Early Risers.

[45156]

 

Avoiding the Square today in town - the hunt (other rhyming spellings are available) is due to meet.

We avoid Hornby (next village up the Lune Valley) today for the same reason - Ivan is probably the only gentleman huntsman that I've ever come across (and hurry back, mate, you're missed.

 

Back from S"les now, and Credit Card is now a bit heavier - ah well.  We are now calling the midwife here, as we recorded it last night, so that we could watch Apollo 13 on ITV4 - it's still a favourite movie for both of us, though Tom Hanks now looks very young - mind you, we used to think he looked young in Big when Apollo 13 was current!

 

I think I'd better go now, and have a

Edited December 26, 2018 by 45156

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,

I'm surprised but we did go for a sail, it started light to very light, then gradually increased till once or twice I sat on the edge to keep the boat upright.

 

For both races we had a very good turnout, we started 5 minutes ahead of the dinghies, but they were going for the same trophies, so the timekeeper was busy getting elapsed time and handicaps sorted out.

 

 

Race one course 3p, 1p,2p.

We were doing the usual circles behind the start line, when as the start approached, we started heading down the line s, from the starboard end, to find a wall of boats ahead. Nothing for it but to circle back to try again. We had just done that as the buzzer went, yes we started at the starboard end of the line but sheltered from the wind by a tree.

By the time we were up to a decent speed everyone else had left but one..

 

Tacking up to buoy 3, we overtook 2 boats then rounding buoy three and up spinnaker and head for buoy one. Dodging all the dinghies on the way down, we managed to be alongside two boats at club corner. Rounding the corner with us on the inside, we passed one boat but the other held and overlap till buoy 1.

It was on the inside, so after rounding that a heading for buoy 2 they were clear ahead.

 

They held their lead on round buoy 2, during the tacking up to buoy 3 we passed that one and another.

Round buoy 3 and we had a very good spinnaker set. We rapidly over took two more boats easily by the club corner. No change of place round buoy 1 and buoy two. One more over the tacking up to buoy 3, we rounded buoy 3 up spinnaker and chased the third place boat. We were slowly catching but by the finish line we were about 20 yards behind..

So we finished 4th or by the time handicaps of the other fleet were taken into account, 9th overall well up in the first third of the total fleet.

 

After a rum punch and a couple of sausage rolls

 

Race 2. 3p, 2p,

 

This time after circling around we found just 2 boats ahead, and they hit each other. The one not at fault got spun round, the one causing the incident had to a 720degree turn penalty.

 

This gave us a near perfect start, with just one boat having an overlap. As we approached the bank we called for water to tack, which they did and we did, then us having the overlap. Till we approached the other bank and they called for water. We repeated this pair of tacks Several times, each time we gained a little bit more advancement over them, until We broke clear ahead and they couldn't call water on us. After that we drew further ahead on rounding buoy 3 up spinnaker, and we pulled even more ahead by buoy 1.

 

We held the lead for the next three laps while the boat behind us swapped 3 times.

 

After handicaps and the other fleet were taken into account we finished.... 9th again.. It was definately a day for the dinghies..

After putting the boats away, coffee, more sausage rolls and the prize giving. It was time for home..

 

Roast beef dinner has been had, the second bottle of company wine is open, eyelid inspection to follow..

[AndyID]

MrsID watched the midwife last night. She is one of them and she worked during the same time period as the tv series. I watched Maigret on Britbox.

 

Celebrations here are deferred until the 28th when the contingents from CA and NJ should be here, weather permitting which reminds me I better get my wotsit in gear because it's supposed to start snowing in two hours and I need to run into town.

[New Haven Neil]

Evening.  I did have a short walk, the paw was OK whist doing so but sore when sitting about!  Maybe a mile around the village streets and roads. Nice lunch with John & Anne, quick play with his _layout just to check on progress you understand, and tucked up warm at home now after visiting other friends for coffee and buns on the way home.  I must have put a stone on this week!

[Ozexpatriate]

Good morning again. Still dark here but we can still just about see the Surfliners and Coasters passing over the grade crossing despite a new high rise block of condo's going up between our hotel and the tracks.

I don't know how long you are in San Diego, which has many charms, but one for me is El Agave in old town - if you are willing to try a tequila flight instead of a brew. They claim to have 2,000 different tequilas and I have no reason not to believe them. I suspect your cigar aficionado friend may enjoy it.

 

Their food is excellent too, in particular the moles - not to be pronounced or confused with small burrowing creatures - if I spelled it as molé it might help.

