Early Risers.

[Gwiwer]

35 minutes ago, chrisf said:

My plea in mitigation was that I had nothing to say.  This, I was told in reply, does not stop others. 

We have so far managed 11378 pages of having nothing to say.  It clearly hasn't stopped anyone else either.  😂

 

Good to have you back on board @chrisf

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

It’s a vey wet, dull and dreary day here in the northwest corner of England. Still I shall be going to collect Ava shortly so that will certainly brighten the day up for us both. I’m not sure what the plans are for today, but no doubt I’ll be informed soon enough. 

 

Nice to see Chrisf popping back in again, don’t leave it so long next time. 

 

Back later. 

 

Brian

[PhilJ W]

Welcome back @chrisf.

[Gwiwer]

8 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Luckily not all our creatures are deadly or we'd be in bodybags by lunchtime.

Let me know when you hand-feed the Powerful Owl 😉

[jjb1970]

I'm off to Washington DC for a week, overnight flight to Tokyo, then onto DC, ANA all the way. If there's one thing I like about talking about the importance of emitting less it's flying around the world to do it. Be good y'all!

[DaveF]

I got up just before the rain started this morning, it is now damp, dark and depressing - typical November in England.

 

It was very different yesterday, it was lovely and sunny after a cold start.  I did a bit of shopping in Lidl and then went to do the usual Friday morning check on the flat, while I was there I had a chat with one of the neighbours and heard about her husband who has Alzheimers and seems to be getting worse quite quickly.  She asked about the flat sale so I was able to update her.  After that I decided it was time for a visit to the cemetery to see the state of the grave.  The ground has been levelled and the base for the headstone replace but it will need a bit more soil on it in due course as it hasn't fully settled.  It was very peaceful, the photos below sjhow the older part of it.  In the second photo below you can see the back of the sand dunes, beyond them is the beach and the whole place is surrounded by farmland.

 

When I got back home it was time for coffee and a doughnut, then I rang the funeral people to see if they have a date yet when the headstone can be put in place.  They will let me know next week - I think it will be early next year.  After that I rang the solicitor's to make an appointment to discuss writing a new will.  I'd done that and was talking to a neighbour outside when the roofing men came to fix my gutter, fortunately it had just come partly unclipped so it was a quick job for them - which they were pleased about as they were only working a half day and mine was their last job.

 

The post then came with the final account for Mum's care - they had accidently refunded some money which needed to be repaid.  I did it online and then rang to confirm it with them, the lady I spoke to laughed when I said I was able to pay it straight away I can now legally spend Mum's money having got probate.  It was "only" for a bit over a months care fees - just over £2000.

 

In the afternoon I finished planting bulbs, including a few ordinary hyacinths in pots in the greenhouse.  They are not "prepared" ones so they will flower in early Spring and will be brought into the house to enjoy when there are few other flowers about.  Then I took the tender plants - pelargoniums, Christmas cacti etc out of the greenhouse and put them on shelves in the garage for the winter where they will be frost free woithout having to spend a lot of money on heating.  Long ago when electricity was still cheap I worked out it would actually be cheaper to replace all the tender plants each year than heat the greenhouse. 

 

The evening then passed quietly with magazines, a book, music and a DVD.

 

 

Cemetery 1

 

 

Cemetery 2 sandills in the distance

 

David

[The White Rabbit]

Morning all,

 

My father grew up in a Yorkshire pit village. There were exceptions but as a rule, the miners encouraged their sons to do well at school and have choices of jobs/careers so that they didn't have to follow their fathers down the pits. The miners took pride in doing the job well but knew how tough and unpleasant the job was and wanted better for their sons. Which I find very understandable. The schools were often somewhat basic but the teachers taught and many pupils did well. 

 

My mother grew up in a railway town and had a similar story to many others. Again, school was seen as a place to learn and get some 'edukasion' so you had some life-choices. She would have liked to go to university but couldn't. 

 

I grew up in various Yorkshire towns, we didn't move as much as some ERs but I did have four different homes during my schooldays. Apart from the usual childish indolences and pranks, most members of the various classes I was in made an effort to learn and develop intellectually. I don't recall any comments along the lines of 'class traitor', though I have heard it outside school and since. 

