Quite a few albums actually. But the last day or so I have been listening to Duke by Genesis. Love that album

We just started watching Fool Me Once on Netflix

Dear god…. Half an hour in and this is the worst load of old cobblers I’ve ever seen

Comically awful on just about every level. Laughably bad

We’ve been watching it. Not sure I would describe it as that bad. We thought it was quite watchable although I would agree that Michelle Keegan is not exactly the most convincing in her role. Seen plenty of other things that are much worse.

Also enjoying the new Reacher. I think it’s better than the first series and is entertaining. In both cases they are adaptations of books that are just stories. So, seeing it as light entertainment – it works for us.

Had optimistic hopes for The Killer. Was deeply disappointed. Could have been so much better but ended up being something both myself and Mrs BC struggled to stay awake through.

I did enjoy the first of The Continental series though. Mrs BC not so keen so have yet to watch the other two episodes.

We thought The Burial was an enjoyable enough film to watch and also A million miles away. Neither are world shattering films but they were entertaining and enjoyable to watch.

If this is only going to be for home use then, as others have said, why not go for a proper streamer? Quality will be better and they are better designed to be used as a hi-fi component. Although outside your budget, the current Black Friday deals on the Bluesound node make it a tempting option. Or the STW favourite the Wiim pro / pro plus. Maybe a cheap phone or tablet to be the user interface to the streamer.

Like others have mentioned, I’m on it too. Taking every day (prescribed by the consultant). Although, mine too is Esomeprazole. Did discuss with the consultant about long term effects (had read about the potential to bring on osteoporosis, for example). He had no concerns and was happy that in his experience in the field there are no serious long term effects. A small number of cases –  mostly women, with particular circumstances may have a small increase in risk but for the majority, not an issue. And in my case, it’s the better option to the potential risk of increased acid levels in my lower esophagus leading to more critical issues. Not the perfect situation but in the grand scheme of things, I could be a whole lot worse off.

Mrs BC had one of those last week. Some numbnuts couldn’t be bothered to wait so accelerated hard past her, two other cars and then the cohort of road cyclists ahead of them, into a blind bend. Literally only just made the bend and was pulling in as an oncoming car came around the bend. 🤦‍♂️

Also, and no logical reason why it should, but getting irrationally frustrated by the number of cyclists in our town who seem to think it’s fine to ride up a one way street the wrong way. And it’s not as if there are no alternatives. Carry on up the road you were on for another 300 metres, cycle up the connecting road and you’ll arrive at the same point. Oh, and the increasing number of fully grown adults riding on the pavements…

May not be a popular choice but the new shape Corsa is quite a nice little car. The 100bhp turbo petrol engine is quite sprightly. You might struggle to pick one up for less than £10k but you may well find one for not too much more. I would also consider the Fiesta too but not driven one for a while. Mrs BC has one of the new shape Corsa’s and loves it.

Interesting thread. I should have them but am putting it off. Not necessarily denial, but a reluctance to get on the spendy hearing aid treadmill. The audiologist I have been to uses and was recommending the Phonak but have yet to take up the free trial. Happy enough at the moment knowing my hearing is sub-optimal even if it drives the mrs spare at times. Mind you, she’s also getting hard of hearing and hasn’t yet had her hearing tested so I feel I’m still on defendable ground. :)

One would have thought that this method would have resulted in some strange buzzing noises. Not all of which could have been passed off as farting, surely? I’m guessing, anyway :)

<span style=”color: #000000; font-family: Roboto, ‘Helvetica Neue’, Arial, ‘Noto Sans’, sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ‘Segoe UI’, ‘Apple Color Emoji’, ‘Segoe UI Emoji’, ‘Segoe UI Symbol’, ‘Noto Color Emoji’;”>The Israeli security company responsible have also built Pegasus, (I think that’s its name) which is being used to hack phones belonging to people at risk from unfriendly countries, like Russia, Hungary, and lots of others who don’t like journalists digging into their nefarious practices.</span>

Sounds like someone else has listened to the most recent Darknet Diaries podcast :)