[Ozexpatriate]

A belated Yuletide to you all. I've been away from my computer for the long weekend and have skimmed and attempted to acknowledge a number of posts but was less than thorough in my diligence.

 

John, I wish you the strength, patience and endurance to help Sandy through her long battle. Long ago (and with a successful resolution) I had a close family member struggle with cancer over the Christmas / New Year period. There are reserves of strength you can find when you need them but take do care of yourself. I know you don't need a lecture but do eat properly and sleep while you can. Hopefully sharing your progress with us helps you manage. We are here for you.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Went down to Tess Coe's this morning, plenty of parking spaces and no crowds in store so I went bargain hunting, they were selling off stuff as much as 90% off but I didn't get a lot, just some veg and a few other bits. Before going home I popped into town and grabbed another bargain. A 'pop up' shop had a few Oxford Diecasts on offer at half price so I grabbed a few.

 

Morning.

 

Phil, that's a common one. Usually allege viewing extremely dodgy material....do clever things to make it look like its from your own e mail - it isn't.  They usually have a password from something else, an on line account/website somewhere that has been hacked.

 

Thanks for that Neil, they did allege that I'd been viewing dodgy material as well. My usual policy is 'If in doubt, click on nowt.'

[Ozexpatriate]

The 'kids' have opened their Christmas stockings (we can't let that one go after all these years   ) .

I too remain unwilling to dispense with this tradition. My son (26) and his wife (the same age) joined me on Christmas morning. They had their Christmas stockings from me and reciprocated with one for me as well. While for myself, I would not choose an R2D2 themed stocking (replete with relevant sounds at the touch of a button) the thought was charming and I will privately admit that I was being quite honest (and indeed touched) when I said that I liked it very much.

 

Not connected with the holiday, but on the R2D2 line of thought, for anyone who enjoys Star Wars and the bard, I heartily recommend Ian Doescher's "William Shakespeare's Star Wars". In what I thought a stroke of brilliance, R2D2 is also cast as a speaking part as a narrator. Online reviews suggest the audiobook is superior to reading the books. The style is like this:

 

Obi-Wan Kenobi:

“True it is,

That these are not the droids for which thou search'st."

 

Here (the 26th) is a work day. Unlike my personal Boxing Day traditions, there is no lying about watching the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race and (from the sound of things, two tedious opening sessions* in) the Melbourne test match.  It is a work day in name only. The office is all but empty. I am taking a couple of days off around the New Year's long weekend (we have a floating holiday on December 31 this year) and didn't want to officially claim more days off.

 

* That was the state of play when I telephoned Mum and Dad late on Christmas night.

 

I have reported for duty and am at my desk. That I am composing this on RMweb suggests that I am not as productive as I should be. This might be the tone for the day but I am here should anyone 'need me'. I doubt they will. Having brought leftovers from Christmas Eve and other 'just in case' items that went uneaten over the last two days, I will not go hungry, even with the cafeteria closed for the week.

Edited December 26, 2018 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

We are now calling the midwife here, as we recorded it last night, so that we could watch Apollo 13 on ITV4 - it's still a favourite movie for both of us, though Tom Hanks now looks very young - mind you, we used to think he looked young in Big when Apollo 13 was current!

Time has a way of doing that. Tom Hanks is 62. He would have been around 39 when Apollo 13 was released in 1995 and a very boyish 32 when Big was released in 1988.

 

I strongly recommend "Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13" by Jeffrey Kluger and Jim Lovell. It is the book on which the movie is mostly based. Jeffrey Kluger also wrote a book on Apollo 8 (Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon). It too is very good.

Edited December 26, 2018 by Ozexpatriate

[bbishop]

Pretty quiet day today, but off to hit the sales tomorrow!

 

Bill

[PhilJ W]

Heads up. The London Transport Museum have a sale on up to two thirds off. Unfortunately some of the best bargains have gone including the Heljan Metropolitan Bo-Bo electric locomotive Sarah Siddons on offer at £35! all now sold out.

Edited December 26, 2018 by PhilJ W

[Simon G]

This afternoons activities may include continuing the pressure washing of our concrete drive, as it has a tendency to get very slippery and pressure washing is the only way I have found to clean off the slippery stuff.

Just as I was about to go out to start the pressure washing, I noticed that a car had parked in my drive, blocking it off. This does happen from time to time, as we are in a narrow lane, and not all houses have a drive. Anyway, I got the pressure washer out and connected it up, and still the driver was nowhere to be seen. He had left two dogs in the back, and his phone on the passenger seat. I must admit to being annoyed, as this car was preventing anything from getting in or out of the drive. So I decided to get on with the pressure washing, which just happened to be near to this parked car.

