Early Risers.

[newbryford]

Like a couple of other ERs, lockdown has actually been busier than normal.

In my case - so busy that I haven't really had time to think about missing stuff (except for playing golf), because I was so kn&ckered from the extra hours and workload.

 

However, days 3 of 4 of a much need long weekend R'n'R accomplished so far

One day of biking, followed by 2 days of golf and gentle DIY, with a bit of mudelling for good measure.

Planned day 4 is a lie-in followed by grass cutting and GP watching.

 

I have another 4 day weekend in a couple of weeks - using up holidays that have been carried over for the last three months, as these would normally have been used up with League golf matches to break up my normal work routines.

Mrs NB already has her sights set on furniture assembly taking up some of the extra spare time  - it is due to arrive next week.

Brownie points will be earned, but these will be set against the negative points when she finds out that I'm playing golf twice next weekend........

 

Have a good Sunday folks.

 

[brianusa]

3 hours ago, AndyID said:

Wot! No clockwork gramophone for your 78's ? Or even a mono reel2reel recorder? (I'm not sure what happened to my Ferrograph. I think I left it my dad's cellar when we went West. My brother likely junked it.)

 

 

My good lady had her gramophone, a Dulceola wind up, sent over some time ago now and sits in our family room. Its the usual upright with four doors to vary the volume and sounds just like all its period contemporaries.  Truly an heirloom, bought in Belfast probably around a hundred years ago and lovingly polished ever since. 

     Brian.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Evening all,

 

No packages addressed to me arrived today. The mail did come today, which was relieving. I doubt anybody remembers, but a few weeks back a Parental Unit and myself attempted to make New Zealand (my dads side of the family is from Liverpool/NZ)  meat & cheese pies, but they weren't very good owing to the poor quality of crust. Essentially what happened is we couldn't get a hold of any Puff Pastry, so we had to use American style pie crust, which is very different from the rest of the world, in my opinion. So tomorrow they are being made again but this time with Puff Pastry, and fingers crossed they'll improve. 

 

Also tomorrow @J. S. Bach will be pleased to know that the mold around the fan is being fixed. As is the light in my extremely dark closet which I broke about 9 years ago. Being the relatively energetic 5 year old I was, I pulled on the chain too hard and destroyed the switch, and probably some other stuff. Unfortunantley the breakers for the secondary bedrooms aren't marked in the box, so the light couldn't be fixed until we found the breaker on Monday. Depending on how long all that takes, the bathroom vent will also be installed. Dad will thankfully be doing most of this, but I suspect I will be indentured for a few hours. I spent some of the day working on a wagon body, and I need to get round to buying wheelsets for it. (Don't tell Donk).

 

Stay healthy,

 

Douglas

Edited July 11, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works
lack of formalities

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Today work on the turntable has progressed steadily. The play/slack that existed between the main drive shaft and the main boss has been rectified, testing tomorrow will denote how successful it has been. I’ve also started making a more permanent operating pin, that is adjustable in both distance and height. Proper testing will be done once all the parts are fitted and have been adjusted for maximum efficiency. 

 

When I was testing it earlier in the week, I’d set it up in the cellar on my old computer desk and it ran very well. But this morning I took it back the workshop to work on it and after sorting the drive shaft problem, when I tried to run it it was misbehaving again. I have halogen lights in the workshop and a fluorescent strip light in the cellar. I’m now convinced more than ever that the workshop lighting is affecting the UV sensor. So, once I’ve installed everything on the turntable, I’ll take it all back to the cellar and set up up on the old table and carry out all the testing and adjustments there, where, fingers crossed it will once again behave itself.

 

 Goodnight all. 

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Turning a bit cool now, this morning the central heating kicked in. One advantage though is the towels were nice and warm from the heated towel rail.

