Early Risers.

[Gwiwer]

It is still warm enough outside to sit on the Terrace for a while.  Do I pour myself a glass of something and light the smelly candle* or do I just hit the eyelid-inspection sack?

 

But surely the real question is "Talisker, Grouse or just a glass of Merlot?"   

 

* delicately perfumed with the intention of keeping nasty bitey insects away.  

[jamie92208]

8 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

It is still warm enough outside to sit on the Terrace for a while.  Do I pour myself a glass of something and light the smelly candle* or do I just hit the eyelid-inspection sack?

 

But surely the real question is "Talisker, Grouse or just a glass of Merlot?"   

 

* delicately perfumed with the intention of keeping nasty bitey insects away.  

It was a little Glenlivet for me, purely for anti virus antiseptic purposes of course.

 

Jamie

[polybear]

52 minutes ago, pH said:

 
You mean like this?

 

https://youtu.be/gudeFyssi6g

 

 

 

Not exactly.  The heli in my original post wasn't designed for such antics, whereas a Sea King....

edit: Sea Kings can only do that in very calm water too.  The trouble with heli's is that they are very top heavy, and it doesn't take much to get them to topple.  Then the fun starts.  Or rather, not.....

Edited June 16, 2020 by polybear

[JohnDMJ]

 

18 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

It is still warm enough outside to sit on the Terrace for a while.  Do I pour myself a glass of something and light the smelly candle* or do I just hit the eyelid-inspection sack?

 

But surely the real question is "Talisker, Grouse or just a glass of Merlot?"   

 

* delicately perfumed with the intention of keeping nasty bitey insects away.  

I'm at work tomorrow; I settled for the Merlot!

[Erichill16]

Evening All, 

No work of the sort that puts food on the table done today, but kept busy helping SWHBO modifying the patio. Shes done a good job cutting slabs with an angle grinder. We’ll need to get some hardcore or similar before we (she) can go any further but weather forecast not too good for next few days anyway. Had tea and then went for a walk but had to rush home as thunder was heard in the distance and we’d left ‘stuff’ outside. Managed to get 15minutes modelling done and I think I may have got a problem sorted that’s been holding me up for days. 
Hope Polybear and Baz are ok, don’t think we’ve heard from Baz all day.

Sleep tight (whatever that means) 

Robert

[Erichill16]

Forgot to say, when I imagine HH parachuting I get an image of some blokes pushing a crated pallet of the tail door of a Hercules. Sorry.

[Tony_S]

11 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

Forgot to say, when I imagine HH parachuting I get an image of some blokes pushing a crated pallet of the tail door of a Hercules. Sorry.

That would be the cake rations. 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Evening all,

 

Hot and green here in Greencountry. The Oscillator is still held up in USPS/ US Government customs red tape, nothing new. Cats spent the day sleeping. Performed another steam test today in the boiler, not entirely successful. I piped it using silicone to the twin cylinder engine I have, because it already has lubricator fitted. Unfortunately most of the steam condensed in the tube before reaching the engine, or simply couldn’t make its way through the Oiler after the temperature drop. I did all this on my second desk, (this one runs at 150 psi) which used to have my now redundant Sena Sugar Estates layout on it, until about 4 hours ago. Amazing how much space was created when it went to the dungeon. As of now, I’m about to start cooking the pies I mentioned yesterday. Wish me luck. 
 

stay healthy and best wishes to Baz,

Douglas

[Gwiwer]

32 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

It was a little Glenlivet for me, purely for anti virus antiseptic purposes of course.

 

Jamie

It ended up being the Talisker here.  I then had to order another bottle having emptied this one!  

 

G'night all.

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[Simon G]

It has been a funny old day here!  Warm and sunny first thing this morning, so we went out for a walk early.  Then I started doing some gardening and it got rather cold, and I realised that a sea fret had come in.  That lasted about an hour, then we had hazy sunshine for a while, then rain early evening, followed by fine again for my late evening ramble.

