Purley Oaks

Evening all My root canal didn't happen; the dentist replaced the cracked filling with something called Biodentine instead. Once he'd drilled the old filling out he thought the case for a root canal was borderline and filled the tooth with Biodentine, which is supposed to have anti-bacterial properties, so should kill off any infection there may be in the canal. He said I'd know in a few days because the pain would return. If all is ok, he can use the Biodentine as a base layer for a new filling, so need only drill out a small amount. That will be at the end of January, unless the pain returns, in which case it will be root canal next week. An ex-work colleague of mine had to replace his Apple phone because his old one would not lock the doors remotely on his new Merc. That means locking the door and switching off the lights over thousands of miles. I shook my head that he'd want to lock his car in Munich from his home in Edinburgh. Must have some good uses, though. Yes, you're right. We only continued seeing the films because our kids loved them; now we go and they're not interested! The next film will be a real test for Rowling. Hope your nights are calmer than the last one Mal

Morning all A wet and windy night and a wet and windy morning. We thought that the first instalment, Fantastic Beasts, was quite a good introduction for the series of Harry Potter prequels. Grindelwald, however, has little to recommend it - it's for children, remember - and the story is confusing alongside the endless family trees. It's all covered over with lashings of cgi. The cgi is quality, production values are good, but nothing hides a poor story or script; unfortunately there seems to have been no quality control over either. JK Rowling should be ashamed; hopefully next time she'll pay more attention to both, starting with a good story. Yes, saw It's a Wonderful Life at our independent cinema a couple of years ago. It's worthwhile to see on the big screen. A lovely film. We're just off to view another house in the rain, and this afternoon it's root canal time! Have a good day Mal

Got my alcohol units and percetages mixed-up, sorry. A bottle of 12% wine (9 units) must cost at least £4.50 not £6. It's 50p per unit of alcohol.

Morning all A wet and windy night here. I'm just about to take Gabe to work then do a Sainsbury's shop... and just noticed Brian's post except in Scotland where they aren't allowed to offer deals on booze. They can offer individual bottles at sale prices so long as it's above the price per unit of alcohol (so a 12% bottle of wine must cost at least £6). Unable to purchase any alcohol before 10am. Enjoy Harrogate, Brian. Wasn't it Virginia Bottomley who introduced 'Care in the Community' in the '80s? The phrase rings hollow now with current, mainly unaddressed, problems. Our daughter is one sufferer, waiting months for an appointment. Hope your days are blessed Mal

Thinking of you on this one, hope all went well today

Usually just a thread-follower here, but there's an interesting piece about the paywall in today's Guardian here: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2018/nov/26/f1-broadcasting-paywall-tv

Afternoon all, although it's so dark outside at 4pm that I may as well call it the evening. Good to see you earlier today, Mick, welcome back. And good wishes to Brian for the retirement. Didn't get the house we went for last week, so onwards and upwards like Ian Abel. At least we know what we do and don't like by now. Hopefully we'll have one by C*******s. Moving day from here is pencilled-in for 22 February, which means I'll probably miss RailScotland. Dentists today to replace a cracked filling, except he says he thinks I'll need a root canal in there first. That's this Thursday, then. Deep joy. Hope your days are fun-filled, too! Mal

Apparently when I was very young I used to love eating peas but no other vegetables - so my mum hit on the ruse of calling any vegetables peas - yep, I ate anything called peas.

Evening all Special thoughts to John & Sandy and to Debs. Hope things are sorted soon. Yes, Simon G, the Scotland match this afternoon was pretty boring - speaking as one who had tickets for the game, which took ages to get going. The Murrayfield roar just wasn't there today, the first time I've not heard it in ages. The match had no atmosphere and Scotland were lucky that the Argentina penalty kicker was off his game this afternoon. So many mistakes by both teams. Hope Scotland manage better in the Six Nations next year - think it'll be tough judging by the standards of play from Ireland, Wales and England. Happy birthday Judge! Mal

S'funny but I never heard of the West Midlands in the creation myth. Or am I missing something? Was it on the eighth day?

Oops, apologies Andrew... In other news, Proclaimers tickets for Edinburgh Castle Esplanade for next July went on sale at 9am today. Thought I'd managed to snag a couple but sadly not to be. Resale sites have the modestly priced £42 to £45 tickets up for sale at £300 already. Don't think so. Mal

Morning all Gabe is allowed to claim for work clothes and ironing expenses (outsourced btw). When I worked at John Lewis the uniform was supplied free but we received a tax rebate of £50 or so pa for laundry expenses. Please stop doing this, Andy, you've managed to bring me back to the dark side of spending money on something I really don't need, but it does look sooo good! Have a good day; got some rugby to look foward to tomorrow and youngest has got me a ticket for the match against Argentina at Murrayfield Can't wait! Mal

Evening all Wet here today so no overnight frost. was chilly, though, just 4C all day. Oncologist meeting today; he wants another scan, and that he will try to get it organised in 10 days or so and give the results before the holiday break. Put in an offer on a house yesterday that had been on and off the market over the last couple of years without a buyer. So we thought it should be relatively plain sailing. Astonishingly another buyer did the same just after us. We didn't get it. Coincidence or what? Having seen around 25 houses so far it wears a bit thin! This one ticked all the boxes, too. Am hopeful we'll find another. Popping out later tonight to see a charity screening of Sunshine On Leith at the local Vue. Apparently it's sold out so hope our seats are not near the front. Mmm this post is all a bit gloomy, apologies! Have a warm night Mal

Morning all Chillier here today and showery. Still house hunting. Hasselback potatoes - yes, yes, yes! Watched the new JKRowling pic last night and not impressed whatsoever; too many two-dimensional characters with whom one found it hard to feel any sympathy/empathy, and too much back-story shoe-horned in. Tried to gloss it all over with cgi effects; whenever anything goes awry someone pulls out a wand and presto!, all is ok. She'll have to do much better imho next time to make it a stand-alone product not just an instalment. Sorry to hear this, Rick; it's a lot worse when you're so far away, too, so I really hope that you're able to discover what's going on very soon and avoid worry. In more personal economic news, local newspaper group Johnston Press, which owns the Scotsman and Yorkshire Post among many others has been having financial probs. It has rolled itself into a new company giving the pension scheme away - as a result, Gabe's pension will be at least 10% less than promised. Could have been worse, I guess, the whole pension could have gone, but still not good news for umpteen years of work. Hope your days go well Mal

Afternoon all Meant to mention that we saw the Netflix film Outlaw King at our local independent cinema this week. It's about Robert the Bruce and his struggles against the Edwards 1 & 2. Chris Pine (Unstoppable) plays an unfeasably handsome king getting to grips with power and his new wife, Elizabeth, played by Florence Pugh (the lead in BBC's Little Drummer Girl). Unsure if I should add that the sold-out showing we saw was applauded at the end. It's no Oscar winner, but certainly shows Scottish scenery to fine effect; yes, it was filmed here rather than Ireland. Something completely different: the other good thing about the new 380s on the Edinburgh-Glasgow route is that the trains are 8 coaches long, even during off-peak. Before we've had to put up with 3-car 156s (doubles up in rush-hours) and occasionally 2x158s (4-car). Personally I preferred the push-pull 47s and DBSOs in the '80s, but the 380s will do. Hope your days go well Mal

Evening all Back from an overnighter in Glasgow where we saw Johnny Marr (guitarist with now defunt pop combo The Smiths, m'lud) at Barrowlands. A great gig in a great venue. Barrowlands is standing only, smallish capacity of 2,100. We were just 4 rows from the front centre. Good songs, and what a super guitarist, not in the Jimi Hendrix stylee of guitarists, but a very well-accomplished craftsman. The sound is so jangling it must be compressed to hell and back. Travelled over by train in one of the newish 380s. A comfortable trip with softer seats than the new white worm Thameslinks (I had a sore bum on the short trip from StP to EC). Travelodge decent, too. Was going to mention the old 403A and 403B, Rick, but thought better of it... Don't think either of us was alive when the 403C existed! Neil, I think this is a very British problem; somehow the authorities don't seem to like it when offending reduction programmes seem to work well. Once the offending behaviour is lowered, someone thinks it not worth spending the cash to keep it lowered because they think the problem has been solved for good. Never met anyone from work on holiday unless it's at one of the John Lewis "hotels". Was walking in an isolated part of NW Scotland in the early 1990s and we bumped in John Smith (Labour leader) and his wife coming the other way. We had a short chat then went on our way. A very nice guy. Hope your weekends go well. After the weekend London may have fallen so enjoy it while you can! Mal

Morning all Great poem, Rick - but surprised there was no mention of EFFINGHAM anywhere... The place I was born, Sanderstead, has no pubs within its boundaries for some reason. Purley, Warlingham, south Croydon all have pubs but not Sanderstead. Course now it's all part of Croydon/Greater London anyway. Glad you had a good cruise, Tony, welcome back! Was also wondering where sixoh8sixoh was but don't think he's been on the site since August. Wet here and it's bin day. Also shopping for my mum. I'm tempted by those gel kneepads, Andy, thanks for the tip Have a good day all Mal

Evening all Great news! Edinburgh's C*******s goes live this Friday. Yep, that's the big wheel and the German market on Princes Street. Whoop-de-doo! Can't think why Robert... Thanks Mick. Have a good night Mal

Morning all! Jamie, the French remembrance ceremony sounds very touching; it's easy to forget that citizens from many ex-French colonial territories fought and, like the UK, many are still fighting in faraway places. A day for catching up with phone calls to lawyers because the sale letter, sent 1st class on Wednesday from their office about two miles from here, eventually arrived Saturday. And to arrange a couple of viewings elsewhere in town and around. Yes, happy birthday Ian OD. Anyone seen or heard from 60103 lately? That moniker doesn't appear in the members' list anymore. Think we're off to see Widows this evening at the cinema. Did anyone watch They Shall Not Grow Old on BBC2 last night? Loved the way that the old footage has been restored to normal speed - and thought the colouration was superb. Ordinary blokes doing very extraordinary and horrific things day after day after day. Have we fully learned the lessons? It's on iPlayer for a week, I think. Hope your days are extraordinary in the most wonderful ways! Mal

Good afternoon all Intermittent sunshine and showers here; kinda warmish for November. After our remembrance we have been looking at houses; in Scotland many have open viewing at certain times on Sundays. Saw one lovely place but it was on a main road and the traffic hum was just too much. Saw a couple of others that we discounted so at least it's helping us fine tune exactly what we're looking for. Apologies to Wales and England. Well done to both teams, Wales for beating Australia, and England for playing so well against NZ. Yes it's awful to lose by one point, especially when you've been 15-0 ahead, but still played well. Chrisf, am sure that you'll find the counselling worthwhile. Yes, it may take a while, but it will help. Have a good evening. Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old looks good tonight on BBC2 Mal

Evening all Cinema earlier today to see Peterloo, worthy and overlong by half an hour (2hrs 25mins) but some good acting of an overlooked piece of English history from 1815. Then watched the rest of the Scotland-Fiji rugby match in the pub; Fiji aren't the best team in the world but always enjoy watching them play. Scotland won, but what a great display of rugby and good manners by both teams. Sorry about the England result, but we can't have you beating NZ when we almost did last year! Are you sure you didn't sell it off, Neil? Have a good evening Mal

And mayonnaise when you're in Scotland, no doubt

Morning all Sunny morning with some house hunting planned. Yes it's cold up there, Tony, even when it's 30C on the beach. Are you taking the cable car? It's a wonderful place to go, probably above the clouds. Now that the US mid-terms are over the news is back to the B-word; Gabe has changed channels so I stop shouting at the radio! Hope your days go well Mal

Anyone else see this news story about a runaway iron ore train in WA? Very Unstoppable! Lucky no lives were lost. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/05/runaway-bhp-train-derailed-no-driver-port-hedland-western-australia

Afternoon all It would have been morning all, but had a call from Careline at 6am that mum had pressed her emergency alarm. Got there at 6.30am to be met by ambulance men just packing up their van - nothing wrong they said chirpily, she mistook the alarm for her light switch. They were very good about it, though, saying they'd rather have a happy outcome, which was very generous of them. Popped into mum and had a wee chat, then came home and slept in. Must get her a different switch for the bedside light. Not only an early call, but fireworks were still banging off at midnight. Neat work on copper bangles, Brian, they look really good. Love your 'structure' rhyme, Chrisf, must check it out! Andyram - good luck with the 'king dog. Many of us have been there. IanAbel must be in the UK now - hope you have a good time. You mentioned about having to book earlier and earlier for gig tickets - just booked to see stand-up James Acaster at the King's Theatre next November. Stalls full, so row H in dress circle. Kudos for keeping ticket prices to £21. Hope the cruise goes smoothly, Tony. How's the weather in the Canaries? Hot? Seeing many whales and dolphins there? Have a good day Mal