WTF-Beta

BBC TV licence (which gets us lots of freeview channels), Private Eye.
Occasionally buy the FinancialTimes, iPaper, Daily Mail.

Congrats, retirement is great

So he famously relinquished all copyright so people could enjoy his 37 songs.

But
After a hellova day laying carpets we had a storm and a power cut this evening, so at 9pm I sat in near darkness at the piano and recorded Tom's
'I Hold Your Hand in Mine'.

Uploaded it to YouTube for you all to enjoy. Though I wrote no description, AI must have recognised it and ...
It was immediately banned!
For being a live performance!
Rights are owned etc. What the...

And have wheels

Basically, China, India and Turkey are financing Putin's war and leadership by buying his oil.

Benny playing on a fabulous Fazioli.
Lovely arrangement, as he plays I hear her singing.

Unlike the old Dimplex which is on/off, our new AMOS has a wheel for setting the heat wanted (presumably) from 0 to 800.
Would recommend we don't use it on maximum?

I just bought an electric oil-filled slimline freestanding panel heater.
We already have a 400W Dimplex that is 20 years old, in the 2nd bedroom for guests. The new one is an 800w Amos brand, in the sitting room as we had to halve our central heating radiator to accommodate new double doors. £75.

Number 10, Penang is wife's hometown; I could happily have retired there, however she's not fond of the Malay politics.

Mediterranean areas, Malta, Italy and Spain also have appealing areas.

We're happy with a gas hob and two separate cheapo ovens, all branded as Lamona. I couldn't see myself spending even 5k on a range.

That mega expensive range is huge, and honestly 142k 🤪 then another 33k for the hood and rack?

I'd add that my friends wife has barely used it so far, because it's so nice their son has taken to cooking everything

Once you've used a gas hob you won't be happy with electric.

Get a decent induction range and some nice new pans to go with.
Very good friends just invested in a Bertazzoni; the quality is noticeable, stunning, wow.

https://uk.bertazzoni.com/products/professional-series/cookers/100-cm-induction-top-electric-triple-oven-10

The 100cm stainless steel pro which fit their kitchen gap cost £5500.00 (gulp).

And forget about testing your old steel pans with a magnet for compatibility. Unreliable method, they may, or not.

Incidentally, another thing I've never seen before... this folio size deluxe edition book was in our National Gallery bookshop:
https://www.britishmuseumshoponline.org/hiroshige-deluxe-edition.html
I didn't buy it, so no easy to see & understand photo, my best description:
When opened I thought the pages had not been trimmed/guillotined properly.

In order to ensure the 150 colour prints were perfect and unaffected by anything on the reverse of the sheet, only one side was printed, the reverse remaining white, and every two pages were left joined.
So only printed on the outer side of the paper loop and therefore you turned two sheets at a time. The pagination was normal though.

(A bit like PhD's which are printed one side of the paper sheet only.)

Interesting.
I reckon that the third book from 1759 may have a newer external binding over the original boards&book, maybe done late Victorian/Edwardian or in that style. It is beautiful, with the gold edges to make dusting easy.

Always remember, you can prune and bonsai anything(says my wife).
Just visited friends who'd removed their front garden hedge. Turns out it consisted mostly of a bay tree that had been espalier'd 5 feet left and right, rather than growing undisturbed 30feet up!
Who knew I'd be leaving with a trunk of wood for carving

Index finger pretty much back to normal but middle still swollen. I'm contrast bathing them twice a day, definitely helps.

I wouldn't say no to it as a holiday home

Ah ok. Guess Ben Nevis ain't on his list then (though it gives a fine view for moderate effort and a classic ridge descent with golden eagles for company).

Kangchenjunga... respect, it has a kill rate of 1 in 5.
I recall the first up (Joe Brown?) stopped very slightly short of the summit out of respect to its divine status.

@jon-nyc said in How did I not know this?:

A buddy of mine is a big climber and has done 5 of the 7 summits including Everest.

Interesting, what are the 7?

If he's been up K2, Annapurna, Kangchenjunga, or Eiger N.face then respect!