Early Risers.

[AndyID]

I'm a dab hand at clutchless changes on the bikes, but less so in the cars or the van.  I can do it in the Ford, but not the Citroen which has a slower and more deliberate change.

 

Which VW do you have, Andy?  It may not be the same box - IIRC the Polo models here have the same box as the Ford Fiesta/Focus use here, not sure about other VW models but when researching it whilst I have been laid up, some VW's came into the same unreliable bracket.  Not seemingly quite as bad, but that may be the lesser sales, the Fiesta is the best selling car in the UK.  The Ford box is a disaster in the US too.

Hi Neil,

It's a 2013 Jetta with the 2 litre diesel. I think the US Passat TDI has the same powertrain.

 

I had a manual GTi with the 2.8 V6 before, but I enjoy driving the diesel Jetta even more. The instant torque response becomes slightly addictive.

Andy

[AndyID]

Totally agree, but, it doesn't help that a lot of the software being used is not compatible with newer operating systems.

 

This is a problem that I have in my job. A lot of the software will only run on Windows XP / Windows 7. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be the impetus to re-write the software for newer operating systems and still allow me and others to be able to continue to provide the required level of support.

Tell me about it. The engineers we had to deal with at MS were a bunch of arrogant prats who didn't seem to care about backward compatibility in the slightest.

 

The whole thing is a big mess. A lot of it stems from the fact that the PC became popular long before the Internet really existed. The result is kludge on top of kludge on top.....

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone

 

Very late on parade again today, as is the norm for a Sunday, we had a bit of a lie-in this morning.

 

It's been a funny old day, weather wise that is. I had every intention of cutting the grass this morning, followed by starting to renovate the garden table, but the rain soon put paid to those plans. So, I had to come up with a plan B, which was find something to do in the workshop. I'd still got a bit of sorting out to do. So this morning was spent transferring stuff from the workshop to the shed. All the time I was in either the shed or the workshop the sun shone, but unfortunately the grass was too wet to cut and it's raining again now.

 

After lunch I continued to sort out the last few bits and pieces, leaving me about half an hour or so, to do a bit of modelling, I'm part way through scratch building a Billinton K Class mogul. I've got the boiler all but finished and I've just made a start on the chassis. The bearings have been soldered in so I made a start on the coupling rods. I'm using one of the Alan Gibson universal sets to make these. I've solder up one of the 4 rods and the next one is almost ready for soldering.

 

Goodnight all

[Happy Hippo]

'nother big day out travelling around the rock, ruined by it being 'Cyclefest' which closed more roads than the TT races!  Our trip to Castletown had to be by the least preferred route as a result. Humbug.

 

My foot is sore now after a hobble around a small part of the old capital of the Island, but this counts as physiotherapy.  I'll be glad to get the foot and wasted leg muscles working enough to get down to one crutch and be able to negotiate steps and stairs safely.  That's the next target, then I will be allowed to go back to work thankfully.  Driving would be nice too, although having told the foot it will be depressing a clutch pedal it responded with a loud raspberry of discontent. Maybe not yet then!

 

I think my next car will have a slushbox, but having read the interweb's assessment of the Ford/Getrag DCT in the B-Max/Fiesta, it won't be another B-Max.  Shame as I quite like the current one.  The access into it without the B pillar has been a boon this last 3 months although that isn't why I bought it.

We have a Seat Ibiza with the VAG DSG gearbox installed.  Our Daughter's Ford Galaxy also has the same gearbox.

 

It's brilliant and returns better acceleration and economy than the manual box.

 

Much better than a slushbox which are pretty old hat now.

[Barry O]

Night all.

 

Special thoughts to those who have loved ones suffering from illness.

 

Baz

[newbryford]

It was all going so well until we came to pickup our luggage at Manchester. One bag no show. We weren't the only ones with missing bags - there must have been five others on the same flight. The luggage handling folks at Manc said KLM have been having problems all day.

