Early Risers.

[Ohmisterporter]

Afternoon all. Saw the specialist at the rather ominously named Emergency Medical Decision Unit his morning. The CT scan and bronchoscopy showed nothing out of the ordinary and the samples taken have not developed into TB or worse. Consequently I have been given a clean bill of health, so as you may imagine I am rather chipper at the moment. If it stops raining I may even wash the car.

Stay safe all.

[Jock67B]

Afternoon all

I did get some sleep last night, having had a lovely time with my youngest brother (55 today!) and his truly delightful partner. It was almost as if we'd seen him yesterday! Lovely lunch, and solemn promises as they left to not leave it too long before coming again. Had an early start to sort out the dog's requirements before popping out to run granddaughter to work. Can't believe how busy the town was so soon after eight am - must be something happening later in the week?

Brian(BSW01), hope the results from the barium test were worth the discomfort of consuming the unpalatable stuff?

Bill, I feel you're being unfair to yourself over your accident - it could hardly have been your fault that an inattentive driver opened a door without checking. Your laudable Christian attitude shines through once more and I'm pleased the injuries don't seem too bad.

Stewart, good news about your eyes, lets hope the same holds for Warren and Richard when their treatment is complete.

Baz, good news about 'youngest herbert' - he is indeed to be admired for the way he has managed to get three interviews so soon, at this time of year. Perhaps also, his previous boss now realises what a loss his going would be?

Mal, glad Gabe's birthday celebration went well. I'm a great lover of the German sausages having enjoyed them from the street vendors in Berlin on several occasions. I'm still not sure why I can't make them taste so good at home though!

Dave(TG), I will be looking in later to read what news 'Is' got from the consultant, with fingers crossed.

I hope to look in a bit later but for now,

Kind regards,

Jock.

[The Stationmaster]

Ah, so it's definitely C.......s approaching which means that shopping plans are subject to even more modification than is usually the case.  Thus the plan for today was -

 

'I understand that we will be visiting Tesco 'for some salad stuff' but on the advice of our frontline retail expert the management has decided to defer the final Christmas food buying (dairy stuff and fresh[?] veg) from tomorrow to Thursday morning'

 

But this turned into 'I've decided we might as well do as much as we can if we can get stuff that's in date'.  So we duly went and got just about everything except the newspaper (sold out of 'The Daily Telegraph' - a sure sign that it was busier in the shop than even the jam-packed car park had suggested that it might be).  But we duly got not only the salad stuff but the dairy stuff and all the necessary veg occasionally doing the odd quick exchange for something with a later 'whatever date' as the shelves were re-stocked - so Wednesday which was going to be Thursday in fact became Tuesday - and we went straight to a check-out without a queue, brilliant stuff.

 

However on arrival home (to home made soup accompanied by home made bread) it was announced that 'we' (married male readers will understand how 'we' is far more relevant than 'I' in this context) had forgotten the strawberries.  So as I was venturing down to the town for certain items (including the DT from WHS, so she can now do her crossword - major brownie points earner there) I was instructed to look for stawberries so I did, in Waitrose.    At which point it became clear why Waitrose might not be shifting stuff as fast as Tesco as their, in many places green, strawberries were =£10/kilo.  So on return home I took to the car and went back to Tesco to actually get some wholly red strawberries (at =£6/kilo, for the same sort of Egyptian strawberries as Waitrose, most odd).   But the thing I'm left wondering is why we can't have tinned strawberries in the trifle? Ah well mine is not to ask.

 

Anyway all is now gathered in except the meat (various) and pies (various meats) which we will collect from the butcher in Pangbourne tomorrow so I might even get to see some trains.

Edited December 22, 2015 by The Stationmaster

[Coombe Barton]

Excavations continue

 

But we still can't see the dining table.

 

Shopping is early tomorrow, followed by more clearing up (so that the dining table may become visible)

 

And discovering things (mainly books, we'd forgotten we had.

[New Haven Neil]

...and relax.  The rush has finally subsided, with todays total being about half of yesterdays!  Also a new member of staff was recruited to start in the new year, who oddly was once my boss about 14 years ago!  Just as well he was nice on the way up!  'Team Semi-Retired'!

 

The Churchill memorial pack arrived today - great timing Hornby, NOT!

[pH]

Matthew will be instructed to listen for deliveries. Hopefully he will be as attentive for the Hornby package as for the beer I ordered for him.

 

Might that not depend, perhaps, on the order in which they arrive?

[Tony_S]

At the rate Matthew consumes milk and tomatoes we may need to go out again to cope with the one day the shops are shut. Aditi's diabetes clinic visit was OK but she has gone back to one of the medications she took until November when she tried a new drug. She and her nurse decided the old one was probably more effective for her.

My loco arrived this morning and our beer this afternoon. We then went off to Leigh and got into Waitrose before it got busy. Someone not looking nearly ran me over and then looked cross when I didn't move quickly enough! I smiled sweetly which always annoys people more! What was funny was she then wanted my parking space. If people try to reverse in before I get out I prefer to stop. I smiled sweetly again!

Matthew is busy working at something of great geographical significance that has to be handed in at the end of January. Aditi understands what he is doing, I don't.

Tony

[pH]

Hmmm, Falcon9/SpaceX deserve kudos by launching 11 satellites into Earth orbit and returning the first stage to land perfectly vertical and safe for reuse.

 

Amazing, really.

 

Best, Pete.

Amazing, I agree - a great technical achievement.

 

I've often wondered why space vehicles take off vertically. Would it not be possible to take heavier payloads with the same power, or the same payload with less power, if the takeoff started along a runway, using wings for initial lift? I remember reading about the Dynasoar project in the early 1960s. There were suggestions that that vehicle could be lifted off on the back of a conventional aircraft, and Short Brothers built and flew the Mercury/Maia combination in the 1930s.

 

It will be interesting to see how much of the recovered first stage can actually be re-used. I would think the physical and heat stresses it's been through might mean a lot of it may be recycled rather than re-used.

 

And I wonder what people living near Cape Canaveral think about large, unmanned pieces of what has previously been called 'space junk' coming out of the sky above their homes.

[45156]

Afternoon all. Saw the specialist at the rather ominously named Emergency Medical Decision Unit his morning. The CT scan and bronchoscopy showed nothing out of the ordinary and the samples taken have not developed into TB or worse. Consequently I have been given a clean bill of health, so as you may imagine I am rather chipper at the moment. If it stops raining I may even wash the car.

Stay safe all.

Good news there Geoff - if it stops raining you can come and wash my car as well.

 

Seriously, I'm pleased that nothing sinister has been diagnosed, and I hope to bump into you when we're walking Lily over the festive season.

 

Another job that has arisen is to make good as far as possible the damaged flooring in the dining room, and the assessor has advised us to cut away the carpet and underlay until we reach dry and mould-free material - about six seet by three feet apears to have done the trick, and once the leaking patio doors are replaced, then we can order a new carpet - the dehumidifer is working overtime in there at present.  I know that this is nothing like as bad an outcome as many others nearby, and in all honesty, having seen the damage that storm rain has done in a small incursion, my heart really goes out to those whose homes have had much more damage - in fact the local news has just said that Appleby and Glenridding have got it again.

[Simon G]

More flooding in Cumbria today. Keswick and Appleby have houses flooded for a second time and some in Glenridding on Ullswater for a third time in three weeks. You just feel so sorry for the people concerned. It wasn't surprising given the amount of rain that fell overnights and this morning. Fortunately it stopped at lunchtime, so we were able to get out for a walk this afternoon, although it was still very windy.

[petethemole]

Greetings to all ERs and a Happy Yule.

