What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?

[SB1500]

Went to 'Crom Castle' today near Enniskillen. We got a National Trust membership so working our way through it now as for a few months, we were wasting the year either trying to save money or in my case finish this programming course second year. Ended up being May before we were like uh-oh, 2025 is slipping away...

Beautiful place. Unbelievable heat and weather. Really nice drive down. Reminded me of 2016 heading down a few days when I was unemployed and got that job centre appointed accounting job for the summer... 50 miles down there where I'd never been was as terrifying as it was exciting and it was around the same time of year so I remember driving down, anxious as hell, in a crisp ironed shirt in the Panda with no A/C... dropping gears, stopping and having to re-build up speed at every twist and turn and climb of the mountain route... but gosh it doesn't feel half as much effort in the CT. Corners also more fun than they should be with 130hp (thanks Michelin man). Had a (presumably farmer) in a big modern Toyota pick up behind me for a while on the way back, very close to behind me but I was doing bang on 60 (GPS 60 as well), I could do 99% of the corners at 60 with no major risk, he couldn't seem to keep up then, must be a point of shame being left in the dust by a Hybrid with presumably some big V6 lol

However... the castle itself as well as quite a lot of places on the map are 'Private Residence' - National Trust keep very quiet about that. And secondly... forgot to eat enough - or even close to enough - so on the drive back felt very ropey... not so good. Heat probably doesn't help.

Still, great day. Lessons learnt. Many more places to get out of the membership... must admit it's very good value. Thought they had like 4 places in NI and charged a lot more. but many gems to explore and then after that, maybe justification to take the car to the mainland and visit a few...

Also, thought it was funny that when we did walk past the actual castle... whoever lives there drives a Yaris. There you go, the wisdom of more millionaires driving Toyota's appears to check out...

 

[StevenRB45]

The other option is whoever lives there is skint due to having a mahoosive castle to look after.

To be fair I used to laugh at a Bubble Micra I saw in Warkworth multiple times.

Nothing special about except the reg, which was 3 digits long so worth about 10x what the car was. Of course it's a known way of avoiding tax, in the estate the car is valued as the car not the reg number.

I absolutely rinse my NT membership..full price for today would have been over 50 quid...but does come in handy with kids to drag around as they have many parks.

 

[SB1500]

The other option is whoever lives there is skint due to having a mahoosive castle to look after.

To be fair I used to laugh at a Bubble Micra I saw in Warkworth multiple times.

Nothing special about except the reg, which was 3 digits long so worth about 10x what the car was. Of course it's a known way of avoiding tax, in the estate the car is valued as the car not the reg number.

I absolutely rinse my NT membership..full price for today would have been over 50 quid...but does come in handy with kids to drag around as they have many parks.

We couldn't work it out.. which is more likely...

Do National Trust pay them to use their family grounds / assets ... or do they pay National Trust to maintain it and monetise it for them... or do they just operate independently of one another with the castle owners / occupants of the private properties just owning those patches, and the NT owning the bits you pay to walk around...

I'm sure a quick Google would answer it in general but I've been trying to figure out Luhn's algorithm for validating credit card numbers for two hours..

 

[StevenRB45]

It's all about the check digit

 

[SB1500]

It's all about the check digit

Yes!!! hahaha the zero at the final figure from doing all the crap with every other number... Damn IBM... causing me headaches at work... causing me headaches at home trying to learn thing for the betterment of work... them and their impressive history of people who came up with things like that... ahah

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Had a lovely day yesterday. Just over a half hour drive south east of the city, to the large school campus on the outskirts of Dalkeith, near our younger boy's place of residence. Air con in the Scala working better than it ever did in the Ibiza with bigger and better vent directors etc. Lots of activities going on. Football teams very much in evidence but other stuff in the extensive buildings too - it's a very large campus. Large car park stuffed with cars, thought I wasn't going to find a space but there was one I found on the second drive around so yippee!

