zarniwhoop

I'm amazed at you guys who rarely remember dreams. Admittedly I wake up a lot, and sometimes I have spells of a few days where I don't remember any dreams.. But then again, I often remember parts of dreams (sometimes recurrent) much later. Where there are people in my dreams, often they are my parents (Dad died in the late 1990s, Mum died 14 years ago), or people I either worked with or cycled with (so, more than 20 or 25 year ago, not people I've seen or spoken to more recently.

I also get a lot of what I call "half asleep" memories - thinking about something and then realising that I can't follow the thread of what I was thinking about, or images (like photographs) for a few seconds when my eyes are closed and I'm dropping off.

Of course, from time to time I get scary dreams which cause me to wake up (although I would not call them nightmares, I wake to stop it getting too bad). But don't most of us ?

But the oddest dream was a few days ago - @iL Dottore was in it at one point and we spoke (no, I don't remember what we spoke about) - he's the only identifiable person I remember dreaming about whom I've never met.

However, the worst part is that when I'm trying to do computing / programming-related stuff (in the most general sense) I end up thinking about it before I get to sleep, and then dreaming about it. Often it takes me some time the next day to work out what I actually thought about and decided to try, and what (e.g. actually trying something and deciding it did or did not work) only happened in my dreams.

I suspect I'll have some more of that tonight after wasting several hours trying to get predefined hyphenation etc packages in TeXLive working for listing Article 1 of the UDHR in some fonts (hint: the documentation lies, many languages are documented to have localization patterns but they no longer exist, or else they report that they require adaptations for unicode (I'm using text already in unicode) and then fail to compile). That is not a rant, documentation never matches the code!

I expect I'll come up with something eventually, but probably keep dreaming about it for a few weeks.

Whether I ever get to a point where a Japanese reader would feel comfortable  with my layout of the Japanese UDHR text is a different matter (they have complicated rules about e.g. which characters can be at the end of a line when breaking it - no spaces between words!).😉

Still, at least it is keeping me away from worrying about how to fit my desired  amounts of parallel-metal into a 3D space several orders of magnitude too small. ISTR that when I came back to the forbidden subject I spent many nights dreaming about ideas related to that.

If anyone is still reading and wondering why I care about Article 1 of the UDHR - it's traditional for showing how languages look (see e.g. https://omniglot.com/) and I'm trying to document which languages some freely-available fonts support, as well as showing that so that people can decide if they like the font or if they think it looks ugly.

Assumed I'd missed the Aurora (forecast for Saturday night was much less powerful), but noticed on BBC news mid-evening that there was a possibility between 11pm and 2a.m. They also showed coast cloud down here. Went out a few minutes ago - they were right about the cloud, total cover.

Just been watching the new Doctor Who from get_iplayer.  Probably going to p155 off many people here, but I thought it, particularly the second episode, was brilliant - enough scary bits, humour, and nods to Abbey Road.

Well, this has been an interesting day - started sunny, but fortunately it clouded over for a while around 8 a.m. (that meant I could read the monitor for my main PCs without the sun reflecting on it).

More interestingly, when I eventually got out to the local Weight Rose (a small branch, nothing custardy to tempt @Grizz ) they were out of almost everything I was looking for except some Italian wines - il Giro (cycling) started today so I'll be mostly eating and drinking in the Italian style for the next 3 weeks, although probably not in a way that @iL Dottore would recognize or approve of (so, no cigars 😄). Yes, sourdough Pizza and some more Nebbiolo tonight!

Then I went to the local Saint's buries - got most of what I wanted - at last they've got some English asparagus (Tess' had it more than a week ago). And to my immense surprise they had some more Sanguinelli (Spanish blood oranges) - I looked in on Wednesday, neither Tess', who've generally had some, nor Saint's whose supplies have been iffy, had any so I thought that was it. Fortunately I already had a small stockpile. If they were cake I'd have to put them under lock and key, but I guess they're not sweet enough for @polybear or @Happy Hippo so I'm probably OK.

