Early Risers.

[railsquid]

Afternoon all,

Well, this is an interesting idea coming down the pipeline at us, so to speak....rather reminds me of how they used to send messages and cash round large buildings!

It seems to me that one would need quite gentle curves on such a system, both laterally and vertically, to avoid passengers at 760 mph being subject to rather noticeable / uncomfortable g forces.  

 

I presume the quoted cost of "$200 to $300 million (£141 to £211 million)" is for the planning stage, not the actual construction?

[Oldddudders]

Fame takes many forms, and being found asleep is just one of them. It was good of my bride to wake up long enough to take two pictures, really!

 

Bright and sunny yet again - the weather seems to be stuck. Slightly less breeze, though, today.

 

Delighted to know our resident Leopard is already mobile again. When I first saw a factory lettered Zimmer Orthopaedic about 45 years ago, I had no idea their products would become so universally known in the most positive way.

 

I had an hour's brisk constitutional walk with Alison this morning, which is my excuse for having a few zzzzzzs. Her collie-cross, secured as usual with a lead around Alison's not-slender waist, remains a dubious companion, darting here and there enough to trigger some teeth-grinding, and not a little Anglo-Saxon.

[The Stationmaster]

There I was peacefully wending my way through RMweb when the front door bell rings.  And in the porch is Mrs Stationmaster - saved taking off her muddy gardening wellies to call my attention that way.

 

Mrs S 'I'm down the garden and there are some bricks in the way along the edge of the path and I can't move them'

Self     'What path, I can't think of any bricks by a path down there?'

Mrs S 'The path by the veg patch, I can't get the bricks out and I can't weed round them, I want you to move them'

Self     ' There aren't any bricks there, only a concrete strip that was the path edging in the past'

 Mrs S 'They are bricks, it is not concrete, I know that I've been trying to dig them out'

Self      'It's concrete and it will be a right b*gger to get it out but I'll see what I can do'

Mrs S   'They're bricks, come and get them out so I can weed there'

 

So duly kitted up I go out and collect  a pickaxe, a spade, a crowbar, and a sledgehammer and proceed to site and have a nudge at the offending area with the pickaxe - duly uncovering a strip of, hmm, concrete. In the process I hit a piece of (brick) hardcore sticking out from underneath the path.

 

Self  'Look, there it is - concrete just as I said'

Mrs S 'Yes, but look at that piece of brick (about an inch long), you can see why I thought it was brick'

 

Next to the miniscule piece of brick lies a partly uncovered piece of concrete about 18 inches long by 4" wide by 9' deep which I have loosened with the crowbar and have to break with the sledge in order to extract it from the ground.  I then decided that as I had frightened it I might just was well dig out the next 10 feet of concrete edging duly explaining to herself as I went that I knew it was concrete as I could remember my dad laying it, about 64 years ago.

 

The moral of this tale - when is a brick a brick ?  Obviously really - when it's concrete (and that way you'll never be wrong).

[AndyB]

I presume the quoted cost of "$200 to $300 million (£141 to £211 million)" is for the planning stage, not the actual construction?

 

Having recently bought some fashion items for swmbo from Amazon, and seen the very reasonable prices, I suspect the $200-$300M may be for construction and the first 10 years of operation, too. 

[Judge Dread]

Afternoon all,

Well, this is an interesting idea coming down the pipeline at us, so to speak....rather reminds me of how they used to send messages and cash round large buildings!

It seems to me that one would need quite gentle curves on such a system, both laterally and vertically, to avoid passengers at 760 mph being subject to rather noticeable / uncomfortable g forces.  

Checking calendar to see if it's April 1st already. 

[grandadbob]

Joe still not quite right but apart from that it's been a goodish afternoon so far:

My Colletts have landed! 

Track lifted, new point and a bit of siding laid.

Everything working so far and no blood in sight. ..........yet.

[Happy Hippo]

Here is Ian's reason for having a relaxing afternoon:-

 

image.jpeg

The man's a pus*y magnet!

 

*Andy's filth detector will not allow me to use the unexpurgated version

Edited March 15, 2016 by Happy Hippo

[lightengine]

Another cracking day here in sunny Teignmouth.  I ventured out in a tee-shirt and did not feel cold a bit.

Station ticket machine was NFU when I called there earlier so my online tickets will have to wait collection.  They seemed a bargain especially as the Bristol TM to Bristol airport bus is £11 return.  The rail tickets included the bus price at a reduced rate.

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

Aft'noon all,

 

Best regards to any that ail

 

Misty vistas circuit of Morridge/Onecote after work today. Another never venture out cameraless moment...even if it does look bleak & unpromising. For the first half of the ride I was thankful for the hat, coat & gloves but that changed as I climbed back onto Morridge on the return leg as the sun started to break through in dramatic fashion.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Beverley Craven concert last night was good for me, as I relived the hit singles of the mid 90s but Is was entirely unimpressed with what she viewed as a string of samey man hating songs by someone too self involved. Oh well....I won't be allowed to choose the next concert.

 

Feathered ones provided for

 

Enjoy what you do

 

Dave

Edited March 15, 2016 by Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71

[Ian Abel]

Well, SOD! (No, not the American term for turf, a bona fide "SOD" exclamation)

 

Apparently our new (well 18 months or so by now) oven has decided to go on strike it seems. As with all new stuff, this item has a digital clock on the face, eager to always inform.

No clock, no functioning when controls are worked, nothing, nada, zip! I've checked the circuit breaker (first question asked by the service folks ) which is, of course not thrown, reset it anyway and no change in the situation.

 

Fortunately we don't use the oven a lot so waiting until Thursday for a scheduled repair appointment is not really a problem.

 

So goes the midday news from Minnesota, still overcast, still 11C no rain as yet. Right, I'm going to make some lunch and then get back to the toil...

Edited March 15, 2016 by Ian Abel

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

Morning all,

Crashed last night and literally just finished catching up at 8.10am! Yesterday was a lovely day to have so many of my family here, but extremely tiring - I have got the usual two carers visiting early and late, and the district nurse is due to check me over before taking my bloods here for Thusday's oncology appointment, otherwise it will hopefully be a quiet day.

Mike(SM), I've always been lucky when it comes to getting jobs, quite a few because of 'who you know'. The first significant big paying one came from an encounter during a darts match in a pub in Hertfordshire - I had bumped into Lesterr Simms, the then importer of NGK spark plugs to the UK who supplied the ones for my racing motorcycle and gave a little sponsorship for badges and stickers on the bike and I. In conversation I happened to mention that I was unhappy about the work that was expected of me after years of study whereupon I was offered the task of race engineer, as he was getting too busy running the fast growing company. This involved a company car and visiting all the race tracks with sponsorship deals, as well as selling branded merchandise from the boot. Topped with a decent salary, and the chance to still do the occasional race I said yes instantly! From there the job with Yamaha that took me back to live near Edinburgh was a simple poaching job, but with a massive salary lift and (due to high mileage!) two new company cars per annum. This was followed by my 'Ill fated' move to Cornwall by father in law one and so the hamster's cage rolled on...........,

AndyP, having, like yourself spent many years in the car business. Rising to dealer principal/Managing Director at a couple, I can agree how ridiculous the systems imposed on dealers by the manufacturers must seem to outsiders. I ran two Renault franchises before settling with Citroën for the last sixteen years before the cancer snared me. It is hard to believe that Ford used to impose rules on dealers about how interviews should be conducted, even interfering at showroom floor level where they tried to make all salesmen approach prospective customers in the same way. I remember doing a 'mystery shop' on one at their request - the young salesman opened with the unfortunate question 'can I help you sir'? I simply said NO and carried on walking which left him nowhere to go! Why do car makers always assume that each individual car buyer has the same needs, circumstances and indeed funding?? They actually always insist that an attempt is made to sell a 'PCP', even if their wallet is over stuffed!

Dave(TG), what a lovely set of images as usual, and the topography would suggest that it really does represent a thorough work-out. Hope 'Is' can now relax a bit, and that the pain is lessening by the day.

John(KB), another sun-set for your 'professional portfolio' I would imagine - beautiful.

Andy(leopard), great news on the outcome of the operation mate - might be a good idea to look back at Flavio(iD)'s pain advice from some posts gone by if it still hurts.

