Early Risers.

[The Stationmaster]

Afternoon all,

 

I've been a bit busy as herself and the Good Doctor are due to return today from Finland (I presume they got back there from Estonia) so the house has been vacuum cleaned upstairs and downstairs, one load of washing is on the line while the second is whzzing round the interior of the washing machine.  The kitchen was clean anyway, honest (but probably 'not clean enough' so I'll blame laddo) and various essential supplies have been replenished before I get the blame for them running out - apart from any I have forgotten to replenish of course.  (interrupted by cat, who required me to 'clear up' after him - fortunately the bathroom floor is tiled; it's a shame in some respect that this one has survived while Sammy has gone as Sammy did at least make use of the garden).

 

On a completely different subject, fortunately, I wonder if the upcoming revival of the radar station at RAF Saxa Vord might be of interest to any our membership?

 

Enjoy the rest of your day

[Ozexpatriate]

4C here last night. No rain yet but it looks like we will get some for a few days starting tomorrow. Trouble is it might rain for all of October.

The forecast I saw even suggested snow in northern Idaho Andy. We are expecting mountain snow here.

 

Here the forecast high is 19°C cooler than the actual temperature a week ago.   Apparently we set a record number of consecutive days with high temperatures above 21°C (70°F) - I think it was 92.

 

The rain has returned and the seasons have changed. This should make a big difference in knocking down the fires and smoke.  Of course in parts of the Columbia River Gorge directly affected by the Eagle Creek fire, there are now flash flood warnings for the recently deforested hillsides.

 

I do think we will see some nice (dry) and pleasant weather next week. Autumn is my favourite time of year. With the heat and smoke this summer was unpleasant. I'm glad to be rid of it. 

Edited September 18, 2017 by Ozexpatriate

[TheQ]

Saxa Vord is one of the few RAF Radar stations I didn't get to, of course it probably won't technically be a radar station. But a remote radar head lightly manned and parented by RAF Boulmer ( my last station). When I was At RAF Neatishead it had 600 people, now it too is a "Remote Radar Head"(RRH) parented by Boulmer and down to 25 people.

 

Meantime I have found out what rule 0 is, I've been reading a book of David Butcher's life on the railways, he started out as a cleaner and rose to being a top link fireman on the east coast main line. Then when diesels came along, he bailed out to clerical and made it up to being manager for BR for all limestone traffic in the UK.

Most importantly, he quotes rule 0 several times.... Which is...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before you do anything make a cup of tea. Mine's just arrived...

[AndyID]

Yippee! It rained last night and it's likely to continue for a couple of days. Pretty chilly too. The tops of the mountains might get a dusting of snow.

[AndyID]

Snap!

[Ozexpatriate]

Despite my good intentions most of yesterday was spent watching rugby, both recorded and live. This went on into the late evening as they were broadcasting the Newcastle v Saracens game from Philadelphia. This was part of a four year deal to promote rugby in the States. Regrettably it was rather a scrappy affair and the 6000 odd crowd (in an 18500 capacity stadium) were very quiet.

This reminds me of a recent promotional American College football game in Sydney. It was well attended but the teams (Stanford and Rice) were poorly matched and it was a one-sided blowout - hardly the way to generate overseas interest.

 

College Rugby Sevens is gaining in popularity in the United States, but not the full-strength League or Union games. College Rugby is seen as 'a bit of (strenuous) fun' compared with the intensity (and the influence of the money involved) as College-level American football.

[jamie92208]

Evenong all from the Charente.  Good news here.  The men's afternoon out went better than planned.   I watched some trains while Peter looked round the town and then we looked round another town that was very good, all in sunshine.

 

I got to Ruffec, which is a normal small town station in France with plenty of facilities including a signal cabin on the platform run by the Stationmaster.   Nothing was happenning and the man himself told me that the TGV's have mosty moved to the new Tours Bordeaux line , the LGV SEA, and that nothing would be coming past for two hours.  I therefore went off to said new line, about 5 Km west of the classic line.   

 

There I managed to see three TGV's but they were going too fast to get any numbers. However it is all very impressive.

This double TGV approached from the north

I managed to get across the road safely and got two shots of it disappearing south, all over in seconds.   I also managed to find how to pre select the shutter speed on my camera.

Then I went back to the station.

A party was playing with track components opposite the station

Here a road-railer is manoeuvring a 20m length of rail on it's own by trapping one end under itself and picking it up just past the tipping point.

Here are a couple of shots of the station area looking South then north.

There is obviously much resentment about the way that the TGV's have been diverted away with big banners opposite the station entrance complaining about it.

Anyway after a coffee in town with Peter we went to chef Boutonne and looked around the old part of town and saw the source of the rover Boutonne.

 

Now wine is being poured in the kitchen and there are some nice smells drifting through.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

 

[Horsetan]

Matthew will be presenting at 8am when he goes to a conference at St John's later this month. The previous evening is the social evening which is some sort of pub crawl sampling the best of Newfoundland brewing.

He's got no chance, in that case! Everyone will be nursing hangovers.

[Barry O]

lots done, more still to do....even had a letter from Yorkshire about Ashes 2019 tickets.....

 

Baz

[Barry O]

that nice Judith Edge is dangling a favourite cranky loco kit at me.. the Fell...wot a beast!

 

Baz

[New Haven Neil]

Jamie/Richard - I'm packed!

[jamie92208]

Jamie/Richard - I'm packed!

 

We're leaving Friday but I can leave you the shed key....... Unfortunately the wine is in the house.

 

Jamie (Trying to be helpful)

[Barry O]

Good night o most, afternoon Pete, morning to others.

 

Baz

[Tony_S]

that nice Judith Edge is dangling a favourite cranky loco kit at me.. the Fell...wot a beast!

 

Baz

I was hoping for an RTR model.

[Gwiwer]

It is now wet.  Good night all.

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[BSW01]

Evening all

 

Max's train set board is coming along nicely, I've almost completed one of the two boards, hopefully I'll have them both done by weekend and then I can start adding a bit of scenery to it.

 

After tea I had every intention of going swimming, but after I'd finished my cup of tea, I fell rather tired so shut my eyes for a couple of minutes and suddenly 35 had gone and by then it was too late to go, so I must have been more tired than I thought.

 

Goodnight all.

[newbryford]

Mountain biking negotiated without incident. I got round better than I thought I would, as well as not feeling too kn@ckered at the end.

I went to the usual haunt of Gisburn Forest - which is only a slight detour on the way home from work and met up with a fellow RMwebber to ride out.

 

Although it persisted down during the day, it held off for the evening, but there were decent pools of water on the trails - but not quite enough for the alternative MTB............

 

As it's been so long since I've ridden that bike, I checked out all the suspension settings the day previously and put a bit more air in the forks/shocks (95psi in the front with a rebound setting of 5 clicks, 145psi in the back, with three clicks on the rebound adjuster). Athough I'd let some air out of the tyres, they were a bit firm, as I'd pumped them up more than normal for trail riding for a planned road ride a few weeks ago (Blackpool Prom Ride The Lights) but that didn't happen.

The whole bike felt firm and stable all the way round. 

My fellow rider managed a puncture on the fast downhill at Hully Gully. A quick tube replacement and we were on our way in short order (he;s an ex Team GB bike mechanic!). Lights were required for the last 20 minutes or so as the cloud cover thickened and killed off the remaining daylight.

 

A welcome beef stew was waiting when I arrived home, courtesy of the now recovered Junior NB's slow cooker. Probably the only useful thing that she's brought back from her uni days.

 

Lower body is stiffening up after the exercise, but a couple of ibruprofen should help.

 

Have a good Tuesday folks.

 

Cheers,

Mick

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Coombe Barton]

Half past three in the morning is not the right time for the loo flush to give up the ghost.

[AndyID]

Half past three in the morning is not the right time for the loo flush to give up the ghost.

 

Nor the batteries in smoke alarms. I'm applying for a science grant to investigate why they always conk-out in the middle of the night.

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

It is a rather chilly morning, with light rain.  However, it is less foggy than yesterday - so that's a bonus!

 

Smoke alarm batteries - now there is one of life's great mysteries.  It's always around 3am.

 

Oh well - time for a coffee!

 

Have a good day everyone...

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

It's fodder run day.  I seem to have buried the shopping list under m*d*ll*ng stuff but no doubt it will come to light in time.  Yesterday I did a bit of hacking and hewing to no great effect, learning in the process a great deal about the pitfalls of making jigs.  Thank goodness there is Scaleforum at the weekend, full of people who can do this sort of thing properly.  Much of my monthly reading matter has turned up in the last couple of days and I am in danger of getting behind with it.  Some of the comics are more compelling than others, as was always the case.

 

I watched Channel 5's documentary on Paddington last night.  Bless my soul, what trouble can be caused by an electrocuted pigeon.  Then I gave an ear to the first part of Paul O'Grady's brief history of the Light Programme, jerking many memories in the process.  Tonight there is a retrospective on pirate radio.  What's not to like?  Answer: the omnipresence of Tony Blackburn at this poignant time.

 

Felicitations and best wishes to all in distress and recovery

 

Chris

[TheQ]

Mooring Awl, inner temple here,

 

A good night sleep of about 6 hours, woken by a big rainstorm hammering on the Northside windows at 04:00, I went downstairs to find Ben the Border Collie hiding in his cat cage...

 

Driving down the flooded back roads (only an inch or two right across the road) I notice that a local former primary school which closed in 1985 to become in 1987 an all ages private school specializing in those children with dyslexia. For the last 150 years it's had quite low fencing around the front, suddently it now has 6ft high metal security fencing. This is in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere in particular, so the question is, why?

 

It's bucketing with rain out there, so a man is outside cleaning the windows.....

 

Talking of widows, this computer says it needs a reset, that means all the other will as well.

 

Time to.... go do reset a few computers...

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

It is a bit cloudy but forecast to be quite pleasant.

My task today is to take Robbie for his therapeutic swim. Aditi is going to Enfield to attend a meetings at MiL's bank.

Yesterday I decided to put my tools back in their proper places as a start to doing something with the garage layout. However Aditi discovered some roofing felt near a shed. So I ended up on the shed roof replacing it.

Tony