PupCam

Oh I do look forward to that! I'll have to give you a call on speaker phone or laptop then I can have a go at annoying Alexa and turn your lights on and off really quickly

That temporary runway cladding was just a giant DIY FOD generator .......... That could have resulted in something spectacularly nasty, it would have been far better just to land on plain old grass. Have you have ever done a FOD plod on an active airfield?

That could indeed be true but compared to a few years ago when they had become extremely scarce in this area they now seem to have made a spectacular recovery. I have absolutely no idea why this happy state of affairs should be the case - I hope they are not all gathering here for one final hoorah!

Not in my corner of the UK. They have been particularly prolific around here the last couple of years with the noise of chirping sparrows being nearly deafening in most of the local hedgerows (which is good!) No House Martins or Swallows yet though but plenty of Red Kites .....

And again! What on earth is going on? Another round of the "Doctors Appointment Lottery" was played this morning using dual phone technology. I got straight through then the other phone said "Engaged" . Even more surprising, the doctor called me nice and early at ~10:00 and the necessary arrangements were made straight away, so many thanks to him

Hmmm. Sounds like a little Thursday morning project in the workshop

And, according to Wikipedia, there's more ... "In a May 2020 interview, Burke said that he was writing a new Connections book, which would be the basis for a new television series titled Connections 21, slated to air in January 2022" My Popcorn is ready and waiting!

You definitely need to be on the right side of the Gurkhas!

Puppers is definitely a "+1" on this one! Yes, excellent programmes and worth another look via the Tube. Here is the Starter for Ten Indeed. Invariably "Documentaries" (I use the term loosely) are dumbed down to sub-terrain levels these days using the "Tell them what you going to say, tell them, then tell them what you've told them" all interspersed with a load of childish cartoon graphics formula so no doubt they appeal to the mouthy, hard of thinking classes. And while we are on the subject, has anyone watched the SpaceX flights? Fantastic, real rocket science stuff BUT BUT BUT the inane drivel issuing from the over-excitable, sound like school boys, "Presenters" (another term used extremely loosely) is just too much to stomach. How very old fashioned I must be .....

Indeed, as is my own however that rating was applied 4 years ago (in fact I rated the practice myself as very good because, at the time, it was). However time has moved on and, just the same as most other places, a number of extenuating circumstances apply e.g. huge increase in local population, cutbacks, cutbacks and more cutbacks, staff retention difficulties because of the pressure etc etc etc and I fully appreciate the mounting pressure and difficulties they are working under. And if I'm reminded any more that "There's a pandemic on you know" I'll scream! BUT when an individual has been trying to speak and better still see a doctor for many weeks to manage recent health problems with very limited success and that process is frustrated to the point which results in 111 advising of a post-midnight nocturnal A&E visit (Oh yes and by the way don't drive yourself there .... ) it is VERY hard to be totally objective. Personally I find not being able to breath at times quite scary! Anyway, I await further developments as we speak.

You are probably correct and Puppers has just fallen for it! Still, looking on the bright side, clearly your cynicism level is still improving after the recent setback. Spill the beans, how much LDC medication did you have yesterday?

I must be getting better at multiple phone operation! I encountered a new step this morning; instead of going from "We're Closed" straight to "Permanently Engaged" I got straight through (well after the 5 minute monologue about Covid) to a receptionist and a telephone appointment was arranged for today. It was even narrowed down to an AM appointment! Puppers is now confused and will need to lie down for a bit....

Now that is a completely fictitious concept with my Vet these days. Indeed I'd need convincing that there are any real Humans there now and not just a bunch of AI computers ....

I employed a new tactic that helped increase my chances; I used both my landline and mobile on redial. If I recall it took something like 31 landline and 10 mobile re-dials to get through from "Sorry the surgery is closed" until "I'll just pop you on hold for a moment" (make that 5 minutes). Still it worked and I did get a telephone appointment. Which reminds me, has the definition of an appointment changed recently? I was always led to believe an appointment specified a time and a place for a meeting etc but these days "Tuesday between 9:00am and 6:00pm" seems to be tight enough for a Doctor's appointment. Is it me?

Sorry Bear, my role is to make the diagnosis and write out your Prescription, you will have to collect it yourself from the Dispensary (aka The Co Op). Talking of Doctors, oh how I'm looking forward to playing the "Appointment Lottery" on the telephone tomorrow morning at 8:00am sharp (probably) in the vain hope of getting a telephone appointment. I remember the good old days when you could actually go to a doctor's surgery for a proper, face-to-face consultation. Fat chance of that round here now! Now that is most encouraging! I've not heard of the LDC treatment working so quickly before but already, within the same post, some of the Bear's former exceptional scepticism is already returning. Excellent!

