This lot were seen on the beach just before the boat sank!

Some years back one of the risers in the house sprang a leak (lead buried in modern mortar had cracked due to movement restriction). Anglian said they would be out in 6 weeks! To circumvent this I asked which contractor was replacing the local mains. Rang them and it was fixed for a reasonable £400t he next day! New pipe moled to a new stopcock under the hall floor.

If a huge delay is proposed by Thames give DOCWRA or May Gurney a ring and find out if they have a team in the area and go from there.

Roxie has lost all her gorm, hasn’t she?

Those shortbread recipes are missing rice flour from the mix. Trust me it makes a melt in the mouth biscuit as theres less gluten to get toughened and like icing sugar it’s really fine.

Three Day Weekend

And more buzzards than are credible at times. Keep an eye out for Red Kites too as they are gaining a foothold.

Did you miss the last time I pointed out that the entirety of existing PFI accounts for 2% of the current overall NHS budget.

After the contracts expire???

The bridleway section towards Covehithe can be a bit sandy (he said with some understatement) in dry weather. It’s possible to cross the A12 at Wangford in some safety and make your way to Halesworth, head out on the cycle route from Halesworth and cross back at Darsham.

The southern section across the Dunwich Heath is also a bit sandy (see warning above). The pubs in Walberswick and Eastridge are ok. The Ship at Dunwich is now a bit expensive as is the Crown at Westleton.

@willard Cafe 47 on the market square, there’s also the CTC approved one down the street towards Lower Hacheston.

@willard The fact that Riverside Tea Rooms made the cut on that map tells me to approach any recommendations with care. Possibly the worst cake I’ve ever had due to margarine in the sponge. Also omitting Pump Street Bakery, Snape Maltings and Wickham Market offerings. The data is incomplete!

Further perusal of West Suffolk shows that the locals are playing a close to the chest game.

Danger of death signs up outside then make every valuable inside electrically “live”.

An AOL email account …lol!

It’s a reliable indicator of privilege, affording internet access and a computer at that time required a certain level of wealth. The fact the address hasn’t changed shows that the individual doesn’t spend money on replacing things that work well enough for them.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone –

and stop the first baton round!

Calm yourself dear, it’s hardly comparable to chucking bricks at people or trying to burn down a hotel full of people……

Or drawing attention to iminent climate disaster.

It’s not exciting but have a look at Cambrils and Tarragona in Southern Catalunya or Roses and L’Estartit in the North. All big holiday destinations served by Reus in the South and Girona in the North. Taxis to the resorts may be pricey in the South but there’s a really good bus (think National Express) service in the North from Girona. The section of coast from St Feliu to L’Estartit is also worth a look but accommodation may be tight.

Good luck. (Message if you want some pointers to bus services as work has a lot of info online but it would be rude to use STW to advertise).

If he wins, my lawsuit against Margot Robie for not going out with me it’s a guaranteed win

Take a ticket and wait for your number to be called!

Forestry Commission in the valley are apparently very difficult to work with.

If they have cut local management then it makes the bureaucratic nature of the beast more difficult. The local manager knew the value of volunteer work to keeping their forest relevant and would help with the form filling. Now there’s likely to be one person with a lot of responsibilities and too little time to advise on how FC want things done.

The attitude in MTB circles is that we aren’t clubby/organisation people, getting someone to start the form filling and make a relationship with FC management is difficult as a result.

Not quite a 50/50 responsibility but not far off.

Banned for referring to someone as a gimp! Machine appeals system turned me away so deleted app and left the post in place. It’s more than 5 years ago now and I don’t miss it.

Even if you have a valid UK passport, you need at least 6 months before the expiry date, as some older british passports were issued ‘illegally’ with extra months on them.

Both of these are incorrect. The validity after departure must be 3 months or more, the passport must have under 10 years validity remaining on entry to EU/Schengen. https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/entry-exit/non-eu-nationals/index_en.htm

@rone They’re going to need the backdoor ID scheme that was kite flown yesterday. The spirit of Blunkett walks amongst us still and the Blair taint is still there.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/aug/02/starmer-live-facial-recognition-plan-would-usher-in-national-id-campaigners-warn

So, like, erm…. am I gay?

Does it matter? You be whatever you want to be.

@FunkyDunc FaceID  or any other biometric identifier on Apple devices is a toggle switch within the banking/insurance/utility app. An option to login with a password should present if biometrics fail depending on how good the programming is.

I would ask anyone who is on EoL care to remove biometric login from everything while they are still capable. I would also recommend that we all run a password manager with partners master password in your own manager and vice versa. Most big companies run a bereavement team and will assist with getting you access to a partners info on receipt of a death certificate, some are better than others. Having access by password will help get around the more obstructive ones.

After many years, I have now discovered this philosophy: “Que sais je”.

There are no absolutes except 0 Kelvin.

She was born female, and will remain female.

That is not your call to make it is for the individual to decide. They will make their own mind up in time, you and the rest of your family need to give them the space and no pressure to decide what is best for them.

Or one could try this slightly less emotional article that doesn’t appear to have an agenda

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/01/angela-carini-abandons-fight-after-46-seconds-against-imane-khelif

There’s a massive Manor House near us, looks like a mini Blenheim Palace, bought by some American posh furniture retailer, they have every light on in every room at night. Idiots.

That may be to try and hit the magic Megawatt consumption, there’s a cost benefit to getting ove the line in reduced unit costs. Like @MrOvershoot we also had a stonking monthly bill for making flour. With every light on we just got to a Megawatt.

To paraphrase Henry II “O wretched Men that we are, who shall deliver us from this turbulent Fascist”?

Bad news @Mark the stripe option didn’t work for me “we’re unable to process your order at this time” came up as the error message.

the fact you aren’t for the most part with a bunch of difficult / can’t be arsed kids that take 90% of the over stretched teachers time.

This is currently due to underfunding in state schools. If our state system was properly funded and streamed as it should be to give everyone a comprehensive education tailored to their strengths and skill-set.

(comprehensive adjective – including or dealing with all or nearly all elements or aspects of something.”a comprehensive list of sources”)

Ive heard schools are offering parents the opportunity to pay up front to avoid some of the increased cost, at least short term. I’m sure there will be other ways to avoid paying extra.

Won’t do any good as the new regulations/law make VAT payable on all fees for education from January 2025 onwards no matter when they are paid. (The lessons of pre-paying for energy have been learned).

Good to see someone else who struggles with transposed brakes on continental set-ups! I have had a selection of comedy falls throughout Europe with these on hired/borrowed bikes.

Private works if there’s a specialist avilable locally who has a space in their list for the new patient. I’m in Suffolk and mental healthcare here is a shit-show (and has been for around 18 years) with a knock-on into the private sector causing delays.

The best of luck OP, we’re trying to get an assessment of our eldest (in their 30’s) to determine if BPD is still correct or if it should be an Autism / ADHD diagnosis. Ongoing care here is likely to be through the private sector too as the public healthcare has been starved of funds and effective management.

Jesus wept susepic what did you do to those burgers.

Some meat products are more sacred than others, that is a votive offering to the family/dog!

@stumpyjon We’ve had 14 years of this and it hasn’t worked, has it? There’s a word to describe doing the same again and again and expecting a different result.

I suspect that the people advising the government are clinically insane and there’s a lack of will to make a change or try something different. Or more bluntly ministers are suffering from a lack of moral fibre. What has the country got to lose? We’re going backwards fast and at this rate we’ll be back in EU because we need to like in the 70’s.

I’m not happy after a near £1300 bill for the nose and some paw x-rays. Insurance (bought by many) wiil be paying but  we need to fund it first.

Just to be perfectly clear I don’t begrudge the funds but it does sting a bit (could get a bike for that).

less happy today after a fistula removal. He’s not happy in the “cone of shame”

Watching next doors cat.

Tractor Tramps – South Glos. Rules

Wise is my preferred payment card when abroad. Funded by bank transfers and any top-up over cellular connection not wifi. You get the choice of either a currency account or a GBP one. Mid-market exchange rates, fees are around 0.35%.

@Mark Password problem here required a machine restart to make it go away. Mac OS 14.5, Firefox browser 128.0.3, 1 password extension in use. (Safari was also forbidding login too).

We heard Waxahatchee in the distance yesterday at Latitude, sounded good but the comedy tent was compelling at the time.

Frank Turner, The Vaccines and Goldfrapp were all superb, though a singalong and dancing gig with Frank at 1pm just felt wrong and his voice was not as good as it normally is as a result.

Justin Young was living his best life during the set.

We sacked it off early as ‘the kids’ were tired (tbf one is recovering from Covid and the other is adjusting to new medication).