Early Risers.

[TheQ]

evening awl, 

Just back from the MRC,  where everything I planned to do was done.. 

It was chuckinitdarn on the way there as it had been doing most of the day,  on the way back it subsided to a mere drizzle..

 

For some reason my back has been playing up today,  pink pills have been taken.. 

 

Tomorrow will include fitting a RCD to the garage supplies,  and a plug to the new distilled water maker.  Where as the old one looked like a large thermos with fan in the top,  this one looks distinctly industrial,  pipes, taps  and a drip outlet into a hopper.. 

 

Time to eat some cheese and biccies with my choccy.. 

 

 

[Kingzance]

18 minutes ago, PeterBB said:

On a computer - no way of catching up so many pages so congratulations and condolences as needed.  Have missed the use of a computer and likely to be a similar feeling in the near future. SWMBO says that I should buy a new one ... we will see but all I hear about PCs is not good and Macs are expensive ... would really interfere with a well know activity of those who use this site.

 

Skimming through I saw some mention of adverts on this site ... I hadn't even noticed that we had them but on looking yes adverts do appear.  Like the idea of 'Gold' but much prefer to read things in print rather than screen ... its also much easier to go back to check and then return directly to the correct page and of course reliable computer and something called 'bandwidth?'.  Apple seems to think that I am at least two major OS behind as my machine cannot update them and as for updating MS Office for Mac ... why do we have less availability and greater cost ... but my version cannot be updated because of my old Mac OS.

Latest versions of Mac’s equivalent of Word, Excel and PowerPoint will open docs in those formats and will export them in the Microsoft format too Peter. I was running Office for Mac 2013 but that doesn’t work on a 64-bit platform and I won’t pay Microsoft more for something I rarely use and can work around. My MacBook Pro is late 2013 and bought as an Apple Refurb unit but is well spec’d and has served me very well - I hope that saying so hasn’t jinxed it! I am a convert from PCs, wouldn’t go back to any form of Windows now.

[Gwiwer]

Evening all.  Home-made burgers-with-the-lot were enjoyed and washed down, in my case, with a Doom Bar.  Gusty bits earlier which were nothing to do with my cooking; they rattled the trees loudly enough though.  A quiet evening in with the accompaniment of Mamma Mia Here We Go Again on the idiot box.  I can't say I watched it but there are several worms of the ear variety contained therein.  SWMBO pronounced it "cheesy".  

 

I have determined that a vacancy exists for a drinking buddy.  Just social and occasional but it's not easy walking into the locals alone and SWMBO is not at all interested.  Applicants should be young, single, female and of greater girth than a stick insect .  Or in fact anyone who might enjoy a drink and a chat now and again.  

 

Friday night is club night at Twickenham MRC but I have to be honest and say that that idea hasn't really grabbed me; no particular reason that I can put a finger on although the location isn't easy to get to though I have been given a lift before now.  I'd rather be out enjoying a beer or two if I'm honest.  

 

There is no need to set an alarm for the morning but with SWMBO already abed and my eyelids drooping it's got to be time to switch the internet off and turn on the anti-snoring pump.  

 

G'night all.  

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, roundhouse said:

Tillamook air museum is well worth a visit. This was taken inside the hangar back in 2013.

It was a bit sparse this time. Neither of those Naval aircraft were there. Is that a Lockeed PV-1 Ventura / PV-2 Harpoon in the foreground? I'm struggling to see details on the blue fighter in the distance. F4F or F6F maybe?

 

I last visited Tillamook many years ago and it was really excellent. This time, not so exciting for the collection of older aeroplanes, unless you like MIG-17s. There were two.

There was a very beat up collection of larger aircraft including an F14-Tomcat, A7-Corsair along with a C27 Spartan cargo 'plane. A Naval Air Station seemed like a good place for the retired Navy jets.

 

It's worth a visit for the historical perspective but the collection seems to vary a lot.

