The Night Mail

[BoD]

7 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

After the success of following the book :'Salmon fishing in the Yemen', Telford Anglers Group decided to imitate the the sequel, 'Crab fishing in North Shropshire.'

 

Having heard about this expedition yesterday evening, I thought it wise to give Hunt Towers a call on the secure blower to warn him off.

 

Without wishing to spoil Dave's serialised memoirs which he will be writing when he gets back to TNM, both he and Jill are now on the mend after their surprise visit by Covid 19.  Unfortunately, Dave's Dad, who was staying with them at the time, took a bit of a tumble and ended up in hospital at Shrewsbury where he contracted Pneumonia.  This has been cleared up, but at 99 years old, it's left him very weak.

 

Dave seems to have the Black Dog secured, albeit in a cage outside the kennel at present, but is pretty confident it won't be able to jump the fence any time soon.

 

I took the liberty of passing on to Dave, the best wishes of everybody on TNM, which he appreciated.

 

He did say he was hoping to resume contributing on here again in the not too distant future.

 

 

 

There’s not one particular button to respond to that. So… thanks, informative, supportive, like…..  

… you get the picture.

[polybear]

Bear's VVSBT's to AVM Hunt, Sqdn. Ldr. Hunt ( @Dave Hunt ) and the Base Commander (a.k.a. SWMBO).

May the cake come in copious quantities - Bear will turn a blind eye.  Just this once....

[Oldddudders]

Have you ever wondered why Bluetooth is called Bluetooth? No, me neither, or not for long, anyway. And the IT community specialises in stupid names for things (podcast comes to mind) so this was just another - until Wednesday. That afternoon, Sherry and I attended the social arm of the theatre club, where octogenarian Jim, whose grandmother was a Dane, did a presentation about a C10th King of Denmark, Harald Bluetooth. Yes, he really did have a blue front tooth - but, importantly, he pulled together various bits of Denmark (and a few bits of Sweden) to make one nation. It was this that led to someone in the late '90s coming up with the name - Bluetooth enables disparate bits of kit to communicate with each other wirelessly. Oh, and at the end, Jim produced a family tree that showed he is directly descended from said King - but points out that this applies to many other Danes, that nation not having very many people. Implausibly, in an audience of rather less than 20, one lady also claimed distant Danish heritage on the same page!

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Have you ever wondered why Bluetooth is called Bluetooth?

I did actually know this. I wish I were able to recall really important stuff like how to do maths but I do seem to be able to recall stuff like the origin of Bluetooth. If I were more sociable (and not rather immunosuppressed) I would probably enjoy pub quizzes. 

[BSW01]

And fir those who don't know, the Bluetooth icon is the runic symbol for Bluetooth. 

[Compound2632]

19 minutes ago, BSW01 said:

the Bluetooth icon is the runic symbol for Bluetooth. 

 

Which is surprising, since the technology wasn't available in 11th century Denmark.

[SM42]

Well the car looks very full. 

 

Just one small bag of odds and ends,  travel documents and nibbles for the trip to pack

 

It is at this point that Mrs SM42, despite the numerous reminders to get everything ready says " have you packed my clothes? They are on the sofa" 

 

 "**%$#=%^"

 

There's always the back seat.  What's left. 

 

One day we will travel light.

 

Andy

[Tony_S]

Playing with video again!

First  complete run on restored track. Needs a few lumps removing still but definitely a good start. 

[TheQ]

Our accommodations in Saudi were fitted with that American washing machine dryer vertical combination.. very useful.

 

Down in the mobile home is a washing machine I bought in the RAF, over 40 years ago.

Being single you either use the camp laundry which your clothing disappeared into for a week. Or the onsite launderette. Except the tiny stations I was on didn't have them. Airmen were only issued with 4 uniform shirts, so you couldn't afford to loose them for a week...

 

So I bought a mini sink top washing machine, mostly plastic, it's a top loader, with a horizontal turning drum and hatch. The power controls and motor are in the hinged top. 

It's small enough to fit into the bottom of a standard military wardrobe, where it lived between use.

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by TheQ

[TheQ]

1 hour ago, BSW01 said:

And fir those who don't know, the Bluetooth icon is the runic symbol for Bluetooth. 

To quote steptoe...

 

Harald!!!!

[Happy Hippo]

35 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Our accommodations in Saudi were fitted with that American washing machine dryer vertical combination.. very useful.

 

Down in the mobile home is a washing machine I bought in the RAF, over 40 years ago.

Being single you either use the camp laundry which your clothing disappeared into for a week. Or the onsite launderette. Except the tiny stations I was on didn't have them. Airmen were only issued with 4 uniform shirts, so you couldn't afford to loose them for a week...

 

So I bought a mini sink top washing machine, mostly plastic, it's a top loader, with a horizontal turning drum and hatch. The power controls and motor are in the hinged top. 

It's small enough to fit into the bottom of a standard military wardrobe, where it lived between use.

 

 

 

I had the hand operated version.

 

It now lives in the shed next to the workshop.  It contains my dilute sulphuric acid pickle for silver soldering jobs.

