|
|
Thank Goodness That's Done With !!!!!!!!!!!!
|
|
|
Well that's Crimbo done with for another year guys,
I raised a glass and toasted absent friends, present company included,
managed to get the wife a satisfactory pressie, didn't do too badly
myself. But I have to admit it's not my favorite time of year, the
older I get the more I despise the rampant commercialism that surrounds
religious festivals, we're exhorted to spend like there's no tomorrow
before Christmas, and once Christmas Day's upon us it's the sales that
are shoved down your throat, and by Boxing day we all need a new kitchen
or bathroom, or a sofa! I give it three weeks before Easter eggs
are being advertised, Oh! sorry got to get Valentines Day out of the way
first.
OK whinge finished, I'm now going to use this miracle of modern
science and technology to book us a Spring break in Prague, that'll be
something to look forward to.
Stu
Dec. 28, 2009
(Edited Dec. 31, 2009)
|
|
|
|
Hi Stu and all.
Delighted that you had a good Christmas and that your pressie impressed the 'Good lady'. Brownie points all round!
Agree entirely with your view regarding the commercialism of
festivals, and the bits in between. Voice my views on it quite regularly
but get accused of being a miserable old fart! It's reassuring to know
that there is another sane person on this planet that gets 'Up tight'
about it all.
Trust you managed to book your break in Prague OK. Never been there myself, but am told that the old city is very beautiful.
Had a good Christmas ourselves although haven't had chance to raise
that glass yet, every time I try to creep up on the bottle someone
reminds me that I have to drive later. Not saying who the someone is,
mark you! Never mind, the opportunity will almost certainly arise pretty
soon as the weather forcast is for snow again, which is a good excuse
not to go anywhere.
Happy New year to one and all.
Sticky.
Dec. 28, 2009
|
|
|
|
Hello John, Stu and all,
Commercialism & annual events ... this year has been really
different for us for a change. Firstly we were deprived of sleeping for
two days. ...Why? .. well, our heating oil delivery of 900 ltrs took
place three weeks ago. That in itself was painful enough, but for some
peculiar reason our 5 years old steel burning oil storage tank
chose Christmas eve to have a "baby" ...well, we assumed it was a
"miracle birth" .. a section of brown material (which was originally
steel) some 2mm thick and some 20cm x 15cm arrived on the concrete at
the front of the tank. (luckily it was not at the back, or we never
would have noticed it.)
This "unwelcome visitor" brought with it the "sleepless nights",
and the certainty that if the steel tank bent any further (under the
weight of 1000 kgs of fuel) that it would have flowed downhill into our
conservatory, lounge, hallway, garage (workroom) oand on out through the
kitchen, entrance hall & porch. Some 576 sq. ft. to a depth of 1
inch would have been covered by the 1000+ ltrs contained in the 1250 ltr
tank. ( see, I knew this technical education would come in handy one
day .. today is that day.)
2.45 p.m. on Christmas eve I am orgainising containers of all kinds
to pump out said tank. I managed to get out 375 ltrs that day, and on
Christmas day borrowed 3 wheelie garden waste bins. This
allowed another 720 ltrs to be removed. We now have a "boot sale" stall
in the back garden of tanks of various sizes. A new tank is arriving
a.s.a.p., and will be very welcome .. perhaps as a "first footer" if we
are fortunate. I had a quote from a local oil dealer of £1,600 to supply
& fit tank ..PLUS .. £140 +vat to transfer the oil on EACH
occasion.
The supplier did not appreciate my Christmas message, and we ceased
the telephone "interaction experience" very rapidly. So, if that sounds
bad enough, try this as an aside....this morning whilst attempting to
enjoy some "retail therapy" @ MAPLIN Electronics in bBristol, (60w Solar array, mounbting frame, 4 panels, regulator, leads etc @ £199 in the sales John). The
car made a peculiar "clunk, clunk" noise a soon as we got up to 3
m.p.h. .. the bloody suspension spring (drivers front) has snapped.
Son, (mechanic), has ordered said item, will try and fit to car
tommorow. We need our only car desperately for the sorport run
to pick up 84 yr old mother-in-law from Bristol Airport. (She`s in
Scotland visiting her son for Christmas.)
What with Anths computer breaknig down yesterday as well, it` s been a funny old Christmas really, ... how was it for you ?
P.S. .. dare I say a Happy New Year to you all? ... head down again ... more sleep required.
Dec. 29, 2009
|
|
|
|
Well!! That was IT again, was it?
In certain ways my faith in the proper order of things has been restored...always reassuring. viz:
Spent
Xmas eve and early morning glued-to-the loo and holding a long time ago
baby potty to my face. (anyone designing a bathroom should ensure that
the bog and the sink are close enough to be used simultaneously ).
