Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Re @iL Dottore's comments about cooking game. My C*******s dinner is usually *venison. I use the slow cooker as I can just switch on and forget it for a couple of hours. But it should not be left for too long as it ends up as a stew. *Culled from wild herds.

ION The problems with settling my brothers estate are still ongoing but my niece and nephew have come into some money from an uncle in Australia (my ex SiL's brother) and are off to a jolly in New York in a few days time.

[PupCam]

25 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

500.....no wonder Mickey was a bit sluggish on the way back to Bear Towers.....

 

🤣

 

 

It's actually an SL1000; there's a receipt for it in the box dated 1972 - £52.......

There's a fair few nice-to-have accessories with it as well, including the milling attachment, 4-J Chuck and Collet Chuck 🙂

All in all, well worth sacrificing a Deltic for.

Sadly the original Manual was missing ☹️ - I understand there are various do's & don'ts to be aware of (such as a 30min motor run time) still to be discovered.  Bear is hoping for some expert instruction sometime soon....

 

 

 

 

 

Puppers is rather envious of those collets and the vertical column come to think of it.

 

This is  a good little book and there are a number of others too.

 

 

 

 

20 minutes ago, polybear said:

Bear doesn't recall that event (rather worrying....) - I'd jump at the chance now......Deltics waiting.....

 

That's because your beary brain has been damaged by UPLDC!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hroth]

 

The 504 error!  It's BACK!

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_504

 

[polybear]

16 minutes ago, PupCam said:

 

That's because your beary brain has been damaged by UPLDC!

 

 

Ok, so how much is iD paying you.....😒

Edited 5 hours ago by polybear

[Gwiwer]

6 hours ago, BSW01 said:

The sun has decided to go and hide somewhere else, it’s nowhere to be seen here. Thankfully the rain has stopped

Rain has given way to fog.  Which lifted and allowed more rain to fall.  That then ceased and the fog has returned.  I wasn't doing much with today anyway.  

[Hroth]

No fog, but it's been raining all day.  I hope that's not an indication of how autumn is going to turn out...

 

[Gwiwer]

12 hours ago, TheQ said:

it was Saturday night and its freshers week here. Edinburgh was teaming with students, it seems wide belts rather than skirts are very much in fashion for the girls and in many cases make that narrow belts.

Two years ago I had cause to be in Kingston-upon-Thames rather early in the morning (as in 3am) on what turned out to be the Saturday night / Sunday morning of Fresher's Week.  Not just at Kingston University but at the nearby St. Mary's University which was just over the road from us at the Hill of Strawberries.  

 

The place was teeming with students.  Some awaiting dubious "fast-food", others hoping for an Uber ride, most still trying to get into the night clubs which had already closed their doors.  

 

Chaps were variously attired in quite smart shirts and jackets though the "open-front shirt" look seemed popular.  The girls were just about attired.  Wide belts, narrow belts, tops which only just covered some of the essentials and not always reliably.  I think I was witness to more underwear than on a visit to M&S and much of that seemed to be of minimalist styles.  I was also witness to more bared body than on a summer's day at Brighton beach!  

 

Standing at the bus stop awaiting my 281 home - one of London's 24/7 you've-never-missed-the-last-bus routes - I was accosted by a gaggle of inebriated female youth one of whom greeted me with the words "Would you like a bra?" as she wrapped her aforesaid garment around my face.  Her friends took photos of the moment.  I'm guessing it was hers because she was visibly not wearing such a thing beneath what passed for a "top".  I did wonder what they all made of those pics.  Black lacy underwear removed, baring the pierced bits beneath where it had been, and then draped around the head of a chap visibly much older than they were and with full grey face-fungus to boot.  The joys of youth, eh?  

 

Fresher's was never like that in my day. It involved alcohol.  But it never spilled over into the streets.  Not in the City of London.  
.

Edited 1 hour ago by Gwiwer

[polybear]

47 minutes ago, PupCam said:

This is  a good little book and there are a number of others too.

 

 

 

Thanks Puppers - a search reveals all sellers want OODLES for this....but cunning Bear discovered freebie pdf copies of this plus "The Book of the Unimat" on pdfcoffee.com 😁

[Barry O]

just about to cut the hedge and .. it chucked it darn.. pah!

 

Baz

[polybear]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the very best has been saved until last....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tigerburnie]

7 hours ago, Grizz said:

Oh great….so what you are basically saying is that tomorrow there’s gonna be more dark than light? 
 

Cobblers to that, I’m off to hibernate…….now where did I put that crate of Bowmore?

Bowmore!!!!.................... you have a whole Island to choose from and you picked one of the worst, you need a trip to Islay and visit the distilleries, I did them all except Caol Isla which was shut for maintenance. If you are not a peat monster try Bunnahabhain.

[Coombe Barton]

… like the three foot high pile of books on the coffee table that’s just collapsed to one side …

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2024/09/22/postcards-from-home-2024-25/

[Grizz]

15 minutes ago, tigerburnie said:

Bowmore!!!!.................... you have a whole Island to choose from and you picked one of the worst, you need a trip to Islay and visit the distilleries, I did them all except Caol Isla which was shut for maintenance. If you are not a peat monster try Bunnahabhain.

😆…….in the past I have spent a good deal of time in Scotland, the Highlands and Islands, with friends and with work and I’ve tried all sorts of Whisky.
 

As with most things in this life, it all a matter of personal taste, in this case quite literally. I have a taste for Bowmore’s 12 yr Old Single Malt Whisky. It suits my pallet. It warms me from my stomach up…..not as with bad whisky, which burns the lips, mouth, throat, gullet and stomach. 
 

As it happens I am imbibing right now…….and it is most pleasant.
 

Skål….

[Ozexpatriate]

7 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I am sure there is an American or Japanese Wild Boar Mascot somewhere; after all they have mascots everywhere and for everything.

Arkansas Razorbacks - Wooo pig soooeee!

 

Also the lesser known Texas A&M University at Kingsville - the Javelinas.

 

Edited 3 hours ago by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

6 hours ago, Andy Hayter said:

In French, queue is a tail.  Snake or tail?  Both more descriptive than queue, which in English means?  Well queue, I suppose but is not descriptive.

I understand that in British English the term tail back is used for a backed up queue of vehicles.

[DaveF]

It's still dull and cool here, 13°C all day but at least it is dry.  Church was OK this morning, one of our organists has Covid so the other one stepped in at short notice (it's only a couple of steps from his seat in the choir to the organ).

 

Lunch was simple as I was going out, on the way home from church I visited the baker's and bought another Kornish pasty and a raspberry and apple slice which went down well as a dessert with some custard.  I hate to think how many calories I consumed.

 

This afternoon has been spent in a village hall at my monthly group meeting about models of things we are not supposed to mention on here.  The heating was on as it was cold which was very nice.

 

Next will be the usual mix of TV, book and music.

 

David

[Ozexpatriate]

The Autumn weather here is scintillating.  25°C is expected for today, presently with very little cloud. Evenings are cool and days are nice. The trees are just starting to turn. It is very pleasant. We do need some rain. It is time for it to return.

An unseasonable 31°C is expected on Tuesday.

 

Last night under clear skies and a waning Harvest Moon, out of the clear blue we lost power at around 9:00pm. Power was restored right at midnight. No clue why this happened - it certainly was not weather-related. Presumably some sort of equipment failure - or possibly a vehicle collision with equipment.

[PupCam]

5 hours ago, polybear said:

Sadly the original Manual was missing ☹️ - I understand there are various do's & don'ts to be aware of (such as a 30min motor run time) still to be discovered.  Bear is hoping for some expert instruction sometime soon....

 

Yes the motor (allegedly a sewing machine motor) is not continuously rated and gets hot so you need to let it cool quite regularly on BIG jobs for the Unimat.

 

Machining BM* 10mm off an Amal Remote Float Carburetor spacer for the Beeza was probably asking a lot of the Unimat!      A very slow job indeed.

 

The Unimat is an amazingly versatile and capable machine.   I've used it for so many different things over it's 40 year service life including drilling the ends of the Triplane's wing spars (about 4' long) for the dihedral brace / wing mounts and as an optical bench(!) as well as just standard old turning and milling such as making the 1/3 scale Rotherham Pump for the Tripehound and the dummy Smiths Chronometric gearbox for the Beeza.

 

* Before Myford

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 50 minutes ago by PupCam
Duplicate image removed

[Two_sugars]

1 hour ago, tigerburnie said:

 try Bunnahabhain.

I agree with that one . . . .vary naice . . . and 46.3%.

 

Weather today as per DaveF but with a little mist.

 

Lunch today was chicken, bacon, leak and potato bake . . . . I'll probably make it again.

 

Nowt else to report.

 

keep smiling. . . .

 

John

[pH]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

At least the waiter asked - there comes a time when they don’t bother asking!

[pH]

8 hours ago, Peter Kazmierczak said:

Instead of moving forward from the year I was born, to today; what changes happened in the equivalent number of years before I came onto the scene? 

Not to do with rail - and I’m sure I’m not the only one who can say this - if I go back that number of years, none of my grandparents would yet have been born!

[Dave Hunt]

1 hour ago, PupCam said:

Yes the motor (allegedly a sewing machine motor) is not continuously rated and gets hot so you need to let it cool quite regularly on BIG jobs for the Unimat......

 

I've had my Unimat 3 for 45 years and it's still going strong. If I'm doing a large-ish job, i.e., one that takes a long time, I keep putting my hand on the motor housing and when it gets what an engineering friend calls 'chip bag hot' I switch off and let it cool to just warm. 

 

Dave

[Ozexpatriate]

I'm having a lazy Sunday - the errands are piling up.

 

My car battery died on Wednesday night. It had progressively been adding a 'wo' to each 'wo-wo-wo' it made as I started it on Wednesday. Thursday morning it was as dead as the proverbial doornail. My son and I jump-started it with his car. I had bought jumper cables years ago and gave them to him for his old car. A worthwhile investment.

 

A new battery was duly installed on Thursday. I asked if they could fit in an oil change - "no, too busy". Friday on the way home, the oil pressure dropped rounding a corner such that the light came on. 

 

The home alarm system insists it needs a new CR123A battery and the power outage last night made me realize that I need more AA batteries. 

 

And I need a new computer keyboard. My old keyboard has been randomly sending streams of the same character. Very consequential when that key is 'delete'. (Ask me how I know.) The most convenient "office" box store closes the local branch today - they've been selling everything off for weeks. When I dropped by on Friday they had sold their last keyboard last Monday.

 

Monday's calendar has a dental appointment (to replace some old fillings). At this point I'm thinking I'll need to add a couple more errands.

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Ozexpatriate

[Tony_S]

4 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

switch off and let it cool to just warm. 

Are there updated motors available. Aditi used our very old Kenwood Chef  for too ling and smoke came out. She was going to replace it with another make until she saw the cost. I got a new (updated and uprated )motor and electronic speed control and a conversion kit to make it fit. 

If the Unimat is a sewing machine motor I wonder if a commercial sewing machine motor would fit?

[Ozexpatriate]

1 minute ago, Tony_S said:

If the Unimat is a sewing machine motor I wonder if a commercial sewing machine motor would fit?

Knowing the controllable speed range, torque and power characteristics would help. One presumes, given the age, it is a simple DC motor. That would help.