Gwiwer

It's a pick-up. A ute should have a purely utilitarian tray on the back. This may or may not be integral with the cab unit but to my mind it should not be stylised in the same manner. Other opinions are available. Especially from those who frequent ute-musters.

Removing those stones from the tyre treads will cure that! I do get irritated at times by the occasional click-click-click-click-click of a stone which has lodged itself in the tread and has yet to be removed. An occasional embuggerance of living in a rural area; either one of necessity has to pull into the soft stuff to allow someone else past on a narrow road or enough topsoil has washed off onto any road complete with stones which then lodge into the tread. Unofficially that's a (non-reliable, unscientific) means by which one knows that there is a legal amount of tread on the tyre! G'daftarnoon all. It is persisterating down yet again. Tradition required that to happen during yesterday's Ban-Collar Day but tradition on this occasion failed to materialise. Just two hefty but brief downpours occurred. It being Dr. SWMBO's birthday yesterday she had asked to be taken somewhere nice for a picnic - even if that meant an "in-car" picnic in dubious weather. First we had to visit Boots in PZ as she required some prescription medication. "Sorry - no can do - we don't have stock of it" was the response after she had waited half an hour in a long slow-moving queue. As we were passing anyway we then tried the Hayle branch where she arrived to see the duty pharmacist leaving the counter for lunch. I suggested we picnic first and return later but she was determined to wait having been told they only had very limited stock of the required. So 45 minutes later the pharmacist returned, attended to her needs and presented her with two days-worth of "emergency dispense" medication. For which she still had to pay the full dispensing fee. So after a total of 75 minutes waiting time she had enough for two days and had to go to the pharmacy in town again this morning for the full prescription. They ALSO only had two days-worth in stock but asked her to come back tomorrow (again!) when they have had their delivery. She came away with what they could offer but on this occasion no fee was charged because they have yet to complete her full prescription. A bit so-so from various NHS services there, then. I do wonder whether the problem is supply or demand (possibly both) when standard blood-pressure medication is in such short supply over a wider area. There seemed to be no such shortage of the "morning-after" pill though; she mentioned that several in the queue ahead of her were after one of those. It seems to have been a busy Easter on the casual encounter scene! We did manage the picnic. In the car due to the cool wind blowing. Up on the North Cliffs near Hell's Mouth in stunning light and with dramatic cloud formations.

@Dave Hunt - all the best Of classical music - I'm not averse to some and hold my late father's 800-strong CD collection including a very wide range across the genre and somewhat beyond. He was quite a fan of "earlier music" too. I am slowly listening to them but at the rate of one or two a week I might not get through the mall. I suspect he never did either as a few have turned up still in their sealed cellophane outers. They are catalogued but listing composers and works means nothing to me if I haven't heard them. So the 3-2-1 goes like this Also-ran: Pictures at an Exhibition (specifically the Barry Douglas piano solo version or the electronic one by Isao Tomita) Honourable Mention in Dispatches; Carmina Burana (which dad always insisted would bring about the end of the world if everyone on the planet simultaneously hit the strident D-major in "O fortuna") 3. Rite of Spring 2. "Rach 2" piano concerto 1. Saint-Saëns "Organ" Symphony with the volume turned up above 10.

Good morning. Welcome to Tuesday-after-Easter. Easter Moanaday. Still a holiday in Tasmania.

Dinner tonight was a roast leg of lamb. Not the part-leg one often gets chez-supermarché but a full one. Only because all the major supermarkets have been offering these at half price or less this past week and it was too good an offer to pass by. That's around £15 for a perfectly good leg which (they claim) serves "7 - 8" and will most certainly do so albeit that is likely to be two of us four times over! And with a further benefit of loyalty points offsetting future purchase costs. All rather nicely set off with roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots and halved brussels. Plus steamed cauliflower florets and baby asparagus. Thyme jus, thick gravy optional, mint sauce on the side. It's been a good day for the alimentary canals. We enjoyed hot cross buns for breakfast - maybe the last for this season but who knows - then joined friends for lunch near Falmouth. Not too far to drive and a pleasant little spot in the lanes near Constantine which offered a superb shakshuka (in my case) and other similarly-themed "brunch" items. All six of us were well pleased with our chosen dishes. And that was Easter. Pask Lowen as we might say locally. Dr. SWMBO ventured forth into the morning service which included a Christening leaving me to clean up indoors before we headed farther afield. Tomorrow is her birthday. More food and surprises are planned.

I guess there are some "clever" plates there given the MAN suffix to some marks. I recall when wer were teeny tiny critters that there were two bikes - don't ask me what sort because to barely school-age me they were just "Mobikes" - parked as a pair with plates HE 151 and RU 12. He is one; are you one too?

Only to be expected when your commentator, who has significant input into the scripting often writing the greater part of it, is a tender 97 years young. That he is still semi-actively making new material is remarkable and testament to the passion of the man. His shoes will take some filling. Dr. SWMBO seldom knows officially when he will be out filming but has met him a good many times. Usually in the hour before the public gates open at Kew but after those who work “office hours” start. The “outdoor” teams often start much earlier than that and are sometimes tasked with ensuring a particular plant, location or shot is ready for the cameras. All somewhat under the radar, of course, just as are His Majesty’s occasional visits. She has been introduced to both more than once and has been singled out for mentions by Sir David for some of her work.

Back in the 1950s however very few would have had even one car. The provision was adequate for the time as, in all likelihood, was the local bus service. Hertfordshire is one of the most supportive authorities of bus services outside London and Manchester but service provision is still far less than it was 50/60 years ago when Routemasters were among the types you could find trundling past fairly frequently.

I've had it a couple of times too, and very slow page loading. win 10, Edge. Seen on an increasing number of occasions across the past week or so along with ever-slower loading times. MacOS / Safari or on the iPhone - slower if anything on the phone.

Try this for size.

The train finally reached Penzance at 2.32am. We arrived home 20 minutes later. I have never seen so many people disgorging from one train here, never mind the hour. It was heaving. And that after having made stops at almost every station since Plymouth. Some additional delay was caused by the time it took for those who wished to do so to alight at intermediate stations. The one and only all-night taxi was suddenly swamped with demands to go here, there and everywhere. It was also quite surreal to drive out through town (where there were quite a fair few folk about even at that hour) and onto the open road across the moors. Not alone as I had expected but leading a convoy of six cars! At a quarter to three in the morning one of those behind had clearly had enough of following the defensive drivers and - with a clear night and no oncoming headlights - decided it would be smart to overtake the lot of us. Dirt flew up from their offside wheels as they did so; they must have come perilously close to grief to have run through the dirt at 60mph around the bends but they vanished into the distance. We were indoors at 2.50am. After a wind-down cuppa and a well-travelled donut we were in bed at 3.30. I made it up for 10.45 but the others - Dr SWMBO and His Furship - are still raising zzzzzzzzz. Happy Goat Friday. At least we have the week ahead together with no work to worry about.

Now 3 ½ hours late and threatening to arrive closer to 3am than the expected 11pm.

Indeed. And what am I doing at this hour? Awaiting Dr SWMBO who is running around 3 hours late. Flooding caused her booked train to be cancelled. The next - and last - one was delayed by the need to remove “excess” passengers before departure. The crew were unable to close the doors due to the numbers hoping to travel. Several other trains had also been cancelled meaning this one was expected - on a holiday getaway evening - to carry five loads not one. As no-one was able to move inside an extended toilet stop was made at Westbury with this train now 98 minutes late. “Control” being made aware that some 300 passengers were aboard for Cornish stations agreed to hold the last connection by 85 minutes to avoid a lot of hotel and taxi bills. Dr SWMBO has just left Plymouth and is expected at Penzance just after 02.00. Some 3 hours late. A free ride for what that’s worth. I drove up to Cornwall Services (the old Roche Victoria location) on the A30 in case there was a need to collect her from Plymouth. I can now head west once more and probably enjoy a lengthy wait at the buffer stops. Something like this Happy Goat Friday from the Getting Wet Railway

The current A270 was the old A27. It still takes its time-honoured course from one end of the modern by-pass to the other through Hove and Brighton.

My grovelling apologies to all Portsladians! The only place I know where a major road has two names depending upon which side you are. Station Road (Portslade) is the same thoroughfare as Boundary Road (Hove) Just to add to the melée the full name for the railway station, which is on the Hove side of the road, was always Portslade and West Hove until Connex excised the Hoverians and fitted (smaller, cheaper) one-line name signs. Got that? Good. Now let’s delve farther back into history and recall that the next two stations have also changed identities and the one beyond that no longer exists at all. Aldrington was built as D y k e Junction Halt (without the spaces and without a profanity filter to avoid) and Hove was opened as Cliftonville. Beyond there Holland Road Halt was closed way back at electrification in 1935 but its mortal remains can just still be seen. And then there is Brighton. About which I had best stay quiet lest I trouble the kickballing fans or awaken the ghosts of youthful nights long past!

Because the good folk of Hove like their beauty sleep and don't want to be kept awake by the sound of jack-hammers, excavators and other heavy equipment associated with major road works.

Heinz Beanz good for your heart Heinz Beanz make you fart The more you fart the better you feel So let's have beanz with every meal That was our schoolyard version. In other news today has been cancelled. I woke with a head full of cold. I therefore cancelled my watch as I didn't wish to risk spending four hours in a small room spreading germs to a colleague. In the end I slept until around midday. I also cancelled MRC for much the same reason and dozed through much of the afternoon on the sofa in front of something inane on the idiot-box. I had breakfast for lunch and lunch for dinner therefore I should probably get up and have something like iD's feast at 3am to catch up with myself! If I do get hungry I'll have twistellati in a basic pomodorous sauce. Because pasta really only comes in three formats - twistellati, flatellati and tanglytelle. And the sauce derives from tins which proclaim "pomodoro" on the labels. An early night beckons. More sleep should help this cold on its way. If it reaches you remember I sent it!

Bother. I am sneezing for Cornwall at the moment. It might be a cold but I don't have all the cold-like symptoms. The other option, given that it does not produce two red lines on the test strip (remember those?) is that this is some sort of allergy to a laundry liquid we bought recently. Not our usual brand but the only one they had in stock when we needed some. I'm on watch in the morning. I'll see how I feel. And how well the eyes are working. I can always call that off. The book has been tooth-combed by proof-readers and is receiving very favourable comments. Only a couple of minor tweaks have been suggested so far. It should be with reviewers next month and off to print at much the same time.

When working in Australia, where there are many such, one of the most difficult family names to pronounce to the satisfaction of the other party was Nguyen. Some preferred to go by a Western name but most preferred their own. Approximately - given my Western tongue - the more common variations were "Win" "Nwin" and a very shortened version of "Know-when". How does one know which is which until they have introduced themselves?

Even in our humble and remotely-sited town of just 4800 souls there are more non-white faces than appear in that image 😉

One of the questions we get asked on watch is "Have you seen whales today?" My response has been predictable - to those who know me - with the swift riposte that "No - it's too far away"

When I first presented myself to Australian immigration I was asked if I had a criminal record. Apparently the response of “I didn’t realise you still needed one” was not the correct one. In any case I had misread the paperwork. It did indeed say “transported” but I had seen “trainspotted”. The rest is not history - it’s mystory.

G'morning all. Welcome to Moan-day. And for those of us at the Distant (Signal) West it is also BIN day. Dr. SWMBO has already ventured to the pool for her morning swim. I have ventured as far as the kitchen for my morning muggertea with toast. IT seems to be wet outside with a forecast of more wetness to come later. Same old same old then. This weather does at least spare me the task of repainting the outside woodwork. It needs some attention but there is no point attempting the task in pouring rain! Avagoodun.

I have been a shift worker most of my life. In this country (and in Australia) we are free to choose our career. If we embark upon such then we should go in with eyes open knowing that we might be required to work at any hour of any day. I never lost sight of the fact that when I got out of bed at 4am on a cold winter morning to get the first train or bus into work that a driver had been up a good couple of hours earlier and was already at work when my alarm rang. In order to get me and others to our early shifts. Train drivers are highly skilled and thoroughly trained (pun intended) staff who usually work extremely unsocial hours. That can be disruptive of any family or social life. You must also maintain (effectively - there is a very minimal tolerance) zero blood alcohol on duty. They sadly have to deal with unexpected trauma from time to time. It is a high-stress job with high rewards. Very few of us are the right person for that seat. Supermarket staff are equally vital and might also be required at unsocial hours. There is less skill and training involved and it is a job most of us could do - as opposed to the number who would willingly do it.

That is what you get when persons in suits who fatten their bottoms on office chairs to earn obscene amounts of money are "in charge" of the railway. I doubt too may of those have ever been on a train. All they do is look at the bottom line of their spreadsheets and demand "cuts, savings and economies" I'll end the rant there because to go further into that territory could see me surgically removed from Andy Y's clubhouse.