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trial and error....

Entries in this blog

Change of scale..

So, the railway job ends next week, so that’s the end of working in 12”-1’ for the foreseeable future.   Time for a break I think, the refurbishment of the club room is now complete so perhaps it’s test track time!
rockershovel

rockershovel

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Carpe diem..

Off to Florida in January, it seems. Started out by ringing BA to see what I could get for my quite enormous Avios (=Air Miles, basically) tally. Ended the day having booked a 16-day trip to Florida... well, the kids are all off skiing and snowboarding at Xmas / New Year so we thought we were due a trip.   Wasn't the plan for the day but sometimes you just have to go with the idea of the moment.
rockershovel

rockershovel

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Carols in the Cathedral

Arrived home early hours of 23rd. Went to 8pm service tonight in the Cathedral; absolutely packed, kids sang Away In A Manger, Salvation Army band in great form. A proper kickoff to Christmas.   
rockershovel

rockershovel

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Cabin fever...

Just looked in my garage, and would have done better not to.    This would usually be the Racing season, and all the bikes are jammed handlebar to handlebar. None of the engines have been done, because I can’t get them to the tuner. My granddaughter hasn’t been, so the trampoline and swing are still cluttering the place up.    Changeable weather and boredom means the garden furniture is being dragged in and out...  
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rockershovel

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Business as usual again...

Xmas is definitely over, after a busy, festive and highly enjoyable week involving presents known and surprising, friends old and new, children who have grown astonishingly since last seen, NONE of my good wife’s innumerable siblings and their offspring (for a mercy...) and very little tv (although I did see Carols from Kings College and St Paul’s at various times).   But it’s back to the world. I usually reckon it an important milestone, the first evening of tv involving various ill-mannered
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rockershovel

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Bulls, china shops and red herrings.. new direction.

I've been starting on a new direction lately. I tend to have a reputation for "bull in a China shop" methods but these have their uses and reasons.. mainly that they are the outcome of many years of taking decisions based on totally inadequate information, or getting to grips with subjects where I don't have a starting point or a clearly envisaged outcome.   I'd come to conclude that it was time for me to move on from the oil and gas industry, or at least my present sector. The industry is in
rockershovel

rockershovel

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Building work during lockdown..

One thing I do notice lately, is that the combination of present property prices and unemployed construction workers (most of whom, are not receiving furlough payments) has produced a “perfect storm” of house conversions and cramming new-builds into former gardens.    I’m astonished at the amount of disc-cutting and drilling involved. Local streets and adjoining gardens are made hideous by the sound and dust of these infernal machines, day after day.. another unsung effect of lockdown.
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rockershovel

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Blog

Boring...

Life moves on, and I’ve now joined the ranks of the Working From Home. A directional drilling contractor I’ve worked for in the past approached me a while ago, about looking after the documentation for some new projects they expected in 2020. I was certainly open to suggestions; my attempts at re-entering civil engineering had rather turned out as a reminder of why I’d left the industry in the 90s, and we’d had a good relationship in our previous dealings.    I’d seen this as a possibl
rockershovel

rockershovel in Blog

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Slice of life

Boots and saddles

So, I'm back on the staff of a civil engineering company, which is pretty much the last thing I expected for what is likely, the last lap of my career.    There's a general purge going on, of contract employment as IR35 bites deeper. There's a lot of pushback, because civil engineering simply doesn't pay enough for what it demands, the work-life balance is seriously lacking and working conditions are no better than ever.    However there is an acute shortage of labour and ski
rockershovel

rockershovel in Slice of life

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Big layouts, by any definition..

Found this while looking for something else entirely. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/model-trains-that-are-model-worlds?utm_source=Atlas+Obscura&utm_campaign=1e4b4303fe-Newsletter_5_12_20165_11_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_62ba9246c0-1e4b4303fe-61415829&ct=t(Newsletter_5_12_20165_11_2016)&mc_cid=1e4b4303fe&mc_eid=529d3fd6f7   There was a thread a while ago, about "how big is a big layout" and I'd reckon that any of these would qualify...
rockershovel

rockershovel

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Back where I hadn’t expected to be...

I’m out on site again, on a rather spectacular location overlooking the Solent. This is my first “site” job in the U.K. for almost ten years, back on a drilling site after a long time away from that field, so I’ll see how it goes.   The specialist contractor, my employer, are the British arm of a Dutch contractor and rather unexpectedly, I find I’m more comfortable there than I was last year, working in an office in Birmingham. I found the general flow of office conversation in Brum, trivial
rockershovel

rockershovel

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Bachman 2-8-0 conversion

I mentioned the Bachmann 2-8-0 a little while ago. This is a very fine model and it runs as well as it looks.   However there seem to be three basic variants of US narrow gauge - 2ft gauge common carrier lines in the New England area, 3ft gauge logging lines using geared locos in the Pacific NW, and large mineral and common carrier lines using 8-coupled locos and bogie stock in the SW ( East Broad Top would fit this category, too). 20" gauge lines in the Nervada area using small four-coupled
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rockershovel

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BA, omg...

