It was a lorra-lorra fun. I recommend it to all.
A 60 Mb fibre connection. Click — web page appears! Click — video plays! 100MB uploads to Dropbox in seconds!
[Raak] Grrrrrrr! Still, I get fresh air and no traffic instead.
[Phil] I have those as well. :)
[Raak] Hmmm, I have no chance of anything over 3Mb for the next decade as far as I can tell. Unless I move house.
The sound of a Mellotron's "orchestral strings" voice. Sounds nothing like strings but is entirely wonderful when done right.
I think it was actually called "Three Strings", but I never had the knobs under the Steviemitts so I can't say for sure.
Training interested student(s)
Chunky knit leggings.
Hidden text
Dear god, I have a picture wedged firmly in my brain now that will not come out no matter what I do.Flicking a dead Christmas tree light and being rewarded by having the whole string burst into glorious life.
Brandy butter
Bing Crosby's singing voice
Hess Trucks.
Correcting somebody who just said "pedanticism"
[Moom] But that just makes one sound like a pedanticismist, doesn't it?
Awakening in the dawn's coming light to the sound of Kookaburras, Noisy Miners, Butcher Birds, Wrens and their avian friends having a chat about their breakfast menu.
The relief experienced on finding a legitimate receipt for the dodgy-looking transaction on one's bank statement after a brief panic. [Stevie] And proud of it.
Delighting in one's own inherent immunity to British humor.
Getting connected to someone who actually cares when calling a "tech support" line. Thank you, nice AT&T lady.
Being able to get through the head and the middle 8 of "Misty" without screwing any of the chords.
Being able to watch the superstructure of a massive crane on a massive ship serenely sailing up the river from my office window. No point in trying to drive home right now - it's not home time for one reason, and all the bridges will be up for another.
Sharpening pencils
Waking in the middle of the night to the sound of rain falling outside, and going back to sleep again. Of course, there was that time I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain falling inside ...
A shepherd's hut in a sheep field in Norfolk. (Much, much better than it sounds)
The space where a piece of furniture has been removed.
Charlotte Green reading the football results. A touch of class to counter all the snarly herberts on Five Live. (Pablo) I think I prefer a bed.
Les Dawson reading football results
Being greeted as "Mr Hughes" by the local Indian newsagent. Must be an age thing.
Guiding an off-spin delivery to the square leg boundary with consummate ease - best shot I've played all season (and last season for that matter)
Seeing the full moon. It's brilliant.
Sitting on the deck of our new house on the first warm evening of the year on the new garden chairs waiting for the fat (but waning) moon to appear over the trees
Seeing the ISS overhead.
Puppy cuddles!
Lunting my way through Cherry Tree Wood on a fine morning "To lunt" = to walk while smoking a pipe. A long obsolete verb, but I'm determined to bring it back to usage, even if pipe smokers are now rarer than a moment of fun at a Barry Manilow concert.
[Rosie]: It has a bed, a very very nice one :-)
[Rosie]: It has a bed, a very very nice one :-)
A 6 over long-off from the final ball of the innings - which demoted the square-leg glance to the 2nd best shot I've played all season. Happy days!
Bouncing maniacally through grass as tall as you are, with one's tongue lolling, one's tail swishing furiously, and one's ears flapping about one's head. I hope it's clear I'm posting this on behalf of someone else without internet access.
[Simons Mith] I doubt anyone else's elephant has internet access either, so yours shouldn't feel short-changed.
Driving at night on a wide road with cat's-eyes but no street lights.
Early evening walks after hot days, through hamlets where they're growing lots of jasmine.
Finding out that a person that you want to audition for your play is going to audition.
Seeing the kids from the social housing up the road showing total unawareness of racial differences.
Having the tax man pay for one's new bathroom and a holiday in the Greek Islands. Well, not literally, but that's about what the unsolicited tax refund I just received amounts to.
Discovering the existence of The Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments.
Debugging to the complete collection of A & B sides of every e.p. and 45 put out by Mungo Jerry. Alrightalrightalright.
(Only recently discovered) Standing stark naked in a field at 2am, having a much-needed pee in the middle of a raging thunderstorm. (Elemental, my dear Watson)
Living in the house where you don't resent housework.
Having next door's cat (called Yoda) come in and plonk itself down in the kitchen as I make breakfast. I mustn't feed it; it's not mine, more's the pity.
Coming home to the new house that's got better views than some of the places we stayed on holiday. The seasonally changing landscape of fields and trees, four new wind turbines in the past two weeks, but no sea view.
Going for a seven mile sprint on the bike on a sunny September evening, just because.
Hearing the Great African Belly-laugh.
The Red Arrows performing nearby.
Looking at things through binoculars.
The earthy smell and steaming stacks of the sugar factory 3km from the back of our house (and part of our view), which has started up again with the start of the local sugar beet harvest. It'll run until April.
I daren't mention Wales beating England at rugby, as I know it's not an everyday thing, even though it is rather satisfyingly frequent.
That first glass of red wine after a long, crap-awful day
Long phone call last night which means that friend I've had since I was 11 and her family are coming to the Netherlands spend New Year with us.
Muscovado sugar. Very naughty stuff. Too bad.
Harassing marine invertebrates in saltwater tidepools.
Watching puppies sleep/lie down peacefully.
Finding my "other" glasses.
A smile from my grandson
[Phil] Is that first one? Discovering I can write on my new tablet using my fat finger, even the HTML.
[pen] Yes, and what a smashing one he is too.
[Phil] Noo, I mean the first smile!
[pen] Ah, no it's not. They're much more regular now though :)
Dog hiccups!
YouTube Fail Videos, especially the ones in which a dog gets the short end of whatever. Cats pushing dogs downstairs, dogs running full-tilt into glass storm doors, dogs being sucked into black holes. That sort of thing.
Every time I hear the phrase "There's more than one way to skin a cat. It reminds me of the good times.
[Stevie] Dogs in boots!
The smell of tattooed tree corpses.
(Stevie) Try chimps, gorillas etc and mirrors.
A seafood platter on a Spanish beach front. (Why does eating seafood in Spain feel better than anywhere else?)
Watching Maggie Smith on Downton Abbey. Wait, what? Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
It's Easter!!!
Space 1889 and Delta Green. Reality. Who needs it?
Sitting in a ball chair. I found one in a flea market, of all places. I've wanted one ever since seeing No.2's chair in "The Prisoner" and discovering it was a real thing, and I was very tempted, but it wouldn't really fit in my house anywhere.
[Raak] Change your house! (I mean rearrange/reorganise the furniture) It can always be changed back if you change your mind. Things can always be bought and sold.
[pen] I also discovered that you cannot read in a ball chair, unless I installed some sort of interior light. Can't really listen to music either without a set of speakers in there as well. But for shutting out the world and relaxing, there's nothing like it.
Sitting in my very own ball chair. As far as I can tell from pictures on the web, this is the exact Eero Aarnio design. I might velcro a battery-powered reading light to the roof.
"I am Number 2."
"Who is Number 1?"
"You are Number 6."
"I am not a number, I am a free man!"
**mocking laughter**
I do not have sufficient security clearnce to view that image.
[SM] Only Number 1 may see that image.
Ah, some setting on my web server that doesn't like people linking to my pictures. It might work if you open it in a separate window.
Putting in a bunch of minimum bids on fancy stuff on eBay thinking 'that'll never work' and winning all of them. I needed another four pairs of shoes.
Village shops that not only have the cake-shaped Tupperware box that you need this afternoon in stock, but also gift-wrap the tea towels you bought for your sisters.
[Raak] Now all you need is a dial-under-the-base telephone, an Astro-lamp aka Lavalamp, a golfing umbrella, a weather balloon and some fishing line to tie it to your ankle and you are done (I assume you already have a suitable blazer). If I were any more envious of you I'd turn into a seethe. Will you be constructing a pit c/w hydraulic lift so you can rise from the mysterious Stygian depths seated in your magnificent chaise-ballon when greeting "guests"?
Doing the washing up [that bit's not my favorite part] while singing Ye Cannae Shove Yer Granny Aff the Bus and If It Wisnae Fur Yer Wellies to myself
Adding amusement to cutting the lawn by mowing geometric shapes - before cutting them too.
Lifting lumps of iron up and down.
[Bismarck] I am planning to mow a fan pattern from one corner of my lawn. I may try to post a picture if it works. This may happen tomorrow, but is more likely to wait a week, as I have quite a tight schedule tomorrow, and the extra faffing about won't make me popular at home.
[Raak] So you work a magnet crane in a scrapyard now? Cool! Third best real person job in the universe. My research shows the following, as judged by reported job satisfaction and the number of people saying "I always wished I could do that" when the subject of what one does for a living comes up in conversation at a party:
Bestest Real Person Jobs In Universe:
Worstest Real Person Jobs in Universe:
Bestest Real Person Jobs In Universe:
- Fire Engine Driver
- Train Driver
- Crane Operator
Worstest Real Person Jobs in Universe:
- Old Guy in Computer Support Department
- Lecturer in Hard Sums at University
- Gong Farmer
I'm obviously discounting jobs like Astronaut and Billionaire from the list on account of real people don't get to do those.
The smell of old books in a real bookshop. Just makes me happy.
M&S British Pudding Chocolates. Rhubarb Crumble, Banoffee, Bakewell Tart... Intense.
Family visits American niece and boyfriend here for three days. Arrived by overnight ferry to Rotterdam from England this morning, we immediately packed them off to Amsterdam on the train, and looking forward to hearing what they made of it over dinner tonight. I'm cooking roast beef and Yorkshire puddings (by special request) obvs.
Being able to see everything with a new and very expensive pair of glasses with progressive lenses. Rimless, titanium arms, definitely not bifocals.
