Yogi, I think the Virgin speed problem was nationwide judging by the postings made on the Virgin support forum. I've just had another look and found this post from Virgin.

 

Hi All,

 We have had an issue with routing on our network which will be affecting a large amount of customers this morning who route through a specific core router. Work has been carried out by our network team and it has know been resolved This fault had a reference of F001815129. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. If an issue continues for your self, please create a thread and we shall diagnose your specific fault further in that thread.

Thanks El, I'll pass that on to Mr Yogi.

I think he was feeling excluded this morning, when he couldn't get on the internet.

When I find an author I like, I tend to get a bit addicted.

It's so good to be able to pick up a book and know you won't be disappointed.

 

I've started Milly Johnson's The Pudding Club, and I'm saving my Christmas themed books for the middle of December.

And so rare too Yogi, I cannot think of another author who's work is guaranteed to always hit the spot.  Debbie Macomber who wrote Call Me Mrs Miracle can be good, can be dire, similar with John Grisham and David Baldacci and almost anyone else I can think of, but with Maeve she always delivers.

 

I've still to read The Pudding Club (can't think of the one by her I have read but am pretty sure its not that one) I like to know there's always something on my shelves which is good.  And I never ever read a new Maeve Binchy until there's another new one of hers to replace it, I'm weird aren't I?

I think Maeve is definitely going onto my favourite authors list.

No, that doesn't sound weird to me.

 

The first Milly Johnson I read was A Summer Fling, was that the one you read?

Yogi we could dress Keira up and pretend she's a wee one, I don't think Santa would mind I think waiting on a book until a new one is out is acceptable, I would do that I hope my Christmas book arrives soon, I've gone off my wilbur smith for now so a festive read would be ideal right now. El I love the name Lois, apart from Lois Lane, the only other famous one I know is Lois Griffin, she's the mother in family guy. Probably not your sort of show, but she is a strong, entertaining character.

Summer, I'm not sure Keira would be keen on dressing up. She isn't even keen on putting on her lovely new coat to keep her warm.

That's the one

 

I know two Lois's both very elderly so perhaps there was a fashion for the name back then and maybe it will come back into fashion now?

Darn, right plan b.. Kidnap stream, she'll let me dress her up, but she's not trained for anything so we'll have to disguise her leash as a scarf or something

You've given this a lot of thought. Good plan.

 

Squiggle I think you're right. Quite a few names, which were previously considered old-fashioned, have become popular again.

I need to do some ironing, back later.

Good luck yogi

This afternoon has been quiet at work, quite the contrast to y'day! The weather is terrible though, very very windy and now rain showers too. I can't wait to go home

At lunchtime I saw on Ceefax a fairly local news story about an election which is rather unusual.

 

This from the BBC:

Elections are taking place later as part of a tradition that dates from Norman times.

Verderers have been protecting the trees and wildlife in the Forest of Dean for more than 800 years.

The election, which has two candidates, has been called following the death of 87-year-old verderer Melville Watts last August.

The poll for the new verderer is to take place at Gloucester Cathedral on Tuesday.

There have been four verderers in the forest since the early 13th Century.

The role is for life and elections for replacements are only held when a verderer dies.

Election candidates are Rob Guest, who recently retired as a Forestry Commission deputy surveyor, and historian Ian Standing, secretary of the Hands off our Forest campaign group and former curator of the Dean Heritage Museum.

"Hands off our Forest" (Hoof) campaigned against the government's plans to sell state-owned woodland in England, which were abandoned in February.

'Superb job'

Senior verderer Bob Jenkins said: "We work extremely closely with the Forestry Commission because they've done a superb job over the years.

"We don't really play a very active part in seeing what happens to each tree but if there's an issue which some members of the public may bring to our attention, then of course it's our duty to bring it to the attention of the Forestry Commission."

Mr Guest said he attended all the verderers' quarterly court sittings for 12 years and organised parts of the agendas.

"I feel I've got a very good insight into the way the court works, what its remit is, how it functions and how it interacts with people in the Dean," he said.

Mr Standing said people might see his candidacy as politically-motivated due to his involvement with Hands off our Forest (Hoof), but "it would be wrong".

He said: "The Hoof campaign was about keeping the government's hands off the forest. I'm here as an independent.

"There is no politics in verderers, party, local or anything else. The point of the verderers is to care for the forest in an overseeing way."

