Early Risers.

[polybear]

3 hours ago, grandadbob said:

First lot of three bin lorries have been and landfill waste has gone.  Glass,plastics and cans left to go and also garden waste. We share the latter with our friends next door although since I've had the garden relaid we don't use it much. I think Russ must put dead bodies in it judging by the weight when I wheeled it out last night!Have a good one,

Bob.

 

I tend to climb in the top of my garden waste bin (a step ladder helps here...) and jump up and down a bit.  It's amazing just how much it'll compress down.  Best to do this when it's nearly full though, otherwise it's a real bitch to climb out again.  I'm waiting for the day when I get it wrong and there'll be a T-I-M-B-E-R moment as both bin and I go over....

For those who fancy less excitement these may help (no experience of such gadgets though):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wheelie-Bin-Compactor-BinWhacker-heavy-duty-muilti-fit-waste-compactor/164027307860?hash=item2630ca1754:g:C6kAAOSwBi5dvP4F

 

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

Mental turmoil then occured as I  then decided I would need to source an 8 pin socket and wire it into the loco before I could pin the decoder into place.

 

Where do I get one?

 

Hang on a minute Brains!

 

Yes gentle reader, then the penny dropped:  Cut off the 8 pin plug and hard wire onto loco as orignally intended.

 

Doh!

 

Testing the decoder before cutting off the plug could be a good scheme - it'll no doubt screw any chance of warranty claims in the future though.

[Coombe Barton]

2 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Has Rutland declared independence again? Great Britain has three countries. Never sure why the Olympic team is TeamGB rather than TeamUK.

As the full title is the  United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, praise be that we only use the abbreviation rather than TeamUKOGBANI

[Coombe Barton]

3 minutes ago, polybear said:

It's amazing just how much it'll compress down.  Best to do this when it's nearly full though, otherwise it's a real bitch to climb out again.  I'm waiting for the day when I get it wrong and there'll be a T-I-M-B-E-R moment as both bin and I go over....

I worry that you should be mentioning this within the hearing of one GDB

Edited April 23, 2020 by Coombe Barton

[Joseph_Pestell]

7 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Never sure why the Olympic team is TeamGB rather than TeamUK.

 

Because the IOC, very wisely, does not want to get involved in Irish constitutional issues.

[jamie92208]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

What Jamie has failed to mention, is at the rescheduled trial, that charming lady chairman of the bench, was equally charming as she ordered the defendant to receive 100 lashes after being found guilty of wearing a loud check shirt.

What did happen is that Beth was of course on maternity leave and the defendant in one of her cases spent 6 months in Armley until she was able to return and give evidence. No tears were shed.  

 

Meanwhile I've been shopping. The DIY place was open but you handed your order in and they picked it for you. Very efficient  and I got what I needed.  Leclerc's was visited and everything was in stock. When I got home I was faced with a triangle of 3 wonen, all socially distanced chatting in the middle of the road. The words, " when shall we three meet again, in thunder lightning or in rain," may have escaped my lips as I turned in, I am still alive.  No 1 son has been spoken to and birthday wishes have been passed on.    The sun us now out and it seems tbat I will be kawn cutting this afternoon.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

Edited April 23, 2020 by jamie92208

[Gwiwer]

Welcome to Thursday one and all.  

 

A warm sunny morning was spent at the House of Fun where there are ever more people about and most noticeably in the early part of the morning.  They do all seem to be on their way to some sort of work rather than idly passing the time of life so probably nothing to give undue cause for concern.  

 

In order to pass the time between passengers and the extended-interval train service there has been a certain amount of "sport" occurring between dispatchers.  Safely clear of any trains dispatch bats have been used in inter-platform "tennis" matches, "golf" tournaments and even (handle-first) for playing "Snooker" or "Pool" between staff.  I wasn't quite paying full attention to the person opposite at one point in time and took a "catch" straight in the googlies      

 

What was truly amusing to watch was a colleague attempting a golf drive but making a poor effort at it.  My shout of "Fore!!!" caused an unsuspecting passenger two platforms away to instantly duck.  Spot-the-Golfer For Beginners, eh?  

 

The atmosphere has definitely lightened with the better weather and having become more accustomed to how things currently are.  

 

In other news those who know the area will know that the Nero coffee chain has its bean-roasting plant just up-line from the station between the lines leading to Waterloo and Victoria.  At Pouparts Junction for those playing at home.  For a good hour this morning there was the smell of freshly-roasting beans on the air.  If they are roasting again then something is afoot and they may be planning a selective re-awakening.  Which is probably a Good Thing.  

 

I'm off for lunch now.  Corn fritters, streaky bacon, sweet chili and sour cream with a muggerinstantcoffy.   Best wishes to all.  

 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Gwiwer
Corrected the auto-corrupt service. Again.

[J. S. Bach]

A rousing good morning owl from a rainy Peedmont Piedmont.

[Tony_S]

37 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

I tend to climb in the top of my garden waste bin (a step ladder helps here...) and jump up and down a bit.  It's amazing just how much it'll compress down.  Best to do this when it's nearly full

When we stayed in Canada the bins had lids that were supposed to prevent bears opening them. Aditi couldn’t open them either! I think having seen what bears had done to some rather large covered skip things I think bear resistant rather than bear proof would be a better description. 

[tigerburnie]

44 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Has Rutland declared independence again? Great Britain has three countries. Never sure why the Olympic team is TeamGB rather than TeamUK.

R U forgettin' Norn Irn……………………………………?

[PhilJ W]

42 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

 Never sure why the Olympic team is TeamGB rather than TeamUK.

Because the Channel Islands and the I-o-M are not part of the UK but are considered part of GB. IIRC some Olympic contestants have originated in the I-o-M and the Channel Isles.

[jamie92208]

1 minute ago, PhilJ W said:

Because the Channel Islands and the I-o-M are not part of the UK but are considered part of GB. IIRC some Olympic contestants have originated in the I-o-M and the Channel Isles.

It is a real can of worms, yes there are 3 countries on the island if Great Britain, which are all part of the UKOGBANI.  NI is not a country but  AFAIK part of the ancient province of Ulster.  The Channel Islands and Fraggle Rock have already been mentioned so it's a muddle.  It certainly confused the answer writers of Trivial Pursuit who very rarely got British geography questions correct.  The team GB thing grates with me but I can understand  the IOC's position.  Over here we are almost always referred to as 'Les Anglais' so I always insist on putting ROYAUME-UNI  on forms.  When my driving licence form camd back, the issuing authority had been changed from Roaume Uni to DVLA.

 

Rather random thing this morning, as I was oaying in the DIY store the music playing in the background was Mike Oldfield's song, Never going to get to France.  Rather ironic I thought.

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

57 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

I tend to climb in the top of my garden waste bin (a step ladder helps here...) and jump up and down a bit.  It's amazing just how much it'll compress down.  Best to do this when it's nearly full though, otherwise it's a real bitch to climb out again.  I'm waiting for the day when I get it wrong and there'll be a T-I-M-B-E-R moment as both bin and I go over....

For those who fancy less excitement these may help (no experience of such gadgets though):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wheelie-Bin-Compactor-BinWhacker-heavy-duty-muilti-fit-waste-compactor/164027307860?hash=item2630ca1754:g:C6kAAOSwBi5dvP4F

 

 

Testing the decoder before cutting off the plug could be a good scheme - it'll no doubt screw any chance of warranty claims in the future though.

But to do that I need an 8 pin socket connected to a suitable loco

[Tony_S]

51 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

Because the IOC, very wisely, does not want to get involved in Irish constitutional issues.

No. Just checked and as far as the IOC is concerned it is the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic team. TeamGB is a branding name used by the British Olympic Committee. 

[J. S. Bach]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Hang on a minute Brains!

Yes gentle reader, then the penny dropped:  Cut off the 8 pin plug and hard wire onto loco as orignally intended.

Doh!

No, I would find an 8-pin socket  because when you have to replace the decoder, it will be a heck of a lot easier. I suspect that the vendor of the decoder can also supply the socket. Note that any added expense  will be far outweighed by the savings in time, effort, and xxxx when replacing said decoder. experientia docet

[Joseph_Pestell]

1 minute ago, Tony_S said:

No. Just checked and as far as the IOC is concerned it is the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic team. TeamGB is a branding name used by the British Olympic Committee. 

And yet the IOC permit Northern Irish athletes to compete for RoI.

