Early Risers.

[DDolfelin]

Someone once suggested tying a brightly coloured ribbon around the case handle which we duly did.

Unfortunately at least half of the people there must have heard the same ......

....... and had the same colour.

 

Exactly.

Maybe a wife wouldn't agree to her Dior luggage being spray painted but I don't expect it would be on the carousel in the first place with our common stuff. 

[DonBradley]

Me again.

 Stewart,  I remember waiting for the arrival on the Bachman Super D and not being able to find a write up of it when it did arrive.

Please give me a low down on how it performs. I never did buy one but would love to have seen one trundling around pulling a string of heavies.

[Debs.]

It is certainly true that some restaurants close for lunch in Wales.

I well remember two US tourists trying the door of a café in Ruthin.

The proprietor appeared and told them it was closed for "staff tea".

 

"Croeso!"   

[Gruffalo]

"Croeso!"   

Does that refer to some form of fence treatment? Wouldn't want my food tasting of tar / phenol compounds ..... Makes rapid exit with shield covering back!

[DDolfelin]

It's their business I suppose.

I told the tourists that it wasn't typical of all such establishments.

Some had closed down altogether.

 

Something different from an old transparency:

 

[grandadbob]

Good Morning All,

 

Dry & cloudy although sun is trying to appear - 10^oC.

 

On talking to various neighbours yesterday it appears that we're all BBQing today so there could be fog in Sutton later!

 

Just been made an offer I can't refuse - the Boss is cooking breakfast & has also reminded me that I need to make some burgers for later!

 

Bye for now,

 

Bob.

[Ashcombe]

Morning all...

 

.....Currently sat here with a cuppa and watching the rabbits doing stuff around the living room.

 

Cheers everyone!

Knowing a little about the activities of rabbits, that conjures up a picture......?!

 

Another sunny morn - the sixth in a row! Enjoyed the Food Fest in Torquay yesterday, especially after consuming some locally produced cider.

 

Enjoy the day, everyone!

[NGT6 1315]

Knowing a little about the activities of rabbits, that conjures up a picture......?!

 

 

Our rabbits are decent!

[Donw]

Morning all.

DDs airport musings are amusing. When I had a boss in Edinburgh it was suggested that flying up was the best way. The time wasted at both ends was much longer than the flight. Plus the airports are not central. (even worse if you get re-directed to Prestwick due to fog). It was nearly as quick by train and much more restful.

Don

[Tony_S]

Morning.

Sunny here. We won't be having a barbecue but I suspect many other people round here will.

We had nice BBM (like text but on a Blackberry phone) messages from Matthew yesterday. He went from Toronto to see Niagara Falls. He didn't go on an organised trip but used buses and trains. I'll have to find a copy of the email itinerary he sent me. I know he is off to Ottawa next but I'm not sure when.

 

Tony 

[Oldddudders]

Morning all

 

A reasonable morning, bright but a bit cloudy. Yesterday was pretty good, but my back only wants to do so much strimming in one day! 

 

Anent places being closed, here in rural France you usually find the banks close for lunch! Having worked in Central London for so many years, where the banks were overrun by customers on their lunch-break at that time, this came as a shock!

 

Like Sherry's pics. Argentan we always thought rather nice - but in past times it had a major steam shed, so would have been even nicer! I intend to take the train to Granville at some time, parking at l'Aigle. Seems a nice day out.

 

Happy Sunday everyone.

[New Haven Neil]

No pics of France to show, so here's one from my past.  Anyone care to guess (Gruffalo not allowed!) what this ship is carrying.....???

 

 

 

[beast66606]

DD's Top Tip: Spray paint a large identifier on every face of your cases. I have a big silver initial stencilled on mine and it works.

 

I spray M-I-N-E on my cases, then I know which are mine.

 

Morning all.

 

12 hours photographing yesterday, then home, a quick shower and out for a meal and beers with some friends so I've not caught up on everything this morning.

 

We've got to go to the next village to collect the car and then we are off out to the seaside for a few hours.

 

Have a good day all.

[Happy Hippo]

Neil,

 

Air?  she seems to be riding high in the water.