Discovering more things I can do with my new spectacles without having to constantly wear a second pair on top of my head and keep switching them over, such as seeing all the icons on the SatNav screen at the same time as driving; being able to use the PIN machine at a petrol station without digging around in my handbag for the second pair first; cooking; making use of all the settings on my camera instead of relying on 'P'; shopping and being able to read the labels. More updates to follow.
(pen) Yes, they're - good, varifocals. I've got them but I still need another pair for music because you need to look through the lower part which means the trombone would be pointing up to the sky. When your focusing mechanism really seizes up as it does to everyone over about 55 you'll have to be quite careful about getting the right prescription. Won't cost any more, though.
Bloody useless things. Everything you need to read in the real world turns out to be at "eye level" which means to read whatever it is I either have to tilt my head so far back the wind makes my nostrils resonate or I have to stand so far back that people wander between me and whatever it is.
Also only the middle of the lens is properly ground. So what prescription is the rest of the lens made to? The wrong one.
Progressive lenses are the biggest incentive to go Lasic I can think of.
I persist with two pairs, although I might go progressive some day, and keep my old non-reading glasses for playing cricket, which I imagine would be disastrous in multi-prescription glasses.
Yes, I'm finding the limitations of these progressive lenses already. For being outside taking photos or on my bike, I need a thinner sliver of reading prescription at the bottom, and a deeper stretch of landscape-viewing prescription. And the sides are weird. I can set up lapping waves along the dining table by sitting in the middle spot and tipping my head back and forth. If testing myself for mal de mer was ever something I needed to do, I have the right glasses with which to do it.
But they are perfect for supermarkets.
But they are perfect for supermarkets.
Sitting in an empty church and listening to the silence.
[Raak] Amen.
Sending messages from the smartphone by selecting the first word proposed. Needs to be seeded with a couple of words and often ends up in an infinite loop, but there is a certain disquieting quality in it.
[Raak] Or Sitting on a lonely hill and listening to the noise. Both are equally soothing, IMHO.
(Raak + Phil) x 10 = sitting on a very high mountain and listening to both. I highly recommend Switzerland for the purpose.
(Phil) Reigate Hill is not that lonely but the racket from the M25 should make up for it.
nOT neeD1n6 reading gla55eS aTT all.
[Rosie] I was thinking of Lowbury Hill, on the Berkshire/Oxfordshire border, where most of the noise comes from skylarks.
[PPRR] I did it on our back deck this afternoon. Tractors and buzzards. Peeeuw peeeuw.
(pen) There's no answer to that. Were the buzzards all called Leighton?
(pen) I misread your post, substituting the first person plural for the first person singular. It's Phil's fault - you know what he's like.
[Rosie] Typical. And in answer to your question, I doubt it. They're Dutch ones.
[Rosie] I would try to deny it, but nobody would believe me.
Lebkuchen Yes, it's getting near Xmas and the moreish little buggers are in the shops already....
Taking part in huge games of Werewolf. The card game, not the idiotic LARP.
Each of the first few sort-of-words uttered by one's grandchild. He said "ready" yesterday, when we were playing the "ready, steady, sit down" game I invented.
Hidden text
And yes, I have surreptitiously trained my grandson to sit on command :)(Phil, via revelation) Command. Is that a family word for the potty? Best of luck, mate.
Running for a train, and catching it. I am so glad to be getting home around 1am rather than 2am.
Tangentially: Being better at running 5km than I expected. I'm aiming for 26 minutes on Saturday morning, and 25 mins by February.
Staying on a sporty theme : shooting 4 handicap points better at archery simply by holding the bow a tad differently. Nifty.
Padding across a cold marble floor in thick fluffy slippers. Ok, my bathroom floor isn't actually marble, the tiles just look like it.
Padding across a marble floor with underfloor heating in bare feet. Ok, ours are porcelain tiles, not marble either.
Eeeeee you two are lucky to 'ave floor! We only have sandpit filled wi' bits of broken glass.
Diff'rent strokes, as they say. I hate hot floors. My fave is walking across a cold stone floor on a hot day... ahhhhh. My feet are definitely heat sinks.
Dressing up like my character in the Deadlands:Reloaded weird west game I'm involved in. The GM turned up in cowboy drag too yesterday. I am an inspiration to the younger generation.
I should hasten to add I only do this on those days we actually play the game, and I confine my wild west RPG cosplay to those regions that can be seen when I sit at the table. The lower Steviebod is clad in my usual pink tutu, black vinyl hotpants and rubber waders.
The prosect of once more having muddy boots when I work on enhancing my expertise of fruit tree pruning and Dutch fruit tree vocabulary, next Saturday morning, and the next four Saturday mornings after that.
[pen] Were it not that you liked it, one might assume that you would claim "Penelope's exemption," whereby expat Penelopes may claim they work and enjoy the rewards, but actually do nowt. Mme Fillon being the current example.
