Early Risers.

[polybear]

8 hours ago, PupCam said:

 

Whoops! 
 

I think I may have just struck a small nerve .... 

 

But a first class, excellent and 100% accurate rant.   That exactly sums up my views on the way so many once brilliant museums have gone. The RAF museum at Hendon is another one that was being “done over” last time I was there and again, I’ll not be rushing back. 
 

Now just don’t get me started on modern TV documentaries .... 

 

Puppers should meet a mate of Bear's - he's a volunteer at Duxford;  get him talking about what goes on there and you'll soon wonder if there is any hope left....

 

2 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

A bl**ddy cat has been carping in a couple of planters i have at the front. It's the 2 of the 3 with olive trees in.

 

Picture the scene.....

A mate of Bear's brings new G/F home to meet mummy & daddy - so best china n' all that....

All sitting around, prim & proper and making polite small talk when kitty wanders in....

...and promptly saunters over to the pot plant in the corner, does an about turn and cr@ps in the pot.....

 

In other news:

Bear now has an Oven refitted and usable, as well as the new Hob.  Don't ask me how they work though, but they look nice...

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Taking a break from reading a book to put the kettle on. Earlier this evening I had a bit of sneezing (hay fever) but thats stopped now.

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Day went much as planned and we did get to see the special run through the woods where we take Sydney for his morning walk. As we arrived home the heavens opened up and it's rained on and off ever since. the upshot was that I got more paperwork done than expected and then watched the F1 after tea.

[Erichill16]

Evening All, (part II)

First part of post came from the laptop and I’m continuing on the iPad as it’s much easier. Where did I get up to, Ah yes,

Goodnight,

Robert

[petethemole]

47 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Just let the TV rescan all channels.

 

And then looking at the results found that some pf the crafting channels are doing Christmas stuff.

 

Christmas movies are showing frequently at the dross end of Sky TV's movie section on Movies 24, currently Poinsettias for C..., followed by C... Connection, and Movies24+, currently A Taste of C..., then C... Getaway.  Not long before those channels get their seasonal renaming...  I knew the nights were drawing in....

[J. S. Bach]

13 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

No unfortunately, taken out of service a couple of years ago - I posted somewhere recently about them.  We had a look around the last weekend they were in...err...arc.  All new solid state rectifier building in Laxey next door to where they were now. ...snip...

That reminds me of the Pennsylvania E44 electrics. They started out life with Hg arc rectification but were converted to solid state silicon rectification over a period of years.

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

36 minutes ago, brianusa said:

... so many minorities in its citizenry considering the period

I wonder. There was a trend to import human curiosities from the colonies and show them off at posh soireés. Some of them are well documented, I suspect others less so.

 

From North America, there is the story of Tisquantum (aka Squanto) of the Pautuxet.  He was abducted by Thomas Hunt, sold in Málaga and ultimately lived in England before returning to North America and, being able to speak English, played an instrumental role in the survival of the New Plymouth colony after 1620. Perhaps just as famous is Pocahontas, who was presented in London society, living there from perhaps 1616 to 1617. I imagine they weren't the only ones.

 

There were of course numbers of Africans working as servants of the great and good in England from the 17th century on, the entrepôt likely being colonial plantation owners and slave traders. The same was true for south Asians brought back as servants by members of the East India Company.

Quote

Samuel Pepys, the 17th century diarist, employed a 'blackmore' cook, who, he said, 'dresses our meat mighty well'.

From the National Archives (nationalarchives.gov.uk). 

 

The Beatles' "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" refers to a 19th century poster for a circus owned by a black man.

 

Doubtless the demands of inclusivity and representation are driving casting choices, but with more than two centuries of being a global colonial trading hub, we might be surprised just how many people from all over the world participated in Regency English society in one capacity or another.

[Ozexpatriate]

24 minutes ago, petethemole said:

I knew the nights were drawing in....

"A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas" is playing on the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Channel on cable as I type this.

 

No, I'm not watching it. 

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Today’s weather has remained changeable all day. Rain up until dinner time, then it stopped but remained quite dark. We had a little sunshine mid afternoon, luckily it remained dry whilst I washed out my mop and bucket. Then it started to rain again around tea time, stopped for a short while, only to start up again just as it was going dark, but we then had some lightening, but no thunder, it’s still chuckinitdarn now!

 

One of Sheila’s Zumba friends was taking part in a sponsored bike ride today, the starting line was in Salford and the finishing line was in Blackpool, I don’t think she had the right weather for that!

 

Anyway, back to the storage area, the floor is now complete, the final 2 thin strips were cut and fitted this morning. After dinner I started putting my model railway items in there, it took me most of the afternoon, but the boxes are safely stored now, close to where they will be needed. Next, I’ll turn my attention to getting the shelving in the shed dismantled and the re-assembled into units that will fit in the storage area. I currently have 2 units, 5ft tall each having 5 shelves, when finished, I’ll end up with 5 units, 2ft tall each having 2 shelves. As for the storage of paint, I’ve stored paint for over 40 years in the cellar, the worst that has happened is a metal tin rusting through and leaking. This area is basically an extension of the cellar and there is good airflow in there, so I don’t foresee any problems, as most of the paints I use now are water based and usually come in plastic containers. 

 

I used to have to maintain mercury arc rectifiers when when I worked in the steel industry. There were 2 x 1kA mercury arc rectifiers and 3 0.75kA silicon ones, all housed in a building we called the converter house. They had several dark blue windows that you could ‘watch’ rectification taking place. The mechanical guys used to call the building Frankenstein laboratory, due to the constant flashing they used to make. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[TheSignalEngineer]

Apologies for anything I have missed over the last few days but now back to the world of proper internet connections after a few days mountain biking and the delights of a rural connection. I think that if someone in the village logged in to Netflix everything else dropped out. 

After last night's rain today started quite well then went downhill rapidly. The grandsons managed to get their cricket match in between the showers, and I got a couple of decent pictures. Oh the joys of having rapid fire digital photography. 

 

 

On 04/07/2021 at 22:43, Erichill16 said:

we did get to see the special run through the woods where we take Sydney for his morning walk. As we arrived home the heavens opened up and it's rained on and off ever since.

As soon as the match finished I went round to Rose Hill station to see the Crank-Ex arrive. It was very late and by that time the rain was proper northern. I moved on Marple Aqueduct but the rain was so bad I couldn't even open the car window for a picture let alone get out. After trying some video at Dinting I abandoned. I intended going out later to get some shots in the Hope Valley but had second thoughts due to the weather. It was probably fortunate the route seemed to be altering on the 'VSTP+ a bit more' basis. It was very late and then looks as if it spent about 90 minutes at Earles Siding. I suspect the 37 had failed there as a loco went up from Peak Forest to Earles whilst it was there.

Edited April 10, 2022 by TheSignalEngineer
Picture restored

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[BR60103]

22 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

 The term "beach town" on the Great Lakes makes me smile. (I did live close-ish to Lake Michigan for about seven years, the balance of my life has been on one side or the other of the Pacific Ocean.)

 

I guess Indiana Dunes State Park (the glacial moraine on the south shore of Lake Michigan) counts as a "beach" area.

 

Highway traffic locally (for the holiday weekend) has been an absolute nightmare.

Our side of Lake Huron has a number of long, sandy beaches. I think it is Michigan eroding and being washed up along Ontario.

I think the far side of the state of Michigan has some sand too, Sleeping Bear?

 

[leopardml2341]

Morning (or is 04:00 still night time)?

 

Either way I shouldn't be awake without good reason and right at this moment I can't think of one. :(

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, BR60103 said:

I think it is Michigan eroding and being washed up along Ontario.

I think the far side of the state of Michigan has some sand too, Sleeping Bear?

There's a lot of erosion going on in Lake Michigan.

 

Some of the most dramatic is cliff erosion in Western Michigan (South Haven - Grand Haven and further north) or Van Buren, Allegan, Ottawa and Muskegon Counties. Houses falling into the lake sort of erosion. It's pretty bad.

[Ozexpatriate]

Now Monday in the UK.

 

I know what I will be doing when I wake up.

 

It's finally manic Monday.

Glad it's not middle Sunday.

Everyone plays on Monday.

 

Apologies to the Bangles.

[JohnDMJ]

 

6 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Similar events happen all the time.  Bear in mind that I am employed on what remains Britain's busiest railway station when calculated by any means other than entry / exit through the gatelines.  And therein lies another British oddity; it is one valid way to determine the "busiest" station but with far more train movements and a greater proportion of interchange than originating passengers than, for example, the "Busiest station" (by gateline stats) we stand by the claim unceremoniously obliterated when Network Rail placed their own-brand name stickers over the previous and perfectly good rail-alphabet ones.  

 

By the by.

 

It will happen many times in a shift.  Train departs according to our "on time" rules known as "T-30" (it's T-45 at Waterloo which allows for the fact that everyone has to walk from the gateline to at least the back door to board a train there) and sure enough along comes Grumpy Passenger gesticulating at the clock and alleging we have allowed the train to go early.  

 

I understand that is frustrating at times.  What is not grasped is that in many of those cases were the train to be held awaiting minute-zero-seconds before the doors closed the passenger in question would still have missed it because they were not on the platform in time.  Alternatively they had not allowed the NR-advisory 10-minute minimum to change trains (we actually suggest 15 because of the size and busyness of the place).  Or their inward service was delayed and they missed their onward service.  Sometimes they would have caught it because they were safely on the platform in that short space of time between T-30, doors closing (which takes perhaps 10-15 seconds once the dispatch process has begun, plus the slight lag of human reaction between tips and pressing the door button, plus the seconds the hustle alarm operates for before the doors move) and departure.  So a T-30 dispatch usually results in wheels moving at or very close to the exact minute of scheduled departure.  

 

It was different with slam doors.  It was, perhaps, less safe.  Runners could open the doors and leap aboard a moving train hopefully then managing to close the door behind them.  Not any more.  And with DOO becoming widespread on the passenger networks it is taking a little longer every time to close doors and move because the one member of staff responsible for all of that - the driver - is being extra-vigilant in doing some of the work previously done by the guard and as many dispatchers as the local situation demanded - in our case up to three because of curved platforms.  

 

Enough.  It's time to hit the hay.  I'll be doing all of this in the real world again all too soon.  Sleep well.  

 

With respect, you, as an employee tied up in the 30 second farce, seem to have missed my point.

 

Simply, the time published in any form of timetable represents the time at which the doors close. The train departs up to 30 seconds after this event.

 

European countries such as Germany, France, Netherlands, Switzerland have mastered this concept. It seems that this is beyond comprehension in the UK!

[TheQ]

The Type 80 radar used a mercury arc rectifier, normally known as the Mekon.

I only did a little work on a T80 during training.

The descendant T84 radar on which I'm qualified used valves.

The descendant of that the T88 / T89 radars on which I'm also qualified on on used SCRs . I changed  all the SCRs on one occasion something like 16, as once 1 failed you knew the rest wouldn't be far behind. I still have them. That's because I painted them up as marker buoys to use on a table during sailing instruction.

 

The Mekon.

 

Oh for scale the glass dome of the Mekon is around 18inches across.

Edited July 5, 2021 by TheQ

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

Yesterday was unremarkable.  I watched some DVDs, or to be strictly accurate some tracks from a DVD, and paused for lunch comprising sirloin steak followed by apple tart anointed with evaporated milk.  At some stage in the proceedings I picked some m*d*ll*ng requisites, sighed and put them down again.  Today I shall venture forth to buy my donation to charity, aka the lottery tickets, and should really catch up with the ironing, for there is enough of it.  Later in the week, ie tomorrow, there is a Zoom talk given by Christian Wolmar.  I am beginning to long for the days when such events were held in a church hall.

 

Later today there is to be a press conference given by those who rule us.  I hope that the diligent journalists who have disclosed the details have come close to getting them right.  Whatever is announced from the Downing Street lectern cannot please everybody but a little hope can go a long way.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris   

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a grey and cool Charente.   Yesterday was much the same and we did have some Welsh sunshine.  The Pintard was not sacrificed in vain and the remains may well be curried tonight.

 

First job today is to take the Volvo to be looked at. The rear offside wheel is getting a tad warm.  I suspect that something is amiss with the handbrake.  Modelling tokens could be involved.  If it stays dry, which is not a certainty, the hedge at the front needs a good trim. The blackbirds have fledged and gone and the bees appear to have finished so it's time to get the hedge trimmer out.  Apart from that I may well exercise my remaining grey matter trying to work out the interior layout of a public toilet.  The explanation for that activity is on my layout thread.

 

Jamie

Edited July 5, 2021 by jamie92208

[Barry O]

Wet here this morning. It means I cannot do any gardening.. great!

 

Train travel in Indiabinvolves "ish" time ... while there is a timetable trains may be up to (and more) 24 hours late..  

 

On our services , particularly from Kings Cross, platform 0 at Leeds and Manchester stations the train doors are closed 2 minutes before the train departs.  It is only of concern if you are late..ie not ready to board the train for an on time departure. I like to be at the station at least 10 minutes before the advertised departure time.. it can take a while to transfer from one platform to another at Leeds.

 

In other news...

 

TV production is going on in the UK. Things take a lot longer to prepare but around our area mysterious signs appear on road sides (think a pink, fluorescent green arrow sign) with "LOC 2" or some such written on it. One item filmed around Adel has already been screened on ITV.

 

 

Stay safe!

 

Baz

Edited July 5, 2021 by Barry O

[polybear]

2 hours ago, JohnDMJ said:

With respect, you, as an employee tied up in the 30 second farce, seem to have missed my point.

 

Simply, the time published in any form of timetable represents the time at which the doors close. The train departs up to 30 seconds after this event.

 

European countries such as Germany, France, Netherlands, Switzerland have mastered this concept. It seems that this is beyond comprehension in the UK!

 

Bear seems to recall a documentary on the Japanese Bullet Train - the drivers all had pocket watches, synchronised to a master clock in Despatchers (?) Office.  If the train is due out at 12, then that's when they move - to the second (signals permitting, of course).  And on a journey of hundreds of miles if they are not very accurate with their arrival time (I forget just how accurate) then the Driver can expect to have to justify why.

 

In other news:

Bear has a choice between:

(a) fitting the Dishwasher Front Panel, followed by the machining of a clearance slot in the plinth to suit

Or:

(b) Doing the final securing and levelling of the wall units.

It's quite likely that both jobs will get done.  Or not.

 

And finally:

Is it a Bird?  Is it a Plane?  No, its......

JetBear....

https://jetpackaviation.com/speeder-pre-order/

(Flight Training Courses conducted by Ewoks have yet to be confirmed)

Will they actually materialise?  Well, they're already producing Jet Packs, and for $5K you can go on a 2-day tethered flight experience course.  Not sure if Hippos can apply, though....

Edited July 5, 2021 by polybear

[Andrew P]

The Sun is out.

No its not.

Yes it is.

No,,,,,gone again.

 

But at least its dry.

 

Have a good day one and all, stay safe and keep well.