OneGuyFromBarlick

How our recovery rate is improving from an increasing exercise regime. We did 22 miles on the bikes last Thursday a 4 mile walk on Friday, 23 miles on the bikes on Sunday followed by another 4 mile walk on Monday and 27 miles on a nice ride yesterday up round Airton returning via Otterburn, Hellifield, Halton West, Paythorne and Horton. An extra bonus as well was that I had a surplus of 850 calories last night when I went to bed even after a home made chicken jalfrezi with rice and garlic naan. We'll go for a walk today as we have Finlay, this one may well feature Ice Cream.

Stanley wrote:I don't know the answer to your query about what guests can view, I thought they could see all the public posts.... If not, I'm all in favour of allowing it so we encourage more to join.

I've searched back to review what Ian said about all this when I raised it about a year ago. Apparently all the posts can be viewed by non-members except the admin and donations bits, which makes sense. I think there are still odd problems though. I know that `guests' can find things via Google searches arriving at OGFB but I think the current set up doesn't encourage those who browse to OG's main page (Board Index page) to become a member. The titles and lists on that page don't give much indication of what members are discussing. If guests arrive and look at a topic, such as `Introductions', they see Ian's sticky post `Browsing Options for the Site'. This tells them:

On the forum index page there are a few options that bring up the various topics.
View unanswered posts - Brings up all the topics that have been posted but have not had any replies.
View unread posts - Brings up all the topics that have been created or replied to since your last visit.
View new posts - Brings up all the New topics created/replied to over the last three days.
View active topics - Brings up all the topics that have seen activity over the last seven days.

but none of these are available to non-members. It would be better if non-members could access something like the `View active topics' listing to find out what OG is really discussing on a day to day basis. For example the HOUSEHOLD TIPS NOT FOUND IN WOMAN'S WEEKLY and the FLATLEY DRYER topics are very active but are otherwise buried under Historical > Local History > Nostalgia. (Of course, I find OG excellent and I appreciate all the work that Ian and the others do so please don't take these comments as anything but an attempt to further improve something that's already very good! )

That's a very interesting point Tizer. I will investigate what we can do within the group permissions and then have a chat with the other mods and admin. As you have raised the point, I will PM you of any agreed changes, thanks for your input.

Tiz, I have just voted for wider access. Ian has looked into it and it is eminently possible to do this.
THIS ARTICLE was brought to my attention by Martha. If you are interested in the economics of austerity this New Statesman piece is pretty damn good!
The other thing that grabbed me was a letter from the Council telling me that if I didn't explain myself I was going to be persecuted for fly-tipping in the Pioneer Car Park! A call to the council officer involved cleared it up. Evidently the street sweeper puts the black bin bags from the public litter bins at various points on his round to be picked up by council transport. Someone had fly tipped on his bags breaking some open. That morning I had dropped a piece of paper in the public bin with my early morning litter pick and it had my address on it. As this was the only evidence they had I became spot ball for the offence! He said that he wondered why an 80 year old man was fly-tipping but followed the evidence. He agreed with me that I was innocent and said he'd send me a letter to that effect.... Big sigh of relief! But nice to know they are so active in seeking out the irresponsible people who do this.

Loved the above story Stanley, made me think of books I have read by Rebecca Shaw called Village Matters , Village Secrets and Scandal In The Village .
(If you were next to me I'm quite sure you would dong me on the head sometimes, oh dear )

Ian and the mods have made the change to give guests easier access and Mrs Tiz is a happy bunny now, she can find what she wants to read without having to log in. Guests will now be able to search the site which will let them see the wealth of information available and should encourage them to join OG. They will be able to access the `Active topics' page which shows them what's going on currently, the hot topics. Thanks!

Stanley, take care what you put in your bins, they're watching you! And if you put a note in the bin it might be a more effective way of contacting the council!

In this case that's certainly right, I got their attention!
Glad the change has been made, we will not lose by it.

The warm rain falling on the gardens!
The new flower bed in front of Forester's Buildings. What a good idea and I like the design.....

More or Less on World Service this morning. They analysed the results of the 'chocolate experiment' which purported to show that eating a bar of chocolate a day helped weight loss. See THIS for a report on how and why it was done. Totally bears out what Tiz is continually reminding us, that journalists are not the best qualified people to entrust with 'scientific data'.

Walking round the town this morning a few things grabbed my attention....



The Triffids are taking over the benches....



The new flower bed at Foresters buildings is a brilliant addition. It will give a very good impression to anyone coming into Barlick from the north. I thoroughly approve of it and like the design.



I've been meaning to post this for a while. I'm not too sure about how effective it is but everyone has an opinion!