[Bismarck] If you knew me, you'd know how untrue that was. I have a full-time university job, plus volunteering for the Netherlands' natural and historical heritage. We penelopes despise Mme Fillon and her pretence of working that brings the penelopes of this world into disrepute. (And I can actually write articles that get printed, unlike her)
A snowy landscape outside the living room windows, and a whole Sunday of baking and cooking - the in-laws and nieces are coming this afternoon. Carrot cake, cherry tarts, a big shepherd's pie, and baked stuffed apples.
Listening to my recently acquired "best of The Mutton Birds" CD. Jeepers, I wish I'd found these buggers years ago. Poppy tunes that cradle some of the best song-stories I've ever heard. I have no idea what "White Valiant" is about but it scares the living snot out of me every time I hear it.
Watching the local magpies build their nest.
And following [Bismarck], despite having to take the counter-intuitive long way onto the Rotterdam ring road (driving first in the wrong direction) in order to get home tonight because of jams, the route goes past a storks' nest with brooding storks on it.
First-class rail tickets priced high enough to put off the oiks, but not me.
An oik writes: "Getting across the country with split-rail tickets and actually making all the connections"
Driving to and from work while the schools are on holiday. The town I have to drive through is like a ghost town at the moment whereas it is normally a 10mph crawl.
Being called "Mr Hughes" by the very polite Indian at the local stores. Slightly embarrassing - I feel I ought to dress better.
Solving a case of déja vu. :-)
[SM] Again?
Grabbing a few Shreddies whenever I'm in the kitchen.
Almost done with this semester for classes! Then I get a "whole week" off until my next class starts!
Hotel wi-fi that works like it should. No password, no stupid web proxy in the way, no signing up. My laptop sees the wi-fi and connects, the same as at home. And a sensible amount of bandwidth too.
When the wi-fi at the laundromat actually works!
Working hotel Wi-Fi is always a nice thing . . .
Getting into my car and finding it starts.
The complete lack of targeted ads on this site.
The end of roadworks on the motorway bridge at the beginning of my drive to work every morning, and at the end of my drive home A chunk of metal from the bit of the bridge that lifts to let tall ships through came off two weeks ago, and they've been trying to fix it ever since. In the meantime, the 70km/h speed limit causes tailbacks at peak hours. My detour to avoid standing traffic is very pleasant - through the lanes and villages to join the motorway again 4 junctions up - especially at this time of year, but it doesn't put me in the mood for coming to work. I have three weeks off from 24 July...
The end of roadworks hasn't happened yet but it will be sooo good when it does.
The end of roadworks hasn't happened yet but it will be sooo good when it does.
Sausages on a toasted, buttered onion bagel with HP original sauce.
Sausages? Why didn't you say so before?! What kind of sausages though? I have just imported 3kg of best Lincolnshire sausages into the Netherlands after our stay there last week. I feel as rich as Croesus with a freezer full of sausages. In fact, I'm loathe to eat them. Hmmph.
The re-opening of Streatley Hill after 6 weeks of mending a chimney (damaged by a lorry), eliminating 16 miles from my daily drive, and meaning I can get to the Tesco Express that opened the other side of it about 4 weeks ago in about 8 minutes instead of 18.
Tuesday. No work to do. Bliss.
Going downstairs and into the front room and remembering why I did so
The pleasure gained from caring for and learning from my youngest granddaughter and then sending her home after a very exhausting day. To explain: My own children's childhood, apart from weekends (not many), I more or less missed. That was due to work hours, sometimes days at a time, plus my involvement in a number of local volunteer organisations as Treasurer/Secretary/President/Dogsbody.
Finding verse parodies by accident and giggling uncontrollably in public. There are about a dozen of them, you'll know some no doubt.
Pouring the sugar out of a Sainsbury's sugar bag This was unexpected. You know how a conventional 1kg bag of sugar is folded at the bottom and glued closed? So that there's always a last few annoying grains that hide under the paper flaps and won't come out? Well the Sainsbury's bag had a crimped closure, like the bottom of a crisp packet. Nowhere for those last few grains to lurk in hiding, so they all came out. Yay. +1 for a tiny refinement in modern packaging.
Having dinner at a restaurant and the waiters forgetting to put the booze on the bill. This happened last week, I'm hoping for an encore.
Being warm when it's cold. (And at other times, being cool when it's hot.)
The rare occasions when I can remember a chuckleworthy joke for long enough to pass it on. It's nowt to do with age as I've always had that 'disability'.
Taking my teenagers out to the Christmas market. Getting time together and enjoying it is precious.
Despite the winter solstice being two weeks ago, it seems to get darker in the mornings at this time of year, so I look for visual treats on my way to work to try and persuade myself that it's not all a dark slog in shitty traffic. First off this morning, driving to work under a full-ish and bright moon, and the rising sun only hitting the skyscrapers of Rotterdam (seen from my office window) after I got here.
And I have a new thermal cup and my tea from home was still hot.
And I have a new thermal cup and my tea from home was still hot.