Last week there was mention that JS claimed most people were now shopping in person - apart from their issues with their computer systems for deliveries, I suspect the reason is that you never know what they will actually have available on any day.

In other things, probably boring to most of you, I'm finally getting back to look at computer fonts - starting by trying to assemble some Greek 'greek text' (aka dummy text - our old friend lorem ipsum). Starting with a transliteration of the debased latin lorem ipsum, but the source I found had some latin letters such as Q,q,C,c,J,V,v in it. Very odd. But I needed to edit it anyway (I want to review how a variety of fonts look when used for modern (monotonic) Greek, so I'm adding accents and Greek semi-colon · and Greek question mark ; - like a middle-dot and our semi-colon if those don't show up).

It's been months since I looked at that, but it is now gradually coming back to me when I'm trying to sleep / when I'm half asleep, and even when I'm dreaming.

Happy Days!

On 28/04/2024 at 13:43, Metr0Land said:

She must drive non-stop and not below 40mph for 20 days.

I assume not for 24 hours per day - I think that after a few days without sleep nobody would be in a fit state to drive ?

On mailing lists (computer-related) I subscribe with a text-based mail client, and take the opportunity to rotate my .signature files a couple of times a month.  Some while ago I was using:

The right of the people to keep and arm Bears, shall not be infringed.
 

I got some grief about that from a Dutch guy - it turned out he had read what he thought I'd written and assumed I was one of the looney right as I think I can safely call them on this list, whereas I'm proudly woke 🙄 (for at least some definitions of woke).

37 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

If I understand you correctly, this is mind boggling to me.  This cheque cannot be deposited in a bank branch?

 

(I sort of comprehend issues with a mobile telephone app.)

What are these bank branches of which you speak ?

Here, the banks are doing their best to close down almost all branches.

If I may, I'd like to ask a  question of anyone here who uses Ocado (I searched for fresh white asparagus - tess'co sometimes have it, but in very thin pieces which are hard to peel - and I see Ocado have it, with prices for that and blood oranges which make the purveyor of custard tarts look cheap ) - Are they reliable in providing what you ordered ?

TIA. ĸen

12 hours ago, GrumpyPenguin said:

By that time EV's will be obsolete themselves as other technology is perfected.

 

IMHO anyone who converts Series Land Rovers to electric should be tortured, then electrocuted........

Whilst I understand the sentiment, from time to time on one of the Discovery channels (Quest?)  there is a series about a Welshman ('Moggy') converting old cars etc to plug-in - mainly usingTesla parts, and lots of bespoke made to order fixings. Quite an old series, for some reason many of the vehicles were Irish. I dread to think what an insurer would make of them (e.g. old VW camper van with a large battery in it, "classic" BMWs and similar with what I would regard as a short range before needing to charge - bear in mind that even now charging - both availability and time - sems to be a problem in many areas.

Anyway, the one which did impress me was some sort of Land Rover - according to that episode, the off-road performance was much enhanced.

41 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

39% salt? What does that even mean? Can't be 39% by mass surely?

Probably 39% of your recommended daily intake. But the measurement is per-serving for however many portions the package claims to serve.

37 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

And for some roles being able to blag your way through a difficult situation is actually an essential skill, so someone who can nail an interview through their soft skills and blagging is demonstrating the right skills for the job. 

You've dealt with Public Relations people and Project Managers!

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

 

I arrived home yesterday to find a package left outside on the doorstep.  That's a fairly secure location here as it's not in line-of-sight from anywhere other than for someone approaching the door.  And inside- having been thoughtfully popped through the letterbox - was a "Sorry We Missed You" card.  Which identified the location of the package not as "returned to depot" nor "with a neighbour" but "On doorstep in grey plastic bag".  Which was absolutely correct.  I just wonder why they even left the card but hey.  That's life. 

If you had been inside, and not heard them, you would not have known the package was on the doorstep. Someone delivering won't know if you were in, but incommunicado, or out.

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

Millook Haven is as steep at 1:3 with a couple of hairpins which are pretty close to a 45-degree angle on the insides.  I cycled up and down those a good many times in my younger days and when I had a suitable touring bike with 18 gears.  I specified the ratios myself; bottom gear was the lowest commercially available with its combination of huge rear and tiny front sprockets and got me up anything and everything.  16" I think it was.

Colour me impressed. My memory (I'm talking about maybe 30 or 35 years ago) is that riding anything below 30" on roads could be interesting (doing a wheely on a bike with luggage in rear paneers is not recommended). Off-road, of course, lower gears could be very useful.

Just catching up - I think spring is here! Some weeks ago I read in a weekly paper that the English asparagus season was early this year, and the Marky Sparky would have it in stock. Maybe in some hallowed part of London town, but not here guv. Today I went to Tess' and at last it's here.

mmm, griddled asparagus.

Sizing of bricks in the 19th century can be a bit of a plunge down a rabbit hole. From your picture I make the following guesses:

1. The lengthwise bricks at the right are facing the camera (so top and bottom are out of view). For new bricks it is not possible to tell if they are facing, internal (lower quality) or specialist.

2. I think that the end-on bricks at the right are each slightly more that a quarter of the length (gaps between the face-on bricks.

3. The bricks at the left might be different, they are stacked with much more air between them.

I can't make out enough detail to see the main "wall" part of the bricks at the back, beyond noticing

 occasional gaps.

A guide to a little about imperial brick sizes in the past https://www.imperialbricks.co.uk/guidance/everything-you-need-to-know-about-imperial-brick-sizes :  note the modern (20th century) 'Imperial' bricks shown as 228mm by 108mm were variously 50 to 80mm tall.

For a deeper dive, try https://jaharrison.me.uk/Brickwork/Sizes.html (from the first page, heights of 42mm to 90mm).

A random search produced other sites suggesting special purpose bricks such as engineering bricks would be at the taller end of the variations.

In the absence of example bricks, all we can really say is that for the 19th century the likely length was 9 inches. So I suggest you work from that. For me, a more interesting question is what colours the bricks appear in the period you are interested in (i.e. after probably decades of weathering and smoke). Some of the bricks in the photo seem quite pale, others a deeper (red?) colour. In my own case, railway stations built in the 1860s and viewed in the 1960s tended to have very mixed colours of locally made brick - built down to a price, with added facings (pebbledash, I suppose) on the side facing the prevailing wind/rain. Better quality bricks used for facings on higher quality buildings were probably much more consistent.

Research the sort of building, and location, you intend to model. Then make your decisions, and when you are happy with them go for it!

A few hours ago I was watching the 6pm local ITV news. In the middle of that was something about what would be on the national news. I think you can guess what it was. Starts to sound like a conspiracy. And yes, the Hogwarts word was mentioned.

Those who read TNM may have already seen this because I posted on the wrong topic. Nothing to do with parallel strips of metal, this is where I intended to post it. <sigh/>

When I was idly killing time looking at so-called news on my phone earlier this week I saw a lot of posts saying that iplayer apps were closing down, with a comment from the BBC that it was too expensive to continue. When I can be bothered, I've been using get_iplayer (on linux) to download things - quality often not brilliant, but good enough to watch on a computer monitor.

Having closed down all the other things I was doing, I thought I ought to stop installing the perl modules get_iplayer needs. But before that I gave it a try - working perfectly, including local news from Thursday evening.

Just now, zarniwhoop said:

When I was idly killing time looking at so-called news on my phone earlier this week I saw a lot of posts saying that iplayer apps were closing down, with a comment from the BBC that it was too expensive to continue. When I can be bothered, I've been using get_iplayer (on linux) to download things - quality often not brilliant, but good enough to watch on a computer monitor.

 

Having closed down all the other things I was doing, I thought I ought to stop installing the perl modules get_iplayer needs. But before that I gave it a try - working perfectly, including local news from Thursday evening.

Doh, I've done a @polybear and mixed up ERs and TNM!

When I was idly killing time looking at so-called news on my phone earlier this week I saw a lot of posts saying that iplayer apps were closing down, with a comment from the BBC that it was too expensive to continue. When I can be bothered, I've been using get_iplayer (on linux) to download things - quality often not brilliant, but good enough to watch on a computer monitor.

Having closed down all the other things I was doing, I thought I ought to stop installing the perl modules get_iplayer needs. But before that I gave it a try - working perfectly, including local news from Thursday evening.

16 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I am glad to read that Mrs br2975 was seen with speed and efficiency.
 

However, I would like to comment that given a choice between a doctor with a curt and abrupt bedside manner with outstanding clinical skills and expertise and a doctor with a smooth and reassuring bedside manner and so-so clinical skills and expertise, I’d take Dr Grumpy any day.

 

Many decades ago, when I was working in the hospital, I noted that some of the very best clinicians were those with the poorest bedside manners. One neurosurgeon in particular had a hair trigger temper in the operating theatre (things had to be “just so” and he did NOT tolerate any sloppiness in technique) and was brutally blunt with the patients (along the lines of “I’ll remove the tumour but you’ll be permanently impaired”j and yet he was the neurosurgeon of choice for incredibly complex procedures.

 

Thinking about the above, I wonder how much was an act?

I think that acceptable bedside manner may have depended on where/when a doctor was trained. For several years I 'worked' online with someone who had started out studying a science (i forget which, possibly physics or astronomy), switched to medicine, but at the end was unable to become a doctor because of his bedside manner (lack of empathy, or telling it to them straight). Dealing with him online, he was a fun guy and spent a lot of his time gaming - I think he was unemployable.

Neurodiversity is no doubt over-diagnosed, but for those playing with software it is a feature even more than for those playing with toy trains.

In the end, it seems to have got too much for him. I still miss him.

6 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I've read about that too.

 

Now where was it where I read it????

 

Ahh, Yes.... "Conspiracy Theory Nutters Monthly"

 

Anyone who is properly qualified to pronounce on such matters will be able to tell you that GWR Green (aka Brunswick Green) is one of the colours prescribed by The Buddha for aligning the chakras and achieving inner balance and harmony.

 

Any deleterious effect experienced is purely psychosomatic, Dave, purely psychosomatic.

I think that must be the Buddha from Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, otherwise the Buddha you meet on the road.

More commonly, the Chakras can be aligned using Malachite, the various shades of BR(S) coach / EMU / DEMU green, and Improved Engine Green.

16 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

Don’t really understand your post but obviously it’s causing you some grief but hopefully it will get sorted.

Good luck.

Thanks. It caused me some grief for a long while, I'm just persuading myself to let it go.

4 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

I'm feeling a bit left out because I am having no issues. Is it the time zone difference that means I am  active in the UK nocturnal hours like a possum or a fruitbat  when you are all asleep  - except when nature calls?

I tend to keep very irregular hours, often reading here between 11pm and 4am or "later" , and I see the slowdowns from time to time even at 3 a.m. In particular, ERs is often very slow to go to the next page, other topics are only rarely very slow.  But late afternoon (I suppose from about now for maybe the next 6 hours)  is also a busy time and I think the worst delays or 'content unavailable' happen in the evening.

I'm sure that the whole site being busy (several people clicking on different topics at the same time) plays a part.

I'll mention that on the machine I mainly use I try to keep ERs, TNM, and the main page open long term, and look at another page or another site if ERs is slow.  But I've got 100+ tabs open in this browser (I had to close a few last week, it was getting slow).

Somebody suggested starting an ERs v2 the other week, I think doing that and making ERs v1 read-only might be the answer.

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

You mixing me up with Sheepbloke?

I think he was avoiding the site nanny. https://www.fatbastard.com/ Let's see if this gets through (age check to click on, then picture of a hippo acting as a parachute or balloon to carry a bottle,