Why were we there? Youngest grand daughter was taking part in her dance class's yearly display. Several dance schools get together and put on a lovely show with participants ranging in age from some very cute wee ones right up to some quite mature and very competent teenagers, so there's something for everyone and lovely to see. We had to queue in a rather chaotic scrum outside the hall - which was a pity as we were there early in the hope of getting good seats. Then one of the organizers came out and formed us into a "proper" queue but, unfortunately, being old and not so quick on our feet, quite a number of younger parents were able to move more quickly and this caused us to be well down the lineout. Ah well, no sense in getting upset I told Mrs J - who, by now, was getting a bit flustered. We got into the theatre hall and, oh joy, the seating is quite steeply arranged, good, that should make for a good view of the proceedings. We were all filing towards the stairs when I noticed there was a second stairway on the other end of the seating. So I grabbed Mrs J's hand and made a beeline for them - others started following when they saw what we were up to but, by now, we were well ahead! this let us get into the seating from the other end and we got seats in the third row from the front - result!

The chap in front of me was a youngish fellow who was trying very hard to look like David Beckham, complete with "topknot" hair style. Unfortunately he was also quite tall, but I didn't realise how this was going to restrict my view. There was no-one in front of Mrs J so she was fine. Strangely, I thought, one seat to the right was a younger woman, who was obviously with the chap in front of me but on her mobile phone to the exclusion of every thing else.

The show got going and I had to lean to the right, almost into Mrs J's lap, to see round the chap in front, but it was Ok-ish This let me see that the chap in front was also on his mobile phone. During the first dance display these two started waving to someone over by the entrance door and when the curtain came down briefly this person came over and sat in the seat in front of Mrs J. Like the other two, she was quite a tall person so this blocked Mrs J's view - Mrs J is one of the smaller people of this world. It also reduced the options for me. We tried to live with this for the next section of the show but it was difficult and in the next short interval the person behind me tapped me on the shoulder, he had noticed the difficulty we'd been having and pointed out that there were two seats next to him we could sit in. So, when that dance was completed, we moved and the view was now unobstructed - Great!

So, now I've set the scene. A good attendance of parents, children and oldies like us, All there to enjoy and applaud the youngsters in their endeavours. So I was puzzled to observe that the two tall people we'd been behind were spending pretty much all their time on their mobile phones. Heads down, texting frantically, paying almost no notice to the display going on in front of them. The woman in particular almost never looked up. It made no difference to me what they did, apart from the light from the phones being a wee bit distracting when the stage lights were low, but I really wonder why they were bothering to attend the display at all? Needless to say our 11 year old granddaughter acquitted well of herself, giving the best performance we've seen yet over the years we've been watching these shows - she's on the verge of womanhood now and much more elegant in her movements.

The drive back into the city in the early evening was good too but not so much for a chap in the usual queue of traffic leading up to the Sir Harry Lauder road. This is a two lane dual carriageway with the left lane a left turn only. A large van came up quite slowly in the inside, left turn only, lane - we were all at a standstill in the right lane waiting for the lights ahead to change - and as the lights changed and we started to move, the van did a sharp right and just about wiped out the car two ahead of us as he barged his way into the right lane just as that car was starting to accelerate. Haven't seen anything so close in years. Thank goodness it wasn't me.

Then, when we got home, the alarm was sounding on the elderly chap's house over the road from us. He's not very well with degenerating mental capacity but still living on his own. Over the years we've lived here I've become friends with him and I've been keeping an eye on him and have access to his house. so I was going to get my key for his house when two people came out his front door - What's going on here? I went across and they're an emergency care provider who are attending because the alarm company have called them. Then the police turned up. Quite a "stushie". It was very obvious my friend was not there - he's often away with his ex wife at weekends - Took some time for one of the helpers to discover that something had fallen on top of his emergency button thingy (which he wears round his neck when he's at home) and set the alarm off. Eventually, some 30 minutes later, we'd got the alarm reset, tidied up and relocked the door and the emergency people and police were all gone, just leaving us residents in the street discussing what had happened - quite a social occasion really!

 

[The Panda Nut]

I'm definitively not a "gentleman" then - Mrs J is always on at me to close the lid when I've finished!

A few years back somone knocked something off a shelf over the wc. It of course cracked it. I insist on its being down at all times now. Also stops phones, fslse teeth and spectacles going for a dip

 

[The Panda Nut]

Yes!!! hahaha the zero at the final figure from doing all the crap with every other number... Damn IBM... causing me headaches at work... causing me headaches at home trying to learn thing for the betterment of work... them and their impressive history of people who came up with things like that... ahah

Young people love all this shite.

