Early Risers.

[trisonic]

Fabulous GP from start to finish...

“Thrill-Packed” as they say - I can’t imagine just how they will cut it down for the “highlights”.

 

Exciting.

 

Best, Pete.

[sixoh8sixoh]

Afternoon all! Jamie's scrambling around the soft play burning off excess energy.

 

I heard from my Dad that the F1 had been exciting. I've taped it so will catch it later this evening over pizza and cider. No spoilers please!

 

Bought Jamie some trainers for running. Her current ones really aren't suitable. She wants to go to the Parkrun with me. I think I'll take her to the junior one first (2k) before putting her through 5k.

 

Happy anniversary Andy and Sarah.

[Ian Abel]

Happy anniversary Andyram.

 

Fridge man arrived at 7pm. Explained this is one of the worst designed ever and frequently will freeze up where the condensate drain is. This causes a large ice dam that then blocks the fan! Exactly our problem. Fortunately the motor didn't burn out so once he'd taken it all apart and de-iced it, working again. Good news for now.

 

Not much planned for today as I'm on a 5pm plane to NYC to spend 4 days training some folks on Long Island.

 

21 here and overcast maybe 29 or higher time I'm leaving- looks to be cooler in NY while I'm there.

[Barry O]

well ..trip to Sheffield Collegiate was dry. Covers removed...Captains tossed up... covers replaced .. rain began to fall... tea was had at 1:30 and the game was off at 3pm.

 

Still raining here.

 

Now for some food...

 

Baz

[The Stationmaster]

Evenin' all

 

Well Didcot wasn't a washout as the rain eased (to rather less rain) for some of the time and seemingly a good day was had by all.  Worked out rather nicely for me at one stage because having done three tours of the (Radstock) signalbox and a few stragglers were well behind everybody else especially after some of the final 'box visit group peeled off from our trek to the broad gauge to join the others.  So only a handful of us left to sample the broad gauge delights and then time for a trip on the railmotor while we waited for a straggler to catch up - so I had a trip in the railmotor cab in one direction then one in the autotrailer cab going back in the opposite direction, then a trip in the passenger part of the railmotor; all great fun.

 

Anyway a good day all round and laddo and I duly departed although GrandadBob had to stay a bit longer as he had a timed train reservation.  Then back to the roads - this time with light rain but still the usual mix of motorists who don't seem to like driving in the rain or are afraid of it - so why don't they stay at home if they're frightened of going out in it? 

[Tony_S]

I think today's earworm was inspired by decision to "rip it up and start again" at one end of the layout. Not a scenic part fortunately. It was getting frustrating tweaking it to make some piece of rolling stock run and then another not. Everything now passes off the curve and traverses a junction at a crawl or ridiculously high speeds.

Edited July 26, 2015 by Tony_S

[roundhouse]

I didn't realise the trains were running from Exeter to Okehampton again. Is it Sundays only? Who is running it and what stock are they using?

 

Ed

Yes Summer Sundays only. Four trains each way between Exeter Central and Okehampton. Today it was a First Great Western 153 unit. Ticket bought from Exeter St Davids ticket office as far as Okehampton. Very well loaded on the two morning runs to Exeter.

 

However the Dartmoor Railway(separate ticket) DEMU first train of the day to Meldon didn't run and the second was very light loaded.

 

I did hear someone involved with running both services say something about the future of the line being iffy but didn't hear all he said.

Edited July 26, 2015 by roundhouse

[45156]

Morning all. Not raining here yet but it is very dull and due soon. Fine enough for my wife to go to a car boot sale which is her usual Sunday morning routine.

I didn't see her at the A6, so she must have been elsewhere.  That sale started to get washed out about 11.30 and Greenlands likewise.  The Crook O'Lune is on next week I believe, and is trying an afternoon car boot sale, which will make a pleasant change, and might even attract more customers than it does at the moment (it's been pathetic the last couple of times it's been on in the morning).  We've decided to stow all the car boot stuff for this year in the eaves, as I just can't afford to have the stock damaged by sudden showers - it's now about 60% books, which don't fare well in the rain, and which can't be packed up quickly when it starts.  Anybody want to buy some surplus car boot railway and aviation books - no? - thought not.

 

Evening All

 

Well, what a lot of catching up we've had, and congrats to Andy and Mrs Andy, and also to Polly.  There's a lot more here to take on board - two days away and NINE pages of catching up is getting a tad too much for my ole brain to cope with.  I believe that somewhere outside ERs there is also this sort of model railway sort of thingy going on, but I never seem to have time to venture out to see if that's true. 

