Today I acquired...........

[knighty]

Possibly not hayfever but, sinus irritation from all the crap that gets up there..

Sudafed/boots decongestant pseudoephedrine works very well for me when I get it. One of the few medicines worth having in cupboard.

I get the same thing every year in the summer, I'm ok in the winter :-(

 

[Fiji]

Interesting, the talk of allergies, my wife (Fijian / Indian), was always fine while in Fiji, moved to New Zealand in 2006 and was fine for about 3 years then as since developed an intolerance to dairy and gluten, also as hay fever. She knows of several other people from Fiji, India and Thailand who have all had same problems and we're sure it's because of all the chemicals used over here. She also as to make sure chicken is free range, again to avoid all the crap that they pump into them, mind you I get free range on principle anyway.

 

[Pete.]

Interesting, the talk of allergies, my wife (Fijian / Indian), was always fine while in Fiji, moved to New Zealand in 2006 and was fine for about 3 years then as since developed an intolerance to dairy and gluten, also as hay fever. She knows of several other people from Fiji, India and Thailand who have all had same problems and we're sure it's because of all the chemicals used over here. She also as to make sure chicken is free range, again to avoid all the crap that they pump into them, mind you I get free range on principle anyway.

Might be a lot more simple than that, like something natural to the environment that's caused a change in her. We had a dog which was suffering all manner of skin problems. Always scratching and chewing her back we spent a fortune at the vets and medicated shampoos etc but nothing helped.

Then we laid a new path in the garden, dug up the rough lawn and re-turfed it. Dog was cured of her irritation almost overnight. Something that was growing in the garden was really irritating her.

 

[Mick Annick]

Is that because I am 6' 3" and wear a dress?
View attachment 351189

Now I don’t feel so embarrassed about the photo of me in my bowler hat

 

[Brad93]

Might be a lot more simple than that, like something natural to the environment that's caused a change in her. We had a dog which was suffering all manner of skin problems. Always scratching and chewing her back we spent a fortune at the vets and medicated shampoos etc but nothing helped.

Then we laid a new path in the garden, dug up the rough lawn and re-turfed it. Dog was cured of her irritation almost overnight. Something that was growing in the garden was really irritating her.

Our terrier had an allergy to a certain type of grass

 

[Bullet2012]

Is that because I am 6' 3" and wear a dress?
View attachment 351189

That’s not a dress . It’s only a skirt !

 

[25.4_mechanic]

To give the serious answer, it's not economically viable for couriers.
Royal Mail has to provide the universal service for a fixed fee, but I'd be pretty sure they'll lose money collecting/delivering within the area, but it's subsidised by the rest of the country.

Couriers on the other hand don't have to provide a universal service, and as they're very much commercially driven, they're not going to deliver a few parcels for several hours worth of driving.

As for companies that refuse to use Royal Mail, it could be down to various reasons.
From a purely commercial perspective, I'd guess Highlands and Islands makes up a lot less than 5% of the UK population (I'd probably even guess less than 1%,) 0.7% of the UK population (going by a quick google, which puts H&I population at 470'000)
For most companies, altering procedures for what is likely to be an insignificant percentage of potential orders, isn't going to be worthwhile.

It might sound harsh, but it's the commercial reality.

Thank you for the figures and explanations.

As for RoyalMail, I thought something like this, Brenda's postal service is by decree applicable to all subjects at home - so it is with our postal service "DeutschePost/DHL".

One difference here could be that via licensing there are either only local or national providers and national is then also postivley everywhere on the mainland, but I don't know exactly.

What I noticed with sales offers are islands that are excluded or served at an increased rate.
Sometimes I have also seen that individual postcodes or areas are excluded - until now I had simply assumed that they were islands, but I will pay closer attention to this.

This is what I found about the population density of our two countries, we are number 8 in Europe, I think you are number 3.

The royal mail get a lot of flack but the amount of stuff they handle is enormous, they can be a bit restricted on parcel sizes though, I send stuff all over the world and it's not always as simple as folks think, if you get really stuck I'm happy to send stuff over

In the blissful pre-Brexit days, the choice was always very easy: RoyalMail, fast, safe, not too expensive, reasonably adequate tracking - now the 2kg limit is annoying and two RM shipments on their way to me have been stuck for a while too long now ....


Carsten

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[Farside]

Posties dropped in a flyer the other day apparently they now do parcel puck up too

Taking business from DPD, who specialise in pucking up parcels.

 

[Bki26]

Ahh, the old "Doesn't post to Scottish Highlands".....

Even better when they think the Highlands are Glasgow... Had that before lol

 

[Bki26]

What is it with the "Doesn't post to Scottish Highlands" .....?
I understand it a bit with the islands, you have to change the means of transport, but Scottish Highlands ....

I always fantasise about wild bears, rabid badgers the size of shirehorses, sabre-toothed tigers and blue-faced man-eaters armed with two-handed swords -
no paths, only bogs, etc. .... It can't be like that any more, can it?



Carsten

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Its just rain rain more rain and impressive views, I'll take some pics if I see anything good on my way to a fishing away competition next month here - ttps://maps.app.goo.gl/mR7cXu7ZTguozYJX A

 

[Bki26]

btw.: how does that work out on your bike?

Very shrunken I suspect

 

[Sergei Slovenija]

Found in Germany inexpensively. German local ebay, this is the Klondike.

 

[Rannsachair]

sensitive souls could be really unsettled by this


btw.: how does that work out on your bike?

My grandfather ran a Douglas...

 

[Munkul]

That would be a bit chilly if you wear the Kilt in the traditional fashion...

 

[25.4_mechanic]

My grandfather ran a Douglas...

Very shrunken I suspect

Brave man ... those were the days ... everything was made of wood ...

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

A few skips to investigate.

First skip, a industrail estate.

A gas nozzle, a tap re-seater, a metal funnel and dead saw setter.

Two tins, there were more, but I could not get them. I only had permission to lift and not get in.

The Gramaphone needles are new.

What the others are for, I know not yet.

Oh yes I got @Parm a thing.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

The other skip was in a service yard of a shopping complex.

Odd how things jump out and into my van.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

there were more, but I could not get them. I only had permission to lift and not get in.

I'm surprised you're not equipped for all contingencies....

 

[Richiew]

Yep. Needs magnet fishing kit in the van in future.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Yep. Needs magnet fishing kit in the van in future.

If he gets one strong enough he'll need to keep it in a wooden box, if it attaches itself to the van metal he'll never get it off....