Early Risers.

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all.  Thoughts to Debs and Passepartout, good luck with the interview to Andyram and best wishes etc to all in distress and recovery.

 

Some useful m*d*ll*ng was accomplished yesterday and the talk in the evening was excellent.  It can only go downhill now.  The car is across Mrs E-C's gates again with the boot in need of unloading and, at present, nowhere else to put the car.  I have an appointment with Specsavers at 09.55 and by taking some frozen leftovers from the freezer can postpone the fodder run till tomorrow.  

 

More drivel tomorrow.  You have been warned ...

 

Chris

[45156]

Morning All

 

Rainy start today, mafe worse as Lily gave a yelp and then started barking, I think she was trying to get to the kitchen bin, and slipped,  Still when half awake at 6.20, it's a bit of a joly.

 

All the best to Dick, and Debs/John, and good luck to Andy.  Hope for the best outcomes for all of you.  And of course, generic greetings to all.

 

Flights from hell, well, try a domestic trip to Campbeltown on the Kintyre peninsula, from Gatwick, which started witn an Air Ecosse Shorts 3-30, then progressed to a Loganair twin otter, where the maximum height was 6000 feet in the Shorts and 2000 on the Otter.  Back in a Loganair Shorts, then a Dan-Air semi knackered BAC 1-11.  After that lot, I was glad to be alive.

 

Hopefully back later.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[Barry O]

Gdb..snap! It just happens that it's her indoors birthday today as well!

 

Card delivered, pressie provided. Cupatea made and delivered.

 

Stay well everyone.

 

Baz

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl Inner Temple Here,

Not too bad a nights sleep last night about 7 hour, though I awoke to rain outside again.

The journey in was over layers of leaves as the trees are really dropping them now, this will be accompanied by vast amounts of twigs in some areas, as I came across the JCB hedge trimmer just setting up to start at 06:00.

 

Two major systems to work on today, one from foriegn climbs is not going well, I could see from some of the traces being produced that the waveforms were incorrect, but ai need to run through to the end before retrying the faulty bits.

The other was due to be started last Monday, but as it's the end of the company finacial quarter it was if it doesnt move ship it, if it does move ship it. so the equipment wasn't released till late yesterday when they had cleared everything of the type calibrated on that system.

This mean both systems will run into next monday, when another system becomes due for caibration, unfortunately some bits of test equipment will be used on all three this is going to be a bit of a juggling act.

 

I certainly remember Logan air, although it was Britten-Norman Islanders, with the BEA flights being Vickers Vicounts, particularly hairy landings on Benbecula sometimes, I never got to do the beach landing on Barra though.

 

Time too.... get back into battle

[jamie92208]

Mad travels day two.

 

Having retired to bed at 02.00 after the Expedition to Scotland I was up at 08.00 and away to Manchester largely to inspect the vastly extended tram network which was still in its infancy the last time I set foot in that city.  It goes for miles and now requires 120 trams to run it.  Having recently arrived home from the world's largest tram system in Melbourne Manchester compares well.  Melbourne runs 500 trams over a vast system but Manchester's might reach slightly farther from the city centre.  I also like the "steam-tug" toot on their trams which replaces the much more familiar gong.   

 

Another very easy transit of the Capital saw me safely aboard the 22.33 Kingston Roundabout.  If you planned a trip where you arrived on one side of London and departed from the other a mere 27 minutes later - having walked down to and waited for the Northern Line and then ridden (rather than walked up) the escalators at Waterloo you'd wonder if it could be done.  I have managed it twice in as many evenings and with no undue haste either.

 

 

You obviously had a good day Rick, the Manchester system is fantastic though t would be nice if we had a system over here in Leeds.   As to the cross London trip you obviously did very well.  I once managed Hither green to Acton in 25 minutes  via an unofficial cab ride in a 59 and did wonder at the time if that would have been possible by any other form of transport other than a helicopter.

 

Anyway Good morning all from the village south of Leeds.    Much stuff got packed yesterday and three crates of unbuilt or partly built kits are waiting to go to storage. 5 boxes of books and maps will also be going along with other items.

 

Beth has now survived a day and night without a dressing on her burn and seems to be doing OK.  The colour has certainly faded very well which is good.   She will have to be very careful for some time to come and will not be doing the washing up for some time.   The step mum in law had her mastectomy on Tuesday and got home yesterday.  She seems to be doing well and there was no sign of secondaries which is great news.

 

Apart from a trip to the container and a valuer coming to look at the house there isn't a lot on the agenda yet but a pleasant evening at the clubrooms is in prospect.

 

Hope that the interview goes well Andy and thoughts are with Debs and Dick.

 

Jamie

[roundhouse]

Morning from a damp Surrey.

 

Southern appear to be slipping again but hopefully it’s just a bit of bad luck. Last night we sat at East Croydon due to no relief driver no doubt caused by earlier signalling and broken down train problems. When we did get moving we were put behind a stopping service to Caterham so made us later. Luckily the ticket office at Redhill was manned so we managed to get our season tickets renewd just in time for the next bus home. This morning, signalling problems have resulted in our train being cancelled. So now on a Thameslink service which fortunately, we did manage to get seats but the four seat bay with no leg room and we have our rucksack with us for this weekends trip. These class 700 units are horrible with hard surfboard like seats and once the London abridge work is finished these will be on our main services to London so a big down grade as far as we are concerned.

 

Still debating whether we visit the USA this Xmas but despite having done may long haul flights really don’t fancy them at the moment especially with the cost of them and the current exchange rate although it has improved a little since the Summer.

 

This weekends trip is far closer and may be our last chance to photo the signalling on the Norfolk branches.

Edited September 29, 2017 by roundhouse

[Barry O]

Due in at 09:00.. Cunard ship QE docked very early....followed by a 4 deck floating gin palace.....

 

Baz

[AndrewC]

Good moaning all from the borough of woe and disaster. Commiserations to Dick, John, and Dear Debs. Life really sucks at times. 

 

A good weekend was had in the low countries with Mr Roundhouse and co. Many good beers were enjoyed including a 21.3% eisbok version of a Bowmore barrel aged stout. BW Ian, the Het Uiltje Apfelstrudel is being made available bottled. 

 

Came home to a life expired power shower. As some may remember from many moons ago our house was given a rather quick and dirty makeover prior to us buying it. Contracting work done by Bodge-it & Scarper. Nothing is as it should be. We have a separate shower cubicle and tub. Well the tub has a shower tap but the diverter never worked. I ordered a replacement electric shower but couldn't get it delivered for a few days. (went with the same model as I didn't fancy having to start tearing out tiles to modify the plumbing to fit. The alternative was to replace the tap in the tub so we could shower while waiting for the new electric unit. Argh and the troubles begin. 

 

First they put up a tiled tub "panel". The reason I'd not replaced the taps previously is that I'd have to remove the existing panel. Ripping that out was a bucket of no fun. New taps installed with minimal fuss, apart from the fact I'd not noticed the O ring on the cold fitting had vanished. Didn't leak at first but after a couple of hours the floor under the tub was slightly damp. Tear it all apart, head to Wickes, get some O rings, put it all back together. Meh!

 

Secondly the ceiling switch for the electric shower showed signs of damage. (well, a crack and scorch mark) This tells me the RCD breaker didn't do its job fast enough when the shower went. Off to Wickes again for a new RCD and new ceiling switch. What a mess. The connecting wires in the switch were fried too. Now there is a chunk of ceiling removed to cut back the existing cable and replace it with new. Back to Wickes or not so fast. I need about 50cm of 10mm twin & earth. Smallest in stock was a 50m spool. Same with the local Screwfix. Amazon Prime to the rescue. Now I await a 2m length of T&E. My tame electrician will inspect and certify later. (Like me with IT he refuses to do work for friends but is happy to check, validate, and certify for a couple of pints) Today I shall be tearing up the floor at the front door to shut off the main stopcock, as unlike every other bit of plumbing in the house, there is no inline stop valve for the shower. Lucky for me that  involves removing a bit of edging to release a bit of pre-cut laminate that allows me access to a hatch I created just after we moved in. 

