Early Risers.

[Hroth]

6 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

Regarding take pets out for the day what about poor old Hector?

 

 

 

A good thing Freddie Starr wasn't about, feeling peckish...

 

[DaveF]

The day has been reasonably productive.  I've finished the washing and ironing, a few things are on the drying rack airing.  I went to the beach and had a ten minute walk, I decided it was too cold to be out for longer and anyway I ache today.  I took a few photos (see below).  On the way home I stopped at the shop and bought some salad for lunch.

 

I thought I would have to go into town but while I was editing the grocery order for tomorrow I found everything is available from Asda which makes life much easier.  It is sometimes worth investigating their web site beyond the food items.  

 

After lunch I sorted out yet more photos for on here and then tidied my office/hobby room.  Various sheets of plastic and card have now been put in the correct place, several kits have been got out ready to make and my computer desk tidied so I can find everything again.  I even found the instructions for the dash cam so they have been put in a safe place just in case I ever need them.

 

I rang the Nuffield hospital to check the date for my surgery as I haven't heard from them, I should get an e mail or phone call tomorrow.  They are apparently very busy and are juggling beds - it sounds almost like the NHS. 

 

Sea from the Battery

 

Sea and lighthouse.  The temporary barriers are still doing their jobs.

 

Looking south from the Battery.

 

David

[The Lurker]

27 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

When  I was seven one of my classmates brought in a pet frog in his pocket.

When we first moved to Singapore, I was six. We frightened a small lizard in the house so that it left its tail behind (classic defence behaviour). The tail continued to wiggle and I wanted it to take it to school show my new classmates. It was put in a matchbox for me but of course by the morning it had long since stopped wiggling. I assume it went in the bin!

[sixoh8sixoh]

Afternoon all from north of the Wall! I was on Rails' website looking longingly at the ESU Loksound 50210 and wondering if Santa might bring me one this year, which reminded me of Gordon (as I was chatting with him about his Eastwood Town DCC controller shortly before he passed away), so I thought I'd pop in and say hello.

 

Life keeping me pretty busy - 15 year old and 9 month old girls definitely keeping me busy, and still a while before I can think (other than longingly) about retirement... Absolutely no further forward in planning or building a model railway - 2023 was completely wiped out with a complete redesign of the (only 5 year old) house - study became bedroom, kitchen became study, dining room became kitchen/diner - and garden redesign at the same time as arrival of baby girl. Still in the middle of trying to reorganise everything after the moves...

 

Nice to see many of the old faces are still around... and some new ones too. Hope you're all keeping well!

[DaveF]

I forgot to mention that last night I watched the latest episode of Vera and tried to work out the locations, many were fairly easy.

 

I think the first shot was at the Metro Centre, there was Newcastle Central station and then the train - I didn't recognise the aerial shot but the rest was shot on the Wensleydale Railway near Redmire.

 

The cafe was on the Quayside/Broad Chare.  Then the action moved to the girl's parents at Berwick on Tweed in house overlooking the harbour entrance/mouth of the River Tweed.  At the end there were shots of the harbour.

 

The posh flat was probably to the north of Central station, the Griffin may have been on the south side of Central station or somewhere else.  The other houses were somewhere around Newcastle.  It was not one of the easiest episodes to work out the exact places used.

 

David.

Edited January 15 by DaveF

[pH]

Humans here have changed the natural behaviour of hummingbirds. These tiny birds migrate each year between the Pacific Northwest of Canada and the US in the north, and Central America and Mexico in the south. In summer here, people hang up hummingbird feeders, filled with sugar solution, which attract the birds - the birds hovering as they feed from these is intriguing to watch. 
 

With the availability of feeders, the birds can feed here for longer than would be natural, since they can stay on after flowers have withered in the fall. Over time, they have gradually stayed later and later in the year. There are some that now do not migrate, but stay here over winter. They absolutely depend on people leaving feeders out year round. 
 

So we now have two feeders which we swap in and out in this weather (minus 8C at the moment), thawing one while the other is outside. 

[Coombe Barton]

... feedback. I’m being more direct this year, pointing out quite strongly where they should have found the information before they started ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2024/01/15/covid-enquiry-scotland-starts-tomorrow-and-jn-1-is-spreading-abroad/

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl..

 

I was some time...

 

Sanded the centre console, painted the centre console.

Hopefully top coated the mast step and rudder head.

 

Took Ben for a long walk, he of course chose the long route today.. I was frozed after the first few hundred yards he was quite happy.

Occasional snow showers during the walk, but most has melted now.

 

A Bedford MWD arrived, 3d printed. Not quite as detailed as I'd of liked, needs some improving.