I can definitely empathise with the OP and also the honest females who have posted on this thread. At least Mrs BC knows that a lot of this is the menopause but she, by her own admission, has been a bit scared until now to go for HRT. Largely because she has reacted to some medications in the past that have made her even more depressed / low and she didn’t want to face that risk. I have been pretty rubbish a lot of the time though as I tend to struggle to step back and see that there might be a darker reason for the outburst or hostility and try to deal with the actual words and sentiments being expressed. I can also very much recommend the Newson Health site (https://www.newsonhealth.co.uk/). A friend of ours who is some sort of consulting nurse at her practice is also one of the Newson nurses (was one of the very earliest ones). They do a great job of explaining the options and helping the people they have appointments with to get to the right treatment and doses. It is not completely straightforward but once they have the results of your blood tests they can see what needs to be done and what may help.

As a couple have posted earlier, it’s very easy to see this as a strong contender for contributing to divorce rates as it is a horrible thing to go through for both sides. If we go back a generation or two we can see that the perimenopause, mid life crisis for men and kids leaving home probably came together as the perfect storm for divorce to happen. It is shocking that it has been under-researched for women, under cared for by the broad spectrum of GPs and allowed to get to this point. I think the Davina programme, while still a bit fluffy and “prime time TV audience” has done a great job in helping to raise the profile and hopefully we will see more women helped through something that they will all go through. The symptoms will vary from person to person but they will still go through it.

Nice to see a thread that restores my faith in the STW community to deliver important and uplifting commentary on real life issues. Thank you H-T-S.

From my, unfortunately less than sparse, experience, then only answer in this situation is to exit the trap as soon as humanly possible – obviously making sure that you have fully evacuated first. Yes, there is a risk that others may enter the “temple of doom” before you have fully exited but best to get out of there. Guaranteed that the occupier of trap 1 is not going to move first – unless he arrives at “flush too far” point of no return. And if that happens, the last place you want to be is still in trap 2.

That sinking feeling of despair when you happen to have dropped what, at the time felt “sizeable”, but in reality turns out to be the mother of all turd burgs and you realise that the trap plumbing is seriously underpowered for the job at hand. And then the dawning horror that your trap doesn’t have a plunger on hand….

Just getting to the end of A short history of Europe by Simon Jenkins. Mostly as a way to get a concise summary of, er, European history. I think it’s been done pretty well and has been an enjoyable read. Getting lined up is Defence of the realm but that’s a bit of a beast (may take it on holiday) so will fill in with some lighter reading novels before (and alongside) it.

Personally, I think @Mattyfez observations are worth noting. I really would avoid the cheap bluetooth speaker options and either consider a reasonable sound bar that can support a sub woofer or a decent powered speaker option such as the Edifiers. I think some of them also support the addition of a sub so that when budget allows you can add to the quality of the tv watching experience.

Mrs BC has an Audio Pro portable speaker which she uses for listening in the bedroom and that we take away on holidays. Sound quality is very good although when you first listen to them they can sound quite bassy. For my home office I have the Edifier R1700BT which I find to be really very good for the money. It’s not the last word in audiophile quality but I still reckon it will blow any of the “cheaper” options such as Ankar. Both the Audio Pro and the Edifier support Bluetooth.
As another option (but more expensive) is to look at the offerings from companies such as Adam Audio for powered speakers. Not sure of their cheaper speakers do Bluetooth but you can always add a Bluetooth receiver or go higher quality with something like the Ifi Zen Blue which will give you Bluetooth and a reasonable DAC.

All of these are cheaper and more discrete than going for a full on AV amplifier / receiver which is possibly overkill for what the OP is looking for. But they will give you decent sound quality for both audio playback and a huge improvement for the tv.

It was on ITV. :)

5 minute highlights are now live on the BBC web site though

The thing with China though, as far as I understand it, is that they are desperate to make a significant statement on the work stage. I suspect the league thing was part of the overall strategy to try and give the programme a boost but there is a lot going on at the grass roots level to groom and develop young players to become good enough for China to win the work cup in a “few years” (probably 1000) time. They would appear to be taking a similar approach to the way they develop all their athletes and are being ruthless about talent spotting and discarding if not making the grade / putting the work in.

