Aston On Clun. A forgotten Great Western outpost.

[Graham T]

8 minutes ago, Nick C said:

More seriously, I find "treat others as you wish to be treated yourself" works in most situations, at least on first contact. 

 

 

That is one I try to live by, although not always successfully I'm afraid.

[MrWolf]

@Nick C, Are you excluding we post hole grafters and lawn edging spades? 

 

Go sit on the naughty step and prepare for a severe finger wagging....

 

Meanwhile, think about what you've done and who else might be offended.....

[Winslow Boy]

27 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

@Nick C, Are you excluding we post hole grafters and lawn edging spades? 

 

Go sit on the naughty step and prepare for a severe finger wagging....

 

Meanwhile, think about what you've done and who else might be offended.....

 

I object most strongly to that.

 

Why is that when people tell other people off they wag their fingers. Don't they realise how insensitive that is. Fingers are there for other things other than wagging but no they insist on wagging them. Don't they realise just how discriminating that is. 

 

Yours sincerely 

 

P E R Mantley Upcet 

Edited July 4, 2022 by Winslow Boy

[MrWolf]

You might be in luck Winslow old man, our local council's Stasi department is currently looking to recruit an Officer Of Permanent Offence, to weed out anyone who does not comply with their official groupthink.

 

Subject to acceptance and ticking all of their inclusivity boxes (Without shouting Bingo!) you will be given a job for life.

 

Your key roles will be to:

 

*Instill fear in fellow workers so that they never make crucial decisions or show initiative.

*Develop an attitude of invulnerability, leading to being lax and only tackling the issues that you feel will gain the most brownie points.

*Use your position to organise Beano's for you and your friends/ family.

*Indulge in as much nepotism and cronyism as possible to ensure a fair and unbiased operation.

*Fiddle your expenses and make sure that those who know you are, do so too as insurance.

*Award yourself gold plated pensions and benefits packages.

*Practice making yourself look effective by pointing out everyone else's shortfalls but never offering positive solutions.

*Abuse your position to denounce rivals and dissenters as well as obtaining financial or sexual favour, preferably both.

*Ensure that any investigation into inappropriate or criminal behaviour is conducted either by yourself or a trusted lackey.

*Should your sins become public knowledge immediately start a smear campaign against your accusers. 

*Do nothing that is actually beneficial for anyone whatsoever except your inner circle.

 

If this is you, then we look forward to reviewing your application, comrade.

 

Don't worry if you can't do the actual job, we can't afford to sack you because we know that you will sue....

 

 

[JustinDean]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

You might be in luck Winslow old man, our local council's Stasi department is currently looking to recruit an Officer Of Permanent Offence, to weed out anyone who does not comply with their official groupthink.

 

Subject to acceptance and ticking all of their inclusivity boxes (Without shouting Bingo!) you will be given a job for life.

 

Your key roles will be to:

 

*Instill fear in fellow workers so that they never make crucial decisions or show initiative.

*Develop an attitude of invulnerability, leading to being lax and only tackling the issues that you feel will gain the most brownie points.

*Use your position to organise Beano's for you and your friends/ family.

*Indulge in as much nepotism and cronyism as possible to ensure a fair and unbiased operation.

*Fiddle your expenses and make sure that those who know you are, do so too as insurance.

*Award yourself gold plated pensions and benefits packages.

*Practice making yourself look effective by pointing out everyone else's shortfalls but never offering positive solutions.

*Abuse your position to denounce rivals and dissenters as well as obtaining financial or sexual favour, preferably both.

*Ensure that any investigation into inappropriate or criminal behaviour is conducted either by yourself or a trusted lackey.

*Should your sins become public knowledge immediately start a smear campaign against your accusers. 

*Do nothing that is actually beneficial for anyone whatsoever except your inner circle.

 

If this is you, then we look forward to reviewing your application, comrade.

 

Don't worry if you can't do the actual job, we can't afford to sack you because we know that you will sue....

 

 

This is frighteningly similar to the job description at my local city council. 
 

Jay

[Siberian Snooper]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

You might be in luck Winslow old man, our local council's Stasi department is currently looking to recruit an Officer Of Permanent Offence, to weed out anyone who does not comply with their official groupthink.

 

Subject to acceptance and ticking all of their inclusivity boxes (Without shouting Bingo!) you will be given a job for life.

 

Your key roles will be to:

 

*Instill fear in fellow workers so that they never make crucial decisions or show initiative.

*Develop an attitude of invulnerability, leading to being lax and only tackling the issues that you feel will gain the most brownie points.

*Use your position to organise Beano's for you and your friends/ family.

*Indulge in as much nepotism and cronyism as possible to ensure a fair and unbiased operation.

*Fiddle your expenses and make sure that those who know you are, do so too as insurance.

*Award yourself gold plated pensions and benefits packages.

*Practice making yourself look effective by pointing out everyone else's shortfalls but never offering positive solutions.

