Early Risers.

[pH]

2 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Tea has been taken up to The Boss who seems to be stirring.

 

I would have thought you would have done that before you took the tea up!

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

We appear to be having the same weather as Alan, sunshine and blue skies. Breakfast has been consumed and the filter on the water jug has been changed. So I'm now off to the cellar to wipe down the towel rail and start applying some paint. 

 

Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. 

[iL Dottore]

8 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

My sister runs a care home.

No C19 reported there, yet the residents still expire.

That’s something that has been forgotten, many of the deaths attributed to COVID-19 have been in elderly people with significant comorbidities and (sadly to say) about ready to expire anyway. As callous as it may sound, modern medicine, whilst saving lives of those with potentially years of productive living ahead of them, also keeps alive people who - in a medically simpler age - would have been long dead (until recently, Pneumonia was sometimes known as “the old man’s friend” carrying away as it did the frail, ill and weak every winter! )

 

Perhaps we should ponder on the following:

LIFE: 100% Morbidity, 100% Mortality, All care is Palliative AND it’s Sexually Tramnsmitted!

 

7 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

.. I checked the order page and found I had failed to "uncheck" the box which defaults to "Weekly" ...

 

6 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

...I've accidentally ordered two identical model locomotives where I only wanted one. The supplier was kind enough to accept a return, though reasonably, the return post was at my expense.

Been there, done that, got the (duplicate) T-Shirt. I know that many (but not all) online shopping services have an order confirmation page where you must (or can) check your before clicking on the send/pay, but I suspect many times we are distracted by that frisson of excitement that besets us in anticipation of our purchase and we fail to check the order.

Given that so much is purchased via Amazon and given that they have Alexa, perhaps, when we are ready to make our Amazon order, Alexa could pipe up and ask “do you really want to order 40 BR Class 4Os?” Could save us a lot of money in the long run...

6 hours ago, laurenceb said:

On the subject of vaccinations there was a news feed this afternoon reporting another study that again said that there is no link between MMr and autism, Will the anti vax people shut up now? Pigs flying past seem more likely

No, they won’t shut up. Many of these people are like religious zealots: cajoling, browbeating and threatening others to adhere to their dangerous doctrine. Why the UK and the US don’t make vaccinations compulsory and mandatory - like many other countries - I don’t know. Presumably, it’s all about “personal liberty” (sic), yet both the US and the UK have in the past imposed requirements and regulations on an unwilling populace when it has been deemed necessary for the good of the country. There’s precedence for such things, so why not with vaccinations?

5 hours ago, brianusa said:

...Anti vaxers are a group unto themselves and what they believe in.  Who in their right mind would believe their nonsensical reasons for not having their children vaccinated!

    Brian.

Brian, I believe that this is just one of the things that has emerged from a widespread anti-science, anti-knowledge attitude that (I believe) has accompanied the rise of fundamentalist religion. Coincidence? Probably not.

5 hours ago, laurenceb said:

Autism was around before MMR. When people spout such rubbish as "Measles is just A minor virus" you have to wonder who is brain dead. Sorry if I sound harsh, measles nearly killed me

Sadly, very true. Measles is still a killer in places with poor vaccination, Mumps is incredibly dangerous to a developing foetus (amongst other things) and the list of very nasty diseases that have (almost) been eradicated through good hygiene and/or vaccinations is impressively scary. Without a modern approach to hygiene and vaccinations then these diseases could (would?) come back with a vengeance and make the coronavirus death toll seem quite minor. (Hand-washing is especially important: it’s frightening to note how many times I’ve observed in public loos people leave the cubicle after defecating and then exit the loo without washing their hands. If this is any guide to their level of hygiene, then we’re in the sh1t - literally).

Incidentally, the bacterium thought to be the cause of the “Black Death” (Yersinia Pestis) is still around and still kills a number of people each year.

5 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

...Whatever else comes out of the current situation I don't see how we can avoid some changes to the airline industry with what many is claiming will be a contracted economy...

There are two things I hope will result from the current situation: the end of the dirt-cheap short haul flight (£15 one way? You’ve got to be kidding) and the resurgence of the railways for both passenger and freight traffic (although I realise that the UK will have immense problems in getting its rail network up to scratch). With realistically priced flights (inevitable if aviation fuel gets taxed, which I understand isn’t the case now) we would have less of the “let’s fly to X this weekend and get p1ssed” travel which can only be of benefit to both the environment and the cities that have been blighted by this sort of tourism.

4 hours ago, newbryford said:

A 4-6-0 and a Paneer (copyright NHN).

That's pretty much all of the G*R fleet covered then..................

Hey Pal! No one mouths off in front of me about the sainted Brunel’s creation and gets away with it! (I am tempted to say “outside! Now!”, but I am a Gentleman...)

As the injured party, I demand satisfaction! Shunter’s Poles at Dawn, Swindon Station!
However, despite my injury, I am a reasonable man and would accept from you an apology in the form of a sizeable donation (5 figures) to a GWR charity of my choice.

(Voices off: “calm down, iD, calm down. The poor man likes diesels, clearly the sign of a disturbed mind, be charitable towards the poor fellow. So back off, iD, back off!”) 

And on that pugnacious note, I bid you all a good day

iD

[bbishop]

Thank you to Flavio for a coherent and thought provoking contribution.  By the by, I always use a tissue to exit from a pub or public toilet and have been using sanitizer from the middle of February.

 

However I thought that "Castles" were a Highland Railway class and that "Panniers" were SNCB class 51.

 

Bill

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Bright dry and sunny this morning if still a bit breezy. I know its breezy because the fence panels are rattling, I'll have to find some scrap wood to make wedges out of to keep them still.

4 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

Raining in more ways than one I imagine. Crude oil futures went down to MINUS $40 dollars on the US Stock Exchange today. They are running out of places to put the stuff.

It just shows how the world has become dependant on oil and other fossil fuels.

 

28 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

 

 

Brian, I believe that this is just one of the things that has emerged from a widespread anti-science, anti-knowledge attitude that (I believe) has accompanied the rise of fundamentalist religion. Coincidence? Probably not.

Sadly, very true. Measles is still a killer in places with poor vaccination, Mumps is incredibly dangerous to a developing foetus (amongst other things) and the list of very nasty diseases that have (almost) been eradicated through good hygiene and/or vaccinations is impressively scary. Without a modern approach to hygiene and vaccinations then these diseases could (would?) come back with a vengeance and make the coronavirus death toll seem quite minor. (Hand-washing is especially important: it’s frightening to note how many times I’ve observed in public loos people leave the cubicle after defecating and then exit the loo without washing their hands. If this is any guide to their level of hygiene, then we’re in the sh1t - literally).

Incidentally, the bacterium thought to be the cause of the “Black Death” (Yersinia Pestis) is still around and still kills a number of people each year.

 

 

I dilligently wash my hands after using the loo but its not helped by the design/layout of many public toilets. Tesco's and Sainsburys in particular have inward opening doors which means you have to grab a handle to get out. The person who last grabbed that handle could have done a #2 without washing his hands.However I've not noticed anyone not washing their hands since the Covid outbreak started. 

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, Kingzance said:

Ah, did a barrister without briefs develop from a bent brief, a term I remember from one of what to me was the better UK cop shows - The Sweeney?

No it was from ladies who solicite!

 

They have no briefs to save time..allegedly.

[Dave Hunt]

Well, this morning has been free of enforced housework and I've retrieved some earlier cooked items from the freezer for tonight's dinner so I thought, "Great, shed time." As many of you will be aware, though, such thoughts are transparent to the female of the species so up to now there have been a myriad 'when you've got a minute' or 'just a little job, won't take a minute' etc. The minutes have now built up to the stage of most of the morning gone and I've a feeling that going for a walk and other distractions will feature later so while SWMBO is busy chatting to friends on the 'phone I'm going to sneak off shedwards. Wish me luck......

 

Dave

[The Stationmaster]

14 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Yeah!

Greedy hippo

[Dave Hunt]

56 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

However, despite my injury, I am a reasonable man and would accept from you an apology in the form of a sizeable donation (5 figures) to a GWR charity of my choice.

 

I always knew that the Greasy Wet and Rusty was a case for charity.

(at least travel from Switzerland is difficult at present so I may not get a visit.....)

 

Dave

[jamie92208]

Ah the Great Way Round that never got out of the appalling habit of painting it's engines green, unlike a much superior railway that saw the light and went to the proper colour of maroon.

 

Jamie

Edited April 21, 2020 by jamie92208

[Dave Hunt]

1 minute ago, jamie92208 said:

Ah the Great Way Round that never got out of the appalling habit of painting it's engines green, unlike a much superior railway that saw the light and went to the proper colour of maroon.

 

Jamie

 

 Please Jamie, crimson lake (or even just Lake Colour in fin de siecle Midland). Maroon didn't appear until 1946 when it was the colour of the lining in the last LMS livery. I shall let you off this time...

 

Dave

[Coombe Barton]

Going back to bagpipes ...
 

 

[Coombe Barton]

And this is a Ronnie Corbett joke

We've just heard that in the English Channel, a ship carrying red paint has collided with a ship carrying purple paint. It is believed that both crews have been marooned.

[The Stationmaster]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Nothing to do with me!

 

I would only promote the use of working inside valve gear if the boiler above it produces steam, and is not merely camouflage for an electric motor.

 

(Although I will admit to suggesting engineering solutions for getting dummy valve gear to work if it is required by the builder)

Would not such solutions tend to be rather eccentric?

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

That’s something that has been forgotten, many of the deaths attributed to COVID-19 have been in elderly people with significant comorbidities and (sadly to say) about ready to expire anyway. As callous as it may sound, modern medicine, whilst saving lives of those with potentially years of productive living ahead of them, also keeps alive people who - in a medically simpler age - would have been long dead (until recently,

I love all these discussions about older people with health conditions. For some of us we are at the dodgy end of the probability of not doing well if someone infects us.  
The fairly simple instructions about reducing social contact seem too complicated for some. My SiL is the GP in her practice seeing those in the “hot room” (She is the youngest, healthiest doctor)  who they can’t rule out having Covid 19.  Her husband is working from home due to a vulnerable health condition. Their 2 kids are at home. She is also doing the shopping for her parents. I think being crowded in a supermarket yesterday was very stressful for her. She went to another one instead where the management had arranged things better. 
Tony

[The Lurker]

13 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

Yes please!

 

MrsID got a pack of toilet rolls in Costco last week. If anyone is really desperate  we might be able to spare a few.........pieces.

 

 

Potatoes to Idaho? That's like coals to Newcastle isn't it?

[Tony_S]

We just had a phone call from Aditi’s sister. She had to go round to MiL’s. She had done something with her security pendant in the night and also her burglar alarm. Also the sink was leaking. My contribution to the solution was the burglar alarm reset code!  
Tony

[The Stationmaster]

G'day all,

 

Interesting how the followers of railways which painted their engines and coaches a deep shade of pink carefully avoid the fact that the GWR tried doing the same with its coaches for a few years and went back to proper colours.  And possibly not quite so helpfully to Flavio my uncle was a shunter at swindon but I don't think he ver took his pole home with him.

 

anyway to today where we have clear blue skies and sun shine and the morning chilliness is gradually going away.  yesterday's threats of the G and V words were seemingly forgotten and today I have learnt some special brownie points buy recovering from deep storage (on a shelf in the garage) not just the requested one but two humane mousetraps.  Yes, we have cats and that, once again, means we get the occasional mouse when Charlie brings in his trophies to play with and entertain his human staff.  Last time I caught him with a half dead one, this time he managed to lose a live one in the kitchen.  So two traps, baited with chocolate, have been duly set in the kitchen but thus far have caught nothing - maybe Lindt chocolate would be preferred to Cadburys?

 

Enjoy the rest of your day one and all and stay safe.

[petethemole]

I found peanut butter to be the most effective mouse bait; it works on rats too.  If using a live trap, remember that if you release the mouse within about 1/4 mile it is highly likely to find its way back to the area it was living in.  Also mice are very prone to dying from shock/stress, so may succumb to the trauma of being trapped and transported. I had a couple go that way.

[Coombe Barton]

16 minutes ago, petethemole said:

...if you release the mouse within about 1/4 mile it is highly likely to find its way back to the area it was living in.

So take it far enough away and release near someone you don't like

Edited April 21, 2020 by Coombe Barton

[Happy Hippo]

I've just heard that they are opening a new Nightingale Hospital in Glasgow:

 

Known as 'ICU Jimmy'.

[Tony_S]

23 minutes ago, petethemole said:

I found peanut butter to be the most effective mouse bait;

Years ago I had to give one of our hamsters antibiotics.  After the first time she refused so I covered the syringe in peanut butter. Worked every time. 

[Happy Hippo]

41 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

 So two traps, baited with chocolate, have been duly set in the kitchen but thus far have caught nothing - maybe Lindt chocolate would be preferred to Cadburys?

Both rats and mice have a prediliction for Mars bar (as do I).

 

I recall many years ago the Obergumpenfuhrer found a mouse in the fire grate of the sitting room.

 

She objected to my introducing it to a tutu, so it got away.

 

This escape was to prove both messy and annoying, not to forget the downright irritating.

 

Mouse dropping were found in the kitchen cutlery drawer which raised the annoyance level of the housekeeper, but things came to a head when they were also found on the headboard of our bed (And before anybody asks, they were too small to be mine.)

 

A trap baited with Mars Bar was placed in the fireplace and one late afternoon there was a satisfying SNAP as we were sitting in front of the telvision watching Rainbow (with the children).

 

I still miss that Mars Bar!

[J. S. Bach]

9 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

 ...snip...   So two traps, baited with chocolate, have been duly set in the kitchen but thus far have caught nothing - maybe Lindt chocolate would be preferred to Cadburys?

 

Enjoy the rest of your day one and all and stay safe.

A friend has very good luck with peanut butter on the trip pan of the trap. One time he caught two at the same time on one trap.

Edit to correct a spelling error!

Edited April 21, 2020 by J. S. Bach

[Tony_S]

My colleague at a place of work of work identified mouse droppings in our room. Management told us to not eat or leave food in there. I mentioned that mice allegedly liked eating network cables. Pest control called immediately!