Early Risers.

[grandadbob]

Evenin' each,

I had a few trolleybus rides in the 50s although can't remember the routes.  During the school summer holidays my sister and I always spent a week with my Gran and Aunt in Morden and my Aunt used to take us to visit various sights and museums in London usually finishing with a visit to a Lyons Corner House.

Some useful time spent in The Shed today , so much so that Platform 2 is now complete.  Next up will be adding a siding in the goods yard.

The Boss made a rather nice Sausage and Leek casserole for dinner which was accompanied by quite a nice Australian  Cabernet Durif called Moonstruck.  According to the label it's "Hand crafted with grapes gathered in the still of the night.   Moonstruck is made for those who like to howl at the moon."

Yep, that's me all right.  Time for another glass.  G'day cobbers!

 

Edited October 15, 2020 by grandadbob

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

.... Perhaps people should think what it must've been like during the 6 years of the Second World War:...

 

Well, quite! Although I was born well after the war (1956 if you ask) I remember growing up, spending the first 12 years of my life in a Britain that was still devastated from the Blitz and the V1/V2 attacks during the Second World War. Certainly until the early to mid 60s there was still enough bomb sites around that we were warned not to play on them. And whilst the various forms of rationing had ended in the mid to late 50s, Life was still fairly basic with a few luxuries - unlike today. 

As Mr Bear pointed out, there were significant deprivations imposed upon all countries and their populations by the various national war efforts. Somehow, I think that those complaining about cancelled plans and limited drinking times would go absolutely spare should they have to endure the limitations imposed on our grand parents (little to buy, limited choice and a weekly food ration consisting of - per person - Bacon & Ham - 4 oz; Other meat equivalent to 2 chops: Butter  2 oz Cheese 2 oz; Margarine - 4 oz Cooking fat-4oz; Milk- 3 pints; Sugar-8 oz; Tea-2 oz;  Eggs 1 fresh, plus allowance of dried egg).  Somehow, being forced to stay at home with your Netflix, your PS4 or Xbox and abundant deliveries of food and alcohol plus regular top ups of takeaways, all enlivened by access to the Internet, Doesn’t seem too much of a deprivation to me (oh, and I forgot to mention in World War II there also were significant travel restrictions placed on the population as well: if the trip wasn’t necessary to the war effort, it wasn’t made).

Another point to consider is that until the success of the D-Day landings and the campaign in Normandy in the West and the success of Operation Bagration in the East in 1944, there was a little assurance that the conflict would not last until 1946 or 47, if not longer. At least with COVID-19, we know that we will have a number of vaccines (of various types with various benefits and various drawbacks) within the next two years, if not sooner.

And one final point: in the Second World War everyone was at risk of dying, of being killed by enemy (and sometimes by friendly) action. With the current coronavirus pandemic, the risk of death for the majority of people under the age of 65 - 70 and without any significant comorbidities (or vulnerabilities)  is minimal.

 

The estimated death toll for six years of war was 70,000,000 to 85,000,000, whereas the death toll for CoVID-19 since this time last year (the pandemic is thought to have started up around October last year) is 1,09 million. Even being incredibly pessimistic and anticipating a yearly death toll of about the same number as for this year (which is unlikely, as the virus seems to be mutating and people are getting less sick and for shorter periods of time, Clinicians now know how to better treat the disease and a vaccine is on the horizon), should the pandemic last as long as the Second World War, worldwide casualties would still be only about 6 to 7,000,000. Which puts it into perspective somewhat.

As Franklin D Roosevelt said “The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself“ and that I think is the root of the problem: not so much the disease itself (as nasty as it is, it is still relatively mild compared with an awful lot of the communicable diseases out there), but the fear of the disease.

 

Bibe et suaviter tibi sit cras enim mori nobis cibum

Edited October 15, 2020 by iL Dottore

[southern42]

' evening all from red dragon land.

Another sun filled day with fitting sunset.

 

Click and collect day at Tess Coe's.  Ray said the car park and store were almost empty.  Current restrictions discouraging people outside the area from shopping in Bangor (a University City) due to rising C19 numbers may account for it.  I hope this does not reduce the store's stock, opening hours, click and collect, etc.  The c&c is the other side of the carpark from a separate building.  No tins of mandarin oranges again despite selecting an alternative to the ones we have had up til now and bread was unsliced this week, so I had to slice the one for the freezer.  Thankfully. at least one of my bread knives could do the job reasonably quickly.

 

Time to put kettle on.

 

Fitt  and  Elfie picking up.

 

Take car and play safe.

_________

Best wishes

Polly

' Er indoors

[PhilJ W]

This is a joke but I just wonder if there's any truth in the first three remarks.

[brianusa]

20 hours ago, Tony_S said:

We had a note attached to our paper on Monday informing us that our newsagent is stopping deliveries at the end of the year. I think we will cancel the physical newspaper and go digital. I think Aditi will change the subscription to another newspaper. 

Unless you're a computer addict Its not advisable.  There's nothing like a cup of tea and a read  from a real paper to start the day off.  In todays world we all spend too much time in front of a glowing screen and a break is worth the time off.  In spite of the wet newspapers or other delivery problems, when the systems working a paper version is worth every penny.  Especially when news is being manipulated by unscrupulous politicians and their cronies you have the ability to view in depth and make up one own mind.

         Brian.

[Erichill16]

Goodnight All,

Robert

 

[Coombe Barton]

... and resilient students ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/10/15/blue-sky-autumn/

 

[Happy Hippo]

10 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

 

 

 

 

 

That's what happens when you leave your caravans unattended.

 

They'll have the wheels and side sheets off them as soon as look at you.

[Barry O]

Goodnight all!

 

Baz

[jamie92208]

3 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

That's what happens when you leave your caravans unattended.

 

They'll have the wheels and side sheets off them as soon as look at you.

I didn't think that Mike went to Scouse land.

 

Jamie

[Tony_S]

11 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

That's what happens when you leave your caravans unattended.

 

They'll have the wheels and side sheets off them as soon as look at you.

In Mikes area it wouldn’t be a caravan, probably “shepherds style writing cabin”.

[Dave Hunt]

One of the most frightening journeys I ever had when someone else was driving was on a bus going from the port terminal in New York out to Idlewild in 1993. I think that the driver was on something as his behaviour was unbelievable and we had a grandstand view as Jill had wanted to sit in the front. Going through the midtown tunnel he was doing nearly 80mph and in Queens he got so close to ramming the car in front when it stopped at a red light that he stood up to peer over the coaming to see how close he was. Even complaints from the passengers and demands that he slow down had no effect so when we got to the airport a group of us complained about him to the bus company rep. 

 

The most terrifying of all, though, was when I lost my brakes (cracked master cylinder) going down the Italian side of the Grossglockner Pass when driving a Cortina back in 1971. The only thing that saved us was a large pile of grit by the side of the road that looked preferable to the several thousand foot drop on the other side. Definite brown trouser ride. 

 

Best I have a small libation of Scottish happy water to get over it I suppose. I'm envious of GDB having a Caol Ila as it's may favourite tipple but I haven't been able to acquire any recently. I'll just have to put up with a Lagavulin I guess - it's a hard life sometimes.

[Happy Hippo]

18 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

I didn't think that Mike went to Scouse land.

 

Jamie

I thought it was somebody getting their own back on some caravan utilizing nomadic travellers.

[PeterBB]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Well, quite! Although I was born well after the war (1956 if you ask) I remember growing up, spending the first 12 years of my life in a Britain that was still devastated from the Blitz and the V1/V2 attacks during the Second World War. Certainly until the early to mid 60s there was still enough bomb sites around that we were warned not to play on them. And whilst the various forms of rationing had ended in the mid to late 50s, Life was still fairly basic with a few luxuries - unlike today. 

As Mr Bear pointed out, there were significant deprivations imposed upon all countries and their populations by the various national war efforts. Somehow, I think that those complaining about cancelled plans and limited drinking times would go absolutely spare should they have to endure the limitations imposed on our grand parents (little to buy, limited choice and a weekly food ration consisting of - per person - Bacon & Ham - 4 oz; Other meat equivalent to 2 chops: Butter  2 oz Cheese 2 oz; Margarine - 4 oz Cooking fat-4oz; Milk- 3 pints; Sugar-8 oz; Tea-2 oz;  Eggs 1 fresh, plus allowance of dried egg).  Somehow, being forced to stay at home with your Netflix, your PS4 or Xbox and abundant deliveries of food and alcohol plus regular top ups of takeaways, all enlivened by access to the Internet, Doesn’t seem too much of a deprivation to me (oh, and I forgot to mention in World War II there also were significant travel restrictions placed on the population as well: if the trip wasn’t necessary to the war effort, it wasn’t made).

 

Bomb sites - yes, they were our 'plaything' ... that has led to a rebuilding observation - the cry of 'petrol' went up and a whole garden flashed flame.

 

Rationing - can you imagine a primary school child having the ration books and going from school at 3.30pm (no 24 hour clock used the) to the grocers to purchase the weeks supply of food and then carrying it home?  No need for imagination - fact, that was one of my weekly 'duties'.

 

Worse car drive - clutch gone and brakes failed going downhill in Croydon trying to stop at a red traffic light ... handbrake pulled so hard  I was not strong enough to release it later, crunched into reverse and then glad that I belonged to the AA.

 

Cannot comment on wines and food the first no thanks and the latter in restaurants for me is normally unpalatable.  Thanks to John of Coombe ... had my shingles vaccination today.

[Adam88]

When I was eleven years old I became a commuter of sorts and travelled to school by trolleybus.  Sadly it did not last as they were all scrapped and replaced by slow and smelly diesels.  We always used to let the diesels go past whenever there was a chance of a trolley.  In more recent years I have found trolleys in various overseas places although and even managed to take a ride.  Last summer I saw some very impressive new ones in Rome which are battery powered in the city centre and then automajically connect to the wires once they've reached the suburbs.

 

Regarding car rides, I thought there were only two passenger states - pink or white knuckles.

 

 

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. There's still a few museums where you can ride on a trolleybus and I did about five years ago at Carlton Colville. The only time that I've travelled on a trolleybus in public service since I was a youngster was in Athens in 1978. They were ancient Italian vehicles obtained second-hand and not in the best condition. They had some brand new Russian vehicles in service but I never managed to get a ride on one.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone

 

As I’d planned this morning, the weather was kin and I did indeed spend most of the day in the garden. Plenty of dead heading and winter pruning has been done, readying the roses for the up coming winter period. The only ones not done are the ones that are still flowering, I’ll wait until the buds either open and die off, or die off unopened.

 

When I went to empty the wheelbarrow, I also tidied up the front garden whilst I was there. There weren’t many weeds but those that had popped up were removed. This nicely brought about dinner time. 

 

After dinner I picked half a dozen apples from the tree, which eventually ended up in the fruit bowl. My last task for the day was interring the ashes of our 2 cats. They have been have been sat on a shelf in the cellar for a good few years waiting for a space in the garden to be ready. Anyway they are now both interred next to each other, as they were always in life. A small cross now temporarily marks the spot so that a suitable shrub will been purchased, this can be planted as a permanent marker. Just as I was finishing off, it started to rain, so I spent the last 45 minutes in the workshop. 

 

Goodnight all. 

[BokStein]

Morning!

 

More a late faller than an early riser!

 

4 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Evenin' each,

I had a few trolleybus rides in the 50s although can't remember the routes.  During the school summer holidays my sister and I always spent a week with my Gran and Aunt in Morden and my Aunt used to take us to visit various sights and museums in London usually finishing with a visit to a Lyons Corner House.

 

No there's a memory; Lyons Corner House. ISTR a three storey building offering different styles of catering on each storey! An Institution in their own right!

 

12 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Evening all from Estuary-Land. There's still a few museums where you can ride on a trolleybus and I did about five years ago at Carlton Colville. The only time that I've travelled on a trolleybus in public service since I was a youngster was in Athens in 1978. They were ancient Italian vehicles obtained second-hand and not in the best condition. They had some brand new Russian vehicles in service but I never managed to get a ride on one.

 

IIRC, Geneva and Luzern both have double bendy trolley buses in current service! The amazing thing is that the drive is in the back section!

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[skipepsi]

I'm late I'm late Goodnight all. I know I am tired writing that took two minutes.

[pH]

1 hour ago, BokStein said:

IIRC, Geneva and Luzern both have double bendy trolley buses in current service! The amazing thing is that the drive is in the back section!

Here (Greater Vancouver) all the bendy buses - trolleys and diesels - drive on the back section.

[BR60103]

Toronto had trolley coaches for  most of my time there. The major purchase was about 1950. (sorry, not up on dates)

The bus bodies had a lifespan of 20 years but the mechanisms were good for 60. In 1970 or so they looked for someone that would supply bodies only and found one. They replaced the whole fleet but bought buses from other cities so that the mechanisms would be standard. (the original system had bought from other sities that were abandoning almost-new trolleys).  When the time came that the replacement bodies were going, they decided to abandon trolley buses altogether.

 

[polybear]

Bear's up.......

Brekkies scoffed;  Tesco Extra asap before the cockwombles surface, then later on I'll hit the Barber for the first time since March (there's been a couple of reasonable DIY cuts since then).  My Barber has re-opened (I thought he may have shut for good) and as I'm (a) starting to look less like a Bear and more like the Dulux Dog, and (b) probably heading for a another lockdown I thought I'd get in now.

Then it's the joys of draining down and refilling the CH system, this time including Inhibitor; the replacement radiator bleed screw has arrived so it *should* be all systems go.