Early Risers.

[emt_911]

Morning all. 5 degrees and a little misty.

 

Stewart - Good luck, I just hope that it goes ahead today

 

John - That's really good news

 

AndyID - That is one very close call. Very lucky

 

Not a lot else to say except, have a good day everyone

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

This morning is slightly warmer than previous mornings have been.  Plus, the sun is shining.

 

Hopefully the weather will stay clear for the Eclipse tomorrow morning.

 

Have a good day everyone...

[NGT6 1315]

Morning all. Likewise sunny over here, so off for some more photos I'll go!

 

Have a good one...

[Smiffy2]

Morning all.

 

Cool and misty here, quite windy, fell asleep on the sofa watching crap TV and so up early. The trip to get an extra heater was cancelled yesterday after we spent too long having a cuppa at the neighbours', and Julie's knees were bad. So that's on the agenda for today. I did see a brushcutter for €260 - a 4 stroke - so may well be getting that soon.

 

Having thought we were mice free our neighbour informed us we were well-moused when she came over and cleaned for us (she always sorts the house out before we arrive) and a baguette we bought yesterday and didn't eat appears to have been gnawed...

 

Nougat in traps is the stuff. Though Claude did offer us as many cats as we want. We declined his kind offer.

 

I hope it's a bit clearer for the eclipse. I want to see if the birds stop singing. When I was a lad (about 5 I think) I remember a partial eclipse and what struck me then was the way the birds went quiet, and when the eclipse was over we had a second dawn chorus. I want to see if it happens again.

 

To be frank I haven't been through the last 12 hours' posts, so I'm not up to speed, but sending good vibes to all. Have a good day.

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

Mornin' all,

 

A mistier rerun of yesterday in The Moorlands....the reduced light levels robbing any scenes of their warm tones and then the mist swirls back in volume, to make lights on the bike necessary. The wind chill levels this morning suggest that it may be a while before hat and gloves are abandoned on the dawn constitutionals. The actors warning 'never work with children or animals' popped into mind a couple of times yesterday whilst priming the new plywood for the school signs....most little ones 3+ were pliant and simply wanted to help but a couple of the boys had ambitions of painting the gazebo, me and the other children as well....a firm hold on the paintbrush and minimal paint on the bristles limiting the opportunity. Both boards primed on both sides in the end and secured into the roof of the sports shed to dry....ready for undercoating.

 

First MOT for the car today.

 

Now music by Kiki Dee....Loving and free.

 

Feathered ones provided for

 

Enjoy what you do

 

Dave

Edited March 19, 2015 by Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71

[Barry O]

Morning all from a misty Leeds. Hopefully everyone is as well as can be expected.

Other than Trev we seem to be missing some other ER contributors. Hope they are "just resting"

 

Flying into Leeds Bradford airport is an experience everyone should try. I was given a cab ride once. My mate the pilot had to explain why we were aiming at the control tower (which is off to the side of the runway). As we came over the end of the runway the wind pushed the nose of the plane around so that it lined up with the runway. Once over the hump in the runway it was engines off , then brakes on and full reverse thrust to stop before the end. And they used to land Concorde here! Happy days!

Have a great pre POETS day!

Baz

[Tony_S]

Morning everyone.

Greetings from cloudy Costa Essex.

I'm not sure what I will be doing today. Aditi is working from home this morning as she has a routine medical check up in Basildon after lunch and will then go to Stratford for a budget discussion. Not the one in Parliament just the department one. I think she likes working from home, lots of tea and IT support.

Tony

[gordon s]

Morning campers….

 

Here's a fun piece of kit for the tufties amongst us...

 

https://youtu.be/SpKGm3TC5jc

[Coombe Barton]

Starving blood test this morning.

 

Then off to work AFTER I've had some breakfast

[jamie92208]

Morning all from a little village west of Dean Woods (Home of the Big rabbits).  Overcast here.

Stewart hope everything works out today.   

Dave I aprove of your choice of music, Amoureuse is one of my favourite tracks by her.

Barry, flying in and out of Leeds \bradford is always an experience.  On my first landing we got a major wobble on coming in over the golf course and the pilot banged it down so hard the overhead lockers flew open.  Another flight coming in from Ilkley was a bit bumpy and the passengers gave the crew a round of applause when we landed.   Apparently they extended the wrong runway (Due to geographic constraints) so virtually every landing is a crosswind one.

Anyway ironing beckons this morning then more soldering and sorting stock etc out for the trip to Nottingham.  Not sure what the music will be for the ironing yet but something loud is in my thoughts.

 

Jamie

Edited March 19, 2015 by jamie92208

[Tony_S]

Morning campers….

 

Here's a fun piece of kit for the tufties amongst us...

 

Are tufties members of the Tufty Club? My dictionary is a bit vague?

[Shedman5]

Morning, sharp frost here with blue sky and sunshine, a cold but lovely morning.