See THIS for a report that the comet lander Philae has woken up. It sent a tweet yesterday asking if anyone was listening. Wonderful news for the scientists who always said that as the comet approached the sun there was a possibility that it would recharge its batteries. The enforced sleep caused by the fact it bounced into an area of shade when it first landed may have been a blessing in disguise as it is suspected that had it been in full sun the instrumentation would not have survived the high temperatures. As it is it has collected a lot more data and the hope is that this can now be downloaded.
Lovely news and I am so glad the scientists were proved to be correct and we may now get the significant data that was always the primary aim.

Nice video. Hard to believe it was four years ago..... Tempus fugit!

The Gas man cometh today for the annual service.....
I have a set off tomorrow with Terry Gissing. We are going down to Masson to look at the Jubilee engine and Terry is being a bit mysterious, he said I might see it running. If that is so it's the end of a thirty year saga because that's how long it is since Robert bought the engine to save it and dragged me in as named supervisor on the Scheduled Monument Consent. As I say, time flies! I shall relinquish the responsibility... I'm hoping Susan can look after Jack for the day because I have an idea he will be superfluous to requirements.
Less important but still news, Top Gear is to be presented by Chris Evans. All the old presenters go and it is to be a totally new programme. I wish them well but with all its faults, the old format will be a hard act to follow.

We are sharing the Gas man today Stanley, we have the 10.00am slot for our boiler service.

Stanley wrote:Top Gear is to be presented by Chris Evans.

If there is one person who gets on my nerves more than Clarkson its Chris Evans. Shouts a lot, can't get his words out and talks utter rubbish. Goodbye for ever Top Gear.

Salterforth Drag - Bike versus Runner - This is an event taking place tonight at 7.00pm and is straight single attempt race from the bottom of Salterforth Drag to the top. Both competitors make the ascent together from a standing start.

Salterforth Drag - Bike versus Runner

This is the Facebook page that was set up for the event which came from a challenge between the runner and the cyclist after a post 2014 Tour de Yorkshire party held by a bunch of locals at the Tempest Arms.

The competitors (Stuart Bryan on the bike and Stephen Chew the runner) are using the event to raise money for Pendleside Hospice. You can find a link to the donation site from the Facebook Page.

As an aside for the supporters, anyone who donates more than £2.00 to the charity may submit a guess of the competitors combined times for the ascent. Barlick Cellar Bar & Bistro have donated afternoon tea for two with a bottle of Prosecco to help it down for the person who is nearest the declared time for the event.

Spectators are encouraged to turn up and support the lads who will be flogging it up the hill, should be good fun, lots of local interest.

PanBiker wrote:Salterforth Drag - Bike versus Runner - This is an event taking place tonight at 7.00pm and is straight single attempt race from the bottom of Salterforth Drag to the top. Both competitors make the ascent together from a standing start.

Salterforth Drag - Bike versus Runner

This is the Facebook page that was set up for the event which came from a challenge between the runner and the cyclist after a post 2014 Tour de Yorkshire party held by a bunch of locals at the Tempest Arms.

The competitors (Stuart Bryan on the bike and Stephen Chew the runner) are using the event to raise money for Pendleside Hospice. You can find a link to the donation site from the Facebook Page.

As an aside for the supporters, anyone who donates more than £2.00 to the charity may submit a guess of the competitors combined times for the ascent. Barlick Cellar Bar & Bistro have donated afternoon tea for two with a bottle of Prosecco to help it down for the person who is nearest the declared time for the event.

Spectators are encouraged to turn up and support the lads who will be flogging it up the hill, should be good fun, lots of local interest.

I hope it stays dry for them both, should be a good do.

P. I tend to agree about Chris Evans but let's see what they come up with.
Ian, I hope you did better than I did. He left a fault on the boiler, he disturbed the expansion valve and it is leaking, he comes back tonight between 6PM and 10PM.... Deep joy!
Terry and I go down to Masson today to look at the Jubilee engine and meet Robert. It will be a good day. Son in law Mick is looking after jack for the day. Jack will feel no pain, he adores Mick! I shall wear the good suit and look impressive.....

Gas engineer was a young bloke, as far as I can see he did OK all seems working. He was tasked with trying to sell me their Hive system with a sign up now special offer up his sleeve for extra temptation. I did not succumb, I don't really need my boiler connecting to th'internet with an app on my phone for controlling it, not for a hundred and odd quid anyway.

The Salterforth drag event went off splendidly, bike and runner were neck and neck halfway up but Doc Bryan eventually pulled slightly ahead on the bike to take the race. My guess of 6.42 combined time was doing the lads down somewhat they did it in 4.32. Good doctor got to the top in 2.10 with Chewy at 2.22, back down at the Anchor both were presented with protein supplements and the runner up was given a personal training session at JR Fit Gym (so he can do better next time). Over 200 turned out to support and a jolly good time was had by all. Well over £500 raised for the charity.

Photos of the event and more information in the link above.

In the days when we had a gas supply we invited BG to quote for a new boiler in a new kitchen extension. A guy came along and did the hard sell, told us exactly where it would be fitted on the wall and the price...but then said we'd have to sign there and then if we wanted that price. We showed him the door and invited a local, self-employed boiler service engineer. He quoted less, was friendly and not pushy and seemed efficient and knowledgeable. Most importantly he pointed out that where the BG man said he would fit the boiler there was a soil pipe running down the outside! BG man hadn't even looked outside. The local chap did a fine job. One advantage of being on oil now is that we don't have any dealings with BG.
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Accrington brick...
Brickmakers have been having a bad time since the credit crunch but Huncoat "is about to raise its production to 140,000 bricks a day, about 46 million a year. The workforce is expanding from 32 to 54 next month, the operation moving to 24 hours a day." (BBC quote today). LINK

I had a good day out yesterday with Terry apart from the fact he wanted to call in at Stafford on the way back to look at a new press brake. Big mistake and I thought about Ian as we fought our way up through interminable traffic jams on the M6. Terry has a Jeep Wrangler with a smart sat nav system and the lady kept updating herself and sending us off the M6 in interesting diversions that took us through places I haven't seen for years! I don't suppose we gained anything by the diversions and it was 7PM when I got back home having just missed the gas man. A quick call and he was rescheduled to come this morning. He's been and done the necessary and so far it seems OK. He agreed that the valve was a design fault. Interesting thing was that when he put the boiler back online it kicked in and warmed the house with the stat still set at less that 18C. I must have been right about it being cold!

Falling foul of the recently introduced "inert waste" regulations at the skips.

I made a start on my kitchen refurb by taking down the ceiling at one side of the RSJ that supports the bathroom above. We are putting new integrated lighting in down at the business end so to speak so I ripped out the ceiling yesterday and shoved it in bits in my builders bag in the back of the car. Its effectively 9ft x 6ft of plasterboard.

On arriving at the skips i found out that since the 1st June you now need a permit for recycling anything that goes into the building waste skip.

Everything also has to equate to 600 x 900 bags as well, I assume this is about the size of a cement bag.

I asked at the skips how many bags my 9x6 ceiling would equate to and they reckoned about 5. I also asked if there was an alternative to waiting for the permit as I needed to get shut really. Oh yes, it's £3.50, great I thought, tip up the brass and were done. I asked if I could pay cash but it pans out the only method of payment accepted is debit card despite the leaflet they gave me saying they accept credit cards as well. The other bad news was that the £3.50 is per bag so it would be £17.50 to put it in the skip. As that is nearly the price of the replacement ceiling I decided not to pay the ransom. Couldn't anyway as I cant remember the pin for my debit card which I hardly ever use.

So I came away with my ceiling still in its building bag in the back of my car. It will stay there until I have my permit. I'm certainly not humping it back out and shoving it back in the kitchen, I need the room to further my project. Cant leave it outside as if it get wet it would be a nightmare to get back in the hatch.

I rang the number on the leaflet I was given at the skips and applied for my permit which will then allow me 10 bags per year of "inert waste" or the equivalent in single items. The bad news is that it apparently takes two to three days to process the permit request, (its now Friday so nothing will be done till Monday) and they then send them out by 2nd class post so a typical application takes "about" 7 days.

Having read the leaflet I think they count a 2400mm x 1200mm plasterboard as one single item so I will argue the point about five bags worth once I have my permit.

I now know why my neighbour has about 7 bags of building waste in the street outside her house since her recent outhouse refurbishment. I saw her when I returned with my ceiling, she has been waiting a fortnight for her permit, still not turned up!

I don't think this initiative will necessarily help in the fight against fly tipping..

I was in two minds whether to put this post in "The Flatley Dryer" it would fit in both I suppose.

Welcome to the wonderful world of 2015, Ian! The council started charging for every visit to our nearest dump, no matter what you were depositing there and how much. Then they said not enough people were using the dump, which wasn't surprising seeing as former users had given up due to the charge. So they closed it. So if we make a journey to the dump now we might as well pack us butties and a flask of tea in case we don't get back before dusk!

It costs us about $80 for a trailer load at our local tip. Every rate payer gets 4 tickets per year for free dumping, two tickets equate to one trailer load.

A country tip we sometimes use (it's on the way to our house on Phillip Island) doesn't charge at all for anything that is recyclable, you just put it in the appropriate bins . I wonder how long before they catch on and start to charge too.

The fact I overslept again this morning, still recovering from Thursday. The engine and Robert were on Bargain Hunt yesterday, well worth watching.
Tipping, and then they wonder why fly-tipping is on the increase. The money is paying for the bloke who threatened me with prosecution the other day! By the way, I got the letter of apology......

The old steam cruise ship MV Balmoral is returning to passenger service after almost being given up in 2012...LINK