SM42

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

Well that's relief. I thought I was going mad Andy

OK, I think I'm trying too hard. I've just spent 20 seconds looking in the fridge and couldn't see what I was looking for Hardly surprising as I was looking for the vacuum cleaner attachments. I may need a lie down. Andy

Today has turned jntk one of those deal with financial stuff days. The practical stuff has taken a back seat so far. I've got to finish the hopefully successful repairs to the garden bench ( need to paint the repair too) and then prepare SM42 Towers for more weekend guests. The move into the West wing continues slowly. Garden tidying is also on the agenda. Andy

I once had a call from a double glazing firm, trying to sell me some new windows. Their installation team were due the following day, so they obviously didn't talk to the people at the next desk. What does surprise me is that they call you again after 13 months to see if you need them replacing. They obviously don't have much confidence in the product. As for wasting scammers' time, if I have time I will. I enjoy the sport. Andy

Paper, metal, glass plastic all in one bin here. Can't put tin foil in, cos it's flat and may get mistaken for paper by the sorting machine. Why you can't roll it onto a ball who knows. Can't take black plastic nor a whole range of plastic items either even if they are made of the plastic they do take in other forms. After it all gets compacted together in the waste truck ( the same one they use for general waste and garden waste on alternate weeks) I doubt they clean it out) I do wonder how their machine copes. Can't take plastic films though. Now in the motherland, if its plastic, they take it, cling film, plastic films the lot, any colour and any plastic Andy

I've just spent 15 minutes ferreting through my stock cupboard of shame. For reasons lost in the mists of time I seem to have several Lima 117 centre cars but not enough driving ends to go with them. What was I thinking ?. J also found another box of wagon kits. Yikes. In other news I've just been handed a large slice of birthday cake. Gotta go. Andy

What temperature and how long have you been in the oven Andy

We're on recycling week. They can't take broken glass. The sorting machine doesn't like it. So what do they do with the bottles. Tip em in the back and compact it with all the other paper, metal l and plastic. Andy