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Timbo
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Posts posted by Timbo
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Every time I wake up he says 'Morning Sausage'. That's not right. I don't keep telling him 'You shall not pass...Uncle Albert you plonker!'. Not once have I mentioned his big belly. The name is Fred Weasley, Fred for short. There will be no 'short jokes'. Unt zer vil not be any Fawlty Towers jokes eizer! I am a mini mini miniature chocolate dapple dachshund.
People keep saying I'm a 'rescue'. At no time did he 'rescue me'. There were no ninja moves, no commando hand signals, no jumping into rivers or burning houses involved. I am mini mini because I have been hand reared at the rescue centre with my brother George after my Mum was removed from a farm and was too tired to rear us. His nibs and my new Mum baby sat us while the rescue lady could have a night off hand feeding. I now lives Uncle Albert 2.0 or Albert LightMy hobbies include sleeping a lot, swinging off his beard,
scragging fluffy lions and running through bits of drain pipe in the garden, giving lip to big dogs
jumping through expensive antique maps what smell of moffs an ol' ladies and helping with important research...when I can keep my eyes open!
I've now had all my jabs and will be going for my first 'walkies' on Friday. Apparently, because I'm magnetic in some way, this means he needs to go for a hair cut and beard trim? Due to my 'ickle leggies' Mum has bought him a 'doggie sling' for me to ride in when I gets tired. I think its a great idea but he didn't look too happy til all the ladies came to say how cute I looked in his 'man bag'!
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Yesterday I did an Amber Hurd. No, not that kind...I stood on a bee which stung my leg and I was very poorly, so poorly I was limping and had to have chicken nuggets for my tea to make it better!
Right, its nap time...I'm keeping an eye on him though, he was shouting about something Bronze Age and this means extra walks apparently!
Fred
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I'm popping this post in the lounge and not in the history area as, although its a history question and its does pertain to boats, its not a Norfolk boating history question.
I've been resting up over the past few months...plenty of fresh air and all that rubbish...members that know me well may be shocked to discover that I stopped smoking last New Year's Eve! As a consequence I've been out and about more often...practising the walking.
One of my favourite haunts is by the river Trent where I enjoy looking for the signs and remnants of the once vibrant port, shipyards, docks, industry and architecture demolished and eradicated between the 1960s and the present. The local council and its planning department have done more damage than the Luftwaffe ever managed. My local heritage association has quite a large repository of photographs of the area in its heyday which I find both fascinating and useful. But...obviously the images are not in colour. The very old photographs that feature a skyline of masts from schooners, keels and sloops I know the colours, but the more modern images from the 1950s onwards I'm stumped as to the colours of the various vessels.
Below are two images of Watson's shipyard. The first taken in the 1920s and the second in the late 1950s. The buildings are still there and still in use although the slipway has now gone and the buildings no longer used to build ships and boats. In the foreground of the second image is a vessel. What type of vessel is it and what colour would it have been?
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As a historian and archaeologist, sometimes I'm confronted with documents and artifacts that can be both dire and ancient and often on the gooey side. Sometimes I'm confronted with documents that just make me chuckle. Such was this press cutting dated July 1883 dealing with a case of witchcraft in the village of Crostwick. The article is headed "Superstition in Norfolk" and reads as follows.
My funny bone was activated by the magistrate rebuking the labourer Holme for his superstition and the woman 'Smith' for her 'foolish pretensions'.
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A super colony has nothing to do with the number or rarity of a species, but everything to do with the dispersion of a species within a defined geographic area. With a few exceptions bat species cannot build their own roosts but are dependent upon them for protection against predators and the elements. Social structures in bat species are often complex, however the formation of a super colony would point to something making the bats react in an atypical behaviour. It could be lack of roosts, disturbance of routes or a myriad of influences. Think about it, a species few in numbers nationally, congregating in large numbers locally...one mis-step locally and the national population is decimated.
