Early Risers.

[New Haven Neil]

Morning.  Persisting down, 6c.

 

Modelling mojo has completely deserted me at the moment, not sure why this should be.  Too cold for the garage really also, doesn't help.

 

JSB's mention of grey funnel line cruising recalled many days of exactly what Chris also thought - oh look, a wave....   Our funnels were pink though, and we left port at unsocial hours, the grey lot  usually wait until the gentlemen have had breakfast.  We did once get allowed an extra hour in port on Christmas day to enable us and the crew to have Christmas dinner, sailing at 2pm.  They're all heart.  This is why I have bad thoughts of Milford Haven, co-incidentally the only time I ever went to a British port.  Most of our trade was in the far east/gulf/USA. 

 

It was an awful ship too, the tanker 'Yorkshire', 113,000 tons of unreliable junk.  One thing was we didn't have any time to look at waves on that one, we were too busy fixing things that constantly broke down in new and 'interesting' ways.

 

This is the best view of it - sailing away.....

 

 

Edit - I note that it is leaving the Tyne in that shot, where it was built - presumably on trials.  A shame on my home area to have built that junk.

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by New Haven Neil

[jonny777]

It's a dry, bright and cold morning here in North Somerset. Inside living room temperature 13C, although the heating has not been on for long. Outside, we had a frost, according to my remote thermometers, but cloud must have come and gone during the night and the temperature out there is 1C. 

 

SWMBO is in a foul mood because she forgot to put the black bin out for the refuse people, and only remembered when the lorry in street woke her up at 6:50 this morning. I had volunteered to be officer in charge of the various bins, but as usual she thought it far too much responsibility for a man and so she has taken over. I am making no comment here, as I value my life. I have just discovered that her buckwheat flour is the missing item on today's Ocado delivery, but I will leave that snippet for later, when things might have calmed down. 

 

Lots of deliveries expected today, including a wristband blood pressure monitor. The mention of tinnitus decreasing after taking blood pressure tablets has raised my curiosity. My tinnitus seems to have become louder over the last 18 months, although I only really 'hear' it when I think about it.

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Not a lot of fog around here this morning but very grey. Tony mentioned Maplins, as most of you are aware they closed a few years ago but the one here still has the signage up.

4 hours ago, BR60103 said:

As I have no idea what you are scraping off your walls, a lot of posts have been unrated.

 

 

 

No doubt you will be aware that they are wall coverings. They have one thing in common that they are a bu@@er to remove without damaging the underlying plaster. In dire cases people have resorted to re-plastering over the offending material.

We have a recent case in the news re. a young transgender person* sued the clinic that performed the operation on the grounds that they were to young to understand the implications and that he/she was given puberty blockers that in themselves caused problems. This person won his/her case and received compensation. Almost immediately a transgender jihadist was up there saying that puberty blockers should be freely available, handed out like sweets. *(I can't now recall what sex they were before/after the operation). This reminded me of when my parents retired and went to live on a mobile home park near Peterborough. One of their new neighbours was 'John' who had a very odd figure for a bloke which was explained as he had been born female. I mentioned this in the office and it got round to how exactly the operation was done. Male to female was simple, snip-snip-snip and Bob's your auntie but where do you get the bits going the other way? During the discussion the office 'dumb blonde' pipped up with "Well they don't grow on trees.", well that brought the house down and the poor girl was getting redder and redder as the comments became more ribald. A bit of bad news last night, an acquaintance, Nigel Spate has just been diagnosed with Alzheimers. He might be known to a few here on RMW as he has had several layouts on the circuit in the past but due to his condition his layout Croxley Green has been mothballed for a few years now.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone. 

 

Its raining and has been for most of the night, I know this because every time I woke up during the night, I heard the rain hitting the bedroom windows. Anyway, back to today, my first task is to mix a second batch of tanking solution and give the cellar walls a final coat. Then I’ll head to the workshop and continue working on the turntable control panel. 

 

Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. 

 

Brian

[Joseph_Pestell]

3 hours ago, chrisf said:

How the other half live!  I have never been on a cruise. 

 

Me, neither. And I doubt that I ever will, certainly at sea.

 

The basic concept appeals. I like being on a ship and I like the idea of visiting different places during my holiday without the hassle of moving my luggage between hotels. But the modern cruise industry has completely spoiled the concept. It has become Benidorm / Vegas on the waves.

