Kupar

8 minutes ago, gldenwetgoose said:

Maybe not the sexiest review, but Bike Racer turned TV Presenter Guy Martin came across these in his 'Our Guy In Japan' programme...

 

Thanks! But he's irritating, isn't he?!

5 hours ago, Girllikespee said:

Robot arm?! It's a bidet!

It certainly like a bidet, but it's more sophisticated!

14 minutes ago, Alfresco said:

Well I would have to say good on you for ditching the poor habits and turning it around so that you are now fit and exercising regularly.   I still struggle to find time and motivation to get out and exercise.  I know it is good for me and I do get a good feeling from doing exercise, but I still don't do it nearly often enough.

Thanks ... and sure, my motivation is variable (which is why I was pleased @gldenwetgoose started this topic), even though since last year when I stopped working full time I have more time (and mental energy) now. Anything you do is better than nothing, of course 🙂 And it's probably worse to beat yourself up for not doing as much as you think you ought to ...

I have been re-reading this thread again because I was running this afternoon a memory popped into my head of the truly inspirational physics teacher who was the reason I studied the subject at university. He had the endless patience and creativity needed to explain complex things, but he was also innovative. This afternoon's memory was of a lesson on the concepts of energy and power. We all weighed ourselves, then measured the height of a couple of flights of stairs, then timed ourselves running up them. And use of the right formula and hey presto - we can compare each other's power output.

Mechanics can be somewhat boring when reduced to a set of (elegant, yes, but somewhat abstract) formulae, with multiple quantities that seem quite siilar and confusing until you study physics to, say A-level and see how they fit together so satisfyingly. But in that lesson I am sure we all came away understanding that potential energy was work, and how it all related to power when you (literally) put time into the equation. Wonderful.

Of course you could probably do it with Strava on your phone today, but where's the education in that? 😉

Perhaps I will stop posting here, as I don't want it to become just a place where I chart my attempts to run further faster. But one last thing: I'm just back from attempting 10k at 7:45 / mile pace ... and failing. Ran 4.5 miles at 7:39 / mile then decided to walk home because I'd had enough. But... it was close enough that  I know I can push that speed out to 10k in the next couple of weeks. That's as fast as I think I can realistically run 10k. It would give me a time of 47min 30sec which although not fast isn't too bad for someone who smoked a packet of B&H a day through his twenties, and spent his thirties and forties largely sitting on his arse 7 days a week. I'm happy.

The S E-B pics have me thinking of sexy singers I have lusted after. Here's Tracy Tracy (aka Tracy Cattell) of The Primitives, circa 1987,

and Louise Wener of Sleeper around 1995? (these days a pretty successful writer - she was always a cut above the rest - and that voice!).

Great story! The sense of desperation and relief really come through in the way you recall what happened. Thanks for sharing!

I had some supermarket shopping to do today in my local town, and I wanted to combine it with a walk in the countryside and the chance to give the car a bit a of trip out (it’s been languishing on the drive a lot this year).

I set out after breakfast and had some fun on the back roads to town before parking up and setting off up a slight hill on a path I hadn’t explored before … the sign said 2 miles to the next village. It was a pleasant walk – the sun was shining for the first half, and I took a few photos of the views.

I turned round at the village and set off down the slight slope back to town on a different path, stopping after a while to drink the flask of coffee I’d brought with me. By this time, the breakfast juice and coffee, and the water I’d drunk on the outward half of the walk were starting to make themselves felt, so it was time for a pee. I came upon one of the many small bridges that cross streams and drains round here and thought it would make a good pee stop.

But … rookie error: I filmed myself with the light behind me, so the quality of the video and images isn’t very good, even after enhancing the exposure a bit with Clideo (sorry about the watermark too). Still, I made my mark on the bridge and you can see the puddle left behind.

Video here: https://www.erome.com/i/hnS1vLsB

I saw not a single person on the 4 miles of the walk. When I arrived back at the car, I drove to the supermarket and did my shopping: there were queues for the checkouts, and the woman in the queue in front of me was clearly pretty desperate – she was doing the little jiggly dance, and it wasn’t because of the music being played over the loudspeakers (unless her sense of rhythm was completely absent). There was no obvious accident, but I’ve never seen someone pack their shopping bags so quickly.

Video doesn't show up for me - I can hear it ...

16 hours ago, Sophie said:

 

Just watched / listened to this again. Wonderful. I love the calmness of his playing - he makes complex things look effortless. It's like watching John Renbourn play guitar - the minimum of movement, nothing flashy - not even flamboyant - and yet the sounds ...

