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1 hour ago, Guy Rixon said:

The big step forward, which America took for the wrong reasons, was to limit each president to two terms. Even if the Creeping Orange Blight can swing a second term he can't go on forever.

 

Or he could use the Russian model, have "Dead Eye" Pence put in for a term and then have himself re-elected...  :scared:

 

 

Decluttering:  A fine and noble concept, but where does all the "clutter" go when it's essentially worthless and the tips aren't open for sensible disposal?  Our local tip/recycling centre is open for landfill in black plastic bags.  The skips for metals/paper, card, mags/small electricals/etc are all barred for use.

 

Oh yes, it ends up in the attic/spare bedroom....

 

 

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2 hours ago, Nearholmer said:


The guidance has always included an exception for this very purpose, without the  need to invoke bureaucracy.

 

The question here must be whether he was using that exception readonably, or taking the p1ss.

 

I think a lot hinges on whether or not there was someone nearer at hand who could reasonably have been expected to help-out.

 

Of course there was someone near.  He is (I hope soon to be was) part of the government machine.  If he cannot get resource who the ..... can?

That leaves aside why his brother - apparently just a few miles away - and SiL living two streets away could not help.  Perhaps they were under preferential lock down themselves.  I could imagine that being related to this man - even by marriage - could leave one extremely vulnerable.

Edited by Andy Hayter
typo
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46 minutes ago, Andy Hayter said:

 

Of course there was someone near.  He is (I hope soon to be was) part of the government machine.  If he cannot get resource who the ..... can?

That leaves aside why his brother - apparently just a few miles away - and SiL living two streets away could not help.  Perhaps they were under preferential lock down themselves.  I could imagine that being related to this man - even by marriage - could leave one extremely vulnerable.

 

We have now had two days where senior Govt ministers (Shapps & Boris) have been answering endless questions about this rather than getting on with the real job.

 

Really bizarre to have John Major's formed "Director of Communications" on TV this morning saying that such a situation was unacceptable. He should know as it happened several times on his watch! Prime Minister backs colleague for several days before letting them go. It does not give cause for much faith in their decision-making capability.

 

This one is also notable for a classic Press trap. They publish only part of the story. The Govt issues denial/support. And then they issue the second part of the story which shows that Ministers have lied or been economical with the truth. Surely, Boris' current media advisors know this game and should not fall for it.

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4 hours ago, runs as required said:

and emptied the entire room, furniture and all into two skips

I think I'm going to have to face the same solution very soon.  I have endless amounts of old computer stuff , a million pieces of Lego and knock-off Lego, huge amounts of miniature wargaming figures, as well as now completely abandoned railway projects stacked everywhere in my room.  And then there are all the now well out of date textbooks from my time of studying for cleverness certificates as well as my pages of drivel from when I was doing said studying.  As I said to my daughter you'd only have to do this anyway when I'm gone so I might as well do it now.

The only things I would keep are my 'O' gauge tinplate collection and the very few  3/4 inch scale handmade models I made that I think are any good.  If I haven't looked at something for the past three years I shouldn't weep too much over it when it's gone.

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May I make a suggestion Edwardian ? That room has good natural light, but come winter that single compact fluorescent will be fairly hopeless. Anything you want to see on the layout will be obscured by your own shadow. 

 

I would suggest a longish lighting bar, flush to the ceiling with four or more spotlights for a start. 

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7 hours ago, nick_bastable said:

no time like the present :D

 

Nick B

 

Right.  Found some timber for the baseboard frame.  I think I have enough ply knocking around.  Will start cutting tomorrow. 

 

I am toying with the idea of eventually extending into the corner behind the door.  I could then make the "mineral line" a nice light railway end-to-end.  I won't do this just yet, but will plan to leave space for that.  Thus, ultimately I would have two test track circuits, one OO and the other OO9, sitting within a terminus to terminus layout that went around the walls starting and ending at the door.

 

Alternatively, to give the ting a bit more coherence, it could be fun to have a standard gauge station on the new board and run the light railway branch into that.  The problem is, that would involve an OO9-OO crossing on the level!

 

Such things do exist in ready-to-lay, and no doubt in FB rail.  It is possible to transition from code 100 to code 75.  Does anyone know what code Tillig rail (HO) is?

 

1274100967_s-l1600(1).jpg.6e63457259410b584c469e89015b8a96.jpg

 

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20 minutes ago, Dave John said:

May I make a suggestion Edwardian ? That room has good natural light, but come winter that single compact fluorescent will be fairly hopeless. Anything you want to see on the layout will be obscured by your own shadow. 

 

I would suggest a longish lighting bar, flush to the ceiling with four or more spotlights for a start. 

 

Yes, it gets pretty dark up here. Not sure I know what you mean, but must investigate.

 

I have ordered a blind that can be recessed into the window and kept pulled down to the board level. 

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I think tillig is code 83.

 

I have (successfully, after some filing!) Transitioned from code 100 multiple gauge track to code 80 for the O9 track on my layout where the internal works railway diverged from the test track. Essentially I made the point in code 100 for everything, then after an inch of code 100 a bit of code 80 with 20thou styrene under the sleeper, the two rails butt jointed with solder and a very fine file and 2000 grit to ensure the transition was smooth.

 

Might it be possible to make a crossing by cutting and shutting a 00 diamond? If you didnt fancy making it from scratch. A word of warning, the fleischmann 7000 and ibertren cuckoo chassis (commonly used in 009) both have a wheelbase of 16.5mm, which isn't exactly ideal for crossing the standard gauge.

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On 23/05/2020 at 09:20, Compound2632 said:

 

Adrian, while I am sure you are technically correct, that was the language in use in the family in respect of the teapot. My grandmother's family lived in Nechells; she was born in 1899, the youngest of thirteen. Even more hushed-up than the bargee connection was the suggestion that there might be some Irish ancestry in the family. 

That sounds very familiar!

Tony

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1 hour ago, Edwardian said:

Such things do exist in ready-to-lay, and no doubt in FB rail.  It is possible to transition from code 100 to code 75.  Does anyone know what code Tillig rail (HO) is?

 

I don't think it really matters what size the rail is because, as noted, it is possible to shim the smaller rail up to the height of the bigger rail.

 

33800317868_ebeaf69c6a_z.jpg5-56 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr

 

I made my own, at the approach to the main junction station. The crossing is for O/O 16.5mm. There is oviously a second one at a slightly different angle at the bottom of the photo.

 

It is all made from Peco O gauge flatbottom rail, whatever size that is. 

The code 100 used for the narrow gauge was packed up on cardboard.

 

All my points need packing (cornflakes packets) anyway as the copper clads sleepers are thiner than the Peco O 16.5mm track.

I'm too lazy to build my own plain track.

 

Ian T

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Another suggestion about the south facing (?) window. Your multi tracked eye level bridge reminds me of a 1960/70s reflective light shelf across  - as is still visible in many oFfice blocks of that date, to supposedly bounce natural light further into deep plans.

My suggestion would be a minimal (double track) vertical  depth ledge for the rails in front of a shallow planter against the light so that your trains would progress across 4mm scale woodland With sunlight percolating through it on good days. The planter could hold the first welcome sparks of spring in Jan at our latitudes, and forests of herbs, maybe with an adjustable window blind, at the present time of the year.

 

Anotherpoint about the sensible lighting for working at modelling, is that the auxiliary spots and more scenic lighting could create a more intimate warmer atmosphere for times when you want to be reflective and simply  enjoy the spectacle of the modelling as a backdrop to some other thinking.


 2
Another practical prob is that the movable bookcase etc. will make the removable span across the door impossible to maintain with the precision locking required.for continuity. The track base will have to be securely located relative to the Rokeby Venus’s walls, with some felt underplay to permit the furniture to be moved independently.

 

 

Edited by runs as required
Sorry this got composed slowly while you James posted a much sharper response about the window blind
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9 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

Yes, the Byzantine version would be the court eunuch behind the boy emperor, which would have at least avoided the child care issues.

 

 

Could you state the Emperor you are thinking of?

It is interesting the way that 'Byzantine' has become a general term of abuse in Western Europe.

Just as bad as 'Neanderthal'.

 

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I was told that the date at which the Eastern Roman Empire lost its olive oil-producing provinces could be established with a good degree of certainty from the court histories that report the murder of one Emperor by his olive oil-bearing slave and of the next with an iron soap dish.

 

I'm afraid that's my total stock of Byzantine fun facts.

Edited by Compound2632
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1 hour ago, runs as required said:

The track base will have to be securely located relative to the Rokeby Venus’s walls,

 

Very definitely. Even tiny movements such as come from wood expanding and contracting with changing humidity can muck-up alignment, let alone registering things to movable furniture.

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Dead Eye Mike Pence?  Is he actually alive, looking adoringly, mesmerised by the orange one as he reads what his handlers have prepared for him!  Now back to bridges!

      With the picture of the Southern birdcage set and a 02 or similar, the Turnchapel branch with its swing bridge would make a small layout interesting with just enough industry and a couple of stations.  Perhaps its been done already.:unsure:

     Brian.

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2 hours ago, drmditch said:

 

Could you state the Emperor you are thinking of?

It is interesting the way that 'Byzantine' has become a general term of abuse in Western Europe.

Just as bad as 'Neanderthal'.

 

I've studied, by way of recreation, a fair bit about Byzantium (which may not be a surprise to parishioners) but not to the extent that I can reel off Emperors.  However the very significant influence of eunuchs in palace politics and so government of the empire prevails throughout.  The practice predates the slide of the Eastern Roman Empire into the Byzantine and then continued under the Ottomans.  It;s quite clear that having an adult as emperor was no bar to some powerful eunuchs getting their way.  That said, some were very able administrators, some were generals, and some were sh1ts.

 

Byzantine as an pejorative adjective, I don't really understand, they were Romans to start with and Roman law was well-understood.  However they then added a lot of Persian-derived ritual to things and ended up culturally way ahead of many western Europeans.  They clearly used this as part of their diplomatic activities, so maybe it was a bit of jealousy from medieval Europe along the lines of "I can't be doing with this", a bit like being confronted with the array of cutlery at a top French eatery. 

 

Alan

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I thought the point about Byzantine law was that it quickly evolved away from its Roman basis, such that a romanised western-European would feel completely lost in a Constantinople courtroom. Since the Roman law was about all that the Western empire had left after the fall of Rome, seeing it change must have been very unwelcome.

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11 hours ago, Annie said:

I think I'm going to have to face the same solution very soon.  I have endless amounts of old computer stuff , a million pieces of Lego and knock-off Lego, huge amounts of miniature wargaming figures, as well as now completely abandoned railway projects stacked everywhere in my room.  And then there are all the now well out of date textbooks from my time of studying for cleverness certificates as well as my pages of drivel from when I was doing said studying.  As I said to my daughter you'd only have to do this anyway when I'm gone so I might as well do it now.

The only things I would keep are my 'O' gauge tinplate collection and the very few  3/4 inch scale handmade models I made that I think are any good.  If I haven't looked at something for the past three years I shouldn't weep too much over it when it's gone.

 

I am, let's face it, getting on a bit. People visit my model room which is filled with an incompleted layout, many shelves of model aircraft etc. and following that, they then go on into my living room which is filled with my various antiques (18th century English porcelain, 18th century and Regency glass; antique firearms and shelf after shelf of books etc. ) which are all very dear to me. They then ask in a very accusatory tone "What are you going to do with this when you die, have you planned?". My genial reply is "Won't worry me at all will it, I'll be dead won't I"  :rolleyes:

 

For some reason that reply always seems to ignite a series of lectures etc. which leave me somewhat nonplussed. But it is the absolute truth. If there is an after life which I really hope not - let's face it a boring eternity of wondering what to do next, I'll be too busy settling in to worry about my mortal baggage. And if there isn't, which I fully expect, well what can I say except I won't be - end of story. :) 

 

In my home office I seem to have not only the normal things that accumulate in offices like files etc. but for some reason the most outdated collection of instruction manuals and booklets etc. for long out of date technology. I periodically have a clean out of those which go into recycling. As a former archaeologist I have an archaeological approach to the piles of unsought paper which inevitably accumulate and which have never been important enough to provoke any action be it replying to or filing. If haven't had any need for it in a calendar year into recycling it goes. Inevitably it's the stuff at the bottom of the pile. 

 

We have the material things because they are of either practical or entertainment/sentimental value to us. That  is sufficient in my opinion to retain them. If they are no longer practically useful then I get rid of them while those things that offer entertainment or sentimental value I keep. I just seem to have a capacity to accumulate the latter but it's my choice and so be it.  Also on the more practical side our local council has two free hard rubbish collections every year for the big items and the usual weekly recycling rubbish pickups every week or fortnight so I make ample use of these. What more could an avid collector ask for? - oh yes several maids to do the dusting. ;)

 

 

Edited by Malcolm 0-6-0
Pure pedantry...
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I used to know a retired professor of literature who had published a few books on writing styles/fingerprints etc. Lovely man, but he'd buy any book he could find (charity shops, bookshops etc) and his wife continually tried to get him to weed out the shelves, but to no avail, each time this was attempted he'd identify more books that 'ought' to go with those already there, then purchase them (and a few more for luck). She used to smuggle books out the house in her bag and bin them elsewhere!

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Some people cannot ibide clutter while others are happy to live with it. Its when the two marry that it causes friction. Of course in any marriage it is most likely that the pair will not exactly agree which items are clutter and which aren't. Coming to amicable agreement about this is one of the ingredients of a happy marriage.  I have accepted that my Model railway 'junk' will be stored in one room, that those items not being worked on or in use should be stored in a box or cupboard and that the floor can be vaccumed the window cleaned and be generally useable. However it is a continual Work in Progress trying to keep to that.  

 

Don

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8 hours ago, Buhar said:

I've studied, by way of recreation, a fair bit about Byzantium (which may not be a surprise to parishioners) but not to the extent that I can reel off Emperors.  However the very significant influence of eunuchs in palace politics and so government of the empire prevails throughout.  The practice predates the slide of the Eastern Roman Empire into the Byzantine and then continued under the Ottomans.  It;s quite clear that having an adult as emperor was no bar to some powerful eunuchs getting their way.  That said, some were very able administrators, some were generals, and some were sh1ts.

 

Byzantine as an pejorative adjective, I don't really understand, they were Romans to start with and Roman law was well-understood.  However they then added a lot of Persian-derived ritual to things and ended up culturally way ahead of many western Europeans.  They clearly used this as part of their diplomatic activities, so maybe it was a bit of jealousy from medieval Europe along the lines of "I can't be doing with this", a bit like being confronted with the array of cutlery at a top French eatery. 

 

Alan

 

Yes, mine was a generic reference.

 

The Byzantines were Greek, but considered themselves Roman and were Western civilisation (as we have come to understand it i.e. Roman) for centuries; the Western Empire had fallen to barbarians and Byzantium was beset on all sides; e.g. the western barbarians, Franks, Normans etc, the Russ, the Volga Bulgars, the Fatimids in Egypt and, probably most dangerous of all, the Turks, steppe nomads who ultimately claimed most of the Empire for themselves, although 1071-1453 is a long rearguard action!  

 

Though militarily a 'super-power' and capable of some periods of reconquest, overall Byzantium had too many enemies on too many fronts for its military machine to cope. It, thus, developed diplomacy and what we now call 'soft power'.  It impressed, overawed and bamboozled its powerful but less sophisticated enemies.  One story I recall was marching some visiting delegation through hall after splendid hall, each lined with splendidly armoured guards, on the way to the Emperor.  Apparently the Byzantines had to take the guards from halls already traversed and double them along to again take station in halls further on because they did not have enough men to line the whole route through the palace.  That is the perfect illustration of the sort of smoke and mirrors diplomacy they relied upon.  Thus, I believe that this is why we came by 'Byzantine' in its pejorative form. 

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22 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

Apparently the Byzantines had to take the guards from halls already traversed and double them along to again take station in halls further on because they did not have enough men to line the whole route through the palace.

Aha! A bit like knowing where the short cuts are at IKEA then.

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