Somehow, nothing in this country seems to work.    Packed up on Friday amid a contentious issue with the tangled web of agencies, umbrella companies etc who have a choke-hold on contract work in this country, in an increasingly confused situation made worse by HMRC issuing threats in all directions and nil clear guidance, and off on holiday to Tampa. It will sort itself, basically a matter of someone in the chain not paying attention to their job, but who needs it?    I’d rea
rockershovel

rockershovel

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Avon Bridge... wonderful...

I really must get a dashcam.   Off to S Wales this weekend for my annual dose of Sportster racing. Actually not the only time I ride this bike but the only place it gets a “proper” outing on its natural habitat, a half-mile trotting track. Where’s Bruce Brown when you need him?   So I drove over the Avon Bridge heading West, with the evening sun glittering in the cables; absolutely glorious.
rockershovel

rockershovel

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And there it was, gone....

So I’m strolling along as a Project Engineer on directional drilling works. It’s a stroll in the park, I have everything I’m asked for at my fingertips and half the time, I work from home.    This leaves me time to look about me, and I’ve been out today on my 2013 Bonneville. My kids conspired to get me to buy this bike, and... I appreciate their thinking but is it REALLY a Bonneville? Nah, not reeeelly. It’s a pleasant bike and it has the name and the styling - but I owned a Bonnevill
rockershovel

rockershovel

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Aid to the imagination

Having for all practical purposes, at least semi-retired, I’ve been slowing down a bit... oh, quite a lot.    Had a slightly tedious evening actually using the office/study for that purpose, it was dark when I finished so I just turned off the lights and switched on the train presently laid out on the floor and watched it amble round, headlight on, lighted caboose in... very relaxing...
rockershovel

rockershovel

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A14, A1

Had another trip down the new section of the A1 and A14 yesterday. Things are moving rapidly towards completion, with road signs in place and the general tidying-up of the verges and batters. The cross-connection between two by way of the A1198 is now the obvious route, doubtless THAT road will soon go the way of the A605, near-destroyed by HGVs seeking to save a few minutes’ driving time.    The A1M near Peterborough is in a shocking state, patches, repairs and general wear and tear m
rockershovel

rockershovel

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A rare, but dubious pleasure...

Having a rare trip to Aberdeen today, for a meeting about a short job that’s just come in. Cast adrift by 12:00 ... realised the Client was having Christmas Lunch in the canteen and wanted rid of me. Shared a cab into town, mooched about feeling cold and bored, grabbed some lunch and in a spirit of enquiry, caught the 727 bus to the airport instead of a taxi. £3.50 one way including WiFi and usb socket, not bad I thought.    This flight used used to be KLM, now its LoganAir, who tried
rockershovel

rockershovel

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A day in the life...

Off to the Post Office, or at any rate the agents handling their Christmas casual jobs. A real window on the world, starting with the harassed-looking chap from the Kings Lynn area (35 miles away) who explained that he needed the work, because he needed to do enough work to keep his benefit claims in place - he had no expectation of supporting himself from earnings, there was no agricultural gang work (all contracted to East European gangmasters at rates as low as £3/hr) so not compromising his
rockershovel

rockershovel

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6N time!

Always a look-ahead date in my diary, and this year has got off to a great start!    Quite what France thought they were doing on Friday, is hard to say. I don’t believe that even Italy have managed to go in at half-time, 16-0 up at home, and still lose. I’d always expect a strong second half with a burst at the last from Wales, and that was what we got... going to be a disappointing year for Les Bleus, on that showing. They looked good at times but that just isn’t enough at that level
rockershovel

rockershovel

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6N time again..

It’s “that” time of year again... I quite enjoyed yesterday’s offering.   Scotland appear to need a sustained search for their “thinking cap”, they were obviously missing some important part of their preparations against Wales. The chaps in red looked good, though, loved the interception try and AWJ and Leigh Halfpenny are always good value. I’ve never seen a dull game there.   France v Ireland was the sort of game I always enjoy, a proper “forwards game” in the wet, with long passages of ru
rockershovel

rockershovel

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6N ... more malarkey...

Sorry to say it, but I think Italy are going to be in for a long, hard tournament. Seven tries against, a disallowed try from an obvious forward pass in what looked like a set-piece move which didn’t execute; an obvious foul that would certainly have been a penalty try if it hadn’t been given anyway, and not one, but two consecutive muffed short kicks. It’s not promising.   Looking forward to Wales at Twickenham. England by 7 to 10, I think. Can’t fancy Scotland against France, although home
rockershovel

rockershovel

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12" to the Foot..

After various delays I've now spent the past two weeks working in 12" to the Foot scale. QC for traction motor refurbishments, and related tasks on EMU sets, particularly type 321 ... which means nothing to me, except that they seem to produce an abundant crop of NCRs!   Seems slightly odd to be walking about in orange hivis and bump cap again...
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rockershovel

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