Early Risers.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

First we had panic buying, then we had social distancing and now - judging by a particular thread on RMweb - we have weird mangling of written English accompanied by a nigh on unbelievable ignorance of basic punctuation.  

Surely this is not new? We've had plenty of loose nuts on keyboards for years.

[Brian D]

I don't normally comment on here but thought I would mention what happened to me and Mrs D this morning.  We decided, instead of walking round the village as we did yesterday, we would walk across and along local fields on signed footpaths. This took us along and across the railway.  On our return, a friendly Class 67 Shed driver gave us a toot toot and a wave.  Made my day.

 

Regards,

Brian.

[Ozexpatriate]

6 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

So far as I know we only ever had one Marmaduke, who died in 1873.

I wonder whether that name is even used today (other than the cartoon great Dane dog). It's historically less popular than names like Agatha and Flora (disappeared from the top 1,000 after 1972*) or Agnes (disappeared from the top 1,000 after 1945*).

 

* In the US Department of Social Security baby name search tool.

 

In the US Presidential names are not uncommon including names like Harrison, Grant, Taylor, Tyler, and Madison, with Madison and Taylor being used more as girls names. Madison was the number 2 girl's name in 2001 and 2002. Garfield is not a popular choice - even since 1900, so this is not affected by the cartoon cat.

 

My sister named her son Harrison. (I suspect this has something to do with a former carpenter, turned action/adventure actor.) She did not respond enthusiastically when I suggested his nickname could be "Mr. President". I doubt she had ever heard of William Henry Harrison, who has the dubious distinction of the shortest Presidential term, having died after 31 days in office, possibly contracting a respiratory disease during his inaugural address.

[grandadbob]

Evenin' each,

Weeding finished and my back is only complaining slightly.

Had 3 phone calls within 10 minutes from Wickes telling me they're arranging a refund for the compost they can't deliver as they've run out of it. Maybe I'll get 3 refunds! 

However I've just had an email from the local garden centre to say they can now do home deliveries so all is not lost.

Email received earlier to say that a case of wine has been dispatched.

Awaiting news on a case of beer.

Meat pack is due on April 8th.

I think that covers most of my basic needs apart from cake. 

Nicki and kids Facetimed earlier so that cheered The Boss (and me) up a bit. 

Aussie Shiraz again tonight so cheers and KBO

On the subject of middle names Louis features strongly from my Alsatian great grandfather to grandfather, father, me , son and nephew. Nicki has Louise as her second name.

The strangest name traced in the family back in the 1600s is Sinolphus.

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by grandadbob

[AndyB]

Evening all. 

Another day in the garage-office. I could get used to the 5-sec commute! Amother benefit is being able to take a proper lunch break - there's a tendency at the office tof grab a sandwich and eat at the desk. 

Limbering up to this once a day bit of exercise the PM has proposed. 

 

Warm thoughts to all.

 

[AndyID]

Woke up to a few inches of snow on the ground, but it's melting fast.

[AndyID]

The headline on the BRM cover reads "Cornish Delight". Is that a bit like Turkish Delight?

 

Personally I would have gone with Cornish Pastiche but that's just me.

[brianusa]

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Bit of an eclectic mix tonight,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,<<I remember my mum taking me, in the late 50s or early 60s, up to Plymouth Hoe to watch, and hear, sunset being enacted at the Citadel which was then a Royal Marines Barracks. And watching the sun dip over Cornwall, The Sound darkening and the lights of the boats, the Breakwater lighthouse and from fourteen miles out, the Eddystone light, which was staffed then. Then walking down in the gathering dusk to the Barbican to get fish and chips.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

A few years earlier this could well have been my Mother and I.  Forget the name of it, but there was a decent F&C shop on Southside St along with Jackas (?) bakery who had the best saffron buns!  Between the two, you could catch the ferry to Turnchapel and have a decent picnic on the beach at Bovisand!

      Brian.

Edited March 25, 2020 by brianusa

[Joseph_Pestell]

13 minutes ago, AndyID said:

Personally I would have gone with Cornish Pastiche but that's just me.

 

Given how many models of Bodmin General there have been over the years, that is very apt.

[New Haven Neil]

Thanks to those supporting us, we'll keep going as long as we can and have stock, but suspect not too much longer before we have to close on IoM Govt orders.  We'll see.  

 

However, it's a complete madhouse......Ian's joke aside, people ARE panic buying Peco track and associated gubbins as they are totally closed.  Folk are asking 'will it be posted today as usual'.......only if you can find another three staff mate!  We are three down due to self isolation and social distancing.   IoM Post are doing great, they are still providing a full service, we have two van collections a day which they have maintained - we are probably their biggest customer in this part of the Island.

 

Now where's Ian?  Knocking at the door?

 

Names - I have William as  a middle name, which is a family name over many generations.  Various versions used for father/grandfather etc, Bill, Billy, Will and so on. I'm sometimes known as Will - those who know my surname will know why.  A friend's family has family and in-laws surnames used throughout the family as given (I'm not a Christian....) names, you will have heard of her cousin, Robson Green.  Some fishing Geordie.

 

The frazzled Fraggle.

[pH]

35 minutes ago, AndyB said:

 Another day in the garage-office. I could get used to the 5-sec commute!

 

I used to commute by bus - a 35 minute trip in the morning, more in the evening rush. The bus stop I used was near the point where the bus changed from a local to an express. It was unusual that anyone getting on there got a seat. At the stop, there was a rooming house next door to a yard belonging to a fence-erecting company. Each morning, a guy would come out of the rooming house, walk past the bus queue and into the yard. As he passed the queue, he'd mutter things along the line of "This commute is killing me", "I don't know how long I can keep doing this" etc. People were not sure whether to smile or smack him.

[Coombe Barton]

33 minutes ago, brianusa said:

A few years earlier this could well have been my Mother and I.  Forget the name of it, but there was a decent F&C shop on Southside St along with Jackas (?) bakery who had the best saffron buns!  Between the two, you could catch the ferry to Turnchapel and have a decent picnic on the beach at Bovisand!

That chippy's the one we used. And  the bakery. But we used Jennycliff rather than Bovisand.

 

And do you remember the swing bridge over Hooe Lake?

Edited March 25, 2020 by Coombe Barton

[Happy Hippo]

15 hours ago, 81C said:

 

Quoted content removed by Admin.

People who know me know I'm a pretty robust character, but this is getting to the stage where it is not funny and verging on the offensive.

 

Could you tone the references to your ex wife down a couple of notches on the bile meter please?

 

Better still, don't mention her at all.

[newbryford]

46 minutes ago, AndyID said:

The headline on the BRM cover reads "Cornish Delight". Is that a bit like Turkish Delight?

 

Personally I would have gone with Cornish Pastiche but that's just me.

 

And inside, there's a big "See this layout at Ally Pally" stamp on a double page picture.

So that's where I was supposed to be last weekend...........................

 

(Some of the numbered captions are a bit off. I think Phil Parker wasn't listening properly at the time...)

[brianusa]

We used to catch the train from Friary to Hooe, usually gated stock and an O2 then.  The sun was always shining and the water always warm in those days.  Its times like these, its good to have such memories; another time, another place

     Brian.

[Coombe Barton]

Party like it's 1751 ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/03/25/getting-used-to-being-on-my-own/

[Dave Hunt]

My maternal grandfather was christened Jack - not John but Jack. This caused him no end of trouble as the usual response when he gave his name as Jack to anyone in officialdom was, "You mean John."  Sometimes it was incredibly difficult for him to persuade them otherwise so he started taking his birth certificate with him whenever he thought the problem may arise. 

 

Night night all. Have a safe and peaceful time.

 

Dave

[AndyID]

38 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

Names - I have William as  a middle name, which is a family name over many generations.  Various versions used for father/grandfather etc, Bill, Billy, Will and so on. I'm sometimes known as Will - those who know my surname will know why. 

 

At the risk of seeming bit morbid you might be sharing that name with the King of England sooner than you think, though I doubt that he'd be known as King Billy.

[Coombe Barton]

28 minutes ago, AndyID said:

At the risk of seeming bit morbid you might be sharing that name with the King of England sooner than you think, though I doubt that he'd be known as King Billy.

King Bill sits by the Hamoaze at the entrance, at Mutton Cove, to Devonport Naval Base. He is saluted by all naval ships passing in and out of the base.

Edited March 25, 2020 by Coombe Barton

[Erichill16]

13 hours ago, polybear said:

 

I wouldn't be overly worried personally.  In my Industry I've seen expiry dates on all sorts of things - even nuts and bolts (How the F. does a nut and bolt go out of life, when its on the shelf, in a bag, correctly stored in a dry environment??).  In many cases Expiry Dates are to my mind just another excuse for saying that perfectly good items should be chucked in the bin so we can sell you another one (though I do appreciate they have their place, such as on drugs).

 

It's quite possible (we do it here) that the manufacturer (or buyer) took a batch of life-expired masks off the shelf, got them checked by a suitable lab. etc. to confirm performance when compared to a new mask and pronounced them serviceable. 

I thought I’d answered you first thing this morning but must have pressed the wrong key and now I’ve lost text. Anyway thanks for the reply.

My point was really that they’ve got money to spend of a useless stand up poster but now for PPE. There were other things but forgotten them now.

More generally.

