Early Risers.

[Gwiwer]

50 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

11 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I am convinced Air China has perfected human cloning, their flight attendants all look like they just walked off the same cat walk.

I experienced something similar on the now defunct Kingfisher Air in India.

We were always of the opinion that Singapore Airlines cabin crew all came from the same mould. 

Every one the same shape and size as their colleagues (distinguished only as male or female) and to date the only airline which consistently manages to get the food carts down both aisles simultaneously.
 

Mostly a top airline but the actual food offered has dropped somewhat in quality.  

[Ozexpatriate]

5 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

... I wonder how different it would all have been had there been a competent person in 10 Downing Street in the run up to the pandemic? ...

Such counterfactuals are indeed interesting. Without being "political", with a different SCOTUS decision at the end of 2000, would there have been a war in Iraq or maybe, dare I say, more progress on climate change? (Maybe a bit more Al Gore would have been a good thing after all?)

 

With a handful of votes in precincts in places like Wisconsin and Michigan, we might not have had someone with the Presidential seal on the podium wonder aloud about drinking bleach as remedial to the pandemic.

[The White Rabbit]

6 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

... As he suggests we'll move away from the majesty of the law and onto a more railway appropriate topic:

 

EM vs P4 vs S4

 

A discussion which, I am reliably informed, makes the bitterest and most protracted legal case seem like a mild disagreement. A conflict - so it is rumoured - that has literally led to blood being spilt (I think that was something along the lines of someone punched another someone on the conk). ... 

 

M'lud, may I advert you to certain evidence* which I submit is relevant to this case:

 

 

 Contrary to popular belief, this 'wee scrap' was not caused by disagreements over government but by the North Yorkshire S4 Group deciding they had had enough of the West Riding EM Society getting all the finescale exhibition invites. Perhaps tame by Geordie standards - only two mass graves were required - the Battle of Naseby Moor made a lasting impression within the local community. A spokesman for the OO9 Society attempted to explain, "Narrow rails, broad minds. Broader rails, narrower minds". He promptly received invites from all factions** to inspect the inside of a cannon barrel to check it's bore.  

 

I am now going into hiding for fear of the awl, Debs has been sighted recently... 

 

 

* Courtesy of CC's Time Machine (patent pending). 

 

** Don't worry, I won't mention the Judean People's Front ... err, oh dear, sorry... 

 

[monkeysarefun]

8 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Has there been a Bluey episode about ute rallies yet?

Not specifically but "Tradies" (Series 3 episode 32) features both a truck chassis based ute AND an @Ozexpatriate approved proper ute.

[monkeysarefun]

2 hours ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 Ahh yes , the bits falling of planes thing .

 

We had this one in Darwin during EX Pitch Black in 2000

 

. "Not the ute!"

 

 

 

 

 

"The wrecked Toyota 4WD, owned by Basil Roe who runs Berrimah Radiators,is still on display outside the radiator shop on Berrimah Road, although with an imitation missile, because the airforce took the evidence back. "

 

Edited March 9 by monkeysarefun

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

We were always of the opinion that Singapore Airlines cabin crew all came from the same mould. 

Every one the same shape and size as their colleagues (distinguished only as male or female) and to date the only airline which consistently manages to get the food carts down both aisles simultaneously.
 

Mostly a top airline but the actual food offered has dropped somewhat in quality.  

They have obviously bought the production faculty that used to churn out old ladies in hats and coats. 4 or 5 were issued to each Methodist chapel in the 60's.  The obviously use new mouds these days. 

 

Jamie

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Sausage and mash for dinner tonight and delicious it was too with plenty of onion gravy. Now its time to tackle Farcebook, be back later.

[Andy Hayter]

Someone mentioned dark and gloomy a few pages back.  Same here.  It has been persisting down all day and to add to the gloom we had a 3 hour power cut probably due to the high winds causing HT cables to touch and short out the grid.  

[Winslow Boy]

8 hours ago, TheQ said:

Mast step support fitted no problems,  rear took several attempts to get right, well the idea worked, but it needed several mods to make it fit. Then the cover was put on due to a forecast of rain Monday.

 

First  the gate light replaced, that took many ups and downs of the ladder.

 

Ben taken for his long walk, route chosen to view field works... It's a water pipe, and every 50 yards or so there is a standpipe this indicates a planned future change of farming use, its been in the past , sugar beet, corn, or spuds. But you don't need a standpipe every 50 yards for that.

One worry with that is there's no farmers reservoir there. Therefore it has to be connected to the mains water. We've had no notice of water shut down or road closure when they connect up . Also we suffer from low water pressure, when we had a roof tank, in the summer when the grockles were here, the pressure wasn't high enough to fill the tank.

