grendel

go careful now, you dont want to overexert yourself.

I am still trying to find somewhere that stocks them in my size

if you are in a bath tub, moored on the river and worried other people might be watching, best not to run a bath. definitely keep a towel close to hand.

the thing that gets me is that these activists dont see that all they are doing is damaging their cause, because as soon as anyone mentions it now, it will be associated with these activists and the general public will stop listening and start ranting at the people trying to get the message across, about these outrageous activities. do these people not realise they are doing their causes more harm than good - or is that their intention to discredit future attempts to save the planet. to be honest it just made an already difficult day, more difficult and lead to me missing the first 1 1/2 hours of the training the last thing people need is more stress in their lives. as mentioned above we are straying into the political, which was never my intent on posting the above, just to pass on about a bad day travelling.it was mitigated somewhat by the scenery along the A507, but I didnt get to enjoy that as much as i should because I was running late by then. probably best forgotten now its over and done with.

what a day, I had some mandatory training at milton keynes, starting at 10am, so plenty of time to get there, so as it was a 2 1/2 hour journey, and not wanting to arrive late I left at 6am, made good time up to the flyover off the A2 over the M25, I was now 2 miles from the tunnel and it was 7am. and we stopped. 2 hours later we were moving again and I was headed through the tunnel (apparently it was stop oil protestors on a gantry above junction 31) now we were moving and it was looking like I would arrive about 10.30, couldnt be helped. Except I got to junction 27 for the M11, and everyone was diverted off the motorway onto the M11 - great (another batch of protesters), i headed north, and carried on past the first turnoff (there was a 3 mile queue to turn off, and headed up to stansted where I took a break at bishops stortford services. map out, and yes if I took the A120, I could get to the A507, which would take me via the A1M and across country to the M1. I left the services just after 9.30, and eventually after a very pretty cross country hike, arrived at the venue for 11.30 having missed completely the first section of the training. the M25 was at least open for the return journey, but that still took 3 1/2 hours, all told a 13 hour day from when I got into the car. not fun the only good news of the day was that the police are now treating those arrested for these protests as criminals, so they can be properly tried and convicted.

I have just purchased a ninja from the cheaper end of the range, its a good little cooker for one or two people as it uses less power than an oven and cooks quicker, so far I have tried it on a few dishes, crisps it does quite well, chips, superb, and it will even cook a cheese and bacon wrap nicely (only room for 2 at a time though) and i also tried it on belly pork, i have to say it crisps up the fat nicely, still experimenting but liking the fact it uses less power to achieve the same results. I bought mine at currys, its the 3.8litre one, that air frys, roasts, dehydrates and reheats, the shelf price was £129, but I was surprised when I went to pay that it was only £99.99. The list price seems to be around £129 depending where you shop, I got lucky as the sales assistant said they normally sell out as soon a s they get them in, and they had 3 (one was the display model. while I was looking a young girl came in wanting 4 of them (grandmothers christmas presents to the family (only to be told one left on the shelf, one in stock and no forseeable date for restock. I guess I got lucky.

saying china is an unhealthy country is rather simplifying the situation, basically they have a very large population, and being a largely sub tropical country they do not have a winter as such, so there is nothing to slow and prevent transmission of viruses in a seasonal fashion. most flu viruses are first experienced as avian flu, which then gets transferred to humans. new flu strains dont exclusively originate in china though. there is an interesting article here - https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4135122 that looks into the subject, and the likely cause is the large human population, combined with a large domestic avian population in the region.

All the above assumes the batteries are Lead Acid, there is now an alternative in Lithium Iron Phosphate, these can be discharged to almost 0% (so a 130Ah battery can supply 130Ah) and have a higher number of charge cycles, they do need the alternator output to be changed, though its better to go via a charge monitering circuit as they can accept the charge much faster than lead acid, and without a charge regulator they can destroy alternators by demanding too much power from them. with these wonder batteries being out there, why isnt everyone using them, - its simple they cost an awful lot more than lead acid- eg over £500 for a 130Ah 12V

is that upwind or downwind, or up the creek without a paddle?

is that 1 bottle to 1 strawberry?

had my covid 4 weeks ago, and my flu at the weekend, with the flu jab the worst part was a very slight bruise on my arm.

I cant help it, I always get the giggles at the crematorium, I mean, why do all the doors except the obvious one, have a sign saying fire exit on them? when I was still into re-enactment a friend died and asked for his ashes to be sprinkled from the top of a castle tower at a show, in this case it happened to be Rochester Castle on a rather damp day. the ashes party duly went to the top of the castle to scatter the ashes above the showground, unfortunately the damp weather had caused them to clump in the urn, and upon their return to ground level they were met with the sight of a very grumpy castle custodian with a yard broom sweeping the castle steps, muttering about 'bloomin' teenagers chucking stuff off the battlements- apparently he had just been walking past there and they had nearly landed on his head. the deceased would have found this a tremendously hilarious tale, so in reality it was quite fitting.

so yesterday, it was shopping, then i had my flu jab booked, I was a bit worried as they texted a reminder saying bring your letter with barcode, and I hadnt received a letter. not to worry, it seemed as though only about 50% of people had received one, so it was a couple of minutes wait while they went and printed one, which we then took inside and handed over, all in all quite quick and painless, after that it was home and sort some stuff out, after which I had a drive to the local woods and had a 2 mile walk round the trails, the first time i have really felt up to it since i banged my leg up over 2 weeks ago.

last time i watched tv there were no christmas adverts (actually, i dont think there were any adverts during the queens funeral).

does that make you one of Snow Whites entourage

if you appeal you stand a reasonable chance as long as you show willing to pay

my condolences on your loss Kate, with my parents at 91 and 89 respectively its an event that I know is drawing nearer, and not one I am looking forward to, though it wont be unexpected at their ages, they are both starting to struggle with mobility (my dad at 89 now complains he cant walk the mile to the town centre and back every day, and has to get a taxi to allow him to carry the shopping), my mum can get around the house, but thats about it, they are both still active though, both physically and mentally.

4 times now - Pfizer, all 4 times about 12 hours after the injection felt just a little off colour and listless, for the next 24 hours, it never stopped me doing anything though.

i recently went to a pub in central london, where it was order your drinks by smart phone app, as i did not have one i went to the bar and ordered my drinks and food, my colleague was still trying to connect by phone and order when my drink and food arrived, apparently the phone signal in the pub was abysmal, in the end she gave up and went to the bar and ordered. I too find the assumption that everyone has a smart phone to be outrageous, and even if i did have one, it would not be linked to my bank account in any way. oh and now the new notes are plastic, they dry out well after a dunking too. on the parking apps, they do allow at some ringo sites to connect via a computer when you get home and pay retrospectively, you have to input the time you arrived and left.

I have only waqtched one tv program in the past 3 years, and that was the queens funeral, I generally found that most of the TV content was absolute rubbish, so to save energy, the TV isnt turned on nowadays. I have dvd's, and I watch youtube, when I am not busy doind something else. for me strictly would be the height of boredom (well for me most tv programs are to be honest)

thank you Jean for the wonderful tale, it was good to hear, problems and all, and i feel that while uncommon issues can be had with any boat from any yard this late in the season, I am glad you were recompensed for the trouble. It seems to me that some people judged HW's rather harshly for the problems we had aboard on lads week (maybe its just the way I tell it), but they must remember that we have 4 boats out (3 hire and one private) so any engineer call outs will be x4 from the normal holiday tale, and indeed all 4 of our boats needed engineers at some point through our holiday, even the private boat (Broad Ambition) required an engineer to attend from wales. so its good to hear that its not just the one yard that has engineering issues in October, and the support that we had from the engineers was to the same standard as that you had, we were lucky that we didnt lose any time from our trip - last year we lost half a day on one boat when the gearbox had to be replaced, and then the steering had to be reattached to the boat, but even then half of that crew transferred to other boats while the repairs were accomplished, and that was outside a pub.

i should be there

a few days aboard a traditional wooden cruiser, she looks lovely, and just the right size for solo helming. how was your first experience as a hullabaloo? I have to admit your trip sounded like my idea of heaven.

The pictures don't show the bruises as bad as they really appear. I am just grateful I was holding on.

So despite managing to not fall overboard when I slipped, I have damaged my leg, its just a bit bruised, the bruises haven't quite joined up yet, the bit between them is yellow, suggesting the colour may come out still. Always remember, one hand for yourself, as without that I would more than likely have ended up in the water.