Early Risers.

[BlackRat]

Also incrediblehttps://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/bugling-police-control-room-sent-10193699

Nope, par for the course these days I'm afraid!

 

Is that the sun I spy in yonder sky......????

 

Might, just might be a bike run today, blow a few cobwebs off........

Edited March 7, 2018 by BlackRat

[BoD]

Might, just might be a bike run today, blow a few cobwebs off........

Sad news for motorcyclists and C2Cers in the far north of England.

The Hartside Cafe was gutted by fire yesterday afternoon.

[New Haven Neil]

Sad news for motorcyclists and C2Cers in the far north of England.

The Hartside Cafe was gutted by fire yesterday afternoon.

 

Had a few brews up there in my past.

 

A pretty much meh morning otherwise, but at least its dry.

 

A week today for the next foot review and hopefully release from crutchworld.  Ticking the days off.

[The Lurker]

 

Af’noon awl. Messy morning thanks to non-functional signals at Berrylands, non-functional track circuits at Waterloo and the emergency replacement of a complete set of points at Wokingham. Favourite customer of the day was the lovely woman who waited ages and very patiently in the cold then took time to let me know just how patiently I was managing the crowds and the questions. Unlikely customers of the day were the two American Mormons just arrived from Utah and bound for Oxshott. Oxshott!?!?!? Do they know how many people live there? It might be as many as three by now.

 

 

If they had said Oxted I would have been less surprised. I think they (the Mormons) have some kind of establishment there. But Oxshott....

[45156]

If they had said Oxted I would have been less surprised. I think they (the Mormons) have some kind of establishment there. But Oxshott....

There is a large Mormon tabernacle at Felbridge, just North of East Grinstead - it is right on the final approach path to Gatwick from the East - departure when the wind is opposite - must make for some great services for them.

 

Morning All

 

Not really a lot to say, so please let her Debship know that I am happy to conform to "normal" ER rules as soon as she can post here - this being my way of encouraging her to get better quickly. 

 

Not too cold here today, and the heating is having a well earned rest.  Hoover needs to be dismantled again, as the filter and separator have again blocked, and the belt has displaced and is causing the brush bar to squeal, and a smell of heated belt.  Whatever make of vacuum I buy, I wish I'd bought a different one - I think I'll need to  get a more high end one next time - not Vax or a Hoover. 

 

Generic greetings as needed.

 

No photo today.

Regards to All

Stewart

[Purley Oaks]

there was an article in the New York Times last week (?) comparing Logan and Kennedy airports. Suggested that Logan recovers from storms faster because it has one official in full charge, while Kennedy has outsourced terminal responsibilities to various airlines.

'twas ever thus, surely

 

Also incredible

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/bugling-police-control-room-sent-10193699

As TheQ mentioned it's all about Police Scotland. Last night's Shetland fictional drama mentioned that a team from Glasgow would be taking over part of the case.

 

Morning all

A beautiful spring-like sunny day here; the bin men have dealt with the bottle recycling, leaving the double food waste, uncollected last week, and the main recycling bin containing everything else. Excitement squared!

 

Plan to watch my first PMQs in ages later.

 

Have a good day

 

Mal

Edited March 7, 2018 by Purley Oaks

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

The car has gone in for a service and MoT - you might be pleased to note that I have adopted the Flying Scotsman and all donations towards continued up keep will be gratefully received, thanks.

 

As for police heading off in the wrong direction the best one I know off is what happened when there was a bank raid here some years ago.  the silent alarm was duly activated and went off in the local cop shop so they all pile out and set off with blue lights flashing etc - to Pangbourne.  The bank where the robbery was in course is visible from the upstairs mess room of the flippin' police station!   But probably not quite as harrowing as the poor s*d who was kicked to death in the road outside the police station - while the station was occupied.  May be we should be saying 'come back 'sh*gg*r Ali' (Dizaei) because according to his self-publicity and the local councillors he conned all was sweetness and light in the town when he was the Inspector In Charge even if he was busy knocking-off somebody else's Mrs and local drug dealing was subsequently found to have been the major growth 'industry' in the area.

