Early Risers.

[simontaylor484]

Business travel 

 

The first transport company i worked for Cannon Group were based near Didcot but they had an offive in Knottingley. I started there on agency and they took me on permanently on the Bison Concrete contract. My first trip down to abingdon was in the It directors volvo. I stayed in a pub in Steventon.

Return journey was with the night trunk to Knottingley in a scania R400.

I had to cover the Bison factory at Iver for a bit i was living in a pub at Colnbrook run by 2 South Africans who could cook excellent steaks. I got mileage allowance too as well as expenses. The pub was used in a Midsummer Murders episode.

When i moved down to abingdon full time i stayed in varios premier inns/travel inns for free till i got a rented property.

 

When i started at the second transport company Truswell Haulage in Barnsley travel got very exotic Aldwarke steelworks,Sheffield,Scunthorpe steelworks. By this time i had a company car. We did also go to the pallet network annual dinner we went to Celtic manor nr Newport

[Pacific231G]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Fortunately the designers of the car Bear has (chinese MG) had the sense to put in a full-size spare wheel well

 

 

 

Bear has   What's even better, the Great Empire paid for it - several times

(Air Yuk, sorry Air UK had eleven of them at one point)

 

I had to buy a new (well new to me ) Ford Focus last year to replace the one that White Van Man managed to destroy last year. Though it's a 2016 reg. I was amazed and delighted to find that it has a real spare wheel under the floor of the boot something my previous Focus, a 2009 reg. didn't have- just one of those fatuous 50MPH for 50 mile "emergency" spares .

 

I wont knock Air UK. They were responsible for kindling my interest in French narrow gauge when they sent my girlfriend and me on a press "informational" trip (I'd just done a piece on their impending formation)  in I think about March 1980 from Southampton to le Touquet. Driving down the coast in a rented Renault 5 from there I explored and totally fell in love with the out of season Chemin de Fer du Baie de Somme. IMHO France's finest preserved railway and, in normal times, visitable from Britain as a day trip. Not something I'd ever do as it would mean forgoing dinner in my favourite restaurant in St. Valery-sur-Somme.

 

I think the aircraft was a Handley Page Dart Herald and still in BIA livery. I also got to see an SNCF RTG (gas turbine multiple unit) crossing the apron at le Touquet.  This fast train to Paris Nord connected with the Silver Arrow service from Victoria and Gatwick and the short branch to the airport had been specially built for the service, but I think the Air UK flight from Southampton  also conencted with it. I did get to travel on one of the RTGs when it connected for Paris with the howercraft, Boulogne Aeroglisseurs  was another station specially built for the service on what had been an industrial loop for the now demolished steelworks at Boulogne

[simontaylor484]

Schedule flights only done once Manchester to Paris CDG and return as part of a Disneyland Paris  Package. It was flybe out on an embraer the trip to the terminal from the aircraft park seemed to take longer than the flight. Air france on return

[TheQ]

On 13/04/2021 at 16:32, Barry O said:

How to cause constination on the A303 in August.

 

Take your Challenger tank sans gun for a drive down it every day as part of a Navigation Aid trial.. great stuff when in the dummy turret.. and the Police  loved i

 

32 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. A package arrived this morning with something for a model railway project I'm working on. A few details to work out first including where did I put that resin body?

The suggestion that the road be closed came from the anti-car lobby so can easily be ignored.

Not quite, see the above, they won't be in any cars but brightly coloured Lycra should be an easy target.

Good job when I used to cycle to larkhill brightly coloured lycra cycling gear hadn't been invented..

 

Afternoon Roads are as busy as pre covid, complete with several cockwombles, not helped by road works that are finished but they've left the traffic lights..

[Pacific231G]

23 minutes ago, PupCam said:

GPS distance should be pretty good unless you happen to be walking around in a tunnel, particularly mountainous areas with limited satellite visibility or one of these areas ....

 

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/spectrum/information/gps-jamming-exercises

 

Are you sure it's using GPS and not actually just inaccurately measuring steps (clues's in the name) with the phone's IMU?    GPS based mapping apps on phones generally make a pretty good job of determining path and track lengths (as will an Arduino Nano and a little GPS Module).

 

Of course a really intelligent app would fuse data from all of the available sensors to get the most accurate/appropriate result. 

 

Alan

I think it measures both but reports them separately as steps and kms. On my previous iPhone I had an app that just used GPS to measure "workout" distances and it generated a map showing my route. I quite often found straight lines mismeasuring large chunks of that walk usually in areas with a lot of trees but satellite positions can effect it. On the current app, which doesn't produce a trace, the steps per kilometre over the past seven days range from 1441 to 1638.  There is a measured circuit of 1.2 kms round the local playing field so I can use that to calibrate it for a flat walk. 

[polybear]

 

45 minutes ago, Barry O said:

I watched thevopening of the Petronus Towers from the outdoor poolat the in KL (the Shangi La was always called the by Vicers people..)

It was also the place I had the most expensive meal ever.. £400 for 3 people at the Japanese restaurant in the hotel...HOW MUCH!!

 

My last decent jolly was to Korea for a 2 hour meeting (jeez - 2 years ago this month) - it gave me the chance to take a few days hols in Soeul afterwards (but not staying in the Grand Hyatt when my money had to kick in though! - I jumped across to the Pacific Hotel next to Myeongdong Tube Station - much cheaper yet very nice and in a really useful area that's buzzin' at night).  There was a French Sales guy plus the Korean rep - the three of us went to a bar after din dins; I baled out at about midnight (I only really went to be polite - I don't drink and I could see the direction things were heading....).

I heard from the rep next morning that the two of them got thru' five hundred quid's worth of Whisky that night (Whisky is SILLY money in Korea).  Not sure which of them picked up the tab (if it was the rep then my firm would end up with the bill eventually) or the French Guy; since he was Sales then it'd go thru' his expenses with no problems whatsoever.  Amazing how those ******** get away with murder, yet those doing the real work have to account for and justify every bean.  Anyone else seen the same?

 

45 minutes ago, Barry O said:

The couple who lived downstairs from us in Bragbury End worked at Hatfield..he was the manager in charge of machining the 146 wing centre section from a single alumum bilet.

 

We did visit an open day at Hatfield once.. an American B2 bomber flew down the centre line of the runway ar not a great height..then an airbus did similar..the same one crashed at another display shortly afterwards.

 

 

 

Ah yes, the Hatfield Air Displays...  Free entry too.

I recall that Concorde did a touch n' go one year; on another year a SHAR came in the day before and slammed the nozzles round for a quick stoppie - and promptly did a great job of stripping the tarmac into little bits.  Ever tried getting a tarmac laying machine and road roller on a friday afternoon?  It was a bit bigger than a quick "patch-it" job...

 

Would that be the Airbus that did a low pass at a French(?) airshow with the undercarriage and flaps down, and when the pilot opened the throttles the computers said "Non - you're landing" and promptly stuffed it in the trees....

 

25 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Crummiest hotel I've ever stayed in?  Paris - near the Gare du Nord on a try out to see if it was suitable for company use for traincrew - they'd have gone on strike if they'd been subjected to it. 

 

Some of the guys (not Bear) were booked into a hotel in Lytham St. Annes by the firm - sight unseen.  Seems some bright spark had booked x rooms for 3(?) months, despite no-one having ever stayed there before.  They all checked in, then one by one they all bailed out again.  One guy told the manager he could double the size of his rooms if he cleaned them; another wanted a bath but couldn't be bothered as he'd need to clean the bath first.  Owner not happy - IIRC he still billed the firm (for the 3 months I think), but the hotel was blacklisted from that day onwards.

 

Many moons later (10 - 15 years?) Bear was reciting this tale to the Barmaid in the Four Acres Hotel, Yeovil (260 miles away from the scene of the crime); her accent indicated to Bear that she was a local from the Lytham area.  She listened, stony faced.  She then tells me she used to be the effin' Housekeeper at that hotel    Bear did some fast-talking to try and convince her that it was "before her time" (not sure how successful that tactic was) then bailed out early.  Ooops.

[Tony_S]

I did some “modelling” today. I had been looking for a slot car Porsche 917K, but not wanting to spend loads of money. Anyway I got one. However it was the ropiest  runner I have ever purchased including some that were on eBay as  “poor, needs servicing”. This was brand new, sealed unused etc. The chances of another one being available are slim so I took it apart, and tidied up the wiring making sure nothing was binding now and reassembled it. Perfect now. Made on a Friday afternoon or whatever is the equivalent in its country of manufacture. 
I did watch the first 15 minutes of the Art and Design lecture for Aditi while she was at the dentist. Normally at this time of year they do field trips but this year they had a webinar hosted by a blue badge guide from Windsor. The bit I watched was about the castle and other buildings in the park. Later the railway stations got a mention but we had seen them in more detail recently on Tim Dunn’s Yesterday Channel railway architecture series. 
I only flew once for work related reasons. That was to Dublin for a conference about using Logo (a programming language) in education. Anyway the treasurers department wouldn’t permit me to fly as I wasn’t senior enough to be allowed to fly and must therefore travel by train (second class) from London to Dublin. I did point out it worked out cheaper for me to fly but they were adamant.  I did fly, my manager refunded me from petty cash (allegedly). 
Tony

[simontaylor484]

One of the allotment foxes must have had a flat battery or something last night. Luckily another fox came and tried to push it along from behind

[iL Dottore]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I did wonder when we flew from London City to Zurich if we would be on a BAe 146 but it was an Embraer....

Back when there was Crossair they operated the "Jumbolino" (BAe 146) and the "Concordino" (Saab 2000), lovely aircraft, great service and one of the best 1 class seating aircraft I've ever flown (the difference between Business and Economy was in the food & drink, luggage allowance and the priority boarding

3 hours ago, PupCam said:

Oh if you could please!

 

Then, if I ask ever so nicely, could I have a go in it please?   

Of course. But there may be a queue...

2 hours ago, Mike Bellamy said:

 

My two work visits to KL were to the Intercontinental and Shangri-La . . . . . 

 

https://www.ihg.com/intercontinental/hotels/gb/en/kuala-lumpur/kulha/hoteldetail

 

https://www.shangri-la.com/en/kualalumpur/shangrila/

 

Worst hotel that work booked was in Tel Aviv - I think it was a Mercure built over a main road but you couldn't have a...ny windows open due to traffic fumes and noise all night. We refused to go back and went to the Dan Hotel, an 'old fashioned' hotel built in the 1950s in a prominent position on the beach - seven visits in six years.

 

https://www.danhotels.com/TelAvivHotels/DanTelAvivHotel

I love KL....

 

The hotel situation in Jerusalem was pretty grim as well, after a few terrible stays I persuaded the in-house travel agency to book me into the King David - very nice.

Food in Jerusalem was, how can I put it diplomatically, "eccentric" - "Kosher Chinese" was interesting to say the least. TBH I can't remember anything about the meals I ate in Jerusalem (except for the aforesaid Kosher Chinese)

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

I watched thevopening of the Petronus Towers from the outdoor poolat the in KL (the Shangi La was always called the by Vicers people..)

It was also the place I had the most expensive meal ever.. £400 for 3 people at the Japanese restaurant in the hotel...HOW MUCH!!...

 

...I found Dulles Airport ..dull.. leaking roof, poor transportation and sharks fins on the roof of the transit buses.. these were the jacks used to lift the bus body to be level with the planes doors for taking passenfers to and from the flight....never traveled that way again..

 

Tokyo is another place where you can totally empty your bank account, yet paradoxically you can also eat very well, very cheaply in Tokyo. When I was there I had a Tempura Udon lunch (and a beer) for the equivelant of £5; the next night I was invited out, with colleagues, by a senior member of the local affiliate - I think about £4 grand was dropped that night.

 

Dulles is indeed one of America's worst airports (and there is considerable competition in America for the title of "The US's worst airport") . SFO is OK, I guess, Chicago O'Hare wasn't too bad (much better than expected), Orlando FL is a dump, JFK is really showing its age, La Guardia is impossible to get to and not very nice when you get there, Newark definitely has to be in the running for the top 5 worst US airports, the less said about LAX the better, as for Atlanta you'd be better off taking "the midnight train to Georgia" San Antonio (TX) and Tucson (AZ) were fairly nice and LAS (Las Vegas Airport) wasn't too bad.

 

Now SIN (Changi Airport, Singapore), NRT (Narita Airport [Tokyo]) and KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport ) are airports to enjoy!

Edited April 14, 2021 by iL Dottore

[Sir TophamHatt]

So, decoder tester arrived.

I'm a bit sorry to say but I really like the sound of a VP185 engine. Maybe more than the Valenta... Eek!

But a nice surprise is I forgot I lot and populated the coaches!

 

 

The aerial beat me though.

I started drilling and realised I didn't have enough force to push it very well so I think it's going to have to be a pro job.

Annoyingly, I can do everything else, just the bracket on the wall is the dodgy part! 

 

Maybe I'll have another think about it tomorrow. 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Sir TophamHatt

[Tony_S]

2 minutes ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

Maybe I'll have another think about it tomorrow

Time to buy a better drill perhaps? My Bosch hammer drill was ok then I discovered their SDS drills. 

[Coombe Barton]

14 minutes ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

Maybe I'll have another think about it tomorrow. 

My son bought me this one for my knockthehouseaboutathon and thus far it's done everything I've asked of it.

Mains - cordless ones get very, very expensive

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb653sds-5-9kg-electric-sds-plus-drill-230-240v/6846h

[petethemole]

9 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Why bother, just but them in the crusher and use what comes out as hardcore. 
Incoming...........

Anne Onymous

OK, if all the concrete works are reinforced with rebar made from the contents of the NRM and Locomotion.

[petethemole]

9 hours ago, polybear said:

Judging by the number of years all and sundry have been arguing over the section past Stonehenge I suspect you could be right.  Why they just don't move the bl00dy stones a quarter of a mile sideways is beyond this Bear - a bit of surveying and landscaping and you'll never know the difference.  They're as boring as hell anyway.

Incoming....

 

You can go off some people.

[Pacific231G]

17 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

 

 

 

Would that be the Airbus that did a low pass at a French(?) airshow with the undercarriage and flaps down, and when the pilot opened the throttles the computers said "Non - you're landing" and promptly stuffed it in the trees....

 

July 1988 at Mulhouse–Habsheim Airport.

That was what the captain (who, along with four others, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter) claimed and though the BEA enquiry concluded that the pilots had simply applied TOGA (take-off go-around) power too late for the aircraft to be capable of clearing the trees. Captain Michel Asseline claimed that he'd pushed the thrust levers forward several secondas earlier and there were claims that the recordings from the flight recorders had been tampered with.

Whatever the truth- and we'll probably never know- the idea of taking passengers on a flight that demonstrated the aircraft's limits was utterly irresponsible by any standards.

Go arounds from any phase of landing are normal procedures so it would be a very serious fault if the software wouldn't allow it under certain conditions. However, the causes of the 737 Max 8 crashes seem just as concerning. The phrase that struck me was that "The MCAS was designed with the assumption, approved by FAA, that pilots would react to an unexpected activation within three seconds."

ttps://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/the-inside-story-of-mcas-how-boeings-737-max-system-gained-power-and-lost-safeguards/

[New Haven Neil]

I agree that Narita and LAX are at opposite ends of airport satisfaction, but it is quite some time since I flew regularly.  We did get the occasional business class flight if there was crew on the flight too, they could be....raucous....and we had no jurisdiction as officers until on board, so it was better to be separated as there had been issues in the past with aircrew expecting the officers to 'do something'.  Which is not possible in those circumstances.  It wouldn't happen nowadays, they either wouldn't be boarded so drunk, or allowed that much alcohol on board, nor allowed carry on liquids!  The sight of a drunk-as-a-skunk PO in Dubai airport was cringeworthy, how on earth he didn't get arrested I will never know.  Days I am happy to put behind me.

[polybear]

40 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I only flew once for work related reasons. That was to Dublin for a conference about using Logo

 

Anyone else read this as Lego?

 

40 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Anyway the treasurers department wouldn’t permit me to fly as I wasn’t senior enough to be allowed to fly and must therefore travel by train (second class) from London to Dublin. I did point out it worked out cheaper for me to fly but they were adamant.

 

It's tw*ts like that who should've been put down at birth

 

32 minutes ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

Annoyingly, I can do everything else, just the bracket on the wall is the dodgy part!

 

27 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Time to buy a better drill perhaps? My Bosch hammer drill was ok then I discovered their SDS drills. 

 

Bvgger - beaten to it.  Bear bought a Bosch SDS Drill a few months back, after borrowing buddy next door's for a job.  Makes a normal hammer drill look like a brace n' bit - unbelievable difference.

 

13 minutes ago, petethemole said:

You can go off some people.

 

Ooops.

This is gettin' to be a habit.....

 

8 minutes ago, Pacific231G said:

July 1988 at Mulhouse–Habsheim Airport.

That was what the captain (who, along with four others, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter) claimed and though the BEA enquiry concluded that the pilots had simply applied TOGA (take-off go-around) power too late for the aircraft to be capable of clearing the trees. Captain Michel Asseline claimed that he'd pushed the thrust levers forward several secondas earlier and there were claims that the recordings from the flight recorders had been tampered with

 

 

Wikipedia has the following:

 

Alternative explanation

The television documentary series Mayday also reports claims in Season 9 Episode 3 that the plane's flight recorder might have been tampered with and indicated that four seconds had been cut from the tape; this was shown by playing back a control tower tape and comparing it to the remaining tape. Asseline argues that he attempted to apply thrust earlier than indicated in the flight recorder data. When he increased throttle to level off at 100 ft, the engines did not respond. Asseline claims that this indicated a problem with the aeroplane's fly-by-wire system rather than pilot error. After a few seconds, Asseline claims, he became worried that the plane's completely computerised throttle control had malfunctioned and responded by pulling the throttle all the way back then forward again. By that time the aircraft had touched the trees. Mayday also looks at the theory that it was the computer at fault, not the pilots. Because the aircraft's altitude had fallen below 100 ft, the plane's computers were programmed to believe it was landing and therefore they would not allow any drastic manoeuvres from either pilot. When the crew suddenly asked the plane for more power and lift, it simply ignored them.[7]

It was also claimed by the Institute of Police Forensic Evidence and Criminology, based in Switzerland, that the flight data recorders may have been switched and were not the original ones in the airplane.[7][8] Airbus made a detailed rebuttal of these claims in a document published in 1991, contending that the independent investigator employed by the filmmakers made an error when synchronising the recordings based on a misunderstanding of how the "Radio Transmit" parameter on the flight data recorder functioned.[9]

[pH]

22 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

My Bosch hammer drill was ok then I discovered their SDS drills. 

That sounds like the old 1970s Smirnoff adverts, for example:

 

https://theartfulstrategist.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/47774627_1_x.jpg

 

(The second line works in your case, as well, Tony.)

[simontaylor484]

40 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

My son bought me this one for my knockthehouseaboutathon and thus far it's done everything I've asked of it.

Mains - cordless ones get very, very expensive

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb653sds-5-9kg-electric-sds-plus-drill-230-240v/6846h

I have a similar drill except its purple they are good i would reccomend them too

[simontaylor484]

Im going to share this with you its different to the usual hilarious output from this channel.

I think its very well done

 

 

[JohnDMJ]

Good Evening,

 

As ChrisF mentioned, where the heck is IAD? (since answered!)

 

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Back when there was Crossair they operated the "Jumbolino" (BAe 146) and the "Concordino" (Saab 2000), lovely aircraft, great service and one of the best 1 class seating aircraft I've ever flown (the difference between Business and Economy was in the food & drink, luggage allowance and the priority boarding

Of course. But there may be a queue...

I love KL....

 

The hotel situation in Jerusalem was pretty grim as well, after a few terrible stays I persuaded the in-house travel agency to book me into the King David - very nice.

Food in Jerusalem was, how can I put it diplomatically, "eccentric" - "Kosher Chinese" was interesting to say the least. TBH I can't remember anything about the meals I ate in Jerusalem (except for the aforesaid Kosher Chinese)

Tokyo is another place where you can totally empty your bank account, yet paradoxically you can also eat very well, very cheaply in Tokyo. When I was there I had a Tempura Udon lunch (and a beer) for the equivelant of £5; the next night I was invited out, with colleagues, by a senior member of the local affiliate - I think about £4 grand was dropped that night.

 

Dulles is indeed one of America's worst airports (and there is considerable competition in America for the title of "The US's worst airport") . SFO is OK, I guess, Chicago O'Hare wasn't too bad (much better than expected), Orlando FL is a dump, JFK is really showing its age, La Guardia is impossible to get to and not very nice when you get there, Newark definitely has to be in the running for the top 5 worst US airports, the less said about LAX the better, as for Atlanta you'd be better off taking "the midnight train to Georgia" San Antonio (TX) and Tucson (AZ) were fairly nice and LAS (Las Vegas Airport) wasn't too bad.

 

Now SIN (Changi Airport, Singapore), NRT (Narita Airport [Tokyo]) and KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport ) are airports to enjoy!

 

TLA* jargon!

 

On a daily basis, I travel between LIT and FOD with occasional excursions to BOG, CCH, HVT, PTR, VIC, AAP, SPX, LBG, BTN and SHN (thrown in for good measure!) (Conversion table: GTW = LGW!)

 

* Three Letter Acronym

Edited April 14, 2021 by JohnDMJ

[New Haven Neil]

2 minutes ago, JohnDMJ said:

Snip<

 

* Three Letter Acronym

 

Beloved of the NHS.....where I worked at NGH, SNH, SOH, etc etc...  LOL

[Tony_S]

41 minutes ago, polybear said:

Anyone else read this as Lego?

Lego was frequently involved with Logo programs. I made a model washing machine out of Lego and Cola cans on the practical day of that conference in Dublin. This was the sort of thing junior school children did in their IT lessons in our borough in the late 1980s. The children started with screen graphics and then “floor turtles” which drew patterns on the floor, preferably paper on the floor. Anyway we were using the same hardware and software to make other devices. The nice people asked if I would like to take the model home with me. I thanked them but said I didn’t fancy arriving at Heathrow with a can with wires poking out of it. They agreed it wasn’t as good idea. Oddly enough some time later a team from Ireland appearing on the “Robot Wars” TV program did get their robot dismantled by British security.

[TheSignalEngineer]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

I only flew once for work related reasons. That was to Dublin for a conference about using Logo (a programming language) in education. Anyway the treasurers department wouldn’t permit me to fly as I wasn’t senior enough to be allowed to fly and must therefore travel by train (second class) from London to Dublin. I did point out it worked out cheaper for me to fly but they were adamant

I flew a few times post privatisation from Manchester to meetings in Glasgow. Finance turned me down the first time so I did a presentation for my Project Director which demonstrated that in addition to the train fare I would need at least one night in a hotel. I would be taking up not only the day of the meeting but losing the equivalent of a working day on top. He called in the finance man to see what I had done and told him that if I said I wanted to do my job in a partucular way not only would it keep me happy it was also very likely to be the most cost effective way so sign up and shut up.

[Sidecar Racer]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Alternative explanation

 

 

 An in depth look and explanation from a current Captain . It gives a good visual

description that helps to show how things went wrong .