A random thread for small things that don't really warrant a thread of their own

[rafletcher]

On a similarly sad note, Kajsa Tylen’s mother died 3 days ago.

https://twitter.com/yearinthesaddle/status/1393485835539034112

[andytheflyer]

For the first time in over a year I’m wearing my wedding ring. The winter before last I lost quite a bit of weight, enough that, on cold days, my ring would just slide off, once whilst packing the shopping in Tesco’s car park. So rather than los3 it I stopped wearing it. 2 weeks ago we were able to visit the jewellers, and today my wife collected my slightly reduced ring 

I stopped wearing mine many years ago as I used to get a rash under it.  My wife had it made into ring for her.

She was buried with it a month ago.

Andy, I’m very sorry but I must have missed this. Your wife died? I am so sorry to hear that!

Yes, she did.  Of cancer.  We'd known about it for 18 months but last October they said they could do no more for her.  It was then just a matter of time.

I had to move her to a nursing home in our village a month before she died because, even with the support of the MacMillan nurses, I could not keep up.  Seeing her being moved from our home will haunt me for the rest of my life.

She was 68 and we'd been married for 43 years.

Tough, this.

[barakta]

Andy, I am so sorry to hear of your loss. Almost certainly made much much harder by this pandemic-year. We don't live in a society which allows for quick and good care in people's own homes, that is not your fault. Caring is unbelievably hard, it sounds like you did amazingly to manage as much as you did. Keeping you in my thoughts.

[Chris S]

Jeeesus Andy, what can anyone say to that?

Here's sending best possible wishes for what must be a totally shite time.

[T42]

Lord, Andy, that's hard. Sympathy.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Andy, that is really tough. Can't imagine how you must feel.

[IanDG]

Hello, been a while since I visited the site. Been down to the tailors today to pick up my jersey (should this be in 'saw this thought of you lot?') - needed a new zip 

P1010433 by ian, on Flickr

[robgul]

Hello, been a while since I visited the site. Been down to the tailors today to pick up my jersey - needed a new zip 

P1010433 by ian, on Flickr

. . .  so how's the home renovation job going then?

[Beardy]

Where to put this. Is it a rant or a grumble? Well, yes I suppose it is in part, but then it could be a personal stuff related given my constant analysis paralysis (thanks Mrs P) . Perhaps it should be Down the Plot because it could be construed as a request for advice. It’s not, well not really, but if some where offered I’d look at it. So, given my confusion, I thought I’d put it here.

(Oh god, what’s he on about now? Ed.)

Choice is the nub of it. Too much choice. I need a strimmer of brush cutter. Before I even started to think wider, I’m already mired in choice. Do I want a strimmer or a brush cutter? Petrol or electric? Wired or wire? Then I thought I need a hedge trimmer on a pole as well, so why not get a multi tool type device. I’d get a pruning chainsaw on a pole as well that way. And this will reduce my options surely. Nope. Quite apart from all the existing options I’ve now got to decide if I want to get a ‘kit’ with everything included or a handle and separate heads to do just those jobs I need. And just to make hints really interesting I’ve also go to decide whether the myriad of Chinese manufactures offer gd slur for money or engineering to a price point at the expense of function. And are the premium brands really selling quality tools that are actually 4, 5 or even 6 times better than the Chinese factories or is t just badge engineering on tools coming out of the same Chinese factories.

My requirements then are a strimmer/brush cutter (can be the same tool) a pole hedge trimmer, and a pole pruning chain saw. It makes sense to be a single power unit, but that’s not critical. I want a reasonable quality domestic tool, as gardening really isn’t a major interest in my life. I don’t want to waste money or environmental resources on junk but neither to I want to pay over the odds because it has a name I recognise on the side. It’s not as if these are unique requirements, there must be many people in my position so why is it so difficult to research. You’d think that with the internet it would be easy, but everyone has an agenda and I’m more confused now than when I looked at the garden yesterday and decided I needed implements.

Arrgghhh.

[IanDG]

Hello, been a while since I visited the site. Been down to the tailors today to pick up my jersey - needed a new zip 

P1010433 by ian, on Flickr

. . .  so how's the home renovation job going then?

Shortage of materials - been waiting 5 weeks for 50 sheets of plasterboard. Windows (original estimate 3 weeks) another 8 weeks because no sand for glass - got the new roof and chimneys rebuilt though

IMG_20210408_180604_021 by ian, on Flickr

IMG_20210408_175358_632 by ian, on Flickr

[Mrs Pingu]

Beardy, I feel your pain.

