Early Risers.

[81C]

Morning All

Sunny and bright with clouds on the horizon 

Today is tidying up day I have so much paperwork for the house sale etc I thought it would be best to file it in date order in folders.

The wheelie bins are half empty and the collection is tomorrow so more junk from the garage will go into them I'm 50% boxed up now it's

just the day to day stuff that wants packing which the removal company will be doing for me.

Must get on enjoy your day Casey Jones 

 

GDB are you going to the Ewell Show ????

[Simon G]

Things not going to plan so far this morning.  Yesterday I refitted the radiator in the hall where the replastering and decorating has been done.  However, there was a very slight leak on the joint between the radiator and control valve.  So far this morning I have made three attempts to fix this leak with pipe tape, but all to no avail.  I think that the next course of action is to drain it back down again, and clean up the joint with a fine emery paper and try again.

 

Also the refitting of skirting boards is ongoing, and despite having marked everything out, one piece ended up a couple of millimetres out when fixed.  Some filler will be required to remedy this.

 

All this has severely tried my patience, so am taking a coffee break!

[tetsudofan]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

REQTZ OPZYV  VXDLN BMDUS VQXPL KIMGF CVNTF POQRV JFLNS

 

Don't you just love Enigma!

 

 

Seeing all the codes reminds me of my time with The Chartered Bank (now Standard Chartered) in Hong Kong in 1966/67 when one of my jobs was Telegrams Officer.

 

Had to be up at the crack of dawn to decode all the messages received overnight from Head Office in London for presentation to the Branch Manager at 9:00am. In many cases it just meant deciphering the first word in the message to authenticate the message but in the case of strictly private and confidential messages it meant deciphering each word for which purpose there was a big code book which had to be kept under  lock and key when not in use.

 

The day finished decoding all the outgoing messages. It was a long day!!

 

Keith

[The Stationmaster]

G'day all,

 

Fascinating to read that someone uses whisky barrels to age beer when the whole point of using secondhand barrels to age whisky is to add colour and flavour to the neat spirit, colourless, spirit.  Leaves me wondering what the barrels were used for before they were used for whisky as some of the original 'taste' would presumably still be in them so if they use several different types of secondhand barrel to age the whisky does that give different flavours to the beer when the barrel gets its third use?  For example one well known Scottish malt whisky is aged in barrels previously used for sherry.

 

Back to the mundane and I'm happy to report that all three bin rounds have been completed but the beggars left behind the bag of old clothes/material they are supposed to take on recycling week.  All a bit too much for the poor lad perhaps or maybe he gets a different set of instructions from ours?  Currently not too cold but rain promised for later although interestingly my recently injected knee is not supporting the forecast offered by Exeter's seaweed - not that I'll miss that particular capability in my knee!

 

And interesting to see that 'The Q's employers appear to have latched onto the 'Christmas Party' tax benefit (one greatly exploited by companies involving a certain bearded chap whose brand adores various aeroplanes) wherein  staff benefits' such as Christmas parties, or works outings etc paid for or subsidised by the company are tax deductible and the tax saved is that paid by the company and not individual employees.  So when in receipt of such freebies it is also amusing to wonder if the cost of providing them for the firm is less than the tax they are not having to pay.  The bearded one was very good at it doing such things as holding a garden party so the company got the tax benefit but paid him expenses for laying it on - no need to wonder how some people get rich

 

Have a good day one and all and hoping the recovering (various) continue to make positive progress (and that superglue is effective on keratinous substances )

[Sir TophamHatt]

Wow.

What a morning!

 

Had four telephone calls - more than I've had in the last 2 months!
Put away new timetables, stored new blank ticket stock and put the useless company phone on charge.

And I thought Wednesday would be a quiet day!

 

However, heading out after work to deliver some locos I've sold, which means I can buy a Hornby Peckett later; even though I'm a diesel sort of person, it's a cute loco!  It may be my last steam one though.

 

Got to fill in a hole in the wall when I get home though, so have to scavenge in the garden for a bit of brick to fill it as much as possible.  Cold enough for a fire tonight though, maybe...

[Tony_S]

Aditi is on her way home from her art society lecture to collect me to join up with her art friends in Basildon to see Shaun the Sheep. The art lecture was about “representations of ‘the perfect gentleman’ “. I wasn’t invited!

Tony

 

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from LBG where it is distinctly cold outside.

 

Mrs and Younger Lurker enjoyed the Shaun the Sheep film when they saw it at half term.

 

The year end work still drags on and I am now running late - but as I am effectively doing most of the work on my own this year, it is not too much of a surprise. I have a meeting tomorrow morning where the auditors are supposed to sign off as much as possible. That is not going to be so much this year.

 

I suppose I had better stop hanging around on here and go and do some more ...

 

but in the meanwhile best wishes to John and also to Sharon.

[Kingzance]

32 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Aditi is on her way home from her art society lecture to collect me to join up with her art friends in Basildon to see Shaun the Sheep. The art lecture was about “representations of ‘the perfect gentleman’ “. I wasn’t invited!

Tony

 

Re the art lecture, was the presenter a certain Mr Dan Gleebits? Hat, coat, door.....

[Happy Hippo]

Scrolling through the various tabloids the other day I found that you need a CAA licence to operate any drone above 250 g in weight.  There is an upper limit, above which you need a commercial licence.

 

Having a few spare moments, I decided to take the flyer only test.  (If you are an owner you have to pay a £9 fee pa to register your airframes.)

 

 5 minutes later I now have a bit of paper with a reference number from the CAA that states I am a competent remote pilot.

 

Those longer serving ERs will remember my little drone that disappeared and was never found again, so my newly gained competency is probably rather subjective!

[Happy Hippo]

This forum has a wielder, of a very long, sharp awl

Mentioning your models will lead to your downfall.

Using code or even blanks will not save your skin.

Utter numbers by mistake and the great awl slides right in.

Literary skill will save you, but only if you've brains

Remember, stay on topic, and never mention trains!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 6, 2019 by Happy Hippo

[Coombe Barton]

1 minute ago, Happy Hippo said:

This forum has a wielder, of a very long, sharp awl

Mentioning of trains on here will lead to your downfall.

Using code or even blanks will not save your skin.

Utter numbers by mistake and the great awl slides right in.

Literary skill will save you, but only if you've brains

Remember, stay on topic, and never mention trains!

 

rem

 

 

 

 

That's two strikes

[Happy Hippo]

3 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

That's two strikes

I was hoping for a bye due to the literary 'skill'.

[Kingzance]

19 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

That's two strikes

Has the Great Awl taken on a deputy? Could that be due to an anticipated increase in attempts to “slip one under the wire” as this forum approaches 200K entries or simply to identify the odd nascent poet whose verse doesn’t scan?
Were it not for falling foul of this censorial group, I would proffer that I will be entering the space dedicated to my model railway after consuming a muggertea.

Have a nice day y’awls.

[TheQ]

Did you miss me?.. probably not, the entire in house network went down for 20 minutes so I couldn't do any work.

When it did come back I had to demonstrate some measurements to the man from UKAS.. nerve racking... you bet..

As it is the measurements went well within the uncertainties yippee..

 

Tine for some time sheets bye for now..

 

 

[grandadbob]

7 hours ago, 81C said:

GDB are you going to the Ewell Show ????

 

If you mean Tolworth Showtrain Bob I'm intending to go on Saturday.

 

In other news time has been spent in The Shed and no damage incurred by me or anything else but progress so slow it's almost stationary.  Had to answer the front door while The Boss was out (repeater bell in Shed). Friend and neighbour from the next road advising us that another friend and ex neighbour (also ex schoolmate of The Boss) has just died 5 weeks after being diagnosed with the Big C.  She and her husband lived next door but one and moved to the South Coast several years ago. We usually meet up a couple of times a year and were due to call them to arrange a pre-Christmas drink. What with ex neighbour next door dying last week I'm rather hoping things don't happen in 3s.

 

Tea and cake now, then back to my soldering iron. It's going better now that I've started using a new and different reel of solder.

Edited November 6, 2019 by grandadbob

[Debs.]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

I was hoping for a bye due to the literary 'skill'.

 Nope, you actually get 50% demerited, for trying to be "too clever by half", with the Enigma post. 

[Gwiwer]

3 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Fascinating to read that someone uses whisky barrels to age beer when the whole point of using secondhand barrels to age whisky is to add colour and flavour to the neat spirit, colourless, spirit.  Leaves me wondering what the barrels were used for before they were used for whisky as some of the original 'taste' would presumably still be in them so if they use several different types of secondhand barrel to age the whisky does that give different flavours to the beer when the barrel gets its third use?  For example one well known Scottish malt whisky is aged in barrels previously used for sherry.

So far as I am aware whisky barrels are normally former sherry barrels and also there is something of a shortage of good ones.  

 

SWMBO is improving steadily and has been home for around 24 hours now.  Technically that means I no longer have to remain at her side observing and ready to perform tasks as mundane as picking up the dropped tissue or lifting the muggertee into her hand.  

 

Currently she has a social visit in progress from wife-of-senior-director.  When the needlepoint came out and the vampire movie was switched on as "background" I excused myself, washed the tea-cups and shuffled quietly into the computorium.  

 

There is pain at intervals managed by prescribed medication but few other lasting symptoms.  Sundry aches due to the procedure are abating and the effects of anaesthesia are fully worn off.  She has nothing but praise for the hospital and staff with whom she interacted.  Compared with her experience of the public hospitals in Melbourne she says this has been absolutely outstanding care and far beyond what she expected.

 

Stress levels are also showing signs of reducing as she comes to terms with having the procedure behind her and some accurate measurements of her blood pressure and other vitals which have been better than the GP suggested.  

 

In other news there is a boring job to be completed soon.  I need to pass a wire through a board which requires a 5mm hole to be created.  Maybe another day though it can't wait too long.  The supermarket has delivered.  The laundry is still the launwet but is required dry before this evening if I am to parade in correct uniform tomorrow.  We'll get there.

 

Thank you to all those who have offered - and continue to offer - kind thoughts and support.  It has been very much appreciated.  

 

All the best best to all ERs.  

 

 

[81C]

23 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

 

If you mean Tolworth Showtrain Bob I'm intending to go on Saturday.

 

 

 

That one as well 

Edited November 6, 2019 by 81C

[Happy Hippo]

40 minutes ago, Debs. said:

 Nope, you actually get 50% demerited, for trying to be "too clever by half", with the Enigma post. 

Ooops.

 

In that case it might be bye-bye if I'm not careful!

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I hope talking of someone else's model railway is OK especially as that someone else is an 11-year-old with learning difficulties. I am talking of the £10 layout, all that was required to run trains was a bit of track cleaning. The rest of the layout needs a good clean as well as the locomotive emerged from one of the tunnels festooned with cobwebs! Club night tonight but no modelling will be taking place as its still out with the decorating tools.

Edited November 6, 2019 by PhilJ W

[Coombe Barton]

2 hours ago, Kingzance said:

Has the Great Awl taken on a deputy?

No, just proving I could count.

[AndyID]

7 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

 make the parsley sauce (using French not English Persil) and then plate up and serve. 

 

A much "cleaner" taste I find.

 

US Persil is a bit different from UK Persil. According to the TV ads it's pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable.

 

 

Edited November 6, 2019 by AndyID
Speeling

[Debs.]

25 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

........hope talking of someone else's model railway is OK especially as that someone else is an 11-year-old with learning difficulties. I am talking of the £10 layout, all that was required to run trains was a bit of track cleaning. The rest of the layout needs a good clean as well as the locomotive emerged from one of the tunnels festooned with cobwebs! 

 Brilliant, it's surely got to be known as the "The tenner ghost train" layout now. 

[AndrewC]

17 minutes ago, AndyID said:

 

A much "cleaner" taste I find.

 

US Persil is a bit different from UK Persil. According to the TV ads it's pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable.

 

 

Now this list is turning into a soap opera.  
 

hat, coat, etc

[Debs.]

4 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Scrolling through the various tabloids the other day I found that you need a CAA licence to operate any drone above 250 g in weight.  There is an upper limit, above which you need a commercial licence.

 

Having a few spare moments, I decided to take the flyer only test.  (If you are an owner you have to pay a £9 fee pa to register your airframes.)

 

 5 minutes later I now have a bit of paper with a reference number from the CAA that states I am a competent remote pilot.

 

Those longer serving ERs will remember my little drone that disappeared and was never found again, so my newly gained competency is probably rather subjective!

By pure grammatical extrapolation; may we now offer congratulations (relief) that you are no longer 'incompetent'?