Like others have said though, the Saudi thing does seem more about trying to gain acceptability in the world of sport and probably improve their game. But mostly the only players going there are those who are on the brink of retiring and getting themselves a nice payout for it. Based on what I saw in the world cup though, I suspect the intensity of the football matches is a lot higher than what we saw when the US were starting out and where players like Beckham were probably no ,more taxed than they would in a training game

Being PM is always going to be a tricky task. With a population of circa 68 million you have almost as many views on what the right thing to do is. People with similar political leanings will agree about a number of things but not everything, let alone those with polar opposite political leanings. I feel there are several areas of our UK infrastructure that need a comprehensive overhaul and transformation – but how many “ordinary” people will be willing to vote for a party that will start that process, knowing that it’s likely to take years to accomplish. Then tax system, NHS and social services are all areas that are currently broken that we keep adding and pulling off sticky plasters in the hope that no-one notices how fundamentally broken they are. Then add in the housing market, utilities and local services and that starts adding up quite quickly to a mountain of change that needs to happen. Easier to just pretend that a few tweaks here and there will keep it all ticking along.

Like many other posters on this thread, I genuinely don’t know where I will vote at the next GE. To be fair, the last few elections have not been flush with positive options – but this time it feels more desperate. :(

Wasn’t this the criticism levelled at Albon? Struggled to qualify in a prime position but often drove very well on Sunday. Perez came with a bit more seasoned experience and has had some good drives but overall hasn’t been as effective as I think Red Bull would have really wanted. I also agree that Max (and probably Red Bull too) won’t want anyone too competitive with him as it will get messy and that will create a whole new headache for RB to deal with. They clearly love Max and see him as the number 1 and what they really want from the number 2 driver is someone who will be able to act as at least some sort of wing man and will be picking up podium places behind Max.

I look at how different a mindset Albon seems to be in these days and how he is probably in a much better place mentally and in a more supportive team environment. It’s just a shame for him that he is not in a really competitive car at the moment but really pleased for him that he has picked up some excellent results (all things considered) this season. Overall, he is probably better off not being in Red Bull and, the way the past few seasons have gone, I would probably steer clear of Ferrari :)

But get someone to show you how to row properly.

Or if that’s not an option just do the opposite to what everyone else does.

😂

But so true. One of the hardest things to watch in the gym

I didn’t know that Sting sings backing vocals on Money for Nothing until a mate of mine told me a couple of years back. I mentioned it to my girlfriend on Sunday as the song came on the radio whilst we were having breakfast. She didn’t know either! It’s totally obvious when you hear it but I never twigged before I was told.

One of those things I always knew – probably because at the time it was always mentioned whenever the song was played. I happened to see DS on the Money for Nothing tour at Wembley Arena when Sting himself came out on stage to join them for that song. The second bonus of that gig. The first bonus was that we got cheap tickets as the seller thought our view was going to be obstructed by the PA speakers. Speakers were in a different place and we ended up with an awesome view. :)

<mistake>

@Bikingcatastrophe did you get / try varifocals for computer use? I didn’t get on with them for this either but I’ve heard from others the two don’t mix. Maybe if I’d done a bit more research but often the glasses are ordered before you leave after a test. Occasionally use them for DIY but could live without.

@fooman I was “encouraged” to go for varifocals as the answer to all my uses. I wasn’t sure about that (wife has varifocals and took a while to get comfortable with them). Once they turned up I was almost immediately “nah, they don’t feel right”. They were ok if I was looking straight ahead but looking sideways or trying to use my laptop / monitor just felt weird. Took them back pretty quick and was just going to go for a general prescription as I had had before. But, the assistant said I might benefit from the occupational ones (like a half way house between normal and varifocals). I was skeptical (default mode) but thought it worth having a go as I had two pairs of glasses anyway – 1 would be general use and 1 would be for the working from home stuff. Once I got them, I was very impressed. They don’t really feel much different to my regular prescription but the effect when using my laptop / monitor is so much improved. I wouldn’t be inclined to touch varifocals ever again, but these occupational ones – yep, they work for me

Been using them for years, to be honest, and found them ok. My wife used a supposedly reputable indie in the same town a while back and they were useless.

