floydraser

I find the history of the port fascinating. Searching for the turning point I came accross Joe Mason's webpage where I found a couple of interesting items: A Cedric Lovewell (great name) says the last coaster sailed into Norwich in 1989 and unloaded at Coporation Quay. Lady Julian Bridge was opened in 2009 and has a lifting span. So 20 years after the last coaster? So is it still officially a commercial waterway today? One for the other thread I think. I'm just a lottery win away from buying a coaster and giving it a try...

Thank you Fred Low for the excellent record photos! That top one in the shed must have taken some skill to get the light right on both sides of the boat.

Where did the coasters turn around for the return journey? Was it up by Baltic Wharf?

It's not all unpleasant; soon the good memories start to appear: Yesterday - four daughters, three local and one over from Derham, together again in the bungalow going through the last of the stuff. No arguing or squabbling over who has what. Mainly to go through the old family photographs. Four and a half hours of giggling and messing about later they were done. We're all out for a meal tonight which I'll bet will become an annual event.

Good luck with the water company. Up here it took Severn Trent two days to come out and turn off my main in what I said was an emergency. It turns out they only call it an emergency if you're paying monthly for their "insurance".

Ah, I can see him now, the publican. He stands there polishing the glasses while discussing politics with the locals. Shall we have a buxom barmaid too? Roaring coal fire. And Watneys Red Barrell. Or decent beer and a manager? I don't think there's a right or wrong way but there is a culture change going on and it's the London culture spreading north with levelling up as I said somewhere else. Bright, lively staff are the expectation now, along with decent food, beer and a choice of gins and mixers. A manager trained by a brewery is more likely to be aware that it's not about just being there anymore, it's about competition. Gordon Ramsey highlighted this in his Kitchen Nightmares in the UK before he went all Hollywood.

My Corsa was bought new by a chap through the mobility scheme but he only wanted a little run around for local trips. He soon got fed up with lights coming on to tell him something was wrong so traded it in with just 5K on the clock. I was doing 30 miles each way to work mostly motorway which soon cleaned it out. Now I occasionally get a message telling me to continue driving to clear the filter. I just keep the revs over 2000 for about 10 minutes and it clears.

Be careful what you wish for up there; "levelling up" will see the end of all that!

In that case I would say there's little in difference. The biggest difference is probably when it comes to careful driving; I don't think diesels handle being thrashed as well as petrols. Best of luck with an electric. Ex colleague of mine used to clear the ice from his wife's car in the morning as he was out there doing his own. Then he got an electric BMW and de-iced it from the app. Mrs was not best pleased!

Probably with new diesels. My 2013 Volvo D5 has no additive or DPF and a service is oil and filters. My 2015 Corsa diesel has a DPF but service is still oil and filters. I know petrols don't have points to change but do spark plugs and ignition systems last forever now?

They must be nice people.

Wheeled mobility aids are quite cheap at auctions, I bought two for a tenner! We ended up with two of the four wheelers which you can turn around and sit on, one for indoors and one for outside. I've also got a three wheeler but they didn't like it so it now sits on the deck of the Denham Owl to prop up the cover!

We didn't see the automatic pill dispenser. We managed with the box type like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/JFA-Medical-Organiser-Supplements-compartments/dp/B0818FSVKX/ref=asc_df_B0818FSVKX/?tag=&linkCode=df0&hvadid=394276556622&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13929155728499493874&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006867&hvtargid=pla-839594556387&mcid=ac9ae9c8d2b636d4896523a7eba7f8dd&ref=&adgrpid=84524269169&th=1 Although she did forget once or twice it was never a bother.

And another thing: at the top I said there were five things, there's more. This was a God send: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Amplicomms-Amplified-Telephone-Programmable-Buttons/dp/B06XSLHMZC/ref=sr_1_11?crid=3ETQTZMDB3TQM&keywords=big+button+phone&qid=1701855083&sprefix=big+button+phone%2Caps%2C79&sr=8-11 Programmed with the correct numbers you just press the photo of whoever you want to call. Different makes available, we didn't have this one so this isn't a recommendation. We did get one of these though and I can recommend it: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Breville-HotCup-Dispenser-Variable-Dispense/dp/B002NGNRHC/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1NKQ8JIZNSHWR&keywords=breville+water+heater&qid=1701855293&sprefix=breville+water+heater%2Caps%2C77&sr=8-3 Preset the cup size and you get just the amount you need straight away. Just have to top it up every so often.

Sense of humour alert: I've tried this on Mrs raser so it's ok Our Alexa randomly answers questions which nobody asked. I'm not sure how someone with dementia would cope with "The capital of Portugal is Lisbon. Population...." suddenly coming from nowhere. But back to seriousness: MIL was not computer savvy at all and wouldn't have coped with it. Athough I guess it's partly a generation thing. An ex colleague of mine, a dear old lady who knew me as an apprentice, used to keep in touch with the World via her laptop. As I said at the top, every case is different.

Our carers were all African too including the owners of the company. Nothing was too much for them and they all went the extra mile. The neighbours said they could set their watches by the puncuality of them! The neighbours also asked for contact details just in case.

Forgot to add: We count ourselves lucky that MIL was able to recognise who we were up to the end. She was always pleasant to everyone she saw and always said "Thank you" as they left. All of us were always pleasant with the carers and professionals who visited and we think this contributed to the good service we got from them.

I read this thread last night and thought you may like to keep canine! I had to consult Mrs Raser for details but I've started another thread...

I thought I would start a thread with this title so it may benefit others and equally help those who may wish to avoid the subject. It seems there are a few of us who are either going through or have recently been through the emotional mill which is caring for someone. I thought it may help to have somewhere to pool our experiences so that others could glean some ideas. I know every case is different but there's always similarities. I'll not be offended in the slightest if someone has an alternative view. There are five main things which come straight to mind when I think of what helped us most: Power of attorney, attendance allowance, private carers, frozen meals and a “dementia” clock. Dementia clock has a large display and can be set to give an alarm and a voice (your own if you want) can say something like “time to take your medication”. They're about £30ish or could be available through a charity. Frozen meals: we bought an upright freezer for MILs house and we had a lot of small freezer boxes labelled “main meal xxxx” or “vegs”. These were prepared so all she had to do was take out what she fancied and microwave it. Attendance allowance: Search online, not means tested, through Social Services in England but Wales may be different? Goes to the patient not the carer. Private carers: MIL had too much in the bank so didn't qualify for Social Services carers. Probably just as well because when they knew we had carers going in a lot of people asked us how they were. Ours were perfect and we couldn't have wished for better. Unfortunately, we heard in return, that a lot of Social Services carers (although lovely people) were unreliable in that they turned up at varying times and you didn't always get the same people. Back before Covid MIL and FIL were getting on in years. They had four daughters, three living locally and we went every weekend to see them. FIL struggled with mobility and MIL had a couple of mini strokes which were diagnosed as vascular dementia. We locked them in during Covid, taking food to the door and leaving it in the porch. FIL passed away in November 2020 so we set up a rota of visiting. MIL's condition deteriorated very slowly over the next two and a half years but slowly she needed more and more attention which became a bit much while we were working. We started the private carers for an hour a day at first, making sure she'd taken her meds, a drink and putting her to bed. She accepted this gladly as it was reassurance that we were not going to put her in a home. Then the same carer came in the morning for an hour to get her up. Then lunchtime. When she became unable to get out of bed the doctor was able to arrange the loan of a top of the range hospital bed which was set up in the lounge. I hope some of this helps.

I mentioned my Father-in-law earlier. Apart from the service paperwork for his Venga we also found a half bottle of whisky in a door pocket! When I first met him back in the early seventies he ran a small car workshop with his two brothers. They did mechanical and bodywork, private hire and light haulage. His car was a Humber Hawk. One brother had another Hawk and one a Super Snipe. Then for weddings (including mine) they had a lovely 1966 Humber Imperial.

My understanding is that since they banned asbestos from brake pads the compound is harder and therefore the discs are more likely to wear. However, you are correct, a main dealer will want to change both to maximise profit. When I did the brakes on the Corsa I went by the thickness of the discs. There is a specified minimum thickness and the rears were nowhere near it so they stayed. The fronts were a bit close so they went.

Sadly, pubs have suffered for years since the drink driving laws were strengthened. And that was the right thing to do. Although since I got my bus pass in January a couple of the pubs in Leicester have had a few quid more! Give everyone a bus pass I say.

Luxury! There were 'undred an fifty of us livin in't shoe box in't middle o' roord!

One former lady owner you said. It has all the fancy extras you said. So this lady shelled out on a top of the range Volvo brand spanking new and couldn't care less about it? Blimey, how some people live. I would have seen the scratches on the door and said to myself "if that's an indication of how they look after the car, they clearly don't value it very much, I wonder what else is wrong? Probably thrashed. Best walk away." I don't get the importance you attach to the "impeccable MOT history" and "no advisories" mentioned in the vid. Mine went for it's test on Thursday and got two: two of the tyres are worn, still legal but worn. Big deal. So mine's MOT record is not impeccable but I won't hold it against Volvo. Your lady's main dealer probably changed everything that even looked worn before it went for the MOT, like the light cluster you mention, would have been an MOT fail.

Three years ago I was charged with selling my Father-in-law's 10 year old Kia Venga which he had bought new from the main dealer in Leicester. He had traded in his very low mileage Carens and they stung him at the time with a very low trade in value. He would have been 82 at the time. I went through the service invoices and was horrified at the amount of money they had taken him for. From memory, there was a 12k service at 5k miles and a couple of 20k services too. It had only done 16,300 miles when I sold it! He was also supposed to get something like 25% discount on his first seven years services but they seem to have forgotten that. Having watched Robin's videos, in the "you may also like" column it seems there is a trend for all the Clarkson wannabees on Youtube to buy a car from Ebay/FB Marketplace and take it to a main dealer for assessment. Four grand for a pair of Jag headlights!