Early Risers.

[JohnDMJ]

. apparently she had cold hands and a good eye...

 

 

Only one eye...

 

Or the other one was bad?

[Gwiwer]

Morning all.

 

Tickly cough monster is steadily receding; managed an entire shift at the Palace today without having to make some very unwholesome sounds.  Starting to slowly feel human again though not in quite the same way as Mike has described being felt.

 

The final day of November.  Summer officially begins tomorrow.  No-one has told the Meteorological Prognostications Department whose seaweed was seriously awry today.  27C and sun was on offer but all that was to be had was 13C and drizzly cloud.  Tomorrow - who knows what will be delivered against a confident prediction of "Better".

 

Tomorrow being the First of December also allows me to commence the festive season.  It has to start earlier than I'd like in order to have everything arrive at required destinations before the 25th.  In other news we are, for the first time, permitted to be In Attendance without ties.  New Summer Rules have appeared for uniform-wearing which have dispensed with the long-standing "Station-Master's Discretion" for removal of ties in hot weather.  That was normally given at 35C but we still had to ask first.  No longer.  It can be any weather it likes and ties need not be worn again until the First of March.

 

A slow start has been made on clearing out the workroom.  A decent-sized box of scrap has been consigned to the recycling bin, mostly offcuts but including umpteen sprues of "I don't know what this is nor where it goes let alone what it belongs to" bits which came with small moving objects over the years.  First large job will be boxing up all the books.  

 

Sleep well, wake refreshed, enjoy the day, seize the fish.

Edited November 30, 2016 by Gwiwer

[TheQ]

Morning all ER tie was 02:30 but after wandering down stairs the rolling news gave me another hours sleep.

OSB boarding is sold even by our cheap and nasty DIY sheds, Both OSB 2 ( not damp Damp proof) and OSB 3 damp proof. this is why there are two sheets of OSB 3 3/4inch being painted this week to go on my shed extension floor. I'll get the third next week pre cut by the suppliers once I'm absolutely sure of the dimensions. ( the paint is to keep the woodworm out!!!)

As SWMBO was out last night at the weaving group and she had to defrost it to come back, so the car  wasn't as bad this morning, defrosting it for my use. One odd thing we have on our road is the services are very close to the surface, so at this time of year you can see the route of the sewer pipe as it zigzags down the road with it's own personal frost topping on the tarmac.

 

 It was reported on the radio today that they are doing government trials with variable Ambulance response times here in Norfolk, if you have a heart attack, you get first priority, and the rest somewhere down the list. What this actually means is as they can't meet the current response times the ambulance might get to you within the required time for a heart attack, but for everyone else they change the time allowed. Or to put it another way , if you can't meet the figures , change The figures....

 

We have  an ambulance station abut 5 miles from us,( on its own not connected to a hospital) in order to reduce waiting time,

About 5 years ago one of our lady elder members of the sailing tripped and fell at the sailing club so  badly bone was pushing  the skin. When an ambulance failed to turn up another member phoned and called them claiming he was a doctor and this was urgent. Eventually they turned up after a total of 40 minutes this is only 4 miles from that Ambulance station!!!  I should add he is a Doctor, just not of Medicine, his doctorate is in electronics.... though he is a fully qualified first aider.

[emt_911]

Morning all. A chilly -5 to start the day but no plans to go outside.

 

A day in front of the computer typing reports that must be with the client first thing tomorrow. No pressure then.

 

Have a good day everyone

[roundhouse]

Reported as -7 deg C outside and feels it.

Vic service late but ours is 23 late so now on the late running Thameslink service (delayed by the late running Vic service). No reason given as to why ours was held at Horsham for so long but guess staff shortages.

Would be nice to catch one train at will be on time this week. I think that we will probably abandon the plans for drinks in London tonight just in case there are problems trying to get home.

 

Update

 

Our normal LBG train has still not yet made it to its destination. Now reported 45 late. Good job that we went for the Thameslink although that was late.

Edited November 30, 2016 by roundhouse

[AndyB]

 

The assistant on the front counter was a pleasant youth in his late teens/early twenties. ...

 

This kid had quite obviously got to the age he was without sending anything by letter post. Perhaps he had sent a parcel, but they are usually weighed and measured and the postage printed out to be stuck on. He had never used a pre-paid, adhesive stamp!

 

This has really brought home just how much communication that used to be written is now purely digital. Also, generally, how parts of our life experience just aren't relevant any more. I feel old. 

 

Without wishing to disparage the noble profession of shop assistant, I'd bet that his contemporaries at Harvard have used the US Postal Service. 

 

I recently had to confirm to a young colleague (similar age) that an airport terminal was where you arrive and drop your bags off and a runway is what you take off from. 

 

Bill Bryson covers this in a recent book "The Road to Little Dribbling", where he bemoans the spread of stupid.