 

Undercarriage, very unhappy with three days of ladder or under boat work, and having covered up the boat requiring several more ups and downs of the ladder now  there is no forecast of rain for a week.

 

Eyelid inspection required, then muddling 

 

 

 

I'm not certain here as several years, 15+, since i was knowledgeable about such things but i thought that sprinklers weren't allowed to be connected direct to the mains. As I say it may not be applicable in this case but it certainly applied to nurseries and irrigation systems.

[Tony_S]

6 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

I'm not certain here as several years, 15+, since i was knowledgeable about such things but i thought that sprinklers weren't allowed to be connected direct to the mains. As I say it may not be applicable in this case but it certainly applied to nurseries and irrigation systems.

I think anything outside connected to the mains water supply (like a garden tap) has to have a double check valve fitted to prevent contamination. The tap in our garage has one as fitted when built and I fitted one when I put an outside tap for the garden. There are other rules too about isolation valves and protecting the pipe where it goes through a wall. 

[Gwiwer]

26 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

old ladies in hats and coats. 4 or 5 were issued to each Methodist chapel in the 60's

The same 4 or 5 are still at our local Methodist “Miner’s” chapel in 2024. 

[Barry O]

Hope that @grandadbob surv8ved the England v Ireland game today..  nail biting stuff!!

 

Baz

[southern42]

F one hi-lites, so I guess it won't be long before eyes of Mr S. will be closed for a bit.

 

I feel in the toot-ont'-flute mood but I always finish by 9pm so I do not upset the neighbours if the sound leaks out. It is quite high pitched and can be quite penetrating, the bamboo flute more so than my wooden and plastic ones.

In desperation, on the other hand, I will do what I call 'soft blow' (a flute whisper!) which produces the pitch but not the volume of sound. Good for going over tricky bits but not as satisfying when playing a whole piece.

 

I have received one greetings card to open tomorrow and wonder if there will be any surprise visits. There was a visitor last year - it was kept quiet and I ended up sprucing up the place when she arrived. Tomorrow, I shall finish today's sprucing up after breakfast just in case! Speaking of which, I have a couple of little jobbies to sort out before bed, as well.

 

 

Just to say I fell in love with this scene when I first saw it in its initial days on the exhibition circuit. Most inspirational and I still find it exciting. I just wish our 'lawn' was as immaculate and not overgrown with daisies, dandelions, buttercups and clover, just to name a few.

2 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

 

 

[Winslow Boy]

25 minutes ago, southern42 said:

F one hi-lites, so I guess it won't be long before eyes of Mr S. will be closed for a bit.

 

I feel in the toot-ont'-flute mood but I always finish by 9pm so I do not upset the neighbours if the sound leaks out. It is quite high pitched and can be quite penetrating, the bamboo flute more so than my wooden and plastic ones.

In desperation, on the other hand, I will do what I call 'soft blow' (a flute whisper!) which produces the pitch but not the volume of sound. Good for going over tricky bits but not as satisfying when playing a whole piece.

 

I have received one greetings card to open tomorrow and wonder if there will be any surprise visits. There was a visitor last year - it was kept quiet and I ended up sprucing up the place when she arrived. Tomorrow, I shall finish today's sprucing up after breakfast just in case! Speaking of which, I have a couple of little jobbies to sort out before bed, as well.

 

 

Just to say I fell in love with this scene when I first saw it in its initial days on the exhibition circuit. Most inspirational and I still find it exciting. I just wish our 'lawn' was as immaculate and not overgrown with daisies, dandelions, buttercups and clover, just to name a few.

 

The only way to get a lawn of that quality is to spike it. So either ask the local branch of the Round Knot to attend a 'spiking' party or come out of the closet and admit to being an S4 aficionado.

[iL Dottore]

5 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

 

M'lud, may I advert you to certain evidence* which I submit is relevant to this case:

 

 

 Contrary to popular belief, this 'wee scrap' was not caused by disagreements over government but by the North Yorkshire S4 Group deciding they had had enough of the West Riding EM Society getting all the finescale exhibition invites. Perhaps tame by Geordie standards - only two mass graves were required - the Battle of Naseby Moor made a lasting impression within the local community. A spokesman for the OO9 Society attempted to explain, "Narrow rails, broad minds. Broader rails, narrower minds". He promptly received invites from all factions** to inspect the inside of a cannon barrel to check it's bore.  

 

I am now going into hiding for fear of the awl, Debs has been sighted recently... 

 

 

* Courtesy of CC's Time Machine (patent pending). 

 

** Don't worry, I won't mention the Judean People's Front ... err, oh dear, sorry... 

 

From a recent BBC documentary.

