Early Risers.

[jamie92208]

Morning all from a very wet and damp village. The weather that Killybegs and NHN described has now arrived. I did finally manage to get to sleep last night despite RMWeb being down. I was howevef bemused by one of the error messages that I got at one point "Error 503 Guru Meditation", my mind boggled.

 

I do like Rick's law firm, and am glad that he finally got a result.

 

Hope that Jock is OK.

 

Not quite sure what's on the agenda today apart from an evening at the clubroom laying roadway.

 

Regards to all.

 

Jamie

[JohnDMJ]

Morning all!

 

Off into battle with Southern Failways again; not sure what tasks await me in my warehouse role but have several to sort out in my sales role!

 

Will be indulging in the Fully Roast Half Chicken (as distinct from the half-roast chicken!) with chips later at the local Spoons.

 

Employer preparing for Brighton show this weekend; I believe they are taking as little Hornby, airfix, humbrol and scalextric as possible to demonstrate that there ARE (often better) alternatives! None of the aforementioned brands will be on the stand at Glasgow either!

 

Thoughts and wishes as usual

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

The process of renewing the passport continues.  Before I saw the kind advice from Tony S I went to the post office and collected an application pack.   I will return today and use the check and send process for peace of mind.  Call me a Luddite if you will - all together now - but I'm not sure on the face of it how you send photographs to the Passport Office when applying on line!

 

It's Area Group tonight so I'll be off to the new meeting place in Harpenden after a brief pause to top up the car with petrol.  Before that I have a coaching stock conundrum to resolve but as it interfaces with m*d*ll*ng I shall say no more pro tem.  At 12 noon I will take half an hour or so to watch Hansard's Half Hour, aka Prime Minister's Questions, and have a bite to eat while it is on.  That's time management, something I had drummed into me in my working life.  It occurs to me years after that I had to manage my time so that higher management didn't have to manage theirs.  Some pennies take a long time to drop ...

 

Good health to all of us

 

Chris 

[roundhouse]

Morning from a dry and mild Surrey.

Trains home last night were just the usual few minutes late and same this morning.

 

We get to the station some time before ours so see two previous ones arrive and depart. This morning there was a queue of people by the doors of the Vic train standing back to let people off. However one girl gets up from the seats on the platform goes to join the queue then decides to go around them all and barge straight onto the train as people are getting off. This is quite common wth young females these days. They will even do it to my other half so it's not even a 'ladies first' thing.

 

Out round Mums last night so only a little work on the layout but this morning the lightly glued in grain elevator was removed and work has now commenced on the glazing. All thirty plus Windows.

 

Tonight is either pick the car up from the garage if it's ready or pub. Must go to collect the shipment from the USA which contains the Micromark track cleaning heads. Ordered quite a few this time both in N scale and OO/HO to spread the cost of the shipping fee. £22 to pay the Post office for handling and duty. Ouch!

Edited February 17, 2016 by roundhouse

[Barry O]

Morning all - rain here too.

 

Crust earning today so need to be raring to go, which I am not.

 

Enjoy the day and sleep well rick.

 

Baz

[The Lurker]

Morning, its dry here but there was a bit of frost on the car windscreen as I went down the road. That's three mornings in a row, which while hardly shocking is the first time we've had that this "winter".

 

Not too much report here save that one of my big toes hurts. A lot. Painkillers consumed. I have one double jointed big toe, and this one that has swollen up. It could have worked its way a bit looser (for what is a "double joint" other than a looser than normal joint). Or it could be gout I suppose. It's certainly slowed my walking down - I nearly missed the train this morning. I shall look at the internet re symptoms. and then may be try to book an appointment at the doctors, which if true to form will be after all symptoms have gone.

 

The holiday company have shifted the times of our holiday flight in May. We would not have booked the holiday with those flights as they are far too late.  A 1.30 in the morning landing means having to drive home at 3 in the morning. I shall be having words with the travel company and seeing if there are different flights they can put us on.

 

Chrisf, our post office has a photo machine that takes your picture and inserts into the passport application or driving licence photocard application. It certainly works for the latter. I'll be finding out about the passport next year!

[AndyB]

Morning all,

Haven't posted for a day or so as family were visiting. Hope you are all fairing well. 

 

Interesting news items about a cancer treatment being trialed in Seattle. I didn't take much notice of it until transpired that a friend of a friend had been one of the guinea pigs. Apparently it brought this person from "days/weeks/inevitable" to "cured". UK trials are based at the QE in Birmingham.

