The Night Mail

[J. S. Bach]

Night owl from the Piedmont.

[br2975]

Tonight, I shall retire early

.

Tomorrow, it will be the tedious journey via the A449, M50, M5 and M6  to Crewe, and setting up Rolley Minor's opus at the Heritage Centre, in advance of this weekend's MIOG event.

.

Word is, Hippos may be sighted in the area on the day of rest.

.

Nos da.

[BR60103]

We have used McD's a bit as it's often all there is.   I commented years ago that it was amazing how uniformly horrible the coffee is.

My father used to stop there because the washrooms were always clean.

 

A descriptive word becomes nasty if it's applied to someone/something the speaker disapproves of.

 

I just tried to work on a kit that I must have bought over 40 years ago and which may be 50 years old. It's an American coach. The castings for the truck (bogie) sideframes are all bent or shattered. There seems to be a second set of castings in the same shape. The bolsters or stretchers for the trucks are riveted to the floor (like early TriAng) so replacing them will be a chore. There are castings for steps in the same metal. There need bits removed and they snap off easily.

Another kit from the same manufacturer has  identical step castings but in a different metal. The little bits won't snap off. 

[AndyID]

Speaking of potatoes this was on the wall at the Sun Valley hotel.

 

 

 

[5 C]

6 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

Not just OK. Excellent if freshly made, and great to chomp in the car after a hard day skiing 😄

 

They are actually not so easy to replicate. I did find an article by a guy who went to some trouble to produce reasonable facsimiles.

 

Of course those of us in Idaho do know a thing or two about spuds.

I should start by saying I'm no fan of McD's but must confess to the occasional visit of the "3am and nothing else is open" variety, so I am familiar with their offerings. Yes, the coffee is universally horrible and tastes like no other coffee I've ever drunk.

 

Among their many "dupes", Aldi sell something called The Big Stack. In suspiciously familiar packaging, it's their version of the Big Mac. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to try one. Preparation would appeal to the kit builders on here, as it's a self assembly job. Specialist tools are a toaster, microwave and a cup of boiling water.

 

The end result is quite remarkable. It manages to taste the same as a Big Mac, yet somehow better at the same time (not hard). Aldi also do faux Chicken McNuggets and some fries though I have sampled neither.

 

For the full effect it probably should be consumed in a Vauxhall Corsa with the stereo turned up  loud and a box of "whipped cream chargers" on the passenger seat. I haven't gone that far.

 

 

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a ship marooned in the Humber. Apparently ssome strange phenomenon has meant that there is a queue of people trying to get into Hull. We arecship no 3 in that queue. I thought that there was usually a queue to get out of Hull.

 

 

 

Anyway I can honestly say that I have eaten at the golden arches a few times. Srangely The worst Iever has was in San Bernadino where it all started.  Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

I am not stuck on a rotting hulk in the Humber estuary, but am about to embark on a house cleaning session.

 

Some friends of Nyda are staying for a few days and it has been deemed necessary to remove all my railway modelling stuff from the ex conservatory.  Apparently it is to revert back to it's primary role as an entertaining and dining area.

 

The cheek of it!

 

What can be more entertaining than railway modelling and stuffing one's self with cake and quaffing single malt whilst carrying out this noble duty?

 

Currently on the bench is a part built, ex Springside Models  GWR 45xx small prairie tank.

 

Why is it that part built models only come onto the market when they have been cocked up by someone who would probably have difficulty in putting Lego bricks together?

 

It will have to join the queue of supposedly recoverable part built kits that frequent odd corners of the Hippodrome.

 

Tomorrow will be more cleaning and panicking, although merciful relief will arrive on Sunday when I'm off to pester the Rolley boys at  MIOG, in the Crewe Heritage Centre.

[The Johnster]

We have a mouse.  Poison and a baited (ham and butter) ‘Little Nipper’ have been put down, and ignored, so I’m off out later to buy some sticky traps, which The Squeeze swears by.  The little sods drive me nuts, can’t relax looking for movements out of the corner of my eye all the time.  Eliminating them entirely in a terraced house of flats is never easy, though, and we’re in for an uphill struggle I’m sure.  
 

Not a bad day on the mean inner city streets, though, mild, breezy, sunny periods, might even get a bit of tidying and winter damage repair done out on the patio later.  I know it’s a patio not a back yard because it’s got patio doors…  Good driving weather for Rolleys and Hippos; have a great weekend gents.  

[Oldddudders]

13 hours ago, Tony_S said:

What is the pot hole situation like where Sherry lives? They are dreadful round here this winter, and it hasn’t even been that wintery . Avoiding one pothole, just leads you into another. It must be awful for motorcyclists. 

Torquay is certainly no better than most other places, and one back road Sherry uses to get to our theatre is particularly bad, as well as having all sorts of camber issues, typical of a very mature residential area on the side of a hill, I suppose. Simon said that the springs are installed with some sort of protection, but this fails over time and then, as said here, the metal is vulnerable. Frankly, £188 wasn't a bad price, really. 

 

I note my land of retirement choice is now so lawless that KIng Charles's state visit has been postponed. A pity that the anarchists, loonies and no-hopers jump on the protest bandwagon to destroy the civilisation they hate. 

[Happy Hippo]

38 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

We have a mouse.  Poison and a baited (ham and butter) ‘Little Nipper’ have been put down, and ignored,

Bits of mars bar or peanut butter is a great mouse (and rat) delicacy.

 

I don't agree with poisoning them as if they die in the open the nature dictates that something else will eat the corpse and transfers the poison.  Lot of barn owls have succumbed after eating poisoned mammals.

[Oldddudders]

McDo, as it is referred to here, offers affordable instant fare that you either like or loathe. In my last couple of years at work, when timekeeping didn't much matter, I would sometimes catch a Cannon St train and have breakfast in the Golden Arches across the way. Since the French don't really understand breakfast - although Brittany Ferries' Full English is very good value indeed - McDo doesn't offer breakfast, is often not open until a bit later. There is just no demand. But if Sherry and I have overnighted in Portsmouth, then McDonalds in Dorchester will see us right for a comfort stop and something to eat. And their present range of meals, with salads and wraps, is a long way from the days of burgers or burgers. 

[Canal Digger]

19 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

19 hours 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. 

 

19 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

19 hours 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. 

I was trying to imagine my self as a potential Job Application Sifter, looking at someone with a History Degree v someone else with a Degree in a reevant subject for the job,.

 

Learning History should tech us not to repeat our mistakes, however for some (many?) it just teaches the next generation about previous conflicts, that need to be avenged, omitting their own atrocities.  

 

It's hard work keeping up with this folder, apart from normal life, we are clearing Mil's house and working as a stagehand in a production of Made In Dagenham.

[Compound2632]

4 minutes ago, Canal Digger said:

Learning History should tech us not to repeat our mistakes, however for some (many?) it just teaches the next generation about previous conflicts, that need to be avenged, omitting their own atrocities.  

 

I think you have a slightly odd idea of the content of a history degree. 

 

Hope your other activities prosper!

[Canal Digger]

15 hours ago, figworthy said:

18 hours ago, br2975 said:

 

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

 

I'll admit to one visit.  In mitigation, it was in 1981, and I don't think it was known outside of London, so us non-metropolitan types were innocent as to what it was.

the last time was a late night coffee, having come out of a London theatre before tube & car journey home

Wimpy Bars were in Bristol in the 70s. Macdonald's have improved upon them over the years ...

Blue Paper lit, tin hat on, taking shelter....

Edited March 24, 2023 by Canal Digger
duplicate

[Tony_S]

14 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

So any houses for sale then?

One on the opposite side of the road, a few houses away. It is a mirror image of ours. The estate agent photos make it look huge (and very tidy). Just been reduced too. The couple who own it apparently were leaving a couple of years ago “to live on a farm” but the sale stopped just before exchange of contracts. Their buyer had been very keen to move to the road, so I don’t think it was his side of the deal. 

[polybear]

41 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

McDo, as it is referred to here, offers affordable instant fare that you either like or loathe. In my last couple of years at work, when timekeeping didn't much matter, I would sometimes catch a Cannon St train and have breakfast in the Golden Arches across the way. Since the French don't really understand breakfast - although Brittany Ferries' Full English is very good value indeed - McDo doesn't offer breakfast, is often not open until a bit later. There is just no demand. But if Sherry and I have overnighted in Portsmouth, then McDonalds in Dorchester will see us right for a comfort stop and something to eat. And their present range of meals, with salads and wraps, is a long way from the days of burgers or burgers. 

 

'Tis a source of extreme annoyance to A Certain Bear that a "Bacon n' Egg McMuffin" seems to disappear off the menu when the clock strikes eleven a.m. 🤬

 

[Oldddudders]

10 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

'Tis a source of extreme annoyance to A Certain Bear that a "Bacon n' Egg McMuffin" seems to disappear off the menu when the clock strikes eleven a.m. 🤬

 

In contrast to many other affordable nosheries that advertise an All Day Breakfast. 

[Dave Hunt]

1 hour ago, Canal Digger said:

the last time was a late night coffee, having come out of a London theatre before tube & car journey home

Wimpy Bars were in Bristol in the 70s. Macdonald's have improved upon them over the years ...

Blue Paper lit, tin hat on, taking shelter....

 

There was a Wimpy bar in Liverpool in the early/mid 60s that, as far as my memory has it, served decent burgers that were better than any McDs that I have tried.

 

Dave

[polybear]

14 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

There was a Wimpy bar in Liverpool in the early/mid 60s that, as far as my memory has it, served decent burgers that were better than any McDs that I have tried.

 

Dave

 

There's still one in Birkenhead, and one close to Bear Towers too, though I've never been in it.

[Dave Hunt]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

I think you have a slightly odd idea of the content of a history degree. 

 

When I was at grammar school starting in 1958 I couldn't do both history and geography after the first year. I chose to do geography simply because the geography master made the subject really interesting and I enjoyed lessons with him whereas the history master succeeded in making the whole subject as dry as dust and only seemed interested in giving us lists of dates and names rather than entering into any discussion on the whys and wherefores. Unfortunately it wasn't long before I realised, through railway interest as much as anything, that I was actually more interested in history but only those aspects that appealed to me, which didn't include battles and monarchs to any great extent. Hence I have long been an avid reader of history books, particularly those to do with social matters, exploration and industrial development.

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

'Tis a source of extreme annoyance to A Certain Bear that a "Bacon n' Egg McMuffin" seems to disappear off the menu when the clock strikes eleven a.m. 🤬

 

Whereas it is well known among the cognoscenti that the bacon 'n egg butty is one of the staple foodstuffs that should be available on demand 24 hours a day.  

 

Dave

[NHY 581]

2 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Whereas it is well known among the cognoscenti that the bacon 'n egg butty is one of the staple foodstuffs that should be available on demand 24 hours a day.  

 

Dave

 

Ambrosia. 

 

 

[Compound2632]

16 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

When I was at grammar school starting in 1958 I couldn't do both history and geography after the first year.

 

Neither of my sons did History GSCE. With English Language and Literature, Maths, Sciences (triple), and one language required there was free choice of three subjects. No. 1 Son was up for Further Maths so was down to a choice between History and Geography. He went on to read Geography at Durham and is shortly to start a PhD on Antarctic geomorphology using remote sensing techniques. No. 2 Son was keen to do Geography too so he was down to a choice between History and Music. He's now reading Music at Oxford, where that will lead we will discover.

 

Both felt - and I'm inclined to agree with them - that Horrible Histories had given them a good grounding in at least British history.

 

I didn't do History O level; I can't remember what the constraints were other than that I preferred Geography. But I did French and German, neither of which I was much good at.

Edited March 24, 2023 by Compound2632

[Tony_S]

35 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

There's still one in Birkenhead, and one close to Bear Towers too, though I've never been in it.

It was probably the Wimpy in Benfleet that stopped in being included in the top eight places to live in Essex! There are many other caffs/takeaways on the High Rd that runs from the A13 down to the station. I think Greggs is the only “national” one, all the others are small businesses, breakfast all day, assorted coffee places. I went in the Wimpy once, I was shopping or visiting the bank (now closed) when Matthew was little and he saw something on the menu board he wanted to try so we went in. 
OneDrive’s “on this day” feature sent us a nice photo from 7 years ago from when we visited Matthew in Utrecht. 5 years ago on this date was the last time we spoke and had a video chat.  He almost certainly died later that day. The official date is later as it was when he was found to have passed away when we asked for the university to investigate. 
Tony

[Tony_S]

I wish I had done a geography degree. It would have been more useful than my chemical physics degree.