Early Risers.

[Oldddudders]

Shades of the honeymoon couple checking into their hotel. "Ooh, have you got the bridal?" wonders the receptionist while looking up their reservation, and the bride responds "No, I thought I'd hang onto his ears until I get the hang of it!"

[BlackRat]

Up at 06:30 to take Mrs BR's car to the tyre specialist to have two new front tyres fitted.

 

Been using the same local family run business for over 30 years.

 

Arrived just after 7, when it opens to have a nice cup of coffee and lots of banter as the tyres were all sorted.

 

Stood outside in the beautiful crisp morning, with an awesome moon and a shooting star thrown in for good measure.

 

I was th only customer so after another cuppa and a good natter I'm on my way with a years supply of self adhesive tyre weights......perfect for adding weight to wagons, coaches and of course the odd loco or two.

[NGT6 1315]

A'noon all. I'm afraid generic C&Cs will have to make do once again, so I hope that aside from thoughts of launching Lenovo laptops into the Sun, nothing momentous has occurred, in a negative sense at least.

 

Windy and snowing lightly with more of either forecast for the weekend. Got a call earlier, asking if I could take a reserve shift tomorrow night and do a swap on Sunday, both of which I confirmed. This means my work tomorrow won't start before 1945, so I'll have all day for myself.

 

Enjoy whatever you're up to...

[The Stationmaster]

I always slip our Binmen $20.00 at Christmas and it covers a multitude of sins for the year...  Although I must say that my supplied bin is nearly as tall as me and since they collect twice a week filling it is difficult, except on 4th July week when they only collect once per week. Of course if my daughter is home I can fill it fairly well.

 

Simiiarly I always give the same to the Mailman - it’s worth it I find.

 

 

 

Best, Pete.

 

Our binmen always get a multipack of bottled beer from us at Christmas and the milkman gets a fiver but the Posties don't get anything as we don't have a settled situation on the round and (unless things have changed) they have never pooled their Christmas tips. here).

[BlackRat]

Our binmen always get a multipack of bottled beer from us at Christmas and the milkman gets a fiver but the Posties don't get anything as we don't have a settled situation on the round and (unless things have changed) they have never pooled their Christmas tips. here).

I've always looked after the bin men at Christmas, and the occasional cold drink in the summer........

 

I've never ever had an issue with anything I throw out either............

[RhBBob]

Late again !  

 

Had to set alarm to take SWMBO to hairdressers for 9 and on to Asda so no early report.  Happily the tidal surge/high tide at 6.30 am did not cause serious flooding and the snow was receding although the A16 was quite hairy - always noticeable when HGVs stick to 40 mph !

 

Even higher tide forecast for 6 pm tonight and, since the Army contingent from Yorkshire are staying on for another 24 hours, it needs to be taken seriously.  Praise for the men who built humpback bridges on the drains/dykes in town as this prevented the floods from reaching Daughter's property in 2013.

[Ian Abel]

Morning, POETS is a welcomed arrival.

 

Of course, being in the dungeon still (Tuesday-Friday this week), means that even though I technically POE, that's just to head to JFK and hopefully an on-time flight home, putting me there around 7:30PM, so therefore NOT POE!

 

Snow drifts: Hmmm, have to laugh - don't get me wrong, as stated yesterday I appreciate that location makes all the difference for perceived levels of weather conditions - BUT, they normally only talk about drifts here when we get some strong winds during/after reasonable accumulations and the snow along edges/corners is DRIFTING 2-3 FEET OR MORE higher than the surrounding areas. 1/4 and 1/2 inch layers aren't "drifts"   

 

Beards: Had one off-and-on. In the IT business, when working in-house for companies it wasn't too much of an issue, but when consulting there's EVEN NOW more a perceived expectation of being well qualified if clean-shaven, at least in many of the larger corporations, it seems!

Given that I've been predominantly a consultant (with a few different firms over the years) for close to the last 20+ years I've tended to be clean-shaven. Not really fussed either way. Sometimes at weekends I don't shave and it feels OK, sometimes I feel the need to have that "smooth" sensation.

 

Cockwombles/a$$hats: The IT department sys. admin for the project continues to be a confused disinterested incompetent, frustrating the finance department staff "I" am responsible to/report to. Net result we've waited TWO DAYS now for a task that "if I had the security access" I could have accomplished in 5 minutes when we decided the change was needed. Suffice to say, that I will not NOW be able to test the effect of the task before I leave.  

