PhilJ W

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Another bright and sunny day here but according to the forecast its downhill all the way after tomorrow, just in time for the weekend. I've a busy weekend planned as my ticket for the Acton Town open day arrived earlier this week so thats Saturday spoken for and Sunday I hope to go to the exhibition at Romford. Thoughts are with the ailing and/or missing, be back later.

Don't forget the blankets and food parcels.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. On my way down to town today I passed the house I mentioned a few weeks ago the same as mine that was on the market for £200,000. There was a builder working on the property who I got into conversation with, he told me that the new owner had paid £206,000 for the property! I was expecting the price to have come down from the original asking price especially as the property had not been maintained properly for a long time and even lacked modern amenities such as double glazing and central heating. At least the new owner intends to live there and does not intend to let the property out unlike most properties on the estate. Thats it for tonight, goodnight all.

Fraid not, it came on the back of a Transit. Interesting bit of kit, it looked like a normal pnuematic drill without the operators handles and a bit slimmer, about 100 mm diameter. Once the drill was removed the water pipe was simply pushed through manually

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Belated birthday wishes to Andy. When they replaced my water main as mentioned above they abandoned the old main and installed the new one at about 1.5 metres deep. They did this by 'keyhole surgery', digging a series of holes about a metre square and using a mole drill to make a path for the new pipe between them. When I spoke to the guys doing the job they told me that this was easiest as the soil was heavy clay and the depth was neccessary to avoid any drains. In my garden the hole was dug at the edge of the patio and they installed a connection rising to 300 mm below the surface where a meter box was installed. they also used the mole drill to make the connection to the house beneath the patio. Weather is bright and sunny so a toddle into town beckons, be back later.

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I did look at the garden today but thats all, after coming home from doing a bit of shopping I sat down in the comfy armchair and closed my eyes... I did receive a call about the repairs to the car, it won't be ready until next Tuesday. Why it takes nearly three weeks to straighten out a few dents and scratches I don't know unless its been waiting in the workshop all this time. I was told that gas pipes should be buried at least a metre underground but quite a few locally are only a few inches, a neighbour found his was only a few inches underground when he was laying a drive. Fortunatelt he did not break it but he had to move the drive a foot or so to avoid it. EDIT I was typing this when Coomb Martin posted. I also noted the bit about cast iron pipes, my house was built in 1959 with a concrete floor beneath which the gas pipes were cast iron and the water pipes copper. The problem was that the copper water pipes became porous, so the water company came to instal a new main. To bring the main into the house they drilled a hole close to the back door at a 45 degree angle going through the concrete floor to reach the new main a few feet beyond the house. As they drilled through the concrete floor there was a smell of gas, what had happened was that the leaking water had corroded the cast iron gas pipes. What was alarming was that the gas pipe entered the property from the front and the water from the back, the closest the pipes were to each other was about 8 feet. When the gas pipe was replaced I had it re-routed at first floor level which made it easier to take it into the loft when I had a combination boiler installed.

FYI This months 'Railway Bylines' has a full colour picture of 30583 on the front cover with the 'ferret on a bicycle' crest.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I was a real ER this morning, I being bleary eyed mis-read my watch and got up an hour early. Only thing is that that hour has disappeared mostly on finishing yesterdays papers sudoku. Bright dry and sunny and predicted to stay that way for most of the week so no excuses for ignoring the gardening.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Finished the novel I was reading, pretty good one by Michael Connolly I'd give it 9 out of 10. Not much else to report so its goodnight.

When does the court case come up?

I don't know if you two RMwebbers are known to each other but there's an opening.

I think in this case Atlas didn't predict the popularity of the Stobart name and demand was far greater than expected. There are other reasons such as dealers taking out multiple subscriptions knowing that they can be sold on at a premium. They also seem to be getting more models from suppliers other than Corgi or Oxford and those do not seem to have the capacity to provide additional products at short notice. I do think that Atlas have stepped up their orders for current/future models in view of the popularity of the series so hopefully most who want the models will now get them. The normal practice is for Atlas to order and deliver extra numbers of those models that are in short supply at the end of the series to cover their commitments. In the case of the 'World of Stobart' series there is only five more models left to complete the series so unless they add more new models they should be available before the end of the year.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Ian having dealt with tax inspectors for most of my working life the idea of one of them writing erotic literature tickled me. My prefered reading is crime thrillers and those authors who write with tongue in cheek I like even more. My current reading is quite serious however but is pretty good so I don't think much else but reading will get done today.

Went into Tesco's today, they must have had a new lot of paperbacks in including one of my favourite authors latest novel. So I'm off to have a good read so goodnight all.

Mike, if you have the number of the Wickes lorry I would report it to the company. Most companies take a very dim view of such things damaging their company image. Even if you didn't get the reg number you might find that giving the time and place will enable them to identify the culprit. I know of one instance where a van driver scraped along the side of a car and gave the car driver the finger and sped off. The only problem was when he found out a short time later that the car driver was a director of the company who's name was emblazoned on the side of the van.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Still dry here but decidedly chilly. Going out soon to do a bit of shopping and to fill up the hire car with petrol as it is a requirement that it be returned with a full tank. Its been over a week since they collected my car so the repairs should be completed soon. Best wishes to those feeling poorly/recovering/undergoing treatment/missing, be back later.

A fruity goodnight to you all.

The 'mystery model' that I am about to receive is the Scania RV14. I have been informed that it was dispatched yesterday but it could take 28 days for it to be delivered, usually its taken 7-10 days. Someone has just reported on Facebook that they have obtained one of the 'very hard to get/expensive Saro crash tenders for £15. Of course I'm not jealous, much.

At the other end of my street which has a massive pothole they have repainted the yellow lines outside the local shops. Those yellow lines are always ignored making it awkward to get in and out of the street. They are never enforced anyway so a complete waste of time and money. The pothole in question is now several metres in size and covers a quarter of the width of the road, whats more its been there for at least 14 months, it was marked out for repair about a year ago but it took so long that the marks disappeared into the pothole. It was marked out again about 3 months ago and now the pothole is encroaching on those marks. I didn't laugh as I managed once to cut myself on a piece of kitchen foil. At least you could use the clingfilm to stop the bleeding.

I'll swap a Unimog for a Saro crash tender, I wanted a couple of extra ones for a layout so I bid a maximum amount (£15) on e-bay and this coincided with a glut of offers and I ended up with 5.

Does that mean that they have leap year too?

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit damp, dull and dreary this morning so if I venture out it will be in the car. After the debacle with WH Smiths I realise that there is only one magazine I have now that is neither available from another local stockist or I have on subscription. That means that if I take out a subscription for that particular mag I will no longer need to use their stores. I do take several magazines a month and until recently I obtained many of them from WH Smiths but in the last 7 to 8 years their service has deteriorated to such an extent it is driving customers away, no wonder they are right down the bottom of the list when it comes to customer satisfaction. Thats my rant for today, commiserations and congratulations were neccessary and have a good POETS day all.

Evening all from Estuary-land. Still no news of Jock which is begining to get a bit worrying. The copy of Railway Bylines dropped on to the mat this morning, very good service considering I only ordered it yesterday, hope the subscription is as prompt. Thats it for tonight so goodnight all.

The bill for the last model I received was due for payment on or before 07/04/16. As I pay by direct debit I was expecting the payment to come out on that date. When I checked this morning it still wasn't deducted so I contacted Atlas by e-mail. I received a reply saying the next model has been dispatched today 14-04-2016, however I have no idea as to what model it is as the payment has still not been cleared for the last one.