Early Risers.

[81C]

Morning All

Sunny & bright

Nice to see some light hearted posts this morning apart from one person with his usual dull scriptures 

Painter arrived on time bedroom ceiling already painted the lady Boss told me to buqqer off out the way, so bedroom, kitchen and bathroom will be done today

the lounge next week along with the man cave I can try and get the kitchen installed there is still the problem of a hotel for my installer I was hoping I could move

out so he could stay here but that's still not possible the bathroom refit is to be done as well.

Enjoy your day & stay safe I.N.Teriordesign  

Edited May 15, 2020 by 81C

[The Stationmaster]

6 hours ago, BR60103 said:

You mean, they actually have to push cars through that contraption? It was bad enough when I thought it would be a trailing switch.

Judging by the lire of the points at the start of the balloon loop on which it lies it might well be a facing point in any case although equally it might not be possible to automatically trail those points so their lie simply reflects the last movement which would have trailed the oddity.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

A lovely sunny start and a bit warmer than the past couple of days. It may cloud over later.

Late here but was up about 7.00am.  Breakfast has been had and we (I) then managed a good mile and a half on today's walk. On our return spoke to our lovely neighbour who is going to our excellent localish butcher today and has offered to get anything we want so there will be steak at GDB Towers for the first time since lockdown.

My weight before lockdown was 14st6lbs which is probably a stone more than I would like.  (And even more than my doctor would like but he lives in cloud cuckoo land!)  This morning it was 14st1lb which is rather surprising. The walking must be doing some good.

In other good news I had a letter yesterday informing me of an increase in my company pension,  notalot but I'm certainly not complaining. 

Some financial juggling to do this morning and then I may visit The Shed.  Still waiting for decoders but with a bit of luck they may arrive today.

Have a good one,

S.H. Adowofhisformerself.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Late up again this morning, but as I’m not going anywhere it doesn’t matter I suppose. It was dull and cloudy when I was eating breakfast, but a few minutes ago the sun came out, but now it’s gone back in again and there are a few dark clouds to be seen. Today work will continue on the arbor, hopefully by the end of the day I’ll have he second trellis panel cut and fitted and the roof boards also cut and fitted. 

 

Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. 

[Dave Hunt]

An early rise today (stop sniggering, I just meant getting up, er, no, not like that just getting upright, er, no not like that either....... oh, bu**er....... didn't mean to put that either... oh, sodit you know what I really mean).

 

Where was I? Oh, yes, getting out of bed early (that's what I meant to say) since we had one of our rare supermarket deliveries expected at 0700 onwards. Eventually it arrived at 0745 and by the time everything was disinfected and put away then I'd prepared tonight's dinner (salmon in a ginger, orange and soy sauce with new potatoes and green beans) it was time to reply to emails, do some online niffnaff and trivia and then look at ERs, so here we are. Next up is some window cleaning in the workshop by command of HM SWMBO then I may be allowed some modelling time. At five o'clock I'm taking part in a Zoom get-together with some ex-RAF buddies so I think that Friday will have been well and truly carpe'd by then.

 

Have a good one everybody. Ta-ta for now.

 

Dave

Edited May 15, 2020 by Dave Hunt
Flamin' predictive text!!

[NGT6 1315]

6 hours ago, BR60103 said:

You mean, they actually have to push cars through that contraption? It was bad enough when I thought it would be a trailing switch.

 

 

I'm not sure how to interpret the Google Maps overhead view, but this photo, together with that satellite image, might suggest there's a railway line behind this stub, which is why I found myself wondering whether this location could have been an interchange for delivery of newly built trams.

 

Given that the tram lines in Daugavpils are built to Russian broad gauge, that might at least have been conceivable, depending on which rules exist for moving tram stock over railway lines in the former Soviet lands. In this case, the "point" may well have been designed to be trailed through only, considering that this looks like the only direction in which movements entailing flange-borne running could have been more or less safe at very low speeds. Though then again, I do not know what the blue tram had been doing in that stub, and from which direction it had entered.

[Kingzance]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

Morning, TFIF.  Still feeling a bit off colour, nothing I can put my finger on, temperature OK, diabetes OK, just not feeling right.

 

Sunny out there, but only 10c, so may take it easy for a while.

 

Then a decision to make, bike maintenance or layout work?

Doctor KZ has assessed you symptoms online and can tell you it is nothing serious. You are suffering from exmare necessitum, an illness afflicting sailors who have been stuck in the same berth for too long - more commonly known as Pay-off Blues or The Channels. Get well soon, sorry I can’t offer you a telegram that instructs the master to discharge you in the UK to visit you granddaughter.

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from Sidcup where it is sunny and blue skied. I hope this lasts until lunchtime when I go on my walk. 

 

We have spotted a cafe down near the station that is doing takeaway lattes etc. Mrs Lurker has a longing for such  things so she may venture down there today in the car - it is too far away to get the coffees back warm. Personally I drink black coffee so I am less fussed about the merits of an Americano vs a black coffee from our coffee maker, but it would be churlish to turn it down, should it be offered.

 

Other than that, it looks like the boss has decreed some work on forecasts/budgets that will be at a far greater level of detail than the businesses that make the budgets will actually produce. I foresee some significant banging of my head vs various walls over the next few days as I try to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

 

 

EDIT: the coffee run is on, she and Elder Lurker have gone off in the car. It's the first time he's been out of the house since Sunday. He's taken to this social distancing like a duck to water

Edited May 15, 2020 by The Lurker

[81C]

Back again I noticed what GDB the fat git had put about weight increase I've piled on a stone in 9 weeks so its back to missing out on a sandwich 

lunch time and back to the crisp breads, now I have some face masks I can get out and about and walk off some of the extra poundage.

  I.M. Alardy   

Edited May 15, 2020 by 81C

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Yes. here I am and it's still morning. This is explained by the managerial raid on Waitrose which has to take place early in the day as that is when they have their OFs' hour.  So I needed to be up to assist with various matters when the shopper and her chauffeur returned plus provo ding door control for the GD arriving home off her night turn.  It should I trust be obvious that in this context the chauffeur was the driver of the auto mobile which conveyed herself on her shopping trip as opposed to those who might spend a lot of time thinking in French and wondered if we had acquired a steam worked branchline between here and Waitrose (although only having a chauffeur on the engine would obviously have left a vacancy for a mécanicien [de locomotive]).  But s*d the French lingo stuff - a successful foray took place so i am suitably resupplied with mushrooms in consequence but I note that there was unfortunately an considerable acquisition of cake (various) so a suitable hippo barrier will need to be constructed.

 

Talking of construction on eof the young ladies next door, currently laid-off from her engineering training course by that 'nice' Mr Dyson, is apparently getting underway with the construction of a pizza oven in the garden.  I heard the voice of another neighbour in their garden yesterday and talking to the mother of the house after yesterday evening's clapping for the NHS event it seems that bricklaying will commence once supplies of sand (16x25kg bags!) and cement are to hand although the oven bit is to be clay lined.  What with that plus a major excursion into veg gardening next door's daughters are definitely keeping thenselves busy through locked-down times.

 

Now as nobody sells a kit for a GWR signal box in the size I need should I be doing some research I wonder.  And I also wonder where the window frame etches have got themselves too?  And hip roof or gable end?  Timber or brick? What wre as the lever centre measurement in a 3 or5 bar VT frame? (no problem, my memory said 4" and that has been quickly confirmed but would the earlier 5.25" spacing be better - which is the Springside kit, probably the latter?)   Got to get teh lever centres right to calculate the internal length in order to derive the external length.  Hmm, some thought required  and a shame I haven't been able (still) to get to measure that station building.  

 

And with that brainstorm (barnstorm?) out of the way there's the post to open and other thinsg to do so I'd best get on.  Enjoy the rest of your day one and all and stay safe.

 

PS I forgot to express my appreciation of KZ's excellent new avatar and the accompanying full size version of it - truly delightful

 

 

Edited May 15, 2020 by The Stationmaster
To add PS

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Last weigh in I was 110 kilograms, not so bad as after Christmas it was 114. I've allways been big, my brother is 16 months older than me but when we were youngsters when I outgrew my clothes they were often passed down to him. Idealy I should be 100 kg or below but I don't think I have the willpower, it'll be a struggle to lose another 5 unless I starve myself. Like ChrisF and ID I'm used to being on my own so lockdown hasn't affected me except that there's nowhere to go and that is making things tedious. Another niggle is that at my age (71) I notice that my stamina is slowly declining as the years pass, hopefully I will still have the stamina next year to do what I can't do this year.

Edited May 15, 2020 by PhilJ W

[Shedman5]

Morning, lazy morning today, yesterday we got up early and went to one our favourite places for a 8 mile circular walk  and had a nice picnic with great view over the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales.  On our walk ( flat ie not up a mountain) we did not see anybody and it was so peaceful and just nice to see different scenery for a change.

 

 

The lawns need mowing but that can wait till the weekend I think, thankfully no need to visit the shops until next week so all good in my book a stay at home weekend is planned ie life as normal!

 

Enjoy your day

 

 

 

 

[roundhouse]

6 hours ago, chrisf said:

 

 

This is positively the last word on my abortive trip to Dublin.  I am very sorry if I have banged on about it too much for some gentle readers but I had set my heart on it and its collapse did my mental health no good.  The final refund has now been made so that is one less thing to worry about.  I hope to try again in 2021.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

I know how you feel Chris as we are normally away somewhere at weekends and Bank Holidays so despite having plenty to do at home with a good shed and garden that many don't have, its still hard to just stay in let alone with no pubs to go to of an evening. I just hope it is safe for places to reopen in July and that we can go somewhere this summer that's worth going to as I am sure many others would also wish to do.

 

This morning its sunnier and warmer than the forecast so gardening under way. Trains to run later.

[tigerburnie]

Afternoon all, been busy in the garden this morning and also went to get some free range eggs and tatties from the Croft up the road. I'm after all sorts for the railway, but there seems to be a distinct lack of anything in the second hand market, ebay looks pretty empty and a visit to one of the major outlets site seems to show a lot of over priced locos that have a variety of faults on them, little wonder they don't seem to be shifting them. I shall Percy Vere, there are bargains to be had I am sure.

[Gwiwer]

3 hours ago, NGT6 1315 said:

Zwangsschließen

“Twang - shleessen” could describe that in English.  A loud “twang” as the doors force anyone and anything to suddleny “shlee” in or out. 
 

Aaaaaaannnnnnnnddddddd we’re back!!!  The doorway-dwellers have returned with a vengeance to the railway today. Conspicuous by their absence recently there have been numerous cases this morning of doors obstructed while the obstructor waits for the information screen to scroll through every stop a swift kick in the gluteals and a stern rebuke from the staff. Also back after a seven-week absence are some of the eternally-hopeful who run onto the platform after the doors have closed, lean on the door-release button and gesticulate wildly about needing to get this train. Too bad so sad - come late must wait. 
 

It remains less busy than some predictions but slightly up on the past couple of days. Of note we observed several couples and families travelling with suitcases. It is not our job to enquire why nor to remind them of government advice and restrictions. 
 

Good Afternoon one and all. POETS Day could not be observed in a time-critical role but Thank Deity-of-Choice It’s Friday. I can now relax and play with my new long-handle swivel-head garden shears plus await delivery of meats, fruit and veg also of plants and compost.  
 

My long-awaited and quarantined parcel from China finally arrived too. It contains the camera-rest I ordered months ago. That order was placed with a .co.uk address but the acknowledgement came from a US .com  The next I heard was the Royal Mail email advising me my package from China was being detained in quarantine .... business is truly global and, it seems, with people prepared to skim a few brown coins by fronting for another business while claiming to be local.  Luckily I wasn’t hit with any customs fees this time. 
 

It is time to go and shear some errant weeds and advise tge grass on the errors of encroaching upon the path. Back later for Friday Drinks. 

[New Haven Neil]

A'noon. A couple of miles walk has brought a little energy back, but still not firing on all 4.

 

KZ, my discharge book (UK 056425, funny the things you remember) being but a memory I'm not sure that is the issue - Grand-daughter is here BTW, not the UK.  Daughter Charlie is a qualified (MA) social worker at the hospital. Feebs was a month old yesterday, how time flies.

 

OK, off to fiddle with motorbikes as we're going out later on the larger ones this time.  Mine you can fiddle with anyway, Mrs NHN's latest you need to plug a computer into, to achieve more than adjusting the chain!

[Chris116]

21 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

Also back after a seven-week absence are some of the eternally-hopeful who run onto the platform after the doors have closed, lean on the door-release button and gesticulate wildly about needing to get this train. Too bad so sad - come late must wait. 
 

As we always used to say, normally to ourselves quietly, on LUL "Trains run for those who wait, they don't wait for those who run!"

[Kingzance]

Well, its good afternoon from me but nothing from him. "We" did head off to the purveyor of meat and pre-chickens where some of the latter were acquired to allow a decent breakfast on another day. The home-made burgers also on offer using steak offcuts were also simply too good to resist. From there, I took Her Ladyship in a generally northerly direction towards Sandy where there is a growers' outlet from where I have previously managed to get local and very fresh salad and similar produce. They also sell various garden "stuff" although I was not in the market for such. I found that I was not alone and would have had to wait approximated 80 metres, at which the powers that be decided we should retrace our route. Consequently I shall be making some coleslaw to satisfy her demands and she will be forced to eat real lettuce (rather than the specially selected mixed leaf collection washed in a lightly chlorinated bath before being placed in a sealed bag and offered at a suitably marked up price) that is normally her wont.

 

Thank you Stationmaster for your kind comments on my image / avatar. This was obviously a pre-WuFlu image I took when the very expanded family (16 of us) were in the Dominican Republic to celebrate someone's 50th birthday. It was taken at sunset from the beach of our luxurious gated community and has not been photo-shopped in any way, just cropped a little to position the components where I thought they combined best. Never missing a trick to turn a few dollars, the little pier and gazebo is used by the resort as the site for marriage ceremonies.  The apparent affluence within the resort is embarrassingly vastly different from the shacks and squalor the local populace endure. I shall not repeat that trip!

[J. S. Bach]

5 hours ago, NGT6 1315 said:

 

There's this anecdote which comes to mind...

"Oh, was she gorgeous. Blonde, blue-eyed, 90-60-90…" - "And the other leg?

That reminds me of a song that I remember:

"She had a pair of hips ...

just like two battleships."

[J. S. Bach]

3 hours ago, NGT6 1315 said:

 

 

I ...snip... hough then again, I do not know what the blue tram had been doing in that stub, and from which direction it had entered.

I am sure that the blue trolley had to have been pushed in, there is no overhead; well, unless a stinger was used.

[J. S. Bach]

Here is the other end of the loop; or, more correctly, the entrance to the loop; it appears the the switch in question is a trailing point switch (down the track curving off to the left):

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.8926143,26.533307,3a,75y,51.8h,85.88t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1smxmIwmPwEwZt6oPJkCWVcw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

Edited May 15, 2020 by J. S. Bach

[The Lurker]

I gave myself a quick weigh in and found I have reduced to 85kg, a slight reduction but enough to tip me marginally in to healthy weight according to the BMI calculator. Still, one good meal and I will be back to being a fat so & so

not like when I reached my full height aged 18 and was running 40-50 miles a week. According to the BMI calculator i was underweight then by about a stone! Its amazing what inactivity, overeating and beer can do to one over the course of nearly 35 years!

[Barry O]

Grass has been cut.

We have witnessed a neighbours will.

 

We watched her sign it. She retreated, wearing suitable PPE we then signed it and off she went.

 

This is getting serious..

 

No evil stick, no grey primer and now no car black paint!

Gadzooks! The world will shortly end!

Better have my mugadecaff pronto!

 

Baz

[Coombe Barton]

I'm at the stage when only a bacon sarnie will do.

 

Seriously.

[Gwiwer]

4 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

I'm at the stage when only a bacon sarnie will do.

 

Seriously.

Nothing works like a bacon sarnie.  I managed bacon 'n' eggs on toast for lunch which was a close substitute.

 

28 minutes ago, The Lurker said:

I have reduced to 85kg

I have remained at 99kg for some time now, definitely know it on those odd days when I top the "ton", and my excuse is that I am taller than many   My BMI is nowhere near giving cause for concern.   SWMBO, on the other hand, is not overweight - she is under-tall