With this client, attempting some types of testing, with users input remotely, simply doesn't happen <sigh>

 

Right then, with barely 4 hours left and counting before I POE, I leave you with the weather report from here and there (to plagiarize the Two Ronnies "it's goodnight...");

 

Here: 9 and sunny, that'll be the high - warning on the news though this AM, it'll be "very cold" tomorrow, blimey they're going to be -3 overnight and only +1 for a high - horrors!!

There: -20 and overcast now, -12 for a high, expected to be a balmy -14 when I step off the plane.

 

Hope your POEs go as planned where possible, and the weekend start well for you.

[Judge Dread]

I've always looked after the bin men at Christmas, and the occasional cold drink in the summer........

 

I've never ever had an issue with anything I throw out either............

I also treat our bin men. They look after my wife and I to the extent of not only returning our bin to it's normal place in our yard but when the bin was not put out because we were away on holiday, they extracted it for us.

I did tell them that I was a double ex council employee, an electrician with the engineering department. They thought it a miracle that anyone would return to such employ and a bigger miracle the council would take anyone back. I didn't tell them that upon that second tour which only lasted six weeks, I transferred to our  telephone department which was a council run one (the only one in the U.K.) and therefore that would qualify me to claim a third tour of duty. I lasted 22 years there and retired in 2003

Edited January 13, 2017 by Judge Dread

[TheQ]

Our Bin men are contractors now, we never see them, and they often miss us, so beer there.

The Posties are by van and also it depends who's on the round, so No beer there.

 We gave up having a milkman, once they started not coming round every day, so no Beer there.

 The man from amazon used to get a cup of tea occasionally but now we never get the same man  / woman twice, so no beer there either.

 

So Christmas is not expensive.

 

Preparations for the great switch off at 18:00 tonight at work, not only do we have to switch everything all off, but in the labs all the equipment has to be moved out from the walls so they can replace every socket with RCD sockets.

Two of the outer lab personnel are coming in Sunday afternoon / evening to switch the essential stuff back on...

 

Am I expecting to be able to work straightaway Monday?   No and I've two major equipments to do next week with no spare leeway in time...

 

 The snow is melting, it's blowing 55mph out there, the airport has reopened, but they are still worried about tonight's high tide..

 

 Back to heaving racks of equipment around....

[Horsetan]

Our Bin men are contractors now, we never see them, and they often miss us,....

 

Cost-cutting has also reached such obsessive depths in some areas that some councils are already moving to once-a-month collections, never mind once a week, so you may never see a binman ever again.

[southern42]

Unless you get behind one. They all seem to have two-stroke engines and stink something 'orrible. Every time one passes me on a ski slope it makes me want to puke.

 

There are those over here who want to mix and match walkers, cyclists and off-roaders.  Why?

[Tony_S]

Back from our walk down to the creek. The high tide was just below the old sea defence level but well below the new ones. We had a wander down to the flood barrier which was open as the tide was just going out. The wind was causing waves in the creek which is not usual.

Anyway, all very bracing and we enjoyed the minestrone soup and bread for lunch.

Tony

[Ohmisterporter]

Stewart, we noticed the ladder up to your dormer and thought perhaps you had a leak. Leaks from one part of the roof usually appear through the first hole they can find, sometimes yards away from the leak spot. If the insurance company will pay for it all well and good. On the subject of beards I got the same response as Jamie when I grew mine. "You look like the Yorkshire Ripper", so off it came. I tried an electric shaver for some time but I was uneasy as to where the shavings were going to. Supposed to be collected in the shaver head I think, but I could see plenty on my chest when I'd finished. How much had gone up my nose and into my airways? I gave it up and have wet shaved ever since. Good luck to everybody facing weather problems and stay safe all.

[The Lurker]

Greetings all.

 

I have been stressed by a leaking seal to the immersion heater and it turns out a pinprick leak in the tank itself, coupled with a frozen gate valve

 

Made worse by the failure of the service I pay for (Home Care) to provide timely remedial actiion.

In the end we couldn't wait until the earliest possible date for the Home Care to arrive by which time the tank would probably have found itself in the kitchen below. A valiant effort by the emergency plumber has got us a solution for the time being but it has only strengthened the resolve to update the central heating system sooner rather than later. My blood pressure is returning to normal. Two tasks remain; to go and have another check of the tank,and to phone the homecare lot to cancel Monday's appointment.