I did try varifocals (the assistant at the time was quite insistent they were the dog’s dangly bits for my eyes). They weren’t. A different assistant when I went back who persuaded me to try the occupational lenses (despite my reluctance). She was spot on – they are great for my computer work at home. In both cases I was given the option of money back or change if they didn’t work.

Overall, I feel that they may not be perfect, but generally had good experiences with them.

Like a few of the others today – starter word is a big help :)

Wordle 733 2/6

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Until you’ve stayed in the Britannia Airport Hotel at Manchester none of you can complain. Sort of place there’s a chalk outline of a body in the car park and the local prostitutes ply their wares in the hotel reception.

Sounds like the Holiday Inn I stayed at in Warsaw a number of years ago. Having a quiet pint in the bar in the evening and curiously noticed a couple of “ladies” at the bar. It was only when they winked at another couple of ladies sitting at a table that I started to take proper notice of who else was in there. There were quite a few in the bar who I quickly accepted were not hotel guests!

Probably the worst work hotel was on South Beach in Miami. We were having to room share and it was just a weird hotel. Suspicious stains on the duvet cover and the floor seemed to come alive at night. We lasted 2 days before checking out and landed in more or less the complete opposite. Massive, opulent room with a walk-in wardrobe bigger than my bedroom at home.

# Pedant mode

There may be a number of errors in Mark Knopflers writing but Sultans is not one of them. A careful check of the lyrics will show that it is the leader of the band that steps up to the mic and sings “we are the sultans of swing”. Not wanting to burst your bubble or contradict the wry humour and all that ;)

# end pedant mode

As someone else has noted, I think the Mazda 6 is essentially a compete with the Mondeo and Insignia. We tried the first iteration of the Insignia and I really didn’t like it. I think they may have made significant changes to the later versions but I’m not sure I can get on with the styling. Instead, we have a Mondeo. 65 plate that we bought with 18k on the clock and is now nearly 110k. Been almost faultless. Serviced regularly and hasn’t missed a beat. The only issue we had with it was after a service where I suspect the mechanic cocked up replacing the oil sump plug and we spaffed out all the oil. Car went into limp mode and a couple of cans of oil later, when we got it replaced, it carried on as if nothing had happened. The car is huge though and I love the feeling of space you get as a driver as well as the boot space. Our is the 2.0, 180 BHP Diesel. It’s a pity they aren’t going to make them any more but I guess the sales figures forced that – people don’t seem to like buying bigger cars these days unless it’s an SUV. Love it and they are also generally pretty good value in the second hand market. Only problem these days is that there aren’t many about. I am also aware that it is a lot bigger than the Octavia but would be a similar size to the Mazda.

Gins we like are Brockmans, Silent Pool and one I had a couple of years ago called Mayfair. Partial to most gins, really, but those are our favourites so far. Actually, probably drop in Sipsmith too

I don’t really understand this. At the moment to log on I need a password and my phone (authenticator app). How does going passwordless help? Not being obnoxious, I just don’t understand:-)

Primarily it takes away what is typically the weakest link in identity – a password. Without a password to attack / attempt to crack there’s really very little that can be done against your account. MFA is a strong way of adding protection to your account and is arguably easier to do.

Or, along with MFA, choose to go passwordless as well.

To see what’s going on with sign in attempts go to My Microsoft Account (top right hand corner of the web site you are signed into / hotmail) | Security | Sign in activity. That will show you recent attempts to logon. As I’ve gone passwordless I don’t appear to get the notifications that an attempt has been made to login. Looks like there have been attempts to logon to my account from the USA, Hong Kong, China and the UAE. It’s enlightening when you get to see this information and reinforces how important securing your accounts are.

Lots of good suggestions up there. Seen most of them. Found The Post a bit underwhelming personally. Surprised no one has mentioned King Richard. Found that an excellent film.
Also, a lot older now, but A Dry White Season was also quite a profound film when I first saw it.

I also went the TP-LInk Deco route with the VM router turned into a modem. Personally, I was fearing that bit might be a bit fraught but it turned out to be a very straightforward exercise. Overall, wifi has been pretty solid since the change. It was a case of finding that sweet spot between value for money (aka not too expensive) but something that actually did what I wanted it to do. The Deco’s seem to fit that bill.