Narrator:  Across history there are events that forever change the way we look at things; Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin permanently changed the practice of medicine; the Battle of Kursk forever changed tank warfare and for fine scale modelling there was Scaleforum 2023.

 

Today we are talking with Charlie Rabbit, one of the few survivors of Scaleforum 2023. Stooped, prematurely aged, and with a parkinsonian tremor, he is nevertheless still clear of eye and sound of mind. And despite his tremors can still firmly wield a digital calliper. 

 

Charlie Rabbit. We called ourselves “The Specials” as in “S4 special” and we were the elite, the best of the best. We were always the spearhead, punching through the opposition. Punching above our weight. Trailblazing, setting new standards.
 

It had been a particular brutal weekend with a lot of savage hand to hand crafting. Our gains, such as they were, were measured sometimes in just mere inches of a static grass laid. The enemy fought with unparalleled savagery and with complete disregard for their own losses. They completely ignored even those minimal standards set out by the NMRA; overheated rheostat controllers, modified portescaps, booby-trapped tortoise point motors, they didn’t care what they used.

Then on that fateful Sunday, they massively counter-attacked with state of the art, Chinese made RTR, it was a bloodbath. We first thought that what we were seeing  was from our lot - they looked as perfect as anything we put out; it was only when you got extremely close to them, far far closer than “normal viewing distance“ that you saw the narrow RTR wheelsets. And then it was too late. It turned into a rout, all around me came agonised cries of “all you have to do is drop in some new wheels”  and “I can’t match that finish”. We did our best but The Specials fell like dominos [Charlie Rabbit stopped, gazing forlornly into the distance, eyes brimming with tears. He then went on in a broken voice] we lost a lot of good people that weekend…..

 

Edited March 10 by iL Dottore
Typo

[polybear]

13 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

Excellent,  I attach the menu for the Singapore - Shanghai flight. 

Wot, no chips??  😱

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

I think anything outside connected to the mains water supply (like a garden tap) has to have a double check valve fitted to prevent contamination.

I have an irrigation system - mostly drip but some automatic sprinklers on the grassy verge. There is a back-flow valve to protect the potable water supply. The city requires that the back-flow valve be tested every Spring. Speaking of, I will need to schedule that in a month or so.

 

I don't believe that (here) garden tap/faucet/spigot/valve* for hand-held hoses need to be isolated with a back-flow valve - just the underground irrigation system.

 

* insert your preferred terminology

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[jjb1970]

7 hours ago, polybear said:

Wot, no chips??  😱

 

Asia is a bleak and desolate place, alas the closest you get to the mighty chip is an inferior substitute called a 'French fry'. The peoples hearts are weighed by sadness and yearn for missionaries such as I to bring them proper food such as chip butties and sausage, egg & chips.

[monkeysarefun]

Governments up for re-election:  Are you having trouble convincing voters that the platform you are running on is anything other than palid reheats of the way you've been doing things for your whole term?

 

Then you could do a lot worse than looking to the Tasmanian Liberal party for fresh vote catching ideas, including the promise to build the world's largest chocolate fountain!

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/10/pure-imagination-tasmanian-premier-vows-to-build-worlds-largest-chocolate-fountain-if-re-elected?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

 

 

Though he's also promised to open up protected forests for logging , so it's snakes and ladders with them...

Edited March 10 by monkeysarefun

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Dr Eldest has sent his mother a card and a present. Silence from youngest Herbert....

 

Tazzie is an interesting place.. it comes across as not being 100% Australian with some interesting "ways" of doing things. It does spend a lot of getting tourists in.. and we enjoyed our stay there last year (apart from road works on all major roads!)

 

Meanwhile, in other matters..  I am off to see the guardian of the Awls in the near future. Just don't go upsetting her.. she has a full armoury of very sharp, aerodynam8cally improved awls in her ready use locker!

 

Have a calm Mothering Sunday!

 

Baz

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a sunny Charente.  Beth has received a card from no 1daughter, a text from No 2 son and zilch from No 1 son.  Disinheritance is being suggested.  However we will be off to the market in due course then this afternoon card games with friends.  

 

Jamie

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

 

Asia is a bleak and desolate place, alas the closest you get to the mighty chip is an inferior substitute called a 'French fry'. The peoples hearts are weighed by sadness and yearn for missionaries such as I to bring them proper food such as chip butties and sausage, egg & chips.

Indeed, there are so many unfortunates around the world that haven’t been blessed by cheap microwaveable Ultra Processed Food, or enjoyed rocketing rates of obesity, Type II Diabetes and clogged arteries.

It’s a worldwide scandal - using so-called “real food” and “healthy ingredients” to deny the people the freedom to become sedentary lardarses…

 

Edited March 10 by iL Dottore
Changed text

[Grizz]