Early Risers.

[NGT6 1315]

7 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Perhaps they should take note of the fact that LT Bus Driver deaths are 3.5 times higher than men of the same age in other occupations (March to May 2020)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-56404444

To be honest, I have my doubts whether at least some of those I‘m referring to would even listen to, uh, „official mouthpieces“ such as the BBC or any equivalent media!
 

And, yes, with that, I mean that I know for a fact that tinfoil hatters, antivaxxers, Angry White Folks and similar ilk do exist among our ranks. Neither of which is nice to bear in mind when it comes to matters where I’d have to trust in the cooperation of others.

 

I mean, if we’re talking about people longing for normality to return after a year that strenuous: I can understand that, of course. But, I cannot just let it slide for people I have no fundamental choice not to interact with (save for signing off ill for an extended period, applying for a different posting or handing in my notice) to jeopardise our mutual well-being.

 

Re my initial point, I mean, it’s not that rules for wearing masks at work don’t exist. It is specifically mandatory to wear masks - specifically, either surgical masks or FFP2 grade ones - within the premises of stops and during any close encounter with fellow workers or passengers, and indeed whenever entering passenger spaces for after-trip inspection or similar tasks.
Similarly, social distancing also applies to rest areas and mess halls. I don’t normally frequent the latter, but I can attest to there being significant numbers of fellow staff who care a rodent‘s sexual intercourse for that all the same.

 

I am fairly sure that the management knows about this situation and it being a major cause for concern for staff who, like me, do not take things that easy. I myself have brought it to their attention several times, but to be honest, my current impression is that they’re either at their wit‘s end as to improving compliance, or have stopped caring.

[polybear]

The Bear Cave still has the unmistakable smell of "Eau de plastique fondu", more commonly know as melted plastic to you & I; that's despite having numerous windows open for a good few hours.  It is fading, though not as rapidly as I would like.  Still, the pizza was a cracker, though I suspect it would receive very little applause in an Italian Pizzeria kitchen, being decidedly unconventional on the grand scale of pizza-making.

 

As for tomorrow, that depends on whether or not Mr AZ decides to pay me a visit with any side-effects

If all is well I think a little sort out/tidy up is in order, as well as finishing the bathroom/kitchen door bar.  I also have a very large sheet of polythene I'm hoping to sling over the washing line and hose off any dust so I can use it to protect the new floor tiles when painting; however Freddie Forecast suggests it might be a bit windy for such antics so we'll see on that one.  There is another small area (some boxing in of pipework) that I may give a mist coat to, in order to seal the lining paper before the top coats are applied.  I've already done another area (behind the washing machine), with the paint thinned 20%; now I'll thin it to 30% and see what it's like.  Crown have been suggesting 40% for trade paints, but I suspect that'll be like trying to paint with milk and so drippy as to be a nightmare - hence the "thin it slowly" approach to see what it's like.  Crown themselves don't help as you get a different answer depending on who you talk to....

[pH]

14 minutes ago, polybear said:

.Still, the pizza was a cracker, though I suspect it would receive very little applause in an Italian Pizzeria kitchen, being decidedly unconventional on the grand scale of pizza-making.

I presume you’ve heard of dessert pizzas, for example:

 

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/great-value-triple-chocolate-thin-crust-pizza/6000199206844

 

Have you ever thought about an LDC pizza?

[Coombe Barton]

... and Beeching ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/03/27/boris-reveals-his-strategy/

[Gwiwer]

13 minutes ago, polybear said:

The Bear Cave still has the unmistakable smell of "Eau de plastique fondu", more commonly know as melted plastic to you & I; that's despite having numerous windows open for a good few hours.  It is fading, though not as rapidly as I would like. 

 

The Hill of Strawberries hears Bear.  

 

Earlier today our smoke detector was triggered.  Not by anything within these walls.  But by New Neighbour (Next Door) making toast     She managed to set her alarm off and whilst ignoring that (for what ever reason) the smoke had drifted in to ours and set off our own alarm.  There was no apology.  She might have been too embarrassed.  It's hard enough being in a new place and even harder when your first language is Albanian and English is "veeery leetle".  It took a couple of hours to clear the smell of seriously-charcoaled bread.  

