[Bob Williams]

Farage might bypass that job for BoJo’s if:

*The worst happens and we have BoJo as PM

*A GE happens and the Brexit Party forms a Government.

I suppose Her Majesty has met several kinds of PM when a newly-minted one appears at her gaff. I cannot recall another in my lifetime to compare with Farage as a possible PM. Her Maj will definitely need that legendary SOH. But if one has met and coped with The Orange PotUS, one can survive almost anything. After all, one served in and survived WWII.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Bigger, tastier Mars bars. Corona pop: –

Made in South Wales, delivered all over the UK I think. Certainly the Corona lorry delivered to our Notts village. Bigger, better burps than Tizer.

Brown paper parcels, tied up with string. Received one at Christmas 1953 from my very funny namesake uncle Bob. Big parcel, lots of string, inside was a smaller parcel, more brown paper, more string. Then another smaller parcel, and another, etc. Inside the last parcel was a box with a brand new, bright red Dinky ‘Dennis’ Fire engine. Dad and I both collapsed with laughter, I treasured that engine for years, kept the box, all as new. Gave it to a nephew, last time we spoke he still had it, same as new condition, leaving it to his daughter. Rebecca is definitely not girly, had lots of toy trucks, planes and cars, kept her maiden name, has a son named after me.

I love it when history repeats.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Thanks Les, I’ll catch that on iPlayer.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

“You’re never alone with a Strand” ciggy ad.

There was a semi-sweet chew that looked like a piece of a twig: we North Notts kids called it “chewing-wood”. It was sort of sweet/savoury, never knew its real name. Aniseed balls, gobstoppers and ‘sweet cigarettes’, made of sticky sugary something and probably led to the real thing later, for many. Meccano I join you with Richard, also recall Zubes. I once made a whole fairground out of Meccano in the spare room. Disassembled it later and gave the parts to my nephew, to make room for model aircraft kits and a WWII diorama.

Spam. No, just – Spam.

The Goon Show on the Light programme: Dick Barton Special Agent, Journey – Into – Spaaaayyyce!

Wallowing in it!

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Ed, I had a mobo similar to that many builds ago, when I was building desktops as a sideline from printing. I installed and removed the thing 3 times and it still would not work. Then I ran the board on the desk sans case and it worked. So I gave up installing the mobo in the case, fitted it to the trays and fitted the trays to the desktop case. I still don’t know why it worked, but accepted that it did and passed it to the customer. AFAIK it may still be working, at least I never had a comeback. IIRC it was an ASrock.

Les I once rescued a board for a guy who had completely messed up his own build by cross-threading the standoffs. How he did that, he could not explain, but I first told him to RMA the parts in the hope that he could exchange them. He didn’t think they would and I guess he was right, so I told him I would give it some thought, with absolutely no guarantees. I found some captive nuts and standoffs to fit in my “Bitsa” box, managed to get them together and installed the mobo to this jury-rigged setup. To my amazement relief, it all worked and he went away happy. I no longer live near the guy, which is perhaps a good thing.??

After many years of repairing and building, with a few complete strips of older, knackered machines, I have a box full of many different standoffs, screws, brackets, doobries, wotsits and probably some bits which are now nameless. Every now and again, some of this stuff finds itself a purpose in life. My SWMBO wanted me to get rid a while ago and was told she could only remove them from my cold, dead hands. I have WEEE’d quite enough stuff for now.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Sorry Steve I can’t agree with that. Obama was a great PoTUS: the difference between his achievements, his personality  and his record compared to the incompetent, lying, warmongering idiot that sits in the Whitehouse now, is becoming clearer with every dumb tweet and speech Trump makes. Read this:

https://tinyurl.com/yyf89zhl

Far from Making America Great again, he is alienating friends everywhere.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

I had a Honeysuckle like that Richard, when I lived in Notts. Originally across a fence destroyed by vandals, I cut it back severely and replanted it temporarily. A builder mate built me a wall of concrete slabs across the rear and I replanted it, digging in liberal amounts of compost, To my amazement, in the next few years it grew up and across, eventually to cover a 40 foot wall to a height of seven feet! I brought a cutting here to our first Lincolnshire home but it did not like the soil.

I have been informed after a blood test that my right kidney is losing function. I need another blood test and an MRI scan to investigate that and my prostate, which has flared up again. Not exactly happy, but what is to be, will be.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

A really good breakdown of the person currently debasing the office of PoTUS, Dwynne. Thank you for that.