 

regards

 

Richard

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

My what a cornucopia of 'things' on here this morning.  And yes Neil I agree with HH - fresh air riding that high out of the water (presumably some sort of dry bulker? I saw a really nice one of those in Aus some years back - allegedly the only coal fired dry bulker running in that part of the world, coal trade out of Newcastle although she was in dock in Sydney when I saw her.s

 

And from the sublime to the ludicrous - Railtrack's first national timetable conference was held in a hotel at Manchester Airport, presumably so that the 'Trackies could fly in instead of coming by train (including the one who flew there from Gatwick (honest but then he always was a p*ll*ck even when he worked on the Western).  Anyway crummy great hotel with ludicrously expensive drink and the airport wasn't even worth a bit of aeroplane cranking  - Glasgow being much more fun for that.  Oh and best answer with airports is not to take hold baggage - i used to reckon on being on a train out of Zurich within no more than 20 minutes of landing at the very most.

 

I'm getting worried about Dom's rabbits - are they former tv personalities by any chance?

 

And for those of you who like tanker type ships here's one underload and another empty - in Milford Haven Septr last year

 

 

[NGT6 1315]

I spray M-I-N-E on my cases, then I know which are mine.

 

Or you might become a frequent subject for particularly thorough baggage inspections!

[Barry O]

almost sunny - game yesterday uneventful - cup game to umpire today which could be interesting.

 

Have a good Sunday people.

 

Don B - my G2a works OK - not as powerful as my Gem one but its much better detailing...

[New Haven Neil]

Neil,

 

Air?  she seems to be riding high in the water.

 

regards

 

Richard

 

No, but something lighter than water.  She is almost discharged at that point, so not a lot left in her, here's the vessel we were discharging into....it too a LOT of trips for that coaster to take it all....7 weeks....

 

No, not dry cargo, Mike.

 

[trisonic]

My daughter got back from a week of several performances at Disneyworld last night. She had some neato stuff from Disney that they give to performers which are highly collectible. I get the sense though that she is becoming susceptible to a problem that has plagued me throughout my life. That is when you start to excel at something it actually becomes boring, 

A: Because it simultaneously becomes effortless with,

B: Any further improvement becomes 10 times harder with only tiny incremental improvements and

C: The pressures of "fandom" and familial expectations.

 

I've seen this in other people too, with regard to sport - a local cricketer being talked up to be a future England Captain but losing all interest at 16. Music, many times: Green et al, feeling overwhelming pressures instead of enjoying the pleasure of playing,  being happier playing for nothing rather than being paid well, etc., etc.

 

I really don't have an answer for this - something you enjoy becomes a hell which no one who hasn't been through  it understands. The word "whinging" and "ungrateful" get flung about. A sure sign that this is happening is when an interest suddenly blooms in a completely different field of endeavor....

 

Enough for now, Pete.

 

[New Haven Neil]

 ^ Which might explain why this engineer works with young offenders...... ^

[trisonic]

Is it just a general human condition, Neil?

 

It doesn't effect everyone; when I've tried to explain to friends they look at me incredulously.

 

Best, Pete.

[DDolfelin]

I've experienced that, Pete.

Ennui.

[BoD]

Whilst I don't have legions of fans, possess only a modicum of talent and certainly don't earn large amounts I seem to be going through something similar at the moment.

Pete describes something that, up to now, I haven't quite been able to put my finger on.

 

I guess this explains the phrase 'a change is as good as a rest'.

Sometimes easier said than done.

[45156]

Morning All

 

Well, that's a lot of catching up for a few hours downtime - now then, Morecambe..

 

The Winter Gardens is now in private hands and is in the course of restoration, but of course as it's a charitable trust, it's a begging bowl job to get it restored.  The Midland Hotel has been totally refurbished into a very swish establishment, but it is NOT priced for locals.  The old station buildings, what's left of them, are The Platform, which is an arts/concert venue, and the platform areas now form a car park, cinema, and covered market.  The old amusement park (Frontierland) is a derelict site, and an enormous eyesore , with the remnants of the Polo tower (a rotating observation platform) which are still there and slowly rusting away but not yet demolished as it hosts mobile phone transmitters.  The council lost so much money over a Mr Blobby theme park that they really don't have all that much money to throw at Morecambe any more - it is a very very sad place, with a few small crumbs of comfort - however, it is still home to one of the best model railway shops in the North.

 

Don - I won't be running the G2 in the near future, as I've nothing to run it on.  

 

We were meant to be selling at a car boot over this weekend, and today it's a wash out, as although the seaweed gazers said it's going to be dry, it's been raining since about eight on and off.  Tomorrow is forecast as being a better day, so we'll be in for the early start then instead.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[BoD]

I didn't mean to sound disparaging about Morecambe, Stewart. I was just the way I found it at the time.  As I said, all very sad really but I guess not to dissimilar to many former seaside 'resorts'.

It's good to hear that efforts are being made to change things.