Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

I think you should. It's worth reminding them that at awful lot of things will burn if they have a sufficient supply of oxygen. Iron filings will burn in air. A lump of steel can be cut with oxygen alone.

 

Because our house in CA was on a cul-de-sac it had have a sprinkler system. I think the requirement was more to prevent fire spreading to adjacent houses than to protect our property. If the sprinklers come on almost everything in the house is trashed.

Indeed, try wrapping steel wool around a torch battery. You can't even use certain types of batteries in smoke alarms as they react with some of the elements in the smoke detector and catch fire.

[emt_911]

Night all

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone

 

A rather uneventful day, but one which I managed to get done what I'd planned and also call and stock up on some bits and pieces from COSTCO as I had to call there to fill up anyway.

 

This evening saw us doing the weekly Sainsbury's Grand Prix, after putting the shopping away, we then had a walk around the garden admiring our roses, which seem to have excelled themselves this year. Once back inside I sat and perused the Railway Modeller that I'd picked up whilst at Sainsbury's.

 

Time for bed.

 

Goodnight all.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all.

[Ozexpatriate]

Sadly when landlords 'suffer' so do tenants.

Depends on the landlord.

Peter, I meant no offence to conscientious landlords, but we all know that effluent flows downhill.

 

I am sensitive to the notion that landlords have to put up with the bad tenants along with the good tenants and I suspect that "tenants' rights" in the UK are stronger than in the US, but the housing in short supply issue in the UK is very present in microcosm here in Portland. Portland is a delightful place to live and has been one of the most popular destinations for people to move to in the US for several years.

 

This has created a lot of pressure on affordable housing that wasn't present a few years ago. Things like 'defacto end of lease evictions' are very common. (By that I mean huge increases in rents that essentially force tenants to move.)  These have resulted in a "tenants' rights" movement that includes a push for mandatory 'relocation relief' when a tenant is forced out - which of course landlords claim is unsustainable.

 

I recently (and my son presently) live(d) in a moderately large suburban apartment complex.  In the two or three years he has lived there he has faced rent increases by more than 10% at least twice - difficult for a young person to sustain. I lived there for 15 years without any increase. The purchase of the property by an overseas investor who paid well over market price for this property, (not in but), adjacent to the 'hot market' in Portland, preempted my being faced with, and I kid you not, a 37% rent increase. My nonagenarian downstairs neighbour on a fixed income was presented with a similar ultimatum.

 

Developers are madly converting neighbourhoods that were comprised largely of small affordable single family detached homes into mult-unit structures (often with no or inadequate parking) in gentrifying neighbourhoods that are part of the reason Portland has become so popular.

 

There are no easy answers, but the supply/demand curve here very much puts landlords on the top and tenants on the bottom. This kind of 'whatever the market will bear' treatment quickly turns good tenants into bad tenants.

Edited June 14, 2017 by Ozexpatriate

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[NGT6 1315]

Mawnin' awl. Summerly weather followed by thunder by night forecast for today as I'm getting ready for a split shift.

 

Meanwhile, yesterday's early (due to it being dispo week) saw me travelling to old Leutzsch Depot…

 

 

 

…which for the next several weeks will be Line 7's western terminus due to major engineering works.

 

 

Later…

[emt_911]

Morning all. Yet another bright start to the day but hopefully a bit cooler than yesterday.

 

A fairly easy day is planned but I'll have to wait and see if it works out that way.

 

Time for another coffee.

 

Have a good day everyone.

[TheQ]

Morning Awl,

A bad nights sleep due to the heat, the inside of the house was showing 24C and the outside was warmer. This for us here on the coast that  is HOT.

 

I found out Why I couldn't get through to my parents on the phone for their 60th anniversary, BT had disconnected their group of houses for 3 days  (accidentally). Arrangements now made for my trip up there next week, now SWBOs brother has phoned us, We'll be stopping their place in Shaw overnight on the way... If we get a good run, I've discovered there is a model  shop in Shaw   I might go for a walk.

 

The lab Temperature was reasonably stable all yesterday and I got a lot of work done, one of the modifications done by my boss was to fit a temperature limiter, to the heater bank. when the system failed the air IN reached 55 C very rapidly and was only stopped by me coming into the lab and turning the heater bank off. There was nothing to stop the 12KW heater bank ( for a room 15ft square) going into melt down. Anyway it's now limited to 30C.

 

I should finish the major system today, and do several more smaller items that are due.

 

Time For...    Resistance measurements 1 Ohm to 1 GOhm.

[andyram]

Morning all. Thoughts this morning are firmly with those affected by the dreadful fire in London. What an awful thing to happen and, it seems, that it was made worse by some corner cutting on the renovations. I sincerely hope that those responsible for such cost cutting will be held to account. Not that it will change the injuries or bring back the deceased of course. Thoughts also go to the firefighters who worked such long hours to try and bring the fire under control, make the building safe and rescue as many people as possible.

Somehow everything else becomes insignificant in light of these tragedies. Sadly they are becoming all the more regular it seems. They all serve to put things into perspective.

Today has dawned bright and sunny and promises to remain pleasantly warm all day. Today is an important day for my student who has her university assessor in this morning. The last visit did not go well and she has lurched between worryingly poor and averagely good with regularity so it will be important that she hits the latter performance today. Normally I would not be trying to pass someone so inconsistent, but outside difficulties have made her placement a tough one so I am very much rooting for her.

Thanks to Robert for the birth certificate link. I have found a local one which should get me what I need 4 days after ordering it for a cost of around £10. I did not get time to sort that last night so it becomes one of today's jobs. Yesterday I did get through a few reports leaving just 7 to complete and I aim to tick off all of those during this afternoon's non contact time.

No word from the dream, but very low paid job, so I may be forced to make a but decision before Monday's application deadline. The trouble is my gut feeling keeps changing!

 

Have a good day all. Stay safe.

[PeterBB]

Peter, I meant no offence to conscientious landlords, but we all know that effluent flows downhill.

 

I am sensitive to the notion that landlords have to put up with the bad tenants along with the good tenants and I suspect that "tenants' rights" in the UK are stronger than in the US, but the housing in short supply issue in the UK is very present in microcosm here in Portland. Portland is a delightful place to live and has been one of the most popular destinations for people to move to in the US for several years.

 

This has created a lot of pressure on affordable housing that wasn't present a few years ago. Things like 'defacto end of lease evictions' are very common. (By that I mean huge increases in rents that essentially force tenants to move.)  These have resulted in a "tenants' rights" movement that includes a push for mandatory 'relocation relief' when a tenant is forced out - which of course landlords claim is unsustainable.

 

I recently (and my son presently) live(d) in a moderately large suburban apartment complex.  In the two or three years he has lived there he has faced rent increases by more than 10% at least twice - difficult for a young person to sustain. I lived there for 15 years without any increase. The purchase of the property by an overseas investor who paid well over market price for this property, (not in but), adjacent to the 'hot market' in Portland, preempted my being faced with, and I kid you not, a 37% rent increase. My nonagenarian downstairs neighbour on a fixed income was presented with a similar ultimatum.

 

Developers are madly converting neighbourhoods that were comprised largely of small affordable single family detached homes into mult-unit structures (often with no or inadequate parking) in gentrifying neighbourhoods that are part of the reason Portland has become so popular.

 

There are no easy answers, but the supply/demand curve here very much puts landlords on the top and tenants on the bottom. This kind of 'whatever the market will bear' treatment quickly turns good tenants into bad tenants

 

No offence taken but students often have the sort of problem that you mention.  They may even have 'digs' that have parking available  ... but who has that - the estate agents.  I agree that the 'do as little as possible for as much as you can get' is quite common and is of course the way a large number of businesses work ...

 

Portland is about as far as you can get from UK.  My only note on it was backpacking in '67 via Greyhound when it seemed fine, certainly compared with some places visited.

 

The Q  Funny given not because of the lab problem but just the 'I long to go Ohm' comment.

 

Peter

Edited June 15, 2017 by PeterBB

[Oldddudders]

Morning all

 

A very warm day yesterday, and 'feels like' 31 forecast for this afternoon again. It is a bit sapping. Alison was doing some gardening for us in the heat - she must be made of sterner stuff! Her middle son, Brodie, 11, was with her, and he is such a grumpy soul compared to his brothers. He finished his book soon after arriving, so I presented him with three Arthur Ransome volumes, which he may or may not bother with. Alison despairs of him. Very bright, he has not taken to French skool life as his brothers have, and his French is mediocre compared to theirs, although no doubt considerably better than mine! We all hope it's just his age....