 

Massive ships that can not dock at many of the locations so that there is endless queuing to get ashore and back again. Unbelievably vulgar decoration in the public areas which doubtless appeals to a clientele that I really don't want to mix with. Ditto most of the "entertainment". Not for nothing is Simon Cowell's biggest put-down is to call someone a "cruise ship singer". It would not be a holiday.

 

I like the idea of the cruises that Stationmaster does with Trinity House. Small ship. All that I would need is a comfortable cabin and a supply of good books to read between stops.

[PeterBB]

1 hour ago, jonny777 said:

 

 

Lots of deliveries expected today, including a wristband blood pressure monitor. T

 

 

Jonny - wristband blood pressure monitors have a bad reputation for accuracy.  When you do use it make sure you are 'sitting comfortably and I'll begin' rings a bell.  Have your arm resting 'easily' on a table and take many readings i.e. a minimum of three, to get some idea of what your BP actually is.  Hope that helps.

[Tony_S]

51 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

a supply of good books to read between stops.

One of the things Aditi likes is the library on our most recent voyages. I just take my Kindle. I wanted a new book once and on the day it was released we were close enough to the Albanian coast to get a 3G signal so I was able to download it. When I was young only people in spy novels approached the Albanian coast. 

[AndrewC]

I've mentioned before the thought of being stuck on a floating hotel fills me with dread. Cruises seem to be marmite. FiL and his wife love them and have been all over, including completely around South America. MiL went on one and vowed, never again. My ex loves them. (so much that she is a cruise specialist travel agent)  90 min ferry ride is my limit. I can see the attraction for some but when we go away it has to be as unstructured as possible. 

[TheQ]

A cruise would be boredom for me, much like a beach holiday..

[Barry O]

Been out to the Post office.lummyit was totally nuts  Lots of black friday/thursday/week returns then it was pressie  sending as well..her indoors was supposed to wait for me..nonessential walked home. Hadn't taken her  mobile.. why bother having one?

 

Cruises... not for us. I like ferry trips, canal trips etc but cruise lines...nope

 

Baz

[The Lurker]

17 hours ago, Tony_S said:

My sister in law had to collect her children due to an emergency closure today. The school water supply failed and children had to go home. The school doesn’t have mains water (or in fact any “mains services). Generators have also failed in the past. The school has banks of mobile phones. At least it wasn’t a Covid related reason. This school isn’t in a really remote area, it just got built as planned but all the related infrastructure was and still is delayed. 
 

Mrs Lurker came home yesterday to say that the heating had failed in their part of the school. They have the windows and doors open as much as possible because of Covid- but they reduced this to just the vents. It didn't get to much more than 3 degrees here yesterday and she was cold all day

 

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Not a lot of fog around here this morning but very grey. Tony mentioned Maplins, as most of you are aware they closed a few years ago but the one here still has the signage up.

No doubt you will be aware that they are wall coverings. They have one thing in common that they are a bu@@er to remove without damaging the underlying plaster. In dire cases people have resorted to re-plastering over the offending material.

We have a recent case in the news re. a young transgender person* sued the clinic that performed the operation on the grounds that they were to young to understand the implications and that he/she was given puberty blockers that in themselves caused problems. This person won his/her case and received compensation. Almost immediately a transgender jihadist was up there saying that puberty blockers should be freely available, handed out like sweets. *(I can't now recall what sex they were before/after the operation). This reminded me of when my parents retired and went to live on a mobile home park near Peterborough. One of their new neighbours was 'John' who had a very odd figure for a bloke which was explained as he had been born female. I mentioned this in the office and it got round to how exactly the operation was done. Male to female was simple, snip-snip-snip and Bob's your auntie but where do you get the bits going the other way? During the discussion the office 'dumb blonde' pipped up with "Well they don't grow on trees.", well that brought the house down and the poor girl was getting redder and redder as the comments became more ribald. A bit of bad news last night, an acquaintance, Nigel Spate has just been diagnosed with Alzheimers. He might be known to a few here on RMW as he has had several layouts on the circuit in the past but due to his condition his layout Croxley Green has been mothballed for a few years now.

Whilst acknowledging that plastic surgery has proved to be a life saver for some I do think that some of the procedures are more for people wanting perfection. I am amazed that the human body is so flexible being able to replace a missing ear by growing skin around a cartelege framework that has been inserted under the skin is but one example.