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[The Stationmaster]

G word tackled, en famille as both the Good Doctor and the lad assisted and the latter attacked an area of jungle much to the disgust of the senior cat who rather liked hiding in it. (there is plenty left to hide in but nettles and brambles are not to her taste when it comes to feline comfort).  Pasties duly enjoyed for dinner this evening  well up to the normal standard.

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, brianusa said:

Whatever happened to four channel?

I think it was up to 9 channels with two low frequency channels. My amp has 7  channels and two low frequency outputs but I only use 5:of the 7 and one sub woofer is quite adequate. For quite a few years it wasn’t easy to get replacement drive belts for my turntable but it is easy now as vinyl has become popular again. I usually stream from my ipad via Airplay to the amplifier but both the turntable and CD player get used sometimes. I did service our cassette player just for something to do but I don’t think I have any music exclusively on cassette so it could be removed if necessary. Aditi listens to the radio a lot so I don’t like to interrupt her listening pleasure!

Tony

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[AndyID]

Bit warm to be in the shed so I'm watching "Halt And Catch Fire". Very reminiscent of my time at ITT in Arizona. ITT made an IBM PC clone too but they were not in that business for long.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, pH said:

Apparently we had measurable precipitation on 7 out of the first 10 days of July, and it’s raining again today. The average for wet days In the whole of the month of July is 6. People are calling this month Juluary.

We just finished our 5th wettest June (Junuary) on record. July has been much cooler than usual (it did not exceed 24°C until yesterday). Normal is around 27°C. There has been very little measurable rain since the end of June. Lots of clouds.

 

Fire danger east of the mountains is starting to kick up.

[J. S. Bach]

2 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

It may happen in the US, but certainly not here in the our bit of the UK as DHL, UPS and Fedex all have their own vehicles.

Other courier companies can sometimes hand it into Parcelforce for collection of duty and extortion handling fee before delivery ...snip...

Those aforementioned companies do have their own vehicles here, also. I will post the tracking when it finally gets here, it was an interesting but not too diverging ride.

 

1 hour ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Evening all,

 

No packages addressed to me arrived today. The mail did come today, which was relieving.  ...snip...

 

Also tomorrow @J. S. Bach will be pleased to know that the mold around the fan is being fixed. As is the light in my extremely dark closet which I broke about 9 years ago. Being the relatively energetic 5 year old I was, I pulled on the chain too hard and destroyed the switch, and probably some other stuff. Unfortunantley the breakers for the secondary bedrooms aren't marked in the box, so the light couldn't be fixed until we found the breaker on Monday. Depending on how long all that takes, the bathroom vent will also be installed. Dad will thankfully be doing most of this, but I suspect I will be indentured for a few hours. I spent some of the day working on a wagon body, and I need to get round to buying wheelsets for it. (Don't tell Donk).

 

Stay healthy,

 

Douglas

Same here, the Vulcan trucks arrived but not the ConnDot cars.

 

Glad to hear about the mold, that stuff can be nasty.

 

9 years to find a breaker??? And I thought that I was slow!

[J. S. Bach]

Good night owl from Piedmont.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Battening down hatches, it’s blowing a gale out and sounds like the Somme offensive.

Edited July 12, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Goodnight all, from Greencountry.

 

Douglas

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

sounds like the Somme offensive.

I have some kind of back yard party over the back fence. After sunset the weather has cooled down significantly so I have the windows open.

 

They broke out the karaoke machine. Carpenters, Journey ("Don't stop believing", of course) ABBA ("Mamma Mia"). Now at 9:30pm, someone is wailing something completely unrecognizable. I wonder how late they will go.

[TheQ]

Mooring awl,  inner Temple Hare, 

A very  good nights sleep,  I fell asleep early,  for 5 hours,  then 3 hours on the sofa. 

 

Pre my snores,  Ben the terrified border collie,  did not do so well,  he was asleep by the side of the bed,  and started making little woofing noises,  these increased in number and loudness with added growling.  Eventually he woke himself up and lept onto the bed shaking, growling and looking confused..  SWMBO came running upstairs during this wondering what was going on. 

