The Night Mail

[Winslow Boy]

There is I think something of a generational divide about 'community art' and what it can achieve. I always remember a conversation that my father regaled me with where the matter had come up at a meeting he attended. He said that some of more 'younger' participants generally believed that such activities especially for the poor would help them. 

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Flying Fox 34F said:

Changing the subject, I feel for anyone who has a car stuck in the mess that is the Luton Airport multi storey car park!  I foresee some new rules appearing to prevent such chaos and distress again.

 

Paul

 

Plus a rapid rethink on Car Park provision and design.

[PMP]

2 hours ago, Flying Fox 34F said:

Changing the subject, I feel for anyone who has a car stuck in the mess that is the Luton Airport multi storey car park!  I foresee some new rules appearing to prevent such chaos and distress again.

 

Paul

I can’t see any rules changing. If it’s a car fire, I suspect battery related, unless you change car construction and use rules there’s the potential for it to happen again and again. What’s interesting is the collapse of the car park structure which is newly built. An example possibly like the twin towers of a concrete core structure damaged by intense heat causing collapse.

Edited October 11, 2023 by PMP
Clarity

[Northmoor]

28 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Near to where we used to live is the Yorkshire sculpture parkwith,Moores, Worths etc set in the grounds of a former stately home.  Most of the so called art leaves me cold.  However one day we went for a walk round the lakeandfou d te results of a 'sculpture worshop' weekend. The artists had been given piles of scrap wood to work with.  Most again left me cold but one guy had created a piece out of about 10 old planks. This was fabulous and looked like a charging bull and gave all the impressions of power a d menace that the real thing does.  That takes real skill. 

 

Jamie, 

I would recommend a visit to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, even if, like me, you have very little interest in such art.  Everyone will find something they can appreciate and if nothing else, it's the grounds of an old country house so nice to walk around.  There is far more pretentiousness in Tate Modern; when visiting I find the building considerably more interesting than the contents.

 

There's no problem with any of these things but don't want to pay for them out of my taxes.  When you hear artists pleading for local authorities to pay for "space" for them as it "allows artists to express themselves", I always think of the millions who go to the pub or meet friends for coffee and manage to express themselves without requiring a government subsidy to do it.

[Dave Hunt]

A colleague claimed that (true or not I don’t know) that when viewing some modern ‘art’ at his local community centre he asked one of the guides how one went about applying for an Arts Council grant. The guide said that it depended on what type of artist you were. “A p!ss artist,” he replied, “Like the ones that did this stuff.” I’m not sure whether he got a reply.

 

Dave

[SM42]

4 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

I realize this is not unusual but I have to admit to being a wee bit confused. IIRC the last 00 16t I bought cost  3/11d (Airfix)

 

Ready to run today type.

 

What is 3/11d in todays money equivalent? 

 

Andy

[Compound2632]

25 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

A colleague claimed that (true or not I don’t know) that when viewing some modern ‘art’ at his local community centre he asked one of the guides how one went about applying for an Arts Council grant. The guide said that it depended on what type of artist you were. “A p!ss artist,” he replied, “Like the ones that did this stuff.” I’m not sure whether he got a reply.

 

That's the sort of artist employed by the Arts Council to make the sort of stupid funding decisions they're fond of, such as insisting ENO relocate away from London without considering that most of the orchestra (and some other staff) are not full-time ENO employees but make their living from various orchestras of which there are enough in London to make ends meet...

 

Rant!

[SM42]

4 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Bear would suggest just having a quick check to see if the drive belt is busted - probably very easy to get to & fix; the "flappy bit" could be the belt slowly shredding itself and when it finally failed the drum would stop turning.  A lot cheaper than two+ Deltics

 

 

 

If only that were the case. 

 

I'm not sure if a washing machine is belt driven,and would have expected a squealing noise as the belt slipped as lack of friction took over. 

 

However an experimental switch on has shown the drum does spin (after several goes and  a bit of mechanical sounding complaining on the remains of the spin  only cycle it was interrupted in the other day. )

 

Adding water results in an apparent freeze up as the drum does not spin and the program clock doesn't count down. 

 

Which causes which I'm not sure but I may have a split gear problem. 

 

Spares for a 17 year old machine also a potential issue. 

 

My fear is that the engineer will arrive next week, find the problem, go away to order spares only to report 3 days later they are not available and before you know it its two weeks or more gone by and Mrs SM42 is a pent up ball of washing frustration (much  worse than she is now after 48 hours)

 

Andy

 

[Tony_S]

16 minutes ago, SM42 said:

What is 3/11d in todays money equivalent? 

You wouldn’t get much change from 20p. Seriously a kit of said wagon by Dapol is about £10, or slightly less when discounted. 

[SM42]

14 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

That's the sort of artist employed by the Arts Council to make the sort of stupid funding decisions they're fond of, such as insisting ENO relocate away from London without considering that most of the orchestra (and some other staff) are not full-time ENO employees but make their living from various orchestras of which there are enough in London to make ends meet...

 

Rant!

 

My local orchestra tried to get Arts Council funding only to be turned down because other professional orchestras ( one large one was cited) existed in Birmingham. 

 

One serving the hinterlands and smaller venues at more affordable prices, was, it seemed, deemed not required. 

 

Andy

[SM42]

2 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

You wouldn’t get much change from 20p. Seriously a kit of said wagon by Dapol is about £10, or slightly less when discounted. 

 

Likewise a Bachman  RTR version  does give you much change from £30, rather like the engineer call out fee. 

 

Andy

[Dave Hunt]

10 minutes ago, SM42 said:

Which causes which I'm not sure but I may have a split gear problem. 

Made by Hornby was it?

 

Dsve

[Tony_S]

5 minutes ago, SM42 said:

 

I'm not sure if a washing machine is belt driven,and would have expected a squealing noise as the belt slipped as lack of friction took over. 

 

Older models were belt driven. Some seem to advertise direct drive whatever that is. 
When we had the Hoover front loader. I replaced the belts, control knobs, bearings (twice) and motor brushes twice. We left it at our previous house, still,working but clonky. Its  AEG  replacement needed new motor brushes. That was replaced when some fault was an uneconomic repair. The current one has been fine, the motor control electronics went bang after 9 1/2 years but inside the 10 year warranty. 

[Tony_S]

18 minutes ago, SM42 said:

My fear is that the engineer will arrive next week, find the problem, go away to order spares only to report 3 days later they are not available and before you know it its two weeks or more gone by and Mrs SM42 is a pent up ball of washing frustration (much  worse than she is now after 48 hours)

For about £1000 you could get quite nice machine in one to three days, which must surely be better than Mrs SM42 being anxious. Have you tried taking a basket of washing to a neighbour?

[Tony_S]

18 minutes ago, SM42 said:

 

My local orchestra tried to get Arts Council funding only to be turned down because other professional orchestras ( one large one was cited) existed in Birmingham. 

 

One serving the hinterlands and smaller venues at more affordable prices, was, it seemed, deemed not required. 

 

Andy

I think getting funding is one of the dark arts. It requires very careful reading of the latest criteria and putting in a bid that addresses the criteria. Big organisations have specialists to do this. Matthew was working with a Polish charity in Cork and they had their funding from the Council of Europe declined that year. Matthew offered to rewrite it and funding was restored. He and some friends had got funding for a conference the previous year so knew how to do it. 

[Happy Hippo]

51 minutes ago, SM42 said:

 

If only that were the case. 

 

I'm not sure if a washing machine is belt driven,and would have expected a squealing noise as the belt slipped as lack of friction took over. 

 

However an experimental switch on has shown the drum does spin (after several goes and  a bit of mechanical sounding complaining on the remains of the spin  only cycle it was interrupted in the other day. )

 

Adding water results in an apparent freeze up as the drum does not spin and the program clock doesn't count down. 

 

Which causes which I'm not sure but I may have a split gear problem. 

 

Spares for a 17 year old machine also a potential issue. 

 

My fear is that the engineer will arrive next week, find the problem, go away to order spares only to report 3 days later they are not available and before you know it its two weeks or more gone by and Mrs SM42 is a pent up ball of washing frustration (much  worse than she is now after 48 hours)

 

Andy

 

Some time ago I came to the conclusion that once it is out of warranty, if it goes wrong and is not a self fix, then scrap it.

