Lockdown Pleasures

[soulstyledevon]

@Velma's Dad
Honestly no offence taken.
It’s something I’ve always had. Just prefer to stay away from a noisy bar or nightclub.
The plus point being. I rarely go to bed late, which means I’m up early most mornings.
Happens to be my favourite part of the day...

 

[Borris]

Early morning bike rides with my daughter definatly beats the commute to work.
View attachment 57302

Cycling down the railway tracks isn't that healthy though!

 

[GrannyJen]

Sorry for my earlier glib attempt at humour, I realise now TripleBee probably finds his/her condition bloody annoying and socially limiting.

I'd strongly advise having a hearing test. Being unable to distinguish vocal sounds in a noisy environment is something an audiologist would find very common as a symptom.

I've worn hearing aids for about three years since a noise accident made a mess of my hearing on one side, although I was already getting typical age-related high frequency loss. The modern digital hearing aids are absolutely brilliant and getting better all the time.

I have just got myself hearing aids, mostly due to loss at the high registers which meant that in a crowded space all I heard was a background rumble.

There was nothing wrong with my hearing other than that but the difference it's made is amazing. It's like looking at black and white TV and suddenly switching to colour.

 

[Borris]

Maybe there might be another diagnosis.
I have the same, and I am not 38 yet.
I am quite highly sensitive, so I can't stand loud and high frequency noises. When in a bar or a party, and I am talking to persons, no problem. Once they turn on the music to a too high volume, and everyone is starting to shout, my ears just block everything, and all I hear is loud gibberish. Then it's time for me to go back home because I get irritated and can't take part to the conversations anymore.

[From Mrs Borris]
I agree with you. I've long hated discos. They have the music SO loud it's just a distortion. Plus I even ended up with tinnitus after our now 17 year old granddaughter's 10th birthday party. It was even painful at the time. The tinnitus did ease after about 6 to 9 months. When it came to our elder daughter's wedding I was prepared with earplugs, but it was STILL painfully loud with those in place. I tried turning the music down to a comfortable level, where the delightful playlist our daughter had compiled from favourites suggested beforehand by guests were not distorted to an unpleasant racket, but it was soon turned up again. A four year old little guest - daughter of the best man, a primary school teacher (!) was sleeping through this appallingness on some chairs. Our immediate family had retreated to a quiet room with their youngsters apart from two of our grandchildren - then nearly 12 and just three, both girls, who were both like the Duracell bunny. Again I had tinnitus for months, in spite of the earplugs. Our local theatre, the Marlowe in Canterbury, also turns the music up to painful levels in their pantomimes, while the rest of the time the volume is comfortable. We've slummed it in Margate (pantomime-wise) the last two years and had a great time with no earplugs needed. I sing in Canterbury Choral Society and value my hearing. Our conductor also conducts the Royal Choral Society and would have been conducting Handel's Messiah in the Royal Albert Hall yesterday in a different world. Happy Easter everyone!

 

[Anthony1]

There's a 42,000 piece jogsaw on Youtube - it took the guy one year to complete it.

 

[soulstyledevon]

There's a 42,000 piece jogsaw on Youtube - it took the guy one year to complete it.

It amazes me the dedication some people have to a task like that...
Incredible.

 

[clarinetbcn]

[From Mrs Borris]
I agree with you. I've long hated discos. They have the music SO loud it's just a distortion. Plus I even ended up with tinnitus after our now 17 year old granddaughter's 10th birthday party. It was even painful at the time. The tinnitus did ease after about 6 to 9 months. When it came to our elder daughter's wedding I was prepared with earplugs, but it was STILL painfully loud with those in place. I tried turning the music down to a comfortable level, where the delightful playlist our daughter had compiled from favourites suggested beforehand by guests were not distorted to an unpleasant racket, but it was soon turned up again. A four year old little guest - daughter of the best man, a primary school teacher (!) was sleeping through this appallingness on some chairs. Our immediate family had retreated to a quiet room with their youngsters apart from two of our grandchildren - then nearly 12 and just three, both girls, who were both like the Duracell bunny. Again I had tinnitus for months, in spite of the earplugs. Our local theatre, the Marlowe in Canterbury, also turns the music up to painful levels in their pantomimes, while the rest of the time the volume is comfortable. We've slummed it in Margate (pantomime-wise) the last two years and had a great time with no earplugs needed. I sing in Canterbury Choral Society and value my hearing. Our conductor also conducts the Royal Choral Society and would have been conducting Handel's Messiah in the Royal Albert Hall yesterday in a different world. Happy Easter everyone!

