The Night Mail

[J. S. Bach]

On 26/09/2021 at 11:38, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Morning all,

Managed to sleep in past 9 today, a welcome change from my usual time of 6:00. After the usual replenishing of food I went and soldered on the smokebox door hinges I had made for the engine over the past few days. It went swimmingly. They still need a bit of tweaking to get the alignment right though they do work. Next up is the latch on t’other side.

 

Douglas

Good morning, Jimmy!

[J. S. Bach]

15 hours ago, AndyID said:

 ...snip... A septic sucking service has been engaged for Friday morning. You have been warned! BTW their slogan is:

 

"The #1 Man for the #2 Job."

I have seen a picture of one of those painted up like a school bus with some appropriate graphics in the bus windows and lettered as the "Stool Bus".

 

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Winslow Boy said:

Used to be called, may still be, night soil and is used as an organic fertilizer. There are though some issues about putting what is untreated sewage on the ground because of the risk of ground water contamination. I mention this incase any followers of this esteemed drivel have the sudden desire to fertilize there gardens.

 

A somewhat timely news article:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-58710377

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

Used to be called, may still be, night soil and is used as an organic fertilizer. There are though some issues about putting what is untreated sewage on the ground because of the risk of ground water contamination. I mention this incase any followers of this esteemed drivel have the sudden desire to fertilize there gardens.

I have been told that the smell of human urine is an excellent  fox repellent.  We haven't had any apparent  trouble with M Renard yet outside the hen enclosure.

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

Somebody has both turned on the water and turned out the light!

 

It's very wet, dim and dismal in Shropshire this afternoon.

 

I did manage to do some trimming with the router before the skies decided it was opening time, but the rest of the morning was taken up in making a new wooden handle to replace the plastic one on my RSU which has been slowly and gracefully melting away.

 

This is not uncommon with soldering equipment as I also have two large soldering irons where the moulded plastic handles have also decided to start getting floppy!

 

I'll add them to the list of bits and pieces that need making, modifying or repairing.

 

I've also ordered up some new copper coated carbon rods for the RSU. What's left of the rod in the unit has obviously seen better days.

 

My annual eye examination took place this afternoon, the trip down through the lanes to get there being more akin to driving along a stream bed.

 

I came back home the long way around to avoid the chance of Noah and his ark coming the other way.

 

[AndyID]

11 hours ago, laurenceb said:

Tomato seed has to pass through the digestive tract or they will not germinate

 

Fortunately a similar result can be obtained by allowing the pulp to ferment for a few days

[simontaylor484]

I have heard the use of treated human sewage for agricultural purposes as Humanure

[AndyID]

It's been a bit wet here too but it's unusual to get really intense, prolonged rain. The systems that roll in from the Pacific typically get a lot of the moisture wrung out by the Sierra or Cascade Mountains. Washington State is famous for growing apples on the Eastern side of the Cascades. First time I was there I was surprised to see that they are extensively irrigated by water from the Columbia river.

[SM42]

19 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

A septic sucking service has been engaged for Friday morning. You have been warned! BTW their slogan is:

 

"The #1 Man for the #2 Job."

 

A sewerage tanker owned by Severn Trent Water was once seen rumbling through town. 

On the side of the tank it said:

"The motion is carried "

 

Andy

[PhilJ W]

30 minutes ago, SM42 said:

 

A sewerage tanker owned by Severn Trent Water was once seen rumbling through town. 

On the side of the tank it said:

"The motion is carried "

 

Andy

On the back of a sewerage tanker I saw written "Contains nuts (and sweetcorn)."

Edited September 28, 2021 by PhilJ W

[Winslow Boy]

14 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

On the back of a sewerage tanker I saw written "Contains nuts (and sweetcorn)."

 

Shouldn't that be 'may contain nuts' or was it perhaps a reference to the driver?

[J. S. Bach]

1 hour ago, SM42 said:

 

A sewerage tanker owned by Severn Trent Water was once seen rumbling through town. 

On the side of the tank it said:

"The motion is carried "

 

Andy

                                                                                                         

The one that I like the best is "contains political promises".

[Dave Hunt]

When we lived in Singapore there appeared in the local paper a spoof children's book review for an Enid Blyton work titled "Noddy and the Night Soil Men". I don't remember all the wording except for one bit that said something like, "Should help to fertilise young imaginations." 

 

Dave

 

[simontaylor484]

I have seen it referred to as hu-manure

[Happy Hippo]

Better weather this morning, so another outdoor work session is on the cards.

 

This afternoon might see more preparation for the show on Saturday:  I'm a bit behind as I couldn't find my roller gauges, so started tearing the workshop apart to look for them.

 

Fortunately my friend and co-conspirator Gordon, texted to say he had them in his box, so my thoughts about making some out of aluminium angle subsided.

 

I still need to make up some stretcher bars, and a small fixture to ensure consistency in the width of them.

 

And make some signs.

 

 

And, and, and...

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

Well done to Andy Y getting us back up and running before the weekend stuck.

 

I m currently preparing to go through the check list of things to take for tomorrow's exhibition.

 

The list appears massive, but in all honesty most of it will fit into a small toolbox:  The exception being the 'rail grinder' aka the sanding machine; a large lamp, the RSU and my work board.  Then of course, there is all the materiel....

 

Fortunately I have a four wheel trundle truck:

 

So it's a case of everything getting dragged into the exhibition hall in one go:  Useful if it's raining!

 

Trouble is, it will be 3/4 full of cake....

 

 

 

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Morning all,

 

Firstly, I would like to reiterate HH’s congrats to Andy. Secondly, some very nice bread pudding was had on Wednesday.

 

Enough said.

 

 

Douglas

[J. S. Bach]

Thanks! And I have not had lunch yet.

[Dave Hunt]

Glad to see RMW up and running again. I'm having a couple of days of bachelorhood at home while Jill is remaining at our friends' pad for house and animal sitting. Unfortunately my dreams of several days in the workshop have been thwarted by having to go yesterday to see the friend whose husband is in a home with dementia to discuss the future of his photograph collection with an interested party then today has so far been largely taken up by niffnaff and trivia as well as instructions to get supplies in and preparaations done for the dreaded D word that is scheduled to take place soon. This afternoon I have to go to see Dad and make sure he is provisioned and get him a meal ready then I have to return to Jill either tomorrow afternoon or Sunday - final instructions have yet to be received. I may yet get an hour or so in this evening and possibly tomorrow morning though so all is not lost.

 

Good luck to HH with the show. I had intended to be there but it looks as though that will not happen now.

 

Dave

[pH]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Fortunately I have a four wheel trundle truck:

 

Trouble is, it will be 3/4 full of cake....

 

 
I would have thought a cake transport would have been far more secure than that!

[J. S. Bach]

Camouflage!

[Happy Hippo]

For those wanting a laugh and then a moan about waste, the delivery of the copper coated carbon rods for the RSU is a case in point.

 

The rods, 13/64" x13"' were each packed in individual cardboard tubes which were 1.5" diameter.

 

The tubes where then packed, not together, but in two separate boxes, 16" x 10" x 4".

 

I presume they were pre packed otherwise, the two rods could easily have gone into one tube, and a smaller box.

 

They came from the same distribution centre and were delivered at the same time.

 

[J. S. Bach]

Keep them separate so the they do not break or damage one another? I once bought (well, Dad did for me) some, for what*, I do not remember, and they were individually wrapped. This was many years ago, btw.

 

*EDIT: I just remembered after posting that we, a friend and I, were going to use them to activate an old arc street light. I have no memory of the results, though. I suspect that nothing bad happened; that I would have remembered.

 

 

Edited October 1, 2021 by J. S. Bach
To add some information.

[Stubby47]

I happened to pass Attingham Park earlier.

 

Unfortunately did not have time to stop & visit.

 

 

[Northroader]

So you went in the Mytton and Mermaid instead.