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One of those customer support calls at work yesterday. (I can only hope he's not an ER.......!) A summary of a 10 minute conversation: It didn't help with the opening tone from the customer being a little aggressive as he's having a bad day with his trainset............... I'm usually pretty fair with folks, but this was my first call of the new decade. As it turns out, he was after an exchange of some equipment as it had been suggested on the interweb that it was something we did on a regular basis. I informed him that this was on a "case by case" basis and not a blanket policy. (He was already onto a loser with his initial stance). Then he said he wanted a refund. "Did you buy it from us?" "No" "Then in which case, you will have to return it to the retailer for a refund - where did you buy it from?" "XXXXXXXXXXXX" he says.(The number of Xs do not represent the retailer name) "Have you tried them?" "Yes, but they won't issue a refund" "Why is that sir?" says I "Because it was four years ago" "Oh - I'm sorry Sir, it is out of the warranty period" At this point I was about to engage him in a civil conversation about how we may be at least able to help him with a heavily discounted replacement, but wasn't given the chance. (His loss) "But there is a lifetime guarantee on them" was the sharp reply. "Not on that product Sir - that only applies to XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX - that is the only product line of ours that has a lifetime warranty with fair and proper use" "I've read that it has a lifetime warranty - I want a refund or replacement" "Where did you read that sir?" "On RMweb........" "I can assure you sir, that is incorrect" and repeat the above statement about it not being covered by lifetime guarantee. "But I've read it on the internet" Slight pause whilst I grit my teeth and prepare the killer blow "Do you believe everything you read on the internet sir?" I query. "No" is his immediate reply followed by a foot-in-mouth silence as reality dawns........................ Day 3 of 7 workdays to start 2020 tomorrow (now later today). Have a good Saturday folks. Cheers, Mick "

We stay at Winning today to look at some Class 56 workings. Winning 56091 to Blyth Power station Jan 86 J8482.jpg Winning 56127 empties to Butterwell Jan 87 J8742.jpg Winning 56115 coal to west staithes Feb 88 J9431.jpg Winning 56124 coal empties 23rd Feb 90 C14063.jpg Winning 56112 Alcan empties Lynemouth to North Blyth March 1990 J10636.jpg David

Available but I am contra-indicated for reasons I don't need to discuss here. Also not for acute gout attacks as it says in the link although the underlying condition is chronic :- https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drug/febuxostat.html Well folks here we are. Saturday evening and the foot is still the colour of a cricket ball and offering some discomfort though that is steadily abating. The swelling is taking a while to go down but visibly is reducing and I hope to be able to get the work shoes on tomorrow in order to make the return-to-work phone call that is required if I intend to attend on Moan-day. That option remains an option however - it is not mandatory and I have a few days grace yet before I need to produce a doctor's letter. Nothing has happened. I haven't been able to get out because I cannot get footwear on. SWMBO has gamely upped and done everything required from shopping to cooking and cleaning. A real upturn in fortunes in the sense that this time last year I wondered if she was ever going to be mentally - and to an extent physically - capable of doing very much at all. Instead I have watched her homeland burn and one of our friends has been formally identified as deceased. We await word from many others though understand communications are down and that most are safe after a fashion. Some have been boat-lifted out of fire-traps at popular summer coastal resorts. A good friend of mine (now evacuated) has family all along the fire-stormed East Gippsland coast at Marlo, Bemm River, Orbost and Gipsy Point. The Dragon-in-Law has taken to Antisocial media and let it be known that (in her opinion) Australia has a fine and upstanding Prime Minister who is doing an excellent job. I wonder which PM that might be because (in my op[inion and that of very many others) ScoMo is about as welcome as another bushfire right now. We leave politics aside. Opinions are just that. The aromas drifting from the kitchen suggest that I am about to be summoned to dine. I shall endeavour to return later and read some of the past few day's pages which I have yet to catch up on. Stay safe, stay well.

OK, back to modelling.

Evening awl. Sadly my wishes and hopes for 'all' ERs (earlier) didn't seem to make it through to me Today's been a fighting day, mostly with the Black Dog, but hey I'm still a world away from where I was this time 3yrs ago so all's well really. This may be my last visit today, so although it's early - sleep tight.

Good morning and happy 2020 to one and all I have enjoyed the past two weeks, mostly in Switzerland but with the Rhine Valley and other bits of Germany because the travel company insists on us avoiding France. My fellow traveller JohnDMJ is made of sterner stuff and travels to and from the UK via Paris, which is not as difficult as some make out. I would have done too if I had not been in the grip of a virus when I booked the tour in May. I hope to be back with the rebels next year. On offer for breakfast at our hotels in Interlaken and Chur was Prosecco. For educational purposes I did have a glass or two with my breakfast and cannot in all honesty say that I recommend it. Apart from that the food and drink was pretty good throughout the holiday. On the last night I particularly enjoyed necking overgrown thimbles of Kolsch in Cologne, or Koln as the locals call it, and for much of the rest of the holiday rediscovered my affection for weiss, or wheat, beer and of course gluhwein. I travelled extensively, both individually and with the herd. The only wobble happened when I had a sudden bout of depression in Davos of all places – nothing too serious this time but unwelcome nonetheless. On Christmas night I formed part of the Ffestiniog Travel Scratch Chorus, performing two carols in German. On New Year’s Eve there was absolutely SFA to do in Chur so I did not see in the New Year, instead retiring to bed at too early an hour in the continuing but so far fruitless quest for beauty sleep. My heart was at the fireworks display in Zurich, which appears to be impossible to attend if you catch the last train back to Chur. I have been keeping an eye on events in Australia. Those wretched bush fires happen every year and the continuing loss of human life and habitat is nothing short of tragic despite the supremely heroic efforts of the firefighters. What worries me is that the loss of koala life and habitat will be increasingly overlooked at large. Think if you will of Lewis the koala, so bravely rescued by Toni Doherty and making headlines round the world, only to be put to sleep because his burns were too severe to be treatable. I should hate to think that his death was in vain. Best wishes to all Chris

You mean I might not be a Hippo after all? All that wallowing in mud and my own excrement....for nothing (well apart from the wonderful complexion)!

Rick, so sorry to hear of the loss of your friend and I sincerely hope that you don't get any more bad news like that. I don't think any of us living in our coldish damp isle can really comprehend the scale of the disaster happening over there.

With the number of guests we have had over the festive season I haven't had a chance to do much in the way of posting on ER's recently - it's been a bit of a struggle simply keeping up with what you lot have been posting! Lots of chat about Hunters and F-104s since HH posted a photograph with derogatory overtones a few pages back. The Hunter was a lovely aircraft to fly and I was glad to get my first operational tour on FGA9s out in Singapore starting in 1968. The main problem with it was that the cockpit was ergonomically a bit of a slum but it handled beautifully. There wasn't much in the way of electronic gubbins so you had to become fairly proficient at such things as low level navigation on map, stopwatch and compass at 420 knots. The T7 (the one HH showed in the photograph) was a trainer variant and we had one on each squadron for doing check rides, instrument ratings etc. but it also got used as something of a squadron taxi. The F104 was a different kettle of fish and although it went very quickly and very high when required it didn't go round corners very well. I had a couple of trips in Danish and German Starfighters and although I enjoyed the experience I never had any desire to fly them professionally. The main problem with the German 104s was that they were used in roles they were never designed for and when they were introduced into service the Luftwaffe was still rebuilding from WW2 and the experience level was relatively quite low so with a complex aircraft that had difficult handling characteristics the accident rate was high. However, there were a lot of them - over 800 I think - and it is a sobering thought that when the accident rate is taken as a percentage of the number in service, the RAF's Lightnings were in the same sort of category. I got in touch with a local firm that installs loft ladders and they will get back to me early next week about doing a survey and giving us an estimate for fitting one. The bad news is that the stock of mod***ing tokens is likely to take a big hit. Have a quiet and peaceful night everyone. Dave

It isn't often I blow my own trumpet but sometimes, when a modelling task goes just right, I get the urge! A few pages ago Tony mentioned the noisy running on some of the locos on Buckingham. One of the offenders was the very first loco built by Peter Denny in 1946/7. Not the GCR classification but better known as a J11 or "Pom-pom". During the running session last night, the loco failed with the previously just noisy gears now slipping completely. A strip down today revealed that the driving axle is now 3mm in diameter where it touches the frames and the wear in the coupling rods means the centre axle can slop up and down enough to make the worn gear teeth miss. A replacement axle (why did the steel axle wear, not the brass frame, must be very hard brass) and a replacement gear wheel and she is good to go. As a slow running test I ran her for 3 minutes and she covered 1.25 inches. Dead slow, smooth as silk and responding superbly to the controller. Any running problems on the layout are down to wear and tear. Too much slop, sideplay, springs sagging, that sort of thing. Breathing new life into these lovely old models is just so satisfying!

