RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted November 22, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 22, 2018 Evening all from Estuary-Land. Just returned home from the SEERS meeting. It was 'track night' tonight where the test track(s) are set up for members to run their models. Those who attended the Southend show last weekend would have seen it in action. Not a lot else to report, be back later. 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDMJ Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Mooring Awl Inner Temple Here, Depression is sweeping the factory... yes it's time to fill in our annual assessments, it's that stupid system where you fill in your feelings on what your assessment should be, the manager fills in his bit of what he thinks the assessments should be, then you get together and you agree to fill the in with his assessments.. It's aided and abetted by it all being on computer written in American HR language which no one understands.. A total waste of time especially when I have only about 4 years to go. Time to ... go do lots of manual tests.. We tried that a couple of times; none of the managers could really be bothered so it seems to have fallen by the rightful wayside! Meanwhile, la vie continue malgré tous! 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted November 22, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 22, 2018 Clothes are not generally tax deductible, unless required for safety reasons or as a uniform. for something to be deductible it needs to be wholly, and exclusively for business purposes. Clothes don't normally qualify because you need to protect the general public from your naked self and not just your pupils and so can be used other than for business purposes. A case on just this got as far as the House of Lords where the taxpayer lost (Mallalieu v Drummond). HMRC guidance still confirms this is the case. So Mick got away with one! Indeed so. Said Ms Mallalieu and the consequences of her - in my view - slightly silly case did an awful lot of harm in respect of the taxation of Benefits In Kind for a large number of otherwise innocent taxpayers. Fortunately in my own case my MP, that very helpful Mr Hesseltine, wielded the cudgel on my behalf with the Inland Revenue in respect of the use of the firm's motor vehicle and saved me a few quid in tax as a result. However the consequences of her case were one thing, albeit among several far more important ones, that persuaded me to go to a passenger operator at the time of sectorisation in the hope (duly realised, but elsewhere) of remaining with a passenger operator following privatisation. 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted November 23, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 23, 2018 Goodnight all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium BSW01 Posted November 23, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 23, 2018 Good evening everyone It’s been cold all day, as I said earlier on, I’m glad I don’t have to work outside in that sort of weather anymore. Not a great deal has actually been done today, but I did manage quite a bit of research. I didn’t realise I had so many books with so much in them! Hehe! This afternoon Vickie and Ian called round with Ava and Evie, Max and Charlie were at home. The reason for the visit is that it’s Ava’s birthday tomorrow and unfortunately we wouldn’t be able to see her as they are all going out straight from school for a meal, so they called round tonight instead. She was very excited and pleased with her presents, so much so that she went upstairs and changed into some of the clothes that we’d bought her. Ava also managed to get a slice of cheesecake, which I’d saved for her last night, I don’t think it touched the side! Goodnight all 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted November 23, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 23, 2018 G'night all Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium BR60103 Posted November 23, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 23, 2018 Jamie We have some interesting screws for picture hanging. They have a very coarse thread to go directly into plasterboard walls and a double head to catch the string on the back of the picture. I also have a device that you can hold with the picture hung from it and when you have the position right you push on it, often without removing the picture, and there is a dent pinprick in the wall. We may have set a record for cold last night. I saw some dripping from the side of an eavestrough today and when we went out tonight there was a large patch of ice on the driveway and walk. Dealt with with salt and kitty litter. Salt had caked a bit since last year. 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisf Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Good morning one and all It was remiss of me yesterday not to welcome the post by Andyram and rejoice at its contents. May the four legged fiend – yes, I have spelled it correctly – continue to present him no problems. A relatively quiet day was had yesterday. There was laundry, so today there will be ironing. I wrote the account of Wednesday’s Area Group meeting and found a mistake in the next HMRS Journal, fortunately before it closed for press. My piece in the last one has generated a couple of letters! I wore a new pair of socks and found that the patch of colour near the heel is pretty much concealed by my shoes, which wasn’t quite the idea. In the afternoon I affixed postage stamps to most of my C*****mas cards, praising as I did so the person who invented the self-adhesive stamp. They will be entrusted to Royal Mail soon enough. Today being Friday, I refuse to eat fish precisely because to do so is considered customary. Rebellious? Moi? My attitude to fashion, which I suppose it could be, is either to lead or ignore. I shall venture out on the fodder run to stock up with sandwich-making materials for Sunday’s trip to the endurance test that is Warley. Yesterday’s NHS report about the mental health of young people was alarming but a big plus is that it will keep this important issue in the public eye a bit longer. This is exactly where it needs to be. As always, warm thoughts to all in distress and those who are missing. Chris 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyID Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Depression is sweeping the factory... yes it's time to fill in our annual assessments, it's that stupid system where you fill in your feelings on what your assessment should be, the manager fills in his bit of what he thinks the assessments should be, then you get together and you agree to fill the in with his assessments.. It's aided and abetted by it all being on computer written in American HR language which no one understands.. A total waste of time especially when I have only about 4 years to go. A yes, the dreaded performance reviews. I was one of the poor schmucks who had to write the bl00dy things. And you could never win. You were trapped in a triangular vise between the employee, the HR clown-car, and the budget. Some places insisted the ratings had to fit a bell curve and anyone who was at the wrong end of it was an immediate target for elimination, even if they were doing a really good job. The other classic problem was when there was someone who was not performing and really needed to be fired. So you went to HR to make your case, only to discover that all the prior managers had completely wimped-out and given the individual excellent ratings making it practically impossible to fire the person. I'm so glad those days are behind me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyID Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 A minor catastrascope! Due to the imminent arrival of three grandchildren, track printing was going full steam ahead. That was until my 3D printer packed in today. Looks like the microcontroller chip has expired. The good news is I can get a replacement card quite quickly and they only cost about $15. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post grandadbob Posted November 23, 2018 RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted November 23, 2018 Good morning all, There was a slight frost last night when I went to bed but no sign of it now. A cloudy day is forecast. Up at 5.45 as I couldn't sleep, possibly because I had an early (for me) night. Some running in of my new larger locos took place last night. As I haven't got a circle of track I bought a rolling road a couple of weeks ago and it's doing the trick nicely. (and it's cheaper and doesn't take up any room) Some parcels arrived yesterday. I wasn't allowed to get near one of them but from a distance it looked as though it might have come from Widnes. Two others did arrive for me from there containing a few assorted pieces of parallel metal with plastic bits attached. I still haven't finalised a track plan so will need more but now have an idea ("borrowed" from a website) about what I'm going to do although I might have to amend it because of the baseboard joint(s). Still need to build this as well. The bits of metal will be played around with on the floor on some 4'x2' sheets of hardboard to give me a better idea. I can't get on with Anyrail or Peco paper templates. More parcels to come today hopefully including one containing C#######s presents for The Boss. Just for once she has given me an idea of what she would like. Talking of Herself I better go and make her a cup of tea. Have a good one, Bob. 23 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium TheQ Posted November 23, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 23, 2018 Mooring Awl, Inner temple Here, A good night sleep of 5.5 hours plus another one on the sofa... I reckon the company boss who owns Andyram's shop , should declare everyone should wear a company uniform , so all his shirts can be emblazoned with the company name... Three cockwombles this morning, 1 The usual one causing the huge tailback in traffic, 2, The impatient one who overtook about ten cars in that queue, while passing through a road junction. (he still didn't get to the front and was in the queue at the NDR). 3. At a later junction, the driver of a Parcel farce lorry who went through red, across the front of me who had the green lights.. I got the urgent unit shipped yesterday afternoon, though it nearly didn't go, as we have a new printer which decided it was not going to print the correct size certificate from my lab computer. I have another similar unit to do this morning, although that came in with a fault report, so far the fault hasn't shown it'self. So I'll complete the pre repair calibration and pass it back to the repair section to se if they can find the fault. Either way It'll come back to me next week for a post repair or NFF final cal before shipping. We have the first of two candidates for the job of Deputy Cal Lab manager visiting today, I've obviously not been told a lot, as I'm not involved with the selection. But the little I do know he sounds hopeful, as he does a similar job elsewhere. I wonder if he knows how little this company pays? Tonight go and collect the Landrover, Since there were no phone calls yesterday afternnon I don't think anything else major was found, I hope I can collect it... I've left my muddling tool box in the back and Friday night is muddling night.. Time to ... wander down to the lab and try to find a fault... 19 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted November 23, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 23, 2018 (edited) Good morning. Went to bed as normal but woke up at 11.45 ish and couldnt get back to sleep till after 1 am but at least I did so should be fine for this morning drive to NEC. Layout loaded and just a couple of bags to load plus our other crews stuff when they arrive. I need to keep my credit cards in my wallet this weekend but I doubt that will happen as I do fancy a Cabbage if I can find one of Rapidos new models at the show preferably with sound in Amtrak phase V colors (spelt US style as we are talking US trains) to go with my P42 Veterans loco. I will require caoches but have two old Amfleet phase III coaches that I may well repaint. Edited November 23, 2018 by roundhouse 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted November 23, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 23, 2018 (edited) Good morning. Happy Black Five day. Picture from Facebook - Peter Simpson . Edited November 23, 2018 by Colin_McLeod 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted November 23, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 23, 2018 Morning all from over here. Lots of clouds visible as I type so we may get some rain later according to the seaweed twirlers. We went for the MRI scan yesterday and Beth was given the report and results as we left. The good thing is that there are no tears in the shoulder tissue, however it now means that she goes back to the doctor to try and find out why she is having problems there. Today I will probably spend the morning finishing off the removal of the self seeded cherry trees and tidying up. At some point I need to wander down to the mayor's daughter's house and pick up some beef. They used to have a prize winning beef herd but are now arable farmers. However they still have contacts in the beef world and have a cow slaughtered every couple of months. That seems to provide meat for many in the village. David thanks for the advice. Unfortunately all our walls are brick so any fixings need to be drilled and plugged. Good luck with Warley preparations to all that are going. Regards to all. Jamie 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDMJ Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Mooring Awl, Inner temple Here, Time to ... wander down to the lab and try to find a fault... It'll be in the second drawer on the left! Good morning. Went to bed as normal but woke up at 11.45 ish and couldnt get back to sleep till after 1 am but at least I did so should be fine for this morning drive to NEC. Layout loaded and just a couple of bags to load plus our other crews stuff when they arrive. I need to keep my credit cards in my wallet this weekend but I doubt that will happen as I do fancy a Cabbage if I can find one of Rapidos new models at the show preferably with sound in Amtrak phase V colors (spelt US style as we are talking US trains) to go with my P42 Veterans loco. I will require caoches but have two old Amfleet phase III coaches that I may well repaint. See you tomorrow, if not before. I'm not allowed to talk to myself today as I'm sending me to Coventry later to be at the NEC at a reasonable hour (just before opening time) tomorrow. 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Greetings from the boring borough. TFIF I see Ian (RH) received the same Model Junction newsletter as I did. A veritable crop of cabbages in stock. I have my eye on one of the GEVO ES44AC locos instead. Then again PWRS sent me some train porn with their black friday sales, as did the TfL Museum shop. They are flogging the 4 car Bachmann S stock for £271.99 That's £68 off. Soooo tempting. Must dash, course time again. For those off to Warley, have a great weekend. Enjoy the day. 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted November 23, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 23, 2018 It'll be in the second drawer on the left! See you tomorrow, if not before. I'm not allowed to talk to myself today as I'm sending me to Coventry later to be at the NEC at a reasonable hour (just before opening time) tomorrow. We are at the Sutton Coldfield Premier Inn - this afternoon / evening in Tamworth as bus from near hotel. 