PhilJ W

Those two actions seem to be quite compatible, why not combine them? Hacking out the roots means you need something to fill the hole.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Weather forecast hearabouts is dry and sunny which it is at the moment but turning wet and windy later this afternoon. It is indeed the show at Shoeburyness. The reasons given are rather vague, I have my own opinion as to what they are but I'm keeping them to myself for now. They are saying that the show will take place next year (2020) but that remains to be seen.

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Model railway club meeting tonight with news of yet a third exhibition being cancelled this year. The biggest surprise was that its the Southend show in November due too 'unforeseen circumstances'. The other two shows cancelled are the Southwold show that would have been this last weekend and the Romford MRC show in September, both due to an ageing membership. Tea to be made so its be back later.

And these are the people who want to take over our NHS.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Thanks to Tony I have got rid of the irritating Windows narrator. As I was doing so I noticed that Microsoft were adding another language, Braille! What use is that on a computer screen?

Yes it worked, thanks Tony.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Since a Windows 10 update a few days ago a thing called Narrator has appeared on my lap-top. There seems to be no way of turning the bl@@dy thing off. I have silenced it by turning the volume to zero but it pops up every time I switch my lap-top on. Now I've got that off my chest the weather here is quite pleasant if a bit muggy. The planned event for Sunday looks OK weather-wise, the worst is predicted for Saturday.

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I have a couple of credit cards and one of the companies is asking for my mobile phone number so that they can confirm on line transactions. Problem is that I do not have a mobile phone and the only on line transactions I do are with Paypal. I do not use my current account/debit card on the internet, I have a separate account for that which currently stands at 42p. Time to put the kettle on, be back later.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Why is ordering stuff on-line so complicated? I need a new pair of shoes so I went to a company that I had dealt with before. Before I could place my order they required the account number from my previous order 18 months ago. In the end I ordered over the phone.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The mini digger across the road is still in full chat, they are excavating the front garden to make some off road parking despite the fact you could get a bus onto the existing drive. Muggatee is awaiting my attention, be back later.

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I had thought that my microwave was ready for replacement, loud bangs were emanating from it when in use. However I have located and dealt with the problem, the turntable had become unseated so it was a simple task to reseat it. Now to sit down and watch WDYTYA, be back later.

Although it is not suitable for a British outline layout the chassis could be used with a more suitable cab and/or body.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Not to good for England in the cricket. A former colleage of mine told me that something similar used to happen in the RN. He served on one of the old American destroyers where the heads were flushed constantly by sea water.

A bus version operated in Jersey in the post war years. It was left behind by the German army and was quickly pressed into service. It lasted long enough to be converted to right hand drive and be painted in JMT colours.

Did the cyclist survive?

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Awoken this morning by some banging and crashing over the road. It turned out to be a mini digger being delivered to the large house across the way. I was under the impression that the building work was complete but apparently not so. That reminded me of what my dad told me about when he was a young lad about 1930. My dads cousins lived in an old terraced house in South London with one outside loo for about four houses. One of the neighbours was the local 'hard man' and every Sunday morning he would occupy the loo with his pack of five Capstan full strength and his copy of sporting life. If the loo was occupied he would turf them out irrespective of age or sex. My dads cousins decided to do something about this and someone suggested putting a carbide tablet down the pan shortly before the hard man entered the loo. So early one Sunday morning one of them sneaked into the loo and dropped not one but three or four carbide tablets down the pan. They waited about five minutes and then there was an almighty bang that demolished the brick built loo and smashed all the windows in the rear of the houses. The hard man was taken away face down on a stretcher with a red raw backside.

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Sorting out places to go I see that next Sunday is a bus rally at Waterside Farm, Canvey, nice and local. Tea to be drunk so its be back later.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Had a good lie in this morning so I'm a late riser. An ex-squaddie friend of mine served in Belize, if a snake was spotted they used to capture and kill a rat and stuff the corpse with Alka-Seltza. The snakes used to swallow the rat and the Alka-Seltza used to react with the snakes stomach acid and the snake would then explode.

Not completely, many of the diesel engines did. In fact a lot were scrapped for their engines many of which ended up powering canal boats.

As stated above the truck is an Opel Blitz. The 4X2 version was produced pre-war in RHD form and some were sold in the UK including the coach/bus version which used the truck bonnet and front wings like the coach/bus versions of the Bedford. Unfortunately the 4X4 versions had modified bonnet sides and different front wings because they sat higher than the normal trucks. Though they were rare in the UK they were quite common in central/eastern Europe up until the 1960's, even in 4X4 form (many converted into fire engines). After the war only a few were made before they were replaced by Opel badged Bedfords.

Goodnight all.