 

Why the election is taking place in the catherdral and who is entitled to vote are questions which I don't know the answer. But this is the sort of story which makes me think of some of the strange stories in Midsomer Murders, but I hope no-one gets murdered in this election.

There's been less rain than I was expecting, but this afternoon, there have been some really black clouds. I hope the rain stays off you for when you want to go home - brollies would not be much use.

I've now found out that the people who can vote for verderers are any freeholder in the county of Gloucestershire.

That means I could have voted this afternoon

Ian Standing was the candidate who won with a colossal 182 votes compared to Rob Guest who got 130.

 

You will be glad to learn that no-one was done away with during the election. We wouldn't want our verderers to be murderers

The last verderer was 87. They don't go in for early retirement, do they?

 

It does all sound a bit Midsomer Murderish, glad there were no fatalities.

EL I reckon there's a book there, I can see the cover  The Murders of the Verderers  a tale of intrigue and sudden death in the quiet countryside of Gloucestershire.

Hi all x

That sounds like a best seller squiggle  
Got the wee one off at last, she has been a bit of a madam today and no nursery tomorrow because of the strike  
Happy birthday to your brother Yogi, its my nephews today too ! 

Hi Skylark, we do share a lot of family birthdates - your birthday is the same as my late nana's and your daughter and my middle son share a birthday, too. Happy birthday to your nephew.

Oh spooky, i think we were married at around about the same time too 
Thanks, he is out bowling with his mates, 17 today 

Very spooky.

I'm sure he'll have a great time bowling.

Its been a fairly long day, think I'll head off and read, back to the dentist again tomorrow his wonderful method of fixing my tooth with the pins hasn't worked and now I have a huge pin sticking up (part of the filling fell out) and it hurts my tongue.  Wonder what he'll do now

 

Night night everyone, sleep well, Yogi I hope you sleep better tonight .

Oh dear, hope the dental visit goes well squiggle x
Goodnight and sleep well  

Aww Squiggle, I hope the dentist can do something with your tooth.

I think I will sleep better tonight, as I'm feeling tired already.

Goodnight, sweet dreams.

Will say goodnight, going to watch the jungle on repeat 
Sleep well tonight Yogi x
Goodnight everyone else  

Got my son to pick up from the station, then heading off to bed.

Goodnight Skylark, enjoy the Jungle.

For Summer, Ros and Velvet.

night yogi skylark squiggle EL summer velvet

*night owls* Collects and *leaves a breakfast platter of pancakes, waffles, muffins & Danish pastries* I went swimming after work, had trouble parking so got in a little later than planned, I did use the sauna & steam though, it was lovely Then mr summer text to ask if I was going to the shop after.. I ended up doing a load of grocery shopping with wet hair, and not getting my tea til 11pm! I'm more annoyed with myself for doing it, I should have said no we'll go together tomorrow, but I knew he needed some stuff in for his lunch box tomorrow. It was really nice to shop without it being crowded though, and I picked up a few stocking fillers for me summer.. I also discovered some extremely tasty pitta breads; they're by the food doctor, and are multi seed and cereal pitta bread. I lightly toasted one and had it with low fat houmous, it was delicious! Off to bed now, sweet dreams everyone and good luck to squiggle for the dentist tomorrow

good morning Cloudy here so far, I'm laying in today and then I have to get up and clean the house because my mum is arriving on Saturday evening I think I'd be wise to leave the kitchen & living room until Friday night, but the rest will certainly keep me busy. There's nothing like a visitor staying to make you spring clean is there lol I hope everyone slept well, and is feeling good this morning

Good morning everyone. There's a lot of localised flooding up in Scotland but thankfully it isn't raining atm.

You are right Summer, there is nothing like visitors for ensuring the house gets a spring clean - even in the middle of winter. My mum only lives 10 miles away and I see her quite often, but when she calls to say she's coming over, I go on a quick cleaning spree.

Harvey is coming to visit today, although I'm not sure if it is for daycare or a sleepover. Either way, Keira will be happy.

Squiggle, good luck at the dentist, hope he is able to save the tooth.

 

Edit: I nearly missed the breakfast goodies! Thank you Summer, the pancakes and Danish pastries are calling to me.

Good morning everyone

 

Thanks for brekkie, Summer - more yummy goodness . I've put a little Youtube clip which goes with your picture of that Moses bridge. By a strange coincidence I saw The Ten Commandments (the Charlton Heston one) a couple of days ago. Hope all goes well with the house cleaning ready for mum's inspection.