 

I'm back on here after having no internet access since mid-afternoon on the 9th. The causes were multifarious, including a very faulty BT land line and problems at the ISP that included not talking to my router. Although the old one appears to be working it may not be fully functioning so I replaced it with a £30 job from Argos. With help from a fault manager from the ISP I got it logged on this afternoon, then had to go out. 

 

I hope to catch up on the last 13 days of ERs but in the meantime, best wishes to anybody ailing.

 

Pete

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I was aware that the winter solstice only meant the shortest day and that the sunset or sunrise times continue moving earlier/later either side of that date. In fact it continues over a total period of 12 days. Whats more its not the middle of the 12 day period but two thirds of the way in that the solstice occurs. This means that it is the 25th of December that both the sunrise is getting earlier and sunset later. If you accept that Christmas originated as a pagan ceremony long before the birth of Jesus Christ you can understand why Christmas day is on the 25th and not on the solstice and where the '12 days of Christmas' originated. The maths involved date back over 5,000 years, it is now thought that calculating the date of the winter solstice was the function of Stonehenge. Over the last 5,000 years or so timings would have changed for various reasons, every century as the spin of the Earth slows down the days become longer, only by a fraction of a second so the calender will have to be altered again* at some time in the future. *(The last time it was altered was the introduction of the Gregorian calender but as that addressed most of the problems of the previous calender its good for another 5,000 years.)

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

Evenin' all,

 

Our meeting with Is's consultant this afternoon underlined the accuracy of cancer treatment nowadays. From day one she was told that treatment would consist of 6 doses of medium strength chemo followed by a mastectomy (no deviation there), a  course of radiotherapy and a likely pin & plate procedure. Of course we had hoped that the chemo would have removed all traces of cancer, however, this isn't the case and radiotherapy will follow as planned to hopefully zap cancerous cells in the glands/chest tissue not removed during the op. By her own admission Is now looks & feels as well as she did pre diagnosis and intends to exercise her way back to similar fitness levels. However, she repeatedly wonders why more affected/cancerous glands weren't removed.....I view it that the surgeons will have removed what was necessary/realistic and those defective glands remaining will be dealt with by the radiotherapy....no guarantees but we have to put our faith in the experts.

 

Aligning our expectations with what was predicted and what is likely appears to be at the root of this.

 

Seasonal greetings

 

Dave 

Edited December 22, 2015 by Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71

[BoD]

Evening all.

 

First reports from the consultant was the the surgery itself went very well so it looks as though all of your kind thoughts have worked. For that, many thanks. It wasn't an unpleasant experience and once they' d started with th laser, a quite fetching shade of green, the effect was quite relaxing. In truth the worst part oncez the local anaesthetic had started to work was the quite heavy cloth that was placed over the face. Goodness knows how those poor people who are tortured in this way feel.

 

Much more unpleasant was having to lie face down for two and a half hours after the operation. I must be one of the first to start developing bedsores on my nose. Now I can lie on my side, fifty minutes on one side, a ten minute break, and then fifty minutes on the other side. This goes on for a week. After that time will tell how successful it has been. We ar looking at 4 to 6 weeks for the gas which holds the retina in place to diffuse.

 

On the downside I don't think much of their bespoke tailor. Those white socks have ruddy great holes where the big toe pokes through

 

Good health and rest to others in need of either.

Edited December 22, 2015 by BoD

[Barry O]

Amazing, I agree - a great technical achievement.

 

I've often wondered why space vehicles take off vertically. Would it not be possible to take heavier payloads with the same power, or the same payload with less power, if the takeoff started along a runway, using wings for initial lift? I remember reading about the Dynasoar project in the early 1960s. There were suggestions that that vehicle could be lifted off on the back of a conventional aircraft, and Short Brothers built and flew the Mercury/Maia combination in the 1930s.

 

It will be interesting to see how much of the recovered first stage can actually be re-used. I would think the physical and heat stresses it's been through might mean a lot of it may be recycled rather than re-used.

 

And I wonder what people living near Cape Canaveral think about large, unmanned pieces of what has previously been called 'space junk' coming out of the sky above their homes.

The UK had an idea for a reusable space launcher - Project Mustard.. this  was designed by a team led by her indoors uncle. Great idea way ahead of the space shuttle.. just like a lot of things we designed in the 1960s.

 

 

And great news BoD! 

 

Baz

[southern42]

Well, just as I thought everything was ring ting tingling along, my tooth broke over lunch - seems a trend has started on here!  Thankfully, I've got an appointment before Santa arrives!  Of course, things like this spur you on so, having got the marzipan on The Cake this morning, I slapped on the icing this afternoon, thinking my tooth may give me grief, tomorrow.  Hopefully, the painkillers will carry on doing their thing and the slight ache won't turn into anything worse.

 

And, in turn, there was a change for tea tonight.  We had pancakes to use up the egg yolks left over from the icing.  Today's jobs will have to be done tomorrow...one of which will be wrapping the presents.

 

Coffee time, now - cooled down in my case! 

[bbishop]

Evening all.

 

We seem to be receiving good news from our ailing members. I still have a black and blue bicep, but it's beginning to fade. Best wishes to those of us with real problems and issues.

 

I'm batch building some private owner wagons for Greenwich Crooms Hill and am taking them down to my sister over Christmas. It means that I can be both productive and sociable. No good dipping into her library, autobiographies by Virginia Leng, Pat Smythe, Arkle etc. But obviously I can't take a soldering iron (inquisitive pets) or chemical blackening (selenium dioxide!) so I've been busy making up 20 three link couplings and dunking metal bits in the aforementioned chemical.

 

The Third Man is on BBC4 at 11pm, think I'll watch it.

 

I won't be posting again until after Christmas, so seasonal greetings to all of you.

 

Bill

[DDolfelin]

Brilliant news, BoD!

 

Do as you're told now!

Especially by that nurse who thinks you are winking at her.

[lightengine]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I was aware that the winter solstice only meant the shortest day and that the sunset or sunrise times continue moving earlier/later either side of that date. In fact it continues over a total period of 12 days. Whats more its not the middle of the 12 day period but two thirds of the way in that the solstice occurs. This means that it is the 25th of December that both the sunrise is getting earlier and sunset later. If you accept that Christmas originated as a pagan ceremony long before the birth of Jesus Christ you can understand why Christmas day is on the 25th and not on the solstice and where the '12 days of Christmas' originated. The maths involved date back over 5,000 years, it is now thought that calculating the date of the winter solstice was the function of Stonehenge. Over the last 5,000 years or so timings would have changed for various reasons, every century as the spin of the Earth slows down the days become longer, only by a fraction of a second so the calender will have to be altered again* at some time in the future. *(The last time it was altered was the introduction of the Gregorian calender but as that addressed most of the problems of the previous calender its good for another 5,000 years.)

How do these dates relate to the adjustment in the calendar in 1752? The winter solstice would have been a different date then.

Edited December 22, 2015 by lightengine

[lightengine]

Anyone watching Midsomer Murders tonight? Why are the colours so washed out? If I change channels the colours are ok

[emt_911]

Evening all. My day off ER trip was totally compromised. I ended up having to cover a call out which meant that I ended up driving nearly 350 miles in carp weather.

 

BoD - It seems like good news is something for all of us to look forward to.

 

TG - It seems that Is's treatment plan is on target as far as the professionals are concerned.

 

Geoff - Excellent news getting a clean bill of health.

 

Jock - Good news that the time with your brother went well. At least you managed to get some sleep last night.

 

My thoughts are with those in Cumbria

[NGT6 1315]

Good to hear it went well, Warren! Few things are, I think, worse than impaired senses, so I'm sure you will notice the difference all the more clearly.

 

 

During my first shift part today, I was treated to…

 

 

 

…NGT6 prototype 1302, which I was quite happy about as I didn't have any of the prototypes for a while. These crates are funny in many ways but I do like to drive them. They do, however, tend to slip a bit quicker than the production NGT6s.

 

 

 

They also are visibly more boxy than the production cars, which have been more streamlined.

 

 

 

 

And the control desk matches this boxy appearance quite well, I think! Note that before the rebuilds which were carried out as part of their last revisions, the prototypes had a controller handle with a ball-shaped grip rather than the proper grip, with the controller as a whole also set significantly lower in a recess in the side console. The handle still does sit lower than on the production cars but has been raised for more comfortable operation.

 

 

 

The interior is not too different from that of the production cars, though the swing doors – which I was told are, in fact, components directly adopted from buses – have been replaced by plug doors. As a funny side note, if you need to disable a door on the prototypes, standard procedure is to secure them shut with – drum roll – cable ties, of all things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a look onto Naumburger Straße, just outside Plagwitz Station.

 

 

See you tomorrow, folks!

[emt_911]

Two more unplanned ER's for me having to cover emergency jobs before c******as. So much for having a rest.

 

With that in mind, night all

[AndyB]

Amazing, I agree - a great technical achievement.

 

I've often wondered why space vehicles take off vertically. Would it not be possible to take heavier payloads with the same power, or the same payload with less power, if the takeoff started along a runway, using wings for initial lift? I remember reading about the Dynasoar project in the early 1960s. There were suggestions that that vehicle could be lifted off on the back of a conventional aircraft, and Short Brothers built and flew the Mercury/Maia combination in the 1930s.

 

It will be interesting to see how much of the recovered first stage can actually be re-used. I would think the physical and heat stresses it's been through might mean a lot of it may be recycled rather than re-used.

 

And I wonder what people living near Cape Canaveral think about large, unmanned pieces of what has previously been called 'space junk' coming out of the sky above their homes.

 

Interestingly the candidate sites for the UK's Spaceport will use runways rather than launchpads. 

 

I'd like to see the insurance cost for satellites going up on a re-used rocket vs a new one.  Bet the used rocket would have to be damned cheap to offset the risk that you've identified.

[BSW01]

Evening everyone, and thanks to all the good wishes I've received. It's been a wet and windy day, very dull, heavy and grey skies.

Well I never did hear from my boss today, so I had a very quiet day, up until this afternoon that is. I've managed to do a couple of small jobs after dinner and before 3 of our grandchildren were dropped off this afternoon for tea. They're all very boisterous but we love them to bits. Doesn't help when you're starting with a cold though.

This evening saw us dropping the grandkids back home, posting the last few Christmas cards and completing the final pre-Christmas Sainsburys Grand Prix, so hopefully that's it now until after the festive celebrations are over. As I said last night, I'm really looking forward to my week off work. Who knows I might even get a bit of railway modelling done, well we can all dream can't we?

 

Dave (LSWR 1951-71). The best advice I can give is to trust the specialists, they are marvellous and dedicated people who know what they are doing. My own cancer was in-operable. But after 2 years of chemotherapy (1 dose every 4 weeks), 3 years hormone treatment, and 7 1/2 weeks of radiotherapy, the cancer appears to have gone. I'm still having regular 6 monthly check ups, and trying my best to get back to some sort of normality. I imagine this what Is wants to do, just being there for her will help immensely I'm sure. I know that it worked for me. I think I now how Sheila felt whilst giving birth to our children, all I did was sit there and hold her hand, but she said that it really helped her.

 

BoD. Glad today's surgery not only went ahead that it as the an unpleasant experience. I've had several surgical procedures and I've found that the worst part is waiting for the anaesthetic to wear off.

 

Polly. Sorry to hear about your tooth, this does seem to be a common thing at the moment doesn't it? In all the commotion and the grandkids excitement, I forgot to attend my own dental checkup this afternoon. So I think I'll have to go round tomorrow and grovel and hope that I can rearrange another appointment.

 

And on that little faux par, I'll bid you all goodnight.