 

In other news I see the is a new fuel-cell car being produced in Wales. I'm never quite certain how we achieve this but clever technology is brought together and then put in a package that has aesthetics that undermine the credibility of the concept. Well, looks are subjective, so that was very tongue in cheek! On balance, looks interesting; would be interested to know the service frequency on the fuel cell components - they do tend to get polluted easily. Ok, availability of Hydrogen outlets is an issue at the moment but I suspect that was an issue when petrol cars were first brought out. I believe tarmac wasn't widespread either. 

 

 Anyway, have a nice day, people. 

[Jock67B]

Morning all,

I assume that I wasn't the only one to 'lose' RMweb for most of last evening/night. I was so exhausted, I did get some interrupted sleep, sadly waking early hours with a headache. I must admit that I was surprised how much I missed the site and my digital friends!

Thanks again, no doubt, to all the wishes I received, the scan was on time and fairly painless, although the promised weariness from the radiotherapy has kicked in, and how!!

I will play catch-up a little later and post then, but meanwhile, commiserations/congratulations as deserved, and a good 'hump' day for all.

Richard(HH), what a special present - welcoming a new member to the family. I hope you and the 'boss' get as much joy from yours as we do from ours!

Ian(Abel), 'haggis rogan josh' indeed! Oddly enough you have sewn a seed, as I'm now quite keen to try to match haggis to some sort of Indian flavour - a good haggis normally has quite a bite to it in any case.

Pete(trisonic), thanks for the comments. I'm looking forward to having you back 'full time' when you are ready. By the way, I wondered how your 'young un' was getting on at university, and whether she is enjoying herself on the course - I had a memorable time myself.

Back later hopefully,

Kind regards,

Jock.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The new painkillers worked well last night and I slept well only the effects had worn of a bit this morning and it was still a bit of a struggle to get the socks on. The tablets are called Co-Codamil and are about the strongest painkillers available without a prescription, the pharmacist advised me that they could cause drowsiness so I'm only using them in the evenings and taking paracetamol during the day, like paracetamol the limit is 6 a day and taken instead of and not with (4 paracetamol/2 codine and no more for example). The book that I acquired yesterday was 'Portrait of the Liverpool Overhead Railway' by Adrian Jarvis. Quite an interesting read, it deals more with the politics of the line than many other books on the subject but is a bit light on the day to day operation of the railway prefering to concentrate more on the technical/engineering aspects. It does however include quite a bit of information useful for modellers including a scale drawing of one of the motor cars. Chris, my passport needs renewing as well but as another Luddite I will not avail myself of the on line service. My local Post Office has decamped to the back of W H Smiths but still has the old steam powered photo booth. EDIT Jock, you posted as I was typing the above, glad to hear that all went well. I used to enjoy a good curry, even having tried a lobster curry. I have never even thought of a haggis curry but it reminded me of that TV presenter (I cant remember his name) who is a Sikh born in Scotland who wears a turban and a kilt, a combination nowhere as bad as it sounds.

Edited February 17, 2016 by PhilJ W

[TonyA]

Sometimes, I can be stubborn.

 

Bill

 

Sometimes???? 

 

Well, that's me relegated to the fiddle yard all day on Saturday.

 

Tony

[bbishop]

Sometimes???? 

 

Well, that's me relegated to the fiddle yard all day on Saturday.

 

Tony

Wrong Tony, one is promoted to the fiddle yard. Well, according to Keith, that is. Don't you want to play with the new control panel.

 

Must go, off to load up Kennedy's layout.

 

Bill

[andyram]

Morning all. I feel a little bleary eyed this morning despite not quite falling into the ER category. I had hoped that half term would bring some better nights of sleep, with less interruptions, especially as we had decided to shut cat number 2 in the kitchen over night. The plan was to stop his nocturnal carpet scratching and desire for an early morning garden wander. Whilst that has worked Amber had decided to take his place by waking up chatting every night. I got a bit cross with her last night which upset her and now Sarah is annoyed with me. I am sure things will settle down later when I take her on another shopping trip followed by the beer festival visit.

 

Whilst the site was down last night, I busied myself on sending out emails for this year's model railway exhibition. A new blog was written and posted once the site came back online. Great to see that the emails gave brought a couple of replies and confirmations already.

 

Great to hear from Jock. I thought the period offline would prevent a post from you sir. I am glad that the scan was on time and also painless. I hope the results are positive.

 

Phil and Lurker; I hope that your various pains ease soon.

 

Mick NB; how frustrating for you and your pupils. I hope that you get your financial reimbursement soon. I also hope the Telford show goes well for you.