 

During all that, I managed to pick the first strawberries of the year.  There is absolutely nothing like the taste of freshly picked strawberries!  They were delicious.

 

Goodnight from me!

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[Ozexpatriate]

Another night of staying up too late followed by broken sleep until late meant a very late start to the day. Brunch was not completed until well after noon. Bright sunshine appeared before I decided to collect the mail (the box is on a community box across the street and one door down). By the time I opened the front door the overcast had returned and later when I started thinking it might be good to try to get a daily constitutional in, down came the rain, with a little distant thunder. The possibility of thunderstorms was forecast. It is cool and very wet outside and I am not very motivated to stomp about in it, though it does appear to be clearing.

 

At this point the best course may be to steel myself to do better tomorrow - which will involve a good night's sleep.

 

In local CoViD-19 news, we set another statewide record for new infections yesterday. A local TV station reports online that:

Quote

Tuesday’s record case count can be partially attributed to an outbreak in Eastern Oregon’s Union County. Of the 278* newly reported cases [today], 119 are in Union County. That comes after 99 people in the county tested positive for the virus on Monday. Most of the cases are associated with Lighthouse United Pentecostal Church. Prior to Monday, there had been just a total of 22 known cases in the county during the pandemic.

*  The previous two days were reported as 282 new cases.

 

It is worth noting that Union County is quite remote and rural, with a population of around 26,835 and a density of 5 / km^2.

 

So far increased infections appear to be more related to reopening, than un-distanced protesting. Time will tell. It saddens me that we collectively worked so hard to mitigate the initial impact of the CoViD-19 pandemic and it is all coming apart in reopening. The positive interpretation is that some of these numbers are related to increased testing - the daily death rate is still below earlier numbers.

 

Edited June 17, 2020 by Ozexpatriate
Correction of daily total cases

[The Stationmaster]

5 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

No it's fine.

 

The secret is to be wearing a parachute before you jump.

 

And as I have pointed out before, if you have flown with some of the people in charge of aircraft I have flown in who claim to be pilots, you might have been happy to join me.

Surely the real secret would appear to be that you should be wearing no fewer than two parachutes?  Although some of your mates seem to manage with only one - even if they have trouble finding one that fits

 

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, Erichill16 said:

Forgot to say, when I imagine HH parachuting I get an image of some blokes pushing a crated pallet of the tail door of a Hercules. Sorry.

when my sister flies, it's in a net, under slung  a Chinook.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well the rain never really stopped all day, it just eased off a few times, so needless to say I haven’t managed to get to the workshop today at all. Instead I tackled a few jobs that I’d left for just such a rainy day. After giving the bench slats a second coat of paint, I washed out my brushes and then made a start on varnishing the new desk top in the cellar office area. I managed to get the 1st coat on before dinner and a 2nd coat after dinner. The weather forecast for tomorrow is pretty much the same as today. So, as the varnish has had all night to harden off, I’ll give the desk a light sanding down and then apply a couple more coats of varnish. 

 

This afternoon the heavens really opened up, thunder and lightning (very, very frightening) and I ended up with a small amount of water getting in under the cellar door, luckily it wasn’t a deluge and I was already working in there and was to hand. So I was able to immediately set about cleaning it up as it entered, by the time the rain stopped I’d only got 1 1/2 buckets of water, so not a great deal really. I will have to have a look at the sealant around the doorframe once the weather has settled down and we’ve had a few dry days. This will definitely need sorting out before the large cellar room is refurbished and the laminate following goes down. At some point tomorrow I’ll go to the big orange DIY shed and get a couple of tubes of sealant, however there’s no point in doing until we’ve had a few days of dry weather, but then I’ll have the stuff to hand and can get straight on with the job. 

 

The rain also highlighted the need to do a bit of pointing around the dinning room skylight, as we also had a bit of water getting in there too. I also need to look at the sealant above the bathroom window, as we had water coming in there too! Still it could have been a lot worse, as the water company now regularly (once a year) clear the drains, something that they didn’t do 8 years ago.

