The All New Megathread

[garynortheast]

Dim yn ddrwg diolch Craig. Diwrnod diog i mi heddiw. Rwy'n gwrando ar un neu dau bodlediad garddio.

[Craig380]

Cool - when do you move? It's soon, isn't it?

[garynortheast]

Still waiting for a date at the moment. Sooner rather than later I hope!

[Sir Trev]

Mae fy llong hofran yn llawn llysywod.

As long as you don't get Friday next week as a move date Gary...

[garynortheast]

Mae fy llong hofran yn llawn llysywod.

As long as you don't get Friday next week as a move date Gary...

How is it full of eels, and isn't it the job of the postillion to sort that out?

If that's the date I get it'll have to wait until after the weekend!

[garynortheast]

Here comes the weekend QezaVrJWTuU

[maviczap]

Yes, thank god

Taking my youngling away next week to sunny Hunny for our traditional August holiday

[garynortheast]

Have a great time away Mav. How long are you away for?

[maviczap]

Tuesday till Friday

Axe throwing on the program for Thursday :-)

[garynortheast]

Axe throwing on the program for Thursday :-)

:shock: :shock:

[maviczap]

No, not at my ex. :-)

[garynortheast]

No, not at my ex. :-)

:smt046

[garynortheast]

Evening orgers....

[DarrenSV650S]

Today's lesson (which I should definitely know by now) is to always take my bank card with me on the bike because 24hr petrol stations don't accept contactless. :rolleyes:

Braemar was closed with only a card machine available. So I put the bike in touring mode and pootled up to Ballater to find the exact same card machine and a sign saying closed for lunch :smt082

[garynortheast]

Today's lesson (which I should definitely know by now) is to always take my bank card with me on the bike because 24hr petrol stations don't accept contactless. :rolleyes:

Braemar was closed with only a card machine available. So I put the bike in touring mode and pootled up to Ballater to find the exact same card machine and a sign saying closed for lunch :smt082

Ooops! What did you do Darren?

[DarrenSV650S]

Waited for them to come back from lunch :help:

It was only half an hour :)

[garynortheast]

Hope you had a good view to look at while you were waiting!

[munkygunn182]

Oi oi!

[garynortheast]

Oi oi!

Evening, how's it going?

[garynortheast]

Evening folks, how's the week going so far then?

[Sir Trev]

Evening Gary.

Cycled to the pharmacy this evening and on the way back turned a corner and found a bunch of 8-10 year olds on electric scooters paying no attention to traffic flying at me on all sides of the road. A friendly "mind how you go" from me as I avoided one of them, who was looking over his shoulder at the time, earned me a stream of swearing and abuse from the lot of them. Hopefully Darwinian theory will thin out ferral maggots like them but I doubt it... What parent allows their kids out unsupervised, on pretty busy side streets, on those completely illegal deathtraps?

I'll stop ranting now.

We've still not had anything more than a few minutes of rain here over the last few days. I don't want the flash floods that others have been getting but a good shower would be nice.

[garynortheast]

Don't see too many electric scooters around here fortunately Trevor. It's the ones travelling at speed on the pavements that hack me off though.

We've had some rain here but no more than a slight wetting. We could do with more, but not until after the weekend please as I have a two day mountain hike and wildcamp coming up!

[Seeker]

I cannot see the legal logic of being allowed to sell electric (stand up) scooters as long as you're verbally informed at time of purchase that you must only use them on private land. Locally, I see quite a few (some two up) but no marauding packs yet.

[Sir Trev]

The police clearly have no way of effectively enforcing the illegality of e-scooters, no matter who is riding them. So why on earth suggest registrations and insurance for cyclist when that will be equally unenforceable? Soundbite politics yet again to appeal to the "outraged" minority.

[garynortheast]

Yup, sucking up to the Daily Heil "readership" once more.

[munkygunn182]

Is it a required qualification that in order to ride an e-scooter, you must firstly have consumed rather a lot of beer and sniffed all flavours of powders?

It seems that way in Glasgow at least...

[garynortheast]

Well that was a genuinely epic three days hiking and wild camping in the mountains!

[Sir Trev]

Glad you enjoyed it Gary.

[redtrummy]

Is it a required qualification that in order to ride an e-scooter, you must firstly have consumed rather a lot of beer and sniffed all flavours of powders?

It seems that way in Glasgow at least...


Sounds fun must get up there

[garynortheast]

Morning orgers.....

[Craig380]

Hi Gary, how are things? Have you got a firm moving date yet, or have you already moved?

[garynortheast]

Hallo Craig, nope, still waiting for the council to give me a date. Dunno what the delay is about, but I wish they'd just get a move on!

How's things at your end?

[Craig380]

Let's hope they can get you sorted soon. All fine here, thanks - ticking along nicely.

[garynortheast]

We should try and get a ride sorted before the weather turns crap.

[Craig380]

Yes, later in September could be good (weather dependent!)

[garynortheast]

We'll try and sort a date shortly. I have another multi-day mountain hike with my daughter in the planning stage for September at the moment. Once we have a date pinned down for that I can look at dates for a ride.

[garynortheast]

Evening orgers

[Craig380]

Evening Gary.

Nice walk in the country, saw a stoat chasing a rabbit kitten. Also a hummingbird hawk moth
Tacos & beer: consumed
Arsenal: 12 points, top of the league

Generally, a good Saturday

[garynortheast]

Sounds like a good day to me Craig!

Pretty good one here too. Early morning Barkrun, then marshalling for parkrun, coffee and cake, home for breakfast, then out on the m/bike to go and finish a job for someone. Early night tonight though I think.

[Sir Trev]

Just got back from Norfolk, visiting the oldies and celebrating my mums 80th (today). Thankfully I managed to avoid a shouting match or worse with my dad and failed to snap when my cousin got all the credit for something I'd suggested and did most of the organising for... I'll be glad to go to work tomorrow and get so busy I'll forget the whole experience. To top it all the traffic both ways was just appalling.

[garynortheast]

That sounds like something of an ordeal Trevor! :-(

[Sir Trev]

I've decided never to bother taking anything more than supermarket plonk to my folks in future. Nobody said anything about the nice French reds I took up, although they were all polished off. And the (admittedly not that expensive) vintage champagne was just swigged down without comment - all three bottles of it. It was for a toast for the birthday girl, which my cousin jumped in and did while I was still pouring the last couple of glasses... I could have strangled her!

My parents spent all weekend fawning over our daughter and her boyfriend, who they met for the first time that weekend. He's "something in computers" so they got him to wipe their old laptop back to factory (saved me doing it) so he's flavour of the month. All the help I've given over the last decade or more has just been ignored.

It's amazing how tactless and irritating old people can be!

[garynortheast]

It's amazing how tactless and irritating old people can be!

Absolutely. Oh....hang on....I'm one of them there old people! :p

[Bibio]

All the help I've given over the last decade or more has just been ignored.

It's amazing how tactless and irritating people can be!

yup... been there done that. i have now washed my hands of ALL of them. bank of Bibs is now closed.

[svenrico]

I've decided never to bother taking anything more than supermarket plonk to my folks in future. Nobody said anything about the nice French reds I took up, although they were all polished off. And the (admittedly not that expensive) vintage champagne was just swigged down without comment - all three bottles of it. It was for a toast for the birthday girl, which my cousin jumped in and did while I was still pouring the last couple of glasses... I could have strangled her!

My parents spent all weekend fawning over our daughter and her boyfriend, who they met for the first time that weekend. He's "something in computers" so they got him to wipe their old laptop back to factory (saved me doing it) so he's flavour of the month. All the help I've given over the last decade or more has just been ignored.

It's amazing how tactless and irritating old people can be!
Well at least they are still around to get annoyed with :)

[redtrummy]

Yea I could offer some of my own made stuff -that would make their eyes water! (But some of it is very nice, but that's ours)

[garynortheast]

Evening org.

[garynortheast]

Evening all.

[admin]

Why do I have a mental image of a policeman when you say that. #dixon

[Sir Trev]

Why do I have a mental image of a policeman when you say that. #dixon

Snigger. I always preferred inspector Reagan. SHUT IT! I also really liked the bronze Consul GT they drove in the first two series. Such a shame they swapped to a mk2 silver Granada in series 3 (only the top spec mk1 models were called Granada, something Ford dropped when the mk2 came out and they were all named Granada).

[admin]

'Book him Dano'

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[garynortheast]

There we go then....
https://soundcloud.com/feelingmyage/dixonofdockgreen

[garynortheast]

While we're at it......

hVWfK38JRlo

[garynortheast]

Evening all.