 

AndyB: not seen the news on the treatment developments. It certainly sounds like promising news for people who are battling that dreadful disease.

 

Anyway I had better drag myself out of bed ready to spend the day hanging around billions of clothes shops whilst Sarah rummages through endless racks before putting everything back! Enjoy your day.

[AndyB]

AndyB: not seen the news on the treatment developments. It certainly sounds like promising news for people who are battling that dreadful disease.

 

 

Here 'tis. 

 

I didn't take much notice till a mate mentioned his v. poorly friend had received this treatment. She is, presumably one of the 94% for whom the disease was cured. Fantastic news for her but, putting aside the hype, it looks like genuinely good news all round.  

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Rain promised but not yet arrived, arm slightly improved but not right and Mrs Stationmaster hunting out some miracle stuff that lurks in a tube she has lost so it might still be the occasion to practice my non-existent Danish in conversation with the chiropractor.  Little other news - at which juncture Mrs SM appeared with the miracle stuff (Ibuprofen) - just as well as the chiropractor is on holiday.

 

Have a good day one and all 

[Tony_S]

Hello from Utrecht.

Canal views available from our room. It was ready so we didn't have to wait until 2pm.

Tony

[Tony_S]

For those needing UK passport renewals. You apply and pay online. You then print out a form, sign it, include your old passport and new photos and post it off. Our new photos didn't need certifying as we look like we did 10 years ago (not surprising in my case as I was quite ill when I had my photo taken 10 years ago). I have usesd the PO check and send service before but my handwriting is so horrible I prefer filling forms in online.

Tony

Edited February 17, 2016 by Tony_S

[The Lurker]

I have never even thought of a haggis curry but it reminded me of that TV presenter (I cant remember his name) who is a Sikh born in Scotland who wears a turban and a kilt, a combination nowhere as bad as it sounds.

Tony Singh

[Happy Hippo]

Hello from Utrecht.

Canal views available from our room. It was ready so we didn't have to wait until 2pm.

Tony

Carnal views if you are in Amsterdam (allegedly)

[chrisf]

 I have never even thought of a haggis curry but it reminded me of that TV presenter (I cant remember his name) who is a Sikh born in Scotland who wears a turban and a kilt, a combination nowhere as bad as it sounds.

 

Hardeep Singh Kohli?

 

Chris

[southern42]

' Afternoon all from red dragon land.

Raining...

That streamer of a cold right pulled me down and I'm still lacking energy.  Anyway, pleased to be back on here although I did manage to do a bit on my track plan.

 

 

Morning all,

Haven't posted for a day or so as family were visiting. Hope you are all fairing well. 

 

Interesting news items about a cancer treatment being trialed in Seattle. I didn't take much notice of it until transpired that a friend of a friend had been one of the guinea pigs. Apparently it brought this person from "days/weeks/inevitable" to "cured". UK trials are based at the QE in Birmingham.

 

In other news I see the is a new fuel-cell car being produced in Wales. I'm never quite certain how we achieve this but clever technology is brought together and then put in a package that has aesthetics that undermine the credibility of the concept. Well, looks are subjective, so that was very tongue in cheek! On balance, looks interesting; would be interested to know the service frequency on the fuel cell components - they do tend to get polluted easily. Ok, availability of Hydrogen outlets is an issue at the moment but I suspect that was an issue when petrol cars were first brought out. I believe tarmac wasn't widespread either. 

 

 Anyway, have a nice day, people. 

 

It may be Made in Wales but where do you put the train set exhibition layout? 

 

 

Wrong Tony, one is promoted to the fiddle yard. Well, according to Keith, that is. Don't you want to play with the new control panel.

Must go, off to load up Kennedy's layout.

Bill

 

The next up in the promotion stakes is Communicator - chatting talking to the public.

The highest, of course, is Tea/Coffee Maker!   That's an art in itself and requires a real specialist!  

 

Raincoat...sou'wester...

before I get into trouble...

 

Take care and enjoy your day

[Oldddudders]

 

In other news I see the is a new fuel-cell car being produced in Wales. I'm never quite certain how we achieve this but clever technology is brought together and then put in a package that has aesthetics that undermine the credibility of the concept. Well, looks are subjective

 

Wales has history here. Remember Gilbern?

[NGT6 1315]

Evening all. Busy day, scrubbing the church paths, sorting out the charity's bank mandate, painting stock for the weekend. Anyway I was driving up a typical Lewisham suburban street, cars parked both sides but two cars can squeeze past each other with a bit of planning. A BMW screams into the road headlights full on, so I do the necessary planning and tuck into the left and stop. Plenty of room for the BMW to do the same, but no deviation, stops in front of me, window wound down and female orders me to back down to the bottom of the road.

 

(Remember I drive a very elderly, very battered Vectra). So, uh, no way am I backing. More shouting, more gesticulations, so I switch off the lights, turn off the engine, hold up the ignition key, then fold my arms and wait. As I said, there is easily a comfortable six inches either side if she went past slowly and carefully but she obviously couldn't suss the footprint of her car. After five minutes she realises I ain't moving, so she engages reverse and weaves back up the road.

 

Sometimes, I can be stubborn.

 

Bill

 

 

Full marks for that, Bill. The mind does boggle at what sort of crapcakes has become all too frequent on the roads these days… 

 

Reminds me of a couple of encounters with this kind of species on the single tracked final leg of Line 9 between the Thekla terminus and Mockau, Kirche. Track is in the middle of the street there and following a not overly tight right hand curve when looking inbound from Thekla, though a sprung point at the beginning of the regular double track section just at the end of the curve means you will usually not be faster than about 25 kph and slowing down to 15 in this location. Yet, outbound motorists all too often cut the corner there without first ensuring no tram is coming then other way. Usually resulting in some vigorous bell ringing by tram drivers such as myself, and frantic evasive action by said crapcakes. I mean, if I see tram tracks in the street, shouldn't I damn well assume there might, in fact, be trams coming one or the other way?

 

Speaking of gormless people: I was driving Line 9 and stood behind Line 11 at a stop. Young daddy with bottle of beer in butt pocket was pushing a baby carriage through the gap between the two trams without bothering to look whether a tram was coming the other way. While that was not the case, it did just slightly render me speechless.

 

Rant over. For now.

[jamie92208]

Afternoon all from a still damp village.  The day has gone rather well so far despite not having a settled agenda.  I got the ironing done to avoid having to watch Holby City on catch-up then decided to earn more brownie points by going up into the loft to look for a dismantled bed.

 

Our loft was going to be my revenge on the kids when we eventually shuffled off this mortal coil but as we are moving to France it needs to be cleared.   That is  a major exercise and there might be all sorts of things hidden up there.   Anyway I started looking for the parcels of wood that make up the bed.   I was assured that SWMBO knew where they were as she had seen the end of one of the bindles recently wrapped up with red insulating tape. 

 

I duly shifted all sorts of things but there was no sign of the bed.   Eventually I was joined by the boss who was convinced that I was incapable of looking properly.   After half an hour even she had to admit that the bed parts were nowhere to be seen.  2 of them are over 6' long and varnished so are not easy to hide.   Anyway a pile of stuff to go to the charity shop was soon placed near the hatch then a box was spied, still wrapped up and unopened.   What's in there was the cry.   It was despatched downstairs along with the two broken laptops and sundry other items.

After I'd managed to rearrange things so that I could put the ladder up the said box was opened.  In it was a large supply of Christmas cards, wrapping paper, gift tags etc with an invoice dated 11-1-2014.   Obviously bought online in a January sale but totally forgotten about.

 

Not a bad way of spending an hour but we still haven't found the bed, or even the wiring diagrams for Green Ayre.  I was hoping I'd find the entrance to the black hole where everything else vanishes.

 

Jamie

[Simon G]

The seemingly relentless rain has finally relented, and it looks a pleasant afternoon. I did venture out this morning as the rain was stopped and it was low tide, but misjudged my crossing of a very small stream as a wave came in and got wet feet! Should have worn the wellies!

 

I will venture back out in just over an hour to catch Galatea coming through with the diverted Pendle Dalesman. They say that every cloud has a silver lining, and in the case of the currently closed Settle to Carlisle line, the silver lining is that steam excursions are being routed round the Cumbrian coast instead. We are therefore due an unprecedented number of steamers in the next month or so. If we are really lucky, we could have a Duchess around the coast on Saturday. According to people who know better than me, there hasn't been a Duchess this way since 1982, so that would be special. The only trouble is that I have three trips on the Ratty as a guard on Saturday, so will most likely miss it! As the weather forecast is also awful, I will probably get soaked as well.

[The Stationmaster]

Amazing what you can get in supermarkets nowadays - todays' trip to Tesco resulted in the acquisition of 7 sheets of foamboard c52"x16", ex display use but in good nick.  The only potential difficulty is that the boards have a  plastic surface which is slightly roughened so some experimentation in respect of cutting and adhesives is required - probably not much use for structures but maybe ok for scenery contouring if it will cut readily.