Early Risers.

[TheQ]

12 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.

I think from your own experience, you should be wearing 2 parachutes when you jump....

[roundhouse]

Facemasks - all very confused or misleading info about their effectiveness. Aisian countries have been wearing them for some years yet we were told they were ineffective, then they are effective. I have no trust in our leaders these days and no longer watch the now weekday only briefings.

 

Had another email confirming another show cancelled due ot the venue no not being available for this year. So this morning I have looked up the websites of the remaining shows on our list and found another one cancelled for November. That leave jsut two that are saying a decision is yetto be made but both the same weekend although one has not responded to my emails at the start of the year so theat is unlikley to happen for us unless the other show is cancelled. The there is Warley at NEC who will make a decision nearer the time acording to their website.

 

I was due ot start work on another new layout later this year for a show late 2021 but that layout is not likely to go ahead for now as they want the layout that was due to go this year.

 

Yesterday a few decoders arrived in the post so once back from doing gardening at Mums, the decoders were fitted, one in a Hornby 700 Black Motor  that did have a decoder but that was working fine on Digitrax and then the Sprog but playing up only on the Digikeijs command station so now the decoder is in the spares box.

 

Not sure what will be on the cards for today due to potential heavy rain but very little freight to go and photo today. It seems to be getting very thin on the ground with the effects of the virus on the economy.

[polybear]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

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)

 

 

Paypal "Friends and Family", also sometimes referred to as "Gift Option" is very useful in that there are no fees (apart from cross-border currency exchange fees though, which from experience paypal tend to milk a bit).  However, the one important thing to remember is that there is NO Paypal protection when using this option, so if you buy something and it doesn't turn up, is not as described or is faulty etc. then you can't ask paypal to refund you - effectively you are transferring money "as a gift" and no more.

It's a simple "box tick" to select this option, from memory.

[jamie92208]

Good moaning. It's still damp here but good weather is promised for the weekend.  The thought of Hippos under parachutes is beyond my limited imagination.  However  I did find a rather underexposed photo of my kids thst included a hippo wearing a tutu in the background.  Perhaps I need to get to work on image enhancement.

 

I went to Niort inbthe morning and got some bolts forvthe garden bench and even managed to source some proper oil based varnish. On my way home I picked up the end frames thst gave been shotblasted. Things are coming together. Some tidying of the shed was done. All 18 latts were varnished and then a nice pie was eaten for tea.  A walk round the village then two episodes of the 'Salisbury Poisonings " rounded off the evening.  

 

Today there will be more time in the shed, with another coat of varnish to apply and moving objects to move on the layout.

 

Hope that our poorly ER's recover.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

42 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

 The thought of Hippos under parachutes is beyond my limited imagination.  However  I did find a rather underexposed photo of my kids thst included a hippo wearing a tutu in the background.  Perhaps I need to get to work on image enhancement.

Have this one on me!

 

[AndyB]

3 hours ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

 

Today's jobs include planting out sunflowers, 

 

I read this as "painting out sunflowers".

 

Et tu, Vincent, et tu.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

A grey start to the day but there should be some sunny spells along with some showers.

I had a better night's sleep (the brandy nightcap  probably helped) but still  aching, particularly in the head region.  As it got a bit burnt over the weekend in the garden The Boss has diagnosed "A touch of the sun!" She could well be right.  (that hurts saying that)

Parcels are due,  one today from Ford which is already at the Sutton delivery office and one from the shed across the sea. These contain GM backscenes which will need a bit of fiddling and trimming to fit.

Have a good one,

S. Orehead

 

[AndrewC]

Greetings all from that borough of boring. 

 

Feeling really fed up with the universe, and all parallel universes at the moment. Work is a big steaming pile of cockwomble droppings at the moment. The project that I can't escape has now descended into a death spiral as the project manglers have suddenly realised there is no actual plan or budget to implement what has been built and to put it into a live service. That is what happens when you have people that are good at running a  "process" but inept when it comes to actually delivering a physical outcome. 

