Early Risers.

[Coombe Barton]

2 hours ago, Kingzance said:

For all the arguments about the planet, my opinion is that the historical correlation between global average temperature, carbon dioxide levels and population is so close and strong as to be undeniable. Given the planet has limited physical resources, it clearly cannot cope with a rapidly expanding population, particularly one in which so many citizens believe that everyone else is the problem, we are all to blame. More babies are surviving as are more elderly people and the “load” of supporting them falls onto a smaller proportion of the global population.

May I quote that (with attribution) in my lectures?

[Kingzance]

19 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

May I quote that (with attribution) in my lectures?

John, please feel free. I fear that those of a more educated persuasion may believe it is the fault of those who have not been so lucky of course....

[Coombe Barton]

2 hours ago, Kingzance said:

John, please feel free. I fear that those of a more educated persuasion may believe it is the fault of those who have not been so lucky of course....

Thank you - its value is that it is a quote - not something I've concocted.

I could even take your original, use it as an essay question and add the word "Discuss."

Edited November 18, 2019 by Coombe Barton

[Gwiwer]

We had a run-in with the TV licensing people once.  Despite being in possession of a current and perfectly valid licence in my name and at the address to which I held title they called after I ignored two letters.  I was threatened at the door and was not allowed to go inside and produce the licence which they assured me I did not have.

 

After having the door slammed in their faces they reappeared an hour later with a police officer.  I showed the licence to the police officer who asked the officials what the problem was.  They continued to assert it was not a valid licence even though I managed to offer proof of payment and identity.  Ten minutes of this and "Plod" had had enough.  He marched the licensing officials away muttering something about "Wasting police time".  

 

We received a court summons.

 

I copied it all to our local MP and received a hand-written reply within the week.  I later also received the closest thing to an apology TV licensing ever offer and the waiver of the fee for the subsequent year in respect of the "distress and harassment" their officers had caused.

 

Moral of the story - if you're right stick to your guns and whilst these people have teeth they are not above the law.  

 

In other news SWMBO has retired to bed feeling a little sore and uncomfortable which is the first time she has complained of that since ending the prescribed pain relief.  And I am putting my feet up with a cuppa after yet another Moan-day Morning Debacle at the House of Fun.  Caused this time by the failure of signals to signal.  Tomorrow might also be interesting as we have just received a warning of Yellow Freezing Fog with an included message about "likely transport disruption".  Hmmm.  

[Tony_S]

We too have had the yellow fog warning for tomorrow morning. Perhaps I will wake up late and miss it. I haven’t heard fog horns locally for quite some time. The ones on Queen Mary 2 were rather loud if you were out on deck. 
Never had a tv licence problem but my parents had a problem with a gas bill they ignored. It was for £0. 

[roundhouse]

When I was waiting on the platform at Redhill this morning there were a dozen Network Rail /Govia staff (some wearing Great Northern hi biz.. Err viz etc.) measuring the distance from the signal to where the shorter sets stop and talking about replacement of fittings. So I guess that's been part of the recent problems at Redhill. However most trains were running close to time whilst I was there.

 

Ian A - my other half would love to have a Charger but not at the cost it would be to have one shipped and maintained over here. Was nice driving one a few years ago as a free rental upgrade.

 

A few shots taken today before beer o'clock kicked off.

Edited November 18, 2019 by roundhouse

[Tony_S]

8 minutes ago, roundhouse said:

hi biz 

Pinstripe suit and bowler hat?

Edited November 18, 2019 by Tony_S

[Debs.]

18 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

We too have had the yellow fog warning for tomorrow morning.

Are many other colours of low-lying cloud, available? 

Edited November 18, 2019 by Debs.
Cant spell too well todsy

[Ian Abel]

8 minutes ago, roundhouse said:

Ian A - my other half would love to have a Charger but not at the cost it would be to have one shipped and maintained over here. Was nice driving one a few years ago as a free rental upgrade

They are nice, plenty of giddyup - great for swiftly passing the morons other commuters I encounter on Long Island parkways/hwys.

There were also a couple of really nice Ford Mustang convertibles available also, but I decided that was a waste as this week the weather is forecast to be carp, certainly not convertible weather <sigh>

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Mention of global warming reminded me of this take on the John Lewis ad that I posted a couple of days ago.

 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9do5DWA_hnI

I have my bag packed ready for Warley, I hope I've got everything.

Edited November 18, 2019 by PhilJ W

[Tony_S]

23 minutes ago, Debs. said:

Are many other colours of low-lying cloud, available? 

Orange and red. Only red sky has a rhyme though. “Red sky at night , Basildon street light” is appropriate for our western sky...

[The Stationmaster]

Afternoon all,

 

With the gentle smell of curry emanating from the kitchen an enjoyable dinner is in prospect.  And once again lunch time success was achieved with the mushrooms and bacon but I do wonder what might be at the root of my leg cramps at night - hope it isn't because I do like mushrooms and bacon.    

 

Talking of legs etcs the other day I noticed that one of Charlie's paws, which appeared to have a wound in it, was swollen and rather warm to the touch, not that he was keen to let me touch it.  He has duly been to see the vet this afternoon and on arrival an abscess on his paw burst before the vet could even attend to him.  Seems he had a bite on his paw and we all know the culprit as only one other cat has been anywhere near him in the past few weeks, his mum.  The next thing we will be finding out about is how easy it is, or my likely isn't, to get him to take a pill - for now he has retreated to his man cave under the stairs.

 

TV licence demands seem at times to have been based on a bit more than detector vans.  Back in Westbury days we received a whole succession of licence demands for one of of our signal boxes and we could only conclude that 'they' knew about it because it had a national BT 'phone line because there was nothing else to give any hint of a tv set.  And we knew the Signalmen weren't using one because I was more than familiar with that sort of wheeze and how to find the thing if there was one there as I was well into unexpected cupboard rummaging at irregular intervals at the 'boxes on our patch plus how to arrive unannounced at remote signal boxes.

 

post not completed as curry intervened - and very nice too.

 

Enjoy the rest of your evening/day

[Debs.]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Orange and red. Only red sky has a rhyme though. “Red sky at night , Basildon street light”

"Red sky in the morning......

 

......your shed's been on fire" 

[Ozexpatriate]

12 hours ago, AndyID said:

Indeed they certainly could work to some extent. I happen to know this because I worked on some stuff that I can't go into about "hardening" VDUs to prevent nefarious actors reading screen information by RF means.

Yes, all those "tempest"-rated two up, two downs would foil the detector vans.

 

Actually that makes me wonder whether there were official procedures for clandestine facilities like safe houses. Presumably they had good RF shielding anyway - though perhaps not in the early days.

 

I wonder how many times TV detector vans were used as a plot device for the many cloak and dagger TV shows of the 60s and 70s? It seems like a natural fit. Too close to home perhaps, or have all the 'stake out vans' in contemporary police procedurals made me try to project backwards? The Wikipedia page only mentions the cat detector van in the Monty Python "Fish License" sketch and an episode of The Young Ones.

 

I wonder if they were more effective in the days before television sets became ubiquitous and the combination of poor shielding and the challenge of isolating an individual unit was less difficult.  I note the Wikipedia page says they were demonstrated in 1952. I remember multiple documentaries correlating the rise in purchases of TVs with HM's coronation in 1953.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, Ian Abel said:

There were also a couple of really nice Ford Mustang convertibles available also, but I decided that was a waste as this week the weather is forecast to be carp, certainly not convertible weather <sigh>

Ford has announced the electric Mustang Mach-E. I'm sure it goes like the clappers but sadly the pony car is now a crossover utility vehicle.

 

For people who still like petrol, there's the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 with a 760hp, supercharged 5.2l V8. 

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land, Trying out the new computer (yet again). Still got to get a few more things on to it and link it to the printer. 

[New Haven Neil]

Evening.  Mad day at work.  R/C fit on a new model not right, factory hadn't followed the instructions (as in where to put the holes etc) , not mine this time but those of a more experienced friend in the bizniz.  He was a bit rude about the factory this afternoon, as he was also fitting one up.  

 

ChrisF, it dawns on me who the 'organiser' is ;-)

 

We also had the threatening trilby wearing TV Licence Inspectors at the door, demanding we buy a licence - for the TV we didn't have presumably.  At the time  (1984 - just bought first house) we couldn't afford such a luxury!  Mrs NHN was up to the threat, and told him to, er go away.  Jerkily.  Not a gurl to mess with.

 

No trains tonight, playing safe.

[New Haven Neil]

Oh, GDB, I have the answer - O Gauge!  You have the space, and the odd toy IIRC......

[roundhouse]

3 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Mention of global warming reminded me of this take on the John Lewis ad that I posted a couple of days ago.

 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9do5DWA_hnI

I have my bag packed ready for Warley, I hope I've got everything.

Brilliant

[PhilJ W]

You'd be surprised at some of the lengths that people would go to to avoid the detector van. My favourite was an igloo of chicken wire and aluminium foil. It did work but only one or two people could watch the TV at one time. His biggest problem though was a reaction between the chicken wire and the foil which disintegrated into a powder which once it got into the set started burning. Result one burning TV having to be removed from the house rather rapidly before the whole house went up.

 

[New Haven Neil]

IIRC the detected emissions were radiated back up the aerial - from a friend who worked in the TV business, the transmitters in his case.

[Gwiwer]

Quote

 how to arrive unannounced at remote signal boxes.

You could only do that once.  Maybe.  There was a trick known to signalmen and those among us who were invited into various 'boxes by the "Bobby" on occasions.  A discreet lifting of the box-to-box phone six times would produce six clicks at the receiving end.  Had six bells been sent on the block instrument the bobby might have been working his last shift and on a serious charge given that no obstruction nor danger existed.  But six clicks on the phone was understood to mean - as the local Cornish boys would say - "Specked az bowt"   At which point anyone without reasonable business in the box would be hastily ushered out and told to "Go that way".  In the opposite direction to potentially prying eyes.

 

Evening all.  I have benefitted from an insertion of pumpkin gnocchi in an olive-rich pasta sauce laced with chopped spare goose asparagus.  Washed down with a very respectable glass of Red Laughing Water.  SWMBO baked apple cake for yesterday's afternoon tea and we finished this with clotted cream for dessert.  It doesn't solve the problems of small trains not behaving but it does make one feel better from the inside out.  

 

Conversation has been had with Former Neighbour (Upstairs) who is finding the transition from study to career more challenging than she expected, though not more than I had suggested would be the case.  We are overdue for a chat over dinner but she is very short on time.  It will happen.  Eventually.  

 

 

[Gwiwer]

8 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

IIRC the detected emissions were radiated back up the aerial 

I have detected all sorts of emissions over the years but none has been radiated up an aerial

[jamie92208]

Evening all.   A good day has been had and another 150 miles driven. Various widgets to complete the new bathroom were purchased in Angouleme.  Lunch was taken on the station and some trains were seen.  Then to Saintes and Beth who was discharged today at the 4th attempt. None of the hosptals limbs knew what the other was doing. Eventually the pot was removed, the leg re X rayed, various prescriptions were given and the surgeon arrived to tell us what was happening.  Unfortunately  this only occurred when I convinced Beth to stay in the bed until all those things were in place.  She is now home and in bed. There are several things to arrange in the morning.  

 

Rick, I hope that Sharron improves.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[Simon G]

Evening all.  It has been a bitterly cold day here today, although it was sunny all day.  I have just returned from the MRC and it is now -2 degrees outside where we are close to the sea and about -4 inland.  Half way through our MRC meeting, we had a sudden invasion of 6 people all dressed in Hi-Viz.  sadly, it wasn’t an influx of new members, but the Labour Party candidate for Copeland out canvassing with an entourage.  I think that they were so happy to get in out of the cold for a while that they didn’t seem to try too hard to get us to vote for him.