Welcome to my world, where professional musicians protect their hearing from non-reversible hearing damage. Because we protect our hearing, we have all had occasion to be in social situations where the decibel level is painful to us unless we use earplugs, while non professionals decades younger have no problem. Conclusion: a very broad sector of the population of all ages has a shocking level of permanent hearing damage due to overexposure to amplified concerts and abuse of earphone levels, so that those of us who have normal hearing because we have protected ourselves often find everyday social situations to have decibel levels which are physically painful unless we use earplugs. The 30 something instructor of my local spinning class, after years of giving classes where I use earplugs, cannot understand anyone in social situations unless he can see the speaker's lips.

Edit: I am in the acoustical classical world. I think it is morally reprehensible that rock musicians without exception use earplugs to avoid hearing damage from amplification, while their audience suffers irreversible nerve damage to the inner ear.

Edit II: Symphony orchestras worldwide were slow to react to this, but some very high level and expensive lawsuits brought by musicians who sat daily in front of trumpets and and trombones, where 5 minutes of rehearsal was shown to cause permanent hearing damage, have changed the situation. There is not a professional symphony orchestra today which does not take thorough measures, through acrylic screens and seating position, to prevent hearing damage as a work related injury.

 

[Borris]

Welcome to my world, where professional musicians protect their hearing from non-reversible hearing damage. Because we protect our hearing, we have all had occasion to be in social situations where the decibel level is painful to us unless we use earplugs, while non professionals decades younger have no problem. Conclusion: a very broad sector of the population of all ages has a shocking level of permanent hearing damage due to overexposure to amplified concerts and abuse of earphone levels, so that those of us who have normal hearing because we have protected ourselves often find everyday social situations to have decibel levels which are physically painful unless we use earplugs. The 30 something instructor of my local spinning class, after years of giving classes where I use earplugs, cannot understand anyone in social situations unless he can see the speaker's lips.

Edit: I am in the acoustical classical world. I think it is morally reprehensible that rock musicians without exception use earplugs to avoid hearing damage from amplification, while their audience suffers irreversible nerve damage to the inner ear.

Edit II: Symphony orchestras worldwide were slow to react to this, but some very high level and expensive lawsuits brought by musicians who sat daily in front of trumpets and and trombones, where 5 minutes of rehearsal was shown to cause permanent hearing damage, have changed the situation. There is not a professional symphony orchestra today which does not take thorough measures, through acrylic screens and seating position, to prevent hearing damage as a work related injury.

Exactly! Also I suspect a lot of them pedal their noisy rackets while secretly enjoying proper music! Many thanks for your reply. On a lighter note I once just about dozed off during one of our concerts when positioned behind the brass section during some Handel music in the orchestral part!

 

[blondebier]

Tell me about the simple stuff that’s making you happy at the minute.

Having more time on our hands here are 2 of our favourites:

1) Homemade pizzas in our Roccbox





2) Biltong

Last year the kids and I built a biltong box. They love the stuff and it was costing us a fortune.

During lockdown we noticed that there was a surplus of top side and silverside joints appearing in the shops. Perfect cuts for making biltong.



It disappears quite quickly though...



We have been able to try various spice mixes and test drying times.

The boys favourite:



The girls favourite:



Washed down with some real beer.

 

[Karlos]

My Mother in law (My Mum as people would have known me talk about on here, a dear wonderful lady who passed away at the end of 2018), could babble for England.

She loved Jigsaws so every time she visited I would buy her one to keep her quiet. The only trouble was even with failing eyesight she was still brilliant at doing them.

I ended up buying a 3,000 piece one of "Concorde Dashboard", and before giving it to her carefully opened it, removed 10 pieces and sealed it up again. Kept her quiet for ages

I did something similar with a box of Cadburys Heroes one Saturday night, Mrs K had bought several boxes for my daughters teachers brownie leaders that sort of thing.
There I was, sat with a Brandy whilst the ladies had long since retired and I thought some chocolate would be nice with this. I opened the bottom of one of the boxes took out my favourites and glued it back up again.

It soon dawned on me that box would feel much lighter so I had do the same to the others, kept me in secret chocolate for weeks.

 

[soulstyledevon]

@blondebier those pizzas look amazing...

 

[blondebier]

@blondebier those pizzas look amazing...

We got one of their initial release when they were crowdfunding to get their operation off the ground.

I'd rate it as highly as our Weber. It's a quality bit of kit and I'd definitely get another one.

(Grey next time though. Green is a pig to keep clean!)

Roccbox have now rebranded Gozney. See https://www.gozney.com/products/roccbox

 

[Borris]

I did something similar with a box of Cadburys Heroes one Saturday night, Mrs K had bought several boxes for my daughters teachers brownie leaders that sort of thing.
There I was, sat with a Brandy whilst the ladies had long since retired and I thought some chocolate would be nice with this. I opened the bottom of one of the boxes took out my favourites and glued it back up again.

It soon dawned on me that box would feel much lighter so I had do the same to the others, kept me in secret chocolate for weeks.

That puts me in mind of one lunch time on Folkestone Fire station back in the early 1980s. The old hands had a card school going and always played the same game called "Chase the Lady". From memory I believe the lady concerned was the Queen of Spades. Unfortunately, after nearly an hour of play they discovered that someone had removed said card from the deck.

