The Night Mail

[pH]

In 2019, Canadian Pacific painted five of their SD70ACu locomotives in military-inspired colour schemes. They were numbered 7020 to 7024. 7024’s livery was based on the camouflage scheme use on Allied aircraft on and after D-Day, including the conspicuous black and white stripes. 7024 was renumbered to the appropriate 6644:

 

http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/roster-shot-of-cp-6644-renumbered-from-7024-wearing-the-crowd-favourite-world-war-ii-memorial-scheme

[Dave Hunt]

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

If ever The Bear and I had to settle our differences (not that we really have that many) it would not be with something silly like  “handbags at dawn“, ...... IF we had to settle our differences, it would be… The ultimate test of endurance, fortitude, guile, willpower, determination, experience, insight, strength and agility…

 

....but mainly bullsh!t 😋 

 

Dave

 

[Winslow Boy]

7 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

He is also employed to rid me of troublesome priests persons.

 

These days, I have better things to do than be involved in merciless bloodletting.

 

Then its a good job we exchanged Christmas cards isn't then. Oh could you do me a flavour and tell him its his turn to get the stuffing for the turkey and does he want the cranbury sauce with port or not. The last time he had it he got a bit tipsy and started remamissing about the good old days in the Congo.

[Happy Hippo]

Yesterday morning, I put some mixed fruit into some hot lemon and ginger black tea.

This afternoon it was made into a Bara Brith with the addition of a decent shot of Cointreau to liven things up.

It was supposed to be kept until tomorrow in order to slightly mature, but Nyda couldn't wait.

 

She said she'd been thinking about it all the way through the Ranger meeting.  When she got home, the first slice(s) were cut.

 

Naturally, I could have waited until tomorrow, so only ate some to keep her company.

[TheSignalEngineer]

9 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear thought a moment ago that next year is likely to be the last "significant" D-Day Anniversary (80th) where there are surviving Veterans able to travel there.  Until.....

I Googled how young some of the Soldiers were - it seems there was a Para who was 14 (though killed 2 years later, sadly); in the US there was a Navy Vet. who was 12, though not at D-Day.

Tonight I will drink a toast to my Dad who was 19 at the time of the Normandy Landings. Having just completed a crash course after volunteering for transfer to the Military Police he spent the run up to D-Day and a couple of days after marshalling men and transport onto vessels at a south coast location then went over to Sword Beach. His first main task over there was riding a motorbike guiding convoys resupplying front line troops. He was at Caen, Bayeux and the Falaise Gap before moving up country. He was then involved in Operation Market Garden. Following the onset of bad weather he was based near Eindhoven before being transferred to India for two years. 

This is him laying a wreath on behalf of the Military Police Association at the Birmingham Normandy Veterans memorial a few years ago.

 

[newbryford]

4 hours ago, SM42 said:

Hello

 

My name is Andy

 

I've been painting 

 

 

Hi Andy, 

Welcome to PA  - Painters Anonymous.

Please, in your own time, tell us how it all began...................

[polybear]

13 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

It would be The ultimate test of endurance, fortitude, guile, willpower, determination, experience, insight, strength and agility…

 

Man versus Bear…

Nature versus Science…

 

One winner, one loser, NO second place “must try harder”

It would be….

 

….. a scoffin’ contest

 

How much food (by weight) can the winner put away in a set time period? (And to ensure that no one has a home turf advantage, menus would be swapped around: iL Dottore would have to scoff plates of egg, sausage, beans and chips; while The Bear would have to eat iL Dottore’’s Nouilles aux Fruits de Mere avec un sauce pernod et créme fraiche…

 

It could go to the judges….

 

Have fellow TNM'ers noticed how @iL Dottore gets by far the better deal in this somewhat one-sided contest?  See, despite all iD's writings about just how good all this nuvo cuisine wotsit is, he knows fine well that a good 'ol scoff involving proper food (for him, that is) puts him at a distinct advantage.  Despicable.

 

6 hours ago, newbryford said:

Hi Andy, 

Welcome to PA  - Painters Anonymous.

Please, in your own time, tell us how it all began...................

 

It started with a SWMBO......

[Hroth]

Painters Anonymous.

 

It could catch on!

 

Hello.  I'm Hroth and I'm putting off painting the front door....

 

[SM42]

39 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

 

It started with a SWMBO......

 

Doesn't it always?

 

30 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

 

Hello.  I'm Hroth and I'm putting off painting the front door....

 

 

Just buy a new one

 

Andy

[iL Dottore]

57 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Have fellow TNM'ers noticed how @iL Dottore gets by far the better deal in this somewhat one-sided contest?  See, despite all iD's writings about just how good all this nuvo cuisine wotsit is, he knows fine well that a good 'ol scoff involving proper food (for him, that is) puts him at a distinct advantage.  Despicable.

 

Only by weight, Bear, only by weight.

