Early Risers.

[Sidecar Racer]

1 hour ago, Coombe Barton said:

I watched that when originally broadcast. I'm officially old.

 

  # me to

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Coombe Barton said:

I watched that when originally broadcast. I'm officially old.

 

I can safely say that it's 8 weeks older than me...

 

[polybear]

Bear here.....

 

On the subject of books......the Hospice Warehouse "has a few" - with more than a few more at the Ebay Warehouse as well.....

Everything from The Ladybird Book Of Sh*ds thru' to Harry Potter, Mills & Boon right up to more obscure examples such as these (spotted by Bear today):

 

 

(The Book on the right is one of five volumes, from 1930 IIRC - so almost 100 years old)

I've not spotted any Wild Swan muddlin' publications yet.....  ☹️

Edited March 28 by polybear

[New Haven Neil]

Well the miserable start got worse initially, dropped to 4c and hoying down, so I went out west to the pharmacy to collect my supply of pills of varying colours.

 

After lunch it brightened up and warmed up so I went down to the garage/layout room and worked on our BMW, stripping the front forks to replace the oil seals- started yesterday.  I didn't have anything to push the seals in with, I DID have a suitable drift, but it has vapourised.  So off to mate Mick's, who had a bit of suitable pipe, cut a bit off and turned the OD down a bit (he has a lathe) to suit.  Seals fitted and bike re-assembled, with only moderate bad language, could have done with an extra hand rather than the third leg.

 

Job done, Otto is back on the road.

 

 

Oh, BTW as it only has two wheels, the indicators do work despite being a BMW.  Well it is old, 34 this year.

[Coombe Barton]

... I am impressed by both the scholarship and by someone getting things done so that history is not lost ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2024/03/28/covid-and-influenza-down-who-to-trust-local-history-made-public-and-it-works/

[Ohmisterporter]

Brought Kath home today. With blood pressure and blood sugar under control there was no point them keeping her in a hospital bed until the op on 3rd April. Mainly because being in there was driving her mad, with visiting hours from one until eight every afternoon seven days a week. Imagine being in a room with five other elderly ladies all of whom seem to be hard of hearing so their visitors have to speak loudly. For seven hours. At home Kath can get some quality sleep and be waited on hand and foot (cough).

As always, stay safe all.

[PupCam]

Evening!

 

23 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

... I am impressed by both the scholarship and by someone getting things done so that history is not lost ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2024/03/28/covid-and-influenza-down-who-to-trust-local-history-made-public-and-it-works/

 

"A £100m spend fighting sub-postmasters in court despite knowing its defence was untrue seems a pretty poor use of money."     but it's got absolutely nothing at all to do with the truth and everything to do with "Saving face" and protecting an "image" irrespective of the cost (or the morals) IMVHO  John.

 

ION

 

Yesterday I successfully managed to screw cut a thread (as opposed to tapping it)  in an ali tube that mates with the  1" 32tpi UN thread that is the C Mount camera lens thread.    I probably can't claim that the thread I cut is 1" 32 tpi UN on the grounds that the thread form is probably wrong (I know the bloke that ground the tool),  the major, pitch and minor diameters are probably out of spec and a host of other failings to boot.    Nevertheless, the lens screws in to it, doesn't rattle or fall off so I think I can award myself a reasonably big tick.   Quite pleased really that it worked first time!  😁

 

Today has been spent providing a taxi service for Mrs & a Junior Puppers and attending an overdue optician's appointment.     That's a whole fleet of Finsbury Park racehorses I won't be seeing then, even with my new glasses ......   

 

I think an early night is in order.

 

Night all.

 

 

 

[Dave Hunt]

9 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

The support staff in RAAF Darwin who are all NT locals live in fear that they will be asked to attend team get-togethers in the Southern states in winter because temperatures less than low 20's are inconceivable to them. 

 

A few years ago they DID have to come down in mid-June, I imagine they spent ages on Ebay looking for sled dogs etc.

 

I was up in Darwin one year in July a couple of years after that and the temperature hit a historical low 18 or something and the local guy turned up to work wearing the thick woolly novelty (but not to him) ski jumper he'd bought for his previous  trip down here to the Tundra.

 

 

 

When we were in Port Douglas north of Cairns we were chatting with a chap who ran a bar there and during the conversation asked him if he'd ever been to UK. "No chance," he said, "I once went to Sydney and it was bl**dy cold there so I don't think I'd like it very much anywhere colder." I asked him what time of the year he'd been to Sydney and he said November.

 

Dave

[Hroth]

Mmmmmmuggatea-ana-toasted hot X bun!!!

 

[monkeysarefun]

4 hours ago, Barry O said:

 

 

Ps if these venomous spiders are so bad why don't the Aussies fo what I do..squidgy them?  (You have to get them caught by a spider catcher and moved somewhere else officially. .. yer wot????)

 

 

 

 

hmmm, I think you'll find its snakes that get relocated - spiders you can do what you like with.

 

Although it is looked at as being UnAustralian if you squash a Huntsman rather than catch it and put it outside  since they are harmless - plus it makes an incredible mess!

 

 

 

4 hours ago, polybear said:

 

 

p.s.  Does the catcher geezer/geezeress cost money?

 

 

Commercial ones around here  charge around $120 or so for a callout (at least thats what I got charged last time) ,  some states and regions  its cheaper or dearer - basically they are a small business so think of them like locksmiths or plumbers: when you need them, you need them! 

 

 There is also a volunteer wildlife rescue organisation called WIRES who will do it for free but they are often  harder to get hold of in a timely manner.

 

But at the end of the day how much is your life worth?...

 

https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/man-dies-after-being-bitten-by-deadly-snake-on-north-qld-property/news-story/87d8d3186893c52dca613a2ed1ff2a93

Edited March 28 by monkeysarefun

[Tony_S]

11 minutes ago, Hroth said:

Mmmmmmuggatea-ana-toasted hot X bun!!!

 

Since the cold/cough lurgy erupted on Sunday although I have eaten a variety of things all I really wanted was tea and toast. Though the cup of tea I have just drunk was the first one in a few days that tasted normal. Aditi has loss of appetite too, her cold symptoms started yesterday. 

 

[Tony_S]

4 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

But at the end of the day how much us your life worth?...

Some years ago Aditi looked out of a bedroom window and informed me there was a black and white snake on the lawn and I should do something about it. I thought it looked just like the corn snake some friends had as a pet. I thought it was probably dead as it didn’t move. When I turned it over with a stick and looked closer it was just possible to see “made in China” . 

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well, just like yesterday, the rain began falling just before dinner and it stayed like that for the rest of the day. Despite that, shopping was shopped and the fridge is now groaning under the weight of it all. 

 

As planned, Charlie called round this afternoon and he and I spent a very productive afternoon in the workshop. He continued painting his models, he’s currently working on 3 different ones. Whilst I carried on with the 3 way point I’m making. Today I got all the sleepers fixed in place. For this I’m using a diagram printed out from ‘Templot’ which has been fixed to a marble slab, about 18in by 10in. This is actually a kitchen device for rolling pastry on, which I picked up in a kitchen shop for a few quid and very handy it is too. It also gets used for building coaches and truck bodies on, so I can ensure they are perfect flat/straight. Once happy with that, I made one to the crossing vees. This is the first time I’ve ever made anything like this before and very pleased with it I am too. 

 

ION. Over the last week or so, we’ve been entertained by a pair of dunnocks that continually sit on the handles of our French doors in the dinning room. For those who don’t know what they are, they are small birds, about the same size as a sparrow, with similar markings, but with a light grey head and face. They initially land on the handrail of the balcony and then hop back and forth between the handrail and door handles. They even tap on the door, but I think they are feeding or small insects etc that hide on the handles. I took a photo of one this morning, whilst it was feeding on one of the bird feeders.
 

 

Sorry about the poor quality, but I only had my phone with me at the time and it was taken through the window too. 

[Tony_S]

28 minutes ago, BSW01 said:

 

 

ION. Over the last week or so, we’ve been entertained by a pair of dunnocks

I haven’t ever seen a dunnock. Earlier this year I thought for a moment or two I  had , but what I saw was a tree sparrow. I hadn’t seen one of these before either so was still very pleased. What was interesting was that it was while I was in area with lots of hedging but no trees!

[BSW01]

29 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I haven’t ever seen a dunnock. Earlier this year I thought for a moment or two I  had , but what I saw was a tree sparrow. I hadn’t seen one of these before either so was still very pleased. What was interesting was that it was while I was in area with lots of hedging but no trees!

Tony, my first thought was that these were tree sparrows, but once I’d watched them for a while and the. checked my book of birds, that confirmed they weren’t tree sparrows, but dunnocks instead. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. A good talk from our chairman (SEERS) on the photographs from an unknown photographer* of the GE and LT&S lines. Started a bit late due to the laptop that we usually use going AWOL though probably in the wrong cupboard but the presenter nipped home to fetch his own laptop and we started only twenty minutes late. A very interesting lot of photographs covering from 1920 to about 1960 that have never been seen before.

*The person who loaned us the photographs is a train driver for C2C and he explained that they were taken by his father, uncle, grandfather and great grandfather who were all railwaymen. It is not certain which member of the family took which photograph.

Edited March 28 by PhilJ W

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Gwiwer]

 

Indeed. And what am I doing at this hour?  
 

Awaiting Dr SWMBO who is running around 3 hours late. Flooding caused her booked train to be cancelled. The next - and last - one was delayed by the need to remove “excess” passengers before departure. The crew were unable to close the doors due to the numbers hoping to travel. Several other trains had also been cancelled meaning this one was expected - on a holiday getaway evening - to carry five loads not one. 
 

