Early Risers.

[jamie92208]

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. 

 

Ah yes the Annonymous survey.   I learned about them my second day in the Force.   We were all given an anonymous questionnaire to fill in about some subject that I've long since forgotten.   The first question was previous occupation.   I answered mine truthfully.   They were collected in and the Sgt was looking through them, many ex military, many ex miners. Suddenly his face changed and he bellowed, "Who the f%%%ing H&ll is the student dropout".

 

Jamie

[The Stationmaster]

Coventry?

 

But the NEC is in Birmingham

 

Oh no it isn't (well the panto season is almost here ).  It's actually in Solihull if the map I've found is right; it definitely isn't with the boundaries of the Birmingham city local authority.  It is only 2 miles further by rail from Coventry to the NEC than it s from Birmingham New St.

Edited November 23, 2018 by The Stationmaster

[bbishop]

Morning all,

 

Ah yes the Anonymous survey.  I always sign them.

 

My e-mail in box is filling up with Black Friday deals.  Same price as the Thursday deal but I'm sure there are some suckers out there.

 

Keep well all,   Bill

[TheQ]

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. 

My manager always has a daily Dilbert cartoon pad on his desk, we both agree this is the first company we've worked for, where we can Identify all the characters..

though when I worked at GEC the Boss of Dilbert definately resembled my boss especially in his knowledge on what was going on.

Edited November 23, 2018 by TheQ

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Break to collect muggatea No.3, please excuse me for a moment.  Right back to the keyboard and a bit warmer out there today but plenty of mist and mellow fruitlessness (the apples have long fallen, the birds had the cherries, and the squirrel had the hazel nuts) and we're off to the nearby big city for Mrs Stationmaster to be fitted with her hearing supplementation device and possibly to do some shopping - assuming we can find a useful shop.

 

We occasionally had surveys at work, I usually threw them in the bin but a colleague had the brilliant idea of either marking everything at one extreme or the other (i.e all 100% rubbish or all 100% marvellous) or giving everything the middle marking because apparently any review of the marking automatically discounts results like that as 'unrepresentative'.

 

And yes - uniform clothing is not taxed as a benefit if it is a requirement to wear it.  Ms Mallalieu was, among other things, trying to claim for black tights and the Judge did not accept that they were specifically and expressly for the performance of her job (as a barrister) because they could be worn for other purposes as part of everyday dress.  But the result of the case, won by the Inland Revenue, was a considerable tightening of the way they looked at Benefits In Kind.

 

Have a good day one and all.

[Purley Oaks]

Oops, apologies Andrew...

My revenge for calling me Andy. 

 

 

 

In other news, Proclaimers tickets for Edinburgh Castle Esplanade for next July went on sale at 9am today. Thought I'd managed to snag a couple but sadly not to be. Resale sites have the modestly priced £42 to £45 tickets up for sale at £300 already. Don't think so.

 

Mal

[JohnDMJ]

Coventry?

But the NEC is in Birmingham

True but I won't be there today!

[grandadbob]

Good-Oh.  More parcels have arrived one after the other including another large Widnes shaped one which I was not allowed near. Hope I'm not counting my chickens!    

Yodel, Hermes, Amazon and Royal Mail all performing brilliantly. 

 

Still a couple more to come via UPS and Amazon again.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone

 

Just back from our weekly foray in the Trafford Centre, I cant believe so many ejits fall for this “Black Friday” bullish!t. Anyway we got away lightly and our return journey took me past the butchers, where I picked up the weekly meat rations AND a couple of pasties, for for today’s dinner, the other for tomorrow’s dinner at the NEC.

 

Back later.

[Gwiwer]

Happy Lunchtime. TFIF indeed. It hasn’t been the easiest of weeks. Since I am unable to engage in POETS Day in the traditional sense I shall be making up for it starting now. Today’s “thing” has been the incredible numbers travelling to Olympia and Shepherd’s Bush for the Westfield shopping place. All morning the Overground trains were leaving people behind. Something called Slack Buyday, I think.

 

I am not going to Warley. I thought about it but it seems the majority of people are heading north. Warley isn’t too far away and can be reached without cost using my 60+ Oyster card which gets me to Brentwood and on the bus down the road from there.

 

But it’s not that Warley, apparently

 

Instead there is laundry to be done, the supermarket delivery to await (which my email advises is missing my deodorant, oddly enough for the Warley weekend, but “everything else is there”) and alcofrolic refreshment to be enjoyed.

 

I shall return shum time. It’sh beer o’clock. Shee on on Shatur-hic-day.

Edited November 23, 2018 by Gwiwer

[Tony_S]

Happy Lunchtime. TFIF indeed. It hasn’t been the easiest of weeks. Since I am unable to engage in POETS Day in the traditional sense I shall be making up for it starting now. Today’s “thing” has been the incredible numbers travelling to Olympia and Shepherd’s Bush for the Westfield shopping place. All morning the Overground trains were leaving people behind. Something called Slack Buyday, I think.

I am not going to Warley. I thought about it but it seems the majority of people are heading north. Warley isn’t too far away and can be reached without cost using my 60+ Oyster card which gets me to Brentwood and on the bus down the road from there.

But it’s not that Warley, apparently

Instead there is laundry to be done, the supermarket delivery to await (which my email advises is missing my deodorant, oddly enough for the Warley weekend, but “everything else is there”) and alcofrolic refreshment to be enjoyed.

I shall return shum time. It’sh beer o’clock. Shee on on Shatur-hic-day.

In south Essex being in Warley used to mean something else but the mental hospital is long gone now. Even for one as decrepit as myself, I wouldn’t bother with the bus, Warley is easy walking distance from Brentwood Station!.

Tony

[Tony_S]

Good-Oh.  More parcels have arrived one after the other including another large Widnes shaped one which I was not allowed near. Hope I'm not counting my chickens!    

Yodel, Hermes, Amazon and Royal Mail all performing brilliantly. 

 

Still a couple more to come via UPS and Amazon again.

Hopefully none of the surprise presents are that Flying Scotsman ornamental clock!

[Gwiwer]

In south Essex being in Warley used to mean something else but the mental hospital is long gone now. Even for one as decrepit as myself, I wouldn’t bother with the bus, Warley is easy walking distance from Brentwood Station!.

Tony

It’s quite a hike back up the hill carrying a lot of red and blue boxes

 

And yes I remember the days when “being in Warley” did not refer to working at Ford’s! Us Cornish would always half-jokingly say “See you in Tehidy” which was the same sort of place.

[81C]

Hopefully none of the surprise presents are that Flying Scotsman ornamental clock!

 

Bob has already got one of those. 

[Tony_S]

Afternoon all.

We have just had breakfast.

Aditi was awake for hours during the night. I was not aware of this but have had a couple of little jobs to do. Reassembling the filters in the tumble dryer. Cleaning the dryer in the middle,of the night was something she decided to do. She also did all the Christmas shopping online, avoiding Black Friday. Christmas is very simple this year, we are just getting presents for our small nieces.

Having been raised in Solihull, I did think the NEC was located there. I think Elmdon Airport which became Birmingham Airport may have been in Solihull once. It may well still be. The borders were adjusted when the West Midlands was created.

Tony

[Purley Oaks]

The borders were adjusted when the West Midlands was created.

 

S'funny but I never heard of the West Midlands in the creation myth. Or am I missing something? Was it on the eighth day?

[81C]

I see on the lunch time news it's open season for the police to knock these moped phone stealing scum off there machines with patrol cars and they have new type of stinger that works in seconds 

by hydraulics so the can retract it safely out of way of any pursuing vehicles, me I'd like to see then taken out by the metal Asp (truncheon) the police use just belt them as they ride pass, do a proper

job on them  EH !! 

Other things in the news I used mail order from Andy's shop in Matlock Bath super service Andy.

 

Update on the Charwalla Indian Rly 5yds of track now in place and the little Baldwin is having no problems with the gradient this 009 track is a sod to lay with my stubby finger forceps and clamps have

been the order of the day all the area between the blocks will be filled with polystyrene coated with ready mixed filler with future decorations to follow.  

 

 

 

 

[Tony_S]

S'funny but I never heard of the West Midlands in the creation myth. Or am I missing something? Was it on the eighth day?

It may as well be a myth. There seems to be invisible land between London and “The North”.

[southern42]

' Afternoon all from red dragon land.

 

I have not thought about making the C*******s cake yet.  First things first - Warley... We have decided to take our own lunch and leave ourselves a few spending ££s (better not put too many of those...the piggy bank is not that big!).  Fat free fruit cake made for the teabreaks - I do not want to put on the lbs now that I have lost them.   

 

Also, a bit more organised.  I copied-pasted the list of traders-layouts-etc from the website into a word doc and extracted those that are the must-do's, including a few favourite layouts and "Last show" s - it fills an A4 sheet, even so.  Then did a summary of what to find in each of the five (A-E) areas.  Will let you know if it works!