 

The pizza tonight was also no shining example of the Pizzeria Italiana craft.  It goes on the stone which is pre-warmed amidships in the oven and the chips go on the metal tray up top.  Whilst waiting for the chips which remained stubbornly blonde tonight the pizza self-crisped somewhat around the edges.  Not severely so but slightly more than would be ideal.  

 

Best wishes to one and all.  Remember to set the clocks accordingly for the morning or be surprised.  

[Dave Hunt]

 

11 minutes ago, pH said:

I presume you’ve heard of dessert pizzas, for example:

 

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/great-value-triple-chocolate-thin-crust-pizza/6000199206844

 

Have you ever thought about an LDC pizza?

 

We really could do with a yuk button.

 

Dave

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, NGT6 1315 said:

it’s not that rules for wearing masks at work don’t exist. It is specifically mandatory to wear masks - specifically, either surgical masks or FFP2 grade ones - within the premises of stops and during any close encounter with fellow workers or passengers, and indeed whenever entering passenger spaces for after-trip inspection or similar tasks.
Similarly, social distancing also applies to rest areas and mess halls.

Transport workers on duty are specifically exempted from the requirement to wear face-coverings in the UK.  That being the easier course of action than having to specify which transport workers are / are not required to wear them and at what times.  It was argued from very early on that the wearing of such things might cause condensation to form on glasses and slightly impinge upon the field of vision.  In my own experience it does both.   Many others agree.  Bus, tram and train drivers are isolated from their passengers in cabs sealed to a greater or lesser degree - and for most of the past year the few gaps there were before have been sealed up one way or another.  

 

Many employers expect and encourage customer-facing staff to wear masks unless covered by a medical exemption but they cannot enforce this.  Face-coverings are not required to be of any particular standard other than "close-fitting and covering both nose and mouth".   Medical-grade ones are to be left for the medical profession presumably on a supply-and-demand basis.  I am exempt under the transport-worker clause and medically but still manage to wear a low-level rigid plastic guard (not the type which fits around the head - mine has ear-loops) which doesn't meet the "close-fitting" requirement but wearing one of those for more than a few minutes may trigger a medical episode hence my exemption.  

 

Mess rooms, sign-on areas and other locations where staff may congregate should all have been assessed for antisocial distancing many months ago in order to comply with UK Covid-secure workplace requirements.  Ours have notices advising the maximum numbers permitted.  The reality is of necessity different.  It is impractical to stagger shift-change times on a 24/7 roster because a change to one person cascades across everyone.  Therefore groups sign on and off at the same time causing congestion albeit briefly.  Likewise the same groups must make use of the locker-rooms in order to change.  A room designated for "maximum five" has had all bar five chairs removed but can still contain three times that number for the short times when shifts change over and staff change clothes.  

 

Only three cases of Covid have been recored among staff.  None has been confirmed as arising in the workplace.  Despite a lot of sabre-rattling I understand that London bus drivers also have no proof that any of their number contracted the virus whilst driving / from passengers.  It has been suggested they received it through home contacts or in non-public areas which might have included mess rooms.  

[NGT6 1315]

I’ll just leave this here…

 

 

[NGT6 1315]

Re cabs: Buses in Germany have (to my knowledge) never had fully enclosed driver spaces, so, obviously, COVID got operators all over the country busy figuring out how to increase protection. And, this being a country priding itself on its knack for regulations (whether justified or not ), any solution for potential retrofitting to existing vehicles had to be checked and certified to rule out obstruction of visibility, crash safety and whatnot. Makeshift solutions, such as a transparent curtain which could be closed while selling tickets, generally proved to be too flimsy and therefore unsatisfactory, so those solutions which are now being adopted are, for the most part, variations of plexiglass screens. So, no, these do, mostly, not yield fully enclosed cabs, but are at least better than nothing.

 

On a side note, driver workplace security, i.e. opposite assaults, had become a major topic in this-here company in recent years, with a plurality of bus drivers in particular having demanded better protection. Essentially, the plexiglass screens now rolled out thus serve a dual purpose.

Be that as it may: Just on the basis of fully enclosed driver spaces remaining far from being standard here, there’s no way anyone could get me behind the steering wheel on a bus in revenue service. Ever. Period. I cherish my little cubicle of semi-privacy, thanks.

 

As for trams, there have, in fact, been operators which had opted for at least partially open cabs in the past - up until the 1990s at least - but trams so configured have been very largely refurbished with fully enclosed cabs or replaced by now.
That being said, I certainly wouldn’t rate even fully enclosed cabs as being airtight (and especially not when I consider how draughty the cabs on many of our own units are), so I for one generally wear a mask while driving. If that should offend anyone for whatever reason, they can go and do indecent things with themselves, quite frankly.
 

And, yes, I am willing to escalate this all the way, if anyone should want to make a peeing contest out of it. I have compelling reasons for my choice of action, after all.

[J. S. Bach]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

We really could do with a yuk button.

Dave

Maybe, but we do have this available:

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well, I never even got started on the turntable drive modification, I got distracted by the need to re-organise my stock of small brass rod etc and also the gears for the new small gearboxes I want to make. It looks like I’ve got all the bits to be able to make 5 gearboxes, but I’d really like 6. Luckily I can still get the gear sets, so if necessary, I can order another full set. But I’ll see if I can manage with what I’ve already got. Despite all that, I did manage to make a rough sketch of what I want to do, so hopefully a start WILL be made tomorrow. 

 

The evening was rounded off with a nice bottle of wine and catching up with some recorded TV, first we watched a documentary about a British double agent called Eddie Chapman, known to the Germans as agent Fritz and to the British as agent Zigzag. He was quite an interesting man, a convicted burglar and thief, who, skipped bail, fled to Jersey and jailed there. Whilst in jail, the island was occupied by Germany, so he wrote asking to work for them. Once he’d been trained, he was dropped back in Britain where he immediately gave himself up and offered to work for the British instead, doing so successfully. The subsequent subterfuge that fooled the Germans into thinking he was successful in his missions, convinced the Germans so well, that he was agent awarded the ‘Iron Cross’, the only British person to do so. 

 

Then we watched a Danish film about German POWs clearing land mines from Denmark’s west coast, a thoroughly engaging film that was well acted and based of true events. 

[BSW01]

As we lose an hours sleep tonight the plan is to get to bed a little earlier than we normally do.

 

So with that, I’ll wish you all goodnight 

 

 

[Gwiwer]

14 minutes ago, NGT6 1315 said:

I for one generally wear a mask while driving. If that should offend anyone for whatever reason, they can go and do indecent things with themselves, quite frankly.
 

And, yes, I am willing to escalate this all the way, if anyone should want to make a peeing contest out of it. I have compelling reasons for my choice of action, after all.

It certainly wouldn't offend me.  Some train drivers wear them.  Not all.  Some bus drivers also but mostly not although they become mandatory when the driver has to leave the cab and enter the public area of the bus whilst in service for any reason.  Where there is freedom to choose I respect that.  Where there is not then wear them or indicate by some means that you have a lawful exemption.  Simple.  

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis and his mate Si Attica keep popping up this evening but the Nurofen keeps them in their place most of the time. Apparently its official, the covid jab does make Arthur Itis worse, a doctor on one of the news reports confirmed it as so. The only timepiece that I have to turn forward is my watch. I had a bit of 'practice' last Sunday as I misread my watch and was out of bed an hour earlier.

[J. S. Bach]

12 minutes ago, NGT6 1315 said:

 ...snip... there’s no way anyone could get me behind the steering wheel on a bus in revenue service. Ever. Period. I cherish my little cubicle of semi-privacy, thanks. ...snip...

A friend who drives a bus for the MTA in Baltimore, Maryland was offered the chance (due to his seniority) to switch over to the rail side (subway or trolley) but refused mainly because he did NOT want to be "locked" in the cab. Me, I would have accepted in a heartbeat.

[simontaylor484]

Was the film called.Land of Mine if so I saw it the other day it really is good. German child soldiers are forced to clean up mines left on a Danish beach i think it was on BBC4 so will most likely be on the i player. I had seen clips of it on You Tube so I decided to break my rule of not watching the BBC

[Barry O]

Goodnight all !

Baz

[The Stationmaster]

30 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Was the film called.Land of Mine if so I saw it the other day it really is good. German child soldiers are forced to clean up mines left on a Danish beach i think it was on BBC4 so will most likely be on the i player. I had seen clips of it on You Tube so I decided to break my rule of not watching the BBC

It was on BBC4  although i didn't watch it.   The Eddie Chapman story is fascinating and was made quite well known through the 1966 film 'triple Cross' (starring Christopher Plummer as Chapman) which seemed to get the main gist of the story right although some details inevitably varied; I don't think it's a bad film but it got some poor reviews.

Edited March 27, 2021 by The Stationmaster

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[NGT6 1315]

6 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

It certainly wouldn't offend me.  Some train drivers wear them.  Not all.  Some bus drivers also but mostly not although they become mandatory when the driver has to leave the cab and enter the public area of the bus whilst in service for any reason.  Where there is freedom to choose I respect that.  Where there is not then wear them or indicate by some means that you have a lawful exemption.  Simple.  

Rick, I certainly didn’t mean to suggest that you specifically might be offended. You might remember the incident where this depot supervisor wished harm upon me, though. This and a number of other events I’ve become aware of, also involving other staff on the receiving end, but has proven to me that backstabbing seems to be an acceptable way of business for certain individuals in this company, which is something I cannot and will not accept.

 

As for wearing masks while driving: This is, at this time, mandatory only for drivers receiving instruction (and the instructors carrying it out) when they are, by necessity, in close proximity to one another, but as I said, in intending to protect my family and FiL in the best possible way, I prefer to be on the safe side.
 

At the time when mask wearing in certain public areas and aboard public transport became mandatory, bus drivers in particular raised the question whether doing so behind the wheel would be legal under the highway code, which does specify that key facial features must remain recognisable. However, it’s been clarified that since positive identification of drivers can be provided by staff duty rosters, should the need arise, they are free to do so at their discretion.

 

So, if anyone should intend to go backstabbing over this issue, I would point to this fact, as well as to trams not being motor vehicles as defined by the highway code. And, of course, to my very personal reasons.

 

 

I guess it’s quite evident that this entire matter of protecting both my health and that of my family has been bothering me rather a lot in recent months…

Edited March 28, 2021 by NGT6 1315
Fixing typos

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

I found it difficult to concentrate yesterday.  This is too frequent an occurrence when there are pressing tasks, such as a presentation to prepare.  Perhaps today will be more productive.  Lunch, at whatever hour is deemed suitable, will be a nice lump of sirloin steak with trimmings.  Yum!  At least most of the clocks are altered, but if I am right, two remain to be done.  The one in the car is dead easy but the bedside clock radio will be fiendish.  Fortunately I have found the instructions in the junkroom c u m archive repository that is my bedroom.  Making sense of them will require - er - concentration.  Wish me luck.

 

In the week ahead will be at least one Zoom gathering which will be an acceptable substitute for driving to Bletchley and the church hall where the group congregated in normal times.  Whether it will return there is in the lap of the gods, so to speak.  There is a threat of good weather for a few days which ought to tempt me into the jungle - sorry, garden - to rip out that which should not be there and find that which should.  Much courage will be required, for the task is truly daunting.  Although it should look nice when it is presentable, the last time I ventured out to take the vegetable peelings to the compost bin I faced a most inhospitable landscape  which may or may not be home to a lost tribe of pygmies or some equally unlikely.  Let's just say that I do not expect to be harvesting my own strawberries this year.  As I type this, the presenterine of BBC Breakfast is inviting viewers to send in photographs of their gardens.  Be careful what you wish for, madam.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris