Early Risers.

[TheQ]

Car returned...filled it up on the motorway at less per litre than in the city...why can't we have that?

 

 

 

Baz

Because our government charges the services a huge amount of money to rent the sites..

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Somewhat soggy outside and further sogg is currently being added - but it is supposed to stop.  Garden bin already emptied so they're back to getting round early, recycling bin and food waste still to be done.  I sympathise with Phil as standing on a station waiting for a train on Monday after my recent shearing was not the nicest way of wasting one's time but fortunately it wasn't too cold.  I am told that today might be faux Friday as the management has an appointment with her hair arranger tomorrow although she might yet decide to tackle things in a different manner and faux Friday could revert to Thursday, possibly.

 

Laddo is off to Bulgaria on the real Friday for a weekend of beer tasting, amazingly he's flying in both directions for once - i'm not sure if this is to minimise time off work or maximise the time spent in various bars (or both).  I shall no doubt be making my way to Alton on Saturday unless given revised orders by you know who.

 

Have a good day one and all; hope all goes well for Neil preparatory to tomorrow's meccano fest and that all who are ailing might continue ti show improvement

[chrisf]

 I was interested to see the 'local correspondent' (i.e. a local journo pulled in for a minute) shares Chris F's surname.  Local link to ER's..

 

Pray tell more!

 

Chris

[Barry O]

Night market visited. Lots of street food but no pies or fish and chips.

 

Need to recharge the Myki cards as we are going to ball a rat before we fly out.

 

Me, I am off for some eyelid testing if my (still) painful ribs let me.

 

Baz

[Simon G]

ball a rat??

 

Wild and windy here today, with white horses aplenty on the sea. Will venture out later for some exercise and fresh air.

 

Boiler service engineer yesterday failed to diagnose the cause of air in the radiators, so I have a couple of theories which I plan to test.

 

Now awaiting a roofer who is coming to give me a third quote for either repairing or replacing my house roof. Either way, it is going to cost!

[Horsetan]

This bereavement business is very time consuming.

Solicitors yesterday and today. Bank yesterday, etc. etc.

I'm handing it all over to a solicitor to deal with.

Money well spent.

 

Would pay good money to see a picture of BiL's face when he went to the Bank and found the accounts frozen.

It's all paperwork

[iL Dottore]

Morning all,

 

Firstly, congratulations to those who deserve it and commiserations to those who need it....

 

I've had a most frustrating time, over the past few days, thanks to poor quality control at whomever supplies Aldi with their Workzone products....

 

I am building a lap steel guitar using some old guitar parts and some hardwood planks and I needed a drill press to accurately drill holes for mounting the machine heads, bridge and tailpiece, so I was most happy to find that Aldi had a Workzone Drill Press available at a very decent price, I accordingly purchased one  AND THE FUN BEGAN!

 

Example No. 1: The laser level did not work and, after spending some time assembling it, I turned on the drill press on to no effect. Opening up the head I found that the drive belts weren't slack they were absent in their entirety ! So back to Aldi with receipt in hand and defective machine in tow...

 

Example No. 2: I opened the box, checked the head for drive belts (all present and correct) and laser level functionality (yep!). So machine was duly assembled, plugged in, start button pressed and the entire workshop plunged into darkness as the fuses blew... So back to Aldi with receipt in hand and defective machine in tow...

 

Example No. 3: All bits present and functional, assembled, plugged in and turned on & everything rumbled along quite nicely. However! (yep, folks, there IS a however) the drill table was not level. So taking a huge Allen Wrench (not supplied) I tried to loosen the tightening screw. Despite me putting my entire weight onto the Allen Wrench NOTHING budged! Finally, after after using my entire body mass leaning on the drill table I manged to get the damn thing level. Given that I don't plan on doing any odd angle drilling, the locked in drill table is not a problem. But I would would dearly love to learn how I can loosen up the screw. Any thoughts??? (I reckon that the worker mounting such items with a power wrench must had a bad hair day or summat when he/she assembled this particular model).

