andyram Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 Good evening all. I hope all is well. Fingers crossed for Debs ill pet. Here it is 39 not out and firmly into my 40th year after a very enjoyable birthday. Sarah made a real fuss of me today including decorating the living room with banners and balloons. She bought me some nice clothes and always seems to choose things to my taste. The inlaws bought me a bottle of Drumguish single malt whisky. I have never sampled this brand yet so that will be one to look forward to. Other railway related gifts included the Hornby / Humbrol work station from my parents and a gift voucher for a steam train ride from my brother. I haven't yet checked which railways the voucher is valid for yet. Today we went out for the day to Chatsworth. A picnic in the park and some time spent in the farm. Amber enjoyed the adventure playground. Later we had a meal in the local pub before my parents came round for a glass or two of wine. Tomorrow I am off to Midland Railex. I can't wait! 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted August 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 15, 2014 Many Happy Returns Andy! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 (edited) Evening folks, Debs that is really cheering news about your beautiful boy and what a lovely photograph of the group. Sadly, the more you love, the deeper your despair when things go wrong. Reasonable results today, the only nuisance being that I have a very slight heart murmur, which is apparently not unusual at my age, and so they want me to call back in on Monday for an echo-cardiogram. This will be the final piece of the jigsaw which allows the anaesthetist to plan my anaesthetic treatment before the op.! Another very friendly and supportive bunch of people in the elective care suite who have given me a clear understanding of the planned procedure and written instructions on what to do in the lead up to the day! Neil, it sounds like you've had a great day. Very sad thing for us is that a lot of highly intelligent and fun people, that we used to dine with at regular intervals, have passed away over recent years. We used to have a fantastic little dining and wine tasting group called 'vague recollections' because that's what you tended to have on the 'day after'! We had fourteen members 25 years ago, now we are six strong and two live in Spain! More worrying, in the UK, I'm the only male when it was once a 50/50 split. Archie the Westie appears to have a sense of humour but the opposite is also true - when he is unhappy with you, he will go and sit in the conservatory, staring out at the garden, and simply refuses to look round when you talk to him! Flavio, hope the thespian exercise is progressing well. Weary now and so it's nightcap and bed, have a great Daturday all, Kind regards, Jock. PS Many happy returns Andy, and many of them! J. Edited August 15, 2014 by Jock67B 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy2 Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Happy birthday, Andy! I can't even remember being 39, and I've got a kid your age! Prime of your life... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebottle Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Happy birthday, Andy! I can't even remember being 39, and I've got a kid your age! Prime of your life... I've got a birthday card to post for one of my nieces. I still think of her as my little sister's little girl, despite the fact that she'll be forty in four days. Heigh-ho ... 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 A belated happy birthday Andy. M*A*S*H... Haven't seen it for years. Back in the days before VHS or BETA, I had a black and white TV in my bedroom with a built in radio/cassette player and I well remember recoding the audio from several episodes onto cassette tape. The show was so well-written, you almost didn't need to see what was happening, just being able to hear the dialogue was enough. I used to listen to one or two when the mood took me and there was nothing on TV. A year or two later somebody invented a magical device called a "VHS top-loader" so the cassettes probably all went in the bin. That must have been the late 70s? I do remember that Saturday night TV involved watching Bruce Forsyth sending a cuddly toy and a teasmade on their way down a conveyor belt... Nostalgia is a terrible thing. I now feel the need to search the local charity shops for a beige paisley shirt. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted August 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 16, 2014 Morning all A bright, sunny morning, with the weather likely to stay that way for the weekend, plus a little cloud here and there. Warm rather than hot, too. Altogether not bad for Sherry's trip across country later today. Jock - sorry your score wasn't perfect yesterday, but glad they've not been too dismayed by their findings. Andy - belated Happy Birthday. Unlike some, I can remember being 39. I had a high-pressure job, but the satisfactions at work were good, too. And Deb's career had gone meteoric for someone who'd started as a filing clerk! Major effort required to get this place looking less of a wreck today. Can't disappoint my house-guest! Hope your weekend pleases. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenceb Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Birthday greetings Andy Laurence Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iL Dottore Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Morning all, Friends (He Welsh, She Dutch) arrived from Aachen yesterday afternoon and were promptly barked at by Schotty. After introductions, he enjoyed their company, with both of them fussing over him. Late evening we all head up the the wooden hill to Bedfordshire (great phrase, that) and it's the first time we've had overnight guests... So, at 3am when one goes to the bathroom, the HM, unfamiliar with the concept of overnight guests, decides that we have INTRUDERS and starts barking as if posessed and shoots up the stairs to the guest suite to investigate... Calm and tranquility were eventually restored. According to recent research, in dog packs there are several distinct roles (and you can forget all that Alpha-Male nonsense, that comes from very flawed research), one of which is the "lookout", who alerts the pack to predators or prey. Schotty is definetely a "lookout", which means that when he senses something "wrong", he starts barking then runs to me as if to say "you've got a potential threat here, I've done MY job letting you know, now GO sort it out!. Since I have the HM, I have done a lot of reading on matters canine and have learnt quite a few interesting things... - the Alpha Male dominance concepts were based on very flawed research, scientists now recognise that different animals within the pack have different roles and that dominance/submission plays an important role in their social interactions (canine good manners, perhaps). - functional MRI studies have shown that a dog's brain "lights up" (shows increased activity) in the same areas as a human brain "lights up" when exposed to the same stimuli. - dogs DO have emotions, but fewer in number and not so nuanced (I've seen angry dogs, but never a "mildly annoyed" dog) - there is a gene, thought to be associated with intelligence, which is found in "smart" humans and in "smart" dogs - a smart dog has an intelligence equivelant to that of a 2-year old human (presumably as assessed by problem solving tests and the similar) and can understand approximately 200 words (the latter putting a clever dog ahead of quite few humans I've met...) Good to hear that Jock has had a negative work-up ("negative" in the sense of an absence of clinically significant findings). So far, unlike Jock, I haven't started burying friends, though I have started on the parents. Interring old friends (and old enemies!), I suppose is inevitable as one ages. My guests are stirring, so must run, but I'll leave you with today's aphorism: "Friends help you move house, Real friends help you move bodies" And a good day to all 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted August 16, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 16, 2014 Hey its Saturday! Cricket to be umpired, parcels to be despatched...busy day! Belated birthday wishes Andy! With both our Herbert's "at home" the house can get a little noisy. After 6 years of being on our own their presence is taking some getting used to. Have a great day and hope all goes well for you on Monday jock. Baz 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelintrev Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Good Morning all, glad you had a pleasant birthday Andy - only 40 ! Now seems that my last missing container has escaped the docks police and should have made it to it's resting place. So will be off to check shortly. (as well as checking on two other locations). Seems at the moment whenever I press one of the buttons for "Like /Agree/Informative etc I get a Pop Up screen that says "RMWeb says this is a bad request" . Whatever you're up to today - try and make the most of it! Trev. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted August 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 16, 2014 Good morning all, There seems to be blue skies, a few clouds and some sunshine at the moment. A dry, fairly sunny day is forecast. Over the last twenty (ish) years we've lost a lot of relatives & quite a few friends. Some of them were a lot younger than me which is rather thought provoking. Today is loft clearance day with the help of my son Steve. Once we've done that and hopefully got rid of a load of "stuff being kept just in case" that's been there for up to thirty years I shall survey the resultant space. I can then decide whether or not I can it put to better use. Not really sure what I can do with it................unless..........no I couldn't............could I? Have a good one, Bob. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted August 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 16, 2014 It is interesting the roles dogs play in the pack. One role is an 'Enforcer' who will tell other dogs off if they get out of line our last two bitches have behaved like that. It is also noticeable that they will behave differently when I go out. It would seem that when one is missing others adjust their role. It is difficult to assess whether they have a sense of humour they do have a sense of fun and play. However Parrots definitly have a sense of humour if a little evil. One of ours would wait until one of the dogs walked under his stand and then drop something on the dog and chuckle! I can also remember one in a place selling birds which was not for sale obviously the owners pet. Children would come in expecting him to talk but he would sit there and say nowt until they got bored and walked away when he would call out. Of course that would bring the kids back and the process would repeat. Don 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Something was bothering me about the recent "kitchen cupboard clearances", but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Had I missed something horribly out of date? Am I becoming obsessive? (Yes, probably...) I decided to venture back into the cupboard and then it struck me... RMWeb's Andy York staring back at me from a jar of pasta sauce. Gave me quite a fright, I can tell you. Needless to say, this jar is now at the back of the cupboard with the label facing away from me... What next... a tin of beans with Oldddudders face on the label? "Happy Hippo" brand ketchup? "Grandad Bob's Spicy Chicken Wings"??? Time for a lie down. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonBradley Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Hi from a Sunny Cape Town, promising to reach 21C today and higher tomorrow. Belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY Andy. I'm glad the day was happy. I had the radio on earlier and enjoyed two pieces that I really enjoy; StSeans 3rd Symphony (the Organ) and Elgars 9th Enigma variation. Unfortunately at 9:00 am the station switches to Jazz until 1200 noon, so I switch off. It's the same on a Sunday whereas on weekdays it remains Classical until 10:00 at night (I have extremely bigoted, narrow minded views on jazz) I hope each of you has some happy activity over the weekend. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonBradley Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Bob, whilst thoughts of a loft railway may excite may I remind you of a couple of drawbacks; Whilst up there you would be isolated from the goings on in the rest of the house. That me in some instances be desirable, but often not so and lonely, AND you have to climb up and down. Fine for a long term session but a nuisance when it's just for a quicky. I speak from experience of aging limbs protesting at the climb. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDolfelin Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 This dog wasn't ticklish - let alone had a sense of humour. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
station cat Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Happy birthday Andy who isn't on pasta sauce DDolfelin's picture brings back a slightly embarassing memory. I was walking along the road and saw the most beautiful stone dog on somebody's doorstep. Gosh I thought, what a good carving. It really is remarkably lifelike. Wow it even looks like it's breathing. Oh hang on, that's a real dog you muppet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted August 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 16, 2014 Thanks Don. I have already considered these points and being isolated is not a problem as I am by nature a bit of a "loner" . As far as the climbing goes that is not a problem (yet). If I do put a layout up there it will be built in easily removable sections so that if necessary I can revert (at least some of it) to the spare bedroom. The reason for even considering going aloft is that I would have room for a more realistic looking layout instead of my current train set. I've seen lots of advice on other threads here about the subject and I do need to consider the feasibility and cost of installing proper flooring, power points, insulation etc. We will see. If nothing else it will free up more space to keep other stuff I need to save for another thirty years! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Sidecar Racer Posted August 16, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 16, 2014 Even clever dogs can make mistakes . 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Morning all from Clacton where it is sunny once again! The decorating in the front bedroom is about to kick off so I will make myself scarce and disappear to the garage to get on with the patio set renovation. Archie the Westie loves other dogs but his one obvious element of 'pack mentality' is shown when he is with his two 'girlfriends', my daughters two bitch Westies. When I was fit enough to walk all three (on the lead in case a squirrel or similar appeared!), he would have to lead them at all costs and so I had to extend his lead beyond that of the 'girls' to avoid being pulled over and every so often, he would turn and nudge them in to line. He was probably helped by the fact that he is roughly twice their size and weight being big for the breed! Funnily enough, he never hurts them and in fact is often to be seen lying on his back while they climb all over him (bear in mind that he is a Jaffa). Any perceived threat however, and they quickly form a pack with him in front of course! Pete(Trisonic), you're probably aware that it was today in 1938 that Robert Johnson died, but what a legacy he left - his blues and guitar style live on to this day. Incredibly influential and one of the few players, like Ry Cooder I suppose, that I recognise from the first few chords! I suppose the same goes for a few others, EC, Dave Gilmour, Marc Knopfler and Hank Marvin all stamp their own style! Would you mind telling me who you played with in your heyday? I was quite taken by the 'requiem' you wrote, but if you'd rather not do it on here,you can send me a PM. Pete 75C, My other half is completely paranoid about 'use by' dates! My mother, a very accomplished cook, used to say 'use your nose'! She would also cite the opening of some produce in the seventies (I think) stored in jars by Scott of the Antarctic on 'Discovery' - the contents were pronounced safe! Apparently there is an ever growing number of people living on 'out of date' produce from skips used by supermarkets and I haven't as yet seen any recorded deaths from the practice. She threw away some dried spices the other day (and forgot to replace them!) which she had no idea that she had been eating in various tagines, pasta sauces and the like for some time. Kept quiet about that! Hope Saturday brings you all what you wish for, Kind regards, Jock. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 One day I will, Jock. Death of Dave Shakespeare knocked me sideways - I thought he had won the war.... Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted August 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 16, 2014 Something was bothering me about the recent "kitchen cupboard clearances", but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Had I missed something horribly out of date? Am I becoming obsessive? (Yes, probably...) I decided to venture back into the cupboard and then it struck me... RMWeb's Andy York staring back at me from a jar of pasta sauce. Gave me quite a fright, I can tell you. Needless to say, this jar is now at the back of the cupboard with the label facing away from me... What next... a tin of beans with Oldddudders face on the label? "Happy Hippo" brand ketchup? "Grandad Bob's Spicy Chicken Wings"??? Time for a lie down. andy_y.jpg That's gross, man! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted August 16, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 16, 2014 Good morning all, There seems to be blue skies, a few clouds and some sunshine at the moment. A dry, fairly sunny day is forecast. Over the last twenty (ish) years we've lost a lot of relatives & quite a few friends. Some of them were a lot younger than me which is rather thought provoking. Today is loft clearance day with the help of my son Steve. Once we've done that and hopefully got rid of a load of "stuff being kept just in case" that's been there for up to thirty years I shall survey the resultant space. I can then decide whether or not I can it put to better use. Not really sure what I can do with it................unless..........no I couldn't............could I? Have a good one, Bob. Your'e a braver man than me Bob. Whenever SWMBO talks about moving I only have to put my head through the loft hatch and all thoughts of making a move evaporate. i will probably leave the loft contents to the klds as my revenge, along with a large overdraft and phone bill. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted August 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 16, 2014 Pete, For a few pence extra you can get the Happy Hippo ketchup in a special dispenser: Saves having to pat my bottom! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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