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I love all nuts, but it is difficult to name a favourite. I add mixed nuts to museli, and of them I think walnuts are my least favourite, whereas I prefer almonds, brazils, cashews and hazel nuts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex_UK
Did you know that employees who work in nuclear power plants are not allowed to bring Brazil nuts in with them? Brazil nuts are very slightly radioactive and they set off the radiation alarms.
I like both my nuts equally. Sorry, I think cashews are probably my favourite too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex_UK
As for you being mildly offended by your wife's behaviour, obviously she had to hide them as she knew they'd be gone in five minutes if you knew about them. And I bet you still haven't come clean about the stash of Peperamis hiding behind your collection of Five Star CDs...
Nobby’s
And now for something different!
I have spent much of today in London. As is my habit, I while away the train time and time spent on the overground with my head stuck in the newspaper, wrestling with the cryptic crossword of the day. I was so engrossed, that when I did look up I was surprised to see, sat diagonally opposite me, was a man with Macaw parrot on his arm.
It was splendid beast with bright scarlet plumage, and seemed quite content with preening itself. I was troubled however by the fact that its owner would periodically hit it on its beak, to which the parrot would simply say "hello".
Probably the most surreal experience I've ever had on the overground. And no - the owner did not wear an eyepatch or have a wooden leg.
Have still to finish the crossword!
Should have got the parrot to help you. 26 down: Pining for the Fjords? (9, 4) N _ _we_ _ _n _lu_ :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
If you didn't say 'Beautiful Plumage' - minus a million points.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
One month of retirement completed - that went fast!
Managed to keep up my exercise regime which I think is pretty good going given I'm bone idle.
Still getting up early most days I don't think that's going to change.
Not really got used to it yet, still feels like I'm just on leave.
For the last seven years since I started taking tablets for high blood pressure, Anita has done all the online ordering of repeat prescriptions. Anyway this time round I decided I should take more responsibility for this stuff and so ordered it myself. But after six days the medication still hasn't landed. So I made a rare visit to my email account, only to find my email wasn't delivered because I got it wrong :doh:
So now, with no tablets I was curious to see how my blood pressure has been affected, as displayed on my "smart" watch. In recent times it has been around 145/80, which is a bit high. Now it shows my BP to be 116/74!
Something not right here, I think I need to get some batteries for my proper BP monitor get that up and running again. Because I suspect my smart watch might just be a pile of crap - last week I noticed it recording 'steps' while i was a passenger in the car :scratch:
Anita has just dropped her son and daughter-in-law at the airport. We all know that holidays in this country aren't cheap, but really...
They originally going to have a four-night break in Scarborough, for which bed and breakfast came to £460 including rain. Add to that 260 miles worth of fuel driving there and back, and you're looking at north of 500 quid.
So instead they're having four nights self-catering in Portugal which comes to £458 including car hire over there. Ofc there's still the cost of driving them the 30 miles to Manchester airport and a fiver charge for dropping them off. And another tenner when picking them up again. Bunch of bandits that airport.
We have been considering Albania for a holiday destination this summer (no really, some of it looks very nice), but we'll have to look into the cost.
One option is to get a ferry to France, then return on a rubber dinghy, spend a while in a detention centre after which we could get a flight to Albania and get unlimited stay there, all for free. A bit of a faff this option though, and I hear the dinghy trip is quite pricey.
Looks like some considerable danger is involved with this option as well, so we might just see how much Tui and Jet2.com are charging.
Bit of an unfair comparison since they would also be getting the benefit of a bitter north-easterly wind with the Scarborough option.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony
Yeah the hoteliers failed to mention that, a missed opportunity I think.Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
My dad stayed there last July, he really doesn't remember much about the place, nor who took this photo.
https://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk...rim=&width=640
I might fire up the George Formby grill later, in tribute to the big man. If I can find it. Get me sausages on.
