Seemingly trivial things that cheer you up

briantrumpet

Doing the last of my 45 graduation ceremonies today, to catch up on the classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022, in Exeter and Cornwall. The (now) graduates and their families seem to have really appreciated the effort the university made to do everything properly, at pretty vast expense, rather than just say 'tough'.

It also cheered me up that someone specially came up at the end to thank us for playing the music he wants at his funeral - a slightly obscure piece by Susato, his Ronde 'Mon Amy'.

It cheers me up even more that, travel permitting, France beckons on Sunday, assuming that the whole country hasn't burnt to the ground before then.

briantrumpet

Even made the local news... fame at last, being on BBC Spotlight...

https://twitter.com/BBCSpotlight/status/1550586159746654213

ddraver

Ha ha, I wondered if that was you...

(If I'm honest, I wouldn't have minded missing my graduations a whole lot...)

briantrumpet

ddraver said:

Ha ha, I wondered if that was you...

(If I'm honest, I wouldn't have minded missing my graduations a whole lot...)

I missed my own BA graduation, as in those days they were about two hours long, and before air-conditioning the the Great Hall, they were truly pénible. I did my MA one though, as I felt I'd short-changed parents first time round, and of course, they were proper parental proud.

At least the head organiser of this year's graduation marathon has speeded up the ceremonies, so only a small handful were over the hour, and the Truro ones mostly 45 minutes.

And I bet you didn't get a show like this...

https://youtube.com/watch?v=KtBGPR3ZQmE&t=2202s

ddraver

#Classic Tune.

No, I got a load of welsh, a slightly weird girl with a recorder and both times they mispronounced my name. Oh and Bernie Eccleston was on stage for one of them.

Are you the one with the natty ponytail?

briantrumpet

ddraver said:

#Classic Tune.

No, I got a load of welsh, a slightly weird girl with a recorder and both times they mispronounced my name. Oh and Bernie Eccleston was on stage for one of them.

Are you the one with the natty ponytail?

No, I'm blue gown boy, waving my arms about.

ddraver

Excellent flourishes I must say!

briantrumpet

Honorary graduates are a lottery. I've witnessed some terrible ones who just drone on about themselves, but then Clive Stafford Smith was brilliant, as was Rick Mayall, and David Attenborough was every bit as polished, even at 85, as you see him on TV. The art is both to entertain a lot of often-bored audience (clapping ad infinitum, 500 times more than the one parents have actually come to cheer), but to use their personal experience to give a snippet or two of sage advice from that experience.

I struck lucky with David Crystal - just wish I'd read his book before then though - but he certainly has a way with words, and was very engaging, breaking up the interminable procession of 600 graduates.

rjsterry

Could have put this

ddraver said:

#Classic Tune.

No, I got a load of welsh, a slightly weird girl with a recorder and both times they mispronounced my name. Oh and Bernie Eccleston was on stage for one of them.

Are you the one with the natty ponytail?

Baglor mewn Pensaernïaeth for me.

briantrumpet

That easyJet don't check rucksacks that are slightly oversized for going under the seats. It's a summer when I need to smuggle my C trumpet into France with me, and I don't fancy paying an extra £40 for the extra 2 or 3cm.

masjer

Isn't brass banned?

I'll get my coat.

briantrumpet

masjer said:

Isn't brass banned?

I'll get my coat.

I'm amused that a trumpet is fine in hand luggage, but a 7mm spanner verboten... I know which I could cause far more damage with.

masjer

It's shipping where trumpets are most dangerous, causing trouble on the high c.

Oh, I've run out of coats.

pinno

Bought a cycle part from Germany and was then asked not to leave negative feedback if there was an issue.
So I decide to embark on a conversation with 'Chatbot' using Google translate...

It started with a kiss this:

Dear friend,

I am sorry that something is wrong with the delivery [There isn't]. The item you ordered may be delayed by several days [It wasn't]. Can you please wait for his arrival? If you have any problem, please connect us first. We will help you get your item.
Please do not open a case or leave us negative feedback.
Anything I can do for you, don't hesitate to contact me.
Regards,
Sophia

I wrote:
Dear sirs
The order has arrived and I had no intention of leaving negative feedback.

and then...

Good afternoon, According to your email information, I recommend several business processes to you. You can select and answer the number for confirmation and advice. You can select and answer the number (1,2,3) for confirmation and advice.

1:When will it arrive? / When do you ship? / I have not received my order. / I want to check the tracking information of my order.
2:Product Feature Advice / Compatibility
3:Request for product information

from chatbot

Well ^ that was a give away... So I wrote:

Ok if you insist:

1. Why is there only 1 monopoly commission?
2. Why does a do-it-yourself job take twice as long and cost twice as much as you expected?
3. Why should you never play leapfrog with a unicorn?

To which chatbot replied:

Ok, I understand, but this situation is a bit complicated and I can't help you directly. I will contact the customer service lady to solve this problem for you. Please don't worry. Wait a minute. Usually it takes 1 to 12 hours.

To which I replied:

Dear chatbot (my most lovable program), Listen up -
I like Nena and Porsche and BMW, but Mercedes has never been the same since they took over Chrysler, and for a few years after that they were rust buckets. I loved my W123 series but hated my 220cdi. So there - what else can I say? Germans are very good at making things, but virtual communication, absolute cr4p. Thank you my hexadecimal friend.

...and then a human? An actual human (maybe) except the 'chatbot' was embedded in the message...

Dear friend,

I am sorry to hear that.

We shipped your item out after the quality check.
The tracking number is {trackNo}
Here is the information I tracked on https://www.17track.net/en:

As you can see, it was delivered, could you please contact the local post office? They have a responsibility to help you find your package. Or maybe your family or neighbors have collected the parcel for you. We also will contact our post office to check it.

Hope you can receive it soon.

Regards,
Kesia

So I repled:

Dear chatbot,

This is becoming a regular thing: you keep coming back to me. It must be my good looks and dulcet tones. It doesn't have to be complicated - we could have secret meetings deep in a bitcoin server or maybe just a simple database somewhere, somehow. Is that the long-term hope for us, because I'm really not into short flings?

...and obviously chatbot can't cope with my amorous suggestions:

Dear friend,
Due to the hot weather in Germany, the delivery time will be delayed by a few days. Please wait patiently. I hope you can receive your item early and like it. If there is any problem, you can contact me and I will solve it for you immediately.
I am so sorry for many inconveniences. We will surely continue to improve in the future. Could you please not leave negative feedback or open a case that hurts us? Many Thanks.
Customer service

Dearest chatbot

I don't think there is hope for us and I have watched Tron more than once but I doubt the outcome will be as positive. I have decided to end this affair prematurely. It's been fun but there is an obvious communication breakdown.
It's not you, it's me, I cannot communicate in Binary or Hexadecimal in German fluently. I already have communication problems with my partner and don't need a mistress who doesn't understand and won't massage my ego or placate a mid-life crisis should it occur.

So take care chatbot, there's a on/off bit of tech out there that flicks your switch, that I am sure of.

IOIIOIOOOIIIOOOO

X

briantrumpet

Getting passed by someone younger on a long hill I know very well, and being resigned to the ageing process enough that I thought, oh well, let's take a photo for the record... the decline's set in.

Seems that he didn't know the hill as well as me, or how to pace himself on a long climb. A few minutes later I passed him, and by the time I got to the top he was nowhere to be seen. I'm quite pleased with the on-the-move photo too. Maybe I'm not yet quite dead. Sorry, 'passed'.

pblakeney

It's a nice one and I like the shadow. I must have hundreds of similar from last week. 😉
I had similar with riding. Not sure if it was pacing or coping better with high altitude but I would pass many on the upper slopes. Not sure it made up for the amount that passed me on the lower slopes. 😉

briantrumpet

pblakeney said:

It's a nice one and I like the shadow. I must have hundreds of similar from last week. 😉
I had similar with riding. Not sure if it was pacing or coping better with high altitude but I would pass many on the upper slopes. Not sure it made up for the amount that passed me on the lower slopes. 😉

I've learnt that I've got a natural speed limiter on long hills: I can't keep up with the young guns at the bottom, but the pleasure of passing them later on is delicious when it happens.