 

There was a bit on the local news this evening and it appears that the local Costco store had to be evacuated as the roof was leaking. From the footage that they showed, it it wasn’t for all the displays and the light fittings that were visible, the rain was so heavy it looked for all the world as though it had been shot outside!

 

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all.

[AndyID]

Shona has been shorn. She didn't want to get out of the car when we got to the dog groomer. She had been overheating a bit when we took her on the paw patrol so hopefully she'll not be panting so much now.

 

I managed to sort the bad key on our ancient Korg piano today. It's not quite as heavy as a conventional piano but it's still bloody heavy. We've had it for about thirty years. It's a bit beaten up. Daughter had it for a while then our son so I took it to bits and gave it a thorough cleaning. Considering it's age it produces a very nice sound and the keyboard action is very similar to a conventional piano. It has a MIDI interface too. I've sent for a cheapo adapter to connect it to the laptop - I'm not sure I'll do much with it but it might be entertaining.

 

I'm trying to learn a piece for the piano. It's a very long time since I did that. It's pretty heavy going

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Pies were disappointing, but here we are.

Goodnight all, from Greencountry.

 

Douglas

[J. S. Bach]

Good night owl from the Piedmont.

[iL Dottore]

12 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

What about PayPal's "Family and Friends" service? I mailed some stuff to friend in Germany and had his payment in less than a half hour. I do not remember any significant fees, charges, etc. Just a thought.

I didn’t know about this particular PayPal service, I will look into it but I’m afraid PayPal and I just don’t get on (long and complicated story which I won’t bother you with)

11 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Flavio, things could also be sent from France and if you have a Euro bank account there are no exchange rate problems. Gold and diamonds are equally acceptable.

 

Jamie

We have Swiss friends who live just across the border in France and, when no other option presents itself, we send our parcels to their address and then go visit. A pleasant time is had by all and parcels are collected. However I feel unhappy about imposing on them too much. So it comes down to [a] me really, really needing the item and no other option presents itself.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a €-account (so paying in € would be no different to paying in £ in terms of bank charges). As for gold and diamonds, I keep them in my Mountain Lair (tm), which takes some getting to  so unlike an ATM.

8 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

...iD, we stopped shipping outside of the British Isles some time ago, due to outrageous costs!  One warranty return postage cost took the margin out of many, many sales.  It just isn't worth it, for the few (in comparison) sales we may have lost....

What you posted both comes as no surprise and as a surprise. I say it comes as no surprise, because I am well aware of the horrendous charges they ask for shipping small items from the UK to Switzerland (and it’s even worse for things from the US) what does surprise me is that you take on the shipping costs. I thought this was always passed on to the customer.

6 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

....But surely the real question is "Talisker, Grouse or just a glass of Merlot?"   

 

* delicately perfumed with the intention of keeping nasty bitey insects away.  

But why “A or B or C“? Surely the right answer to the question “what should I drink” is “all of the above“?

6 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

It was a little Glenlivet for me, purely for anti virus antiseptic purposes of course.

 

Jamie

You, sir, are a wise man and well informed as to the mysteries of modern physick. A well stocked whiskey bar is an important component of the daily fight against physical and mental unwellness. 
I have a small collection of diverse whiskeys (down from an original total of about 20 different types - for my 60th birthday everyone gave me a bottle of something malt) and my “go-to“ daily whiskey is the Singelton 12yo. My Friday or Saturday indulgence is the Balvinie Doublewood and for my birthday a wee dram of 50yo Glen Grant (something I bought as a treat for myself for my 50th birthday and, with immense self discipline, I have kept it solely for my birthday “wee dram”, so still have some left).

I have been contemplating acquiring a 65 year old single malt to celebrate my retirement; although the 50yo whiskey was not unduly expensive, 65yo whiskeys are few and far between and the ones that I have seen start at about £14,000!  Unless I get incredibly lucky on the lottery or I get a VERY large well-paying contract, I doubt if I will be getting a 65-year-old whiskey, no matter how much I think I truly have earned it. 