 

The other shoe next door finally dropped as they've applied to make their less than above board construction/conversion into a 6 room HMO. Sadly our useless asshat invested council isn't likely to deny their license. We'd have to prove the company that owns the property is not a fit landlord. We are going to try though. The neighbour on the other side is looking at civil action under the party wall act and to object to the extension under "right to light" since it blocks direct light to 2 of their windows and back door. Stay tuned. 

 

I'm nearing my annual July switch off. It may come earlier with all the news of doom and misery out there. Twatter has become almost unreadable as has fecesbook. If you don't hear from me again in the coming weeks, it is because I've gone into offline hermit mode again. For those that don't remember or care I generally switch off all social media, email, etc in Jan and July just to recharge my brain. 

 

That's it from here. Enjoy the day. Coffee on standby. 

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

We had more overnight rain, but nothing as heavy as the afternoon and thankfully no (unwanted) water has entered the house. I’m awaiting a couple of parcels, so I will be ‘staying in’ the cellar so that I’m available to answer the door when they arrive. Everywhere is still far too wet to do any sort of remedial work, so I’ll continue work on the desk. 

 

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

[BSW01]

As for a hippos in tutu

I prefer this one. 

 

Disney Films

[Happy Hippo]

34 minutes ago, BSW01 said:

As for a hippos in tutu

I prefer this one. 

 

Disney Films

Amazing how some folk prefer the  flimsy see through version to the Dior masterpiece that was modelled earlier

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl Inner Temple hare,  900 /563

 Again a not so good nights sleep, 4 hours, wandered down the stairs, just got off to sleep again on the sofa and then Ben the practicing to be like a Hippo Collie stormed down the stairs to check on me..

 

I'm of the opinion our government deliberately did not encourage the use of face masks to save them for the NHS and care providers. I realised that from the start, and have worn one every time i go out, from the stock I had for boat building..

just recently I've found a pack of 20 of the cheapest ones hidden in a corner of the muddling shed.. 

 

I don't suppose we will find out  the truth until the 30 year rule takes effect, If many of us are still around to read anything released..

 

Ill point out that Il Dotrore, has not been partaking of whiskey... He has however been supping some nice whisky..

 

Sir Tommy Macpherson parachuted into France in a kilt on the 8th of june 1944 well behind enemy lines, An Exceedingly brave man and not just for wearing a kilt during parachuting. His life story is very interesting..

 

A parcel should arrive today.. 10kg of lead, that should make the courier do some lifting..

 

Just discovered the Bosses Son is a signaller, who should be on training at the moment for working in a centralised Box, traditional Boxes having closed here last year. He's enjoying furlough at the moment on full pay as they stopped training..

 

Another senior Engineer has put his notice in, he's had enough of the current situation, with us having Bosses controlling from the USA.. Engineering is in a mess.. I suspect the company will gradually pick off the posts and move design to head office. None of our engineers will move though..

 

My boss suspects, as I do, that when he retires in a couple of years, the design side of his work will be USA bound, So they can recruit just a calibration engineer..

 

So for the moment, I will keep working just to build up the retirement fund though If they upset me I'll go too..

 

and so..

Time for the next measurement..

 

 

[tigerburnie]

Morning, yesterday was a bit of a dull overcast day, I did manage a nice walk down to the local stream to check out the trout population, might take a rod rather than a camera next time. Too wet for much of the "G" word, just a potter about in the greenhouse munching strawberries. Today looks promising with some sunshine about, so more outside rather than inside stuff I hope. Muddling did take place yesterday, on a small scale, but all stock was moved and found to be in good order.

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

Amazing how some folk prefer the  flimsy see through version to the Dior masterpiece that was modelled earlier

But the thought of HH in a tutu, see through or not would definitely require some eye bleach.

