PhilJ W

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Sad to hear about Debs and her dads health problems, wishing you all the best and get well soon. I done even better in the mince pie stakes than Roundhouse, a dozen for 55p marked down from £5. They had no sell by date, a printing error but the girl doing the down pricing informed me that they came from a case marked sell by 02/01/2018. There were several packets off them with no sell by date but they soon disappeared needless to say. I have assembled the components of Christmas dinner ready for tomorrow but no Yorkshire puds or Brussel sprouts, not that I don't like either but theres more than enough of the other items to consume. It only now remains for me to wish you all A MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Thoughts and best wishes to Debs. Ventured out to Tesco's, got what I required plus a couple of items that I'd forgotten I'd need. A massive queue to get to the parking places in front of the store (i.e. nearest to the entrance) so I went around the back where the car park is actually beneath the Pitsea flyover and plenty of empty places. Most of those places were filled when I left less than an hour later passing all the traffic queuing to get in. Wot no limbo bars for when the hen/cockwombles park so close you can't open your doors?

Most people take level crossings slowly with the engine barely ticking over. If there is a hump or incline at a level crossing this can slow a vehicle down even more resulting in the engine being more likely to stall. But in this case as stated the engine had a problem and failed in the wrong place.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I've decided to spend Christmas at home which means getting the neccessary out of the freezer and part cooking the (green) vegetables so I just have to put them in the microwave. The root veg will be roasted in the dry fryer which is in fact a small fan oven. I'm not a great fan of turkey so Christmas dinner will be a piece of salmon, wild not farmed, and easier to cook. There's still one or two small items to get so I might still brave the Christmas eve cock/henwombles or I might give them a miss. Bye for now, might be back later.

Rule 1 applies.

That is or was the correct way to use an automatic. Holding an automatic in gear with the footbrake causes excessive wear of the gearbox bands. I say was because modern autoboxes do not use bands. On a manual gearbox the handbrake should always be used when waiting in traffic as its more positive than the footbrake (your foot can easily slip off the brake pedal).

Thoughts are with you Simon.

Right here in the UK, and even more so after Brexit.

Classix did this in some of their cars and vans. The figures were moulded as an integral part of the chassis/seats, in black plastic. Its all very well adding figures to coaches and locomotives were the added cost is only a small percentage of the overall price but for a 00 scale car costing less than a fiver its not viable. As has been said most of the Oxford range is easily accessible to add figures so perhaps a set of suitably posed figures would not go amiss.

Morning from Estuary-Land. Overslept this morning, not awake until after nine, so not such a long soak in the bath this a.m. And not forgetting those who have to turn right starting from the left hand kerb.

Goodnight all.

The Lada Niva is in fact a very competent 4X4. In fact its still in production but not sold in western Europe.

In my experience they do right turns from as close to the left hand kerb as possible.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Looks as if I might be spending Christmas at home after all, my sister phoned to tell me that my brothers wife is unwell so they will not be going to my sisters on Christmas day. I could go in my car but it is low on petrol and the filling stations are chocker but I've got until Sunday to decide what to do. Bob, I buy nuts ready shelled, little danger of injury unless you manage it opening the bag. When I was a youngster we had nuts with the shells on and Brazil nuts were the worst to crack open, usually with some difficulty and the inevitable crushed broken nut. An interesting program a few years ago on Brazil nuts, they grow packed together in a gourd about the size of a coconut. When ripe the gourd drops from the tree and starts to ferment. Gases from the fermentation build up and the gourd explodes like a hand grenade scattering the nuts over a wide area. They can have the same effect as a hand grenade, people standing to close have been injured by them. EDIT. Good news, my neighbour has moved his flashing Christmas lights, the ones disturbing my sleep. They were at the side of his house which faced the front of mine. He has now moved them to the front of his house which is not visible from the front of mine. I want one of those!

Gresley's ultimate aim was electricification, if it hadn't been for the LNER's financial problems, WW2 and Gresley's untimely death there could have been an electric A4, 2-Co-1 perhaps?

This thread is going downhill fast.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Slept quite well last night, no itching or aching joints but when I awoke this morning I was laying on my right arm and it was numb and took about five minutes before I got any sensation back. Not a lot to shop for now, only fresh items such as milk and the decision is get it today or take a chance on any being left tomorrow. Somehow though I don't seem to be able to get into the Christmas spirit, I'll be glad when its all over. Bah bumhug!

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. The itching was my fault, I omitted to defoliate the affected part (my shin) before I went to bed. A wipe with a damp flannel reduced the irritation enough for me to get back to sleep. The shopping trip today was unusual because of the lack of hen/cockwombles, either that or I have been very lucky.

We've had quite a few of those already.

I have one of Tim Horns baseboard kits obtained at a reduced price (cancelled order). I now need to order a fiddle yard extension.

I second that!

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I didn't sleep very well last, not because of the neighbours flashing lights, I must be getting used to them. What woke me was the eczema on my leg, not at all painful but the itching driving me nuts. The result was that I overslept this morning until the usual Thursday dawn chorus of the bin wagons, especially as its glass bottle fortnight. Thats it for now, be back later.

Thoughts are with Simon and Mal. Goodnight all.