jjb1970

Another nice example of Chinese outline, an SS1 electric in HO by N27. The SS1 was China's first serial production electric following the 6Y1 and 6Y2. The 6Y1 was largely reliant on Soviet technology while the 6Y2 was an Alsthom type. The SS1 is said to be basically an improved 6Y1 incorporating technology from the 6Y2. Despite the Soviet collaboration on the original 6Y1 I always think the SS1 looks much more Western European than Soviet. The N27 model is brass and beautifully done, it is fully equivalent to Korean brass in my opinion. This is one of the earlier style, later versions were more European looking. I picked this up on Yahoo Japan auctions for about £270 including shipping and GST which was a splendid bargain. You can still see them new for about £600-700 excluding shipping and GST (VAT). While not cheap, for a factory finished brass model that is very good value new. CMR do a plastic alternative which is also very nicely done.

One of the most hagiographic biographies of Cromwell is God's Englishman by Christopher Hill. This is interesting as to many on the left of the political spectrum Cromwell is akin to evil incarnate yet Hill was a Communist. His book presents an excellent counter argument to the detractors, far more eloquently than most on the Cromwell supporter side. Not saying his views were correct but if trying to form an opinion of the man all sides of the debate should be considered. Despite his political baggage Hill's works on 17th century English history remain invaluable in my view.

He got a sauce named after him instead. Ham with Cumberland sauce was a staple of P&O cooks (along with brown Windsor soup). I once commented that I had lived in what had been Cumberland all my life at that point and never seen Cumberland sauce so it was pointed out it was named after the Duke, not the county.

Look on the brightside, his fellow armoured war pioneer JFC Fuller was full on bat turd bonkers, but still had a few good ideas.

Cromwell's rather controversial place in history isn't a modern phenomenon, the way he has been remembered and thought of has been a bit of a roller coaster since his own lifetime in England and very negative in Ireland. As with most of these things the debate tends to get polarized between hagiography and seeing him as the prototype for a naughty national socialist from Austria. He was a remarkable man of prodigious political and military skills but both sides of the ledger should be considered. In that sense he's no different to other major political figures (with vanishingly few exceptions).

I am a member of RINA and have my CEng registration through them but I really object to the institute racket. Every year it gets harder to persuade myself to renew, so far each year I have decided retaining CEng registration outweighs my hatred of being forced to be a member of an institute to keep it but I really was close to shoving it this year.

You can't fool all of the people all of the time. Despite the efforts of politicians, marketing people and the media to prove otherwise.

I eradicated salt from my kitchen and refuse to allow it in my kitchen, MSG is much better💪

I work in advocacy, I swim in a sea of blaggers💪🤣

And for some roles being able to blag your way through a difficult situation is actually an essential skill, so someone who can nail an interview through their soft skills and blagging is demonstrating the right skills for the job.

An interview is also about the candidate finding out about the company, it is a two way thing. I suspect some of the car crash interviews are the result of the candidate deciding the job or employer isn't what they want and just finishing the interview for politeness. I have had a couple of interviews where I decided it wasn't for me pretty quickly. The worst interviews tend to be if some smart Alec interviewer uses 'gotcha' questions, or if the candidate provides answers based on what they think the interviewer wants to hear. When I used to do interviews I never used trick questions, and made of point of saying we weren't trying to trip people. I think most interviewers are also smart enough to adjust their selection criteria to the role. For example, for a shop floor fitter I wouldn't be worried if they struggled to articulate their thoughts or were a bit shy. However, if it's an external facing role or one where they'd be put on a spot and expected to deal with complex problems and make decisions and then be able to support why they made that decision then an inability to articulate thoughts or deal with interview questions confidently is a bit of a problem.

Doing a good interview is a skill, some people are brilliant at blagging their way through any situation while others are highly intelligent but reserved or struggle in interviews.

I blotted my copybook with an HR woman, she was quite attractive and clearly looked after herself but turned up for an interview day in a skirt which couldn't have been any shorter, shoes with heels which were probably a safety hazard and a top which couldn't have shown more and then made an issue of any candidates which she clocked having a look. I commented that I didn't condone dirty old man type attitudes, but equally if you dress like you're looking for customers don't whinge if it solicits a look. She made a complaint which backfired when she was told to dress in a 'professional' manner.

It's an old trick, one I always used when doing interviews. The weird one I found which threw a surprising number of candidates was the most obvious and pertinent question - why do you want the job, or why do you want to work for xyz? A lot of people really struggle to answer that.

I posted pics of the X-bow somewhere in the distant past of the thread, but for those who have never seen a ship with the X-bow here is an example.

There's been a huge amount of research and development on Hull form in recent years to improve comfort, reduce Hull stresses and improve efficiency (I will let people form their own view on the relative importance of these drivers). A lot of this (most) has focused on bow form, followed by the stern. At one time (and still today for many designs) the bow form maximised bouyancy, and controlling the bow wave with deigns optimised for calm conditions. However heavily flared bow contours above the waterline lead to riding over waves and heavy slamming which is uncomfortable and causes high hull stresses. Modern theory is to go through waves and swell and to design for efficiency in a wider range of representative conditions. Hence the prevalence of ships using the X-bow, axe bow and similar configurations. The difference to comfort levels can be huge, especially ships with fwd accommodation. I spent time on an offshore vessel with an X-bow and afterwards would be loathe to return to a more conventional design.

I didn't say it isn't, I questioned whether alternatives are better for the environment. Climate change is only one environmental impact along with all the issues around biodiversity, water use etc associated with land use change for crop cultivation. As well as the GHG emissions being about much more than methane from cows etc.

On our recent long weekend in Batam the outbound ferry was a twin hull wave piercing type and coming back was a monohull. The wave piercing design was much smoother, the monohull was slamming quite heavily, especially when crossing the wake of ships going through the strait.

I had a lucky run on these this month, I saw two mint examples with kadee's fitted (not a minor thing as fitting kadee's to these is a pain), one in the passenger orange with yellow stripe livery and one in green with yellow stripe on Yahoo auctions Japan which after shipping and GST came to S$800 (about £470) which is a bargain for two of these in 'as new condition' including boxes and all paperwork in 'as new' condition. I got a factory painted brass SS1 electric by N27 from the same seller at a bargain price too, again the model looks to have been kept boxed and never used and came in at about £270 after GST and delivery from Japan which is a great buy.

I am getting very positive reviews of the new 'Whoosh' train (no, that really is what they called it....) in Indonesia. The high speed rail line between Jakarta and Bandung, the trains are a version of the Chinese CR400AF Fuxing (also not made up.......) high speed train and really rather stylish.

I like the design of the Series 700 family Shinkansen trains, sleek looking. They give a very smooth and quiet ride, they have trick damping and active vibration/noise technology I think.

If people are enthusiasts of food made with the feminine touch might I suggest that classic Malay dish nasi kangkang? Splendid dish.

I think good models are good models regardless of the box if they are accurate, well made and work. Value is a personal decision, I do think some Bachmann models are pricey but the de-facto SRP is really SRP - 15% unless you really want to pay the full SRP and many releases appear in clearance offers if you can wait and willing to risk missing out on a model. Something I do really like about Bachmann is their release policy, no hype train or froth or anything, they announce when the models are about to hit the shelves and if you want to buy them you can. I like that.

I could go vegetarian, I don't eat that much meat (partly because decent meat is so expensive here) but I really have no interest in all these foods pretending to be meat. There's so much excellent vegetarian food to eat why bother with ultra-processed concoctions of who knows what? However, I wouldn't be so interested in veganism as I love cheese and dairy products. Nowadays old fashioned vegetarianism seems to be lumped together with eating meat in the pantheon of evilness and whereas at one time it seemed many vegetarians were vegetarian for religious or ethical reasons or just didn't like meat now we are being told to be vegan to save the world from climate change. The problem with that is I'm really not sure some of the alternatives are really any better for the environment.

Whether it's right or wrong, Hornby remain the only name in the (UK) hobby with any recognition outside the hobby. In that sense they share something in common with companies like Lionel and Marklin which are synonymous with model/toy trains in some other markets.