Leaderboard

A couple of photos from Edge Hill

Mooring Awl Inner Temple hare, A much better nights sleep, 5.5 hours plus some Unspecified dozing.. Strangely the down side wasn't painful last night, just the left knee from the clutch in the landrover, which definitely didn't like the drive in this morning. Ben the happy Collie had a good snuffle around this morning, he's also showing signs of old age being much slower.. On arrival here I found a strange sight... a horse box, transit type, parked where you shouldn't, in the entrance turning 1/4 circle, so blocking access to the site for artics, though smaller stuff can get through.. Should the owner return, it will either have been towed away, and or could get locked onto site, once the evening shift finish.. When the number of high level passes increase each year, especially since the teachers are marking, that's grade inflation. There is just no way that many should have got A passes no matter how hard they worked.. I suspect the new numbering system will come in when they return to proper exams, so they can claim it's an all new system, which it won't be.. It will just be to hide the previous grade inflation.. Missive sent to Madam Commodore.. no reply yet.. So similarly to the exam results, I think there will be some under the carpet brushing, in this case to hide the awarding of trophies to non compliant boats for the last 40 years and a change of next years Club book wording.. Hopefully that will make it easier for Blue Moon to Comply, I really don't want to have to modify the keel, but I can if I need too.. The boss came in yesterday... and then went home again.. Don't know If he'll try again today. Just had the user of the second system want it back.. Can't it's out of cal.. tough.. Also just had the supervisor of the outer lab asking about when I retire, I think he's now slightly panicking as he's realised our situation with 4 of the 5 posts in top level calibration, changing in the next 18 months.. It would leave him with no one to go to for knowledgeable information.. Time to get on with it..

The gunpowder vans make an unusual sight trundling along the line. Transfers have now arrived so I will be able to finish the furthest one and complete the weathering.

When Bear was a young Cub I sat "O Levels", with odd GCE thrown in; CSE's were creeping in too. For the first two a Grade C was regarded as the "normal/good" pass; for CSE a Grade 1 was desirable. So if the best part (ok, 45%) are now getting Grade A/A* then isn't that now in danger of being the new "norm" - and how do you now identify those students who are above average? From the BBC Radio News last night it seems that some schools actually insisted that Students sat exams in order to assess them. They also reported that due to the disruption some Schools only taught parts of the Syllabus - and presumably assessed their performance based on that. Does that mean (being very cynical/extreme here just to make a point) there are those with an A* in Mathematics that are very good at multiplication but have never been taught long division? Fear not, iD - the BBC are on the case.... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-58156499 In other news: No painting today - I'll give the first top coat another 24 hours to harden off a bit more first; the "architrave" (which in reality is actually pine stripwood due to lack of space for the real deal) on one of the door frames would benefit from a very light rub down as it's feeling a little on the rough side. I also want to put some squirty gunge in some of the joint lines in order to disguise them even more. So the first job (after the squirty gunge...) is to cut a length of architrave down lengthwise. Has real potential for going to complete ratsh1t very quickly.... After that I'll make it up as I go along. Some listing of general items on the 'bay is on the cards, as is sorting a change of mobile phone service provider. My current one (Asda) is changing from the EE Network to Vodaphone; I used to be on the latter and at the time found the signal in Bear Towers to be complete carp - fine if you went outside though. Really useful, that.... I have two phones requiring changing - one being a spare kept in the car. I think I'll get that swapped first to see what the signal situation is first. I think that if you don't stay with Asda on the new network then there is a suggestion that you lose any credit as they're both PAYG. I also need to check my sat nav for free map updates, do a pc back-up to external hard drive, start doing an update of my Will......

Another day trip to Switzerland. We start with a photo at Andermatt on the Furka Oberalp Bahn (as it then was) before moving on to the Ratische Bahn (RhB) at Filisur to see another metre gauge loco. The remaining photos are in what may be less familiar locations to those of you who have visited Switzerland. We move to north east Switzerland, first to Appenzell to look at another metre gauge line, the Appenzeller Bahnen followed by a quick look at Speicher on the Trogener Bahn which runs from St Gallen to Trogen. Lastly there are three photos on the other RHB in Switzerland, the Rorhshach Heiden Bergbahn which is a rack assisted standard gauge line, now part of the Appenzeller Bahnen group. Andermatt FO HGe4/4 36 eastbound 28th July 92 C17107 Filisur Ge4/4ii 601 Filisur to Davos 29th July 92 C17126 Appenzell Sitter viaduct BDeh4/4 St Gallen to Appenzell 31st July 92 C17234 Speicher TB BDe4/8 21 St Gallen to Trogen 2nd Aug 92 C17292 Heiden ABDeh2/4 2nd Aug 92 C17307 Heiden 2nd Aug 92 C17309 Heiden RHB Dzeh2/4 21 2nd Aug 92 C17300 David

Funny you should say that. So has mine. Only three weeks overdue and on the very day upon which I could have claimed a refund had it not arrived. I can now couple my 12V output through a 9V step-down and hopefully make things work as they are supposed to. Meanwhile it is lunch-fest. Well earned after a remarkably busy morning of telling people where to go. Only in the nicest possible way, you understand, but summer has finally arrived at the House of Fun. Young people laden with all sorts of packages off to Boardmasters (mostly being bussed from Victoria to Newquay by the organisers, it seems ) and a very large number of even younger people being pushed along in their wheeled conveyances towards where ever they were going. One group of eight mums and eight buggies ( again ) were bound for Littlehampton; I pity the on-board supervisor of the train they caught if only on the grounds of having no designated space for that many buggies. Another group was bound for Bognor and after directing them I had to winder why. Maybe they have family or friends there but the beach is not ideal for tiny tots and there wasn't much of interest in the town when I was last passing through. I'm with His Late Majesty George V on this one: "Bu&&er Bognor" even if his attributed last words were in fact not those at all. In other news I have directed the Great British Public towards Ashford (Kent - less usually as it's the Surrey / Middlesex one they usually want), Lee (next to the Boring Borough), Snodland (why on Earth ..... ??? I can think of worse places to spend the day but not that many!) and another family group bound for Hilsea; they do know that station lies in the midst of light industry, don't they? And the poor chap who had been advised last night to seek accommodation after his last train home (to Axminster) was unable to run due to staff sickness and who quite rightly sought compensation for both the delay (much more than 15 minutes which triggers a refund) and his overnight costs. A little less common, that, and the first time I have had to deal with someone stranded overnight in this round of railway employment. But lunch. It's here. I'm in the wrong room. I'll move and be back later.

Greetings all from the boring borough. All is crap here. Seems like a large group of black dogs has descended upon us. One of those, nothing is going right weeks. No light at the end of the tunnel, where are we going, what are we doing, etc etc. We were supposed to go to an outdoor performance of Mid Summer's Night Dream at Severndroog Castle. SWMBO had a really bad day at work and by 5pm neither of us could face the prospect of going out. I didn't even feel like cooking, so it was delivered sushi and a couple of beers on the patio to try and unwind. Only 2289 working days until retirement. Turns out a change wasn't as good as a rest and the new job was just a rearrangement of the Titanic's deck chairs. No matter how I crunch the numbers, there's no way we can afford either of us to retire early. Turdycurses to quote a certain bear of this parish. Nuckfuggets in other words. In other news the decision has been made to give over a 6' by 10' section of the shed permanently for additional food and BBQ gear storage. It just means putting an S bend into the la*out plans. No running length is lost but the gain in storage space is really needed. Although at the moment the whole bloody shed is one big storage unit with little space to do anything. All of our Plan A travel plans for next week are forked, as is plan B, plan C, and now plan D. Plan E is stay at home with a possible day trip somewhere close by. No doubt a few of the days will be spent relocating crap from the shed to the loft. It is really time to downsize but neither of us have any mojo at all. enough whinging for now. Time to sit in on yet another waste of time meeting.

What? No-one mounts their charger with a cry of “Huzzah!!!” as they ride off a-wenching??? In the UK we have the Most Ancient and Noble Order of the Bath. Australians modtly prefer showers Good morning all. Or should that be “G’day”?

That was the entire seven years of my grammar school education. Never mind life because you will marry a fine woman who will keep house for you, raise your family and darn your socks. We teach you how to pass exams because our only purpose in your life is to get you into Cambridge (preferably) or Oxford and if you don't get an Open Exhibition you're a failure, boy. I scraped through with four O-level passes (one at the third attempt), three failures and two A-levels having abandoned one more. Needless to say I was considered a failure long before I got to that stage and was tolerated with a certain degree of academic bullying which was endemic in those days. Being dismissed from Art with the words "Boy - you're a ham-fisted clot with a pencil; God help you if you ever pick up a paint-brush" was just the start of it. I went on to receive some rather more positive feedback having picked up a paint-brush and decorated various items not least 30 metres of backscene. It was the same whilst learning to drive. My instructor, one of the private one-man schools of motoring who traded on personal recommendation and success rather than a commercial name, was quite blunt with me. "First I teach you how to pass the test. Then I teach you how to drive". He did. On both counts. I still hear his voice in my ear at times asking "Can we go?" This evening I have declared a nearby resident to be a C0ckwomble. Having occupied two parking bays by means of parking one car amidships across both he then placed an unsigned note on my windscreen "reminding" me that the first two bays in the parking area are his and that he needed to get two cars in. I, therefore, was required to park elsewhere. No. I was parked right beside the sign stating clearly that the bay I am using is the private property of our block (which is not his block) and I shall not be parking elsewhere. The note, photos of the parking and a suitable comment were emailed to our managing agent who also employs car park security and enforcement. I'll let them deal with it. I suspect he is trying to elbow for more space because he chooses to drive a pair of large Mercedes (not both at the same time, so why have two?) and is simply being a selfish ah-sole. On that note I'll depart and wish you all a good evening.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I was sitting at my computer when I moved slightly and Arthur Itis decided to give me a kick, ouch! Nurofen has been deployed but it still hurts.

Whilst only to OND/HNC and not degree level (that came much later) my engineering officer cadetship was a quite well rounded with a year at sea between the qualifications, which had to be completed to a satisfactory level (whilst also doing correspondence courses) before the final year. Quite a few disappeared.....mostly in the 'tanker' companies for some reason, BP/Shell etc. It is probably fair to say the experience of actually doing the job sorted out the less 'rounded' of the cohort.

I remember my PhD supervisor telling me that fellow academics at Cambridge were quiting through boredom in the mid 1990s. The reason being that what they were being expected to teach undergraduates for the first year was effectively what they expected to be covered at A level. I seem to remember similar comments from my father who was a senior lecturer at a London poly. Thinking about iD's point about fully rounded graduates one option is to take either a joint, major/minor or "with" degree. The idea of the "with" being to expose the student to thinking from a vastly different subject area, e.g. geography with astrophysics. There are also study abroad and year in industry formats as well to broaden horizons and add real-world skills. My own industrial year was with the RAF and set me up for life. Others in my year did placements in various other medical research labs and now either head up swathes of big pharmacy giants. Or in one case created one herself!

So now to the stock of the 9.47, in its Friday incarnation. Just MK1 at the front, but gets much more interesting futher along.

Interesting the various posts made about exam results (something I have not really had to worry about for about 30 years or so) I have noted a significant change in the University Graduates that I have interviewed over the years for a position in my particular industry. I usually was given the very pleasant task of taking a candidate to the Director’s Restaurant for a slap up lunch and a probing interview (the “Director’s Restaurant“ could be used by any staff member through a reservation system for a good reason [such as an interview, or a team celebration]) but only directors could just walk in and have lunch. The restaurant had “silver service“ and the food was no better than what we got in the general canteen – which meant it was really bloody good). Anyway, what I noticed over the years was that there was a decrease in general erudition amongst the candidates: which is to say although they were very, very knowledgeable about their speciality (medicine, cell biology, pharmacology etc), their knowledge of, and ability to converse about, non-specialty subjects seemed to decrease over the decades. When I started interviewing candidates (early 90s), the over lunch interview would range widely from discussing their specialty to other non-directly related topics such as books, music, ethics, hobbies, pastimes et cetera. When I last interviewed candidates over lunch (about 2010), many had difficulty in discussing any topic that was not directly related to their specialty. Leading me to conclude that many of that crop of university graduates were “well trained, but not well educated“. I wouldn’t imagine that the current crop of university graduates are any better, given the current insane insistence on exam results above all else. Of course, some may argue that this is/was an unfair evaluation, but when you work in a multinational, multicultural and multilingual environment you need to get a good sense of how well rounded the candidate is - which would affect how they integrate into such an environment. I tended to recommend those candidates who were able to show that they had interests (and a life?) outside of their specialty, with (admittedly) a certain bias towards those who had hobbies and interests that required either manual dexterity or provided intellectual stimulation (Needless to say, by the time they got to be interviewed by me their qualifications/ability for actually doing the job from a specialty/technical perspective was already established). Apparently, according to people I had interviewed who joined the company and became colleagues, they considered my lunch-time interview both very demanding and very nerve wracking (one colleague who I interviewed and recommended and who became a good colleague, told me he felt that he had failed to impress me!). Perhaps I am very old-fashioned, but my view is that university education has to go beyond “training you for the job“ (i.e. learning all you need to know to practice medicine, law or do experiments and analysis) and teach you how to how to ask intelligent questions and how to understand the answers and (if appropriate) act on the information in those answers. It should also expose you to those things you don’t like and which make you uncomfortable and make you deal with this dislike/discomfort (real life does not come with “safe spaces“ or “trigger warnings“) Long live the Renaissance man (or woman), say I! iD

Housework completed - hardly looks any different to the untrained NHN eye, but marks will be awarded or otherwise all too soon. Chuckin it darn so little enthusiasm for pottering down to the garage. There's always tomorrow. Hopefully.

Ey up! A late call up meant a trip to Barnsley to umpire the Yorkshire Ridings Over 60s Second team v Devon. A pleasant day. Yorkshire won..they now play Somerset away... Locally we have 83% with a first jab. Problem is finding the missing 17%.. Today has shark wielding and floor mopping scheduled. Then.. the day is my own ( apparently!). Its great having super grades at A level.. but.. how many then really struggle at Uni? Dr Eldest Herbert reckons that last years record intake had a record numbernof "non thinkers" who struggled with having to research things away from being spoon fed for exams... Mugatea time so TTFN! Baz PS @chrisf is still computerless...

Good morning everyone Dull but dry so far, however the skies look very grey and there isn’t much light and it looks like it could chuckinitdarn anytime. I am definitely an early riser this morning, the reason i am up early is I have to be at Wythenshaw hospital for 9 o’clock for a consultation with regard to a bladder condition that I seem to have developed. I will either be there for several hours, or it could just be a couple of hours, it all depends on what tests may or may not carried out today and if I need to return at a future date for further tests. In the mean time, stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. Brian

I just checked the lists from my high school graduation. There were 56 students in the yearbook. We had what were called "Departmental Exams" because the D of Ed set them and marked them. (I knew a few of the teachers who marked them.) The graduation list had 37 names. 4 of us (including me!) were Ontario Scholars which meant an average of 80%. There were 2 more who received University scholarships which probably meant 75%. 75% was an A or First Class Honours. Another 5 received "proficiency" awards in specific subects. 50% counted as a pass.

And Tony Abbott who is completely mad invented the Australian knighthood and made Prince Philip a Knight Of Australia. Which in itself is a whacky concept, like we even have knights and that kind of stuff here, riding around on horses with metal spiky bits attached and building castles and going "Verily !" and "forsoooth fair maide!" and so on. Closest would probably be that bunch of bikies in Mad Max, I can kind of see HRH being in that.

Being involved in getting one of the smaller shows going for the beginning of September (South Notts on 4th and 5th at Cotgrave) there are a lot of things we have had to balance. Firstly- we can't know what the infection rate will be and whether Boris will have one of his newly-empowered "Circuit-breaker" lockdowns in place. Yes he has said he hopes not to use them but... At the start of September the rate is likely to be at its lowest, but by November who knows? Our insurers won't cover a lockdown cancellation and I suspect it is no different for Warley. Secondly- we have no idea how many will brave an event given the papers (such as the report in the mail earlier in this thread) are veering wildly from telling us to get out and ignore the consequences and scouring hospitals for scare stories amongst the small number of vaccinated people the virus is still managing to kill. Thirdly we have had to reduce the size of the show to make wider gangways and a workable one-way system in two areas that have been dead ends in previous years. Smaller show leads to lower entry price leads to less income per punter. Fourthly we have had to cut costs down to a minimum in case hardly anyone turns up - eight of the twelve layouts are club or club member layouts that attract no expenses and the other four are local and small- ie reasonable in space requirements and the amount of expenses we will have to pay out (though they were chosen for quality first). We can ASK for masks but once the punter is through the door we can not enforce masks. We can also ask for proof of double-jabbed status but can't enforce it- and how do we know that proof is genuine? Our venue (a club) has been informed that they can try to refuse entry but there is no backup in case of non-compliance. Yes the police will step in - once someone has been assaulted. We have also had to invest (not before time) in a contactless payment system for the door and perspex screens for the cash desk. Getting the contactless system to work has been a bit of a nightmare, and training people to use it is ongoing. One consequence of the two points above is that we haven't enough people left over for a club sales stand so that has been jettisoned. Again less income. Add in that we have to find space (outside if the weather holds) for seating for refreshments to keep the caterers happy, find someone to go round handrails and push plates etc with sanitiser and wipes at regular intervals it is a much bigger job this year to organise a much smaller show, and pull in guest stewards/operators from neighbouring clubs. As a newly-retired show manager I can say the problems don't double as the size of the show doubles- the increase is nearer a factor of four. Warley is at least 20 times the size of South Notts Show. I'm not surprised it has been cancelled this year. In the position of the Warley organisers I would have done the same. We were lucky in 2020. Cancelling that show with 2 weeks to go only cost us about £600. Some of that has since been recouped by sticking items from the club sales pile onto eBay. Les

My recent experience of an electronics graduate who, when asked, didn't (and perhaps still doesn't) know how a relay works would seem to support that theory. In this case I think all it has done is proven that a candidate can learn enough to pass the exam, but not necessarily understand nor apply what they may have learned. #grumpyoldman I'm surprised that there's a need for any grading system at all - don't schoolkids these days get medals/awards/certificates for simply turning up/taking part and/or failing in many activities - hardly training for life is it? #grumpyoldman2 That's the reason I went into the office on Monday #lessgrumpyoldman In other news, missed out on most of the day due to work #grumpyoldman3 Off to do some outdoor painting soon - cue the rain

When I took O levels in 68, grades went from 1 to 9. 7,8 and 9 were fails. Very few people got a grade 1. I scraped through French with a grade 6, the lowest possible pass. Jamie

When Matthew started an MRes course, to make sure everyone started at the same point, students were sent a prerequisite knowledge document months before the start of term. Except that they weren’t! Someone sent it to the students coming from China (about half the students on the course) but no one else. I can remember Matthew asking Aditi if she knew anything about SPSS (statistical package for the social science) it appeared he had a couple of days to become familiar with it.

Good morning. Hot and sunny so a walk is desired. Jobs in the garden. Jobs in the POD. And so. Have a good day one and all, stay safe and keep well.

This! Good morning world, very dull out, 16c, dry but not going to be so for long, allegedly. A day of domestic servitude awaits, such is the life of the house-husband. It should also include either fiddling with motorbikes or getting on with some flat bits of brass I am making into some form of three-dimensional representation of something from my past.

Needs some fettling but the basic idea works the ‘hump’ at the base of the operating rod is roughly the height of the ballast, hopefully will stop me getting ballast/glue on it

HUMP day... Pedestrian sort of yesterday, work and little else! Today will be much of the same it seems. No drama is probably a good thing, especially given the amount of carp around the country with the Delta variant making inroads in the unvaccinated areas of the US. 20 first thing, some rain overnight, unsure of the amount but enough to water everything it looks like. High of 29 expected, chance of more precipitation, slim. Tally ho.

The downside if course is these plague rats continue to spread the virus through out the community. Those unable to be vaccinated are then at a higher risk. It also increases the mathematical probability of further mutations and variants being let loose. Eventually one of these walking petri dishes will cook up something nastier and vaccine resistant.

Morning, not too sure why folk worry about anti vaxers, they don't get a jab......saves money...........they get covid and die...........................we give them a Darwin Award. Not too hot today so if it dries up from the overnight rain a trip out on the bikes could be on the cards, stay safe and well all.

Good Grief! I was thinking along the lines of using zombie apocalypse films as training materials on how to avoid zombies and survive in a post-apocalyptic world, NOT as an instruction on how to spread a zombie plague. Of course in the highly unlikely event of a real zombie virus emerging, if the anti-vaxxers and the virus deniers of a zombie virus got the same traction as the current set of anti-vaxxers and virus deniers have with CoVID-19, then we would be truly, utterly, totally, irrevocably and completely f***** Methinks it’s time to call my friendly, local arms dealer and order another couple of crates of antipersonnel mines to put around the Alpine Redoubt(tm) - which should provide me with just enough time to get to the helicopter as the unvaccinated and infected hordes rampage through the neighbourhood…

Always a favourite pastime when out with the boys (about 30 years ago). They couldn't go past a stream without spending at least half hour either trying to stop the water, divert the course or just generally mess about . . . . happy days. Be careful what you wish for - 'anti-vax' protesters have been reminded that the film 'I am Legend' is a work of fiction based on a 1954 novel. Click Here for link to BBC News report about 'I am Legend' Working in the offices at a university, this sort of thing was a discussion when academics wanted to introduce condonement or compensation into the marking policy to help those otherwise good students who just struggled with one particular part of their subject area - for example one failed module could be offset against a number of modules passed with good grades. However who wants to be on a plane with a pilot who got A+ for 'Take Off' but was awarded compensation for 'Landing'. . . . . Anyone can make a recommendation and after a number of background checks (including with HMRC!) the nominations go to the Honours Committee, then PM and finally HMQ. Click Here for link to Govt website about Honours .

Jim’s canopy has now gone together. The etches assembled very easily (Jim had already done the hard work on the beams). The structure was quite rigid, but desperately fragile at this stage. The ends were made from Evergreen planked styrene and black styrene pads for the roof eaves added, which also serve as gutters. Getting a bit more protected now, with the ends in place. The glazing was guillotined to the exact tight fit between the ends and scribed for the glazing bars. The whole assembly has now become quite strong. Roof slates were also attached, using Slaters sheet; heavily sanded, of course. This view will be difficult to get on the layout, but shows the finesse of Jim’s etches. The canopy valance was from a Scalelink etch: the last time I used this was on Luton Hoo station 40 years ago! Just a rough snap showing the positioning of the canopy across the main shed end. It will need fettling in to the main structure with suitable flashing and the I beam legs making to support it. I will try this new building out on the whole board tomorrow. To say I am pleased with it is an understatement; thank you Jim. Tim

Only 3 boards left to lift I managed to get 1 board up in its entirety just by replacing the T20 screwdriver b it and trying again that's 10quid saved 3 were cut out but they were not the sort I want to keep so now I have to wait for the Wickes delivery on friday. Also if my eldest ever gives me the names of the pond life that bullied him they would be under the decking too Our youngest starts secondary school this time so we are worried sick about him getting bullied as he is autistic too. My first year at uni consists of a lot of introductory units which were basically condensed A levels to get knowledge of subjects before specialising e.g. law economics geology

Hmmm...let's see now.....40 years ago O-Levels were graded A to E, and CSE's were 1 to 5...... Wonder how much the "latest" plan will cost?? Is there a risk that hoards of boat owners could be up in arms that they can no longer race in their favoured class - or have to shell out for boat modifications? Ah yes, the indispensable Superhero syndrome. Come to work with the lurgy and give it to everyone else via the aircon. Sounds to Bear like you need a serious clear out, especially if stuff is going from the shed to the loft - which isn't the best place to store weight...says Bear, who's got a, er, shedload of sh1t very useful (one day, maybe...) stuff in his loft.... Do you use it? Do you need it? Do you love it? In other news: A productive morning for Bear, including successfully cutting down a length of architrave without incident I just happened to see part of the Jeremy Vine TV programme (I don't watch it - honest - it appeared when the TV was turned on). Well it seems that putting a "" or a "." at the end of a message (text, presumably) is regarded as being "passive aggressive". WTF? Who on earth dreams up this cr@p?

The package I was expecting has just arrived, handy having the distribution centre less than a mile away. Now to get on with the rest of the day.

Greetings all from a Sidcup where the sun appears to be trying to break through the cloud cover. Another day of wfh, although I shall go into the office tomorrow, not least because I am meeting someone for a few beers late afternoon! Not a lot to report so I will get back to it!

I am getting pretty fed up with the whole mess as well. To be honest, I’m finding this whole thing rather worrying; if this is how much of the world responds to a nasty virus which, despite the fact that it is incredibly infectious with a high morbidity, has a relatively low Case Fatality Rate, God knows how we are going to deal with something really nasty when it turns up (either due to a change in how something like Ebola is transmitted or the emergence of a hitherto unknown virus when a natural habitat gets destroyed/cut down). I think that the fact that the Marburg virus has turned up in a part of Africa it has never appeared in before should be a warning shot to the west, but I fear that it will go unremarked upon. Time to dust off the zombie apocalypse films again, this time as training material instead of as horror film escapism. Given the stupidity and the wilful obtuse blindness exhibited by many during the coronavirus pandemic, I suspect that in the event of a real zombie apocalypse there will be those agitating for “zombie rights“ as well as those who will deny the existence of said zombies even though family members are having their throats are ripped out by flesh hungry zombies in front of their very eyes. Now, does anyone know of a good and reputable estate agent that also deals in remote Pacific Islands?

Hmmm, we've had two athletes who've won 9 Olympic medals, but there's no knighthoods for them, yet she's meant to be Queen of Australia too. I know she is because I remember standing out in the playground each morning covered in flies singing God Save The Queen until we chose a different anthem that no one knows the words to. And what about the rugby? England beats Australia in the world cup and the queen has all the English players round to tea and hands out OBEs like they are Tim Tams - for beating some of her other loyal subjects. And whats an OBE anyway - Order of the British Empire or whatever? Well helloooo - the 'Empire' bit is us - the bit the English players just beat - getting awarded that just doesnt even make sense.. Yet do we ever get anything from our queen when we beat England? Wheres Shane Warnes knighthood, I ask you! What about his first test match when he got that fat bloke out first ball - the ball of the century or whatever, he should have been made Duke Of Claridge or something if the queen was consistent with all her subjects but no, nothing. No Sir Shane for us. And yes I know Australia ditched the UK honours system a while back and has its own now which doles out the prizes to us but this is online where the actual truth doesn't get in the way of a baseless uninformed rant like this one , If you want facts and reasoned arguments , go start your own internet!

With John @checkrail posting it was good timing as it was his inspirational photo on SC that made me take this shot of Star class 4012 Knight of the thistle . A straight tank small prairie 4547 sits in the sunshine awaiting being attached to the branch B set.

SO, what have I been up to today. Well I started by building the Fiddle Yard Support Frame............................T W I C E. Basically I built it from some smooth round edge timer I had in the loft, and then decided that that would be better used on top of the Fiddle Yard to protect Stock from falling on the floor, and reduce the chance of me getting splinters. So I re made the Frame, and then Built the Fiddle Yard, There is still one more cross member to go in the centre yet, and the Locating Dowels to fit to the end. So for those that like pics, here are some from today.

My personal weather forecaster suggested today could be the start of a few days of dry weather and perhaps I might consider re-roofing the shed. The temporary patch I put over a hole recently now seems to be the only non leaky bit. I got my Workmate and mitre saw out (recalled what did what eventually) and reduced some tongue and groove planks to one metre lengths. I will smash the old roof off tomorrow, it won’t offer much resistance I suspect. Aditi emptied the shed, mainly into the “summerhouse” or big shed as I call it. The dodgy roofed shed is the medium sized one.I think three sheds is normal for Essex. My friend in Norfolk has about 12. Tony

Just got a email from madam Commodore.. "Good spot Q, passed to the race committee for a decision" Since Madam Commodore actually works for the Royal Yachting Association, I suspect the official, up to date , recommended wording will be introduced. However whether that gets Blue Moon in as is, is another matter..

That has already happened with GCSE results they are numerical grades now I m my sure if 1 is good or bad my son got his last year but he didn't do very well because he was bullied at school and missed a lot of time then we managed to get him to change him school but they were not that helpful

A massive clear out is well overdue. However, most of the stuff being moved is of the camping variety and it is returning to its off season storage home. Bulky but light weight. The loft itself is already far too full. Everytime we remove a pile of "stuff" more seems to take its place. I'm sure it is self-replicating. The local waste less market bunch is looking at creating a library for useful stuff like tools, etc. I've got a few very bulky and very heavy things they can have once it gets going. Triton Breaker to start.

Hello everyone Congratulations to Sonic on this announcement. The class has been High Polling in the 00 Wishlist Polls since 2013. We wish them every success with the project! Brian (on behalf of the 00 Poll Team)

Saw this in a local bookshop and wondered if anyone had spotted Mike recently?

Right, chores done! What can I badger up next?? Baz

I have never pre-ordered anything so quickly in my life. Even made me end my run of lurking!

I have unleashed the genie out of the bottle ! Not content with the painted bathroom because the boss wants everything given a second coat of paint before WE start the kitchen ! I am not sure where she gets the idea about me wanting a pristine ideal home from some magazine because when I we met I lived in a terraced house without curtains and newspaper at the windows with old furniture from the local tip. I didn't have a television but I had 2 motorbikes and 3 pedal bikes with enough railway books to fill a library. But she lived in a new build 3 bedroom detached house that we now live in. Quess who lost when it came to where we were going to live once we got married . We must have done something right because we are still here and laugh about most things. Anyway I have managed to fit nearly half of the rivets before paint stopped play. I have nearly run out of rivets so there is another order on the way from Historex. I haven't counted how many holes there is in this tank but I won't be making another anytime soon.