I'm pleased you are going to have a nice day, Furby. i haven't drunk any of Merry's Advent Calendar for at least a week so I am going to drink some of it today. I have not decided which of Nancy's ready meals I shall heat up - I still don't really feel like eating, and this plus Midge has reminded me I haven't had breakfast yet and not given Them their wet food.
My weight is down to 15 stone - I haven't been so unheavy since I retired 12 years ago.
December Chatty, hohoho!
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OurCreature
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1000 Posts
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December Chatty, hohoho!
Like the late Chaircat Midge, I am not always right.
December Chatty, hohoho!
Soup is good for recovering sick people. Shame to waste a luxury ready meal if not really feeling like eating and would enjoy it more later when better. Chicken maybe that's almost turkey.
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OurCreature
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1000 Posts
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- Location: Near The New Forest
December Chatty, hohoho!
I have a few cans of soup, so plenty of that. but if I feel properly sort of hungry I'll have a ready meal. I suddenly felt hungry before I went to bed last night, and toast and jam tasted like luxury!
Like the late Chaircat Midge, I am not always right.
December Chatty, hohoho!
The joy of Christmas is having dinner any time you want and black forest gateau for breakfast. Is there a Dr Who today?
I thought yesterday that OC wouldn't have been able to enjoy any of his Christmas wines! but they will still be there
Same with my cheese ! I've been completely off my food for a week.
Having been so ill, I wasn't looking forward to Christmas Eve with my usual enthusiasm, but we managed a lovely day of it. We played the Christmas Eve game with the kids and STPD and everyone was weak with laughter at times. And then Santa came. So that was all very nice.
Here's a picture from Christmassy Broadway
I thought yesterday that OC wouldn't have been able to enjoy any of his Christmas wines! but they will still be there
Same with my cheese ! I've been completely off my food for a week.Having been so ill, I wasn't looking forward to Christmas Eve with my usual enthusiasm, but we managed a lovely day of it. We played the Christmas Eve game with the kids and STPD and everyone was weak with laughter at times. And then Santa came. So that was all very nice.
Here's a picture from Christmassy Broadway
"... not to be told a story, but to live inside a dream." - Hades, The Burnt City
December Chatty, hohoho!
Merry, I’m so glad you are feeling much better and enjoying Christmas. The photos look lovely.
There is a Doctor who at 17;55 today. Call the midwife is on later.
Many people will probably remember that I’m not a fan of Christmas and prefer to spend it on my own with Pringles, Strawberry Laces, Hagen Dazs ice cream and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on the TV. Unfortunately I’m off to Christmas lunch at a hotel and present swapping afterwards.
To cheer myself up I’ve been following the
#DuvetKnowItsChristmas
On Twitter. People share photos of their sleeping arrangements over the Christmas period. They range between the creepy to the very funny.
It also serves the purpose of raising money for a different UK homeless charity. This year it is Centrepoint UK. Currently this stands at just shy of £38k and it only opened yesterday. https://www.justgiving.com/page/duvet-xmas-23
Here is my favourite tweet so far
https://x.com/dobbersw/status/1739021486495596704?s=46
There is a Doctor who at 17;55 today. Call the midwife is on later.
Many people will probably remember that I’m not a fan of Christmas and prefer to spend it on my own with Pringles, Strawberry Laces, Hagen Dazs ice cream and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on the TV. Unfortunately I’m off to Christmas lunch at a hotel and present swapping afterwards.
To cheer myself up I’ve been following the
#DuvetKnowItsChristmas
On Twitter. People share photos of their sleeping arrangements over the Christmas period. They range between the creepy to the very funny.
It also serves the purpose of raising money for a different UK homeless charity. This year it is Centrepoint UK. Currently this stands at just shy of £38k and it only opened yesterday. https://www.justgiving.com/page/duvet-xmas-23
Here is my favourite tweet so far
https://x.com/dobbersw/status/1739021486495596704?s=46
December Chatty, hohoho!
I hope those that are sick are on the mend. I was sick during the week of the 11th. Not cool. Silas got sick and lost all the weight that I worked so hard to get him up to, and I have to start over. He just only just getting around again. He has low muscle tone and global delays, so he's been doing a lot of lying around and not moving. I was super close to taking him to the doctors...although me being a medical mom makes me wait longer than others.