 

Ah well - back to waiting in anticipation of the need to spend money, have a good day one and all. 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit damp here this morning but forecast to dry up later. Last night I discovered a much sought after diecast model on E-bay, one that I have been after for years and that I never expected to find. What is more it comes as part of a set that also includes another rare model. A quick look through the vendors catalogue revealed plenty of other rarities. Mind you it wasn't cheap, not far short of £60 when you take postage into account.

[AndrewC]

Good moaning from a soggy and drab boring borough. For the first time in a long time I am completely layoutless. Essex has been temporarily dismantled and Millarville has gone into storage. This is to allow the train shed to be used as material staging during the house renovations. T- 5 days and counting until the carnage begins. At the moment there is half a tonne of glass block and around 1200 bathroom tiles taking up space. The rest of the flooring arrives on Tuesday. Bathroom suite, new kitchen, etc all to be kept until it is ready to be installed.

 

Once the renovations are done the shed will be emptied and renovated as well. New roof felt, new roof insulation, better lighting, improved heating and A/C, new flooring, and a new coat of paint. I may have to curb my modelling appetite or revive some half built projects for evening tinkering. 

 

enjoy the day. 

[shortliner]

.  Whatever make of vacuum I buy, I wish I'd bought a different one - I think I'll need to  get a more high end one next time - not Vax or a Hoover. 

.

Regards to All

Stewart

Whatever you do get in the "High-end range" DON'T be conned into a DIE SUN - the biggest POS on the market - the designer whose name is attatched has quite obviously NEVER used one! - in fact I'm not sure that he has ever used a vacuum cleaner or he would have designed it completely differently!!!

[Tony_S]

Whatever you do get in the "High-end range" DON'T be conned into a DIE SUN - the biggest POS on the market - the designer whose name is attatched has quite obviously NEVER used one! - in fact I'm not sure that he has ever used a vacuum cleaner or he would have designed it completely differently!!!

We had one of those once. I hated the bagless design, emptying it without choking on the dust negated any advantage. Also the snap in tool locks in pretty plastic didn't last well. Then we got the dog. So we we bought a Miele cylinder vacuum. Still have it. They don't make them in the 2.2kW version now. The upright Miele Cat and Dog was a bit heavy we thought when we were looking for an upright cleaner to keep upstairs. We had a VAX drum type cleaner for upstairs but it was really the one for DIY clean ups. The upright we chose was a SEBO. German, no problem getting parts, the design seems to have been the same for a long time. Not pretty looking but rather clever how it adjusts when it goes from one surface material to another.

[BoD]

Whatever you do get in the "High-end range" DON'T be conned into a DIE SUN - the biggest PO7S on the market - the designer whose name is attatched has quite obviously NEVER used one! - in fact I'm not sure that he has ever used a vacuum cleaner or he would have designed it completely differently!!!

He was very clever. Design the upright so that accessories are so diffucult to use that people buy the hand held version to do the stairs etc.

 

p.s. the handheld is crap too.

Edited March 7, 2018 by BoD

[45156]

Just done the monthly overhaul which is now apparently obligatory, and changed the top filter, cleaned the bottom filter, thoroughly cleared the separator, removed and cleaned the brush bar and all the little dust collector chambers created by not having any flat surfaces where some plastic could be saved by making useless chambers, new belt, no longer available from VAX only clones from Amazon, and lubricated the wheels and brush mounts.  VAX seem to need a lesson in design, as their machines do seem to need a lot more to keep them pristine after a couple of years - then you find that your machine is discontinued, and spares start to go out of stock soon afterwards -  see moan above about belts already not on VAX website.

[Horsetan]

Sad news for motorcyclists and C2Cers in the far north of England.

The Hartside Cafe was gutted by fire yesterday afternoon.

 

It would have had more coverage if it had been situated in London and called The Ace Cafe.....

[Two_sugars]

Yesterday afternoon I attended a "Presentation Event" at the local Welfare Hall.

 

The funds are in place, the planning has been approved, and the funds from central and local goverment have been allocated.

 

So it's official. . . . . . . . Da  de de Da Da Da  DAH       

 

 

HORDEN IS GETTING A NEW RAILWAY STATION.

 

 

And it's a nice day here.

 

 

John

[Gwiwer]

Morning all. A soggy one and one which proved challenging with many events large and small causing problems and widespread disruption. At one point frustration boiled over aboard a train awaiting restoration of traction current which required me to summon the BTP to break up a full-on fight between passengers.

 

Vacuum cleaners of any brand are clearly designed by men who have never had to use one. I haven’t met one I like yet. Henry and Dyson must be about the worst though.

 

Good to hear upbeat and positive news from Mal. May it also be thus for Debs et al.

 

Have the rest of a good day. I’m off for a well-earned donut with my going-home coffee.

[45156]

challenging with many events large and small causing problems and widespread disruption. At one point frustration boiled over aboard a train awaiting restoration of traction current which required me to summon the BTP to break up a full-on fight between passengers.

 

 RIck - I guess working for a TOC in full customer exposure is a bit akin to being in the complaints department of British Telcom, a job which I did for about 20 years, and which was also very nerve wracking. 

[TheQ]

I've just come across this Important Web site,

http://www.leparadismassacre.com/

 

May the victims Rest In Peace...

[Happy Hippo]

Jamie on the Ordsall chord

 

[Barry O]

Yesterday afternoon I attended a "Presentation Event" at the local Welfare Hall.

 

The funds are in place, the planning has been approved, and the funds from central and local goverment have been allocated.

 

So it's official. . . . . . . . Da  de de Da Da Da  DAH       

 

 

HORDEN IS GETTING A NEW RAILWAY STATION.

 

 

And it's a nice day here.

 

 

John

About blithering time! Will the Queen open it as it closed just after her last visit?

 

Baz

[Barry O]

Evening from Sydney. Air New Zealand ( in the shape of a hired A340) delivered us to Sydney on time. The motorway was u/s so our journey onwards to see St Enodoc lasted 1.75 hours.

 

New Zealand is a lovely place but has even less joined up thinking than we have in Britain.

 

 

Have a nice day

 

Baz

Still clinging on down under

[roundhouse]

Afternoon form a currently sunny London after a damp start, no bus so a walk in the rain. Then a wait at the station due to a signal fialure at Horley queitly covered up by annoucemtns station a person hit by a train which turned out to be between ECR and VIC. So a slow journey in on a Great White Worm giving my back some agro in those horrible seats. Standing wouldnt have been any better due the train was very busy as the following train had been cancelled with ours arriving at the tiem that one should have run.

 

Just one more day of commuting for a while.

Edited March 7, 2018 by roundhouse

[Gwiwer]

RIck - I guess working for a TOC in full customer exposure is a bit akin to being in the complaints department of British Telcom, a job which I did for about 20 years, and which was also very nerve wracking.

 

Possibly. I never worked for BT nor in a complaints department. Patience, resilience and the ability to think on one’s feet are qualities which will serve well. Priority is the safe despatch of trains but when surrounded by the baying hordes all with questions and all needing to be somewhere else ten minutes ago it certainly helps to have a working knowledge of the entire transport network and to treat it as one entity irrespective of colour or whether the tyres are made of rubber or steel.

[BoD]

It would have had more coverage if it had been situated in London and called The Ace Cafe.....

 

The  Hartside Café was always popular with Bikers and tourists alike. Not quite greasy spoon but not your Ritz either.

 

 

 

We always travel up Weardale  when heading to the Northern part of the Lake District and stop off at Hartside. It is a much more pleasant drive than the A66. The Hartside always provides the first view of the Lakeland Fells, as well as extensive views of the Solway Firth and Dumfries and Galloway (but only sometimes, the weather there can be interesting).

 

Alas no longer

 

http://www.itv.com/news/border/2018-03-07/hartside-cafe-destroyed-by-fire/

 

I do hope they rebuild it.

[Ian Abel]

HUMP day... ta da.

 

Yesterday uneventful. Jemma and friend departed on time last evening from JFK (a miracle in and of itself!!), and that's about all there is to report!

Here seen having scored some decent seats.

They've been friends since college and planning to go to the UK together for years.

Liz is an FO for JetBlue is now based in NY and recently got married, so they decided to make their long planned/anticipated vacation together to the UK happen.

 

Today left early enough to avoid the "fire in the sky to the east" and the attendant cockwombles amazed at the phenomenon.

 

Back to MN-style weather briefly here, -10 and partly sunny now, -2 the expected high.

 

Over the HUMP with you all, let's race for the weekend

Edited March 7, 2018 by Ian Abel