Author Topic: A random thread for small things that don't really warrant a thread of their own  (Read 2945780 times)

Our council recycling explicitly forbids paper shreddings as the fibres are too short to be useful, and therefore renders that portion of paper waster unrecyclable, I believe most windows in envelopes are no longer plastic so can be recycled.fine.

Not at all to do with recycling  ???

I found my old school reports (1966-71).
These flimsy documents have fair rattled me after all these years.
I was apparently fairly good at History & Music - so why on earth did I end up doing science GCE O levels - subjects I was very poor at? (I was pretty piss poor at everything to be fair. I hated school & they hated me  ::-) )

So many questions!
Was it me? Was it the school? (No, it wasn't my parents!)
How might my life have been different?

I'm constantly telling Mrs M off for playing 'What if?' games (what if we hadn't sold our first house? etc) and now I find myself in the same boat.
Very odd thing, wondering about why we took the forks in the road we did at that time!

Too many angry people - breathe & relax.

Beardy

  • Shedist
I’ve had a brush with what-if this week as well. We went to visit some friends who we’ve not seen for nearly 20 years earlier this week. Back in the day when we spent a lot of time with them, Dr Beardy worked with S as her deputy and C was the administrator come odd job man. They lived in the flat above the Nursing Home. The owner of the group was in expansion mode and offered us the jobs as S & C we’re moving to the next new home. The deal fell through though, partly I suspect, because Dr B was pregnant with our first born, so I carried on with my career with BT.

Thirty five years on, we live in our own modest detached house in a well to do country town and have by many measures been successful. They live on a 250 acre farm with all the up market trimmings, and a string of race horses which he trains as a hobby (he’s still the CEO of a largish company). She breeds, trains and works gun dogs for the local shoots. Their kitchen extension has a similar footprint to our house. They have a second house within the ‘farm yard’ where there younger daughter currently lives. S’ mother lives in the annex on the second house.

The thing is, neither Dr B or I are jealous of their life and success. We’re very different people to S and C and even had we gone into the business back then, it’s certain we wouldn’t have done what they did. It’s interesting to see what can be achieved though, with the right work ethic, the opportunities and a ruthless streak.

For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
It’s interesting to see what can be achieved though, with the right work ethic, the opportunities and a ruthless streak.
The American Dream meets the Protestant Work Ethic!
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Beardy

  • Shedist
It’s interesting to see what can be achieved though, with the right work ethic, the opportunities and a ruthless streak.
The American Dream meets the Protestant Work Ethic!
Perhaps I should have highlighted opportunities. C and S would have achieved much in life because they are both workaholics and are driven by success. The opportunities C in particular was presented with happened to play right his skill set. He’s a hustler, and very good at it. Even if I had his work ethic, I’m certain that I would not have achieved his level of ‘success’. Luck plays a big part in success, whether that’s your birth or the opportunities that you meet along the way. Hard work is only a small component in great success.
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
For a long time, I have had trouble understanding icons & pictograms.

My niece posted pictures of a family zoo visit on Facebook.
All the signposts in the zoo show pictures of the animals and no words.

No problem at all!

Giraffe

  • I brake for Giraffes
The 'instructions for my Honda motor mower are all such and, after several years, I still don't know what some of them mean. Many seem to be chosen to be globally incomprehensible.
Fortunately I've done a lot of mechanical work on motorbikes etc. so, e.g., servicing the thing is easy.
2x4: thick plank; 4x4: 2 of 'em.

I think Lego excel in this department.
All of their instructions are depicted multilingually - although you might struggle if you have difficulty with colour recognition.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Mrs ED tells me she saw my future self a couple of days ago - described as an old fit man on a bike with a longish white beard.  I'll take that
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Overheard on the platform this morning, chap yelling to conductor: "Is this the train to St Pancreas?"

Er...
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
"No sir, this is the train to the Hepatology Pool."
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

ian

I've been calling it St Pancreas since forever. It's a better name. That said, we've renamed all the stations (so Charing Cross is Angry Chas and Waterloo is Portaloo, for instance) – this ensures we're difficult for our enemies to tail.