A little experience shows its not all good. I note the advert for the OAP electric scooter thing...... " with an app for your phone so you can adjust it"
WHAT MORON THOUGH OLDER PEOPLE WANT A PHONE, LETALONE AN APP. Surviving life is enough. I hope that firm goes bankrupt, that the banks move in and the perpetrator is made homeless.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Had a lovely day yesterday. Just over a half hour drive south east of the city, to the large school campus on the outskirts of Dalkeith, near our younger boy's place of residence. Air con in the Scala working better than it ever did in the Ibiza with bigger and better vent directors etc. Lots of activities going on. Football teams very much in evidence but other stuff in the extensive buildings too - it's a very large campus. Large car park stuffed with cars, thought I wasn't going to find a space but there was one I found on the second drive around so yippee!

Why were we there? Youngest grand daughter was taking part in her dance class's yearly display. Several dance schools get together and put on a lovely show with participants ranging in age from some very cute wee ones right up to some quite mature and very competent teenagers, so there's something for everyone and lovely to see. We had to queue in a rather chaotic scrum outside the hall - which was a pity as we were there early in the hope of getting good seats. Then one of the organizers came out and formed us into a "proper" queue but, unfortunately, being old and not so quick on our feet, quite a number of younger parents were able to move more quickly and this caused us to be well down the lineout. Ah well, no sense in getting upset I told Mrs J - who, by now, was getting a bit flustered. We got into the theatre hall and, oh joy, the seating is quite steeply arranged, good, that should make for a good view of the proceedings. We were all filing towards the stairs when I noticed there was a second stairway on the other end of the seating. So I grabbed Mrs J's hand and made a beeline for them - others started following when they saw what we were up to but, by now, we were well ahead! this let us get into the seating from the other end and we got seats in the third row from the front - result!

The chap in front of me was a youngish fellow who was trying very hard to look like David Beckham, complete with "topknot" hair style. Unfortunately he was also quite tall, but I didn't realise how this was going to restrict my view. There was no-one in front of Mrs J so she was fine. Strangely, I thought, one seat to the right was a younger woman, who was obviously with the chap in front of me but on her mobile phone to the exclusion of every thing else.

The show got going and I had to lean to the right, almost into Mrs J's lap, to see round the chap in front, but it was Ok-ish This let me see that the chap in front was also on his mobile phone. During the first dance display these two started waving to someone over by the entrance door and when the curtain came down briefly this person came over and sat in the seat in front of Mrs J. Like the other two, she was quite a tall person so this blocked Mrs J's view - Mrs J is one of the smaller people of this world. It also reduced the options for me. We tried to live with this for the next section of the show but it was difficult and in the next short interval the person behind me tapped me on the shoulder, he had noticed the difficulty we'd been having and pointed out that there were two seats next to him we could sit in. So, when that dance was completed, we moved and the view was now unobstructed - Great!

So, now I've set the scene. A good attendance of parents, children and oldies like us, All there to enjoy and applaud the youngsters in their endeavours. So I was puzzled to observe that the two tall people we'd been behind were spending pretty much all their time on their mobile phones. Heads down, texting frantically, paying almost no notice to the display going on in front of them. The woman in particular almost never looked up. It made no difference to me what they did, apart from the light from the phones being a wee bit distracting when the stage lights were low, but I really wonder why they were bothering to attend the display at all? Needless to say our 11 year old granddaughter acquitted well of herself, giving the best performance we've seen yet over the years we've been watching these shows - she's on the verge of womanhood now and much more elegant in her movements.

The drive back into the city in the early evening was good too but not so much for a chap in the usual queue of traffic leading up to the Sir Harry Lauder road. This is a two lane dual carriageway with the left lane a left turn only. A large van came up quite slowly in the inside, left turn only, lane - we were all at a standstill in the right lane waiting for the lights ahead to change - and as the lights changed and we started to move, the van did a sharp right and just about wiped out the car two ahead of us as he barged his way into the right lane just as that car was starting to accelerate. Haven't seen anything so close in years. Thank goodness it wasn't me.