 

Jamie

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

It is quite warm and rather overcast here. Still quiet, birds twittering away. Very little  sound evidence  of children playing in the nearby school. 
My GP has booked a telephone appointment with me at lunchtime. I have just taken my blood pressure and pulse rate. BP lower than it has been for many a year. Hopefully my GP will be pleased. I am half way to the optimum dose for my medication now. 

I have just received warnings about yellow rain for tomorrow. There was a rumble of thunder and a few showers yesterday. I still had to water the hanging basket though. Aditi reminded me just as we were about to watch the Railway Architecture TV programme. Fortunately I had set it to record and caught up with “live” by fast forwarding through the adverts. 

We are still not going out to shops. Aditi has been looking for potting compost online and booking her car’s service. First available service is in August but that is fine. Her car still has winter tyres on!
Tony


 

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

 A pleasant day so far and third muggatea is currently being enjoyed with the fourth to follow subsequently.   We are have yellow rain forecast for late tonight with an accompaniment of thunder and lightning, b no doubt very, very, frightening (for les chats).  We had some thunder skirting round to the south of us yesterday afternoon but hardly any precipitation, tonight we are forecast to be on its direct route along with continuing heavy rain right through until the Good Doctor is driving to Oxford - for a half day.  her, now somewhat revised, roster seems to be an act of lunacy on the part of those who devise such things - for example next week she works Sunday and Monday, has a day off on Tuesday and then works on Wednesday, it appears that medical science in respect of such things as circadian rhythm and mitigating the fatigue impact of shift work patterns has not penetrated at last one part of the NHS - which puts them only a quarter of a century behind some parts of BR where we were heavily into all that back in the 1990s.

 

As for my day I am tasked instructed to dig potatoes today ready for the consumption of some of them with dinner this evening.  In addition the management has pulled the first of the carrots - which look pretty good and will allow their fellows more growing space.  On a very different matter I had a quick scan of the Toddler yesterday after giving it a few hours uv exposure so I know where 'he' is although I have yet to read his words of wisdom, which I am sure they will be.

 

Have a good day one and all and make sure all is suitably battened down etc if you lie in the path of the storm.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A couple of parcels arrived this morning. One contained a couple of reusable/washable face masks and the other the Matchbox shop. I tried one of the face masks on, nice and comfortable and more importantly my glasses didn't steam up as much as when wearing the one use disposable ones. The Matchbox shop is as described but its the first time I've looked at one close up and there's quite a few surprises. The 'brick' sides for example are stick on labels and how is it constructed with no apparent rivets or clips? I wanted to dismantle it for repainting and I might still yet, when I find out how.

[jamie92208]

Intersting quote from Mike about shift patterns.  From my exper there is no such animal as a good shift pattern, only a least worst.  A pattern called Ottowa, was introduced in the 90's after much research. It was based on the Circadian rhythms and was actually quite good to work.  However as it was towards the back end of my service, I found the 10 hour shifts an absolute pain as you had 6 days of solid work and bed, then 4 days off. With very little time for socIal life  which by then was important to me, particularly the MRC. I believe that Ottowa has now been done away with. However the bosses that set shift patterns don't have to work them, and in most cases have either never done shifts or only the bare minimum before their ascent of the greasy pole.

 

Jamie

 

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Just a quick check in to assure my fellow ERs that my absence was not due to being ill - just busy.

 

Generic greetings, and hopefully back tomorrow, but 30747 wants to go to Ingleton and one of the better antique centres hereabouts has re-opened with one way circulation.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

ps - I have decided to use one of the other branches of Barclays round here which is nowhere near so hi-tech, and where there is no compulsion to use the machines, as they haven't got any - just the old fashioned tills - I wonder how long that will last.

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from Sidcup where the earlier thunderstorm has passed by and I am wondering whether to risk sticking the washing back outside.

 

I managed to more or less avoid the rain on my walk back which was good as it was very steady for a while.

