Early Risers.

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

Let me explain what I meant by “comics” yesterday as I have clearly caused some anxiety.  I meant railway magazines, specifically in this case the last six years of Railway Magazine.  They and some bundles of other printed matter will have to go as I do not have the space for them or, increasingly, the time to read them.  Already winnowed is Rail Express, from which I saved the series about Mostyn and one or two other features.  Today’s Railways has also gone and I see no need to keep back issues of Steam Railway either.  Perish the thought that I would wantonly discard valuable items such as the Beano – as my mother did in 1962, very much against my wishes.  She was wonderful in so many ways but her editorial judgement was severely lacking.

 

This evening the Chilterns Area Group takes to Zoom again.  This time we are supposed to be discussing signalling but I rather suspect that some of us would be well advised to have other subjects ready to discuss.  EMGS members will know from the newsletter that we discuss a range of subjects and, shock horror, do not confine ourselves to m*d*l r**lw*ys.  The days when we met in pubs now seem a world away.

 

In honour of what is happening in Washington DC this afternoon may I lay this modest effort before the discerning community of ERs.  It has already been shared with the elite of Twitter, if that is not a contradiction in terms, and has been welcomed with folded arms.  Feel free to sing it:

 

“Donald the President, pack your trunk and say goodbye to the White House.  Off you go with a trumpety-trump, trump, trump, Trump”

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

[iL Dottore]

6 hours ago, newbryford said:

There was a comic that sold recently for north of $1million the other day.

But - even that's a bargain compared to this:

https://nypost.com/2014/08/25/worlds-most-expensive-comic-book-sells-for-3-2m/...

Try musical instruments for eye watering auction prices. David Gilmour’s Black Strat sold for close to US$ 4 million a year or two ago! Not bad for a mass produced Fender Stratocaster (Interestingly, I learnt that the Black Strat was bolted together from a number of different Strats that David Gilmour bought at Manny’s [the famous musical instrument store in NY] in the early 70s). 

But for gob-smackingly expensive, you can’t beat the prices of classical instruments. Stradivarius and Guanieri being two luthiers whose work is now astronomically priced.

6 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

...I know Jamie likes his Eccles cakes, .polybear likes his lemon drizzle cake and Flavio likes fruit cake and his specialty ‘fruit and nut’ cake and I think H.H likes  everything....

Actually, I’m not really a cake fan - preferring savoury over sweet. But I do enjoy baking cakes for Mrs iD to enjoy with her cousin (it’s a regular Sunday afternoon event: Mrs iD and her cousin walk the Wolfpack and afterwards enjoy one of my cakes). Apart from the aforementioned cakes, I also bake (on a regular basis) a “French Apple” Cake, a Turkish Quince Cake and (in season) a Rhubarb Crumble Cake. I also have a few puddings in my repertoire that get made on a regular basis: a “proper” (i.e. traditional) Tiramisu, Crème Brûlée and Apple Crumble. I love steamed “stodge” (spotted dick, jam sponge etc.) but still am not quite satisfied with my attempts - though Mrs iD is happy enough (actually, I don’t think there’s anything better than “Stodge and [Bird’s]  Custard” to put everything right on a bitterly cold and wet day).

To conclude this patisserie inspired rambling I have to add that, sooner or later, I must take the bit between my teeth and try making a Paris-Brest (which will be Bear proof - given that a Paris-Brest is a crisp choux pastry shell filled with a flavoured cream) - which means not only learning how to make choux pastry, but also improving my piping skills (piping creams and purées not, thank goodness, the bagpipes).

 

On such a sweet note, I bid you adieu and wish you a happy “hump” day.

 

iD

[Barry O]

Ey up!

Had to take a paracetamol last night as I had one of my very infrequent headaches. Still got a bit of a headache so another tablet will be taken.

 

It is house work day. I am allowed to use the new cleaner of vacuum.. we have given up on the dicey dyson as its hose has split again.. the design, materials and workmanship on the last one we bought are terrible. 

 

Once housework is complete I have some other chores to attend to.. pumping out our boating lake, maybes a trip to the post office..depends on the weather.

 

 @Erichill16 your team wasn't the only ones to lose last night. Pah!

 

Have a good day/evening everyone!

 

Baz

 

Edited January 20, 2021 by Barry O

[polybear]

8 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

There was a comic that sold recently for north of $1million the other day.

But - even that's a bargain compared to this:

https://nypost.com/2014/08/25/worlds-most-expensive-comic-book-sells-for-3-2m/

 

[goes off to look for my copy of Viz #2..................]

 

I wonder what Bear's copy of BRM Vol. 1 No. 1 is worth........

The plasterer visits this morning to drop off supplies and tools; Bear has a couple of last-minute tasks to perform before work starts (removal and covering of socket back-boxes, a couple of wall tiles to remove, taping up the window frame to prevent any risk of scratches etc).  Not sure how the rest of the day will pan-out yet - I'll make it up as I go along.  I do know there's a pair of jeans waiting to be ironed.  My cup runneth over....

 

Finally, today hopefully sees the back of The Orange One once and for all - though I suspect he'll be lingering like a rancid f@rt for a long time to come.  How the not so mighty have fallen.  Oh how I wish his trophy bride would see sense and divorce him, and clean him out in the process.  And then move in with a Democrat.....

[jamie92208]

Good moaning.  It's still good weather here but 7 days of rain are forecast from tomorrow. With that fact in mind I went to the Mairie yesterday and obtained a permit for a fire forom the deputy mayor.  To be more previse I now have a completed and signed application  form as Fabienne couldn't find the actual permit forms and the Secretary wasn't there.  Fabienne also  supplies us Guinea fowl and other sacrificed birds when needed.

 

Anyway with the piece of paper obtained I'm off out to start the fire. The currentbpile will be moved to the fire site, bit by bit, to ensure that there are no nesting hedgehogs.

 

Regards to all.  

 

Jamie

[The Lurker]

9 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Peter BB's V2 could possibly have been a V1, the last V1's arrived about September 1944, after that the advancing allied forces had overrun the launch sites. The sites where both missiles struck are well recorded so it would be easy to check. Time to put the kettle on, be back later.

I think the clue might be in the description that the bomb came without warning. From accounts i have read/heard, you could hear the drone of the V1s. It was when they went silent that it was time to fear; the engine had turned off and they began their fall to earth. The trajectory of the V2 was very different; it reached far higher altitudes and descended more steeply; there was no tell tale cut off of noise.

 

The village I grew up on was on the old SER mainline and used as a navigation aid by bombers. The church was destroyed by a bomb from a damaged German bomber and some cottages opposite the station were strafed by a German fighter. There were tales of a German fighter shot down and landing in the woods nearby although i have never seen any evidence of this last "fact". The street i live on now was hit during the war - as was a lot of south east London/Kent borderlands. At the end of the road was a foundry (co-incidentally, unless Peter is about to tell me he grew up in Sidcup!). which was destroyed - i have lost track of the date - and a number of people were killed, mostly in nearby houses but also including one of the air raid wardens who lived round the corner at the end of other end of the street. When I moved in, the foundry site was a Toyota garage; now as is the way with things it is a block of flats.

[TheQ]

2 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Good moaning.  It's still good weather here but 7 days of rain are forecast from tomorrow. With that fact in mind I went to the Mairie yesterday and obtained a permit for a fire forom the deputy mayor.  To be more previse I now have a completed and signed application  form as Fabienne couldn't find the actual permit forms and the Secretary wasn't there.  Fabienne also  supplies us Guinea fowl and other sacrificed birds when needed.

 

Anyway with the piece of paper obtained I'm off out to start the fire. The currentbpile will be moved to the fire site, bit by bit, to ensure that there are no nesting hedgehogs.

 

Regards to all.  

 

Jamie

How will you you prove you have a permit if you use it to start the fire?

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Wet and windy here and it will stay that way all day but it is a mild 9°C.

12 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear ended up tripping up the raised edge of the front garden path, going face down into a privet hedge and impaling his face - I came within a gnat's of losing an eye. 

 

I too nearly lost an eye when I was 3 or 4.  Parents had a pub in Bedford (The Gloucester Arms - no longer a pub) and my friend Terry and I thought it would be a good idea to play with some darts.  These were lifted from behind the bar and we went outside and started throwing them at each other.  The game ended when Terry managed to score a bull on me smack between the eyes just above my nose.  The dart stayed stuck in while I ran into the pub screaming where Mum removed it.  

I like most types of cake but my favourites are good old Victoria sponge, Bakewell tart and the apple cake that The Boss makes.  

Yesterday's walk was a fail as after about half a mile The Hip started playing up badly and I decided to hobble home.  By the time we got back the left leg had come out in sympathy so nothing else got done.   Still rather painful now so I won't be walking in the rain.

