Early Risers.

[polybear]

A Beary Thought.......

 

For those fellow ER'ers (and anyone else, for that matter) who live alone:

Please give serious thought to having a daily (or even better, twice daily) method to advise a friend or family member that you are ok.  Bear does this with Buddy over the road (who also lives alone) first thing every morning simply by sending emails to each other with "OK" in the subject line; another Friend (who lives alone) in the street sends a "one ring" phone call to Bear early every morning as well (she's not got a P.C.).  Very simple and works.

And finally, if you are a rather adventurous silly Bear etc. who indulges in Ladder acrobatics, going into Lofts, heading off down the Garden to play trains in the Shed etc. then FFS have a Mobile Fone in yer pocket in case of accident or illness.  You know it makes sense.

 

[polybear]

Bear here....

Covid test done, followed by heading off down to the Post Office to post test & chrimbo cards; the paths are absolutely lethal - covered in hard packed frozen snow & ice.  I'd also made the mistake of leaving the Riggers Boots in the Conservatory overnight - at 8C 🥶; the aft Paws were less than happy by the time I got home, despite very thick socks.

I was greeted by the news that no post collections would happen for the next two days - though there is a slight possibility that stuff from inside the P.O. might be collected - so test and cards went into the sack rather than the Post Box.  As to how useful the test will be after being delayed remains to be seen....

 

Once home I cracked on with unwrapping the banister - the PS hadn't worked as well as I'd hoped; I should really have unwrapped it after a couple of hours and bunged some more on, then covered it again and left it overnight.  I scraped off the wrinkly and soft stuff, then bunged a load more on and covered it loosely; I'm soon to put a second coat on then I'll leave it overnight as before.  I'm rapidly coming round to the idea of replacing those spindles with new....

Bear gone.

[petethemole]

I saw the sad news about Chris earlier on the Obits page but was then required to do stuff for Mrs mole. I only met him once but we had a long chat, including our shared interest in folk music.  Curiously I dreamed about him the other night.

 

RIP Chris 

[Tony_S]

11 minutes ago, polybear said:

coming round to the idea of replacing those spindles with new....

I know a few people,who have replaced the spindles with glass panels. However I think they may generate a “How much…..”. 

[NGT6 1315]

As I also said on the obituary, I am stunned and shocked to hear about Chris's passing. I really did not expect anything like this to happen, even if I did know he had been through some rather rough times in the past several years. 

 

Thoughts with his family and everyone dear to him. I'll make sure to raise a glass in his memory as soon as I can.

 

That's really all I can say right now as everything else would somehow sound so pointless.

[BlackRat]

Such sad news about Chris, a good friend and stalwart of RM Web, and Early risers in particular.

 

I used to enjoY his company and knowledge when he attended the SWAG get togethers and would endure my gentle pee taking in good humour because of the gentleman he was.

 

I messaged him through FB several days ago, and now sadly know why I hadn’t received a reply.

 

At least having come out , he was hopefully able to enjoy his last few years as himself.

 

I shall miss his daily ramblings, his updates on gigs ( his cd collection must be vast) and his regular updates re marching in Pride.

 

I hope he is at peace.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. A sad day indeed with the news about Chris.

1 hour ago, polybear said:

A Beary Thought.......

 

For those fellow ER'ers (and anyone else, for that matter) who live alone:

Please give serious thought to having a daily (or even better, twice daily) method to advise a friend or family member that you are ok.  Bear does this with Buddy over the road (who also lives alone) first thing every morning simply by sending emails to each other with "OK" in the subject line; another Friend (who lives alone) in the street sends a "one ring" phone call to Bear early every morning as well (she's not got a P.C.).  Very simple and works.

And finally, if you are a rather adventurous silly Bear etc. who indulges in Ladder acrobatics, going into Lofts, heading off down the Garden to play trains in the Shed etc. then FFS have a Mobile Fone in yer pocket in case of accident or illness.  You know it makes sense.

 

Good advice which reminds me that I should give my brother a call. Very quickly the days turn into weeks and the weeks into months. At least my nephew visits my brother frequently to keep an eye on him.

[TheQ]

5 and a tiny bit working hours left to go.

Though it already seems like more, I've spent 45 minutes trying to boot up a programme to do the overnight run on this equipemnt.

[Dave Hunt]

Awful news about Chris. I didn't know him well but have met him several times at shows and enjoyed his company as well as finding him quietly knowledgeable about widely diverse subjects, including railways of course, but particularly concerning folk music. He persuaded me back in 2020 to agree to giving a talk at the LCGB branch he attends but Covid got in the way and I am now booked in for next year, sadly without Chris present. A good man without whom the world is a poorer place.

 

Dave

[TheQ]

51 minutes and it finally condescended to run...

[Ian Abel]

Sad to hear of @chrisfpassing.

As others have stated, I enjoyed his various and diverse discussions and his enjoyment of the Pride rallies he attended.

Hopefully his love of GWR will be reflected where is is at peace now, the one thing I had to bite my tongue over 🙂.

Will miss his encounters with technology as they often brightened the day, he should, as @iL Dottoreopined, have been a GENT of the '50s.

 

Little enough to report here, save for a new day.

[The Lurker]

As others have said, Chrisf will be missed. I've been busy with year end work so had not been onto RMweb for a couple of days - but saw the Obits immediately I did so.

 

I'll miss the tales of his hessian bag, and the gigs attended, as well as the updates on Mrs Electric Chair and the battles to control the garden.

 

As Ian says above, after coming out he was able to "Be the Man" he was born to be, for that, I think, was the title of the song he felt summed it all up for him.

[monkeysarefun]

March on, Rainbow Boots!

Edited December 14, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[polybear]

Bear here.....

2nd layer of PS was delayed by the arrival of Buddy over the road (he who receives & sends an "OK" email - which after the news of today we've both agreed that making it twice daily is A Very Good idea) - he came in search of a box of Chicken Nuggets that Bear had promised him; it's one of the Co-op's five items for six quid purchased a few days ago that Bear doesn't scoff (Bear's body is a Temple n' all that).  We also put the world to rights for a while as well.

 

Anyway, PS coat no. 2 is now on and the rail wrapped in plastic until the morning; I'm hopeful this'll fetch off the last of the paint.  I also remembered that the PS Instructions do mention that low temperatures hinder the effectiveness of the PS - and the H/S/L aren't heated at present.

 

Here's how the current spindles are attached:

 

Lower Joint:

 

 

 

Upper Joint - covered in PS and wrinkly paint; note the craftsmanship(?) of the closely fitting (not) joint on the underside of the Banister Rail......

 

[monkeysarefun]

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I know a few people,who have replaced the spindles with glass panels. However I think they may generate a “How much…..”. 

Stainless steel wire is also a thing, opens it right up.

 

[Tony_S]

1 minute ago, monkeysarefun said:

Stainless steel wire is also a thing, opens it right up.

We once had a gadget for slicing hard boiled eggs. Those stairs would probably work on the same principle. 

[Tony_S]

Our spindles are stained wood. You can see the grain and knots etc,  They will never be painted or replaced with hardboard covers, glass panels or wire. Aditi had just seen the photo of the wired stairs.  Definitely not liked. Also she said she doesn’t like glass stair panels, “too much like an office, not a home”. Therefore I think I won’t be  having to modify the stairs. By the time we need a stairlift it won’t be me decorating anything I suspect. 

[monkeysarefun]

5 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Outback Queensland is vast.  So vast that no-one has ever accurately described its vastness. To paraphrase Douglas Adams “it is really mind-bogglingly big”. But in the past few days one tiny spot in that vastness has acquired a most unenviable and tragic reputation and has seen more police officers murdered in the line of duty than any other single incident, Australia-wide, for quite some time. 
 

 

 

One of the two surviving officers had only been in the force a few months, they tried burning her out by setting light to the paddock. She thought she was dead and texted friends and relations goodbye. Probably only the fact that cops here can shoot back stopped them from just hunting  her down and killing her too.

 

The only other incidents of multiple police killings here that quickly come to mind are the 1988  Walsh Street killings in Melbourne where two police were shot dead after being lured to an ambush, then there were two police shot in the 90's by a suspect with a high powered rifle when arriving at a property  on the NSW central coast. Following a major inquiry of that event  criticism was made of the shortcomings of the standard police issue 6 shot revolver and police guns were upgraded to semi-automatic Glock pistols.

 

Other than that the only other incident I can think of  is the Ned Kelly gang ambush of police at Stringybark Creek in the Wombat Ranges (how Aussie is that name!) where the Kelly Gang shot dead 3 police officers in 1878.

Edited December 14, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[roundhouse]

Sad to hear of Chris F passing.

 

I wasnt having any beer tonight but opened a bottle in salute to him knowing that he enjoyed his ale.

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

11 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

We once had a gadget for slicing hard boiled eggs. Those stairs would probably work on the same principle. 

We have them at work they are great for emu eggs.

[Tony_S]

4 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

We have them at work they are great for emu eggs.

If only the Australian army had them 90 years ago they perhaps then wouldn’t have been defeated in the Emu War. 

[monkeysarefun]

6 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

If only the Australian army had them 90 years ago they perhaps then wouldn’t have been defeated in the Emu War. 

 

We did finally  beat them - by the clever deployment of A Fence.

 

Just heard they are making a movie about that. John Cleese is in it. Hopefully not as one of the emus, although a mob of them all doing the silly walk would be worth paying to see.

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/john-cleese-jim-jefferies-great-emu-war-2021-afm-1235037607/

Edited December 14, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[Tony_S]

7 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

We did finally  beat them - by the clever deployment of A Fence.

 

Just heard they are making a movie about that. John Cleese is in it. Hopefully not as one of the emus, although a mob of them all doing the silly walk would be worth paying to see.

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/john-cleese-jim-jefferies-great-emu-war-2021-afm-1235037607/

I notice from the quite that the emus will be puppets and cgi. Not taking any chances with history repeating itself then!

[monkeysarefun]

2 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I notice from the quite that the emus will be puppets and cgi. Not taking any chances with history repeating itself then!

Well, they've  never found out if Rod Hull was pushed!

[Winslow Boy]

44 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

One of the two surviving officers had only been in the force a few months, they tried burning her out by setting light to the paddock. She thought she was dead and texted friends and relations goodbye. Probably only the fact that cops here can shoot back stopped them from just hunting  her down and killing her too.

 

The only other incidents of multiple police killings here that quickly come to mind are the 1988  Walsh Street killings in Melbourne where two police were shot dead after being lured to an ambush, then there were two police shot in the 90's by a suspect with a high powered rifle when arriving at a property  on the NSW central coast. Following a major inquiry of that event  criticism was made of the shortcomings of the standard police issue 6 shot revolver and police guns were upgraded to semi-automatic Glock pistols.

 

Other than that the only other incident I can think of  is the Ned Kelly gang ambush of police at Stringybark Creek in the Wombat Ranges (how Aussie is that name!) where the Kelly Gang shot dead 3 police officers in 1878.

 

A couple of years back a scrote, Dale Crugan?, killed two coppers with a hand grenade.