 

All in all its a fecking pain in the nether regions. If I ever run into the cunglebunts that renovated this place I shall be inserting this into them: 

 

 

Tomorrow I shall be locking myself in the shed and playing trains. 

 

Enjoy the day. 

[AndyB]

Off on a tour round part of the island early doors tomorrow so may not get a post in.

Hopefully QE will be here when we get back (the Cunard one not HMS)

 

Sleep well most..have a great afternoon and evening to others. Pete how is the houses ve going?

 

Baz

 

I must have missed the post where Baz said where he was going, so a bit of detective work suggests he is in the Funchal area? 

I'd recommend the Beerhouse restaurant if time permits; the "acorda" dish on their menu was very filling!  

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

Aditi forgot to add yeast to the bread maker last night so there was a small brick inside the machine thus morning. So no toast today. Aditi said she had put more on to bake. I replied please dont call me a a moron. Thjs made her laugh. It is rather cloudy here. Robbie is having his hydrotherapy session at 12.30.

I cleared my desk a bit yesterday so i can see the bit of track i use when programming locos. I found the decoder too.

Tony

[laurenceb]

Birthday greetings to Mrs GDB & Mrs Baz

Best of luck to Andyram

Mornin awl

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit grey this morning but dry and predicted to brighten up. Got to start on the new baseboard in the next week or so, but I will have to de-clutter the spare room. Had a bit of a mess in the kitchen to clear up last night, I managed to knock a half used bottle of wine off of a high shelf and the bottle shattered. Fortunately the label held most of the broken glass together but the contents spread far and wide including underneath the units and washing machine. The wine itself was no loss, I'd tried it a couple of Christmases ago and decided I didn't like it and was going to throw it away but forgot all about it. I must admit that the kitchen floor looks a lot cleaner in the area where the bottle fell. Congratulations and commiserations where neccessary, be back later.

PS Birthday greetings to Mrs. Baz and Mrs. GDB.

Edited September 29, 2017 by PhilJ W

[TheQ]

I knew wine was often called paint stripper but not floor cleaner.....

[roundhouse]

Ah yes that statue in Rotterdam, not far form two rather nice bars. Must try and do next years beer fest.

 

Talking of plumbing, we have a dripping ball valve in the loft cold water tank so the overflow is dripping onto the conservatory roof. To reduce the noise I have put a tray with foam for the water to drip onto till I can replace either water or the whole ball valve. The tricky bit is that the mains incoming stop cook in the kitchen is jammed. So far I have not found an inline valve to the water tank and can’t turn the mains stopcok outside off. So it looks like I will be getting our plumber round as he will have the necessary tools and can also service the boiler at the same time. I don’t want to do this when we are about to be away incase a new joint decides to leak and we are not there.

 

Maybe a job for next week.

[Horsetan]

....The wine itself was no loss, I'd tried it a couple of Christmases ago and decided I didn't like it and was going to throw it away but forgot all about it. I must admit that the kitchen floor looks a lot cleaner in the area where the bottle fell. ....

 

Sounds like you managed to buy a particularly strong grade of plonk.

 

Some months ago, the Sunday alcohack took us and the horses to the Green Dragon pub in Flaunden. Having selected what appeared to be a harmless Sauvignon Blanc, we found that it was like drinking liquid sandpaper. Very rough. We haven't been back there since.

[The Stationmaster]

G'day all,

 

Birthday felicitations to Mrs GDB.  And to Mrs Baz - hope you are enjoying Funchal as your ship would still seem to be present there.  The 'gin place' lying astern of QE is 'Kismet' which currently seems to be in the charter business, weekly hire rate is FROM $1.2 million.  Its owner (as at last December) is one Shahid Khan who it would seem also has a financial interest in Fulham FC and NFL Jacksonville Jaguars

 

https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts/editorial-features/95m-superyacht-kismets-winning-combination--25961

 

Meanwhile in our part of dear old blighty there are big black clouds overhead and a light drizzle descending but things might improve later, we hope.  So maybe more of the oak tree will meet its valhalla in the garden waste recycling bin.

 

Enjoy what is still to come of teh day and hoping for improvement for those who are alining including, Debs' case, two family members.

[tetsudofan]

Long distance flights.

 

I did plenty to Narita, Japan  when the Russians were still Soviets  you had to go from London via Anchorage (and vice versa). I hated the flight back because you crossed the IDL backwards, i.e.  taking off from Narita on a Thursday night you landed in Anchorage on Thursday morning before you took off! That really messed my head up. All those flights were, thank God, BA First Class.

 

 

Best, Pete.

 

Ah, Anchorage Airport, been there a few times. Wasn't that the place where you were greeted by a great big stuffed bear as you entered the terminal building?

 

Always felt rather groggy by the time I got to Anchorage bearing in mind that the flight really started in the First Class Lounge at Heathrow. Think at that time I was into Bloody Marys.....

 

Going the other way from New York, TWA did a powerful Harvey Wallbanger.......

 

Keith

[BSW01]

The tricky bit is that the mains incoming stop cook in the kitchen is jammed. So far I have not found an inline valve to the water tank and can’t turn the mains stopcok outside off. So it looks like I will be getting our plumber round as he will have the necessary tools and can also service the boiler at the same time. I don’t want to do this when we are about to be away incase a new joint decides to leak and we are not there.

Maybe a job for next week.

Roundhouse, try using a freezing kit just after the main stop tap, or even to the feed for the tank itself, it will give you about 45 minutes before it starts to pass!

[BSW01]

Afternoon everyone

 

It's been raining here on and off all day so no work has been done outside at all. However, I have been out and about doing a few errands, such as getting a congratulations card, picking the weekly meat rations, putting fuel in the car picking up my train tickets for this evening etc.

 

Tonight will be spent in a bar in Manchester meeting up with some of my former work colleagues and having few drinks, I suspect that I won't be driving the car at all tomorrow!

 

Best wishes to Deb's and John.

 

Andyram. I hope the interview goes/went well.

 

Happy birthday to Mrs GDB and Mrs Baz.

 

Back later.

[Gwiwer]

And I'm back. Birthday greetings to Mrs. GDB and to Mrs. Baz. Special thoughts to Debs and John. And Dick what ever I might be able to offer in support please just PM me.

 

Playing hold-the-line with the agent once again hoping to get the bathroom light and fan fixed for the weekend. It was promised for today but of course no-one has showed up. The ceiling has dried and neighbours (above) have ensured there has been no repetition of the wayward showering which caused water to pour through the light fitting on Sunday night. I have now made three calls, placed on hold every time then asked to wait for a call back "in a few minutes". No calls. I did however just receive one from the electricians who attended on Sunday night saying they could come next Wednesday. My response was that since I have a bathroom with no light nor extractor through no fault of my own and that it was supposed to be repaired today next Wednesday was simply unacceptable. It's hard enough doing what has to be done in the dark. Waiting another week would involve cancelling an international guest (or explaining about the dark but really that's not on when hosting) as well as further inconvenience to ourselves.

 

Guess what? I'm waiting for them to call back!

 

Good thing I am a railway modeller. We're apparently known for our patience

[Ian Abel]

Interesting place to put your HQ building - in a valley which has a major fault line on one side and four smaller fault lines on the other side which sort of suggests something about the existence of the valley being linked to past tectonic activity.  But no doubt the building has both the right sort of construction and foundations to suit the geology of the site?

G'night all

Given they've been building within less than about a mile from the first buildings they had in Cupertino when I was there in about '79, I'm sure they've got it "sussed" OK 

For what it's worth, when we lived out there in '85-86 we actually lived ON the fault line, about 4 miles SW as the crow files (MUCH further up the windy road) on Skyline Blvd. at the TOP of the ridge - the fault line ran about a couple of hundred yards from the house  only felt one small tremor whilst we were there - the view was amazing though, picture windows looking out over the Pacific and Monterey Bay to the west of the ridge.

 

 

Best wishes to the two birthday SWMBOs Mrs GDB and Mrs Baz...

 

 

POETS - yessssssss....

 

Flurry of activity mid-morning before I left, often is as they finally realize I'm "there" and think of all sorts of new/additional things to address!

 

Uneventful trip home from JFK - looking forward to POE as I've done my allotted time this week save a couple of hours.

 

8 and sunny but brisk first thing - THAT'S what I call autumn - high expected to be about 18 

 

POE if you can and enjoy the start of the weekend.

[45156]

Back again after a pretty awful morning.  Yesterday was bad, with a 44 tonner coming off the M6, down the embankment, and winding up in its side on the back road to Lancaster, as I was trying to get into town - cockwomble traffic management people had put the "road closed sign just before the blockage, so that I had to backtrack then go in by another route, thereby missing the bus that I was heading for.  SO I thought today would be fine, dropped 30747 at work and set off on the fodder run to Garstang, only to find that the M6 was closed due to a jackknifed 44 tonner, and that there was a queue on the A6 starting to develop, and Lynn Traffic on Radio2 advising drivers to divert off at 33 and back on at Preston.  So with discretion being the better part of not getting stuck, I quickly did a U turn, and headed for a different branch of my preferred supermarket (online was not an option, as I couldn't get a decent delivery slot and also a lot of the things that I needed were unavailable - how can Morreasons be out of some packs of minced beef, nectarines, peaches, plums, and several other items - I am going off of their service, as the delivery is getting dearer, and the stock avaiability worse!)

 

Anyhows, I need to go and do the dinner now.

[The Lurker]

Roundhouse, try using a freezing kit just after the main stop tap, or even to the feed for the tank itself, it will give you about 45 minutes before it starts to pass!

When we had a similar issue to Roundhouse, this is what our plumber did. He was fitting a new downstairs toilet and sink and ripping out a shower, so used a freezing kit. They didn't want to turn off from the mains because of the dodginess of our heating system! When they did further work a few years later, on the heating, we traced the rising main and replaced the stopcock with an on-off lever (funnily enough the rising main was exactly where I said it was -it was just that the stopcock had lost its thread).

 

The people who did our work were good but not local to you - if AndrewC wanted help (and he doesn't seem to need it) I would recommend them.

[AndrewC]

When we had a similar issue to Roundhouse, this is what our plumber did. He was fitting a new downstairs toilet and sink and ripping out a shower, so used a freezing kit. They didn't want to turn off from the mains because of the dodginess of our heating system! When they did further work a few years later, on the heating, we traced the rising main and replaced the stopcock with an on-off lever (funnily enough the rising main was exactly where I said it was -it was just that the stopcock had lost its thread).

 

The people who did our work were good but not local to you - if AndrewC wanted help (and he doesn't seem to need it) I would recommend them.

I may just for future reference. 

[AndyB]

Afternoon all,

 

Filling in the time between starting my new job by reading up about it. 

Seems quite complex, so I'm sort of grateful for the interlude! 

 

Meanwhile in 2 weeks time we have the Farnham show (Aldershot) to look forward to. A couple of layout's I'm particularly keen to see, including one based on a Rice track plan. 

Saturday morning for me. GDB, 81C, RIck...? 

 

Fingers crossed for the other Andy and a successful interview outcome.