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purley Oaks Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Morning all Indeed so. Said Ms Mallalieu and the consequences of her - in my view - slightly silly case did an awful lot of harm in respect of the taxation of Benefits In Kind for a large number of otherwise innocent taxpayers. Fortunately in my own case my MP, that very helpful Mr Hesseltine, wielded the cudgel on my behalf with the Inland Revenue in respect of the use of the firm's motor vehicle and saved me a few quid in tax as a result. However the consequences of her case were one thing, albeit among several far more important ones, that persuaded me to go to a passenger operator at the time of sectorisation in the hope (duly realised, but elsewhere) of remaining with a passenger operator following privatisation. Gabe is allowed to claim for work clothes and ironing expenses (outsourced btw). When I worked at John Lewis the uniform was supplied free but we received a tax rebate of £50 or so pa for laundry expenses. They are flogging the 4 car Bachmann S stock for £271.99 That's £68 off. Soooo tempting. Please stop doing this, Andy, you've managed to bring me back to the dark side of spending money on something I really don't need, but it does look sooo good! Have a good day; got some rugby to look foward to tomorrow and youngest has got me a ticket for the match against Argentina at Murrayfield Can't wait! Mal 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted November 23, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 23, 2018 Morning. Brisk outside, 4c. OF's bike club later, still at an alternative HQ as the proper one doesn't re-open until 1st December under new, but bike-club friendly management. As in, we know the girl! Then a new-ish friend coming around to play with the run some of my live steamers, he is getting his first one soon so he's on a training course with mine. Helps to gain some confidence. There will not be any assessments or reviews, oh how I hated that. Mrs NHN who is still a civil serpent has to have one, they have re-hashed the process once again (fourth time!) as the PDR - Personal Development Review' had become department goal driven with nothing about the actual person in question! At the end of the day that is why you employ managers - if they can't manage performance of their own staff they need to be out themselves. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium TheQ Posted November 23, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 23, 2018 It'll be in the second drawer on the left! See you tomorrow, if not before. I'm not allowed to talk to myself today as I'm sending me to Coventry later to be at the NEC at a reasonable hour (just before opening time) tomorrow. Sadly no, that's the drawer with DC low current test leads, I've given up on that and returned it to repair for investigation. So instead I have 24 Current shunts to do before the 27th November, a nice simple job if time consuming. I'm just waiting for the 1mA to settle.. Meantime mentioned on the local radio, someone has been spraying graffti round Norwich, something that is not common, whats even odder is it says... Les Dennis Now the well known Les Dennis has a house in Norfolk, but he has put out a statement "it's not me". 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted November 23, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 23, 2018 It'll be in the second drawer on the left! See you tomorrow, if not before. I'm not allowed to talk to myself today as I'm sending me to Coventry later to be at the NEC at a reasonable hour (just before opening time) tomorrow. Coventry? But the NEC is in Birmingham Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Morning all Please stop doing this, Andy, you've managed to bring me back to the dark side of spending money on something I really don't need, but it does look sooo good! Mal My revenge for calling me Andy. In other recent developments, my manager is miffed as I didn't respond to the supposedly anonymous corporate employee survey. Anonymous my ar5s. I replied that my response was to not fill in yet another survey. This coincides with the semi-annual, yes twice a bloody year, assessments. Even our management thinks that is just another make work project for HR. These are pretty meaningless as everyone gets a "meets" rating unless they manage to either kill a customer (bad) or generate extra revenue from the customer (good). This effectively means there is no incentive unless you are a sales weasel or an account manager. Then they wonder why projects almost always have issues and why turnover of staff is so high. Livin' in a Dilbert reality. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted November 23, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 23, 2018 Morning all from Estuary-Land. Just noticed that I hadn't re-adjusted the central heating thermostat when I arrived home last night, I thought it was a bit chilly this morning. Its my usual habit when I go out to turn the thermostat down a degree or two as the house will be empty. Not a lot else to report this morning, be back later. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted November 23, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 23, 2018 Aditi always enjoyed having her annual assessment by her line manager or department head. In answer to the what would you see yourself doing in one year and five years she always answered “your job” and “my garden”. Tony 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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