Edited February 28, 2020 by Ozexpatriate

[newbryford]

2 hours ago, JohnDMJ said:

From experience, get yourself down to Boots (other suppliers may be available) and purchase a bottle of Geremolene New Skin Liquid Plaster. Just paint it onto a (preferably moist) wound and (at least for me) will reduce any scarring and form a good seal to the outside world.

 

Superglue was available - but declined

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, roundhouse said:

Its a great view at Cape Kiwanda, Haystack rock is good too.

From that angle, we might have stayed in the same room. Cape Kiwanda is my happy place on the coast. (It's one of several, but we could call it the "happiest".) I've been going there since 2001.

 

Your view is remarkable for the absence of cars in the car park - even at that early hour, there's usually some surfers. Winter storm surf has been fierce this year and there is a lot of beach erosion. The vehicle ramp to the beach was closed. (Earlier in the season and further north a father, son and daughter were swept out to sea by a sneaker wave. The little girl died and her little brother was not recovered.)

 

Some time back there was a conversation about barrel aged beers. Here is an example through the front window of the Pelican brewery at the Pub.

The observant can tell that these are French (oak) casks, I'm presuming they previously aged Pinot Noir. Noting the fill date of February 4, 2020, I asked about them but was told they were empty and the beer, now sold out, turned out (somewhat unsuccessfully I suspect) as a gose after aging for two years. Wires may have been crossed in this conversation.

 

I did bring home a couple of bottles of their "Father of Tsunamis", bourbon barrel aged stout. (I did not rave about the tequila barrel-aged, cream ale on tap, but the rye stout "Cape Crasher" was excellent.) 

[newbryford]

1 hour ago, leopardml2341 said:

Don't, for goodness sake tell him how much that stuff stings.

 

 

 

Sadist..............

 

[laurenceb]

Mick, - OUCH!!

Night awl

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone

 

The rain lasted for most of the day, only stopping an hour or so after the sun went down!

 

As I anticipated, this morning’s Trafford Centre Grand Prix didn’t take long, I left home just after 10 o’clock and was back for just after 11:15 and that included calling in at the butchers! Once home and the shopping was packed away, I made myself a muggertea and set up the old laptop and amended the circuit diagrams to match those of the circuit boards that had been built. 

 

James and Amelia came round for tea, a nice change as they haven’t been able to make it for the last few weeks due to other commitments. As usual, we sat and chatted after tea, generally about nothing in particular, but it always ends up about their 2 dogs.

 

Once they’d gone home, we had a quick tidy up and then sat down and opened a bottle of Malbec, that really hit the spot.

 

Goodnight all 

[The Stationmaster]

Evening all,

 

The cold seems to be retreating a bit so I have reduced the level of chemical warfare.  We have also been treated to a new street lamp - a 4 day process -

Day 1 - excavate around a far part of the existing one but be careful to leave enough to keep it upright and erect crowd control barriers to keep the onlookers at bay.

Day 2 - lift out the old one, put in the new one, come back and put the new lamp on the top of the new post and reconnect.  New light in operation at end of day 2 - much brighter with a better spread and presumably using less energy.

Day 3 - Complete backfill at round new lamp post and remove most of the barriers.

Day 4 (today) replace any tarmac pavement that had been dug out and remove any remaining barriers.

 

No doubt there will be another day to come when the posts will receive their finishing coat of gloss paint and have  ID numbers applied.  There will henceforth presumably be a need for regular paining unlike the concrete posts which have been removed,  and had nothing done to them since the day they were planted.

 

Added to this we have more exciting news on the Corona, sorry virus flavour, front.  you will be pleased to hear that the Oxford University Hospital Trust has told all its frontline staff the things they need to watch out for to assess if a person has the virus.  Meanwhile the lad's employers have appointed a Coronavirus Response Executive who will no doubt pontificate in the coming days which might lead to working from home for as many staff as possible, the company have already banned travel until mid March, the ban is due to be lifted two days before his ladship is booked to go to Geneva - we shall see.  In the meanwhile there is some hope among younger members of the family that the results of this year's football season will be declared void if remaining matches are cancelled.  This is particularly relevant for them as they support Norwich City who are sitting very firmly in bottom place in the Premier League  -

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Ozexpatriate]

We've had nice early spring-like weather for the last couple of days with temperatures flirting with 15°C.  (Not coincidentally why I planned a quick visit to the coast.)

