Early Risers.

[brianusa]

Welcome to the 4th of July! Its just after lunch and the bangs have already started, an ominous portent for the rest of the day  Fortunately the day is cool and overcast so hopefully no fires will be set from errant rockets.  Tomorrow there will be the usual news stories from the same upset citizenry who complained last year about the sale of fireworks, which always falls on deaf ears.

     Brian

[Barry O]

Goodnight To most, evening to some and good morning to OZ readers

Baz

[Coombe Barton]

... and The Crowns - a candidate for the most photographed mine site in Cornwall.

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/spem-in-isolation/

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

I watched my team loose (hammered) in a relegation six pointer so not a happy chappie at all.

in other news went up to see mil and her husband and I did manage to get the overdue VAT return completed and paid. The next 3month Vat period is now complete so another return is due. 
As a result of all of the above no modelling done. Tomorrow is another day and it hasn’t even been started on yet.

Goodnight 

Robert

[Gwiwer]

4 hours ago, Andrew P said:

A Pink Cadillac or Yellow Rolls Royce would have been a good buy as well

Or a Big Yellow Taxi

 

Friend in Cornwall offered one of his cars for sale today.  Extremely tidy low-mileage Hyundai i30 which model is near or at the top of my list should we need to buy something in a hurry.  Very tempting knowing its full history with a careful ex-professional driver but a 350 mile trip to collect an 11-year old car did rather mitigate against the purchase.  Plus we have always said since living Upon the Hill of Strawberries that we do not need such a thing.  We still don't.  And we do not intend to invest for the short-term only to contribute to the return of greenhouse gases and crud in the air.  Besides which an 11 year old Cornish diesel is not ULEZ-compliant meaning we could only drive away from London and when the zone extends as planned we couldn't drive it at all.  

 

It has been a quiet day.  The weather hasn't done us any favours; cool, windy and grey yet with a very high pollen count.  I counted many of those pollens entering my nose at frequent intervals and returning amid a great deal of sneezing.  

 

A brief excursion to the corner shop proved that some things are returning towards normal.  The Thai restaurant is open for dine-in (it has always remained open for take-away and delivery) and had two occupied tables as I passed though at 6.45 that was quite early for the dinner sitting.  And the corner shop is once again accepting cash payments and giving change.  I don't need a haircut because I use the clippers every week and have done for many years but our shearing and shortening establishment has also re-opened.  

 

Most nearby pubs have not yet re-opened and a few plan to ride the storm for rather longer.  And I have yet to see a coffee shop or cafe with its doors open though I must admit to not having explored very far today.  

 

In conversation with Aussie Mate in Victoria he tells me that their Premier is losing popularity faster than a broken sieve loses water.  Managing local upticks in infection is one thing but given the tiny number of cases (by global standards) they are dealing with the reaction to sending armed police into residential blocks of flats to force residents to stay inside is being seen as a very serious over-reaction.  These are blocks known to be occupied by (among many others) multi-generation extended families living in 2-3 rooms without air conditioning, without balconies, without fully-opening windows and required to share a communal laundry to which they are now denied access by the police.  Opinion suggests that such scenarios are the breeding ground for all manner of germs and that it may have been better to get everyone out instead.  

 

On that note it is time to put the Gwiwer in the shower.  I wouldn't want to be the stinker at a virtual exhibition in the morning, would I?   And thence to bed declaring Saturday to have entertained me for long enough.  

 

Sleep safe and well.  

[Gwiwer]

22 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

a candidate for the most photographed mine site in Cornwall.

And the most dangerous place to have worked.  If you survived the slippery slope down and failed to pitch off the cliff into the ocean you then worked beneath that ocean floor sometimes so close to it that you could allegedly hear an angry sea rolling boulders about above your head.  And those mines were wet.  Very very wet.  The things folk did to earn a crust backalong.  12 hours on, 12 hours off, not usually worked on Sundays.  

[newbryford]

On 01/07/2020 at 18:39, tigerburnie said:

I'm sure there's an LMS Jinty in there....................................................

 

There's five of them, all turned up at the fancy dress party in the same outfit.

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I can hear the wind outside but at least there's no rain. Sometime tomorrow I'll try to get the wheelbarrow assembled, if it stays dry. Now back to Farcebook. 

[J. S. Bach]

2 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Afternoon all,

I’m currently sitting by the pool sweating madly at my grandparents  ...snip...

Sweating madly at your grandparents???

 

 

2 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

 ...snip... I just spent 40 minutes inside winding the huge clock pictured below, it came out of town hall in Austria.  ...snip...

Forty minutes inside that clock winding it? That must have been downright uncomfortable!

 

Also, unless my limited (very) knowledge of European geography is messed up, I thought that Austria is a country; countries do not usually have" town halls". So, tell us more about the clock; with a photo of something by it to give an idea of its size. It does look rather old.

 

 

 

 

 

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone

 

The weather has been awful, constant rain for most of the day, luckily it hasn’t been heavy rain, light showers really. It stopped just after tea and it brightened up a little, but it started to rain again about 30 minutes ago. 

 

James called round at about 11 o’clock and stayed until just almost 1 o’clock! We chatted for most of the time, mainly about his work. He had been furloughed up until about 3 weeks ago, when started back doing 3 - 12 days, plus 1 - 6 hour day! However, that has now changed and instead he is now working 5 - 6 hour days instead, which he’s quite pleased with, as he now gets home a bit earlier and also gets his weekends off. As it was nearly 1 o’clock when he left for home, we decided that we might as well have an early dinner early. Needless to say, I didn’t get to the workshop this morning at all. 

 

After dinner I managed a couple hours in the workshop, initially testing what would switch the photo interrupter, the smallest size was a 0.8mm drill, but I think this is probably a bit too small to be practical. However, I did notice was that the bench light (small halogen desk light) I use affected it’s operation, it working better when I switched it off. I’m assuming that the lights wavelength is similar to that of the UV LED in the photo interrupter. Once happy that everything was working ok, I drilled the fixing holes in all 8 boards, meaning that tomorrow I can fix them to the drive-motor base. As these all have screw terminals connecting everything up should be a lot easier than the soldered connections of the previous sprung/plunger operated limit switches. The previous limit switch system only needed 5 wires, but this new system needs 6, the extra wire is for the common 0v line on all the circuit boards. However, I’ve used a short piece of 7 core flex to connect between the selector switch and the turntable limit switches, so there are 2 unused cores available, so that will be an easy modification to make.

 

 Goodnight all 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

13 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

Sweating madly at your grandparents???

 

 

Forty minutes inside that clock winding it? That must have been downright uncomfortable!

 

Also, unless my limited (very) knowledge of European geography is messed up, I thought that Austria is a country; countries do not usually have" town halls". So, tell us more about the clock; with a photo of something by it to give an idea of its size. It does look rather old.

 

 

 

 

 

Well yes partially.

 

As for the clock, that’s all we know about it, we bought it from a chandelier maker/antique dealer who had been a family friend for years. It’s probably a good 11 ft tall. Unfortunately these are the only decent photos I have.

 

The chandelier making chap is very interesting, he has a greensand foundry in the basement of his building. This building is well over 100 years old and was originally built to store the expensive fur coats the rich oil men’s wives and girlfriends would wear. The foundry area is in two haves, pattern storage and casting. The pattern storage area is kept in the old fur vault, very James Bond looking. There’s also a full 1940s electric machine shop, polishing area and brazing hearth. Been in there several times, always found it fascinating, but I believe he’s closing down this year or the next. Unfortunately I didn’t have the foresight to take any photos.

Edited July 4, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works
Not enough info

[The Stationmaster]

4 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Douglas' comparison of pasties and empanadas led me to some very little online searches of same yesterday - not just Wikipedia, but frankly that was the most useful reference. Most of the non-Wiki hits were more folkloric in nature than researched.

 

It is interesting that the name pasté is Medieval French and related to the Latin 'pasta'. There are written references to such dishes (venison, various fish, vegetables and cheese) in 14th century France and in England (herrings) that date back to the 13th century. The first written references to empanadas date to the 16th century (but 68 years prior to Phillip II's nautical misadventure). No doubt they both existed well before being incorporated into cookery books. Nothing suggests the pasty as a Cornish invention.

 

Cornish references to the crusts as handles for the arsenic laden fingers of tin miners are no doubt accurate (to a point) but I suspect the existence of the crusts predate that usage. One could make some chicken/egg arguments, but the practicality of stopping the insides from leaking out suggest the crimped crust arrived in the kitchen well before feeding the spirits in the gloom of the mine, as delightful as that folklore is.

 

Of course Chinese pot stickers (Jiaozi) have crimped sides too. Their invention is attributed to Zhang Zhongjing in the 2nd or early 3rd century.

 

Hmm - sounds like someone somewhere (Wiki- land???) doesn't know the difference between a side crimp and top crimp.  I doubt a tin miner, or any other worker with nasty stuff on their hands , could have readily eaten a top crimped pasty without touching the important part of it.  You can of course eat a side crimped pasty by holding the crimp and eating the pasty contents without touching them - hence proper job Cornish pasties are side crimped.

[newbryford]

On 02/07/2020 at 21:24, New Haven Neil said:

Query.

 

Has anyone ever made a small signal box diagram?  Maybe 6 inches long or so, just to refer to point and signal numbers?  I don't have the artistic skills to draw one freehand (or any artistic skills of that sort TBH), has anyone used a computer programme to make one?  Any hints?

 

Try downloading these.

https://www.dccconcepts.com/manual/mimic-board-art-tools/

 

edit: posted before seeing Mr BoDs contribution - that's what happens when you don't read ahead two days.....)

Edited July 4, 2020 by newbryford

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[newbryford]

23 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

Oh, my aching eyes! I wish that it were possible to "un-see" something!

 

I had the same response for the pic of panneers a few pages back.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

13 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

I had the same response for the pic of panneers a few pages back.

Shame, shame I say.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Chuckinitdern, outside right now, power has gone on and off for the past few minutes.

[J. S. Bach]

2 minutes ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

 ...snip... power has gone on and off for the past few minutes.

Is it windy? A branch may be intermittently contacting the primary.

[J. S. Bach]

Good night owl from the Piedmont.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

2 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

Is it windy? A branch may be intermittently contacting the primary.

It appears that’s what happened, but the rain has stopped now and the power is fine.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Goodnight all, from Greencountry, where it’s sounds like an artillery barrage at the moment.

 

Douglas

Edited July 5, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[BR60103]

Woken about 4 am by SWMBO who was hearing a noise. Finally traced to the water meter which was spinning like mad and clicking. This because the outside watering system was on. This is beyond our control -- part of the common gardening feature but we supply the water.

We went looking for a new dishwasher today; the current one is no longer doing a perfect job. The shop didn't have any available (one labelled Sold) and don't provide installation.

 

[chrisf]

Greetings one and all

 

After the disappointment of having to start the day with a painkiller, I let the rest of the world get on with it yesterday.  No doubt there are those who have been desperate for a pint these past three months or however long it has been.  Go ahead, guys and gals, I can wait.  I suspect that breakfast in the supermarket will come first.  As for reaping the harvest of hair atop my bonce, I have a cunning plan.  If and only if it works, I will tell you all about it.

 

Jamie, many thanks for the kind and supportive words.  Of course I have been missing all the things I usually do and the places I usually go.  Like you, I hope that some events will resume soon but as soon as I think that everything possible has been cancelled, up pops another announcement of somewhere else that I will not be going.  It may not sound like it but I am well aware that everyone is in much the same boat.  At least I have been getting out a few times a week, to do two fodder runs and a short trip for the lottery tickets – sorry, donations to charity.  There are many who do not even get that.  I feel for those who are working at/from home.  When I was still employed I resisted that, partly because I did not and still do not always find it easy to concentrate and partly because, however much of a bunch of reprobates my workmates were, they were still people and therefore company.  A certain friend of mine has been working 12 hour days at home since this wretched virus business started.  He is handsomely paid for it but I fear greatly for his mental health.  What on earth is the point of raking in the cash if you cannot enjoy the fruits of your labours?

 

The only entry in the parallel universe diary for the coming week would have been Bristol Pride on Saturday.  I’ll put that one with the other disappointments.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris