Reply to: test please delete

[NickFitz]

Tonight's major motion picture premiere was Highest 2 Lowest (2025) which was just released on Apple TV+ and would be a much better film if it was at least half an hour shorter. It's a kidnap drama involving Denzel Washington as a record company owner from whom ransom is sought, but the first hour is full of a bunch of stuff about Family and Black Culture and that kind of stuff, none of which contributes to the story in any relevant way. After that, when they get into the stuff that makes it a thriller or at least a drama, it's good. But it should be at least forty-five minutes shorter, actually, or have that much more action to it. Stuff about The Importance of Family should be restricted to Vin Diesel wittering on about it for two minutes while standing next to a barbecue holding a bottle of beer right at the end. That's one thing the Fast & Furious films get right, assuming there's a place for that stuff anyway, which there isn't

And then a rewatch of Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) which isn't as bad as that other one, but isn't that good really; another film that picks up towards the end, and thereby makes you wonder why they didn't put the same effort into the beginning

Finally, the last episode of S1 of the Dune thing. This gave the impression that the writers had been told at the last minute that there'd be a second series, so they had to quickly rewrite all the plot lines so they were available for that rather than wrapping them up neatly

Meanwhile in the kitchen, wonderful things were achieved in the new washer-dryer's first encounter with the mundane laundry

Goodnight all

[NickFitz]

Unexpected delivery from Amazon just now: the drain blanking cap that they failed to deliver last week and have already refunded me for

They said there was no need to return it on the refund confirmation, but I didn't expect them to turn up with it so I had something to not return!

[NickFitz]

The washer-dryer is coming to the end of its calibration run. I'm just hoping it doesn't wreck the place when it gets to the spinning bit

Far from it! I went through to the kitchen when the app said it had reached the spin bit, just in case, and you'd barely know it was doing it, it remained so stable!

Might put a wash on now, as it would be nice to have some clothes to wear tomorrow and it doesn't seem like it'll disturb the neighbours

[NickFitz]

I had been thinking of making some kind of rice pilaf to go with the lamb tagine, but I couldn't be bothered so I had it with chips instead

It turned out pretty well for a first attempt! I shall have to think about ways in which I could tweak the recipe to suit my tastes, but it was OK

This was accompanied by a bit of Trucking Hell just for a change

The washer-dryer is coming to the end of its calibration run. I'm just hoping it doesn't wreck the place when it gets to the spinning bit

[NickFitz]

After a bit of figuring out of how best to use the slider things that were delivered today, a lot of washing up liquid as lubricant, and a heck of a lot of pushing, the washer-dryer is in position!

It now needs to do a "calibration cycle" which takes about two hours, so I've kicked that off

I'm absolutely knackered

I only needed one slider in the end, just to get one of the back feet over the dodgy bit of floor

And I went through a whole palaver to link it with the app on my phone, so I don't have to go in there to see how it's doing

[NickFitz]

Royal Mail arrived!

As far as I can tell, Evri have decided not to bother today

[NickFitz]

My latest attempt at making something different for dinner is in the oven for a long, slow cook: lamb tagine

I was surprised at how much ras el hanout the recipe suggested using, so I looked up another recipe and it said the same! Mine not to reason why, but at least it'll be spicy

[NickFitz]

Shopping done, including the new Viz!

As your name is Nick I assume you nick them. Have to stop that soon when Sainsburies rolls out face recognition.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c15l5p4zwdqo

I do the self-scanning thing so there's always the risk of being randomly selected for a spot check on the way through the checkout! Probably easier to get away with nicking stuff if you go through the staffed tills

[xoggoth]

Shopping done, including the new Viz!

As your name is Nick I assume you nick them. Have to stop that soon when Sainsburies rolls out face recognition.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c15l5p4zwdqo

[NickFitz]

Shopping done, including the new Viz!