Into a rhythm at work now so not too bad. I’ve got a telephone hospital appointment with a dietitian tomorrow pm regarding my GF diet so hope there’s a lull in proceeding to allow that to happen.

Regarding selfless behaviour, I have three (out of seven) members of staff who should be shielding themselves but all three have told me they are willing to carry on as long as they can. They are putting themselves at risk and I know some of my patients don’t appreciate what others are doing for them. I know and the staff know that if they shield themselves our pharmacy and therefore it’s customer’s would be in dire straights.

Sometimes I wish I could just shout out ‘don’t be so selfish, we’re trying to do our best’ but obviously it would be un-professional and probably land me in trouble. Actually I’m not sure I’d be that bothered anyway, I think they need me more that I need them !

Hope everyone is keeping sane and getting something creative done.

Hope fully I might get some modelling done this weekend, really looking forward to it.
That reminds me, mowed the lawn last Sunday and filled the green bin as it was due to be emptied on Tuesday. That didn’t  happen (understandably) so will have to deal with the rotting mulch some other way!
Good night,

Robert

[Gwiwer]

Evening all,

 

In a slightly unusual turn of events I have tonight built a greenhouse in the lounge and have now placed it outside.  So not a very big one then.  It arrived requiring assembly but with most of the tricky stuff done - assembly really only involved the application of a couple of dozen screws.  SWMBO will no doubt be outside in the morning (within property bounds therefore within limits) adding some pots of growing things.  

 

We also popped out to watch the International Space Station pass over.  Right above us, in a clear sky, and we wondered what the good folk up there might be making of what the good folk down here are having to deal with.  The movie "The Day After Tomorrow" came briefly to my mind.  Different scenario but eerily parallel.  

 

And the work phone has officially carped itself having been flooded with emails to the point where it said "No more" and now requires an IT Department intervention.  IT, of course, are not available to intervene which might make receiving work instructions a mite tricksy.  Ho hum.  

 

Off to bed now.  I am still expecting to rise at 5am in order to get others safely to and from their workplaces.  Stay well.  

[jamie92208]

When Beth was pregnant  with our first we chose both boys and girls names. Martin was my maternal grandmother's maiden name and it became my middle name, we added Richard as a middle name for no known reason.  Beth's maternal Grandmother was Rachel and it's her middle name so the girls name was Rachel. As we'd been to Lake Louise on honeymoon (it was a b & b in the Lake District with a squalling bratt the next year for sone reason) we chose Louise as a middle name. Bump No 1 turned out to be a boy so became Martin Richard and we now address letters to Mr MR Guest.  Bump No 2 was also a boy and became Paul David. Bump no 3 was of course Rachel Louise now the mother of gorgeous Emily.  However  occasionally  when one oof the boys is being out of sorts they are told that they could have been Rachel Louise.  It's probably a good thing that we didn't spend our Honeymoon in Ramsbottom.  Rachel Tupsarse doesn't have a good ring to it.

 

Jamie

Edited March 25, 2020 by jamie92208

[AndyID]

29 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

King Bill sits by the Hamoaze at the entrance at Mutton Cove to Devonport Naval Base. He is saluted by all naval ships passing in and out of the base.

 

I thought "Billy" was mainly used to refer the one before him which still has unfortunate connotations in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

[Tony_S]

Our bins and bags went as expected today. The newspaper was delivered too. I had a package of hobby bits and pieces arrive (no IoM residents were harmed). My grab and hold  adhesive turned up too. I did go and stare at some Peco product in the garage and even snipped a few bits. I nearly ordered some track recently but it can wait. Aditi donated some tins of beans to some neighbours who have their grandson staying. Apparently they couldn’t get any at the supermarket on Canvey. 
Chatted with Aditi’s brother. Yesterday the tiny nieces Mum started the day with the Joe Wicks kids workout. Today they got yoga with their Dad, I think pretending to be bouncy animals may have been a bit much for Raj. Aditi got a letter from our GP asking her to book a blood test. There are no dates available until June 1st. It is just a two yearly follow up osteoporosis test, nothing urgent so no worries. When Aditi broke her wrist last summer the consultant said there didn’t appear to be any signs of osteoporosis but this is a follow up from when Robbie the spaniel pulled her over breaking her other arm nearly three years ago. 
Tony
 

[AndyID]

I really do not like guns (although I admit to having a rather feeble air-rifle) BUT as we are surround by a majority who like to "pack heat", if things get any more bonkers here I might have to join the herd.

 

There's a guy just along the road who has a bit of land and there's a big sign that says "XYZ Militia - KEEP OUT!" We hear him loosing-off his guns from time to time and sometimes it's obviously automatic fire and more than likely illegal, but I'm not about to take it up with him.

 

 

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by AndyID
typhoo