 

I'm afraid I have seen (and been the victim of) a lot of pigeon-holing and preconceptions of people's status. I don't know how much is an English (or British?) trait and how much it's people being people [anywhere]. But I've seen it hold a lot of folk back (including me) and that just seems a horrible waste of ability. I guess you could speculate as to causes but my thoughts would include that nasty thing called politics ... so I won't. I do wonder how much better off the country and us as individuals could be if we were allowed to work to our full potential. 

 

I skimmed the headlines earlier and one paper had a piece on the premature retirement of the 50s and 60s. Those who can afford to quit work and have found 'work' to be increasingly unattractive for various reasons. And it commented on the high number of talented 20 and 30 somethings who have not found job positions appropriate for their skills and ability. The latter was certainly the case with myself, it took a couple of false starts and about 15 years before I found a role in which I could use my brain at something close to full capacity. Which makes the current enforced idleness due to my health problems even more bitter, as I had finally had some time in a good job and it was starting to develop and look very promising indeed. (Turdycurses...). Hopefully I can get back to it in due course. 

 

Anyway, time to get on with the day. 

[tetsudofan]

11 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

 

The one to visit is the evergreen department on the top floor which is full of second-hand brass. Some of it is frighteningly expensive but it's all drool worthy and they usually have some really obscure and odd ball stuff. One of the things about brass is that because very low production runs are viable (even unique one-off models) you see stuff that is unlikely ever to be done RTR. Tenshodo are one of the great names of model railways, though they're probably best known for the US outline brass models they supplied. 

 

I can certainly confirm that....... just before leaving Japan back in 1999 I paid multiple visits to the evergreen department on the top floor and got hooked on some tram models two of which are currently posing on what will be a tram depot/museum whenever I ever get round to finishing it.

 

Both models are brass made in Korea by Ajin for Musashino Models in Japan. Just had a look at the two boxes, once priced at Yen 76,000 with the other at Yen 88,000..... think I was using up some of my Japanese pension fund which was paid out when I left Japan. At that time under Japanese regulations leaving a company was classified as "retirement" and pensions were paid in full subject to 10% tax, no need to wait until you became 65. One of the benefits of being on the Japanese payroll (rather than being an expat) when I was working for UBS in Japan.

 

Keith 

 

PS: putting the boxes away just noticed that at the back of the cupboard there are some more Musashino Model boxes .......... 

[petethemole]

1 hour ago, The White Rabbit said:

I'm afraid I have seen (and been the victim of) a lot of pigeon-holing and preconceptions of people's status. I don't know how much is an English (or British?) trait and how much it's people being people [anywhere]. But I've seen it hold a lot of folk back (including me) and that just seems a horrible waste of ability.

Dad came from a skilled working class background and went to grammar school pre-war.  He entered the Civil Service and achieved a certain grade by the early '60s and stayed on it.  He was good at his job and highly regarded, at one time being part of a team developing a new pensions policy for the then government.  He was passed over for promotion by people who'd been to public school and after retirement was very bitter about it.

 

Raining here.  I will go shopping later regardless.  I have a leather Aussie Drover's hat with a chin thong, good for this weather.

Scaffolders arrive tomorrow for the roof renewal.

[Erichill16]

Afternoon All, Dont usually  post at this time but im sat at Costa Coffee at fox valley with Syd waiting for swmbo and mil. Theyve gone to aldi(or lidl) but im much happier sat here with syd and  a coffee despite having to  sit outside. keep it a secret but ive just spent £50 online on bit of parallel bits of metal. While the cats away…..

 

[Erichill16]

My paternal grandfather worked on the railways and my dad and his elder sister both went to college. For this to happen their mum (my Grandma) sold her wedding ring to fund my Aunty’s education so goodness knows how they funded father. 
 

[monkeysarefun]

2 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

There were exceptions but as a rule, the miners encouraged their sons to do well at school and have choices of jobs/careers so that they didn't have to follow their fathers down the pits

 

Its funny but the exact opposite applied here.

