Early Risers.

[BoD]

We have some strange ideas on how to run railways in this country!

We have some strange ideas on how to run the country in this country.

[Donw]

Nice pictures Dave. Very much like the idea of the boat trip. 

 

Don

[AndyID]

Fully booked too.

 

http://qz.com/765154/thanks-to-climate-change-this-13-deck-cruise-ship-is-attempting-to-navigate-the-northwest-passage/

[bbishop]

Evening all. 

 

I really don't seem to have done very much today.  Car has been looked, with a view to repairs; I've posted my doctor's letter to Benenden, with a view to knee repairs, together with a couple of DVDs for the South Western Circle, and collected my repaired Johnny shirt for Saturday.  I did a wash, out on the line, then it started raining so the dryer smalls came in; by 8 o'clock the damper smalls were bone dry so came in and what were the dryer smalls went out again.  (I'm an unreconstituted male, smalls do not get ironed!)

 

Plants watered; I'm down to 2½ butts which will last until next weekend; then it's bath water.

 

A telephone chat with HJ, things are moving forwards very gently.  Time will tell how far we progress.  We won't meet this Saturday because I'm on duty at Lord's so early to bed tomorrow.  The way I'm feeling early to bed today as well.  I may as well take the Prom upstairs to bed.

 

Glad you're back, Dave, we were getting worried.....

 

Bill

[edcayton]

Evenin' all,

 

Best regards to any that ail

 

I've carried out Is's last wishes by scattering her ashes at her favourite ten places around the coastline of the UK with various friends & family....Southwold, Aldeburgh, Bembridge, Swanage, Sidmouth, Valley of Rocks nr Lynton, St Mawes....two left to do in early September in South West Wales nr St Davids with our best man & his wife. I've now retired and will be moving to a boat on The Norfolk Broads for the first 2 yrs before having it roaded to Cambridge to be floated on the main network of UK canals & rivers to start exploring the whole network. I couldn't bring myself to use the camera for the first few scattering points but by the time I was visiting St Mawes, Lynton and Sidmouth I was viewing the whole process in a much more positive light.....

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Feathered ones provided for

 

Enjoy what you do

 

 

Good to hear from you Dave. Is that a Trident sub just off Sidmouth? Chrisf may know the answer.

 

Ed

[Coombe Barton]

This couple of old fogies have today sat on the proms of both Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton. At Budleigh Salterton we overheard someone on the next bench discussing the life of the retired in the area - Apparently is nicely quiet in Budleigh - but of you want racy you can go to Exmouth - and that's about as racy as you'd want it.

 

The weather warning promised rain has arrived - but should clear up overnight.

 

Dave (TG) - great to see you back - it seems that you're undertaking a cathartic pilgrimage - by your own words it's working. 

 

I played this in the school orchestra close on 50 years ago, not anywhere as well as this recording.

 

[Oldddudders]

Brilliant to have Dave back with us. And such an upbeat posting! Scattering ashes is no fun, but your widespread distribution adds a positive aspect. 

 

Glad you have sorted the next phase of your life, too. Long may the pleasure stay with you. You have endured mighty pressures in recent times, surely. 

[Oldddudders]

I am too intellectually lazy to steep myself in serious music, but Ralph Vaughan Williams does mean something. Indeed, the boy next to me in class lived in RVW's former house! The composer's bust now sits outside the Dorking Halls, in recognition of his founding of the Leith Hill Festival, in which I sang something at primary skool. A little later, Sherry and I shared the platform there for senior skool performances of Messiah, Magic Flute, Bartered Bride and Haydn's Seasons.

 

And a boy in my class, who just happened to play at Sherry's sister's funeral last year, studied RVW's Sea Symphony for music A Level.

 

Thanks for making me recall all that, John! 

[Coombe Barton]

Good to hear from you Dave. Is that a Trident sub just off Sidmouth? Chrisf may know the answer.

 

Ed

 

Those are rock piles along the western end of Sidmouth beach - breakwaters to shore up the sea front. Last month Sidmouth town council approved plans to add more.

 

http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/sidmouth_town_council_supports_reefs_to_protect_beach_1_4611373

 

I've been taking pix annually since 2012 of the erosion to the east of the mouth of the Sid - amazing how much are cliffs are retreating. I use this in my global warming lectures.