 

It has also probably meant that the future work will not be given to British Gas!

 

Congratulations and commiserations as appropriate and have a good weekend. We're finally seeing my Sister for Christmas!

 

As for beards, well giving away my appearance might diminish my Lurking mystique    

[45156]

Well, the builder came as promised, and yes he arrived just about as promised about 1pm.  His findings were NOT all that favourable as there was a hole and a dent in the copper with pieces of broken roof tile lying to the sides, and it looks as if somebody around here has lost a tile and we found it.  He also found that the wind has lifted an edge of the copper, and it has all blown off the boarding beneath.

 

He's made a temporary repair, and is providing an estimate for a new roof, and he has confirmed to me and I to my insurer, that this is weather damage. 

 

There's little internal damage that we can find, so that's something.

 

Now then, beards.  I grew one when I was in my mid 20s after being asked if I was over 18 when I was buying beer in an off licence!  I started with a full set, but as I had some follicle damage to my chin thanks to a close encounter with a lighted fag many years ago when somebody blundered into me with the offending object sticking from her gob, I had quite a big bald patch, so modified to a goatee, which I have now worn for over 30 years.

 

Post today brought two reminders of my advancing years - a reminder that my mortgage ends just after my 65th birthday, and in the same bundle was a letter asking me to call to claim my State pension. 

 

Back later/tomorrow.

[lightengine]

I did say zebra crossing which are those protected By Hoare-Belisha Beacons. Traffic light controlled crossings are a completely different ball game.

Zebra crossings you are supposed to place one foot on the crossing to indicate that you wish to cross and then the traffic should stop before you cross. The others you just press the button, wait for the little green man (or Horse) and then cross.

 

They've just closed Norwich airport due to snow...

 

Ohh the flood warning (lowest level) now surrounds the area I live, we now could be an Island again, as we were in Roman times or the 1953 floods...

About an hour ago I crossed at the same crossing as the guy was airlifted from yesterday. 2 steps onto the crossing and a chelsea tractor passed me on my side. I waved my empty shopping bag in his windscreen as he passed and shouted effing . He slowed and carried on.

 

Censored word is similar to twit

Edited January 13, 2017 by lightengine

[The Stationmaster]

About an hour ago I crossed at the same crossing as the guy was airlifted from yesterday. 2 steps onto the crossing and a chelsea tractor passed me on my side. I waved my empty shopping bag in his windscreen as he passed and shouted effing ######. He slowed and carried on.

 

The behaviour of motorist such as that is probably the best argument I know for the relaxation of firearms laws in Britain and allowing pedestrians to carry .50 calibre Brownings (if they fit enough to bear the weight of course).

[roundhouse]

On a Thameslink service out of LBG and its just used the new fly under at Bermondsey. It's possible that we have used it before but it's been too dark to notice.

 

Hopefully will make a connection with another Thameslink at East Croydon.

 

Weekend awaits.

[jonny777]

My slide scanning is proceeding slowly but nostalgically.

 

Here is 45130 at St Pancras in 1982 -

 

 

[45156]

That image is the peak of perfection

[Happy Hippo]

About an hour ago I crossed at the same crossing as the guy was airlifted from yesterday. 2 steps onto the crossing and a chelsea tractor passed me on my side. I waved my empty shopping bag in his windscreen as he passed and shouted effing ######. He slowed and carried on.

 

Censored word is similar to twit

The last time i had an altercation with a motor vehicle at a pedestrian crossing, I was fortunate enough to be both nimble on my feet and to be carrying my tungsten tipped walking stick.

 

My stick somehow ended up in the horizontal  position and accidentally scored the front and rear wings and both  nearside doors.

 

It made a terrible noise.............

[Happy Hippo]

.................I don't suppose holding it with both hands like one does when practicing using the bayonet helped the situation.

[shortliner]

I thought some of our readers might be interested in this

 

FROM  AN SR-71 PILOT....... Very interesting read....

 

                                             

 

In April 1986,  following an attack on American

Soldiers in  a   Berlin disco, President Reagan

Ordered  the bombing of Muammar Qaddafi's

Terrorist camps  in   Libya ...

 

My duty was to fly  over Libya , and take

Photographs recording the  damage our     F-111's

Had  inflicted.

