Early Risers.

[Dave Hunt]

51 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

I'll check on it for you Bill.

 

Bill,

 

PM with relevant information sent to avoid nasty awl injuries!

 

Dave

[jamie92208]

Morning all from somewhere on the A34 near Oxford. Lots of rai  and traffic jams. 2.5 hours from getting into the car for the first 85 miles.  Coffee being taken then inwards and upwards. It now appears that on Friday I will be moving a sofa for Rachel. Ancient Volvo estates do have some uses.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie.

 

 

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Dull, dismal, damp and drizzling here but very mild at 11°C . More rain to come.

Late up this morning as we had a disturbed night with very noisy cats fighting outside and an elderly neighbour across the road with dementia who was shouting for a couple of hours.

 

1 hour ago, Kingzance said:

Yesterday also saw the same neighbour pop round for an extended chat over coffee(s) and an auction buyer come and collect the perfectly good table and chairs that SWMBO decided she no longer liked and which, together with its replacement, would have paid for a top of the range Dacia . Daughter’s mutt duly attended and cared for too!

 

 I hope you're not mocking my pride & joy KZ!    

 

Nothing of note done yesterday except for the purchase of a soup maker. Now and again I make soup for lunch but decided to try one of these gadgets where you bung everything in and let it get on with it. Tried it out with leek and potato yesterday and I must say the results were excellent. 

 

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

26 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

As for political signage, I can say only this. 

Outstanding yard signs!

 

I seem to be awake. I should be asleep at this time of day night. I had tucked myself in well over an hour ago but sleep did not overtake me. I stayed up late last night and slept in late this morning. This has been happening more frequently than I prefer of late. By the time I get myself organized (ablutions, medications, breakfasted* etc) the morning is kaput. With sunset now at 4:30pm this leaves little daylight remaining for accomplishing useful things.

 

* Breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses and luncheon all rolled into brunch and accidentally approximates the 16 hour fast plan which is apparently a fad these days.

 

Points south of here are expecting snow tomorrow though locally it is expected to rain below 1,500'. There will be considerable snow in the mountains. This is a good thing - except for those travelling over the river mountains and  through the wood to grandmother's house for Thanksgiving on Thursday. Their travel will be fraught. Thanksgiving itself will be clear. My Thanksgiving plans are now resolved and I will be travelling over the river, but no woods, or mountains. I'm glad to have a plan for the day.

[Kingzance]

8 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

 I hope you're not mocking my pride & joy KZ!    

Sir, you impugn my good nature!

 

I also have a soft spot for that other nice old duffer Mr James May (who used to promote Dacia on the old BEEB versions of Top Gear and built a recent scaled-down version of the Atlantic Coast Express). As an aside, I believe the adverts are voiced by a certain Mr Ralph Inneson. Had the KZ household not spent gazillions on two complete sets of dining tables and chairs, we COULD have replaced SWMBO's ageing B-class Merc and, in true "fit for purpose" mode, I would have certainly tested the Duster!

 

Breath easily and without raised blood pressure!

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Up until 01:30 this morning but finally caught up with Farcebook. My Eco-drive watch is finally giving up, either the photo-electric cell or the battery is going. Its more than 20 years old so I've decided on a replacement, Argos at Rayleigh Weir have a good selection and are open until 8 so I'll probably pop down this evening. Also need to get the car checked, suspect clutch cable as the clutch pedal sometimes sticks down then suddenly springs back making the car jerk. Sad about the Koala but with the extent of his injuries I'm not surprised.

[jamie92208]

Got as far as Trowell now for another caffeine infusion.  Whilst I remember I was passed on the M40 by a red vehicle with the prancing horse badge, it's plate was FE12ARE.

 

Jamie

[TheQ]

I may have mentioned this before, I remember being passed by a porche with the famous plate PEN15, at one time it was on a invalid carriage fitted with a race motorcycle engine. you can guess what the now invalid used to do...

 

Sad news at work, One of the Calibration techs who was still on the books, but had been ill for a couple of years, so hadn't been in the lab,   has died, He was in his mid 50's, the Big C strikes again..

[Gwiwer]

1 minute ago, TheQ said:

 

 

Sad news at work, One of the Calibration techs who was still on the books, but had been ill for a couple of years, so hadn't been in the lab,   has died, He was in his mid 50's, the Big C strikes again..

Sorry to hear that.  Thoughts towards you and those others left gazing at a void.

 

Morning all.  OK - afternoon - but only just.

 

An unnecessarily frustrating day today caused largely by the decision-makers of Train Control sitting in a bunker just outside Blazingsmoke gazing at computer screens.  Yet again - because this is now a daily occurrence - most Shepperton trains were run non-stop from Waterloo to Teddington making it impossible for folk at any intermediate station to board.  They instead ran through without stopping sometimes as little as 2 minutes late because Control said so.  Control is not necessarily attended by "railway" staff not those with much experience on the ground these days.  We who work at the coal-face, attempting to placate passengers whose attempts to get somewhere on time even once in a week are continually frustrated, have no reasonable explanation to offer when a train to Little Nuttingford is allowed to stop as booked when 13 minutes late but that to Greater Hogwash is invariably "cancelled" yet runs through fast within a couple of minutes of the time it should have stopped.  

 

Yesterday's training effort was intended to get across a message that if we smiled and were polite to people all would be well and frustrations would magically melt away.  I don't know which school of fairy-stories someone went to but they need to stand in our shoes day after day, in the cold, wet, grey light of another information screen littered with the words "Delayed" and "Cancelled".   

 

Rant over.  

 

It's lunchtime.  

 

There is bacon in the fridge and coffee in the cupboard.  All is not yet lost.  

 

10 minutes ago, TheQ said:

the famous plate PEN15

Never managed to see that but famously Portsmouth LVLO refused to issue STR1P suggesting it was offensive.  Two bikes which parked outside home when I was a lot younger were IAM1 and RU12.  Plates possibly worth more than the machines as is sometimes the case with select marks on larger vehicles as well.  

 

Best wishes to all.  I'll be right back after a post-lunch snooze.

[The Lurker]

Greeting from a grey but actually wet LBG.

 

The tunnel that is year end carries on and I cannot see the light at the end, nor even an approaching train. I think I will be able to at least get revised numbers to the auditors today but will then have to spend time answering questions on how the numbers have changed, knowing that the reason is because they asked us to change the way that we accounted for something,  a method we agreed with them and have used for many years. Still it allows them to bill us for having to do extra work.

 

Tonight I am going to the pub and the curry house, so something to look forward to, although I guess my work colleagues will be less enthusiastic about it tomorrow.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Instead of venturing out later I decided to go down to Argos for my new watch. It is now sitting under a lamp getting charged which according to the handbook should take 40 minutes, so I'll give it an hour at least. Now its Muggatee time, be back later.

[TheQ]

Evening Awl,

Driving home I had much experience of brake lights ( a current discussion on the driving standard thread).

The VW sirocco in front of me for most of the way, was almost always using the brakes.  Every car coming the other way,  every slight bend in the road,  every road junction,  and occasionally just when they felt like it.. Eventually when traffic cleared I over took easily in the landrover. 

 

  After much consideration, the toolbox I'm going to buy is..

 

 

 

 

A sheet of plywood,  and additional timber.. Yes It will be made to measure. I will, in the next few days, empty the toolbox in a muddle and layout all the items contained in, it needs a sort out anyway.  Once I've worked out positioning, it will be drawn up. 

 

The rough plan is something like:

A 4 inch deep bottom drawer for a set of jars and bottles, glue, water, etc. 

A two inch thick drawer for thicker tools. 

Above that several 1 inch drawers for  hand tools.. 

All will have dividers / foam inserts to hold tools in individual positions.

 

I'm now off to wander round the net looking for a set of appropriate square jars/ tubs. 

 

 

 

[AndyID]

9 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Prior to that I have been promised the ineffable delight of starting to do the overseas Christmas cards 

 

 "Ineffable" - meaning there must be no effin' and blindin' 

[AndyID]

57 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Instead of venturing out later I decided to go down to Argos for my new watch. It is now sitting under a lamp getting charged which according to the handbook should take 40 minutes, so I'll give it an hour at least. Now its Muggatee time, be back later.

 

Careful or you'll overwind it.

[Ian Abel]

Chewsday moaning!

 

Highlights lowlights from yesterday;

 

Work - took them until 4PM before they had any details of the new VPN connection to me. Series of back-and-forths later and we were marginally able to connect, but still couldn't access ANY of the servers/business software I need to get to. Waiting on more <yawning> back-and-forth to arrive at the state I was in last week, i.e. able to connect and work on their systems! What a shambles.

 

Home - right after I posted on ER yesterday our furnace/HVAC system decided to throw a shoe. The circulation fan was running continuously instead of shutting off after the heat reached the set temperature.

Call to the folks who provide the energy AND whom we have a service contract with, netted me a "we are prioritizing people with no heat, we can schedule an appt. for Dec 3rd!" WHAT??? !@$!@$$@!

OK, explained that by then if this fan is running 7/24 there's an even chance WE will be without heat and they'll be replacing a LOT more than they may have to now. Get an "exception" and guy due here between 7AM - 11PM Today.

Imagine my surprise when I get a call at 7:45 this morning saying he's 15 minutes away

Diagnosed system (it's old) and needs a new control board, off he goes to get one and now everything is fixed/running correctly.

Biggest surprise was - he said it's the ONLY appt. he has scheduled today - maybe the scheduling folks need a boot up the arse says me

 

Weather - +1 and overcast since first thing, HOWEVER, we have a Winter Storm Warning in effect, supposed to start snowing mid-late afternoon and provide us with 6-9 inches of the white fluffy stuff before it quits sometime early tomorrow morning.

 

Being Minnesotans the above doesn't phase us and we're off to a movie and dinner this afternoon with our friends      

 

Carry on

 

[AndyID]

Speaking of vanity plates, MrsID has been very reluctant to drive IDSPIDY. She had only driven it once since we got it. On Sunday she wanted to have lunch at an Indian restaurant and I persuaded her to drive.

 

Serious mistake!

 

"Ooooh! I really like this."

[The Stationmaster]

Evening all,

 

Feeling well k-nackered after an earlyish start and what has felt like a busy day out and about which included me having to do 'a piece to video' (i.e. a load of filmed chatter) but I think I managed better than the average GMRC commentator because it was all done in one take with no need for repeats or retakes.  Fortunately I shall probably have forgotten all about it by the time it finally appears online a goodly time forward from now, ah well at least it was something a bit different.

 

But it was nice to get home to some leek and potato soup and there's pizza for dinner this evening which we're having when we want as aopposed to having it when his ladship's council meeting timetable says we've got to have it.  Interpreted into English what this means is that his meeting has been brought forward so thetre's no need to ruch dinner because he won't be coming home to feed before heading for the dubious delights of the council's planning sub-committee.  although it doesn't mean this evening's amusement will be brought forward when he's home and regaling us with tales of the behaviour of one of his fellow sub-committee members who spends his tiem talking about ebverything except what he is supposed to be talking about.

 

Enjoy your evening one and all (and I'll pass no comment about the A34 Jamie other than to say most of the alternative routes for your journey would be even worse). 

[JohnDMJ]

9 hours ago, roundhouse said:

My other half has finally decided to buy a bigger Tv for the living room so the 26" one in the shed will soon be 42" - Kansas City railcam on the big screen / hifi

 

An upgrade for the layout track plan display?

 

9 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Bill,

 

PM with relevant information sent to avoid nasty awl injuries!

 

Dave

 

That sounds awlful.

 

6 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Never managed to see that but famously Portsmouth LVLO refused to issue STR1P suggesting it was offensive.  Two bikes which parked outside home when I was a lot younger were IAM1 and RU12.  Plates possibly worth more than the machines as is sometimes the case with select marks on larger vehicles as well.  

 

Other LVLOs could have had problems too!

 

Berwickshire (1903-74); Selkirk (1974-80); Edinburgh (for Selkirk) (from 1980) (SH) - O() 1T

 

Devon (1931-74); Exeter (from 1974) (OD) - S() 1T [hint - insert contents of preceding (..) for ()]

 

I would love to have had ?DL 10W as DL was the code for the Isle of Wight where I lived for many years!

[AndyID]

28 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

 (and I'll pass no comment about the A34 Jamie other than to say most of the alternative routes for your journey would be even worse). 

 

Ah yes. The A34! I used to leave Abingdon heading back to Paisley on a Friday afternoon. That was forty years ago. I doubt if it's improved much.

[81C]

Slapped #rse arrived this morning and screamed I'm talking to you I carried on and ignored her I didn't have my aids in the lug'oles I

got up she was still babbling away I said "I'll just go and pop the aids in so I can hear you" It was like an H bomb going off I came back and she said

did you hear anything I said since I have been here hold on I said I'll just turn these damn things on "what was that".

Just to rub salt in the wound I showed her an error she had made on the form she submitted to the divorce court  and she blamed me.    

[Gwiwer]

Evening all

 

Still feeling less than ideal which is often dangerous when online shopping is available. 
 

So far this evening I have ordered a new printer, a plugboard to help it work and a (yet another)  small diseasel shunter. 
 

In other news sausages and chips have been enjoyed, a glass of Dr. Merlot’s Falling-Down Water likewise and I shall probably be snoring on the sofa before too long. 
 

 

[New Haven Neil]

One of those days I would prefer not to have had.  Survived though.

 

Is all.

[leopardml2341]

Evening Folks,

 

Today has been, well, just today really.

 

Nothing much to report, just having a break from household chores so I thought I'd check in and say hello. Hope all are well, and as ever, if not then at least improving.

[bbishop]

Back from German classes.

Bushed.

Bed.

Bill

[Coombe Barton]

12 minutes ago, bbishop said:

Back from German classes.

Bushed.

Bed.

Bill

But not too bushed for alliteration