 

By the time you call out the engineer and pay the various charges and parts, it's cheaper.

[Compound2632]

9 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Some time ago I came to the conclusion that once it is out of warranty, if it goes wrong and is not a self fix, then scrap it.

 

As I had as usual failed to clean the filter on our washing machine at regular intervals, it had stopped draining properly and hence was refusing to move on to the spin cycle. I've tried to take the filter out but broke the finger-hold off, so stiff had it become. However, I'd obviously eased it enough. The machine now happily completes its cycle, while I'm kept busy mopping the floor of the water that drains out via the partially-unscrewed filter. Old towels make excellent flood barrages. 

 

The previous machine failed after I put a rubber / plastic doormat in to wash at too high a temperature. 

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

Made by Hornby was it?

 

Dsve

No Heljan!

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, SM42 said:

 

Ready to run today type.

 

What is 3/11d in todays money equivalent? 

 

Andy

 

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

You wouldn’t get much change from 20p. Seriously a kit of said wagon by Dapol is about £10, or slightly less when discounted. 

Just over 19.5 new pence.  £21.49 seems to be the going rate that' s a heck of an inflation rate. 

 

Jamie

[Winslow Boy]

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

For about £1000 you could get quite nice machine in one to three days, which must surely be better than Mrs SM42 being anxious. Have you tried taking a basket of washing to a neighbour?

Wouldn't it be easier to take Mrs SM42 to the neighbour Andy rather than the washing.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

18 hours ago, Northmoor said:

I chose Sci-Fi and read John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos and The Day of the Triffids; I keep looking out for more of his work in charity shops as one day I'll find the time to read them all

By general consensus 'The Chrysalids' and 'Trouble with Lichen' are the two novels  that stand comparison to what you have sampled. The latter my favourite for its subtle humour. A good collection of his short stories was published as 'The Seeds of Time'; various other collections are available.

 

How very pleasant to have had a choice in 'wider reading': I would have given good money to be spared the relentlessly ugly and pessimistic 'Lord of the Flies'.

[SM42]

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

For about £1000 you could get quite nice machine in one to three days, which must surely be better than Mrs SM42 being anxious. Have you tried taking a basket of washing to a neighbour?

 

She wouldn't entertain the idea of going to a neighbour. 

Turns out she's a bit fussy, even obsessive, when it comes to washing clothes. 

 

We have been window  shopping at the place who are coming out to look at it next week, just in case. 

They are literally 5 minutes up the road

 

If you buy a replacement, they refund the engineer call out fee and they can deliver and install next day.

 

I may poke my head in the back of it tomorrow to see what I can see and see if parts are available on line, but I suspect that there is something terminal going on.

 

Andy

Edited October 11, 2023 by SM42

[polybear]

45 minutes ago, SM42 said:

She wouldn't entertain the idea of going to a neighbour. 

Turns out she's a bit fussy, even obsessive, when it comes to washing clothes. 

 

Just mention they need help with choosing paint colours and getting motivated - she'll be off like a shot......

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, SM42 said:

We have been window  shopping at the place who are coming out to look at it next week, just in case. 

Don’t be led astray by exotic Lego brick and teddy bear washing programmes you will never use them! When ours was last replaced Aditi was still working. I let her know that the  washing machine was dead and not worth repairing. She said we could go and look at some at our local shop that evening. I said don’t worry I will sort one out. I could sense a degree of anxiety even over a phone line. So off I go, select one, for delivery next day. I told AditI I had ordered a budget model, made in India , called a DhobiRani. She was not really amused and said she had wanted another brand. Fortunately the one I had  ordered was the one she really wanted! 

[Dave Hunt]

Quite a demanding day today. I had to be out of the house on the crack of 0930 to collect a hire car from nearly 1.5 miles away then go to a cafe for a bacon butty before returning. The rest of the morning was then spent watching the world go by. The afternoon has so far been a flurry of activity going out for lunch before taking a well earned rest followed by a swim. Currently I’m sitting in the sun contemplating life, the universe and whether it’s too early for a G&T. There is a distinct possibility that another swim may be on the cards first though.

 

Your Andalusian correspondent.

 

Dave