A Hurricane has just flown overhead. Probably something to do with the soon-to-close RAF Halton a couple of miles away.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

ian

Spitfires (I think) fly over my head all the time (mildly worrying given their age) – I presume they hail from Biggin Hill.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
I've been calling it St Pancreas since forever. It's a better name.

This.

Spitfires (I think) fly over my head all the time (mildly worrying given their age) – I presume they hail from Biggin Hill.
They do.
I've flown in one from BH.

They get an engine rebuild after 100 hours in the air.
Which, given that my flight was just shy of an hour, that'll be a fairly frequent event.
They'll be in better condition now, than they were at the end of the war - and they don't get thrashed as much now, as they were then.
BH is the largest Spitfire restoration facility in the world.
They've got jigs for making new wings (one of the most difficult parts of the Spitfire to manufacture) and everything.
There was a considerably greater chance of one planting it in 1945 into the field where the Asbestos Palace currently stands, than there is today.

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
They’re less likely to be chased by angry Germans with machine guns these days too.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
A Hurricane has just flown overhead. Probably something to do with the soon-to-close RAF Halton a couple of miles away.

My dad was stationed there for a while as an instructor, would have been late 70's.  I learned to ride a bike over the front lawns of Halton Wood Road, sad to see it go.
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Zipperhead

  • The cyclist formerly known as Big Helga
Spitfires (I think) fly over my head all the time (mildly worrying given their age) – I presume they hail from Biggin Hill.
They do.
I've flown in one from BH.

They get an engine rebuild after 100 hours in the air.
Which, given that my flight was just shy of an hour, that'll be a fairly frequent event.
They'll be in better condition now, than they were at the end of the war - and they don't get thrashed as much now, as they were then.

Much better condition. There's a Hurricane flying around which was sold to the restorers by someone I know. He's shown me the pictures of when he excavated it from the farmers field. I think the best description of its condition at that time is "a one metre cube of metal" and that included the engine. Apparently this machine has a great deal of history. Well, the makes serial number plate does.
Won't somebody think of the hamsters!

We live in one of a terrace of 8 1860 farm cottages that used to have allotment gardens and a midden. The gardens are full of the detritus from that midden, mainly broken cookery, the odd bottle, bits of clay pipe. Today I unearthed a small, thin, metal button. It is stamped “MARKS Kilburn High Road”.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
We have an enthusiastic water leak in the cellar, between the meter and the pressure-reduction valve so I've had to close the stopcock.  It's just a union needing a new washer but it needs a 46mm spanner and my Stillson has effed off somewhere and probably wouldn't go that far anyway.

While awaiting the plumber we're washing, making tea etc. with bottled water. Fortunately the supermarket had a two-for-the-price-of-one promo on Vittel last week.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

It seems flight paths around here may have been changed, as we've seen a significant increase in helicopter traffic in recent weeks. Just had the JCB corporate one heading back north from London, and we quite often see the Gaydon - Battersea Heliport shuttle.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Zipperhead

  • The cyclist formerly known as Big Helga
It seems flight paths around here may have been changed, as we've seen a significant increase in helicopter traffic in recent weeks. Just had the JCB corporate one heading back north from London, and we quite often see the Gaydon - Battersea Heliport shuttle.

JCB one? They've 3. As I was passing Battersea one morning they were coming in, descending in line astern like a scene from Apackoflips Now.
Won't somebody think of the hamsters!

Turns out our new Engineer a a TT'ist and has ridden in to work a couple of times. which ws noted by his boss. He (Engineer) has now been tasked with looking into some cycle storage that can be installed inside one of our units. This is good news, as anything outside will be lifted in short order, CCTV or no, and anything secure outside will a) be too expensive and b) take away from the limited car parking, which wouldn't go down well.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Conversation turned, as it often does in this house, to Untitled Goose Game.  I've been sulking about the lack of a gritty, urban, Canada-goose-based version since it came out, but barakta had an even better idea:

(click to show/hide)

I have just discovered that Untitled Goose Game is actually A Thing and may be yours for a mere 15.49 of your Earth pounds off of that Steam, that they have now :jurek:
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime