Good Morning Tuesday, 16th September 2025

General Chat Chat / Discussions
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A very good morning to one and all. Another fairly warm day in the high 20s, though it is overcast and a cold front is due to arrive this arvo.

Don’t have a lot planned for today though I did spend a bit of time this morning writing a batch file for my friend to transfer all his files from his old computer to his new laptop.

Anybody here use AliExpress? I have used it once before when I bought some strips of LEDs, When they arrived the were in a box with the wrong label so I complained and they send a new set telling me to throw the previous ones away. I thought that was pretty good service especially as it was a wrong label and the original LED strips were good.

Just ordered some cheap drone parts from them, in particular a spare set of joysticks. They are stored in the holder under the controller and every time I have removed them so far I have dropped one of them. Fortunately so far have managed to find it again but thought it wise to have a spare set.

Will probably get the mower out soon because the grass is definitely coming out of its dormant stage and the warmer weather and wet ground has made it go mad.

Have a fun Tuesday.

Take care…

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Good morning!
Dull, cool, windy and damp

I’m up early today
Almost out of milk; I have dried and UHT in stock, but I’ll get to Sainsbury, which opens at 07-00 for milk and a bit of other shopping, then come back home

Then I’ll go onto town, still early hopefully, to post a birthday card to my son and calendars to USA & Canada.

EDIT, and time for a bit of a grump

I’ve done my shopping at Sainsbury, but I’m going off them. There’s nothing wrong with the products themselves but -

I got to the store at 07-10 and like most supermarkets now they had hardly any staff, and those they did have were busy stocking shelves and generally getting ready for the day ahead
This meant I had to use the self checkout, which I hate. Yes I could have asked for a proper till but I only had 5 items and thought it would be easy
Huh! I still had to ask for a member of staff to help me with paying

Speaking of paying, that’s getting more & more complicated -

The two tier pricing, with a Nectar card, which is Sainsbury’s own loyalty card
Do they really expect you to believe that the lower price with a card is a genuine reduction? — don’t insult my intelligence!
All that happens is that the higher price without a card forces you to use a loyalty card
Simple enough you might say, but you still have to do mental arithmetic and plan

When you pay, besides a receipt you also get coupons & offers for extra Nectar points
Also I get similar coupons through the post every few weeks
If I want to use them I have to grub about on the shelves to make sure I’m buying this kind of ham or those kind of biscuits; and check that the coupons are still valid

All these coupons must cost money, for the administration, the machinery and the associated computers
I would much rather have a single, simple, no nonsense lower price

Because of the layout of the roads and one way system where I live Sainsbury is my most convenient supermarket, but a couple of weeks ago a new LIDL opened.
I’ve been there once; it’s quite big, well laid out, and quite easy to drive to
They don’t have coupons but they do have some kind of loyalty scheme, although that is via a smartphone, which I don’t have. However I hear there is a way round that, which I have yet to look into

Fortunately I’m not desperate for every last penny, though I’ll think about it.

So, I might change my shopping from Sainsbury to LIDL
Yes, I know there are pros & cons with all supermarkets, it’s just a case of getting used to them.

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Bright sunny day today so time for a coffee. My back is still painfull so had a hot bath to see if it eased the pain a bit. Kinda worked somewhat, but still painful when turning to one side or the other.

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Hi

Good Morning All.

Yesterday was evil, gales, branches down and so much rain upstream that we are forecast road and car parks being flooded later.

Carer was late, 7 year old daughters white rabbit had died and the littlie was very upset.

The good news is the coral delivery is here which will give me something to do when I am avoided the Trump Visit on the news.

Have a great day all and keep safe.

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Good morning all…

Bright yet cloudy here in this part of the world, possibly rain later.

My Father in Law is still in hospital with his water retention problem and looks like he will be in there for a couple more days, although this may change at any minute. Me and the wife have been running around relentlessly trying to sort out all his stuff, deal with his laundry, look after his house and deal with his carers and local nurses who would visit him at home, as well as piles of paperwork to go through.

Today is a bit of a respite day, as all his other family is visiting him today and he can only have two at a time visiting, although Mrs G is on the phone to the hospital to see how he’s progressing, but is a nightmare to get to speak to someone.

Meanwhile, my package I ordered from Amazon last week has miraculously gone from “In Transit” to “Lost”, which means I’m on the phone having a bit of a rant as I’ve not had my coffee yet and feeling really miffed about them losing my stuff. :angry:

Anyways, hope everyone has a great day…

:slightly_smiling_face:

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Good Morning/Afternoon, Foxy bringing up the rear again… :icon_rolleyes:
It’s still too windy to get the bike out so it was a swift 3.5 miler. I decided to make it a training day, and although I can’t keep jogging for long periods (more than 2 minutes) like I used to, I have figured a way to exercise the leg muscles without putting too much strain on the heart.
I run at 80% for a count of fifty…Out of breath and rubber legs for five minutes, and then I’m off again. I managed to get 8 done by the time I got home…
No big ships this morning, but that was very interesting what Surfermom posted yesterday so thanks Surfer… :+1:
I find the internet fascinating when a young lady from Florida can access information about my local area. It never crossed my mind to look for information about ‘Off Roader’ on the net, especially when I’ve got ‘Marine Tracker’ among my collection of favourites… :009:
Although being a hands on engineering type, I’ve always been interested in what makes it work rather than why it works…
Concerning the cycling. Running has always been my first discipline, but it seems more suited to my condition, and I can go further and faster than jogging or walking, and it’s a good workout for the legs. I still love feeling the burn, but fighting against strong headwinds would be too much and see me in an early grave…

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Good morning, actually late afternoon, from the long shadows of Florida. I was about to check in on this thread when I was suddenly in need of driving my daughter to her university, almost 2 hours away. It seems her practica have started early, which means I’ll be making the drive two days per week until she has the experience to make the mostly congested and urban drive herself.

@Bruce, as your mowing winds up, mine is winding down. Although the crepe myrtle is still cascading leaves and blossoms, the grass is mercifully slowing its growth cycle. I think it has more to do with the dry 90 degree heat than the alleged season change that is just around the corner.

@zuludog, the situation is no different here. I ran into a situation the other day in which there were no employee-operated checkout lanes, forcing me into self-checkout. (That’s not altogether unfamiliar; the military commissaries forced us into self-checkout back in the 1990s.) What was interesting about this situation was that my cart was sky-high with produce, and with every scan, half the barcodes didn’t work - and I had to also use the keypad to indicate the kind of container the produce was in (no bag, plastic bag, cardboard carton, etc.) That mean every item averaged three steps and every other scan required the checkout manager to come over to approve or delete something or the other. Soon, he was over my shoulder, trying to outright teach me, which soon got me tickled enough that I turned and said, “Did I get the job?” He started chuckling and said, "We don’t hire humans anymore. Grief!

@realspeed, sorry to hear about the back but glad you found a little relief. Can you do any stretching?

@swimfeeders, are you buying polyps or colonies? Any particular type? I was in the Caymans recently where a scientist from The Central Caribbean Marine Institute took a few of us out on a dive to see some of the coral nursery work they are doing. Really fascinating and important after a brutal year of bleaching last year.

@Graham, I am glad to hear your FIL has stabilized and that they are keeping him in a few days. Mayo Clinic in Minnesota developed a program in which volunteers mow, collect mail, and do other odd jobs for patients in their families. It is a brilliant program that would help family members, who can become quickly overwhelmed. I have a lot of respect for you and your wife for managing all these things.

@OGF, every day outdoors is a good day, so whether it is a walk, cycle, or easy jog, it is a grand success. Although jogging the beach is pretty and the most rigorous, I think my favorite outings start with a trail/road jog and end with a cool down on the bike. My bike is a cruising one, not necessarily made for speed, but I am not aiming for the Olympics these days.

I love Marine Tracker and also Cruise Time Tracker. I am ever sailing and cruising vicariously!

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I use that Marine traffic radar web site too, often it is the only way to get some idea of where my middle son is. At the moment I discover he is in PNG (Port Moresby). Being a military vessel the tracker is only turned on when they are in port or arriving and leaving. The last message I had from him said that they were not allowed t use PNG phone towers, god knows why.

I presume he is in PNG for the PMs visit to sign a treaty with them though, of late, these treaties keep being postponed (a la Vanuatu)

Oh, PNG = Papua New Guinea

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Wow, Bruce. I didn’t realize your son was still at sea. Very cool that you can track him.

That’s a historic alliance and a very sound idea and I would think there would be a lot of eagerness all around the Coral Sea to join.

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Oh dear!

Poor old Albo, things are not going well for him,especially now that one of our journos has made Trump cross.

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Well, that’s awkward.

" PNG’s cabinet couldn’t reach quorum to sign off on the deal on Monday evening because some Ministers were absent due to 50th anniversary commemorations."

This is either a stalling tactic, or very typical of politicians to be off on a junket :woman_facepalming:.

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