Early Risers.

[Coombe Barton]

... anticipating home chaos ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/08/19/storm-on-the-way/

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[Erichill16]

Evening,

Hope All is well with everyone. My balance is a bit better today.

Working tomorrow as my delivery driver is off with a bad back.

Goodnight,

Robert

[jamie92208]

20 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Evening all,

 

As I stated yesterday, this morning was taken up by an orientation at the new school. Early start, 6:30, earliest I’d been up in months. Today was my sisters first day of school (8th grade), and her school is just down the lane so traffic was awful. But I arrived in my schools PAC well before the 8:00 deadline, and the talks began. The first few were all about religion (it’s an Augustinian school), and then the real info started. We were split into groups and taken on fast paced tour. Then we  were lead outside, given our schedules, and told we had two minutes to report to are first class!

 

Epic pandemonium ensued. It really wasn’t that bad, as all the “upper classmen” were stationed four in every hall as human google maps essentially. So after we went through our schedules at 7x times speed, we were shepherded back into the PAC for more prayer or something. Then I was picked up by the grandmother and taken to her house to do various odd jobs, and was reward with lunch consisting of a brioche burger and a “blueberry gooey cake”, don’t tell HH. One of these odd jobs was replacing a bulb in a Georgian style lamp on a wall, and when I opened it, the sliding lock bracket fell off, so I’ll have to braze it back together. Should be interesting.

 

stay healthy,

 

Douglas

 

Oh, and @jamie92208, I can’t say I have heard of a ploughing engine being used recently to get stuff out of a quarry, but would very interested to know more. 

It was somewhere in the UK. I think they called it a traction engine. I'll try and find the link.

 

Jamie

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Talking of smelly stuff. Way back in the mid 60's my dad was a controller at the old Kings Cross coach station and he came home and told us of this incident. At the time they had just commenced operating Continental coach tours with a brand new fleet of coaches fitted with toilets. They usually travelled on the Dover-Calais ferry. At Dover there was a woman customs officer who was a right jobsworth and insisted on examining each returning coach. One day she was crawling underneath a coach when there was a loud plop followed by a scream. She had been directly underneath the retention tank for the toilet when she opened the release cock. She crawled out from beneath the coach covered in sh!t. Even her colleagues were hiding their grins behind their hands.

[newbryford]

4 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

Leicestershire had a couple of locally famous stinky spots, the road into Market Harborough from Oadby(A6 I think) passed the glue factory, where bits of animals not required elsewhere were "brewed", thank god someone invented superglue. Another was "Niffy", the name given to Countesthorpe where my other half came from, as far as I know it's still know as Niffy even though the offending sewage works has been replaced.

 

Ah - a rendering plant.

 

15 years or so before being employed in the chemical works, I was at a nearby location making inverters and soft start control units. (When I say nearby, the same windsocks could be observed, but I knew nothing about why they were there at the time)

Next door to us was Ashworths Products - I believe they are still there. 

Animal carcasses in, various products out as well as a horrendous - but non-toxic - odour.

 

Summertime was not pleasant if the wind was blowing in the wrong (but unfortunately prevailing) direction.

[simontaylor484]

The last time i was in Frimley it smelt of air freshener/furniture polish From the sc johnson factory.

Seacroft in Leeds does nt smell like Lynx its made there last time i was there you couldnt move for Slovakian trucks bringing aerosol tins in for filling. 

 

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Thank you all for your supportive ticks to this morning’s post, it’s very much appreciated. 

 

The day started out sunny, but mid morning it started to rain and didn’t stop until it was dark. But it started again about 30 minutes ago and it’s really coming down now. 

 

Needless to say, I didn’t go outside today at all, instead I continued the work I’d left almost finished on Tuesday, namely installing the underfloor insulation and adding permanent lighting to the underfloor storage area. The morning saw me installing the lighting and after dinner I finished the underfloor insulation. The hardest part of which was doing the area around the trap door, which is located directly behind the front door and in front of the meter cupboard. But it’s all done now and hopefully that should mean the hall is a wee bit warmer, not that it was cold before. Next week I will start painting the bathroom.

 

When I was a teenager, we lived in a house that was but a stone’s through away from Davyhulme sewage works. Behind our back garden fence was a very long footpath (well over a mile in length) between us and the perimeter of said sewage works. There side of the perimeter was lined with very tall evergreen trees. We could never smell the ‘works’ when we were outside in the back garden, walk 30 yards away from the front door, if the wind was in the wrong direction you could!

 

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[J. S. Bach]

Good night owl from the Piedmont.

[iL Dottore]

12 hours ago, Simon G said:

My daughter in law is a water treatment works manager with Anglian Water.  Her simple take on smells from the treatment works, aka sewage farms, is that if they smell at all, they are not functioning correctly....

