The Night Mail

[jamie92208]

Good moaning.  It's damp here.  Chainsaw work to do this morning. A dead tree to remove. 

 

That description of a jam behind a caravan sounds like the A65 through Settle before the M62 was built,. 

 

Jamie

[iL Dottore]

10 hours ago, PupCam said:

 

For goodness sake don't mention it.   There will be a campaign by the perpetually professionally offended who'll superglue themselves to the nose wheel until it's brought into line with "todays" standards.   

 

I'm sure it's not only me that's sick and tired of all this nonsense!        The world needs a full reset on common sense IMHO.

 

There, fixed that for you.

 

There’s a good living to be made being offended by…. well, anything, that doesn’t meet The PC agenda*

* most anything if you ask me…

[polybear]

35 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

A wonderful tale of the joys (and benefits) of going beyond the usual meat ‘n’ two veg and of eating food made by one of the best in the business (which Sat Bains is).

I’ve eaten at Heston Blumenthal’s “Dinner” (in the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London), it wasn’t inexpensive, but the whole meal was fabulous and the experience amazing.

 

What I find intriguing about the British psyche is how so many would be horrified about spending £150 or so on a meal, but would happily spend that amount on a top-level sporting event or pop concert.

 

But there again, unsurprising - as there is a lot of inverse snobbery around food in the UK

 

Bear has just checked out Sat Bains out of curiosity....I needed to lie down.....

In order to spare fellow TNM'ers from the shock (and assuming the prices are per person - which I very much suspect they are) all I'll say is the "12.5% discretionary gratuity" would add another fifty quid (assuming din dins for two) to the Bill - and that's before drinks......

[PupCam]

9 hours ago, polybear said:

ISTR DC Kits had some sort of disaster at their premises a few years back (flood?  fire?) that damaged or destroyed a lot of the tooling; also the RTR boys gradually releasing stuff that was only previously available from him meant I suspect he's had to re-invent himself.

 

9 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Yes Charlie's house suffered a quite serious explosion.  I can't remember the details. 

 

Jamie

Oh dear!     I didn’t know that how terrible.  
 

I miss seeing Charlie’s stand at the CMRA exhibition with my credit card twitching in my wallet!    Come to think of it, I miss the CMRA’s exhibition!

[Happy Hippo]

8 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

Meanwhile in another land, girls in gold bikinis walk the streets and top up expiring parking meters, rendering parking free.

 

 

 

At least they did until cashless machines took over.  

Where did they keep their cash?

 

Asking for a friend...

[Happy Hippo]

52 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

 

 

The article also claims that any restaurant leftovers from Maison Bear have to be disposed of by people specially trained in hazardous waste disposal wearing HazMat suits.

I have it on good authority that there are never any leftovers from that incredible establishment.

 

They must be mistaking leftovers for the stuff that leaves in doggie bags, and that is subsequently displayed in the homes of adoring fans, as priceless works of art.

[Oldddudders]

On the 05.03 Penzance to Padlington, which is 5 v 10 cars because 802020, from Pz, didn’t want to play with 802011 waiting at Plymouth. So we are 16’ late, all tucked into the latter unit and 5 v 10 is a bit cosy! At least it’s a nice morning, and I have plenty of time to catch my 13.31 to Paris! 

[Happy Hippo]

3 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

On the 05.03 Penzance to Padlington, which is 5 v 10 cars because 802020, from Pz, didn’t want to play with 802011 waiting at Plymouth. So we are 16’ late, all tucked into the latter unit and 5 v 10 is a bit cosy! At least it’s a nice morning, and I have plenty of time to catch my 13.31 to Paris! 

Never had that problem with a Castle and 10 on.

 

Well, that was the proper GWR....

[iL Dottore]

42 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Bear has just checked out Sat Bains out of curiosity....I needed to lie down.....

