The Night Mail

[Winslow Boy]

16 minutes ago, SM42 said:

I have occasion when feeling a little bored to try some of the national newspapers ( I use the word cautiously) clickbait. 

I do this for a laugh or more likely to wonder in exasperation what on earth people are being paid to write and what ever happened to proper journalism. 

 

Today's outing was from the Express

 

" Why you should never wear trainers to the airport"

 

I was expecting something to do with security profiling or some sort of emergency evacuation, melting whilst exiting a burning aeroplane type of thing, but no

 

You should never wear trainers because if you have to take them of at security, then you have to tie the laces when you put them back on and you could get all flustered and it delays you ( by about 30 seconds I suppose). 

 

Why just trainers?

 

Holding up your trousers whilst your belt is scanned is just as bad, but they don't say never wear trousers.

 

Having said that, the trouser/belt situation has a real security benefit as it is harder to run away whilst holding up your trousers.

 

Andy

Wondering what the world is coming to

 

Its that well known phrase - in a handcart to hell.

 

Anyway it's the silly season yes I know it now lasts the entire year for some 'media' (word used advisably) you expect stupid/in and/ proverbial taking items.

[Happy Hippo]

3 minutes ago, SM42 said:

Ninja Guinea pigs are worse. 

 

They'll eat everything in their path.

 

Finish the mission 5 times bigger than when they started. 

 

Ninja gerbils would just get trapped in  the wall cavity or behind the cooker

 

Could be worse I suppose. 

Ninja hippos

 

Wouldn't want them in your wall cavities 

 

 

Andy 

You'd be fine.

 

This is the only picture I could find of a Ninja Hippo:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

(My italics)

As a keen amateur Chef I only have one question to ask when buying new kit for the kitchen: would these features be found on the professional version? If the answer is “No” then I look for another model/manufacturer.

 

Professional gear is designed to do one (or a few) thing(s), do it well and do it well thousands of times.

 

The latest not-found-on-professional-gear wheeze for extracting money (if not the urine) from customers is the WiFi equipped oven that allows the victim, sorry Customer, the ability to control the oven from their smart phone. A feature I’ve failed to find on any of the professional ovens I’ve looked at lately…

 

Oh, and it adds about (at least?) £850 onto the base price of the oven (which is why it seems manufacturers love this feature. Of one Swiss manufacturer’s of range of oven models, only about three of twenty different models were without this feature)

One of the problems that manufacturers have to address is space in the kitchen.  It is all very well having simple sturdy machines for each process, but few houses (at least in the UK) have the space in their kitchen area to house all these magnificent beasts.

 

So in a sop to the peasants who cannot afford a minor stately home with a kitchen and food preparation area the size of a tennis court, all sorts of gold plated 'bolt ons' get added.

 

Of course the snobbish and the social climbers will not buy these multi purpose machines, as their egos insist on the even more expensive machines with the useless additional components because they can, and can then boast about them to their long suffering neighbours and relatives. 

[Compound2632]

10 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

So in a sop to the peasants who cannot afford a minor stately home with a kitchen and food preparation area the size of a tennis court, all sorts of gold plated 'bolt ons' get added.

 

We have a mobile dishwasher.

 

It has attachments that also enable it to vacuum the house, change the beds, load the washing machine, peg out, iron, and do the grocery shopping. It does have rather high running costs but when not in use it slots into the small bedroom and churns out model railway wagons.

[Northmoor]

3 hours ago, SM42 said:

 

I fail to see why any household appliances need WiFi, unless course youi intend to use them to overload the Internet.

 

Perhaps you could ask your fridge to put the joint in the oven you have turned on whilst the other appliances prepare the veg, so that when you cone home your WiFi connected dining room table has  dinner waiting

 

Unless you want to preheat the oven whilst you are on the commute there's no point. 

 

It seems that the fact that you need  to be there for any of this to be any use ( and hence can just turn it on msnually)  has been overlooked. 

 

Like cars, manufacturers are caught in a "look how clever we are for adding useless gimmicks" arms race.

 

The only possible things that maybe of use to control remotely are your lights. Then you can look like your in when you are not, or turn the outside light on for when you get home on a dark evening. 

 

But then again there are things called timers and PIR sensors. 

 

Andy

One cyber security company reported a couple of years ago that the most commonly-installed home smart meter posed a significant security risk to the whole UK.  It could be easily hacked and adjusted; you would think the worst was that some foreign power could turn your heating off?  As the correspondent said, if all our heating up was turned to maximum at once, the electricity grid would trip out across most of the country.  Yes it's a small risk, but we live in times when such things have to be considered and by having a function in the appliance that most of will never benefit from, we have introduced that risk.

[Compound2632]

51 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

One cyber security company reported a couple of years ago that the most commonly-installed home smart meter posed a significant security risk to the whole UK.  It could be easily hacked and adjusted; you would think the worst was that some foreign power could turn your heating off?  As the correspondent said, if all our heating up was turned to maximum at once, the electricity grid would trip out across most of the country. 

 

A moment's though will show that is utter bunkum. All the smart meter does is monitor usage. (At least that's the case with ours, which is pretty much bog-standard, and hence, I presume, commonly installed.) It has no communication with the control unit or thermostat. 

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

You'd be fine.

 

This is the only picture I could find of a Ninja Hippo:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They can be found.

[Happy Hippo]

If you can see him, he failed the course!

[petethemole]

4 hours ago, SM42 said:

Having said that, the trouser/belt situation has a real security benefit as it is harder to run away whilst holding up your trousers.

 

Dad took part in Operation Archery, the 1941 commando raid on Vaagso and Maaloy in Norway.

When I was a child he gave me some Wehrmacht trouser buttons that had been removed from the prisoners taken during the raid.  The commandos couldn't spare many men to guard them so cut off their trouser buttons so they couldn't run away before being loaded onto the landing craft.  The buttons were made from a plastic-like substance and eventually disintegrated in the '70s.

[Northmoor]

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

A moment's though will show that is utter bunkum. All the smart meter does is monitor usage. (At least that's the case with ours, which is pretty much bog-standard, and hence, I presume, commonly installed.) It has no communication with the control unit or thermostat. 

We have a Hive system for our hot water and heating, which can be programmed on-line and adjusted remotely.  The latter function we rarely use but it's probably hack-able to the right (or wrong) type of person.

[Compound2632]

1 minute ago, Northmoor said:

We have a Hive system for our hot water and heating, which can be programmed on-line and adjusted remotely.  The latter function we rarely use but it's probably hack-able to the right (or wrong) type of person.

 

Then you are at risk of a Russian winter...

[Lochgorm]

15 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Then you are at risk of a Russian winter...

A fate amply deserved by all those who fail to change the password from the manufacturer’s initial factory setting.

 

 Charlie 

[polybear]

"What are doing, Dear?"

 

"Just discussing with The Lads the finer points of Black Ops Ninja Gerbils, Guinea Pigs and Hippos' - all operating under a framework of plausible deniability and funded by a budget that doesn't exist.  Oh yes, and the Hippo's are invisible......"

 

Good Luck.....

Edited August 5, 2022 by polybear

[SM42]

3 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

They can be found.

 

Have you been looking in your wall cavities again?

 

1 hour ago, Lochgorm said:

A fate amply deserved by all those who fail to change the password from the manufacturer’s initial factory setting.

 

 Charlie 

 

 

I have yet to discover a way of achieving this. Fortunately I have unhackable, manually controlled,  hard wired  heating

 

Locating the menu for such an operation on any device has proved impossible 

 

Change the password they say.

 

How you ask? 

It's easy they say, but never how

 

Check the Internet for advice you think

 

OK, click there and no, my on screen menu looks nothing like that and that option doesn't exist in any sub menu I try

 

Give up and decide that hackers probably aren't worried about burning my toast, making me a cup of tea or turning off the lights. 

 

Ar least it would save me so.e money if they did.

 

Andy

Edited August 5, 2022 by SM42

[SM42]

If anybody asks ( especially Mrs SM42 or one of her agents)

 

You didn't see an SM42 (what else)

 

 

You only saw some Revell paint tinlets 😉

 

Andy

[Dave Hunt]

I've just got back from Dad's house after Jill and I have spent the day there having what I hope will be our final sorting out session. This afternoon a very nice lady came at my invitation from the British Heart Foundation to look at all the stuff that is left, which is still a lot, and assess what they could and couldn't take for refurbishment and/or resale but also to look at what else there was that we wanted to get rid of as they will also do what is effectively a house clearance of everything except dangerous liquids. Much to my surprise they will take all the electrical stuff for resale. There will be a charge for the clearance side of the job but quite honestly I couldn't care less about that as it means that within ten days or so we should have an empty shell to have cleaned and then put it on the market. When she had gone, though, I looked around at what was left of what my Mum and Dad had worked so hard during their lives for and for the first time since Dad died I confess that I sat down and wept.

