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The Canary Dave

Discussion in 'Watford' started by geitungur akureyrar, Feb 1, 2014.

  1. oldfrenchhorn

    oldfrenchhorn Well-Known Member
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    Morning all. Quite a change from the frost of yesterday to a wet and windy morning. The tiny lane that connects us to the next village is only the width of a single car, so if you do happen to meet something coming towards you it is a case of taking to the verges, making sure that you don't disappear into the ditch. Despite the fact that it is so narrow it is actually a departmental road rather than a commune one, so receives more attention. The signs have gone up to say it will be closed next week while it is resurfaced, although in places it will need rebuilding as the heavy tractors and trailers have depressed the surface into fairly deep hollows. Many of the routes to single farmhouses have never been surfaced, and the best that the habitants can hope for is a pile of stone to fill up their access tracks when large puddles appear. Looking at two hundred year old maps the network of green lanes still exist, and get churned up by people out for a ride on their quad bikes. As I have found out several times a satnav doesn't always know the difference between a road and a track across a field. Have a good day everyone. <ok>
     
    #21141
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  2. oldfrenchhorn

    oldfrenchhorn Well-Known Member
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    Morning all. Bright and sunny currently, but clouds are scudding across the sky very quickly, so that could change before long. The first Christmas card has arrived from England, so some people that I know will already be well into their preparations. The stores here have just started to put up their decorations, but no sign of jingle bells over the tannoy yet. A year ago there was no model village in the garden centre, but hopefully I will be able to watch the trains, ski lifts and ferris wheels all working again this year. Have a good day everyone. <ok>
     
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  3. oldfrenchhorn

    oldfrenchhorn Well-Known Member
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    Morning all. Sunshine and showers so far today and windy to go with it. The fastest growing rate of new infections in France of the corona virus is in the under 12 years old children who are not vaccinated. It has been suggested that around 360,000 of the 5 - 11 year old group who are vulnerable could receive a first dose this month, and the others starting in the new year. We await the next set of rulings on precautions for the whole population early next week. Have a good day everyone. <ok>
     
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  4. Bolton's Boots

    Bolton's Boots Well-Known Member

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    A mixed day for the BB household today. Our much-loved old Border Collie Tess was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday - and further tests were suggested by the vet to check for kidney damage. It fell to me to take her back to the vet this morning - and to make the decision to put her to sleep if need be. Fortunately, no sign of kidney damage so I didn't have to make that decision - she's currently still at the vet, on a drip to increase body fluid levels prior to starting insulin. But I suspect that she'll not last too long anyway - eyesight failing, arthritic hips and muscle wastage on her hind legs all point to quality of life deteriorating, and she'll be 13 in two weeks time, about the average life expectancy for her breed.

    It all brought back a memory from years ago - our first FA Cup final year to be precise. Over from Australia, I stayed with my parents for some of the time - and found their old dog suffering but mum and dad unwilling to have him put to sleep. I did persuade them in the end - and remember dad coming home with the body, crying. That was me today - even though Tess is still alive, so lord knows what I'll be like come the day.

    Not for nothing are dogs known as man's best friends
     
    #21144
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  5. colognehornet

    colognehornet Well-Known Member

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    I'm beginning to mistrust a lot of these figures Frenchie. According to the figures Germany has performed a total of 1,019,231 tests for every million citizens - so roughly 1,01 tests for every person. Austria has performed 12,328,971 for every million ie. 12.32 tests per head. So Austria is testing 12 times as often as Germany is - or rather Germany is testing too little. France is 2.48 tests per head, the UK is 5.35 tests per head and Denmark an astonishing 16.31 per head. So we can say that Denmark is probably finding all its infected people - along with Austria. For Germany we can only say that there must be one very large grey figure of cases which nobody knows about, which makes their overall figures unbelievable. In the vast majority of cases people will have had it, had no or few symptoms, passed it on to others without ever knowing they had it - this is the only certainty which you can deduce from Germany's low testing rate.
     
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  6. oldfrenchhorn

    oldfrenchhorn Well-Known Member
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    Interesting cologne. I did see some figures earlier about the UK rate of testing. I cannot remember them exactly now, but they looked at the number of people who tested at home, then fed the information into the app. Roughly a third always reported the result, another third, sometimes and the remainder, never. This suggests that recording tests, then comparing them with actual cases that require hospitalisation is far from an exact science. How do we know that comparing different countries with each other is valid if they use different means of collecting data?
     
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  7. oldfrenchhorn

    oldfrenchhorn Well-Known Member
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    Morning all. The sun is trying to break through after a damp start to the day. Yesterday went to do the weekly shop and was amazed to see an orderly queue outside the pharmacy. Queuing is not something that the French as a nation are that famous for, a scrum at Twickenham is more akin to their idea of what one looks like. They were all in line to receive a vaccination, and just around the corner another door was open and you could see they were carrying out PCR tests. 91% of all adults here have now received at least their first vaccination, and cutting back on places you can attend without a pass sanitaire seems to be getting through to some of the remaining 9%. Have a good day everyone. <ok>
     
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  8. yorkshirehornet

    yorkshirehornet Well-Known Member

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    Have a good one...a bit of shopping today for last xmas presents and then we can hunker down until the mass shopping frenzy is over........
    We are having a big family gathering on Xmas eve chez nous, in our new smaller home, and Christmas day we are spending just the two of us which we both will enjoy....a walk.. .some food and drink and a movie etc.....
     
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  9. oldfrenchhorn

    oldfrenchhorn Well-Known Member
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    Morning all. Bright and sunny, but a cold wind today. Very peaceful in the hamlet as everyone that is here is keeping warm indoors. Think I had better start writing a few Christmas cards as it takes more than a single session to write them all, especially making sure that I have the correct postcodes. It has now got to the situation where an international stamp costs more than a card. I probably should be sending them by e-mail, but we need to keep the posties around the world employed. Have a good day everyone. <ok>
     
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  10. yorkshirehornet

    yorkshirehornet Well-Known Member

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    Our Canada and Oz cards just cost us £2.55 each.... was a bit of a shock....................
     
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  11. Hornet-Fez

    Hornet-Fez Well-Known Member

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    MoonPig. How we do ours.
     
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  12. oldfrenchhorn

    oldfrenchhorn Well-Known Member
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    Morning all. Overcast now after a bright start to the day, with showers expected this afternoon. While we wait to see if new anti-virus measures are going to be put in place, there are reports that large amounts of snow have fallen in many of the higher regions of the country. It would appear that it is the wrong type of snow however as some of the ski stations have closed due to the fear of avalanches. Meanwhile a couple of thousand people took to the streets of Paris to make their feelings known about Eric Zemmour who says he will stand in the Presidential election next year. His racist views put him even further to the right of Le Pen. Have a good day one and all. <ok>
     
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  13. yorkshirehornet

    yorkshirehornet Well-Known Member

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    ah thank you.....
     
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  14. oldfrenchhorn

    oldfrenchhorn Well-Known Member
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    Morning all. Cold with overnight rain, although a hazy sun has just risen high enough to appear over the top of a barn up the lane. I am certainly glad that since I installed a new battery in Mme's car I don't have to go outside and jump start it for her. She has opted to go to a French lesson leaving me to write Christmas cards. The road to the next village is shut for road repairs, so she has to go the long way round. A diversion here can be quite a trek, one added 30 kms when we visited friends, and the signing can be dreadful. Once diverted off the Périphérique round Paris, lost sight of any signs, and finished up near the centre of the city. Right better get the list out and start writing. Have a good day everyone. <OK>
     
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  15. oldfrenchhorn

    oldfrenchhorn Well-Known Member
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    Morning all. Still cold, windy and more showers expected this afternoon. Mme has her first injection for her painful knee today, so will drive her to the hospital. At one point last week it looked likely she would have to cancel as the pharmacy had not received the box containing the three weeks of treatment. It is a slightly odd situation here where you are given a prescription to get your treatment from the chemist, then take it with you for it to be administered at the hospital. Just hope that it does work as the consultant believes it will make life less painful for the next ten years. Have a good day whatever you are up to. <ok>
     
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  16. yorkshirehornet

    yorkshirehornet Well-Known Member

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    Hope it works........
     
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  17. oldfrenchhorn

    oldfrenchhorn Well-Known Member
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    Morning all. A bright and sunny day with a heavy overnight frost. Thought it was going to be a cold one by the way the logs were burning. Although I installed a damper in the stack pipe it is still difficult to control the heat output. It is good to keep warm, but not sure about being over warm. Have a good day everyone. <ok>
     
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  18. oldfrenchhorn

    oldfrenchhorn Well-Known Member
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    Morning all. Overcast and a cold wind. Getting a bit fed up with it, but know that in a couple of weeks the days will start to lengthen again. Yesterday noticed that one of the bars has changed its name. It used to rejoice under the name of "Pourquoi pas" or "why not". That always seemed like a fitting name for a bar where you could sit outside in the sun, or go inside if the weather was cold to the smell of fresh coffee. The new name, that I have forgotten already, looked more like one for a car rental company or insurance broker. Shame to see that a bit of individual thought has been removed. Have a good day everyone. <ok>
     
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  19. yorkshirehornet

    yorkshirehornet Well-Known Member

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    Good day all.... chilly wind but sunny in Yorkshire...... weather cold and sunny too
     
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  20. oldfrenchhorn

    oldfrenchhorn Well-Known Member
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    Morning all. Dry, but broken cloud, so doesn't feel that warm. Daughter who lives just outside Aylesbury had a couple of parcels left on the neighbours doorstep despite her and her husband both being at home. The postman didn't bother to ring the bell, and the parcels were stolen. I don't know if this was her regular postie, but the one I have met several times always leaves parcels with a neighbour, and not on the doorstep. There have been bad reports about some of the delivery companies, but I haven't seen such comments about Royal Mail. Hope this is not a regular occurrence. Have a good day everyone. <ok>
     
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