SM42

Not sure if he was there when one of our club layouts appeared in RM complete with Virgin liveried Mk2s on show. You couldn't buy such an item at the time and the owner had made his own. A letter was received about them and use of the trade mark, but they went away happy when it was explained that it was a private project and not intended for commercial sale. I do wonder how Avanti West Coast got away with it though https://avantikb.co.uk/ They even use orange in their logo. Andy

I used a well.known ear drop ( the name escapes me) for mine instead of the olive oil they suggested to soften stuff up before my syringing When it came to my appointment a week later they said there was nothing to remove, so it obviously works quite well. Andy

And we're all done It can be a bit hit and miss getting hold of him, but he always calls back. Used him for years. Andy

Houston. We have a plumber. What we don't have is a valve of the right size. It turns out he needs one for a larger diameter pipe than he thought from memory Still it's only a half a mile to the shop. Andy

I sit here waiting patiently for the plumber to arrive to change a leaking radiator valve. He's my regular man, but sometimes his diary arrangements can be hit and miss, so I'm hoping today is not one of those miss days. Still, I've nowhere to go and have jobs about the house to do. Andy

One I had one that involved several menus and choices to turn it off and you had to do this every time.you started it. The default position was on. Bit like headlights that are default auto. At Le Shuttle they request you to turn off headlights as you board. No chance nowadays. You sit there with the red glow of rear lights stopping you getting a nap cos the kids in the car in front want to watch a video Andy

There are too many electric gizmos in modern cars and whilst some are useful not all are. By far the worst I've experienced is lane assist, which tried to steer me into to oncoming traffic on a narrow road and the car then had the cheek to warn me about the car I was about to hit. The constant beeping and flashing warnings on the dashboard are downright distracting at the very time you don't need distracting. My other pet hate is emergency brake assist, another system that has almost caused an accident. I could see the 44 tonner on the busyish roundabout would not be there when I got there. The car thought otherwise. The people around me had to take avoiding action to miss the unexpectedly stationary vehicle in the middle of a now empty gap in the traffic flow. I don't need the car to beep and the dashboard display to change to tell me I've turned on the wipers. I know I did, I did it and there are two visual clues in front of me wiping the screen. I would quite like to not turn the headlights on at midday on a sunny day because I've passed a tree. I don't like following cars that do as unexpectedl red lights instantly register as braking, so everyone behind does too unnecessarily A colleague apparently has a car that puts the brake lights on if you lift off the throttle. This explains the sudden stationary traffic on the motorway with no apparent cause. Oh and don't start me on the electric parking brake. I much prefer control over the car rather than being in a constant state of " what's it doing now?" Andy

The one thing I worry about with barriers is the propensity for parents to sit small children on them. Legs go flailing as they are lifted over to be sat 9n barrier and then of course there's is the almost universal propensity for dangling legs to be swung back and forth Then they flail about again as child is lifted off the barrier. Far more potential for damage than the leaner and probably more common Andy

Barriers will always creep inwards but the worst kinds are those that look sturdy but aren't or those that don't look ay a sturdy and provd to collapse ag the merest hit of pressure. ( concrete flower pots and ropes I'm looking at you) The worst offender we had was the operator. Had to lean full weight on the support table that was lightweight and purely designed to hold up the layout and control system. Maybe a cup of tea and cake too. Why some people find it hard to stand up, or even sit on stool provided is beyond me. Mind you he had to lean so he could get his head up against the inside of the lighting unit. If only we'd used filament lamps. We don't left him operate the layout now. Andy

I was thinking about the red bit on the inside. I find felt quite a slippy material on a hard smooth surface, such as our 17th century side table. I find the track cutting is less damaging to the table than the track pins. Andy

Kenwater was a retail business ( based in Leominster) that sold a lot of Peco products by mail order and at exhibitions. Some sort of track cutting jig is possible but why the felt? Andy

Last time I had a hearing test, I mentioned that it was extra hard as the, I presume, cooling fan in the top of the box was rattling/ humming. "What fan?" Asked the tester. "That one," sez I pointing to the whirling thing that seemed to have an issue with its bearings. " Oh" they said, "I can't hear it." " Well I can and it was downright distracting " The other distraction was my pulse. I still managed to pass OK even with the pum, pum, pum, whirr, rattle backing track Andy

I've been doing the same as HH at Ludlow Castle This was followed by a brisk walk up Clee Hill and dinner in Bewdley. Wine and cake are on the agenda this evening. Andy

If you thought that was scary, try using a shotgun in fading light. The cloud of sparks from the muzzle is quite impressive The bright flash at the breach end, between the stock and barrel, next to your cheek is more eye opening ( or eye closing if you've got any sense) Andy

Talking of water management, it's raining here. That's a relief really as I was expecting a hose pipe ban to be announced if the drought of the last 48 hours went on much longer Andy

AUUI great pains ate taken in The Netherlands to keep water levels down, but also keep them up. Letting the land dry out too much will allow the wooden piles that many buildings are constructed upon to rot. When we stayed near Sneek, there was a very nice little house for sale near the farm we stayed at. Unfortunately the underpinning piles had got too dry and it had a distinct gradient from the middle down to each end Andy

Job and knock. Can't beat it sometimes. I think you were somewhere round Smethwick when the first hint of speculation that I might finish work soon began to cross my mind. Andy

I might see you then. Might not. Depends if you go in the loop. Andy

Dual carriageway ( has a central reservation) is 70mph unless otherwise signed. On my route to work tonight I will turn off a 40mph dual carriageway onto a signed 30mph side road. I will then join another unsigned dual carriageway without passing another speed limit sign. The road has streetlights. The opposite carriageway is signed 40mph. What is the limit on my side? In theory 30mph, but as you approach a roundabout a 30mph terminal sign appears,indicating that maybe it was more than 30mph before this sign. In car cameras are no help. They give up if it doesn't see a sign after a minute or so. Confused? You will be. Most seem to think the limit is around 60 anyway. The big problem is the probability of not being caught nowadays. Technology cannot fully replace the mk1 eyeball of a police officer and there are far too few of those looking after traffic matters nowadays. I'm pretty sure the national debt and Birmigham City Council's financial problems could be helped by more enforcement of the rules of the road. Tomorrow, around 6am I will be in the Birmingham Grand Prix. No plod about that time. It's shift change. Andy

No. Its separate. I do object to paying extra for a built-in appliances especially as you don't even get the outer casing. Andy

Keep the noise down tomorrow please. I'm on nights. What time are you off Worcester? I'll keep an eye out for you, if they are open. Andy

In the interests of balance after the vacuum cleaner attachments faux pas the other day, I have just opened the fridge to put them away again. Perhaps they are like semi conductors; work better cold. Andy Slowly losing it it appears.

I have seriously considered buying a car now to replace the current one when it falls apart. (Sort of have one in stock for the future while you can still get em thing. ) A dealership I pass on my commute, occasionally has a large estate type car out front for sale. ( model now discontinued) They rarely are there for more than a week. Some of the SUVs have been there for a couple of months. Anyway I will need to brave Brum's rush hour traffic later ( fortunately I shall be going the opposite way to the peak traffic for most of the time) so deplorable driving will be witnessed no doubt. Andy

Ford, Hyundai, Mazda, Honda, Volvo, Toyota have all moved to an almost exclusive SUV, of various sizes, range. There are a few outliers as you mention, but what are their advertising budgets being spent on promoting? SUVs that only really match the V part of the acronym. Andy

But people are effectively forced to buy an SUV. Most ranges now have ditched the medium and large family hatchback / saloon/ estate, so if you want a new car it's SUV or small car. The manufacturers have been pushing SUVs because they cost about the same to build as a saloon but can charge many thousands more for them. If you want to carry 2 adults and 2/ 3 kids and a week's luggage you will struggle to fit it all in. We recently had a Kia Sportage as a hire car ( not by choice, our original choice of a C'eed was not available) Three adults got in. Their luggage ( cabin bag and small under seat bag each) went in the boot. It was a tight fit. The was not much room left. The coats wedged in around the bags. Lord knows what damage they would do should you be unfortunate enough to hit a pedestrian The second hand forecourts are awash with SUVs. Finding a second hand large estate / saloon or hatchback is harder. Everyone is holding on to them till they fall apart. It's one of the reasons I'm driving a 10 year old car as there is nothing practical to replace it. Andy