I have tried to reconcile the nature and apparent intelligence of the many Americans I have met over the years, with their decision, as a people, to vote this evil, incompetent barsteward into the highest office. What really alarms me is that he is also Commander in Chief of all US forces. I cannot understand why they continue to keep him in office. Nixon was impeached for a simple criminal act, magnified by his high office. Trump has committed so many more crimes, some serious. I am currently reading a biography of the greatest American General and a President of two terms: Grant. It’s a huge book, but a great story about a very common man who was also very human and weak at times, yet rose to become one of the greatest Generals of any nation. He was dirt-poor and castigated both by his own family, his in-laws, and fellow officers struggled with a drink problem and wept at the losses of men who served under him. But the contrasts between a man like that and this worthless excuse for a leader, are glaringly obvious. I recommend the book, which is admittedly heavy and somewhat painful reading at times, but worth the effort.

For me, his current disgraceful behaviour in engineering the dismissal resignation of Sir Nigel Kim Darroch, our ambassador to the US, is only matched in malevolence by his description of our PM as “Foolish.”

Foolish she may be, but only we Brits are eligible to say so! Not a puffed-up fat hairsprayed idiot whose policies are aggravating one nation after another.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

There are always more hiding behind the ones you see! My big pink front rose is a Queen Elizabeth and when I bought it, I was told that it would not grow beyond 6 feet. It is at least 2 feet beyond that now and still going. This year there are so many blooms in clusters, that I have to watch for the first signs of a bloom beginning to go, as there are always another 2 or 3 buds behind it. I am a big believer in a combination of rich compost and bone meal at first planting, with a little dried blood. My dad used to literally breathe on his roses, said it adds CO². I can imagine how that works, but I try to do it when no one else is looking: neighbours already believe I am not the full shilling, because I whistle to the blackbirds and thrushes. The fact that the birds sing back to me, has escaped them.

I have an extendable lopper which of course would be useless for pruning, but I am OK on the stepladders. (so far) The Lopper has been a great tool over the years. I used it a couple of days ago to cut back the Red Robin Tree, which had grown to over 6 feet.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Any watch with a metal band is no good for my hairy wrists, which match most of the rest of me! My barber says he never knows when to stop…

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Richard I use a stepladder to get at my roses on the rear garden arbour and to get at the ones on the front around the door.

Front:  now up to the guttering since this pic last week there are many more blooms and more dead. The blooms are huge and I need to tie them up. I found that the rubber coated wire from a local garden centre is best for that and can be reused.

Rear, in 2015; don’t have latest but the red rose is now dying and will be replaced. The yellow rose was a mass of blooms until two weeks ago, then heavy rain did for them. This arbour is now a disappointment. My gson took out the conifers earlier this year. They had grown much higher and I thought that more sun would help, out of the shade of the conifers. Ther have been many, many ‘suckers’ on the yellow rose. I have planted more this year elsewhere, but they will not show until next year. Climbers grow well on the front (SSW facing) but not bush/patio roses. Reverse is true on the rear.

I put the stepladder on the slab to prune and deadhead. At 5’5″ I need it!

JCD, I didn’t know there were gas tumble driers either!

 

 

 

 

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Thanks JCD, I’ve downloaded that.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

I had quite enough of solicitors when I worked at a County Council, carrying out Common Land Searches for solicitors’ clients. Their clients were usually either developers or private home owners trying to obtain more land, which involved property lines and borders. I was instrumental in having two such solicitors struck off by the SRA: one was actually prosecuted, found guilty of malfeasance and jailed. I did wonder at the reaction of other prisoners to the news of his former occupation…

I remember one of the good guys that I worked for making the statement that “Honest soliciting is carried out on Xxxxxx Street after dark and usually provides value for money.”

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

+1 – My Canon has its own IP on the network: after setting it up in PrintDirect, I checked for that in the router Webpage.

Sometimes I really know what I’m doing!

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Wheels-Of-Fire wrote:

For those who may not know “save” appends changes to the end of an existing but “save as” writes out a whole new file incorporating the changes. The new file will take up less space than the old one with changes added.

+1 – If working on a large and/or complex document, I always use ‘Save As’.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Thanks Dave, the Kaiser Spritzer will suit SWMBO. My FIL used to make his own wine and beer, using water from the tributary stream of the River Poulter that ran through his garden and elderberries/flowers, blackcurrants, blackberries, raspberries in the huge garden. My missus was his favourite of 3 girls* and used to love his elderflower cordial.

*She helped him build a wall around the whole place, carried out DIY jobs with him, etc. Refuses DIY for me though. But I now realise who junior gdaughter takes after. Neither of them are ‘girly’, both were tomboys when young.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Yes but +1 for WiFi printers. I am still marvelling at my Canon TS6150 and the ability to print from 2 phones, a tablet and 2 PC’s. Using PrintDirect it cuts out the router and goes straight from device to printer. I could have done with that tech advance when I was designing and printing for a living!