 

Qaddafi had  established a 'line of death,'

A territorial marking  across the   Gulf of Sidra ,

Swearing to  shoot down any intruder, that crossed

The  boundary.

On the morning of  April 15, I rocketed past the line at 2,125  mph

I was piloting the SR-71 spy  plane, the world's

Fastest jet, accompanied by a  Marine Major (Walt),

The aircraft's reconnaissance  systems officer (RSO).

We had crossed into Libya  , and were approaching

Our final turn over the bleak  desert landscape, when

Walt informed me, that he was  receiving missile

Launch  signals.

I quickly increased  our speed, calculating the time

It would take for the  weapons, most likely SA-2 and SA-4

Surface-to-air  missiles, capable of Mach 5 - to reach

Our  altitude.

I estimated, that we could beat the  rocket-powered

Missiles to the turn, and stayed our  course, betting

Our lives on the plane's  performance.

 

After several agonizingly long  seconds, we made

The turn and blasted toward the  Mediterranean ...

'You might want to pull it  back,' Walt suggested.

It was then that I noticed I  still had the throttles

Full  forward.

 

The plane was flying a  mile every 1.6 seconds, well

Above our Mach 3.2  limit.

 

It was the fastest we  would ever fly.

I pulled the throttles  to idle, just south of   Sicily ,

But we  still overran the refueling tanker, awaiting  us

Over   Gibraltar  .....

 

Scores of significant aircraft  have been produced,

In the 100 years of flight,  following the achievements

Of the Wright brothers,  which we celebrate in

December.

Aircraft such as the  Boeing 707, the F-86 Sabre Jet,

And the P-51 Mustang,  are among the important machines,

That have flown our  skies.

But the SR-71, also  known as the Blackbird, stands alone

As a significant  contributor to Cold War victory, and as the

Fastest  plane ever, and only 93 Air Force pilots, ever  steered

The 'sled,' as we called our  aircraft.

 

The SR-71, was the  brainchild of Kelly Johnson,

The famed Lockheed  designer, who created the

P-38, the  F-104 Starfighter, and the U-2.

After the Soviets shot  down Gary Powers U-2 in 1960,

Johnson began to  develop an aircraft, that would

Fly three miles  higher, and five times faster, than

The spy plane,  and still be capable of photographing

Your license  plate.

 

However, flying at  2,000 mph would create intense heat

On the aircraft's  skin.

Lockheed engineers used a titanium alloy, to  construct

More than 90 percent of the SR-71, creating  special tools,

And manufacturing procedures to  hand-build each of the

(40 planes..  (WoW !  ! ! 40 planes???? I thought only 7.)

Special  heat-resistant fuel, oil, and hydraulic fluids,  that

Would function at 85,000 feet, and higher, also  had to be

Developed.

 

 

In 1962, the first Blackbird  successfully flew, and

In 1966, the same year I  graduated from high school,

The Air Force began  flying operational SR-71 missions.

I came to the program in  1983, with a sterling record

And a recommendation  from my commander,

Completing the weeklong interview,  and meeting

Walt, my partner for the next four  years.

He would ride four  feet behind me, working all the

Cameras, radios, and  electronic jamming equipment.

I joked, that if we  were ever captured, he was the spy,

And I was just  the driver.

He told me to keep the  pointy end forward.

We trained for a year, flying  out of Beale AFB in

California  , Kadena Airbase in Okinawa , and  RAF

Mildenhall in England  ..

On a typical training  mission, we would take off near

Sacramento , refuel  over Nevada , accelerate into Montana ,

Obtain a high  Mach speed over Colorado , turn right over

New  Mexico, speed across the Los Angeles Basin, run  up

The West Coast, turn right at Seattle , then  return to Beale.

Total flight time:-  Two Hours and Forty Minutes.

One day, high  above   Arizona , we were monitoring

the  radio traffic, of all the mortal airplanes below  us.

First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic  controllers

to check his ground speed. 'Ninety  knots,' ATC replied.

A Bonanza soon made the same  request.

'One-twenty on the ground,' was the  reply.

To our surprise, a  navy     F-18 came over the radio, with a

ground speed  check.

 

I knew exactly what he  was doing.

Of course, he had a  ground speed indicator in his cockpit,

but he wanted  to let all the bug-smashers in the valley,

know what  real speed was, 'Dusty 52, we show you at 620

on the  ground,' ATC responded.

The situation was too  ripe.

I heard the click of  Walt's mike button in the rear seat.

In his most  innocent voice, Walt startled the controller

by  asking for a ground speed check from 81,000  feet,

clearly above controlled airspace.

In a  cool, professional voice, the controller  replied,

'Aspen 20, I show you at 1,982 knots on the  ground.'

We did not hear another transmission on  that

frequency, all the way to the  coast.

 

 

The Blackbird  always showed us something new,

each aircraft  possessing its own unique personality.

In time, we realized we  were flying a national treasure.

When we taxied out of  our revetments for take-off,

people took  notice.

 

Traffic congregated  near the airfield fences, because

everyone wanted to  see, and hear the mighty SR-71.

You could not be a  part of this program, and not come

to love the  airplane.

Slowly, she revealed  her secrets to us, as we earned

her  trust..

 

One moonless night, while flying a  routine training

mission over the Pacific, I wondered  what the sky

would look like from 84,000 feet, if the  cockpit lighting

were dark.

While heading home on  a straight course, I slowly turned

down all of the  lighting, reducing the glare and revealing

the night  sky.

Within seconds, I turned the lights back up,  fearful that the

jet would know, and somehow punish  me.

But my desire to see  the sky, overruled my caution,

I dimmed the lighting  again.

 

To my amazement, I saw  a bright light outside

my  window.

As my eyes adjusted to  the view, I realized that the

brilliance was the  broad expanse of the Milky Way,

now a gleaming stripe  across the sky.

Where dark spaces in the sky, had  usually existed,

there were now dense clusters, of  sparkling stars.

Shooting Stars,  flashed across the canvas every

few  seconds.

It was like a  fireworks display with no sound.

I knew I had to  get my eyes back on the instruments,

and reluctantly,  I brought my attention back  inside.

To my surprise, with  the cockpit lighting still off,

I could see every  gauge, lit by starlight.

 

In the plane's  mirrors, I could see the eerie shine of

my gold  spacesuit, incandescently illuminated, in a

celestial  glow.

I stole one last  glance out the window.

Despite our speed, we seemed  still before the

heavens, humbled in the radiance of  a much greater

power.

For those few moments,  I felt a part of something far

more significant, than  anything we were doing in the  plane.

The sharp sound of  Walt's voice on the radio, brought me

back to the  tasks at hand, as I prepared for our  descent.

 

 

The SR-71 was an  expensive aircraft to operate.

The most significant  cost was tanker support, and in 1990, confronted with  budget cutbacks, the Air

Force retired the  SR-71.

The SR-71 served six presidents, protecting  America

for a quarter of a century.

Unbeknown to most of  the country, the plane flew

over North Vietnam , Red  China , North Korea , the

Middle East , South Africa  , Cuba , Nicaragua , Iran , Libya ,

and the Falkland  Islands .

On a weekly basis, the SR-71, kept watch  over every

Soviet Nuclear Submarine, Mobile Missile  Site,

and all of their troop movements.

It was a  key factor in winning the Cold War.

 

I am proud to  say, I flew about 500 hours in this

aircraft.

I  knew her well.

She gave way to no plane, proudly  dragging her

Sonic Boom through enemy backyards, with  great impunity.

She defeated every missile, outran  every MiG, and always

brought us  home.

 

In the first 100 years  of manned flight, no aircraft was more  remarkable.

The Blackbird had outrun nearly 4,000  missiles,

not once taking a scratch from enemy  fire.

 

On her final flight, the Blackbird,  destined for

the Smithsonian National Air and Space  Museum ,

sped from Los Angeles to Washington

in 64  Minutes, averaging 2,145 mph, and

setting four speed  records.

Edited January 14, 2017 by shortliner

[AndyID]

The gas man cometh, at least we hope he cometh because the propane tank must be needing refilled by now.

 

The path to the tank is covered in deep snow. I tried to clear it with the tractor but promptly got stuck. No problembo! All I have to do is hook up the snow blower to the back of the tractor. Now, here did I leave the snow blower? Oh yes. It's about twenty feet beyond the propane tank.

 

Better start shovelling.

[Horsetan]

.................I don't suppose holding it with both hands like one does when practicing using the bayonet helped the situation.

They don't like it up 'em.