RhBBob

On this day in 1971, I was stood in the public space of a bank I them worked for, trying to explain to a distraught young lady, with pushchair and child, that she hadn't lost 3d (three 'old' pence) in the conversion to Decimal Currency. She just needed to find another one to make 2.5 new pence or 'p's as we called them !!

Sorry late again but still okay. Belated thanks to Trisonic (Pete) for an update on modern guitar tuners ! Very timely as playing guitar has returned to this house, aided by the NHS finger injections and hearing aids !! Isn't birdsong lovely ? When there is a gap in the A16 traffic, of course ! 130C in Boston today...marvellous; now raining again ! I will try to be a proper ER tomorrow

Morning all ! ENE wind blowing 18 mph and heavy rain until midday. An ideal day for a bit of shopping in Boston ! After a half-decent night's sleep, i care not ! Temperature could rocket up to 4 deg C but by Wednesday it is up to 11 deg C ; I believe we usually call that 'Spring....' Hoping to see Men's Downhill Skiing from St Moritz at 12.15pm, postponed from yesterday because of poor visibility caused by fog. Unintentional humour there...not like me at all.

Err, I have decided against taking the blue tablet tonight.......I do have these occasional moments of common sense.

Another good day although the dehydration from the little blue pill is giving me a headache to wake up to !! Still, saw my cat today, he is a large ginger cat who lives with my Darling Daughter; she says he's (Murray - called by SWMBO's maiden name) my cat, he just lives with her !! Went shopping with Darling Daughter as well. Played guitar again today and now exercising painful little finger whilst watching Serie A. Always entertaining is Serie A, if not always football ! Goodnight all after small glass of whisky and delay before taking blue tablet....of course !

Thanks to all for your support and good wishes. On a brighter note, following some injections on the arthritic finger joints of my left hand, I am able to return to playing my guitar. Now all I need is to recover something resembling my singing voice ! No, it's all for much-needed home relaxation these days. One band member has passed away and the rest of us are getting old ! The guitar is a Strat XII, a twelve string beast of 1990 vintage. Of Japanese origin, it was modded with an HSS Lone Star pickup system and those awful machine heads replaced with some quality items. And of course, with the new hearing aids, the amplified sound is, shall we say, very different !! Happy days to you all !

Sorry I'm late...about two weeks I think ! I allowed the Black Dog back into my life and so the small blue tablet last thing at night is a solution although the vivid dreams are quite something ! As usual, I ignored the signs and buried my head in the (proverbial) sand, chickened out (not a happy phrase round here at present) of the Barcelona trip. On the plus side, I have my hearing aids, free-of-charge but 'on loan' from the NHS with free batteries for life ! What a change. I need markers to set the final volume such as television volume settings and maybe the reverse warning signals on the family car. However I'm luckier than the turkey growers and chicken farmers in this area - a lot of roads closed off and much heartache in the agricultural community. Snowing again this morning although it should stop in an hour or so; Wonder Woman is out for hair styling and buying up Asda and, yes, I have just ordered 24 red roses and a card for Monday (Tuesday will no doubt be very busy).

Lovely work, Paul. And it is a perfect fit for the site ! I believe that's called 'planning' although it is not in my dictionary.......

Morning all from a very wet Lincolnshire ! Sharp frost last evening followed by heavy rain; wonder what the roads will be like ! I shall wait a while before collecting the papers from the next village where jonny777's brother lives... So far only one car in the ditch; front nearside crushed but facing south in the ditch on the north bound lane. Happily protected as Western Power Distribution arrived in force next to it, so I wonder if a post came down ? No buried cables on the fens so all power, LV or HV, and telephone lines arrive by 'post', if you see what I mean ! Stay warm !

I think a little efficiency or effectiveness is needed to enable GP Surgeries to cope. Increasing hours will not improve the service. Certainly I do not wish to criticise our GP Surgery but in the 33 years we have been here it has gone from two doctors and two staff to three doctors, a nurse practitioner and twenty three staff including many receptionists some educated in manners and speech, and some most definitely not ! One receptionist now shouts 'appointment ?' at visitors and even the large one, who cannot walk very well, has only graduated to 'Hi ya' as a greeting. I now print off the web page with my prescription order and present it to her; as previously reported, if she forgets my name on the short walk to the shelves, she can always look at the paper. Likewise the timescale for prescription issue obviously varies considerably; however having recently received the same prescription for two items twice in three days with a cheery 'Oh we've caught up' tells me that the problem is not opening hours.

Late again ! Had to set alarm to take SWMBO to hairdressers for 9 and on to Asda so no early report. Happily the tidal surge/high tide at 6.30 am did not cause serious flooding and the snow was receding although the A16 was quite hairy - always noticeable when HGVs stick to 40 mph ! Even higher tide forecast for 6 pm tonight and, since the Army contingent from Yorkshire are staying on for another 24 hours, it needs to be taken seriously. Praise for the men who built humpback bridges on the drains/dykes in town as this prevented the floods from reaching Daughter's property in 2013.

