Early Risers.

[PeterBB]

Happy Birthday Debs and wishing you many more better years in the future. 

[Coombe Barton]

Forwarded the last lot and got this reply

 

In my entire life, I have never received so many kind spirited messages. ❤

 

I'm feeling really blessed.....and rather humbled, tbh.

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl, and a happy 21st birthday to Debs

 

Additional ibuprofen taken when I walked back to the house having left the shed keys behind.

 

Shed wall clad and first coat of paint applied,

One end allyway wall clad, just fiddly bits to do.

Other end not yet clad.

More black gue applied where I thought it was needed, SWMBO, complained of smell of it while standing 30 ft away.

 

Back to being misty, the great yellow orb did threaten to burn through , but no, the fog got thicker so I couldn't see the other side of the garden.

 

Next week I hope.

 

Unused pace between shelves and shed roof need insulation, other end wall needs cladding plus fiddle bits.

Workbench tops need building.

 

Slightly longer term,

Electrics need fitting,

Plumbing from under allyway floor( removable hatch), ( mobile home inlet on off) needs some work and a water tap T off, routed outside the alleyway, doing a GDB while using the electric bench tools is not in my plans.

 

A coffee is about to appear as SWMBO has appeared out of the mist with Ben the Border Collie.

He spent most of the morning strategically between us as she was titivating the plant pots around the mobile home.

 

Long soak in the bath due after coffee,

[bluebottle]

 But what the actual **** is a centimetre?

 

 

 

I believe that it is 100th part of a measure laid down in the land of La Grenouille, which is supposedly an accurate division of a specified length of Longitude. for a more accurate description, see https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/meter.html

 

I always think of it as the average distance a world-class sprinter would cover in a millisecond during a ten second 100 Metre race...

[Gwiwer]

 

 

what the actual **** is a centimetre?

 

I have just discovered for myself the answer to this question.

 

A centimetre is the distance by which an electric cord is too short, by which you missed the bus as the doors closed or by which the layout you are building will no fit in the space intended. 

 

A kilobother is 1000 bothers and is the unit of measurement applied to frustration when any of the foregoing apply.

 

Is it wine o'clock yet?

[andyram]

Afternoon all. Not sure what happened to the sun, it is now cold with spots of rain. It has not been a good day so far. I felt quite tired this morning when I walked over to get a newspaper and bread from the local supermarket. Upon my return, Sarah decided she “had” to visit the local Toys R Us store which closes in nine days. She admitted she had very little money, and neither did Amber, but we “had” to go. Predictably the store was busy with very little stock. What was there was heavily reduced, but nothing really worth buying. Amber, like any six year old, decided she “had” to buy something and got upset when she found nothing until her eyes fell on a Playmobil castle. This was reduced to £40 (twice what Amber had). So tears ensued when she could not have it and her melt down resulted in Sarah walking out the shop and demanding to go home. A frosty atmosphere has resulted - somehow it appears to be my fault.

 

I have started the antidepressants after lunch and now I feel exhausted. Don’t think I will need the sleeping tablets later.

 

Back to all things ER’s and it is great to hear some response from Debs. I hope she is feeling better on her birthday. I hope Andy.p is taking things easy today.

 

Best wishes

 

Andy

[The Stationmaster]

Afternoon all, 

 

Birthday greetings to her Debshipness - and many more of them, and to TonyS' MIL, and to GDB's Steve - and to anyone I've forgotten. And Andy P for the second time in a week please take it easy - two hospital visits in less than week means that you should not be tempting fate with a request for a third one so take it easy.

 

In a day of mixed progress - cash has been obtained from a hole in a wall; train reservations have been obtained from a very nice young lady called Eveta (really!) at Reading station; the Good Doctor's car has been recharged with a good deal more fuel than I have used in it over the past couple of days. (it made two trips over Thamesis again today but both by the same bridge this time);  a magazine with the initials RM has been purchased to provide in train etc reading material in the coming days; strong winds in the northern North Sea are thus far promised to abate by Wednesday; the ship is anchored off Coquet Island not far from the mouth of the River Coquet so is suitably 'in area' and I hope it moves south a bit as booked because Amble looks to be a rather awkward place to get to;  and finally Mrs Stationmaster has been unable to locate her passport and the fact that she can't now seems to be entirely my fault (of course) - fortunately it is not an essential for visitors to Northumberland.

 

In the meanwhile laddo has been in Firenza for about three hours and is getting to grips with the significant local cultural attractions -

 

 

https://www.thejoshuatreepub.it

 

Enjoy the rest of the day everybody and hoping it goes well for those with 'family occasions'.

 

 

[Barry O]

Walk completed (boy was it muddy!)

BLT eaten for lunch (to top up the smoked salmon and scramble eggs eaten for breakfast).

 

What's next, shower and then champagne...tis a hard life for four guys and partners who met in 1975 at Leeds University!

 

Baz

[NGT6 1315]

Walk completed (boy was it muddy!)

BLT eaten for lunch (to top up the smoked salmon and scramble eggs eaten for breakfast).

What's next, shower and then champagne...tis a hard life for four guys and partners who met in 1975 at Leeds University!

Baz

I first read that as a shower of champagne and thought, my, how posh...

[JohnDMJ]

I first read that as a shower of champagne and thought, my, how posh...

 

And with three other guys!

[bluebottle]

I first read that as a shower of champagne and thought, my, how posh...

I'm not a lover of sparkling wines, but I shudder at the thought of winners of awards for "Best layout/locomotive/wagon,etc" squirting the stuff around in the manner of motor sportsmen.

[Ian Abel]

Happy birthday to Debs.

 

AndyP take care and "be careful"!

 

It's Sunday, and the weekend storm was/is as predicted.

Been snowing here since Friday afternoon, and was blizzard conditions most of yesterday, around the metro area recorded snow depths from 10 -16 inches.

To show how bad it is, the airport here was CLOSED    for eight hours yesterday as they couldn't keep up with the snow and blizzard conditions - only second time its actually been closed since I moved here in 1980!!

We've got about 14 inches outside our door, expecting another 2-4 today before it lets up, and also MORE on Wednesday. We AVERAGE 2.4 inches in April...

Now probably going to break the all-time April snow record which stands at 21.8 inches. So far we've had 20.4 inches this month.

Also expected to break the record for the largest snowstorm in April, which stand currently at 13.6 (1983), likely to surpass that today.

 

Our city streets have been plowed out three times already, so if we actually were daft enough to want to go out, we probably could.

Many places are closed though, most theatre and sporting events cancelled last night and today.Good news is we have plenty of food/drink so no need to go out for anything

Additionally, having a "man" to do the plowing/shoveling we can sit and watch the rest of the neighbors do that whilst we already have cleared driveway and paths.

Blizzard conditions around 4PM yesterday...

 

Outside the front door this morning - at least having been shoveled out, the newspaper WAS delivered

 

Now starting to snow hard again as I write this...

 

Have a good Sunday "awl".

Edited April 15, 2018 by Ian Abel

[NGT6 1315]

I'm off on the usual alcohack. When I get back, there'll be more fluid going into that gearbox.....

Perhaps alcohol would make for some excellent AT fluid? I could only speculate whether this would be the case if used as inverter coolant on the Prius... In any case, I’m happy to report that the car made it through winter just fine and is now on new summer tyres, which I had been able to obtain in a good deal by the end of March. As we’re planning to visit my aunt in Bavaria in May, I guess we’re good to go now.

 

AndyP, that certainly sounds like a rotten way of spending an evening... Hope you’re all right now

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Living not far from the local A&E hospital I often hear the local air ambulance flying in to the hospital. They were very busy about five yesterday afternoon. The reason was this, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-43775826 it actually made the national news today. I thought the grass area where the helicopters 'parked' looked familiar, it is where the larger vehicles are parked for the Canvey Island Bus Museum rally in October. One of our MRC members is a retired teacher who spent his entire career teaching on Canvey and he probably knows some of the victims.

[BSW01]

Evening everyone

 

I managed to get the front garden done before dinner, but we did have a late dinner. It tried to rain whilst I was out there a few times, but thankfully it held off. After dinner I went outside once again, but this I did a bit of work in the back garden. Potting up a couple of plants and I did a bit more weeding. I also built the obelisk that we purchased last year at the Tatton flower show. It was too late to use it when we bought it, but I’ve put it up early, ready for when the sweet peas go in. I saw the robins quite a lot today, dashing to and fro from the nest whilst I was pottering in the back garden. The shrubs where they have decided to build there nest does need pruning, but they will have to wait until their brood has fledged now. Although I suppose I could do a bit of dead heading without getting too close to where they’ve nested.

 

This afternoon I had every intention of polishing the brassware on the front door, but once again it tried to rain whilst I was working in the back garden. But within 30 minutes of finishing for the day it started to rain, so I’m glad I didn’t bother.

 

Once I came in and changed into some clean clothes, a nice muggertea was the next thing on the agenda. This was swiftly followed by a spot of eyelid inspection, I can happily reveal that they passed their inspection.

 

Ooooo goody, it’s wine o’clock.

[newbryford]

I have just discovered for myself the answer to this question.

 

A centimetre is the distance by which an electric cord is too short, by which you missed the bus as the doors closed or by which the layout you are building will no fit in the space intended. 