A summary reprisal involving lots of cold water and a change of clothing was rapidly organised.

Years later, during stand down time on a different Fire Station, all my collegues were all glued to the television to watch the footie cup final. Never having appreciated the attractions of the so called "beautiful game" and rarely missing a chance to wind up my mates, I had availed myself of the remote control which I had secreted in my pocket within my hot sticky mitt. Whilst they became engrossed in the excitement of the game I pretended to be dozing in the corner.

Unfortunately, they didn't see one goal of the several scored, due to a mystery fault on the TV. Oddly it always returned to the game immediately after changing channels.

 

[Karlos]

That puts me in mind of one lunch time on Folkestone Fire station back in the early 1980s. The old hands had a card school going and always played the same game called "Chase the Lady". From memory I believe the lady concerned was the Queen of Spades. Unfortunately, after nearly an hour of play they discovered that someone had removed said card from the deck.

A summary reprisal involving lots of cold water and a change of clothing was rapidly organised.

Years later, during stand down time on a different Fire Station, all my collegues were all glued to the television to watch the footie cup final. Never having appreciated the attractions of the so called "beautiful game" and rarely missing a chance to wind up my mates, I had availed myself of the remote control which I had secreted in my pocket within my hot sticky mitt. Whilst they became engrossed in the excitement of the game I pretended to be dozing in the corner.

Unfortunately, they didn't see one goal of the several scored, due to a mystery fault on the TV. Oddly it always returned to the game immediately after changing channels.

Very funny Borris, I daren't even start the tale of my brothers broken cycle, the police, a reporter from the local rag and the generosity of local cycle shop. My mother still doesn't know the truth 45 years on and don't even ask why the local pop factory had to be closed for a deep clean..

 

[Borris]

Very funny Borris, I daren't even start the tale of my brothers broken cycle, the police, a reporter from the local rag and the generosity of local cycle shop. My mother still doesn't know the truth 45 years on and don't even ask why the local pop factory had to be closed for a deep clean..

Oh do tell!

 

[Swiss Cheese]

@sapto Are you guys under the same sort of lockdown over there...?

I'll second what @sapto says... in the Swiss-German part at least most people are obeying the rules pretty well. It must have been the quietest Easter ever at the Gotthard and San Bernadino passes, there was lots of 'encouragement' not to go south, especially to Ticino.
We don't have such a strict lockdown as UK, hence they could not force you to stay home as long as you are observing the guidelines already mentioned. However, many places beside the lakes in populated areas are taped off.

I am enjoying the quiet. It is not anywhere near as noisy as the UK is anyway. No lawn-mowing on Sundays, etc., makes the weekends more peaceful generally. Now it is like that every day pretty much. Less cars. Less planes (we live under the dreaded 'Südanflug Zurich' so we notice this in the morning and evening). The weather has been awesome, so mostly it's BBQ'ing at home time!

 

[Louis II]

Scalextric, amazed it still works after so many years in the garage.

 

[Velma's Dad]

What cars are those? Look like Scooby Imprezas so not such an old Scalextric. My first set had a Bentley 4.5 and an Alfa 8C!

 

[Vagophile]

Very funny Borris, I daren't even start the tale of my brothers broken cycle, the police, a reporter from the local rag and the generosity of local cycle shop. My mother still doesn't know the truth 45 years on and don't even ask why the local pop factory had to be closed for a deep clean..

But now you've started, you've got to finish.

 

[Karlos]

What cars are those? Look like Scooby Imprezas so not such an old Scalextric. My first set had a Bentley 4.5 and an Alfa 8C!

Mini 1275 GT, Escort Mexico and TR7 for me, with margarine on the corners to make them slide. (don't think we could afford butter just a catering size tub of Stork)

 

[Karlos]

But now you've started, you've got to finish.

If I committed those Mr Meaners to type I would end up in the Big House and I'm too pretty for that.

 

[Louis II]

What cars are those? Look like Scooby Imprezas so not such an old Scalextric. My first set had a Bentley 4.5 and an Alfa 8C!

You are spot on, it's maybe 15 years old. My now teenage sons rather than mine. My first was an audi quatro and a porshe 911.

 

[kurienp]

... browsing ... considering buying a bug to tinker with. The challenge is garage space. Maybe I should look for some garage space first

 

[ArunAlec]

For me it’s grinding some coffee and making a stove top espresso, then drinking it in peace and quiet looking down the garden.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Get an old popcorn maker and some green coffee beans, roast them every few days and you can savour the aroma of roasted beans all day!

 

[ThomasHJ]

Seriously,

Should a rainy day ever arrive (an incredible thing to say after the six months September to February) I am investing in jig saw puzzles

I honestly finished 2 1000-pieces puzzles last week. Hand't had the calm to do that in years. ;-)