Then, when we got home, the alarm was sounding on the elderly chap's house over the road from us. He's not very well with degenerating mental capacity but still living on his own. Over the years we've lived here I've become friends with him and I've been keeping an eye on him and have access to his house. so I was going to get my key for his house when two people came out his front door - What's going on here? I went across and they're an emergency care provider who are attending because the alarm company have called them. Then the police turned up. Quite a "stushie". It was very obvious my friend was not there - he's often away with his ex wife at weekends - Took some time for one of the helpers to discover that something had fallen on top of his emergency button thingy (which he wears round his neck when he's at home) and set the alarm off. Eventually, some 30 minutes later, we'd got the alarm reset, tidied up and relocked the door and the emergency people and police were all gone, just leaving us residents in the street discussing what had happened - quite a social occasion really!

bet the tall ones were texting each other!

 

[bugsymike]

bet the tall ones were texting each other!

Either that or pretending they were "working from home".

 

[SB1500]

Young people love all this shite.

A little experience shows its not all good. I note the advert for the OAP electric scooter thing...... " with an app for your phone so you can adjust it"
WHAT MORON THOUGH OLDER PEOPLE WANT A PHONE, LETALONE AN APP. Surviving life is enough. I hope that firm goes bankrupt, that the banks move in and the perpetrator is made homeless.

Yeah I myself as someone whose generally a big fan of these ‘apps’ and doing things by smartphone, have also sort of dully reflected on how limited I’d be if I decided to clean up my relationship with technology and go back to a basic phone… the number of things I’d be locked out of in everyday society would be appalling. Even as a technology fan… I don’t like that ‘lock in’.

Can’t even imagine how it feels for the older generation. The closing of banks and whatnot… and insurance offices. And the big one… supermarkets reducing the manned tills with one person who has to manage 8 self service tills. Nightmare

 

[bugsymike]

I am of an age that if you wanted to use the phone as a youngster, you took some coins to the red phone box down the road. Later I had a land line at home and a business one where I worked, with answer machine, that way you could separate work from home life.
I taught myself how to build and repair computers from the days of 286s onwards (remember them?) so not quite a technophobe, however I still do not own or want a mobile phone, it controls your life and tracks your every movement, I understand it is also possible for the audio and video to be remotely accessed even overriding any locks, few people can turn them off and if you check how many hours of the day they access them, then as an employer you could see how the whole Country's productivity has gone down. Businesses used to complain about fag breaks and tea breaks, but they have nothing on the hours staff look at their phones. All that is nothing compared with the harm for youngsters with the bullying and anxiety they cause.
Several years ago there was an uproar about civil liberties about Government wanting to introduce Identity cards, now the public are happily walking around with a device that checks their every movement, whilst monitoring what and where they spend their money, who their contact group is etc. At the same time letting companies direct them to spend their money in certain areas and selling their information on to other companies. The biggest laugh is the public pay for this privilege saying they welcome the "freedom" having a mobile phone gives them.
Forgetting that if it is lost or stolen then they cannot report it stolen unless they are near someone with another mobile phone, then realise also they cannot even pay or ring for a taxi home as some use their device to unlock their cars, and as they rely so much on that device they do not carry cash to give any alternative. Finally as use has gone up so much it has given the phone company the opportunity to get rid of all the red phone boxes to increase their profit margin, so you are then unable to use an old school method either, so much for progress!
I forgot also the price people pay for this wonderful gadget, many times what I have bought cars for in some cases.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

@SB1500 and @bugsymike. Wow, just look at me, using the @ thingy! Looks like I almost know what I'm doing on here!

Anyway, As I mentioned the other day, I finally bought my Pixel phone, Hurrah! had it a week now and it's still in it's box. There's so much to get my head round. I need to buy a sim card. Alright, decided no to buy the same brand as Mrs J so I think it's going to be a Labara? Then I need to do the PAC thing. I know I text PAC to my present provider - A challenge for me, I've only ever sent a couple of texts in my life and that was a few years ago - and they do something which lets me transfer my existing number from my "dumb" phone to my new phone. However I've no idea what this actually entails in practice. Then I've got to actually set up the new phone. I've looked at a couple of you tube videos on how to do this and it looks quite complicate. I wonder also about finger print recognition? - the new phone doesn't do face recognition I think? - my thumbs and fingers are often damaged by scarring, I've a scar right through the centre of my right thumb just now from where I ripped it in a nail when demolishing an old garden planter last week. This will change as it heals. I'd imagine the phone isn't going to get on too well with this? I'll probably have to rely on the number.

