WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Cathy]

Will keep checking in Stanley, hope all is well.

[Stanley]

Paramedics checked me out and say I'm fine but see my own doctor. Susan is with me and is going to caLL THE SURGERY AT 08:30. DXon't order the flowers yet!

[Gloria]

Hope all is well Stanley.

[Stanley]

Susan's here and is going to ring the doctor at 08:30..... I think all is well Gloria. Thanks for asking.

[Wendyf]

[Cathy]

Might be your breakfast affecting your blood sugar Stanley

[plaques]

As Stanley says a nice chat yesterday. He looked fine and with a full head of steam. Reported his post to Mrs P. got the usual derogatory reply. "I'm not surprised you make everyone poorly". Just to make sure it wasn't me I ran another LFT this morning. ALL CLEAR.
Looks as though its a drop in blood pressure, possible a stomach bug . Old age not for sissies.

[PanBiker]

Oh dear Stanley, I hope the doc gives you a clean bill or at least can give you an idea of what went on.

[Stanley]

I'm waiting for his call now....

[Tizer]

I hope it's sorted easily and turns out to be something minor. I usually sleep until 07.30 to 08.00 but this morning couldn't get back to sleep at 06.00 - must have been getting worried vibes from you!

[Stanley]

Possible, sorry!
The system has worked well. Main reason would seem to be a blood sugar spike. I have promised Hassan to work harder at cutting carbs and he has put me on an extra pill, Alogliptin which the pharmacy will have for me by tomorrow. (LINK) I see him next Tuesday and he will investigate my tummy and push his finger up my bottom.... Deep Joy!
The system has worked well.
PS. Should have paid more attention to Wendy! Sorry Ma'am.....

[MickBrett]

Be well, Stanley !

[Cathy]

Glad you are all sorted Stanley, and quickly too.

[Stanley]

Sorted temporarily Cathy, we aren't out of the woods yet and I suspect bad news is coming down the line....

[Whyperion]

Looking at the map, I think there is RAF something or other at or near Northolt and Northwood Hills , plus the coastal defences of East Anglia-Essex, then Kent, Sussex and Hampshire to Portsmouth. Area seems to cover Harwell, one of the Chemical / Virus Labs (Pirbright?) Aldershot and the Army Training at Camberley. underground in London of course is the MOD, and a dedicated wired comms basically somewhere under Kingsway/Chancery Lane area. I dont think Charing Cross itself is special (waits for next Doctor Who Series), but it is where distances to London are traditionally measured from (I think it used to be the Mansion House at one time but was changed in Victorian Times - though the Charing Cross has moved a few yards since then. Charing Cross Met Police Station replaced the nearby Bow Street (runners) one, moving into the former Charing Cross Hospital Building in the 1980s (Charing Cross Hospital confusingly moved in the 1970s to Hammersmith, six miles to the west in London)

Thanks for that, I knew someone would have local knowledge. What it actually boils down to is that the services that demand the exclusion of all others must be using pretty substandard equipment. If they are still using it of course. MOD are primary users but there is evidence that they don't use that section of spectrum at all any more. They wont relinquish it though as it a secret.

Interesting yes Prime Minister - re launch codes to Northwood, verified by Telex then communicated out to the subs

[Stanley]

A leaflet bearing the NHS logo telling me that I have been specially selected to have free home delivery of my medications. Closer inspection and of course it's from a chemist in Nelson wanting my custom. Forget it. I don't think they should be able to use the official logo like that. Many will take it as an instruction. The firm is Direct2Chemist.
The funny thing is that when I had a furtle, Firefox told me the site was suspect and advised me not to proceed. Needless to say I took notice.

[PanBiker]

I got the same leaflet the other day as well Stanley.

[Stanley]

And I know what you did with it!

[Stanley]

Not many of you will have heard of Robb Wilton. See this LINK and then go and look at this......

[Tripps]

Not many of you will have heard of Robb Wilton.

I have - but can't say I've seen much of him. I like some of the old comics, especially Northern ones, but equally some are dire. Will Hay and Norman Wisdom for example do nothing for me.

I enjoyed that - reminded me a bit of Al Read somehow. Now the spooky bit - after watching it they showed me a screen shot of Hovis Presley How did they know I liked him?

That'll do for tonight.

[Stanley]

Glad you liked it David. He was a regular on the wireless during the war, there were a lot of good monologues in those dark days. Have a look at THIS one, I think you might know it.

[PanBiker]

Stirring in bed this morning at 3.30 and noticing that the alarm clock wasn't lit up! Four hours later I was up and checking the problem, fairly obvious, lights were working but the main ring had tripped. This takes the kitchen out as well as the rest of the stuff downstairs and few sockets upstairs. I put new circuits in when we open up the loft. Anyway I went downstairs and reset it but only for a couple of seconds, it tripped again. Time to go into full fault find mode.

I switched all the sockets off on the ring apart from two, one behind the freezer and the other which powers the boiler in the pantry and is tucked away in a corner fairly inaccessible without moving a lot of stuff! Reset again and it still tripped. Decision time, open door on freezer to empty it so that I can move it or take all the stuff out of the top of the pantry to get access to the one in there. I figured that the freezer was best left alone as it had been without power for at least six hours by then. We have a shelved boot rack in the pantry which also holds boxes of this that and the other, jump leads, car washing stuff, decorating stuff etc. No option, turf it all out!

It soon became apparent what the problem may be before I got down to the socket. There had been some seepage from around the boiler filling valve and there was damp down the wall and the back box was wet. Unplugging the boiler I could see the neutral had signs of arcing on the face of the socket and there was a smell of arcing. I took the socket off and could see that the neutral had been arcing to earth. I disconnected it an shoved the leads into a 20a chock block. Reset the trip and all was well, i put the freezer on super freeze cycle and I could finally get into the shower!

We had an engagement at the centre this morning for a big tidy up followed by an emergency meeting to ratify some policies for the group. We got back about 2pm.

I took the opportunity to put some new vinyl down at the top of the pantry that we had left from the bathroom refurb. That done I swapped out the chock block for a new 2 gang switched socket which I found in my spares. I have fitted a plastic box over and around the surface socket to protect it from any further minor spillages. We took the opportunity also to have a clear out and the stuff has gone back in a lot tidier. Ready for a sit down now.

[Stanley]

Well done! Handy to have a Sparks in the house. That sort of thing spoils my day... (Like calling the ambulance!)

[Stanley]

News of the limitations being placed on the entry of Ukraine refugees by the Home Office despite the universal criticism of only offering them the points based entry system as students or agricultural workers. This is disgraceful and contrasts with the EU which has opened their borders with no need for visas or any paperwork at all. It looks as though we are being mean spirited and relying on the fact that the refugees will be accepted and supported in the EU. The world will note this.....
Let's see, who was it that introduced a policy of active hostile environment for immigrants.....?

[Tizer]

Meanwhile, on Cathy's continent Queensland is suffering terrible floods. We think we've had some bad ones but just look at this video... LINK