I love the whole album so much - and this song in particular. Perfect for this afternoon.

Thinking about it, I suppose it's possible the little robot arm could have been fitted with a camera. Japan is a strange place after all.

I was reminded of a toilet in a hotel room in Tokyo where I stayed on business four years ago. Not only a heated seat but little buttons for various water features. When I pressed the 'shower' one a little robot arm appeared from under the seat rim and sprayed water everywhere. If you weren't sitting on the toilet at the time it showered the bathroom floor. I had hours of fun. 

I know these sort of things are more common now but at the time I had never seen anything like it.

Any other unusual toilets? (I know there's a urinal thread elsewhere.)

HI. I think the local time display of individual member pins on the member map are not showing the correct local time. For instance, I looked at some UK pins at 15:30 UK time today, and they showed local time as 10:30. I checked in North America and the local time displayed also appeared to be wrong.

It's not really important, to be honest, but I thought you might like to know!

That's a really good story to read! Thanks for sharing it with us. I'm glad the experience didn't damage your friendship ... and that your interest in this kink was strengthened (once you'd got over the trauma). And it's so difficult to ask others the questions you want to ask, isn't it, unless you're certain of the answer you'll get.

I think the distraction thing must be worth a go. When I was little and couldn't go, my parents always suggested I try to whistle. I think this is quite a common suggestion. It worked for me then, and even now if I am finding it difficult to go I will whistle - and hey presto! (I appreciate that in your current situation in hospital that might be a bit difficult. I hope you are OK!)

2 hours ago, gldenwetgoose said:

It's worse than that - "Alexa play songs from Pink Floyd..." and get the reply 'Playing songs by Pink Floyd on Amazon Radio'.

Now I guess there's a licensing issue going on somewhere - first song was one of the more introspective tracks from The Wall, and from what I recognised nothing at all from Dark Side, Division Bell or any other works of greatness.  Not even the 'commercial' stuff everyone knows like Money, Time or Great Gig In The Sky.

Time to get the vinyl out instead I think.

😞 It would spoil my enjoyment I think ... to a point (though more where I know the albums really well, or where they are clearly intended to be listened to from start to finish). I retain the capability to play vinyl (just because I could never bear to throw those LPs away) even though they only occasionally come out.

I had psyched myself up for some speed work this morning rather than another 10k+ run and was blessed with good weather – perfectly still and sunny, if a little chilly at 8 degrees C when I left the house at 11am (@speedy3471 will tell me not to be a wuss).

I didn’t have specific plans, but ran 2 miles in exactly 15 minutes - reasonably quick for me – out to the edge of the fen where I can’t run any further because a new gravel extraction pit is being dug. Then I stopped for 5 minutes to get my breath back … and have a wee (details in the men peeing forum and linked at the bottom of this post).

Then I ran back as fast as was safe on the uneven concrete drove track for 0.25 miles, turned round and walked to the end of the path, and repeated. The maximum pace achieved for those little sprints was 5:30 per mile (10.3 mph).

Then I stopped to do some static exercise – a set of press ups, lunges, back and side stretches and squats. In the summer I have been stripping off and doing these naked (there’s no-one around at the end of the path except a couple of workmen on the gravel pit who are not bothered) but it was a bit cold to do that today.

My intention was to run the two miles home quickly again, but after a mile in 7:46 I thought ‘sod that, I’m walking the rest’, so I did.

The photos may convey some of the bleakness of the fens – it’s not all as pretty as some of my other photos would have you believe.

Oh – and for @Alfresco – no kingfisher, but there were a lot of birdwatchers parked up at the entrance to the bird reserves this morning. I asked a couple of them what the interest was: apparently a glossy ibis! We commonly have bitterns, marsh harriers, little and great white egrets, many bunting species, and even cranes, but a glossy ibis is something special.

31 minutes ago, gldenwetgoose said:

This morning has mostly been Pink Floyd in the background via Amazon music / Alexa. 

Only problem is when she plays individual tracks from albums like The Wall out of context, so they start and stop abruptly. 

Are the tracks in the right order? That's the most irritating thing about, say, genius mixes in iTunes (I know, old tech ...). Can you conceive of listening to a Pink Floyd album where the tracks are mixed up? Horrible!

Welcome! You'll find plenty of like-minded people here. Enjoy the forums.

I bet that all felt wonderful! Got to be done when you get the chance. Thanks for your 'show and tell' 🙂

Have you drowned? Resurfaced? Ridden the wave?