Early Risers.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

I spent the morning at the computer, working on the artwork for the main control panel. This is now almost complete, all the track work is drawn, all that’s left to do is mark where the LEDs and switches will be located, then it’ll be ready for printing out. 

 

As it the norm for a Thursday, Charlie called round, but we didn’t go to the workshop today as he was going to meet a friend in Manchester and so left early to catch the 3 o’clock bus, so in the end he was only here for about 1 hour 15 minutes. 
 

Here’s a photo I took of the dust on the car. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[Coombe Barton]

Induction week next week. Im now booked to speak simultaneously in two places a quarter of a mile apart.

 

[jjb1970]

Happy birthday to Erichill, have a good one (or rather, I hope you had a good one)!!

[jjb1970]

7 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

No, he was a real asset as he was one of the few electricians who was up to speed on the LPG tankers - that's how he was eventually missed as there was a bit breakdown on one.  Electricians were two-ring rank officers BTW.  A lot of the old time 'leckys' were OK on the cargo ships fiddling on with Ward-Leonard sets and stuff, but the control systems on modern LPG reliquifaction vessels were not exactly their cup of boiling butane.

 

 

I was always envious of leckies in P&O Containers, their working day seemed to consist of walking around with a multimeter and a fluorescent tube or doing important work on the hallowed ground of the lecky workshop then acting as the chiefs drinking partner. No nights onboard or watches and generally gave the duty engineer an ear bashing if they were called out of hours. Great life, I was only jealous.

[Erichill16]

4 hours ago, skipepsi said:

A bit pale for Barnsley ?  Happy Birthday.

 

3 hours ago, DaveF said:

Happy birthday Erichill16.

 

That fish and chip looks delicious.

 

David

The batter is gluten free but non the worse for that except a bit pale. Swbo’s non gluten free version is to extreme right and you can see the different colour and texture. 
Not in Barnsley at the monent!

[zarniwhoop]

Belated Happy Birthday to @Erichill16

[Ozexpatriate]

I am amused by all your dirty car photographs. We had a similar result here a couple of times this summer.

 

Worse is ash fall from a wildfire - then wet. That happened to me in 2020. My car was covered in ash from a wildfire at this time of year. Shortly after that I drove to the coast in very heavy rain. The ash aggregated into tiny little lumps like little white pimples glued onto the paint.

Despite many washings they are still there. I imagine there is a way to remove them involving waxing and buffing and various treatments. On my 20 year-old vehicle I haven't found the enthusiasm.

[Ozexpatriate]

Such a lot of posts since this time yesterday. I make the tally 100 posts. 

 

Happily for me the second of two women's semi final tennis matches has only just begun. I hadn't expected to see much of it this evening. The first match was apparently delayed by some sort of protest - making a trifecta of the last three major tournaments.

 

The winner of the first semifinal said in a post-match interview that she had anticipated such a protest and it didn't bother her any differently than a rain delay.

 

EDIT:

I had forgotten the first game of the NFL season was on tonight. Remembering, I checked the score it was close with two minutes to go. There will be four months of football ahead, and three days of major tournament tennis. My choice is clear.

 

Edited September 8, 2023 by Ozexpatriate

[Erichill16]

Come on @PupCam, your help is needed!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/66727365

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

37 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/66727365

What a dreadful article.

 

How is such a trans-Neptunian object "earth like"?  Because it is bigger? Do they mean rocky? Icy? or gas? Three times the Earth's size would be Uranus-like (Uranus being 4x the size of the earth). There will be nothing "earth-like" in a 500 AU orbit in the Kuiper Belt.

 

There are already many relatively dark trans-Neptunian objects detected* - Some of which are comparable in size to Pluto - which is the reason it was 'down-graded' not because it was a 'dwarf planet'.

 

* Bunches of them (more than 80!)

 

Mercury is ⅓ earth size where Pluto is one-fifth. Earth's moon is ¼ the earth's size.

 

The distinction had less to do with size and more to do with the pointlessness of having multiple more solar satellites designated as "planets". Pluto is more like them than the other so-called planets, and it has a weird orbit.

 

Edited September 8, 2023 by Ozexpatriate

[iL Dottore]

A belated Happy Birthday to @Erichill16

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Mercury is ⅓ earth size where Pluto is one-fifth. Earth's moon is ¼ the earth's size.