As no-one was able to move inside an extended toilet stop was made at Westbury with this train now 98 minutes late. 
 

“Control” being made aware that some 300 passengers were aboard for Cornish stations agreed to hold the last connection by 85 minutes to avoid a lot of hotel and taxi bills.
 

Dr SWMBO has just left Plymouth and is expected at Penzance just after 02.00. Some 3 hours late. A free ride for what that’s worth. 
 

I drove up to Cornwall Services (the old Roche Victoria location) on the A30 in case there was a need to collect her from Plymouth. I can now head west once more and probably enjoy a lengthy wait at the buffer stops. 
 

Something like this 

 

 

Happy Goat Friday from the Getting Wet Railway 

[jjb1970]

10 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

The indigenous folk have already adapted. Australian Rules football is a winter sport, while cricket is a summer sport.

 

They both share the same large oval fields  but usually they never collide.

 

But in the NT summer is ridiculously humid and the cricketers don't like standing around in the humidity, so they demanded that their season be in the "winter" (actually called "The Dry" since it is not humid and monsoonal then) 

 

SO the Northern Territory Football League has to play their football competition in the middle of summer, running around in ridiculous humidity.  I went to see a match in January one year when I was up there, it was too hot to sit in the stand, let along run around like mad in the sun. 

 

Most NTFL players are indigenous -  compared to the cricketers -  so it does have a sad whiff of colonialism /  white privilege about it. 

 

Over here you see the truth about the old song mad dogs and Englishmen. Locals (and even foreigners who are long term visitors) tend to go outside in the morning when it's very pleasant or the evening when it's humid but without the hot sun. They go outside if they have to in the heat of the day but generally avoid exercise and going for a walk outside. I think it's another reason things like construction go on outside office hours, doing hard manual work between midmorning and late afternoon must be brutal.

[Gwiwer]

Now 3 ½ hours late and threatening to arrive closer to 3am than the expected 11pm. 

[pH]

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

… doing hard manual work between midmorning and late afternoon must be brutal.

Eh, yes it is. One summer, as students, a cousin and I worked as labourers on construction sites in Ontario. The temperatures were in the 90s F, and with the humidex ‘felt like’ 105-110. The work was heavy and at the end of the summer I was fitter and was carrying less fat than I have at any time since. It got so bad that one afternoon we just went and sat in the underground basement of a house under construction - continuing to work outside would have been risking heatstroke. Nobody said anything to us about it.

 

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, pH said:

It got so bad that one afternoon we just went and sat in the underground basement of a house under construction - continuing to work outside would have been risking heatstroke.

With the heat we've seen in the last few years - particularly the 2021 heat dome, we've seen new heat-related labor legislation in Oregon. Not just outdoors either - they apply to indoor locations without mechanical ventilation.

 

There is a requirement to provide shade - which is a big deal for agricultural workers where there is often no shade.

 

Has BC made similar legislation?

[TheQ]

Having worked in Saudi, where the outside temperature officially don't go above 50C,  but we put a thermometer on a chair in the shade behind the packing case 8ft tall, 4ft wide and deep that we were filling. It hit over 70C, were were surrounded by tarmac... The guys on the flight line would change overalls half a dozen times a day. It's also a high humidity area on the coast where we were.

In the winter, it would go down to 25C in the mornings, the locals would be swathed in heavy cloaks and scalves we would be wearing T shirts.

I built my boat outside in that... Yep regularly changing overalls, I'd take a 2 gallon insulated water container full of ice and flavoured water out with me , drink the lot and still weigh less by the end of the day.

Yes it's hot, I couldn't work in that now, 

 

Mooring Awl,

5 hours solid sleep, half hour awake, 2 hours sleep, helped by one pink pill, as left knee, forepaws and right ankle are complaining. This weather changes particularly the pressure changes are not good for the joints.

 

Blazer, matching trousers, white shirt are all ready, not seen my RAF tie, nor my museum tag plus badges, so a search party will be needed this morning. I have alternative ties, but which one? Oh must give my shoes a polish..

 

Ben has surfaced for his head polish, so Ben the moaning hints like a teenager Collie will get a surprise in a minute or two as I'll move early due to the search required.

 

Time to move..

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jjb1970]

When I was in Trinidad we had to wear flame retarding overalls because it was required by the gas major we were working for. My employer provided a low cost type which was heavy, stiff, didn't wick and stank of urine and totally unsuited to the climate (they would probably have been OK in the North Sea in winter) whereas the gas company provided their people with superb lightweight nomex overalls. I ended up wearing normal overalls on the basis that the flame retarding one's were a bigger health hazard than the benefits of flame protection given relative risks. In the end the gas company sent a box of theirs for us.