There were three things I don't buy very frequently that I needed to get, a couple of them having been forgotten on previous occasions. I've been reminding myself about them all week, and even as I was going to sleep last night. Of course, when I awoke today, I'd forgotten one of them and couldn't remember what it was no matter how hard I racked my brains

I had to rely on being near the right aisle to jog my memory, and in the event it worked: washing up liquid!

Returning home, the preferred parking space was still free. And there'd been a delivery! This was one of the ones I couldn't track easily because they'd sent the old-style ParcelForce tracking number, which makes it a convoluted process. But it was there, just inside the front door to our staircase: a supply of Miele detergent

The new machine has this system where there are two bottles of stuff in the bottom, and it supposedly works out how much of each to use at the right time for a perfect wash. You can not bother with this and just use one of the normal methods, but as well as including a set with the machine, they also provided a voucher for a free six months' supply, so I figured I might as well get it. Of course, the six months calculation is possibly optimistic, but it's presumably also based on the number of washes done in that time by the average family (140, it says in the small print) and I reckon that for me, that should easily work out to over a year

Anyway, time to wait for the other deliveries. Evri haven't updated anything since yesterday, but that means nothing given how useless they are. The Royal Mail have apparently gone into a loop; rather than simply taking it back to the local delivery office whence it can be brought out again, it's gone to the Midlands Super Hub, then onwards to the South Midlands Hub (which is where it was yesterday). I've just been notified that it's now back at the local delivery office, and I'm hoping that they bring it a bit earlier today so they don't run out of time, which is what I assume happened yesterday. They haven't included a target time range on this notification, though who knows what that implies?

[xoggoth]

Dentist soon. Ergh! Loony lady 1 this afternoon.

[ladymuck]

Was that one of us on MasterShout earlier?

Not me!

[ladymuck]

Morning all, local time 1044

Sunny with fluff. Currently 20 degrees ('feels like' 22) with a high of 33 expected. Barometer up to 1020 mBar.

Sunrise 07:46; Sunset 20:40 CEST

HWMBO agreed yesterday that the trip to Toledo today wasn't a good idea. Not sure what we will do today but it will involve me finding and posting a postcard to my Mum. If anyone else ever wants postcards from my travels, I'm always happy to add people to the mailing list!

[DoctorStrangelove]

Morning.

Friday <checks clock>

Dry.

Sunny.

Blue sky.

Cool in here at 18.8 deg, 19 in the kitchen, 17 in the leanto, 12.5 in the saltinghouse.

1013 mBar, 29.91 in Hg, 759.8 Torr, 14.69 psi, (up from 1008 last night), 70% RH.

Meanwhile on the 14th of February 2020 Brillo, BR14, Churchill, AndyGarbs and SimonMac popped in, potato peelers were mentioned.

Washing frenzy in progress.

Walk (abbreviated) walked in the sunshine on the way up and with increasingly dark clouds on the way back.

Picking with rain so the washing is in off the line & in the TD. First time in ages.

Lunch: brunch. Entertainment: The food programme, the thing with that chap whose skool mates have ended up dead for various reasons: one of them an "honour" killing by her father FFS, another killed in a gang war, and the third went to Somalia & got himself killed there. Bliar turns up to voice the wonders of his immigration policy.

X7 down to that SA1 for a leaving do, two of those involved didn't turn up, X8* back.

Might have been though I'd been drinking which is never a good idea for me in the afternoon. It got me back to Neath whatever it was and it definitely wasn't an X5. And I didn't wake up in the gutter in Wind Street so better++++.

Lots of those Red Dragon flags about again.

Tea: chilli con carne with different rice. Rather nicer than earlier in the week.

Entertainment: PM with much wailing & gnashing of teeth re the day's events. WTF?

The Tory Twat mouthing off as if nothing similar had ever happened in the bunga bunga party.

Freecell score in the evening ennui: 83%, running average: 84%.

[WTFH]

Morning all

TFIF, etc.
CBS, sunshine, but an autumnal chill in the air - it was 13C when we went out earlier.

No birthdays this weekend.