Early Risers.

[Sir TophamHatt]

On 06/07/2021 at 08:06, chrisf said:

You should be really proud to have that young lady as a member of your family.

Yeah, although it's extended family, she's still family!

A really touching song that can speak to so many.

 

I hope everyone is surviving the Widge weather.

Widge Weather:  Comes from an old BBC Look and Read TV series, Through the Dragons Eye.  Widges look a little like Ewoks(?) from Star Wars.  Means weather that drastically changes in short notice.

Was sunny here a little while ago, then was just tipping it down with rain and now it's sunny again.

[Adam88]

This Zoom talk later today might be of interest to one or two folk here.  Last night I attended an hour's talk on the various Manx tramways, part 2 covers the steam railways.

 

Wednesday, July 7, 2021: The Reverend W. Awdry based his series of books on actual operating narrow gauge lines, many of which are still in seasonal service.  One of these lines is the Isle of Man Railways, a part of which is still with us and still mostly steam powered.  The Isle of Man Steam Railways is the crown jewel of the railways remaining on the island.  This thirty minute electronic slide show includes both the current operating line and views of the now abandoned lines to Peel and Ramsey.  We will then go on to view the MINOR RAILWAYS OF THE ISLE OF MAN: This short presentation explores the ‘other railways’ located on this small island include two steam powered railways that have been re-instated, one a 19 inch gauge line that served a lead mine; the other a two foot gauge line that actually goes ‘Uphill to the Sea!”  Finally there are the shadows of the standard gauge trolley line that was once owned by a subsidiary of the Baltimore Transit Company.

3:00 PM eastern US time 8:00 PM London time: TYNWALD DAY, THE ISLE OF MAN STEAM RAILWAYS: and the MINOR RAILWAYS OF THE ISLE OF MAN: This timing is aimed for the United Kingdom community.

To attend this Event:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81561843222?pwd=TU5MbnpCakdreUwySHdhY29kQXJOdz09

Meeting ID: 815 6184 3222          Passcode: 954882

8:00 PM eastern US time 1:00 AM on July 8, 2021 London time: TYNWALD DAY and THE ISLE OF MAN STEAM RAILWAYS: The normal time for this event in the United States.

To attend this Event:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87959327355?pwd=dTZMOUw4US9vcVM0YnFTQVR2endaQT09

Meeting ID: 879 5932 7355          Passcode: 934312

[Adam88]

This was in the news yesterday:

 

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cape-cod-lobster-diver-was-swallowed-whale-and-then-spat-back-out-180977998/

 

of course it's not the first or even the second time something like this has happened.

 

Jonah and the Grampus

 

 

[tigerburnie]

4 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

That's because of plastic degradation. Old hard hats are false security.

New hard hats are false security too, some folk think they are meant to stop things being dropped on you causing major damage, they are pretty much just bump caps so if you bump into something it won't hurt, they are not crash helmets.

[Ozexpatriate]

13 hours ago, BR60103 said:

Our government had a stockpile of protective gear, including masks, from the 2002 SARS outbreak. However they were life-expired by last year. Who knew that masks had a best-before date? (Who found out?) 

So did the US government with the same result. There was even a pandemic role-play exercise in the transition to the last administration in 2017.

 

6 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Best before dates on ppe I seem to recall that was part of the problem at the start of the pandemic that the strategic reserve of ppe was out of date. Hadnt the chair polishers thought of rotating stock through it, although would out of date stuff been better than none at all, same with contents of first aid kits.

I don't think you want to use disintegrating or holey PPE in a pandemic for medical workers. Better than nothing for the general public.

 

13 hours ago, BR60103 said:

My question: would they still work as dust masks for wood-workers and such?

For non-toxins like natural wood perhaps. Not for fibreglass, or wood-finishings or haz-mat removals (lead, asbestos, etc). The distribution problem would be bigger than just purchasing new once production levels and demand return to normal.

[Ian Abel]

8 hours ago, TheQ said:

I see the boss of "MY PILLOW" is predicting Trump will return to power on August the 13th.. I do hope he's spent a lot of money on this.....

Sadly, this crackpot lives right here in the Twin Cities.

His products are by all accounts pretty good, however he's a complete nut-job, he should have been taken off to the funny farm ages ago!

[Ian Abel]

Happy birthday @PhilJ W

 

HUMP day...

 

Omitted to mention that during the past weekend "fun" a stone thrown from a passing vehicle managed to ding the windscreen and a crack now covers fully half of the screen from the door pillar midway up right across the drivers field of vision. This, being a hazard according to the Minnesota Traffic bods, requires a replacement.
Scheduled for next Monday, the cost defrayed by insurance coverage, BUT, the downside of a late-model (2019) car with bells-and-whistles apparently means part of the cost, a not insignificant $400!!, is for re-alignment of the multiple radar/sensors contained in the gubbins behind the rear-view mirror!