First game of golf for a fortnight. We won last time, so expectations are not that high, nor, worryingly, am I looking forward to it. Following Victor Wild this morning. In the gloom.... and out again.

Loft visited several times by both me and Steve. He did the heavy lifting as there were a couple of items up there that I want rid of. They are now sitting in the hall awaiting a trip to the dump. That can wait for a while as the place will probably be rammed for a couple of days. All decs have been removed and The Boss has declared Christmas officially over whilst also saying "Isn't it a shame, everything looks bare and it's all gloomy!" Er, well it was you that wanted to end it all so don't blame me! Roll on the next celebration. This year we have Abbie's 21st, Joe's 18th and Gemma's 16th together with our Golden Wedding Anniversary. My wallet is already trembling at the thought.

Good morning from Leeds. Its nearly 6 pm and there's still night life outside with lots of shouting. Didnt affect us overnight due ot having the room air con on (no flashing lights or alarm sound from this one). This morning hoping ot get our second ride on the new TPE Nova 3 push pull units to Stalybridge then make use of the Manchester daytripper ticket we bought last night from helpful ticket office staff who hadnt issued one before. We are hoping ot do the tram route from Ashton Under Lyne to Piccadilly, drop bag at hotel then meet up with another rmwebber / long time friend and head off to Glossop for beer. Last full day of the trip as heading home tomorrow. Mick - I know someone who has a lot of your products but hes not on rmweb so doubt it was him plus its much newer stuff hes adding to his large shed layout.

We managed a hobby shop visit today, among other things. I think SWMBO offered it to get me near IKEA which has a cheap lunch that she likes. (She had to go back as her salmon dinner hadn't contained the salmon.) I managed a calendar and a pkg of couplings and some gluing bits. IKEA produced a new ironing board which has a tight cover unlike the old one. Then a bookstore which has a larger selection of modelling mags than the local one. Tomorrow is Dragonfest at Lostock Junction. (Owner of same refers to his wife as the Dragon. She goes along.) This is railway club non-meeting that spouses are invited to. And the train running is extremely eclectic. My cousin on Cape Cod has an electric car. His wife is afraid that they'll get in a trffic jam on one of the bridges and run out of power. He's the one who designed his own house and feeds power back into the grid.

Usually with members of the Cardiff 4mm group in the White Hart......'down the docks'....... They took me under their wing as I was in school with one of their daughters..... Many an underage pint in the Said pub, and being entertained by an African Prostitute called Big Lisa....,,who delighted in showing a young BlackRat various parts of her ample anatomy.....much to the mirth of the 4mmers..... All gone now.......in the name of progress but the memories of the mammories still linger.........and set me up for life in the Royal Marines .... Who said railway modelling was boring?!?

Things have moved on since the original marquee outside a shopping mall idea. It’s now going in a number of redundant BHS stores countrywide to clarify. The landlords get a huge rebate from business rates if the railway is in there for 30 days. And it’s totally free for me. And they have access for trucks etc for unloading. So it works for both parties

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. No news of my brother but I will not be talking to my niece until later this evening. My nephew said he spoke to him this morning so I will have to check to see if I can call him. If he is able to talk to people its a good sign as he wasn't expected to be able to do so for a few days yet. Time now for a muggatee, be back later.

Good morning all, A rather dull start to the day here but it should stay dry with the chance of some sunny spells. Up late today on principle as "somebody" keeps banging on about taking down decorations. I have agreed to ascend Mount Loft today but it will be in my own good time and certainly not until I've finished my breakfast coffee! And possibly another one. Watched the rugby last night. Wish I hadn't. I have sometimes wondered why I support Quins. This was one of them. Sale fully deserved to win annihilate them. Hopefully I will enjoy Gloucester v Bath more this afternoon. Ha, the phone has just rung and it's an old workmate of The Boss so I will be left in peace for quite a while. Also son Steve has just texted to say he's popping in. I'm sure he'll help with scaling the North Face. Things are looking up. Have a good one, L.A.Zysod.

This one of 3603 and train came out ok in b & w too. Looking forward to running a train like this with a Dapol mogul at its head. With a bit of luck we won't have to wait for it quite as long as we did for the bracket signals. John C.

Ey up! Good to hear you enjoyed your holiday Chris. We could be tempted to go to Switzerland or Germany for Christmas.. but we are a bit busy this coming year so it will be on the bucket list. After a busy day yesterday another busy one today. Parcels to make and post, house to be tidied up (herself has an over 60s cricket committee meeting here today. They aim to finish our Christmas cake..pah!) Ihave nearly finished check8ng all of my scale models so they need to be done. Ian, hope you and your good lady have a great day! Yes Leeds does seem to be capable of partying all 24 hours of the day. Dunno, never tried it recently myself! Hoping all ERs have a great day with very positive thoughts to all ERs who are suffering at the moment especially Rick. Now ...mugatea time! Baz

Good morning to all. Up a bit early today. It was warm enough yesterday not to have the fire lit. My first duty today is to light the fire and it's now warming up nicely. The pkan for this morning is to spend an hour or so in the log shed splitting and stacking bits of ash and plum trees that were felled in Dec 2018. They should be good for burning in 2021. Beth does the stacking. She's neater than me. The usual painting in the afternoon and hopefully a bit of muddling. Glad that Debs enjoying Briggus. We liked Brook's restaurant there. Regards to all. Jamie

Good evening everyone My shopping trip this morning lasted just over an hour and that included the travel to and from the Trafford Centre and the butchers. Once home Sheila said she wanted to go to Waitrose, so a quick brew and we were off, again it was a very short trip and we were back home in time for an early dinner. After dinner we sat and read until james and Amelia turned up and then I made a start on tea, Cumberland sausages and chips, which went down very well. Tomorrow we have Ava coming round to spend the day with us, she will be assisting me to bake a couple of cakes and then make a start on taking down the Christmas decorations etc. We we don’t have a loft ladder, for the simple reason that we don’t have a loft, but we doo have roof spaces that are accessed from doors set into the walls, so access is straight forward and very easy. Goodnight all

A lovely sunny day was enjoyed, so a car-wash was endulged; of course it was sport to tease the car wash lads not to get too much water near the under-carriage "because of the electricity"......my straight faced caution, received with suitably wide-eyed apprehension. Despite the danger of electrocution......they do a lovely thorough job!

Morning All sunny but bloody cold I've been packing again and packing and packing I can't believe the amount of sh!t the slapped one has collected over the years I resorted to bring a wheelie bin into the kitchen and just turning the cupboards out straight into it, the #itch will be moving her stuff out tomorrow so wont get in my way Monday. I stood in the flat yesterday and had a good look round I was going to get the carpets cleaned and said sod it buy new ones along with a kitchen and the bathroom Howdens have a good deal at the moment on kitchens so a couple of grand will be saved by buying it now, Wickes have bathroom stuff cheap and Tops tiles have a sale so I stand to save 4K. Sorry got to dash back later.

This household mixes Prosecco with Orange juice to make a form of Buck's Fizz, which was known by it's Spoonerism. With the advent of grandchildren, it is now referred to as the slightly less coarse 'Proztitutio'! (Which I formerly thought was a form of Italian thinly sliced ham.)

Tech Support, AKA Son, arrived from Ireland last night for a weekend visit and has done a registry clean-up and killed a lot of things that Win10. Google, etc insist on being active from start-up but don't get used or add any value to the experience. Fingers crossed no crashes this morning and everything that needs to be working is there and at greater speed. Thanks Matt.

Morning all. Ooh, Ernie has been kind. Now what shall I spend my £25 on? Have a good weekend one and awl.