Thus Xmas day was lost as I was in bed and have taken 3 days to recover-ish.
Mrs
W went down with a cold at the same time and has maundered about making
me feel even guiltier that I could not contributr to the festivities (
other than having provided all the food and drink....none of which I
have been able to stomach...).
The sister in law had the worst
attack of facial eczema even she has ever had and looked like a boiled
beetroot and also was ailing.
Brother in law was ok as he stayed buried in his only pleasure, his computer, throughout.
Son and partner fled as soon as they decently could.
And that was THAT....what a waste of time and money!!!! Good to have had my predictions confirmed.
But on the positive side the moonstone earrings I give Mrs W went down A TREAT. So THAT was good wasn't it.
Bye Bye
Dec. 29, 2009
|
|
|
|
,Hi Bill and all,
Sorry to hear about your disasterous Christmas, Bill but nice to know that you are getting on top of it now.
I know its useless after the event, but if you had contacted me at
the time I would have happily delivered to you a 1000 ltr IBC you could
have decanted the lot into one container! There must be some perks in
being in involved with steam shows!
If it's any consolation I remember a similar Christmas when we were
first married and we were spending the festivities with the inlaws at
Yeovil, the car brakes failed on the way down. We arrived OK in the end
and I spent the rest of the holiday trying to repair the brakes without
access to any spares, very limited tools and no transport. All this was
outside and the weather was hellish. I was on my own as the frequent
attempts to get assistance from the RAC, using a public phone box,
proved futile. I let my membership lapse after this episode!
Thanks for the tip about Maplins at Bristol, must try to get down
there, weather permitting. Could do with some retail therapy myself.
Shame about Anth's computermabob, good job that you were able to
assist. Never have trusted Vista, think I will wait a bit for seven to
settle before I invest in a new laptop, good excuse to get the solar
panels now!
Been a bit of a wasted day today because of the cold, sleet and
snow, but have replaced the fire bricks in the old wood burner, toasty
toes tonight.
Sorry Chris, I completely missed your posting first time of
reading, sounds as though your festivities were not great either.
Sincere sympathies regarding your yuletide mallady, hope your recovery
continues apace and you will be able to make up for lost time at the New
Year. Still, glad to hear the ear rings were a hit, got to be brownie
points there!
I reckon that you should have earned at least a little sympathy and the possible occasional mopping of the brow.
Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous new year.
Sticky.
Dec. 29, 2009
(Edited Dec. 29, 2009)
|
|
|
|
Hi Chris, sorry to hear about your terrible
Christmas, hope you have recovered enough to begin eating again, are you
sure it wasn,t the sheeps's naughty bits that upset you, only
joking mate it happens to us all at some stage and you are so right
about bathroom layouts, been there ,done that, hope you are well enough
to enjoy new year.
Bill, give me a ring tomorrow if you need anything.
Dec. 30, 2009
|
|
|
|
Why is the world is still wedded to Bill Gates and all his evil
works particularly when for a few extra mullacas one can bathe in the supremely
reliable and virtually crash proof OSX on the Mac? Before any one
screams “what about compatibility?” I say no problem.
I’ve used Macs for 5 years now and have not had a single
prob. when updating the OS. We use
mainly PCs at school but Word, Excel, PowerPoint, JPG, MP3 and gazillions of
other data types move seamlessly between the two. I haven’t come across a single person who once having leapt
from the PC dark side into the brilliant sunlit paradise that is Apple has ever
regretted it. No, Steve Jobs
is not paying me a bundle to push his kit but a swift visit to an Apple store
(Cribbs Causeway and Cabot Circus) might just be the dawn of a new era for
those who have a congenital fear/frustration/loathing of all things Microsoft.
Hope everyone has a great New Year inc. Chris’ parroty.
Mike
Dec. 30, 2009
|
|
|
|
Mike, its the same thing as cars, why dos,nt
everyone drive a VW Golf- its cost, plain and simple, and the
other thing you mentioned, a swift visit to Cribbs Causway-
availability, Widows machines are everywhere, in your face and cheap and
fairly simple to repair, I caused the fault on my machine by unhooking
the power at a critical moment, daft or what.
P.S
Just had an email to confirm I have won a foot massager on a daily
competition, the guy yesterday won £500 ,just my luck but I suppose its
something
Dec. 30, 2009
(Edited Dec. 30, 2009)
|
|
|
|
Good afternoon,
I Have just received messages from Des Knuckey (USA) and
Roger Coombe (Spain) to wish all of us a happy new year, (well me
really, but I thought I`d pass the messages on as well). Updates for
their email addresses and web sites will be amanded shortly in
"Favouries" .."old boys web sites".. in the "Skydrive" for interested
parties.
Thanks for the messages guys, good news this morning is that son
has called & fitted new spring to Caroles car. The bank phoned and
have now un-locked my debit card ...(I went mad on the retail therapy
yesterday, the flock of moths put them off, they thought it was
fraudulent usage! ) .. New solar panels arrived 4 hours ago .. Tony,
your bits are here for computer.
So, it will be a happy new years after all ..ha ha .. hope Chris
recovers from the "Dehli belly", and that all have a goodly time.
Computers, I have used a Cambridge Micro (BBC "B") from 1983 to
2001 for business purposes ... a bit basic (no pun intended), but
out-performed my early P.C.s in both speed and relability. It was only
the requirement for more sophisticated software, and a burning smell
from the motherboard that signified the death of it. Windows is good as
long as you never upgrade it regularly. I do iyt about every 10 years, I
have moved onto Vista Business this year on a new laptop. I
have discovered that by switching off automatic updates, and by
installing ONLY the critical updates .. that it stays fairly stable.
(One Internet Explorer update actually prevented it working altogether).
The Mac and its variants are really reliable and widely used in
business, publishing and music industry for years.
Phone has gone .. it`s Anth ... got to go now ..
Dec. 30, 2009
(Edited Dec. 30, 2009)
|
|
|
|
Happie Youlle Alle
Sorry, lads, for the selfish
pathetic entry, written when I was at my most aggrieved! Your unselfish
missives put me to shame, Sticky.
Now recovering thanks...I'm
sure your fervent prayers helped. Can now pharrttttte with equaminity, a
facility you and your partner, especially, don't usually appreciate.
The pleasure and freedom of being able to stand outside with one
slightly raised leg and allowing the lyttle body free reign is not to be
dimissed lightly in my opinion.
So glad that you managed to bale
(literally by the sound of it) yourself out of the oil crisis, Bill.
The image of a tidal wave of oil must have haunted you over those
festive hours. The sooner you become independent of fossil fuel the
better. That or move to flatter ground. And as for the car. The wonder
of having a return on the horrors of parenthood must have been really
satisfying.
The death of a computer is never to be taken lightly
and probably more distressig than the loss of certain family members.
That it can happen to the computer-abled is frightening to those of us
who paddle apprehensively in the more functional shallows....what hope
for us. But then as my wyffe do say , it only goes wrong when you fiddle
with it....the computer that is. ( she may be right about the other
too!).
Glad the rest of you appear to have had a relatively
untarnished Youltydde. The foot massager sounds
really....??????....!!!!!!...ummmm, Anth.
Oh! Just
remembered....Bill....Did/do you know Andy ('Arry ) Pickford who was in
my year and came from Timsbury? he went from the tec to teacher
training at Cheltenham if I remember correctly.
Dec. 30, 2009
(Edited Dec. 30, 2009)
|
|
|
|
Hello Chris,
Sorry to say that Bath was my home town, and that`s where I was for
my entire School days. Pickford removals are the only Pickfords that
come to mind, (but they were in Bath of course..I hope). I was
enthralled by Tymsbyre in 1969, and settled into sound recording at my
Home designed and built premises in the village.
I have of course given up such fantisies of making my fortune in
sound, all my friends who remained in the Recording Industry have spent a
lifetimes income trying to keep pace with the Technology. It`s a rich
mans tax loss I`m afraid (Ask Peter Gabriel at New World Studios in
Box). I managed to sell off most of the equipment in 1974 before it
became obsolete. I have still pursued the hobby with the computer only,
but still have a Swiss made (Lenco) record turntable for transferring
Vynil to CD.
Regards...
Dec. 30, 2009
(Edited Dec. 30, 2009)
|
|
|
|
Hi all.
It's going to be short tonight (I tell myself) as it's very late already.
Cor aint you posh, Bill, best we could manage was a couple of BSR autochange decks (rubbish).
Glad to hear that most of your crises have now been resolved. Did
the retail therapy today, didn't know that Maplin had moved, still
looked for them at Horfield, but found them OK in the end! Now proud
owner of Solar Panels suitable to start a small power station.
Waiting for some reasonable weather now to rig it all up.
Oh! And glad that Anth's computermabob is feeling better now!
Relieved also to hear that a walk outsidethe back door is now
possible, Chris, what you do when you get there is your own affair!
Trust that both you and wyffe continue to improve, and that parrotty has managed to survive the festive season unscathed.
Best Wishes to all.
Sticky.
Dec. 31, 2009
|
Available