He soon calmed down,  but wasn't happy.  He went downstairs with SWMBO to his own bed.. 

 

Farm machinery has been trundling past occasionally  for the last 15 minutes. 

 

Today will be a repeat of yesterday more external shelving, actually doubling the width of some to take bigger pots..  To be followed by more boat work, though I'll varnish little Baron's plinth and the stern first as they'll dry beyond stickiness before further sanding of the decks. 

 

But first a Muggacoffee or two and breakfast including bacon.

 

Time to... Head for the kitchen.. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

It is a very long time since I have made a shepherd’s pie.  Not everyone would choose to have it for Sunday lunch but then I’m not everyone.  When I did the fodder run yesterday morning I did not buy enough minced lamb but that was easily rectified.  Apart from cooking, eating and washing-up I have no plans for the rest of the day except to watch the episode of Maigret that ITV will show at 8 pm.  The original Maigret was of course Rupert Davies and what a long time ago that was!  No doubt some eyebrows were raised at the casting of Rowan Atkinson but I think it was an inspired decision.

 

The parallel universe diary has some interesting entries this week.  Tuesday would have seen a visit to Poorly Pal and the shed where the layout lives, followed by an RCTS meeting.  On Wednesday we should have had Area Group lunch and on Sunday I would have been at Hatfield House for Folk By The Oak, featuring various favourite performers whose names elude recall.  One day there will be gigs and meetings to attend.  Oh, the novelty.

 

BoD, I’m so glad you have played Kistvaen.  I’ve heard a couple of tracks on the radio but haven’t played the CD yet.  However long ago it was, I first went to see Calan because I thought that I would like them and thankfully I was right.  I will now go and see them if they are playing within realistic reach.  As for folk as we know it, I would be very careful about drawing boundaries!  It embraces a multitude of what some call sins.  One that I had forgotten until the other day is a square dance performed to a tune by the Small Faces at Sidmouth in, I think, 2014.  How am I going to cope without Sidmouth this year?  I shall be interested to learn what you think of Peatbog Faeries in due course.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[Ozexpatriate]

Half an hour later a very disjointed and inebriated sounding "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and an even worse "Time for Me to Fly" (REO Speedwagon). No slowing down there.

 

They are outside. Hopefully some distancing is going on. Based on the 'singing' I doubt that masks are involved. Oregon set another record number of CoViD-19 cases today.

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by Ozexpatriate

[iL Dottore]

15 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

 ...Maybe the fact that two of my pensions (and none of hers) are paid into the joint account is considered sufficient recompense?

I see that Mrs S is following government policy (all governments, everywhere) that “all monies, unless expressly allowed to you, belong to us”. I also note that posters have commented on revenue raising departments in various countries (their worldwide unofficial motto: “Mafia Style Extortion, but without the understanding and friendly customer service”) and I would like to remind people that income tax was originally introduced as a temporary tax to pay for the Napoleonic wars.

It may also be salutary to remember that VAT, like Andouillette (tripe sausage)  was one of those French inventions that, presumably, always look brilliant after several bottles of Vin Ordinaire...

14 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

... I draw the line at cassettes, which were the spawn of the devil, they are an awful sound reproduction media.

At one point they were selling, for use in high end cassette decks, very, very expensive Chrome cassette tapes that supposedly were the bees knees in terms of sound reproduction.  I never really had the opportunity to test this out. By the time I was old enough to have the wherewithal to purchase a high-end cassette deck (I got a Nakamichi) I had pretty much moved on to CDs -  both for playback and recording.

9 hours ago, brianusa said:

Our Magnavox 'radiogram' bought in 1973, with a Garrard changer (Four Channel no less!) is still plugged in and is played every now and again, although its main function these days is somewhere to put a vase with some flowers.......!   Whatever happened to four channel?

    Brian.