Up to my eyes in prepping for the move into the new abode. All the utilities are now sorted, but at some truly terrifying prices. £200+ per month just for gas and electricity. That's without water and broadband, pet insurance, tax and insurance for the car and bike, and various other odds and ends. I'm supposed to find this out of a £740 per 4 weeks state pension. The various allowances (cost of living/heating/etc) won't go far I suspect.

It's going to be a grim winter.

[Sir Trev]

Chin up Gary. It will feel nice getting your own place again. That will really help.

[garynortheast]

Chin up Gary. It will feel nice getting your own place again. That will really help.

That is the plus side Trevor, and as it's a council property I'll have some security of tenure.

[Seeker]

All the utilities are now sorted, but at some truly terrifying prices. £200+ per month just for gas and electricity.

That sounds a lot! I am with Bulb (the nationalised/bankrupt supplier), they have just notified me that I have received my first £66 Gov payment. I have been paying £80/mo although my (pre price rise, Spring/Summer) usage is typically £43 so I'm £400+ in credit.

I guess I'm in for a shock on the 21st when my bill comes in. They did announce what their new prices will be but I chose to not do any calculations :rolleyes:

How big is your new place Gary? Mine is a 60s built, semi, dormer bungalow 3 bed + dining room or 4 bed depending on viewpoint.

I usually sleep upstairs which is always cold in the Winter but I think I'll switch to downstairs this year, I installed a sliding door at the top of the stairs so I can now isolate the upper rooms. I've added a lot of extra insulation to the easily accessible areas but it needs more on the dormer partition walls (which are in the roof - hence the chill).

I normally run a garage dehumidifier for the bikes starting about now - I've noticed the garage humidity has already crept into the low 70s rH. I'll maybe run it for a month to see what the damage is...

[redtrummy]

Its painful! We are being charged £190 a month. 2 beds upstairs (heating off) one down. About £500 in credit at the moment. Just had a smart meter fitted - very interesting gas compared to electricity is cheap as chips. But a quick electric powered shower is about half the price of gas, why? It takes about 40secs for gas to supply hot water at the shower head. Boiled water for a cuppa about 3p lecky powered, 1p for gas. I refitted the 2ndry double glazing on the front bedroom window to supplement the double glazing (after it had stood outside for 10 yrs) - massive improvement, cuts traffic noise, keeps the room cooler in summer and warmer in winter, going to refit to all the single windows as soon as I can.

[garynortheast]

That sounds a lot! I am with Bulb (the nationalised/bankrupt supplier), they have just notified me that I have received my first £66 Gov payment. I have been paying £80/mo although my (pre price rise, Spring/Summer) usage is typically £43 so I'm £400+ in credit.

I guess I'm in for a shock on the 21st when my bill comes in. They did announce what their new prices will be but I chose to not do any calculations :rolleyes:

How big is your new place Gary? Mine is a 60s built, semi, dormer bungalow 3 bed + dining room or 4 bed depending on viewpoint.

I usually sleep upstairs which is always cold in the Winter but I think I'll switch to downstairs this year, I installed a sliding door at the top of the stairs so I can now isolate the upper rooms. I've added a lot of extra insulation to the easily accessible areas but it needs more on the dormer partition walls (which are in the roof - hence the chill).

I normally run a garage dehumidifier for the bikes starting about now - I've noticed the garage humidity has already crept into the low 70s rH. I'll maybe run it for a month to see what the damage is...

I've yet to see how accurate the estimate of what I will use is going to be. I did notice on the confirmation stuff I had from British Gas that they reckon by the end of the first year I'll be £900 in credit for my electricity and £300 in debit for the gas.

Bungalow is one of the late 50s/early 60s builds so pretty solidly made, with a well insulated roof space. Living room, front bedroom, back bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. Proper garden front and back too.

Going to take some adjustment for me, living on a small estate. Thankfully it's on the edge of the estate, itself on the edge of a small market town (most folks in England would probably think of it as a large village).

[Bibio]

utility companies doubled the standing charge overnight but ofgem done nothing as per usual. when the price of power and gas comes down again and it will they will still be getting the high standing charge. i fully believe the standing charge is wrong, why do we pay it after all we dont pay it for getting fuel for our vehicles or bottled gas or coal or other means of supply. its nothing short of a rip off and ofgem needs to do something about it.