Watching Rowan Atkinson play George Simenon's Maigret, dubbed into French. If you made him slightly thinner and slightly greyer and have him wear a slightly more worn mack, he would be exactly as I imagine Maigret. The acting, though, is spot on.
My newest happy song is "I Want an Alien for Christmas" by Fountains of Wayne.
Discovering a blurry picture on the internet that showed that in fact there are no missing parts to the loom of the Pelham "Mother Dragon" marionette Mrs Stevie gave me for Xmas, and by simply re-arranging the screw-eyes someone de-arranged for gosh-knows what reason and replacing the long-gone elastic links for the wings and jaw strings I now had a good-as-new puppet to play with even though this one was bought sometime before decimalization. Someone also tied knots in the leg strings so they wouldn't "run" through the screw-eyes, but I got those knots out with two needles (used as marlin spikes) and some patience while Doctor Who ran on Xmas night. S'triffic puppet. Raaaaaaaar!
Driving on the motorway past the same spot every morning this week just in time to see a huge flock of geese, numbering thousands, take off from their overnight roost.
Finding the waxed thread online and using it to repair the Dragon marionette. Thread snapped after I twisted the control strings too aggressively for storage (you do this to stop the lines tangling in the box). Head detached from body, tail detached and fell into component beads. All fixed now, though, including discovering a new and great way to "snug up" knots with only one pair of hands.
Made myself a full English breakfast this morning. Haven't done it in over 2 years, you just can't get the bacon over here, and Ham is not an acceptable substitute. So fried bread. Black Pudding. Bacon and scrambled eggs. Sausages. Tea and toast with marmalade. 'Cos that's the way (uh-huh, uh-huh) I like it.
Seeing that the second-hand 50-year old pear tree we installed outside the house a month ago (to make our new-ish house look less new on this street) is starting to blossom. Good. If it hadn't have done anything, then that would have been quite a lot of money wasted.
I spoke too soon. The tree gave up. Arse.
I saw tons of great local talent last night when I went to see my city's chapter of Christian Youth Theater's production of Seussical, Jr.
A Bank Holiday with perfect weather! Full sun, light breeze, able to take luncheon on the terrace (oh all right then, a chicken and cheese sandwich in the backyard). But, there was cider involved....
[pen] I'm impressed that it tried at all in its first year, after the shock of being moved. Have you given it the love and horse poop that a budding tree needs?
[Simons] It mostly needs water - it usually has reserves of everything else. We've given it buckets and it has rained a lot, and the wood is still green so it may still leaf/live or it may leave...
Being able to look out the window while computing
I'll explain this one a bit more. I had been using one of those bloody stupid iMac computers with a glossy screen. As a result, if ever I wanted to use the computer during daylight hours I had to sit with the curtains drawn or I couldn't see anything but my own reflection in the damn screen. That computer has now died, and good riddance to it, and this high-end Asus monitor I'm using (with a Raspberry Pi(!)) has a sensible matte finish. That means I can have the pleasure of looking out into my garden and using my computer both at the same time. I will never ever ever buy another Mac as long as their fatuous glossy screen practice continues. In fact, as I can't really think of any reason to forgive them for being that stupid in the first place, I may well continue to avoid them even if they stop that dumb behaviour. Still, I suppose boycotting a company primarily for their being morons is slight progress over boycotting them for being asshats. Although, yeah, Apple are asshats as well, aren't they?
BTW this iMac was second-hand from my brother-in-law. For a few hundred quid I think I got decent value for money, but I would never buy any Apple product new.
Watching the unfolding growth of spring day by day, as my back garden has been transformed from a bombsite into a botanical garden. Real easy to do, just find a girlfriend who is a landscape architect.
Being surrounded with angst-ridden and stressed Frenchmen and being oneself at peace. It's that footie again, the trains are all delayed, and I don't care much!
...one month later... [Pablo] Is it brown and crunchy yet? And do you still have the same girlfriend?
[Pen] I am happy to report that thanks to frequent borrowings of the neighbour's hosepipe (with his blessing I hasten to add), verdant greenness is still evident. And even after 10 days in Italy together 24/7, the girlfriend is also present and correct. Great summer!
Knowing that today’s 36C temperature is the last of the very hot weather for now and tomorrow will be in the 20s.
Hah! It's gone back over 30 again! Proper Aussie summer....
Finally getting rid of a bit of food stuck in your teeth Goodbye blackberry seed. Thanks to you that was a very long hour.
Playing with Lego.
Opening a new Avalon Hill game and punching and sorting counters. Since AH games have been oop since the early 1980s this involves finding "like new" "unpunched" collectors' items and ruining their collectibility in a punch-and-sort-and-bag fest. I love the smell of the cardboard as it comes off the matrix.
Crosby, Stills and Nash. Some people say it doesn't stand the test of time. They are wrong.
Completing things. Finishing things. Endings.
Manchego cheese. Or Havarti
The space where there used to be a piece of furniture.