 

On another aspect of the thread, I'd always thought the Bluetooth was a heritage railway in the south east.

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, SM42 said:

Well the car looks very full. 

 

Just one small bag of odds and ends,  travel documents and nibbles for the trip to pack

 

It is at this point that Mrs SM42, despite the numerous reminders to get everything ready says " have you packed my clothes? They are on the sofa" 

 

 "**%$#=%^"

 

There's always the back seat.  What's left. 

 

One day we will travel light.

 

Andy

Have you thought about buying a lwb sprinter van?

 

Although any hope of travelling light would then, by necessity, have gone right out of the window.

 

Your good lady would be able to pretend that she was on a cruise liner off to places afar and exotic, with the luggage, hiding discretely behind the front bulkhead, giving the impression of having 'Gone on ahead'.

 

At your destination, the porter/bellhop/second footman (ie you) whips it all out of the back, and gets it unpacked into various wardrobes and chests of drawers.

 

Of course, this does remind me of my early trainspotting trips with my late father:  I would point at the engine and his valet would record the number for me in my Ian Allan combined volume.

[polybear]

9 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Have you thought about buying a lwb sprinter van?

 

 

It's a well-known fact that SWMBO's fill the available space - plus a fair bit extra.

[Happy Hippo]

14 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

It's a well-known fact that SWMBO's fill the available space - plus a fair bit extra.

That's what the roof rack comes in handy for.

 

[PhilJ W]

19 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

It's a well-known fact that SWMBO's fill the available space - plus a fair bit extra.

They start young, I saw a mother and daughter (about 10 years old) going on holiday, both were pulling wheeled suitcases. The young girls suitcase was nearly as big as she was and about twice the size of her mothers.

[AndyID]

13 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

That's what the roof rack comes in handy for.

 

 

The question is who will be traveling on the roof rack?

[SM42]

36 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Have you thought about buying a lwb sprinter van?

 

Although any hope of travelling light would then, by necessity, have gone right out of the window.

 

Your good lady would be able to pretend that she was on a cruise liner 

 

Van. 

Good idea. More room for trains.

 

Bad idea. There are limits at customs now

 

Travelling light doesn't even happen when it involves using one of Airbus's products.

Even a 32kg bag limit with 10kg hand luggage was not enough. 

 

Mrs SM42 doesn't do boats. 

 

Something about privacy and using the thunderbox

 

I've estimated we have the equivalent weight of two stout adults in the car in addition to the two stout adults that are we.

 

Part of that is made up of an H0 loco and container wagon. 👍

 

Andy

[Tony_S]

10 minutes ago, SM42 said:

Even a 32kg bag limit with 10kg hand luggage was not enough. 

 

Mrs SM42 doesn't do boats

She might enjoy a cruise ship departing and returning to somewhere like Southampton. As long as each bag doesn’t weigh more than 20 or 23 kg you can take as many as you like on the ships we have been on. 

[Tony_S]

This isn’t for the precision modellers I suspect but I really am rather pleased that some of the remains of my old 009 layout from last century will now be incorporated in a new layout. Nearly all the scenic stuff has disappeared and I can’t work out what I thought I was doing with the wiring back then. 

The use of mdf probably dates it. The pink foam is modern and recently attached. 

[SM42]

14 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

She might enjoy a cruise ship departing and returning to somewhere like Southampton. As long as each bag doesn’t weigh more than 20 or 23 kg you can take as many as you like on the ships we have been on. 

 

It was hard enough  to get her on the Raasay ferry. 

 

Anything that involves more than a couple of hours or staying overnight is out. 

 

She is quite keen on a day boat on the Llangollen canal though. 

 

I think it's because it's never far from land even if at one point there is quite a vertical separation. 

 

Boating holidays are not her thing.

 

Which is a shame as I quite enjoyed those I've been on.  Not sure my liver did though.

 

Andy

[polybear]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

That's what the roof rack comes in handy for.

 

 

But doesn't the roof rack count as part of "the available space"?

[Happy Hippo]

It's only a week to go before my excursion to North Wales.

 

This afternoon will see the start of  the ritual sacrifices in the garden to honour the Gogledd weather gods in order to mitigate the effects of too much liquid sunshine in the area.

 

I also need to decide what  railway modelling kit I ought to take with me.

[br2975]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

This afternoon will see the start of  the ritual sacrifices in the garden to honour the Gogledd weather gods in order to mitigate the effects of too much liquid sunshine in the area.

 

"Beware of the Gogs"

.

Remember, up there,  a 'Mars Bar' (you and I) ranks lower than the 'saes' .

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, br2975 said:

 

"Beware of the Gogs"

.

Remember, up there,  a 'Mars Bar' (you and I) ranks lower than the 'saes' .

Fortunately I am accompanying a Gog, so I bask in her reflected glory.

[SM42]

Home at last

 

921.2 miles in 15hrs 57 mins.

 

Got lucky at the tunnel and got a crossing an hour earlier than booked then got on the one 40 minutes before that.  Last car on. 6 empty carriages behind

 

Beer is now open

 

Andy