In order to spare fellow TNM'ers from the shock (and assuming the prices are per person - which I very much suspect they are) all I'll say is the "12.5% discretionary gratuity" would add another fifty quid (assuming din dins for two) to the Bill - and that's before drinks......

But Bear IS known for having deep pockets and very short arms...

19 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I have it on good authority that there are never any leftovers from that incredible establishment.

 

They must be mistaking leftovers for the stuff that leaves in doggie bags, and that is subsequently displayed in the homes of adoring fans, as priceless works of art.

Another "customer" who proves that PT Barnum was right all along....

[Winslow Boy]

37 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Where did they keep their cash?

 

Asking for a friend...

That's with the one just out of shot ladened with a rucksack and sensible shoes.

[Happy Hippo]

19 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

That's with the one just out of shot ladened with a rucksack and sensible shoes.

[skipepsi]

6 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

I have been to places like that.

I have worked in places like that...

[Willie Whizz]

For those of us who have come to value comfort over speed, one could do a lot worse …

[polybear]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

But Bear IS known for having deep pockets and very short arms...

.

 

Bear very much suspects that I'm not the only TNM'er who would baulk at the idea of splashin' £450** (with "discretionary 12.5% service charge") for two din dins.  Plus drinks.......

 

(**Based on the 10 course taster menu)

[iL Dottore]

12 hours ago, PupCam said:

Oh yes, remind me not to race to RAF Hendon to see this during the summer.  Don't follow the link  @Dave Hunt you'll come over all peculiar.

I followed the link and I came over all peculiar. And I am not even an aviator....

In pithy, earthy, succinct and to-the-point Anglo-Saxon WTF?

12 hours ago, PupCam said:

I told you that was a perversion.   I still think it is 🤣

All I'll say is that he has an entry under Feeding And Eating Disorders in the DSM-V TR* all to himself....

 

* Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR)

[Dave Hunt]

Unfortunately I ignored Puppers’ exhortation not to follow the link to the RAF Museum and have since had to lie down in a darkened room for a while. As Flávio put it WTF?????????

 

Dave

[GMKAT7]

Good morning polybear,

 

IIRC, our bill came to something in the order of £400.

 

That included an overnight stay, breakfast, the ten-course taster menu and a bottle of wine.

 

But he has got two Michelin stars and the price has risen accordingly.

Since it was for a special anniversary we decided it was worth the cost.

 

Cheers, Nigel.

[Tony_S]

6 minutes ago, GMKAT7 said:

he has got two Michelin stars

I have been to our local Michelin certified establishment on many occasions.   Last time it was just over £1000, but that was for 4 and coffee was included. 

[jjb1970]

I recommend Da Mei Curry Kitchen in Boon Lay. S$11 for the finest mutton curry in all of somethingdom. Expensive and an indulgence I admit (Idon'tnormallylike going above S$5), but the auntie who does the cooking is a true maestro and the grumpy uncle on the till who hates the world adds that special personal touch for a memorable experience. The money you save on the food will pay for the flight ticket.

[polybear]

18 minutes ago, GMKAT7 said:

Good morning polybear,

 

IIRC, our bill came to something in the order of £400.

 

That included an overnight stay, breakfast, the ten-course taster menu and a bottle of wine.

 

But he has got two Michelin stars and the price has risen accordingly.

Since it was for a special anniversary we decided it was worth the cost.

 

Cheers, Nigel.

 

Bear was going by the website:

 

https://www.restaurantsatbains.com/dining/#restaurant

 

(£199 for a ten-course evening tasting menu - presumably p.p)

 

- plus:

 

"A discretionary 12.5% gratuity will be added to your final bill and is shared equally between the whole team"

 

- Hence the £450 plus drinks I arrived at.

 

[rockershovel]

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

There’s nothing wrong in revisiting history and developing a better and more rounded historical narrative, but if we do so, let’s not do it selectively.

