Early Risers.

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Dull but dry (the weather that is) but paving slabs are still being cut daily next door and I do wish they would clean their cement mixer the proper way instead of hitting seven kinds of whatsit out of it with a shovel first thing every working morning.  I'm currently engaged in a little bit of help for a private railway concern 'in the north' and was rather pleased yesterday evening to find my graph paper pad a good decade (and a house move) after I last used it, the fun bit comes next, once I've decided on what scales to use for time and distance.  

 

But probably not until this evening's curry house outing with some past school friends and tomorrow's freight planning OF's lunch are out of the way.

 

Have a good day one and all.

 

PS. a nice put down for jobsworths - a work colleague was told by someone after some irrelevant information that he didn't understand how things worked and that the bloke asking for it really knew how important it was because he had 25 years experience in the same office.  The response was 'don't you really mean one year's experience times 25?' - jobsworth duly deflated.  I was talking to another jobsworth in the same office about the operating instructions which he had drafted for a new line and I asked him why he had omitted reference to the intermediate handpoint and how it should be secured?  He replied that it wasn't on the plan therefore it didn't exist therefore it didn't need to be covered in the Instructions - a sort of negative jobsworthism 

[The Lurker]

greetings all. It's grey but not too cold here.

 

I put a new set of contact lenses in yesterday morning. One was uncomfortable. Then it turned painful before I could get home and take it out. Now I have an eye infection. Cue chloramphenicol. I am reminded why I usually choose to wear new lenses at the weekend first.

 

I have been lucky that I have not come across too many jobsworths in my time. Mrs Lurker has; at the Legal Aid Board, long ago, and in the world of teaching where the characteristic is exacerbated

[Smiffy2]

Pals, a question.

 

Julie wants a Kindle for Christmas. I have a Kindle (which she has nicked to read the very worthwhile ouevre of Robert Galbraith) with about 500 books. She would like to access many of these.

So, is it possible to buy her a Kindle and register it as another device to me? Then we could share books as we buy them. Or I do.

Has anyone else done this? My memory seems to tell me that when I bought my current Kindle my old ones stayed 'attached'. Now gone, though, as I gave it away.

[Ian Abel]

Pals, a question.

 

Julie wants a Kindle for Christmas. I have a Kindle (which she has nicked to read the very worthwhile ouevre of Robert Galbraith) with about 500 books. She would like to access many of these.

 

So, is it possible to buy her a Kindle and register it as another device to me? Then we could share books as we buy them. Or I do.

 

Has anyone else done this? My memory seems to tell me that when I bought my current Kindle my old ones stayed 'attached'. Now gone, though, as I gave it away.

Smiffy, been a while since I checked this as our Kindle has been supplanted by the Kindle "app" on most of our devices, but, having said that, every device we've added the "app" to has then allowed us to access all the books we collectively have on the Kindle account. Should be no problem with an "actual Kindle"

[Tony_S]

I read most of my Kindle stuff via the app on my tablet. However I use the Kindle if I am going somewhere where I may be waiting for a while like hospital appointments. So there is no problem with multiple devices to one account. However if two people are using the same account on two devices and reading separate books I am not sure how the synchronisation would work.

It isn't a problem here as Aditi and I have separate Amazon accounts but Aditi had a Prime account. She added me as a family member, I can share Prime things like next day delivery and we can access each other's Kindle library. Both our Kindles have 3G capability and we have been known to download books in some odd places, "Here we are off the coast of Albania downloading holiday reading..."

[Ian Abel]

Morning all.

 

Yesterday notes:

Generally a pleasant trip to NY, except the FIRST part of said trip.

Arriving at the airport entrance we became the second car held in a line three lanes wide that lasted about 10 minutes - see below

 

 

Whilst not easily visible in this picture, about 1/4 mile away the road splits to UPPER lanes on the right for departures, and LOWER lanes on the left for arrivals.

There are CLEARLY VISIBLE signs indicating the clearance limits and a route for oversized vehicles.

Let me now introduce you to COCKWOMBLE OF THE YEAR, the driver of a very large and TALL truck that apparently went up the departures ramp and discovered WHY there is a clearance limit  

The overhead walkways are lower than HIS !@#%$!@%$!!@@ truck!

