Early Risers.

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

Forgive me, gentle reader, for I have sinned.  Having half an hour to kill before my appointment yesterday I ventured into a Costa coffee shop, where I ordered a pot of English breakfast tea and a blueberry muffin.  I do not like the all-pervading presumption that we all drink coffee.  It is the default setting in Switzerland, where more often than not one has to make ones own tea from the unpromising ingredients of a pot of not very hot water and a tea bag.  When asked for hot chocolate I am also expected to make that myself by pouring a sachet of chocolate powder into a cup of milk of uncertain temperature but usually not as high as it might be.  Why does coffee come ready to drink?  Any other rebels are invited to make themselves known.   Does the revolution really start here?

 

After yesterday’s tuition on the ins and outs of the smartphone my head is spinning.  How much of what I was taught I will remember in a few days is anyone’s guess.  I am told that I need a wireless router, which I cannot face tackling until after my holiday.  The cable-based connection that I use at present tends to drop out early in the morning.  Guess when I usually interrogate RMweb?

 

Tonight I will pay my first visit to the LGBT group that meets in a local Methodist church.  It would be a good idea to put out of my mind the lack of affection that I have for the church in general and, for that matter, the lack of esteem in which some religious activists hold the LGBT community.  As tonight’s meeting is supposed to have a Burns Night theme, I shall take a box of shortbread as a peace offering.

 

Mal Purley Oaks, I am distressed to learn of your visit to works and hope that all will be rectified ere long.   Warm thoughts to you, to John and Sandy and to all others in distress or missing.

 

Chris

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Was flipping freezing here overnight..and not too warm now.

Mugatea drunk..Chris the only place we got a good cupatea was in Christchurch where a little cafe served Yorkshire Tea made with hot water. Most hotel/motel rooms had kettles and we did take some Yorkshire tea with us..it has to be tea bags as Loose tea is a no no through border patrol in most airports.

 

Best wishes to all who ail.

Baz

[dseagull]

Morning all

 

It's -3.5 Celsius outside at the moment, and a very thick frost. Muggacoffee on the go whilst car warming up!

 

Still, nearly the weekend!

 

Hope everyone's day goes as well as can be hoped for.

[AndrewC]

Coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee bloody freezing coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee turn up heat coffee coffee cat nesting on my fleece sweater coffee coffee coffee

 

That is all. Enjoy the day

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone

 

I’m with Chrisf about tea, although most of the places I go, seem to give you a cup with a tea bag in and you just help yourself to milk and sugar. As for coffee, I don’t touch the stuff, I’m afraid as far as I’m concerned it smells better than it tastes, Sheila on the other hand is the complete opposite, as she only drinks coffee and never touches tea!

 

Cold this morning, but at 2C it’s a bit warmer than yesterday and there is no fog. Sheila is just getting ready to leave for her Zumba class and once she’s gone, I have a couple of tasks to do before I head of to the workshop, where hopefully I’ll get the valve gear finished on the L class, I think I’ll definitely need the heater on in there today!

 

Back later

[roundhouse]

Morning

tea tea tea tea tea beer .. err no not today as going ot Mums this evening for a meal.

 

Hopefully collecting the layout transporter htis morning as the steering rack has been replaced but they just need to do some tests.

 

Meanwhile another Bulleid light pacific is undergoing testing and cleaning plus adding ot JMRI if not already on there. I have done 7 so far so only another 40 to do!

[TheQ]

Chris F, I think for Burns Night you'll need a kilt in this tartan (or at least a tie).

https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=3445

 

 

[jamie92208]

Morning all from a rather cool but bright Charente. Logs did get moved yesterday and the garden does look tidier. We are nearly ready for another bonfire. Today the ironing awaits and breakfast has been consumed. This afternoon is trainspotting day at the place where the TGV SEA and the classic line cross. I will wrap up warm.

 

 

Regards to all.

 

 

 

Jamie

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare,

Another terrible nights sleep due to the cough, the cough is happening less often, so slightly more sleep than last night..

 

I'm a bit later for my first post as I've been busy measuring around 120 Amps, the limit of the equipment I have the use of.. Leave it too long and It could very well end in a melt down..

 

I was glad of the heat though, the grass was crunchy when I got home at around 16:00 last night, let alone this morning. As SWMBO needs the car today, It was landrover time, which doesn't defrost the windows well nor heat the cab well. So it was scrape the outside before I started and the inside as I went along.. There are various modifications to do to improve this, I shall be re reading up on that later...

Much more frost on the roads this morning and I was the one blazing the trail slowly through it.

 

In this house I'm the coffee drinker and SWMBO is the tea drinker. There are teas, I have enjoyed in the past, but SWMBO is a Yorkshire lass and her tea is just too strong for me..

 

Right I've now measured 80 Amps and 60 Amps between typing this,

 

Time too... measure 40 A

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Somewhat nippy again this morning and the snow continues to survive in much of the back garden and some of the front garden clearly indicating where anything which passes for sunlight does not fall, it will be interesting to see if it survives teh forecast rise in temperature in the coming couple of days.

 

As for coffee you can keep it, the most disappointing drink in the world (except for some Bulgarian cherry brandy I had in Poland 40+ years ago) as it sometimes smells highly enticing but inevitably tastes awful, even in those continental countries where they are supposed to be able to make decent stuff of that ilk.  Now tea in Australia is also a problem notwithstanding allegations that on that huge island they can actually make a decent brew of the stuff.  In a total of ten weeks living there in 2004 & 05 it took me trials with about half a dozen different brands to find something which actually made a decent cuppa although the one I finally settled on was not too bad at all and I made sure I brought home any of the supply I had leftover on my return.  But some of their tea is rubbish and some of the places serving it clearly have no better idea of how to make it than the average Johnny foreigner living on the European mainland.  So Chrisf be wary,  don't have high expectations, and follow Baz's advice (our preference is Yorkshire Gold although I also like the Cornish grown Tregothnan).

 

Today it seems might qualify as faux Friday and I am waiting instructions from the management in that respect.

 

Have a good day one and all.

[AndrewC]

From the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. 

 

"No," Arthur said, “look, it’s very, very simple…. All I want… is a cup of tea. You are going to make one for me. Now keep quiet and listen.”

And he sat. He told the Nutro-Matic about India, he told it about China, he told it about Ceylon. He told it about broad leaves drying in the sun. He told it about silver teapots. He told it about summer afternoons on the lawn. He told it about putting the milk in before the tea so it wouldn’t get scalded. He even told it (briefly) about the East India Trading Company.

“So that’s it, is it?” said the Nutro-Matic when he had finished.

“Yes,” said Arthur. “That is what I want.”

“You want the taste of dried leaves boiled in water?”

“Er, yes. With milk.”

“Squirted out of a cow?”

“Well in a manner of speaking, I suppose…”

“I’m going to need some help with this one.”

[jamie92208]

We had a choice of tea or coffee on Sunday afternoon at the Salle de Fete. Warm water poured from glass jugs that could take a while to get to us. A choice of tea bags or coffee sachets. By some chance I picked up the wrong type of tea bag and ened up with slightly flavoured warm water from some sort of infusion. I must go to Specsavers. When French friends come to the house we ask them what they want to drink. Coffee is usually asked for so then it is , mode Anglais ou Mode Francais. They are not used to a hot cup of coffee and we have to warn them.

 

 

Jamie.

[roundhouse]

Bl**dy Royal Mail call centre. Another 20+ minutes wait to try and find a missing parcel. Now missed other calls on my mobile and giving up the will to live 'we are experiencing higher number of calls than usual' but it says that every time I have tried and only got through once only to be told their system is down. Time to write back to them as it will be quicker.

[81C]

Morning All 

Up early to see the neighbours depart for work rather them than me, a shock to my system Her praised me for my Stir Fry dinner last night 

I marinated the pork loin strips and shoved it in the fridge for an hour instead of just chucking in the wok like her does, I tried celery again as

we you need a lot to get the flavor as it will cook away to nothing, wild mushrooms which were tasteless the rest of the mix was OK I will buy

Shiitake mushrooms next time my next meal at Chez Bobs will be Tuna Salsa the recipe will be adjusted to suit sweet potato fries or wedges

and a few other things to liven it up.

Last night I booked some extra trips Sunday Lunch in June on the South Devon Rly with a 4 day stay at Staverton and Switzerland in September

for my birthday treat, we have a free day from the tour package with travel passes we will jump on the first train in the station and head for the

largest town I do fancy a proper Apple Strudel and a coffee.  

 

Today I will rest on my laurels and attack some polystyrene with sharp instruments.

 

                                                                      Her was up late and has finished with the bathroom so I better show willing. H.E.Adcook.   

[45156]

Morning All.

 

Sorry that I missed wishing Mal well.  Hope that the obstruction is nothing too sinister.  As usual, generic greetings are offered to all ERs.

 

We were going to Skipton this morning, but 30747 got a phone call from her work last night to ask her if she would be able to cover staff sickness (again).

 

So it was an early rise, and a trip to the corner so that she didn't have a problem with slipping on the ice, which is still present here.  Luckily her colleague was also working today, so she was able to get a lift from the corner to her workplace.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[Happy Hippo]

Good morning everyone

 

I’m with Chrisf about tea, although most of the places I go, seem to give you a cup with a tea bag in and you just help yourself to milk and sugar.

The cafe at the Monkland cheese factory near Leominster makes pots of tea to order....with loose tea leaves.

 

You are provided with a strainer.

 

I shall call there for lunch en route for the Cardiff show.

 

After that it will be a trek over the Brecon Beacons which will be delightful compared with my visits in a previous occupation.

[Judge Dread]

Tea or coffee, I realty don't care being ex railway but these days I drink the latter. In my days of installing telephones the order of the day was "Don't refuse the offer of a drink from the subscriber, but you don't have to drink it"!

Now if it is "beeroclock" that's a different matter!

[bbishop]

Morning awl (just),

 

Coffee is drunk black and strong, tea is drunk black and weak and ideally with lemon.  Coffee is easier to procure within these constraints so is the drink of choice.  Certainly first thing in the morning when I require an infusion of caffeine.

 

On another front, my GP has acquired funding for a minor surgical procedure.  Nothing serious but it's annoying and occasionally painful.

 

Keep well all, especially Mal,

 

Bill

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The bin wagons dawn chorus has been and gone, together with the bin bags. I am a tea drinker and though I am not a great coffee lover I will drink it when in countries where it is the normal beverage as tea in many of those places is dire. In fact the only place I have visited where both beverages can be found to a reasonable standard is Malta which has both British and Italian influences. The best coffee I have tasted was in Ypres, in a small cafe named Sante. I use leaf tea in a filter teapot, I don't use teabags because the bags are mostly plastic. I'll have to check out (pun unintended) the tartans as there are several Scottish surnames in my family history, one of whom moved to the west country and changed their surname in the 1500's. This was at the time of Mary, Queen of Scots and there is ample evidence of involvement with the 'establishment' so it might well be political. Thats it for now, be back later.

[TheQ]

The cafe at the Monkland cheese factory near Leominster makes pots of tea to order....with loose tea leaves.

 

You are provided with a strainer.

 

I shall call there for lunch en route for the Cardiff show.

 

After that it will be a trek over the Brecon Beacons which will be delightful compared with my visits in a previous occupation.

Going over the Brecons with full pack is no fun..

[Tony_S]

I think the blend of tea we have is because the teabags compost down much better than the PG Tips we used to have. Tea in Ireland is quite acceptable to me but elsewhere I drink coffee. I only drink coffee rarely at home. I don’t like decaf coffee. When we first had our coffee maker we tried various bean varieties but have settled on one sort now.

My grandmother had a tea urn. It didn’t just contain the hot water, they made tea in it. Mum didn’t inherit the tea urn but did put the tea pot (a metal one) to boil for a couple of minutes after pouring the boiled water from the kettle on the tea leaves. The Co -op 99 tea came out a sort of purplish brown. I am not sure if this was a regional thing or because Mum came from a family of builders and decorators.

Tony

[Tony_S]

Going over the Brecons with full pack is no fun..

The school I went to had some sort of annex for fieldwork in that area. I never went as Mum said we couldn’t afford the boot and equipment deposit. Teachers had to pass some sort of leadership skills before being allowed to take students there. On one outing the person demonstrating how to use an ice axe to stop a slide or whatever managed to impale his own leg. Two of the teachers had to rescue him. Fortunately those two were in TA and had much experience in that part of Wales.

[Rugd1022]

A'noon folks,

 

I shall simply leave you all with this fine illustration of one of the most joyous things known to mankind...

 

 

As you were 

 

 

 

 

[TheQ]

Some days are better than others, my Boss was going to put a multimeter in the scrap bin. No longer required in the factory, but in full working order.

 

 But he offered it too me first..   It currently sells secondhand for about £600 uncalibrated or £100 a month for hire, calibrated...

 

It's been superceeded but the Model we sell now is.....£17,000

 

Checking a 12v psu for muddling to 6.5 digits it's such a low standard..

 

Ah well , back to checking a current shunt to 7.5 digits...

Edited January 24, 2019 by TheQ

[shortliner]

I guess I'm about to upset a lot of people - for many years I drank coffee, and then , one day and for no discernable reason. I switched to tea - and not just tea, but the powdered, freeze dried tea in a jar from PG Tips, and have remained with it ever since - I do have a cup of chocolate in the evenings, and my other half is a confirmed drinker of STRONG coffee