 

Nothing wrong with either Soss & Chips or Nouilles au Fruit de Mer - both are hugely enjoyable. But if I were to “rig” the contest (perish the thought!) I’d arrange for the higher weight by volume dishes to come my way.

 

If iD is man enough to manage Soss, Chips & Beanz, is PB bear enough to manage Nouilles au Fruits de Mer???

 

[SM42]

I have a  briefing day today  

 

I was given a choice of this or my normal shift. 

 

Now let's see. 

 

Start at 0600 and spend 12 hours answering the phone and dealing with stuff

 

Or

 

Start at 10 and finish by around 4 30 listening to what safety rule changes  are due and answering a few questions. 

 

Let me think. Which to do?

 

Tough choice

 

Which  offers more potential painting time?

 

Andy

Edited June 7, 2023 by SM42

[Flying Fox 34F]

4 minutes ago, SM42 said:

I have a  briefing day today  

 

I was given a choice of this or my normal shift. 

 

Now let's see. 

 

Start at 0600 and spend 12 hours answering the phone and dealing with stuff

 

Or

 

Start at 10 and finish by around 4 30 listening to what safety rule changes  are due and answering a few questions. 

 

Let me think. Which to do?

 

Which  offers more potential painting time?

 

Andy

I used to enjoy a Briefing day.  Mainly to see what Rules were being adjusted.  The convention in our area was to have a debate to see if the existing rules would have covered the situation, that had demanded the new rule.

As for answering questions, I used to find the questions with the incorrect answers.  The Briefer already knew about the errors, but it was an entertaining way to pass the time.

Finally, I’m going to join Renovators Anonymous!!!!!  I’m Paul, currently laying a laminate floor, installing light fittings, wrestling wood for faux beams, then stripping out the old kitchen.

 

 

[TheQ]

I'll point out that some went ashore on D Day, with a microwave and a 20kVA generator..

 

 

That would be the RAF arriving on all beaches some with a Type 14 Radar, and support equipment while under fire.

 

As for taps, I have four in the bathroom that need changing, sadly the cartridges don't fit, they are a different thread.. so when I get a roundtuit, it will be lying on the bathroom floor. Trying the bend arms into impossible positions to undo taps which haven't moved since 1980ish.

 

Belay that, just had a thought, checked internet, they do make BSP and metric thread cartridges.. I feel some ordering coming on.

Edited June 7, 2023 by TheQ

[DenysW]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Nothing wrong with either Soss & Chips or Nouilles au Fruit de Mer

I'm surprised, nay staggered, that a man of your perceptiveness, @iL Dottore, should suggest this without stating and checking food allergies and intolerances. Is this an attempt to discover which pocket @polybear carries his Epi-pen in?

[Happy Hippo]

15 minutes ago, DenysW said:

I'm surprised, nay staggered, that a man of your perceptiveness, @iL Dottore, should suggest this without stating and checking food allergies and intolerances. Is this an attempt to discover which pocket @polybear carries his Epi-pen in?

Have you ever tried writing a cheque, or even a simple memo with an epi-pen?

 

Don't bother, they are rubbish!

[Dave Hunt]

1 hour ago, Flying Fox 34F said:

I used to enjoy a Briefing day.

 

We never had briefing days as such but at the beginning of every month we had to sign before being allowed to fly that we had read and understood a mountain of orders and procedures that emanated from MoD, Command, Group and Station. Additionally, whenever an amendment was issued to any one of the documents we had to sign as having read and understood it before flying. Eventually it became virtually impossible to do anything other than pay lip service to the system and everyone simply signed each month, although most people did actually read the amendments. The straw finally broke the camel’s back when one month major amendments appeared for several documents simultaneously and by documents I mean books of several hundred pages. The result was that one Phantom crew decided to refuse to fly until they had, in fact, read every line of every document, which took them over two full working days. They couldn’t be censured as they were simply obeying the overriding order. This event rippled up through the command chain and eventually prompted a thorough root and branch reassessment of the system, deleting overlapping orders, amalgamating documents and taking other measures to make the whole thing more manageable and realistic. A rare triumph for common sense.

 

Dave

Edited June 7, 2023 by Dave Hunt
Flamin’ predictive text rubbish

[Dave Hunt]

9 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Have you ever tried writing a cheque, or even a simple memo with an epi-pen?

 

Don't bother, they are rubbish!

 

And coincidentally, stabbing yourself with a ball point pen doesn’t help one iota with negating poisoning.

 

Dave

[Northmoor]

27 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

We never had briefing days as such but at the beginning of every month we had to sign before being allowed to fly that we had read and understood a mountain of orders and procedures that emanated from MoD, Command, Group and Station. Additionally, whenever an amendment was issued to any one of the documents we had to sign as having read and understood it before flying. Eventually it became virtually impossible to do anything other than pay lip service to the system and everyone simply signed each month, although most people did actually read the amendments. The straw finally broke the camel’s back when one month major amendments appeared for several documents simultaneously and by documents I mean books of several hundred pages. The result was that one Phantom crew decided to refuse to fly until they had, in fact, read every line of every document, which took them over two full working days. They couldn’t be censured as they were simply obeying the overriding order. This event rippled up through the command chain and eventually prompted a thorough root and branch reassessment of the system, deleting overlapping orders, amalgamating documents and taking other measures to make the whole thing more manageable and realistic. A rare triumph for common sense.

 

Dave

Similar happened back in DERA days when our business unit moved between divisions, into one it was actually more appropriate to be part of and the new management insisted we align with their report sign-off process.  The problem was, the wider division did a lot of longer term R&D work where a (thick) customer report might be issued for each project every six months at most, perhaps only annually.  In our area we did mostly in-service support work where a report might be issued two weeks after a gearbox inspection - I think I personally wrote eleven reports one year including three in one month - and the whole group might issue a dozen reports per month. 

 

The division's signatories were soon adding 1-3 weeks to the time to issue a report to our customer (so typically doubling delivery time) and reviewing/approving about five times more reports than they had expected; it eventually became obvious to our new masters that perhaps the existing approval process had worked perfectly well thank you very much and we were left to get on with things. 

 

It may not be coincidental that our business group was the only one in the whole division that actually made a profit.

[Happy Hippo]

As I was looking out of the bedroom window this morning a long white VW Transporter van pulled up on the drive.

 

Emblazoned on the side was  a transfer of the Grim Reaper.

 

For that split second, I thought he'd come to collect me!🤣

 

[newbryford]

2 hours ago, SM42 said:

I have a  briefing day today  

..

 

Which  offers more potential painting time?

 

Andy

 

The subsidiary question is - do you want to do more painting?

[Canal Digger]

On 05/06/2023 at 14:28, jamie92208 said:

We've only had this house 8years and the only work we've done is repainting the cupboard door, replacing the oven and hob when the old one failed and changing the sinkit can. Stay like it is now. However it's most important feature still functions well.  The shelf for the wine box. 

We have been in this house since March 93 and refitted it twice. The 2nd time was just after a kitchen extension was built. We bought the units over a few weeks from B&Q clearance, before going to visit son in hospital, 'no you can't come home tonight, the car is too full'. having bought the units from clearance, there are about 3 types of wall cupboard wall fixings, each having different fixings, so fitting them was fun. Oak frame/ panel doors, 2 sizes  were not available so I had to disassemble a number to make my own. If you see pictures of my Diecast Trains you will see that I use the frames (a neighbour refitted their kitchen so I gabbed a whole load of matching doors from the skip). Her Indoors/ SWMBO collects Cookie Jar Bears. 

Must go, part way through wiring in a dash cam to the Smart, have 21 packs of tiles to lay in conservatory and something else (thinks) ... oh I know a daughter getting married on Saturday 

[jamie92208]

I seem to remember that most Standing Orders and forms came about because someone stuffed up.  However we did get IIRC 22 extra forms when Michael Howard was Home Secretary when a new file submission system was brought in, (the MG forms).  I found some old files of Beth's ( from 1977) in the loft when we moved. 2 sheets of A4.  I felt like sending one to somewhere as an example of progress. 

 

Jamie

Edited June 7, 2023 by jamie92208

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, Canal Digger said:

We have been in this house since March 93 and refitted it twice. The 2nd time was just after a kitchen extension was built. We bought the units over a few weeks from B&Q clearance, before going to visit son in hospital, 'no you can't come home tonight, the car is too full'. having bought the units from clearance, there are about 3 types of wall cupboard wall fixings, each having different fixings, so fitting them was fun. Oak frame/ panel doors, 2 sizes  were not available so I had to disassemble a number to make my own. If you see pictures of my Diecast Trains you will see that I use the frames (a neighbour refitted their kitchen so I gabbed a whole load of matching doors from the skip). Her Indoors/ SWMBO collects Cookie Jar Bears. 

Must go, part way through wiring in a dash cam to the Smart, have 21 packs of tiles to lay in conservatory and something else (thinks) ... oh I know a daughter getting married on Saturday 

I note admiration of Bears and Penguins.

 

There is no trace of Hippo veneration.

 

Such a picture posted on any day is bad enough, but to post it on my birthday is really hurtful.

 

Now I shall have to go and gorge on Bara Brith to salve my feelings.

[polybear]

4 hours ago, DenysW said:

I'm surprised, nay staggered, that a man of your perceptiveness, @iL Dottore, should suggest this without stating and checking food allergies and intolerances. Is this an attempt to discover which pocket @polybear carries his Epi-pen in?

 

Bt a very strange coincidence it just so happens that A Certain Bear is allergic to much of what @iL Dottore would eat - so I'd have to review & approve any competition requirements first.... 😁

Honest Guv.

[SM42]

3 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

The subsidiary question is - do you want to do more painting?

 

Not so much want, as have to. 

 

The outdoor stuff is urgent as the weather window threatens to close this weekend.  

 

The rest is, like all projects worth their salt, about 4 months behind schedule for various reasons. 

 

Andy