Toiling on a bicycle through gale-force head winds with blustery sideswipes for several miles, for the feeling of achievement when I finally get where I'm going.
Being advised overnight that one has a new, shiny and bright grandson brought into to the world. He will, hopefully, carry on the family name (My previous grandchildren are girls).
For breakfast: Waffles with maple syrup, cream cheese, and several strips of bacon (applied to the waffle in that order).
[Dujon] Felicitations. Unlikely that my surname will be carried on to future generations, but as it is one of the more common ones, that isn't a problem.
The first balmy evening one can take dinner alfresco.
(Superman) Same here. "Everyone" in N Wales is called Rosie, if you see what I mean.
About time we had some happiness around here... in my hotel room looking at this website and eating shortbread. Not much wrong with that.
Sitting at my desk at home, eating chocolate, drinking tea, and editing an opinion piece by someone else, after which (post 5pm) I can work on my own blogpost what I have been invited to write for one of the tourist websites of my native Lincolnshire. There's work, and there's work that I like doing.
Visiting Spain.
Clearing out all the crap from under the bed. I’m sure we thought all those empty shoeboxes would come in useful one day.
This is more of a Room 202 entry, really, but Halloween. Because without Halloween, Christmas would probably be starting in early September by now.
Respiration. The Bronchitis is ebbing, the pneumonia is *not* taking hold and I can finally breathe without coughing, wheezing and my life flashing before my eyes as I strain to pull volumes of life-sustaining air into my tortured lungs.
Azathoth, I hope I go in an explosion or freak 16 ton weight accident. The Old Man Standard Death sucks balls if this trial run is anything to judge by.
[Stevie] Sympathies and get-well-completely wishes. My entry shall be Freedom from the crap microbe which screwed me over for most of December, involving robbing of life energy and torso-wrenching coughing, compounded by pulling my right IT muscle and contracting conjunctivitis to boot. Not a month I wish to relive.
[Pablo] On the plus side you have a starring part as Uncle Jack in the remake of Ripping Yarns: The Curse of the Claw.
Escape Rooms. A new experience for me, and the most fun I've had in years with my clothes on.
The first half term in 20 years that I have had off, really, really off.
waking up to see the first snowfall of the winter
Trees in blossom, seen from my home office window. And being able to make use of the good weather to get the laundry dried outside on a workday.
Finding a home workaround for restless legs
I get restless legs. Lying awake in bed at 3.a.m., 4 a.m., 5 a.m. with a pair of legs that think they want to go for a half mile run while the rest of me just wants to go to sleep is like Chinese water torture . My known exercise workarounds are to tire 'em out by going for a long walk, or running up and down a flight of stairs 6-10 times or pedalling furiously on an exercise bike for a couple of miles. But I live in a flat and have no stairs (and no exercise bike), so the two quick and easy workarounds were not available to me at home. Very, very glad to have found a life hack that I can do at home that also works and doesn't take the couple of hours the walk takes.
I get restless legs. Lying awake in bed at 3.a.m., 4 a.m., 5 a.m. with a pair of legs that think they want to go for a half mile run while the rest of me just wants to go to sleep is like Chinese water torture . My known exercise workarounds are to tire 'em out by going for a long walk, or running up and down a flight of stairs 6-10 times or pedalling furiously on an exercise bike for a couple of miles. But I live in a flat and have no stairs (and no exercise bike), so the two quick and easy workarounds were not available to me at home. Very, very glad to have found a life hack that I can do at home that also works and doesn't take the couple of hours the walk takes.
[Simons] You're going to tell us what it is, aren't you...? Sorry to hear of your case, it must be horrible to face up to confinement. Very glad you have found a solution.
[Simons] Yeah, what is your fix for the problem? (I bought a treadmill on Friday. Half of it was delivered on Saturday, the other half came this morning. I have paid for it by not having to buy petrol to drive to work for the next 6 weeks. I am imagining walking and listening to half-hour episodes of the Goon Show or Poirot or Paul Temple)
Well it's a home hack; I realized my futon base is at a usable height for 'step training'. Really it's far too high for proper step training but as I need the equivalent of running up at least 6 flights of stairs two steps at a time it'll do.
Normally a divan-like bed would be too soft, but mine's got two tatami mats in it so it's firm enough to step on repeatedly.
For restless legs, the NHS suggestions include taking a hot bath in the evening, or applying a hot or cold compress to your leg muscles - only cold works for me. In fact I also discovered that my legs don't get twitchy as long as they remain cold, so I sleep with not just my feet but my legs outside the covers, and provided it's not too warm a night that also works. Unfortunately my exercise tolerance and cold tolerance are increasing with practice, so my legs and I are locked in an arms race.
And when it's too hot, tiring them out (by any expedient method) is my only fix.
Normally a divan-like bed would be too soft, but mine's got two tatami mats in it so it's firm enough to step on repeatedly.
For restless legs, the NHS suggestions include taking a hot bath in the evening, or applying a hot or cold compress to your leg muscles - only cold works for me. In fact I also discovered that my legs don't get twitchy as long as they remain cold, so I sleep with not just my feet but my legs outside the covers, and provided it's not too warm a night that also works. Unfortunately my exercise tolerance and cold tolerance are increasing with practice, so my legs and I are locked in an arms race.
And when it's too hot, tiring them out (by any expedient method) is my only fix.
[Simons] Tried lying on your back and pedalling furiously?
I haven't actually, but that probably wouldn't provide heavy enough resistance to work against.
Strap bricks on your feet?
[Pablo] No, that's cruel. Poor bricks.
The silence.
I also heard there was a petition out to switch the street lights off so we could all see the stars.
I also heard there was a petition out to switch the street lights off so we could all see the stars.
And no junk mail either, have you noticed?
Pathetech's jumping pillar box pp Stevie
Practising pedal notes on the trombone. It's taken me 25 years to get the hang of this, for some reason. A wonderful rich farty sound that shakes the very walls.
So,Rosie, it wasn't trumpets that brought down the wall of Jericho?
The day I realised that my musical skills would never lead me to buying a musical instrument, brass or otherwise. It was the brass involved that disillusioned me.
(Duj) Musical instruments, especially new ones, are a ludicrous price and there's a lot of pretentiousness involved. The keys of a bassoon, so I was told by a bassoon player, are made put of silver. Why silver? Brass would do, or chrome-plated mild steel or even cast iron or even nylon, which is strong stuff. It's all bollocks, I tell you. Everything is. I could go on.
I would postulate that when it comes to the quality of metal, we are talking about the difference between a responsive brass instrument and one that has as much life in it as a 3 day old dead ferret. Like my French horn - complete crap, but then so am I as a horn player so it doesn't matter. There are, however, cases where it matters very much. Like real brass players.
(Pablo) The quality of the metal probably reflects the overall quality of the design from an engineering point of view but should not affect the actual tone since all the sound comes out of the bell and the material of the instrument itself hardly vibrates at all. This obviously does not apply to an instrument with a sounding board such as a piano, violin or guitar but it certainly does to a brass instrument. You can make a "brass" instrument out of anything, even cardboard. A metal mouthpiece probably helps though.
The worst thing about a cheap 'n' nasty trombone, say, is a sticky slide or leaky water valve, engineering defects. If you open the water valve some notes just disappear; they just cannot be played whereas others are completely unaffected. Weird! All to do with nodes and antinodes.
The worst thing about a cheap 'n' nasty trombone, say, is a sticky slide or leaky water valve, engineering defects. If you open the water valve some notes just disappear; they just cannot be played whereas others are completely unaffected. Weird! All to do with nodes and antinodes.
Watching the little birdies scoffing their mealworms. It seems mealworms are the best thing ever, to a bird. I am less enthused over the featherless cat that also likes them.
[Rosie] Granted that brass instruments are at base, merely tubes (so the didgeridoo qualifies as a brass instrument(??)), I think you could find many top pro brass players who say the metal matters very much. Not just for reasons of weight and balance, but the sound that they can get on them.
Re the water valve, I once knew a trombonist who could play a scale on it. You had to be there.
Re the water valve, I once knew a trombonist who could play a scale on it. You had to be there.
(Pablo) They get a good sound because they feel comfortable with the instrument which is probably expensive, shiny, well put together, well balanced and has a nice easy slide. The material simply can't matter because it doesn't vibrate.
As for the didgeridoo, I'd say yes, it's fundamentally a "brass" instrument because the sound is formed by the player's lips, not by a reed. So, for the same reason, is the sodding vuvuzela. I've played one made out of rubber. It blows just below the Bb below middle C. Harmonics are difficult to get and ridiculously out of tune anyway.
BTW I'm not "top brass" let alone a top brass player. Big Band hack, more like.
As for the didgeridoo, I'd say yes, it's fundamentally a "brass" instrument because the sound is formed by the player's lips, not by a reed. So, for the same reason, is the sodding vuvuzela. I've played one made out of rubber. It blows just below the Bb below middle C. Harmonics are difficult to get and ridiculously out of tune anyway.
BTW I'm not "top brass" let alone a top brass player. Big Band hack, more like.
[Rosie] technical qiestion: is a Kazoo a brass instrument or a reed instrument?
(pen) It's a reed instrument. The wonderfully vulgar sound comes from a vibrating membrane. Brass is basically blowing raspberries down a long tube, in my case 9-13 feet.
[Rosie] Us French hornets have a technique called bouchée or cuivré, whereby one partially stops the bell with the right hand while blowing like the proverbial. If the metal is good, the bell vibrates like crazy, which you can hear. If the metal is crap, nada.
Survival Just read back my entry directed to Stevie from early in the year, commiserating with his bronchitis. Christ, I must have had Covid! Pre-release version, OK, but it has been established that it has been around since November. Note to self - get antibody tested.
