Early Risers.

[New Haven Neil]

As an aside, there's a lady called Jacqueline Bickerstaffe who writes in my favourite 'old' bike mag, 'Real Classic', and I always think of you and her as kindred souls - she's an electrical engineer though, not mechanical, but a very intelligent and well-read lady.  Always has interesting non-bike technical sections in her articles, it's amazing what side interests we all have.

[PeterBB]

 

Pro tem Uber continues "as is" pending appeal.  There is already a very strong feeling emerging among the younger sections of London society that the decision is a kick in the teeth for students, low income earners and those who require late night / early morning transport away from the night bus network.  It is. of course, also a way to ensure the Mayor's tenure is restricted to one term if all 30,000 - 40,000 Uber drivers find themselves unable to earn anything.  Many have invested in late model hybrid Toyota Prius cars which need to be paid for.  SWMBO's ride to and from work is typically in a 16/66/17-reg Prius.

 

As I understand it they demand that drivers are 'always available' or take them off rota, and also their 'avoidance' procedures together with their lack of respect for the appropriate systems in place.  If they respect and abide by them then operating should not be a problem.  Having said that there would be restrictions on number of hours and of course a dip in their profits.  As a company they are reputed to be non-responsive so we will see what happens. 

 

Edit = spellings

Edited September 22, 2017 by PeterBB

[Ian Abel]

POETS, and I'll probably partake even though I have a couple of intermissions from work today.

 

Yesterday uneventful especially with the Mrs laying low and trying to recover from her diagnosed bronchitis.

 

Today;

i) In about an hour the "pre-closing walk through" of the new house, confirming it's all OK and up to spec. per the required corrections etc.

ii) Casual walk to the bank, probably actually DRIVE, to get the down payment cashiers check - hmmm, maybe hop over to a local auto dealer and squander it on a new motor instead?!?!?!

iii) Noon local time, attend the closing and sign another life away  and become a two home owner

iv) Probably go to the new house as the Mrs will want to use the keys and walk in, just because we can!

v) POE and possibly celebrate if the Mrs feels recovered enough - she's getting some better, but the Dr said it'll take 3-4 days before the meds help her feel 90+%

 

Autumn started here at around 3PM, exactly the time the expect the HIGH of the day at 32, with a heat index of 38 (100+ F) is supposed to occur!!!

Was already a stupid 23 when I retrieved the paper this morning - next week we are supposed to have a rapid decline towards normal 17-19 highs - weird weather indeed.

 

Enjoy your Friday, POE and have a good start to the weekend.

[Barry O]

iirc Leeds is twinned with Ulan Bator

while I was a student there the socialist workers led a student union motion to twin Leeds with Tripoli in solidarity with Khaddafi. The LUU passed the motion.

 

Leeds is now in "partnership" with  Hangzhou (China), Brno (Czech Republic), Siegen (Germany), Dortmund (Germany) and Durban (South Africa).

 

Being an engineering student meant you could have fun at Leeds University Union Tuesday lunchtime meetings. LUU would ban a newspaper /bank/activity/freedom of speech and the Engineers would turn up and stop it happening..produced a very balanced approach with a tad more common sense. Obviously the Engineers are far less bothered now...

 

Baz

[New Haven Neil]

Congrats on the house Ian, hope there's somewhere for the railway though....?

 

Could we have a share of your heat though - 15c and chucking it down here :-(

[Ian Abel]

Congrats on the house Ian, hope there's somewhere for the railway though....?

 

Could we have a share of your heat though - 15c and chucking it down here :-(

Me too, there's "sort of is" depending on how the CEO decides I can use the space - she is at least aware I need to somehow pursue the railway in my "golden years" but the jury is currently out as to exactly how much/where that will happen.

The good news is that given it's a much flatter landscape than the present house, I MAY also have the opportunity to create a small G-gauge railway outside too - have some track and several trains already but only ever run them on the floor at Christmas under the tree for the past 30 years!

 

Off now for the pre-closing walk through...

Edited September 22, 2017 by Ian Abel

[Gwiwer]

Congrats Ian

 

Modelling is the art of using space to best advantage.  I'm sure something constructive will emerge from your negotiations.