*Abuse your position to denounce rivals and dissenters as well as obtaining financial or sexual favour, preferably both.

*Ensure that any investigation into inappropriate or criminal behaviour is conducted either by yourself or a trusted lackey.

*Should your sins become public knowledge immediately start a smear campaign against your accusers. 

*Do nothing that is actually beneficial for anyone whatsoever except your inner circle.

 

If this is you, then we look forward to reviewing your application, comrade.

 

Don't worry if you can't do the actual job, we can't afford to sack you because we know that you will sue....

 

 

 

39 minutes ago, JustinDean said:

This is frighteningly similar to the job description at my local city council. 
 

Jay

 

That seems to be the job description for any politico.

 

 

[Regularity]

Quote

Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.

George Bernard Shaw, “Maxims for Revolutionaries”, a fictional book in Man and Superman. A Comedy and a Philosophy, 1903

[Donw]

My congratulations to Miss Hood. Somehow Dr Hood sounds more worrying.  

 

One of life's most tricky things is when some mistakes your politeness and thinks you like them.

 

Don

[Schooner]

58 minutes ago, Regularity said:

George Bernard Shaw, “Maxims for Revolutionaries”, a fictional book in Man and Superman. A Comedy and a Philosophy, 1903

 

Fair enough. So, for words to live by, does that just leave us 'If in doubt, try to limit one's own cranio-priapic resemblances'?*

 

Pre-emptive 'grats to Dr RRH, and to you Rob for some more gorgeous modelling. Always a pleasing mix of educational, entertaining and informative to catch up with the goings-on at Aston :)

 

As you were...

 

*Bring it on, auto-censor!

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, Regularity said:

George Bernard Shaw, “Maxims for Revolutionaries”, a fictional book in Man and Superman. A Comedy and a Philosophy, 1903

 

Ah good old George, some might say one of the original champagne socialists, safe within the idealistic bubble of the arts world, far from the dirt and din of the black country.

 

He did like to hedge his bets though and like many movers and shakers of his day was wrong about, Lenin, wrong about Stalin, wrong about Mussolini, Hitler and Ribbentrop. He wasn't the only one taken in, the likes of Paul Robeson et al were also given the celebrity guided tour of Moscow, filled with joyous grateful workers, freed from the yoke of capitalism. (Attention comrades! Anyone found not enjoying themselves will be shot!) 

And of course appeared to have a foot in both camps over the Irish situation.

 

Still, he might be amused - or quite possibly horrified to see that his ideas on socialist gradualism have pervaded every sector of control and information in western society.

Good intentions and high ideals often end in the death of democracy and usher in the kind of dictatorships he so admired.

[MrWolf]

52 minutes ago, Donw said:

My congratulations to Miss Hood. Somehow Dr Hood sounds more worrying.  

 

One of life's most tricky things is when some mistakes your politeness and thinks you like them.

 

Don

 

Thank you Don, much appreciated and yes, it does sound ominous.

Although any aspirations towards becoming a pulp fiction supervillain may be thwarted by the fact that you can't really play Widor's Toccata on a woodwind instrument.

 

If she expresses the desire to learn the four manual church organ, I'll give you all fair warning.

 

As it is, she does own a fair selection of capes, the pretty patterns upon which may be a clever ruse....

[Winslow Boy]

4 hours ago, MrWolf said:

You might be in luck Winslow old man, our local council's Stasi department is currently looking to recruit an Officer Of Permanent Offence, to weed out anyone who does not comply with their official groupthink.

 

Subject to acceptance and ticking all of their inclusivity boxes (Without shouting Bingo!) you will be given a job for life.

 

Your key roles will be to:

 

*Instill fear in fellow workers so that they never make crucial decisions or show initiative.

*Develop an attitude of invulnerability, leading to being lax and only tackling the issues that you feel will gain the most brownie points.

*Use your position to organise Beano's for you and your friends/ family.

*Indulge in as much nepotism and cronyism as possible to ensure a fair and unbiased operation.

*Fiddle your expenses and make sure that those who know you are, do so too as insurance.

*Award yourself gold plated pensions and benefits packages.

*Practice making yourself look effective by pointing out everyone else's shortfalls but never offering positive solutions.

*Abuse your position to denounce rivals and dissenters as well as obtaining financial or sexual favour, preferably both.

*Ensure that any investigation into inappropriate or criminal behaviour is conducted either by yourself or a trusted lackey.

*Should your sins become public knowledge immediately start a smear campaign against your accusers. 

*Do nothing that is actually beneficial for anyone whatsoever except your inner circle.

 

If this is you, then we look forward to reviewing your application, comrade.

 

Don't worry if you can't do the actual job, we can't afford to sack you because we know that you will sue....

 

 

 

Nah no thanks Rob I really can't be arsed as I'd get better paid staying at home.

 

Which seems to be the attitude of most people nowadays.

