Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

Dove Holes Quarry at 8pm this evening.

 

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

I was just wondering what about lorry drivers stuck in another country and those in this country unable to get home?

It's a big problem for foreign students whose dormitories and refectories have closed (at least in the US, perhaps there are provisions for them in the UK).

 

I did see a TV interview where a friend's family was willing to let a foreign student (I quickly noticed the Australian accent) stay with them.

 

Edited April 2, 2020 by Ozexpatriate

[newbryford]

Saw the horn tribute not too long along - it's going viral as I've seen it via three other feeds already. I'll bet it's on the BBC tomorrow.

 

For the next few weeks, Mrs NB and myself are on "security duty" for a couple of nights per week at wife's work , whilst it is closed [*]. Leaving Junior NB in charge of the menagerie at home.

At 8pm I wandered outside to listen to the clapping that was coming from two housing areas 200-300 yards away.

I joined in on my own - I was tempted to open my car door and press the horn to be heard!

 

Because I can't exile myself in the shed at home on these odd evenings, I have taken a kit to work on - but not railway - it's a Revell 1/72 V22 Osprey - having seen one over work last year.

First aero kit in many years. I need to do some painting of the sub-assemblies, but that can only be done at home. It may take some time......

 

Friday night should see me join in with a London Area DEMu Zoom "virtual pub" meet as a guest visitor, as I've often attended their annual Xmas do. I will use wife's work bar as the backdrop to make them jealous........ 

 

Anyway, as I'm the keyholder at work tomorrow, my fellow co-worker has already been advised of a POETS....

 

Have good Friday folks.

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

[*] I say closed, but there are a couple of key workers staying there during the week just using it as a basic living space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[newbryford]

4 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

It's a big problem for foreign students whose dormitories and refectories have closed (at least in the US, perhaps there are provisions for them in the UK).

 

I did see a TV interview where a friend's family was willing to let him stay with them.

 

Niece managed to escape the US just after spring break. From (I believe)  the last mainland state to record Covid cases - West Virginia. Although she was in Vegas for Spring Break and then stopped off at Pittsburgh on the way home from WV - she self-isolated for 7 days.

Her lessons start at 4pm Uk time.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, brianusa said:

Not only EQs, but various volcanoes dot the PNW ready to do untold damage along with the possible tsunamis. 

The good news is that with our particular volcanoes, we are likely to have lots of warning. They are positively crawling with seismometers and with the possible exception of Hawaii and Italy are probably the most monitored volcanoes in the world.

 

The earthquakes won't come with much if any warning and the tsunamis will be earthquake generated. Does Gig Harbor consider itself in a "tsunami zone"? I would think not since most of the sound and other islands would shelter you first.

 

The Oregon and Washington coasts are very much in the "tsunami zone". There was extensive damage (I believe it was Crescent City, California) when the 2011 Japanese tsunami crossed the Pacific. There was damage in Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina Island as well.

[Ozexpatriate]

5 minutes ago, newbryford said:

From (I believe)  the last mainland state to record Covid cases - West Virginia. Although she was in Vegas for Spring Break and then stopped off at Pittsburgh on the way home from WV

West Virginia was indeed the last state to have someone test positive.

 

I'm glad that she made it home (and that she chose Vegas, rather than Florida or New Orleans for spring break).

[southern42]

6 hours ago, Barry O said:

Her indoors said morrisons shelves were full this morning. Only limiyed supplies of some items but she got all on her list.

 

Despite gaining many brownir points yesterday I am now in the bad books..don't know why but I know her indoors is scared about going to the shops.

 

AndrewP if we put that on our bin the daft souls would  chuck it in the van.  The l8fe of a bonman is luxurious compared to my student days. Remove bin lid (quietly)Collect steel bin and hoist it onto a shoulder, fight off dogs ( made aware of your presence if your mate dropped his bin lid). Walk to the bin lorry. Empty bin, return to exactly where it came from, replace lid, fight off dogs, go and get next bin...of course if the bin bottom was dodgy you could sometimes get a shoulder full of carp for added pleasure.

Now, we move bin to outside bath. Waster collection operative runs and collects bin. Fastens bin onto machine. Machine empties bin. Dump bin on roadside. Run to get on lorry..jump off and run to the next but one bin..

 

They do a fair job but apart from the running no heavy items to lug around.

 

Mind you

A I got paid to do it

B  It meant I did my rugby preseason while getting paid!

Baz

 

Which stirs my memories of Camel Quay and it dustmen N.E. Muck & T.R. Ash. 

 

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[AndyID]

18 minutes ago, southern42 said:

 

Which stirs my memories of Camel Quay and it dustmen N.E. Muck & T.R. Ash. 

 

 

That pic reminds me of the gents who delivered coal and anthracite to my parent's house. I never quite understood how anyone could walk with a hundredweight sack on their back let alone climb the stairs to the cellar which was a good twelve feet above road level.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

This morning’s shopping expedition was successful, in that I got everything required, with the exception of a pastie, so I had to make do with a pork pie, well we do have to make sacrifices don’t we?

 

Once home and muggertea No2 had been made, I finished making the fruit tea loaf and then decamped to the dining room table where I sat a started to design a control, circuit for a turntable. This continued after dinner and by tea time I had a circuit that met all my requirements, ie, only stopped at the selected exit/entry road and ignoring all other roads and would rotate in either direction, with an emergency stop to kill the lot. I initially used a centre off switch for selecting the direction of rotating, but I then decided that it could be left switched on, so changed to a separate push button for each direction. I've also designed in directional interlocking so that once the table has started to move, the opposite direction is disabled until the table has stopped moving, or the emergency stop has been pressed. I’ve also added LEDs to indicate when the sequence has been started, what direction the table is moving in and when the sequence has stopped. The whole lot uses just 3 push buttons, 3 - 4 pole relays, 4 LEDs with dropper resistors and a selector (up to 12 outputs). All I have to do now is do a neater drawing, the current one has lots of alterations on it and then build it. 

 

Goodnight all. 

[The Stationmaster]

I suspect, and hope, that as far as the NHS and PHE are concerned there will at last be a Royal Commission once this is all over which might, just might, allow far more 'bottom up' thought about things and rebuild - where it is practical to do so, such as stores and equipment holdings - what the politicos of all hues have spent the last 30 years taking out.  It might also help if the military hospital system could be recreated although I think that might be whistling against a hurricane.  And even better if the seemingly useless top echelon of PHE were to be given their marching orders.  it would also help if they actually published some meaningful numbers about what is happening now - saying what age group fatalities fall into is near meaningless without an indication of the death rate among hospitalised patients also split on an age basis. 

 

Now back to our buriers of cable.  They tidied up fairly well and departed the scene with plenty of trench still open but special plastic bridging boards in place which slot into the trench itself.  Hopefully the black top will be reinstated tomorrow, maybe?  I like Tony's comment about the green cabinets as we had those for the cable mob in Tilehurst but then they also put their cable into green conduit.  As will become starkly obvious when I add some of the pics this lot are using pink cable - yes really, it's bright pink!1 The marker they putting on top of it in the trench is green so at least that bit is the right colour but as all their fencing and various other kit is also pink I'm wondering if their equipment cabinets will also be pink?  That should give the local 'paper at least four pages of moans to publish!

 

The Good Doctor is back on the ward at 07.00 and I can but hope that nothing too serious awaits her and the Trust's half hearted attempt at PPE (although as previously noted if they get a patient suspected of having it they are shoved in a side room and shipped off to the JR as soon as it's confirmed.  In the meanwhile the lad will convey Mrs Stationmaster to wrinklies' hour at Waitrose and it will be interesting to see what she can achieve  compared with what Tesco couldn't manage back on Monday.

 

Now where's the l milkman got to?

Edited April 2, 2020 by The Stationmaster

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

Milk's arrived - now to disinfect the bottle.

 

G'night all

[pH]

1 hour ago, AndyID said:

That pic reminds me of the gents who delivered coal and anthracite to my parent's house. I never quite understood how anyone could walk with a hundredweight sack on their back let alone climb the stairs to the cellar which was a good twelve feet above road level.

 

Or even up 4 floors in a close to deliver the coal to a coal bin on the landing, or in the kitchen of a flat!

[J. S. Bach]

Good night owl from the Piedmont.

[BR60103]

Our neighbours were out on the street today having completed 2 weeks CB after their return from Florida. Our local opera singer (ret'd) came through on a truck singing appropriate (but non-operatic) songs.

I'm trying to finish a kit - an Ian Kirk teak job - that I must have started 30+ years ago as I remember where I bought the paint. A friend sent me pictures of his build as the instructions are lacking in specific detail.

SWMBO completed a 1000 piece jigsaw of a railroad scene.

Walking around the Village, we note people are very crefully social distancing, although it's fun to note when approaching parties both move from the sidewalk to the road.

 

[pH]

Today's walk was a bit further away from home. We drove to Minnekhada Park, a fairly small regional park about 20 minutes away.

 

George VI and Queen Elizabeth stayed in the lodge in the park on their visit to Canada in 1939. It's appeared in various TV series and movies. We saw the first swifts of the year, skimming over the lake in the park.

 

A couple of pictures.

 

Looking north over the lower lake:

You can see a dusting of snow on the tops of the mountains. There were a few flurries in town this morning. Apparently, when our 3 year old grandson saw the snow he asked "Does this mean Santa's coming again?".

 

And a view east across the lake, with a beaver lodge in the foreground:

[AndyID]

13 minutes ago, pH said:

 

 

 

That's a really fancy beaver dam in the foreground.

[pH]

30 minutes ago, AndyID said:

 

That's a really fancy beaver dam in the foreground.

 

Yes, all the beavers here have their Professional Engineer designations!

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

I’d like to thank Barry for his exhortations yesterday.  In all seriousness, I value such heartfelt encouragement from him and from my cousin 88C.  The m*d*ll*ng I have done over the past few days has proved quite therapeutic, even when I made a horlicks of cutting and bending a short length of wire intended to take its place in posterity as a modest handrail.  For the time being, planning trips is a complete waste of time.  It still smarts that all the work I did on my Dublin trip came to nought.  The excitement which drove me is gone.  I hope to make use of what I learned if/when I go in 2021.  The planning for the Switzerland trip is done by the nice people at Ffestiniog Travel.  I have not seen this year’s proposal yet but if it is going to happen it should be on the doormat ere long.  Last year I would have planned and taken a different route to and from Switzerland because the usual one via the Rhine Valley takes too long and is boring as hell.  The virus that I brought back from New Zealand came a bit too close to incapacitating me for over two months and I just didn’t feel up to planning anything, despite encouragement from JohnDMJ.

 

Here is my two penn’orth on school dinners.  What I detested beyond measure was macaroni cheese.  “This is not logical, Captain” said Spock, “for you like macaroni and you like cheese”.  This is true, but combine the two and the result for me is nausea.  After one close shave I did not chance it again.  The school that I attended in Hammersmith, Latymer Upper, did generate rather fine custard.  One jug had to suffice for two tables and more often than not there was a search party for leftovers.  Tapioca pudding was served with oranges so the peel got chucked in the bowl.  This did not deter those of us who liked the stuff.  The cooks at Huntingdon Grammar School, as it then was, left no stone unturned when it came to ruining liver, some of which would have been perfect for emergency shoe repairs.  Saying grace was down to the teacher on duty.  Mr Jamieson would introduce it with “Eyes down”.

 

Today I have a hormone injection, which is part of my cancer treatment.  I have one every 12 weeks.  Nurse Laura has given me some tips on how to get into the surgery, which has been turned into a fortress while I was not looking.  I will be wearing a red shirt in case she draws blood.

 

Best wishes to all.  Normally you can only have three but they are on special offer.

 

Chris

[Ozexpatriate]

Celebrity COVID-19 casualties are getting younger. Fountains of Wayne co-founder Adam Schlesinger died at 52.  Fountains of Wayne were known for their big hit (and teenaged boy fantasy music video) "Stacey's Mom".  (I really thought that song was released before 2003.)

[jamie92208]

8 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Just a thought. On the bridge bashing thread the is a picture of a lorry stuck under a bridge. Someone noted that it had a foreign registration and on further examination it appears to be Italian. I was just wondering what about lorry drivers stuck in another country and those in this country unable to get home?

I don't think that they will have a problem.  As far as I know freight is moving as normal.  Certainly Brittany Ferries are running a near normal service but only for lorries. I suspect that governm are very keen to keep the supply chain moving.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Good morning all. It looks sunny outside again but no wind. That means I xan make ysevof the fire permit that I got on Tuesday to get rid if another pile of garden rubbish.  No doubt we will go for a walk at some point.  Hopefully some more muddling will be donebut in the meantime I need to stir my stumps and get breakfast sorted.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

As her indoors went shopping yesterday we both woke up thinking its saturday...wrong!

 

Polly, I checked with her indoors. It may not be anything to do with playing  check that your fife hasn't got any cleaning agent present.

 

Chrisf..i have always been seen as a person who helps people to make their best efforts.. just keep doing a bit of muddling every day. You now ir makes sense!

 

Once you lift a heavy item onto your back or shoulder carrying it is easy. It is getting it up there in the first place. After doing my dustbinman duties my next rugby season eas great. I could lift other front rows off the ground no bother.

 

Today brings..some gardening (the strimmer cable has arrived) and a walk to the pharmacist (which would of happened yesterday but a hoolie arrived mid day and stayed all afternoon).

 

Time for me mugatea. 

Positive thoughts to all ERs and to the families of our dear departed ERs  (Jock and Malcolm to name but two)

 

Baz

[polybear]

9 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

He would probably get better medical attention than many American citizens who do not have medical insurance. And on that point about people coming to the UK as 'medical tourists' (not anywhere near as many as the Daily Wail would have us believe)

 

I do recall a one-week (?) TV special some years ago where Philip Schofield and Sarah Green (I think, on both counts) followed the staff in a London (?) Hospital.

They spoke to one of the admin staff, and asked what was the hardest part of her job.

The reply?  "Confirming who is, and who isn't entitled to free treatment on the NHS...."

That's about the only part of the programme I can remember, and has always stuck in my mind.