Early Risers.

[DDolfelin]

In Llandudno a day or so ago, it was impossible not to notice a Cycle Track on the pavement.

With lots of white paint it divided the pedestrians and the cyclists at the entrance to a large superstore.

To access the 'track' it would be necessary to cross two lots of traffic lights against the flow of traffic.

It was less than 30 metres long and disgorged the cyclists into the very busy main road.

 

Now I have confided this information I will be better able to sleep tonight.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all.

Cloudy, some rain and not particularly warm this morning.

I have a shopping list but I can choose which supermarket. 

I'm hoping to go to the exhibition in New Cross tomorrow. It seems to have a beer festival attached to it. Unsure of the etiquette at such events I asked Matthew (he goes to quite a few)if I was supposed to wander round with a small glass and keep a record. He said that as I'm not in CAMRA I can just enjoy myself. 

 

Tony

I'm now helping out one of the exhibitors at the show so I'll be driving, so no real ale for me.    Not that I drink a lot as my bladder has to be considered.

[skipepsi]

Morning all, dreary looking day so hoping it gets better later. At work we have just had the you are all doomed letter originally the council had to save £127 million then the voters elected a labour council and it went up to £157 million of savings which is about cutting a third off. In the next two year plan our bit is OK but from 2017 onwards anything could happen. It is Friday and only a week and a bit to the holiday....... Welcome back Stewart I hope your health has not been affected by recent events.

[DonBradley]

 God morning all,

         It's supposed to be partly cloudy, but the sky is in fact a clear blue from horizon to horizon, lovely and Sunny but nevertheless cold.

         Max temp is supposed to reach 20C by midday, but I am still wearing three jerseys at 10:30.

 

Congrats to AndyB's two. It is a noticeable fact that girls work harder at school than boys.

Boys put their major efforts into sports and other after school activities! 

That's why we have boys only schools, so that we are not shown up by our sisters greater academic achievements!

 

Happy Friday to those of you still working

To all of you, a HAPPY weekend.

[skipepsi]

In Llandudno a day or so ago, it was impossible not to notice a Cycle Track on the pavement.

With lots of white paint it divided the pedestrians and the cyclists at the entrance to a large superstore.

To access the 'track' it would be necessary to cross two lots of traffic lights against the flow of traffic.

It was less than 30 metres long and disgorged the cyclists into the very busy main road.

 

Now I have confided this information I will be better able to sleep tonight.

A quick chorus of The lunatics have taken over the asylum....... something to do with council targets for x metres of cycle track/pathway at minimum cost I suppose.....

[PhilJ W]

Morning all, dreary looking day so hoping it gets better later. At work we have just had the you are all doomed letter originally the council had to save £127 million then the voters elected a labour council and it went up to £157 million of savings which is about cutting a third off. In the next two year plan our bit is OK but from 2017 onwards anything could happen. It is Friday and only a week and a bit to the holiday....... Welcome back Stewart I hope your health has not been affected by recent events.

 

 

A quick chorus of The lunatics have taken over the asylum....... something to do with council targets for x metres of cycle track/pathway at minimum cost I suppose.....

The problem is that central government controls the purse strings of local authorities but still issues directives without the money to pay for them. This happens irrespective of the colour of party in charge but one political party seems to let the opposition carry the can whenever they can.

[bbishop]

I'm hoping to go to the exhibition in New Cross tomorrow. It seems to have a beer festival attached to it. Unsure of the etiquette at such events I asked Matthew (he goes to quite a few)if I was supposed to wander round with a small glass and keep a record. He said that as I'm not in CAMRA I can just enjoy myself. 

 

Tony

The beer festival is taking place in The London Theatre. The exhibition is 200 yards down the road in the Zion Chapel, so maybe alcohol won't be allowed. However, there will be a beer garden in the exhibition, albeit at a scale of 1:45. Come and say hello to the Höchstädt team, at least two of us are on RM Web.

 

Bill

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Somewhat cloudy and a little bit of drizzle but two Dakotas passed ver earlier to brighten up the morning (two Lancs would have been better of course).

 

Interesting to hear how the world of reorganisation and redundancy we lived with on the railway has gradually spread elsewhere - generally BR were pretty human at doing it and the industry's procedures were the model for much of what went into the relevant legislation.  For some of us at times it was simply another thing which happened every year and then, as some of us progressed, it just became another thing we did almost every years - a process of nibbling away with occasional bigger bashes to take out rather more.  So almost every year come budget time I would get my team together and ask 'who wants to go this year if we have to save some posts?'  Once I knew their wishes and my targets on the budget I would simply set-to to re-write the organisation to take out the jobs we thought we could shed and redraw Duty Sheets to best match how the work would change and provide a legitimate escape route for those who wanted to go - then take it all to consultation with staff who already knew exactly what was proposed; that is what managing people is really all about in my book.  Biggest problem sometimes was not being able to write out some who wanted to go.

 

But all in the past now although I'd be happy to go round giving managers in the public sector lessons on how to do it because from what I hear (not just on here) many of them haven't got the first idea about how to manage change.

 

And on that note I leave you all to hope you have a much nicer day than thinking about that sort if thing.

[Smiffy2]

Conversation at breakfast:

 

Me: You know that insect hotel we put up on Monday? I think there's already something in it.

GD: Oh good! What?

Me: Looks like a couple of chrysalis.

GD: Oh. That's some leaves I put in there so the caterpillars would be comfy and have something to eat.

Me: Do you want some more orange juice?

 

She then gave us a resumé of this week's topic: Minibeasts. Did you know queen ants can live fifteen years? Or was it fifty? Or five? No, she was sure it was 15.

 

I love being a grandparent!

[beast66606]

Morning all.

 

Dark and dismal again today, and I have my dentist appointment at 12:15 - both drill and screaming noises will no doubt be heard for a short time - the drill for the repair and the screaming when I have to pay !

[iL Dottore]

Morning all.

 

Dark and dismal again today, and I have my dentist appointment at 12:15 - both drill and screaming noises will no doubt be heard for a short time - the drill for the repair and the screaming when I have to pay !

Poor you! Mrs iD will certainly empathise. Me? I'm quite sanguine about it, in fact my dentist appreciates the way I get into the chair, open my mouth, close my eyes and go to sleep. The only thing I really don't like (and I just about tolerate) is the low rpm grinding. High rpm drilling and cutting doesn't both me in the least.

 

As for payment, as they say "you get what you pay for" my dental surgeon/dentist isn't the cheapest around, but he's one of the best: the prothesis he put in 19 years ago is still going strong, without any problems... (and to think that my Grandfather at an age much younger than I am now, already had a full set of dentures, whilst I have one prothesis, one bridge and all the rest of my original teef)

[Jock67B]

Good morning all from a very damp Clacton,

Thanks for the illumination Flavio, your post made it 'Crystal' clear! I'm jealous as I've only sipped the Roederer at a tasting and loved it but the 'accounts department' aka Joanna would have a blue fit at the price.

Dick, are you sure the GBL is worth waiting for in view of the comments by 'TheWeatheringMan' on the relevant thread? L&SWR fans will of course know that they opened Waterloo station today in 1848. I read about the history in a library book some time ago and discovered a very chequered history. Apparently it was added to year on year until it became an almost unworkable mess and so the L&SWR organised the current edifice between 1910 and the 1922 opening, only to have it absorbed into the Southern Railway soon after! Now after many changes it is in Network Rail's hands and boasts the biggest passenger throughput in Britain. Quite a lot of the original has been retained, including the famous clock, seen as a meeting place in many a film. Although I'm a Scottish LMS fan, I found the history fascinating and it seems that the development of all our major London termini proved to be just as complex.

Mike(SM), good to hear about the policies of BR. Most of the companies that I have been involved with (up to MD status at a couple) were very small by comparison. I noticed often, particularly in the motor trade, that in troubled times the reduction in staff was a quick solution to cash flow problems. In the long term however, this was not necessarily the best move because when trading recovered, the dearth of talented staff became a real problem. Perhaps this would not be so evident in organisations employing millions but the best staff, especially on the service side, we're often the best paid and short sighted accountants would often select them to cull for immediate results! Luckily I didn't suffer this at my dealerships having learnt what not to do when a group I worked for was taken into receivership!

I hope Friday passes quickly and your weekend plans bear fruit,

Kind regards,

Jock.

[AndyB]

Morning all and it's raining here. 

Had occasion to cycle round to a friend's house last night (school planning meeting accompanied by wine).

We spent the evening sat outside overlooking some of the most beautiful countryside it's possible to imagine. The house is surrounded by arable fields and in the distance the ground rises to a long ridge of rolling hills dotted with fields, hedgerows and trees. Swifts darted about as the sun set. Later, as we sat in the near darkness, owls could be heard hooted to each other. I tootled back home along farm tracks and lanes around 11ish. Woke up at 03:00 and didn't get back to sleep again. Ahhh, but an English summer's evening in the countryside - I don't think you can beat it. 

 

Thanks Don for your thoughts. I'm sure there's more than a grain of truth in there! 

It transpired last night that whilst my youngest has some way to go on neatening up his writing he is slightly ahead of the game in other areas. One dad asked me what this week's spellings were, which I listed....

"Hmm, that must be a different week's as they don't sound familiar."

Meanwhile back at the ranch swmbo was having the same conversation with another parent...

"He's got those spellings?! They're really hard. My child's are a lot simpler."

Turns out they are all in different spelling groups and my lad is being given trickier lists than the others. 

 

As for the vertically challenged elder child she reckons the sport assessment is just plain biased to favour taller people as it is, essentially, "How fast can you run?"  

Time and motion studies have clearly invaded primary schools!      

I believe she intends to wear her gymnastics and diving medals to school next week! 

[AndrewC]

Morning all.

Cloudy, some rain and not particularly warm this morning.

I have a shopping list but I can choose which supermarket. 

I'm hoping to go to the exhibition in New Cross tomorrow. It seems to have a beer festival attached to it. Unsure of the etiquette at such events I asked Matthew (he goes to quite a few)if I was supposed to wander round with a small glass and keep a record. He said that as I'm not in CAMRA I can just enjoy myself. 

 

Tony

I'll be there this evening for a bit helping hindering Mr Bishop and his gang setup. Saturday should be good. No driving on my part and only 20 mins from home. I can recommend a beer ticking app if you wish. Only the luddites still use books.

[NGT6 1315]

It's a beautiful noise:

 

 

 

As is this inverter squeal:

 

 

 

Freight services on the Rübeland line are generally top-and-tailed due to the line's steep gradients and the reversing station at Michaelstein. See this, too:

 

[Tony_S]

I'll be there this evening for a bit helping hindering Mr Bishop and his gang setup. Saturday should be good. No driving on my part and only 20 mins from home. I can recommend a beer ticking app if you wish. Only the luddites still use books.

I wondered why Matthew was looking at his phone when we were in the world beers aisle of the supermarket. 

I have a Blackberry OS 10 phone and typing beer into the app search doesn't seem to reveal anything useful at all.

Aditi has decided that we need a pre-holiday holiday and is looking at Bruges or Brussels. That could be via train I suppose.

[Adams442T]

Morning All!

 

Sat excitedly awaiting the start of an auction at 11am, where lot 3 was listed as a 'grey steam ship - £30-40'.  It was in fact a German made Bing Torpedo Boat of about 1905-15 vintage.  On opening it rocketed to £1000.00 in seconds. I dropped out of online bidding at £1800 and it finally sold at £2500.  Worth every penny, but a bit more than I wanted to pay.

 

Still not to worry, about 2 months ago I was fortunate to pick up a dozen large scale Heyde Indian Infantry at the same auction house for £100.00.  They are so rare that none of my fellow collectors, including some serious German collectors have ever seen them!  I've already turned down an offer of £1500.00 for them.

 

In my experience even the supposed 'Expert Auction Houses' are poor at cataloguing anything that's not in the reference books.  And as for the Antiques Roadshow 'toy experts', don't get me started............................   

 

PS Tony, Belgium has some excellent beers, but I've found that after a few I can't even find my phone let alone hit the buttons............

[Coombe Barton]

Hey ho - working at home on spreadshhets and stuff for the still-a-year-away move.

 

Then I learn that we have a set of wheel reinventors who are late delivering. I'm unable to do anything to save our staff a helluva lot more work.

[beast66606]

No screaming today - got to go back on Monday for the hole to be filled and a new one made in my bank account.

 

I hate the high pitched drilling, the rest I can tolerate.

[Ian Abel]

POETS day indeed...

 

Well, it's more than 3 hours since sunrise, and it's so dark (can't even be described as "grey"), we've lights on in the house and office. Presently experiencing very dark skies and torrential rains with occasional thunder and lightning. 18 and may go to 28, not really stated how long it'll rain, as they originally said, "some rain with occasional thunderstorms", so helpful! Just pissing it down for now...

 

Bob was enjoyed by all at his visit yesterday, so that was a nice lunch time break, except he DOES tend to moew all the way in the car.

 

Did more track-laying last night until I got to a crossover and discovered I'd run out of insulated joiners (b**u**gge**er - I SWORE I had another pack!) - so may not be able to proceed until late Saturday, will be sometime Saturday at the earliest I can make it over to the hobby shop that actually CARRIES railroad supplies

 

WIll be attending the Guthrie Theatre ("THE" premier theatre in our extensive theatre scene) production of "My Fair Lady" tonight with friends. Happy hour first in the delightful balconied bar/restaurant that overlooks the river, photos likely unless it's still raining. Given good reviews so far - but they've not had MY take on it yet  never good to have a true "english speaking" individual at these events, I expect Mrs may disown me if they manage any whoopsies

 

More prep today for some training I'm doing next week, so must get to it

 

All you workers and retirees alike "have a luverly day" (honest guv, that's how they gave a review of the play in the local rag!!!!)

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Today's conundrum comes from the weekly shop - now one of my more permanent tasks.

 

Usual weekly shop at Morrison's comes to about £60.  (there's only two if us plus Lily) and next door to Morrison's is an Aldi.  So today, I did half the list in Aldi and just about everything there was cheaper - eggs 24p a dozen less, loo roll £1.50 less. etc.  But Aldi only really have the essentials, so back to Morrison's - total of the two was about 15 quid more DOH

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[AndyB]

Well, it's more than 3 hours since sunrise, and it's so dark (can't even be described as "grey"), we've lights on in the house and office. Presently experiencing very dark skies and torrential rains with occasional thunder and lightning. 18 and may go to 28, not really stated how long it'll rain, as they originally said, "some rain with occasional thunderstorms", so helpful! Just pissing it down for now...

 

 

WIll be attending the Guthrie Theatre ("THE" premier theatre in our extensive theatre scene) production of "My Fair Lady" tonight with friends.

Clearly....

 

I'll get me coat.

[bbishop]

Guys,

 

I have been migrated onto the new BT Mail. I won't describe my experiences yet; I'm seeing Andrew C tonight and will acquire the relevant adjectives from him. But I may be asking for help; actually I know I will be, just unsure of the length of the list.

 

Bill

[Oldddudders]

Afternoon all

 

Just checking in so you know Cinders hasn't shoved the broom anywhere uncomfortable.

 

About 40 years ago, when I needed to go for an (internal) interview I'd be given the day off to do so, as my shift needed covering. There was a pub called, I think, the New Cross House, where there was a lunchtime topless disco. So I attended with a couple of mates and had a few pints. I recall the stripper walked past me on the way back from her stage routine and gave me a friendly pat. The interview later that afternoon, which was really a briefing session for further interviews, went particularly smoothly.....

 

Shopping for the barbecue we are hosting tomorrow went smoothly, too. I buy carrots for the horses. This week there were washed carrots in nice plastic bags at 1.20 euros per kilo. Or, next to them and for 1.25 euros per kilo, you could buy dirty unwashed carrots, loose, with mud adhering. Not much of a bargain, really.

 

I used the plural pronoun about hosting the barbecue. I have told Sherry that she is at liberty to make virtually whatever changes she wants to the house and its decor. Deb had really good taste, and Sherry has admired much of the "stuff" we have. But if I want her to feel at home she needs equal rights from now. It's lovely having a woman about the house again, even if only for a few days at a time.

[grandadbob]

Went to see the Doctor this afternoon for a follow up appointment and the good news is that after 6 weeks off the medication my BP hasn't risen at all so as long as I'm "sensible" I can stay off it. Apparently going out on the lash to celebrate does not count as being sensible so I'm just sitting here quietly with a pint of Pride!