Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

maryb wrote: »

Nah, Buggalugs is a carefree cat , if he fancies taking off he just does

He is a she.

daz278

Craigy so sorry for your loss , we have had many family pet over the years and it never gets easier losing them..........Just had windows 10 imposed on me and it ok ....except its turned off my Zonealarm firewall that i pay for.......i have one 2 seater leather choc coloured sofa and waiting 1 choc leather chair to be delivered so if see the similiar choc leather chair in heart foundation for 75 quid will be a cheap way to complete the suite.....difficult working in this hot weather

take care

milasavesmoney

Howling at Bob!

For the longest time, after I started reading MSE, I thought you all ate a boatload full of pudding: a dessert of creamy consistency. I think you say custard for this???
It finally dawned on me that your usage of pudding is what we call dessert. :beer:
Other terms I had to suss out were chuffed, faffed and chazzar. There are many more and it has been such a pleasure to learn and keep learning the words. Nuance is a different matter.:eek::rotfl:

Sadness for your loss Craigy. But 17 yrs! Amazing!! What great care he had.

I'm confused as to why you are voting by postal ballots. Do you also have polls open to vote at on the 23rd. We have absentee postal ballots, early voting, and election day (voting at the polls by machine)...perhaps we over do things a bit...:cool:
It seems to me that paper ballots that are mailed (an Americanism:)) could seriously be the target of voter fraud.

boultdj

There's a mixture of reasons for postal votes, in my case it was down to looking after elderly parent's,disabled OH,work and living in the middle of no-where, some people are house bound, but we also have polling stations, the one nearest to me this time is in a church, schools are also used, and yes it is a worry about fraud.

GreyQueen

Morning all.

mila, I work for one of the English councils (local authorities). It is we who organise elections on behalf of central government under strict laws laid down by legislation.

The default expectation is that voters vote in person at a designated polling station in their neighbourhood. You register to vote by a certain deadline and your name is added to the electoral roll. This means that a few weeks prior to an election, you get mailed a white card a bit bigger than a postcard, with your name and address and details of your polling station.

You don't need to present the card to the polling clerk on election day in order to vote (but most people think you do and panic if they haven't had their polling card) , you just need to identify yourself to them when you visit. They scan for your name on a list, cross it off, and read a number to the polling clerk sitting next to them, who hands you your numbered ballot paper.

You then retreat to a plywood booth and mark your X in the spot, exit and drop your ballot into a sealed metal trunk and off you go.

If you don't want to go to a polling station in person, for whatever reason, you can apply to be a postal voter. You have to sign a declaration so that the elections office at the council has a specimen of your signature. Your postal ballot comes in two parts; another declaration with your signature and date of birth, which is compared with the one on file on receipt of your returned postal ballot, and the ballot itself inside a sealed envelope which is put aside for counting. Your declaration is also in a sealed envelope, and both of them go in a third envelope for mailing or hand-delivering.

The first batch of postal ballots went out on 1st June and can be returned any time up until close of the council office on election day or, if in the evening, to the polling station you would have used had you been voting in person. There are various batches of mailouts going on various dates; they are printed by external companies and have to be very tightly controlled, which is why this extension of the registration date is such a palaver.:mad:

Each ballot, whether in person or postal, can be linked exactly by a number to an individual, so electoral fraud isn't all that common.

There is a third option, much less commonly exercised, called proxy voting. The deadline to have a proxy vote for you in the EU referendum is to apply by 15th June.

Once the polls have closed, the sealed ballot boxes are taken to a collective point for counting. The people doing the count will be a mixture of council officers and civilians. All will have had special training. The count will start immediately for parliamentary and local elections and the result be declared asap, usually in the wee small hours. Policitians and the media will normally be hovering waiting on the result.

I don't think the political classes and journos will be getting much kip on 23rd-24th June 2016.

VJsmum

I worked with an Australian who was in hysterics when she found out we had a Sunday joint :rotfl:

And that Thomas the tank was, in fact, an engine and not rhyming slang :eek:

I've taught Americans who struggled with "fortnight" and "on yer bike". But they were the only ones in my class allowed to say skedule.

My OH has done his postal vote (for complicated reasons he votes in Wales, and can't get there) but, though I have registered, mine hasn't come through yet. Should it have? I will be at Glastonbury.:j

GreyQueen

VJs Mum, call your council asap. They will have a mailing date for your ballot and it may or may not have had time to reach you yet. Let them know when you leave for Glasto. If a postal ballot hasn't arrived, you can go in person to the council offices (has to be in person) and they can get you another one, but it can only be done up until election date. You'd be doing your declaration at the council offices IYSWIM. This is to prevent fraud.

If you're a postal voter, you cannot vote in person at the polling station, so it's important to chase the non-arrival of the ballot. HTH.

mrs-moneypenny

Morning all.
Made my flag dress yesterday afternoon it looks more than slightly over he top. Ds1 actually thought I'd made it to wear to do my referendum vote in.

Wasn't impressed with the itv referendum programme last night.

GQ What digs up runner beans please? Something has been at my grow bags and flicked all the compost out from around the roots of them. Our garden is quite secure so the only thing we get in is an occasional cat and loads of birds. We have an annoying pair of resident wood pigeons and all the usual garden birds.

GreyQueen

I'd wondered as sometimes something had gone to a fair bit of trouble to dig up a few of my runners on the allotment but I never knew what it was.

Dad caught one of the cyrils (cyril the squirrel) digging up his. I also suspect jays - they definately plant nuts underground for later consumption so are well-capable of excavations.

The folks had a real laff a couple of days ago as the cyrils frequenting their back yard have two youngsters. One of them was attempting to master the art of looting the bird feeder of its peanuts and took a major pratfall - went 5 ft down and lay stunned on the grass for a few seconds as it recovered. Doesn't seem to have taken any permanant harm.

mrs-moneypenny

I'm out today but I'll try and watch who's about if it happens again. Never ever seen a squirrel this far into the estate.
Had a blackbird fledgling fly in through a window yesterday, sat chirping for its parents in the lounge totally ignoring the one door I'd offered it. They were calling out in the garden. In the end I had to stealth up on it and gently make a grab. Calmed it down took it to the door and watched it fly off part way down the garden then do a crash landing on the lawn with about 2 feet of rolls on the end. It sat there for a while but parents soon came over and led it of to the feeders.
My woodies are bullies and peck the other bird that try to get on the few if they are there and I've shifted the angles round so that all the woodies can really get is water the dishes and hangers are posited so they can't feed from them so they sit in the water bowl and peck any little birds who us the feeder then eat off the floor what gets dropped.

Preparing for dd3s wedding next year by growing loads of flowers as a practise run for her table vases next summer. Never grown gerberas before and they are her fave so I've got a bed of those in.