BoD

Over here the government has made payments to households to help cover the increase in the cost of fuel. Payments to households are made each month. My energy company, rather than just reducing the bill by this amount (it’s the same amount for everyone) started making these payments into my bank account. I was wondering why they bothered doing it this way but then I guess it would be much easier and with fewer chances of things going wrong for them to write and test a whole new piece of code rather than risk altering and then testing the code of their existing proven main billing system.

I tend not to put bacon in spotties if I can help it. Seriously though, it is getting harder and harder to get a good stottie cake these days. Greggs effort is a poor imitation.

Morning all It is relatively mild here this morning compared to the last few days and is forecast to be above zero all day. Tomorrow is forecast for double figures. Positively balmy. That’s the winter over then. The long term forecast is for a wet and windy one. I’m off to the NT today to run the model trains. It will be for the last time until the house reopens for the new season in February. A bacon and black pudding bap (with brown sauce) should fortify me for the day. Have a good day one and all.

Morning Rob. It is good to see your regular postings again after the ‘summer recess’. The viaduct is looking particularly effective. It always amazes me that once you have decided to do something you progress it so quickly. Are those the Hornby OTAs? How well do yours run? I find the design of the axle housing so bad that they aren’t free running at all and it doesn’t take many of them to create so much drag that some locos struggle with them. I’ve tried cycle grease and graphite powder but nothing seems to ease them.

Yes, and did you know that if you say the word ‘orange’ out loud, very slowly and clearly, it sounds like gullible. Try it and see.

Morning all Relatively mild here but still not mild enough to melt the lying snow and the car will need ‘sorting’ before we go anywhere. Where I live we have a large storage heater. It’s called the North Sea*. Winter temperatures are always a degree or two warmer here than even a mile or so inland. We can have no snow but there will be a good covering there to. It works against us though when the wind switches to the north and east. We can get the hammer then. * That’s probably true of the whole county, Maritime Temperate climate and all that, but we notice the effect quite markedly on the coast.

When faced with similar I reply: Hang on a minute, you have just spent ten minutes selling me this and telling what a fantastic, reliable product it is but now you are saying you think it won’t last a year and I need to insure it. I’m sorry but I no longer wish to purchase it. Try it sometime and watch their faces.

Happy retirement @TheQ Enjoy.

I’ve never driven on the M25. I think the closest I’ve been to it is Doncaster. Just out of interest, how on earth does one manage to eat a bap with baked beans in it? Black pudding - Stornaway, Clonakilty or my local butcher’s. Yummy.

Like some others, I only knew Chris through ERs. Nevertheless, I am deeply saddened as I feel I have lost a good friend.

Morning all and belated birthday greetings to John @Two_sugars Not a great deal happening here. A light smattering of snow appeared overnight. Today’s main event will be the weekly shop padded out with a few non-perishables for Christmas. We prefer to stay away from the food shops if possible during Christmas week itself - they tend to be ridiculously busy. Perhaps this year will be more subdued than usual. I somewhat doubt it.

Surely that would depend on whether or not one is playing cards at the time.

Ah, so that’s where the drifts went.

That made me chuckle.

I did wonder about taking extra precautions that day but thought crampons would look a bit daft going to to the local newsagent’s shop. What caught me out was that there was snowfall followed by a few of days of very low temperature without snow which led to compacted snow that turned to patches of ice. These were then covered by an inviting layer of fresh snow. I found one of the underlying patches of ice.

Probably a wise decision. Having done a fair bit of serious walking/climbing on mountains in winter conditions, I used to be reasonably confident on snow and ice whilst still appreciating how dangerous it could be. Ironically, a couple of years ago, I managed to slip one morning when going for my morning paper and fell in a way that I really winded myself and cracked a rib. I was in some pain for a week or two but more seriously it knocked my confidence on snow and ice for six. I am still wary and far less comfortable when it is icy underfoot.

They have announced an announcement to announce that they aren’t going to announce anything. There will be duplicate announcements in all scales for all eras and all regions in all liveries. Just to keep everyone happy. And those who aren’t happy can say, with justification, nothing there for me then.

I think that sums up my afternoon so far quite nicely.

Thank you for your kind offer Mr Chancer but as already explained I have tied up my assets in the chocolate coin market. I may well regret that decision as there appears to have been some reduction in my holdings already. Seriously though, I do have two or three bottles of whisky that were going for well into four figures the last time they were available for auction. Nothing big league but not bad considering the most expensive was about £20 when I bought it.

Sadly most of the photographs were lost in the latest server ‘crash’. The thread doesn’t really make good reading without them and I haven’t updated it for a good while. I should really get round to reviving it and replacing sone of the photographs so that it makes sense again.

I’ve just found your thread R. Some lovely wagons there.

I see that Andy Y has posted a banner message apologising for cryptocurrency adverts. All I get is a big advert for the Manchester Christmas model railway exhibitions. It regularly changes size, often covering the options at the top of the page. This is the first time I have had anything like this. Speaking of cryptocurrency, I don’t have any but after the crash thingy the other week I felt it was time to look at investments that are safe but still offer a decent return. I heard on the QT from someone quite high up that the next big thing is going to be gold or silver foil wrapped chocolate coins. I have great faith in their opinion and so have moved all my savings into these. You heard it here first but I would act quickly if I were you.

A search of members for ChrisF still leads to his profile. He still hasn’t visited the sight since last Thursday though.

Just catching up on Whacky signs after a while away. In the last five pages there might have been six or so signs.

There are only 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary arithmetic and those who don’t.