 

A few jobs to do outside nothing to strenuous though.

 

Other half out with friends so I'm left to my own devices, a good thing or not a good thing dependent on who you are asking.

 

Enjoy your day folks

 

Alan

[roundhouse]

Morning all from a little billage west of Dean Woods (Home of the Big rabbits).  Overcast here.

Stewart hope everything works out today.   

Dave I aprove of your choice of music, Amoureuse is one of my favourite tracks by her.

Barry, flying in and out of Leeds \bradford is always an experience.  On my first landing we got a major wobble on coming in over the golf course and the pilot banged it down so hard the overhead lockers flew open.  Another flight coming in from Ilkley was a buit bumpy and the passengers gave the crew a round of applause when we landed.   Apparently they extended the wrong runway (Due to geographic constraints) so virtually every landing is a crosswind one.

Anyway ironing beckons this morning them more soldering and sorting stock etc out for the trip to Nottingham.  Not sure what the music will be for the orning yet but something loud is in my thoughts.

 

Jamie

Only taken off from there. Nice compact airport and a nice bar airside but the Jet2 plane was a little too cosy, a lot more so than Easyjet or Ryanair so not enough room for all the carry on bags which then delayed the flight. Came back on Eurostar!!

 

 

Last night replaced the blown headlight lamp in one of our cars that we keep at Mums. it has pop up lights so nt a straight forward task but its all working and brought it home. Now just neec ot change the other one so they both match.

 

Tonight is modelling time.

 

Overcast here in London

[newbryford]

0515 in Manchester.

 

My most interesting flight was in China in 1990. A Chinese built copy of a Russian twin turboprop. It had folding seats!

We walked out to the runway past lines of Mig fighters that had seen better days. There were just two westerners on board with about 40 others. I was joined by an ex-Chineses air force bomber navigator who was about to retrain as civilian crew on 737's. He was also learning English and we had a most interesting conversation about the uses of the words "could" and "would"!

Incidentally, the same airline had just flown a plane into a mountain in the region in the previous week.

 

Now at Schipol waiting for a 777.

 

Cheers

Mick

Edited March 19, 2015 by newbryford

[Killybegs]

Ive never flown “no frills”, I’m afraid but I agree that my favorites are Singapore Airlines (even the Business is brilliant) and BA First. Nothing like having been in the back of beyond to board a Tokyo to London flight on BA. The fancy food doesn’t attract me much either but the smell  of fresh cooked bacon when you’re coming in over Ireland is difficult to beat. I like their “Day” flight from New York which gets in about 9:00pm at Heathrow - though the car around the M25 to the Brentwood exit spoils it somewhat - specially on a Friday....

 

G’night, Jock, may your dreams all be good and lucid.

 

Best, Pete.

Isn't that strange. We flew back from Oz with Singapore Airlines last year. We were not impressed. It just goes to show how experiences can differ from one flight to the next. We were on one of those double decker Airbuses. There was no leg room, the entertainment system wasn't working properly and the food was grim (and no choice by the time the cart reached us). It was probably a lot better in the suites on the upper deck!

 

If I started on 'interesting flights' and near misses I would be here all day!

 

I was a real ER this morning, up at 5.30 to take Steph (complete with sewing machine and backpack!) into Donegal Town to catch the bus to Dublin. Then back for breakfast and walk the dogs. Thought about going back to bed as I had another bad night, but thought better of it.

 

It's another beautiful day here, frosty first thing but warming up rapidly, it's 7degC already. 

 

Travel safely if you need to.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Killybegs

[skipepsi]

Morning all, busy day writing I am much better at talking.... Lots to do and a visit for blood extraction after lunch I am not asked to do fasting blood tests I am not sure why. The retinopathy last night was a bit of a shock I had forgotten about the painful lights I could still see them hours later. Hope all goes well Stuart, have a good day all..

[Tony_S]

Matthew flew out to Melbourne last year using Singapore Airlines. Due to his careful perusal of schedules and being prepared to have a 14 hour stopover in Singapore it was not expensive. He has no problem with legroom, sees airline food as just food and has his own entertainment just in case. However he said Singapore Airlines was OK. On the way back he stopped in Singapore for a few days to see friends and got a really good deal with Malaysian Airlines from an Australian travel agent using a Greek booking service. He said that flight was OK.

[roundhouse]

Matthew flew out to Melbourne last year using Singapore Airlines. Due to his careful perusal of schedules and being prepared to have a 14 hour stopover in Singapore it was not expensive. He has no problem with legroom, sees airline food as just food and has his own entertainment just in case. However he said Singapore Airlines was OK. On the way back he stopped in Singapore for a few days to see friends and got a really good deal with Malaysian Airlines from an Australian travel agent using a Greek booking service. He said that flight was OK.

Last time we flew SIngapore Airlines, the vegetarian dish had crab sticks!!!

[Tony_S]

Morning all, busy day writing I am much better at talking.... Lots to do and a visit for blood extraction after lunch I am not asked to do fasting blood tests I am not sure why. The retinopathy last night was a bit of a shock I had forgotten about the painful lights I could still see them hours later. Hope all goes well Stuart, have a good day all..

It might be the HbA1c blood test which doesn't need to be a fasting test as in effect it is looking back over your recent blood sugars.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Tony_S

[Tony_S]

Last time we flew SIngapore Airlines, the vegetarian dish had crab sticks!!!

Matthew is in a geography organisation that holds meetings all over Europe. When they were in Poland the planning for the next meeting in Romania was started. An earlier meeting in Romania had been a bit of a culinary disaster as the organiser had arranged ham and lettuce for every meal (with a lot of beer). He seemed surprised that vegetarians didn't eat ham. Anyway using a Russian student to translate about the vegetarian menu, the translator announced that the Romanian organiser had learned the English for vegetarian menu.

 

Potato.

 

Tony

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Just saw Jasper Carrot on the Breakfast show, the subject of his number one record 'Flunky Moped' came up, and he managed to turn the discussion around to the 'B' side, which had been banned by the BBC and was why the record was number one, much to the embarrassment of the presenters. Good on yer Jasper.

[trisonic]

Matthew flew out to Melbourne last year using Singapore Airlines. Due to his careful perusal of schedules and being prepared to have a 14 hour stopover in Singapore it was not expensive. He has no problem with legroom, sees airline food as just food and has his own entertainment just in case. However he said Singapore Airlines was OK. On the way back he stopped in Singapore for a few days to see friends and got a really good deal with Malaysian Airlines from an Australian travel agent using a Greek booking service. He said that flight was OK.

That “boy” has style!!!

 

When I was young I liked stopovers too - it gave one the chance to see somewhere else.

 

Best, Pete.

[iL Dottore]

Morning All,

 

I should clarify...

I'll quite happily fly Swiss economy, Air Berlin economy or even EasyJet (when it's the only option) WITHIN EUROPE but never, ever, Ryanair. .....

This body does NOT go long-haul economy class (even privately, paid for out of my own pocket ). And in the company I work in now (sort of, given the latest developments) all my long-haul have been in business. Thanks to an agreement with the owner.

 

Re. Suzie Quattro, like Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders), Debbie Harry (Blondie) or Pat Benatar, SQ never really "floated my boat". I was even immune to the charms of the Bangles   I pretty much opted out of the music scene in the 80s and 90s, with only a nodding acquaintance with the charts during that time. When I did return to listening to music it was classical (I went through a big Joe Green¹ phase), blues and The Incredible Triplet of The Who, Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull.

 

I'm also a big fan of Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream and I am currently going through a Kraftwerk Phase, listening to both the English and the German versions of their albums.

 

Tea break over... back to work.

 

Tschuss

 

iD

 

¹i.e. Giuseppe Verdi

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all.

 

For 'interesting' flights and aircraft LOT used to take some beating.  Fortunately I never 'enjoyed' an internal Polish flight but travelling out to Gdansk was a fascinating experience - metal cutlery, obviously Polish folk travelling home from the capitalist west hiding hard currency in the heels of their shoes and so on but the highlight was the landing - we passed over an airstrip in the middle of a forest at roughly a right angle to it and descending, presumably to land at a nearby civilian airport; but no - after a very steeply banked turn we landed on the runway we had just passed over, very rapid deceleration followed by the crew jumping off before all the passengers had alighted and racing off to join an internal flight to Warsaw.  All rather good fun and clearly made best use of the military features of the Tu134 which had been 'civilianised' from a light bomber design - only worrying part was that the Tu134 had a nasty reputation for 'ground loops'.  Coming back on an Il18 was much more sedate - smoothest landing I've ever had at LHR although once the undercarriage had been lowered there was a very definite sound as if something was blowing around in the wind - sounded just like a door which hadn't been closed properly.

 

We too have the overcast weather today and it's not at all warm seems we definitely chose the right day to go to the seaside!

 

Have a good day one & all.

[Tony_S]

That “boy” has style!!!

 

When I was young I liked stopovers too - it gave one the chance to see somewhere else.

 

Best, Pete.

Matthew does seem to enjoy his travels. Singapore offers coachtrips round the city so people on long stopovers can see the sights. His onward travel to wherever he is staying is often by bus/coach. After a few longish bus trips in Canada he reckons he has mastered the art of sleeping on a bus. He did tell me that he wasn't amused on an early morning coach trip to see hobbits in New Zealand that some other tourists from Utah kept waking him up to converse with him. As their son was doing missionary work in Europe and Matthew was from Europe. they felt he would like to hear about their travels. Now Matthew isn't a surly sort of person but he was tired and so when they told him they would like his advice on what they must see when they had two days in Sydney. He even wrote them down so they could show the cab driver.

Tony