Some unmentionable muddling done,

Parts of 1 matador assembled. Realised I don't have the British SSC 15 Olive drab in stock, it's different to USA olive drab., so that has been ordered.

That SSC 15  came in early 1944, since most of the radar convoy was brand new, that's the base colour I'll use.

Interestingly although the Allied star was supposed to be on all vehicles, on the doors and on roof or bonnet, in not one picture of the radar convoys does any vehicle seem to be wearing them.

 

I've been searching for RAF roundels of the correct scale, 1:1 they were 6 inch diameter, but in 1/76 I can find none in stock anywhere.

 

I'll also need small text and number of an appropriate size, the size needed is still being researched.

 

 

 

[Peter Kazmierczak]

We will be having a friend's Collie for a couple of weeks. She's quite an old girl, so hopefully won't want too lengthy walks. Unlike when we had our one-year-old maniac Collie, Ace, who was more energetic and intelligent than either of us...

[pH]

I had a minor problem in the car this morning. I had left a soft drink can in one of the cup holders. With temperatures overnight of about minus 12C, the can had frozen and then burst. Fortunately the overflow had frozen in the cup holder and it was pretty easy to clean up.
 

A real ‘pop’ can!

[PhilJ W]

Mention of weird car names wasn't there a Chelsea Tractor called a Rockstar? I can't spell or pronounce the manufacturers name, Poly-something.

[Ozexpatriate]

10 hours ago, TheQ said:

I remember seeing on TV  that there was a guy on a Hawaiian island who had a slow moving lava flow heading for his house. By hosing down the lava as it approached his property, it cooled enough to stop moving and formed a dam forcing the flow to go either side,  which he also cooled with water leaving the house and most of his garden  in a cooled U of lava.

Done extensively in Iceland during the eruption of Eldfell, 51 years ago. I remember seeing pictures of the fight against the volcano in National Geographic magazine. 

 

There was a large scale effort to save the harbour of the fishing village of of Heimaey in the Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands) archipelago. I thought they used a fire boat, but apparently it was a dredge - the Sandey  that was used to pump seawater.

 

They pumped water on this wall of lava to stop it moving down the street.

 

This BBC image of the fissures in Grindavík do not augur well if you project three points along a line.

 

Edited January 15 by Ozexpatriate

[Ozexpatriate]

Day three of our subfreezing weather. Today sees blue skies and bright sunshine. (I can't remember the last time I saw truly blue skies.) Lovely, but it remains below freezing - not nearly as cold as @Ian Abel 's tundra, at noon it is -3.5°C. (It was -6°C when I went for my walk.)

 

Tomorrow sees a forecast for freezing rain, which on top of the accumulated sleet 'pack' will be nasty. (They are talking about as much as 8mm of freezing rain. ) Thursday should see a return to more normal temperatures and the non-freezing type of rain.

 

The 'sleet pack' is odd. It is almost incompressible, but not so much so as solid ice. Even heavy boots don't leave much of a footprint, but it 'gives' just enough not to be dangerously slippery - though on a slope it is almost as treacherous as solid ice.

 

The sun is working hard on the sleet pack - some surface sleet will sublimate and some will melt, infiltrate the sleet and refreeze. It's not going away today.

 

I will need to get out soon - not just to restock the pantry but to refill prescriptions that will run out tomorrow. The neighbourhood streets are terrible. There is a small hill to get to the main road and it is icy. On my walk I saw someone in a front-wheel drive sedan (Honda Accord / Acura or equivalent) reverse down the hill and take a big run-up to get to the top and escape.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I took a taxi to Tess Coes this afternoon and done a 'big shop' as without a car I would struggle to get on a bus with my shopping. When I got home there was a call on the answerphone from the insurance company asking me to confirm details of the accident. I mentioned about the cash for crash possibility and they said it would be investigated. Apparently insurance companies do that investigation themselves. I was also reminded that there was a £250 excess on my insurance. I contacted a car trader this morning about a replacement, a Vauxhall Zafira, ideal for me as it can still seat five and have plenty of room for the rollator and is easy for me to get in or out of.

Edited January 15 by PhilJ W

[Coombe Barton]

And now Heritage Railways, the Great Central offering redundancy to permanent staff

 

https://www.gcrailway.co.uk/2024/01/gcr-announces-voluntary-redundancy-measures/

[New Haven Neil]

4 hours ago, DaveF said:

the Griffin may have been on the south side of Central station or somewhere else. 

 

Gateshead, I'm told, Dave!

[DaveF]

3 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Gateshead, I'm told, Dave!

 

That makes sense, I think I know where it is now.