At this point they had to close the inbound traffic lanes whilst Mr sh!tgibbon reversed the truck all the way BACK down the ramp and out almost to where we were to allow him to them take the CORRECT route for the size of vehicle, which is just off to the left in front of the blocking police vehicle!!! Some folks should NOT be let out of their homes unattended!  

 

Also yesterday, discovered once I arrived, apparently MiL fainted as a result of an infection, was therefore hospitalized - she's doing fine - and the Mrs and SiL are now in the process of setting her up in the next level of care at her assisted living facility. We'd been planning on moving her as she's becoming more susceptible to falls, but this has precipitated a sooner move, and also provided a good "reason" to convince MiL it's the thing to do.

 

Phew - and yesterday was supposed to be simple/travel/no worries

 

Up early as usual at the client location, in the orifice by 0740, narry a soul here, I think the staff only wake up once it gets light out, so arrive at work progressively later into winter! The same never holds true in the summer though, curious!

 

12 and cloudy here, expected to be 15 and rainy later. Currently -8 (realfeel -20!  ) at home and expecting blowing snow with some possible accumulation, rather prefer to be here for now

 

Hope your Chewsday goes as planned.

[Danemouth]

There are 5 Kindles registered on my account, no problems at all. The only thing that may be a problem is two people reading the same book - when you go back to a book it automatically opens at the last page read. However if two are reading the same book albeit on different devices the auto syncing may point you at the wrong place.

 

I am a big fan of Kindle, there are just about 500 books on my account. I particularly like some books that have been out of print for years or in some cases only ever available on Kindle.

 

Dave

[Gwiwer]

Greetings one and all.

 

First day at the coal-face, as it were, receiving local induction at CLJ.  The meeting was set for 07.30 by someone clearly deficient in the knowledge of station operation as that is firmly in the middle of morning peak with no-one available to induct new entrants.  I was greeted by one of the two managers who had interviewed me, and who remembered both me and the interview.  He clearly felt comfortable enough from that past meeting to have me observe and answer questions on the up Windsor side platforms (3 and 4) until things quietened down.

I had been in position on the platform for less than ten minutes when the doors of a brand-new class 707 train opened and passengers called for urgent medical assistance.  An elderly chap looked to be in a very poor way right in front of me and potentially suffering a heart attack.  So straight into my first emergency situation then.  PA announcements were made for a doctor or nurse while I applied my first-aid skills.  No fewer than four qualified medical staff made themselves known and I handed over the casualty.  At which and with one of the two Waterloo-bound platforms blocked some critical decisions had to be made.  The casualty could not be moved owing to his condition so it fell to me to walk through, after an on-board PA announcement was made - and clear the train since many passengers were either plugged into headphones or snoozing while others stayed put expecting that the train would move sooner or later.  It wasn't about to.  

 

With the patient in professional hands a decision was made that it would be easiest for all parties to have him taken up to Waterloo with the train running out of service.  An ambulance crew can access that station more easily than at Clapham Junction.  Control arranged for a specific platform to be made available in order to have the ambulance crew ready and waiting for the train and off the poor chap went - with his attendant nurses - and we were clear to return to normal running.  Just that one train was terminated short of destination and others delayed by up to 15 minutes.  But all in a day's work and I did at least get a handshake from the Duty Station Manager for initiative and good work.

 

The rest of the day was spent in offices beneath the footbridge going through more of the required paperwork and followed by a station tour.  Tomorrow it's back to Sarfamptun and the HR department for even more paperwork.

 

Time to put up the feet, think about dinner and - for the first time in ages - chuck the uniform into the sloshing machine.  Back later.

[The Stationmaster]

Pals, a question.

 

Julie wants a Kindle for Christmas. I have a Kindle (which she has nicked to read the very worthwhile ouevre of Robert Galbraith) with about 500 books. She would like to access many of these.

 

So, is it possible to buy her a Kindle and register it as another device to me? Then we could share books as we buy them. Or I do.

 

Has anyone else done this? My memory seems to tell me that when I bought my current Kindle my old ones stayed 'attached'. Now gone, though, as I gave it away.

 

Mrs Stationmaster has, I think, 3 of these Kindle thingies (definitely two but she talks about 'all my Kindles') and all registered to her and whatever she downloads appears on all of them.

[Andrew P]

Greetings one and all.

 

First day at the coal-face, as it were, receiving local induction at CLJ.  The meeting was set for 07.30 by someone clearly deficient in the knowledge of station operation as that is firmly in the middle of morning peak with no-one available to induct new entrants.  I was greeted by one of the two managers who had interviewed me, and who remembered both me and the interview.  He clearly felt comfortable enough from that past meeting to have me observe and answer questions on the up Windsor side platforms (3 and 4) until things quietened down.

 

I had been in position on the platform for less than ten minutes when the doors of a brand-new class 707 train opened and passengers called for urgent medical assistance.  An elderly chap looked to be in a very poor way right in front of me and potentially suffering a heart attack.  So straight into my first emergency situation then.  PA announcements were made for a doctor or nurse while I applied my first-aid skills.  No fewer than four qualified medical staff made themselves known and I handed over the casualty.  At which and with one of the two Waterloo-bound platforms blocked some critical decisions had to be made.  The casualty could not be moved owing to his condition so it fell to me to walk through, after an on-board PA announcement was made - and clear the train since many passengers were either plugged into headphones or snoozing while others stayed put expecting that the train would move sooner or later.  It wasn't about to.  

 

With the patient in professional hands a decision was made that it would be easiest for all parties to have him taken up to Waterloo with the train running out of service.  An ambulance crew can access that station more easily than at Clapham Junction.  Control arranged for a specific platform to be made available in order to have the ambulance crew ready and waiting for the train and off the poor chap went - with his attendant nurses - and we were clear to return to normal running.  Just that one train was terminated short of destination and others delayed by up to 15 minutes.  But all in a day's work and I did at least get a handshake from the Duty Station Manager for initiative and good work.

 

The rest of the day was spent in offices beneath the footbridge going through more of the required paperwork and followed by a station tour.  Tomorrow it's back to Sarfamptun and the HR department for even more paperwork.

 

Time to put up the feet, think about dinner and - for the first time in ages - chuck the uniform into the sloshing machine.  Back later.

Well done, superb mate.

[Horsetan]

Mrs Stationmaster has, I think, 3 of these Kindle thingies (definitely two but she talks about 'all my Kindles') and all registered to her and whatever she downloads appears on all of them.

 

In triplicate, then.

[Simon G]

Evening all,

 

We collected all the G scale items from the widow’s loft as planned yesterday, and it filled the back of 2 cars which the rear seats down - there was a lot of stuff! I have got it all catalogued and am trying to ascertain the value of it which isn’t proving easy. The highlight of the collection is a Accucraft model of an Isle of Man railways loco called Caledonia, which suitably was originally purchased from a certain well known model rail emporium on said Isle. We estimate it’s value at up to £1000, but cannot be certain. It is a gorgeous piece of work and we suspect that it has never been run. Now to try to start selling it all.

 

Today has seen the “C*****mas Party of the Sellafield Cancer Support Group at the Wetherspoons in Whitehaven. So after a couple of pints and a giant “Empire State Burger”, I have spent the afternoon feeling rather tired! Drinking at lunchtime has always tended to make me tired of an afternoon, but today was especially so.

[Barry O]

In at the deep end Rick, good to see that your talents were well used and your management recognised the work you did.

 

somewhere in my pile of boxes are some bogie bolsters..if only I could remember where....

 

Baz

[Ozexpatriate]

And of course, I already knew that "Father Christmas" dates back to the time of the English Civil War, when Papist Saints were out of favour.

Gordon, I had presumed that Father Christmas came from the same etymological roots as Père Noël, meaning of course literally the same thing.

 

I wasn't even sure that any of the Father Christmas / Santa Claus / Saint Nicholas gift giving practices were widely held in the 17^th century.

 

Despite lots of spurious noise on the topic of Christmas traditions, it is hard to find anything even slightly reputable suggesting when Christmas gift giving to children actually began. Wikipedia suggests that "around the time of the Protestant Reformation, customs of gift-giving to children became increasingly widespread in Europe", but this was an exceptionally lightweight article even by Wikipedian standards.

 

Civil War era sermonizing on Christmas can be quite entertaining to read. Most of the fragments I have read seem to rail against revelry. I've not seen one that bemoans gift giving. As permanent as our Christmas traditions feel, many of the specifics appear to be quite recent, excepting of course the consumption of alcohol and mince pies.

 

The 'duality' of the European traditions (mostly absent in English speaking countries) where they include characters like Krampus, Zwarte Piet, and Père Fouettard is quite fascinating.

Edited December 5, 2017 by Ozexpatriate

[newbryford]

Certain ER's may need to reconsider their intake of inhibition fluids and their chances of injury:

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/2017/december/large-study-links-alcohol-misuse-to-subsequent-injury-risk-in-young-people.aspx

 

 

I can't think of many ERs that can be classed as "young"..............................

 

 

Cheers (in more ways than one)

Mick

[emt_911]

A day of shopping (not much), modelling and research. The research bit is causing me some headaches though. There doesn't seem to be a great deal in print about WW2 Ambulance/Hospital trains and what there is is contradictory.

 

I'm still waiting on the sound decoders and transfers which will hopefully arrive before I hed to Swadlincote.

[emt_911]

Where are you looking? You may find info on those trains in the archives of the Red Cross, which is the organisation operating most of them anyway.

I'm afraid that I've already approached them and all they can provide is personal stories and what equipment was carried. As for the formation of these trains in 1944, all they can tell me is that they were 14 coaches/wagons long which I already knew.

 

I do know that the LMS converted period 1 stock but details are scarce.

[AndyB]

Pals, a question.

 

Julie wants a Kindle for Christmas. I have a Kindle (which she has nicked to read the very worthwhile ouevre of Robert Galbraith) with about 500 books. She would like to access many of these.

 

So, is it possible to buy her a Kindle and register it as another device to me? Then we could share books as we buy them. Or I do.

 

Has anyone else done this? My memory seems to tell me that when I bought my current Kindle my old ones stayed 'attached'. Now gone, though, as I gave it away.

 

Soz if this duplicates other peoples' input - been a long day and eyelid inspection is overdue.

 

swmbo says "Yes you can." Just use the same Amazon account. I've lost track of the number she's bought and returned as they seem to come with duff batteries. So, if you do buy her one for Christmas, best to charge it up and see if the battery holds. Hope this helps.  

[bluebottle]

As they say over here: you're as old (or young) as you feel you are

 

Formerly popular men's T-shirt slogans I haven't seen lately: "I FEEL LIKE A NEW WOMAN!"

                                                                                       

                                                                                       and: " YOU'RE AS YOUNG AS THE WOMAN YOU FEEL!"

[Ozexpatriate]

                                                                                       and: " YOU'RE AS YOUNG AS THE WOMAN YOU FEEL!"

A little close to home given the news recently (at least here in the US) but witty wordplay all the same.

[laurenceb]

Modelling WW2 railways is very flustrating as there seems to be very little info out there. If you want to model a Spitfire you can find all sorts of info down to whether or not the pilot was wearing his girlfriends silk stockings that day! (It was common for pilots to do that for warmth it get very cold up there!)

Edited December 5, 2017 by laurenceb

[New Haven Neil]

Evening, from a rock out west.

 

Dealers privilege.........BR lined black H Class tank has arrived chez NHN.  Lovely model.  Some for sale to the wider world tomorrow probably!  They didn't send many :-(

 

Simon, you have a PM.

[New Haven Neil]

Oh, the staff member from yesterday's discussions - was my secretary!  WAS being the operative word........     :bye:  

[Barry O]

A day of shopping (not much), modelling and research. The research bit is causing me some headaches though. There doesn't seem to be a great deal in print about WW2 Ambulance/Hospital trains and what there is is contradictory.

 

I'm still waiting on the sound decoders and transfers which will hopefully arrive before I hed to Swadlincote.

Duncan

 

don't know if this will help http://www.qaranc.co.uk/ambulancetrains.php

 

Baz

[Tony_S]

I was very amused this morning. Aditi took her Mum to bridge club and went back to the flat. Her Mum's parting words were an instruction that Aditi should tidy up the bedroom she is using. Good job I am not staying there as well! I can't imagine it was even untidy, just MiL being bossy.

Tony