 

All's well that ends well. Despite not being impressed by the QC of the company supplying Aldi, I was most impressed by Aldi's service. I turned up with machine and receipt, explained the problem asked for a replacement and was duly given one - without quibble or endless paperwork. Well done Aldi, say I.

 

Granted, you get what you pay for, but for light use (and for those tasks for which another tool cannot be pressed into service), they are not bad. During my lap steel guitar build I have acquired a number of tools from Aldi and Lidl and - with the exception of the drill press - all have worked adequately straight out of the box! These purchases also have a bonus inasmuch SWMBO can use them for her "Creations In Wood" - a hobby that she is immersing herself in, more and more.

 

Well, that's all the news that's fit to print.

 

Bis Später

 

iD

Edited January 31, 2018 by iL Dottore

[TheQ]

Just Afternoon Awl, Inner Temple Here.

A reasonable nights sleep, of 5 hours followed by an hour and twenty minutes on the sofa..

 

 I've been extremely busy this morning with many manual measurements taken, but now the major system is on a 3 hour automatic test with just three interventions to press a switch.

 

I've just had my ear bent... I was not wearing my company badge... I can wear it under my lab coat, so it doesn't get in the way, that's permitted, but I'm not allowed to have it in my wallet.... 

 

 I see Capita another outsourcing company like Carrillion have just had a 40% share price drop due to lack of profits. they are going to sell off Non core businesses, ie the non profitable ones, Anyone want to buy a non profitable business, that is probably on fixed price contracts for the government?

 

I've been considering my Inherited Tiree layout, and the orginal builders text says the main station "Scarinish" was freelance. Whereas the branchline station " Upper Balinoe" was based on the West Highland line stations. I don't like the main station and have been deciding what to replace it with, and my decision is... The Kyle of Lochalsh Station, not on the same line, but it has meaning to me as I used to get the train there to go to school in Inverness..

 

Time to... go have my luxury cheese sandwich for lunch...

[southern42]

Greetings all from red dragon land.

Cloudy here, clear skies in train moonspotting territory.

Ray has gone to West Shore but kindly left his screen on for the eclipse.  Nice man!

 

 

 

I have been busy, lately, just looking things up - mainly for GWRd but I have managed a bit of modelling. 

This would have been for Christmas had I not been unwell but that's life. 

 

Christmas 2015 present from family

I instantly thought - Bridge - L*c* - T***n - in the distance and therefore smaller scale...

 

With Crumlin and Meldon Viaducts in mind to stand in the background, I eventually got over to see Adrian (Torri Laser) to buy one of his laser cut bridges.  In the shop, coincidentally, Adrian had one in pieces on the table top.  The legs had been cut in 3mm instead of 4mm MDF but I said I could use them anyway.  So off home I went with all the bits and pieces.

 

The platform is glued together and the leg pieces - sanded down and tennons removed as appropriate by that Nice man - made into latticed boxes.  Next job is to make some footings and paint everything but for now it is time to watch the moon.

Edited January 31, 2018 by southern42

[Ian Abel]

HUMP day.

 

Sounds of silence yesterday from all client quarters, suits me

 

Unusually cold (REALLY!) here on Long Island this morning at -8 and sunny. Zero the expected high, no precipitation or other abnormalities forecast.

 

Have a good day all.

[laurenceb]

This bereavement business is very time consuming.

Solicitors yesterday and today. Bank yesterday, etc. etc.

I'm handing it all over to a solicitor to deal with.

Money well spent.

 

Would pay good money to see a picture of BiL's face when he went to the Bank and found the accounts frozen.

From memory it could not happen to a nicer bloke!

[New Haven Neil]

Pray tell more!

 

Chris

 

Certainly!

 

https://twitter.com/kellyforan?lang=en

 

Edit - sorry Chris, just realised the speelink is different.

Edited January 31, 2018 by New Haven Neil

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Good to see that a few are still present and not ailing too much.  Belated birthday greetings, Laurence, sorry I missed marking another circuit of the sun.  And good luck to Neil for the forthcoming surgery - hope that all goes well for you.  And another supportive mention for Debs, as well.  I fear that there are too many ailements being dicsussed here at present for me to mention each one, but my thoughts are with all of you.  However glad to see Beth is home, and that Jamie is on hand to support and assist.  One of the best things about coming out of hospital is having that support at hand, as I can verify.

 

Odd day today, all four seasons in one go, punctuated by strong winds, and coming back from shopping in Garstang there was mucho hail coming at the car horzontally.  The walk round there certainly made Lily cream crackered, and she's been snoring by the fire ever since.  Wanted to go to the bank, but found that like many smaller towns, it is only part time.  Barclays seem to be hell bent on driving us to the larger branches, then forcing us to use their wretched automated machines. 

 

Also spent a bit of time in the garage with the maul taking some of the larger logs to a more workable size.

 

Creative writing tomorrow - managed to get a 650 worder on the modern myth of the new Gods of society, and the plagues which they bestow in exchange for large tithes - these GOds being O2, EE, Vodaphone, and 3.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

Edited January 31, 2018 by 45156

[BoD]

I see Capita another outsourcing company like Carrillion have just had a 40% share price drop due to lack of profits. they are going to sell off Non core businesses, ie the non profitable ones, Anyone want to buy a non profitable business, that is probably on fixed price contracts for the government?

 

Ah Capita, or as they are known around here (and no doubt elsewhere) Utter Crapita.

 

Their incompetent hardware/software installation meant that my Yr11 GCSE ICT classes could not do any coursework for best part of a term.

Funnily enough the whole project, a rebuild of our school under a project called Building Schools for the Future, was managed by...... you've guessed it... Carillion.

The effect on the youngsters still angers me even after 6 years

[jamie92208]

Ah Capita, or as they are known around here (and no doubt elsewhere) Utter Crapita.

 

Their incompetent hardware/software installation meant that my Yr11 GCSE ICT classes could not do any coursework for best part of a term.

Funnily enough the whole project, a rebuild of our school under a project called Building Schools for the Future, was managed by...... you've guessed it... Carillion.

The effect on the youngsters still angers me even after 6 years

 

The only dealings that I've had with Crapita have been bad.   My wife's aunt had been left some shares and they were the registrars.  By the time two different parts of Capita had finally admitted that they had the shares, the disposal costs would have taken up the whole capital sum.  Fortunately for me the solicitor had also made a mess a had a set of stockbrokers.  So I threatened the whole lot with a joint complaint to various bodies and told them to get their act together.  In the end all three parties agreed to waive all their fees. The solicitor had some excuse due to ill heath but Capita were just incompetent.

 

Jamie

[Gwiwer]

G’daft-a-noon all.

 

Best wishes firstly to our sick and injured. You remain firmly in my thoughts

 

Next up I can report that after a 3-hour and 25-minute session I have been awarded my Safety Critical Licence with the words “one of the best assessments I have ever done”. Short version = I am no longer a trainee and can work unsupervised.

 

ball a rat

The City of Ballarat, formerly Ballaarat. The original spelling is perpetuated on one of the N-class diesel locos used to haul regional passenger trains on routes from Melbourne including, occasionally, to its namesake. Commonly known as “The ‘rat” the city grew from a muddy slum during the gold rush, is famous for the events at Eureka Stockade and remains home to many Cornish and Chinese families whose ancestors left their homelands in search of gold. A few got rich. A very few.

 

The cat smells of sour cheese. I suspect all might not be well with his digestive system. SWMBO was unwell overnight but that’s probably unrelated.

 

Happy Camel Day. Back anon.

[Ohmisterporter]

Had a bit of a result today. The screen washers for our Yaris barely squirted water onto the bottom of the screen so I did the usual checks; make sure the nozzles are clear using a pin and check water level in bottle. No improvement. Thinking that we may need to fit a new pump on the water bottle I went online for advice on how to do this. There was a discussion that suggested emptying the bottle and filling it with hot, not boiling, water to clear any gunge that may have built up over the years. Result! the water now squirts onto the screen as it should and the screen wash on the back window now works. In the days before tinternet I would never have found this tip; it would have been a nice little earner for the garage. 

 

Fingers crossed for everyone ailing.

[Ian Abel]

Rick - congrats on the License... I'm not sure I should, any more, be allowed to work unsupervised, but I still am  and CERTAINLY we should extend that limitation to GDB  

[Horsetan]

Ah Capita, or as they are known around here (and no doubt elsewhere) Utter Crapita.

 

Crapita - Private Eye's favourite (sic) outsourcing firm. They also took over a load of Barnet Council's services as well. We're all paying the price.

[New Haven Neil]

Eeyooo.  Long discussion with the Consultant surgeon this morning about my foot was most enlightening. And not a little scary.

 

I hadn't realised just how bad the initial damage was, as I had never seen the pre-repair x-rays. Suffice to say I think the surgeon is an absolute marvel, and understand I am lucky to have a foot at all, but for all that it is doing better than his expectations. I now understand why they don't tell you everything at the time!

 

The initial surgery was rather more involved than I had appreciated also, and has cleverly avoided the almost guaranteed need for further work this injury normally demands. This all explains my slower-than-I-wanted recovery last year.

 

I am a happy bunny today, with the prospect of future rather unpleasant surgery now banished, although the foot will only ever be 60-70%, but it's 60-70% more than I might have otherwise had.  I just need this Meccano out tomorrow and I can really get on with things after I recover.

 

Now just to spread some of this recovering cheer to Debs.

[AndrewC]

Good old Crapita. I must say, I've never had a problem with them. Once upon a time they managed to c0ckup a major project. They went back to the software vendor for some consulting help. Vendor said no. Vendor referred them to my employer, who promptly bend them over. I ended up with a £10k bonus for 6 week's worth of work to save their sorry backsides. 

[Coombe Barton]

Debs

 

Sister Jen texted me.

 

Debs has been too poorly to respond today.

 

She sent me a brief text last night thanking me for something I had done, but it's worrying.

 

If/when any more news I'll let you know.

[BlackRat]

Crapita have done so well with our pensions......they've been given to another private company.

 

I am still awaiting either of said companies to take the trouble to let me know, after all it is my pension they are mishandling.

 

It's payable tomorrow........ I'm not holding my breath.

 

Oh and to save the company money......everything has to be done by YOU online, tho some of our 90 odd years young Pensioners, with no internet access may struggle.

 

Oh and there are no more statements or P60s sent out, youmhave to go online and print your own.

 

Oh and there is a lengthy delay with the company inputting your info online, so you can't access the info after all.

 

Still it's a private company, for profit, so it MUST be good.

[Barry O]

Capita... yes I have tangled with them...a company with an interesting past...nuff said..

 

Need some good news from all who fail, especially Debs.

 

Baz

[Gwiwer]

So the sick list around me grows.

 

SWMBO is still coughing like a champion but claims to feel “a bit better otherwise”. I had been home less than an hour when I received a message from Neighbour (Upstairs) asking if I could come straight up and bring a thermometer. Flatmate had apparently come home early feeling extremely unwell and had blue lips.

 

As anyone who has any understanding of first aid knows blue lips (cyanosis) sounds a very loud alarm. It can mean absence of oxygen in the system and the patient may be in a very bad way indeed. I made my way quickly upstairs to find said flatmate rugged in her duvet and yawning at the porcelain. Her lips were not cyanosed and her breathing was normal. She was however very pale with a high temperature and exhibiting the same symptoms as SWMBO.

 

Dr. Gwiwer offered comfort and support and prescribed rest, sleep if possible and both a large glass of water and a bucket beside the bed. Neighbour (Upstairs) who called me said she was scared and didn’t know what to do. I assured her she had done exactly the right thing in getting help.

 

All should be well now. I look forward to receiving the germ which has caused sudden and violent return of stomach contents twice in very close proximity to me. Not. Assuming I stay well it’s off to mother’s after tomorrow’s shift for more freely-donated TLC.

 

Thoughts firmly with Debs tonight. Goodnight all.