Early Risers.

[laurenceb]

Happy anniversary to Mrs& Mr NB

 

[roundhouse]

4 hours ago, bbishop said:

 

Input?  Output?

Bill

It may have gone in green but definitely didn't come out that colour

 

Afternoon. 

 

Best wishes to those ailing and those with family ailing. I am currently playing Enya through the various Alexa's around the house - brings back memories of our late friend who had requested Enya at his funeral. That as nearly 4 years ago. I currently have his Florida East Coast loco out using it as a template to do my one to match his. All I have done to his is to fit the horns that he had in the box, touch up flaking handrail paint and fit a sound decoder inside.

[81C]

4 hours ago, 81C said:

Morning All 

 Nuffink  to say.

                   enjoy your day  bye bye.

Hi

 Now in a better mood it took me the best part of 5 minutes to log on and get to this page I honestly forgot what I was going to write this forum doesn't seem to be improving it's gone back to the bad days when it was pot luck  to log on.

Please would some one alert me when or if  things improve via a PM it flags up on my email.

Grassiarse

 

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, BSW01 said:

Stewart, I've used Farrow and Ball paints for a few years now and not had any problems with painting over prepared oil paint before. It's a very hard wearing pint and very low odour too! 

There is very little need for paint, as opposed to vinyl emulsion type stuff in this house. For the doors and radiators I used Farrow and Ball eggshell. Went over whatever was on before and was very easy to apply. It was so eco friendly a certain dim spaniel stuck his face in the can.  The Farrow and Ball paint has been better on the radiators than stuff sold as radiator paint too.

Tony

[The Stationmaster]

Hmm, sometimes the dropped piece of bread & jam lands the right way up.  Just had a call from TH offering first refusal on a second week on the ship at a rather very substantially discounted price (c.35% off).  So it would have been rude to refuse as long as the Good Doctor is at home to keep the cat fed & watered and mucked-out - she is so I bit their hand off.  So a cheery second week mooching round the outer reaches of the Thames Estuary will probably be in the offing plus a few nights alongside in Harwich.

[Tony_S]

We had just got back from lunch when the phone rang and it was our travel insurance calling. They had decided to pay out on a claim. 

Last year we were supposed to go on a holiday to Italy. This would have been the day after returning from Ireland following Matthew’s funeral. Aditi thought she would claim for the cancelled trip, her logic being it could pay for a memorial bench in the geography garden. The insurance were very difficult and I found it quite upsetting that they seemed to think we had booked a holiday in 2017 for 2018 in the knowledge that our son could die. So last April they conceded they would pay the claim when we were able to provide a death certificate stating cause of death. We did this but they started up again asking for stuff we couldn’t provide. For Aditi this was no longer about money but dealing with incompetence and insensitivity.

I can see why she was considered to be quite fierce on behalf of her students. 

One of Aditi’s comments to the company after another request dealt with last year, “You do realise that Ireland is another country?”  When they said they had no record of Matthew’s long term condition she pointed out he had been in the policy until he was 23 and had declared everything. They then said they had no record of the email sent to us a year ago so Aditi asked if they would like her to forward a copy. Even yesterday there was a strong implication we should have not booked a holiday with Matthew’s condition, even though it was apparently well controlled. It was frustrating and upsetting but it is all over now. 

Tony 

[Gwiwer]

4 hours ago, laurenceb said:

Happy anniversary to Mrs& Mr NB

 

And a good deal of best wishes to Debs.

 

Evening all.  Not a bad day in the overall scheme of things.  The cheque was retrieved from the sorting office and taken to the bank.  The chap at the sorting office also confirmed that the service paid for requires the signature of "addressee only" though was surprised to find me collecting a letter not a parcel.

 

So that's that and we have closure on the parental account.  180 years between them on the planet, 65 together and 62 married.  They are now in our treasured memories and their long-time home is in new ownership.  That leaves me with a handful of modelling vouchers and Saturday free of other calls on my time.  I can feel a trip to the Palace of Alexandra getting closer.  I shall stock up on deodorant and backpacks.  Who else is coming and is there a meeting time and place?

 

We have done some sums and have had a first-advice session at the bank.  It's no great amount but will leave us clear of debt, owning a house in Australia outright, set up for hopefully many years to come and with more left over than we thought as the cheque was in a rather larger sum than I had been led to believe.