AndyP, I shall have to look in on the 'North Road' thread later to see what track has gone down, especially at the speed you are known to work at

I returned to home to discover that a couple of people had purchased items on e-Bay in my absence, and consequently my PayPal account had swelled accordingly, so I spent some of it! I wondered if anyone else on here would have attempted to build the Dapol 57ft non corridor suburbans in carmine red, which paired with a 2P (hoping to find one on e-bay!) made up the most common trains running up the Darvel branch line? Anything to keep my interest up, and I'm being encouraged by Joanna at the minute which can't be bad.

Now, with the usual generic greetings - I send commiserations/congratulations as necessary, and I shall try to lurk and post later.

Kind regards,

Jock.

 

.....she is brightening Jock....still gets tired easily though....however, almost a year to the day since the troubles started I should be taking her away for her birthday on a 'chase the sunshine' break in April.

 

Hope things are as well as they can be for the two of you.

 

Dave

[Ashcombe]

The man's a pus*y magnet!.......

In his dreams...! (see second photo!)

 

Another cracking day here in sunny Teignmouth.  I ventured out in a tee-shirt and did not feel cold a bit......

Gosh! Was Teignmouth ready for your bit.....?!

[Killybegs]

This evening, instead of just nipping outside the back door, I took a five minute stroll down to the waterside for the sunset. A neighbour, out feeding his sheep, suggested I was wise to make the most of the fine weather. Oh he of little faith!

 

[AndyB]

With the demise of Little Red (not Riding Hood) we'll be driving up to Aberdeenshire this summer. 

On previous occasions we've broken the journey on the way up (from the MiLs) at Moffatt. 

 

But driving back to the MiL's has always been a 9-hour drag; longer if the motorway has a problem.

 

So this year I'm thinking of spending a night in the Lake District - not a place the children have been before.

Any recommendations?

Initial thoughts are a B&B in Windermere with a trip on the lake.... (it's bound to be quiet and uncongested in August   )

[roundhouse]

At London Bridge tonight

[Tony_S]

My stays in the Lake District haven't been in B&Bs. We have been there in August and it wasn't too bad! Though perhaps it was because it was raining? The only boat trip we had was at Coniston.

[leopardml2341]

AndyB,

 

I've stayed here before, close to Windermere but not too touristy if you know what I mean.

http://www.lakelandpub.co.uk

[emt_911]

As predicted a loy of driving and not a lot of work today. I was surprised when I went out to the van first thing to find it covered in ice.

 

Andy - I hope that you can get the pain under control but at least you are starting to get mobile again.

 

Dom - Sorry to hear that you're under the weather enough to see ENT. At least the antibiotics and enforced rest should assist a speedy recovery.

[AndyB]

Thanks, Tony,  Andy.

Seems there's "room at the inn" on the day I had in mind. 

And a microbrewery, too.

[Tony_S]

Thanks, Tony,  Andy.

Seems there's "room at the inn" on the day I had in mind. 

And a microbrewery, too.

And dogs are very welcome. I may bookmark that location.

[Mike Bellamy]

Whenever we are anywhere near Windermere we always have to go here - I don't mind too much as long as I get to sample the cakes she makes . . .!

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/

 

.

[emt_911]

For some reason I'm absolutely shattered.

 

Night all

[BSW01]

Evening everyone. Another beautiful day again today. My travels took me to Millom, Barrow-in-Furness, Grange Over Sands. I very pleasant days driving but I clocked up over 250 miles today, along with some more overtime too!

 

We normally go shopping on a Tuesday evening, but I was a little tired so we're going to shop tomorrow instead.

 

Rick. I agree about the "Karelia Suite" but like Jock, I prefer the orchestral version. But I do like Isao Tomita, love he's reworking of some classical works, Snowflakes are dancing being one of my favourites.

 

Pete. I do like Farewell To Stromness, it's a lovely piece isn't it?

 

Andy. Keep up with the physio, even though it might be painful now, it'll all be worth it in the end!

 

John. Another beautiful sunset.

 

Goodnight all.

[Barry O]

survived my committee meeting (two committee meetings in 2 days is just far too much!).

 

A trip to the post office i scheduled for tomorrow followed by weathering then another presentation to watch and listen to.

 

Sleep well everyone - Rick enjoy your day!

 

baz

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.