A bit of financial juggling is required this morning and there is a provisions order to finalise for delivery tomorrow.

Have a good one,
Bob.

 

[New Haven Neil]

Morning.  A brief lull in the rain has just ended. #sigh#  I was just about to go out for a walk.

 

I have early memories of chasing (relative term - could hardly walk) a black cat called Bimbo that lived opposite with the idea of pulling its tail - I failed.  Also of pre-school with a girl that lived two houses down, who I was quite keen on.  Didn't last, but I did marry someone else who moved into the same house 20 years later!  

 

As for sweet eats, golden syrup sponge pud or a plain scone with butter are my loves, but both and many others are banned for two years now since the advent of being diabolical.  A chokky Hob-nob would be nice too......#sigh again#

[jonny777]

Another dull and wet morning in North Somerset, but very mild at 10C. 

 

When I was of primary school age, my mother used to ask me what was the very first thing I remember; and I used to amaze her by saying 'lying on my back looking at leaves'. This is how I spent my summer afternoons aged about 6 months. She would lay me in my pram and put it in the shade of an old tree in the front garden, while she chatted with the neighbours or did a bit of weeding. 

 

Presumably I was there on a regular basis and the image was implanted in my mind? I can't say I actually remember that now; as its just a memory of me recounting my memory. 

 

I remember my first day at school, because I was shown to a desk with some brand new strips of plasticine on it. Apparently, my mother was in tears as she shouted goodbye from the classroom door, but I was too engrossed in the plasticine to even notice her departure. I don't think she ever forgave me. 

 

She used to tell me about doodlebugs, and she would lie awake at night listening to their strange droning sound and praying for them to keep going. If the noise stopped she was instructed to go and lie under the bed for a while. 

 

I decided to use my old laptop (the one with the u/s trackpad and keyboard) as a semi permanent slide scanner controller. I set the whole thing up, connected to the scanner, and was about to scan the first image when the computer suddenly decided it would refuse to recognise left mouse clicks again. As the software is virtually unusable without left clicking everywhere, that is another great idea ruined by computers only obeying the law of sod. It has now been relegated to doing work for Primegrid, which is calculating some ridiculously large prime number. 

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

It’s still raining, has been all night, the 2 large puddles have joined together to form 1 large, very long puddle, I won’t be going outside today!

 

My earliest memory is of pre-school nursery, which was not far from my gran’s house, whose house my parents lived in until my brother was born (1957), we moved to our first house in 1958, just before my first sister was born. So going by these dates we must still have been living at my gran’s, as this nursery was too far from our first home to take me there. So I must have been about 2, however I remember the incident well, as I was forced to eat cheese, (which I disliked then) I then promptly threw it all back up again, I don’t remember if anyone was in the firing line, but my mum had to come and collect me. I avoided eating cheese for years after that, although I can now quite happily eat it, but not straight from the fridge, it has to be cooked in one way or another. The next firm memory is when my second brother was born, (Jan ‘61) he was born at home and I was a school and my gran came to meet me after school, this was something she never did as she worked at the time in Manchester, so must have come home early! When my second sister was born (May ‘62) I was told to go out and play, which in a large council estate wasn’t difficult to do. 

 

Another day of rest is on the cards, though I’m not what I will do to fill the time, I’m sure I’ll find something!

 

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

 

Brian

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Having spent a lot of yesterday checking and correcting 'somebody's forthcoming press release all i need to definitely do today is some delving researh into something else for somebody else (yes, it also is one the very secret list).  So that's my day sorted apart from a Tesco trip taxiing the management.

 

The weather outside is distinctly and miserably soggy and it was a bit breezy overnight as well as being distinctly sioggy.  The rubbish bin has bin emptied but I'm not sure of teh status of the food recycling bin.  Once I've disinfected the handles etc on them they can be brought back into the garden.

 

Early memories for me area a peculiar mixture - fortunately I can remember nothing of my first year - much of which was spent in hospital (the bill for that attendance giving lie to any claim that the NHS was in existence in the first part of 1948).  I do however have a couple of memories from around the age of four - the first of which is most odd because it concerned a gentleman - Captain Carlsen, Master of the 'SS Flying Enterprise' - who became known as the Flying Dutchman d for staying with his vessel after everyine else had abandoned ship.   The only way I would have heard abput would have been from radio news programmes and my parents talking about articles in the daily paper but oddly it stuck in my memory.  And from about the same time I can remember being stuck in some mud on my grandparents' farm and shouting for help until my uncle heard my cries and came to rescue me.  I have more memories from a few years later including teh aftermath of having my tonsils out and teh summer I spent down on teh farm while some major building work was going on next door - that summer my gran taught me to tell the time and presented me with a Hopalong Cassidy watch (still about somewhere) while a less enjoyable experience was riding on top of a horse drawn wagon load of wheat sheaves which started to overtake the horses going down the hill from the field -  this hill -

 

 

 

Weird how some things stick in your memory.

 

Havea good day one and all and stay safe.

[tigerburnie]

Morning, I have some recollections from my yoof the most vivid was the windows in my bedroom rattling every time a steam train went past on the old Great Central, I remember seeing Flying Fox hauling the Master Cutler and I remember seeing Mallard being towed to London to a museum. I remember coloured scarves hanging out of train windows with either rugby league or football fans on their way to Wembley. I remember farthing chews in the corner shop, I also remember being told I could only buy 2 at a time as the farthing had just been withdrawn. Funnily enough I do remember the 1960's despite people saying you weren't there if you remember them, a steam train hauled a couple of us up to London to go to Carnaby Street one Saturday.

[PeterBB]

14 hours ago, petethemole said:

The foundry wouldn't have been the target, London (if that's where you were) or another city would be.  With the technology available at the time, they could point a V2 in the desired direction and adjust the launcher elevation and the fuel load to arrive in the approximate area.  The randomness coupled with the supersonic speed and thus unexpected arrival were what made it a "terror weapon".  Missiles able to hit a particular building came a bit later.

Food for thought - as the crow flies we were not that far from an industrial estate that was involved in 'the war effort' so the 1941 bombing might well have been targeting the area.  If July 1944 the V2 could not be totally targeted then being south London it could have been just part of the 'random' stage of V2.  North West 'London' area took a bit of a battering from 'targeted' V2 I believe via false information fed back on the accuracy of the V2 bombing.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Not a bad night last night, no interventions from the sore foot or Arthur Itis. The sore foot was giving a bit of notice this morning but a fresh dressing soon sorted that out. I had an e-mail from UPS yesterday telling me that there was a package due to be delivered today quoting a four hour window only half of the times quoted were convenient for me. They gave a list of options if I was not at home to receive the package but 'leave with neighbour' was not one of them. There was an automated query section so I typed in "Can the package be left with neighbour?" but it answered that it couldn't understand the question, WTF! In the end I changed the delivery date to tomorrow. About childhood memories, the only teacher who's name I remember was my second year infants teacher, a Miss Whitaker. One thing that she told us was never to clean our ears with soap, just use hot water. I have always adhered to that advice and have only once had to have an ear syringed and that was because one of the ear canals was coiled in stead of straight, a congenital condition only discovered when the ear was syringed. I do remember when I was about four spending Christmas in hospital, what was thought to be tonsillitis turned out to be a quincey. About the only food I could swallow was ice cream. The only other child in the hospital was a small baby but there was still a visit from Santa Claus, apparently as I don't remember that as I was probably very groggy. One thing that I was pleased about was the number of toys I received, not so pleased when I got home my parents made me share some of them with the neighbours kids.

[Barry O]

It is still raining!  Domestic chores have been completed. Hurrah!

 

We have had a visit from a man from Yorkshire Water. He arrived at 8am. Took one look at the water.. then explained he is a "dirty" water assessor.. so he took lots of photos, inspected our drains and also next doors' then took a trip up to see why water is flowing down the street. He will report in and we are to expect a visit from the "clean" water  team.

 

I can remember going out with my father in his car (a Black sit up and beg Ford Anglia)  while he went about his business. This was fine unless you got near the railway line at night.. It was like Dante's inferno and the Somme mixed.. lots of bangs and crashes, lots of Steam engines struggling to get long coal trains out of our yard at the pit.

 

Then.. we visited Trimdon once. The line from the colliery crossed the main road on a bridge.. the sights and sounds scared my rigid.. I was 4 at the time!

 

more wombats for @chrisf

 

 

Very nice it was too!

 

Baz

[Sir TophamHatt]

Well, work has come back to bite me.

After a few weeks of easy street, this week has been horrendous.  Just really busy and not really knowing what I'm supposed to be doing.

I'm a bit black and white.  If one desk has certain things it has to do, I will do those.  The other desk has other responsibilities but the used to be paid less.  Now both desks are run by the same mix of people, the lines of responsibility are blurred meaning one person thinks the other person is doing the job and vice versa!

 

At least I only have one more day left.

Then 5 days off - now that's what I'm talking about!

[PhilJ W]

18 minutes ago, PeterBB said:

Food for thought - as the crow flies we were not that far from an industrial estate that was involved in 'the war effort' so the 1941 bombing might well have been targeting the area.  If July 1944 the V2 could not be totally targeted then being south London it could have been just part of the 'random' stage of V2.  North West 'London' area took a bit of a battering from 'targeted' V2 I believe via false information fed back on the accuracy of the V2 bombing.

The information about V1 strikes was 'doctored' to make them fall short so SE London and Kent got the majority.  The V2's could not be directed so easily as they could be affected by high altitude winds and were fired indiscriminately at the greater London area. As the Germans retreated London became out of range so the last British city to 'receive' a V2 was Norwich but the accuracy was so poor that many fell into the surrounding countryside doing little harm.

[PeterBB]

The Stationmaster mentioned the Flying Enterprise ... I too remember this clearly as I was recovering at home after nearly losing an eye via a rugby boot stud coming into contact with my face.  Historically there was a lot of interest and eventually the reason was because it was secretly transporting large quantity of gold from the USA.   One other aspect of it was that the skipper of the tug thing it before it sank, a Captain Parker, later died from a fall from the bridge of the tug - strange how some things get stuck in memory  as jonny777's  pram 'leaves'.  

 

Going back to school and pre-school- then called nursery just post war where I went and before proper school when Mum was working was the same building that I ended my school days in at A-level.  We had dinner and when finished had to have a sleep.  Now, as some of you know, food is a problem and on this particular day it was 'frog sport'.  You can imaging who was last to finish as somewhere kept coming back to see if I had finished then suddenly I had ... never could eat the stuff and by chance there was a broken window pane near ground level and I had scrapped it out.  

Edited January 20, 2021 by PeterBB
Spelling corrections

[TheQ]

Much of Norfolk was a dumping ground for weapons not dropped on the target, other than the Baedecker raids there weren't too many good targets except airfields.  Boulton Paul up on Mousehold heath  and Lawrence Scott down by the river were the only ones worth it in Norwich.

However it did mean just about every village in Norfolk got something, even my little village which is 20 houses spread over 2 miles  of a road got incendiaries dumped on them.. to no effect..

[polybear]

2 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

As for sweet eats, golden syrup sponge pud .............are my loves......

 

Now you really are ringin' this Bear's Bell.........

 

Now don't laugh...I haven't been smokin' something dodgy...but when very small this Bear remembers flying down the stairs.....

Not jumping, falling, running, being pushed, chucked or any thing else.  Just flying.....

On several occasions I'd come to the top of the stairs and then without warning I'd float down the stairs.  Dunno how, but at the bottom I'd always run back up the stairs to see if it would happen again, which it never did.  I'd then run to find my mum and say "mum, I've just flown down the stairs!".  "Yes dear, go and play with your Lego....."

[Coombe Barton]

Just brought the recycling bin in from the front lawn pond

[Barry O]

Can anyone else remember Heinz Tinned steamed apple pudding? Or their tinned steamed Syrup puddings?  they were lovely nut a real no no for a lot of us now.. PAH!

 

Baz

Edited January 20, 2021 by Barry O

[Coombe Barton]

14 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Can anyone else remember Heinz Tinned steamed apple pudding? Or their tinned steamed Syrup puddings?  they were lovely nut a real no no for a lot of us now.. PAH!

 

Baz

After having my mum's steamed puds the portion size we thought a little small.

[Chris116]

Woke up late, yet again! Two mugs of coffee and a bacon sandwich consumed and then the post arrives! Letter from hospital saying I have an appointment in February and should attend the hospital. Trouble is the consultant phoned me last week to say that having reviewed the test results there is nothing wrong with me. So I phoned the hospital to tell them I thought it was a mistake only to be told that the appointment is a telephone consultation. I told them that the letter states that it is an appointment to be seen at the clinic. The gentleman on the phone said that the letter was wrong and the appointment was probably a mistake but I should take the call if I receive one! 

 

I am left hoping the good results were not a mistake and that the right tests were done. The doctors and nurses I have dealt with have been wonderful but the back office communications are total rubbish and do worry me.