Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[monkeysarefun]

Sydney to Perth is a bit of a haul, especially the bit through  the Nullabor.  Was a great relief when plane fares came down in the '90's and I could fly it instead.

 

Google maps doesn't get much of a workout calculating the route.

 

Edited September 10, 2020 by monkeysarefun

[BR60103]

Weather has turned very fall-like. The pipe band gave a concert tonight and commented how it was like Scotland. The event was free-ticketed to limit attendance. About 50 may have been there. It started at 6:30 but the ticket said we should have our chairs set up by 6:50.

Big bookstore chain still trying to sell MRJ from about January.

We bought a new plastic mat for the computer chair. The previous one seemed to have developed a slippery surface in places.

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Goodnight all, from Greencountry.

 

 

Douglas

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all and welcome-back wishes to Ian Abel.

 

I’ve just had an uninterrupted night’s sleep.  This is such a rare event as to be worth mentioning.  It was such a pleasant change not to be wide awake at 2.45 am and groping for the on button which lets loose the sound of overnight radio – good old “Up All Night” on FiveLive.  It is supposed to send me straight back to sleep but seldom does.  What it does instead is make me marvel at some of those who take part in radio phone-ins and the patience of the presenters.  I attribute last night’s miracle to the time spent leafing through a photo album of London’s trolleybuses in their familiar habitat.  Oh, happy days.  

 

I seem to have triggered a discussion about long distance driving.  In normal circumstances, and these are strange times, Bedford to Bristol and back in a day is no problem for me.  I had intended to visit Bristol three times this year but all the events were cancelled.  I must be out of practice.  Since lockdown set in, I have managed eight miles a week and that only because I do two trips to the supermarket.  My annual mileage budget, ie the limit imposed as a condition of the finance agreement, is 10,000.  This works out as 200 miles a week with a couple of weeks off.  From time to time needs must.  About five years ago I drove to Plymouth and back in a day for my cousin’s funeral, leaving little if any change out of 500 miles in all.  I have been heard to lament that Bedford is 200 miles from everywhere.  When there are shows to attend I show my face at a fair number and none is on the doorstep.

 

Meanwhile, yesterday’s announcement from those who rule us appears to have put the kibosh on practically everything.  What more is there to say?

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[5 C]

Early in my career, I would think nothing of driving from Luton-Newcastle upon Tyne and back in a day. A 500 mile round trip, but a relatively straightforward drive up the A1, interspersed with a Little Chef stop or two. Always in a brand new car to do the journey, no speed cameras and relatively free flowing traffic.

 

It's so much different these days. A two hour drive to the Midlands fills me with dread. The seemingly endless roadworks, stop-start traffic, poor driving standards from all vehicle types and an absence of anything but camera-based enforcement. That's what I find tiring, leaving me pretty frustrated at journey's end. A two hour drive into East Anglia on the other hand, is nowhere near as stressful and I barely feel the effects.

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Herself is off to collect a bag of gravel from a friendly gardner..that will be my task for the day sorted..as in laying the stuff!

 

She will then be shopping in moreasons..so before spreading the gravel I need to sort out the shopping..and I have the dishwasher to emptt..looks like muddling time could ell be zero today...

 

I am beginning to feel like we are living in a "double" world..us mere mortals tryingto follow a set of rules being set by people in another world seemingly oblivious of real life..

 

Blue skies appearing as that golden orb appears over the horizon..great!

Enjoy your day! Positive thoughts to all ERs..nice to hear from Ian but a few more are missing..hope they are well!

 

Baz

[Barry O]

When working in a building service company years ago weekly trips from leeds to gatport airwick and/or Heathrow for meetings quickly ran in my Ford Mondeo..

 

I bought the car when I left having had it for 3 years..it had 104,000 miles on the clock...

 

Baz

Edited September 10, 2020 by Barry O

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl Inner Temple hare, 815/510

3 hours plus 3 .25 hours plus 0.25 hours sleep.. not as much luck as ChrisF..

 

A sort of neutral temperature on this mornings Patrol As Ben the pleased with himself Collie found something else to chase.. A cat.. I don't know where that's from as there are no slave owning cats within 1/2 a miles.

 

Dry broken but mostly cloud this morning, this is the first I've left the upstairs light on as it was still dark-ish in the house when I left..

 

The new covid rules are, as usual,  muddy as far as sailing is concerned.. The social side of sailing has long since gone. Although they have been allowing 30 on the island for the sailing each weekend. We could probably get 100 on the island getting their boats out without breaking the 2 metre rule, and we have one of the most confined sailing club yards in the country due to being on the tiny island.

According to the latest missive from the club, they as usual are awaiting clarification from the RYA from HMG.

 

Meanwhile Macarthy and Stone purveyors of miss described housing to the elderly.. err that could be me, when did that happen? .. Have finally restarted work on their Stalham site. I've seen a few visits by their company vans since lock down started, but yesterday a digger was at work and a couple of other men wandering around doing things..

 

Another escaped Effin clown in the middle of Wroxham this morning... a muntjac deer wandered out of one gate way across the road and into another just a gentle slowing required this time..

 

I finally got given the missing piece of test equipment at an hour before my finish time last afternoon, that  left me with 16 hours to do 8 hours work. Whether or not it's completed depends mostly on the three hour automatic run, as it can't be left to finish on it's own as it will kill the batteries in the voltage measurement standard.. the voltage standard runs from batteries  so  mains noise doesn't interfere with the measurements..

 

Time to check the company spam and then get started..

 

[TheQ]

You may remember my comments about a lady falling overboard at great Yarmouth Yacht station a couple of weeks ago.. This is taken a few hundred yards down river from there a hire cruiser a couple of years back with engine failure.  you can see the effect of the tide there.

Note, the Coast guard man once aboard the hire cruiser, is seen hauling at something  on the bow... That's the  rope for the mud weight which is used as an anchor on the broads , it's dragging ineffectively on the bottom..

 

[polybear]

7 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Shock midweek post!

 

Thought I might break radio silence to show what has been going on in “the back yard.” There’s a house having a serious rebuild down the way, a costly endeavor as they are adding on a significant amount. For whatever reason they didn’t bother to demolish the split level inside of it, the floor plan of which will soon be rendered obsolete. The house next to us, with the big hole where a fence should be is also getting redone. A new proper hedge will soon be there. To add to this, the chain link fence which is ours is to be pulled down, and hopefully a portable O gauge Bassett-Lowke railway can go inside where it is now.
 

stay healthy,

 

Douglas

 

 

I bet there's some lovely timber off-cuts in their skip (I believe that's a dumpster in U.S speak).

Once a skip-diver, always a skip-diver....

[tigerburnie]

Morning, suns out, off to join it..............................

[jamie92208]

Good moaning all.   Glad to see Ian is back.   

 

Yesterday went very well.   1 hours of driving, 5 hours of watching and waiting to see 1.5 minutes of cycling but very well worth it.  The spot that I had chosen from Google Maps turning out to be very good, In between a sharp left hand bend and a sharp right hander that lead onto a fairly narrow railway bridge, all at the summit of a little climb, so they weren't coming very fast.  Each of the two bends had a minor road leading off it so there was plenty of room to spread out and stand and watch.  The group of fans near us had a transit with an awning on the side, a BBQ and of course a table for the wine bottles and glasses.  Whilst we waited they turned the pavement into a Boules court.

The first big thing was the Caravan as it's known  with all the advertising vehicles. Imagine driving a quad bike with either a garden shed disguised as a shopping basket or an enourmous raspberry above you. various scantily clad young ladies hung off the back and side of these vehicles throwing out goodies. All wearing masks and harnesses. (Don't get excited at the back there). Of course as it's France 2CV's appeared.

There were5 of these advertising some king of pork sausage.

Finally after a lengthy gap the riders appeared with plenty of cars, and gendarmes in front and behind. Here is one of the photos with the current Green Jersey (Top sprinter) an Irishman called Peter Bennet towards the left hand edge.  

All in all an experience and only 40 miles from home.

 

Then a very good meal out with friends.

Today should be good.   A trip to the tip shortly to get rid of a trailer full of rubbish, then an afternoon and evening trainspotting at Poitiers with my mate Andy.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

 

[roundhouse]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

When working in a building service company years ago weekly trips from leeds to gatport airwick and/or Heathrow for meetings quickly ran in my Ford Mondeo..

 

I bought the car when I left having gas it for 3 years..it had 104,000 miles on the clock...

 

Baz

Our oldest car is now 25 and has 72k on the clock, the layout shifter is now 15 years old and has 77k on the clock (and wont increase much till shows return)  and our newest car at 12 years has 23k , a good part of that mileage has been since I packed up commuting and around 4k since March this year.

 

When I used to commute by car many years ago it wasnt high mileage but high number of hours crawling around the M25, it would sometimes take 2-3 hours to do 38 miles. I used to know all of the avoiding routes including some very narrow lanes but so did many others.

 

Some crust earning yesterday. Sound decoder installation can be tricky but rewarding finiding ways to crsam it all in to a loco but sometimes annoying as one the speaker worekd briefly then no sound. At first I was worried that the £120 decoder might have gone wrong but luckily it was a £2 speaker - first one that has failed so not a big issue and the loco was soon running fine and back in its box.

 

My other halfs new toy, a Union Pacifics modern loco with an Army veterans "color" scheme arrived after 8 days from ordering from NYC, even with the high shipping and UK duty it was still cheaper than getting from the now very few places that sell USA outline (if it had been in stock) in the UK. Shes now keen to get a CSX loco first responders one when it is released. She said that she gets these on the basis that I look after them for her - shes definitely a keeper.

 

Today a bit more crust earning and then maybe the final bit of paving relaying around the sheds. Looks like it will be a nice day.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

A nice sunny morning so far and should stay that way.

First of 3 bin lorries has been but they're all running late.  I can hear bottles crashing in the distance so the next one is nearby.

Longest drive in a day I've done is about 420 miles.  I'd been in Cornwall for a few days in 2003 visiting Dad (who was 85 at the time)  in hospital after he'd broken his femur after a fall in the garden.  I was on my way back home from Par when I got a phone call somewhere on the A303 past Andover to say that he'd taken a turn for the worse and I ought to return.  Drove back to Par to pick up his partner thence on to Treliske.  He improved later on in the day so we went back to his house in Par.

Unfortunately things got worse and he died in hospital about a week later.  I've always loved that drive to and from Cornwall but when I do it now it's not quite the same.

The M25 from Wisley to Staines was the bane of my life for about 5 years when I worked at Ashford and like Ian very short journeys could take 2/3 hours due to accidents etc.  Even trying other routes didn't help in those situations as everyone else was doing the same.  My record was 3 hours for 27 miles coming home one night due to an overturned lorry.  

Sainsbury's delivery is due in 10 minutes so I better get ready to assist The Boss.

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

[AndrewC]

Moaning all from the boring borough. Looks like we've got 2 more micro pubs open with another pair due shortly. That will bring the total to 14 plus 3 more just over the border in Greenwich. 

 

Driving again. Last Oct I did Carlisle and back in a day while moving the offspring to his new abode. That was my longest UK distance in a day. We've had the new Landy for 19 months now and only just hit the 10,000km mark a few weeks ago. That would have been about 4 months or less back in Canada. 

 

The builder next door hasn't got his way with the HMO application and the whole thing now has to go before the planning board. I'm going to have to write and present a 2 min speech on why I'm objecting. The hard part will be making it only 2 minutes. 

 

In other news the new washer arrives today. Since our laundry area is upstairs we've been moving furniture in the hall and making sure the old one is ready to be removed. Somehow I don't think the delivery guys are going to be happy, even though it is noted on the delivery. 

 

coffee time. Enjoy the day. 

[southern42]

' morning all from red dragon land.

 

Overnight rainfall is drying up. Sun later...

 

After several weeks of abandoning the cutting board, I managed a bit of m*d*ll*ng, yesterday, despite the ravages of seasonal irritations - I cut a millimetre off the length of a tube which is to fit over a lamp iron!  Today, I shall glue the tube onto the back of its headboard.  If I can muster up a bit of fortitude, I hope to carry on with the other bits that need doing.

 

Toot on the flute is also taking its toll, so I am just concentrating on one tune, stripping it apart, and working on each little bit at a time.  Frustrating yet satisfying.

 

Fitt  and  Elfie pulling their socks up.

 

Take care all and don't get caught out by the ever-changing rule book...  

 

_________

Best wishes

Polly - 'Er Indoors out of the pollen

[Barry O]

I have unloaded and packed away the shopping. Parceled some sales item sup and been to the post office...avoiding cyclist riding down the pavements, younger people with no idea of social distancing and an OAP in the post office who was a little annoyed when I said .. "the foot marks on the floor are for social distancing" .. "what if I don't" was his reply... Shop staff then chimed in.. "you won't be served and get your face mask on correctly please"  He tried to push past to get to the counter.. he was smaller than me.. Baz 1 complete barnpot 0..

 

Walked back home.. her indoors has talked to the new crew of the Marie Celeste and has booked our flu jabs..lummy whatever next..  actually a mug of coffee!

 

Good catchup with 4 of my ex colleagues from the  Challenger 2 team.. yes the world was set right..general discussion included "political people idiots we have met.. quite funny!

 

Now off to sort out a hedge..

 

Baz

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Late on parade this morning, we both overslept, despite the radio coming on! Anyway, breakfast has now been eaten and I’ll shortly head off to the workshop to continue working on the turntable. The plan today is to build a platform and shelter at one end for the vacuum control gear. All I’ve got to go on is a photo in a book, so an awful lot of guess work will be involved. 

 

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

 

Brian

[polybear]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

...........various scantily clad young ladies hung off the back and side of these vehicles throwing out goodies.

 

 

So why on earth are you posting a picture of 2CV's painted like tablecloths??  We need pictures.....

 

1 hour ago, grandadbob said:

My record was 3 hours for 27 miles coming home one night due to an overturned lorry.  

 

 

Thought for the Day:

What do you do when you're stuck on the M25 in a humongous traffic jam and dying for a poo?

[petethemole]

51 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

In other news the new washer arrives today. Since our laundry area is upstairs we've been moving furniture in the hall and making sure the old one is ready to be removed. Somehow I don't think the delivery guys are going to be happy, even though it is noted on the delivery. 

 

 

In 1980 I had a temporary job as an odd job man for a white goods dealer, including assisting with deliveries.  We had to deliver a washing machine in Winchester where it turned out it had to go upstairs.  Trouble was the stairwell was very narrow with walls both sides that didn't leave room for hands to manouvre the (heavy) machine.  We were a bit stuck, but then the husband came home for lunch.  It turned out he worked for a piano dealer and what did he have in his van but some webbing strops, just what was needed. 

 

It's pleasantly sunny here with a cool northerly breeze.

 

In local news a school bus struck a bridge in Winchester, several children hurt.

 

I'm trying to re-organise my office/library/den having acquired another drawer unit.  There isn't room for the one it displaced, but I still want to use it.

 

Good to see Ian Abel back with us.  Have a good day all, and stay elfy.

 

 

[tigerburnie]

Back from the garage, car passed the MOT so all is good for now, off out for a short drive, may go to Stonehaven if it's not too busy, take care all.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Bin day today including the lesser spotted glass and bottle wagon. Yesterday I gave the weeds on the patio a dose of glyphosphate and the effects are beginning to show already, except for the one or two I missed. A bit more gardening will be done later.