 

Been a very busy couple of days, what with 30747 and I both having to go into town on Friday, then my having to go back in yesterday, as I'd forgotten a couple of things on Friday, like going to the bank!  So as I also had to get a couple of items in Wilkos, I went upstairs where they had better hinges than the ones I'd got in B&Q, as they were 16", and they were only £2.50 each, and as I had the necessary fixings at home, getting these and returning the £15 ones to B&Q is a bit of a no-brainer.  Got the gate painted and hung on its new hinges, and immediately incurred the displeasure of Lily, who took great pleasure in sitting by the old one, and watching the comings and goings of the neighbours.  Why - well the old gate was slatted, and the new one uses the spare slats that I had from the old one to make a closeboarded jobby, which she can't see through.

 

Much else has happened but nowt that is really worth boring everybody with.   Generic greetings for everybody else offered as usual, and posts have been rated, so hopefully, nobody will think that I'm leaving them out.

 

It's now pouring, and of course it's walkies time.....

 

Regards to All

Stewart

Edited July 26, 2015 by 45156

[NGT6 1315]

Evening all! Some snapshots from the zoo this afternoon...

 

 

 

 

Emperor tamarin

 

 

 

 

Golden lion tamarin

 

 

 

 

 

African penguins

 

 

 

 

Prairie dog

 

 

 

 

Black bulbul

 

 

 

 

 

South American lungfish

 

 

 

 

 

Common squirrel monkey

 

 

 

 

 

Malayan tapir

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asian elephants

 

 

 

 

Dalmatian pelicans

 

 

 

 

Orangutans

 

 

 

Red kangaroos

 

 

 

 

Giraffes

 

 

 

 

 

Chilean flamingos

 

 

 

 

Round-eared elephant shrew

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ostriches

 

 

 

 

Grévy's zebras

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meerkats

 

 

 

 

Thomson's gazelles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red panda

 

 

 

 

Przewalski's horses

 

 

 

Dall sheep

 

 

 

 

Chicks

 

 

 

Damara goats

[New Haven Neil]

Evening all.

 

Congrats to andyram, and what an awful start to your honeymoon that was too - what a shame to end the day like that.

 

Weather, as guesscasted, was horrendous.  Despite that we had a busy day, and we never stopped really, two train service.  We had a visiting railway group, so my train was picked as their charter (Sea Lion and the Victorian replica coaches), and we did a couple of run pasts for them, quite involved doing this on a 1 in 33 bank and no continuous brakes - driver and guard have to really co-ordinate their actions, all done by whistle codes. I got soaked several times, our coaches have roofs but not sides, and the wind was really howling through, so there was basically no shelter at all - I'm shattered now, and have a wind burnt face!

 

Well done to Polly on passing out, I have a few more turns under supervision to do yet to pass out at Groudle, I'm on the Steamplex next weekend.

 

I would have loved to have been on the Didcot tour, and listened to Mike's explanations.

 

Jock, the bench was lowered, but it is still about 9 inches above 'ground level, the bike tipped right off it :-(    It was my 1976 XL250K3.  Some damage to the clocks and yet another little dent in the tank, it's got a few already, it has 'patina'!  It does still go though.

[45156]

Just popped back as I totally omitted to offer my wishes to Dave for the medication mk2 to work for Is - it sounds as if it is starting to do so, and I am pleased to hear this.

 

ps it's still chucking it down, and Lil and I got soaked...

[emt_911]

I hope that all the frequent hospital visitors amongst ER's don't have to pay the hospital car parking charges.

 

I went to visit my mother this afternoon who is having what is hoped to be a short stay. It cost £4.50 for 2 hours parking.

 

Edited for fat finger syndrome

Edited July 26, 2015 by emt_911

[edcayton]

I have bought a season ticket for mine. It's a bit cheaper if I only go once a week, any over that and I'm "better off", but it's still dear. Most of the blue badge crips like me park on the yellow lines in the street. Wish I could walk that far.

 

Ed

[Happy Hippo]

I know some here are partial to a dram of malt so some advice from The Times today - some of the best and rarest malts are bottles that come from single caskets.

I've just  told this to a friend:  He's an undertaker!

[Happy Hippo]

Evening all! Some snapshots from the zoo this afternoon...

 

 

Wot! No hippos. leopards or chimps?