Anyway, Furby, I grew up making snow angels. And "Fox and Geese" trails. And skating on the dugout (a water source/pond for the cows in the pasture).
ME
Anyway, Furby, I grew up making snow angels. And "Fox and Geese" trails. And skating on the dugout (a water source/pond for the cows in the pasture).
ME
December Chatty, hohoho!
Snow angels have escaped me knowing about them. I was surprised how it was the very top answer and still I never ever heard of it but depends which 100 people they ask I suppose.
Some cheeses in hampers are poisonous and people asked not to eat them hope merry has checked none of hers are those ones. It's Lancashire cheeses.
Some cheeses in hampers are poisonous and people asked not to eat them hope merry has checked none of hers are those ones. It's Lancashire cheeses.
December Chatty, hohoho!
I saw the duvet know it's Xmas from Larry the cat about a cat that had its own room and visitors had to sleep on the sofa. I wonder if Sandringham is there they didn't have enough rooms for all the people this year but must have been way more people staying over back in the old days.
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OurCreature
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1000 Posts
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- Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2022 5:15 pm
- Location: Near The New Forest
December Chatty, hohoho!
Don't worry, Furby - the English cheese included in Merry's selection wasn't from Lancashire - it came from the Hampshire/Berkshire border area.
Like the late Chaircat Midge, I am not always right.
December Chatty, hohoho!
I see there has been a bit of an accident in Grays, Essex where a car drove into a house causing significant damage. 
It is in Argent Street which is quite a longish road roughly parallel to the river. Checking on Google Maps, I can see where there is quite a bit of congestion and it looks like it is right around the corner of where I used to live for a couple of years in Wharf Road.
The Wharf pub is down Wharf Road South, near the river.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-67822316
It is in Argent Street which is quite a longish road roughly parallel to the river. Checking on Google Maps, I can see where there is quite a bit of congestion and it looks like it is right around the corner of where I used to live for a couple of years in Wharf Road.
The Wharf pub is down Wharf Road South, near the river.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-67822316
December Chatty, hohoho!
That looks scary lucky the people were out at the time. It looks worse than other similar accidents I have seen lately it's getting quite a fashion now for cars to smash into houses. One in my row was done earlier this year but we have the little stone walls and it held the car back. Others locally have been done but it's just been smashed windows the Gray's house looks as though it might collapse. Maybe investigations need to be done why car versus house keeps happening.
December Chatty, hohoho!
I'll pass that on to Pani, a Grays' lad as you know, Patience.
Thank you mim, and I'm so sorry Silas has lost ground being ill
I hope you can soon feed him up again, you are a wonderful cook, I know.
Talking of Pani, his internet went off on Christmas Day around 9am and hasn't come back. Plusnet have given him an estimated repair date of 16 Jan......
No, he's NOT taking that lying down, but dealing with these people is so tiring and frustrating these days, online chats with bots and resorting to Tweets and just ugh. Send him your best wishes! you better all start praying nothing happens to the board because he is completely out of action at present and I can only fix minor things, like errrrr well nothing springs to mind 
I woke on Christmas morning desperately sick and dizzy and lurched down the stairs as if I were on the decks of a coaster in 50 ft waves, and managed to wrestle the turkey into the oven at 8 am. However, after that unpromising start, we had a lovely lovely two days of Christmas, Mr M, me and the girls on Xmas Day as JYM spends it it with his family, and the five of us including lovely JYM for Boxing Day, when we opened our presents all day after a party-food lunch.
Despite illness, we all thought it was the best Christmas we had ever had, and were all very happy and appreciative of being together.
My crazy funny lovely girls. Or, 'two strange French people showed up', as someone captioned this pic.
Thank you mim, and I'm so sorry Silas has lost ground being ill
I hope you can soon feed him up again, you are a wonderful cook, I know. Talking of Pani, his internet went off on Christmas Day around 9am and hasn't come back. Plusnet have given him an estimated repair date of 16 Jan......
No, he's NOT taking that lying down, but dealing with these people is so tiring and frustrating these days, online chats with bots and resorting to Tweets and just ugh. Send him your best wishes! you better all start praying nothing happens to the board because he is completely out of action at present and I can only fix minor things, like errrrr well nothing springs to mind I woke on Christmas morning desperately sick and dizzy and lurched down the stairs as if I were on the decks of a coaster in 50 ft waves, and managed to wrestle the turkey into the oven at 8 am. However, after that unpromising start, we had a lovely lovely two days of Christmas, Mr M, me and the girls on Xmas Day as JYM spends it it with his family, and the five of us including lovely JYM for Boxing Day, when we opened our presents all day after a party-food lunch.
Despite illness, we all thought it was the best Christmas we had ever had, and were all very happy and appreciative of being together.
My crazy funny lovely girls. Or, 'two strange French people showed up', as someone captioned this pic.
"... not to be told a story, but to live inside a dream." - Hades, The Burnt City
December Chatty, hohoho!
The house crash was on Christmas day too wasn't it maybe they cut through a cable somewhere. They just expect everyone to have mobiles now with unlimited don't they because if internet is broken can't use internet to online bot or tweet them. Best wishes to Pani having to deal with people or not even real people if the bots aren't.
Brave merry struggling down stairs to cook the dinner. Sometimes if you move about it makes sickness better other times worse so difficulty is knowing which type it is.
Brave merry struggling down stairs to cook the dinner. Sometimes if you move about it makes sickness better other times worse so difficulty is knowing which type it is.
December Chatty, hohoho!
Unlucky Pani. I thought being on mobile internet I was largely immune from completely being cut off because there's always another more distant mast that I could connect to. But last month I was completely disconnected for several hours as the whole Three network was down, so none of us are immune.
Some people have a dual wan router with a link to a fibre network and another to a mobile network that trips in if the fibre falls over. OK for a business I suppose but a bit expensive for residential users.
Some people have a dual wan router with a link to a fibre network and another to a mobile network that trips in if the fibre falls over. OK for a business I suppose but a bit expensive for residential users.
In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.
(Terry Pratchett 1948-2015)
(Terry Pratchett 1948-2015)
December Chatty, hohoho!
Pani has been looking into mobile broadband today and yesterday, Eccles. I told him in general you had been very happy with yours.
He was looking at Vodafone's Unlimited 30 day rolling contract deal at £37 (I think) a month, but it was difficult to find out how to cancel.
Just out of interest, do you find they are ok about large torrent down and uploads?
Thank you Furby. It's funny you say that about the house crash - it happened at exactly the same time Pani's internet went down. Really! His last message was at 9.49 am. That article says the police were called to the crash at 9.50! It almost seems as if it MUST be connected?!
He was looking at Vodafone's Unlimited 30 day rolling contract deal at £37 (I think) a month, but it was difficult to find out how to cancel.
Just out of interest, do you find they are ok about large torrent down and uploads?
Thank you Furby. It's funny you say that about the house crash - it happened at exactly the same time Pani's internet went down. Really!
His last message was at 9.49 am. That article says the police were called to the crash at 9.50! It almost seems as if it MUST be connected?! "... not to be told a story, but to live inside a dream." - Hades, The Burnt City
December Chatty, hohoho!
So Hard Facts Detective agency between us found a solution to the why might it be broken problem.
Doesnt help much though. I had a tree collapse ( years ago not today) collapse onto a telegraph pole and I could see the fallen tree and hanging wires but when you call up its the ISP who make you go through the there is no fault that we can see it might be you and you must agree to pay us 200 pounds to fix it before we look at it and then dont convey the right information to openreach who turn up and have to go away again to get tree cutters and cherry pickers or whatever was needed.
I may have to travel on trains this year and not having been out beyond a few bus stops since before COVID its a worry.
Doesnt help much though. I had a tree collapse ( years ago not today) collapse onto a telegraph pole and I could see the fallen tree and hanging wires but when you call up its the ISP who make you go through the there is no fault that we can see it might be you and you must agree to pay us 200 pounds to fix it before we look at it and then dont convey the right information to openreach who turn up and have to go away again to get tree cutters and cherry pickers or whatever was needed.
I may have to travel on trains this year and not having been out beyond a few bus stops since before COVID its a worry.
December Chatty, hohoho!
Merry/Pani, there is lots of information about wireless internet here:
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/forums ... eless.106/
There are a few things to look out for:
Fair use policy - Three doesn't have one. I have regularly gone over 1TB in a month using Three and have never had any warnings about how much I've used. Some have a limit of around 1TB, and I think the lowest I've seen for so-called unlimited is 600GB.
CGNAT vs real internet addressing. Three is the only one of the four networks that offers real IP4 addressing using its 3internet APN which is the default for routers. Phones with Three sims will usually select the CGNAT option (three.co.uk). For simple downloads using web or torrents it doesn't really matter. If you're using torrents you'll be using a VPN anyway. Having said that the way my network, Three, handles port forwarding is a bit odd. My designated port shows as blocked until I kick off my torrent client, then after a few minutes the port opens for incoming requests.
If you have network connected devices such as a Ring doorbell or do online gaming the real IP address might be important.
Signal strength. All four networks provide maps for expected signal strengths. You can also check the following:
https://bidb.uk/
Price. Do check out the ISPReview link. There's no way you should be paying £37 a month. If you have a good 5G signal from Three then they will be your best price but you will need to commit to a contract. Next in line will be one of its MNVOs such as iD or Smarty. If you can convince Three that you are a single trader then you might try this for data only:
https://www.three.co.uk/business/business-deals#simonly
My deal purchased nearly two years ago is similar.
Remember, there will be a 14 day returns period where you can test out your kit wherever you get it from.
4G or 5G? Obviously 5G in general will give you better performance in terms of raw download speed. But if you're a keen gamer then latency will figure more highly, and sometimes a good 4G source will outweigh a poor 5G one. O2 is currently lagging behind the others in 5G rollouts with Voda and EE about equal. Three can be patchy, if it's good then it will knock the rest out of the ballpark. If you're sitting within a couple of hundred meters of a Three monopole you might get gigabit performance, but it's the luck of the draw where you live. Also be aware that mobile internet can be highly variable. If you're in an oversubscribed area with one network you may have to look at one of the alternative networks.
Lately I've been getting around 600-670 mb/s download speeds and 80-90mb/s up. This week with everyone at home on their phones it's dropped a bit but still just about hanging onto around 500mb/s with upload speeds the same.
Choice of router. If you sign up to a network's broadband service you take whatever they offer. Alternatively you can look to a seller such as https://uk.webuy.com/ (CEX) which gives you the option of looking at sim-only choices.
Zyxel and ZTE routers are popular with Ispreview users. I use a ZTE MC801A - there are features that make it a better choice for me. The Zyxel NR5103E is also a good choice. I believe the Three branded Zyxel is unlocked to all networks.
As I said there are features that the MC801A has that mean that I wouldn't swap it for the Zyxel. However, the particular model's firmware can be quite important with Three sourced devices for instance having limited user options.if I was starting out again with no knowledge I would probably buy a Zyxel NR5103E (the 'E' designation is quite important for UK use) from CEX and shop around for a cheap SIM, maybe test out a couple of networks with PAYG first.
Oh and BTW, if you are lucky enough to be able to connect to a fast 5G source and you have a fixed data limit, go easy on the speed tests. A single speed test on my 5G connection can easily eat over 1GB of data.
Any questions feel free to ask here or PM.
Eccs.
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/forums ... eless.106/
There are a few things to look out for:
Fair use policy - Three doesn't have one. I have regularly gone over 1TB in a month using Three and have never had any warnings about how much I've used. Some have a limit of around 1TB, and I think the lowest I've seen for so-called unlimited is 600GB.
CGNAT vs real internet addressing. Three is the only one of the four networks that offers real IP4 addressing using its 3internet APN which is the default for routers. Phones with Three sims will usually select the CGNAT option (three.co.uk). For simple downloads using web or torrents it doesn't really matter. If you're using torrents you'll be using a VPN anyway. Having said that the way my network, Three, handles port forwarding is a bit odd. My designated port shows as blocked until I kick off my torrent client, then after a few minutes the port opens for incoming requests.
If you have network connected devices such as a Ring doorbell or do online gaming the real IP address might be important.
Signal strength. All four networks provide maps for expected signal strengths. You can also check the following:
https://bidb.uk/
Price. Do check out the ISPReview link. There's no way you should be paying £37 a month. If you have a good 5G signal from Three then they will be your best price but you will need to commit to a contract. Next in line will be one of its MNVOs such as iD or Smarty. If you can convince Three that you are a single trader then you might try this for data only:
https://www.three.co.uk/business/business-deals#simonly
My deal purchased nearly two years ago is similar.
Remember, there will be a 14 day returns period where you can test out your kit wherever you get it from.
4G or 5G? Obviously 5G in general will give you better performance in terms of raw download speed. But if you're a keen gamer then latency will figure more highly, and sometimes a good 4G source will outweigh a poor 5G one. O2 is currently lagging behind the others in 5G rollouts with Voda and EE about equal. Three can be patchy, if it's good then it will knock the rest out of the ballpark. If you're sitting within a couple of hundred meters of a Three monopole you might get gigabit performance, but it's the luck of the draw where you live. Also be aware that mobile internet can be highly variable. If you're in an oversubscribed area with one network you may have to look at one of the alternative networks.
Lately I've been getting around 600-670 mb/s download speeds and 80-90mb/s up. This week with everyone at home on their phones it's dropped a bit but still just about hanging onto around 500mb/s with upload speeds the same.
Choice of router. If you sign up to a network's broadband service you take whatever they offer. Alternatively you can look to a seller such as https://uk.webuy.com/ (CEX) which gives you the option of looking at sim-only choices.
Zyxel and ZTE routers are popular with Ispreview users. I use a ZTE MC801A - there are features that make it a better choice for me. The Zyxel NR5103E is also a good choice. I believe the Three branded Zyxel is unlocked to all networks.
As I said there are features that the MC801A has that mean that I wouldn't swap it for the Zyxel. However, the particular model's firmware can be quite important with Three sourced devices for instance having limited user options.if I was starting out again with no knowledge I would probably buy a Zyxel NR5103E (the 'E' designation is quite important for UK use) from CEX and shop around for a cheap SIM, maybe test out a couple of networks with PAYG first.
Oh and BTW, if you are lucky enough to be able to connect to a fast 5G source and you have a fixed data limit, go easy on the speed tests. A single speed test on my 5G connection can easily eat over 1GB of data.
Any questions feel free to ask here or PM.
Eccs.
In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.
(Terry Pratchett 1948-2015)
(Terry Pratchett 1948-2015)
December Chatty, hohoho!
Thank you for that, Eccles. Pani can read it on his phone
I've put the Chat announcement up but I prob won't make it myself tonight. Still needing lots of sleep. I'll come next week. In the meantime, anyone feeling like some company can pop in tonight and hopefully there will be some others there to chat to.
I've put the Chat announcement up but I prob won't make it myself tonight. Still needing lots of sleep. I'll come next week. In the meantime, anyone feeling like some company can pop in tonight and hopefully there will be some others there to chat to.
"... not to be told a story, but to live inside a dream." - Hades, The Burnt City
December Chatty, hohoho!
No problem Merry. Looking at coverage for Grays, Vodafone or one of its derivatives might be a good choice (Pani may have already worked this out). But the £37 is a bit high. Talkmobile which uses Voda has an unlimited sim-only rolling contract at £16 pm at present. He'd have to buy a router. I've been trying to see if there are any fair use restrictions but can't find anything. Pani may have to do some research here.
My choice, Three, looks poorly represented for 5G in Grays.
My choice, Three, looks poorly represented for 5G in Grays.
In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.
(Terry Pratchett 1948-2015)
(Terry Pratchett 1948-2015)
December Chatty, hohoho!
I’m meant to be going to visit friends for New Year tomorrow and Lopsie is already in the cattery. However, I’m not feeling brilliant. I’ve had a headache kicking about for a couple of days and I started to feel nauseous about lunchtime yesterday. Not enough that it has stopped me going to friends last night and out to lunch tomorrow, but enough that I went to the chemists looking for migraine medicine. 
I do get the occasional migraine and it’s normally when I have been on a long drive or I have been working too hard. Only once have I felt sick and I had to pull the car over on my way home from work one day.
I suspect it’s a mixture of working and not really getting a break over Christmas, despite being off since the 20th. There is just so much work, I have been working a few hours each day so I can go into the New Year without a pile of work waiting. I’ve also not been eating particularly healthily!
I’ve not fallen or bumped my head, so that’s something.
I do get the occasional migraine and it’s normally when I have been on a long drive or I have been working too hard. Only once have I felt sick and I had to pull the car over on my way home from work one day.
I suspect it’s a mixture of working and not really getting a break over Christmas, despite being off since the 20th. There is just so much work, I have been working a few hours each day so I can go into the New Year without a pile of work waiting. I’ve also not been eating particularly healthily!
I’ve not fallen or bumped my head, so that’s something.
