Early Risers.

[Erichill16]

Evening,

Steady day all round bit of paperwork and shed time was included. Nothing else to report so I hope you are all well and wish you a good night.

Robert

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[Mike Bellamy]

4 hours ago, TheQ said:

 

Ahhhhg the hippo bags advert is back.. 

 

 

Sorry Mr Q, that might be my fault. We had a new kitchen installed a couple of weeks ago and the fitter supplied the largest size Hippo Bag which was as big as a skip. It was collected  a day or two after the job was completed and I made the mistake of looking at their website to see what the cost was. Perhaps me doing that made Google think that all users of a model railway forum need a skip for their layouts - I know that's where my modelling attempts will end up if the wife organises the house clearance after I've gone !!

 

Of course the appearance of the Hippo Bags adverts could be part of a marketing campaign by the Telford Hippo . . . . . . . 

 

Mike

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well I never actually got out to the garden as I was requested to stay inside so that I could answer the door if somebody called because Sheila was planning to iron the bedding and if she was in the middle of ironing the duvet cover, she’d not get to the door in time. Apparently I’ll be required on door answering duties again tomorrow morning too, by the time she’d finished the ironing it was raining! Still at least England managed to beat the Windies today!

 

I’d got things that I could do in the cellar today anyway, so I removed 2 more shelves off the wall and I now have an even bigger stash of items to take to the shed and workshop. The walls are starting to look clearer by the day now. I also managed to give the control panel a rub down and another coat of primer on the inside. Tomorrow I shall make a start on painting the outside. 

 

When I’d finished for the afternoon and before I got washed and changed, I emptied the vacuum cleaner and then rinsed out the filter with the outside tap before putting it in the washing machine along with the clothes I’d been wearing today.

 

Goodnight all 

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[brianusa]

Almost a Fodor like guide to British hotels and foods!  Trundling to and fro for many a year now, I have found that you gets what you pays for.  Latterly, flying proved to be trying so we used miles to upgrade which was worth every penny.  Once we flew home on our anniversary and the cabin help were most generous giving us wine and champagne upon disembarking; you don't get that in Econ very often!  Hotels are expensive over the years no matter where you go, those in London very much so from the Mayfair variety to those with less fancy addresses.  We have had our share of each and enjoyed the experience.  Probably they have all changed hands by now but the Hyde Park Hilton was a pleasant stay for a few days.  We returned as tourists so we stayed mostly in the West End for convenience.  Invariably any breakfast was expensive and sometime we ventured into McDs for a change!  Most dinners were enjoyed at equally expensive restaurants although Simpsons was  a real  treat!  The country hotels on the whole were quite nice and a couple of times stayed at working farms where you sat down with real people and their dogs or cats!  Food was invariably delicious sometimes with a couple of drinks with the farmer.  We found most of them to be 'county folk' who relied more on high end Rovers rather than tractors!  The down side sometimes was when you encountered the clique at the end of the bar of the local who probably would ignore JC if he walked in!  These are happy memories now.  Of course there were those days you don't want to remember, think British Summer, but on leaving one time we had a chauffeured limo to the airport and thence back to reality.

On the whole for years British food was given a bad rap; it wasn't as bad as a lot of people thought and fish and chips or a Cornish pasty now, I would die for!

     Brian.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[simontaylor484]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

 

HOW MUCH???  Jeez......

My Saveloy and chip roll comes in at £3-60.  Throw in a bit for some home supplied b.beans and it's job done.

I do note the same place seem to think that twenty seven quid for brekkies is worthwhile too.  Weatherspoons here we come....

 

As for Fray Bentos Meat pies - I worked with a guy (ex-RAF Fairy) who put one in the oven for din dins.  Apparently you're supposed to remove the lid (or pierce it?) first.  By all accounts it blew the oven door open and sprayed meat pie all over the kitchen walls.

Incidentally, this is the same guy that, when informed by his good wife that she "keeps getting tingly electric shocks off the washing machine" that she should wear wellies and turn it on and off with the broom handle.  The front wings on his mini were sewn on with stainless steel locking wire.