The 'publication' of data in an academic context is an essential part of the research, not to be skipped. This is the part of the process where the research is peer reviewed. The data is checked and double checked by other specialists in the given field against other research projects and in publication refined in detail and concept. Sometimes a second paper is produced which is easily understood by those outside of the speciality.When I publish a paper, having dealt with planning departments and ministries at home and abroad on local and national government level for thirty years, I also write a third report which I refer to as a 'Janet and John'. This is intended for planners whose professional knowledge is limited to, well, planning and politicians whose knowledge is just limited. If they could process the raw data, then they would be working on my team and not in planning. One of the rediscovered pleasures of my new job is up skittling planning departments, it can be cruel...but so much fun!
Landscape management is a small world and academia even smaller. I had the pleasure of meeting Lotty at Bristol University where she directed the post doctoral research into the management of bats in churches. She is one of the experts in her field, respected both here in the UK and abroad, a consummate academic and absolutely fascinating to talk to. I asked a lot of Timbo type questions and she was unflappable.
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I'm going to break the forum Terms of Service. As Chairman, I've given myself permission to do so.
I'm going to paraphrase some of my favourite literary sources as well as the odd movie. I consider myself a good man, and a good man knows his limitations. I've reached mine.
Some of you will know that I have been quite poorly for some time. Over this last year I have been stepping back from the majority of my academic duties as well as various committees and posts both foreign and domestic. The post of Chairman of the NBN is the last of those positions. I've reached the point where I need to spend time with my family, and there are 'things' I want to do.
Several years ago now, Ian, Polly and I were dropped in at the deep end to keep the forum running. That we have done. All of us took up our positions as Chairman, Treasurer/Owner and secretary on the proviso those appointments were temporary. We didn't ask for those appointments but we did our best in the roles. The forum currently has over 3000 full members and over 125,000 individual regular (human) visitors a year. We have an excellent moderation team and the finances of the organization are secure. It took us longer than we anticipated but all three of us believe it is time we stood aside. The new Owner/Chairman, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary are in position and will announce themselves shortly. I do like to stay several steps ahead.
So what does this mean for the forum and members? Absolutely nothing. The forum will continue in its current shape and form. Ian, Polly and I are not going anywhere, we will still be members of the forum and 'help is always given at Hogwarts to those that ask'.Above all, 'friendship' is what I will take away from time with the NBN. To have made so many friends has been a deep joy to me. Over my years as Chairman, I've enjoyed the many discussions on the forum. Some have made me chuckle, some made me angry and some made me laugh out loud. Particularly discussions on historical environment and landscape policy that I had a hand in writing in my former career. A brief return to that former career is one of the 'things' I wanted to do and I have been given the opportunity to do exactly that. As an academic, a last chance to waltz about 'knowing stuff' and 'writing stuff' that keyboard warriors will Google and quote in future online discussions is an opportunity to write 'Timbo woz 'ere' that will keep me chuckling as long as I am able.
So what other 'things' do I want to do? I want to finish Royal Tudor and get the chance to spend some time afloat with the grand-kids. I'm saving up for a lathe so I can continue to learn wood turning. Strange as it may seem, as a Roman archaeologist...I've never been to Rome. I need to correct that!
I would like to take a moment to thank the various team members, moderators and the membership for their support and encouragement over the years. The regular phone calls, messages, pep talks and assorted questions, daft or otherwise, have meant a great deal to me. Thankyou all.
Alas, I've spent too short a time among such excellent and admirable boaters. I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. I regret to announce...this is The End. I am going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell.
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Alternatively dial 119 from any telephone conventional or not and ask for your pass to be posted to you.
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11 hours ago, Andrewcook said:
As the weather is getting Hotter each yeat Due to Climate Changes does this do any Damage to fibreglass and Wooden Boats with this excessive Heat wave we are now experiencing like this weekend Coming .
The short answer to your question is 'yes', Andrew. Temperature and UV light effects both wooden and fibreglass boats in different ways over both a long period of time and a short period of time.
Doug, Dave and Vaughan will be the experts on this. The different materials used to build boats react in different ways to temperature. Wooden boats dry out, gaps can appear between the planks and the sunlight can damage the varnish. With fibreglass its usually the plastic and foam cores used inside the fibreglass for rigidity that gets 'cooked' and eventually warp. Once distorted, the cores cannot be repaired.