[redtrummy]

Totally agree Bilbo - far better to have a separate uniform charge for the utilities coming into the property that is removed from the energy companies - or just renationalise the ole f---- up

[garynortheast]

Evening orgers.

First major part of the house move done. All my stuff from my friend's storage unit near Tywyn, loaded into his monster Merc Sprinter and transported to the bungalow in Llanfyllin. The front room is now rammed with stuff. I'm going to have to get rid of some of it I think......

[Craig380]

I didn't realise the new place was in Llanfyllin. I've only ridden through there on the way to Llyn Vyrnwy but it looks like a nice little town and area.

[Luckypants]

Evening orgers.

First major part of the house move done. All my stuff from my friend's storage unit near Tywyn, loaded into his monster Merc Sprinter and transported to the bungalow in Llanfyllin. The front room is now rammed with stuff. I'm going to have to get rid of some of it I think......

First??

Llanfylin is a nice spot Gary. I hope you are happy there.

[Seeker]

Evening orgers.

First major part of the house move done. All my stuff from my friend's storage unit near Tywyn, loaded into his monster Merc Sprinter and transported to the bungalow in Llanfyllin. The front room is now rammed with stuff. I'm going to have to get rid of some of it I think......


So are you on (or near) the Mach loop?

[admin]

All the best Gary, hope you're happy there.

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[garynortheast]

I didn't realise the new place was in Llanfyllin. I've only ridden through there on the way to Llyn Vyrnwy but it looks like a nice little town and area.

It's not a bad little place Craig, lots going on there for a small Welsh town not much bigger than a large English village.

First??

Llanfyllin is a nice spot Gary. I hope you are happy there.

Yep, first stage Mike. second stage is sorting through all the stuff and getting rid of enough to make room for me to actually move into the place. I still have more furniture in a barn in Dolanog to collect as well. I can see a few boot fairs, and a fair amount of Freegling going on very soon!

So are you on (or near) the Mach loop?

Not really Seeker, I'm about 25 miles away, thankfully. When you have to listen to the jets on a regular basis it gets pretty tiresome.

All the best Gary, hope you're happy there

Thanks John. I'm fortunate in that, although I've never lived there, I have had a fairly close association with the place for various reasons, for the best part of the last 25 years. It means I know a lot of people there already, which always makes a move much easier.

[Sir Trev]

Hope the unpacking and sifting goes well Gary.

I picked Hugh up from his annual service by Spannerman this morning and told him that you may coming to see him next year Gary, at which point we descended into a long chat about how good the Curvy was... Compared to some visits I got off lightly this time and managed to set off for home after just an hour of putting the world to rights. Always nice to visit Stewart in his lair.

[garynortheast]

Hope the unpacking and sifting goes well Gary.

........... Compared to some visits I got off lightly this time and managed to set off for home after just an hour of putting the world to rights. Always nice to visit Stewart in his lair.

Ha ha! Forewarned is forearmed Trevor. As long as I can get the money together I will be going down for a visit next year. My lovely old curvy deserves a spot of tlc.

[Sir Trev]

You'll like Stewart - he's quite the character. I just hope I didn't pass on the bug that started to lay me low yesterday afternoon, especially as he's just gotten over a nasty bout of Covid. I spent most of today asleep, coughing, or wandering aimlessly around YouTube. Somehow I usually manage to feel rubbish at weekends which is a tad unfair. Did a test so I know its not plague - suppose it's just the changing seasons/time of year for it...

[garynortheast]

Hope you're not feeling too ropey Trevor. Here's to a speedy recovery!

[admin]

You'll like Stewart - he's quite the character. I just hope I didn't pass on the bug that started to lay me low yesterday afternoon, especially as he's just gotten over a nasty bout of Covid. I spent most of today asleep, coughing, or wandering aimlessly around YouTube. Somehow I usually manage to feel rubbish at weekends which is a tad unfair. Did a test so I know its not plague - suppose it's just the changing seasons/time of year for it...Hope you feel better soon. We've had a bout of COVID in the shop and forced us to close for 4 days. Out of the 5 of us I'm the only one who didn't come down with it.

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[Sir Trev]

I don't feel too bad, it's only a head cold now, but the congestion means I cannot sleep properly. Slept a fair bit during the day yesterday which helped, and hoped to do the same after calling in sick today. Unfortunately, next door's builders have got a mini digger in with windy hammer attached breaking up the old concrete flooring as part of their extension rebuild.

Dddďddddddrrrrrrrrrrr, dddddddddddddrrrrrrrr......... All morning, interspersed with the dump truck moving stuff round the front and the grab loader scooping it up to take it away. My recovery may take some time.

[Luckypants]

It's not a bad little place Craig, lots going on there for a small Welsh town not much bigger than a large English village.

Drove through there yesterday and was wondering where your new place was Gary. :D Next time I'll get in touch if there is a chance we can meet for a coffee / beer.

[Bibio]

more of a step forward Gary :thumright:

[garynortheast]

Drove through there yesterday and was wondering where your new place was Gary. :D Next time I'll get in touch if there is a chance we can meet for a coffee / beer.

Give me a shout Mike and call by for a paned. I'm anticipating being properly in the bungalow sometime towards the end of the week, although the moving process is likely to continue for a bit longer.

more of a step forward Gary :thumright:

It's a step in the right direction as far as security of tenure goes Bibs. Going to take some adjustment on my part though, as I've not lived so close to other houses for around 40 years.

[garynortheast]

Morning orgers.

Main house moving days today, tomorrow, and Monday very stressful. Aiming to be in tomorrow with enough to manage until moving is more or less complete by the end of Monday. Still no curtains or floor coverings yet. Hope to have some temporary curtains up later today or tomorrow.
Anybody localish wanting to come and laugh at the chaos/offer moral support would be very welcome. I will make tea and coffee!

[Craig380]

Good luck with it, Gary!

[redtrummy]

Yea its hard work- hope you settle in ok.

[Geodude]

Hope you get your feet up soon Gary :)

[garynortheast]

How did I manage to accumulate so much bloody "stuff"? Still having to climb over and around boxes after 3 days.

Years ago I moved 13 times in 3 years and could pack everything I owned, including all my tools and equipment into the back of a Hillman Avenger!

[Luckypants]

:smt082:smt082

We still have unopened boxes in the garage from moving 8 years ago! Really pushing SWMBO to get rid but she is reluctant. My rule would be if a box is unopened after 6 months, you don't need it so recycle......

[Craig380]

8 years? We have unopened boxes from 21 years ago ... but my 2000AD collection is staying where it is :D

[Bibio]

WTF if i'm reading right its £300 return from carinryan to belfast on the ferry... ermm fuk aff

[garynortheast]

Well, the living room is now "only" half full of boxes of stuff!

[garynortheast]

Morning orgers.....

[admin]

Morning orgers.....Good afternoon Gary.

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[Geodude]

Yay org is working again :D and thanks Gary, just because :D;)

[garynortheast]

Thanks go to John (Mr Admin) and TSM for getting the org up and running again.

[Geodude]

Yeah big thanks to John and TSM for calming my sanity, but thanks to you Gary for stopping me from running into the hills :) ;)

[Sir Trev]

So I wasn't the only one suffering withdrawal symptoms then?

[admin]

For those interested, this is a summary of the problem this morning from TSM.

issue fixed, seems a hung service pushed the linux load avg high and then the site just goes into lockdown, it was not actually busy server

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[Geodude]

Interested but not a clue what it means :p;) Thanks for fixing it though :D:thumleft:

[garynortheast]

Evening orgers.....

[Craig380]

How's the sorting going after the move, Gary? Settling in?

[maviczap]

Evening Gary

[garynortheast]

How's the sorting going after the move, Gary? Settling in?

Getting there slowly Craig. Still got a lot of boxes in the living room to be sorted, but it's being put on the back burner atm, as I have a couple of urgent jobs to sort out outside.

Evening Gary

Evening Mav, how's things with you?

[maviczap]

Just chilling after a busy couple of days at work

[Sir Trev]

Is it me or is the weather unseasonably warm right now? Been stuck indoors working all week which is annoying as it's been the sort of just right temperature for a nice walk in the woods through all the fresh leaf drop. Hope it lasts until the weekend so I can get some of my autumnal garden chores done without wrapping up like the Michelin Man.

[admin]

Is it me or is the weather unseasonably warm right now? Been stuck indoors working all week which is annoying as it's been the sort of just right temperature for a nice walk in the woods through all the fresh leaf drop. Hope it lasts until the weekend so I can get some of my autumnal garden chores done without wrapping up like the Michelin Man.Same here. We seem to have a plague of house flies encouraged by the warmth.

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