Yesterday I was doing a bit of gardening and Mrs J went to the shops. She handed me our landline handset as she left - we were expecting a family member to call sometime during the day - so I tried keeping the handset in my pocket. It's only slightly bigger than a typical mobile but I found it annoying and was constantly worrying about damaging it. Now I'm wondering what it's going to be like with this new phone in my pocket most of the time? My dumb phone lives in the kitchen and I only switch it on and put it in my pocket if I'm going out. I suppose I'll get used to it.

 

[bugsymike]

@SB1500 and @bugsymike. Wow, just look at me, using the @ thingy! Looks like I almost know what I'm doing on here!

Anyway, As I mentioned the other day, I finally bought my Pixel phone, Hurrah! had it a week now and it's still in it's box. There's so much to get my head round. I need to buy a sim card. Alright, decided no to buy the same brand as Mrs J so I think it's going to be a Labara? Then I need to do the PAC thing. I know I text PAC to my present provider - A challenge for me, I've only ever sent a couple of texts in my life and that was a few years ago - and they do something which lets me transfer my existing number from my "dumb" phone to my new phone. However I've no idea what this actually entails in practice. Then I've got to actually set up the new phone. I've looked at a couple of you tube videos on how to do this and it looks quite complicate. I wonder also about finger print recognition? - the new phone doesn't do face recognition I think? - my thumbs and fingers are often damaged by scarring, I've a scar right through the centre of my right thumb just now from where I ripped it in a nail when demolishing an old garden planter last week. This will change as it heals. I'd imagine the phone isn't going to get on too well with this? I'll probably have to rely on the number.

Yesterday I was doing a bit of gardening and Mrs J went to the shops. She handed me our landline handset as she left - we were expecting a family member to call sometime during the day - so I tried keeping the handset in my pocket. It's only slightly bigger than a typical mobile but I found it annoying and was constantly worrying about damaging it. Now I'm wondering what it's going to be like with this new phone in my pocket most of the time? My dumb phone lives in the kitchen and I only switch it on and put it in my pocket if I'm going out. I suppose I'll get used to it.

You lost me at Labara, never mind PAC.
As you say damaging/falling out of pocket etc. I am for ever crushing glasses case rolling around under cars etc. The thought of doing the same with several £100s of phone is not appealing either.
Losing phones must be easy also, whilst steam cleaning a recent van purchase I blew an fairly modern phone out from the top of the dashboard, not easy to contact previous owner and phone battery was flat, either that or it didn't like steam cleaning.

 

[StevenRB45]

@SB1500 and @bugsymike. Wow, just look at me, using the @ thingy! Looks like I almost know what I'm doing on here!

Anyway, As I mentioned the other day, I finally bought my Pixel phone, Hurrah! had it a week now and it's still in it's box. There's so much to get my head round. I need to buy a sim card. Alright, decided no to buy the same brand as Mrs J so I think it's going to be a Labara? Then I need to do the PAC thing. I know I text PAC to my present provider - A challenge for me, I've only ever sent a couple of texts in my life and that was a few years ago - and they do something which lets me transfer my existing number from my "dumb" phone to my new phone. However I've no idea what this actually entails in practice. Then I've got to actually set up the new phone. I've looked at a couple of you tube videos on how to do this and it looks quite complicate. I wonder also about finger print recognition? - the new phone doesn't do face recognition I think? - my thumbs and fingers are often damaged by scarring, I've a scar right through the centre of my right thumb just now from where I ripped it in a nail when demolishing an old garden planter last week. This will change as it heals. I'd imagine the phone isn't going to get on too well with this? I'll probably have to rely on the number.

Yesterday I was doing a bit of gardening and Mrs J went to the shops. She handed me our landline handset as she left - we were expecting a family member to call sometime during the day - so I tried keeping the handset in my pocket. It's only slightly bigger than a typical mobile but I found it annoying and was constantly worrying about damaging it. Now I'm wondering what it's going to be like with this new phone in my pocket most of the time? My dumb phone lives in the kitchen and I only switch it on and put it in my pocket if I'm going out. I suppose I'll get used to it.