 

Net result was that when the driver reappeared from further down the lane, after about half an hour in total, his car was rather splattered from my efforts. I don’t think he was amused, but having realised he had p*ssed me off, he disappears rather sharpish!

[Barry O]

Night all!

Baz

[Tony_S]

I have a medical appointment at 7am tomorrow. I hope my GP has had a nice Christmas break.

I’m not sure why she wants to talk to me, apparently not urgent!

We had a nice day with family in Enfield.

Tony

[Coombe Barton]

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2018/12/26/sandys-chemo-day-8-of-126/

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone

 

Well it’s been another day when not an awful lot has been done and it’s been very enjoyable. Once Mike and Sarah and gone, they were then going on to Vickie and Ian’s after leaving ours. So I had another look at the Bletchley Park book and had a go at decoding some morse code and secret languages. I didn’t do too badly, probably around 90-95%. However, I didn’t manage to complete all the morse code problems in the times that were given, as I did have to keep looking at the code, to decipher each letter, although by the time I got towards the end I was memorising quite a few.

 

Goodnight all

[laurenceb]

What is the book Brian? Sounds interesting

Night awl

[JohnDMJ]

A comedy sketch worth watching:

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/23/dinner-one-british-comedy-beloved-germans-finally-gets-home/

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[southern42]

' Evening all from red dragon land.
 
Wow.  What a Christmas and there was only three of us!
 
Christmas Eve Youngest took me into town to see the Lights and get a few bits from the shops.
 

 

 

 
 
 
Christmas morning, Wishlist come true...presies include stuff for the muddling...including (at long last) a bottle of the Rotring Ink.  
Weathering, here I come....
 

 

Christmas dinner so easy - a small joint of pork was cooked Christmas morning instead of larger joint cooked Christmas Eve, and a small turkey crown followed...that let Ray off the hook for cooking this year (apart from making the stuffing) and it all fitted in comfortably around doing the veg, dinner on time and even HM the Queen crept in via the radio.
 
After lunch I did some muddling - eventually getting the viaduct painted.  
 
Today, we took a drive to Llangollen for a ride on the Mince Pie Special. 
But first, a cuppa in the station café.
 
 

 

 

 

 
Then into the shop to get a Llangollen Rly fleece to replace the one I lost earlier in the year.  They had two in my size.  I tried one on then compared it to the other one, hoping it might be a tad longer.  No but, interestingly, the shoulders were not as wide.  That was a winner, felt more comfortable and came home with me.  Just the job for West Shore wind and weather.    

Another cuppa in the café before we leave via the old ticket off.   "Ah!  I wondered where the fireman went with the bucket of coal from the loco!" someone muttered seeing two buckets on the floor.

 
Ooh! That's warm.  I will muddle that in the station building...

 

Dinner was late.  Not because we arrived home late, but because I sat and watched The Big Friendly Giant on the tv, first.

 

So, it is ' night all, nos da and Happy Feast of St John (28th)

 

 

[BR60103]

Phil

I had that eMail too. After a bit of a search through old scraps of paper, I found the password had been used to register a caffee shop gift card. 

 

Quite day today. I managed to get a control panel wired and working. My main newspaper (the one with the most comic strips) didn't get out on Monday -- press failure -- wasn't available Christma, so I bought 2 days worth today and had 3 days of comics to read. and 3 days of puzzles -- I'm probably going to ship half of them.

[ikks]

We avoid Hornby (next village up the Lune Valley) today for the same reason - Ivan is probably the only gentleman huntsman that I've ever come across (and hurry back, mate, you're missed.

 

Back from S"les now, and Credit Card is now a bit heavier - ah well.  We are now calling the midwife here, as we recorded it last night, so that we could watch Apollo 13 on ITV4 - it's still a favourite movie for both of us, though Tom Hanks now looks very young - mind you, we used to think he looked young in Big when Apollo 13 was current!

 

I think I'd better go now, and have a

Where is Ivan.............everything OK?

 

Mike

[Barry O]

Where is Ivan.............everything OK?

 

Mike

Currently banned for off forum activity.

Hopefully this can be changed in the coming days.

Baz

[Barry O]

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2018/12/26/sandys-chemo-day-8-of-126/

John, I hope that Sandy has a better day for her birthday.

Best wishes to her and very positive thought for both of you.

Baz