I think in your case it simply highlights the lack of experience.

In the case of my young colleague, Mr Bryson has possibly nailed it.  

[Robert]

if you can't meet the figures , change The figures....

Business as usual then...  If as much time was spend actually doing, instead of talking about doing, and producing statistics of what should be done then things would be a lot better in many areas!

[AndyB]

Morning all,

And it's -6^oC outside and sunny.

Our vicar spoke eloquently recently about the need to take pleasure in the small pleasures in life. I think he was talking to us and not his wife, anyway. 

So, on that basis I may go for a walk before settling down to write a software development plan. 

 

Part 1 of the plan. Define the scope. When planet conquering is deemed to now be in scope get cotton wool and shove in ears and nod slowly.

Part 2 of the plan. Write the plan down and get a signature.

Part 3 of the plan. When planet conquering is brought back to the table, point to the signature.

Part 4 of the plan. Get paid.  

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Rather frosty here and there has been much scraping of ice (by others) from cars. Should stay dry with sunny spells.
I don't know what grade OSB my shed roof is. I do know that it is bent like a banana!

Joe & Gemma were here for tea last night. It would appear that they are looking forward to C#####mas. 

Sainsbury's need to be visited shortly so I may return here later.

Have a good one,

Bob.

[NGT6 1315]

Mawnin' awl. Weather forecast sounds like things may be getting dreich as the day progresses, replacing the frost we have been having for a few days. Not sure which is better, though!

 

May I also just post this image from Monday...

 

 

.

..tied to a little bit of background.

 

First of all, I may have mentioned that a number of our T4Ds have been modified such that they can be formed as Großzug equivalents of three motor cars. This means these cars which are configured for working in 3rd position have an additional key switch in the cab which can only be set by depot staff and which, if enabled, activates a circuit which causes traction power to be provided for just about one second when starting. This is required for releasing the holding brakes, after which the third car is merely towed like a trailer. Braking, on the other hand, is, of course, performed normally. The reason for this batch of T4Ds, called Type 33h internally, powering up only for starting is to avoid overloading the OHLE power supply, and/or damaging the wire or the leading car's pan through thermal stress.

 

Triple T4D sets are usually provided as reserve formations as they offer no low floor spaces at all. And on Monday, I was provided with one because the Großzug I had originally had completely failed to connect to any ITCS signal priority request receivers. If this sort of fault occurs, you can, basically, chuck your timetable into the bin, so if any reserves are available, trams so affected are usually swapped.

 

These triples more or less handle – depending on which cars are combined – like a slightly heavy Großzug, though I must say the set of 2102-2186-2156 which I had on Monday ran just fine.

 

 

Well, I think I'll be off for a fodder run in a few. Enjoy what you do, folks...

[Robert]

Mawnin' awl. Weather forecast sounds like things may be getting dreich as the day progresses, replacing the frost we have been having for a few days. Not sure which is better, though!

Give me clear and cold over grey and damp any day!

[jamie92208]

Morning all from a village that has now woken up. The boss was taken to Leeds early doors and I have now breakfasted and am girding my loins for various domestic tasks. Then it's back into Leeds to meet Beth and then meet some friends for lunch before some shopping. Oh deep joy. On return I might even manage a little bit of modelling (ducks to avoid an awl) then the various offspring are descending for us all to go out for a Christmas meal. We will be in France for most of December so we're going out now.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[81C]

Good morning all,

Rather frosty here and there has been much scraping of ice (by others) from cars. Should stay dry with sunny spells.

I don't know what grade OSB my shed roof is. I do know that it is bent like a banana!

Joe & Gemma were here for tea last night. It would appear that they are looking forward to C#####mas. 

Sainsbury's need to be visited shortly so I may return here later.

Have a good one,

Bob.

If you replace the roof with OSB screw some batterns edge on to support it on the underside before felting it "jobs a goodun". 

Edited November 30, 2016 by 81C

[AndyB]

If you replace the roof with OSB screw some batterns edge on to support it on the underside before felting it "jobs a goodun". 

 

Don't encourage him!  Didn't you read about ambulance waiting times?!!! 

A job like that he'll bring the service to its knees! 

[jonny777]

Hello from a very frosty Somerset.

 

Birds are fed, but ice unbreakable with my trusty screwdriver. The ice seems to be about an inch thick so I boiled the kettle and melted it (the ice, that is - not the kettle, before any resident 'comedians' start) instead.

 

Had our first Christmas card yesterday, but before anyone throws their arms aloft in horror - it was from the wife's cousin in South Africa and I gather the postal service is less reliable there than it used to be (aren't they all?) so better to send it early.

Edited November 30, 2016 by jonny777

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

Crispy out today.