 

The Sydney region is ringed by coal seams and the local area here was a coal mining district with  the pits  to the west in the Burragorang and south at Tahmoor down to Wollongong. 

 

Underground miners are incredibly well paid here, currently with underground allowances they make up to $200000 a year (about 115,000 pounds) and they were similarly well paid when I was at school.

 

Not sure now but back then it was a closed shop, if you were a miner you were one for life, and being a highly unionised industry  you could only become a miner if your father was one, so the kids at school who's dads were in the mines were considered the luckiest of the lucky.

 

 

[DaveF]

Dad had been to public school, then the war intervened so he went to University after the war, the after effects of an illness prevented him from fulfilling his ambition - or I would be Canadian - as he had a job lined up in Canada but his health was not acceptable!   His father was a stockbroker before the war, later he became a headteacher.

 

Mum's father was a plumber,  her mother ran the family corner shop.  Mum did her Maths and Zoology degree during the war, then worked as a turbine designer and ended her career as a deputy head in a comprehensive.  Dad spent some years as a Headteacher before further health problems, then a period managing an engineering business before becoming self employed.

 

I went to the local grammar school in the east midlands, I found I was able to look as though I wasn't paying attention but actually was and most subjects were easy.  Owing to a family move I went to a school in Yorkshire for 6th form.

 

After University I became a teacher and ended up as an assistant head.

 

Interesting fact - for some years I was taught English by a Geordie and learnt the Geordie dialect and vocabulary from him - as did everyone he taught.  It proved very useful when from 1980 I was teaching in Newcastle and at first the pupils thought I wouldn't understand a lot of what they were talking about.  I enjoyed proving that I knew Geordie too.  At first the other teachers were puzzled when I used Geordie words correctly.

 

David

 

 

Edited November 5, 2022 by DaveF

[jjb1970]

ANA B787 at Changi, ANA have used pretty much the same livery for decades and it's still one of the nicest out there.

 

[45156]

On 04/11/2022 at 10:44, The White Rabbit said:

 

This is one of the reasons I have resisted many

 

invitations and less subtle attempts to get us hooked up to a smart meter. If 'they' were more honest and treated us better, I'd be much more inclined to join such schemes. Until they do - they can take a long walk off a short pier. 

 

 

Couldn't agree more - two things I resisted - Smart meters and water meters - when I moved, the previous owner had both, and of course, once they're in, they're in and won't be removed.  I also had to change my energy supplier from Eon to Shell, and the buyer of my house was forced to have Eon, as there is no such thing as choice in the energy market at the moment.

 

Afternoon All

 

Skipping again, and may only be here sporadically until next week - largely due to personal issues, which are not at all railway related.  Nothing of any concern.  Got a garden bloke coming round this afternoon to give an estimate for getting rid of some of the slabs, and putting down topsoil and turf.

 

Music lovers, try this, music not so keen folk, feel free to ignore.

 

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[southern42]

' afternoon all from red dragon land.

Raining well past its PPT (Pinecone Predicted Time) to stop.

Had early lunch so ready for a toot on the flute and some muddling.

 

Yesterday, was my first day back, after the summer, playing the bamboo flute sitting on the meditation cushion in front of the newly lit anthracite stove. Oh boy, was that nice and warm! I did much better than expected - it must have been a good 20 minutes before the knees and hips began to complain. Flute playing was not too bad in the circumstances.

 

Whistles - Apologies! - rather, horns were blowing yesterday as I laid the very last fake weld line on those orange boxes that run on parallel bits of metal. Current task is replacing the rest of the number plates. I shall load up some pics on GWRd thread when they are done.

 

Alongside and fighting for attention, is SFH (shopping from home) for the winter seasonal word including greetings cards, as well as upcoming birthdays, three at the last count, and wrapping presies already arrived. I see a downturn in time spent on hobbies. <<great big sigh>>

 

 

4 hours ago, chrisf said:

I have been taken to task discreetly for not posting here as often as I might.  My plea in mitigation was that I had nothing to say.  This, I was told in reply, does not stop others. 

 

Actually, I do have something on my mind at the moment - backache.  Its unwelcome presence is deterring me from moving about unnecessarily, not that I am likely to do such a thing whether or not the consequences are painful.  Whether sitting on the sofa for hours watching TV is cause or effect I know not.  On past form the pain will get better and go away.  All together now: get well soon.

 

Chris

 

Quote: All together now: get well soon. Unquote

Get well soon, Chris

...and well wishes to all in need of them.

 

Polly

[jamie92208]

Turdycurses. The lower part of the garden got mowed this morning. Lunch was had and the sun was shining so I set sail again to mow the slightly larger top half.  I'd got justvover half of that done snd the drive belt for the blades snapped.  Modelli g tojens will have to be spent on Monday. Quotes of €75 and €50  from different  parts thevthe interweb thingy.  I will make some phone calls, Monday morning. If I can sourcevone locally I would be happier. Coffee and cake now then off to the non bonfire party.

 

Jamie

[The White Rabbit]

1 hour ago, petethemole said:

Dad came from a skilled working class background and went to grammar school pre-war.  He entered the Civil Service and achieved a certain grade by the early '60s and stayed on it.  He was good at his job and highly regarded, at one time being part of a team developing a new pensions policy for the then government.  He was passed over for promotion by people who'd been to public school and after retirement was very bitter about it...

 

Even in the late 90s/early 00s I found a lot of 'snobbishness' about which school and/or university you had gone to. I recall there was an episode of Dads Army where Arthur Lowe and John le Mesurier had some lines about the nature of educational establishments and their 'worth'. There have been a few times I felt that was just as true a generation after that was filmed and two after the events it satirised. 

 

At the risk of sounding big-headed or arrogant, I was a straight A student at A-Level. I could have gone to Cambridge or Oxford - many people, including my school, thought I should have and were very vocal in their disapproval. But I didn't care for either, nothing against them but they weren't right for me. Instead I went for an unfashionable 'Russell Group' university (Wales) where I could both learn and develop as a person, not a number or clone. It worked for me, I got solid academic grades and was only a whisker away from getting a first in my postgrad course. With the benefit of hindsight, on a personal level, I still think it was the right call. On a professional level, it caused problems - prospective employers could not understand why I had gone there and were visibly baffled as to why I had not gone to Oxbridge. They offered the positions to others who fitted into their world view more easily. Which was why I ended up working in a different field to my original studies. And on a flippant note, why I may have been the most highly qualified model shop manager in recorded history! 

 

At school, there were various prizes awarded and one was a 'progress' prize. As the name implies, for the student who had made most progress during the year, even if they weren't top of the class at the end of the year. It's easy to be successful when you get all the breaks going, if you are privileged one way or another. But for those who have had to succeed on hard work and pure ability, despite prejudice and without family connections or trading on academic reputations - to me, they are the real performers and those who I'd want on my team at work.

 

Just as an example, I've never been part of the British Army but have seen bits of it at work closer than many people and know (and can appreciate) the worth of good NCOs - 'skilled working class' people without attitude or airs and graces. Man for man, they have impressed me far more than the officers I've come across, too many of which seemed to play to the 'Rupert' stereotype. When I started with my current employer, it was as a junior clerk - ironically, they turned me down for their graduate trainee scheme some years earlier. But I've been able to work my way up fairly quickly, including the equivalent of being commissioned, and transferred into a specialism which suited me. Perhaps because of this experience I was a more effective trainer than many, as I'd seen life 'at the coal face' and not just from 'ivory towers'. 

 

Pete - I can sympathise. I've heard similar accounts from too many people and that, just as much as my own experiences, have led me to the conclusion Britain wastes a lot of it's talent. Without professional recognition of their efforts of one sort or another, too many people either decide to 'take their bat home' in one way or another or become (justifiably) 'upset'. 

[simontaylor484]

Afternoon all 

Scattered showers here everything cold and damp.

Under the Boss's orders to rest my knee so haven't done much.

As kids we were encouraged by Mum and Dad to the best we could at school. They even had a sliding scale of cash rewards for GCSE results.

We were never pushed into going into any particular path.