 

David

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. After walking around Tess Coes this afternoon Arthur Itis is giving me aggro, Nurofen has been taken and now it's almost time for a second dose. 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

And now Heritage Railways, the Great Central offering redundancy to permanent staff

 

https://www.gcrailway.co.uk/2024/01/gcr-announces-voluntary-redundancy-measures/

Worrying.  The Severn Valley led the way on that route I believe.  The bigger the player the harder they fall if there's an uncrossable gap between income and expenditure.  

 

In other brief news it's been a busy day today.  Chest X-ray was taken and the result will be made known to the GP "dreckly".  I suspect it will onyl be made known to me if something unexpected shows up.  It's just another asthma precaution.  

 

Dr. SWMBO had a parcel to return which could not be collected from the Distant (Signal) West nor deposited with the post office; it had to go into town.  So an earlier-than-usual departure was made to include this stop after the X-ray and before seeing her off onto the train to London for another week.  

 

Unusually by recent standards the train was on time all the way up to Newbury yet still managed to reach Paddington 37 minutes late.  As I was following on the real-time feeds it seemed to me that some very questionable regulating indeed was taking place.  Something was put out of the loop at Newbury forcing her train to be halted for around ten minutes while whatever-it-was crept along ahead.  Whatever-it-was was certainly taking its sweet time as the delay had reached 25 minutes by Reading.  And was then compounded by loss of pathway up the Thames Valley and the switching of (slower) Elizabeth Line trains onto the fast lines ahead of hers.  

 

Thames Valley ROC may have some questions to answer.  They certainly would if I were in charge.  

 

And tomorrow my sister is due down so that's another London - Penzance trip to follow on the app.  And another full cottage-clean in the morning.  If there's time I might even hoover the pasty crumbs out of the car!  

 

In the meantime it's goodnight from me and it's goodnight from him before tomorrow becomes today.  

.

Edited January 15 by Gwiwer
Friggin' auto-corrupt again

[jjb1970]

11 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Or the Skoda Yeti. But Ka as the model name for a car took how much imagination and advertising-executive fees? 

 

I used to be familiar with how one of my employers selected names for their ships. It's a lot more difficult than people might imagine. A lovely sounding name in English can sound like an expletive or reproductive organ in other languages. Consideration of political and cultural sensitivities, for example place names can be fraught with problems given real estate disputes and objections to using the 'wrong' name. 

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

A lovely sounding name in English can sound like an expletive or reproductive organ in other languages.

Like the Mitsubishi Pajero.

Quote

The Pajero nameplate derives from Leopardus pajeros, the Pampas cat. Mitsubishi marketed the SUV as the Montero in North America, Spain, and Latin America (except for Brazil and Jamaica) due to the term "pajero" being derogatory (meaning "wãnker") in Spanish. In the United Kingdom, it was known as the Shogun (将軍), named after the Japanese word for "General." The model was discontinued in North America in 2006.

 

OK, this is hilarious. The net nanny in RMweb replaced w-a-n-k-e-r with "###### (Boris)". 😀

 

Edited January 16 by Ozexpatriate
Net nanny

[jjb1970]

The biggest headache for me is the Persian Gulf, as Arab countries demand it be called the Arabian Gulf, and if you just call it 'The Gulf' you annoy both sides. Iranian people consider that they have been most gracious in allowing the world to call it the Persian Gulf instead of the Gulf of Iran. I regular have to address meetings and regulatory fora and I long ago settled on Persian Gulf as the least objectionable and if Arbs take issue I can point to IMO documents and say 'don't blame me, I'm only using the name agreed at IMO'. Much more of a headache than most as it is so significant to global trade and politics (outside of Argentina and Britain very few could care less about the Falkland Islands/Malvinas for example).

[Ozexpatriate]

38 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

... outside of Argentina and Britain very few could care less about the Falkland Islands/Malvinas for example

That's for sure - particularly with it's long contentious history and marginal claims on both sides.

 

The whole question of 'naming rights' always confounds me. Anglicizations are somewhat understandable (Spain, Italy etc*) but why "Germany"? How do you get "Germany" out of "Deutschland"?** Similarly for Finland / Suomi. Examples are legion. Surely the inhabitants should get to name their own country and others should respectfully use that name, allowing for making it pronounceable in a different language.

 

* Though "Italia" doesn't seem that hard to manage in the Lingua Anglia.

** Yes, there was a Roman province called "Germania" (which ceased to have any relevance in the post-classical period. We don't still call France "Gaul" even if the adjective "gallic" still has currency.)

 

Maritime geography is more complex. Should the world's oceans carry the names given them by European colonial navigators?

 

Even in English speaking countries there are misalignments. I grew up with the "Southern Ocean". Not that long ago, a US-based trivia show had a question related to the area (something like what oceans did the Bass Strait connect) where the answers were the Indian and Pacific Oceans - not the answer I would have given.

 

Edited January 16 by Ozexpatriate