I also have a slightly older version of the Jabra Speak 510. Wouldn’t be without it at home as it is a fabulous little thing. Hate the thought of having to use a headset – it’s a real pain when I am in other locations where the headset is my only option. Generally seems to work perfectly and you don’t have to worry about remembering to pull the mic down on the headset when talking (see that so many times on Teams calls)

To be honest, we didn’t really manage it too well. Didn’t even consider it at the time so went through a number of unpleasant and bitter moments. We have kind of come through it and I regret that I wasn’t really able to handle it or support her as well as she deserved. The real “killer” in this is actually the perimenopause as that’s where the bulk of the mood changes, woolly head, “different woman”, dark times happen. Although it was pop TV (and deliberately so, I reckon) the Davina Macall programme really was excellent. Thoroughly recommend watching it – chaps especially so that you have a chance of being better prepared and more understanding. Probably no coincidence that menopause and mid-life crisis happen at roughly similar times and between them probably account (or historically anyway) for a significant number of divorces and separations. Along with the other suggestion ^^ regarding Louise Newsom – she really has done some stellar work. Check the web site out. There is no single HRT treatment (again, pointed out further up the thread) and all women are different. There really is no “one size fits all” solution so it may be a bit of trial and error.
The comment about “lazy GPs”. It is probably more accurate to say that there are a lot of GPs who have not had any training in the menopause and therefore it is more likely to be ignorance. Again, one of the things the Newsome trust have been doing is to try and get at least one menopause trained specialist in each doctors surgery. This is something that is likely to affect fully half the population, for a significant period of time. It’s easy to focus just on the “hot flushes” and think that’s all there is to it. Every woman will experience it in a different way. Some will get lucky and breeze through it. For some it will be life crippling as they will feel they have turned into a complete monster that they don’t recognise. And it is true – if this had been something that affected men then you can bet there would have been plenty of research done into it with all sorts of potions, ointments and drugs to treat it. It is a chastening thing for us blokes but let’s support and encourage the positive developments that have begun to happen and the removal of the shame of the menopause.

I wonder if Bernie’s been let out of his home recently by accident as he seems to have had a lot to say and most of it quite a notch up from his usual incomprehensible nonsense. The stuff about Hamilton was just a bit crass, whereas the views on Putin are unfathomable. Utter ****.

Agree with the other comments. Mrs BC was quite vexed at times by the apparently quite pro SW commentary team. I thought it was an excellent match and showed a lot of versatility of play and was definitely not just a slug fest. I suspect that Tan may struggle against some of the younger and fitter players as her game seems to lack any real punch but she is certainly able to generate a lot of spin. Great result for her though and the smile on her face was a joy when she won the match.

Depends on the start. Alonso’s wink at the camera while saying he’s going after MV at the start could make it fun. He’s one driver who is unlikely to be intimidated by MAx if he tries it on at the first corner – I’m kind of hoping there is a bit of a first corner shoot out :)

Absolutely astonishing afternoon of test cricket. The sort of thing that gives you goosebumps while laughing in disbelief at the same time. Also sounded like a proper atmosphere – so props to Nottingham for opening up the ground for free today. Well done England

I have to say that the modern passwordless authentication options (Windows Hello, Windows Hello for Business, FIDO2 keys etc) are almost that magical moment where greater security and improved user experience come together. If you can go passwordless with your user account, then you effectively stop something like 90% of attacks. You only really then have to focus on avoiding those nasty fishing emails and dodgy web sites. Add in MFA with an authenticator app and you are adding a serious amount of security to your life for very little effort and inconvenience.

It’s a fun day although not as much riding as you would hope. There’s a lot of theory they go through on the day but it’s mostly focused around safety. 125s are an absolute hoot to ride around on so you should have a great day. Most of the day will be in the car park but the final evaluation part will be out on the road. I seem to recall we had about an hour and half riding out on the roads. Most memorable part of my CBT was the rather loud crashing noise as a female ride was getting some one-to-one training with an instructor and she dropped it. More than once. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was still getting lessons….

Also, your CBT is only good for 2 years. I would make sure you are also cracking on with your theory test as you will need that before you can get your full license.