Ghost at the door, by Hugo First.

Not much to add to this other than the fact I remember clearly that night.
I had been looking after my horse at a nearby farm and it was a foul night with strong winds and heavy rain.
I ran to the car to avoid being soaked, switched on the 9pm.news and heard the report of a large passenger aircraft having crashed in SW Scotland.
Seems like yesterday.

 

monster wrote:

Carruthers wrote:

I had the Covid booster (Pfizer) twelve days ago and the doctor who gave me the jab impressed upon me the need to have a flu shot as well.
She said it was a particularly unpleasant variant that had done its worst in the southern hemisphere and was on its way north.
A few days later, the nurse from the local health centre came out to do Dad's flu vaccination and she gave me mine as well.
So, there I am, replete with all the defences to fend off Covid and Flu (strains, various) and I get a bloody cold!
I thought at first that it might be a reaction to the flu shot but I'm pretty sure that it's a stand alone cold.
There is all manner of preventative medicine to repel plague, pestilence and pox but still nothing that works against the common cold.

I am not amused!


 

This Dr prescribes booze and early bed.

Not something I would normally admit to in polite company, but I'm teetotal.
 

I remember seeing a news video, may have been on TV or in an online newspaper article, where a police person or similar was bringing order to chaos at a collision site somewhere in the Lower 48.
Having checked that no one was injured he told all the drivers to deal with insurance matters as per my opening post.
On reflection it was quite a while back, and memory does play tricks, but I thought that it might be worth asking.

My only entanglement with US insurance has been at the the Alamo/Hertz/Enterprise desks at Denver Intl Airport.
Paid through the nose for insuring me, the car and the rental company against every imaginable peril.
I have a vague recollection that the insurance and all manner of other 'extras' came to more than the cost of renting the car itself.

 

TheNeverWas wrote:

Perhaps it's a twoba?

Nah. It’s a twophonium.
 

fargon wrote:

Today I farted in the Library, the Book Store, and the book section of Goodwill. I don't know why it is that every time I get close to books I Fart.

A sin of emission.
 

fargon wrote:

I have never used it.

 
Nor have I but, like the emergency bar of chocolate in the fridge, it's nice to know it is there should the need arise.

monster wrote:

hey Brits ...question... I wanna say no-one uses Chuck as an abbreviation for Charles over there, but I've been gone a long time.  Still true or no?

No, never heard it used as an abbreviation for Charles over here.

It's sometimes used as a friendly greeting, usually in northern England, eg 'how ya doin' chuck'.

However, nothing is set in stone so who knows what might happen.

 

monster wrote:

This is a plague to put covid to shame....however I did post this one on Fuckbase/whatever that thing is called (In a slightly more PC form)............

... I started watching this as a pre-bed fairly mindless chill thing after a loooooong and a bit stressy work day, and the first episode is called "Batter On".

PTSfuckingD flashbacks or something from my student years working in chippies nights and weekends.... and we didn't even use that phrase!  Must've been more traumatic than I thought...Ok so I have bollock-all knowledge of baseball, so my previous experience of the word "batter" is different from most in my adopted country ...especially when you insist on using it for any sloppy pre-oven baking mixture..... and most likely for most in the UK too. but still..... 

Oh brain, I love ya, but cut me a little slack sometimes?

 

I'm afraid that 'batter' has now invaded these shores.
The England & Wales Cricket Board has decreed from on high that henceforth batsmen, and indeed batswomen, shall be known as batters.
That said, I watched highlights from the England v South Africa test match this evening and Jonathan Agnew (commentator) twice used the forbidden term 'batsman'.
That'll be him hauled off to the gulag in the dark watches of the night for 'rehabilitation'.

That reminds me of one of Brian Johnston's deliberate howlers from years ago.
It was during a match between the West Indies and England when Michael Holding (Windies) was batting and Peter Willey was bowling for England.
Johnston couldn't resist delivering the line:

The batsman's Holding, the bowler's Willey.
 

DanaC wrote:

I don't know you guys are coping down south - it's been pretty intolerable up here in Yorkshire, but I think you guys have a few degrees on us. 

The nights are the worst - its too hot to sleep and an open window is pointless if there's no air movement

We're right in the middle of the Amber warning of extreme heat unfortunately and the temperature is nudging 90F/32C at the minute.

If there is a slight breeze at night it just stirs the 'atmospheric soup' and brings no benefit.



I was talking to a farming mate over on the east coast near Bridlington yesterday evening and he said that it had been 25 or 26C which he found acceptable.
The sea fret which frequently forms takes a couple of hours to burn off and ensures a pleasant start to the day so they can get at least some of their work done in reasonable comfort.

Anyway, the rain dance didn't work so I am now resorting to prayer.

Wish me luck.






 

I recognised Julie Andrews as the singer but wasn't aware that the song is from Disney's 'Cinderella'.

An innocent enough tune but it keeps going around and around and around and...

 

1. Would you rather work at McDonald’s or a call center for a utility provider?
McDonald's. No one in a call centre ever received a tip.

2. Do you prefer to swim/play in the ocean or a pool?
N/A. Can't swim.

3. Does the word “cromulent’ bug you?
Not in the slightest. It has the sound of a word that you might find in an academic text book.
On first hearing I thought that it might be something to do with the English Civil War but then remembered we've got 'Cromwellian' to cover that.

4. What’s your go-to cure when you have hiccups?
Time.

5. Camel or Whale?
Whale. No one ever claimed to have had a camel of a time.

6. When was the last time you rode a bike?
1895

7. Left or Right?
More than likely.

8. How much do you like the first name that’s on your birth certificate (1=hate, 10=love...  etc.)
5.

9. Circle or hexagon?
Circle. No one ever invented the hexagonal drill.

X. What is the first name of the most incompetent person in your life right now?
I'll get back to you.