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It looks like my weekend is fully booked. I'm currently up to the eyeballs designing potion bottles and making magic wands. A Skelegrow bottle to be made tomorrow. On Saturday I will once again don my muggle disguise to attend Gracie's Harry Potter Party. I don't know whether to be pleased that at her last Harry Potter Party simply adding a bow tie to my usual mufti and my granddaughter instantly proclaimed I had come as Professor Slughorne...or annoyed and seek some fashion guidance for the over the fifty something that still has to wear 'robes' to work on occasion?
Sunday? I will be watching the quidditch, I mean footballing. A case of Peroni and some of Honeydukes best Crystalized Pineapple by my side!-
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One of the rare times that I sat and watched the match on television and the whole experience left me feeling...bewildered. For some reason, I don't think the commentators were watching the same match that I was!
While studio staff waxed lyrical about England's prowess, I was sat thinking our right side was weak from the midfield up. Saka was out of his depth, Mount was effectively missing in action, our team (that scores most goals from the head) was being out-jumped by the Danes and if not for Walker and Stones we would have been hammered into oblivion. Grealish arrived and departed with little impact. English tactics seemed to consist of a lot of falling over and with the forwards on the floor there was no one to pick up the loose ball at the edge of the area. This morning I've read and heard reports on the quality of 'record breaking' Pickford in goal, where as I thought he was nervous, verging on shambolic.
'Who's our goalie?' Ellie asked as both Matty and I groaned every time he got near the ball.
'Stan Laurel!' the reply.
Meanwhile, Ellie was convinced England would win. I have to admit I had predicted an Italy/England final after the first games of the tournament. But extra time saw Ellie join me loitering outside while I had a smoke, the tension was too much. Outside we could hear the roars from the crowd at Gainsborough Trinity in the valley below us as they watched the match on a big screen. An 'ooh' followed by cries of 'shame' had me scuttling inside to watch a replay on TV of the infringement that saw England awarded a penalty. The Trinity crowd was right, the 'shame' of such a soft penalty.
'Can he kick it twice on a penalty? But we won!' said Ellie, the Chelsea supporter...sorry Ian but she is, as the final whistle blew.
Matty looked at me. We were both pleased to see England in a final but we both knew that as 'wins' go, that one was inglorious. Best to keep quiet and move right along, nothing to see here!
As for the final...I'm torn. Yes, I would like England to win but Italy have played some beautiful football!-
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Fascinating stuff! Leadenhall Street, where The Trident Magazine was published, was home to the East India Company, Lloyds Shipping as well as the P&O offices.
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3 hours ago, MauriceMynah said:
Oh the power, the power !!!
Watt?
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5 minutes ago, Vaughan said:
Wow! I have just been upgraded to veteran! Do I get a pension with that? I suppose the next one up from there is "old fart".
That would be the 'Uncle Albert' Long Service Gong, followed by the Wussername 'Antequam Romam' plaque on the wall!
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17 hours ago, grendel said:
I quite often use my 1946 Jarrolds map
An opportunity to visit Yugoslavia, dropping in for tea with Clement Atlee to discuss independence for India and Umberto II's plans for an extended holiday in Portugal?
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It seems that a metal detectorist has discovered Wussename's allowance in Reepham. He must have done his chores that week!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-57520248-
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If the NHS ones are offered accept them. My father in law forked out for two of the £2K all singing and dancing hearing aids only to find...they were identical to my NHS programmable in ear hearing aid.
In my experience, the problem with hearing aids is that whether they are private or NHS appliances, they will end up in a drawer and not used. All male members of my family are deaf to some degree or other. Like my Dad, Uncle Albert, this happened to me in my early thirties. I was fortunate in that I had been brought up in the non-hearing community, Uncle Albert was a BSL instructor, so I learned BSL as I grew up as well as lip reading skills.I much prefer to rely on my lip reading than I rely on any hearing aid. In fact, Ellie and I had been together for ten years before she realised I was indeed deaf and had a hearing aid. She discovered my hearing aid in my desk drawer and thought it was Uncle Albert's.
"Why don't you wear it?" she asked.