 

It's somewhere between Vancouver and here................ A mate lost one once that ended  up travelling on two different continents to the two it should only have been on.

 

At least there's nothing spectacularly valuable inside it. Unless you count our last three days dirty laundry...............

 

Cheers,

Mick

Edited May 14, 2017 by newbryford

[Tony_S]

I am not sure if sorting out access to and lighting for my railway counts as modelling but I am starting to think I can do some scenic modelling again soon. The extended station area looks very lumpy and pink. I did put a decoder in a loco yesterday.My first one with a Next18 interface. The body came off the loco (Coal Tank) exactly as described on the instruction sheet. Remove blanking piece, insert decoder, put on programming track, select identify, slight twitch, otherwise no response. Press decoder with more force. Repeat, everything fine.

Tony

Edited May 14, 2017 by Tony_S

[emt_911]

All tasks for the day completed which has kept me busy. But, I still have a small hill of ironing for later in the week.

 

Welcome back Mick. A pity about the luggage but as you say, nothing valuable.

 

An early start and a long day tomorrow.

 

Night all

[AndyID]

We have a Seat Ibiza with the VAG DSG gearbox installed.  Our Daughter's Ford Galaxy also has the same gearbox.

 

It's brilliant and returns better acceleration and economy than the manual box.

 

Much better than a slushbox which are pretty old hat now.

 

I had an idea to automate a manual box a while ago. You can dispense with the synchro-rings and use a uP to sync the dog clutches making all the changes clutchless.  Naturally, I never actually did anything about it, but I'm sure somebody has by now

 

Instead I patented a hydraulic driveshaft, but that turned out to be a bit of a bust and the patent has now expired. Then there was the "new and improved" slip detection method.....

[bbishop]

 Then there was the "new and improved" slip detection method.....

 

Single or double?

 

Bill

[Donw]

Tell me about it. The engineers we had to deal with at MS were a bunch of arrogant prats who didn't seem to care about backward compatibility in the slightest.

 

The whole thing is a big mess. A lot of it stems from the fact that the PC became popular long before the Internet really existed. The result is kludge on top of kludge on top.....

 

Some years ago I was offered a job which including looking after a Hinet System based on the fact that I had previously been an operator on ICL machines. The main company information was held on IBM Mainframes but the local office stuff was on the Hinet. Transferring data between them was a no no usually requiring a manual input of data between them. I was able to connect a PC (the first one in the office to the Hinet and found that the was modem access to the mainframe so fitted a modem to the PC. I could then use the PC as a go between the two.

This worked well enough and became known to others who asked the IT team if they could have the same. The IT team came along to see how I had done it. It resulted in me being promoted into the IT as a manager o worked very well for me.

However this was not a designed system it was something that could be got to work. This sort of development went on all the time system architecture would be compromised by adding on a bit to talk to a different device. Different machines had architectures that were a poor match.

Running DOS I could write programs that let me use the machines abilities to their best. When Windows came along it did save a lot of time on the user interface it kept the programmer well away from the machine. Rather like trying to feel something through a pair of woollen mitts over rubber gloves. But underneath themachine codes are there and if you can reach them security is weak.

 

Don

[andyram]

Evening all. A very late check in before bed after a very busy day. Firstly I am pleased Mick (NB) has arrived back safely. Hopefully the missing bag will be arriving soon.

Today has been busy and, at times, deeply frustrating. Last night was disturbed by Amber joining us just as we were about to turn the lights out. She spread herself out in bed so much that I decamped to her bedroom. Sarah awoke in the early hours and was sick, but had recovered by the morning. I am wondering if her sinus problems will be starting again.

This morning saw an early start and a fully packed car for the craft fair at the Cat's Protection Centre. Upon arrival we found more stalls than last year and not too much in the way of space. We struggled to find a flat spot to pitch the gazebo and the organiser did not seem sure where to put us. Once sorted we found that our location resembled a wind tunnel and we spent much of the day reattaching the gazebo side sheets and stopping it from blowing away. Sadly the fair seemed poorly attended and Sarah took less than £25 from sales of Avon and her handmade greetings cards. Very disappointing.

I had taken my laptop in a hope that I could spend part of the day completing my personal statement for the deputy job. The constant gazebo repair meant that nothing was achieved.

Once home we then had to embark on the marathon Avon book collection. Frustrating that many had not been put out for us to collect resulting in a lot of knocking on doors. That meant I was back out for a second trawl in early evening. At least I completed this more quickly by opting to use the bike.

My friend has completed the job of filling in the PDF format application form so I am left with just the statement to add. This has been written, but just needs checking against the job description and person spec to ensure I have evidenced what I need. At first glance I reckon I have ticked most boxes - but I have been confident about jobs before.

The weekend work emails rose to 10 by the end of today. One carried details of a lesson observation for Friday. More hassles probably await at the end of the week then! 10 teaching days until half term - 45 until the summer break!

 

Sleep well all.

Edited May 14, 2017 by andyram

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[AndyID]

Single or double?

 

Bill

 

It might have been more successful had it been to do with the detection of cutty sarks.

[AndyID]

Oh carp! Yahoo informs me that I have 6666 unread emails.

[pH]

Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten may not be an exciting place, but it is a very pleasant and interesting place. Only 34 square miles in area, it's actually two countries, one French and one Dutch. There are usually no border checks when passing between the two. However, each country has its own power system, with different voltages. Also, a phone call between the two is an international call, routed through another French island.

 

And that airport is really something special! We didn't see a 747 landing or taking off, but planes the size of 737s are exciting enough. There are several Youtube videos of people hanging on to the fence in the jet blast (and of some people failing to hang on!).

[pH]

And you're saying that to a native Dutch bloke who got educated in a time when Geography was an integral part of the curriculum?

 

The post wasn't exclusively "FAO Dutch_Master". 

[DDolfelin]

Last time I called there it was by ship.

Engaging locals.

[emt_911]

Morning all. Another terrible nights sleep thanks to my brain not shutting off.

 

A grey and so far dry start to the day but I'm not expecting that to last.

 

Time for another coffee.

 

Have a good day everyone.

[Oldddudders]

Morning all

 

Yesterday was good. Not only did the weather exceed expectations by a wide margin, with enough sun to be pleasantly warm at times, but I got some work done. First task was to put some electric fence across the repaired area of wooden fencing. That didn't take too long, and then I had time to let the beasts back in there and relax for a while. I then had a shower and put on respectable clothes before going out for lunch. Seven of us - Sherry was missed - enjoyed a decent French lunch, and my attempt to pay was thwarted by two others intervening so we split the bill three ways. Then back to Peter & Ivy's place for coffee.

 

Back home about 5, I needed to sort the horse-trough. This is normally self-balancing, in that it collects rainwater from the roof of the adjacent shelter, but the very dry Spring here had meant I had had to use the hose only a couple of months ago, and now, while full, the water was unusually murky and unfit for drinking even by animals. So I pumped it out and put the hose to work. Much bending and bucket-bailing was also needed, but my back seems ok today, which is a relief. Doing the simple exercises prescribed by the chiropractor has undoubtedly helped.

 

Sherry went to her Dartmoor cabin after a play rehearsal yesterday afternoon, and will chill there today. Her flat is really nice, and in a lovely location with views across a green, but the roads are busy, and the cabin site is so tranquil by comparison.

 

The weather for the next couple of days is set to be glorious, with temperatures into the mid-20s, but by Weds there will be storms and everything will cool down again. We'll cope!

 

I hope your week goes well.

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

It is a nice bright sunny morning today.  Believe it or not, the temperature forecast to reach 30°C later in the week, which is a bit too warm to be honest, but we shall see!

