convertFull Member

…

It’s all on hold after a chat with Octopus this morning. Currently the smart meter is not reliable enough in terms of signal for an EV leccy contract so they’ll need to investigate and apply for a booster and maybe an ariel….so I’ll need to sit on the idea for a little while.

I have ‘t had the patience to get through to chat with Octopus yet, but I think we have the same issue, our logs of usage have gaps presably indicating poor signal.  I haven’t had a reply to my email yet.

Interesting that aerials are available, I will have another go at talking to them.  In the meantime we will just go on to the basic British Gas ev tariff which gives 5 hours of cheapish electricity overnight.  Not sure how smart a meter that needs, but if there is an issue maybe they will sort it…

Eta yes we are joining the ev revolution and getting a 2021 Zoe from our local Renault dealer to replace our 17 year old Fabia.  Getting a charging point installed with the Ohme home pro unit.

Ah good to know we are not the only peeps with dumb smart gas meters.  And condolences on your bereavement @therevokid.

We have smart meters for gas and electricity.  British Gas supply both.  The gas one has never worked with any smarts, it operates as a dumb meter.  The electiricty one just below it does work in smart secure mode much of the time (I assume, as we can retrieve daily data), but sometimes it can’t connect, so there are gaps in the information we can get via the web and we still have to submit meter readings.  I am guessing the signal is not great in the narrow gap between two brick houses.  I am currently trying to establish whether we can get super cheap smart electricity (by changing supplier to Octopus probably) to charge the Renault Zoe we are getting next week.

I avoid all those dense sugary things like flapjack, brownie etc.  I like a nice proper cake, victoria sponge, coffee and walnut etc. But many cafes these days don’t have that type of cake, presumable because of the short shelf life, all they have is these slabs of stuff, normally enough for two.  If it is the only option on a ride I eat half and put the rest in my jersey pocket for later.

So to charge an ev using Octopus Energy and a smart charger we have to get all our leccy via Octopus is it?

@stevehine if you want “just wax” then put beauty wax in your beauty wax melter.  Wax sold for recreational purposes is the same stuff.  You can raise the melting point by adding candle wax, lower it by adding clear lamp fuel.

Well it may be your race preparation is wrong, I can’t comment.  But in the context of mountain biking, I find giving myself a good talking to along the lines of “just **** send it you plonker”  sometimes works.  Until it doesn’t.

That is some impressive running there dude.

We went 10 years ago.  We didn’t have a guide for Pompeii and relied on a guide book.  We probably booked in advance but I can’t recall.  Herculaneum we just went and got a ticket.  Both great.  As is Vesuvius.

 Does this now mean he can search out whomever has reposted that allegation and sue them

Yes.  You have our wonderful libel laws to thank for that, the best protection against defamation money can buy…

I don’t pay much attention to Rogan.  But I hadn’t realised what a complete republican shill he is.  Putting forward ridiculous ideas and then saying he doesn’t know if they are true, when a minute’s googling would get the answer.  He knows exactly what he is doing.

I guess the relevance to this thread is to illustrate that meaning always depends on context.  You cannot justify using a word or phrase in a situation in which it is likely to provoke by relying on some cherry picked dictionary definition.  But you should be unafraid of using a potentially provocative word or phrase in a context in which its meaning is clear and not provocative.  You will have to put up with people who disagree with the concept of this post calling you out.  But **** ’em.

Posh kid Noddy’s working class pal BigEars was a brownie, some kind of fairy  creature.  The Brownies are named after a type of fairy creature, but not from an Enid Blyton book.

Lunch for sale

https://talksport.com/olympics/1984715/olympics-broadcaster-refuses-replay-crash-loana-lecomte/

Eye witness reports say she regained consciousness and appeared to be OK, I guess the helicopter trip to hospital is standard procedure for such cases.

Yes it was a bit of a slam for Lecomte.  Well more than a bit.  Hope she’s OK.

The last chequebook we got was a big fat one.  Maybe the idea was “that should do you until cheques are no longer a thing”.

though the fingerprint to enable Google Pay can be a pain in the arse at times.

I didn’t realise they took biometrics that seriously.

I prefer cash.  Research has shown that us oldies need to use our mental faculties regularly or we lose them.  Working out what notes and coins to use to make up the price does this.  So I have science on my side!

But I would use a card in a busy bar as it is less hassle for the staff, so my friendly local bar person tells me.

Do you get out of breath more than you think you should?  If so  might be a pneumothorax so get to hospital.

Despite it hurting  try to take deep breaths.  Apparently stagnant air in the lungs can encourage pneumonia.  Well that is what they told when I had some bust ribs (and a pneumothorax), and I got drugged up to the eyeballs to make sure I would.  So use painkillers.

Despite the fact that there are no test tubes involved, economics is a science.

But best viewed as part of the social sciences.  As the underlying subject matter is humans behaving collectively in a social setting.

There is no place in the BoE g’ment accounts for saving money. They are sweeped clean every day to a zero balance.

Well it is a principle of double entry book keeping that there is always a zero balancd.  What exactly is it that is balanced to zero?

Possibly a silly question, and most certainly an STW one, but can you use sourdough starters in breadmakers?

Yes, but you need to mix the starter in, the mixing action of a breadmaker is not up to it and you will get weird structures if you don’t.  Easiest way is to bung it all in then mix with a plastic fork.  You will also need to experiment with quantities and programmes.

full of seed oils, no thanks.

What is wrong with seed oils (generally, not specific ones).

I think its a general dawning that devolution doesnt work across which ever state

There has always been a minority in Wales supporting that view.  I am not sure it is getting bigger – the explicitly anti-devolution party got 3.7% of the vote at the last Senedd elections, down from the 2016 elections.  Reform, who will get seats in the next Senedd, have not mentioned it in their material, though you might expect them to oppose devolution.  They do support making St David’s day a national holiday.

Some of the bread I make is halfway to being cake, and the family love it.  Wholemeal rye  spelt and wheat with molasses and malt extract, mmmmm.

He clearly felt he needed a bit of extra help to become the leader.

There will be Lab, Con, PC, Green, Libdem and Reform in the next Senedd.  I would say an overall Lab majority is unlikely, but it will be them in power with some kind of deal involving at least PC.

Mrs and I got it this week, probably from the election canvassing the Mrs was doing.  Had a bad couple of days but not so bad today.  Our test kits are way out of date, but they say it is Covid.

My son has one, which he drives in Vanuatu where he is working and the roads are seriously crap.  He got it secondhand and has had to replace suspension components.  There are quite a few there,  which suggests it is quite robust for the price.

redthunderFree Member
I found the book with the etching I liked. 1888 Sunday at Home.

So if I took a picture or scanned can I use it ?

If 1888 is the publication date, and you scan the actual book, yes.

Discussing what a court would do misses the point.  To find that out  you would have to go to court.  Which is unlikely.  OTOH, a copyright library will think it worth spending £thousands chasing £tens of damages “pour encourager les autres”.

But I guess the action of taking a new photograph of an old thing (image) makes only a new photograph, irrelevant of what the content is? But the new image of the old thing is a new image. Albeit, that you cant tell the difference about the content when they are side by side :-)

Not all photographs attract copyright.  It is not the content that matters, but the intellectual creativity that goes into making the photo.  But you will require deep pockets to challenge that, so it is not really practical.

Logos will probably have copyright protection themselves,  but the brand owner is likely to be more relaxed about this type of use (that is  not use in relation to selling goods and services) than a photographer for whom use of images is the basis of their income. And the argument that the use is covered by a defence becomes a bit clearer.  So taking your own photo is a good idea, but will not necessarily get you off the hook, it all depends on the context in which the image is used.

Got a large collection of Dyfi Enduro mugs.  Can’t imagine ever buying a mug to be honest, we have too many.

An added issue is the “devil you know” argument.  Despite all the terrible effects of alcohol, society understands it.  That is not the case for all drugs.  So any harm based logic needs to factor in the ability of society to cope with a drug and the people who take it (and may have overdone it).

With this in mind I would say there is merit in legalising/decriminalising a reduced menu of drugs, with good public information about them and quality standards.

I don’t have enough personal experience to offer an opinion as to what should  be on the menu, though I was quite taken with the ketamine I had in hospital once.  Fentanyl on the other hand, that was rubbish.  Effective painkiller mind.

I have come to the conclusion I prefer the Easy Star All Stars’ version of Paranoid Android:

There is going to be at least one unpredictable, uncontrollable event during the next Parliament which may well end up defining Starmer’s period as pm.

I have never heard “bokkle”.  The correct pronunciation involves a glokkal stop, quite different.

Back in 2011 I was all up for PR (I’m a Libdem so…) but full one on PR based on the national percentage always left me with the question “who will my MP be”?

This can be dealt with:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_of_the_Senedd#:~:text=Since%202011%2C%20members%20are%20elected,D%27Hondt%20method%20of%20proportional

There is a firm of Cathedral Cleaners just round the corner, though the cathedral is on the other side of town

’m not in Wales, so forgive any ignorance here; but why really does a Welsh-only party whose maximum possible aspiration can be a majority in Wales (or even all 32 Welsh seats); have any real business campaigning based on UK foreign policy when practically, they will be completely unable to affect it?

Well it is, at a ge when everything is up for grabs, possible that, either alone or in combination with others, the four PC mps might be able to exert influence.  UK foreign policy affects people in the devolved nations just as much as it does those in England, why should people not vote on the basis of a policy they care about?

Influence at Westminster might not appear to be that much for the Parliament we are about to get.  But PC has  been up in coalition with Welsh Labour in the Senedd in the past and may be again in a couple of years.  It will be interesting to see how things work when the same party is in power in Westminster and Cardiff Bay, but that is another avenue for influence.

Green and deform on 4 seats each.
Let’s see who gets the most time on telly.

And Plaid (two seats to four, restoring dominance in the wild West).  Mrs g came home from the count happy as Plaid’s share of the vote locally went up from 2% to 9%.  The candidate (Caedewyn Skelley) made a point of mentioning Gaza in leafletting etc., which may have had an impact in an ethnically diverse constituency with a young population.  The Green and LibDem vote shares also up, and of course Reform (the BBC website appears to be comparing votes with former UKIP votes), and if you add them all up it is greater than the Conservative loss.  Disappointing for Jo Stevens, the Labour incumbent who is a good egg and likely to be the new Welsh Secretary, to lose a chunk of votes, but this kind of reflects what has happened nationwide I suspect – voters doing what needed to be done to ditch the Conservatives but not showing great loyalty or love for Labour.