[iL Dottore]

Interesting comments about plastic surgery. One thing I suspect few know is that many of the procedures now used routinely in plastic surgery can be traced back to Sir Archibald McIndoe’s pioneering work in reconstructing horrendously burned pilots during (and after) The Battle of Britain.

 

Although cosmetic plastic surgery (“boob jobs”, “tummy tucks” and the like) gets the press exposure, most plastic surgery done is either corrective (e.g. cleft palate) or reconstructive (e.g. post burn or post mastectomy). It can be quite gruesome to watch (dermatome shaving anyone?) but the results can be - literally - life transforming.

iD

p.s. Back when I was in a student in the late 70s early 80s, I worked with a very competent and very amiable plastic surgeon. One day, over coffee, I asked him that should I give him $10,000 (a lot of money in those days) what could he do for me. He looked at me slowly up and down, with a practised, professional, eye) and said: “absolutely nothing!“

[polybear]

2 hours ago, BSW01 said:

Anyway, back to today, my first task is to mix a second batch of tanking solution and give the cellar walls a final coat.

 

Out of interest, how long does the tanking solution provide protection against damp?  And what finish do you apply over the top once tanked - plaster/paint/dry line/something else?

 

2 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

The basic concept appeals. I like being on a ship and I like the idea of visiting different places during my holiday without the hassle of moving my luggage between hotels. But the modern cruise industry has completely spoiled the concept. It has become Benidorm / Vegas on the waves.

 

Massive ships that can not dock at many of the locations so that there is endless queuing to get ashore and back again. Unbelievably vulgar decoration in the public areas which doubtless appeals to a clientele that I really don't want to mix with. Ditto most of the "entertainment". Not for nothing is Simon Cowell's biggest put-down is to call someone a "cruise ship singer". It would not be a holiday.

 

I like the idea of the cruises that Stationmaster does with Trinity House. Small ship. All that I would need is a comfortable cabin and a supply of good books to read between stops.

 

45 minutes ago, TheQ said:

A cruise would be boredom for me, much like a beach holiday..

 

Bear doesn't fancy the idea much either - the queues to get on and off would really, really p*ss me off.  Plus far too many stories of one person gets the sh*ts then everyone else gets them too.  Whilst the idea of not messing about changing hotels, having hire cars etc appeals I would prefer to spend as much time as I want exploring a location (with the option of going back another day if it was particularly interesting etc) - I wouldn't want to be constrained by a timetable which says "you've got 6 hours or whatever and then we're off, with or without you....". 

Beach holiday?  No way.  This Bear likes to explore interesting towns etc. - the usual haunt being northern Italy, though I've been lucky enough to have a few jollies to S. Korea, Malaysia, India and Kuwait at the firm's expense.

Favourite place in Italy?  Venice is right up there; 1st time we stayed nearby and had a hire car for seeing other locations too, but spent so many days in Venice (by train) that the second holiday we stayed in Venice itself (S.C. Apartment).  More expensive than 1st trip, but when hire car costs, train etc. were removed it wasn't a huge difference.  And far, far more enjoyable as having a car is a right pain; also staying in Venice and having the easier option to wander about late in the day is great, as the place is completely different and far, far quieter in the evening.  But choose your dates carefully - July & Aug being big no-no's.  Also be prepared for a lot of walking, do your homework (e.g. many restaurants charge for meat & fish per 100 grams weight - so that cheap steak on the menu suddenly becomes very expensive), there are crowds even during off-peak periods, it is easy to eat cheaply (compared to usual venice prices) at restaurants as many have tourist menus.  Last tip?  Choose a place to stay that is close to a water bus/taxi stop - the last thing you want is to go lugging cases thru' the streets of venice (there's something like 400 bridges in venice, most with steps) and the pavements are less than kind to wheels on cases.....

 

edit:  Venice hates cruise ships.  Apart from the damage they cause, virtually all the passengers eat and sleep on board so apart from buying the odd "I love Venice t-shirt" and a cup of coffee they spend very little.

As for going on a cruise and reading a book, Bear can do that at home quite nicely - and without spending £xK for the privilege...

Edited December 8, 2020 by polybear

[Tony_S]

We had a cruise that started and finished in Harwich. Very convenient Actually it was more of a land cruise. Harwich to Hook, return from Esbjerg. The first leg took us down to Heidelberg via Amsterdam. The return was via Lubeck and  Copenhagen. I don’t think the ferry to Harwich from Esbjerg sails now or at least not for cars. 
 

[Coombe Barton]

1 hour ago, TheQ said:

A cruise would be boredom for me, much like a beach holiday..

The only time I go to a beach on holiday is to allow the dogs to run and run

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

One of the things Aditi likes is the library on our most recent voyages. I just take my Kindle. I wanted a new book once and on the day it was released we were close enough to the Albanian coast to get a 3G signal so I was able to download it. When I was young only people in spy novels approached the Albanian coast. 

I went on holiday to Corfu back in 1977. There is a point at the northern end of Corfu that is only 5 kilometres from the Albanian coast and we stopped there while the guide pointed it out. He also told us to smile as our pictures were being taken by the Albanians although we could see nothing.

[jonny777]

2 hours ago, PeterBB said:

Jonny - wristband blood pressure monitors have a bad reputation for accuracy.  When you do use it make sure you are 'sitting comfortably and I'll begin' rings a bell.  Have your arm resting 'easily' on a table and take many readings i.e. a minimum of three, to get some idea of what your BP actually is.  Hope that helps.

 

Thanks Peter. I will do these things.

 

All blood pressure monitors have problems with me. The last nurse who tried it said that my veins were some of the deepest she had ever encountered. When I went to give my first pint of blood (over 40 years ago now) the doctor recommended that unless I wanted permanent scarring and bruising on my arm they would not recommend e coming again.

 

They took about 10 minutes to find a vein, and then only got about 200ml in the time it takes for most people to unload a pint. I have always felt rather ashamed that I couldn't manage it, but they were very nice at the time. 

 

I assumed I was a one-off, until one day talking to my brother completely out of the blue the conversation came around to blood donations and he had had exactly the same experience many years ago; and he too thought there was something wrong with him. We looked at each other with a kind of relieved smile and realised the phenomenon was probably inherited.  

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

8 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

Hmmm, I did not know that there was a cultural difference!

The SS France had a similar sort of provision for dogs of different nations to relieve themselves way back in the 1970s, including something else for French dogs although I can't now remember what that was.  According to an officer of that ship the French were the only people who had thought of it. (there's no doubt a message there).

[southern42]

6 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Good moaning from Crabtree land. A lovely bit of Such language occurred yesterday. We haveca veryvwell spoken English couple in the village called Banks. Helene, our former mayor, referred to them as M et Mme Bonks.   Would that be fit for ISIHAC.

Anyway the builder started yesterday and cracked on at a good pace. The current bathroom used to be a separate bathroom and toilet and the toilet door had just been left in place but locked. It is now a breeze block wall and the shower base is ready for concreting.  Cutting into the concrete floor slab did generate some dust and obviously that was my fault.  

 

Anyway this morning I'm off to Cognac to pick up a new freezer and some plumbing bits.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

 

 

 

When I visited a friend's place 20 odd years ago, he had a couple of visitors from Spain.  I had heard, and knew, various Spanish pronunciations of the double LL.  On this occasion, I learnt a new one.  When asked how I spelt my name, he said, 'Ah! Podgy' not knowing what that said in English!  We all had a laugh when I explained!

[The Stationmaster]

G'day all.

 

The fist & mog has dissipated somewhat and I can (from upstairs) just about see the trees on the other side of the river but the oligarch's palace remains clothed in mist and probably mystery as well.

 

For lovers of Crabtree his twatter poge is often worth a look. (and means there is actually something worth looking there!) -

https://twitter.com/offcrabtree?lang=en

 

In my experience BP pills (ramipril in my case) make no difference whatsoever to my tinnitus - it just goes it's own sweet nuisance way in my left ear although usually I can turn it off when it starts in my right ear.

 

Now cruising - well apart from a cabin cruiser on the Thames the nearest I have been to it is probably the Hurtigruten which all the passengers of US origin seemed to think was a cruise ship although in reality its not quite what the brochures suggest because unloading cargo in the middle of the night doesn't - I think - happen on a cruise ship.   But we visited lots of places, missed (on purpose) many of the added 'experiences although we tried and enjoyed several of them which were not what you'd normally get on a cruise - like crossing a couple of planks to get from our ship to a much smaller one alongside while making a steady 12 knots, there were hand ropes.  But going on anything with more than a few hundred people would be hell on earth for us, not being able to get from one side of the ship to the other to look at things on that side in less than a few steps would be most unwelcome, and huge queues for anything and everything would does bring out the worst in me as people simply  don't get on with things.

