Reply to: test please delete

[NickFitz]

Tonight’s major motion picture premiere was The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026) which was, perhaps inevitably, not as good as the original. It was still pretty good! I enjoyed it, but it was very much a sequel, not a story in its own right. That must be hard to do though. They managed it with The Godfather II but not this time

My main conclusion was that it provides definitive proof that fashionable music has got worse in the last twenty years, because I enjoyed the music in the original despite it not being of my usual taste, but I thought most of the music in this one was mediocre - except for a remix of Madonna’s Vogue, the original version of which was in the first one

After that, I finally got around to rewatching 300: Rise of an Empire (2014). It’s not really a film one watches because of the story; it’s all about the special effects and such. Still, the story is about democracy surviving in the face of an overwhelming attack by the Persians, and it looks like democracy's about to die in the USA because of an underwhelming attack on the Persians, so it has a certain ironic resonance

And finally, a further episode of Silo. I’m starting to wonder why the people in charge even bother pretending there’s any kind of democracy down there because they’re obviously despotic and could control everybody more easily without the pretence. Maybe American audiences wouldn’t understand people accepting a way of life so different from their own - living under despotic rule whilst convincing oneself one is free because of some token gestures towards democracy must seem quite realistic to them

Goodnight all

[NickFitz]

Tea has been the rest of the pork and cider hotpot I made last week

This was accompanied by the leftover bit of the Police Interceptors from last night

[NickFitz]

CTEK MXS-5.0 is what you want.
Although, I now use a Zappi to top up the battery in my car. In theory it could do a flat 12V to full in about 10 minutes, but I suspect the battery wouldn't like it.

The CTEK appears to be mains-powered, so no good for me - there’s nowhere to plug it in and have it reach the car simultaneously

[WTFH]

I went looking for a battery pack to get me moving. Loads of them, all suspiciously similar with the kinds of brand names fly-by-night Chinese drop sellers use; so I had a look on Halfords’ site as they’re still reasonably reputable. The one they had that seemed suitable was also on Amazon for about fifteen quid less though, so they didn’t get the sale

CTEK MXS-5.0 is what you want.
Although, I now use a Zappi to top up the battery in my car. In theory it could do a flat 12V to full in about 10 minutes, but I suspect the battery wouldn't like it.

[NickFitz]

Lunch: nothing yet, as I thought I’d get something when I went shopping. But first I had to wait for the pharmacist to call

They did, a few minutes before the nominal appointment time, and reckoned I should stop taking the new tablets for a week and they’ll call me then to see if things have improved

So then I got it together and went down to the car… which had a flat battery

No idea why as it’s only just over a week since I last used it

Anyway, I came back in to get the two little battery packs that have served well in this situation in the past. That was when I realised the battery in the older one has started swelling, enough to have opened up one edge of the case

So now I have a lithium fire hazard to worry about as well. I gave the other one a try, but it wasn’t sufficiently charged, as I expected - it’s just been sitting around for ages

Shopping is therefore cancelled. Coming back in, I noticed that the case of the less-old battery pack also feels very slightly curved; I’m not sure if it was like that when I got it, but I have a feeling it was completely flat and suspect it may be heading the same way as the old one. So I decided not to take a chance on charging it, and it was off to Amazon for solutions. First in the basket: one of those AA solar panels that WTFH has been trying to persuade me to get for years

But that’s more for keeping a charge rather than charging from flat, so I went looking for a battery pack to get me moving. Loads of them, all suspiciously similar with the kinds of brand names fly-by-night Chinese drop sellers use; so I had a look on Halfords’ site as they’re still reasonably reputable. The one they had that seemed suitable was also on Amazon for about fifteen quid less though, so they didn’t get the sale

So stuff will be arriving tomorrow, and until it’s sorted out I’ll have to use up food from the freezer

[NickFitz]

Morning denizens

Sunny with high, wispy bits here and there. It’s 21°C and aiming for its now-standard 25°, and the barometers are down a bit at 1007/1015mB

I set no alarm, expecting to wake up around eight or half eight as usually happens in that situation, but slept like a log right through to ten! Still need to do the shopping, but it’ll be more of a rush job than I anticipated

[ladymuck]

Morning all

Cloudy, some with flecks of grey. Currently 21 degrees ('feels like' 24) with a high of 23 expected. Barometer at 1020 mBar.

Sunrise 05:17; Sunset 20:59 BST

Last day at gig3. The PM I work with revealed that two architects and a scrum/delivery lead were given 11th hour reprives but not the people who would do the work. He is going to keep pushing for two developers and me to be reinstated, as his argument is that nothing he's supposed to be delivering will happen without us.

[WTFH]

Morning all
TFIF, etc
CBS, etc.
05:20 start today, very pleasant walk has been had. No sign of rain.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Morning.

Friday.

Dry.

Wanly sunny.

Blue sky with high cloud.

23.1 deg in here, 24.5 in the kitchen, 22 in the leanto, 17 out the back.

1014 mBar, 29.94 in Hg, 760.6 Torr, 760.6 psi, (down from 1014.5 last night), 61% RH (Lidl electric).

Meanwhile as per yesterday: Meanwhile on the seemingly endless 1st April 2020 AndyGarbs, Brillo, eek, MrMarkyMark, and vetran popped in and yet another Om ensued. .

Awake at 05:30 yet again. This, it must be said, is tending to lose its shine. .

Entertainment: Jack Hargreaves Old Country: unimproved downlands grass sward, improved grass (monoculture, though with 3 different grasses), cattle varieties & why they don't have horns any more. Well it was on.

Walk (abbreviated: 1.5 miles) walked in the pleasant coolth of the morning. Longest walk since the legs started playing up.

Lunch: brunch. Entertainment: Mud by Rebecca Stott. Darwin, worms, and Mud.

Bit of that Ant Anstead motor fixer chap who used to work with the fat git & now has his own programme fixing cars & repairing his house: Austin 7: cost to buy & fix: £9.7k: sold at auction for £10k. Lot of work for £300. . No mention of the seller's premium either. .

Jack Hargreaves again. Ley Grasses: cock's foot, rye, white clover (got a lot of that in my lawns: the bees love it).

UFO bollox on Blaze: Rendlesham again.

Sunken Ships: HMS Exeter: survived sinking the Graf Spey, and succumbed to the Japanese. Surviving crew ended up POWs, of whom 150 died of the usual maltreatment one might have anticipated. The ship itself was located and has been completely removed by Asian metal thieves. Who'd have thunk? It was only a wargrave after all & they were glad to get free of the evil colonialists. .

Bab5 S2 E12 "Acts of sacrifice": things are not going well for the Narn.

Prog Rock at the Proms: well I recognised "Court of the Crimson King". The Genesis & Zappa not so much. And a bit of PF: The great gig in the sky.

Taggart S14 E5,6,7 "Dead Reckoning".

[NickFitz]

Teatime viewing was a bit of Police Interceptors

And tonight, I read more of Parable of the Sower in which things are getting worse for everybody. Well, not the rich or the big corporations, obviously; just for people

I remembered to make the bed, so tonight I shall sleep in great comfort

Goodnight all

[NickFitz]

Bit too sunny if anything! As it needed to be done, I betook myself to the GP surgery to get another sample bottle. Then it was back through the park from there and along to the kebab shop; and home. So tea has been kebab and chips, and very nice it was too

But I was very warm by the time I got back

The bed is airing, so I also need to remake that at some point

[NickFitz]

Let the holiday commence!

Nice and sunny out now

[NickFitz]

Lunch: leftover pork cutlet in a wholemeal bap with apple sauce

It’s turned rather sunny and Simpsonesque out now

This morning was mostly spent documenting some stuff and closing a bunch of tickets. This afternoon, there’s the main developer fortnightly meeting, followed by an hour or so of informal chat with the other devs in the portfolio. I might see if I can get one minor ticket done before those, just to tidy up the board a little more

[ladymuck]

Morning all

Hazy sunshine and 18 degrees when I left Mum's at 6.20 am. Now there's pretty lumps of fluff as far as the eye can see from gig3's offices. Currently 23 degrees ('feels like' 25) with a high of 27 expected. Barometer at 1023 mBar.

Sunrise 05:12; Sunset 21:01 BST

I was going to take the train but decided I wasn't willing to pay £64 when driving was going to take about the same amount of time. The train only costs £15 from home. Hardly anyone in the office but it was important to come in to collect my world cup sweepstake winnings. Will probably disappear by 3pm when my parking runs out.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Morning.

Thursday.

Dry.

Sunny.

Blue sky.

22.5 deg in here, 24.2 in the kitchen, 22 in the leanto, 19 out the back.

1017 mBar, 30.03 in Hg, 762.8 Torr, 14.75 psi, (unchanged), 57% RH (Lidl electric).

Meanwhile on the seemingly endless 1st April 2020 AndyGarbs, Brillo, eek, MrMarkyMark, and vetran popped in and yet another Om ensued. .

Next door's lawn mown, carefully avoiding many of the orchids. Feck me it was hard work.

Many grasshoppers & butterflies & bees upset.

The compost heap is now about 7 feet tall.

I seem to have managed to avoid the horseflies.

Lunch: brunch. Entertainment: Mud. Today Rebecca Stott detailed her family's losses in WWI, that epitome of mud & incompetence.

Some bollox or other about busyness. It's even less inneresting than The Lion in Winter was yesterday. . <click>

Discovering Barbra Stanwyck.

Jack Hargreaves Old Country: home grown pig & its preparation: this explains The Salting House and that iron pipe frame thing that used to stand outside the living room window: it was used for butchering the pigs from the pig sties at the bottom of the garden. Apparently that explains the saying "being led up the garden path". .

The butcher did a fine job of butchering the pig.

My grandfather would probably have admired his work (he was a butcher).

Tea: baked spud & baked beans. Nice enough.

Entertainment: UFO bollox on Blaze: Project 7 Lambs: or how Richard Doty and the septic government made someone go crazy near Kirtland AFB.

Thing about the Belgrano.

Bab5 S2 E10 "All alone in the night". Sheridan gets himself kidnapped by aliens.

Bit of a thing about USS Indianapolis. Which didn't end well.

Titans of the Cold War: Carter and Brezhnev. .

Last half of some UFO bollox on Blaze.