6 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Forgot to say, when I imagine HH parachuting I get an image of some blokes pushing a crated pallet of the tail door of a Hercules. Sorry.

5 hours ago, Tony_S said:

That would be the cake rations. 

I think Tony you mistyped: that should be “cake ratioN“ (singular).

One crated palette = one HH cake ration

3 hours ago, AndyID said:

...I'm trying to learn a piece for the piano. It's a very long time since I did that. It's pretty heavy going

And that, I would venture, is why - in many regards - railway modelling is superior to playing music: with model railways you can walk away from your workbench, come back six months later and immediately start up where you left off; whereas, with playing guitar or piano or wind instrument or any other musical device, if you leave it for a month or two, you have to go back and (almost) relearn everything or at least refresh your muscle memory. It’s even worse if you are playing a stringed instrument as you have to rebuild the callouses on your fingertips. Both, I hasten to say, are great hobbies to have.

 

I was up early today, usual corporeal dysfunction, so muggajoe drunk, fat fed it’s now time to prepare Schotty’s “medication hidden in a sausage” pre-breakfast treat.

 

Have a great “hump day”

 

iD

Edited June 17, 2020 by iL Dottore

[Sir TophamHatt]

Morning everyone.

An early start (5am!) today - couldn't sleep any more.

 

Catching up with some model railway channels on the Tubes (as the young kids say these days!).

 

Lots of sheet lightening last night here in the Midlands. At least the garden is getting a good soaking!

 

Today's jobs include planting out sunflowers, watering greenhouse stuff / getting that out for a bit of fresh air and perhaps finishing the Eckon signals. Cat food is arriving today, replacement (number 3) Class 66 is coming today or by the end of the week so that's something else to look forward to.

 

Hopefully it'll be a productive day.

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

Some nice things have landed on my doormat over the past few days.  One was the cheque from Bylines, which I was expecting, and the others were remittances from Ernie, which is always a pleasant surprise.  The first stop in town was therefore the bank.  Initially not so successful was my trip to Waterstones.  Fortunately the book I wanted was in stock – “One of them”, the autobiography of Michael Cashman, which I shall read with much interest.  Not so good was having to wait until the shop opened, at 10.30 am.  To kill time I mooched around the town centre.  Some lemmings were still queuing outside Primark, prevented from straying too far by red and white stripy tape.  I shall go there when the mania has subsided.

 

Just in time, I remembered to don my mask before boarding the bus home.  I will soon get used to my glasses steaming up but at the risk of appearing less than positive I am far from convinced that the mask is much use in the fight against that ruddy virus.  Said pestilence seems to be retreating from mainland Europe and has six months to make itself scarce completely before I am let loose in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium over Christmas.  This is where I need to be positive again.  Hmmm.

 

Today will see the principal fodder run.  Decisions, decisions.  Once that is accomplished there will be ironing.  There is something about a crisp white T shirt.  Must be the starch.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[Ozexpatriate]

In an interview today, the US Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases admitted that initial messaging around not needing to wear a mask was in fact because of a fear that people would hoard PPE, particularly N95 masks. During the interview he said that the two most effective approaches to reduce continued spread are distancing and mask wearing. 

 

Quote

"Well, the reason for that is that we were concerned the public health community, and many people were saying this, were concerned that it was at a time when personal protective equipment, including the N95 masks and the surgical masks, were in very short supply. And we wanted to make sure that the people namely, the health care workers, who were brave enough to put themselves in a harm way, to take care of people who you know were infected with the coronavirus and the danger of them getting infected."

This was much as I suspected at the time. Given the run on toilet paper it is easy to understand why they took this course. At the same time it delayed the access to non-medical grade masks since the messaging was that they weren't necessary or recommended.

 

It makes me wonder how many were infected, or even died, because people panic buy and hoard.