Regulo

By coincidence I had one of these today. Bought it a few weeks back, definitely in Aldi. As Tangara says, don't use the tray it comes in, impossible to crisp up the bottom. It's really a DIY sausage toad, all they've really done is put the dry batter mix in a bag! As in a lot of Aldi and Lidl stuff, they seem to disappear from sale as quickly as they appear. Annoying, when you find something you really like.

Just a heads up for anyone who might be interested. Lidl have a 12v electric oil suction pump on offer from 29th Feb. £12:99p.

BT was no different. One of my managers came onto the exchange floor and announced, "Anyone want a torch?". We all replied, "How much?", such was our suspicion of all managers. "All free", he replied, "Follow me". He led us down to a small store room which he unlocked. Stacked from floor to ceiling were boxes and boxes of torches - and they weren't cheap rubbish. Rechargeable, with the charger built in, massive light output. In the day, they must have cost £20 each easily. Having doled out as many as we could carry (which barely scratched the surface of the stock), we asked how he'd come by them. "Hadn't spent this year's budget, and couldn't think what else to use it on. Gotta use it or I'll get cut back next year". As far as anyone knows those torches are probably still in that cupboard.

My mate Dave has just pointed out a flaw in my lunar panels idea. What happens if the moon isn't out? Well, I've given it some thought, and reckon I've got the answer. I connect a 500W inverter, and run a 300W floodlight out of the cabin window to shine on the panel. That should then generate about 4 Amps of current! I'm not as daft as you all think I am.

I'm not falling for all this hype - I'm fitting lunar panels instead.

Where does she keep her maggots? And licence?

Had a "coming together" with a Ricko's boat on the Waveney many years back, which decided it didn't want to stop after smashing into my pushpit rail. (Ricko's sorted it, no problem, great service, BTW). The river inspector who turned up to take details, turned out to be David Dane's son. He spotted the many pictures of his father's that I'd put up in Sunbird. A very talented artist, in my opinion. I can look at his paintings and be immediately relaxed.

Oh, I think they're going to get in VERY deep water.

A parcel courier left a card with a squiggle on it. A cross between Arabic, Indian and Chinese letters seems to sum it up. Couldn't make head nor tail of it. Next day, I found my parcel behind the bin in the back garden. Should have known, obviously.

Opened 15th May 1961. Robin's last photo brings back sad memories of the tragic death of a young man who backed his car into the cut, after stopping to rest after a night out, apparently. I believe the yellow buoys were left there for a while after the car was recovered.

Can't say how true or otherwise this is, but in NorfolkNog's pics, the 3rd and 4th ones relate to a conversation I had with the Yacht Station master in about 2010. On bemoaning the welcome to Norwich's Fine City (their words, not mine) presented by the dilapidated state of the craft then moored on the approach thereto, he told me the owner of "Chatterbox" refused to sell her, as he thought she was worth a lot more than anyone would offer him. He was waiting for "appreciation" to kick in. That worked well, didn't it?

Anyone remember how much? My uncle remembered paying, but couldn't recall what the charge was.

Wouldn't know. Never met one in Essex.

Someone asked this a few years back in another place, and I gave my ideas on the subject . . . "Now, what you must do is this. On a full moon, assemble the following : 7 virgins, 2 casks of strong ale, 1 black cat, and a stepladder to walk round. Invite all Forum members to attend, then tie the cat to the stepladder, walk in procession round the ladder 10 times, drink the ale, ravage the virgins, (you can call on the assembled Forum to assist), then chant the new boat name until dawn. You can then be assured of good luck for at least as long as it takes to get afloat, when everything will fall rapidly apart under you. In fact, dispense with all the above, and things will still fall apart under you, but what a night you'll have had!!"

And that's why you should read the previous posts before you submit the answer !!!!

It's Sutton staithe.

Looks like Coltishall?

I vividly remember seeing Broadland Kittiwake under construction at Somerleyton. My uncle booked her for the next year, her first season. The smell of the wood in the boatshed stays with me to this day, it almost knocked me backwards! Kittiwake is being restored above Potter at present, and I had the very great pleasure of visiting her a few years ago. Brought good memories of simpler times.

Har Har Har! Yes, I put my round shouldered physique down to the Broadland boats during my formative years. The grazed knuckles came later, when I moved to Basildon! Yes, 6ft in the main walk-through, and cabins, but the saloon area was a raised floor. If the roof was shut, you either sat down, or bent double. But everyone seated still had a good view out, which was an advantage. In the photo, my mum (in the blue cardi) is standing on the saloon main floor. She was 5'2" tall, so you can get an idea of the headroom available.

Though not of the same "vintage" style of most woodies, the Ripplecraft "Broadland" boats were all wood. Several still around, but they haven't lasted as long as the design would merit, in my opinion. Very quirky design, and very cramped inside, due to being designed to get under Potter while completely enclosed. If you got rain for two weeks, you came off walking around like an orang-utan!

My middle name, Strow.

. . . and they want £3 off ME to save the world.

Thanks, Nigel. I've sent her a link to this thread, so I'll let you know how she gets on.

Thanks, both. I'm not up with Win 8. I thought all windows operating systems came pre-equipped with a mail program (Outlook, WinMail, Windows Live Mail)? I'll have to find out what she's using.