 

You are in big trouble now!

[NGT6 1315]

Wot! No hippos. leopards or chimps?

 

You are in big trouble now!

 

There were some animals which wouldn't let themselves be seen! Some have recently been relocated to newly built enclosures, which in these cases might explain this.

[Coombe Barton]

The mirror tells me that my face has a ruddy complexion.

 

Whether this is sunburn, windburn or rust is open to question.

Edited July 26, 2015 by Coombe Barton

[pH]

A photo taken from a viewpoint in Powell River, British Columbia. The trees in front of the viewpoint have not been kept down, so only part of what's described in the information board can now be seen. The things of interest are the dark grey ships furthest out from the shore.

 

 

Here's one of the information boards. It's a big board, so I've split out the description and enlarged it.

 

 

 

So - not only is it possibly the biggest floating breakwater in the world, it's proof that concrete can float! The ships shown in the first photo are the six on the right in the diagram.

 

 

Edited July 26, 2015 by pH

[southern42]

Evening all from a misty moisty red dragon land.

I've avoided reading the above posts as we're still watching F1 (on iplayer)...

 

We got to the Colwyn Show but only a few pics I'm afraid.  I took far more than that but most were rather blurred. I guess it wasn't as bright in  there as it looked.  It was pretty dark, today.  Will sort and post some pics after the Race.

 

 

Edit to add a couple of missing words!

Edited July 26, 2015 by southern42

[bluebottle]

Excellent set of photos from Dom: I gather that Leipzig's zoo is known for its progressiveness, and the pictures certainly seem to show a healthy environment for the animals.

pH's post on the Powell River breakwater was interesting, I hadn't realised that so many concrete vessels were built, and any post that, like this one, prompts me to read further on a subject is well-received. 

[emt_911]

Here we go. Time to get ready for another ER week.

 

Night all

[andyram]

Evening all. The good news is the missing friend has turned up - posting on Facebook this evening that his phone had been faulty for five days which explained his lack of replies. Relieved that he is ok.

 The heavy rain of today has hampered any plans. We had thought about going over to the Battlefield Line in Leicestershire this afternoon where there was a beer festival. The rain meant that we cancelled those plans so I am still waiting my first steam hauled miles of the summer break. As usual we did go to the in-laws for tea and begun the process of transporting the pets up there. The hamster was taken today, the cats will follow on Tuesday ahead of our planned holiday down south.

 We had an interesting incident this afternoon. Sarah observed a couple of gentleman on the road outside our house. One was armed with a camera, and was taking photographs of other the other smartly dressed man as he strolled along the pavement, carrying his brown briefcase, pausing to pose at different points. When I went outside to enquire what they were up to, the smartly dressed gentleman claimed they were taking photographs for his "blog". They did offer to move as soon as I suggested that I was not comfortable with them taking such pictures using my house as a back drop, especially as our house number and road name would clearly be in shot. It takes all sorts I suppose - I just seem to attract the weirdos at the moment!

 

 A previous post about a proposal that did not quite go to plan reminds me of ours. I had booked a Christmas meal on the Great Central's seasonal service and planned to pop the question half way through the meal when the return service pauses at Rothley. I believed the large Christmas tree on the station, coupled with gas lamps and the steam from the locomotive would make for a romantic location. Sadly, Sarah was struck down with a cold and spent much of the day in bed whilst I attended the school's Christmas fayre and a Derby home match feeling quite stressed as I was not sure if she would even make the meal. Thankfully she perked up a bit in the evening and we went, but I knew there was little chance of me getting to go back outside at Rothley. I therefore decided to ask the question at Loughborough before the train departed. I steered her down to the bottom end of the platform on the pretext of seeing what locomotive would be hauling the train. I was just in the middle of asking the question as a couple of large gentleman appeared around the corner looking for the gents!!

[lightengine]

There were some animals which wouldn't let themselves be seen! Some have recently been relocated to newly built enclosures, which in these cases might explain this.

Happy Hippo, that excuse sounds like a right cop out!

[Tony_S]

Heidi from Leipzig Zoo still posts to my Facebook page even though she has been deceased for a few years now.

[grandadbob]

I had a great time at Didcot with some good company and once more learnt a hell of a lot from some very knowledgeable people. The weather wasn't brilliant but trains ran on time and when I got home The Boss poured me a pint of Pride and produced a lovely casserole. What with that, some wine, more Pride and then watching the GP I can safely say it's been a pretty  very good day!