PhilJ W

I have thought that for some time, I understand the Llangollen railway was having financial problems before the pandemic and I wondered how some manage to survive. The pandemic has only exacerbated the problems as it has with many high street department stores. Many preserved railways were existing on a shoestring even before the pandemic so others will certainly be going the same way. The only light is that the model railway shops seem to have weathered the storm quite well. I put this down to them being the sort of business that has already had to leave the high street (mostly due to sky high rents) and move elsewhere. There are actually five model shops within reasonable distance from me and only one has a proper shop, two operate out of industrial units, one has a (very small) space in an old mill and one operates out of a shed in a back street. The shop mentioned above is in the middle of a traffic system with double yellow lines and no nearby parking, most of his business is done by mail order. This applies to the other four businesses as well.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. One thing that niggles me is that people mis-spell my forename. My name is the 'royal' version spelt with two L's. This causes problems with e-mail addresses in particular and I have taken pains to point out the correct spelling. I was surprised this morning when most of the media reports of Prince Phillip's current illness spelt his name with only one L, including the BBC! A good indication of the sloppy reporting in the media today.

Goodnight all.

Thanks for the tips about the mouthwash. I too have a couple of impacted wisdom teeth but they are further back than the 'problem area'. I have never had any problem with them anyway. I do get a lot of stuff caught in my teeth on the gum line as my gums have receded, a normal part of growing old, hence 'long in the tooth'.

Just the thing for todays commute.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Where has everybody gone? It seems very quiet on RMweb at the moment even here on ER's. Dinner this evening was cottage pie courtesy of the sell by date lottery, tomorrow its tandori chicken. Tea has brewed and then I'm off to tackle Farcebook.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Just been trying to sort out my will. The old one was written over thirty years ago and is way out of date. I've decided to use a will writing service as I did last time only last time it was free as it was through my trade union but the price is very reasonable this time. I had something similar a couple of weeks ago affecting my sinuses. It was only occasionally painful, mostly when I pressed on the swelling on my face. It stopped when the fluid (mostly a water like fluid) burst into my mouth. It turned out that a fruit pip had got lodged between a tooth and the gum and started an infection. No amount of brushing or mouthwash would dislodge it but it came out after I kept sucking on it followed by the watery fluid.

I had an Imp van. Great for carrying large items because there was only minimal wheel arches. At least I avoided the pitfall of many Imp van and estate owners and I didn't put water in to the sump. Putting the oil filler in the sill of the tailgate and then making it look like a radiator cap wasn't a good idea. My cousins wife had an Imp Husky estate and the garage that serviced it put water into the sump by mistaking the oil filler cap for the radiator, it cost them a replacement engine.

Where did you put all the luggage?

Morning all from Estuary-Land. RMweb looks a bit strange this morning but I seem to be able to rate posts as normal. I just had a quick look at the Great War forum which also uses the same software as RMweb and its the same there as the Q's boat forum and RMweb. I have an Essex accent though it doesn't appear unless I'm with other people with an Essex accent. It comes from my grandmother who was Essex born and bred. Tea is ready to be poured, be back later.

Goodnight all.

There's no accounting for stupid.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Should have set up a tontine, you'd be quids in now.

That reminds me when we started the twinning with a German town nearly forty years ago. We had a chap who spoke fluent German, only thing was he learnt his German from visiting a friend in Austria so he spoke German with an Austrian accent. This amused our German friends as it was like one of them speaking English with an Irish brogue.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Managed to do a bit more on the (brick) shed in preparation for lining it out with plywood. I had a good look at the single skin brick walls and it looks as if they will need a bit of attention before I apply the lining such as re-pointing, moisture appears to be coming through in a few places. While it stays dry though I'll get started on the old garden shed before it falls down.

The problem with the Bond 875 was it used the worst part of the Hillman Imp, the engine.

A lot of the cheaper brand names of tyres are owned by the 'big boys' such as Michelin. Pirelli, Dunlop and Firestone and when you compare them with the mother brand they are identical not only in specification but down to the tread pattern. The only difference is the name on the sidewall.

Interesting to note how special schools differ from the mainstream. The special school attended by my friends lad has no homework, once they go home thats it. Its more a case of gentle nudges and encouragement and praise. The lad has obviously benefited from it, he has advanced five years in the two and a half years he's been attending the school and would have done even better had it not been for covid. When I used to man the polling booths at elections the polling stations were often on school premises. On one such occasion it was an all girls comprehensive. We had to use one of the pupils toilets, the graffiti was eye opening.

Morning all from Estuary-Land (just). Tea has brewed so back in a mo.

Goodnight all.

My secondary school playing field was 'detached' from the school with the access through a construction plant contractors yard. There never seemed to be any of the contractors staff present when we went through the yard, I presume the yard was only used for storage. Half of the playing field was loaned to the nearby girls school (Romford County High) though it belonged to our school. The playing field was huge, big enough to contain not one but two cricket pitches, and that was in the half not loaned to the girls school. It also meant that the girls could only be seen in the distance. The two halves were only separated by a strip of rough grass but woe betide any boy caught crossing it. My school was demolished and now a gated housing estate was built on the site. Most of the playing field is housing leaving the girls school, renamed Francis Bardsley after a former headmistress with a fraction of was loaned by my school.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. There was still no sign of the item I ordered from Hong Kong before Christmas. According to the tracking it was still in Abu Dhabi. I contacted the trader a little while ago and he refunded me in full straight away. Only bugbear is that I was able to source a replacement from another trader (the first trader had sold out) but as it was ordered after the 1st. of January I had to pay 20% VAT.

More Jay Leno.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Only finished breakfast an hour or so ago. Thats due to a long soak in the bath and a bit of eyelid inspection. We had very few female teachers in my school, there was Miss Arthur the music teacher who retired shortly before I left. A bit of a dragon but with a heart of gold. The other one was a lot younger, in her early twenties. I can't remember her name but she left after about a year heavily pregnant. What set tongues wagging was that she wasn't married. Acceptable today but not so sixty years ago. Especially as the father was reputed to be one of the sixth formers. E-bay now automatically add 20% VAT to items coming from abroad on behalf of HMRC. Its on items over a certain amount, £65 IIRC. Its partly due to Brexit but also due to many Hong Kong traders in particular having a habit of putting a lower figure on the customs declaration. At least you avoid the Parcel Force fees which can be as much as if not more than the VAT.