 

Quiet yesterday, though the Long Island client has started to awaken, and I've a few new items to build. They must've been asleep and someone prodded them

 

Much needed rain yesterday and overnight, only 12 first thing, more rain (65% chance) today with a high of 21-22.

 

Tally ho.

 

[simontaylor484]

Fpf3 are the best for dust masks but only if you are clean shaven to make the correct seal.

In other news the bulky collection has been made giving me access to the planters that have been filled with pyracanthus clippings to prevent use as a cat toilet.

Trellis has been ordered for the climbing rose that has grown to the height required and now to train horizontally a) to make it flourish b) natural barbed wire.

The sweet peas have started to bloom we lost a lot earlier due to the hail. The el cheapo marigolds the Mrs got from Morrison's are  going great guns 50p for 24plants that were nearly dead planted in fresh compost fed with liquid seaweed solution. They are due another feed when they are watered.

[Tony_S]

Afternoon all.

Aditi sent me off to B&Q this morning to get some wood,to renovate the summerhouse (not the shed with a holed roof). She thought a click and collect  now rather than later when people are maskless would be safer so off I went. About a mile from home I heard my phone ding for a text. A message appeared on the sat nav screen asking if I wanted the text read out and a nice lady told me that my order was cancelled due to lack of stock. They are still showing loads of stock online. I have ordered alternatives from Wickes and they will deliver tomorrow. The wood isn’t quite the size I wanted but I can plane it down without too much problem. We also added the shale clippings we wanted for some flower beds and varnish for the front door. 
I have run out of just about every primer spray paint, so a click and collect to Halfords has been sent off too.

Tony

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Someone must have told Tess Coes that its my birthday. I went into the bakery to see a table piled high with BREAD PUDDING! Of course I had to get some, forget the vanilla cheese cake.

[J. S. Bach]

Phil, Happy Birthday to you.

[New Haven Neil]

A'noon, and a happy birthday to Phil.

 

A difficult day, scattering the ashes of Trackshack Johns late wife.  It has taken over a year to get to this point as he wanted family members of both sides to be there, and of course they were in the UK.  Very moving.

 

@Pacific231G Your memory chip is failing I'm afraid, the goliath carne wasn't scrapped until the mid 70's.  A pal actually tendered for it, but didn't get the gig.  There's the wee Ruston again!  A steal from the interweb, this view often pops up.  The rails are indeed still in place, but totally rotted and delaminating, I wouldn't trust them to support very much at all.

 

 

As Baz said, the line dumpers were at Blackhall, some 14 miles or so south.

[Gwiwer]

Apparently there is kickballing on

 

Dr. SWMBO has gone to a Resident’s Assassination meeting and I have a large glass of white Falling Down Water and a sunny evening out on the lawns. 
 

Hic!

[JohnDMJ]

Good Evening awl and given the nature of the day so far, for how long will it remain thus?

 

The subject of sodium in softened water reared its ugly head, I note. I understand the amount depends on the softening process so may or may not affect blood pressure etc. (Aside: the body needs a certain amount of sodium and both a pharmacist and an A&E nurse have been heard to suggest that one of the better remedies for dehydration is a packet of ready salted crisps!)

 

On plastics:

 

3 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

New hard hats are false security too, some folk think they are meant to stop things being dropped on you causing major damage, they are pretty much just bump caps so if you bump into something it won't hurt, they are not crash helmets.

 

I often wondered about the crew on the lower deck(s) (usually, as was the case for the Solent Sealink service, under a movable, laden upper deck) and what protection the hard hat would have afforded if the upper deck anchor bolts gave way!

[leopardml2341]

Missed out on most of today due to a busy work day, so consequently not much of interest to report either

 

However, 

7 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Of course, plastic degradation is mainly because of sunlight and oxygen. 

But please don't tell the government otherwise they'll try to ban them.

 

7 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Or tax them.

 

Jamie

if the latter, BoJo ain't gonna make much out of us Brits so far this 'summer".

 

Might be back later, but if not greetings and best wishes to all.

[simontaylor484]

When i was on the Bison job i often had to go into the yards where the trailers were loaded that was a hard hat zone. You were not supposed to stand under a slung load sometimes you ended up walking in circles as they loaded. Hard hats wouldn't do you much good if a slab dropped on you. We did have a guy killed on a site in Greenford a slab fell out of the steelwork and hit him there wasnt a lot left to scrape up. I did see the photos taken as part of the investigation. Incedently all of the 45' flat trailers were numbered with the prefix 5 this trailer was 513. The trailer had its bed stripped off and all the frame jetwashed and a new bed on it. It was being loaded at Leeds when the lifting beam on a tower crane cam crashing to the ground.  No one was injured but 5 sets of trousers needed to be changed. It took an hour for the crane driver to get his nerve back to go down the ladder his legs were shaking that much.