And I came within just a few seconds of getting a face full of hydraulic oil at 3000psi (from 24" away) - I moved just in time, having learnt that Ray's advice wasn't always the most reliable.  Fun days.

When I was at uni someone left a unopened tin of beans on the ring of a baby belling in the kitchen of one of the halls floors. Shock and awe comes to mind the ring was being out of shape and the kitchen covered in beans 

[PhilJ W]

A few on here know Brian 'Wheels' Stubbles. He tried to boil an egg in the microwave but he didn't realise that you had to make a small hole in the shell. He had to disperse a few modelling tokens for a new microwave.

[The Johnster]

3 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

It is past time for bed.  The cat is unwell. A friend in Australia is in electronic conversation with SWMBO threatening to end it all.  It is going to be a long night.

 

 

O dear.  Hope it turns out well; I've had a little experience of this sort of desperation on telephones and don't imagine internet makes it any less traumatic! 

 

To return to less fraught matters, the tuna melt was superb, and set me up for the day quite nicely.  Returning from The Squeeze's shopping, found a chucked out aquarium, glass and about 18"x 1'x1'.  It holds water without leaking, so will be handy as a reserve/isolation/breeding tank, so long as I can resist the temptation to put more fishes in it...

 

Past Johnster's bed time now, g'nite all!

[J. S. Bach]

Good night owl from the Piedmont.

[BR60103]

My reply box contains the last reply I made quoting someone. I think it was on this thread.

 

We finally bought a dehumidifier. It seems to produce 2-3 pails of water a day. 

 

When I was in school we did an art project using asbestos powder.  I bought my own later and had a pie tin of it that I used with my soldering iron. It was missing when we cleared out my father's house; I think my sister may have chucked it without knowing the contents.

 

[PatB]

Mention of the infamous Fray Bentos pie tin, and the need for a "good" tin opener to get into it, makes me wonder if anyone else is experiencing difficulty in buying such a thing? Yes, can openers are widely available here, many complete with fancy styling, probably designed by someone in daft glasses, squishily comfortable ergonomic handles, contemporary colours, etc. Great. Trouble is, none of them appear able to open tins. Not for long, anyway. I think the average lifespan has been around 2 tins before something bends, breaks or blunts. Some will not cleanly open a tin when new. At least one disintegrated less than halfway round its first can. Level of rubbishness does not appear to directly correlate with purchase price.

 

I finally tired of this expensive and sometimes dangerous parade of utter cr@p, sought out a supplier of commercial kitchen equipment and spent a frightening (for me) amount of dollars on their small handheld model (I really wanted one of their big, bench mounted machines that appeared capable of opening small safes, but don't have room for it). When it turned up, it was suspiciously similar to some of the junk domestic ones I'd tried but, in use, it has actually proved fit for purpose being, apparently, made from something other than toffee. Hopefully its early promise will be continued.

 

How on earth manufacturers and retailers get away with selling such manifestly not fit for purpose stuff is beyond me. Is it the case that, now so many cans have ring-pulls, nobody ever finds out how useless is the modern can-opener? Did consumer laws cease to apply and noone told me? I don't think I've ever come across a class of product so uniformly poor, and, as an early adopter of Chinese tools, I know garbage when I use it .

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

It was interesting to see Mike Stationmaster discussing shops in Sidmouth.  The logistics are against me buying furniture or china, neither of which have much of a place on the campsite.  I have my doubts that wages in Sidmouth are high but many of them are seasonal.  It is said, and with good cause, that one third of all the beer consumed there is drunk in the first week in August, along with most of the teenagers.  Such is the dependency of the town’s economy on the folk festival that its absence this year is bound to cause economic havoc and in some cases ruin.  I get through what is best described as my fair share of beer, as do other festival goers, and I eat out too.  Timing can be everything.  When the afternoon concert turns out, at never the same time two days running, it is a case of head down and charge to the Black Horse for dinner –  now closed, apparently.  My friends and I were pretty good at getting ahead of the rush.  Of the Victoria I have no first hand knowledge but if it is the sort of place where one lingers over an intimate dinner you will not find me there.  Eating in Sidmouth often has to be squeezed in between concerts.  Dammit, I am missing the place already.

 

A fodder run is due today, as is a batch of ironing.  Clearly I must look elsewhere for excitement.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[pH]

22 minutes ago, chrisf said:

 It is said, and with good cause, that one third of all the beer consumed there is drunk in the first week in August, along with most of the teenagers.  

A superb example of zeugma!

[jamie92208]

Good moaning all.  Rather tired this morning after being kept awake by a mozzy buzzing in my ear whenever I tried to go to sleep.  Anyway the day has dawned and it's sunny.  First job will be some more grass cutting then Beth and I are off to The Danglies to collect her X rays from Saturday. Then after a bit of shopping we are meeting some friends  for lunch. On my return I'm off to meet my trainspotting mate for an evening at Poitiers watching trains.  Not a bad day in prospect.

 

Rick, hope that SWMBO and her friend are OK.

 

Jamie

[Hroth]

Up* to see if the Boris Bike Repair Voucher portal had started working, it had collapsed completely at opening time last night (23:45), so I gave up and went to bed.  After many slow hiccups and reposts, it finally regurgitated a voucher so I now have a Govt contribution to getting my old boneshaker fixed!

 

The voucher includes replacing tyres, inner tubes and brake blocks so, having done what I can myself regarding cleaning and oiling, £50 towards the above isn't to be sneezed at.

 

* Unusually early for me, so I thought I could contribute with a clear conscience!

 

 

Edited July 30, 2020 by Hroth

[TheQ]

Since the Boris Bike repair voucher, has to be used at certain shops only and can only be used by the shop to repair your bike, you can't buy parts with it. £50 will not cover much so I won't be applying.

 

Mooring awl, Inner temple Hare 858/537,

Not a good nights sleep 4.5 hours  plus very intermittent dozing.

 

The Lack of sleep hasn't helped my mood when I found the MS teams invite to a "meet" has been repeated to me via Email from an official source. So I've replied via the official source in a very formal manner saying no..

 

On the way in, the first village about a mile and a half away, I drive through has a 3 inch deep flood before the water disappears into the drainage dykes, I suspect the watermain has broken again, about 20ft from where it broke before. This may explain why we had a huge noise from the house plumbing last night with it vibrating for about ten minutes. it was most odd at the time..

 

Also on the way in, many flattened pigeons, I suspect they have been eating too much of the spilled grain harvest to get airborne when a vehicle comes along..

 

Time I went and worked on "cool stuff" expensive electronic equipment.

 

[Barry O]

Ey up!

I remember opening tins of corned beef, luncheon meat and SPAM using an industrila tin opener many years ago..amazing bit of kit. Our moreasons tin opener has survived a fair length of time and has, a while ago, opened a Frey Bentos pie.

 

I remember Heinz Apple puddings.. pierce tin, put in pan of boiling water for what felt like ages, remove from water and take off lid with tin open (a proper one you punched into the tin and then used it like a large metal cutter..scary!) They also did delights like steamed ginger pudding with ginger sauce..all verboten for me now...

 

Food in the uk can be as good, and on occassions,better than that produced across the world.  I may just have to concoct a pan of panakarty so eime..a simple but filling north eastern dish (some spell it as penhegarty...don't know why).

 

Time to do some housework in preparation for our visitor today.

 

Make wise use of your time today!

Positive thoughts to all ERs and I hope the "missing" ones are well.

 

Baz

 

[polybear]

48 minutes ago, TheQ said:

The Lack of sleep hasn't helped my mood when I found the MS teams invite to a "meet" has been repeated to me via Email from an official source. So I've replied via the official source in a very formal manner saying no..

 

 

Are you sure the "official source" is genuine?

[Dave Hunt]

The Boris bike voucher scheme - Pah! Last week I spent £65 getting my bike fixed!

 

I once heard about the young son of someone on a station (RAF) where I worked deciding that he would give the dog a treat by warming its food so he put an unopened can of it in the oven on a high setting. I'm not sure how much the kitchen repairs cost but apparently it was a good job no-one was in there when the explosion happened.

 

Market day today so it's time to don the mask and get on my bike.

 

Have a good one people.

 

Dave

[TheQ]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Are you sure the "official source" is genuine?

Oh yes, it's part of a routine message we get regularly.. and I checked the return address was correct

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I will shortly be bending a few ears re. my none appearing shed, I have contacted the company and I'm expecting a call back shortly but given the company's (in)actions so far I'm not holding my breath. Its not helping matters that Virgin Media my internet provider is down and I can't access my e-mails.

[Coombe Barton]

8 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

He tried to boil an egg in the microwave but he didn't realise that you had to make a small hole in the shell. He had to disperse a few modelling tokens for a new microwave.

A letting agent I had to install a new system in in the south of England had this notice adjacent to the staff microwave.
 

"If you explode anything in the microwave it's your job to clear it up"

[iL Dottore]

9 hours ago, polybear said:

...HOW MUCH???  Jeez......

My Saveloy and chip roll comes in at £3-60.  Throw in a bit for some home supplied b.beans and it's job done.

I do note the same place seem to think that twenty seven quid for brekkies is worthwhile too.  Weatherspoons here we come....

 

As BrianUSA noted below, you get what you pay for. On the rare occasions I do go out to a restaurant, I always go to those places that use quality ingredients and which do things that I can't cook (not for lack of gear, but for lack of experience and, possibly, skill). I don't mind paying what, for some, may seem a lot of money for a meal. If (and it's a big IF) it's an amazing experience with superb food. For example, I've been lucky enough to eat at Heston Blumenthal's Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental in London. It was an unforgettable meal. The food was incredible - not only because of the quality of the ingredients but because of the sheer skill that went into making the dishes, the service was flawless, the waiters knowledgeable and smartly turned out. It was a most enjoyable and memorable evening (with Friends) and worth every penny. However, eating well doesn't have to be expensive. There is a place in London, in Chinatown, that does the most amazing Bao buns. Two of them will set you back a few quid and will fill you up (and all freshly made as well). A few years ago I was in the Veneto and I had a simple piadina (an Italian flat bread) with some prosciutto di Parma. That, and a coffee, set me back a few Euros, again great food. I also had an amazing Tempura Udon bowl in a hole-in-the-wall place in the Ginza (Tokyo), again inexpensive (about £5 or so if I remember rightly) but of great quality.

 

I have eaten a Weatherspoons breakfast, it was..... edible, The problem is that to keep prices low and yet still provide the customers what they want, something has to give and it's usually the quality of the food. As regular readers know, I am no fan of baked beans. But I'll happily eat a portion of properly made-from-scratch baked beans whilst cheerfully spurning the "comes from a large industrial size catering tin" beans served at most places (including Weatherspoons)

8 hours ago, brianusa said:

Almost a Fodor like guide to British hotels and foods!  Trundling to and fro for many a year now, I have found that you gets what you pays for.  Latterly, flying proved to be trying so we used miles to upgrade which was worth every penny.  ....

Invariably any breakfast was expensive and sometime we ventured into McDs for a change!... 

Most dinners were enjoyed at equally expensive restaurants although Simpsons was  a real  treat!  ....

 

I agree about flying Business Class, although for me the important aspects of Business Class are the service (especially on the ground), the lie-flat seat/beds and the space/comfort. I'm happy to jump onto EasyJet (but never Ryanair) for a 90 minute flight, but for long haul? Business Class all the way...

 

I fail to see the attraction of MickeyD's anywhere in the world... There are so many better chains out there. When I'm in the US (and in a state that has the chain) a Hardee's Breakfast Sausage and Egg Biscuit is worthwhile indulgence (although now I find them a bit too salty than would be optimal)

 

Simpson's In The Strand used to be a "go to" place for me when in London, but it really has gone down hill over the past few years (some of the recent reviews have been quite scathing and the last lunch I had there was extremely disappointing). For a good friend's 50th birthday, we had a (very) long lunch in one of the upstair's dining rooms (now no longer available - as of my last recce in 2019) and we went to town: G&Ts to start, a three course lunch of solidy BRITISH food (washed down with two bottles of a decent claret), followed by cigars and whisky (yep, that long ago. We could smoke in the restaurant). We met up at noon and (quite literally) rolled out of the restaurant about 4:30pm. The bill, for the three of us (and given what we had consumed) was very reasonable indeed.

I am still trying to find a replacement for Simpson's In The Strand, Rules could be a possibility, but it does have a whiff of "tourist trade" about it. Has anyone tried it?

2 hours ago, PatB said:

.... Yes, can openers are widely available here, many complete with fancy styling, probably designed by someone in daft glasses, squishily comfortable ergonomic handles, contemporary colours, etc. Great. Trouble is, none of them appear able to open tins. Not for long, anyway. I think the average lifespan has been around 2 tins before something bends, breaks or blunts. Some will not cleanly open a tin when new. At least one disintegrated less than halfway round its first can. Level of rubbishness does not appear to directly correlate with purchase price.

 

I finally tired of this expensive and sometimes dangerous parade of utter cr@p, sought out a supplier of commercial kitchen equipment and spent a frightening (for me) amount of dollars on their small handheld model (I really wanted one of their big, bench mounted machines that appeared capable of opening small safes, but don't have room for it). When it turned up, it was suspiciously similar to some of the junk domestic ones I'd tried but, in use, it has actually proved fit for purpose being, apparently, made from something other than toffee. Hopefully its early promise will be continued.

 

How on earth manufacturers and retailers get away with selling such manifestly not fit for purpose stuff is beyond me. Is it the case that, now so many cans have ring-pulls, nobody ever finds out how useless is the modern can-opener? Did consumer laws cease to apply and noone told me? I don't think I've ever come across a class of product so uniformly poor, and, as an early adopter of Chinese tools, I know garbage when I use it .

PatB, welcome to the wonderful (and useless) world of "domestic appliances". At a guess, I would hazard that over 90% of "domestic appliances" are purchased because of looks and not functionality and - if I may be unkind - by people who want their kitchens to "look amazing" whilst not doing any cooking in the kitchen (there was an article in the tabloid press about this a few days ago).

I long ago started the process of replacing "domestic" with "professional" whenever I had to replace or acquire a new piece of kit. Professional equipment has two advantages over domestic: the equipment is usually designed to do one thing and one thing well, and do it over and over and over again. Additionally, every part of the professional item can be replaced (obviously not for absolutely everything, but certainly for most items), unlike with many "domestic" items (I have an otherwise usable Kenwood electric kettle that I can no longer use as a small part failed and spare parts are not available....)

Professional gear need not be eyewateringly expensive either. If you are in the UK Nisbets (https://www.nisbets.co.uk/) is your friend (they sell to both the public and "the trade"). Their Nisbets Essentials are particularly good value for money.

2 minutes ago, Barry O said:

.....Food in the uk can be as good, and on occassions,better than that produced across the world.  I may just have to concoct a pan of panakarty so eime..a simple but filling north eastern dish (some spell it as penhegarty...don't know why)....

 

You're not talking about "Pan Hagarty" by any chance/??

You are spot on regarding British Food. However, speaking as a dedicated Gastronaut, great British Food requires 3 things: high quality ingredients, time and skill. Many cuisines make a virtue of a necessity - by coming up with ways to make very low quality ingredients delicious, but in British Cuisine there is usually no place to hide poor quality - especially when it comes to classics like roasts. Time is frequently needed to create a great British dish (e.g. you can't cook up a steak and kidney pud in 30 minutes...). Skill is also needed for many classic British dishes (especially with those dishes that were created to use up absolutely every last bit of an animal).

Unfortunately, quality, time and skill cost money, something a lot of consumers don't want to part with for food (odd isn't it. People will happily pay £££££££ for booze but not £££ for a good piece of meat).

So basically, when eating out (and even shopping) in the UK Caveat Emptor.

Enjoy your day!