Morning all from a much colder Lincolnshire ! News of the closure of the only GP practice in a small town - pop. 1600 - some miles east of us; no doubt the burden will pass on to Skeggy or our Practice or A&E in Pilgrim Hospital at Boston. We are very much the ageing population area - our own GP retired last October - and encouraging us to stay away is now the role of the ever-increasing number of practice staff. Oh, and my blood sugar levels need attention !!! It's all good news !! Never mind, we still have some of that delightful home-made Christmas Pudding to finish off, sometime....... Keep warm, everyone !

In fact, as I have posted elsewhere on this group, it is a 'yellow warning of snow' And you remember what they say about yellow snow.....

The rains returned this morning but what worries me is the 'yellow warning of snow'... So just remember, 'never eat y***** s***'

All seven of my plastic organiser boxes are now full. I now sign off my emails to railway friends as:- Bob Proprietor Bob's Bits & Pieces And ask if there is anything they need Oh and I also have two wall-mounted cabinets for the switches, and other larger bits - only just enough room for a layout..he, he !

Lovely picture, NHN !! They are staying younger longer !! Our Daughter is 40 but still gets asked for ID when buying alcohol in a supermarket. Long may it continue.

Hard frost this morning in the flatlands. I see that latest laptop has three 4K screens; suspect it won't be too long before someone suggests a version with a separate box containing the hard drive, DVD-Rom etc.. Mrs RhBBob off to the Doctor's today; she encountered the rather large and very rude assistant when booking the appointment. Seems that we have caught up with the rest of the world by having people designed to keep you away from the Doctor ! The same creature that took my name, set off for the repeat prescriptions, stopped off to talk to a colleague...and then had to return to ask me my name again !! She now wears bright red lipstick which does nothing for her. Still, it was always a regular feature of office life through my managerial years; the larger the team, the less effective the operation. Since her illness, I am allowed to chauffeur my good lady to Asda each Friday; retail therapy is another one of my hobbies

Morning all ! Bright, frosty start as promised but not such good news about the increased risk of dementia for those of us living next to a Main Road. Hey ho, just another figure-induced survey, I suppose, as little can be done in the age of the diesel vehicle in a County with little 'public' (or 'mass') transport. As the song says, 'let's enjoy it while we may...'

Morning all from a slightly warmer Lonely-shire ! Why does 2017 have a River of Culture - do Tykes not like Kingston-upon-Hull as a city ? Perhaps not gritty enough for Northern tastes and too similar to the K-on-Thames one? Still the fireworks has filled both the Hull Evening News (BBC) and the Anywhere-but-Lincolnshire-News (ITN) for the last two days. Similar on the BBC Re-hash News this morning as we learn about what happened on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday !! Okay, rant over - and I slept well so it ain't that

One from a long, long time ago.... Ma: you don't look well, Abe Abe: no, Ma, my stomach's upset - I'll just take a powder and go to bed. Announcer: that was an excerpt from 'Gone With The Wind' Que music - the Angus Prune Tune - programme ISIRTA

Greetings to all ! Great day yesterday out with the younger, more handsome version of me, at footy match in Leeds. Usual accident on M1 at Meadowhell so journey there took 3 hours as against 1 hour on the return. Still, the result was okay ! So having kept a few LPs in the cupboard, I begin the search for an in-car record player, plus a portable one for my phone; maybe need a 12-inch turntable mounted on my head which some might say is adequate size to support such an article. Have a great day.

Morning and welcome to 2017 ! Thankfully Mrs RhBBob's strange head pains have subsided; her ear wax was not the problem so, after the two strong painkillers had been taken, we put it down to the new antibiotics which she finished sometime in the night whilst I was, as usual, somewhere else in the universe ! I was much saner when I drank alcohol We must get some fresh air and out of this wonderfully warm home but the rain has been with us since the early hours and won't stop until around 4 pm when it will be dark. Could be retail therapy then ?

Morning all ! Mrs RhBBob and I did finally make it to England to see the Grandkids via '111' on Christmas Eve and A&E on Christmas day to swap the powerful antibiotic for a milder version !! However She-whom-I-love now has flashing pains on the right-hand side of her head - probably ear wax - so back to the surgery today to see Dr Lucky - no, that's not his real name but it helps us yokels who can't pronounce a Far Eastern name !! He is a superb GP who lives up to his nickname. Thanks to you all for your support

Phew ! Looks like Christmas at the Grandkids is back on again ! Mrs RhBBob is responding to the strong antibiotics prescribed on Wednesday and has returned from the strange land where she has been since then. Not helped by taking 2 Anadin Extra every two hours although she has a cast-iron constitution So I only have to invade B*st*nia today to pick up some more A-xtra and we shall head for Miss RhBBob's residence to stay the night and thence to the city of W*rks*p for C-day and B-day with the much more handsome version of me and family. Pressys at midnight - always assuming we are still awake Thanks for your support!

No comment really needed save that this is stunning:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfAwXDWThlo