The Night Mail

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Winslow Boy said:

Last time I was in the Swedish emporium they didn't sell paint ........

 

All together now.....

 

OH YES THEY DO......

[Northmoor]

12 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Currently on the 05.05 Penzance to Padlington. It’s a wet morning and fields around here, Somerset,  are waterlogged. Next stop Reading.

 

Amusingly, on Uni Challenge last night a question about the name of the station at the west end of the Elizabeth Line - Reading - was quickly and correctly answered by The Stationmaster’s daughter! Yes, really. She is batting for the Open Uni. Her team won convincingly again. 

Did you notice the captain looked relieved that they got that opener?  It would have galling to not have done, as the captain (Anne) works for TfL.

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Let's see now....

The "Regulators" = those in the Big House

- who earn a sh*t load of money every year from Gambling Tax....

 

Can anyone see where Bear is going with this?

But there is no gambling tax, BUT the bookies make donations to a certain political party that abolished the gambling tax.

[Winslow Boy]

2 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

All together now.....

 

OH YES THEY DO......

I knew there was reason I didn't go back.

[Northmoor]

5 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

There's a chap near here who every year festoons the whole of his house and front garden with lights and other Chritsmassy things such as a large illuminated Homer Simpson dressed as Father Christmas (??!!) and effectively lights up his street - I wonder what his electricity bill is? - and has already started putting them up. Admittedly nothing is yet illuminated and the whole garish ensemble is far from finished as it takes him weeks to do it but on December 1st it will be switched on for all to admire look on in horror, at which stage I start to use an alternative route to Hunt Towers.

I find attention-seeking people irritating at the best of times, but a "Look at me and how much I can afford to waste" seems particularly vulgar at the time of year most associated with thinking of people less fortunate than ourselves.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

30 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

...told I was borderline on BMI...

It's BMI that's borderline, but our medical profession are too embarrased to admit it. Health outcomes for seniors are better for those overweight bordering obese on the BMI assessment. Hardly unexpected when BMI was devised for fitness assessment of military personnel, who don't tend to be that old...

[Northmoor]

12 minutes ago, 34theletterbetweenB&D said:

It's BMI that's borderline, but our medical profession are too embarrased to admit it. Health outcomes for seniors are better for those overweight bordering obese on the BMI assessment. Hardly unexpected when BMI was devised for fitness assessment of military personnel, who don't tend to be that old...

Yes BMI is now widely discredited as a single measure, especially since it was pointed out that all professional rugby players would now be classed as obese. 

[SM42]

56 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

Yes BMI is now widely discredited as a single measure, especially since it was pointed out that all professional rugby players would now be classed as obese. 

 

The late Jonah Lomu was quite nimble for someone officially obese 

 

BMI 32.

 

The trip to that Swedish place has changed purpose.

Doors no longer needed. Our carpenter has sourced some. 

 

It has now turned into a trip for Christmas tat and maybe a shelf or two to put it all on. 🤔

 

That will mean drilling holes in me paint work.

 

  Pah!

 

Andy

[Northmoor]

5 minutes ago, SM42 said:

 

The late Jonah Lomu was quite nimble for someone officially obese 

 

BMI 32.

RIP Jonah Lomu, taken tragically young.  A sportsman who seemingly no-one who had played with or against him, had a bad word to say about.

 

I remember how he described growing up with a drunken, violent father.  One day young Jonah stood between his father and mother to defend her.  His father found himself flying to the opposite side of the living room.  He left home and never laid a finger on his sons or wife ever again.

[AndyID]

3 hours ago, Northmoor said:

When we moved to Pembrokeshire in 1974, we had a real tree for our first Christmas which Dad planted in the garden afterwards.  The tree is now clearly visible on Google Earth.

 

 

This is it now. It is a Grand Fir. Still a baby compared with it's relatives. None of those trees were planted. They are all "weeds".

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2023 by AndyID
no proof reading

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[Flying Fox 34F]

6 hours ago, SM42 said:

 

The late Jonah Lomu was quite nimble for someone officially obese 

 

BMI 32.

 

The trip to that Swedish place has changed purpose.

Doors no longer needed. Our carpenter has sourced some. 

 

It has now turned into a trip for Christmas tat and maybe a shelf or two to put it all on. 🤔

 

That will mean drilling holes in me paint work.

 

  Pah!

 

Andy

Andy,

 

By yourself a shelf and do what the Sheep Bloke does best, build a model railway on it!!

 

Paul

[TheQ]

We are lucky here in Norfolk, the blue and yellow emporium, opened a branch in Norwich, it lasted 5 years then they closed it, it wasn't making money.. the only way to obtain their stuff is to leave the county or order it online.

[Winslow Boy]

2 minutes ago, TheQ said:

We are lucky here in Norfolk, the blue and yellow emporium, opened a branch in Norwich, it lasted 5 years then they closed it, it wasn't making money.. the only way to obtain their stuff is to leave the county or order it online.

 

I believe they are intending to open one in greater Manutopea. There is already one but it's out in the sticks aka Warrington.

[SM42]

15 minutes ago, TheQ said:

We are lucky here in Norfolk, the blue and yellow emporium, opened a branch in Norwich, it lasted 5 years then they closed it, it wasn't making money.. the only way to obtain their stuff is to leave the county or order it online.

 

We'll have to leave the county. 

 

It not as much fun as before as Bescot ain't the train watching place it used to be. 

 

We are hoping to combine a visit to another emporium or two nearby.

 

Doesn't seem such a trek then  for only one shop that way..

 

There is also the promise of lunch being bought for me too.

 

Andy

[Winslow Boy]

35 minutes ago, SM42 said:

 

We'll have to leave the county. 

 

It not as much fun as before as Bescot ain't the train watching place it used to be. 

 

We are hoping to combine a visit to another emporium or two nearby.

 

Doesn't seem such a trek then  for only one shop that way..

 

There is also the promise of lunch being bought for me too.

 

Andy

Swedish meatballs by any chance?

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, Winslow Boy said:

Swedish meatballs by any chance?

I didn't know they had these in Bescot

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

If IKEA did trains:

 

[Tony_S]

15 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

If IKEA did trains:

We were in Stockholm and we walked past a shop selling sports goods. Aditi texted Matthew and asked him if he would like a Swedish (ice) hockey shirt. He said no thank you, as if he wore it everyone would just assume he worked for IKEA. 

[Compound2632]

20 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

If IKEA did trains:

 

No if about it: https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/cat/lillabo-series-11673/.

 

 

[Embedded link.]

 

Brio-compatible.

[Happy Hippo]

 

Young Dave Hunt thinks:

 

Now if I throttle back gently and progressively, I can land this vertically like Thunderbird 1

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I didn't know they had these in Bescot

Jamie

Don't think Andy could eat that in one sitting. He'd have to take it home with him.

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

Young Dave Hunt thinks:

 

Now if I throttle back gently and progressively, I can land this vertically like Thunderbird 1

 

And if he pushes the throttles fully forwards, he may achieve orbit...

 

 

[Dave Hunt]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

If IKEA did trains:

 

 

Once we were staying at a motel in Flagstaff Az. that I had booked in advance. It was just across the road from the railway and as I was checking in Jill read a notice that said "Flagstaff is a railroad town," and went on to say something like the railroad operates round the clock and we can't do anything about the noise so if you don't like hearing trains you'd better go someplace else. She immediately accused me of deliberately choosing that particular motel so that I could "go trainspotting", which was for once untrue but nothing I could say would persuade her otherwise. Since it is the law in America that trains have to sound their horns at every grade crossing, there are six grade crossings in Flagstaff, and the BNSF does indeed operate through the night at fairly frequent intervals, largely hauled by the locomotives pictured in HH's post, it is not exactly conducive to a peaceful night's sleep, despite double glazing. She still recalls our stay in that motel, for which I was only partially excused by picking one in Winslow for our next stop that was nice and quiet, and tells people how my obsession (?) with trains denied her two nights' sleep. Mind you, I did go trainspotting as it happens but it wasn't planned - honestly.

 

Dave    

[Dave Hunt]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

Young Dave Hunt thinks:

 

Now if I throttle back gently and progressively, I can land this vertically like Thunderbird 1

 

Ah, the joys of youth. At least it kept me off the streets.

 

Dave