IanDG, that must be very frustrating, guess everyone with a project is in the same boat. Still, it'llbe amazing when it's finished.

[robgul]

https://twitter.com/danbarker/status/1392204516351741954?s=20   "It is with regret that I report that the "mad sailor shop", Arthur Beale's, is closing, one of the oldest shops in London."


No money in old ropes ?     Think I've been past this place a few times but never bought anything.

Spitalfields Life - today:  https://spitalfieldslife.com/2021/05/19/the-departure-of-arthur-beale/

[MikeFromLFE]

Beardy - this is how I felt when I realised I was going downhill, before the meltdown before I had to retire because of the meltdown.

For me it was a first thing in the morning bedroom problem.

How was I going to get to work?
What was the weather like? Where was I working? Bus? Motorbike? Bicycle?
Yes, I'd cycle in! Which bike? I'll take the white one. Decided. Civvies or lycra? But I'm working at that location and there's no storage. Civvies it is.
Bugger, it's raining. I'll go on the motorbike. Shall I go through the city centre or use the bypass? If I go on the bypass can stop off for a coffee. But I've got to get a move on. But, I've just remembered the new road works on the bypass. Sod it I'll go on the bus.
Decided. But now I'm guilty about not getting the exercise of going on my bike. So, yes, I'll cycle in. But which bike?
Rinse & repeat.
This is the abbreviated version.

(After my melt down this manifested itself as an inability to go into any shops - how could I decide between 5 different brands of baked beans?)

Sorry if this is no help, but I do understand, and I do know it does get better.

Sent from my KFDOWI using Tapatalk

[Cudzoziemiec]

Posting for ian:

A friend and I stood underneath a railroad bridge that during the day bears Overground passengers around east and south London and by night long, rumbling freight trains. It was the latter of these that passed over our heads. “Look,” she said, pointing to the shipping containers we glimpsed one by one as they rolled eastwards before disappearing from view behind a block of flats, “they’re building the next boxpark.”

Within boxparks, security guards keep watch over pop-up “street food” shops, a peculiar descriptor for an imitation public market curated in a private space for shoppers who want to pretend they are in an edgy part of town. Planners and developers hype shipping containers for their cheapness and speed of construction. Lifestyle and tourism blogs buzz about the “sustainability” of these miniature malls, ignoring the contradiction in their inherent impermanence. Boxparks can be disassembled as easily as they are stacked, placeholders when the lot isn’t yet ripe for maximum profit extraction. It is a step down from land banking, a “meanwhile” physical testament to owners waiting on property value to rise by virtue of time and surrounding construction before building their own predictable shops, offices, and housing for deep-pocketed clients and renters.

I don't know if your personally infamous Boxpark is made of shipping containers, but even if it isn't, this seems appropriate.
(https://dogsection.org/urbicide/)

[ian]

They are and it is a perfect description. They're pretend spaces for edgy young things who aren't actually edgy and don't want to risk any experience that isn't carefully curated. And they squeeze the vendors who are desperate the representation. They're masterpieces of impermanence. The only permanent thing is their cynicism. They can be vamoosed to make room for flats or be moved elsewhere as a threat to the borough.

[Kim]

Sounds like a trendy Londonist solution to the problem of what to do with land while you're waiting for it to accrue value.  Around here we'd just charge people to park their cars on it.

[Cudzoziemiec]

There's a couple in Bristol but because we're so inventive we give them names like "Wapping Wharf" and "Container Shed" (which is behind "Engine Shed", so called because it was originally built as a... )

[Mrs Pingu]

We're supposed to be getting one in Furrybootoon. Except they're calling it STAXX.Abz or something wanky like that.

[perpetual dan]

They are and it is a perfect description. They're pretend spaces for edgy young things who aren't actually edgy and don't want to risk any experience that isn't carefully curated.
...

I don’t think I’ve ever seen “edgy” used to refer to something that was actually what I assume edgy is supposed to mean. Maybe it means carefully curated?

[Wombat]

Where to put this. Is it a rant or a grumble? Well, yes I suppose it is in part, but then it could be a personal stuff related given my constant analysis paralysis (thanks Mrs P) . Perhaps it should be Down the Plot because it could be construed as a request for advice. It’s not, well not really, but if some where offered I’d look at it. So, given my confusion, I thought I’d put it here.