[Coombe Barton]

... wildflower garden - posh name for a weed patch ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/07/07/recipe-for-chaos/

[polybear]

4 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

New hard hats are false security too, some folk think they are meant to stop things being dropped on you causing major damage, they are pretty much just bump caps so if you bump into something it won't hurt, they are not crash helmets.

 

Bear worked in the shipyards in Glasgow for a while back in '93 - the number of times I whacked my bonce whilst moving around the ship was unreal, simply cos'  the peak on the hard hat prevented me from seeing hazards just above me.  A lot of the guys employed at the yard ( I was a subbie) didn't wear hard hats, despite there being requirement signs just prior to boarding.  I guess the company had covered their ar5e - if you chose to ignore it then that's your problem if something goes wrong.

 

Incidentally, how many of you saw the feature on the news about bonfires in NI?  Jeez, one of the was shaped like a wedding cake (without the pillars), circular and made out of pallets - thousands of them.  It was still being built - 70ft tall and planned to be 120ft tall when finished; they were using a bl00dy great construction crane to get the pallets to the top.  The HSE would have a heart attack if they saw the way it was being built.

 

In other news:

A good day in the kitchen - the wall units are now firmly attached (hopefully...), level and bolted to each other.  One decorative end panel has been fitted, with the last planned for tomorrow, along with the corner post. 

Now watching the kickball - not overly bothered, but some games are worth watching for the hell of it.

 

[pH]

5 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

New hard hats are false security too, some folk think they are meant to stop things being dropped on you causing major damage, they are pretty much just bump caps so if you bump into something it won't hurt, they are not crash helmets.

They do offer some protection from falling objects:

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/229-early-risers/&do=findComment&comment=2234605

[tigerburnie]

I had to wear a hard hat for a large part of my working life if outside my office, they were very good outside in the breeding season near Montrose, the Arctic Terns would draw blood when they hit you on the head walking across the yard without one.

[New Haven Neil]

I was unfortunate enough to have to help pick the bits up after a huge roll of newsprint fell on a docker during discharge in Shanghai many years ago.    And yep I did chuck my cookies afterwards.  The Chinese dockers were working the cargo, not us, but there was a big bang and they disappeared - leaving us to sort it out.  His hard hat didn't have much chance of protecting him.  It was all our fault of course, according to the Chinese police - that's how it goes in places like that, or it did in the 70's.  Took me years to not have unpleasant dreams about it.

[Ozexpatriate]

8 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

It was all our fault of course, according to the Chinese police - that's how it goes in places like that, or it did in the 70's. 

Can't imagine it being too different now either.

[polybear]

4 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

I was unfortunate enough to have to help pick the bits up after a huge roll of newsprint fell on a docker during discharge in Shanghai many years ago.    And yep I did chuck my cookies afterwards.  The Chinese dockers were working the cargo, not us, but there was a big bang and they disappeared - leaving us to sort it out.  His hard hat didn't have much chance of protecting him.  It was all our fault of course, according to the Chinese police - that's how it goes in places like that, or it did in the 70's.  Took me years to not have unpleasant dreams about it.

 

Bear recalls an incident back in the 80's when someone working for the Aircraft Division (just the other side of the runway from us) seemingly forgot protocol and got too close to the jet engine on an airliner.  I'll say no more - but by all accounts it was less than pretty (such accidents never are).

 

On another occasion, the guy who sat opposite me got a call that one of his team had fallen down a companionway ladder on an RN ship at Portsmouth  (not funny); details were still sketchy but "back injuries" were reported.  He flagged it up to Occy Health, who immediately summoned him.  He came back some time later totally lost for words - he was expecting OH to tell him what support could be offered to the injured party & family, such as perhaps driving his wife down to the hospital at Pompey if necessary etc. etc.

Nope, not a bit of it.  Instead he was lectured for 20 minutes, being told what he could say/couldn't say/must do/mustn't do etc. etc. in order to minimise any risk of litigation against the company.  Barstewards.

[Adam88]

53 minutes ago, polybear said:

Incidentally, how many of you saw the feature on the news about bonfires in NI?  Jeez, one of the was shaped like a wedding cake (without the pillars), circular and made out of pallets - thousands of them.  It was still being built - 70ft tall and planned to be 120ft tall when finished; they were using a bl00dy great construction crane to get the pallets to the top.  The HSE would have a heart attack if they saw the way it was being built.

 

That sort of thing got out of hand at the A&M University in Texas as what started as a simple bonfire ended up over the years as a serious bit of civil engineering.  Of course one year it all went very horribly wrong.

Edited July 7, 2021 by Adam88

[Ozexpatriate]

5 minutes ago, polybear said:

... one of his team had fallen down a companionway ladder on an RN ship at Portsmouth  (not funny);

When quite young, my youngest sister fell down a companionway ladder (I believe it was one of the exterior steep 'stairs') on the preserved HMAS Diamantina (a River Class Frigate). She broke her collar bone and was quite traumatised by the experience.