test please delete

[ladymuck]

Looking on Amazon for a birthday card for my dad's 90th next week. There was one listing various facts about 1931, including people born the same year. One of them was Lionel Blair. I checked: he was born in 1928

The rest of the facts were pretty dull, even if they should turn out to be true, so not bothering with that one

I haven't checked if the people born are correct:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1033...for-dad-father

[WTFH]

Robert Duval
James Earl Jones
Sam Cooke
Buster Edwards
Boris Yeltsin
Les Dawson
Fred Trueman
Rip Torn
James Dean
Brian Close
Peter Allis
Mikhail Gorbachev
Tom Wolfe
Rupert Murdoch
William Shatner
Leonard Nimoy
Norman Tebbit
David Shepherd
Trevor Peacock
Desmond Wilcox
Michael Lonsdale
Virginia McKenna
Olympia Dukakis
Junior Johnson
Clive Cussler
William Goldman
Bernard Manning
Don King
Regis Philbin
Boxcar Willie
Cecil Parkinson
Anne Bancroft
Larry Hagman
Fay Weldon
Basil d’Oliveira
Terence Conran
Desmond Tutu
John le Carre
Ken Morrison
Diana Dors
David Bryant
Dan Rather
Ike Turner
… how’s that for a start?

[NickFitz]

Thanks folks, but I found him this one in the end: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07VLHZGCL/ - like any boy of his age, he has a great fondness for the Spitfire, which is why one had a starring role in his novel Early Warning

Speaking of aeroplanes, further viewing after the evisceration on Surgeons was concluded was a couple more episodes of Air Crash Investigation. Who'd have thunk that a fly nesting in a pitot tube could lead to a 757 plummeting into the ocean?

I've also been watching that storm creep past the western edge of the range of the rainfall radars. It's starting to hammer the southwest corner of Ireland properly now, while a swirly bit further down is already halfway across to Cornwall and South Wales

Goodnight all

[WTFH]

Morning all
Blustery out this morning, managed to get a walk done between showers.

[ladymuck]

Morning all

Dull and overcast, dry, not much of a breeze.Currently 4 degrees and and it might squeak up to 9 later. Rain due most of the day from mid-morning onwards. Wind strength expected to peak around lunchtime at 37 km/h. Wind direction currently easterly, will change to southerly at lunchtime and change again to westerly this afternoon. Barometer down to 1005 mBar.

Despite having a terrible night's sleep, I am not as tired this morning as I thought I would be. Although I'd hardly call myself awake. To add insult to injury, my coffee machine decided it wanted cleaning before it would issue any of its life giving nectar. In a bid to get back to sleep, I put the radio on at 3 am and ended up listening to Outlook: The cult, the crocodile and my journey back to love. A fairly harrowing tale of a woman who grew up in a cult and how she escaped and managed to turn out pretty good all things considered. It didn't help me get back to sleep.

Today's Kantar diary facts are:
Beijing issues its first ever 'red alert' for pollution 2015

Eugene Corri becomes the first referee to officiate from inside a boxing ring in London 1907

[ladymuck]

And that's just reminded me: this week's Book at Bedtime on R4 is The Omen! I was very surprised to hear that being read out. I wonder how heavily it will be 'abridged'.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Morning.

Dark.

UnDry, very wet wet wet.

Grey.

Sunless.

Cold at 13.2 deg in here.

993 991 mBar (in 20 mins), 29.26 in Hg, 743.3 Torr, 62% RH.

Tuesday apparently.

Trip to the postoffice for the TV Times & Xmas Radio Times done.

TVT is now £2.40.

Xmas RT is now £5.25. That's a whole 25 p more than last year's.

Rain stopped.

Walk walked.

Went swimmingly well until the squall hit after which it went swimmingly in a different way.

Abbreviated due to gigantic puddle on the road upwards & general lack of incentive not to continue.

Once the squall had passed over it returned to something rather more reasonable.

Lunch: a roast chicken sandwich on Morrisons wholemeal sunflower and spelt bread, a red corner yog, a bramble jelly sandwich on same x2, 0.91 pints of good Glengettie tea.

Entertainment: Oz Customs thing S2 E17 & 18: don't try to smuggle 5kg of mdma into Oz, it never ends well: 9 years+.

Freecell score: 88%, running average 84%.

Bonfire: not tremendously successful, it was difficult to start and trying to continue, but but much weedy detritus went up in flames having dried in the greenhouse & pigsty.

Intermittent torrential rain with added hail & murrain of beasts.

Then some donner und blitzen to add to the enjoyment.

Tea: Tesco breaded haddock, some tinned fruit cocktail, a yog, 0.91 pints of good Glengettie tea.

Entertainment: Discovering Lee "Wandrin' Star" Marvin.

Quantum Leap S3 E2 "The leap home part 2": the Vietnaaaaaaam one.

Joy of Painting.

Nearly fell out of the shower, landed on the side of the bath and very nearly gelded myself.

Barometer now down 981 mBar, 28.97 in Hg, 735.8 Torr.

NCIS S10 E10 "Heist".

The Rookie S1 E10 "Heartbreak".

Bad Skin Clinic.

Barometer's risen to 982 mbar.

[NickFitz]

Morning denizens

Grey here and there seems to have been some rain or drizzle, but the true might of Storm Biffo the Bear (or whatever it's called) hasn't reached us yet

Currently 3°C with 7° coming along with the storm, barometers down at 990/998mB - and probably falling as the storm moves in, from what I know about weather

Just done a lateral flow test, being for the benefit of the research department at Glenfield Hospital whither I shall be going for this cholesterol drug project in a while. Still waiting for the result, but I daresay it'll be fine. I'm still not sure whether to walk or drive up to Glenfield; a lot depends on what the storm does in the next hour or so

Sleep was a little better than it has been; still some odd dream stuff going on though. Given that it's currently only 15°C in the bedroom, I'm wondering if it's due to feeling cold overnight, so I'm going to move to the full two-layer, three-thirds duvet and see if that improves things

[NickFitz]

LFT negative, as expected

I popped over to the Amazon Locker to pick up my Secret Santa for the Xmas Do, and have concluded that I am NOT walking six miles to Glenfield Hospital and back in that, particularly given that the rain hasn't even got here yet but is expected to arrive soon and continue for the duration of the journey

The landlord/manager chap was out the back adding a further springy thing to the backyard gate, presumably to try to stop it banging in high winds. I had a chat to him about the various problems arising out there, which he's also been on to the police about, but he also got the helpless shrug from them. He's thinking about putting a Yale lock on there though, as he says, they'll just kick it in if they want to use our yard; that's why he's not going to fit a mortise lock, which would badly damage the frame when kicked in.

Anyway, I achieved my goal, which was to remind him what a useful tenant I am to have around

[NickFitz]

Bit of wholemeal toast, just to tide me over