DonB

3-day meeting? who can afford that luxury these days? What can possibly be discussed that cannot be settled in a few hours? The exceptions seem to be large detailed contracts needing clause by clause agreement (been there..... horror!), or Trade Union discussions. Did ONCE go to a meeting where the Boss had us all standing, no chairs in the room! Yes, it was a very short meeting!

Here in the Midlands we are to be *blessed* with a new football based programme on the Beeb at 11.45pm avery Monday. Tonight we get a look at Derby County (Quote... with Robbie Savage, who is never short of words!... Unquote) and at those newcomers at Burton Albion, who made a modest start to the season but seem to have stalled lately, survival starting to be in doubt??? I do not intend to stay up, however, since I am one of soccers lost millions.

Note to self: 'Cancel credit cards prior to death! Be sure and cancel your credit cards before you die! This is so priceless and so easy to see happening - customer service, being what it is today! A lady died this past January, and ANZ bank billed her for February and March for their annual service charges on her credit card, and Then added late fees and interest on the monthly charge The balance had been $0.00, now is somewhere around $60.00. A family member placed a call to the ANZ Bank: Family Member: 'I am calling to tell you that she died in January.' ANZ: 'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.' Family Member: 'Maybe, you should turn it over to collections.' ANZ: 'Since it is two months past due, it already has been..' Family Member: So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?' ANZ: 'Either report her account to the frauds division or report her to the credit bureau, maybe both!' Family Member: 'Do you think God will be mad at her?' ANZ: 'Excuse me?' Family Member: 'Did you just get what I was telling you . . ... The part about her being dead?' ANZ: 'Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor.' Supervisor gets on the phone: Family Member: 'I'm calling to tell you, she died in January.' ANZ: 'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.' Family Member: 'You mean you want to collect from her estate?' ANZ: (Stammer) 'Are you her lawyer?' Family Member: 'No, I'm her great-nephew.' (Lawyer info given) ANZ: 'Could you fax us a certificate of death?' Family Member: 'Sure.' ( fax number is given ) After they get the fax: ANZ: 'Our system just isn't set up for death. I don't know what more I can do to help.' Family Member: 'Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. I don't think she will care.' ANZ: 'Well, the late fees and charges do still apply.' Family Member: 'Would you like her new billing address?' ANZ: 'That might help.' Family Member: ' Rookwood Memorial Cemetery , 1249 Centenary Rd, Sydney Plot Number 1049.' ANZ: 'Sir, that's a cemetery!' Family Member: 'Well, what the #**# do you do with dead people on your planet?'

No reason not to use it, PROVIDED that it gives the correct voltage (options?) and delivers sufficient current to power all your requirements and with, say, a 100% overload factor for all those additions likely to come along in the future. A nice feature is the ventillation grill, (fan cooled?) I'm impressed with your work generally, and the control panel wiring is superb!

The orchestra went

The mention of Dickens reminded me that in his "Barchester Chronicles" Trollope makes many references to his fictional Clergymen travelling up to Paddington, mentioning the train departure times, which has given rise to attempts to identify the station/city on which he based his stories. Again good publicity for God's Wonderful.... Sorry, getting of topic!

I'm not usually attracted to blogs, but this one is Brilliant... I have John Ahern's books, and appreciated the thought, time and effort that has gone into your little tale! Thanks for taking the time to do that. Happy Christmas to you too.

at the party

together with Barnacles

releasing hot air

than inditement because

far too late

Wolf whistles and

Split my sides

prisoner of concience

These workmen are installing bollards to stop nurses from parking on the pavement outside the Royal Hospital in Belfast . They are cleaning up at the end of the day, and are nearly ready to go home .

New uses for old Chips This may come as a surprise to those of you not living in Las Vegas, but there are more Roman Catholic churches than casinos. Not surprisingly, some worshippers at Sunday services will give casino chips rather than cash when the plate comes round. Since they get chips from many different casinos, the churches have devised a method to cash in the offerings. The churches send all their collected chips to a nearby Franciscan monastery for sorting and then the chips are taken to the casinos of origin to be cashed in. This is done by the chip monks. You didn't see it coming did you? Y

A litle late, just come across this Blog, (old dog and all that...) I agree that the single pipe does look lonely on those fairly massive supports. The service industries are not noted for over-engineering their structures! Also there is usually a barrier of some sort to prevent intrepid youths from climbing into the horizontal pipework. There are a couple of these over the River Trent near here, if you want a photo let me know. Of course this is N gauge, so perhaps the camera is being unkind and over-emphasizing the size of the supports. Nice work, especially the grassy bank and hedge in your later blog.

If you can compress the length of the platform (I guess by 30% or more) why can't you accept the compression of say 10% of the width? Sorry if that reads a rather "sharp", it's really meant as a suggestion, and probably something you've already considered and rejected?.

Modern 'elf an' safety would not like those exposed steps! That verandah is wonderful! Look forward to seeing the model.

I have now found the drawing of the LMS Horse Box in Nov.1976 Model Railways, "source:- official drawings Nos.6291 & 6525 for Diagram 1956",and "with modifications based on photographs" The grounded body matches this drawing. The drawing is within an article by Don Rowland detailing his three 4mm model variations, (I assume 16.5mm gauge, although not stated in the article). An interesting feature of the prototype was modification to the standard brake gear to avoid fouling the drop-door stops.

No longer a football fan! A couple of Historical notes, however... went with my father and his brother (who was the referee) to a War-time cup simi-final replay at Wolves ground "Behind closed doors" to avoid workers absentee-ism! I was about 8 years old and have no recollection of who were playing, but do remember the strange cavernous feel to the place and the shouting of the players. Have not paid to see a Professional football match (been on a few freebies!) since 1954/5 (I think) when Wolves won the 1st division championship, and WBA came 2nd and won the FA Cup. We used to see them on alternative weeks, they rarely played at home at the same time. Charity sheild match ended 4-4 ... superb match!

To a dyed-in-the-wool steam fan, who stopped studying trains at the demise of steam, I still have great difficulty in recognising the classes of diesel locos, and the proliferation of liveries compounds the issue, along with the change from "Dxxx" numbers to (I think) somethig called "TOPS". I think the modern models are superb, but wouldn't have a clue as to what is sensible/right to run alongside what! "Dutch Livery" comes under the heading of "I wondered what that was, but didn't like to ask" and there are many more short-hand terms bandied about to confuse the natives! For instance I know what "Gronk" is, but what is a "Shed"? and Why? To para-phrase an old TV show.... These questions and many others need answers...... Is there a glossary of these terms, and if so where? Or do I just have to hope to pick it up as I go along? Now there's a can of worms..... B)

FOLK WISDOM 1. Light travels faster than sound. That is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak. 2. A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well. 3. He, who laughs last, thinks slowest. 4. A day without sunshine is like, well, night. 5. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine. 6. Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't. 7. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool. 8. The 50-50-90 rule: Any time you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong. 9. It is said that if you line up all the cars in the world end-to-end, someone would be stupid enough to try to pass them. 10. If the shoe fits, get another one just like it. 11. The things that come to those that wait, may be the things left by those who got there first. 12. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day drinking beer. 13. Flash light: A case for holding dead batteries. 14 . The shin bone is a device for finding furniture in the dark. 15. When you go into court, you are putting yourself in the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.

Jamie, Looks like it's a LMS Horse box, it's very similar to the recorded H/Bs listed by Adam. It is approx 22ft long (+ / - 2" ) Adam. Thanks for the identification and for the link, another item for my ever expanding "favourites" file! I'll contact VCT to see if they are interested in doing a survey, as I don't feel competent enough to complete their survey form. I could see no vestiges of paint on the body, although the outside handles, bolts and grabrails all seemed to be present. Edit @ 2020... I also asked the Midland Railway Society if they could help identify this vehicle, and today got the following... (quote/) from Peter Witts, the Midland Railway Society's Information Officer... I now have had more time to look at these pics and can now say it is not a D400 but the LMS design that closely followed the design of the Midland vehicles except that those built from 1929-1938 had horizontal panelled sides that would be the case for this vehicle. All these horse boxes were built at Derby. Regards Peter (end quote/)