 

Squiggle, I'm sorry to hear about your tooth and I hope all goes well at your dentist

Morning 
Brighter here this morning and its stopped raining 
No nursery today because of the strike
I love what you say regarding Harveys visit, Yogi, daycare or a sleepover. I can just see him with his overnight bag with jimjams 
Going out for a walk with the wee one and dog. 
Have a nice day x
Hope you get your tooth fixed squiggle  

Good morning everyone, its a lovely bright morning.  Have to smile picturing Harvey contemplating his overnight bag, snuggly rug TICK, chewy bone TICK, teddy to snuggle up to TICK

 

Thanks for the brekkie Summer, delicious.

 

Happy St Andrews Day to those North of the border

 

 

                                   

 

 

                                                         

I've just seen this on my local newspaper website:

 

PEDESTRIANS narrowly escaped with their lives when a digger fell from a transporter truck and crashed onto a town centre pavement.

The transporter was trying to pass under the bridge in the lower High Street when the digger it was carrying knocked into the bridge and fell, narrowly missing passers-by.

Bob Yiend, from nearby music shop Aroundabout Sound, said it was a miracle no one was killed.

He said: "I didn't see it, but I heard it and saw the aftermath. It was basically an earth mover on the back of a truck, and it was too high for the bridge. The earth mover hit the bridge and then fell sideways onto the pavement. There were quite a few people about, so it's very fortunate that no one was under it at the time, because their chances of survival would have been nil."

He said high vehicles often found themselves stuck at the bridge, with drivers either taking a chance and striking it, or turning it around.

He said: "There is a sign on the bridge, but it's common for people to either hit the bridge, or you get large trucks having to do three-point-turns."

A Gloucestershire Highways spokesman said signs were located in Poole Way, Tewkesbury Road and just before the bridge, which informed drivers.

Cheltenham Borough Councillor for the area John Rawson (Lib Dem, St Peters) said: "I think it's a fairly rare occurrence from what I've seen and heard, but if there is a significant risk of it happening, clearly we need to look at it and see what we can do to warn drivers or look at other means of reducing the risk.

"This was quite clearly a vehicle which was too high. I would think it would have occurred to the driver that it might have been a problem.

"We should look at whether or not there's a record of the number of incidents like this and whether we should be doing more to prevent them."

After the incident, at around 4pm on Monday, police were called to manage traffic. An engineer assessed the bridge and found it structurally sound. Passers-by said there was a dent in where the digger fell.

Mr Yiend added: "There's quite a large crater in the pavement which has become quite a trip hazard. It was a nasty accident, and it's very fortunate that no one was hurt."

 

This is a photo of the bridge which I know quite well.

Everybody who is going from Cheltenham centre to Tewkesbury goes under this bridge - the road is very busy and it must have been chaos for people leaving work to go home on Monday. The main Cheltenham - Birrmingham railway line goes over this bridge. There's little excuse for the driver who was responsible as this bridge is well known to anyone who knows Cheltenham and the warning sign is clearly visible.

This is another photo showing the fallen digger

This is the other side of the bridge. Another main road is to the left, and it is clear from the photo that that road had to be closed as well.Although this wouldn't have affected people coming the other direction into Cheltenham, it would have meant a much longer journey for those going out of Cheltenham.

Thank you, Squiggle.

Happy St. Andrew's Day to everyone who celebrates it.

 

El, you would think that lorry and bus drivers would be made aware of the height of their vehicles, so that they would know which bridges were too low for them. There have been quite a few similar accidents over the years, some involving double decker buses.

Yogi, you are lucky in that in Scotland you get St Andrew's day as an extra bank holiday, but in England and Wales we don't get St George's or St David's day repectively off. Those in Northern Ireland get St Patrick's day off. Unfair to us Sassenachs . A happy St Andrews day to you and Skylark all the same.

Thank you, El.

I think St George's and St. David's Day should also be bank holidays - it seems only fair.

What a lucky escape for people with that digger accident EL, it could have been really horrible.

 

Well I've still got the tooth, here's hoping, he has lowered the height of the pin and put in 3 or 4 layers of filling, the tooth feels more comfortable.  What a week, I have to go for a diabetic retinopathy exam tomorrow (an annual thing) where they look inside your eye.  Oh I do know have to have fun