Early Risers.

[Coombe Barton]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

A friend at work had to write an urgent (aren't they all?) technical document etc etc.  In the middle he inserted the following:

"Mickey and Minnie went to the Fun Fair, and on the way home they both had Candy Floss"

At a subsequent meeting he asked if everyone had read the document (they all had, apparently....) and if anyone had any comments (only one had).  He then had great pleasure in pointing at each in turn and saying "You haven't read it....you haven't read it....."

Only one person had a comment - he asked what flavour the Candy Floss was....

Game, set and match....

If anyone remembers the early-ish IBM laser printers they occasionally, inexplicably, missed pages, which led to manuals have "This page intentionally left blank" on appropriate pages.

I wrote a manual which had some "This page unintentionally left blank."

It wasn't spotted.

Edited November 27, 2019 by Coombe Barton

[AndyID]

Amazingly the generator started! Unfortunately the tank had petrol adulterated with that expletive ethanol and the tank is now a bit rusty. I removed the old fuel and flushed the tank with meths to get the water out.

 

The tank now has ethanol free petrol in it. I need to get more and add some fuel stabilizer too.

[AndyID]

15 minutes ago, brianusa said:

Never was big on TG.  If you weren't raised with the holiday, it doesn't mean so much, so roast beef for dinner tomorrow.  Christmas is more traditional for us, so half a turkey breast with all the trimmings, Brussels sprouts, roast spuds, pud, mince pies and a little libation, followed by very little!

     Brian.

 

I see it falls on a Thursday again. (It was a few years before I realized it's always on a Thursday.)

 

We have a similar attitude. Not a big deal for us at all although we did get some lamb chops at Costco.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Done my bit this evening (painting) on restoring the club house. We are losing one of our longest standing members, his house was compulsory purchased for redevelopement and the compensation was not enough to purchase a similar property. So he and his wife are off to their new home, a bungalow in deepest Wales early next week. He has a number of layouts most of which will be making the journey to Wales but one layout has been donated to the club.

[Barry O]

Goodnight all!

Baz

[newbryford]

12 of 14 work days done.

Today was very "bitty" as we were short-staffed due to a rota cock-up, so I was on phone call helpline, email helpline, sales and occasional helper to the warehouse staff as well as my normal job.

No point in carrying on with longer term projects that  needed relatively uninterrupted attention, so it was on with the small tasks that could easily be picked up/put down.

 

Bits of wood have been cut, then screwed and glued together in readiness for assembly into a layout extension

So in the end - it was actually a productive day.

 

 

Postal vote received. Postal vote completed.

Just need to post it.

 

Have a good Thursday folks.

 

Cheers,

MIck

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

Evening all,

 

Hair has been cut (me), 'done' (Mrs Staionmaster), I have been chiroptacted, and we both got slightly dampened by the rain.  Tesco was also shopped.  The local road network is in near melt down due to various road works and attendant temporary traffic lights resulting in people taking different routes to avoid them and simply adding to the queues at the regular traffic lights - I managed to avoid most of the mayhem when collecting Mrs Stationmaster from her hairdresser to head to Tesco but it required a bit of thought to work out the least congested way of doing it.

 

Tomorrow I might take a slightly earlier train than I need to  which might hopefully lead to me travelling to the big city on an IET instead of a 387 because one is temporarily covering a 387 diagram.  In a few weeks time the same main line connection becomes one of those 'makes me very cross rail' attempts at a train - what come down.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

The Christie has been visited and the results of last weeks blood test have been obtained and discussed with the doctor, who we’d not seen before and was very pleasing to the eye, I swear the doctors get younger every time. The results although not bad, were a little disappointing as my PSA level has once again gone up. It is now 7.46 and 15 months ago it was less than 0.7. They are still not overly concerned as it is still below 15. It’s the rate of change that they are watching and so they will continue to monitor me every 3 months. On my way out I booked my next 2 appointments, both are in February, one for a blood test, the other for the consultation.

 

Once home it was back it was get the kettle on and make a brew. I then sat at the dining room table and planned the veroboard layout for the 555 timer circuit.

 

Tonight we had Ava, Evie and Max round for tea, which tonight was fish and chips, which went down very well, so well that Max said he wants it for tea when it’s his turn to choose next! The last few weeks Max has been very well behaved and we think it was down to the fact that we tore a strip of him last time me misbehaved, but also that his mother did too!

 

After I’d got back from dropping them all back home and we had a quick tidy up, the  night was rounded off with a catch up on some recorded TV and a pint of Wychwood Goliath.

 

Goodnight all 

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, brianusa said:

Never was big on TG.  If you weren't raised with the holiday, it doesn't mean so much, ...

It is an odd holiday, truly very uniquely American in nature with it's own revised and laundered history - like most holiday traditions.

 

While I was married (to an American) I found it very enjoyable. We hosted the family Thanksgiving dinner many times. Without the incentive of familial traditions and the gathering of extended family it loses much of its appeal.

 

I will spend this year with my son's older brother and his family. While I was married he was my stepson and I think of him as my son. I am looking forward to spending the day with him. I will watch the evening NFL game* with him. His little brother is doing something unconventional. He is having a lunch at a Chinese restaurant with his wife's colleagues.

 

*  Much like Sundays at this time of year, there are now three NFL games broadcast on Thanksgiving. There will be almost non-stop NFL and College football games for the next four days. Thanksgiving is the final weekend of the regular college football season, ostensibly so the student athletes have time to prepare and attend final exams. Conference finals are next weekend.

[Tony_S]

We had an easy trip over to Bexley. Aditi’s former colleague was very pleased to see her. We admired the baby and had a nice lunch. I finally saw the south London parakeets flying about. The journey back was slow but not a problem.

Aditi said her talk this evening went well but her computer failed halfway through. As the battery was now totally flat I suspect the extension lead she had been supplied with was faulty. The pc started charging properly at home so it was ok. 
Tony

 

[BR60103]

We plan to see New York's Thanksgiving Snta Claus parade tomorrow.  We went out this morning to where the ballons are prepared. We were early, so had a tramp and lunch in Central Park. When we returned, we found major street closures and a lineup to tour the balloon inflation. Skipped that, but were allowed to go down one street to get to the subway.  It is still uncertain what the balloons will be allowed to do tomorrow due to gusty winds.

Being Canadian, we had Thanksgiving a month ago -- harvest comes earlier in northern climes.

 

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

Last night's show and tell evening blended fine examples of m*d*ll*ng with the box of bits that I brought.   One has to have aspirations.  One of my less realistic ones is to find a parking space near the house when I return from an evening out.  Will someone go to work early and make room for me?

 

Later this morning - well, not that much later - I must stride purposefully to the station, possibly via 'Spoons for breakfast.  I am bound for East London and a gathering of Brains Trusters.  I am flattered to have been invited and will sport an appropriate T shirt.  If I get back home in time I am spoilt for choice, between a concert of klezmer music and the monthly LGBT group meeting, to which we are asked to bring something to share.  This time it's bonfire food, whatever that is. 

 

If there is no movement on my winter fuel payment, I have looked up the helpline number.  I will not be afraid to use it.

 

Best wishes to all, especially Brainstrusters

 

Chris 

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

We have another rather mild morning in this part of the world.  There was some quite heavy rain overnight, and we still have occasional showers.  Not a nice day to be outside!

 

7 hours ago, AndyID said:

Amazingly the generator started! Unfortunately the tank had petrol adulterated with that expletive ethanol and the tank is now a bit rusty. I removed the old fuel and flushed the tank with meths to get the water out.

 

Interesting that Ethanol made the tank go rusty, Andy.  I haven't heard of that before.  Is that because it attracts water or is it a variation on the diesel bug?

 

I've heard about this from the boating community.  With the increased amount of bio-fuels being used, various microbes of fungi and algae will start to grow at the interface between diesel and any condesation or water (which is almost inevitable in a diesel tank - particularly on a boat).

 

Obviously, this won't be a problem if the diesel is burnt quickly enough, but it can become a problem if the diesel is left for longer periods.  There are now additives to kill the diesel bug before it can clog filters and cause damage (including corroding tanks and engines).

 

Have a good day everyone...

[roundhouse]

Have a good Thanksgiving those of you across the pond.

 

Good morning to everyone else.

 

Already been in the shed to airbrush new N scale container wagons that I picked up at Warley.

 

The latest decoder installation has ground to a halt as the sound decoder was working at each stage of wiring up then it developed a short. Its now been removed and tested separately but its faulty so that will have to go back. Definitely wired up correctly into the loco though.

 

WIll be off to station this morning then into London for the day, hopefully avoiding the GW Worms. Other half was delayed last night due ot a points fialure near St Pancras, cancelling half of our trains with the rest being late.

Edited November 28, 2019 by roundhouse

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Dry outside at the moment but a cloudy day and more rain is forecast.

Busy afternoon yesterday sorting out various Christmas decorations, testing lights and binning some old stuff.

Earlyish start for us today as The Boss wants to go shopping early. This suits me as I need to phone the dental mechanics to see if I can get a quick appointment as a troublesome fang is misbehaving. I have a feeling it won't be able to misbehave much longer.

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

[Barry O]

Ey up!

What a surprise ! (Not!) Front garden full of water. Today should see a fizzbang when a small elecrical sub station is flooded. Perhaps that may finally get the people who own the flooded playing fields to sort out their ground drains.

 

Her indoors is off "volunteering " today so I am free to do more train related work or ...write our Christmas cards.  The two for friends in Oz will be done today. Who knows about the others!

 

Time for my mugatea first though.

Positive thoughts to all who ail!

Baz

 

Edited November 28, 2019 by Barry O

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, Inner temple Hare, 1102/688

5 hours solid sleep. plus an hour and a half plus some dozing on the sofa... It wasn't until I'd been on the sofa some time I realised something.... I hadn't felt anything from my back in the normal stumbling downstairs ...most unusual..

 

Diesel bug, yes my motor boat suffered from it. The problem is most motor boats / and sailing boats with diesel auxiliaries . Don't use their engines much over the winter, the breather brings in damp air all the time as air pressure and temperature changes. So it gets into the tank collects in the bottom and at the junction of the water and diesel the bug grows. You can get chemical bug killers which aren't 100% effective. So every time I go to the boat, I have my own fuel polisher I built, it pumps the diesel out through a water collector, then a filter , then back to the tank. I leave than on whenever I'm at the boat and not going anywhere.

 

Work, today there are three special use resistor boxes, that need calibration, then I'll see what next after..

 

Dreich, proper Dreich it is, heavy drizzle with added mist, that means over 24 hours of continuous precipitation.  Our own muddy hollow has reduced a bit but out on the road the tarmac is keeping the puddles full size. The Upper Bure areas from Coltishall to Aylsham to Melton Constable ( the former Crewe of the East) have flood warnings out...

 

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

 

[Dave Hunt]

Morning All. Once muggocoffee No. 2 is down the hatch it's off to the medical centre for our 'flu jabs.. that's about as far as plans for today have got.

 

Regarding fuel bugs, some years ago there was a problem with a type of jet fuel we used in the RAF, for some reason that escapes me now particularly in Hercules, that produced a sort of slime in the tanks and gave trouble with clogged filters, gunned up pumps etc . Eventually an additive was found that cured it but I can't remember any more details. 

 

Have a a good one and remember the wise words of Baz about carpe.

 

Dave

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Yet another day where it is raining, I think that’s the third on the trot now! I’ll shortly be setting off for my swimming session, but this will be the last until January, as the pool is closing for some refurbishment! After that there is nothing planned, an afternoon of rest, probably more vero-board planning, or even some MERG kit building. 

 

Back later. 

[tigerburnie]

Morning all, we have brightness, don't need lights on in the house today, a large round thing in the sky seems to be the source of said brightness, I may venture out with the camera and explore.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Chris mentioning WFA reminded me that my letter re. the same arrived on Monday. As the letter usually arrives after the money has entered my account I will have to check my monthly statement when that arrives in a few days time. Yesterday an item arrived in my spam folder telling me that there was a problem with my TSB account. The only problem from my point of view is that I hav never had a TSB account so in the spam folder it stayed, but not before blocking the sender.

[eldavo]

12 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

If anyone remembers the early-ish IBM laser printers they occasionally, inexplicably, missed pages, which led to manuals have "This page intentionally left blank" on appropriate pages.

 

 

If the printer missed a page how did "This page intentionally left blank" get printed on it?    ;-)   

 

Certainly in the world of IBM pages were left blank so that manuals could be put together in sections in 3-hole ring binders and later updated (all too frequently).

 

Cheers

Dave formerly of the blue suit

 

Edited November 28, 2019 by eldavo

[Coombe Barton]

2 minutes ago, eldavo said:

If the printer missed a page how did "This page intentionally left blank" get printed on it?    ;-)   

You never wanted to find a blank page. If you did it was a two-day tracking effort to find out what should have been on it.