bbishop

Let me see, three years after the pandemic started and the government still hasn't organised production in this country. Bill

My kitchen was designed and built my Sohn Lewis about 15 years ago. All fairly basic but solid and well made. The cooker is a John Lewis stainless steel jobbie so easy to clean. All the cupboards and drawers still work and could well outlast me. The work surface in melanin covered mdf, showing no sign of damage, ok I don't use a knife on the work surface and use heat sinks for hot pans, kettles and mugs. Bill

Morning all. RANT MODE ON I always take a Covid test before a front line duty with the Ambulance Service. They were provided free by the government but as from last Monday all front line staff must pay for them. Presumably the government view is that paramedics and nurses will get pay rises in excess of the awards from the independent pay review bodies, and can therefore afford to buy their own Covid kits. But I am a volunteer and so will have to pay for my tests from my pension. I only found I had Covid in April was by taking a test before a duty and there is no way that I could put a vulnerable patient at risk. What does the TNM community think? RANT MODE OFF Bill

You might not need something all the time, but there should be an expectation that a train will appear imminently. And scenic items to admire whilst you wait. Bill

Oh they are my thing, but only if they are Belgian. I went to their railway museum last Sunday and the class 51 was there. Bill

Paul, I work in 7mm, but given a similar situation with my Kiss Mitteleinsteinwagen, I eased off the axlebox cover, reamed out the axlebox and fitted a top hat bearing. Steel to brass works better than steel to sticky plastic. One must use Roxey Moulding top hats for this job. Bill

Morning from my bed! Unsurprisingly, given the rain, most shouts were RTCs which are outside our remit. Pulled off an overdose 'cos there's not much we can do other than keep alive. So a quiet night- one can use the "q" word after the shift. Bill

Nothing on their website. I was at the Giessen show last weekend and would have had a look for you. Checking likely websites, look at Petau though they might be lost wax. Maybe fix all your covers in place with a pinhead of UHU. I had running problems with my Kiss Mitteleinsteinwagen so reamed out the plastic to fit brass top hat bearings and of course lost a cover. I purchased some similar plastic covers, but can't remember from whom nor where the surplus are. Bill

On duty until midnight, boy it's wet out there.

Brian, I am required to wear gloves when treating every patient. I'm still wearing a face mask, as are most ambulance staff, although this is optional. I'm also carrying Level 3 facemasks and Tyvec suits in the car for treating known Covid patients. Better safe than sorry. Bill

We were Harvey's family, he was especially close to the dog - they would usually sleep together and often went for walks together out of the back gate into the recreation park. Our next door neighbour worked on a paper, getting home about 2am. So Harvey would sometimes stay out and wait for Eric on his front doorstep, then sleep with Joyce and Eric. There is a strange story which I will tell sometime because Eris actually hated all cats - bar Harvey.

Over forty years ago our Tabby cat was a great visitor of neighbouring houses. He would wait outside a back door until the door was opened, walk straight in, sit down in front of the lounge fire and start purring. It might take a few visits before the natives realised what he was after, which was a "nice hot cup of tea" ideally made with Evaporated Milk ('Vap). Harvey would stay perhaps an hour, happy to be picked up or stroked, purring all the time before going to the back door and asking to be let out. And on to the next house. Over time he worked out the best time to visit each house. Obviously some natives were hostile, others had dogs or aggressive cats, but most were happy to be visited, even adding 'Vap to their shopping list. Bill

Ye Gods, I bu99er off on holiday for a week and everyone has forgotten I ever existed. Eurostar to Amsterdam on Wednesday. The remaining Belgium bit is old railway to Antwerp but the Dutch part is new so rather boring. Fifty minutes at Amsterdam Centraal, then An IC train to Osnabrück low level platforms and then what should have been a ten minute connection from the high level platforms turned into a wait of about an hour caused by the late running Zürich EC train. Finally into Bremen with the InterCity hotel beside the station. Thursday in Bremen - Kultur and beer. Friday to Frankfurt. The infamous Zürich EC train to Mainz down the Rhine valley. East side out of Köln to the Koblenz bridge, just about on time, but then it all went pear shaped as we hung about for half an hour or so waiting for a path into the Hauptbahnhof. Then a very slow run down the gorge and the best part of an hour late into Mainz, where I changed for Frankfurt. No wonder the Hamburg-Zürich train has the reputation for being the worst in Europe. Popped into a bookshop where a newspaper headline told me that Monday was a transport strike day in Germany. The InterCity hotel is opposite the platform 1 exit, whence I got more information about the strike and realised I would have to change my plans. Saturday was the Spur Null (und Eins) Tage in Gießen, about 50km north of Frankfurt. An excellent day including the purchase of Waschbecken for Flavio. I had to bail out of a meal with a friend in order to finalise changing my hotel and travel arrangements. So I travelled to Brussels on Sunday and realised as we passed Schaarbeek that the Belgian Railway Museum was open. So a bailout at Brussel Nord and a train back to the museum. Exhibits included a class 51 loco pannier tank and a 4-4-0 that was a cousin of the Caledonian Dunalistair class. My hotel was a Metro trip from Brussel Sud. I had Monday morning to kill so took a trip out to Mons. Back to Sud and a final beer before joining the Eurostar queue. SNCB had managed to drop a catenary wire so there were three trainloads being processed through the terminal. Into St Pancras over two hours late. Bill

I'm me! Bill

I'm back.....

I'm missing in action for about a week. B

I think there was one in each direction. B

Sorry, didn't hack it for me - just to clean and shiny. Bill

Or if Franz Ferdinand hadn't decided to return to the place in Sarajevo where someone had thrown a bomb at his car. Bill

I've succeeded so far.

And so to bed.

No booze for me tonight, I'm on duty in half an hour. Bill

CMRA at St Albans. B

So did I, didn't watch it but enjoyed the result!

Are there any bits going spare because I found some trams when sorting out my N gauge German stuff, and there is a plan sketched on the back of an envelop. Bill