AndrewC

It is down to what they were charged with. Obstructing the railway can carry an unlimited sentence and requires a lot more proof. The CPS were hoping for a precedent and ended up with nothing.

Depends on the supplier. My credit is earning 10 times the interest with OVO than it would sitting in the bank.

Greetings all from the boring borough. Condolences and thoughts with @PhilJ W Just back from the vet again with George. Good news and bad news. First he is still with us and his "backlog" has cleared out quite nicely. The bad news is he suffers from one of the more rare and obscure side effects of the drug he is taking to keep his poop chute flowing. The effect is like giving a 4 year old a pint of Red Bull. Medicine changed again and hopefully this time it will have the same upside without the downside. If this works we have a longer term treatment plan that will hopefully keep him around for a while longer. Little else to report. 5 hours until POETS and a weekend that is totally unplanned as far as tasks, trips, etc. Enjoy the day.

Like John, my tortoise motors are mounted with just 2 opposite screws onto ply. (I've got over 50 of the things now) I do it this way so that loosening off the 2 and a slight twist means I can quickly drop a motor on the fly and replace it. Only needed to do that once in 20+ years of using them. As you can see below I use Floorspan styrofoam as a module surface and just sink the 4mm ply mounted motors into pre-cut holes. Don't worry about having a broken corner as long as you can still use the 2 opposite mounting holes.

Sadly, there is no recovery. With megacolon in cats it is an ongoing deterioration. The cat's colon gets blocked then it stretches out like a balloon. The immediate fix is to do a manual cleaning under anaesthesia. The issue there is every time this is done it leaves the cat with further weakened muscles around the colon. George has now had 6. Eventually it gets to the point where there is no way for the poor critter to poo. At that point it is best to put the cat down. Using laxatives, diet, and as a last resort cicipride, the colon can be kept going. This is where we are now with George. There is a last resort of resection surgery but sadly George isn't a candidate due to lack of healthy colon remaining. As Kelly mentioned, we will try to find a less expensive source for the cicipride. Not holding my breath though.

My comment may have come across as a bit heartless. Rest assured as Brian said, we love George enough to make sure he is well cared for and there is no question of dealing with the costs. It was more of a bit of a moan with regards to just how much it was going to increase. We are hoping the vet will allow for a third party source for the prescription. One of his other drugs is available from the vet at around £70 per litre. It is identical to the over the counter laxative for humans which we can get for £9 per litre from the local pharmacy. One of the big downsides of adopting/rescuing older cats is the non-availability of pet insurance. Our vet offers a policy but has to start before the critter is 18 months old. Most other companies won't insure a cat more than 2. What we did was take the highest quote we could find for a 2 year old cat, and we've dumped that amount into a savings account monthly, ever since. That has taken care of all our vet costs ever since. When we adopted the last 3 from Celia Hammond, we made the decision to not burden them with George's vet treatments. Then again, he wasn't expected to live for another 10 1/2 years. (so far) PDSA is a great organisation and we regularly donate to them. They exist to ensure that pet owners on the lower income scales can have some security. Not sure if they'll cover such high cost medicine over more than a couple of months though. On that note, I'll drift back into obscurity again for a few more weeks. I may have to grab a large bucket of popcorn to watch the fallout from Hornby v Rapido/Studio Canal. Enjoy the day.

Greetings from the boring borough. Just a drive by hello. George the cat not well. His megacolon blocked again just after Christmas. £508 in vet bills so far. Looks like around £200/month in medicine for the rest of his life as well. Slowly learning Nederlands from Duolingo. Ik drink bier. Goedemorgen to Dutch Master. Enjoy the day.

Moaning all from the boring borough. Bloody windy and wet here. meh. Christmas and all the rest over and done with for another year. I think for me the best part of the whole thing is spending the day in the kitchen preparing the meals. Not sure what we'll do next year as we still have enough leftovers to feed a small invasion force. Its almost that time again where I pull the plug on as much online / social media as possible. So if you actually notice I'm not around in the coming weeks, it's because I'm hibernating. On that note, Have a Happy (early) New Year.

Moaning all from the boring borough. Last half day of work for the year. (Thank feck) As ID mentioned, much of the east end is now sadly gentrified sterilised. If the council and scum bag developers get their way, the old Truman brewery will be levelled for more unnecessary shopping, offices, and empty flats. Most of Brick Lane will vanish as well. All in the name of progress. The small markets, niche businesses, atmosphere, etc all swept away. The reality is this development will be mostly empty but a long term "investment", aka money launder, tax dodge, vertical safe deposit box for the rich and hedge fund investors. Those flats that are occupied will be owned by buy to let investors as paying £1800/month rent for a souless box is affordable but a £1500/month mortgage payment isn't according to the banks. Areas south of the river are the same. Bermondsey where a few years ago, you had a higher chance of being robbed & stabbed than getting run over, is now filling with new developments and trendy artisan shopping. The rather grotty shopping centre and dismal estates around the Elephant have now been flattened for more unaffordable housing. See also Woolwich Dockyard, Ferrier Estate in Kidbrooke, et al. Sad news last evening from the ex. Her mum has been put into short term palliative care and isn't expected to make it to Christmas day. She hasn't been more than a shell of a person for several years now. Damn dementia. She was such a lovely woman too. I'm just waiting now for the next call. In many ways it will be a relief for the family but such a sh*t way to go out. Surrounded by family but all of them strangers to her. New covid restrictions mean it isn't likely the offspring will be able to travel back to Canada for the funeral either. As for Christmas music, I'm really sick of that sausage tw*t. The first one was funny but 4 in a row and his self entitlement now about anyone challenging him because the money goes to charity is making me hope the rude boris song makes it to number 1 this year. On that note, time to fire up the espresso machine, get some egg nog lattes gown the gullet, have some breakfast, and off to get some work done. My annual ritual of wrapping the prezzies at the last minute looks to be on target again. I'll spend this afternoon prepping the turkey and the rest of tomorrow's food. The bird was ordered when the offspring and his lady were expected. We now have a 5kg bird for 2 people. I suspect there will be a large amount of vac packed leftovers this year. Once again it will all be cooked outdoors on the bbq. (well multiple bbqs) If the rain holds off and the expected temp of 11c is met, we'll hopefully enjoy the meal alfresco. Have a Merry Christmas all.

Travel expenses, what a minefield that can be. One company I was contracting with had a policy of using the corporate jet when ever possible. Sadly for me their schedule never matched the project's needs. If the flight was more than 4 hours you were to book business class. There was also a minimum car class you were expected to rent. The company didn't want their people seen in peasant class or driving a glorified dodgem. I got in trouble for not expensing enough on meals. It was hard as breakfast was Texas sized and part of the hotel booking. Never bothered with lunch. Dinner was mostly being taken out by the traders or project managers on their accounts. Compare that to my last employer. £25 a day meal allowance, 1 drink only, £5 for breakfast if you had to travel before 8am. Hotels had to be booked through the corporate travel office. (Wagon Lits) Again I got in trouble once, as it was a last minute trip and the office couldn't get me a booking in Inverness in time. I went online, got the same hotel as the rest of the team and paid less than half of what the corporate rate was. I spent another project in Swansea. We used to go to a Tapas place next to the hotel on 2-4-1 nights. Food would come to about £10 each with £15 on beer. The manager of the place would just put £25 - food, on the receipt. Sorted. Above that we just paid our own way. On the subject of chippies. I really hate mushy, mangy chips. I'm with ID on that. Our local one went from bloody awful to really good and back to awful again. The chap who bought it and made it good, took a cash offer and swanned off back to Cyprus. The current one took a 5 hygiene rating and whittled it down to a 2 within a couple of months. Haven't been back since. I noted looking at the plethora of signs on the window that he as now got a 4, and cod & chips are on a bogoff for the princely sum of £12.