 

Patricia was great - a working ship with almost invariably something interesting happening even if it was just lifting another buoy for maintenance, mostly plenty to see in terms of shipping and scenery because of the nature of the ship's job, and a small passenger complement.  We know of some other small, and smaller ships, although they are all operating off the Scottish coast and are basically cruising but most are very informal.  Hurtigruten will be operating from Dover over the coming few years and one of their itineraries includes St Kilda so although there'll be a few hundred passengers it should be tolerable even if I can't spend any of my time, let alone most of it, on the bridge or doing a shared jigsaw puzzle in the ship's office.  And there are cargo voyages some of which are perhaps not too bad but some are unlikely to be very boring .   But each to their own and if we all liked teh same thing the world would be a very sad place.

 

Now post to open etc and then lunch - cold beef and chutney I expect once I've made my mind up.

 

Have a good day everybody and stay safe.

[NGT6 1315]

Cheers all!

 

Man, am I counting the days till my planned holiday over Christmas. Which will, obviously, be spent at home!

 

In news quintessentially related, due to the average COVID incidence in Saxony remaining far too high, a new hard lockdown for the state has just been announced beginning next Monday, meaning all schools, nurseries and nonessential businesses will again be closed, and mask wearing will be compulsory in all public spaces. More details will probably follow.

 

Stay safe, folks…

[Ashcombe]

19 hours ago, Tony_S said:

There were people (allegedly) who stayed on the cruise ships we have been on. Going on one cruise after another, sometimes transferring to another cruise ship. I am not sure how they would be coping with the lack of cruises at the moment. The longest we spent on a cruise was a month but it was the QM2 and the breakfasts are very good. I have just remembered that we were not “supposed” to refer to QM2 as a cruise ship. We were on an ocean liner on a voyage. 

Some of you may be interested to know that several cruise ships (and the ocean liner QM2!!)  have been anchored in Torbay since the Spring! There just aren’t enough mooring spaces available in ports. They are regarded with great affection by the locals, not least because they have donated surplus food to our local homeless charities. Some landlubbers are planning to gather boxes of treats for the crews for Christmas. 
 

Today, there were six in sight as I walked over Babbacombe Downs! Earlier this year, some enterprising boat owners, who normally run ferries within the bay, organised trips for people to view the ships at close quarters. My son, grandson and I joined one such trip last month. 

[TheQ]

7 minutes ago, Ashcombe said:

Some of you may be interested to know that several cruise ships (and the ocean liner QM2!!)  have been anchored in Torbay since the Spring! There just aren’t enough mooring spaces available in ports. They are regarded with great affection by the locals, not least because they have donated surplus food to our local homeless charities. Some landlubbers are planning to gather boxes of treats for the crews for Christmas. 
 

Today, there were six in sight as I walked over Babbacombe Downs! Earlier this year, some enterprising boat owners, who normally run ferries within the bay, organised trips for people to view the ships at close quarters. My son, grandson and I joined one such trip last month. 

That stern view is another reason I don't trust those boats... stability. A floating tower block on a small base.. 

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from Sidcup where it has been fairly sunny all day, though still cold. We are still tie-ing up the last knockings of the year end audit. I just had the CFO on the phone; fortunately i had just resolved the situation as far as I could and he went away less unhappy than he was when he called!

 

I have never been on a cruise and certainly in this world of Covid, I am unlikely to be in a hurry to do so. FiL/MiL have been on many. She hates them, gets seasick and bored, but he loves them so he books them anyway, almost always depart Southampton and down to and round the Med. However, even he doesn't fancy another one!

 

Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup played an important part in the history of plastic and other reconstructive surgery; it was where Harold Gillies set up shop in World War I. It was built on part of the estate owned by Lord Frognal, whose manor house still stands and is now used as part of the hospital - as part of the care home. Many years later, both Lurker boys were born there, although the maternity ward closed not long after Younger Lurker was born, eventually along with the A&E.