(Oh god, what’s he on about now? Ed.)

Choice is the nub of it. Too much choice. I need a strimmer of brush cutter. Before I even started to think wider, I’m already mired in choice. Do I want a strimmer or a brush cutter? Petrol or electric? Wired or wire? Then I thought I need a hedge trimmer on a pole as well, so why not get a multi tool type device. I’d get a pruning chainsaw on a pole as well that way. And this will reduce my options surely. Nope. Quite apart from all the existing options I’ve now got to decide if I want to get a ‘kit’ with everything included or a handle and separate heads to do just those jobs I need. And just to make hints really interesting I’ve also go to decide whether the myriad of Chinese manufactures offer gd slur for money or engineering to a price point at the expense of function. And are the premium brands really selling quality tools that are actually 4, 5 or even 6 times better than the Chinese factories or is t just badge engineering on tools coming out of the same Chinese factories.

My requirements then are a strimmer/brush cutter (can be the same tool) a pole hedge trimmer, and a pole pruning chain saw. It makes sense to be a single power unit, but that’s not critical. I want a reasonable quality domestic tool, as gardening really isn’t a major interest in my life. I don’t want to waste money or environmental resources on junk but neither to I want to pay over the odds because it has a name I recognise on the side. It’s not as if these are unique requirements, there must be many people in my position so why is it so difficult to research. You’d think that with the internet it would be easy, but everyone has an agenda and I’m more confused now than when I looked at the garden yesterday and decided I needed implements.

Arrgghhh.

Ego rechargeable electric stuff has worked well for me.  its as powerful as most petrol stuff, rather quieter, and is a "system" so all the bits work together.  I have a hedge trimmer onna (bendy) stick, a normal (big) hedge trimmer, a strimmer, and a chainsaw, and 2 batteries.  Its not cheap, but once you've bought a couple, it seems to make sense.  I originally looked for Stihl, but they are among the makers of good petrol stuff that farm out their battery electric stuff to outside firms to make, and frankly, its shoddy and insubstantial.

[citoyen]

There's a couple in Bristol but because we're so inventive we give them names like "Wapping Wharf" and "Container Shed" (which is behind "Engine Shed", so called because it was originally built as a... )

I think boxpark is actually a brand name, ie it’s a chain, which further undermines its edgy credentials. Other similar entities with different names are not boxparks!

[Cudzoziemiec]

They are and it is a perfect description. They're pretend spaces for edgy young things who aren't actually edgy and don't want to risk any experience that isn't carefully curated.
...

I don’t think I’ve ever seen “edgy” used to refer to something that was actually what I assume edgy is supposed to mean. Maybe it means carefully curated?

Come on, a shipping container is all edges!

[SteveC]

Round here we don't have pop-up restaurants. We use old shipping containers for hides on nature reserves.

[ian]

Re shipping containers, allegedly* at the beginning of the containerization age, they sat down and designed the perfect shipping container standard which everyone was to use. So the people who made and use containers ignored it and made several slightly different designs, of which one, in a VHS versus Beta stylee, came to reign supreme.

Boxpark is a brand name (sorry, a brand), there's a couple dotted around. Croydon bunged them a £3 million loan on the sort of generous terms you wouldn't get from the bank and another £400k in sweeteners to snag them and they pay a peppercorn rent on the land itself (which was surplus to requirements for the Ruskin Square development). Tenants get enticed in with a cheap first year, but a fair number dump and run after that. It's a bit like a franchise, they're not just offering space, you have to use their services etc. Personally, I'd rather the council spend money on getting the many existing empty properties filled with businesses than helping an entrepreneur get his business off the ground (I'm not sure they've ever made a direct profit, he's selling the concept of Boxpark). I spend my money elsewhere.

*it may be a lie, but some bloke told the story at a NISO meeting, so I'm opting to believe it.

[Mr Larrington]

Wikinaccurate maintains that:

About 90% of the world's containers are either nominal 20-foot (6.1 m) or 40-foot (12.2 m) long,[5][43] although the United States and Canada also use longer units of 45 ft (13.7 m), 48 ft (14.6 m) and 53 ft (16.15 m).

and

By the end of 2013, high-cube [9’6” high rather than the standard 8’6”] 40 ft containers represented almost 50% of the world's maritime container fleet, according to Drewry's Container Census report

ISO 668 contains everything you never needed to know about containers.