Do you mean Quadrophonic?  The first time I heard Pink Floyd is “Dark Side Of The Moon“ was at an electronics fair in Bologna where they were demonstrating Quadraphonic sound systems and Quadraphonic headphones.  For the DSOTM tour Pink Floyd had a Quadraphonic PA system (at the Pink Floyd exhibition at the V&A there was one of the control boxes for the quadraphonic PA on display), but - from what I understand - it was such a complicated bit of kit to set up that they went back to their standard PAs fairly quickly.

I suspect that Quadraphonic sound systems went the same way as a lot of audiophile innovations: abandoned due to the complexity of setting up the system and the need to invest a lot of money in high-end equipment to actually get the benefit of said innovation.

9 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

...I doubt they will meet Mrs. Flavio's specifications, but fortunately I do not have to subscribe to those.

Don’t worry about being “called out“ over your standards of sanitary cleansing, Even I am not able to reach those standards, despite decades of experience 

Mind you, it could be worse. We once rented a holiday flat with friends in a skiing area in Switzerland during the ski season. When it came to the hand over check to ensure everything was left as we found it, the Hauswart was most critical about the fact that the pans we had used had been cleaned but not polished.

8 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

...There are other points about being married but they really are terribly complicated and we don't need to worry about them at this time of night  

But isn’t that exactly when we need to worry about them? At “this time of night“ 

7 hours ago, newbryford said:

...Talking of tracking.

We have 21 boxes coming from China as a consignment.

All were scanned in by the carrier at the factory at the same time.

8 arrived last week. 5 arrived earlier this week. The other 8 are on the way. Some just leaving after the first have arrived!

Some have come via Delhi and The Netherlands.

Some via Delhi and then Texas (I kid you not) and then to the UK.

Others via South Korea and I even think I saw a tracking report from Thailand........

 

We are also trialling a consigment via overland container using rail.

Looking good so far as it has arrived in Duisburg on schedule.

A friend of mine worked in shipping logistics (he worked for UPS or DHL or similar) and when I asked him for some advice about shipping an item from the US he informed me that as important as, if not more important than, weight is volume.  Apparently, so my friend maintains, volume is important because empty spaces in cargo containers, whether by air or by sea, represent lost revenue.  So, I would imagine, consignments consisting of small boxes would be split up so that the small boxes can be use to fill up empty spaces in cargo containers. Presumably a small amount of extra paperwork this requires is more than offset by the financial advantages it brings to the carrier. The fact that a small customer (or should I say, perhaps with more accuracy, a customer with a small order) is inconvenienced is neither here or there for carriers for whom the large corporate customers are considered to be the priority.

6 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

.... Pasties duly enjoyed for dinner this evening  well up to the normal standard.

I really must have had a most depraved youth, for when you mentioned “Pasties” (as opposed to “Cornish Pasties“) the first thing that comes to mind are those bits of dancing equipment normally associated with pneumatic young ladies who specialise in disrobing to music. I suppose I could draw an analogy between the two, or compare them favourably, but I think it is wise to stop now.
 

Have a great Sunday (or for those with alternative diaries, Saturday )
 

iD

Edited July 12, 2020 by iL Dottore

[jamie92208]

Good morning all. It's nice and sunny and morning orders have not yet been posted.  I got the sand shiftedcand the trailer swept out quite qickly and throughput thecday ensured that water kept trickling out of the pool.  Some friends have decided, quite suddenly  to go back to the UK, apparently  because Tony is bored.  The upside of this is that they are chucking out. I therefore have become the recipient of a 5" asronomical telescope. As we have a nice dark sky round us I'm looking forward to using it.

 

In the afternoon I took part in my first Zoom meeting for a railway society. Some good things were discussed and it was nice to becable to put faces to names as I haven't met most of them. Gowever after 2 hrs of ineffective chairmanship I was glad that domestic duties needed to be done.  In the evening some friends called to return some tools I'd lent them. They arrived on a tandem that they have been given. This gave rise to me having my first ever go on such a machine. I found that I couldn't ride on the back as I wanted to steer to keep it balanced. However Ian and I did manage a circuit of the village with me on the front and no injuries were sustained.

