The Night Mail

[Happy Hippo]

In much more exciting news, Gordon came over for Trayne Klubb, and spent most of the non tea drinking time cleaning all the paint off the tops of the rails.  This had been deposited when the rail sides and chairs had been painted.

 

It is now up to me to polish the rail heads with a stiff felt burr and some jeweller's rouge.  whilst he was slaving away, I finished the painting of the final set of parapet walls and made up all the cross braces for the girders and fitted them in place.

 

Although only one girder per span is visible, there are a further three I beams that are hidden from view.

 

Two of which support the rear edge of the parapets and  the remaining four are there to support the bed of the roadway.

 

We also cut the foam to size for the retaining wall that will hide the control panel from the viewing side.

 

It's now time to move the board back to the garage so that we can connect it to it's sister, and fit the control panel in place.

 

This will also give us an excuse to run some trains.

 

All in all a good morning work.

 

 

 

 

[Tony_S]

24 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

in all a good morning work

I have been relatively idle in comparison.

Made myself presentable, ate toast and drove over to Enfield. Aditi’s sister normally goes shopping with MiL on Thursdays but she is still isolating for three days of negative tests after learning that the person they had been staying with in Delhi had tested positive for Covid. I know they don’t legally need to isolate now but she and her husband are being extra careful as MiL is very vulnerable. The cousin is convinced he caught Covid in the  chauffeured car the Government insist on sending for him. He insists on living in his own home, they insist in that case on him not driving himself. He didn’t know he had Covid until he got a positive test that he had to do before meeting Prime Minister Modi.

So far at least at MiLs I have investigated her microwave to see how big it is. It still works but she can’t reach it now, it is a built in model and MiL had shrunk with age and reaching into it had become risky. We are going to get a worktop replacement but need to check it is big enough. I also put the freezer tray back. MiL had defrosted it but it wouldn’t go back. It does now. We may see Aditi’s sister this afternoon if she releases herself from quarantine!
Tony

 

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

In the 1980s I used to manufacture 7mm locomotive kits under the name of Pilgrim Models, the last ones I produced being in 1987. Last year at Warley I met a chap who said he was in the process of building one. My breakdown crane that I built last year based on a D&S kit was bought for me as a birthday present in 1997 so that seems  quite rapid really. 

 

Dave

 

Bear Googled Pilgrim Models and this was the very first result under images.........

 

 

There were rather a lot more similar examples.....

 

Insofar as the word "woke" is concerned, whenever I hear it used I immediately switch off - I find it's often used by those who fit the phrase "If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullsh1t"

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

There also seems to be the tendency to place people into rigid categories of political, economic and sociological thought rather than accepting that many, or even possibly most, people have views that are wide reaching. In my lifetime I have voted at General Elections for all of the major political parties based on whether I like the majority of their stated policies, bearing in mind that I don't think there has ever been an instance when I totally agreed with everything in a particular manifesto so I suppose it could be seen as an attempted damage limitation exercise. The fact that I have frequently been disillusioned shortly after whichever group gained power is another matter. In local elections I vote for whoever seems to offer the best solution to local issues irrespective of their stated party or independence. Hence if anyone ever asks me which party I vote for I simply say, "All of them, some of them or none of them - it all depends." Sadly, this seems increasingly the minority standpoint and it is becoming more prevalent to be identified with a particular group whatever their policies or track record.

 

Dave 

 

I would put forward the suggestion that this unwillingness to accept that people might have a different point of view or even be willing to discuss differences has coincided with the rise of social media. Where everything is extremely fast leaving no time for thought on whether what is under discussion is something worthwhile. Sound for sounds sake rather enjoying the sound.

[Compound2632]

18 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

I would put forward the suggestion that this unwillingness to accept that people might have a different point of view or even be willing to discuss differences has coincided with the rise of social media. Where everything is extremely fast leaving no time for thought on whether what is under discussion is something worthwhile. Sound for sounds sake rather enjoying the sound.

 

Present social medium and company excepted, you would say.

[Dave Hunt]

Absolutely. As we all know, we are the good guys.

 

Dave

[BoD]

1 minute ago, Dave Hunt said:

Absolutely. As we all know, we are the good guys.

 

Dave

Well some of you are …..   🤔

[Dave Hunt]

22 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

I would put forward the suggestion that this unwillingness to accept that people might have a different point of view or even be willing to discuss differences has coincided with the rise of social media. Where everything is extremely fast leaving no time for thought on whether what is under discussion is something worthwhile. Sound for sounds sake rather enjoying the sound.

 

Whist I accept that soshal meeja sorry, I forgot that I wasn't going to try trendy any more, social media may well have compounded the problem, I think that it started before that - probably in the 1980s.

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

Just now, BoD said:

Well some of you are …..   🤔

 

Yes, I was forgetting the GWR lot 😋

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

I've just realised I'm no longer sinister, only siniste!

[Happy Hippo]

 

Now in Poland!

 

I am likely to achieve world domination without even firing a shot🤣.

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Whist I accept that soshal meeja sorry, I forgot that I wasn't going to try trendy any more, social media may well have compounded the problem, I think that it started before that - probably in the 1980s.

 

Dave

Social media certainly made the spread of “alternative” viewpoints easier. Also it makes it easier for previously sensible broadcasters to find a “balanced” viewpoint commentator, allowing complete outliers in the rationality spectrum to have equal time with well qualified experienced commentators.  

[Canal Digger]

17 hours ago, polybear said:

19 hours ago, Northmoor said:

I was very pleased to go to Uni (Poly when I arrived) and made some life-long friends, but I've often said that at no point in my life have I met a higher proportion of genuinely stupid people, as I did in Higher Education.  I was far from a top student - many found study easier than I did - but I could never believe how little so many students knew about how the world worked.  There were a lot who seemed to be getting a degree in something - Business Studies was a typical "It'll be useful" course - but seemed unaware of news and current affairs, didn't know where anywhere in Britain other than Liverpool and their home town/city was, etc.  They were interested in completing their course and socialising, nothing else.  That was three decades ago but I suspect it is even more the case now, that many thousands go to Uni because it allows them to put off making a decision about their lives and taking true responsibility for themselves, for at least three years.

Expand  

 

I really do wonder just how many of them give serious thought to what they want to do after Uni - and what qualifications will be required to do that.  I suspect a good proportion pick a course "because it's easy" or because they're interested in it (which is a very good reason in one respect) but haven't thought thru' the job prospects afterwards - doing a Degree in Palaeontology cos' you're interested in it is fine, but don't expect vacancies to be growing on trees when you graduate....

As a father (who only got to C&G/ BTEC level) of a daughter who did a 4 year (3rd year in US) American Studies course, I formed the opinion that such courses were only designed to give prospective employers, a demonstration that the student could take in information and regurgitate it. They had to read books/ listen to lecturers etc with varying opinions and then write an essay or thesis about that topic, ie understand what they were being taught, form their own opinion and make a case for .... . The real test being, to make a case for something that you don't believe in, hard work, so you need to know topic inside out and back to front.

After all what use is a History Degree, other than getting a position teaching history, Maths, Science,Engineering etc very different.

[Compound2632]

10 minutes ago, Canal Digger said:

After all what use is a History Degree, other than getting a position teaching history, Maths, Science,Engineering etc very different.

 

No, not at all. If you take that line, then degrees in maths, science, or engineering are only useful if you want to get a position doing maths, science, or engineering.

 

Very few 17-year-olds really have a strongly focused idea of what they want to do with their lives, or, really, enough information to know. By the time they are 21 they may have a better idea.

 

As to the utility of a history degree, we'd be in a much better place if everyone did one. 

[newbryford]

36 minutes ago, Canal Digger said:

 

After all what use is a History Degree, other than getting a position teaching history, Maths, Science,Engineering etc very different.

 

What do you say to someone who has a philosphy degree?

 

"Big Mac and fries please..............."

 

And that's a joke in case it offends anyone......

[PMP]

48 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

As to the utility of a history degree, we'd be in a much better place if everyone did one. 

Not so sure. It took a crayon chewer (me), to point out that a history grad had written a contract that gave three years airframe spares, and tech support for free with a new aircraft and operator. Prior to that contract being written and signed (ffs), a few of us in product support had questioned why a commercial sales team were recruiting graduates with non relevant degrees into the team. They learned the expensive way.
Nb could have been any non relevant degree/experience, just that this dudes  dark blue degree was rather prominently highlighted at the time by both the individual, and his manager, hence it being so memorable!

Edited March 23, 2023 by PMP
Duplicate removal

[PMP]

25 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

And that's a joke in case it offends anyone......

That’s ‘McDonald’s ist’.

 

Probably.

[Happy Hippo]

14 minutes ago, PMP said:

That’s ‘McDonald’s ist’.

 

Probably.

I'll still not be a fan of that establishment.

 

Going in to such an emporium is a last resort.

[SM42]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

Now in Poland!

 

I am likely to achieve world domination without even firing a shot🤣.

 

Good lord!

 

Think of the children

 

Andy

[br2975]

12 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I'll still not be a fan of that establishment.

 

Going in to such an emporium is a last resort.

.

I can safely boast that I have never purchased myself anything in a Ronald MacDonald's emporium.

[Compound2632]

52 minutes ago, PMP said:

Not so sure. It took a crayon chewer (me), to point out that a history grad had written a contract that gave three years airframe spares, and tech support for free with a new aircraft and operator. Prior to that contract being written and signed (ffs), a few of us in product support had questioned why a commercial sales team were recruiting graduates with non relevant degrees into the team. They learned the expensive way.
Nb could have been any non relevant degree/experience, just that this dudes  dark blue degree was rather prominently highlighted at the time by both the individual, and his manager, hence it being so memorable!

 

It sounds to me as though this individual had been given inadequate training by the firm and his colleagues.

[The Johnster]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

Now in Poland!

 

I am likely to achieve world domination without even firing a shot🤣.

 

There are worse blokes trying to be world leader than you, Hippo!  But why do attempts at world domination always seem to start with Poland...

[Compound2632]

33 minutes ago, SM42 said:

Good lord!

 

Think of the children

 

Quite! (It is a "language kindergarten".)

 

1 hour ago, newbryford said:

What do you say to someone who has a philosphy degree?

 

"Big Mac and fries please..............."

 

Indeed, but are you equipped to deal with the philosphical discussion about your request that will follow?

[PMP]

Just now, Compound2632 said:

 

It sounds to me as though this individual had been given inadequate training by the firm and his colleagues.

Well the firm had a ‘policy’ of recruiting people who had ‘proved they could learn’, so if you had a non relevant degree, eg arts, you had a far greater chance of being employed in those sorts of positions, than anyone coming through either the commercial apprenticeship, or off the street(me). Training or otherwise the individual was monumentally dense to even think  free spares and support was a good idea.

[polybear]

42 minutes ago, br2975 said:

I can safely boast that I have never purchased myself anything in a Ronald MacDonald's emporium.

 

The fries are ok - as are the burgers if you ditch the burger bit.....

....but only in an emergency