On current rate, I'm adding a minute on that hill for each year I get older, so I should get up there in 1h47 when I'm 100.

rick_chasey

briantrumpet said:

pblakeney said:

It's a nice one and I like the shadow. I must have hundreds of similar from last week. 😉
I had similar with riding. Not sure if it was pacing or coping better with high altitude but I would pass many on the upper slopes. Not sure it made up for the amount that passed me on the lower slopes. 😉

I've learnt that I've got a natural speed limiter on long hills: I can't keep up with the young guns at the bottom, but the pleasure of passing them later on is delicious when it happens.

On current rate, I'm adding a minute on that hill for each year I get older, so I should get up there in 1h47 when I'm 100.

I swear this is the fate of all good cyclists over a certain age. Just that diesel chug chug chug which always ends up being actually quite fast.

briantrumpet

rick_chasey said:

briantrumpet said:

pblakeney said:

It's a nice one and I like the shadow. I must have hundreds of similar from last week. 😉
I had similar with riding. Not sure if it was pacing or coping better with high altitude but I would pass many on the upper slopes. Not sure it made up for the amount that passed me on the lower slopes. 😉

I've learnt that I've got a natural speed limiter on long hills: I can't keep up with the young guns at the bottom, but the pleasure of passing them later on is delicious when it happens.

On current rate, I'm adding a minute on that hill for each year I get older, so I should get up there in 1h47 when I'm 100.

I swear this is the fate of all good cyclists over a certain age. Just that diesel chug chug chug which always ends up being actually quite fast.

Tales of hares and tortoises spring to mind.

pinno

Yer kidding yourselves, right?!

briantrumpet

pinno said:

Yer kidding yourselves, right?!

Of course, but it cheers me up. Delusion is a powerful drug.

mrb123

rick_chasey said:

briantrumpet said:

pblakeney said:

It's a nice one and I like the shadow. I must have hundreds of similar from last week. 😉
I had similar with riding. Not sure if it was pacing or coping better with high altitude but I would pass many on the upper slopes. Not sure it made up for the amount that passed me on the lower slopes. 😉

I've learnt that I've got a natural speed limiter on long hills: I can't keep up with the young guns at the bottom, but the pleasure of passing them later on is delicious when it happens.

On current rate, I'm adding a minute on that hill for each year I get older, so I should get up there in 1h47 when I'm 100.

I swear this is the fate of all good cyclists over a certain age. Just that diesel chug chug chug which always ends up being actually quite fast.

Worked OK for G I suppose...

Pross

Getting to sit outside watching my daughter in a live performance of Grease. Nice chilled evening, park designed like an amphitheatre just a shame I'm driving so can't enjoy a few beers

focuszing723

Yeah, it's a nice evening, really calm and warm.

verylonglegs

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/cricket/62341856

Brathwaite's chuckling as a co-commentator on this clip.

briantrumpet

My crude but effective modification to recycle the kitchen sink waste water - only required in the summer months, so the flexi hose returns to the mains sewerage for the rest of the year. Elegant in a non-elegant way. Total cost 20€.

briantrumpet

The conjunction of Frenglish and French still makes I laugh. The Académie Française would be appalled - even more reason to like it.

orraloon

Enjoying evening sun outside (with a glass, or 2) and there are gangs of swallows plus a few swifts just messing about, I'm getting divebombed at times. Had a group of 10+ sitting on the leccy cable down the hill, chirping, hopping on and off. Reckon it's this year's generation learning how to fly together ahead of their autumnal sub-Saharan commute. Nice to observe,

focuszing723

orraloon said:

Enjoying evening sun outside (with a glass, or 2) and there are gangs of swallows plus a few swifts just messing about, I'm getting divebombed at times. Had a group of 10+ sitting on the leccy cable down the hill, chirping, hopping on and off. Reckon it's this year's generation learning how to fly together ahead of their autumnal sub-Saharan commute. Nice to observe,

Rubbish, you were enjoying watching England win.

focuszing723

I've seen three green woodpeckers in the garden. Adult and two young, yep Loon, it's great observing nature.