SM42

Lunch Andy

I must admit we recently bought Miele in desperation and it was a revelation It does work, not perfect, ( a couple of design flaws) but better than any that went before. In the motherland I'm stuck with a piece of rubbish from Zelmer Andy

Just had a call from a friend whose husband has suspected gall stones. He was to have a scan, but the NHS Trust sent him to the trust next door for it who then said he shouldn't have been sent there as they do not have anything to do with them. So now he has scan in one trust's system,which is doing nothing further as he is not their patient and not sending details back to our local trust. Meanwhile he is in agony and wasting away. I really do despair sometimes Andy

That's the vacuuming done. Time for my usual rant about the designers of such equipment never using them. I would have been better off using a broom on the hard floor, using the vacuum to could could thd little pile at the end, and as to the carpets, why do manufacturers not think it has a pile. All I've done is push the dirt and fluff further in. It would be more effective to pick the dirt and fluff up by hand and feed it to the vacuum. Meanwhile the push fit pipes don't have enough friction to cope with the forces involved in moving the fittings and machine about the floor. Aaasrrghh! Andy

That's the Most Teatralny stop, the tram heading towards its next stop at Fredry. It has just crossed over the railway approaching Poznan Glowny Station. The low railings on the bridge above the OLE still amaze me. (Starolenka is not a bad spot for train watching as it is on one of the routes of the freight avoiding line via Franowo. The tram terminus is a couple of minutes walk from the station) There was a signalbox trackside to the left of the bridge the tram has just passed over. It is now a restaurant. There has been quite a lot of refurbishment work in this area of late, which I think is still going on about 1/4 mile or so behind where our intrepid hero took this photo, in the Plac Wolnosci area Andy Currently not too far from this spot.

I'm getting g a pop up video on screen entitled "early risers pay their respects to Prince Philip at Windsor" What have you done to me? Andy

This morning's pass has been cancelled. I decided beer was better than housework last night and a decent lie in this morning sees breakfast being ready just before 10. We have to be at the in laws by 1, so not really worth going out. Still got Friday and a packed itinerary for the day, but it does look like the current sunny weather will give way to rain by then. Andy

We sacrificed one deltic for the sink upgrade. Surely the way a railway is planned is sort out what you want to do and where. Realise it won't fit and buy a bigger house or have building work done. Works for a kitchen too I suppose. Andy

I think I have worked out the beary cross threading Start a reply with quotes in a thread Get distracted by cake and head off onto another thread without posting your reply Go for a reply to the new thread and previous typed, but unused, reply appears. Forget where you are ( more LDC) and carry on as if in the original thread. Andy

It intrigued me too Andy Lured to the dark side by a crafty bear

Scratching is easily done and even a rub mark will show on a gloss surface Mrs SM42 isn't the most careful of cooks We avoid glossy surfaces. The new improved utility room at SM42 Towers has a solid ash 4.1m worktop with ash splashbacks. A carpenter friend bought the timber and oil through the company he works for, so got us an employee discount. ( worked out cheaper than laminate on chipboard) He installed it along with 4 new wall cupboards, one base unit and replacement doors on the 2 existng base units Even with the employee discount and mate's rates on fitting it still came to around nine deltics. I dread to think what doing the whole kitchen from the tiles up would be. Andy

A carpenter friend also advised against gloss worktops as they will show the tiniest marks and scratches. Look good till you use them was his advice He was talking about wood based stuff here. No idea about stone based Andy

Legia ran out 1 - 0 winners. Today's experience is unlikely to be repeated as apparently I have nicer nails and skin than Mrs SM42. Seems washing the car last week did wonders for my complexion and the brake dirt under the fingernails has some sort of restorative power. Andy

Half time. Legia 1 up. Possession seems to change every 30 seconds and the first 10 minutes were more likely a rugby match, but it's really end to end stuff and quite entertaining. Just need crisps to go with the beer now, but we seem to be out of stock We've even run out of cake. 🥺 Andy

I know. But a nice young lady, I'm not married to, has held my hand and massaged my face. At my age, that's a win Andy

In tram news there are still a few of the old ones about No 219 brings up the rear behind 220 at Ogrody this morning I hopped on this one rather than the more modern effort on the next stand The older stock seems to be concentrated on route 2 in the main 205 and 206 were seen later in the day on route 2, but a pair did turn up on route 7 as well just to prove me wrong. Anyway. KKS 1925 Kalisz vs Legia Warszwa is on TV, so it's time for a beer and some indifferent football Andy Hoovering has been cancelled

No housework had been done yet. Today's haircut was a ruse by Mrs SM42 to get me into the beautician attached to the salon so after being trimmed I ended up with a manicure and facial as part of my birthday present. I sit here all moisturised and smooth as a baby's posterior, positively radiating a healthy glow. This pampering of course takes time, so housework time was much reduced. Instead I made a quick trip out to Gadki again to see what was about. I may still get the hoover out, so I can use tomorrow morning's pass too. Andy

Our kitchen is on its second worktops and second set of doors The floor tiles are the third set ( recent change necessary due to adjoining utility room changing shape and thus we tiled straight through.) The walls are on second set of tiles. The sink is the second one. When we changed the worktop our carpenter commented on the then incumbent stainless steel sink being earthed by connecting the earth wire to the plastic retaining clips. 🤔 The carcasses are sound and the last kitchen company we had round suggested just changing doors as everything else was in good condition. So we did. The worktops may be changed somtime in the next couple of years as the new one in the utility room. Is starting to show it up. We recently changed the cooker hood, which being a slightly different shape to the old, means I will be painting the kitchen soon. Andy

Haircut and housework day today Oh joy of joys. There has however been a hint of a pass for tomorrow morning, so if I'm good today and get all my jobs done I'll be free tomorrow. Worryingly, painting has been mentioned as being on the agenda for out next trip Andy

A few from today at Gadki CD Cargo Poland 182 128 9 waiting the road north This next one caught me by surprise as I was expecting a passenger train. I over compensated for shutter lag a bit I had no idea what this was till I looked it up. Apparently it's a DB Rail Polska class 207E. A freight only loco built using the frames and bogies off an M62 diesel loco. And finally EN57 1212 calls with a local service to Poznan Glowny Andy

Well that was an interesting afternoon train spotting. Not much about at all the places I went, managed to call in at my local model shop and got involved in a medical emergency in Piatkowo. A young lady found that electric scooters and level crossings are not always a good mix and face planted the road. Couldn't do much because of the language problem, but plenty of locals helping. The car first aid kit was used for the first time and the several blankets in the car were useful too. I flagged down a passing ambulance. I'm not sure if it was the one that had been called, ( it didn't seem in a rush) but it was there so I grabbed it. That's enough excitement for one day. Off food shopping now Andy

That's the dentist done. Cleaned, x rayed and filling done. I shall be heading out soon to tour my regular train watching spots in Kobylnica, Gadki and Piatkowo. Andy

Last night I dreamt I was trying to photograph track maintenance Polish style at a location that looked a lot like somewhere on the non electrified southern region and was accompanied in this endeavour by Freddie Flintoff. The track gang were to replace a crossover and removed one rail whilst we were there, but trains were still running so had disappeared till later. We then started to photograph the signals too before heading back to the car via some steps down from a bridge that had a bracket signal part way down, the left hand arm at danger, due to the steps not being finished on that side. I woke up before it got really wierd Vodka can really mess with your head it seems. . Andy Did I mention the large logo class 56 stabled the other side of the signalbox, or the mischievous family that kept photobombing us?

I'm sure it would appreciate the food. We are back, full of vodka ( well, once the bottle is opened...) and cake of various varieties. I might need a bit of nap Andy

Not sure why you would want to juice a frog. Can't imagine it would taste good, even with vodka. Andy