Bin bags out. Frost removed from car, though I may have to check it again before Aditi departs. She would like me to be at home to receive her new coat. Amazon's next day delivery turned into 5 days after ordering. I have been led to believe a food parcel (presents for relatives)is also arriving.

Tony

Edited November 30, 2016 by Tony_S

[RhBBob]

Morning all from a very frosty Lincolnshire.

 

My newspaper yesterday continued the unusual obit where an 82 year old actress has died; she was born in 1954....apparently..

 

Do I worry about bad maths and spelling? Yes, sorry I do !   I shouldn't, since our Son left Primary School with a reading age of 6; next door at the secondary school they were horrified.  Now he is the Operating Director for Logistics in an international recruitment firm with a salary similar to those Littlewoods pools wins of many years ago !!!! 

[edcayton]

Hello from a very frosty Somerset.

 

Birds are fed, but ice unbreakable with my trusty screwdriver. The ice seems to be about an inch thick 

 

You need an awl. Now, where did I see one.......?

 

Ed

[Oldddudders]

You need an awl. Now, where did I see one.......?

 

Ed

 

We have a lady overseer who sees awl. 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. My charcoal grey car was white this morning when I looked out, at least I'm not going out until lunchtime. When I had my recent accident there was a bit of a wait for the ambulance as my injuries were only minor. The biggest cause of delay is waiting to be handed over to A&E, in my case about 20 minutes. Even then the ambulance has to be cleaned and prepared before it goes out to the next patient. The only answer is a properly funded health service not lip service from the politicians.

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Interesting to hear that Tony's grass reached the 'crunchy' stage of frosting yesterday evening - while ours was like it all day long in most parts of the jungle.  Forecast to be  -6C last night, official result still awaited but it definitely felt colder than the previous night however clouds are approaching and overnight temperatures are forecast to rise to a mere -1C within a day or two.  UPDATE - Benson recorded  low of -8.2C overnight so it probably wasn't much warmer here (in fact the seaweed wranglers say the same minimum overnight temperature for us).

 

Right that's the weather dealt with so what else can we Britons talk about?  Ah, I shall be conducting the Good Doctor to her charity work this afternoon but I think I'd better drive as some of the country roads might still be a tad slippery unless the gritters have been out - oh dear, that was more weather.  I think I'd best tootle off and have a look at the mutterings elsewhere on the site.

 

Have a good day everybody (not just the deserving    )

 

PS Forgot today's really good news - home made leek & potato soup is under preparation in the catering dept.

Edited November 30, 2016 by The Stationmaster

[NGT6 1315]

You need an awl. Now, where did I see one.......?

 

Ed

 

 

I'm hearing something called a jet engine might help also!

[45156]

Morning All

 

Caught up and posts read and rated, and greetings to those who are ailing or celebrating today.   I was a very real ER this morning, as Lily seems to have an upset belly, and she got us up (or me at least) about 2.45 this morning, but only wanted to eat grass when I took her out, then again after that - well dog owners know the corollary of eating grass - an hour later, was inevitable, so out again to throw up at 3.45, then after that for poo poos about  4.30, after which it was just about impossible to get back to sleep, and what with normal getting up due at 6 on a 30747 work day, it was just a case of early radio, and back down for Lil again at 5.30.  So up by then, and both showered and breakfasted early, then a doze until the alarm.

 

Cold, but no as bad as a few days past, and it's OK underfoot, so I can walk Lily without too much problem this morning.  It appears that we here in the frozen north have exported our chills of the weekend to the now frozen South - well that means, according to Mr Evans this morning, that it is cold nationally. 

 

This morning my task is to redo the mastic on the shower screen - AGAIN - as it just seems that every attempt to get it right lasts only a few weeks.  I've tried every type of sealant, and it seems to be no better.  This time I have tried an even dearer option, which is a  no gun ultra fast set masic, and at over a tenner a go, I hope it works.  My current theory is that the problem is that any touch once set disturbs the bead, and then water penetration does the rest.  Next job is to do a bit of cleaning if the surrounds once this wonder product ????? does its thing.

 

Might be back later.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[Horsetan]

I do like it when it's cold, and the colder the better. The Chinese Weather Network app built into this Xiaomi smartphone (not officially available in UK or Europe, so this one fell off the back of a lorry) claims it was -5 deg.C in this part of London at 8am this morning.

 

And now for a slightly convoluted enquiry at the Manchester District Probate Registry......

[TheQ]

I do like it when it's cold, and the colder the better. The Chinese Weather Network app built into this Xiaomi smartphone (not officially available in UK or Europe, so this one fell off the back of a lorry) claims it was -5 deg.C in this part of London at 8am this morning.

 

And now for a slightly convoluted enquiry at the Manchester District Probate Registry......

part 1, I do but not when my Boiler isn't working,

part 2 where's the ? button