The Night Mail

[Oldddudders]

I have Covid. Bums. I will not be venturing out for a few days. I arrived in Torquay on Tuesday evening, am due to go back Tuesday week. My fourth jab became effective yesterday, by which time I was already suffering from what I thought was a nasty cold, but the speed with which the symptoms developed on Thursday suggested it was a bit more.

 

Carry on, London! 

[AndyID]

3 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

I have Covid. Bums. I will not be venturing out for a few days. I arrived in Torquay on Tuesday evening, am due to go back Tuesday week. My fourth jab became effective yesterday, by which time I was already suffering from what I thought was a nasty cold, but the speed with which the symptoms developed on Thursday suggested it was a bit more.

 

Carry on, London! 

 

A serious bummer! Get well soon.

[iL Dottore]

10 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

I have Covid. Bums. I will not be venturing out for a few days. I arrived in Torquay on Tuesday evening, am due to go back Tuesday week. My fourth jab became effective yesterday, by which time I was already suffering from what I thought was a nasty cold, but the speed with which the symptoms developed on Thursday suggested it was a bit more.

 

Carry on, London! 

As CoVID can mimic many other respiratory infections (colds, flu, etc) a rapid antigen test is really the only way to make sure (there are other tests, but either require a blood sample and/or time to get the results). RATs aren’t perfect, but will help avoid the whole “self-isolated cos I think I’ve got CoVID (when I really haven’t)” purgatory.

 

Anyway, whatever the cause - get well soon.

[Happy Hippo]

4 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

Night Owl from the heart Ohio.

It ought to be from the banks of the old Ohio!

[jamie92208]

We have succumbed,the log burner has been lit.  It's blowing  a lot outside and the warmth feels good.  However this was precipitated by a breakdown of the paraffin heater which we use when it's not cold enough go light the proper fire.  Time to buy a new one I was told.  A deltic at least.  Modelling skills came in useful.  A quick exam showed the switch mechanism faulty. 2 screws were removed once the lead was unplugged.  Though it's a paraffin heater it's controlled electrically and needs the mains. 

 

A quick look inside,a bit of cogitating and a mug of coffee later, I set off to the shed and came back with a dremel and other things.  The switch mechanism PCB was held in by some rather flimsy bits of plastic and they'd failed.  Two 12BA  nuts and bolts later and the heater is working again. 

 

Can I claim the cost of a deltic from the housekeeping to spend on the railway.  What do you lot think. 

 

Jamie

Edited November 4, 2023 by jamie92208

[SM42]

11 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

We have succumbed,the log burner has been lit.  It's blowi g  a lot outside and the warmth feels good.  However this was precipitated by a breakdown of the paraffin heater which we use when it's not cold enough go light the proper fire.  Time to buy a new one I was told.  A eltic at least.  Modelling skills came in useful.  A quick exam showed the switch mechanism faulty. 2s rews were removed once the lead was unp, ugged.  Though it's a paraffin heater it's controlled ele trically and needs the mains. 

 

A quick look inside,a bit of cogitating and amug of coffee later, I set off to the shed and came back with a dremeand other things.  The switch mechanism PCBwas held in by some rather flimsy bits of plastic and they'd failed.  Two 12BA  nuts and bolts later and the heater is working again. 

 

Can I claim the cost of a eltic from the housekeeping to sprnd on the railway.  What do you lot think. 

 

Jamie

 

Surely the cost of repair was only slightly less than that of replacement. 😉

 

Thus budget may or may not have been fully consumed.

 

Andy

[New Haven Neil]

@Oldddudders quelle bummeur OD, I hope you don't get it as bad as I have it - (*&^%$£ sick of the exhaustion.  I'm due jab No.4 on Tuesday, too late was the cry.

 

We, err I have a kerosene fan heater in the garage/play room, IIRC it is Japanese, puts up with a lot of abuse and seems to give out a lot more heat than it's rating would suggest, I don't recall if it is 2 or 3kw but the garage is 5x6m and tall, it manages to keep it toastie when pottering on down there in all but the nastiest weather.

[SM42]

New orders have been received via the air waves. 

 

A shopping I must go it seems. 

 

At least it's on the dry. 

 

All I  have to do then is put the kitchen back together and tidy now I've finished painting it. ( still a couple of small touch ins to do)

 

Nothing major, putting the soffits back on the cupboards and the chimney on the cooker hood, but awkward jobs to do single handed. 

 

With luck this will give me an almost free day tomorrow to do some modelling. 

 

Andy

[jamie92208]

21 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

@Oldddudders quelle bummeur OD, I hope you don't get it as bad as I have it - (*&^%$£ sick of the exhaustion.  I'm due jab No.4 on Tuesday, too late was the cry.

 

We, err I have a kerosene fan heater in the garage/play room, IIRC it is Japanese, puts up with a lot of abuse and seems to give out a lot more heat than it's rating would suggest, I don't recall if it is 2 or 3kw but the garage is 5x6m and tall, it manages to keep it toastie when pottering on down there in all but the nastiest weather.

Yes ours is rated at 3kw and warms the sitting room up in about 5 minutes. It's got a thermostat on it that you can set and a timer. It was left to us by the previous owners and is very useful in autumn and spring.  

 

Jamie

[Oldddudders]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

As CoVID can mimic many other respiratory infections (colds, flu, etc) a rapid antigen test is really the only way to make sure (there are other tests, but either require a blood sample and/or time to get the results). RATs aren’t perfect, but will help avoid the whole “self-isolated cos I think I’ve got CoVID (when I really haven’t)” purgatory.

 

Anyway, whatever the cause - get well soon.

Thanks, Flavio. Sherry had invested in more tests recently, although they turn out to be rather short-dated, and the second line came up very quickly. I will test again if and when I feel better, so I am not putting others at risk. 

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

Can I claim the cost of a deltic from the housekeeping to spend on the railway.  What do you lot think. 

Sadly my general competence at all sorts of repairs is well established over decades of happy married life, so I get zero credit for these; particularly influenced by the fact that her father, uncles and both granfers were also supremely competent in this field.

 

But the exteremely mutilated and bleeding remains of a pheasant draped over her greenhouse courtesy of a Peregrine back in May, has ensured that the sun is still shining strongly upon my luxury purchases. 

 

I am sure there are a huge range of such opportunities, in many shapes and forms, dependent on the relationship. Years ago I helped one of the wife's long time friends obtain full recompense for damage to her flat by a kitchen installation contractor. The wifely gratitude that followed was completely unexpected, hasn't run out as yet...

[J. S. Bach]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

It ought to be from the banks of the old Ohio!

Go

 

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

It ought to be from the banks of the old Ohio!

🏦? No, I brought enough 💰 for the show. 🙀

[J. S. Bach]

Also, good morning from the heart of Ohio. The 🚪 are about to open so back later.

[Oldddudders]

Putting my trivial Covid in perspective, some friends landed this morning at Bristol airport after a fly-cruise in the Med. Bob didn't feel very well on landing, is now in hospital in Bristol for a few days - pneumonia. I think he's 76. Wife Glynis is not the most upbeat of characters by some margin, so Sherry and other theatre friends will be required to do some bolstering. 

 

As far as family finances, housekeeping and deltic vouchers are concerned, Sherry and I have separate finances, as you might expect, so her kids can inherit. Deb and I - deliberately childless - were equally profligate, with unnecessary purchases galore. But - hey - that pristine secondhand Zeiss lens that arrived yesterday was only a quarter of the original price, so what is a chap to do?

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, Oldddudders said:

As far as family finances, housekeeping and deltic vouchers are concerned, Sherry and I have separate finances, as you might expect, so her kids can inherit. Deb and I - deliberately childless - were equally profligate, with unnecessary purchases galore. But - hey - that pristine secondhand Zeiss lens that arrived yesterday was only a quarter of the original price, so what is a chap to do?

I don't think that buying good quality useful things, can be considered anything other than a good buy.  Especially, if it gives you pleasure and makes life easier.  Getting it at a reduced price makes the purchase even more satisfying.

 

Splashing the cash on a loco that you can take out of the box, place on the track and setting it running, sure beats having to pull all the wheels off it and re-wheel it before you can run it.  That is not to say that the pleasure you get from constructing a well thought out kit is not worthy of such pleasurable thoughts, but it lacks the instant gratification.

 

I was using my track saw yesterday to cut the ply sheets for the shed floor reinforcing.

 

Set up, cut, job done.  The time it takes, and quality of finish sure beats trying to cut the length of an 8 x 4 sheet of 12 mm ply, using a hand saw.  I don't use it often, but when I do it makes life so much easier.

 

If you really feel you need to get rid of your cash then remember that there are the Colombian Hippos all in need of urgent rehousing.

 

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Happy Hippo

[Happy Hippo]

5 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

I have Covid. Bums.

FFS don't sneeze!

[Hroth]

13 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

If you really feel you need to get rid of your cash then remember that there are the Colombian Hippos all in need of urgent rehousing.

 

Perhaps you could set up one of those "crowd funding" (herd funding?) thingies in their support?

 

[jamie92208]

13 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

FFS don't sneeze!

So that's why there was panic buying of toilet paper at the start of the pandemic. 

 

Jamie

[PhilJ W]

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

As CoVID can mimic many other respiratory infections (colds, flu, etc) a rapid antigen test is really the only way to make sure (there are other tests, but either require a blood sample and/or time to get the results). RATs aren’t perfect, but will help avoid the whole “self-isolated cos I think I’ve got CoVID (when I really haven’t)” purgatory.

Anyway, whatever the cause - get well soon.

I had what I thought was man flu about two years ago. I'd had it for about a week before I discovered it was Covid. I then took precautions and was clear of it a week later. Then a year ago I seemed to lose a lot of strength, I was feeling as weak as a kitten but other than that and feeling extremely tired there was no other symptoms. When I had it checked out I was told it was Long Covid. I have since recovered, I no longer feel as tired but my strength has still not got back to what it was.

[PhilJ W]

Just received a package. The W&U coach as it appeared in the Titfield Thunderbolt. An excellent model, the only quibble is it took fifteen minutes to remove it from the (very tight) packaging.

[Happy Hippo]

47 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Perhaps you could set up one of those "crowd funding" (herd funding?) thingies in their support?

 

Columbian Aid for Superfluous Hippos

[newbryford]

On 02/11/2023 at 19:12, Happy Hippo said:

 

As a matter of interest did anyone watch Pointless last night?

 

The final set of questions selected were about.....

 

HIPPOS!

 

Naturally, I got three pointless answers.

 

 

 

 

[bbishop]

I don't wish to be pedantic, but should the word in the first question be in the plural?  Hippopotami?

[bbishop]

There are many variants of Covid so a vaccine won't provide immunity against all of them.  The vaccines do seem to reduce the impact of the virus.  My bout in February was no worse than a winter cold; I took observations, temp. up and bp all over the place, but pulse and sats fine.  It was influenza last October / November that knocked me for six.

[Happy Hippo]

18 minutes ago, bbishop said:

I don't wish to be pedantic, but should the word in the first question be in the plural?  Hippopotami?

No, because they have already added the pluralisation by asking for populations of