Early Risers.

[Barry O]

Morningfrom a sunny but windy North West Leeds Highlands.

 

Obviously Sofia Gardens catering need to visit Headingley. The bars have machines which fill 6 pints ar once..still have queues but staff work hard to keep the beer and lager flowing. I will see how Old Trafford handle drinking and catering on Sunday when I watch the ODI there.

 

Supposed to visit town today in search of some new clothes for a wedding this Saturday but the Armley gyratory is closedso Leeds will grind to a halt.

 

Haveas good a day as you can, sleep well those inother time zones.

 

Baz

[chrisf]

Oh is Miriam Backhouse performing again - as I said before I also used to know her, though nowhere near as you, from my days at Croydon flok club.

 

Yes.  She is on tour over here once again.  Tour dates may be found on Facebook.  I did draw the attention of Sidmouth FolkWeek to the gap in her diary which coincides with part of the festival but clearly to no avail.

 

Chris

[jamie92208]

Just a quick return visit to say that Father's day was unique for me.   I actually got messages from all 3 kids. Rachel had given me the new John Le Carre book which I am looking forward to reading.   However I have been informed that it is better to re read "The Spy who came in from the cold" before reading the new book as it's a sort of sequel.

 

It would be nice to hear some news from Debs.   Also warn thoughts to those for whom yesterday was especially poignant, Tony, Robert and Chrisf come to mind.

 

And may the Black dogs all get sick.

 

Jamie

[45156]

Morning All

 

Back after a few days' absence, and the good news is that Chris Evans has lost his voice, so I don't need to shut Radio 2 off like I sometimes do.  Vassos Alexander, who is normally a sports presenter is making a good fist of things meantime, until another presenter is drafted in. 

 

Generic greetings are all that I can offer, but I will comment on a few posts.  Andy - pleased that the black dog has not been out ot its kennel over the weekend.  Jamie - pleased that the crossing to France was OK, and that the shed is being cleared out, albeit not quite according to plan.  Geoff - hope the dentist bill is not too painful.  There's many other posts which I have missed/overlooked, so please forgive my not mentioning them.

 

Not a great deal to report, but I may well be AWOL until next Monday (might get here tomorrow), as we are having a few hectic days away.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Here,

A good night sleep of almost 6.5 hours...

 

Ken Bruce has taken over early from Vassos...

 

There is a film called Human Cargo, it's a true story of a westerner who had to smuggle himself out of Saudi Arabia in a container, His employer stopped paying him, You can't get an exit visa unless you sign you have recieved all your entitlements as per contract. The employer wasn't going to do that, so he was trapped in Saudi unpaid with no money...

 

A few notes on the my Boat,

It's called القمر الأزرق Alqamar alazrk which translates as Blue Moon. I chose a name the Saudis would accept. A friend tried to have his dinghies in Saudi named after his children, the paperwork came back named rabbit one, rabbit two , rabbit 3....

What the Saudis didn't know was, Baron Blue Moon was the Pedigree name of a Blue Merle Rough Collie devoted to SWMBO (centre dog in the Avatar)

 

 It's only 4ft wide, mostly constructed of 4 inch wide ply planks sown together over and onto a strong back formed by the two sides of the cockpit going forward under the foredeck and aft under the stern deck onto which were plugged 5 ring frames.Once bonded together, it was  fibre glassed inside and out, faired for a smooth hull.

 

You sit in it fore and aft, steering with your feet, pulling the ropes with your hands. ( A lucky choice of design, with what happend to my back)

Designed to be very easily propelled through the water, in light winds, which is often what we have on the broads.

 

When the two halves are reassembled, it will have a fixed steel Keel bolted across the join.

Originally in Saudi we had a very long shallow slipway, a fixed keel was impractiable.

 

I orginally designed a gaff rig for it (cheaper to make and transport), However I have recently been given a 23ft Aluminum Mast by the owner of Yeoman 103, which is much lighter and will give much better performance, So I've had to redesign the position of the Keel  / Sail rig centres of effort, Luckily it does still work out OK..

Once the ballasting has been checked with me in her on the water. I'll make a Fibreglass fairing for the keel rather than the  steel plate with lead ballast blocks at the moment.

 

For Horning, I will have made up a H frame to hold  straps either side of the fixed keel for it to be lifted out by the Yeoman class Crane, She'll be 2/3 the weight of a Yeoman according to my calculations. That's just under half a ton (including me)...

 

The Waterline length which is what controls the speed through the water and the hull waterline length is almost 100% of the hull length, (1.34 times the square root of the waterline length in feet (HS = 1.34 x √LWL).) that give me a top speed of about 5.3 knots (6.1mph) Not too far off that of a 20ft Yeoman as that has a overhanging bow..

 

 

Time for another measurement ...(of electronics)

Edited June 18, 2018 by TheQ

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone

 

It’s a bit duller today than of late, but that won’t bother me too much, as I plan a morning in the garden followed by an afternoon in the workshop.

 

Back later.

[Purley Oaks]

Morning all

 

Good to hear that your move to France has gone so well, Jamie. We've been putting coins in sparkling wine corks for years - mainly cava, of course...

 

Geoff, sorry to hear about your bridge. Someone in our family has one; luckily we have a dental repair shop nearby which charges £40 per repair. It has needed replacing once or twice and usually costs £200 or so, but other, more expensive, ones are available.

 

Thanks for the photos, Andy. Glad your drive cross-country went so well.

 

The table tennis champ from yesterday is our youngest, Finlay, erstwhile medical student. Had the Germany-Mexico match on in the pub and surprised how poorly the champions were playing. Gabe can't look at the German manager since the incident last time when he rubbed his ar*e then smelt his hand - in full view of the tv cameras. What on earth was he thinking? That he was in kindergarten (German word used purposely)?

 

Anyway, this morning have to deal with credit card company - have had fraudulent debits from Spotify, Netflix and iTunes. Again. Same thing happened last month and they changed my account card and number. Turns out the credit card company also told Netflix and Spotify of the number change because both were down as subscriptions. Bananas!

 

Hope your day goes well

 

Mal

[Robert]

Rollocks!  I've been waiting for this for years.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/london-frankfurt-cologne-train-deutsche-bahn-db-eurostar-cancelled-shelved-a8394806.html

[Smiffy2]

Morning all, from a rather damp and cool (for June) Normandy.

The black dog is still in his kennel, but my hands are refusing to come out to play - arthritis, and I've given them a bashing, in all senses, this last week. So light duties today, except for trying out the angle grinder.

 

Jamie - the joy of the dechetterie! We did a big run earlier, and it was the usual. People parking in such a way as to block everyone else, and incomprehensible instructions from the extremely fat (and less than welcoming) attendant...

 

Yesterday I made the decision to change the gas bottle in the cooker. For those that don't have experience of such things the connection on the gas bottle (the detendeur) can be either the traditional type, with left hand threads and such, or a more modern push-on. We have gone from the traditional to the modern with everything except the cooker, so time to change. When I did it I discovered that the tube was due to be changed. Before 2010... So a new tube and detendeur, and much cleaning behind and under where the cooker had been...  Then we finished off our tea & coffee worktop with a Paris street sign.

 

 

 

 

 

We're off back to England on Thursday, so I need to email the gardener (to get him to do jobs he agreed to do months ago and which are annoying our neighbour), go and see said neighbour with a bottle of pink fizz, do the 'take home' shop and clean.

 

Best wishes to all, especially those being growled at, and of course Debs. Would love to hear from you!

[The Stationmaster]

Rollocks!  I've been waiting for this for years.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/london-frankfurt-cologne-train-deutsche-bahn-db-eurostar-cancelled-shelved-a8394806.html

 

Merely confirming their previous decision I think so regrettably not exactly a surprise.  It doesn't help too that 'The Independent' has got some important detail wrong about passport checks because although Schengen would avoid that there would still be the security check requirement, which takes longer than glancing at a passport and requires specialist equipment (as is currently being installed in Amsterdam in the new Eurostar terminal so it has been reported).

 

So now, properly -

 

Good Morning All and little to report although has again rained (as expected according to the information given by my knee last night) and today will see occasional sunshine it is said plus cloud the rest of the time.  No exciting events are planned, thus far.

 

Havea good day one and all and I too am hoping we'll hear more from Debs soon plus, of course positive thoughts to all others who are ailing and recovering.

Edited June 18, 2018 by The Stationmaster

[Robert]

You are right Mike - Unfortunately, it isn't a surprise.  Doesn't make it any better though!

 

There is a certain amount of "smoke and mirrors" though.  I can board a train in Frankfurt, and get off the train in Paris and there are no checks of any kind.  To be able to get on a train in Frankfurt and get off the train in Ashford (or London) would be fantastic.

[Tony_S]

I have for some time been considering trading in my car. The present one was chosen for its ability to house a pre existing dog box and having very comfy seats.

So far, two cars I was interested in disappeared from a website as being sold. They weren't but in the meantime I had put a deposit on a car that ticked all my criteria. Turned out it had been sold 3 weeks ago. Deciding that dealer had a duff IT system. I tracked down a few likely candidates from a very large dealership in Brentwood. They had some pre registered and unregistered last year's models at used car prices. "Drive Away Today" bargains. Except when you ask for details they can't find the car! They did send me a video showing what the car looks like, but not the one I was interested in. So I decided I would give up and return to Land Rover. Very efficient, arranged a test drive. However someone subsequently pranged it and it is in the body shop for a front bumper replacement. I have asked them to let me know when it returns and asked for an early test drive. Whatever I get will need a few items for the trip that Aditi has arranged at the end of August. Environment sticker for Germany (State of Berlin seems cheapest source), Digital autobahn pass for Austria. We haven't been to the eastern end of Austria before. Aditi seems keen for one day trip to Trieste so that would involve traveling across Slovenia. I need to check their motorway rules. We will only be in France long enough to get to Belgium.

Tony

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit late on parade this morning, the only excuse is that I slept rather well last night, not waking up until half past eight. So whether or not the fox cubs were active I cannot say. My new driving licence arrived this morning, not bad it only took one week to be processed. Muggatee awaits, be back later.

[Purley Oaks]

Rollocks!  I've been waiting for this for years.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/london-frankfurt-cologne-train-deutsche-bahn-db-eurostar-cancelled-shelved-a8394806.html

Yes, I'd been looking forward to boarding at St Pancras and arriving at Köln without the need to change trains. And (St) Rollox is a perfectly acceptable Glaswegian name for a locomotive works.

Mal

Edited June 18, 2018 by Purley Oaks

[grandadbob]

Dental MOT went OK earlier, no faults found or advisories received so all that was needed was a wash & polish.

 

Now waiting for "Oven Repair Man" who is due sometime between 12.00 and 18.00 but will phone 30 minutes before arrival. Hopefully.

[andyram]

Morning fellow ER's and the usual round of generic good wishes etc. Pleased to hear that Jamie and Beth seem to be settling into life in France and continue to wish them well. Like others, I hope to hear news from Debs soon - the silence is deafening from that area!

 

 This morning was an early start due to the need to wrestle with our beloved NHS. The sick note is due to expire tomorrow and, of course, I could not pre-book an appointment to see the doctor to review things. This left a clear choice - either try to phone up from 8am or queue up outside the surgery to get an appointment from the desk. Knowing how difficult the phone lines can be I opted for the latter option. The appointment was gained for 10am and the outcome was a 4 week extension to the sick note. The doctor is happy with how I am managing the tablets but feels that, without the occupational health appointment, it would be wrong to return to work at this stage.

 

Have a good day all.

 

Best wishes

 

Andy

[The Stationmaster]

You are right Mike - Unfortunately, it isn't a surprise.  Doesn't make it any better though!

 

There is a certain amount of "smoke and mirrors" though.  I can board a train in Frankfurt, and get off the train in Paris and there are no checks of any kind.  To be able to get on a train in Frankfurt and get off the train in Ashford (or London) would be fantastic.

 

The important difference is the Channel Tunnel security checks and they can't be avoided for anyone passing through the Tunnel on an international train, irrespective of where it has come from.   that is also the potential stumbling block to carrying passengers for intermediate sections of route on a train which will subsequently pass through the tunnel and that would also have an impact on DB service through from Frankfurt to London although it isn't a problem in the opposite direction after the train has passed through the Tunnel.

 

it all comes a bit hard after travelling round Europe by train where most national boundaries mean nothing at all nowadays, and haven't had any impact for a good many years.

[Gwiwer]

Dafternoon all

 

Soggy start soon cleared to a bright comfortable morning. It brightened up a lot more once the 06.53 to Ore departed conveying DiL to Gatwick.

 

Tragically the bright mood didn’t last. I signed on and was greeted with the news that one of our longer-serving colleagues had collapsed and died whilst on duty yesterday. The entire team was in shock, most were in tears. You know it’s deeply affecting when your duty station manager makes the time to speak with everyone, offer them the support resources we have available and extended meal breaks if they wished.

 

The poor chap was 53 and we understand he suffered a heart attack.

 

The mood is a little sombre around the House. Not much Fun today.

[Purley Oaks]

Tragically the bright mood didn’t last. I signed on and was greeted with the news that one of our longer-serving colleagues had collapsed and died whilst on duty yesterday. The entire team was in shock, most were in tears. You know it’s deeply affecting when your duty station manager makes the time to speak with everyone, offer them the support resources we have available and extended meal breaks if they wished.

 

The poor chap was 53 and we understand he suffered a heart attack.

 

The mood is a little sombre around the House. Not much Fun today.

Very sorry to hear this, Rick. I recall the absolute shock the team felt at my workplace when a colleague - just 39 - collapsed and died whilst playing a round of golf one weekend. Really affects the whole team.

 

I was sorry, also, to read of the problems you've been having with a nephew and trust that things will resolve satisfactorily sometime soon.

 

Mal

[Purley Oaks]

The important difference is the Channel Tunnel security checks and they can't be avoided for anyone passing through the Tunnel on an international train, irrespective of where it has come from.   that is also the potential stumbling block to carrying passengers for intermediate sections of route on a train which will subsequently pass through the tunnel and that would also have an impact on DB service through from Frankfurt to London although it isn't a problem in the opposite direction after the train has passed through the Tunnel.

 

it all comes a bit hard after travelling round Europe by train where most national boundaries mean nothing at all nowadays, and haven't had any impact for a good many years.

And travelling from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland. No tunnel, of course, but still an EU border nonetheless, although neither country is in Schengen.

 

Until March 2019, anyway...

Edited June 18, 2018 by Purley Oaks

[Smiffy2]

l'Armee de l'Air has just been over - almost supersonic, at zero metres, then curvetting in formation. Two Mirage 2000s. Exciting!

[TheQ]

There are many reports of low flying aircraft for the weekend, well it was the GT yarmouth air show,

The computer has just come up saying it has programmes to update.. good timing, I've just set it off, now back to my desk and do the time sheet and head home..

[Smiffy2]

There are many reports of low flying aircraft for the weekend, well it was the GT yarmouth air show,

The computer has just come up saying it has programmes to update.. good timing, I've just set it off, now back to my desk and do the time sheet and head home..

 

I'm in Normandy, and this is a regular thing.

[NGT6 1315]

A‘noon all. First up, Rick, you certainly have my sympathies both about the issue with your nephew and the tragic news re your work mate. Hard to find anything helpful to say at moments like these, certainly...

 

Two trams grazed each other on Line 4 this morning, specifically, one Großzug which derailed on a left-hand point for reasons yet undetermined and scraped the left side of 1003. Two pax were lightly injured and one driver treated for shock. Photo strip here: http://www.lvz.de/Leipzig/Fotostrecken-Leipzig/Strassenbahn-entgleist#n28990063

[jamie92208]

l'Armee de l'Air has just been over - almost supersonic, at zero metres, then curvetting in formation. Two Mirage 2000s. Exciting!

 

One of the main initial flying schools is near Cognac so we get the single engine prop planes stooging around sounding like crop dusters then occasionally get the faster ones but due to wind turbines they don't come too low.

 

Jamie