(Pablo) If the bell vibrates surely it can only do so at one frequency which may well not be the note you are blowing. My trombone does this and the bell resonates just above D a ninth above Middle C. I can only get this note on a good day (a D-day, I call it) but you can excite the resonance by playing the G below Middle C, just slightly sharp. But none of this affects the sound of the 'bone in its normal range.
BTW I hope the Covid hasn't done you any harm. I certainly don't want to get it myself, not at my age.
[Rosie]Without trying to labour the point, I think this shows the difference between quality of metals, as instruments respond very differently. Tried doing harmonics? Like playing a note and humming strongly the 5th, 10th or 12th above? Bones are particularly good for this. Horns OK, Weber even wrote them into his Horn Concerto.
Thanks for the Covid good wishes. As I am still here, and as good as ever, no, it didn't bloody well get me, despite my age. I'm sure it's the cabernet sauvignon that did it - excellent preservative.
Thanks for the Covid good wishes. As I am still here, and as good as ever, no, it didn't bloody well get me, despite my age. I'm sure it's the cabernet sauvignon that did it - excellent preservative.
(Pablo) Can't do those harmonics. However, I can do quite a good growl, something that goes down quite well in a trad band but would get you some funny looks if you tried it in a big swing band.
[Rosie] Eh? Since when was growl banned from big bands? I've written it into swing charts myself. Bubber Miley in Duke Ellington's band?
(Pablo) You certainly wouldn't put in a growl when playing ensemble but I agree it could easily be part of an ad lib solo. I've even tried it myself but not to any great effect.
[Pablo] I relate that music to not very good chocolate chip cookies (though, if given them, I won't refuse) because of this
(Pablo) Top trumpet players but that isn't a growl, it's the wa-wa mute and probably marked as such on the chart.
[Rosie] Actually it's marked as a plunger growl. (Wah-wahs wouldn't cut it - not gutsy enough)
A little rain.
A little rain is a little pleasure. A lotta rain, I agree, maybe not. But overall I like rain more than not, personally.
A little rain is a little pleasure. A lotta rain, I agree, maybe not. But overall I like rain more than not, personally.
Lunchtime dogwalking wearing a coat Much cooler today, around 19C after last week's 32-33-34C, and I'm back at work (although still working from home) which means I do the lunchtime dog walk. I had to wear a waterproof coat and actually enjoyed the cooler temperatures that made me walk faster on the 1.6 miles to the potato warehouse and back. Thank goodness I've invested so much in boots and coats over the past few years. I have gear for every possible lunchtime meteorological condition from now until at least next April.
(pen) Well, don't hold your lightning conductor like that - it could be live.
The shipping forecast. Just been listening to a French person who said he liked listening to the French shipping forecast as he used to go sailing with his grandfather. Not just a Blighty thing, then.
I remember - 20 or so years ago - driving around somewhere near Aberdeen or Inverness for work and playing around with the Long Wave on the car radio and picking up what I presume was the Danih- or perhaps the Norwegian shipping forecast. It certainly wasn't German or French, but I could identify the names of the shipping areas.
Serendipitous discoveries Today my friend and I took a slightly different route on our walk round Wimbledon Village, and found Cannizaro Park, which neither of us knew was there.
[Simons] Hidden gem, isn't it? Make sure you go next June when the rhododenrons come out, it's amazing.
Corporate kindness Rare as it is, it generates a lot of goodwill when I see it. Especially when humor is also shown. See this recent example from Northern Rail.
"We are aware we have bees nesting at the end of platform 3.
Please do not disturb them.
Consider them as key workers and apply social distancing."
Oh hey, I'm accidentally switching to American spelling. Serves me right for getting in to a big document in US-English.
Tim Vine jokes. Merriment.
Cake.
It's raining and windy and grey and I just got soaked on a dog walk so any cake will do. I should have made one yesterday but was busy ironing. Banana bread tonight then.
It's raining and windy and grey and I just got soaked on a dog walk so any cake will do. I should have made one yesterday but was busy ironing. Banana bread tonight then.
Red wine, after a week on the wagon taking a no-booze antibiotic
The wobble on a good hot dog. This one hadn't occurred to me, but it is true, and this video link of the WobbleDog 9003i in action makes an incontrovertible case.
I shall now pause to observe a moment of silence for the few dogs injured during these experiments.
Still sunny at 16:00 on a Friday afternoon in January. Longer days in lockdown.
My car passed its MOT. First time for ages. That means I can still legally drive to Waitrose (one mile). The open-ended freedom this endows me with is positively scary.
More red wine. And more....
A dog sleeping on your lap and cherry coke with grenadine or pomegranate juice.
Waking up with a pulse and apparently Covid-free. Thanks to RFLT.
[Chalky] Radox-Filled Large Tub?
[chalky] Ralf Lemster Financial Translations?
Red Frogs Finishing Tuna?
Robots Liking Flambed Turkey?
Red Frogs Finishing Tuna?
Robots Liking Flambed Turkey?
Rapidly Fried Lark's Tongues?