 

On the days when Mrs Lurker is off I have been making sure Elder Lurker can prepare himself his lunches. Today he added fried eggs and ham bagels to his repertoire! This week has also seen cheese and ham toastie and tuna and boiled egg salad. He's perfectly competent, just never had to do it!

 

Have a good day all

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

make sure all is suitably battened down etc if you lie in the path of the storm.

Good afternoon all and thank you Mike for the advice.  Lunder and Thightening is in evidence around here and the humidity is ridiculous.  

 

The laundry is still the launwet and is locked down indoors due to significant precipitation occurring outside.  

 

Now what to do with a Wet Hump Day When On Leave.  Nothing of interest open; no need to unnecessarily travel by bus or train though there is no actual restriction on doing so any more; loitering on a bridge or platform-end might still be frowned upon; the G-word is also off the current agenda though the yellow rose was sprayed for powdery mildew before the rain washed the spray off   

 

Tinkering with long-outstanding jobs involving the computer including tidying up the image files and storage plus archiving some club records.  

 

An exchange with one of our Former Neighbours (Upstairs) revealed that she is being pestered by someone from her past.  She could block him from the antisocial media but he seems to know where she lives these days.  I have offered her this piece of advice to give him should he present himself there.  "Mate - you know where it is that you seek to enter?  Look in the mirror and you'll see one".    

 

It's time for a muggersomething.  And after 15 o'clock I am supposed to be in to receive a delivery from a Mr. Hermes.  We'll see .....  

 

 

[Gwiwer]

43 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

after 15 o'clock I am supposed to be in to receive a delivery from a Mr. Hermes.  We'll see .....  

 

Surprise surprise!

 

At 14.51 there was a loud knock at the door and a large box was awaiting me on the step.  SWMBO has presented me (i.e. us, but me really) with a small BBQ-type affair in the hopes that it will assist with some semblance of feeling "on holiday".   

 

You bet it will.  It won't be tried for a couple of days but the weekend seems a good bet.  We are explicitly not permitted BBQs according to our tenancy but this is more of an outdoor enclosed cooker which happens to have a hotplate - when heated - and can apparently also steam veg, roast joints, be used as a smoker and other goodies.  

 

There is a spot I can use which is not beneath nor outside any windows.  And it's quite portable so once cool it can come indoors rather than become weathered.  

 

Today is turning a smiley face after all.  

[newbryford]

8 hours ago, roundhouse said:

 

 

Had another email confirming another show cancelled due ot the venue no not being available for this year. So this morning I have looked up the websites of the remaining shows on our list and found another one cancelled for November. That leave jsut two that are saying a decision is yetto be made but both the same weekend although one has not responded to my emails at the start of the year so theat is unlikley to happen for us unless the other show is cancelled. The there is Warley at NEC who will make a decision nearer the time acording to their website.

 

 

 

The decision has been taken - Warley is now postponed to 2021.

 

I shall have to find a space to set up DL to play trains, as I now can't remember when it's next outing is.....

 

 

Edited June 17, 2020 by newbryford

[Florence Locomotive Works]

About to go get my braces in my mouth tightened, so goodbye to real food for 36 hours. Wish me luck. 

[roundhouse]

1 hour ago, newbryford said:

 

The decision has been taken - Warley is now postponed to 2021.

 

I shall have to find a space to set up DL to play trains, as I now can't remember when it's next outing is.....

 

 

Yes just heard from a friend whos layout was going but nothing yet re demos. However that's Baz's replacement so will no doubt be done separately. UPDATE just received.

 

So our first show is highly likely to be the same as our last (and only)  show this year if all goes Ok.

 

Oh well allows us to go away more often this year - Oh hang on

 

At least I can sit here under the canopy shed opening various bottles. Currently have the 25 year old scratchbuilt station building in the garden undergoing roof repairs whilst 34040 Crewkerne is chuffing its way round the High Line.

Edited June 17, 2020 by roundhouse