PeterBB

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Some on here may like the bike in the picture.  Taken in early September 1981.   Our eldest is sitting on my friends bike.  The bike still exists in my friends shed.  I think that this is the Bonneville.  He also has a Bantam from the same era.  @PupCam @New Haven Neil.  The young man now rides a rather large Ducatti.

 

Jamie

Thanks @Jamie.  You have just stirred a memory.  Many years ago a young cousin was playing with her dad's motorbike .  My aunt told him that was so and he replied words to the effect that it was safe and would not fall over ... then suddenly my aunt screamed at him "The kids have got the b****y thing started".  My uncle was a big man but he then moved quite quickly as he heard the clutch  ... thankfully no injury and the cousin is well into the 70s now.

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

We changed from the unlimited calls option to the anytime 700 minutes option. That avoids the charges that kick in after an hour on that option. We don’t use anything like the 700 minutes but it was a convenient tariff in between paying for everything and hour limitations. 

We did too but nearly lost it as a resultof the waiting time for the tax office as the only way to sort their error.  They allow a very tiny bit over but on a repeat they then go back to the full unlimited time option but that cost quite a bit more.

Going back to pension payments - the day pensions are 'delivered' is dependant on the last two numbers of your NI number thus 00-19 - Monday; 20-39 - Tuesday; 40-59 - Wednesday; 60-70 - Thursday; 80-99 - Friday - not related to my half-remembered birthday thought.

Sorry to hear that White Rabbit, not the news I would think anyone would like to hear but hopefully  ... inoperable was the information given to my father but he lived another twenty years although admittedly the last two were not the best, but thoughts are with you.

2 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

This is not surprising. There are many things in the natural world that respond to the moon.

 

What is surprising to me is why H.M. Pensions would use a lunar calendar - unless it is essentially "every four weeks" (which is subtly different from a lunar cycle of 29.5 days).

Yes, it is 'every 4 weeks' and payments come on certain days depending - cannot quite remember the criteria - but believe it relates to birthday  SWMBO gets hers on a different day from mine.

21 hours ago, skipepsi said:

Nurses have to pay for their training and as I understand it provide free labour during training.  It is not set up as an apprentice scheme.

Doctors as I understand it also pay for their education and training.  The politics behind this I will leave well alone..

With the 'loan' system currently in place the above statement is probably true but there again a few years ago  it was deemed that 50% of children would go to uni that in turn made it uneconomic for county councils to fund scholarships ... hence the current system where public school trainees pay less than school fees and everybody else has to spend a lifetime paying back the 'loan'.  Not sure if this is a rant and hope not political.

On 14/04/2023 at 08:31, polybear said:

Perhaps if the NHS were to start applying a system such as many Airlines do to Pilots trained by them - if you leave within X years then you have to pay a rather large sum to them to cover costs of training etc.

Of course that probably won't help training recruitment.

 

Not sure if NHS still does but in terms of removal expenses to a new position a minimum time in post was required to avoid having to pay back the said expenses.

12 hours ago, Mike Bellamy said:

 

Sorry Peter, I haven't a clue about that although I do recall that a cricket match at Buxton had to be abandoned in the 1970 (?) in June because of snow.

 

I never have been able to remember dates except for today 9th April as it's my birthday and next year will be three score years and ten . . . .  Also have to remember a date in February (not the 14th !) which was our wedding day 45 years ago and SWMBO's 20th birthday - at least they are both on the same day . . . . ! !

.

Happy birthday Mike.

Yes, it could well have been the 70s as it was with ex.  Thanks for the reply.

Came across 1975 as the year while working through the posts above as the likely year, also seems that you had fun and games at the clubhouse.

13 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Following on to the above post, I can’t help but noticing how many have posted that they don’t like classical music, they don’t like opera, they don’t like Shakespeare et cetera.

 

Since food and what I will euphemistically call 'pop' music not been to my taste although the 60s was ghenerally OK - but I do appreciate classical music and particularly pre-Russian revolution composers, did visit the Old Vic fairly frequently when is was Shakespeare, can take the odd opera but much prefer the light-hearted e.g Gilbert and Sullivan variety, the latter especially when playing the redundant G-trombone in the school,orchestra. 

21 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I don't recall ever seeing a "White Easter"* though I have seen too many damp grey Easters to count. Sunday is forecast to be another one.

 

* actually that sounds quite scary to me - not in a snowfall sense

 

Thanks for the trigger.  One Easter while camping in the Peak District woke up to find 5" of snow on the tent - probably early 80s, Mike Bellamy might remember the actual year.  

I might add that I am one of those who hates the cold and is really really glad to be retired when there is snow on the road and no need to 'brave it' for work.

 ID That Nimrod performance was fantastic and very moving as it is/was also as part of a band playing it.

On 06/04/2023 at 20:10, Ozexpatriate said:

I find that very hard to believe - even unintentionally. I can remember my classmates discussing Pink Floyd 

Its quite possible that i have unintentinally heard a Pink Floyd  song.

Too many pages to go through although started.  One topic noted was 'kitchens'.  We too are in this process and ID basically has it in a nutshell. although in my case generally leave cooking to SWMBO since - as you know - food is not my thing.  Obviously it is pertinent that I agree .... 

Beyond that other changes but like the kitchen generally there is a need but ...  now, the sooner it is started and better still finished  ...  today we have a 'start date' so we will see.

Putting the place 'right' has and does involve 'Poly work' as well and we still have boxes (circa things that run and involved with metal ...) but  the "When are you going to build ..." comes up.  

On a different note visited a place in Swindon yesterday - definitely worth 5 stars-  and with superb 'blue card parking' meant SWMBO enjoyed it.

@monkeysarefun

I take your point when it is mandatory to vote but have noted the mess in a number of situations when the overall effect is stalemate  or 'nothing positive' takes place because a will not work with B if they want this and C won't work with A becaue of this and that - the 'take things seriiusly and discuss' does not seem to happen.

13 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Good morning all,

 

Wandering around YouTube (as one does, as one does) I came across the following a wonderful combination of music and talented dog training. Definitely something to put a smile on your face in the morning.

Not only is the whole routine done with great humour, but I also like the soundtrack. I think that the video will appeal to both dog lovers and former/current military people.

 

What’s interesting about freestyle heel work to music is that this can only be achieved by having a good, solid, partnership between dog and handler - which requires a lot of patience and can only be achieved through reward based training. Basically, you reward the dog for performing a desired behaviour and when you have a suitable number of desired behaviours, you put them all together to form “a dance“.

Absolute wow!

3 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

How on earth can the people on the bridge see enough to dock or carry out any other close manoeuvre?

 

Dave

According to a lot of 'companies' thjey don't need to - 'just log-in to their mobile and the information is all there to see!' as they expect everybody to have up to date mobiles and the ability to use them.  

Coming down to earth, with no credit card and no' high polluting' mobile how are you going to pay the excessive car park fees with cash?

Oops it seems it became a rant.

8 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

I think you've misspelt Herudite as I'm certain it begins with an aitch.

 

'Eruditedly' the above sounds a bit like an epoxy glue!

44 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Well, it sounds a strangely implausible concatenation of events, and makes me feel a bit like Bobby Ewing stepping out of the shower.. Casting

🤪

Well we are an erudite group this morning, not heard that word for a long time.

11 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

... Blustering Boris becomes belligerently brazen, but brilliantly barbecued ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/03/22/still-very-wild/

Truly a surprise when the bagpipes appeared.

2 minutes ago, Barry O said:

We await our survey but 9 panels plus batteries will be less than £2k!

 

Baz

We obviously live in the 'wrong' area for that sort of price.  Scaffolding added quite a bit to ours but boy are they efficient!

Came back on-line to ER.  Thoughts with TheQ and his family.  Still trying to downsize as we need space, DAve's daily walks and with others lots of interesting pictures.

Life expectancy - ONS figures and IDs comments both very interesting - like to live but hope not to end upsitting in a chiar somewhere and not really being with it or in so much pain  and with nothing that can be done about it.

Council tax - local cannot recall ur band at present but believe we will pay similar to GDB - nothing we can really do about that but have read that Burton has lost its brewing heritage site because of apparently dodgy council decisions and Derby council also doing some silly things although the good news as I see it is that Deby is the new national home for the 1:1 models that we perhaps know a bit about.

Soldering irons and Poly Bear Phil and GDB as well as our very arthritic friend having problems.

Brits and other drinking habits, Greek mythology - didn't access as it wanted 'agreement'  - the trouble with skimming is you think that you will remember the topics when you come to comment as you blog but the mind goes blank making the last few hours ...

Anyway best wishes and condolences as appropriate.

4 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

As usual, Scotland is way ahead  (50+ years) 😁

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruachan_Power_Station

Remember the construction well.  During my student days my 'mapping area' involved driving up many times to Oban past the then very narrow A85 road that gradually became wider as the rock from the boring was tipped into the deep Loch Awe.  Many years later, approx 20 years ago, was quite impressed by it as a visitor to the working station.  It uses more power than produced in pumping water back up to Cruachan Reservoir but but its main concept - power at peak times - works.

Also visited one in Wales and there are many others these days.

@Hroth  said that UK could do with more mountains etc.  - the problem with this is how they are formed viz. normally earthquakes and resultant massive earth movements and we know just what else can happen with these events as exemplified by the tragedy of Turkey and Syria.

Thus, the statement 'Be carefull what you wish for' can have massive  consequences.

Also liked iDs assessment of 'alternative medicines'.

Good night all.

11 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

Plus one for not rewriting books, history and anything else.  Do not get me started on having to apologise for all the things done in the past that we had nothing to do with.  

The Boss has suggested several times that I shouldn't watch the news on TV because one day I will "explode."  💣

Ditto

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Cumulative erosion by tourists can of course become a problem - like the pink sands of Elafonisi.

 

And of course there is the object lesson of the "fabulously beautiful planet of Bethselamin" where "every time you go to the lavatory it is vitally important to get a receipt". (Douglas Adams)

 

And of course the Isle of Wight sands.

Thoughts were also of Chris F whom I did meet at shows although hadn't realised today would also have been his birthday.

20 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

If I wanted to stray into politic I could here, but this article will suffice.

https://www.goodto.com/food/food-news/tomato-shortage-uk-why-supermarkets-running-out

Interesting article on costs but it starts off with 90% of tomatoes in supermarkets come from abroad yet towards the end it states that a UK grower provides 40% of the tomatoes for supermarkets.  Someting does not quite fit.