"Well, I'm deaf on my left hand side and I do all the driving!"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I've found that when I wear my hearing aid you talk about perfume, handbags and your friends. If I don't wear it you talk about football, boats, fishing and woodwork!" was my reply.
Half the battle as my hearing has worsened, has been training those around me to avoid things like talking to me as they are walking away from me or looking away from me as they speak.
Children's television programming has been a big help. The kids and many parents are now familiar with makaton signing as well as more effective communication skills. For example, both my grandkids, even little Arlo, automatically will touch my arm if what they are saying is intended for me.
The familiarity with makaton in the young and their families has meant that I have hardly struggled recently with mask wearing.
My ultimate advice is go with the NHS first. It gives you a baseline and a familiarity before you expend your hard earned. Then you have something to compare the expensive aids with and be able to notice if they are any benefit in the long run. The NHS have always been excellent for me.-
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I love language and the use of language although, students of mine were more than aware that language I deemed 'too damp to be wearable' would result in a thesis that was neither read nor graded. Pet hates include Americanisms. So 'gotton' and 'fess up' I find to be irritating. I once had an American colleague tell me he was 'goated by the incorrect use of the English Language and its idioms'. As an historian the American use of 'ahead of' instead of using the word 'before' annoys me. But what gets me totally and thoroughly 'goated' is the ever increasing use of the Trumpism 'so-called'. It either is or it isn't, and if it is then call it that, if it isn't there was no need to mention it.
My favourite misuse of language, a schoolboy error as this was from a schoolboy urgently waving his hand at his teacher.
"Miss! Miss! I've gone and putton 'putton' when I should have putton put!".-
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The drummer in our band was an F1 fanatic and amateur photographer. Post gig he would try to show endless pictures of empty tarmac.
"Yeah you can't quite see it but Senna was there a second earlier. This is one of Nigel Mansell, you can't see him but you can see the rubber he left on the tarmac."
Occasionally YouTube throws some weird video suggestions into my timeline. Why this particular video cropped up I can only guess it was due to me watching James May explain the internal combustion engine...but for 'Race fans around the world' I present the Diecast Racing League's 2020 Championship Race... -
1 hour ago, Neal said:
its a solid bottle, no screw lid,
Its what is known as a 'factice' bottle, often used in perfumery. My better half Ellie has a number of them in her perfume collection. The small 1:1 ratio bottles can be picked up quite cheaply but the giant factice bottles like this Mugler Alien factice can fetch a pretty penny.
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The eel is one fish I absolutely hate catching, can't stand the things, but occasionally I do catch them and I do unhook and release them.
Over the years I've changed the pattern of hook that I use from a 'J' hook to a circle hook. This will help in avoiding deep hooking. If I know there will be eels about I will of course avoid bait which is meat or fish based as well as maggot and worms. I also employ a 'T-bar' in my rig if eels are around. I will also employ a more sensitive bite indicator (eels engulf food quickly) and fish to a tight line (eels will drop food when they feel resistance).
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Happy Birthday!
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Anyone who knew Uncle Albert knew that when he was boating he liked a pint, liked his fishing and liked to explore the Broadland landscape. There once was a time that he and his wife hired a boat with his sister and brother in law for two weeks. It was very rare for Uncle Albert to telephone to ask for help with anything, but four days into the holiday I received a telephone call from him requesting I come to Norfolk ASAP.
The holiday had started well enough, but shopping trips into Roys for 'holiday essentials' had gone from the sublime to the ridiculous. The second evening of the holiday and the boat was still moored in the boatyard basin. They had not moved. Uncle Albert's suggestion they go for a pub meal had been pooh poohed as his sister and brother in law were aggressively tea total, vegan and, despite having the shape and dimensions of small bungalows, fitness fanatics.