To be fair Craig, I asked the question about the safety and welfare of a number of people on here and people have answered that question. I think the political content that people have posted is part of their answer to my question. These are folk who I and I'm sure others on here would support in the crisis that has unfolded. I can certainly put up with their viewpoint on this topic. It most certainly won't take over this thread. The very nature of the thread dictates otherwise. But I for one, want to know that everyone is OK, not in danger and I find their take on a situation, which potentially could be harmful to them worthwhile to be heard by us. I'd consider all on here friends via our common interest (albeit those in Oz long distant friends) and friendship always overcomes politics. But I value their views and I am very relieved that everyone who has posted is for the moment safe.

45.7 here... 48.2 in Penrith.

Dunno about regular, however with the caveat that some modelling has been applied, here’s an Airfix van. Handrails, Shawplan windows, Rumney lamp brackets have been applied, as have brake pull rods. Wheels are Gibson’s and the chassis foot rail supports have all been significantly modified.

I have IT support in the form of a son. Not much he can't fix as it's his day job and he's very good at it. He's cheap as well. Well, he is for me anyway.

12°C here (at 9:30pm). It warmed up from 10°C earlier. It is supposed to be colder (around 7°C) and wetter tomorrow with the snow level dropping in the mountains. So far, we've had a very mild winter, (again) and less rainy than "normal".

Hippo takes bath in family pool and leaves behind 100kg of poo https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/03/hippo-takes-bath-family-pool-leaves-behind-100kg-poo-11996292/?fbclid=IwAR2yfue-Q_sydED0JqbHC4kM3CJsqABlNgW5Gef2eVtq5HKNa5u6TynOToU

Desktop 'puter dismantled tonight to check power supply and connectors. During work tbe cause of crashes and shutdowns of graphics may have been located. A small deposit of dust was slowing the fan pn the graphics card, causing a processor overheat and automatic cut out. Time for sleep and full test tomorrow. Thanks to all who suggested solutions when I first reported problems, especially the one who looks to have got it right!

Last few days have seen plenty of cork & track laying. Priority is to make the connection from the fiddle yards to the scenic side via the wide curves to create a U shape. As I’ve said this track work will eventually form the snapshot of Healey Mills with double tracks at opposite edges of the boards to allow the sheds & fuel points to be modelled in the middle. The odd length of concrete sleepered section I throw in now and again. The loop I’m creating is for steam charters and curves around for about 35ft. The points used here are by Marcway who constructed them with a 30’ radius curve in FB rail. They aren’t the easiest to match with Peco track since the sleepers on the points are scale thickness which isn’t the case with Peco. Therefore they need packing to correct the height difference and the cork underneath the slide bar sanding so it can move freely. Plus the wiring has to be thought through a bit more as they are copper clad construction. I’m going to buy some individual plastic chairs to somehow add to the rail sides to improve the appearance. Last pic is a Hattons warwell of which a few will eventually run carrying tractor units..just testing it you understand

Evening. Just licking wounds inflicted by the Marine contingent yesterday - hey I was on your side! Mick, I have a funny feeling about that customer....and a 6 pin Zen decoder on my workbench currently. Fried. With solder on the pins...... Lifetime warranty....allegedly Hope your brother is doing OK Phil, sounds like he's on the mend after a the big op, must be a tough cookie.

The first Christmas I was on the railway I was working at Curzon St. 'Sid' the yard Pway ganger and his men were WW2 refugees from Poland. He came into my grandad's cabin at about 11am and produced a large bottle of clear liquid from the inside pocket of his overcoat and filled our tea cups. It was a locally distilled illicit beverage based on potatoes and grain. I think it was a good job no-one was smoking when it was poured or we might not have had a cabin left. It was easier to inhale rather than drink, a small amount on the tongue would evaporate before it reached the throat. My grandad and the Poles drank it without flinching.

Afternoon all, The Good Doctor and I have today ventured a few miles (c.9 I think) up the road to Cox Green and the MMDMRC exhibition of little things running on parallel bits of metal set various distances apart from each other. First it was the bacon rolls which meant that instead of waiting until we'd been round and not getting one we actually got in long before they were all gone. A pleasant morning was enjoyed seeing some nice examples of the things we aren't allowed to mention plus meeting and chatting with various folk most of whom are on RMweb although none of them in this little corner. One thing which must be mentioned, albeit at considerable personal risk, is one chap who has invented what appears to be a completely new scale/gauge with accurately modelled JNR 3'6" gauge track in 2mm scale - so he first had to turn his own gauges for track construction, all very clever stuff. Other layouts were more traditional although a Norwegian country terminus was something a bit different. Turning to real railways I have over the years used a variety of routes to/from Switzerland and probably the most interesting in railway terms was Basel via Strasburg although Genève - Paris by TGV offers some very interesting scenery in the early stages of the trip. Via Luxemburg is worth a try but it can be a bit boring and it's only because it's a different way of getting from Bruxelles to Basel I think my most likely choice would be what I regard as the logical route of Eurostar to Bruxelles, thence via Aachen and Köln to Basel with a strong temptation to return via Strasburg. My reason for taking that outward route probably has as much to do with being involved with DB and SNCB back in the late 1990s in trying to develop a through connectional, regular interval, timetable between London to Basel and Zurich via that route. And that reminds me of another breakfast drink I tried on one occasion when at a timetable conference. One of the Bulgarian delegates was enjoying the celebration of his birthday and when, at about 08.15, I walked into the dining room for breakfast he and his three colleagues were on their third or fourth bottle of champagne and it would have been extremely rude not to accept a glass so that I might join in their continuing rounds of toasting the birthday boy. I only had one glass but rapidly concluded that getting involved in drinking with Bulgarians was even more of a session than doing so with Belgian or German railway folk or the Swedish ship's engineering officers who were inviting all and sundry to join their drinking party in the bar of the hotel I was staying in overnight in Szczecin back in the 1970s. Enjoy the rest of you day and may the fires in NSW not jump into the gap which still existed the other day between Penrith and Katoomba.

Reward.

Self motivation to do stuff is getting harder for me too! During my time in Switzerland, I had no less than three late starts due to oh, WTF! Some fellow travellers did something similar!

Morning, my powders for the dirtying and aging of things on or related to parallel bits of metal arrived yesterday, so having read their instructions(I think that was a first for me) I proceeded to attack a 16t mineral, a van and a brake van, quite nice too(pictures could well appear on the link below later). There was a small problem however, it would seem a lump of said powder found it's way onto the living room carpet, which of course I then stood on and walked into the kitchen, pity we don't have a black carpet as I might not have been found out...……………………………………..seems I am now banished to The Old Summer House with me mucky powders...…………………..

While looking through my photo archive back to when I had left my parents home in Rugby I found this photo of my fathers Ford Anglia. I don't recall much about it and why it had the "sun visor" or side reflectors. He would have bought it s/h and being a Yorkshire-man, more influenced by the price than the "style" . I also found a photo of my first company car after I had joined GM Ltd, who were the GM division in the UK that imported Opels, GM'sm US and Candaian cars and ran everything else that Vauxhall didn't. The Opel GT was one of a surfeit of GT's that we had, imported into the UK for sale to the US Forces based here. As such it had a detoxed and slow 1900 engine and tyres that would last a lifetime as they had no grip. Those of us in the Service Department's field staff who were still unmarried were allocated them. My colleague in Scotland had a spin on a wet drive to a dealer visit and got the dealer to fit new "UK" spec. tyres the moment he arrived. I managed to go straight at a very quiet country road T Junction under braking on a wet night and ended up in the opposite field. It was in Lincolnshire so no fences and I managed to drive out and away.

Morning all. Best wishes and positive thoughts for the rest of the day to each and every ER

News reports indicate an increased fire threat in the western suburbs of Sydney from the Green Wattle Creek fire. I hope they don't materialize. There are now daily updates on US news reports. It has taken a long time for them to pay close attention, given that the fires have been going on since September.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis seems to want to play this evening. Not only his usual plaything my hip but my knees as well. A couple of Ibuforen before I go to bed should sort things out.

More work done on the Quint brakes under-gubbins. With the turnbuckle trussing all in place, time to move on to the braking equipment. These are the etches for the V hangers, together some rather fiddly fold ups for the levers. With the addition of some 0.7mm brass rod, these are now made up as assembled units, but with the levers loose on the rods for now. Now with the brake cylinders, which are mounted on their own hangers. With the addition of the push rod, the longer brake levers are connected and soldered in final position. All done! All the rigging runs are on there as per the instructions; however, I simplified it in several areas; life for me was just a BIT too short to bother with all the individual shackles and knuckles provided - I generally just bent loops at the end of the nickel silver rods to achieve the various connections required. Gas tanks also added to complete the visible underfloor equipment. A quick trip to the paint shop and should all be assembled for running at Southampton. The other three vehicles in the set will have to wait their turn!

