The Night Mail

[Dave Hunt]

8 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I am not sure why but I have been receiving Tweets or Xs (whatever) from Cincinnati Zoo showing their enrichment activities now their hippos  can’t go out due to the cold weather. It seems to mainly involve eating vegetables. 

 

No cake? Not a proper hippo diet surely?

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

9 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I am not sure why but I have been receiving Tweets or Xs (whatever) from Cincinnati Zoo showing their enrichment activities now their hippos  can’t go out due to the cold weather. It seems to mainly involve eating vegetables. 

Any lentils involved?

 

[Hroth]

1 minute ago, Happy Hippo said:

Any lentils involved?

 

 

I doubt that the keepers would appreciate being pebble-dashed!

 

[Tony_S]

6 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Plus it never did you any harm did it.

I did get some useful bits of knowledge like don’t touch the canvas or how to light a Primus stove in the rain. To be fair to my parents they did make us endure rain and solitude but that was nothing compared to going on holiday with Aditi ‘s family. I felt so sorry for Aditi as she always believed “it will be fine this time”. 

[Tony_S]

39 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Any lentils involved?

 

Here is a link. 
However, I don’t know if it works without a Twitter account.

https://x.com/CincinnatiZoo/status/1747408410977386800?s=20

 

If it doesn’t work, they get romaine lettuce, served on the floor, and they bob for peppers in a big sink. Then something that looks like crushed Weetabix is put in a big roller they can move so the food drops out. They also have an indoor swimming pool. There is currently a competition to win a weekend with Fiona ( a hippo). 

[Northmoor]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Known in the trade as the airfield with the 30 knot fog.

 

Dave

Funny you should mention that DH.  I remember years ago seeing a US president holding a press conference at Camp David and there was fast moving mist all round everyone.  Dad pointed at the screen and said, "Oh look, they've got Pembrokeshire weather".  It does seem to be a peculiarity of the bottom left hand corner of Wales.

[Dave Hunt]

Off to a hospital appointment tomorrow morning but unlike HH I don't expect major car parking issues as it is at the orthopaedic hospital in Gobowen near Oswestry where things are far more agreeable than at Shrewsbury or Telford. I know that it's a much smaller and specialised place than the other two but it really is far nicer and makes the hour's drive to get there worth while. I'll be there for a pre-op assessment prior to a spinal decompression operation that I hope will happen in April and since I've been waiting for over a year my fingers are crossed that nothing goes wrong.

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

15 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

Funny you should mention that DH.  I remember years ago seeing a US president holding a press conference at Camp David and there was fast moving mist all round everyone.  Dad pointed at the screen and said, "Oh look, they've got Pembrokeshire weather".  It does seem to be a peculiarity of the bottom left hand corner of Wales.

 

If I remember my meteorology lectures properly (which is far from guaranteed), it's caused by relatively warm south westerlies picking up loads of moisture crossing the Atlantic until the air is virtually saturated then when it gets suddenly lifted up by the Pembrokeshire cliffs it cools sufficiently to reach its dewpoint and what is effectively ground level stratus cloud forms.

If anyone knows better, please put me right.

 

Dave

[PMP]

10 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

If I remember my meteorology lectures properly (which is far from guaranteed), it's caused by relatively warm south westerlies picking up loads of moisture crossing the Atlantic until the air is virtually saturated then when it gets suddenly lifted up by the Pembrokeshire cliffs it cools sufficiently to reach its dewpoint and what is effectively ground level stratus cloud forms.

If anyone knows better, please put me right.

 

Dave

Yup, advection fog in met nerd terminology.

At work we used to get fast forming radiation fog, the water table was so high, with the right (wrong), conditions the entire airport could go from unlimited visibility to a hundred metres or less in half an hour.

 

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Here is a link. 
However, I don’t know if it works without a Twitter account.

https://x.com/CincinnatiZoo/status/1747408410977386800?s=20

 

If it doesn’t work, they get romaine lettuce, served on the floor, and they bob for peppers in a big sink. Then something that looks like crushed Weetabix is put in a big roller they can move so the food drops out. They also have an indoor swimming pool. There is currently a competition to win a weekend with Fiona ( a hippo). 

This forum isn't some dating exercise you know. And what about Mrs HH. I don't think she would appreciate having her 'significant other' - other terms of endearment are available, being fixed up with some foreign flusie.

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, Winslow Boy said:

This forum isn't some dating exercise you know. And what about Mrs HH. I don't think she would appreciate having her 'significant other' - other terms of endearment are available, being fixed up with some foreign flusie.

Fiona's a little dwt.

[J. S. Bach]

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Here is a link. 
However, I don’t know if it works without a Twitter account.

https://x.com/CincinnatiZoo/status/1747408410977386800?s=20

 

If it doesn’t work, they get romaine lettuce, served on the floor, and they bob for peppers in a big sink. Then something that looks like crushed Weetabix is put in a big roller they can move so the food drops out. They also have an indoor swimming pool. There is currently a competition to win a weekend with Fiona ( a hippo). 

The hand in the hippo's mouth at the end????? Not for this guy! 😉

[J. S. Bach]

5 hours ago, Tony_S said:

The Royal Mail will still collect return parcels from your home even for many prepaid returns. Some of the clothes retailers use Evri for returns and they collect too. 

The USPS offers the same service.

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from a slightly warmer tonight Piedmont.

[AndyID]

We awoke to 8 inches of fine powdery snow. Completely useless for making snowballs and snowmen. In Scotland we used to be able to roll the snow off the grass like making a jam roll but that's not possible with this stuff.

 

I spent the morning trying to start the tractor so I could clear our driveway. I had the charger on the battery. Eventually got it going by jumping it using a battery for the caravan.

 

If it doesn't start again tomorrow I'll try to find a new battery.

[jamie92208]

Good moaningfrom a cool, - 3c Charente.  First off, good luck et bon courage to DH. 

 

A cool but e joy able time was had trainspotting yesterday.  This morning there are two phone calls to make in French then some paint to apply, and no it is not Fresh Flour, 

 

Jamie

[iL Dottore]

Off to London again and again ZRH - LCY.

 

The Interegio (cross country) train to ZRH I'm on is another Stadler (one of the FLIRT family I believe) and like its big sister it's just OK.
 

Miles better than anything I've travelled on in the UK in the past few years, but still not what I'd call really comfortable (and, as is my wont,  despite being in First Class).

I would have thought that to attract passengers off the roads, trains would have a USP of comfort (amongst other things) - they've certainly got the onboard space. Especially in cross-country trains, where you meander from town to town.

 

Of course SBB may be using the FLIRTS because they are more suited for the high traffic Zürich-Bern corridor  (due to the low floors, wide doors and denser seating of the FLIRTS) over a traditional SBB carriage). 
 

Edited January 19 by iL Dottore

[Winslow Boy]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

Good moaningfrom a cool, - 3c Charente.  First off, good luck et bon courage to DH. 

 

A cool but e joy able time was had trainspotting yesterday.  This morning there are two phone calls to make in French then some paint to apply, and no it is not Fresh Flour, 

 

Jamie

Are you quite certain you don't want to use Fresh Flour Jamie? Its just that I happen to know where I can get some that's all going 'cheap'- nudge nudge if you know what I mean. What's more if you throw in an extra fiver a know a painter who'll come put it on as well.

[iL Dottore]

My ride:

[jamie92208]

42 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Are you quite certain you don't want to use Fresh Flour Jamie? Its just that I happen to know where I can get some that's all going 'cheap'- nudge nudge if you know what I mean. What's more if you throw in an extra fiver a know a painter who'll come put it on as well.

Mer I beacoup pour votre offre tres gentile. Fortunately I still have at least 4 litres of the paint the we originally painted the room with and it still matches. 

 

Jamie

[Oldddudders]

14 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Nyda has just found out that her (and granddaughter Eira's) birthday on15 Feb 24, coincides with World Hippo Day.

 

Does that mean we should all seek a ride on a Class 175?

[newbryford]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

  This morning there are two phone calls to make in French then some paint to apply, and no it is not Fresh Flour, 

 

Jamie

 

Is that because it's farine fraîche?

[newbryford]

2 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Does that mean we should all seek a ride on a Class 175?

 

If you can find one that doesn't set fire to itself.

Or in service..................

[iL Dottore]

Whilst much of the Swiss railway network is bucolic, using "old fashioned" rolling stock (with timetables coordinated with local Post Bus services) there are a few high density routes: such as Zürich -Bern, Zürich-Lucerne and Zürich-Basel.
 

These "corridors" are pretty much at the limit of what they can handle in terms of traffic at peak travel times (not as bad as Tokyo-Shibuya but heading in that direction [by Swiss standards at least]). These "corridors" tend to get the latest high-tech high-loading rolling stock. Additionally, thanks to the generous Swiss loading gauge, SBB has been able to run double-decker rolling stock (most notably around Zürich with the S-Bahn, but also on the rest of the network on the high traffic "corridors").

 

Which brings me to a serious question: given the amount of money spent on HS2 £66 Bn or so), what sort of upgrade to Britain's Victorian railway structure could have been achieved with that sort of money?

 

I would imagine, given todays technology, widening Victorian tunnels and cuttings would cost a lot, lot less than boring/cutting a new one. 
 

Your thoughts?

[Oldddudders]

30 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

My ride:

A train that is closed? How bloomin' useful!