WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Tripps]

An overheard snatch of conversation between two Cambridge Dons (allegedly)

"and seventhly . . . ."

[Tizer]

"....and after that we'll have a week in Jamaica....".

My favourite was in the 1980s when we stopped at the little cafe where all the cyclists and walkers met, by the river near the Trough of Bowland, faraway from city life etc. The couple who ran it knew their customers well and spent a lot of time chatting with them. As we enjoyed our cup of tea someone asked them if they went on holidays because it was so lovely where they had the shop. The answer was `Well, we went to Thailand last year so we thought perhaps Mexico this year'.

[Stanley]

David, when I heard that it was Oxford and ninthly....
Heard in the tea garden at Ken House in the 1980s.... ".... well all I can say is thank god for modern obstetrics!" and shortly afterwards..."He used to be a bricklayer but I hear he's a ballet dancer now and doing quite well...."
Later.... I had a funny little circumstance.... The lens dropped out of the right hand side of my readers. First I had the job of finding it (it happened in the yard...) Then I got my tiny screwdrivers out and a magnifying glass. I found that the screw was still in place, all I had to do was put the lens in and tighten the screw up. But.... these are my reading glasses and I couldn't wear them while doing the job. I had to find an old pair of readers and use them, not good but better than nothing. It took me almost ten minutes repeated trying before I got the screw entered and tightened up.

[Cathy]

I always need my glasses for close stuff, for some things I need a magnifying glass as well.
A magnifying glass isn’t enough on it’s own because things are still blurry.

[Stanley]

[Big Kev]

I'm currently quite fortunate that I can see 'up close' without glasses. I have varifocals for general use, which are good for distance and intermediate but I remove them for really close work, I read my Kindle without them too. My spare pair are only single vision, I couldn't justify another £500 for another pair of varifocals that could potentially never be worn.

[Tizer]

David, when I heard that it was Oxford and ninthly....
Heard in the tea garden at Ken House in the 1980s.... ".... well all I can say is thank god for modern obstetrics!" and shortly afterwards..."He used to be a bricklayer but I hear he's a ballet dancer now and doing quite well...."

Overheard this from two elderly Northern ladies having tea in our Torquay hotel in the 1980s - it left us guessing!: I had mine done last year...

[Tripps]

This remnds me of Kitty by Patricia Routledge

[Cathy]

Thanks Tripps, hadn’t seen those before.

[Stanley]

[Tizer]

Very entertaining, Tripps, Thanks!

[Stanley]

[bbvideo]https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TwL4oPuidHU[/bbvideo]

This grabbed me.... they thought they were perfectly safe....

[Tizer]

Mrs Tiz met up with her sister and a cousin from California on Friday for a day out at Bletchley Park. After staying overnight with little sister she travelled back to Taunton yesterday by catching a GWR train at Reading station due to arrive Taunton at 12.33. Being peak holiday time there was a stream of trains all heading west and when one malfunctioned and had to go slow it affected all the following trains. Then idiots trespassing on the track caused a further problem. When I left home in the car to collect her from the station the online `live' schedule had shown it as only a few minutes late. I arrived and was told it was running at least 30 minutes late. Now none of this is unusual these days but why I mention it here is this: why don't the railways give the trains the equivalent of the flight codes given to passenger aircraft? At Taunton station the arrivals board showed many trains from Paddington with destinations such as Penzance, Plymouth, Paington etc and with the arrival times all delayed and therefore I couldn't distinguish Mrs Tiz's train. She'd been told it was for Paington but at Taunton station they told me the 12.33 was the Plymouth train. Using `flight codes' would have prevented all this confusion. Is it too much to ask for?

[Stanley]

That sounds like a sensible suggestion Peter but it means CHANGE and these people don't like change..... They might have to think for a living!
On a brighter note, Margaret and Mick fly in a week today for a visit.... yippee!

[Stanley]

Chris Aspin has sent me THIS link to an old BBC programme. .....

[Tizer]

`Is hay fever getting worse in the UK?' LINK
I've seen several claims similar to this. I started with hay fever about 15 years ago and suffer most in spring from tree pollen but this year I've had no symptoms, likewise my cousin's husband usually suffers but is free of it this year. What's the experience of OG members?

[Tripps]

I looked at the Dover docks webcam yesterday since at the time The Guardian was reporting the port was seized up, and the Harbour Board was saying all is back to normal. It showed traffic flowing quite freely up and down Jubilee Way.

I realise that there are more ways to access the docks other than Jubilee Way, but if the docks is full it usually jams.

I like to watch the link, as I can see two places where I spent about six years of my working life - it has always been working fine before.

I looked today and the link does not work - it keeps dropping out and finally gives up.

No conclusion whatever drawn.

**********************************************************************

Just as well - it's working perfectly now. Collapse of conspiracy theory. probably too many people looking at it.

Dover Beach

[Tizer]

I've just done a search in my email to check an Octopus statement. I put `octopus' in the search box and noticed in the results an email from my sister-in-law in 2019. It had a link to this page. It's worth reading the Twitter puns at the end... ..
`Crash driver 'swerved to avoid octopus'' BBC

[Stanley]

I usually log on to BBC News first thing in the morning to get a flavour of what has been happening. On a morning when the Pope apologises to Canada for the evils the priests perpetrated in religious institutions, judicial murder in Myanmar and former Cabinet Colleagues tearing lumps out of each other I found THISpiece of good news.... I shall focus on it.
"UK experts believe they have identified the cause of the recent spate of mysterious liver problems affecting young children around the world. Investigations suggest two common viruses made a comeback after pandemic lockdowns ended - and triggered the rare but very serious hepatitis cases. "

[Big Kev]

My sons dog sitter has let him down, they're all off to the Canary Islands for 10 days next Thursday. She doesn't do kennels.
Any volunteers?

20220529_184402.jpg

[Stanley]

I've sent you a PM Kev.

[Big Kev]

Got it thanks, I will pass the details on to my son.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of the latest US interest rate rise.
Theye say that when the US sneezes the rest of the world catches cold. If that is true this is very bad news.

[Stanley]

I heard the mother of this child being interviewed yesterday and she tells a dreadful story. See THIS BBC report of the subsequent enquiry. All that is certain is that the process went terribly wrong and shouldn't be allowed to occur again.

[Cathy]

So sad, and there’s usually a lot of layers involved. I wonder what the adoptive father was doing?