 

Jill is now making us G&Ts to have on the patio, which is probably the best idea anyone has had all day.

 

Dave

[simontaylor484]

Some charity shops have in house staff that do PAT testing of electricals.

[SM42]

I know exactly how you felt DH

 

It took me a while to get used to the idea of selling mum's place. 

The house I grew up in.

 

It was hard to clear stuff out. 

 

Luckily I had my brother to help and we managed to keep each other ruthless 

 

We still had a lot left over, too good to throw out,  boxed up for later sorting. 

 

Some we sold off, some we auctioned and only in the last  month have all but the last few items gone off to charity.

I have 4 small boxes left to dispose of

 

I've kept mum's paintings.

She an amateur artist, she had a talent and they are a tangible reminder of her. 

One day, when I'm ready I will do something with them

 

Once the house was empty, waiting the sale to complete I sat in the empty lounge and felt an enormous wave of grief come over me, but also relief.

 

At the time it was hard. But now I see the old house being transformed by a young couple into their new home. 

 

My brother and I have been helping their builders understand some of the history of the house which explains the pipes, drains and other stuff they weren't expecting,  and this has been a very uplifting experience overall. 

 

I still greive  for my father, whom we lost in 2003.

Things will set me off. 

Grieving for mum is still new and raw 18 months later

 

The important thing to remember is that we move on but we never forget.

 

 

Andy

[DaveF]

 

Dave,

 

I know just how you feel today, I was the same when the last things went from Mum's flat a few weeks ago.   I am simply pleased that I have been able to find room in my house for things of both Mum's and Dad's, some I can use, others I can just see when I want to.  

 

Dad died in 2005, at least I still have his 0 gauge models, his photos and paintings.  With Mum it is again photos but also needlework as well as books together with some furniture and ornaments they both loved - and I always liked.

 

On the funny side - today I went to check the flat as the insurance company require each week and realised that there were three door mats still in the porch - now there is one as two good ones came home with me.

 

David 

Edited August 5, 2022 by DaveF

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Some charity shops have in house staff that do PAT testing of electricals.

The rabid over zealous use of PAT testing  and the money that was being made from it  took a blow when, sensibly, the requirements became a lot more relaxed.  For the majority of items it's now only (or was when I last looked at the regs) a visual inspection of plugs switches and wires.

[PhilJ W]

There was little to clear after my parents died as dad came to live with me after mum died. Most of the stuff I had inherited anyway as I bought the house off of them when dad retired, they moved out into a park home that had a lot of the furnishings fitted. My mum was only 67 when she died of cancer and it came as quite a blow to dad. He even left a few things behind such as his WW2 medals, fortunately the park home manager found them and returned them and my brother now has them. When dad died there was not a lot to do, a month before he died he was told not to drive any more so he signed his car over to me and I passed my car over to my niece who had only just passed her test. A few other items were redistributed and once probate had been settled there was nothing left and no outstanding debts.

[PhilJ W]

6 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

The rabid over zealous use of PAT testing  and the money that was being made from it  took a blow when, sensibly, the requirements became a lot more relaxed.  For the majority of items it's now only (or was when I last looked at the regs) a visual inspection of plugs switches and wires.

Fortunately both clubs with which I am involved have members who are qualified to do PAT testing. My brother was as well but due to his ill health no longer does it.

[polybear]

3 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

When she had gone, though, I looked around at what was left of what my Mum and Dad had worked so hard during their lives for.....

 

You're left (plus any other siblings).

Not a bad result I'd say.

 

[Tony_S]

I had a couple of jobs to do today. Rewire the steam generator iron and sort out a replacement rodding eye for a drain. 
I did the iron this morning. I must congratulate Tefal, it was easy to dismantle to replace the mains lead. The existing lead disappeared into a printed circuit board but I snipped it near the board and used Wago 221 straight connectors to make the join. Loads of room, much easier than fitting decoders in tiny locos. 
Aditi was planning to sit in the garden with a friend to sort out some French Circle admin so I decided not to do my drain work which included noisily attacking concrete with a chisel. However it was cloudy and they stayed in so I did remove the old broken cover and modified a new one to fit. Interestingly £2.60 + £4 postage from an Amazon trader or £22 with free postage from another Amazon trader. As I needed two I went for the £2.60 each plus £4 postage. 
Tony

[AndyID]

It's been quite a while since I lost my mum and dad. It did take a while but now I can look at old photos and remember the wonderful times we had.