Early Risers.

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Here,

Terrible nights sleep, a good nights sleep... Which was it? Well I don't know, I retired up stairs with various books when SWMBO started watching soaps at around 19:30, by 20:00 I was falling asleep. So I've had a very broken nights sleep but had over 8hours.

 

I would have had more sleep but Ben the border collie wanted out at about 06:00, it's comparatively mild out there, dry but overcast. It's also quite light.. Ben is now asleep at my feet.

 

Plans for today, more work on layout carriages, maybe some work on the boat jib club.

 

Time too.. Go make some porridge..

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Good luck with the weathering Polly..if you need any help..shout.

 

Broken nights sleep and don't feel 100%.. yet! But the muggertea has been drunk and hopefully I will be ok for a few trips out today.

 

Didn't manage to get to cricket as the Herberts stayed here till 1 ish.

 

Now.. do I make another mugate or get up and do some modelling?

 

Best wishes to all who ail!

Positive thoughts to our missing ERs.

You never know we may even see an awl on here!

Baz

[AndyID]

Currently banned for off forum activity.

 

Perhaps he sent someone a forthright PM?

[bbishop]

I see we have 19 pages of Bachmann speculation and 20 pages speculation.  Any consensuses reached? 

 

Bill

[newbryford]

I see we have 19 pages of Bachmann speculation and 20 pages speculation.  Any consensuses reached? 

 

Bill

 

Yes - nobody has a clue...…..

 

Work to be worked.

 

Catch up later.

 

Cheers,

Mick

[jamie92208]

Morning all from Lindum. Breakfast has been taken.

 

Yesterday was great, No 2 son and his wife eventually appeared so we had all the kids plus their partners for an hour or two. A very convivial time was had. Once everyone had gone we collapsed on the sofas and watched the Torvill and Dean film which I thought was good but just like railway scenes in most films, they got the policing scenes hopelessly wrong. He had no epaulette straps and buttons on his shirt and you never chased someone waving a staff. Beth was at training school with him (Dishforth) and remembers him.

 

This morning the case has been packed and we have managed to get everything into the car so now it's chill time. Off at about 12.30 heading for Portsmouth via Kettering, where there is a delivery to make.

 

Thoughts are with John and especially Sandy, who I hope has a very happy birthday despite the circumstances.

 

Jamie

[Judge Dread]

Perhaps he sent someone a forthright PM?

I know a good barrister, well he says he's good, to fight your corner Ivan! 

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Reasonable looking day outside and the fatchy pog seems to have cleared so I think the lad and I will be on our way to Alton before too long.  I see that Mick has accurately answered Bill Bishop's question in respect of Bachmann, for those interested in the other lot I refer them to my cryptic post relatively early in the thread and will leave you to work out which bit is 'informed' and which bit is speculative - hmm could get an advance order in today I suppose, that could be amusing ...  tehehe.

 

Chicken pie for dinner tonight, no soup this year as the bones went out to feed Kev the Kite and his mates.

 

Have a good day one and all especially Sandy and anyone else who is ailing or recovering.

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

As I had to be awake at 7am for my GPs phone call I was also in plenty of time to put the bin bags out. All was ok regarding the GP call. I am not “normal” but I am normal for me so no worries (I wasn’t worried).

 

John, I hope Sandy has a better day.

Tony

[southern42]

' Morning all from red dragon land.

 

Off to town with Youngest but cuppa for Ray, first.

 

Take care.

[BSW01]

What is the book Brian? Sounds interesting

Night awl

BLETCHLEY PARK BRAINTEASERS

 

By

Sinclair McKay

[Barry O]

Ivan is a lawyer so needs no help. It wasn't a PM but a question on another forum.

 

Baz

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone

 

First job after breakfast was to take Sheila’s blood pressure and record it for her diabetic review in a couple of weeks time. Then it was off to complete the last Sainsbury’s Grand Prix Of 2018. The shopping has now been put away and I’m sat with muggertea No2, once that’s finished I’ll give the butchers a ring and see about ordering some pies for tomorrow. After dinner there is the possibility of a trip to Waitrose, if that does materialise, that too will be the last one of the year.

 

Back later.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Best birthday wishes to Sandy (and John) and I hope things turn out well. David, I seem to recall that the four digit password was from a website that gave you a password that you could then change (which I would have done anyway). It appears that they may have hacked that website. I am pretty sure that the website concerned is defunct, the owner having died or moved on and just left it. An easy target for such hackers I imagine.

[Simon G]

Good afternoon all,

Very mild here today, so morning walk was done without a woolly hat for once. A pleasant walk was had, and we now await arrival of no 2 son mid afternoon, hopefully. Nothing much more to report!

[Purley Oaks]

Afternoon all

 

Mild here, too, at 10C. Only black spot on the day is our neighbour's DIY - into a year now, waking us up with heavy drilling at 8.45am. Bah and humbug!

 

Birthday wishes to Sandy. Hope you manage to feed yourself well today, John.

 

Mal

[TheQ]

BLETCHLEY PARK BRAINTEASERS

By

Sinclair McKay

I had enough of that when I did a training course in BP.

 

Afternoon Awl,

 

The second layout carriage is complete except for attaching the legs, that will be done tomorrow morning as the paint will be dry. Then carriages 1 and 2 will be loaded into the trailer for transport to the MRC. Carriage 3 now has its base Completed, and the "shell" fitted. Hopefully many Battens will be added tomorrow.

 

While working on the above a parcel arrived, about 5 inches square, inside that two bits of foam, inside them a plastic box, inside that.... A piece 20mm long and 9.25mm wide, 9mm high..

 

 

A 2mm scale mini in RAF blue, just like I used to drive in the late 70's early 80's.

 

This will reside about 50mm above the above carriages on some grey pollyfilla...

 

Ben the border collie has had his walk on the beach, busier than normal but Not as busy as last time.

 

Leftovers has been had, with the accompaniment of an Australian white? Liquid, eyelid inspection beckons...

[roundhouse]

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.

Not a fan of Tequila but thanks for the info. It is a while since we last walked around Old Town.

 

Yesterday we spent a lot longer in the Railroad museum in Balboa Park particularly watching Tehachapi as there were quite a few trains moving compared to previous visits. Those not happy with Liverpool Lime Street certainly would enjoy the movements on most of the layouts here. The best train moving was the 4 SP loco consist working its way down from the loop with superb dynamic brake sounds coming form each loco.

The SP making its way back up the grade at Caliente. Its a fantastic layout to see.

 

We didn't make the hobby store so that's the first call after breakfast then no doubt Beer O'clock again. We stumbled on a few new brewpubs, one brewery telling us that there are around 160 breweries in the greater San Diego area these days, so despite many previous trips here we will hardly scratch the surface in the few days we are here this time.

 

Looking like a cloudier day than yesterday with 10% chance of rain but still very pleasant T shirt weather during the day.

 

Almost breakfast time for us.

Edited December 27, 2018 by roundhouse

[Two_sugars]

QUOTE::- one brewery telling us that there are around 160 breweries in the greater San Diego area these days, so despite many previous trips here we will hardly scratch the surface in the few days we are here this time.

 

 

/ / I betcha gonna  try, though-but!!!!!

 

In other news . . .Local ALDI has reduced real C-R-S-M-S trees from £19.99 to . . . . . £2.99.

 

 

John

[Ozexpatriate]

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.

Yesterday I neglected to observe that today (December, 27) is the 50^th anniversary of the Apollo 8 splashdown.

 

Last night I watched a documentary on Apollo 8 on the PBS programme Nova. (It was OK.) They did mention an interesting anecdote that I don't recall whether Jeffrey Kluger incorporated in his book.

 

During the return journey, navigator Jim Lovell accidentally punched in a code into the DSKY (Display Key) keypad that programmed the navigational computer. This reset the reference coordinates back to the launch pad. This reset behavior had previously been observed by programmer Margaret Hamilton when her daughter Lauren was punching codes into a backup unit but there was no opportunity to fail safe the navigational computer for this condition.

 

To account for drift in the gyroscopes the Apollo command module had a built in sextant to be able to correct coordinates. Star sightings were used to reestablish coordinates in the navigational computer and everything ended well.

 

Lovell would later command Apollo 13.

Edited December 27, 2018 by Ozexpatriate

[Barry O]

anyone seen BoD???

 

Baz

[bbishop]

Evening all,

 

Back from Oxford Street, with a new fridge ordered. The sales were weird; frankly not worth bothering about. There wasn't anything off at HMV, minimal at John Lewis and M&S. In the latter, I got pairs of slippers and gloves, but there was nothing off trainers and very few jeans on offer and none in my fairly standard size. Also the Marble Arch shop was full of frogs who take an item off the rail, jabber in frog-speak, then drop said item on the floor.

 

So went to the National Gallery, to the Giotto and Impressionist exhibitions and a wander round Room A, a reserve collection that any other gallery in the world would give its eye teeth for. The main rooms were very busy so bailed out to CX and a train home.

 

Bill

[bbishop]

I see that Mick has accurately answered Bill Bishop's question in respect of Bachmann, for those interested in the other lot I refer them to my cryptic post relatively early in the thread and will leave you to work out which bit is 'informed' and which bit is speculative - hmm could get an advance order in today I suppose, that could be amusing ...  tehehe.

Frankly, my dears, I haVe no interest in either thread, but WHAT WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN SPUR NULL?

 

bILL

[The Stationmaster]

Evening all,

 

Alton duly visited via a considerable amount of very fatchy pog on the way there but a bit less on the way back.  Money (mine) duly expended on a very pretty brown engine (with ten wheels named after an ocean). further money (the lad's duly expended on a fairground South East liveried diseasal and matching coach plus - far more importantly - a mighty tome on the subjects of GWR and LNER coaches for my combined Christmas and upcoming birthday pressie.  Reference Bill Bishop's comment above, and much to amusement of young Paul, a pre-order duly placed for various items expected to be announced early in January from a concern which is subject to much speculation;  either my forecasting will be accorded the highest approbation or I shall be regarded as right bloomin' idiot come a date less than two weeks hence.  BTW I anticipate nil for null, spur or no spur, from either of those lots.

 

The roads were far from crowded but seemed to be attracting more than a few 'I forgot to release my handbrake wombles' and oddly there seemed to a surfeit of Skodas on the roads (do they have strange handbrakes I wonder?)

 

Enjoy your evening folks.

Edited December 27, 2018 by The Stationmaster

[bbishop]

So, do any other ERs drive Skodas?

 

Bill