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Richard I feel your domestic-issue pain! Had the same problem with our first tumble drier years ago: an ancient item inherited from my MIL which gave unending pain and which I stripped down so many times I believe I could have done it blindfolded. Then we bought another which has a filter mesh than can be removed after every operation: had it a good few years now and it does sterling work. It sits in the Utility Room below a window, which is ideal as I can clip on the outlet pipe and hang it out of said window. I understand your battle with machinery and how that takes more time as we age: for me it is the shaking left hand and arm, with the loss of strength as well in that limb. Nerve damage is a bugga.

We spent most of our day in Cleethorpes, initially in Cleethorpes Country Park, which is not as good as it sounds, there is nothing there but a huge lake, a long path around it, wildfowl and a special lake for dogs to swim in. It’s marked “For dog swimming ONLY” and there were several dogs enjoying it. North East Lincs Council has decided to let the whole place go wild and it has actually improved it, there is much more wildlife and only about the first 6″ of verges are cut back. Then on to Cleethorpes itself and a cruise up and down the prom car park until some kind soul went home and left us a space. A good walk to the north then down to the south end and back to the car. Dinner in “The Trawlerman” was the best of carveries and back home to dead head some roses. If I did not have the time-consuming procedure that is a change of my stoma pouch every morning, we would be able to get away earlier. Oh well, at least we are still getting out. And I am still here. And the sun shone for us all afternoon.

The Trawlerman: https://tinyurl.com/y4ztrowj   A lovely meal, a large, very well organised pub with an extensive menu.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Thank you both. Dave, yes we visited Melk Abbey in one day on the 2015 Avalon trip. I think we suffered an overabundance of walking uphill (minibus was prevented from going all the way up) and the amount of religious artefacts became a bit mind numbingly boring. Not our thing, we like castles, vineyards, good cafes, vineyards, the open air, vineyards, music and winemakers. Did I mention vineyards? On this trip we visit Melk in the morning and Durnstein in the afternoon. This time we will go off on our own and visit the small towns, taking a packed lunch from the boat or dining in town. We like to talk to locals and my German helps there, although learning the language colloquially as I did, it’s sometimes a bit difficult with another dialect. A case of   die Landbevölkerung sprach Dialekt   (the country people speak in dialect) Even the word is dialect is German, pronounced almost the same in English. Although even in the smallest, most remote places in any German-speaking area I have visited, it seems everyone speaks English. It used to embarrass me when I first started to learn in ’68, how grateful the people I met seemed to be when I used my first faltering words. We really are an ignorant nation.

We grew to dislike some of the guided tours that we have made on these trips. Our intention is to pick and choose this time: we would rather find places for ourselves and get information from locals. We have done Vienna to death a bit previously, last time the guide was a very fit young Austrian lady who proceeded at great pace in a hectic trot: “This is ____ – it has ____ and ___ ” Took no regard of the fact that there were elderly and some disabled people strung out in a line behind her. In the end I used my old parade ground voice: LANGSAME BITTE! (Slow Down Please!) She turned and realised that she might be held responsible for some heart attacks. We don’t bother with the usual Beethoven/Strauss/Cathedrals/baroque architecture thing now. Thanks for the tips about the Summerkino, we’ll visit that, sounds good. I can’t drink beer now, but I remember Ottakring. As you say, not bad, but my favourite Austrian beer was Adambräu, a Tiroller brew. Many years ago I introduced a quite serious, solemn mate to it and told him to take it easy. He took to it a bit too well and wound up dancing on tables in an Innsbruck bierkeller. The white wine will do for me and my SWMBO and if they have Eiskaffee that’s a bonus. Last time I visited Austria for an extended holiday was two weeks in Zell am See, which I recommend. Our last night was in our favourite small bar, full of young local people who asked us as we were about to leave, what I thought of Austria and Austrians – ” in English, please.” I thought for a moment and replied “Austrians, Junge Leute are Germans with a sense of humour.” (Young people) It brought the house down! Next morning there were half a dozen young locals from the bar, carrying our luggage to the bus station. I make a pretty fair ambassador sometimes!

BL thanks for that, I will sort out the Clarity Card tomorrow. You have taken some worry from my mind with your last, cheers mate!

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Bob Williams]

Analogue Bob is hoping his kids (or anyone) will buy him the Omega he once had years ago and dropped 3 stories onto an Army Bedford RL and a concrete truck park floor. Don’t want a Smart watch, can’t wear a quartz watch, they all stop and never restart. I just want an Omega. Something like this:

It is the current version of the Seamaster I once had and is now £4,220. I bought mine for a little under £1,000 around 1969, after a very good poker win and a desire to buy something that would last and be an investment. Of course, what I should have done was buy a much cheaper alternative, take the Omega home and let dad look after it. Not wear it every day in Army service!

Deep sigh! Hindsight…

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Author]

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