Finger print wise...I've got 5 sets of finger prints saved on mine all done at different times..all of which are my thumbs. Multiple copies of the same thumb seems to give it a better success rate. Although of course there's actually nothing stopping you say teaching it your ring finger or something else as a fallback if you've got an injury on a thumb. Except perhaps ergonomics, oh and pixel 8 and after do do facial recognition only older ones didn't.

Otherwise the whole point of the over-kill military grade case is you can forget it is there, mines been regularly sat on, dropped onto concrete etc etc and survived without incident or repair. Only damage on the case is pocket wear on the edges.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Finger print wise...I've got 5 sets of finger prints saved on mine all done at different times..all of which are my thumbs. Multiple copies of the same thumb seems to give it a better success rate. Although of course there's actually nothing stopping you say teaching it your ring finger or something else as a fallback if you've got an injury on a thumb. Except perhaps ergonomics, oh and pixel 8 and after do do facial recognition only older ones didn't.

Otherwise the whole point of the over-kill military grade case is you can forget it is there, mines been regularly sat on, dropped onto concrete etc etc and survived without incident or repair. Only damage on the case is pocket wear on the edges.

Aye, I didn't mention the case because it's going to be the Spigen one you recommended.

I'm almost certainly overthinking this. Probably going to find it's easier than it seems?

 

[StevenRB45]

I'd say definitely...

Porting the number I've not done in sometime I seem to remember last time I set up a new contract with a new provider they asked for the PAC number at the point of set up.

The phone set up, largely the phone itself takes you through it. So as part of set up you'll be asked what security you are going to use, then it'll take you through set up for that sort of security. You can revisit at any point after to reset or change your preference in settings. I use a combo of fingerprint and PIN on mine so if needed my wife can use it without removing one of my thumbs and she has same on hers and we know eachothers pins.

Face unlock I'd be worried as my six year old would not be baffled by holding it up in front of my face if I was asleep to gain access/make purchases...however not everyone lives with a devious little so and so that gets up at 5am everyday.

 

[The Panda Nut]

@SB1500 and @bugsymike. Wow, just look at me, using the @ thingy! Looks like I almost know what I'm doing on here!

Anyway, As I mentioned the other day, I finally bought my Pixel phone, Hurrah! had it a week now and it's still in it's box. There's so much to get my head round. I need to buy a sim card. Alright, decided no to buy the same brand as Mrs J so I think it's going to be a Labara? Then I need to do the PAC thing. I know I text PAC to my present provider - A challenge for me, I've only ever sent a couple of texts in my life and that was a few years ago - and they do something which lets me transfer my existing number from my "dumb" phone to my new phone. However I've no idea what this actually entails in practice. Then I've got to actually set up the new phone. I've looked at a couple of you tube videos on how to do this and it looks quite complicate. I wonder also about finger print recognition? - the new phone doesn't do face recognition I think? - my thumbs and fingers are often damaged by scarring, I've a scar right through the centre of my right thumb just now from where I ripped it in a nail when demolishing an old garden planter last week. This will change as it heals. I'd imagine the phone isn't going to get on too well with this? I'll probably have to rely on the number.

Yesterday I was doing a bit of gardening and Mrs J went to the shops. She handed me our landline handset as she left - we were expecting a family member to call sometime during the day - so I tried keeping the handset in my pocket. It's only slightly bigger than a typical mobile but I found it annoying and was constantly worrying about damaging it. Now I'm wondering what it's going to be like with this new phone in my pocket most of the time? My dumb phone lives in the kitchen and I only switch it on and put it in my pocket if I'm going out. I suppose I'll get used to it.

Well folk, weve seen the last of Jock on here till the new year LOL

 

[The Panda Nut]

Im just backfrom my daughters place. wall boarding is 95%done it looks good.

 

[StevenRB45]

You have to wonder what they found on this...

Volvo C70 2.0d Sport Convertible 2dr Diesel Manual (161 G/Km, 134 BHP)

2008 Volvo C70 Sport, Manual, In Black. ** SPARES OR REPAIRS ONLY **.

www.newtonandlee.co.uk

All we can be sure of is the massive pile of suspension bits and the wheel bearing and what looks to be brake calipers they've ordered but not fitted won't fix it...