 

Sherry has experience of tenants, having had her mother's house rented, latterly through an agency. The final tenants were two arty women, one a teacher, but despite all sorts of assurances when they took the tenancy, they proved to be a bad lot. It seemed that when Sherry & Pete moved to the South West, they played up with the agents. The garden, which they swore they'd enjoy, was left to go wild. Now she owns another flat in Torquay, agent-managed, and the first tenant first defaulted and then ended up in jail for drug offences. He was replaced by a Polish couple, who were model tenants, and left the flat immaculate and newly decorated! The present incumbent is ok so far. Sherry has tried to get the sash windows replaced - but has so far been thwarted by Grade 2 listed building issues. Sigh.

 

I hope your week is under strict control.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone

 

The day has started out quite dull, but the sun is making a brave attempt to break through. I do hope it's successful. Today I'm off to Staylbridge, Hyde and Stockport collecting customer information once again.

 

TheQ. Arcadia, (no connection other than a satisfied customer) the model shop in Shaw is very good, I pop in when ever I'm in the area and I can highly recommend it.

 

Back later

[Barry O]

Good morning all.

8.5hours of sleep means I am now thick headed. Pah! A quick zip round with the mower tidying up the grass should do the trick.

 

I have a house rented out in Barrow. The agents are just about the most disorganised rabble I have come across but light years better than the last lot.....new sink fitted as one "overflowed"... Well it does if you have the plug in and both taps on full tilt. Builder fitted a smaller sink and half finished the tile splashback...

 

I want to sell it but no luck with that at the moment.

 

Rant over.

 

Time for some breakfast then grass cutting then..perhaps a bit of crust earning!

 

Enjoy your day as best you can.

 

Baz

 

PS hope the gout is calming down gwiwer

Pps hope the foot is continuing to improve NHN

Ppps hope all others who have ailments are improving

[Happy Hippo]

Sherry has tried to get the sash windows replaced - but has so far been thwarted by Grade 2 listed building issues. Sigh.

 

We have the same problem in LLandudno.

 

The replacement of the old and original sash windows with modern double glazed units is impossible unless the units are 'sympathetic' with the surrounding area.

 

However 'sympathetic' to window manufacturers, is akin to asking to write them an open cheque for the manufacture and installation of such.

 

Queries to the local authorities as to what will happen when the windows eventually fall to pieces is met with looks similar to a rabbit caught in the headlights. 

 

Some years ago,  the husband of a lady who worked for me bought a grade two listed thatched cottage.

 

That was the polite description as it was literally falling down.

 

The husband was a local builder with a very good reputation for sympathetic restoration and high quality work.

 

His plans did not meet with approval, and he found it very frustrating that when asking for guidance on how to proceed was told it could not be given as it was not the purpose of English Heritage to do this! (Of course, today this policy may have been rescinded)

 

Fortunately for him he was affluent enough to write the project off and sit on the land.

 

five years or so later, the property was in such a poor state of repair it was deemed unsafe and was demolished.

 

In it's site sits a modern up to date replica which looks the part but is not listed!

[The Lurker]

Greetings all. The sky is bright blue over London Bridge with not a cloud in the sky. Yesterday saw Younger Lurker's sports day. Fortunately there were no parents' races!

 

Work con tinues apace. Just been called into a meeting re China and Singapore. See you later!

[AndyB]

Morning all and it's another sunny one with the temperature set to rise as we move towards the weekend. 

 

Another early start for us as the variety of wildlife that joined the dawn chorus seems to be increasing exponentially by the day.

To get 8 hours sleep I'd need to be watching the Channel 4 news in bed these days! 

 

Like The Lurker, yesterday was a skool sports day, but there were parents races; legs are a bit sore this morning. 

Having said that, running on grass seems a lot easier than tarmac and I did about half a mile before my lungs were enquiring where my rescue puffer was. 

 

The workmen next door have been using a skip on the drive way as a work bench for cutting up plaster board etc. over the last few days.

The resulting dust has coated my car.

Never one to be too fussy about this I did throw a bucket of water over the car.

Unfortunately some of it seemed to go into the bags of plaster they were stacking up next to my car.

Oh dear. Best work quick lads. 

[jamie92208]

Morning all from a sunny Bournemouth.   We had our normal wake up call from the workmen at 8am, they are mending the Mansard roof on the penthouse suites on the floor above us and hammer drills and angle grinders make quite a racket.  I was already up and about when they started though.

 

Horrible events in London, I wonder what the outcome of all the enquiries will be.

 

We became accidental landlords when we helped our son buy a house and then he went into the army.  We had various 'interesting' tenants including a group of 4 Indian software engineers.  They kept complaining about damp in the bathroom and the kitchen which was below.  It all turned out to be down to toilet habits and the liberal use of water.  A little bit of education was requited but the clean up when they left was a major task. We had a good tenant for a while who got made redundant and we found that the best action was to reduce her rent for a while till she got Housing Benefit sorted out as the cost of changing tenants was far higher than the temporary loss of income.   Once she was sorted she became a model tenant. Son then left the army, moved home and got married and they now live in the house and pay the mortgage costs. We just wish that they would buy the house off us with a substantial discount due to them having paid the mortgage for several years.

 

Anyway a bike ride is on the cards and their has been no disharmony with the Bil and new wife, in fact we have had a good time.

 

Neil and Rick, I hope that your respective foot problems continue to improve.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Morning. While I have rarely posted here the last few years (for fear that if I did so, my input would quickly come to resemble a Darles Chickens novel) I do look in.

The plot at present is six elderly relatives average age 91 and all with significant disabilities, my very disabled parents having to leave a closing care home 200 miles away at three weeks notice due to closure, my wife imminently having surgery followed by radiotherapy for a (mercifully) very early cancer detection of a type that is generally 'fully curable', and then my in-laws one recently diagnosed as dementing, and the other about to see the psychiatrist with suspicion of same, all this on top of both being physically disabled and legally blind, and my younger brother suddenly afflicted with a muscular malfunction still under investigation.

 

On the positive side I appear to be in good health - or at least my GP hasn't detected anything from the recent round of routine testing - and my parents have consented to a move to a care home at a distance I can walk to visit. The tally for the first half of 2017 thus prospectively being six steps backward, two forward...

 

If anyone spots me getting odd or snippy in posts elsehere on RMweb, let Andy know eh? (I am not getting the vital model railway operation therapy at the moment, as I am usually not at the layout location when both the time and energy offers. Perhaps I ought to build a layout at the in-laws house...)

 

Best to all, as your situations find you.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I have just had the 'battery overcharged' warning flag up on my laptop again so I checked and the switch was 'off' on the socket. I pulled the plug out as apparently the socket must have a fault, not as bad as it sounds as the socket is on an extention lead as the computer lead will not reach the mains socket. I have an unused extention lead and that will be replacing the other one which will be scrapped. On the subject of landlords, I live on an ex public housing estate and almost every house that comes on the market is snatched up by one particular (overseas) landlord who fails to maintain the properties properly with things like broken fences and peeling paint being common. A similar two bedroom property to mine a short distance from me had no less than 3 families living in it. When I first went to work for the London Borough in 1970 I was initially in the housing rents department and we had a few bad tenants who left properties often in a terrible state. The problem for the council was that if there was young children in the family (as there usually was) the council was compelled to re-house them. One partial solution was to rehouse them together in a few blocks of maisonettes that was a bit run down. One result was that a lot of people on the housing list would turn down a property in T*****w Gardens as it had a bad reputation. This changed when the 'Right to buy' came into force as it was no longer compulsory for councils to rehouse tenants they had evicted whatever the circumstances. That change forced such people onto the private sector resulting in an increase the amount of bad tenants in that sector.

Edited June 15, 2017 by PhilJ W

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Sunny and hot(ter) again with increased heat to come over the weekend but no thunderstorms forecast - yet).

 

Fortunately the only think we have tenants for is a field and although one of our two tenants has departed his mortal coil his brother continues and the lady who does the paperwork occasionally remembers to pay the rent.  But they have looked after the land beautifully although they get the bloomin' subsidies and not us.

 

Little else to report but today is faux Friday so it might well mean a trip to Tilehurst if we can't park at the local Waitrose.  This of course poses a quandary as although the local Waitrose wiill no doubt offer sight of Women's Regatta contestants to gladden the heart of many an old fellah the Tilehurst branch comes with passing trains and an opportunity to view Reading West Curve where the electrification is reputedly 'going live' this weekend  (which will be truly remarkable as there was only a single earth wire in position on that curve last week).  With such varied entertainment on offer I suspect the choice will be made by availability of parking space locally.

 

Enjoy your day one and all and may those suffering ailments and illnesses or recovering from injury continue to make positive steps forward (literally in Neil's and Rick's cases).

[AndyB]

Mike, here's one they did earlier. 

Quite a lot earlier!  

[AndrewC]

Good day all from the boring borough. Back to work today. <insert your fave profanity here> Nothing has changed. 

 

2 1/2 good weeks off, but far too rushed. Sadly our holidays in Canada turn into logistic exercises. Far too many people to see in a short time. I did manage some train shopping and 3 days in Montana @ the Izaak Walton. I rented a mid life crisis-mobile for the week. Was sad to give it back on Tuesday. 

 

With regards to the shopping, I was very disappointed. Both of Calgary's old train shops are shadows of their former selves. Gone are the racks of details and decals. Just about everything was Cornerstone and RTR. None of the smaller manufacturers were available. Basically I'm going to have to rely on mail order for the rest of my needs. Sad really as Trains & Such especially used to be fantastic. I have been told by more than one former employee that the new(ish) owner couldn't organise the proverbial in a brewery. The nice little shop in Kalispell was killed off a couple of weeks before our arrival. Doomed by Hobby Lobby. Winnipeg was no better with 3 of their 4 shops vanishing in the past year. The remaining one was described by one local modeller as "don't bother". 

 

Once I get settled and a fresh round-tuit I'll throw the pics and videos up somewhere to share. 

 

Weather ranged from 2c to 35c (within 40 miles and 3 hours). A few cool days but most in the 25-35c range. 

 

Airports: Toronto sucks, no airside transfer so we had to go out then through security again. Winnipeg is nice and small, apart from the 45 minute delay getting off the plane as they had an airside security breech just before we landed. (no comments please, not my fault) The new international terminal at Calgary is beautiful. Simplicity in itself getting in and to the gate. They've pushed the bars & restaurants further out to the gates. This means you can sit and enjoy a meal/beverage until your flight boards instead of sitting on a broken half seat next to a smelly chip scoffing chav. (see also Gatwick)

Gatwick, they can bulldoze and start over as far as I'm concerned. Used to like it but now it's a patchwork of poo. 45 minutes queuing through customs and we still beat the luggage to the carousel. Outbound was no better. Half the seats at the gate were either broken or missing. The phrase 'cattle pen' comes to mind. Then again, I've grown to hate flying, airports, and everything connected to commercial flight. There is absolutely nothing pleasant about the experience. Probably explains why I'd rather spend 4 hours on a Eurostar/Thalys to Amsterdam via Brussels than a 35 min flight. 

 

The fire: My prediction is a whole load of CYA amongst the politicians and council departments will result in some poor sod becoming the sacrificial scapegoat. Looking from a purely technical level I read a few comments from at structural engineer online. In his theory, if there were sufficient gaps between the wall, insulation, and cladding, the outer skin of the building would act as a chimney spreading the fire far more quickly than expected. The word chimney in his statement struck a chord with me. BBQ people use what is called a chimney for fast lighting of charcoal. Essentially it is like a long skinny brazier that pulls in air from the bottom and super heats the charcoal very quickly from just one little firelighter. There is an electric device that I use that works similarly in that it heats air along a long thin chamber with the result being a super heated blast of air that can turn a lump of charcoal bright red in a matter of seconds. If this engineer is right the whole outside of the building became one massive superheater. Hot enough to ignite the insulation and outer cladding. Time and investigation will see if this is right. If it is, it will have massive ramifications for the construction industry.

 

That's about it from me. Take care and enjoy the rest of the day.   

[Happy Hippo]

 

'I rented a mid life crisis-mobile for the week. '

 

 

 

Samsung Galaxy or I Phone?