 

I came across this video at the weekend and thought I would share it with the ERs.  How things have changed!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llQUrH8eEHM

 

Have a good day everyone...

Edited May 15, 2017 by Robert

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

I had a good weekend at ExpoEM in Bracknell.  A disgraceful amount was spent and it was good to have a brief chat with Ivan.  Away from the show, apparently £47m has been spent on renovating the town centre.  Methinks that value for money has not been obtained.  The view from my second floor hotel room suggests strongly that much more needs to be done. As always, it is best viewed under cover of darkness.  Saturday night in the ‘Spoons was convivial and I was blissfully unaware of Eurovision.  The motorway network was quite kind in both directions.  I used the M4 as I tired long ago of the 50 mph trundle on the M3. 

 

Before all that, as others have reported, Flavio’s Brains Trust met on Friday.  Chewing the pork that I had for lunch was good exercise.  Remind me to have the fish next time unless it is on a Friday.

 

Social engagements in the week to come include Area Group on Wednesday, meeting in Bedford this time, and a railtour to Barrow Hill on Thursday for the beer festival.  Of the latter it must be said that Sister Diabetes would not approve so guess what, I am not going to tell her.   She says that I need more exercise.  Does ironing count?

 

Now to unpack my shopping from Bracknell …

 

Warm thoughts to all in distress

 

Chris

[TheQ]

Morning Awl,

Due to a severe  headache I took my maximum permitted dose of Ibuprofen last night, I tried to read before going to sleep but couldn't see straight, Then the Ibuprofen took effect and I was out like a light. I awoke a couple of hours later, removed my reading glasses, the book from my chest and went straight back to sleep. So eventually I had 6.5 hours of sleep in bed, followed by another hour on the sofa.

 

Well I got to work and found we have not been hit by the computer virus, however after the power off , I noted one of the temperature labs with a big fan trying to cool it down as their AC had failed. Then i got to this lab and found my lab has a big red light, cooling pump failed, I've tried a reset, but still no change. So even with the door propped open i'm sitting in 25.5C or 2.5C above what it should be.

I am supposed to working on a major system today, but I won't be able to do that in this lab, there are some tests I can so in the outside lab, which I will start when they hand it over to me.

 

With me in the lab this computer and the oil bath running (it has it's own cooling system)  the lab temp has gone up another 0.3 of a degree...

 

Time to... prepare a couple of spreadsheets and then sit around waiting for the equipment to be handed over to me..

After work it's off the the DIY shed to get the first of 2 lots of 1/3 of a ton sharp sand and Cement for next weekends work. I also need to get a toilet seat for the mobile home as I need to fit a removeable raised seat for some our visitors. A normal disabled persons raised seat won't fit in the area.
 

[AndrewC]

Good moaning from the boring borough. 

 

All is quiet. All is boring. And that's a good thing. (to quote Martha Stewart)

 

The whole NHS thing was a disaster in waiting for years. Having done a couple of major projects with them, I can say their IT management, even with a budget are basically hapless. Most of the project costs are management, not the infrastructure or proper development. There are a few mitigating reasons for them still using ancient versions of Windows. Most of the MRI and CT machines are running on embedded versions of XP. These machines need to be able to export the images to long term storage and to the general internal network. The image viewing software also runs on XP. The cost of replacing a £1.4m MRI machine to upgrade its software is not what you'd call value for money. Especially since you'd need to remove a wall to get the old machine out and the new one in place. I think a fair few people would be shocked to see just how many embedded XP devices are still out there. Ticket machines, cash points, electronic signage, tills, and the list goes on. I'm not sure if they've had a change of modules but the Electrostar units when delivered were running on XP, as were the Pendowobbles. 

 

On that note, back to work. 6 working days until Chelsea Flower Show, and 9 working days until the longest vacation break I've had in 9 1/2 years. 

 

Enjoy the day, carpet diem.