I visited Albania with a couple of friends in 1992. Enva Hoxa had died eighteen months earlier, so we thought it would be a good time to visit and see how much of the communist/Stalinist/Maoist regime was left.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony
Then there were no direct flights to Albania; one had to fly to Corfu and get the ferry across to Albania, where you could get a visa.
Well our expectations proved to be correct: the food, local wine and local transport (buses) were terrible. Even worse, the Albanians themselves had realised they had been taken for a ride by their politicians and basically revolted by smashing up the factories (no bad thing as they were hopelessly inefficient and unsafe), and sad to see in some places they had cut down the trees of once tree-lined avenues for firewood. They now seemed to be doing nothing, just hanging around the cafes and bars, endlessly smoking g and living off foreign aid. That said, those that could speak English or French were very keen to talk to us, as under the Hoxa regime they had been forbidden to talk to foreigners. And I was shown the most amazing hospitality by one Albanian family who invited me into their house and plied me with cognac and some nibbles.
There's a lot more I could relate about the adventures we had; not least trying to leave the country, but that was then and this is now.
I'm sure the country has changed and improved out of all recognition since then. They wanted to boost their tourist industry, which required the building of decent, modern and clean hotels. So anyone travelling there today would have a pleasant stay. In fact when I travelled down the Dalmatian coast to Montenegro, I would have liked to have gone into Albania to see what the country is like now. Sadly we couldn't do it as there would have been no end of hassle in taking the car in and out.
But do go there Steve - the beaches (what little I saw of them) are clean, and as I said the Albanians themselves are very hospitable.
Which one is your father in the photo? ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony
It really is a serious option Barry - we've been to Bulgaria several times and enjoyed good weather, decent food and drink at good prices, and friendly folk who aren't afraid of hard work. We had considered Croatia too, but that is relatively expensive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
We recently saw a docu series about the Balkans, and Albania featured in some of it. They really are trying hard to get themselves on the tourist map, and I'd feel good doing my bit to help that happen. As you said, the beaches look lovely, though we don't bother with them much.
If we do, I'll report back on my thoughts, I might even learn how to post pictures on here!
Some strange things happened yesterday.
I visited a suppliers next door to Screwfix, and as I approached, with the intention of parking on the road just after Screwfix's car park, there was a Porsche Panamera about to exit said car park. Then as I passed there was aloud bang. I got out to look at the vehicles, and saw that while my van had the tiniest marks on the wheel arch, the front of his Porsche was a right mess.
The bloke was apologetic and visibly upset, so I felt a bit sorry for him and told him we could swap insurance details, though as my van was ok it was up to him. He declined and drove off.
Twenty minutes later I went into Screwfix to buy some Stanley blades, and while waiting I heard someone at the other end of the counter asking the staff to see the CCTV as someone had driven into his friend's car. I called over "That would be me", and the Porsche driver just stared at me with a blank expression. "What, you drove into my car?"
"No, you drove into my van, we had this conversation twenty minutes ago".
"Sorry, I don't remember, I have brain damage".
His friend piped up, quite aggressively: "Never mind that, we want to see the CCTV, and I want your insurance details", which I then provided.
The staff member returned, saying "Your car already had that damage when you first came onto our car park".
Mystery solved? I'm not sure. Should this bloke who crashed his car into something, then crashed it into my van, and has no recollection of either event fit to be on the road? Or was this all a clumsy attempt to scam me? I'll never know as they both buggered off quick sharp.
With people like this on the road I'm just glad I wasn't on my bike.
Did you take note of the registration? You could then have reported the incident to the DVLA to see what they made of it.
He's got a 90 grand (at least) car - which he's already smashed up once - and brain damage?
Got to be one hell of a back story there.
Was the pal in the car when he hit your van?
:doh: No I didn't. I should've thought of that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
No, the bloke was alone, the "pal" just appeared later with him.Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
So he's got brain damage and can't even recall having a car crash just twenty minutes ago, but he's driving about unaccompanied?Quote:
Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony
And who told the pal about the crash if the driver has no recollection of it and he wasn't there at the time?
I doubt if they would have done anything anyway, save perhaps informing the local police that the driver may not be fit to drive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony
Judging by the way the Porsche driver was dressed compared to his "friends" appearance, I'd say he was probably having work done at his house by this bloke, and gave a dodgy garbled version of events when he returned, after seeing the state of his car: ("What's happened to your car? It wasn't like that when you set off to Screwfix...")Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
It has since occurred to me that it might be diabetes-related - symptoms can include disorientation, and even appearing pissed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
If he has diabetes, he should have informed the DVLA.
I suppose so, but it wouldn't prevent him driving would it? I'm sure my mate's diagnosis didn't stop him driving HGVs.
It depends on the medication he has been prescribed. Some medication if not taken will cause hypoglycaemia with symptoms you describe.
All diabetics must inform the DVLA and tell them the medication they are on. They won't be barred from driving, just advised to be aware of the warning symptoms.
Ah yes, that makes sense. I've just read that an estimated 4.6 million people in the UK have diabetes, plus over a million undiagnosed. An awful thing to have, so many problems associated with it.
I just heard a lady on local radio refer to sitting on the “patio” - now I have always pronounced patio as pat-ee-o but she pronounced it pay-she-o - I have never heard it pronounced that way, now wondering if I have been getting it wrong all these years or if the lady on the radio was actually Hyacinth Bucket…?
where I'm from we pronounce it 'back yard.'Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex_UK
English is a mongrel language, which having grown from the contribution from several other languages, is grammatically and phonetically one of the most irregular.
This manifests itself most acutely when it comes to pronunciation. Thus we pronounce "patio" as 'pat-ee-o', whereas we pronounce "ratio" as 'ray-she-o', because they are both loan words but from different sources.
Of course all this makes English one of the richest languages to use, and in some ways the most efficient: just compare the space taken up by various languages in multi-language texts.
I think Alex's pronunciation has to be correct, otherwise it would make a nonsense of that Irish double glazing salesman, Patty o'Dor :)
:lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
Good observation there Barry, Ratio is a good point well made.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry
How do you pronounce Scone? :)
Another :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony
I would pronounce it like this:
There was one on the plate in front of me, but it's scone now :)
I have a bone to pick with that reply... :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony
Boy working for me today, never off his phone, unreal, a good worker actually, and mostly kept up, but every time he walked back to the van, texting like a demon, and who was he texting? His dumb ass girlfriend? His mate? No, his bleeding mum! Can you imagine, someone's mum bothering them all day at work, fuching unreal.
Dwile Flonking
A curious East Anglian "sport" that sadly failed to get Olympic recognition.
Credit to Dave Burt on the Facebook page "Rural East Suffolk in Old Photograph" for his description and the links:
To play you need two teams. Then you toss a sugar beet to decide which team flonks first.
Then you choose a dull-witted person to serve as referee. That’s the jobanowl. He or she starts the game by shouting, “Here y’go t’gither!”
The team that isn’t flonking holds hands and dances in a circle (that’s called girting) while one person from the other team (that’s the flonker) stands in the middle with a driveller–a 2- to 3-foot pole made of hazel or yew. On the end of the driveller is the beer-soaked dwile.
The flonker turns in the opposite direction from the girders and flonks the dwile at the opposing team, trying to hit someone. If the dwile hits a girter’s head, that’s called a 'Wanton', worth three points. If it hits the body, it’s a 'Morther', worth two points. A leg shot’s called a 'Ripper', worth one.
If it misses, it’s called a swadger and the flonker takes a pot of ale and has to drink it all while the girters form a line and pass the dwile from hand to hand, chanting, “pot, pot, pot.”
The pot? It’s what’s known as a gazunder–a chamber pot, called that because it goes under (goezunder–blame English spelling if you can’t make sense of the joke there) the bed.
When everyone’s had a chance to flonk, the game’s over and the points get counted up.
Teams lose a point for every person who’s sober at the end of the game.
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv% 3DUBamCWdx6gI%26t%3D33s%26fbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CM TAAAR2RMciCgnOsHKVz8klB806mbNIzQzkrP1FpI1dxJGdAX2m EkmNN-jkLJ_c_aem_FQfg-U7o02yMmhZFwjmRgg&h=AT1Pep8OR0lSkctxcY73WUFLZTYQQN Iffrq3WZ1IDzEGO27mhawJUfKmwIowbuXH5IyQYKpPSKMp455P HMSPxuPkaNl8FFXQ-abyAwNNLYTMrAUPrYyHv9tskWhPPay1c7d6wHaW1fwhi2Lxhya 4sw&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT0q_eCJnB6TtbGkYRqnI_D2JGaFV6QHyB1h-qvo8Gx77sjeLn-IqliaV-vAqnBJYzJsjVHxbV0FMqPl4cXsFdpWYZqPI5n-XkSlzh9O8lCKuq9-D_r4XWJDLumwwoaO3gvG7RjY_LuQ-aVGQ6A_Iu4ds4nXVVNwPJLB-rG_OpxGIy0LiEmbIIT5eJ1yl-pOKzbxFdwJUwCbK-2DGppJqeU0nug6oQ
Or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9WUbtFlP6M
There's a lot going on there. A bit too complicated for yer average sports fan. And me :doh:
Fair point, Steve, upon reflection maybe I should have kept that to myself and filed in my brain as "weird shit you can't explain and shouldn't share on the internet" :lol:
No, not at all Alex, I think there's room for a sport that needs brain power, not just what the offside rule is all about. Is it a sort of British Bulldog/Morris dancing hybrid? I'm just revealing myself as someone who knows bugger all about any sport apart from perhaps motorcycle racing. And archery, though that probably doesn't count.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex_UK
If it wasn't for archery we'd all be speaking French.
I'd like for archery to take the credit, but really is it a case of we won the battle but lost the (100 years) war? You're the man with the history brains - Agincourt, Poitiers, Crecy, that's all I've got, because I know we won them.
Each year, on St. Crispin's Day (25th October), my archery club had a competition where we'd shoot at anything French-looking. Apart from Gerard Depardieu, we didn't know about him back then.
Yes the French took it all back off us in the end - except for Calais. We weren't prepared to spend the money it would have cost to hang onto it. Bit like with America.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony
Our French teacher at school was French. Some of the lads liked to goad her. One said 'I've been to Calais and it's a shithole.' She replied 'That's because it was English for 300 years.'
I stayed for a night in Calais last year, and it was like Maryport, but with better weather. Though this building (the town hall) was quite impressive, with its 236ft belfry. We stayed across the road from it.
https://dynamic-media-cdn.tripadviso...=1000&h=-1&s=1
Last Friday I scraped up my elbow falling a couple of metres off my step ladders, but nothing serious. But today I've just come back from a ride on my bike, and found that riding downhill over bumpy tarmac reveals my elbow is in worse shape than I thought. Time for some paracetamols.
What I've learned from this is that using step ladders with a missing step is just asking for trouble.
I've just spent the last three and a half hours putting up some shelves. I have all the tools and gear to measure up to the nearest millimetre, and make sure the supporting brackets are exactly level.
However when I fitted and fixed the shelves to the brackets, they weren't perfectly level (although the bubble in the spirit level did not move beyond the datum marks). The reason why - well the solid pine shelves which I had kept in the garage for about six months had warped slightly! Should have used veneered chipboard. :doh:
I've filled the shelves with DVDs, so I can now forget about the less than half a degree of error.
Spent a lovely day working in sunny Warrington, home of Vladivar vodka (the finest wodka in the vorld). Does anyone remember the competition they ran in the 80s, where the first prize was a week's holiday in Warrington, second prize was two weeks? :) Clever marketing that.