[The Lurker]

Leeds is now in "partnership" with  Hangzhou (China), Brno (Czech Republic), Siegen (Germany), Dortmund (Germany) and Durban (South Africa).

 

Being an engineering student meant you could have fun at Leeds University Union Tuesday lunchtime meetings. LUU would ban a newspaper /bank/activity/freedom of speech and the Engineers would turn up and stop it happening..produced a very balanced approach with a tad more common sense. Obviously the Engineers are far less bothered now...

 

Baz

in the mid 80s the Engineers were far more interested in DREGS

[New Haven Neil]

in the mid 80s the Engineers were far more interested in DREGS

 

In the 70's we engineers in Liverpool preferred s@x.....usually nurse-shaped!  OOps.....

[newbryford]

 become a two home owner

iv) Probably go to the new house as the Mrs will want to use the keys and walk in, just because we can!

 

 

 

Congrats on the house Ian, hope there's somewhere for the railway though....?

 

 

 

 

Leave the missus at the new house and build your railway in the old house.................

 

 

Cheers,

Mick

[Barry O]

in the mid 80s the Engineers were far more interested in DREGS

so were we in 1975 to 1978.. the Pack Horse is still there as is the Eldon but Sweaty Bettys is now a burger bar...

 

Baz

[Ozexpatriate]

If you want apples for the horses - please report here, ideally with a ladder and bring the CX as it should have enough room (if the spheres will hold out - they do deteriorate with mileage in case you didn't know).

Speaking of surplus apples - see here.

 

I don't like carrots but any surplus would be welcome at our local donkey sanctuary.

I'm trying to understand if I should read that literally or whether it is a pun that passed way overhead.

Edited September 22, 2017 by Ozexpatriate

[Happy Hippo]

 I MAY also have the opportunity to create a small G-gauge railway outside too

Don't you dare!

 

It's G Scale not G gauge!

 

And G Scale itself is an abomination with scale depending on the prototype.  Only the track gauge remains constant (45 mm gauge).

[Ozexpatriate]

"spelt" is common usage in the UK but in the US it's always "spelled".

I thought spelt was Triticum spelta.

 

Spelt is a kind of flour.

More precisely the grain from whence it came. Edited September 22, 2017 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

Autumn started here at around 3PM, exactly the time the expect the HIGH of the day at 32, with a heat index of 38 (100+ F) is supposed to occur!!!

Was already a stupid 23 when I retrieved the paper this morning - next week we are supposed to have a rapid decline towards normal 17-19 highs - weird weather indeed.

At 1:00pm PDT, I anticipate some of the heavy fog occasioned by all the rain earlier in the week to be lifting and the app on my mobile 'phone suggests a temperature of 18°C. We have experienced properly seasonal, Autumnal weather since Sunday with a very pleasant, sunny weekend in the low 20°Cs forecast - Fall perfection following a hot, smoky summer.  I had a glimpse of the fresh snow on the mountain yesterday evening.

 

I had a nasty moment heading out to dinner on Wednesday when the tyre pressure alarm signaled* 24 psi. (It triggers at 28 psi.) It seemed to hold pressure after a quick trip to a local service station with a self-serve air compressor (four quarters in the machine please), but indicated 24 post-prandial psi only a few hours later.  Back to the service station again on the way home and it dropped from 40 psi to 36 psi overnight.

 

* Or "signalled". Answers on a postcard please.

 

Thursday morning found me where where I purchased the tyres and they patched it (again) informing me that this time I had picked up a nail. That's three construction fasteners now collected over the summer - two screws and a nail. (I will be glad when the builder is done with new home construction on my street - only one remaining now.)

 

I don't know whether I love or hate my tyre pressure gauge. It has clear safety benefits, but my heart rate and adrenaline explode every time it goes off.  (The first time was with a total tyre failure on the highway. My car has a non-recalled design flaw which requires frequent camber alignments to make sure there is not excessive wear on the inside edge of the rear, driving, tyres.) It does however trigger with the first really cool day of the year (thank you the honourable Robert Boyle), the low profile tyres being more sensitive to this sort of thing than most.

 

I am satisfied that I was not overreacting, driving the highways over 65mph carrying a nail in the tyre seems ill-advised, but the least little thing seems to upset my equilibrium lately.

Edited September 22, 2017 by Ozexpatriate

[Barry O]

so were we in 1975 to 1978.. the Pack Horse is still there as is the Eldon but Sweaty Bettys is now a burger bar...

 

Baz

for those who were unfortunate enough not to do an Engineering Degree at Leeds Uni a DREGS = Drunken Regular Engineer Gallon Society..When pubs only opened at lunchtime and for limited evening hours - you had to walk across the road from the Engineering block to the Pack Horse pub, drink 8 pints of Tetleys then return to the engineering block for the afternoon. At 6pm when the pub re-opened you went back and had another 8 pints of Tetleys.... the things you do as an Engineering student!

 

Baz

[Tony_S]

I don't think there were any engineers at the university I went to to, There was a degree called chemistry with control engineering but it was chemistry with some electronics. They didn't get to play with Meccano.

[Tony_S]

Italians and electrical circuits don't mix, as generations of Alfa drivers will no doubt confirm.....

Our not in the least bit missed Volvo couldn't cope with damp. Volvo made a special distributor cover thst was always out of stock.

[JohnDMJ]

for those who were unfortunate enough not to do an Engineering Degree at Leeds Uni a DREGS = Drunken Regular Engineer Gallon Society..When pubs only opened at lunchtime and for limited evening hours - you had to walk across the road from the Engineering block to the Pack Horse pub, drink 8 pints of Tetleys then return to the engineering block for the afternoon. At 6pm when the pub re-opened you went back and had another 8 pints of Tetleys.... the things you do as an Engineering student!

 

Baz

 

From my Mechanical Engineering days at Surrey Uni, I recall this as a practical combining tribology with fluid dynamics and, possibly, some mechanical dynamics, based on momentum and restitution, undertaken nightly in the SU. (beer and snooker to the uninitiated!)

 

I then migrated to Control Systems Engineering and love closed loop feedback! (A certain company now settled in Settle is aware!! I'll just say Mimic Panels)

Edited September 22, 2017 by JohnDMJ

[Coombe Barton]

After a helluva quite challenging week fed and watered (no POETS for me) and off to Scaleforum tomorrow. Have sights on a number of things to buy and people to talk to, and the Wantage Tramway book is on the must have list.

 

Wonder if I can find anyone selling mojo?

[AndyID]

as the merest hint of rain would make the otherwise beautiful machine go into a sulk.

 

Not unlike the Hillman Imp.

 

My brother (a lawyer) managed to completely destroy the silencer on his Imp one damp morning. He kept the starter cranking until there was plenty of petrol in the silencer then he was lucky enough to get a spark

[New Haven Neil]

for those who were unfortunate enough not to do an Engineering Degree at Leeds Uni a DREGS = Drunken Regular Engineer Gallon Society..When pubs only opened at lunchtime and for limited evening hours - you had to walk across the road from the Engineering block to the Pack Horse pub, drink 8 pints of Tetleys then return to the engineering block for the afternoon. At 6pm when the pub re-opened you went back and had another 8 pints of Tetleys.... the things you do as an Engineering student!

 

Baz

.

We were amateurs in comparison to that, 40 pints a week was our target.  Started on Wednesday evening as Thurs and Fri were workshop days.  Happy days?  Mostly.  We got paid to do it too, as company cadets.

[roundhouse]

Talking of beer finally made it to our overnight stop on Brussels as the Eurostar was over thirty minutes late. At least I am used to such delays back home.

 

Leffe Bruin is a lovely 6.5% beer. Just a warm up for the rest of the weekends activities.

 

Cheers!

[Ozexpatriate]

Leffe Bruin is a lovely 6.5% beer.

Indeed it is. A big personal favourite.

 

Is that the "new" glass? (Curiously the webpage is dated April 1.)

[Barry O]

night to most, afternoon to others, morning to everyone else.

 

Baz