[Regularity]

1 hour ago, Schooner said:

Fair enough. So, for words to live by, does that just leave us 'If in doubt, try to limit one's own cranio-priapic resemblances'?*

Just quoting, not necessarily agreeing with him. 
I think he was often a pompous idiot, tbh. But not always.

[Regularity]

What will Miss RRH become a Doctor of?

 

I had a teacher who used to quote his father’s advice: “Don’t go chasing for letters after your name. It the ones in front which impress people.”

 

But there are very few titles which are gained through merit, so Dr. is the best.

[MrWolf]

13 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

Nah no thanks Rob I really can't be arsed as I'd get better paid staying at home.

 

Which seems to be the attitude of most people nowadays.

 

Quite. I often find myself irritated when people comment online that we should stop all benefits and make people work for their dole money. 

 

Many already do. 

 

And how many of those trotting out such comments would be prepared to work for barely enough money to live on, let alone have any disposable income and thus falling into debt if the car or the washing machine blows up?

 

How about making it worth working? If you can't raise wages, then you have to lower the cost of living.

 

People say there's no money about. Go out and start counting cars under five years old, look at the thousands of people headed abroad on holiday.

 

I worked with a lot of skilled people from the FSU, they didn't go back to Poland etc because of Brexit, they went back because although the wages here were higher, they couldn't afford to live here and put away some money. The more skilled were encouraged back home by higher wages and the fact that they could buy a nice house and renovate it with the £20,000 they had scratched together by living two and three families to a house for a few years, working every hour they could and buying old Audis and BMWs to ship back home.

Those with unskilled jobs are either stuck here or gave it up as a bad job.

Those who do annoy me are the ones determined to simply breed themselves a nice big state benefits income, be they natives or not.

 

Anyhow, I have some models to paint.

 

The only thing rotten at Aston is probably a few sleepers at the end of the sidings.

[MrWolf]

19 minutes ago, Regularity said:

Just quoting, not necessarily agreeing with him. 
I think he was often a pompous idiot, tbh. But not always.

 

My thoughts entirely.

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, Schooner said:

 

Fair enough. So, for words to live by, does that just leave us 'If in doubt, try to limit one's own cranio-priapic resemblances'?

 

Words to live by indeed, the memsahib and I are now having a friendly wager as to who can drop that most appropriately into a conversation first.

 

1 hour ago, Schooner said:

Pre-emptive 'grats to Dr RRH, and to you Rob for some more gorgeous modelling. Always a pleasing mix of educational, entertaining and informative to catch up with the goings-on at Aston :)

 

As you were...

 

*Bring it on, auto-censor!

 

Thank you from us both, we will do our utmost to maintain your impressions of our abilities both in railway modelling and potentially world domination...

 

Stand at ease.

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2022 by MrWolf
Stupid autocorrect

[MrWolf]

29 minutes ago, Regularity said:

What will Miss RRH become a Doctor of?

 

I had a teacher who used to quote his father’s advice: “Don’t go chasing for letters after your name. It the ones in front which impress people.”

 

But there are very few titles which are gained through merit, so Dr. is the best.

 

She's furthered her Biological Sciences degree with a doctorate specialising in biochemistry after being pushed into a PGCE that she ended up hating. 

 

She won't mind me telling you that it's born of an interest in the root causes of her own health issues, which is what started this thread's bus replacement service earlier today.

[Regularity]

1 minute ago, MrWolf said:

She's furthered her Biological Sciences degree with a doctorate specialising in biochemistry

Ah. Serious scientific merit. 
Kudos.

[St Enodoc]

3 hours ago, Donw said:

My congratulations to Miss Hood. Somehow Dr Hood sounds more worrying.

Wasn't he in Thunderbirds?

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

Words to live by indeed, the memsahib and I are now having a friendly wager as to who can drop that most appropriately into a conversation first.

If she gets it into her thesis/dissertation I reckon she'll win the jackpot.

[MrWolf]

A little more painting and details has allowed me to mock up the garage scene alongside the crossing house.

 

 

In reality, there is only a field here, with the hall off to the right and a 1950s house about where my level crossing is. But it does make it look as though the railway is right on the edge of the village rather than in the middle of nowhere.

[Donw]

It is only natural that the presence of the railway would have altered the village.

 

Don

[Nick C]

12 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

Thank you Don, much appreciated and yes, it does sound ominous.

Although any aspirations towards becoming a pulp fiction supervillain may be thwarted by the fact that you can't really play Widor's Toccata on a woodwind instrument.

 

If she expresses the desire to learn the four manual church organ, I'll give you all fair warning.

 

As it is, she does own a fair selection of capes, the pretty patterns upon which may be a clever ruse....

Surely all good supervillains have someone else to play the ominous music for them? After all, there aren't many instruments you can play easily while sitting with your back to the hero in semidarkness, then turning the face them while either stroking a white cat or holding your hands with fingers together but palms apart...

[Graham T]

Do you expect me to talk, Dr Hood?

 

No, I expect you to DIE Mr Wolf!  Mwuhahahaha...

 

Etc.