 

One phrase I was told that if we didn't do well at school we would end up sweeping the streets. Funny thing was after a cruel twist of fate I did well at school/college and university I did end up sweeping the streets and really enjoyed it the lads were great the middle management not so great they were scared because i knew some  transport laws off by heart

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Had everything ready for the oven re. the bread pudding and then I went searching for a suitable dish to bake it in. I know I have some somewhere but I can't find them. At the moment the mixing bowl is covered over with foil and put in a cool dry place. I may have overdone the spices from the smell though that might be the tot of rum added to the mix. If I can't find the baking dish I'll use a foil turkey roasting dish that I found. 

[PhilJ W]

3 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Afternoon all 

Scattered showers here everything cold and damp.

Under the Boss's orders to rest my knee so haven't done much.

As kids we were encouraged by Mum and Dad to the best we could at school. They even had a sliding scale of cash rewards for GCSE results.

We were never pushed into going into any particular path.

 

One phrase I was told that if we didn't do well at school we would end up sweeping the streets. Funny thing was after a cruel twist of fate I did well at school/college and university I did end up sweeping the streets and really enjoyed it the lads were great the middle management not so great they were scared because i knew some  transport laws off by heart

When I started on the council (1970) they tended to employ people as street sweepers who would find it difficult to find a job such as those with special education needs. Most if not all were very good and the streets were far cleaner than they are now. Shortly before I retired 14 years ago there was a company offering training to NVQ standard in refuse collection.

[The White Rabbit]

Moving on to more cheerful matters, I have some more photos to share. To paraphrase a certain ex-copper (no, not Jamie, a certain TV writer with one or two credits for the BBC) "We are a hill people. It's not the Alps. We don't go in for such excessive drama. We don't have many mountains but the sides of our valleys are often steep. Ups and downs are our way of life. Gravity weighs heavier round here than it does on the flat. Perhaps this gives us a touch more weight in our characters? We live in an area of great natural beauty but this is not a land for lotus eaters. It's a good day round here when you don't need a pullover"... 

 

Maybe it's in the blood, maybe I was dropped on the head as a baby? Whatever the explanation, I like hills. Like water, they add interest (and challenges). I thought I'd reminisce about Wales today, instead of the Dales. I found one of the most inspiring passages in Mr Rolt's Railway Adventure relates to the geographical scene-setting and his first encounter with the Dysinni valley. This is a view westwards from the Bwlch Llyn Bach, the pass into the valley from Dolgellau and Bala, showing the Tal y Llyn [Lake]. Aircraft photters use this spot a lot as planes on the 'Mach Loop' come through the pass at a low level. Once I was driving through the pass and had a Tornado pass below me out of sight (at first) but not without much noise - I thought I'd had a catastrophic engine failure!

 

 

And a reverse angle from a much cloudier day.

 

 

There's a hotel at the bottom of the lake - a photo from outside this is actually one of Windows' desktop background pictures. A little further on was a roadside diner though I see this is currently for sale and maybe closed. One evening a few years ago I stopped and pointed the lens eastwards. Two photos, taken a few seconds apart. I've never been able to decide which frame I prefer, both are f4 and ISO80 but the first is 1/200 and the second at 1/400 shutter speed. 

 

 

And on a stereotypical 'dreich'/'soft' day, an atmospheric frame looking southwards, with a little sunlight trying to pierce the clouds loitering round Craig Goch.

 

[Tony_S]

The first school I taught in had a real prejudice against people with a degree and post grad teaching certificate. I and another colleague only got the science teacher jobs as the head couldn’t find anyone with a B. Ed preferably from Wales or Yorkshire. 

[simontaylor484]

One thing I have managed to do is get this poster put up. I was going to frame it but it is bigger than a standard poster and it would have cost too many muddling tokens

[simontaylor484]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

When I started on the council (1970) they tended to employ people as street sweepers who would find it difficult to find a job such as those with special education needs. Most if not all were very good and the streets were far cleaner than they are now. Shortly before I retired 14 years ago there was a company offering training to NVQ standard in refuse collection.

I have an NVQ level 2 in cleansing from the council