Quite. We have a sewage treatment works nearby (close to the dog club building and field) and it is odourless. When we do smell excremental odours they come from the various nearby farms - mostly from porcine excrement. Fittingly, when we do smell “pig poo” it means that the weather will take a turn for the worse.

11 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Again on the smell thread but from a slightly different front.

I was once following a tractor and barrel trailer in my motor home. The barrel was leaking but didn’t realy think about it until I got to the caravan site but by then it was too late. What a stink and i washed down the wheels and wheel arches but couldn’t clean the underside of the van. I don’t think the neibouring caravaners were impressed but fortunately we managed to get the underside of the van jet washed the following day. 

Dont know what it was and don’t really want to know.

Robert

If you were lucky, it will have only been liquid manure, otherwise - depending on how long ago this happened - it could have been one of any number of “agricultural liquids”, some of which are very nasty indeed (and now, rightly, banned).

10 hours ago, Andrew P said:

Especially for a none drinker like me. It was the first thing I noticed when we moved to Swad and I worked in Burton.....

Oh dear, a non-drinker. I think you may definitely be in the wrong company, Andrew.  If the ER “Brains Trust” or the RMWeb meet-ups at Warley (and other shows) are anything to go by, a more seriously dedicated, single-minded, bunch of topers, imbibers, boozers, dipsomaniacs, inebriates and sots outside of the RMWeb community would be hard to find.

Indeed, I could tell you some hair-raising stories involving noted ER contributors, real Ales and strong spirits, but discretion (and a sense of self-preservation) is the better part of valour here. 

6 hours ago, polybear said:

 

....Sadly the factory is long gone, though the distinctive building still stands (listed building?)

Indirectly, that’s a rather damning comment on the state of British industry: that the quality of the building is better (and considered more important) than the machinery and processes it was designed to house. As a relevant aside, I read that an industrial museum was recently donated a particularly fine example of industrial machinery dating from about 1850 or so. The reason it was in such good condition was that it was still in use until a few weeks before being donated... It’s hard to tell if the machine’s longevity was due to it being one of those weirdly specialised, never duplicated, pieces of Victorian machinery or because no-one had invested in a newer/more modern bit of kit.

Today looks like it will be a “day off”. I have one e-signature to provide and then I’m at liberty until tomorrow afternoon. So, will it be some m*******g or guitar playing? Decisions, decisions...

 

Carpe Diem lads and ladettes

 

iD

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

Brian BSW, you are not alone.  Welcome to the world of PSA and all the trimmings that go with treatment for cancer.  My oncologist is rather blase about PSA readings but the slightest rise scares the cr@p out of me.  When I display anxiety at the news of a rise of a few points, my man reminds me that my reading was over 800 when I was first diagnosed five years ago.  IIRC, it is now 1.6.  Bandying figures which may well be less than exact does not alter the fact that I have prostate cancer and that it is fully capable of despatching me.  It did not help that my late cousin Mike lived with it for years until it turned round and bit him, a month before I was diagnosed.  I would not say that I am relaxed about mine but it's a case of so far so good with the hormone injections.  When they stop working the Prof tells me that he has many other treatments up his sleeve.

 

Today I make my first attempt at ordering prescriptions on line.  Accessing the surgery webshite is a bit of a rigmarole but from what I have seen of it the NHS app is a jolly sight worse.  Wish me luck!  On matters technological I got rather cross last night thanks to Zoom.  Our Area Group meeting had me in sound only, again.   When I start connecting myself to it I turn on tha laptop's camera, recoil in horror at the image and then click on the Zoom invite.  At this point something different goes wrong every time and if I knew what it was I might be able to fix it.  The stupid thing is that it all used to work perfectly.  How annoying.  How annoying also is auto correct.  I just spotted that the word "statement" appeared on the first line of this paragraph.  I had meant to type "attempt", which is what it now says.  Technology, I hate you.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris 

[TheQ]

13 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

News is just coming in of a serious boating accident in Great Yarmouth.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-great-yarmouth-very-serious-22547284#source=push

Sounds nasty, a woman thrown into the water and police divers called in. 

One woman in the water who sadly died after getting trapped under the boat..

 

But I do question 17 emergency vehicles needed, including 3 diving teams, 4 fire engines, 4 Ambulances, the air ambulance, Coastguard, RNLI and numerous police cars.  The A149 major road was closed for 4 hours, so they could park all the vehicles,  as well as the river being closed .

 

That is at Great Yarmouth Yacht Station, which is where Yachts and more often these days hire cruisers, moor up to either visit GY or wait for the tide to be at it's optimum low to go under the Bridge.

From what I understand two boats collided throwing the woman over board.  The time indicated by the reports, an hour or so after high tide so the boat shown by the reports had no chance of going under the bridge, there wouldn't be that much clearance for that particular boat at low tide. The tide wouldn't have been that strong at that time although at mid tide it can be quite nasty at that place. The tide would have been coming in, so no chance of the boat being washed under the bridge a little further down which is quite common.

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Sunny morning here.. beautiful views...a day at Beamish isbin the offing..all is well (apparently)

Breakfast was ordered last night..the combinations available were mind blowing but a full mashings fried breakfast with toat and marmite should see me through.

 

Yes @iL Dottore I too like real ale. Gales brewery is sadly missed..where it is brewed now it doesn't taste the same..but they will tell you that chemicaly it is the same..pah!

 

Our dinner last night was very good. I ate too much so will cut back tonight. Local good cooked properly served by very attentive staff.

 

Have as good a day as you can. Thoughts are with all ERs especially our "missing" ones

 

Baz

[jamie92208]

Good moaning  to all. Couldn't post yesterday then spent afternoon and evening  trainspotting.  My neighbourvis due to arrive soon to finish off the fence so I am needed.  Out for a BBQ with friends tonight. So regards to all.

 

Jamie 

[New Haven Neil]

Morning.

 

Grace and Sarah safely at home and doing well, only long term will we know if there has been any oxygen deprivation damage but things look OK at the moment.

 

Off to the Big City  soon sign documents to wind up the company later this morning.  And then....back to decorating the lounge. #groan#  

[Joseph_Pestell]

59 minutes ago, Barry O said:

 

 

Yes @iL Dottore I too like real ale. Gales brewery is sadly missed..where it is brewed now it doesn't taste the same..but they will tell you that chemicaly it is the same..pah!

 

 

 

So agree. Gales' was one of the worst brewery closures. The beer did not taste right when brewed at Chiswick and I don't even know where it is being brewed now that The Griffin has gone as well.

And why did Fuller's feel the need to completely abandon the Gales' name and rebrand all the Hampshire pubs? 

[TheQ]

Smelly places..

Keel University.....the road past the Biology department,

Milton Keynes bus station / the A421 where in turns inland from the M1... Guess where they built the sewage works. Welcome to MK...

Milton Keynes when the brickworks was functioning at Marston Moretaine, and the wind was from the east, So Bedford must have got it quite badly in the past with the wind was in it's normal south westerly..

Stinky bay, as it's know locally in the Island of Benbecula.. it's where all the seaweed washes up and rots on the shore,

The end of our lane on occasion, yes our tiny local sewage works / pumping station, it took Anglia water nearly 2 years to fix it properly .. There were floaters in the stream, that's small enough to jump across..

 

And pleasant ones,

 Norwich , with the long gone chocolate works in the middle of town, now covered by a shopping centre owned? by INTU.

 

The slightly chlorine smell of the mist lifting from a river at dawn.. Sat there, in the sun, newspaper in hand, coffee by my side and a bacon roll..

 

Mooring awl, Inner temple hare,

I was surprised this morning , to See Ben the worried Collie peering round the end of the bed when I got up this morning, I Think he wanted the comfort of being near us, he followed me round all morning before I left, nothing to chase for him this morning though..

As it was I got 5 hours sleep in bed and another 2 on the sofa with a long gap in the middle..

 

Odd drive in...

Big Black BMW, followed me most of the way in, used his indicators , didn't try to overtake, slowed as we passed every road junction, and I was in the Landrover.

A couple of junctions later I started accelerating as the lights were green.... and then a car crossed in front of me.. it's not even the lights in that directions time to be green, before the direction I came from.

 

Grief is occurring among the Lab staff, it's the end of the financial month, receipts are down, so management are getting involved with things they don't understand, causing output to slow, rather than improve as they want..

 

 The new computer.... I can't use it, the HDMI cable has no keyway, the new computer does.. I didn't know there were two types of HDMI cable..

 

So I'm measuring the second major system this week, where as last weeks is still not fixed, I've not heard back from the boss what the fix is yet.

 

The second system won't be finished this week, I'm off tomorrow, which is why it's a visit to the big orange shed after work. Cement for the Alleyway  entrance floor, and some oak mouldings for the capping of the cockpit combing.

 

Time to type in the results of the 19M Ohm measurement..

 

 

 

 

 

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Sunny here after a very wet and windy night.  So windy I had to turn off the security light on The Shed as it was continuously (and annoyingly) switching on and off all the time.  I believe a large nearby pot plant waving in the wind was the culprit so that will have to be moved.

Bin men due but they are a bit late today.

I used to drink Gales HSB many moons ago at a pub near my workplace.  Liked it a lot and it doesn't seem to have done me any harm.    Not tried it since the change to Fullers though.

Smells:  I went to school in Mitcham in the 60s when it was home to several paint and varnish factories.  One was quite close to our school rugby pitches and there was often a very nasty aroma in the air.  Not good when you're playing rugby and breathing rather heavily.   Mind you it was worse in later years playing club rugby on a Saturday if you were in the scrum and the props and locks had been out for a curry on the Friday night! 

GCSE results today and Gemma is really worried about her Maths as she needs it to get into 6th form.  She failed her mock as she got out of a sick bed to take the exam.  All her other results were good to excellent.  Her teacher has said she needn't be worried but after last week's fiasco she is.   We should receive a phone call about 10.00hrs and are going round this afternoon hopefully to help her celebrate.

In other exciting news Sainsbury's have just informed me that we're getting everything we've asked for on today's delivery.  First time since lockdown! 

Have a good one,

Bob.

Edited August 20, 2020 by grandadbob

[grandadbob]

Just remembered another smell from the 50s.  I lived in Brampton (Hunts now Cambs) and the village farm used to get a delivery of sugar beet pulp for winter feed and that was just tipped in the yard which was at the bottom of the High Street.  That was a bit ripe but probably no worse than other farmyard smells that we were quite used to.

[roundhouse]

23 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

So agree. Gales' was one of the worst brewery closures. The beer did not taste right when brewed at Chiswick and I don't even know where it is being brewed now that The Griffin has gone as well.

And why did Fuller's feel the need to completely abandon the Gales' name and rebrand all the Hampshire pubs? 

I used to like Gales Festival Mild, a strong  mild that was available all years and would often visit The Basketmakers in Brighton till it became a Fullers pub and stopped serving the mild.

 

Morning from a hazy Surrey. The old open fencing belonging to our neighbour has been blown over during the night. The posts were rotten and many years ago I put in a temporary post to support one of them. I may go clear it up for her later.

 

I may also be viewing a large property for my brother in HK as he wants to buy a place here after selling his house in HK last year. This will allow him to buy something quite large and upgrade it.

 

No beer today as the next three days will be quite beery.

 

Back to runnning in my Dapol Western on the High Line after sorting out an issue on one bogie that caused it to derail. Also looks like i will have a little bit of crust earning fitting a batch of sound decoders for someone in the next couple of weeks.

[Dave Hunt]

The worst long-term smell I ever experienced was when we lived in Lincolnshire and one of the local farms had a delivery of what looked like about twenty tons of chicken poo which was left in a large heap to rot. The smell was appalling and not really ameliorated by the farmers' assurances that, "It'll get better as it settles down." Fortunately the prevailing wind was not quite directly across the village but often enough it was and the episode did little to endear them to the residents. Mind you, the two brothers that ran the farm were not the most neighbourly or friendly individuals and were frequently the source of irritation or worse in the village, particularly when they drove their 32 ton truck and trailer at ridiculous speed through the narrow lanes and over the verges.

 

And GDB has it exactly right about Saturday rugby games following heavy Friday nights. As a No. 8 I used to get the worst of the collective outpourings, particularly from one hooker who was known as Cheesey.

 

Have a good day unless you are antipodean, in which case good night.

 

Dave

Edited August 20, 2020 by Dave Hunt
Bl**dy predictive text again (and it just changed text to teeth in this sentence!)

[TheQ]

Well as I'm used to living in the countryside I missed a few, 

A big pile of Eau De Cowshed was in the field alongside our house for over a year before they spread it and ploughed it in..

Sugar beet washings are often dumped on the fields, you can smell Cantley Sugar beet works sometimes, about 15 miles away as the crow flies..

The left over stalks from the pea harvest is quite a pong in the wrong weather.

There's an artic load of chicken  / Turkey inners that goes down the main road many mornings..

 

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

After last nights heavy downpour I have woken up to sunshine and no wind (outside). I’ll be having a day of rest (of sorts). Tomorrow the car goes in for its MOT and service, so the normal Friday tasks, butchers and Trafford Centre visit will be done this morning, leaving me a free afternoon to do bu99er all. 

 

Chrisf. I’m aware of foibles of PSA readings and also of the various treatments for prostate cancer, having been diagnosed with a very aggressive form just over 8 years ago. This was followed a large dose (37) of radio therapy, 3 years of hormone injections and a 2 year drug trial, which seemed to have sorted it out. But, as I had been on a drug trial, I was constantly being monitored so they could see how things went after treatment ceased. For 4 years my PSA was so low they could hardly detect it. It slowly started to rise about 3 years ago but since last year it started to rise very quickly, as was told in May that once it gets to 15 or more, we’ll start they’ll testing me again, so here I am and once again so it’s fingers crossed at BSW towers. 

 

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

 

Brian