Evening all, Yorkshire presents no entry problems for me as I have grandfather rights (I've also got father rights, great grandfather rights, and as many more added 'great' suffixes as will taken you back over 900 years - s'there). Anyway back t'mill, where the current manager is Sally Hughes and could well be the person KZ referred to as she's been there quite a while. The 'rain' was interestingly spectacular - as my crummy phot below shows (sort of) the auditorium is semi-circular and the stage is set within it and is also semi-circular. Persons sitting in the front row - so right next to the stage - were given black plastic sheeting to cover their legs but still got splashed a bit higher up especially when the Don Lockwood character, doing his Gene Kelly bit, shook i his umbrella in the direction of the audience or the rain ran off it onto the front row. In fact I reckon they got even wetter than we did many years ago sitting near the front when we took the lad to the sooty Show where there was much spraying of water in all directions but mainly over Matthew Corbett and the audience. Back t'Mill and you can see a cloth hanging down from an overhead structure - the water was fed from a pipe virtually the whole length of that overhead structure but its spread followed the circular pattern of the stage edge getting it very wet to within about 2-3 feet of the edge. The 'rain' installation cost £16,000 and the water was raining down for the whole length of the song so the stage got quite wet. Just as impressive was a stage prop lamp post which was brought on and plonked down but was more than sturdy enough for the chap to swing round so perhaps it had some sort of magnetic base? The stage incidentally appears to have been built on top of the usual stage which is probably just as well as it gets drenched six times a week for a couple of months. The water was duly cleared up and mopped by a couple of stage hands and took a while to drive out so there wasn't quite so much tap dancing in the second act. The finale consisted of the entire cast in sou'westers, 'oilskins', and wellingtons parading round in the 'rain' - so the dstyage got another drenching and the front row of the audience got splashed yet again. All in all it was an extremely good musical with some top notch performances leaving us what they'll be doing next year as the 'Christmas & New Year musical' is now a well established part of their calendar. It was also the first time we'd seen as near a full house as you could get - just 5 empty seats but we'd booked early and so had got our usual seats in the back row and right next to an exit so we could getaway ahead of the rush. https://millatsonning.com/shows/singin-in-the-rain/

Due to the continuing industrial action in France, the RER part of the journey across Paris this year made the Tokyo commuter routine look tame; staff both trying to ram passengers into the train whilst pulling others off in order to close the doors! I met my Eurorats seat as the train departed Gare du Nord! Whether you would recommend it or not is a personal preference; it was there, let's try it. Prosecco is, per se, a fizz which, whilst not being to my usual taste, did enliven the palette which I considered a sufficient reason for indulging! I was, after all, on holiday! (At 4 of the 5 breakfasts in the hotel in Chur, the bottle needed replacing with a full one. Whilst it might not be to our taste, it certainly was to the other residents of said hotel!)

Evening all. And for those in Yarksheer “Eh oop”. The pain has lowered significantly today and is much more manageable at about 3-4 on the scale. The swelling is about the same but previous experience suggests this is the course it takes. Pain eases first followed by slow reduction in swelling. I am still probably a couple of days away from getting outdoor shoes on though managed my slippers (both) for much of the day. I shall take note of the medications fellow ERs have mentioned next time I trouble the quack but for now I have what should be 12-18 months supply of Indomethacin which does what it says on the tin. Another day largely spent on the sofa being attended to by SWMBO who has temporarily assumed all household duties. That ends on Monday when she returns to work whether I do so or not. I note that a side-effect of the Aussie bushfires is likely to be an effect on the price of their wine even though most major growing regions have not been burned. The vines are intolerant to thick smoke and may not fruit fully or can die. A small boutique winery near our former home was affected a number of years ago; their entire release that year was labelled “Limited Edition Ash Brew” and had a smoky taste. It wasn’t too bad but jokes about Pouilly-Fumé fell flat. Hopefully a decent undisturbed sleep will assist recovery and the morning will bring even more mobility with little pain. I’ll let you know. Many thanks for your support. This is not the way I would have wished a new year to start.