It has become a family tradition to fill each other's FB timelines with quotes from the movie. If we had the space I'd love to get the giant inflatable Eddie's RV for the garden. We also have a toy squirrel in the tree. Squirrrrrrrrrrrrrel One bone of contention is that Sky have chopped the movie to bits. If you haven't seen it before or want to watch again, you'll have to do it with a DVD or streaming service. Back later, sh*tter's full.

I'll have to ask MiL where she is getting her UK mags from now. It was the Globe last time I checked.

Harry's & Billy's news long gone and lamented. The Daily Globe on 17th SW was the last place I found them but that was years ago. MiL still gets her UK Gardening magazines from there, so maybe worth a check.

Missed this earlier. Happy Birthday @BR60103

I seem to remember something written about 20 years ago where the conclusions were that there are both genetic and environmental drivers behind one's sexuality. My gay brother in law would add a third driver of "f*cking tourist", where nominally straight people would become "gay" for a while as it was trendy. On another note, good moaning all from a schitty grey & misty boring borough. All the pre-festivus preparations are complete. The last bits were picked up @ Borough market on Saturday. Just another 5 days of work left in the year. It will likely be another anti-climatic day with just the 2 of us. If not for the fact I enjoy preparing and cooking the dinner more than the rest of the festivities, I'd say sod it and book a local restaurant for dinner. With a predicted high of 10c on Saturday and a newly installed Irishman (Paddy O Heater) we are considering having an alfresco dinner. Once again I'll be doing all the cooking on the bbq so it makes sense. This year I've managed to get some chestnut smoking wood, so we will see how that changes the turkey & sprouts. If it doesn't get cancelled, we are off to the Medieval Baebes solstice concert tomorrow, then an evening in the west end on Wednesday for the lights and Christmas markets in Leicester Sq / Trafalgar Sq. Coffee time. Enjoy the day.

Moaning all from a satsuma somewhere between Newcastle & Kings Cross. Oh wait. I’M ON A TRAIN. That’s better. The seats on these things are sh*t. Bring back HST services. Full Luddite mode engaged. Survived the corporate Chrimbo party. I was tucked up in the hotel by 11, while some of my coworkers were still at it at 05:00 this morning. I predict many of today’s meetings will be postponed. I would have hung around in Toon Town but have an appt today. Enjoy the day.

K-riste on a cracker. That is about 6 weeks worth of carbs for me. Does Mrs Hat have a substantial life insurance policy on you?

There is a large Ghurka and Nepalese population in Woolwich and Plumstead, nearby. Lovely people but this country should be ashamed at how many are forced to live. You frequently seem them wandering aimless as covid closed off their community gathering places, and many are living in poor shared accommodation where they have to be out of the property during the day. Almost like living in a hostel or shelter. You frequently see 1 or 2 just riding the bus to stay dry and warm during the day, as their twirly pass is all they have. A bloody disgrace.

I have the same issue with some of the narrow passages around here. Thank the designers for the magic mirror folding button. Rising bollards are endemic in Brussels. Every trip for the past several years, we've seen at least one idiot get hung up on one after trying to tailgate another vehicle. On that note. Bollards to Christmas.

'Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so.' : Ford Prefect

Greetings all from the boring borough. Thoughts with @tigerburnie Dreary, damp, but warm in these parts. Saturday was one of those days where my get up and go, got up and went. Apart from a bit of shopping, the rest of the day was a do burger all day. Yesterday was try and make up for having a burger all day. Some small diy jobs completed. Train now running under the Chrimbo bush. Most of the decorations out but still not finished as the weather meant being able to catch up on a lot of garden tasks. Text from Hermes this morning saying they'll be delivering a parcel that arrived last week. <sigh> I'm not an F1 fan by any means but reading and watching all the goings on from yesterday as well as previous crap about being penalised for having the wrong colour washer on a bolt (slight exaggeration) makes the whole thing a bit of a joke. Why not just film some kids with a Scalextric set for a couple of hours then let a group of lawyers argue about who won. Would save these car companies and sponsors a tonne of money, and probably be no different. On that bombshell, enjoy the day.

Greetings from the boring borough. TFIF Glad to see Lucy improving. Test and x-ray results are back. As predicted both my knees are totally f*cked. Formal consultation next Thursday. Now I have to contact castle Doom to book with the GP. I'd have better odds on the Euromillions than getting to actually see a human there. SWMBO's Chrimbo party is now in limbo. They've pushed the pause button on it for now. I'm waiting for the penny to drop on our "party" in Newcastle next week. Can't see it going ahead as it means about 40 out of 55 of us on trains, hotels, taxis, and the event itself. Another pack of tests ordered, just in case. edit: oops, forgot to paste in the bit about knives. The part of law around, legitimate, reasonable, etc is usually down to the plod. On the FB BBQ group I belong to there have been a few stories around brain dead police trying to charge and confiscate legitimate BBQ equipment only to have someone higher up put the kybosh on it. I've got a pair of 14" Old Hickory knives that would probably scare the crap out of most people. They look more like machetes. I box and disguise all of my knives when I transport for cooking or sharpening. Little else happening. Enjoy the weekend. Lastly, Canada has a solution for people whinging about testing:

Moaning all from the boring borough. Booster last Thursday. (Pfizer) Felt like carp ever since. Knocked for a loop Monday evening. Went to bed at 6, woke at 5 Tuesday am. Was supposed to go to Birmingham for a meeting. Got all suited & booted. Never made it out the door. Another 6 hours in bed. Finally starting to feel semi-human again today. @Tony_S I don't have an olive puller. The few times I've had to replace a connection I simply used a Dremel with a cutting wheel. Far more satisfying. Hoping Lucy's next round of treatment does the trick. I've finally managed to trace my security software's hatred of the site's adverts. It is down to ads served up by Google that link to certain click bait sites. Until Andy Y and Co come up with a cheaper alternative to the full on subscription, my ad blocker will remain on guard. Time to juggle double booked meetings for the next 2 hours. <sigh> 11 1/2 working days left in the year. More coffee needed. Enjoy the day.

Back from the funny hand shake brigade's local domicile. Booster jab, err jabbed. Feeling sort of sleepy and have a very sore arm. Far worse than either of the other vaccinations but still nothing to really get all whiny about. Now I'm seeing news that this is likely to be needed again in 6 months, and again next December.

Greetings all from the boring borough. Happy Birthday Boxing Day @grandadbob I'm reaching my breaking point with parcels and deliveries at the moment. Latest c*ckup on the catering front was a package from that South American river. Knowing we'd be out yesterday I had set the delivery date to today when ordering. I think you can all guess what happened. Driver arrives, actually figures out how to ring the bell. I talk to him through the Ring Door bell thingy. Tell him to leave it between the bins (covered) , come home to find the c*ckwomble had left it next door. If I'm lucky I may get it after the 12th attempt of knocking some time next week. <censored> I will say something positive about both our Royal Mail and Parcel Farce guys. They are excellent and always friendly. PF on Tuesday said he had 2 for us but could only find one in the van. We got the one, and he returned a couple of hours later with a teeny tiny box, which was the second package. There is a by-election going on in the neighbouring constituency. It seems though, none of the muppets running nor their minions have any idea of boundaries. Even though we are a good 600m inside our area, we are still bombarded with leaflets extoling each's virtues. I hope the worms like the shredded bullsh*t we are feeding into the composter. In other news, we had a lovely evening out après Chiropractor yesterday. Dinner & not a few beers at our favourite Belgian café, Lowlander. Followed by a walk through Covent Garden & Leicester Square. Much of our Christmas shopping completed. Today will see both of us getting the covid booster. It won't be AZ this time so we shall be hybrids. Following that, a short hop to the garden centre to obtain a Chrimbo shrubbery. Lastly, this is the time of year for the "once a year" tw@s who have no idea about pub etiquette or how to even order a drink properly. Please show staff extra patience and support as they deal with the muppet-fest. Good luck with the plumbing inspection @Tony_S That's about it from here. Enjoy the day.