several years. I wonder how well that would go down with Management if I dug them out! 

 

It wasn't so much the poor playing that caused problems in the past, it was the even worse singing that sometimes accompanied it! 

 

 

My old Band mates from The Silvertones, down Souf have got wind of my move back down to Amp Sher, so want to put the Band back on the Road.

Mick the Drummer is 73, Ken the Rhythm Guitarist is 72, John on Lead is mid 60's, and I'll be 70 in April so a combined age of about 280, haha.

With that in mind, My Good Lady has bought me a new Bass for my 70th and I have bought a new Fender 100W Rumble Amp.

Come and join us Bob, haha.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jamie92208]

2 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

My old Band mates from The Silvertones, down Souf have got wind of my move back down to Amp Sher, so want to put the Band back on the Road.

Mick the Drummer is 73, Ken the Rhythm Guitarist is 72, John on Lead is mid 60's, and I'll be 70 in April so a combined age of about 280, haha.

With that in mind, My Good Lady has bought me a new Bass for my 70th and I have bought a new Fender 100W Rumble Amp.

 

You'll still be younger than the Strolling Bones and they were still doing OK when I saw them in 2018, though watching Wood and Richards in close ups on the big screens I did think it was amazing what they can do with animatronics these days.

 

Jamie

 

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

The Good Doctor has been down to the 'NHS Hour' at Tesco and has returned with an almost complete list of the required shopping for the household but no bread (they only had stuff we don't like and home baking is no problem for the management) and she even got some paracetamol - which was hard enough to find from long before the current loony times.   The GD also bought a large packet of crisps - which she claims balanced the fact that our GP was loading his trolley with a 'sensible quantity' of beer, and all of the NHS staff got a free bunch of flowers.  What a contrast with the Sainsburys Ar5eh0le mentioned above.   Letter or not we will try to minimise our exposure to supermarkets very severely from now on and we have little or no other reason to venture beyond the front gate apart from taking more off the oak tree from the pavement side.  The milkman is pretty reliable and we might try adding eggs to the order if it comes to it.

 

I agree 100% with KZ (and I take that a Happy Anniversary wish might fit with his initial comment?).  I think it's a downright cheek for multi-billionaire, non UK taxpayer, Branson to ask the Govt for any sort of subsidy for 'his' airline which is in any case 49% US owned - in fact there seem to be conflicting stories about whether he even owns 51% of it.  He's just won a claim for millions against the NHS and Branson/Virgin Atlantic left Flybe go to the wall so in my view s*d the greedy grasper.  and according to today's 'Telegraph' he's now been left on his own asking for state subsidy (for loss making Virgin Atlantic) as other UK airlines are going with Sunak's scheme.  You get the impression I don't like him?  You're right - once you know anything at all about his ways, and some of the scum he employs as 'managers', I think anybody's opinion of him would sink well below zero. 

 

More sunshine today = a return of the G word of course and no doubt I shall once more attack that poor little oak tree out front to sy tiop it turning into a great big oak tree.  I've an idea that thanks to the blasted squirrel who feeds off our garden and bird food the oak tree might also have a juvenile offspring somewhere in the back garden and regrettably in a position where it too will have to be dealt with.  One of the hazels which was thoroughly scalped down to ground level last year also needs some thinning back to stop it spreading all over the place and it might not be alone in that respect. 

 

Have a good day one and all.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

The sun is shining and the sky is blue, but not a lot will get done outside today. 

 

Q, JSB, my original design for relay boards ‘HAD’ IC sockets for miniature plug in relays, but I found the ones that I’m using in a small drawer in the workshop and using these instead of the planned ones will save me in excess of £60 and these have cost me nothing! They were saved from being skipped after a departmental closure. When I mentioned this fact to Sheila she said “ooh, that’s money you could spend on something else!” The planned layout will be fixed so hopefully movement shouldn't be much of a problem. 

 

Enjoy the day, back later 

Edited March 22, 2020 by BSW01

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Nothing to go out for today so I'm staying in anyway. Luckily I have enough bread in, I found a loaf I purchased a couple of days ago the wrapper had split and it had started to go stale. Not to worry as I have enough dried fruit etc. to make a bread pudding. I agree with what KZ and Mike have said about the airlines, let the greedy b*st*rds sink. ChrisF, take your choice.>>

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2020 by PhilJ W

[81C]

33 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

 

Manager? Moron more likely. The sh!t should be named and shamed!

Having seen some of Sainsbury's "managers" in action at close quarters and heard about them from The Boss who had 37 years experience of them some couldn't manage a p1ssup in a brewery. *

 

 

* Although as in all walks of life there have been some notable exceptions.

Morning All bright and sunny.

My niece is an area manager for them she said it's like 

Well now I'm house bound I found my self a new Babe online she lives local and a coffee morning will ensue once we are allowed in the mean time texting will be the norm. 

Painting again today if I can get motivated will start after lunch.

Went for a midnight walk last night I had an headache that would not clear I wandered down the main A325 and not a soul about just one car when by the headache went I think

it was the  case of claustrophobia being shut in for 2 days.

Lunch time due stay safe, P. Casso. 

[polybear]

2 hours ago, grandadbob said:

The kids will be "Facetiming" her later for Mother's Day but presents in the form of "fizz" and flowers were delivered to the doorstep yesterday. There were tears for a few minutes.

 

 

My Mum is with me, always...

[Barry O]

7 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

My Mum is with me, always...

Same for both me and her indoors. Mind you, my mum was completely batty! She hit me with a poker once..enquired if she had broken my arm..then told me it was my fault...ouch!

 

See the sheep are all of out for a day in the dales..we can see what happens next..

Baz

[polybear]

Ever had cramp in the middle of the night?  Yep, me too - fortunately not often, and not lately.

Had a new one last night though - cramp on the inside of my Thigh.

A totally new definition of pain, and some.  Trust me, don't go there.....

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Gone and done the 'traditional' shouting at both sets of parents, confined to their different care homes (no mobile phone expertise among our oldies, and neither home has the staff currently available for clever IT contact either). So bellowings from the car park it had  to be...