Must check out the layout list, next, to identify (google, probably!) GWR/SR layouts not illustrated on the website.

If you think, why bother?  Well, last year, even with a preamble and armed with the Guide, there was one numbered exhibit that we did not find, even looking at the Warley Map standing near where we expected to find it.  A case of not seeing something in front of us?    Anyway, after wandering fruitlessly around in circles, we went off to find this weathering guy who performed his magic on a loco.  Rotring ink, now, finally, on my S**ta's wishlist.     My last bottle ran out years ago as did our local supplier...say no more!

 

Time for 3 o'clocksies, a bit late, but that is nothing unusual.

 

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

Afternoon all,

 

Tony - according to two different maps I found earlier on the 'net Birmingham Airport is in Solihull and a past planning application confirmed that.

 

Mrs Stationmaster has her new hearing amplifier and has already moaned commented that the volume was set too loud but it was easily adjusted;  the Good Doctor and I are now being very careful about what we say and when.  WHS in Reading did not have the bookazine I'm after but they did have the latest issue of MRJ, as I was checking some rather obscure caption detail last night for the publisher I shall have to ask him if he knows who is stocking it?    M&S food dept yielded up some nice crisp bakes although their prices have gone up well and ouchly but they didn't manage to sell me some socks because having picked them up I took one look at the queue at the till and put them back on the shelf - no wonder the 'High St' shops are losing out on custom to the 'net because one of their remaining selling points has to be good customer service and waiting 10 minutes+ to pay doesn't come into my opinion as ranking 'good' - yes, the queue was that long.

 

More encouragingly my health insurance have written to tell me that they are paying some money into my bank account (in the near future if it's not done already) so I'm a several hundred £s wealthier than I thought I was.  I shall need to exercise care at Warley.

[TheQ]

The last time I tried to buy tickets for anything, they too were instantly sold out, I found them on a reseller site for many times the face value. And who owned the reseller site?

 

The same company that was selling the tickets in the first place, under a different name.

 

 

Well I've not got the landrover back, for two reasons, the sealant on the window in the back door hasn't set and when the box for the new lock was opened, it had the wrong one in the box.

Luckily the back axle leak turned out to be minor and they fixed it.

 

This does give me a problem, my tool box for muddle railways is still in the landrover....

 

Ah dinner is served, spaghetti bolognese ( ragu)

[New Haven Neil]

_Trains duly played with, student driver got the hang of things well and is now prepared for his pride and joy arriving next month.  A rather chilly afternoon but we have an outside wood burner (uses the dodgy wood we don't want in the house - timber frame house!)  that kept us toasty.

 

It now feels like bed time, but its ten to six....hate the dark evenings.

[bbishop]

Evening all,

 

First a check on ER attendance at Warley.  I know that Baz and Ian are there over the weekend and Chris is there on Sunday.  I'm there tomorrow, wearing a South Western Circle (!) badge, whom else am I likely to meet?

 

Trouble getting up to London today, due to a trespasser on the track in the Lewisham area and power had to be turned off.  This is becoming annoyingly frequent.  Anyway, once I was in London, I did my Black Friday shopping by getting a discount on next term's German lessons.  Then some track pins from Ian Allen and my Christmas Cards from St Martin in the Field.  Home via the quack to book my flu jab.

 

Early supper, early bath, make tomorrow's sandies and then to bed.

 

Bill

[JohnDMJ]

Evening all,

 

First a check on ER attendance at Warley.  I know that Baz and Ian are there over the weekend and Chris is there on Sunday.  I'm there tomorrow, wearing a South Western Circle (!) badge, whom else am I likely to meet?

 

Trouble getting up to London today, due to a trespasser on the track in the Lewisham area and power had to be turned off.  This is becoming annoyingly frequent.  Anyway, once I was in London, I did my Black Friday shopping by getting a discount on next term's German lessons.  Then some track pins from Ian Allen and my Christmas Cards from St Martin in the Field.  Home via the quack to book my flu jab.

 

Early supper, early bath, make tomorrow's sandies and then to bed.

 

Bill

I'll be there tomorrow aiming for the spoons around 1300 and E? around 1400.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Actually a large part of Warley hospital still exists but now is luxury apartments. I'll be going that way myself in a couple of weeks to the toy fair at the Brentwood centre, I expect it to be heaving but there's usually plenty of bargains to be found. Thats it for now, be back later.