Early Risers.

[Simon G]

4 hours ago, Shedman5 said:

 

 

Why?  

For is it not written “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach and those that can do neither go into HR” 

 

In my view, this should be altered to “Those who can do, do; those who can’t, teach and those who can do neither study Politics, Philosophy and Economics then go into Politics thinking that they have the ability to run a country.”  
 

As Polly just said above, waiting for the glue to dry before doing the next batch of glueing.  My speed of operation is currently limited by the number of clamps that I have to hold things in position while the glue dries.

 

Wind here has abated a bit more, so I have actually been outside and done a few laps of the house and garden this afternoon.  I think one task for tomorrow will be to wash the living room window, which has a significant amount of dried salt spray accumulated over the past two days.

[Tony_S]

11 minutes ago, southern42 said:

 

I think it is more the 'holiday-makers' that are creating the headlines here

Same here, the day trippers to Southend don’t look from the news reports to be too clear about the rules/guidelines. However to be honest some nearby residents don’t seem to be that good either after a few drinks over the past two weekends. 

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Again, have had to skip a lot and will probably not be able to backread anything much - it seems that the computer just seems to be needed for so much else, and I have to be the one working it,  So it's just a generic greeting again, and if I've missed anything significant, please can somebody PM me with an update - thanks.

 

Hopefully back tomorrow and also hopefully will be able to catch up at last.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[southern42]

10 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I beg to differ. I knew very little about them till I spent rwo Sundays working on Clan Line at Longmoor in 68.  For some reason I thought the rebuilds look better than the originals. However it's great that we can have different views. After all not everyone can have the proper colour for engines of red.

 

Anyway I forgot  to mention earlier that Frwnch Bureaucracy has finally cranked into action and I finally got my French Driving licence yesterday. I only sent the forms off in 3rd Match 2019.

 

Jamie

 

 

One of my favourite books is From the Footplate: Atlantic Coast Express by Stephen Austin (Ian Allen, 1989) in which you "travel in the mind's eye on the footplate of the locomotive," in this instance, Clan Line from Waterloo to Exeter.  Some superb writing, photos (b&w and colour), maps, track plans, diagrams, timetable.

 

Fascinating machines.

_________

Polly

 

Edited May 23, 2020 by southern42

[Tony_S]

I used to reckon that the people who liked to use the “those who can do,do...” quote when I was doing the “teach teachers” job tended towards the incompetent end of the ability (and tact) range. 

[Chris116]

The racing equivalent was that "those who could raced and those who couldn't commentated"! 

 

I commentated on Stock Cars for over 30 years and was allowed to borrow cars for mechanics and staff races a number of times. I won the Arena Essex Banger staff race one year and put a Superstox upside down through the Wisbech safety fence. Just proves the comment is fairly true!

[iL Dottore]

4 hours ago, Shedman5 said:

...Why?  

For is it not written “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach and those that can do neither go into HR” 

 

As I spent a spell as European HR Director for a large pharmaceutical company that quote is a load of bulls**t  along the lines that any Dr who works for a Pharma company is a failed medic who cannot relate to patients and has low interpersonal skills...

You make a very fair point about not pigeonholing people, but my original quote was 

“Why?  

For is it not written “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach and those that can do neither go into HR” “ 

and was written with emoticons attached so that it would be clear that it was not a serious statement but rather intended to be understood as tongue in cheek, ironic and humourous (and it was written in response to comments made by another poster. My apologies if I have offended.

In my long career I have interacted with many HR people, some have been truly excellent (especially the one from my first job - back when HR was called the personnel department), most have been average, one or two have been terrible.

Just like any other department in any company.

[TheQ]

1 hour ago, Coombe Barton said:

I'm probably tempting fate by saying it, but there's a semblance of order beginning to appear in half the living room.

 

I'm not going to mention the other half

That wood apply to part of the garage,  as most of the would has been moved to the new tin shed. 

 

There's about 10 square ft of floor still to do,  but I haven't found enough left overs of suitable wood to finish so far. 

About 15kg of lead melted today. 

 

Ben and me had to stand to one side  to let the Coast Guard 4x4 through on our lane,  there has been much activity of the CG around here.  I suspect that's a combination of no RNLI Baywatch,  a strong offshore wind,  and too many idiots not familiar with the coast. 

 

Talking of idiots two cyclists outside at the moment looking lost at the road signs,  in shiny new crash hats. 

 

[tigerburnie]

A re-work of Mayors Larry Vaughan's speech...……………………….

[While being interviewed on TV] I'm pleased and happy to repeat the news that we have in fact caught and killed a large nasty virus that supposedly injured some people. But as you can see, it's a beautiful day, the beaches are opened, and people are having a wonderful time. Amity, as you know, means friendship.

[roundhouse]

4 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

 After all not everyone can have the proper colour for engines of red.

 

 

 

All locos start off in primer but only some get a decent colour top coat

 

 

[roundhouse]

56 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Same here, the day trippers to Southend don’t look from the news reports to be too clear about the rules/guidelines. However to be honest some nearby residents don’t seem to be that good either after a few drinks over the past two weekends. 

After a few drinks i do not have any issue with social distancing as most don't want to come near me

[iL Dottore]

5 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

...However he stops barking as soon as you make a fuss of him....

The friend or the dog?

4 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

...that Frwnch Bureaucracy has finally Cranked into action and I finally got my French Driving licence yesterday. I only sent the forms off in 3rd Match 2019...

A Swiss friend of mine,  who - for various reasons - lives across the border in France, is particularly scathing about French bureaucracy. In his opinion an arthritic, clubfoot, escargot would be faster. A particular bête noire of his is that everything, but everything, has to be sent to Paris (but I only have his word for that. It could be that he exaggerates, but he’s not the type).

Mind you, most governmental bureaucracies are pretty slow by Swiss standards. It is true that Switzerland has a lot of bureaucracy, but it all works... well, rather like a Swiss Watch and much can be done on the spot at the relevant office (plus I’ve found our council employees to be incredibly helpful...)

4 hours ago, Chris116 said:

Stupidity is probably the main reason. The other is that some of the "I have rights" brigade think they are above the law and follow certain government people (the world over) who think they can get away with anything.

Funny, isn’t it, that when people are taught/informed about their rights they don’t seem to be informed about their responsibilities. And as for politicians, well they have gone down in the world since John Profumo resigned for getting “up close and personal” with a Miss Keeler.  Nowadays, you have to catch a politician red-handed, with a smoking gun in hand atop a pile of bodies while simultaneously cradling a nubile “other“ in one arm and a handful of “favourite illicit substance“ in the other before they would resign for misconduct (and probably not even them).

4 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

A'noon all again,

 

I don't know who's upstairs twiddling the algorithm knobs on the t'internet, but the side bar pop up ads appearing up on various forums I'm on are a funny old mixture at the moment, this week I have mostly been bombarded with ads for vintage guitars, stiletto heeled kinky boots, gothic jewellery, baking products, brightly coloured hair dye, cat food and power tools.

 

Something is afoot I tells yer....!

If I am accessing RMWeb on my PC, I have a number of different browser add-ons that strip out all the advertising. Unfortunately, because Apple tops up it’s already bloated coffers with advertising revenue, I can’t turn the ads off when I use my iPad for browsing RMweb. Apparently it is a demand of Apple, that if you are developing any kind of software for the iPad or iPhone it absolutely has to permit advertising streaming without the possibility of blocking or turning off the ads. Of course, they are easy enough to ignore, but it is nonetheless annoying.

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

..Is that the price for a whole sheep?? otherwise they are having a giraffe!

 

Baz

You’d be surprised at the price of really good quality, well aged and properly butchered meat from animals farmed to the highest possible standards can cost. There was a recent three-part series featuring Paul Hollywood visiting (and eating in) Japan. In the program, one learnt that the Japanese are prepared to pay, what for us would be eye watering prices, for very high quality food. Think £350 for a single strawberry, or over £1000 for a Wagyu steak. A lot of the price reflects the conditions in which the animal is reared (good conditions cost the farmer more) as well as the smaller volume of meat sold by the farmer and in turn by the butcher.

Near us, where we live in Switzerland, is a farmer who raises pigs to the highest possible standard: they live freely, being able to move from their little huts (for want of a better word) to the field without hindrance and as they wish, they get fed a bottle of beer every day and they are slaughtered locally (so no distressing long journeys to the abattoir). The pork from these pigs is utterly amazing, but also about 25% to 45% dearer than for the same cuts of meat from unhappy mass produced pigs.

ID

Edited May 23, 2020 by iL Dottore

[southern42]

1 hour ago, Coombe Barton said:

"semblance of order" means neither that the space available has increased.

It is solely the opposite of "total disorder".

I'm reminded of my undergrad physical chemistry days. Closest packing in crystal matrices is making to the situation here

https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/General_Chemistry/Book%3A_Chem1_(Lower)/07%3A_Solids_and_Liquids/7.08%3A_Cubic_Lattices_and_Close_Packing

 

Seeing those diagrams took me back to biology, chemistry, and  physics exams.  You drew the diagrams  and described the science behind them.  Skip a few decades and I remember seeing some exam questions from the same subjects: diagrams were provided and the answer required some sort of sociological/philosophical discussion of the question.  "Where was the science?" I asked myself.  I hope things have improved...

 

At some point, I met up with a younger than me co-Evening Class tutor who was complaining that the teaching of reading and spelling that she received hardly existed and now, as an adult, felt very disadvantaged.  It certainly makes you appreciate the education you received back in the dark ages!  Although, I do wish they would have let me loose in the metal workshop!  Even better, I dreamt of woodworking classes but had to wait until my early twenties for just a few years worth - then they took them out of the schools so that no-one could be let loose in them.  I am the one that feels disadvantaged, these days!

 

_________

Polly

[Ozexpatriate]

9 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 It’s amazing how much Americans put into their communities - volunteering to do things such as helping in hospitals, manning [sorry, personning] fire departments and ambulance services, rescuing animals, making sure - in winter - that the pavements in front of their properties are free of ice and snow, etc. etc.

"staffing". I've never heard anyone use "personning". 

[roundhouse]

45 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

You make a very fair point about not pigeonholing people, but my original quote was 

“Why?  

For is it not written “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach and those that can do neither go into HR” “ 

and was written with emoticons attached so that it would be clear that it was not a serious statement but rather intended to be understood as tongue in cheek, ironic and humourous (and it was written in response to comments made by another poster. My apologies if I have offended.

In my long career I have interacted with many HR people, some have been truly excellent (especially the one from my first job - back when HR was called the personnel department), most have been average, one or two have been terrible.

Just like any other department in any company.

yes i have had mixed views of HR. Some good some bad. I think that I may have mentioned this on here a few years ago. One company relocated the personel dept into an area where I used to sit that was open plan and a thoroughfare but they enclosed it for personel to move into but with two doors so they put on one of the doors ' personnel - no entry'. they wernt very fiendly in that company either.

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, southern42 said:

 

One of my favourite books is From the Footplate: Atlantic Coast Express by Stephen Austin (Ian Allen, 1989) in which you "travel in the mind's eye on the footplate of the locomotive," in this instance, Clan Line from Padstow to Exeter.  Some superb writing, photos (b&w and colour), maps, track plans, diagrams, timetable.

I always thought that the furthest west that a Merchant Navy would venture was the shed at Exmouth Junction.  Especially as they were even heavier after they had been rebuilt.

 

Certainly a trip along the original North Cornwall line would have been a bit iffy as the Meldon viaduct near Okehampton had a weight restriction that only allowed locos up to the size of an N class mogul to cross, plus there were no suitable turning facilities at Padstow.  This changed after WW2 when Padstow was kitted out with a larger turntable  and the smaller Bulleid light pacifics (WC/BB) were  permitted  to cross Meldon viaduct. 

 

I'll look forward to his next book:  North Star to  Snowdon summit.

Edited May 23, 2020 by Happy Hippo

[polybear]

Currently watching the Coronovirus update on Telly.  All the media questions are firmly of the "Dominic Cummings witch-hunt" variety.  FFS.

However, why is it that journalists and reporters are exempt from the uneccessary journeys rule when they are out and about interviewing Mrs Jones' Cat to see how Tiddles is coping with the lockdown?

 

*Not a great fan of the media; many moons ago I came across an anti-aircraft shell when digging foundations for my shed, which ended up with a visit from the Bomb Disposal Boys.  Despite the circumstances being clearly explained to the journo for the local rag later that day (who turned up on my doorstep unannounced, complete with photographer in tow) the subsequent article was headlined "Keen Gardener Tending His Tomatoes".  I should've sued....

And no, he didn't get a photo of me leaning on a spade, as was suggested.  I'm a shy little bear at heart

 

Edited May 23, 2020 by polybear

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

 

 

Is that the price for a whole sheep?? otherwise they are having a giraffe!

 

Baz

Actually it probably is giraffe meat that has been delivered by a dedicated team of triathletes all the way from central Kenya.

[JohnDMJ]

 

29 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Near us, where we live in Switzerland, is a farmer who raises pigs to the highest possible standard: they live freely, being able to move from their little huts (for want of a better word) to the field without hindrance and as they wish, they get fed a bottle of beer every day and they are slaughtered locally (so no distressing long journeys to the abattoir). The pork from these pigs is utterly amazing, but also about 25% to 45% dearer than for the same cuts of meat from unhappy mass produced pigs.

ID

 

And worth every penny. Does he export?

[Ozexpatriate]

43 minutes ago, roundhouse said:

'personnel - no entry'

That's hilarious - very welcoming, very employee focused.

 

I worked in a sales office that people used as a thoroughfare. (It wasn't open plan, but a corridor of walled offices.) Some people in the office didn't like random employees traipsing through, particularly after hours.  We installed doors at both ends, but we did not need a "no entry" sign. They weren't locked, except after hours. People took the hint seeing a closed door.

 

Human Resources / Personnel cultures vary greatly according to the influence of the head. HR at the company where I worked for 25 years changed radically over the years. In the beginning they were very focused on skill development, offering and encouraging employees with a wide range of training. They also implemented on-site daycare (in the Montessori model) in its own separate facility on campus.  Everyday you would see teachers walking the preschool students around the grounds and often see parents having lunch with their children in the cafeteria. It was an exemplar of what a HR organization can be.

 

At the end the whole function of HR was to defend the company (and in particular, its executives) against legal action - including, but not limited to, sharp and dubiously legal termination practices, managing harassment suits against minor executives and compliance with California* harassment training legislation. Other than mandatory ethics and harassment online training there was little of the old skill development training offered and if it was, it wasn't encouraged by line management.

 

It only got worse after acquisition by a large European-based global company a few years ago.

 

* The California standard was used partly because a manager located anywhere in the US could have a California-based employee, in which case those requirements had to be met, but also because they were the most stringent.

 

Edited May 23, 2020 by Ozexpatriate

[Happy Hippo]

The PH is rather annoyed having spent a rather pointless session at the Telford international Centre.  He had gone there to help recover tables and chairs which the local Scout Association had loaned as the site had been in use as an NHS C-19 testing centre.

 

They had been told that that the tables and chairs would have to be cleaned/decontaminated prior to their return as part of the infection control procedures.

 

However, it was pretty obvious when they got there mainly due to the visible dust, bird droppings on some chairs (still out in the car park) and coffee and tea stains on the tables than nothing of the sort took place.

 

Someone, somewhere has screwed up as they will  now have to get in a team especially to clean the stuff before it can be collected.

 

Of course the PH and his cronies will then have to make another trip to collect.

 

Being a cynic it wouldn't surprise me if TIC try to charge the Scouts for storing the tables and chairs due to their not being collected when requested!!

[The Stationmaster]

14 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

"staffing". I've never heard anyone use "personning". 

Just you wait - it'll be along soon.  

 

When I joined the railway we had 'Staff Offices', then they became 'Staff & Admin', then they moved on to become 'Personnel' (but not for long), after which they became 'Human Resources'.  My impression was that at each change the knowledge their occupants had of employment conditions etc declined to a lower level, a few survivors from the past aside.  And when they became 'Human Resources' they didn't have the first idea about resources and the management of manpower requirements let alone how to calculate how many people were needed to do a particular task and certainly by the time that was going on it was rare to find anybody in that line who knew as much about certain areas of employment conditions, especially for traincrews, as I did.  Whereas back in Staff Office days there were some very cute folk who had the knowledge at their finger tips.  Obviously it varies between companies etc and I can only speak from my own experience but I gradually became less impressed as the years went on and the titles changed.  I also found that when it came to budgetting for personnel etc costs that  it was invariably some functional managers or a particular function's own admin man who had a far better grasp of things than anybody in the HR etc department.

 

Anyway back to the new normal and good afternoon all,

 

The day started well dangerously as herself questioned me in respect of the weather forecast in relation to the hanging out of washing.  I took advice from Exeter's former sperts and out went the washing.  It transpired within a fairly short time that a 'less than 5% chance of rain' actually means it will hammer down for no more than 3 minutes while a 'less than 10% chance' means it will pour down for 6 minutes.  No doubt the weeds loved it and I carefully blamed it all on the seaweed twirlers as the washing got its second, third, and fourth, thorough rinsing out on the washing line.   Fortunately your informant not only escaped without injury but the catering dept subsequently produced a very nice batch of scones and there was of course some of Mr Rodda's best ready to hand in the fridge.

 

This afternoon I decided to give the automobile its chance of an hour in the sun with a purposeful employment of its battery revival capacity.  The Good Doctor and I therefore made a journey in the direction of our originally planned trip for tomorrow in the direction of Stoke Mandible but of course we won't be able to go there tomorrow for our intended visit to Railex nor to enjoy a nice breakfast time conversation with ChrisF and various other luminaries of RMweb (my advance ticket is duly laid-off until next year).  Having got a good part of the distance there we turned off at the northern end of Princes Risborough and took a pleasant circular return route via Thame and Stadhampton with the former being somewhere the GD had never previously seen so she was suitably impressed.  She decided that we wouldn't stop at Crazy Bear at Stadhampton because she was sure I wouldn't let her pet the animals although the farm shop would no doubt have been open and well worth the very short diversion off our route.  The lad spent his trip out more productively and ventured to Finchampstead duly returning with a heavily laden carrier bag full of various types of beer - that is now in the quarantine centre.

 

And talking of the teaching profession here was a version I heard from several of them  'Those who can do; those who can't, teach;  those who can't teach become education advisors'.   Admittedly in one instance it was very much aimed at a particular person who had moved from teaching (which she wasn't good at) to become an education advisor (which she wasn't good at), I think preaching (in a non-religious sense) would have suited her approach to life better than either because she definitely did a lot of that.  The older version, which I heard several times from some of my mother's generation of teachers, was 'those who can't teach become school inspectors'.

 

Enjoy the rest of your day and do your best to stay safe while those of our fellow citizens carry on doing the exact opposite. 

 

 

[bbishop]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

I always thought that the furthest west that a Merchant Navy would venture was the shed at Exmouth Junction.  Especially as they were even heavier after they had been rebuilt.

 

Certainly a trip along the original North Cornwall line would have been a bit iffy as the Meldon viaduct near Okehampton had a weight restriction that only allowed locos up to the size of an N class mogul to cross, plus there were no suitable turning facilities at Padstow.  This changed after WW2 when Padstow was kitted out with a larger turntable  and the smaller Bulleid light pacifics (WC/BB) were  permitted  to cross Meldon viaduct. 

 

I'll look forward to his next book:  North Star to  Snowdon summit.

 

Richard,  without looking it up, Packets were allowed to Exeter, rebuilt LPs to Plymouth and unrebuilt to most places in Devon and Cornwall.  Everything took the Meldon Viaducts dead slow.

 

Bill

[roundhouse]

46 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

That's hilarious - very welcoming, very employee focused.

 

I worked in a sales office that people used as a thoroughfare. (It wasn't open plan, but a corridor of walled offices.) Some people in the office didn't like random employees traipsing through, particularly after hours.  We installed doors at both ends, but we did not need a "no entry" sign. They weren't locked, except after hours. People took the hint seeing a closed door.

 

Human Resources / Personnel cultures vary greatly according to the influence of the head. HR at the company where I worked for 25 years changed radically over the years. In the beginning they were very focused on skill development, offering and encouraging employees with a wide range of training. They also implemented on-site daycare (in the Montessori model) in its own separate facility on campus.  Everyday you would see teachers walking the preschool students around the grounds and often see parents having lunch with their children in the cafeteria. It was an exemplar of what a HR organization can be.

 

At the end the whole function of HR was to defend the company (and in particular, its executives) against legal action - including, but not limited to, sharp and dubiously legal termination practices, managing harassment suits against minor executives and compliance with California* harassment training legislation. Other than mandatory ethics and harassment online training there was little of the old skill development training offered and if it was, it wasn't encouraged by line management.

 

It only got worse after acquisition by a large European-based global company a few years ago.

 

* The California standard was used partly because a manager located anywhere in the US could have a California-based employee, in which case those requirements had to be met, but also because they were the most stringent.

 

The top director wasn't a 'person' person. When the recession in the 90's took hold we all had a letter saying that the company car grades were being downgraded to save money, just as I had been promoted and awaiting a better car whilst he put his Mercedes into the 'car pool' and down graded to a cheaper 'personal company car' to reduce his tax bill but no one except him ever drove the Mercedes 'kept in the warehouse', so it was actually costing the company a lot more. Later on just after they then got rid of a lot of the well respected management they decided to out source us, so i handed my notice in and when my immediate boss who had been there even longer did the same, this director said to my boss 'well its good not to stay too long in a company' with no remorse that someone was leaving. It was all to restructure the company to sell it. Needless to say that the company only lasted another five years even after restructuring again back to similar to how it had been but the writing was already on the wall as they couldn't manage the projects with such a vast change of employees. It took the pension fund down aswell just before new legislation was brought in to protect them after the Maxwell scandal.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Not done a lot today, I am just being lazy.

6 hours ago, TheQ said:

NorFolk terriers ears Flop down, NorWich terriers ears Wave about. ( stand up) 

I can't recall whether her ears go up or down at the moment, I'll have to look when lock down is over.

2 hours ago, roundhouse said:

After a few drinks i do not have any issue with social distancing as most don't want to come near me

Neither do those at exhibitions who don't use deodorants.