Finally they left the boatyard and headed out into the wilds with the sister and brother in law claiming they were 'sea sick' every fifteen minutes. On the third evening, Uncle Albert had found a nice wild mooring and started to tackle up only to discover brother and sister in law had put half of his fishing tackle back into the car and 'free'd' his bait back at the boat yard. Uncle Albert was not happy. He was even unhappier that despite all of the shopping trips there was no beer or alcohol of any description on board the boat. The brother and sister in law produced several jigsaw puzzles of immense size and spent the night inside the boat puzzling.The following day Uncle Albert headed to Lathems and bought fishing tackle. His Mrs promised she would stock up on beer. Back at the boat and they headed off again for a wild mooring so Uncle Albert could finally get some fishing done. Tackling up, he cast in. As his float hit the water there was a load 'thud' from the boat. This was followed by another and another and another. Thinking something wrong Uncle Albert nipped back to the boat from the bank to discover his Mrs and her sister and brother in law doing star jumps inside the boat.
With not a fish in the vicinity, probably the whole of the northern Broads, Uncle Albert put away his fishing tackle and reached for a beer. He took a swig from the bottle and spat it out. Looking at the bottle it read 'Alcohol FREE'.
My telephone rang.
"Son, come and get me NOW PLEASE!"
I set off for Norfolk at haste and collected Uncle Albert from the pub. Uncle Albert had had enough. He'd packed his belongings into the dinghy they had hired and after making sure the boat was secured and giving his Mrs and the inlaws instructions, leaving them the car keys he'd set sail for the pub.
I dropped Uncle Albert off at home with my fishing tackle. He spent a fantastic holiday fishing and propping up the bar.
The wife and inlaws? Oh, Uncle Albert had first sailed to the boatyard and explained the situation. As a regular customer hiring three or four times a year, the yard erupted in gales of laughter. While a couple of chaps arranged to collect the hire boat and brought it back to the yard the next morning, the yard owner had then taken Uncle Albert to the pub where he joined him for a few drinks. The wife and inlaws did not move the boat from the yard for the rest of their holiday. They did jigsaws, ate lettuce and did star jumps.-
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1 minute ago, grendel said:
and if the cat is alive when you open the box
Mrs Slocombe would be much relieved!
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2 minutes ago, Jayfire said:
Indeed, indeed.
I see what you're saying, however I must confess that I do prefer the environmental effects in the quantum walk dynamics to be addressed using the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian approach, but that's just me I'm afraid
I mean, each to their own, but the Gentian approach eliminates the clipping, but then its all quantum!
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1 hour ago, Jayfire said:
Well I always try to
Which reminds me Mr Nog, what are your thoughts on the persistence of topological phases in non-hermitian quantum walks? 🤔
It all depends upon whether the environment is lossy and which approach you are using, the Hamilton or Gentian?
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Fred Blogs
in The Broadscot Lounge
Posted
I have to say, Fred, in many ways, is a perfect exemplar of his breed. Oh boy is he stubborn! But, at 10 weeks and four days old, he's already mastered commands such as 'sit', 'down' and 'turn round'. I'm now working on his recall. He will answer to his name...when he feels like it...and we start his lead training this week now that we've found a harness that fits him (don't tell him but we've had to buy a harness for a ferret).
House training was relatively easy. As he was hand reared he'd been trained from birth to 'go outside'. We did encounter two problems. The weekend he arrived was the hottest on record so opportunities to actually go outside were reserved for the night. Secondly my most recent operations on my mouth (doctors took notice of comments like 'someone spoiled a really good bum when they put teeth in that hole' and did something about it) have left me with some difficulties with words like 'sit'. Fred doesn't know whether to sit or squat on bad days!
In the past I've had beagles, collies, black labs, lakeland/border terriers, Jack Russells (proper ones not what passes for a Jackie these days) but I've never had a dog as tiny as Fred.
Feeding him is a real problem. Due to his start in life he was a little under nourished. Fortunately our vet Gordon is a good friend of ours and he and his wife Mandy were instrumental in the rescue of Fred and George. Gordon pronounced Fred as 'boring' which is vet speak for he's healthy just a little bit under weight. So every form of specialist dachshund food has been purchased, every brand and flavour of puppy food and Fred has wolfed the first bowl and subsequently turned his nose up at the remainder. He will however, eat fresh chicken and tinned tuna. After ten years of greedy beagles I am at a bit of a loss!
In other news....I've still not had a cigarette since last year!