[The Stationmaster]

Afternoon all,

 

Compacting the garden wheelie bin is easy - just use a spade bashed up & down so it cuts and slices and compresses all in one.  Now to the very clever publishers of diaries who like to mark the anniversary of myself and Mrs Stationmaster by referring to some bloke called George, or occasionally the birthday of one Willm. Shakespeare.   I believe Mrs Stationmaster chose the day to minimise the opportunity/excuse for me overlooking it.   Any way this year having been self-confined to barracks for several weeks  a certain amount of logistical skill was called for and the Good Doctor was duly deputed to find a suitable card for me - which she did.   Mrs Stationmaster acquired one during her most recent weekly foray to Waitrose so honour duly mutually satisfied.

 

On the subect of aeroplanes we only heard one outbound away to the south yesterday otherwise it is all down to the song of birds (various) and bees enjoying themselves under clear blue skies in the garden.  The Flightradar screen grab of LHR show below is fairly typical of present operations and even on this grab two of the aircraft don't have allocated flight numbers, the big fellah has just landed from China's centre of model railway manufacture.  I wonder what might be in the hold?

 

For those who haven't come across it yet there is an RMweb raffle in aid of NHS charities this weekend, only a quid a ticket

 

And the near empty LHR at 13.25

 

Have a good day folks and stay safe

 

[J. S. Bach]

7 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Assuming all times are local, it took a day plus 8 hours, 43 minutes to get from Redding to Chester. A minimum of five of those hours would be needed for flying, and assuming the 'plane went to Charlotte, another hour on the road.

 

That's pretty impressive. The USPS is capable of amazing things. Long may it do so.

Apparently the tracking was not done at one or more intermediate locations, especially Charlotte, NC as you mentioned. Some thoughts on that: one, the package was put in a postal container (I do not remember the PO's name for them) so was not tracked until it arrived at Chester. The container itself may have made a transfer or two on the way; Redding to San Francisco then SF to Charlotte. Hmmm, I just looked up Redding on the map, 160 miles north of Sacramento; now I wish that the tracking had been more complete.

Anyway, I agree, the USPS is far better than the competition; and usually, a little less expensive, to boot.

[Tony_S]

30 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

And yet the IOC permit Northern Irish athletes to compete for RoI.

One of my friends represented Northern Ireland (fencing) at international level and he was from Leicester. 

[Tony_S]

I had a package once coming from the Czech Republic. It seemed to be stuck at CDG Paris. The courier company phone assistant said it was perfectly safe. They knew my package was in an aircraft cargo container. They however were looking for the container...

[Barry O]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

Has Rutland declared independence again? Great Britain has three countries. Never sure why the Olympic team is TeamGB rather than TeamUK.

Excuse me!  Yorkshire is a free Independent State..(at  least the Yorkies think it is!) 

 

Baz

[Barry O]

Happy Anniversary to Mr and Mrs Stationmaster Mike!

 

Baz

[Compound2632]

6 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Excuse me!  Yorkshire is a free Independent State.

 

Within the borders of 1973?

[TheQ]

Afternoon awl, 

Keel, Sanded, time to dig out the foam tomorrow. 

 

Expedition round the south side of garage,  required the use of loppers and a chainsaw on a stick,  no lions or hippos were found in the jungle. 

 

The chainsaw on a stick was also required  to cut the main stem of the Ivy,  about 4 inches across... 

Then onto garage roof, now down to the last 4ft, however it's the other end of the 4inch thick stem.. It may take some time. 

 

As  I lay back on the scaffolding board trying to straighten my back,  I noticed a jet aircraft flying over head, comparatively low,  as I could see the twin jet quite clearly. 

 

Pink pills,  a cheese and pickled onion sarnie, supported by a Muggacoffee  have been consumed.  Eyelid inspection imminent... 

[Andrew P]

17 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Excuse me!  Yorkshire is a free Independent State..(at  least the Yorkies think it is!) 

 

Baz

Well I didn't know Dogs could think!

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, J. S. Bach said:

No, I would find an 8-pin socket  because when you have to replace the decoder, it will be a heck of a lot easier. I suspect that the vendor of the decoder can also supply the socket. Note that any added expense  will be far outweighed by the savings in time, effort, and xxxx when replacing said decoder. experientia docet

Having lifted the lid on my loco I find that all the wires are 'neatly' led back to a large PCB onto which there is a terminal block complete with screws!

 

I will use my RC cable crimping tool to put a solid tail on each wire then connect them as appropriate.  

 

I will remember to ensure the motor is not fed direct from the wheels!