 

A kilobother is 1000 bothers and is the unit of measurement applied to frustration when any of the foregoing apply.

 

Is it wine o'clock yet?

 

A 1000 bothers at the same time is an "Oh F***!"

 

Happy Birthday Debs, look after yourself Andy P and Andyram.

 

First the good news.

 

Junior NB's team won the relay event at the triathlon. She completed her 400m in about 6.15 and then had to run about 200m to get to the transition area to hand over the baton (a timing chip around the ankle).

This is Garth, Sarah and Peter at the end. A good run by Peter to catch the leader was the key.

 

Sunday is usually a catch-up day at work and that was the way it went apart from starting off with the almost 30 minute phone call from a guy who couldn't bring himself to RTFM. (read the ....... manual)

 

Then a quick win on ebay with a US wagon for £10.50 with free postage and a trip to MRS/Junior NB's work with a rather nice piece of fillet.

 

And then the bad news

A bit of a downer as my brother rang me with news of elderly (90) Aunt's passing. I was thinking earlier this week just gone about it being time for a visit. There will be a trip to Scarborough soon.

 

Vodka o'clock and a toast will be made to Auntie June RIP.

 

Mick

[Simon G]

Evening all,

I managed to get the grass cut this morning, just before the rain came. The afternoon was mostly spent adding extra insulation to partition walls, using spare insulation from,our recent roof replacement. This evening we watched Countryfile, which turned out to be about West Cumbria, and even briefly had our house on, albeit from an aerial shot of St Bees, so had half the village as well!

[New Haven Neil]

Evening all,

I managed to get the grass cut this morning, just before the rain came. The afternoon was mostly spent adding extra insulation to partition walls, using spare insulation from,our recent roof replacement. This evening we watched Countryfile, which turned out to be about West Cumbria, and even briefly had our house on, albeit from an aerial shot of St Bees, so had half the village as well!

 

I saw that and wondered if you were 'on'!!  A distant Fraggle Rock featured too.

[lightengine]

Re GDB's name correction to Andyram, I have never cared what people call me namewise. One of the other Dads from my sons youth football team spent 10 or so years calling me Steve. It wasnt until the last match I told him.

[Gwiwer]

Sorry to hear of family losses in various areas.  And sorry to read of Andy's trip in the yellow box.  Best wishes to all concerned.

 

The neighbours are back for their final term.  Next door has been coming and going all day as they re-stock the pantry and probably the alcohol supply.  Upstairs has not been going but judging by the sound effects there has certainly been some ..... errrrrrr ....................

 

Matters unmentionable have proceeded with a good deal of hufflepuffing.  There was some kilobothering until I finally persuaded the offending board to slytherin to its intended spot.  If ever I do that again please remind me to not only measure the space but also the swing available in order to turn large fixed objects in a well-filled room where even the cat cannot be swung.  

 

In two weeks' time I shall collect dad's music collection and, apparently, some more "treasures" which have to be housed here.  The music is around 650 CDs of very eclectic taste ranging from "early" to "classical" and with some emphasis on Wagner, Mahler and choral works, various.  As it is a significant collection and is fully catalogued I intend to keep it as such for now rather than simply bin the lot or attempt the futile and sell the discs singly for perhaps a few pence each.  I'll give them a listen at least.  I shall probably discover stuff that I like.

 

The House of Fun beckons early tomorrow.  In a break from recent tradition the anorak shall be exchanged for the jacket and I have pressed a couple of short-sleeve shirts for the forecast warm days later in the week when as many as 25 degrees of Celsius are promised beneath a large round shiny thing.

 

Sleep well.  I intend to try.

[Barry O]

Sleep well/have a nice afternoon/good morning whereveryouareintheworld

Baz

[Tony_S]

We had an uneventful journey to Enfield. We collected MiL and went round to Aditi's sister's house. I think our being there helped MiL.

We didn't do some of the traditional birthday things like singing but there was a cake that was enjoyed by all.

We stayed a bit later than we thought we would. Quiet drive home too.

 

Dom's mention of summer tyres reminded me. The tyres on tne Fiesta need swapping but I am going to get two of the summer tyres looked at first as I think they may need replacing.

 

Tony

[BSW01]

Evening again

 

Well that’s another weekend gone, where did that go? A pleasant and relaxed evening was spent watching the idiots lantern, as we caught up with some recorded stuff.

 

It’s now time for bed.

 

Mick. Well done to junior NB, but sorry to read about your aunt.

 

Goodnight all.

[Coombe Barton]

Contemplating changing the car and caravan - car - decent sized estate or 4x4 - caravan - one with a fixed bed.

 

Modelling token fund has provided a pile of unfinished kits collected over the past few years, so all seems go.

 

Just deciding which of each

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all