Joseph_Pestell

Just finished watching Australia Wales - did not expect that. All those years that we kept getting beaten by a few points with no wins at all. Now a 34 point margin. Are the Welsh forwards really that good or could the Aussies really be so weak?

I think that we have a sort of consensus here. Allow any country to try and qualify for the mens' World Cup but only have 16 teams in the finals rather than 20.

The womens' game is at a different stage of development - just as it is for soccer. But the better womens' teams play a great game and are good to watch. I would hope that TV execs come back to supporting them.

12 hours ago, andrewshimmin said:

I am trying to work out what my sections should be. I want maximum operational control, so I prefer to have lots of sections rather than rely on points to switch power on and off to different lines. At the moment my thoughts are looking something like this:

 

It ends up with lots of short section, mainly because of my baseboard joints - I prefer to wire up either side of the joint at a separate section. It will be annoying for wiring up, of course. But that's a one off job. Whereas every time I operate it, if I stick in long sections, I will curse myself that I didn't split them up, so I could attach another loco to the back of a train to haul it away while leaving the loco that brought it, for example.

This is already 20 sections - and I could add three more if I get more pedantic with the middle sidings...

 

The plan is still to do with with toggle switches on the baseboard local to the track sections for this layout. I will solder the power wires direct to the track - it's what I've always done. I will also probably have a common return although I've not done that recently, so I might decide to stick with separate returns.

I will play and ponder a bit more before getting the soldering iron out, but I think this will be pretty much the plan.

It's a basic tenet of layout wiring that section breaks should never be at a baseboard joint. Any movement of rails (usually heat expansion) will lead to short circuits.

2 hours ago, rockershovel said:

.... but none of this is new.

 

The RWC has struggled since its inception with the conflict between maximising revenue and maintaining quality. 

 

The conflict of interest between NZ in particular, and the South Seas sides is decades old. 

 

The promoters of the 6N are floundering over Italy. They are committed to having 6 sides but can't find a sixth, by their own admission. 

 

For all the money expended promoting Italy, they just aren't ringing the bell; meanwhile Japan and Argentina are making progress and look at Fiji and Tonga now. 

 

The women's game, for all the effort expended is now in the position where they have literally been unable to give away broadcasting rights for free. 

 

We HAD a successful two-tier international system and we HAVE a successful U20 system, but there seems to be no way to successfully translate players from the U20 to the senior side. 

 

The Prem is (again) in chaos. God alone knows what is happening at Twickenham. 

 

The clear and obvious conclusion is that rugby has an organic structure which has developed over a long period of time. Various financial and ideological interests, with no common agenda are trying to push the game in directions it is unsuited to. 

 

This can't end well. 

 

 

The women's games were well attended. Perhaps surprising in the macho world of Australia.

I think that the TV rights issue was caused by the time difference, not any intrinsic lack of quality/interest, although it is true that France and England are much stronger than the other European nations.

12 hours ago, rockershovel said:

Looking at results so far, I'd say that Chile, Romania, Namibia are completely outclassed and should not have been allowed to qualify.

 

70 and 80 point margins aren't "development", they are pure commercialism. Pushing walk-overs like this onto the paying supporters does no-one any favours. 

 

Italy have never qualified from the group stages, and haven't won a match in 6N for several years. Georgia are a similar standard. Uruguay clearly aren't up to it. 

 

The tournament could be reduced to 16 sides and would be materially improved by doing so. 

 

Let's talk about development. Tonga put up a solid show the other night, and their outing in the Amazon 8N wasn't so dusty. It's no secret that there are a LOT of South Seas players kicking their heels in Aus/NZ for reasons of money. Let the IRB take that bull by the horns, and we'll see some fun.

 

Let's define development. Let's have any team claiming to be "developing" produce a credible development plan, with costs.

 

Let's ditch the ideologically-motivated women's game and reinstate the A Internationals, make a proper presentation of the U20s again. 

 

Rugby isn't soccer. The RWC isn't the FA Cup. 

 

 

I can agree with most of that. But why abandon the womens/ game?

1 hour ago, grandadbob said:

It seems our local council will only collect dead animals from the highway or Counci owned land and not private property.

 

https://www.sutton.gov.uk/w/roadkill-dead-animals?p_l_back_url=%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Ddead%2Bfox%2Bin%2Bgarden

 

Now I wonder how people would get round that one?  🤔

All those dead badgers that you see on the roads have not been run over.

22 minutes ago, Hroth said:

Coolish this morning, so I tested the central heating which has not been on since March.  All systems go!  I'll probably put it back on at the end of October.

 

BTW. Is it just me, or is ER taking a long time to initially display?  I'm thinking that its something to do with 12311 pages...

 

It's up and down this morning (and for some days). Some pages are loading quickly (normal almost instant rate), others are taking minutes.

22 hours ago, bbishop said:

Thanks for the statement.  Is there any chance that you could actually quantify it?

I recently had to pay £100 per night (room only) in Llanelli. I think that would have been circa £75 if it were not that one of the five hotels is being used for so-called asylum seekers.

12 hours ago, Andy Hayter said:

 

Yes as I posted earlier with Srbija and Hrvatska, Slavic languages can use "r" as a pseudo vowel.  The Croat for a square or place (as in an address) is Trg, which I struggled to pronounce correctly according to a Croat I was teaching some English to.  My pronunciation  (probably close to terg) was it seems something rather rude.   

Strangely, Saxon English had a similar "R". Any place names with the suffix "-worth" or "-wade" derive from the saxon "wrde".

14 hours ago, Northmoor said:

Gatwick's terminals provide great entertainment out of season, watching people who didn't seem to realise that the temperature in Ibiza and England are very different in November.

Newcastle United replica shirts seem to work well in all climates.

Many years ago, I travelled on a delayed Palma to Gatwick in mid-December. Still above 18C when we left, -3C when we landed at 01.00.

One of my cousins is younger than his niece (eldest daughter of his eldest brother). They were in the same class at primary school.

She, in turn had her first child quite young, so John was a great-uncle before he was 20. I am not sure at what age he became a great-great uncle but it was some years ago and he is still only 50 now.

Cleaner. I have my doubts. A good few years ago, I was on the footplate of 141R1126 when the fireman decided that the boiler tubes needed cleaning out. This is done by chucking a shovel full of sand into the firebox. The effect is quite spectacular as a thick black "smoke" ejected through the chimney. Certainly not appreciated by any householders nearby with washing on the line.

In Cascais (Portugal), there is a vegetarian restaurant/teashop that does spinach cake.

8 hours ago, lmsforever said:

Just been reading about discussions on the future of HS2  between the PM and the Chancellor ,it looks like its only going to go to Birmingham and Euston will not happen this means of course that further cuts will enforced on the project.One MP for the northern part of the route has demanded it be stopped imediately and no further work progressed,also one MP has called the whole project as being built to an outdated technology , he's an expert  ?   It looks as though many people in the halls of power have decided that we are not going to have a modern rail network and also the road network is not to be expanded as well. What a mess our country is , now in a heath service that is in steep decline ,manufacturing also declining ,and the UK in general decline I have not seen this situation   since the years following the second world war . A change of government will only increase the power of unions and the idle  god help us all.

6 hours ago, phil-b259 said:

Not sure why you think that would be the case - Labour ditched the Union loving Corbin several years ago and Kier Starmer has been trying to do a Tony Blair on the party (with less charisma) ever since. In short there is zero chance of an incoming Labour Government ‘increasing the power of the unions’ as you put it.

I think that we may be in danger of breaching RMWeb rujes.

It must be about 40 years since I saw a game like that. (Eng - Arg). Tough selection decisions ahead for Borthwick.

A lot of folk saying that Argentina did not turn up. I would say that England did not let them in the first half. Second half Argentina did go into panic mode and gave away a lot of unnecessary penalties.

That was one amazing match. Rest of the competition may seem dull by comparison. I will try to find time to watch it again. So much to enjoy. The French at last have two hookers that can throw to the lineout. But that is much easier when the jumper is getting to such amazing heights.

I did not notice any fuzziness of picture. But it would not be ITVs fault. They will be taking a feed from French TV company.

I  agree that all the scrums took far too long to set. That's Jaco Peiper for you, a fussy referee. Except, of course, when that might involve a straight put in. But generally, he had a very good game.

A farce though for that last conversion. Assistant referees are taught that neither should raise a flag until they have agreed it between them.

52 minutes ago, fulton said:

Sorry to hear of these problems, with ignorant and inconsiderate drivers, but maybe you need to step back, take some deep breaths, and think what is the problem here, you live near a school, twice a day for part of the year, parents park, there is noise and more traffic, the real problem parents will move on in time, you cannot reason with some people, doing battle with the parents or the school, in the long run will only effect your well being, what are the solutions? you move, the school shuts or you accept the situation. When I am in Germany the entrance to my underground carpark, is sometimes blocked with parked cars using the supermarket next door, fire access signs are ignored, they move after a few minutes, a fact of life in a city centre, no point getting angry about it.

A certain level of tolerance may be a good thing, if only for one's blood pressure.. But we have reached a situation here where such behaviour has become commonplace and has wrecked the quality of life in so much of the UK. 

From the photos posted by Jim, the roads there are completely inadequate to service a school, even a small one.

22 hours ago, ruggedpeak said:

Pretty much everything in your post was wrong or inaccurate. When in a hole best stop digging.........

 

I do know about this issue, I've been dealing with this issue since I moved into local government 4 years ago, which is why my employer was able to confirm this week all its schools are safe in respect of RAAC, and other similar materials such as Intergrid (yes, there's more than just RAAC to worry about).

Tony, I am glad that things are going well within your local authority area. I really am.

But that does not invalidate my original comment, which was not "wrong or inaccurate". Like you, I have worked in and with local government and I have seen so many instances of perverse decisions.

11 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

I'm sure I've told this story before but a few months after we moved to Reading, Berks, we received a postcard from one of my wife's former Polish colleagues that had spent over a month in the post and had a US Postal Service rubber stamp "Not Reading, PA". The sender had forgotten to write "Anglia" or "Wielka Brytania".

 

Another of my wife's colleagues from Poland, an American, visited us. At first she pronounced our town's name Reading, as in reading a book, but being a skilled linguist it didn't take her more than a few minutes to start saying "Redding".

When living in the 5th arrondissement in Paris, I had two flatmates from the USA. Much of their was diverted via Paris, Texas.

My mum, who was a very studious child, consumed reading biscuits (Huntley & Palmer's) with her books.

I am sorry if I have offended some engineering professionals. But some of those who have objected to my comment have then gone on to reinforce my point. The decision makers in Government (national and government) are bean-counters and politicians, not technically competent in building.

Thinking a bit further, there is perhaps a solution to this without complete rebuilding of structures.

A modern equivalent of RAAC exists. But instead of having air bubbles, it has beads of expanded polystyrene, so water would not soak into it. Not easy stuff to use (static electricity?) and you have to be very aware about any loads put onto it. But it would impose minimal extra weight on other structural elements as compared to RAAC.

I recall a local case, when I lived in France, where a vineyard owner asked the local builder to put in a floor using the stuff, supported initially by the existing timber floor. Some months later, the whole thing collapsed and the two, previously good friends who had been at school together, have not spoken since. They blame each other. I suspect that they are both to blame for not getting in a structural engineer to offer advice. 

23 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

Great idea - Oxford St is a shadow of its former self right now so no doubt a non-retail attraction will help - and I bet the rent is quite low for central London!

This is indeed good news.

A lot of reporting recently about Oxford St having become shabby recently. The south side of the street has been like that for about 50 years.

11 minutes ago, RobinofLoxley said:

You would be wasting your time trying to build and operate that track plan. For a first attempt the layout should be boring and flat. Look for help from folk in layout and track design section. With an 8x4 board you are limited but you need something that allows those HST's to run.

 Flat does not need to be boring. But I do endorse Robin's advice to avoid gradients.  They will too steep in such a small space and not work well.

Cyril (CJ) Freezer drew up a very satisfactory layout for 8' x 4', basically three simple oval tracks with pointwork to allow trains to change between them. The station platforms are down one of the long sides and the pointwork down the other.

Agree with others that DC is much better to start with. If you later want DCC, you can just turn all the switches to ON.

53 minutes ago, phil-b259 said:

 

Indeed they have - but equally there are still examples of Roman concrete dating from before the birth of Christ still standing to this day.

 

 

The amphitheatre in Pula, Croatia is good example of Roman concrete. Well worth a visit.

22 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

What, not have schools and hospitals etc.?

No, stick with the old ones until a better method was found.