 

All nations have done great things and terrible things, done things - acceptable in the past, but which are not acceptable now and things that were certainly not acceptable even back then when they were being done.

 

Anyone with even the merest iota of historical understanding grasps that. And yet there is a vocal minority - usually from the same academic, social and political milieu (no names, no pack drill. Don’t want the prodnoses to get agitated) who are determined to, if not obsessed by, depicting Western Civilisation in the worst possible light, especially the UK.

 

If Britain fielded, say, a fleet of 60 ships to hunt down slavers, they would twist things so that they can claim that Britain only used 3% of its naval forces to this end, whilst Slobbovia dedicated a full 25% of its naval forces to the same task…. Carefully neglecting to clarify that the entire Slobbovian navy consists of 4 boats, two of which being borrowed pedalos that needed to be returned at the start of the summer holidays.

 

I am, quite frankly, rather fed up with this constant denigration of Western European achievement. Since the enlightenment, when God was removed from daily life and people encouraged to think for themselves, Western Europe has been in the vanguard of scientific and social progress (sometimes reluctantly in the latter case). And unlike other great civilisations that became sclerotic, stuck in the middle ages, or simply fossilised and deliberately cut-off from the rest of the world, European civilisation (in which I include N America, Oz and NZ) has been like a shark: always hungry, always hunting, always moving forward…

The Abolition movement is doubly unacceptable to modern Liberal Leftist thinking because of its roots in Evangelical Christianity and its intrinsic criticism of Islam, which was the driving force in the international slave trade and had a thriving trade of its own

 

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Bear very much suspects that I'm not the only TNM'er who would baulk at the idea of splashin' £450** (with "discretionary 12.5% service charge") for two din dins.  Plus drinks.......

 

(**Based on the 10 course taster menu)

Fair point. But you can spend that sort of money to attend a top-tier sporting event (or even on an O gauge locomotive 😁) which doesn’t seem to carry the same sort opprobrium as does spending a similar sized wodge of cash on a meal.

Could it be that, deep down, a lot of Brits are closet Calvinists?

 

[jjb1970]

I am very open about being a hard-line nutter, every day I fall on my knees to thank God for having never been cursed with the ailment of reasonableness💪 I sometimes have nightmare about being reasonable and listening to the opinions of others (shudder).

[iL Dottore]

43 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

The Abolition movement is doubly unacceptable to modern Liberal Leftist thinking because of its roots in Evangelical Christianity and its intrinsic criticism of Islam, which was the driving force in the international slave trade and had a thriving trade of its own

 

To be contentious, I would argue that in a modern, secular, democracy, no-one (and no one group) should be considered beyond reproach, criticism, mockery or insult, no religion or belief should be immune to challenge, questioning, criticism or being poked fun at. It’s only by robust debate, tilting at windmills, toppling of shibboleths and pushing the boundaries, that progress - in all aspects of human existence - can be made.

 

There’s something perverse about a political philosophy that will try and censor me (or worse) for expressing a mild criticism of, or unwanted observation on, (say) The Church Of PB (such as “they’re the fat bears that stuff themselves with cake, aren’t they?”), yet will turn a blind eye when activists of The Church of PB openly threaten me with being boiled alive in baked beans for daring to criticise the Great Beary Leader.

 

I made up The Church of PB to provide a humorous example in order to illustrate a philosophical point, unfortunately nowadays, in both the UK and the US it is far too easy to replace The Church of PB with a real life example.

[iL Dottore]

10 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

I am very open about being a hard-line nutter, every day I fall on my knees to thank God for having never been cursed with the ailment of reasonableness💪 I sometimes have nightmare about being reasonable and listening to the opinions of others (shudder).

I know what you mean and I “feel your pain”.

For my sins, I am married to a woman who takes great and perverse delight in being unreasonably reasonable.

 

Try as I might, and not withstanding many years of patient and careful diplomacy, I have been unable to convince her that often the best thing is  not to listen to the other persons point of view