For what it is worth, in order of size, selected solar system satellites are:

 

Ganymede (Jupiter)

Titan (Saturn)

Mercury

Callisto (Jupiter)

Io (Jupiter)

Earth's moon

Europa (Jupiter)

Triton (Neptune)

Pluto

 

[AndyID]

[jamie92208]

5 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Induction week next week. Im now booked to speak simultaneously in two places a quarter of a mile apart.

 

Do you have a split personality to achieve this feat. 

 

Good moaning g from a still rather warm Charente and belated birthday greetings to  Robert @Erichill16@Erichill16.

 

The windows are open and  the fans are on to try and move some air around.  We are going picking sloes later for this year's sloe gin production.  

 

Jamie

[polybear]

12 hours ago, TheQ said:

Trailer loads of Oder de  cowshed being delivered to the field around us...

 

 

 

The field at the end of Bear Towers Avenue (which is a couple of hundred yards away at a guess) used to have Cows wandering about in it when Bear was a cub.  Now?  F. Houses 🤬

Only just built (@ £780K+ a pop - for a 3-bed), there is a pretty large green space in front of them - which still has a vehicle-sized access onto the road (where the farm gate used to be) and with no barriers/posts of any sort.  I wonder how long it'll be before......😉

 

2 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I am amused by all your dirty car photographs. We had a similar result here a couple of times this summer.

 

Worse is ash fall from a wildfire - then wet. That happened to me in 2020. My car was covered in ash from a wildfire at this time of year. Shortly after that I drove to the coast in very heavy rain. The ash aggregated into tiny little lumps like little white pimples glued onto the paint.

Despite many washings they are still there. I imagine there is a way to remove them involving waxing and buffing and various treatments. On my 20 year-old vehicle I haven't found the enthusiasm.

 

I wonder if those deposits could be acidic?  Might be worth getting rid of them sooner rather than later.

 

Bear here......

Another member of the "pretty regular No. 1 at 4am club" here - which often means no more zeddin' afterwards; today I gave up at 05:10 - which isn't tooooo bad considering that when I was involved in that silliness known as "W*rk" I was crawling out of the pit at 04:30.  At least it means an early start, though on what I'm not actually sure at the moment; about the only confirmed booking for Bear's time is a load of washing.  Poo.

I also plan to juggle some gronkits to a different bunch of sharks (commonly referred to as a "Bank" here) in order to chase a bit more meagre interest.  Apart from that it's most definitely a MIUABGAD, apart from gazing into the Crystal Ball in search of clues as to whether or not Postie Pat (or Patricia) may finally show their face at Bear Towers.

 

BG 

[AndyID]

21 minutes ago, polybear said:

I wonder if those deposits could be acidic?  Might be worth getting rid of them sooner rather than later.

 

Wood ash is very alkaline which might be just as bad.

[big jim]

Back from work and off to bed, nice sunrise today, a bit of an orange tinge with the Sahara sand in the air 

 

off out tonight to a comedy club in Sutton Coldfield to see Paul sinah, to be honest I’ve seen him a few times and can give it take him but I really want to see his support act, Josh Pugh 

 

then tomorow it’s another comedy show in Moseley seeing Chris mcClausland and the amazing Terry alderton, again really looking forward to seeing Chris but Terry is an absolutely brilliant comedian, worth the trip to see him alone! 

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

@Coombe Barton In the zero hours contract University Lecturer mode Dr Eldest Herbert is in he has added responsibilities.. he has to make sure that the support assistants can support the full time lecturers.. he reckons it's like playing 3S chess...all for no extra payment...

 

Today is pack the layout into a van.. drive to Swindon... unpack it.. set it up.. make sure it works.. go to pub day.

 

Hopefully I willbe seeing some ERs over the weekend.. including @grandadbob,  @The Stationmaster ( and possibly Dr Stationmasters cat fresh from an appearance on University Challenge). Anyone else comes along.. call in.. you may end up operating.

 

 

[Winslow Boy]

7 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Induction week next week. Im now booked to speak simultaneously in two places a quarter of a mile apart.

 

Zoom is your friend.😄

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Some blue sky with a few clouds and the sun is making intermittent appearances.  Another hot and humid day with plenty of sunshine forecast.  20°C now rising to 31°C.

Very belated birthday greetings to Robert.

Usual sort of  day will mean at least a little time spent muddling/bodging

Also a visit to Asda is planned after breakfast and at some stage I need to top the car up with petrol ready for our trip to Swindon on Sunday.  Yep, The Boss will accompany me again on this (almost) annual pilgrimage.  However Baz I suspect she won't be too impressed if I start getting involved with driving trains. 

She isn't too impressed either with the amount of rugby that will be on TV in the few weeks starting tonight with the opening match of the Rugby World Cup.  "I suppose you'll be wanting to watch all the matches?"  Er probably not all but there are a few I'd like to see.  I will watch the England matches but whether or not I'll actually like them is in the lap of the Gods.

Ah, it's now timetogattamoveon....she's off out later to visit a friend.

Have a good one,

Bob.

Edited September 8, 2023 by grandadbob

[TheQ]

2 hours ago, AndyID said:

Hopefully I won't lose any visitors in the museum today, well not in my room anyway. I do have to give directions anyway even though they are all issued a map. Yes the place is a proper maze.

 

Mooring Awl ,

A very poor nights sleep, too darn hot even with all the windows open, the heat stored in the solid brick walls heating the inside all night.

 

Several more trailer loads of Oder de cowshed being delivered several so far this morning.. I'm surprised we don't get older de chicken shed, there are a bank of in use chicken sheds within sight of the garden. They are however modern and we get little smell from them...

 

Although the dawn and skies have been slightly orange so far none has arrived on the vehicles.

 

Time I got changed into something more presentable for the museum..

[iL Dottore]

Salvete de Londinium.

Currently finishing a "continental" breakfast* before heading out to rendezvous with bbishop to go source some m***l r*****y supplies. A rendezvous decided upon last night after handing over a 7mm mockup over beer** and fish 'n' chips.
 

Tomorrow sees the semi-regular meeting of "The Brains Trust" at a location I cannot disclose as many members are "persons of interest"*** to the authorities. Swiss chocolates will be handed over in exchange for cash in major currencies.

 

* more and more hotels seem intent on dumping the "full English" in favour of a continental breakfast - presumably cheaper to do (no cooking) and easier recycling of unused food. Tomorrow I may go to Borough Market for my FE fix

 

** I seriously underestimated the potency of a pint of Dark and Mild. Switzerland makes some nice beers - but all rather lightweight really.

***   A number of the more disreputable denizens of ER may/may not be involved. Villainy and much quaffing is expected. The Met is stepping up their patrols

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

The weather is still a little unsettled, dull and cloudy but the sun is still trying to breakthrough the clouds. My first task is to drop Sheila off at the surgery for her annual diabetic check up, then it’s back home to drop the car off, then a walk to the butchers for the weekly meat rations and a pork pie for my dinner. At this point I’d normally head off to the Trafford Centre for more provisions,  it I did that last night straight after tea. So instead, I’m going to make a start putting some top coat on the workshop. 
 

Back later. 
 

Brian

[The Lurker]

5 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

What a dreadful article.

 

How is such a trans-Neptunian object "earth like"?  Because it is bigger? Do they mean rocky? Icy? or gas? Three times the Earth's size would be Uranus-like (Uranus being 4x the size of the earth). There will be nothing "earth-like" in a 500 AU orbit in the Kuiper Belt.

 

There are already many relatively dark trans-Neptunian objects detected* - Some of which are comparable in size to Pluto - which is the reason it was 'down-graded' not because it was a 'dwarf planet'.

 

* Bunches of them (more than 80!)

 

Mercury is ⅓ earth size where Pluto is one-fifth. Earth's moon is ¼ the earth's size.

 

The distinction had less to do with size and more to do with the pointlessness of having multiple more solar satellites designated as "planets". Pluto is more like them than the other so-called planets, and it has a weird orbit.

 

isn''t the distinction something to do with having the gravitational pull to clear an orbit? Pluto did not qualify any longer because it and its moons revolve around one another as they orbit the sun. Ceres does not qualify because it is in the asteroid belt etc.

 

EDIT - and the others on the list in your second post are all satellites of other larger bodies so don't have not cleared their solar orbit.

Edited September 8, 2023 by The Lurker