 

Despite the marine fog at the coast this morning, the valley was sunny when I returned home. On the way home I saw a gent stopped at a light in an immaculate Jaguar (XK140 or XK150) roadster in British racing green. It looked stupendous in the bright sunlight. While it was a nice day for open cockpit motoring earlier, the forecast clouds have now arrived. It should rain tonight.

 

My high school chemistry teacher had a maroon MG A roadster.  We teenaged pupils drooled over it. By the 1970s such vehicles were already uncommon, but not particularly rare. I don't see them on the road very often now.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[grandadbob]

Bloody hell, I go out for a few hours and this happens!

 

Mick, I'm actually  really proud of you. You have obviously taken note of all my advice and experience over the past few years and faithfully put it into practice! 

 

In other news a splendid evening was had celebrating Joe's birthday. So much so that it's taking me twice as long as normal to type this tripe.  It also took me a long time to catch up on the umpteen posts on here since this morning. Might be something to do with the celebratory liquids I have taken onboard.

 

Whilst out I received an email from a very nice lad called Dan at Derails telling me they had some more Rockets available. I steamed in and ordered online on my phone (not without difficulty) and I believe I may have procured the last one. Only time will tell but I live in hope. 

 

Night awl,

 

Temporary optimist of Sutton.

 

 

 

Edited February 29, 2020 by grandadbob

[Ozexpatriate]

On 27/02/2020 at 08:20, The Stationmaster said:

However things are clearly getting bad in respect of the coronavirus round here as can be judged from Tesco's action - seen in the photo below - to reassure customers and help trade along.  Whether it will work is another matter because the stack had not diminlshed between my two visits.

It may not be coincidental that the Corona Extra was on sale at Tesco's. 

 

Sales are flagging. (Though the hard charge of hard seltzer into the US fizzy boozy water market probably has a lot more to do with that.) 

 

A late night comic recently trawled up the old saw about such beverages:

Q: Why is <insert your light alcoholic beverage here> like making love in a canoe?

A: They're both f'ing close to water.

 

Ironically in at least two Corona TV commercials, they are using its transparency as a selling feature - placing a bottle over a light source (a smart 'phone in one) for mood lighting. Personally I prefer to drink beer. Transparency is not what I look for in a beer.

[AndyID]

14 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Think of it as a land bound aircraft carrier.

 

HMS Sanderling was one of them. I remember seeing quite a few planes with foldy-up wings there. It's now Glasgow Airport.

[roundhouse]

5 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

It was a bit sparse this time. Neither of those Naval aircraft were there. Is that a Lockeed PV-1 Ventura / PV-2 Harpoon in the foreground? I'm struggling to see details on the blue fighter in the distance. F4F or F6F maybe?

 

I last visited Tillamook many years ago and it was really excellent. This time, not so exciting for the collection of older aeroplanes, unless you like MIG-17s. There were two.

There was a very beat up collection of larger aircraft including an F14-Tomcat, A7-Corsair along with a C27 Spartan cargo 'plane. A Naval Air Station seemed like a good place for the retired Navy jets.

 

It's worth a visit for the historical perspective but the collection seems to vary a lot.

Mig 319 was there in 2013.

 

This Tomcat was in good condition.

 

And this  was outside in use on the day.

 

 

[Barry O]

A grand day has been had.

 

Breakfast was immense! And  lovely! Rain had stopped so we walked to the station museum..the preserved signal box is very LNWR.

 

Then a walk down to see the guys at Ateam Incorporated. They very kindly took us around the workshops. 

Apparently there was a big shake up in the NZ Railway Inspectorate..everyone admitted that things needed to change..but..this has virtually reduced excursions to zero. Shame as the locos and stock seen today were immaculate.

 

Then a trip on a Wellington tram or two at Queen Elizabeth Park. And the sun is blasting down still!

 

Now it must be beer oclock.

Grab the day when you arise good ERs. Time is against all of us!

Baz

[Ozexpatriate]

21 minutes ago, roundhouse said:

Mig 319 was there in 2013.

 

This Tomcat was in good condition.

The Douglas Dauntless was not there yesterday.

 

I didn't photograph the F14 up close. It is visible to the left of the image below. It didn't look as nice as in your image. The doors at both ends of the hangar were closed and it was pretty dark inside. Thanks to the low light capabilities of my 'phone camera, the image looks better than it did to my eyes.

 

Were the north end doors open during your visit? It looks like they have turned the F14 around since your photo. The museum entrance is on the left hand side of the image above.

 

Edited February 29, 2020 by Ozexpatriate

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl,  5 hours sleep so far

Time to roll over and try for more.. 

[Ozexpatriate]

The State of Oregon announced a presumptive local case of COVID-19 and is considered to be a community transmission. An additional test by the Centers for Disease Control will confirm whether this case is indeed COVID-19. 

 

While privacy laws restrict more information, this person lives in my county and has had extensive interaction with a local elementary school.

[roundhouse]

30 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

The Douglas Dauntless was not there yesterday.

 

I didn't photograph the F14 up close. It is visible to the left of the image below. It didn't look as nice as in your image. The doors at both ends of the hangar were closed and it was pretty dark inside. Thanks to the low light capabilities of my 'phone camera, the image looks better than it did to my eyes.

 

Were the north end doors open during your visit? It looks like they have turned the F14 around since your photo. The museum entrance is on the left hand side of the image above.

 

They had the doors open. Looks quite a bit emptier than when we were in there.

 

The lightning had its own hangar and full workshop of its own.

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, roundhouse said:

The lightning had its own hangar and full workshop of its own.

No Lightning either. According to Wikipedia the P-38L Tangerine is now in Madras.

Quote

44-27083 Tangerine – based at Erickson Aircraft Collection in Madras, Oregon

 

Current roster is listed on the website.

 

I should look for my photos from years ago.

 

My way home passed the Evergreen Museum in McMinnville.  Evergreen is home to the Spruce Goose and a large collection - much bigger than the last time I visited. Back then they had a B17 parked under the tail of the Spruce Goose. (It fit there.) There are 50's jets out front that I don't think were there last time.

 

I was tempted to stop in but wanted to press on home. I think I will head out there next week.

 

Edited February 29, 2020 by Ozexpatriate

[JohnDMJ]

Apparently, this image:

 

 

has gone viral on farcebuk.

 

7 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

Superglue was available - but declined

 

I'm of the understanding that this is the sort of thing for which superglue was invented - a method of repairing a 'small' wound without resorting to stitches.

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

Yesterday BT sent me a new router.  This is an unexpected pleasure.  It gets on well with the laptop whose speed of operation has improved significantly.  Now I have a not very old router to return to BT in the green plastic bag provided.  The last time I had a new router I did not quite get round to returning the old one.  With any luck a quick trip to the post office will see both bits of apparatus happily on their way to whatever Valhalla is the final resting place of decommissioned electronic equipment.  While I am there I will check that the price of postage stamps is indeed about to rise and act accordingly.

 

Another piece of proactivity may happen today.  In a week or so there is a stage presentation of “The Navy Lark” at my local theatre.  This will be too good to miss.  I just hope that the new webshite is better than the old one, which would not be difficult.

 

Life is full of pleasant surprises.  Earlier this week I was on the fodder run in my local Tesco when I discovered a delicacy that I had no idea was on sale.  Bread pudding!  The absence of this commodity from the otherwise excellent cake stall at Wycrail back in November caused no little sorrow so I treated myself.  The presence of this food of the gods in my house will cause a great strain on my willpower.  I suspect that resistance will be futile.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris