bbishop

1 hour ago, roundhouse said:

 

 

We walked in our demo tools on trolleys but those friends that brought in their vehicles didn't have any issues on Friday or Sunday evening. I was actually surprised how quick they were considering its a fair walk to the car park.

Friday was no problem, but on Sunday we suffered from NEC jobsworths.  Also the idiot (demonstrator?) who parked facing outwards outside an "in" gate.  We had to manouever round him to get in and as he had parked in reverse gear without the handbrake, he missed the Yeti by an inch.

I put in a figure that I reckoned would cover the fuel.  I've just calculated the rate per mile (two trips to the Premier Inn in Redditch and a diversion off the M25 to drop off an operator) and it comes out at a knats whisker off 25p per mile.

Mum and I went over to Boulogne many years ago to buy the Christmas booze.  We purchased up to our joint limit, then were stopped by a very young customs officer at Folkestone.  Bags were emptied, bottles counted and we were brusquely told to go on our way.  We then told him who my sister was.  Turned out she was his boss.  She sent him on a customer relations course.

In other news, I've started to pack the Yeti for Warley.  Actually shoehorn is a better description, because we fit 18' of layout, stock and three operators in it.  You will find Blindheim at stand B24.

28 minutes ago, Harlequin said:

Everyone, meet "Laddie":

 

He's an Abyssinian of uncertain origins. He has the golden sandy colour with ticking of a "usual" but also some stripes that suggest there's a bit of tabby in him.

 

He's very friendly and talkative but he's a big unit and he lived on the mean streets of Cardiff for a few months. You can see he's the sort of cat who can look after himself.

 

I can't call him "Laddie" forever, though. He needs a suitable name. "Jones"? "Ponsonby"? "Taffy"? "Denzil"? Maybe something more leonine? Any good suggestions?

 

He looks remarkably like our Abyssinian cross, of over 50 years ago.  Mum "got out".  He was a very good hunter and very good at "training" puppies.  His name was Timmy.

Just to check.  If I don't provide cake, HH won't be stopping at Blindheim?  Simples.  No cake.

I've added notes on  B24 - Blindheim. 

I watched the video and received a jolt in seelng my late friend, Mike Hayward.  Bill

There are many variants of Covid so a vaccine won't provide immunity against all of them.  The vaccines do seem to reduce the impact of the virus.  My bout in February was no worse than a winter cold; I took observations, temp. up and bp all over the place, but pulse and sats fine.  It was influenza last October / November that knocked me for six.

I don't wish to be pedantic, but should the word in the first question be in the plural?  Hippopotami?

I'm taking my layout - Blindheim - located at B24.  It's difficult to type this - PVA on fingers from ballasting.  

I retreated to the garage and listened to the little darlings banging on the house door.  Now it's raining so I don't think there will be many fireworks.

Personally I hate Halloween.  When I was a kid, it was "penny for the guy".  My sister and I were too old for "penny ...." when we acquired our Jack Russell Terrier, but he was borrowed by the local kids as a live guy.  He made a cute guy wrapped in a towel and sitting in a push chair and was also a very effective minder if anyone threatened the kids.

I visited on Thursday evening.  It would appear the LBSCR used their quarter share of the East London line, and a fair chunk of their capital, to build a terminus to the north east of the City of London.  Actually not too much capital as that bit of London was already a slum in the nineteenth century.  However, to offset their costs, they sold running rights to the GER and GNR (freight and passenger) and the LTSR (freight only?).  The LTSR rights were acquired by the MR as a consequence of the 1912 purchase.

The team have built a superb layout, which is just about the correct size for an effective exhibition layout.  They probably need to develop the fiddle yard.  The clubroom fiddle yard is, I'm told, constrained by the available space so they might need a separate yard for exhibition purposes.   Bill

35 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

Headline in today's Daily Express.

 

I didn't khow you were a Miserable Old Git.

An alternative to the guillotine?

10 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

The US had given us some fine examples of Deco architecture, followed by Googie architecture and then it all went to hell sometime in the sixties, come to think of it,car design went the same way.

The rest of the world following suut about six months later. I'm not sure what cataclysmic event happened!

Including Art Deco, a well known Spanish footballer.

25 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

If one hasn't played in the front row, it is beyond comprehension that it is on a completely different planet to the rest of the scrum.

Where else would one want to play?

If a scrum in a first class match is near the touchline, the referee will normally position him/herself on the opposite side.  The touch judge will officiate the other side, advising the referee of offenses either by radio or by flag.  There is enough to look out for, even concentrating on one side of the scrum.  My method was, that once the scrum was settled, watch out for sudden movements by a prop.  Probably nefarious.

In so far as Saturday's match was concerned, I'm in total agreement with HH.  SA won the quarter final by charging down a conversion and the semi final when Farrell was marched back 10 meters for abusing the referee.  And that wasn't the first time he had had a pop, got away with a warning the first time.

And so to the front row.  Sinckler was struggling from his first scrum, his opponent was angling in far enough to disrupt Sinckler whilst staying within the ref's tolerances.  I think my solutions (give him a tap or go under and pop him) are now illegal,  But I can think of three ways to nullify the tight head: 1. go in on the angle yourself, which would need a big drive up the arse from the wing forward; 2. get assistance from the hooker (and why didn't England sub George); 3. Sinckler "acquires" an injury and Marler comes back on.

This request is for those of you living in East Kent or East Sussex.  My sister is involved with the National Trust and one of their properties is presenting a 1970s themed Christmas.  This will run from 20 November to just before Christmas.  If anyone could lend her a suitable television or record player she would be very grateful.  It doesn't need to work.  

The exhibition will be in Rye and Sally lives in Tenterden (not far from the railway).  Bill

20 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

 

My all time favourite rugby photo:

 

https://i2-prod.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/incoming/article4729898.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200c/MEN_ARC_0311675_6438948.jpg

Mr Cotton?

3 hours ago, Graham_Muz said:

So despite a challenging night / early hours of the morning dealing with a flooded lounge, #stormbabet

Canute Road Quay and it's stock has been cleaned this morning and is ready for loading in the car for tomorrow's Beckenham & West Wickham MRC exhibition. 
Details here https://southern-railway.com/2023/09/21/driving-the-last-spike-canute-road-quay-on-the-road-in-september-and-october

Some of us are banned from that exhibition!  Couldn't care as I have a far better offer in West Byfleet.

I'm presently researching the Kriegsmarine and the LSWR ships in The Great War.

On 17/10/2023 at 15:50, gr.king said:

Barriers right up against the layout? As much use as a chocolate fireguard. They offer no protection from finger-poking, clumsiness or theft!

or a decent view of the layout.  I set the barriers at a foot at St Albans.  When we had The Gresley Beat, I set them at two foot.  Bill

I helped a friend signal his layout recently.  A mutual friend, who died last month, had given him a signal and Pete wanted to use it.  Perfect, says I, that's your down starter.

Well I enjoyed New Maths.  Basically taught Old and New together.  My preference was log tables.  I still use the log function on my calculator to find the power of a number - take the log of the number, multiply by the power and take the antilog.

7 hours ago, TheQ said:

Selma Hayek

Girl with two big balls.

I spent today ballasting.  Not my favourite occupation!  If you are tempted to see Blindheim in print, it will appear in the November Continental Magazine.  And in the flesh?  Well come to Warley!

By the by, I've been accessing RMWeb via the handy.  I'm happy to read but don't particularly enjoy typing in that machine.  Bill