 

My parents were quiet but loving, generous people who instilled their values into their children.  When Dad was unemployed he gave his last pennies to keep us children as happy as he could.  He clawed his way back from the financial abyss more than once.  In respect of that and in their memory I have chosen six close and long-term friends with whom I wish to share the love.  Each is being offered an identical sum either as a donation to a charity of their choosing or cash in hand to do with as they please. They have supported me and SWMBO, have respected us and offered the same sort of love and generosity as my parents did, and they have picked me up and dusted me down when I have needed it.  Most have had it tough themselves at times.  It won't even make a dent in the total.  But my parents were always working to bring about change for the better and however the monies are used I know they will bring about the sort of change (either personally or to those benefitting from charity work) they wanted and I have always supported.  

 

Now more mundane matters beckon.  It's time to staff the kitchen and make a piece of food.  

 

Best wishes all.  

[chrisf]

There is an unwritten tradition that inmates of ERs attending Ally Pally gather in some sort of social conclave but such is the level of excitement this year - zero - that if a time or place to meet has been announceed the word has not reached me.  Last year, I recall, we hid among palm leaves near where the beer is even more expensive than it should be.  Despite the virus infection that I brought home from New Zealand I'll be about on the Saturday but at the moment I'm barely functional and cannot be relied upon to organise anything.  If I can find it I will be wearing The Tie.  You have been warned.

 

Chris  

[grandadbob]

All being well I will be there on Saturday. The only thing that could possibly put the kibosh on that is the roofing works not being finished and roofers being here or scaffolders striking the scaffold. If contractors are here then I want to be as well although chief roofer Dave seems fairly certain that they should be finished by then and it would be unusual to be here on a Saturday. I live in hope. 

[Tony_S]

15 minutes ago, chrisf said:

There is an unwritten tradition that inmates of ERs attending Ally Pally gather in some sort of social conclave but such is the level of excitement this year - zero - that if a time or place to meet has been announceed the word has not reached me.  Last year, I recall, we hid among palm leaves near where the beer is even more expensive than it should be.  Despite the virus infection that I brought home from New Zealand I'll be about on the Saturday but at the moment I'm barely functional and cannot be relied upon to organise anything.  If I can find it I will be wearing The Tie.  You have been warned.

 

Chris  

Ordinarily I would be happy to lurk among the palm trees and drink some beer (even if some didn’t approve of my chosen variety!). However as some of you know I had a chat with Matthew via Skype that morning last year and although the official date of death is a few days later it is almost certain he passed away while I was at the exhibition. This year various members of the family are coming over to spend the day with us.  We won’t be miserable but although we are frequently sad we have to remember that although his life was short it still had a beginning, and middle in addition to the end. 

If any of you do go I will look forward to seeing opinions of the layouts etc.

Tony

PS

Matthew wouldn’t have been that interested in the trains but he always liked chatting about beer. 

Edited March 19, 2019 by Tony_S

[Coombe Barton]

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2019/03/19/sandys-chemo-day-84-and-some-more-of-147/

[JohnDMJ]

3 hours ago, chrisf said:

There is an unwritten tradition that inmates of ERs attending Ally Pally gather in some sort of social conclave but such is the level of excitement this year - zero - that if a time or place to meet has been announceed the word has not reached me.  Last year, I recall, we hid among palm leaves near where the beer is even more expensive than it should be.  Despite the virus infection that I brought home from New Zealand I'll be about on the Saturday but at the moment I'm barely functional and cannot be relied upon to organise anything.  If I can find it I will be wearing The Tie.  You have been warned.

 

Chris  

 

3 hours ago, grandadbob said:

All being well I will be there on Saturday. The only thing that could possibly put the kibosh on that is the roofing works not being finished and roofers being here or scaffolders striking the scaffold. If contractors are here then I want to be as well although chief roofer Dave seems fairly certain that they should be finished by then and it would be unusual to be here on a Saturday. I live in hope. 

I thought I'd suggested this earlier, but how's about 12:30 at some Gaugemaster stand on the Saturday?

[newbryford]

I will be at AP all weekend, mostly on a predominantly blue stand.......

 

Work was worked until 8.45pm on the project.

Hoping that a good session tomorrow will see it done, with plenty of time to play trains test.

 

Have a good day of the week before Thursday, but after Tuesday.

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

This morning’s Sainsbury’s Grand Prix took me less than an hour and that included a visit to the butchers for some chicken for tomorrow nights curry and about 15 minutes travelling there and back in the car. Once back home, I unpacked the bags and put away all the shopping then made myself a muggertea. After that it was off to Waitrose, despite being accompanied, we weren’t there long and were back home just after 12.

 

After dinner I made the curry sauce for tomorrow and I also made a vanilla and raspberry cheesecake. Once that was done I sat and had a quick read of the RM that I picked up this morning.

 

Goodnight all 

[Barry O]

Cricket umpired.  No problems.

Goodnight all.

 

Baz

[BlackRat]

What a day.....! Spent most of it chopping up 2 old (2002) sofas that apparently didn't fit in with the new colour scheme.

 

That it took several hours is a testament to their quality. Paid over £2k 15 years ago and still as goid as new.

 

Couldnt give them away! 

 

Ended up buying a cheap reciprocating saw ( it was cheaper than hiring one) and made 2 trips to the dump with another still to go.

 

Managed to de-stress by finishing off a cut down Bristol LS bus which is required for the new service from Carrick Road to the nearby Navy Barracks.

 

A cold glass of San Mig sealed the day.

 

Night all.

 

 

[laurenceb]

Night awl 

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Made a start on the final clearing of the shed today, its surprising how many screws and masonary nails came out of the brickwork. The concrete floor has been covered using off cuts of flooring chipboard, it is badly stained where oil has been spilt on it but I have some old carpet to cover that. Muggatee awaits, back later.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

It is a nice bright, but cold morning in this part of the world.  The temperature is down around -2°C but it is crystal clear.

 

There isn't a lot else to report, so have a good day everyone...

 

 

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

For the time being at least, I am feeling much better than of late.  Part of this is down to the singer Chris Wood who gave rather a good concert at The Stables last night.  I must find room in the hessian carrier bag for five more CDs!  Tonight sees the Area Group meeting, one of two per annum held in Bedford.  When the last one took place I was in Sydney and look forward to learning what happened, if anything.

 

Thanks to JohnDMJ for giving us a focal point at Ally Pally on Saturday.  I'm sure we will be able to put the world to rights whether or not there is overpriced beer to help us and a year away from palm leaves will do us no harm.

 

Those who hang upon my every word will know that my e-friend Harry is due to start a new job on Monday.  What he describes as e-commerce turns out to be with Amazon and is to be remunerated almost twice as handsomely as his previous situation with Sainsburys.  How much of the package is to cover stress and burnout is a good question but I'm not sure that I want to know the answer.  As far as stress is concerned, prevention is better than cure and I hope that he does not learn that the hard way.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Dry start and it should stay that way with some warm sunny spells.

Pleased about that as it means the roofers should get a lot more done. Said he, hopefully.

Neil, we're quite lucky here in the Land of Sutt as our local council will do bulky waste collections. Up to 3 items cost £30 and £50 for up to a total of 6 items. This includes furniture, white goods and electrical items. Found it very useful in the past.

A(nother)  brief shopping trip is required first thing, after that who knows?  I certainly don't at the moment.

Have a good one,

Bob.

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl Inner Temple Hare,

 

An odd nights sleep I woke after 4 hours looked at watch, decided to lie there for a bit, then decided to get Up as I couldn't get to sleep only to find it was another 2 hours later..

 

Noting the above notes about sofa etc,

The British heart foundation will collect such Items for free according to their adverts..

 

North Norfolk council charges £38:50 for 1 to 3 items, £46:50 for 4-6 Items £58:50 for 7-9 Items +£9:50 for each item above that.

 

In my case I have got sufficient tools to take anything apart, but the only things I've had problems with were old spring matresses, so I put them on the bonfire then once burnt put the remains in the bin. 

SWMBO, Her Mother , me moved in together, plus we found some furniature still in this house and mobile home when we arrived. So we had lots of  spare old chests of drawers, tables ETC, they are all now under the layout or cut up to provide wood for other things..

 

Well I finished my bit of the Major system yesterday, but with the launch of the new product coming up, a common calibration software is being put on all the systems to do the old and new calibrations.. That wasn't yet complete when I went home so, that adventure may come shortly.

 

The Chinese system spent all day plodding along. with occasional interventions from me, thre is about 2 hours left of the first run, but I note there are at least 2 sections needing a re run.

 

Roadworks, one set has been and gone but another set is about to appear.. on the 1st April...

 

Time to ...check for company spam the head to the lab..

 

 

 

 

[grandadbob]

Re British Heart Foundation they will only collect furniture that complies with current fire safety regs and has the appropriate label attached.

 

https://www.bhf.org.uk/shop/donating-goods/book-a-free-furniture-collection/fire-labels

 

 

Edited March 20, 2019 by grandadbob
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