Early Risers.

[laurenceb]

Another party trick from the cartridge makers is to sell a cartridgecontaining x ml of ink & only let you use half

[The Stationmaster]

G'day all,

 

 i don't always wear a watch (and it has a flat battery anyway) but I always keep it on BST plus a few minutes and have done for more years than I can remember.   Hilariously on one occasion while in WHS a female stranger asked me the time and as i was doing something else I took a while to respond - at which she grabbed my wrist, looked at my watch and ran off muttering something about missing her 'bus - I would be amazed if she did miss it as we weren't on BST at the time.

 

I never found found having to deal with stuff in two time zones to be a problem.  I used bar charts (the really old fashioned method) for checking loco diagrams and making sure various balances were correct on the more complex stuff such as loco changes at both ends of the Chunnel and that was no problem at all although I had to separate some out to avoid them apparently going backwards    Equally timetabling for connections was no trouble at all - all you needed to know or work out the connectional margin and work to it and it would only be a problem when the 1 hour time difference didn't exist although fortunately that didn't last thanks to the EU decision.

 

 But , perhaps as a result of sealing with it every working day one question in respect of time which has long fascinated me, and to which I have never found an answer, was which 11.00 applied on the 11th day of the eleventh month in 1918 and more imoportantly how it had been agreed (I think it was GMT but I'm not certain).

 

Off and on rain today - as forecast but not too heavy.  I hope the opposite forecast of no rain will be correct for the rest of the week as I shall be on my way to jewsons 'ere long.

 

Have a good day one and all and stay safe.

[Gwiwer]

33 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

Goodness me, is that the time already.

Not quite.  Your clock is fast  

[Andrew P]

1 minute ago, Gwiwer said:

Not quite.  Your clock is fast  

Not until BST

[tigerburnie]

Afternoon all, a very blustery day out there, we got blown round the field on our morning walk, I swear we did it in half the usual time. A bit of the "G" word has also been done, potted up some chillies and sweet peppers into larger pots, intend to sow tomato seeds later. Have a safe day all.

[railsquid]

On 14/03/2021 at 08:11, Barry O said:

Bit bizarre.. the adds on this page were in Japanese.. shame @railsquidwasn't here to translate..

 

Sorry, can't be everywhere at once

[Winslow Boy]

So spring has definitely sprung. First tulip flowers of the year.

[Ian Abel]

Chewsday...

 

Yesterday somewhat uneventful, except a small uptick in client requests for report changes.

 

Some good news from Jemma and therefore the aviation industry over here, both she and Brendan (and all Delta pilots) are going to be active again by October.

Possibly earlier, but that is also dependent on re-training times. Luckily they both bid on and got NYC as their base and the 737s as their aircraft.

For Jemma that means a short re-qualifying as she was already flying the 737, for Brendan, full type-training as he was flying the A220 before. NYC is their preferred base, and they'll probably return here to live and commute. Unclear as yet when Delta will require they are no longer "unassigned" and therefore unable to work as instructors at UND.

Rumor has it, it could be as soon as April!

 

For me, today, FINALLY decided it's safe enough to go get my eyes tested, been nearly two years now, as I skipped this time last year due to... you know  

 

Started snowing yesterday around noon, as predicted, and we're now back to about 5-6 inches of snow on the ground. Expected to disappear by late Thursday as temps rise.

 

-2 and overcast at newspaper time, reaching +2 later. Highs expected to reach 10-11 by Friday/Saturday.

 

Enjoy the day, stay safe.

[tigerburnie]

Wind dropped, so our first 5 mile cycle ride has been had, I may be lying down for quite a while, paramedics not required, but a large dram of something of the falling down water may be required.....................................

[polybear]

3 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

The actions of the EU regarding the AZ vaccine seem quite ridiculous, not to mention verging on the criminal by denying people the opportunity for protection - especially when they have been trying to hoard shipments for themselves that were meant for other countries. To suggest that an incidence of one case of blood clotting for every half a million of those who have been vaccinated is possibly linked to the vaccine makes about as much sense statistically as linking it to hair colour or cake consumption. In fact, it is probably even less likely. 

 

 

 

One of the "experts" being interviewed on the BBC2 lunchtime TV P*litics programme "suggested" it *may* be somehow linked to big drug companies - very powerful, with plenty of influence in Brussels he claimed.

Why?  Well the AZ vaccine just happens to be sold "at cost", with no profit......

 

A REAL Grade "A" barsteward thing to do if there's any truth in it.

 

On a brighter note, I'm sure none of you will be interested in this:

https://railsofsheffield.com/groups/3400/thunderbirds-model-kits

Edited March 16, 2021 by polybear

[Barry O]

Sunny herequite mild too.

 

Been to take her indoors to collect her car. Service and MoT completed. By booking on line she made an additional £15 saving

 

As a medical friend of mine said  " the rates the Danes have cried fowl about are lower than normal,,"   a big case of shooting oneself in the feet

 

Umpires at there usual rule bending selves today. Ball bounced far above youngest Blues head...no its not a wide it is just  byes.yer wot!!

 

Baz

[TheQ]

Afternoon awl,

Blowing a Hoolie out there with horizontal heavy drizzle. Strong enough wind to require steering corrections, passing farm gates.

Today has been restful, the equipment did one non stop 3hour 10 minute run and several 40 minutes runs. Other than that I just had a  10G ohm resistor to do taking 1hour.

 

I suspect Dave didn't work on GMT, but did work on Zulu time..

 

The rest of the time...rudder research. I eventually found what I was looking for in Proboat magazine, issues ,98, 99, 100. Luckily they are online back issues. A good explanation of all the elements of rudder design and specification along with lots of calculations.

 

So I set up a spreadsheet, entered all the formula and came up with.

The dimensions and style of boat produces,

Rudder area 2.2 square feet.

That with the max speed produces

A minimum, shaft diameter of 20.2mm for a solid stainless steel shaft.

A shaft diameter of 25mm 1.5mm wall thickness for a hollow stainless steel shaft.

The stainless steel tube I have is 30mm 3mm wall thickness, which turns out to be twice the strength required.

The current scaffolding pole shaft is about 4kg,

The tube I have about 2.5kg

If I could use a carbon fibre shaft, that would weigh about 100-150grams..

But first I need to find out the exact equivalent dimensions of carbon fibre tube to stainless..

 

 

 

Edited March 16, 2021 by TheQ

[The Lurker]

4 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

 

As far as clock setting is concerned, having spent all my working life operating on GMT (for obvious reasons, any military operation involving participants from different time zones has to have a common setting to work from) l never bother altering the clocks in the cars but leave them on GMT all year round. Similarly, if I go to that part of Europe where the time difference is only one hour from UK time I don't bother resetting my watch as it doesn't seem worth the fiddling involved. The clocks in the house, however, have to be reset or Jill complains that they are confusing and things like the TV, digital radios etc. reset themselves anyway. Since we as a nation are no longer trying to maximise the output of munitions workers I can't see the point of BST and in my opinion we should stick to GMT all year round.

 

 

That reminds me of a friend who always wears his watch 15 minutes early but does not change for BST. I don't wear a watch and haven't done for many years* but I was once caught out and missed the last train; I had glanced at the time his watch showed while at a restaurant and forgotten this particular one of his (many) quirks.

 

* there are so many clocks visible most of the time that I don't need to, especially with mobile phones being so prevalent these days. Back in the 90s I used to like demonstrating that I had a really good sense of the time in the Devonshire, which is a very narrow pub near the back of Selfridges. Generally the person I was talking to had their back to the bar which had an overhanging wooden arrangement, upon which was a very large clock that they could not see...

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Started preparing the space for the layout but I keep finding stuff that I'd forgotten I had so its taken longer as I have to check them out. Also there's a lot more stuff to shift as its in front of the stuff where the layout is going to go.

[PhilJ W]

Nearly forgot, my printer gets quite regular use and sometimes quite heavy use but despite that  as I said I only had to top up one colour. The ink cartridges are huge, the largest one, the black is about the size of a couple of video tape cassettes, that was also replenished because it had been throwing ink everywhere, fortunately no damage done just the cleaning up inside the printer.

[Gwiwer]

Afternoon all from a grey and slightly moist Hill of Strawberries.  

 

The recycling skips have been emptied today (was due yesterday) which has allowed me to tidy up the outside area.  A significant quantity of cardboard and the normal household recyclables have been deposited in the freshly-vacant skips.  

 

The NHS continues to vex me Covid notwithstanding.  The hospital appointment was cancelled but they didn't actually tell me; I chanced upon the information by checking the hospital's own pages seeking information on whether I was actually required to attend or would receive a phone call.  Neither, it seems, and with no reason given.  After a wait of 15 months that is particularly frustrating.  

 

The contact number the hospital gives is answered by a message stating that all letters offering appointments are to be ignored as all consultations will be by phone.  No way to leave a message or actually speak with anyone.  The main switchboard number is answered by a bot asking me to say which department I wish to speak to.  Bot then connects me to the previous voice .....   

 

So I call the GP surgery.  Or try to.  The first two attempts don't go through - the call simply fails to connect. The third one does but after listening to the spiel about Coronavirus blah blah blah and selectingf the relevant option it then tells me that option is only answered between 8 - 11 am and to call back during those hours.  I can't - I have to work.  So call again and wait for the options to run out then "hold to be connected to an operator".  OK.  After a few seconds "The queue is full - please try later".  Five further attempts over the course of an hour got the same.  How is anyone supposed to speak with their GP surgery these days?  Finally I got through and was helpfully answered immediately.  That's where the help ended.  I would have to call the hospital.  No - they don't answer.  

 

"I can only make you an appointment with the next available doctor for a call-back.  That will be on Monday 29th March"  You WHAT?????              Did they have any way of knowing I wasn't a critically urgent case?  No.  

 

I have downloaded the forms to register with another surgery.  I don't believe any other in this area is taking new patients but it has to be worth a try.  And I have the 29th in my diary.  

 

It must be time to attack the kitchen.  The belly-lion is growling

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

On a brighter note, I'm sure none of you will be interested in this:

https://railsofsheffield.com/groups/3400/thunderbirds-model-kits

FAB1 is already on pre order from an establishment in Cornwall. I intend to motorise it to join my fleet of slot cars. Should make a good pace car. 

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

Afternoon all from a grey and slightly moist Hill of Strawberries.  

 

The recycling skips have been emptied today (was due yesterday) which has allowed me to tidy up the outside area.  A significant quantity of cardboard and the normal household recyclables have been deposited in the freshly-vacant skips.  

 

The NHS continues to vex me Covid notwithstanding.  The hospital appointment was cancelled but they didn't actually tell me; I chanced upon the information by checking the hospital's own pages seeking information on whether I was actually required to attend or would receive a phone call.  Neither, it seems, and with no reason given.  After a wait of 15 months that is particularly frustrating.  

 

The contact number the hospital gives is answered by a message stating that all letters offering appointments are to be ignored as all consultations will be by phone.  No way to leave a message or actually speak with anyone.  The main switchboard number is answered by a bot asking me to say which department I wish to speak to.  Bot then connects me to the previous voice .....   

 

So I call the GP surgery.  Or try to.  The first two attempts don't go through - the call simply fails to connect. The third one does but after listening to the spiel about Coronavirus blah blah blah and selectingf the relevant option it then tells me that option is only answered between 8 - 11 am and to call back during those hours.  I can't - I have to work.  So call again and wait for the options to run out then "hold to be connected to an operator".  OK.  After a few seconds "The queue is full - please try later".  Five further attempts over the course of an hour got the same.  How is anyone supposed to speak with their GP surgery these days?  Finally I got through and was helpfully answered immediately.  That's where the help ended.  I would have to call the hospital.  No - they don't answer.  

 

"I can only make you an appointment with the next available doctor for a call-back.  That will be on Monday 29th March"  You WHAT?????              Did they have any way of knowing I wasn't a critically urgent case?  No.  

 

I have downloaded the forms to register with another surgery.  I don't believe any other in this area is taking new patients but it has to be worth a try.  And I have the 29th in my diary.  

 

It must be time to attack the kitchen.  The belly-lion is growling

Take the matter up with the Ombudsman, https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/making-complaint

[New Haven Neil]

Tank did well today, the garden is looking better already.  Chippy tea was had, all well in the world, relatively.

 

Mike Edge has the Harton number 2/10 kits ready, so one will be on its way soon, and I can stop hassling the poor bloke about them.  I think I will have to buy a new, bigger soldering iron for this as I can't find my old 40w one, I only have smaller ones in common use, no good for O gauge brass locos with a lot of large (relatively speaking, it's a tiny prototype) panels.  This will also tax my skills, especially as my fingers no longer can be relied upon to behave, Arthur I has had his claws in to them.

[Ozexpatriate]

9 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Multilingualism seems to be much more common on the continent than in the UK or the US.

I would include all the "English speaking nations" to the UK and US in your generalization. It is certainly true of Australia and New Zealand as well. Canada is an oddball with Québécois, which I'll let others argue whether it is or is not exactly French.

 

There is a significant exception in the US southwest where you will find a lot more bilingual English/Spanish speakers. Their Spanish of course is a Latin American variant and not Castilian.

 

The English spoken by people I met in a professional context from across the Continent and extending to places like Israel and Egypt, was very good, particularly as a second language. This is a function of their educational systems where English classes are ubiquitous. In my experience in English-speaking countries, learning a foreign language is usually elective.

[BSW01]

I can speak 3 languages, English, Mancunian and Anglo-Saxon. 

Here, I'll give you an example, the same phrase in each language. 

In English -

Please close the door

In Mancunian -

Dooooooor

In Anglo-Saxon -

Shut the f***ing door. 

 

 

Edited March 16, 2021 by BSW01

[pH]

28 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Canada is an oddball with Québécois, which I'll let others argue whether it is or is not exactly French..

My kids all learned Quebecois French in immersion programs at school. They have all been to France and have had no problem functioning in French. They did find that their French was ‘looked down on’ by certain French people, though. Apparently, some Quebec pronunciations are archaic in ‘French’ French, not having evolved in the same way as in France.

I believe something similar, but on a smaller scale, happened with English on the islands in Chesapeake Bay in the US. Being quite self-contained, for many years after English settlement the language didn’t evolve in the same way as elsewhere and the pronunciation remained very close to the original Elizabethan.

[tigerburnie]

I'm fluent at talking rubbish..............or pish as it's known up here..............................................

[Gwiwer]

59 minutes ago, BSW01 said:

I can speak 3 languages, English, Mancunian and Anglo-Saxon. 

I cite the same three as "English, Common English and Vulgar English"  

 

I can also manage a little Cornish but as no-one much understands the term "Darras!" I tend to use the dialect "Born in barn wuz 'ee?" .  To which the facetious reply has on occasions been "Born in barn, graw'd up in field"

 

I can also get by in French (including having made PA announcements at the House of Fun when we were still allowed large groups of French schoolchildren) and enough German not to starve or embarrass myself unduly.  I still understand a small amount of Latin, Spanish and Italian though the chances of ever needing them is rapidly receding.  

 

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Québécois, which I'll let others argue whether it is or is not exactly French.

About as much as Cajun French is exactly French.