Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

20 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

I have visited Bruges several times in the past. Usually I use the local restaurants and shop locally* so there's no problems with underspending. *The chocolate shops are a must.

 

6 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

When we last went it was early September (2018) and we arrived at about 8pm after driving all day from Karlsruhe. It was raining. We had no problem finding somewhere to eat. The next day we wandered about, it wasn’t crowded. Beer and chocolate may have  been purchased. 

Also plenty of cake shops which should please certain ER's.

[New Haven Neil]

I've got that double page thing again.

 

Just been ordering some bits for Mrs NHN's new toy, just a rack and adjustable handlebar levers to make life easier for her.  My Enfield was much the same, Indians must have long fingers and neither of us do.  Little stumpy sausages in my case.

 

So her old not-very-old bike got a good polish and it's final portrait today, and is ready to go for part-ex and won't be missed.  Too bland despite its total competence, very Honda!

 

 

[Winslow Boy]

9 hours ago, Grizz said:

 

Food and football.
 

Another memory of a fantastic meal. A Muslim work mate of mine had been fasting during the week and on the coming weekend he was looking forward to having his first hot meal. We were on shift together at Stratford and he said he’d buy us a take away, then we could eat it in our crew truck during lunch. 
 

We went to this warehouse looking place in a side street and I must admit it looked a bit dodgy. But he went in and came back with the take away. 
 

We parked up back in the old BR Stratford loco yard and ate curried goat, rice and peas (a famous Jamaican, dish brimming with flavour). I’ll never forget that meal.

It is still my favourite Jamaican food, although jerk chicken, with fired plantains comes close. My friend said growing he had eaten loads of different curries made by his family, but he that he preferred the Jamaican ones, although he might not admit that to his folks as they had a proud heritage of making them. And they were very competitively on some occasions apparently. It was his little secret and it was our shared go to meal of choice on shift. 
 

We didn’t talk much about football as he was a Palace supporter, despite coming from Finsbury Park (even he couldn’t explain that), and I am a Brighton supporter. So we diplomatically didn’t discuss our respective teams, even though back then we rarely played each other, apart from how much we both hated Man Utd…

 

Well in my defence I did say food and football.

 

Prior to working at Barnet I was at Redbridge and there was a great Italian place that was cheap and cheerful. Up Walthamston way. Went there a few times.

[Barry O]

enjoyable day at Preston Show.. but boy the muppets on the M62 were causing chaos!

 

Her indoors has driven down to Chelmsford.. she reckons the muppets had moved off the M62 and were busy causing chaos on the A1...

 

If ever you are invited to a Sikh wedding ... go ! took me weeks to get over the one we went to!

 

Cruise liners do cause problems. In Tauranga in New Zealand the place is full at lunchtime them empty from a bout 3pm as the cruise liners take their passengers back on board.. in smaller places (like Akaroa) it is hopeless at lunchtimes...

 

Noticeably in Madeira the German based ships do tend to "hog" the best cafes etc in Funchal but don't spend much..The Brits generally pay their way.

 

We met an American lady last year in Auckland.. she had gone "exploring" the rest of the cruise liner passengers stayed in their rooms...lummy.. Auckland is  a great place to have a look around with lots to do and see.. but no.. they were recovring from their 12 hour flight from California (put it into perspective, it took us 23 hours of so to get to NZ from the UK.. They were mortified!

 

The cruise left Auckland and went to Tauranga, Christchurch, Fijorland, Wellington , Melbourne , Sydney.. then home.. thats New Zealand and Australia covered in 10 days.... tick in box!

 

Baz

[Tony_S]

4 minutes ago, PupCam said:

 

 

With or without the cat?

 

 

I think,he means an Arduino cat…

 

[PupCam]

7 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I think,he means an Arduino cat…

 

 

I didn't, but you've given me an idea ........... 🤣

[Hroth]

15 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Noticeably in Madeira the German based ships do tend to "hog" the best cafes etc in Funchal but don't spend much.

 

They go out early and leave their towels on the tables?  🤔

 

🤪

[airnimal]

42 minutes ago, Barry O said:

enjoyable day at Preston Show.. but boy the muppets on the M62 were causing chaos!

 

Her indoors has driven down to Chelmsford.. she reckons the muppets had moved off the M62 and were busy causing chaos on the A1...

 

If ever you are invited to a Sikh wedding ... go ! took me weeks to get over the one we went to!

 

Cruise liners do cause problems. In Tauranga in New Zealand the place is full at lunchtime them empty from a bout 3pm as the cruise liners take their passengers back on board.. in smaller places (like Akaroa) it is hopeless at lunchtimes...

 

Noticeably in Madeira the German based ships do tend to "hog" the best cafes etc in Funchal but don't spend much..The Brits generally pay their way.

 

We met an American lady last year in Auckland.. she had gone "exploring" the rest of the cruise liner passengers stayed in their rooms...lummy.. Auckland is  a great place to have a look around with lots to do and see.. but no.. they were recovring from their 12 hour flight from California (put it into perspective, it took us 23 hours of so to get to NZ from the UK.. They were mortified!

 

The cruise left Auckland and went to Tauranga, Christchurch, Fijorland, Wellington , Melbourne , Sydney.. then home.. thats New Zealand and Australia covered in 10 days.... tick in 

I am sure that cruising holidays help tourists see faraway places that they wouldn't normally get to see, but the idea of hundreds of people getting off for a few hours all in the same location just doesn't appeal.  I have been in several countries of the years when cruise lines have emptied there hoards only to be over run in the bars and restaurants before the lady with the umbrellas comes and collects them. They only ever appear to take them to the famous sites and very little else. I know we are all different, but it's not for me. 

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. A far better weekend than the last one. Now all I have to do is wait for the results of the scans which should be with my GP by the end of the week. Now to get on with Farcebook.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

A little more progress has been made in the cellar. I’ve now completed about 80% of the floor, just the 2 alcoves and fireplace to do, then I can begin fitting the skirting boards. 

 

Charlie and Max had a very productive afternoon in the workshop. Max is slowly starting to do things, like trimming and cleaning parts etc automatically now without me needing to tell him to do so. I mainly stood beside Max and over saw what he did. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[pH]

3 hours ago, The Lurker said:

I am always taken aback in North America at trains that only run into town in the morning rush and out of town in the evening with nothing much or at all in the opposite direction and between the rushes. This is alien to us in the UK where our trains tend to run all day. Sidcup has 4 trains an hour in each direction outside the rush and 7 an hour during the rush.

 

Services in Vancouver and Seattle don’t have anything like the frequency or bi-directional facility.

I can’t say anything about Seattle, but I used the West Coast Express (WCE) into and out of Vancouver for several years. 
 

What you’re talking about here is the “heavy rail” commuter service, which runs on CPR tracks. That’s significant, because CP charge for the use of their tracks. If you’re going to run trains “in between” rushes, you’re not going to get the same loadings on them, and so each trip will make even more of a loss than the trips in the peaks. The line is 43 miles long and a journey takes 75 minutes with 6 intermediate stops.

The WCE was intended to get people out of their cars during rush hours, specifically people who would not ride buses. Buses are not considered a ‘cool’ means of transport here - they used to be referred to as “loser cruisers”. There are some routes on which coaches are used - those are considered more acceptable than buses. (The WCE replaced a longer-distance coach route as well as outer suburban bus routes.) The accommodation on the WCE is well above the standard of a city bus, and it does seem to have accomplished the aim of getting people out of their cars to commute.

There is no call for the WCE to run out of Vancouver before the evening rush. Nice though they are, towns around the WCE stations offer very little that isn’t available in Vancouver. And there are few major employers in the region outside of downtown Vancouver, certainly along the route of the WCE.
 

And urbanization of the Lower Mainland has happened under the strong influence of car culture (The city of Vancouver was only incorporated in 1886.) Building sprawls, and people drive everywhere. With the exception of downtown Vancouver, there is no real ‘centre’ to the Lower Mainland (though that may be changing - see below). 

 

However, there is, and has been in the past, rapid transit which performs functions the WCE was never intended to do. The BC Electric Railway provided streetcar and interurban service to the area between 1897 and 1958. The streetcar services were replaced by trolleybuses, which still operate. Passenger service on the interurban was replaced by diesel buses, and coaches on the longer routes. A freight service still operates on some of the former interurban lines, now owned by Southern Railway of BC. 
 

Rapid transit now consists of the Skytrain network - grade-separated rapid transit. The first line opened in 1985 (paralleling a former BC Electric interurban line for part of its route) and the network is still being expanded. This serves a much larger area than the WCE service, with many more closer-spaced stations.

 

One aim of the Skytrain has been to facilitate the creation of “satellite town centres” round certain Skytrain stations - mostly residential, but with significant commercial presence in some cases. It is also intended to serve individual major employers: the  “Canada Line” runs to Vancouver International airport, and the “Millennium Line extension” is currently being built to the University of British Columbia. 

Skytrain operates in the way being suggested in the quoted post - services in all directions on the several lines, with trains running every few minutes from 4.45AM to 1.30AM on weekdays.

 

There are transfers possible between the WCE and the Skytrain network at 3 stations.

[Andy Hayter]

Snow today.  From nothing this morning; I have just ventured out for the first time today to do the nightly rounds of emptying cat litter trays and filling food dishes and the drifts in places are crutch deep.  

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, PupCam said:

With or without the cat?

3 hours ago, polybear said:

Definitely with - can't make it too easy....

There was no way cats were going to ride in that thing. There are videos of cats riding robo-vacuums, but there's nothing confining.

 

I noticed that he tried lining the trams with cardboard (to lure the cats) and gave up on the pneumatic doors in the end.

 

Bit of a stretch to call it LEGO when he 3-D printed the wheelsets, but there was an impressive amount of engineering there - and a lot of LEGO Technic components - certainly mostly LEGO Technic (except for the track). The 3-D printed track with the spring loaded points was impressive all by itself.

 

[jjb1970]

I get the impression that the golden egg of tourism is F1 fans. You see a very different vibe here in F1 week with high value visitors and the local economy milking it for all its worth. Seletar (the other airport) gets very busy with private jet movements.

[pH]

We’ve had friends staying over the weekend. They’re out to dinner tonight with their sons, who live locally. We’ve just had dinner made up from leftovers in the fridge - barbecued pork ribs, coleslaw and cranachan (not all on the same plate, of course!).

[BR60103]

On foreign foods:

My father went off to WW2 on what had been a British liner.  One of the fellows, dad called him a "big Ontario farm boy", had decided that he was not going to be cowed by any food that other nations ate.

One day the meal was tripe. Most of the troops took one look and decided to wait for the next meal. This boy took a helping and sat down to eat it. He worked at it for a while and reported "It's no use, guys. The more you chew it, the bigger it gets."

 

 

Is it true that tripe was the inspiration for bubble wrap?

 

[polybear]

8 hours ago, Peter Kazmierczak said:

Right, off for my evening constitutional. Must remember to take a torch with me as last time I stood in a puddle that I didn't spot.

 

It's not puddles that you need to worry about.....

 

BH.....

Well that was truly F. Awful night 😡

Climbed the little wooden hill a bit early - the bonce just would not stop with very destructive thoughts right thru' the night, despite the best efforts of Harry Potter Book 5; that Bluddy Wee Wee Fairy decided to be a right PITA as well.  Piggin' Rattin' Turdycurses.

 

ION....

One for @PupCam:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68426263

 

BG

[woodenhead]

Up at 4:30 am for a train to London, car frozen but made Piccadilly with 40 minutes to spare.

 

Long day ahead I won’t get home till 10pm this evening.

[iL Dottore]

8 hours ago, Barry O said:

The cruise left Auckland and went to Tauranga, Christchurch, Fijorland, Wellington , Melbourne , Sydney.. then home.. thats New Zealand and Australia covered in 10 days.... tick in box!

10 days?

 

Why even bother to leave home?

Although Mrs iD and I had been to Australia for work (separately) for 5 days or so, when we holidayed there we were "in country" for 4.5 weeks.

 

When I went to Japan, I was there for 4 weeks.

In neither case did we feel that we had done more than (so to speak) "scratch the surface".

 

Due to the absence of sprogs we took our holidays on the so-called "low season" - so just before/just after when everyone takes their holidays. We generally took 3 weeks or so and it being low season it was much, much cheaper (things like hotels costing £150/night instead of £250+/night during high season)

8 hours ago, airnimal said:

I am sure that cruising holidays help tourists see faraway places that they wouldn't normally get to see, but the idea of hundreds of people getting off for a few hours all in the same location just doesn't appeal.  I have been in several countries of the years when cruise lines have emptied there hoards only to be over run in the bars and restaurants before the lady with the umbrellas comes and collects them. They only ever appear to take them to the famous sites and very little else. I know we are all different, but it's not for me. 

I know I am being terribly biased and unfair, but I consider these big cruise ships - no matter how expensive and luxurious - as little more than glorified "Butlins on the waves" with "obligatory fun". Being stuck on the high seas with 3000 - 7000 passengers is my idea of hell on earth (well "on water" to be pedantic).

 

I'm not against cruises per se, Mrs iD and I had a lovely cruise on the Nile on our honeymoon - but there were only about 100 passengers. So not only was service a lot more personalised that one of the big cruise ships, but fellow travellers were not so much the "instagram tick-box" types.

 

Of course we went to the usual sites one goes to when on a Nile Cruise, but what we found was – being in a small group – if we waited just a few minutes before moving on, we tended to have the site to ourselves – as the huge bulk of visitors would go through the site all together, much like a rat going down the gullet of a boa constrictor, By doing so we could see what we wanted to see without a 100 or so other visitors to peer around.

 

We also spent money locally, a few souvenirs yes, but we also shopped for local ingredients for my pantry (I bought 3kg of dried Egyptian chilies quite a few years ago and I still have about 300 g left; they've lost their red colour but boy has the heat of those chilies intensified). Not a huge expenditure, but certainly one that went into the locals pockets.
 

I did have an amusing interaction with one of the spice sellers in the souk: I was looking at a pile of dark orange-ish powder and the spice seller told me it was "best saffron", would I like to taste it? I said yes and he gave me a little tiny bit on the end of a wooden coffee stirrer. I tried it and then turned to him and said "that's very good turmeric", without missing a beat he replied "turmeric yes, the Egyptian saffron!) 

 

Edited March 4 by iL Dottore
Bloody autocorrect!

[jjb1970]

My experience of cruise ships was attending them for work purposes when I worked for LR and an overnight junket for the naming ceremony of MSC Euribia last year. I've never really been interested in going on a cruise, but after spending the first part of my working life at sea I have a different view of the attractions (or otherwise) of being on a ship. I think a lot depends on personal preference (which is a statement of the obvious I know), when I looked around I could see the appeal and with young children there were a lot of activities where you could leave them to enjoy themselves safely supervised and go off and do something else (that's one of the big appeals of the Disney ships). However, it wasn't really for me.

[Grizz]

Morning All ERers

 

Bear so sorry to hear that you had a shi*e night. If I can’t sleep then I generally listen to unabridged Terry Pratchett audio books, or stick on YouTube and listen to something like ‘Hut 33’, which has a young Olivia Colman, before she got famous and was in everything British made. She is great by the way. 
 

Same here, woken at 03:00 with a cracking sinus headache. Big handful of meds seems to have seen that off for now.

 

Off to prep for audit today, I’m not auditing this time, we are being audited in two weeks time. Shouldn’t be a biggy, except that we are short staffed so it’ll be me that has to do it. That’s why it is me doing the prep. 
 

This morning the valley has low mist off of the river around the island, the sun is poking around somewhere behind the clouds.

I love this time of year. 
 

 

Have a great day all.

 

ATB Grizz

 

 

[RobAllen]

51 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

We generally took 3 weeks or so

I wonder how many people are able to take 3 consecutive weeks of holiday on a regular basis before retirement? 

My mother-in-law has been widowed for many a year now and very much enjoys cruise ship holidays. Personally, I can't imagine a worse holiday! Along with package holidays, they are much a marmite thing!

[woodenhead]

Funky train pic