Rant of the Day v2.

[Pontius Navigator]

Woody, Mrs PN the same occupational hazard.

Friend, frequent traveller to US, presented with a plaster on his finger. "Why you got a plaster?" 'Cut my finger perhaps'

Total sense of humour failure. They obviously have absolutely no discretion.

[Wodrick]

Ibbie and Wodrick, any volcanic gas come your way? It's been detected in Barcelona but in minute amounts. Rain coupled with wind from the South might be acidic.

The newspapers say there is some but that it very high altitude and the same minute amounts. We have no rain guessed for the next week.

I feel for those poor people that have lost everything. It's possibly the worst natural disaster, floods, wind, earthquakes you can recover and rebuild with this eruption it's just gone.

[Boac]

What is next? Teide?

[OFSO]

The Cat3 reporter just now was wearing protective gear. Very acidic fallout.

[PHXPhlyer]

Samsung Galaxy 9+ phone charger port won't accept charge. Phone repair shop wants $60.00 to fix.
Fortunately, the phone has Q charging capability.
Unfortunately, one of my Q chargers no longer works.
Anyone familiar with these chargers and how to test them?

PP

[emjay]

My visa renewal is marked as "VISA VALID UNTIL: 09-0CT-2021" - a valid visa is needed at the airport to exit the country else prepare for significant hassle and payment.

So do you read this as the visa is valid until and including the ninth or the visa is only valid up to the ninth i.e. visa has expired by the ninth?

After fighting a brain dead auto-answer "Help" line, completely convinced that my call was important to them, I finally was able to pose the question to a sentient being:

"Well sir, that phrase is subject to the interpretation of the Immigration Officer....."

This is code for white face = $ sign - you will temporarily receive the least advantageous interpretation, but for a nominal consideration...

I pray you, remember the porter.

[4mastacker]

Once again, United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust is aiming to permanently close the A&E department at our local hospital just months after re-opening it following a "temporary" closure which a court ruled as unlawful. They're alluding to the usual excuse of not enough money to run the place, and yet the NHS has sufficient money for a mental nurse drive round in a hired Mercedes car - why couldn't they have hired a Vauxhall Corsa instead.

[PHXPhlyer]

My state has legalized online sports betting. It is available through websites and apps supported by professional sports teams and tribal casinos.
The immediate effect is over the top ads on TV and radio.
Longer term will be the rise in the number of gambling addicts spiraling out of control.

PP

[G-CPTN]

Longer term will be the rise in the number of gambling addicts spiraling out of control.

Meanwhile the promoters will become rich.

[PHXPhlyer]

Yup.
They will be the only ones.

PP

[Hydromet]

My state has legalized online sports betting. It is available through websites and apps supported by professional sports teams and tribal casinos.
The immediate effect is over the top ads on TV and radio.
Longer term will be the rise in the number of gambling addicts spiraling out of control.

PP

Exactly what has happened dununder. Every sporting event is plastered with ads for gambling apps, and inane advertisements fill our screens.
One of the worst things is the availability of not only win-loss betting, but all sorts of other weird combinations - will a player hit a six in the next over, will player X score in the next ten minutes, who will be the first player to fart, etc, etc, all vulnerable to fixing.

[PHXPhlyer]

I believe that just about anything is bettable.
They are also enticing future gambling addicts with offers such as "Make a $1 bet and receive $150 in "FREE" play.
There are two factions...The Las Vegas casinos which partner with local Tribal casinos and the apps such as Fan Duel and Draft Kings.

PP

[Pontius Navigator]

Once again, United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust is aiming to permanently close the A&E department at our local hospital just months after re-opening it following a "temporary" closure which a court ruled as unlawful. They're alluding to the usual excuse of not enough money to run the place, and yet the NHS has sufficient money for a mental nurse drive round in a hired Mercedes car - why couldn't they have hired a Vauxhall Corsa instead.

Fingers crossed, I can categorically state that the CEO of ULHT stated yesterday that Grantham Hospital will not close and that the Urgent Treatment Centre will continue as 24/7.
Lincoln County will be the centre of excellence for heart and stroke treatment. Grantham the CoE for orthopaedic.
He hopes to get £560m grant on top of his £650m budget for improvements.
Grantham fails on 52% of the Government basic criteria standards. This contrasts with 92% at Lincoln and 80% at Boston. These are the 3 sites owned by ULHT.
His local hospital is Grantham. He now drives a PHEV and asked where the charging points were, Lincoln County infrastructure cannot support the additional load, Grantham can.
He acknowledged that the old buildings fronting the road are a problem and their internal condition is worse. Regretfully, any money needed to demolish or restore the buildings would come from the health care treatments.

There is a public consultation just opened and closes on 23 Dec.

[4mastacker]

Thanks for that PN. I was doing canal stuff yesterday so missed that.

Re the old buildings facing the main road, I think ULHT took their lead from Dr Beeching and applied the principle of "managed decline" although in ULHT's case it would be "mis-managed decline".

Those buildings were still in use when we moved here and it was acknowledged then that they needed some maintenance work but there was always no money to pay for it. Eventually the degradation got to the point where they became unsafe/unusable, were vacated and were left to decay to become the current eyesore.

[1DC]

4ma.. My godson's wife is a physio for Nottinghamshire NHS and drives around in a BMW.When I commented on the generosity of the NHS she told me they pay mileage she buys the car. Doesn't matter what the car is the mileage doesn't change.

[Pontius Navigator]

4ma, he came to lunch

I see you are going to have to be careful doing canal cleaning. Wear the wrong colour jacket and you could be mistaken for an offender.

[Pontius Navigator]

4ma, I should have made it clear but he is not the previous acting CEO but a new CEO appointed just before Covid.

[OFSO]

What a load of old rubbish the media promotes. On and on about tax cheats, yet every article is careful to state, in the small print, that no law has been broken in evading stamp duty by buying a company fully or partly which owns the property you are acquiring.

[4mastacker]

...I see you are going to have to be careful doing canal cleaning. Wear the wrong colour jacket and you could be mistaken for an offender.

When we were rebuilding Locks 14 and 15, one of our number - a Cockney Sparrow (let's call him Martin) with a wicked sense of humour - had his own bespoke hi-vis. He had it made up with the caption on the back " Community Payback - HMP Woolsthorpe".

Come a Press Day when all the invisible hangers-on came out of the woodwork to get their mugshots on the telly, the project manager - a really delightful lady from the Canal & River Trust - got herself ready fo her interview to camera and realised she wasn't wearing the obligatory hi-vis, so she borrowed Martin's. The cameraman was "prompted" to get some rear view shots.

[Pontius Navigator]

That demands the utmost discretion lest it gets out.

Please publish here, I am sure no one would spill the beans.