 

 

 

 

[New Haven Neil]

Bless you Dave.

[pH]

Full 90 minutes of soccer this morning in 29C, with the heat reflecting off an artificial surface. That's proper running soccer (OK, maybe 'lumbering' would be more appropriate), but none of this 'walking soccer for old guys' nonsense. We even had 'water breaks' in each half, just like the professionals!

[pH]

Whilst some problems can be addressed remotely, so many of the issues are not describe properly/correctly and don't include useful screen shots even after multiple requests, including explicit instructions as to what to capture, so the problems are best solved by me on-site. "Poor planning...etc". Those incapable of following instructions or helping me trouble-shoot from a distance will just have to wait now  which, OF COURSE, means they will all suddenly be urgent and in immediate need of the information at all cost.

 

I spent some time on a help desk for a newly-implemented system in a large, geographically-spread organisation. We had a tool (as mis-used by scammers) which allowed us access to users' terminals. We could see what they were doing, the results they were getting, plus it allowed us to actually control the terminal and show them what they should be doing.

 

This was over a private network, and I can see the possible security problems making something like that available over any kind of public network. But it was a great help (and could provide a few quiet laughs at times).

[emt_911]

Night all

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone.

 

We had a very good and uneventful journey, making good time stopping only once at for lunch at Cairn Services, just south of Glasgow. The only real heavy traffic we encountered was when we were on the M8, where there was some road works, but the traffic flow never stopped. Once over the Erskine Bridge we decided to go to Loch Lomond just to familiarise ourselves with the car parking facilities, which are only about 15 minutes from our B&B. We the took the scenic route, driving north along the banks of Loch Lomond through Luss, Tarbet, cutting across to Arrochar and then heading south along the shore of Loch Long towards Helensburgh.

 

B&B is a very large Victorian house, with very comfortable room that looks out over the Clyde.

 

All posts duly read and rated.

 

Dave TG. Nice to see you posting some stunning photos again, particularly considering the circumstances in which they have been taken. What a wonderful was to remember Is by!

 

Goodnight all.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Barry O]

Evening to most.

 

Busy day today cable car to Monte then a long walk around. They had a steam railway in Madeira until 1943. The route to isn't easy to follow but the station at Monte still exists.

A long walk around the gardens and then spent time watching people "toboganning down the hill..look it up its completely nuts!

 

Dave, my dad asked for his ashes to be spread into the sea at Hartlepool near our old school. It came as a positive and uplifting end to his life. Enjoy the waterways!

 

Sleep well all. Hope work isn't too fractious and that the gout feels less painful Rick

 

Baz

[Purley Oaks]

What's all this talk of a heatwave, eh? 14C here today and could hardly make out the flag on top of the North British Balmoral Hotel through the haar. Still, not a muggy night here.

 

Some great news on ERs over the last day or so, with Mick's Fil not so ill as previously thought and Light Engine's recovery.

 

Wonderful to hear from Dave (TG) - you're right, Is will always be there. Good news about the retirement and boat, too.

 

Rick, hope your interview pans out OK, but know the dreaded feeling of waiting for an answer.

 

And Brian - the very best of strength and warmth for your Scottish swim this weekend.

 

A good festival day today - managed to get a couple of returns for Bridget Christie who does a rare comedy hour about gardening and brexit. Then onto the bookfest to see Peter Frankopan whose new world history spans the old Silk Road to the modern Silk Road. Great book, but a bit of a doorstop.

 

Mentioned a week ago that our landline phone number had been changed by some eejit so no one could call us on it - Virgin said they'd come between 12 and 4pm last Saturday. Guess what? They did! Arriving at 1210, popping up to the roadside box half a mile away and rejigging connections we got our own phone number back. Whoop-de-doo!

 

Another busy day tmrw starting with Chris Boardman at the bookfest at 10. Better get to bed...

 

Mal

Edited August 25, 2016 by Purley Oaks

[Ian Abel]

We have some strange ideas on how to run the country in this country.

Pah! You think THOSE are strange ideas, just wait...if "The Donald" wins here in November (heaven forbid!!), you ain't seen nothing yet      

[Donw]

Those are rock piles along the western end of Sidmouth beach - breakwaters to shore up the sea front. Last month Sidmouth town council approved plans to add more.

 

http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/sidmouth_town_council_supports_reefs_to_protect_beach_1_4611373

 

I've been taking pix annually since 2012 of the erosion to the east of the mouth of the Sid - amazing how much are cliffs are retreating. I use this in my global warming lectures.

 

It would be interesting to see some of these photos of the cliffs. One of my work colleagues lives/lived above those cliffs whether he is still there I do not know since I retired.

Don

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[laurenceb]

Night all

[Ian Abel]

I spent some time on a help desk for a newly-implemented system in a large, geographically-spread organisation. We had a tool (as mis-used by scammers) which allowed us access to users' terminals. We could see what they were doing, the results they were getting, plus it allowed us to actually control the terminal and show them what they should be doing.

 

This was over a private network, and I can see the possible security problems making something like that available over any kind of public network. But it was a great help (and could provide a few quiet laughs at times).

Ah Hah!! Therein lies another tale (of WOE!).

 

I'm fully familiar with those tools/vehicles for SENSIBLE remote diagnosis, however, in spite of this client generally being backward and having an IT department that is only HALF as effective/efficient/knowledgeable as my cat Bob, they manage to ONLY use some very secure and totally awkward diagnostic tool. Which together with its lack of real usability is also SEVERLY RESTRICTED and only installed on the least number of system they deem necessary - I think it's mostly because the IT department are carp and ###### up most systems they touch anyway!

 

THEY have to install it themselves (their IT department) ;

i) I'd not let them mess with my worst enemies PC let alone mine!

ii) They would FOR SURE mess up a ton of stuff on the system, probably render it requiring a complete reformat of the HD.

iii) Theirs isn't really that handy as it's only a viewer, you can't "take over control and drive for the user", doesn't do VoIP, you have to PHONE the user separately.

iv) Their systems/IT knowledge is pitiful (and that's the bloody IT DEPARTMENT!!). To whit, the FIRST time I attempted to connect to their system the manager of the Network group insisted I'd have to UNINSTALL all my other VPNs for theirs to work when I was having teething troubles.

Aside from the fact I've got many different ones for different clients ALL installed together and working fine, AND would never uninstall them all, the facts were they are using the same VPN other clients use, quite happily on my system, and the problem turned out to be they gave me the WRONG @!$!@!@%!#@% password that they'd created - cockwombles!

 

Suffice to say, any attempt to try other remote diagnostics would take me the month I'm away to have their pitiful IT department approve, so again we're back to "poor planning....not my emergency"

<whistles off into the distance>

 

This coming to you from 30-odd thousand feet over the so called mid-west as I wend my way home. As usual, we pushed on time, BUT, due to another collective arrangement of flustercucks by the JFK ground handling/plane shuffling/lets create congestion where none exists teams, we started our take-off roll PRECISELY ONE BLEEDING HOUR after our on time push, no bad weather, no visible delays, no long lines of waiting aircraft!    

Edited August 25, 2016 by Ian Abel

[Tony_S]

This isn't coming from anywhere more exotic than a few hundred feet above sea level but at least it is home. We watched a Polish film (Warsaw 1944)tonight that Matthew wanted to see. We got to hear it too when I worked out that the Mac mini that lives with the TV had decided for reasons only known to itself to change default sound output from HDMI to optical digital out. Aditi and I needed the subtitles anyway.

 

Tony

Edited August 25, 2016 by Tony_S

[pH]

Ah Hah!! Therein lies another tale (of WOE!).

 

I'm fully familiar with those tools/vehicles for SENSIBLE remote diagnosis, however ...

 

... Suffice to say, any attempt to try other remote diagnostics would take me the month I'm away to have their pitiful IT department approve, so again we're back to "poor planning....not my emergency"

 

I soooo like reading about the experiences of people who enjoy their work!

 

Don't worry, Ian, it will all be over some day.

[petethemole]

Martyn's results were good, two As and three Bs to add to the A* he already had. I won't mention the others, in the subjects that he didn't like or struggled with. They're not relevant for moving on and it seems that not wasting effort on them helped him progress with the important ones. We went out for lunch afterwards at the Brewhouse Kitchen. It was cooler sitting in the pub than the garden; even under the sunshades most people outside were fanning themselves with menus.

 

Good to see Dave TG back with us.

 

Goodnight all.

 

Pete