There wasn’t a King of Germany

There were many kings of Germany in 1918; each state had a King, or Elector, or Grand Duke. And there were many states… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_monarchs_in_1918

Just so happened that Prussia was the biggest state, and had taken over a few others. So the King of Prussia made himself Emperor. It wasn’t like a proper empire though; more first among equals.

Wine Society-

Always this
People are put off by the membership; don’t be. It’s £40, but £20 back on your first order
You’ll save more than £20 per order if you compare with other suppliers

But if you go towards their own range, especially the Exhibition stuff, you’ll be getting really excellent wine for not a lot of money

Having said that, I’m working through a Under £9 Spanish Box at the moment. Very good stuff for the price.

EDIT – Just realised they’re not accepting new members at the moment…so ignore me
https://www.thewinesociety.com/coronavirus-latest-updates

Used to suffer with the most amazing shaving rash; so much so i kept a 1mm stubble for 5-6 years.

Then started DE shaving. Big difference straight away; no rash at all

Couple of years later, tailored it with a decent stainless razor, and some decent shave soap. That makes all the difference.
Shower first, decent lather on the brush, shave. It’s almost enjoyable now.

Unfortunately the company i used to use (shavelounge) are on hiatus, but there are others. I mostly use RazoRock stuff, so something like https://connaughtshaving.com/rrbaby.html is good (the titanium one is ace) and this soap is lovely https://agentshave.co.uk/razorock-mudder-focker-shaving-soap-150ml/. A proper tallow soap seems to make a lot of difference; these people https://murphyandmcneil.com/collections/shaving-soap use slightly more exotic fats including bear. Not tried that, but the duck fat adds a little something!

But the best thing to do is look here https://www.italianbarber.com/pages/custom-shaving-kit-builder – the chaps that run Razorock allow you to build a set. They also have a very good FAQ. They normally deliver to the UK, but who knows now.

Have to say, the difference between my first razor (a merkur 34c) and a game changer from razorock is amazing. The latter just feels right.

my planet x Titanium thing

it’s a sample, given to me after the carbon thing died a couple of days out of warranty

made in the USA by Serotta. Lovely thing; wouldn’t want to replace it at all

The same people now make these https://22bicycles.com/pages/great-divide/, which are slightly more than 2.5k. If I had the cash, I so would

View post on imgur.com

And yes, obviously I realise the pedals and cranks aren’t level etc

My Nest now runs mostly as a dumb thermostat. It never really learnt my routines

This – I woke up a few times and it was going unnecessarily. The other thing I’ve turned off is the anti-legionnaires disease feature. I’ve coped for a number of years without having the hotwater at 70c for 2 hours once a week…

Wife and I both WfH; me at five days, and her at four. One kid is a bolshie GCSE student, and one 13 year old. One complaining about the lack of social life, and the other just being a boy.

Wife on the phone permanently for her job; I’m not, but I’m constantly glued to monitoring software.

The kids are being very good; doing a bit of work, doing stuff, watching vast amounts of netflix, playing vast amounts of xbox. They go out for walks together. They run

i’ve curtailed the cycling for the duration. Even getting up at 5am for a cycle would make me too grumpy to deal with the family. So a quick run a few times a week to keep fit.

I appreciate we’re luckier than most, but we have still changed our lifestyle to try and do more together. What used to be acceptable 2 months ago, isn’t now

just bought 20l of some somerset cider for 40 quid.

It’s slipping down deceptively well

I do like a proper cider, but the local stuff was £75 for the same amount.

The whole British constitution is based on someone sitting in Buckingham Palace with almost dictatorial levels of power, but doing nothing with it.

This
I know we’ve had the longevity of someone being there for 70 years, staying out of politics, and it may all change when the next generation take over. But at the moment, it works. Jeez, if you look at the way American works where people spend billions to get a job that pays $400k a year.

I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it’s not doing badly in my eyes. And I do personally think there are more important things to worry about at the moment

Winter flu A apparently

I had the flu jab, as I do every year, back in October.

I know the jab isn’t infallible, but there’s been no reports of a strain of flu not included in this year’s jab.

It all works on everyone holding the line.

oh i realise, but that’s why the Chinese have given everyone a QR code with green/orange/red. If you’re out, and your QR code says you shouldn’t be, you’re taken in.

Possibly wouldn’t work over here though!

Personally feel quite fatigued, tight chest, brain fog almost like a slight hangover.. no cough or temperature

This is what I had at the start of March. No idea if it was C19, but it was something. Found out yesterday the reason our secretary was off in mid Feb was for a cough, high temperature, and loss of taste/smell.

So her’s was before the symptom alerts really came out, and I (and others in the office) didn’t hit the full symptom list.
No idea though – really. I hope so, as it would mean we can get out again

All margarine is the devils ejaculate

this

Butter isn’t good for you

It is. Provides an awful lot of the nutrients and vitamins you need. Too much butter is bad for you. What’s too much? Depends on each individual.

neos are only £20 on that there amazon
and do work very well for the price.

i like a whittle

unfortunately the rest of the family don’t, as it invariably ends up with a lot of blood everywhere. I’ve been specifically banned to relieve pressure on the NHS.

If you can actually get hold of ammonium sulfamate legally

It’s on amazon, as I said earlier. Easy to get hold off. Just don’t use it as weed killer, as that would be naughty

one nation refused to ratify it.

Ireland didn’t test it on dogs…

how old is she?

in my experience, you spend days getting the hole ready, putting the damn thing up (16 foot one here…), and then they use it twice.

I’ve told them if it’s not used this year, I’m taking it out and putting a pond in. Still didn’t get them out on it

i believe (but could be wrong) that google aren’t putting money into tablet Android, and it’s all going into ChromeOS (which will come out as a tablet). Made me buy a chromebook last time i was looking

https://www.slashgear.com/android-tablets-are-losing-steam-chrome-os-to-the-rescue-18566052/

An app from Kings College to track progress, if anyone could fill it in

https://covid.joinzoe.com/

It asks you some symptom questions etc. Nothing more.

Ammonium Sulphamate will get rid of it. It’s no longer allowed to be sold as a herbicide, but is still available as a compost accelerator

Ammonium Sulphamate Weed Killer Banned!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lancelot-Mistral-Ammonium-Sulphamate-1Kg/dp/B004MMOEH2

To quote the manufacturers

Ammonium Sulphamate was once considered to be particularly useful in controlling tough woody weeds, tree stumps and brambles. However in 2008 the EU removed its approval as a registered herbicide and therefore it can no longer be advertised or sold explicitly for this purpose. We therefore do not sell ammonium sulphamate for this purpose. Its availability and use as a compost accelerator is unaffected by the EUs pesticide legislation

I’ve developed a scratchy throat, a headache that paracetamol doesn’t completely shift and an extra level of fatigue

Had this for a week or so. The fatigue in the limbs is impressive enough, but the headache just doesn’t go.
No fever (we’re still measuring twice a day at work), and no cough. So whether I have it is up in the air. We do have a factory or two in North Italy, and people have been travelling extensively up until a week or so ago

the other shop for second hand is Camera Jungle

https://www.camerajungle.co.uk/cameras/digital-slr-cameras/nikon

6 music has sadly turned into

I used to love it. Used to listen all the time. A few of my friends work there.

now, i find it unlistenable. It’s shockingly bad. I don’t know whether I’m just out of touch, old, a complete heathen, not in touch with d’youth etc. But I just don’t listen anymore

ditto

got rid of all radios, whether old skool/DAB/Digital in favour of various googles

For £100, you could get 4ish (depending on the time of year), and dot them around the house

I had a period off last year due to a hand injury. I’d been mostly road cycling, but struggled to get into it again; there was always something to get in the way of a 3 hour cycle

So I started on the MTB again (more of a work out in 1 hour than 3 on the road), realised the Ridgeway and by-ways are now basically empty of cyclists again (everyone’s been road cycling around us since 2012). Then I bought a proper old hard-tail. No suspension. Steel. Just like the old days. And it’s great. I love it again. Can’t wait till the summer when I can do the slow gentle climb from Streatley, have a quick half in the Bell, and still be back in an hour

But it has made me realise you don’t need the latest or greatest to have fun on the bike. You just need a bike, and a trail, and you’re away

i hate fences, especially in a suburban setting. Since moving in 7 years ago, I reckon i’ve planted about 80m of native hedging. It’s now looking great, and as you say, it bends with the wind (unlike a fence). The birds love it, it keeps most (but not all) of the deer out, and at the right time of the year is full of flowers or berries.

What’s not to like?

Conifer hedges though are the work of the devil. Kill all light, stop any other saplings, look horrible, need regular trimming, and don’t even smell nice.

WGBE

Weapons grade bell end?

My take – there’s always been a little tussle on the pitch. In the old days, if someone tackled you a bit strongly, you told your teammates, and you all got him in the next ruck. It happened. Everyone was friends at the end.

And it’s been going on for some time – remember Mendez on Ackford 30 years ago. And he got the wrong bloke; it was Probyn who’d been winding him up https://www.therugbypaper.co.uk/featured-post/33915/probyn-column-the-truth-about-why-mendez-punched-paul-ackford/ – and that was for genital grabbing as well.

The difference is nowadays there is nowhere to hide. The cameras are everywhere, so it appears to be worse. But it’s cleaner than it used to be. Just more visible (after the event!)

the price I pay for a hair cut is the sparkling wit and repartee of my wife pretending to be a barber

she doesn’t understand (still!) the only thing you should hear in a barbers are the clippers or scissors.

posh innit

@morecashthandash

Almost worth telling the household insurers. I’m sure they’ll have a view on that.

Otherwise possibly https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tree-preservation-orders-and-trees-in-conservation-areas#dangerous-trees-and-branches

or https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tree-preservation-orders-and-trees-in-conservation-areas#Compensating-for-loss-or-damage

Looks like it needs to cause more than £500 damage

trimmings need to be returned

it’s not need, it’s offered.

Before disposing of any arisings you should offer them back to the owner of the tree who is entitled to any benefits from it. If they are declined you are free to dispose of them

But to answer your question, yes. I can let my neighbour’s tree grow a distance into my garden for years, and not need to do anything about it. If it then damages my house, it’s his problem

he should have maintained his tree.

he has to chuck the bits back over.

not this. He has to offer you the bits. If he just chucks them over, it’s dumping.

https://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15543

Yes. Don’t have limits, the only rule is the phone is left downstairs at bedtime.

this

Although, if they are blatantly taking the mickey, they will lose pocket money instead, or other treats.

mortality in Italy

as with all these, they’re measuring mortality of dead versus people they know who have it.

there will be hundreds of people who don’t know they’ve got it, think they’ve got a cold or flu, or are completely asymptomatic. Therefore the ratio should (should!) be lower than the official one

this was interesting
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1286457920300344

basically, as I read it, it’s worse in Iran and China, as they’ve already got some antibodies for another coronavirus (either SARS or MERS).
The western world (and Africa/South America etc), with no real exposure to these, should only exhibit mild symptoms as the latest virus struggles to get into the cells.

oooh i know this one.

Weavergreen. Made of recycled bottles, mostly fished from rivers

got my wife a throw for xmas – they’re very good. Feels just like wool

Rugs

don’t mean to hijack, but no-one at home seems interested

coming back from Twickenham the other day, I saw one of these on the M4 https://www.evo.co.uk/gallery/carreviews/evocarreviews/205679/bristol_fighter.html

only between 9 and 14 made. Now that’s rare.

i was impressed, anyway

i have a specialised role in a large manufacturing firm. It’s interesting, but not my life’s ambition. As a specialist I get paid quite well (more than my boss…), but I have no responsibility. This is deliberate. I’ve turned down manager roles (inc the one my boss is now in); it’s hard enough showing interest in my well being, so there’s no way I can do it with others! Obviously I do my best in the office, and modesty aside, I’m very good at it. They couldn’t cope without me. I could get twice as much if I went back to London, and was more dedicated.

As an aside, I used to work with a very specialist financial law package; in at the start when it arrived in this country. I wrote a load of scripts, and shared them around. One of my colleagues used them and set up a firm using them (and to be fair asked me to join him). He sold out 4 years later for a lot of money. Am I jealous; not in the slightest. I have enough money. He has the balls to get up there and sell it, and working all hours.

basically, i get paid well, turn up, go home. Bliss

Work to live, not live to work. It’s not satisfaction, but I’m satisfied with it.

My wife is the complete opposite. She’s admitted she’d hate to work with me

we stayed here https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/en-uk/tryp/new-york-city-new-york/tryp-new-york-city-times-square-south/overview

decent enough room for four of us, lovely bagel spot nearby. Good bar for the RWC final, etc etc

close enough to everything, easy to get to from the airport etc

nothing is cheap. Take more money

I took the boy (not at 13, but maybe 11) away walking for the weekend.

Let him choose the mountain, and the area. So a weekend away in the Lakes, just the two of us. Staying in a pub. Walking for 6-7 hours a day. Then more steak, soft drinks and cakes than his mother would let him have.

He loved it. Still talks about it now. And it didn’t cost much

always wins awards https://www.clasohlson.com/uk/Asaklitt-Shackle-Lock/p/31-2166

on here https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/144109/