Hmmm. I'm becoming quite seriously concerned about the state of my very good friend, Mr Bear because of his apparent reliance on this publication. I once bought an HP combined printer/scanner because it was the Which! Best Buy at the time (probably for about 5 minutes just long enough for the payments to be ... ?). It was the biggest, heap of junk technology I've ever had the misfortune to purchase, very rarely working and perpetually accusing me of fitting counterfeit cartridges (which I didn't, I paid through the nose and fitted genuine HP cartridges which it then insisted on emptying "deep cleaning" the print heads) but that's another story. Still I'm cured now and I will NEVER buy another HP printer. Anyway, having spent many years developing his scepticism and cynicism to an extremely high degree (as are my own) I'm now worried that he's been "got at" with an enforced cynicismectomy. I prescribe extra copious rations of LDC with the hope that saturation with the citrus and sugar based solution that forms a key component will help him recover his former levels of these essential characteristics. Come back Poly, your friends are here for you at your time of need!

Nice try though! I feel it is our mission, no, duty to distract Alexas everywhere. Onward chaps and report back on your successes!

So that's at least two* households then, the nosey bxtch! Technically, she has snuck into the Pupper's household via the Amazon Firestick necessary to make a Samsung Smart television Smart again but she is never engaged

Extremely irritating ...... But to answer the question; https://www.amazon.co.uk/b/?ie=UTF8&node=14526211031&tag=hydrukspg-21&ref=pd_sl_9o6br60icu_e

I rest my case about the "wider context" .......

One of Pupper's friends has gone OTT with Alexa. He can't move for tripping over the blxxdy things. When having video calls (how modern!) with said friend Puppers takes great delight adding things to his shopping lists, introducing him to new genres of music and changing the colour and intensity of the room lights. Although Puppers was most disappointed when he couldn't order a dinosaur for him

But have to replace the boiler every 3 or 4 years maybe (from the experiences of friends and relatives)? As with everything in life, a systems engineering approach is always required (Puppers being, amongst other things, an ex-systems engineer) and the CBA is never straightforward when you look at the full context. Now, where did I put those solar panels ......

Well, you say that, but .........

'tis true, not an attractive contraption but it was function not form that was critical. The studs themselves were made from hefty wood screw threads with the heads turned off (to screw into the joists) silver soldered to lengths of 8mm (IIRC) studding for the plate loading section. Trust me, those studs weren't anywhere close to striping out the joists.

Excellent, I'm sure my expert level cynacism, fine tuned to perfection by 45 years in industry, would be a positive asset to Captain Cynicals endeavours. I feel sure that mutually beneficial terms could be agreed. Yes and also for giant bars of Toblerone and plain, hard cash. Unfortunately not. I have to make do with my trusty Antex which unfortunately expired recently. I was going to buy a replacement element which requires soldered connections .... Doh! In the end I bought a replacement Antex and a replacement element. I now have two irons for delicate / electronics work. Using "Big Bertha" to build the Arduino based projects for which Puppers is getting something of a reputation as a result of his new found freedom is just not going to work To think, I'll never have another POETS day (unless the International Man of Cynicism job materialises) This was something my son, relatively new to the property ownership game, learnt recently when we were sorting out a leaking bath tap which necessitated the removal of his bath panel ....... I was also reminded of it myself when my Artexed hall ceiling developed a 2.5" sag from the slowly leaking trap in the en-suite shower immediately above it. During the investigation phase of the repair operations I removed over 6kg of broken bricks, mortar, bits of wood, plastic pipe fittings and general detritus. In this case the carp actually performed a useful function, deflecting the ceiling so that eagle-eyed Mrs Puppers could spot it. Not wishing to have to re-Artex the hall ceiling, Puppers hatched a cunning plan to soften the plaster board and, over a period of two or three weeks, "persuade" it and the Artex to return to something approaching flat. This was achieved with the aid of four long studs screwed into the joists, a flat braced board sitting over the studs with four big springs applying pressure to the board and hence the ceiling. The plaster board was then kept moist from above for the duration and a DTI (Dial Test Indicator) recorded the progress. Whilst the ceiling did not return to Metrology or Opitical flatness standards it did get to a state that was "Good enough for rockets" (a term often used during my employment). Puppers classified that one as a narrow escape!