 

The market willbe visited this morning and tonight we are to have a roast Guinea Fowl (Pintard) for tea. A neighbour raised a batch and we bought 4 . Plum crumble with newly harvested plums has also been promised. I may even even be allowed to make the custard.

 

As to parcel deliveries, quite a few companies seem to use La Poste for final delivery but I have seen UPS vans around.  I did get a rather nice little parcel from the US on Friday though, a book about the Cheyenne depot facilities of the Union Pacific. That came via USPS and La Poste and our postie left it on the kitchen table as we were over in the shed playing trains.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

 Good morning all. It's nice and sunny and morning orders have not yet been posted.  I got the sand shiftedcand the trailer swept out quite qickly and throughput thecday ensured that water kept trickling out of the pool.  Some friends have decided, quite suddenly  to go back to the UK, apparently  because Tony is bored.  The upside of this is that they are chucking out. I therefore have become the recipient of a 5" asronomical telescope. As we have a nice dark sky round us I'm looking forward to using it.

 

In the afternoon I took part in my first Zoom meeting for a railway society. Some good things were discussed and it was nice to becable to put faces to names as I haven't met most of them. Gowever after 2 hrs of ineffective chairmanship I was glad that domestic duties needed to be done.  In the evening some friends called to return some tools I'd lent them. They arrived on a tandem that they have been given. This gave rise to me having my first ever go on such a machine. I found that I couldn't ride on the back as I wanted to steer to keep it balanced. However Ian and I did manage a circuit of the village with me on the front and no injuries were sustained.

 

The market will be visited this morning and tonight we are to have a roast Guinea Fowl (Pintard) for tea. A neighbour raised a batch and we bought 4 . Plum crumble with newly harvested plums has also been promised. I may even even be allowed to make the custard.

 

As to parcel deliveries, quite a few companies seem to use La Poste for final delivery but I have seen UPS vans around.  I did get a rather nice little parcel from the US on Friday though, a book about the Cheyenne depot facilities of the Union Pacific. That came via USPS and La Poste and our postie left it on the kitchen table as we were over in the shed playing trains.

 

Just a quick request, can the combined grey mater of ER's suggest a good but free form of photo cataloguing  software please.  Any suggestions would be helpful.

As to VAT of course the French didn't invent it. The rezt of the world has got it back to front. They invented TVA.  

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

Edited July 12, 2020 by jamie92208

[Barry O]

Aye up!

I see the bouble posting gremlin has reappeared  (and I don't mean Jamie!)

 

Sunny but cool this morning. I have some gardening matters to "attend" to apparently. 

I may harvest our remaing goosegogs and collect some of our strawberries (a bumper crop from our plants this year).

 

Off to drink my mugatea. TTFN!

Stay safe and hoping to here from our missing ERs soon.

 

Baz

Edited July 12, 2020 by Barry O

[BokStein]

Happy Sunday!

 

Plans for today: buy tomorrow's lunch!

 

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

At one point they were selling, for use in high end cassette decks, very, very expensive Chrome cassette tapes that supposedly were the bees knees in terms of sound reproduction.  I never really had the opportunity to test this out. By the time I was old enough to have the wherewithal to purchase a high-end cassette deck (I got a Nakamichi) I had pretty much moved on to CDs -  both for playback and recording.

 

Have a great Sunday (or for those with alternative diaries, Saturday )
 

iD

 

Back in the day when I had a half decent HiFi system (Ariston turntable with an Ortofon MC20 cartridge, Music Fidelity Pre-amp (factory customised) EAR valve power amps and B&W DM11 speakers) I hankered after (but never acquired) the Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck. It was an auto-reverse player but with only two pickup heads; to play the other 'side' of the cassette, it would push the cassette compartment door out from the machine the rotate the cassette then pull everything back to play the other side. At in excess of £900, I gave it a miss.