Mike Bellamy

Did you have to suggest that - now I have the Banana Boat Song going through my head Dai Ough, Dai Ough Daylight come and we want go home Day, is a day, is a day, is a day, is a day, is a Dai Ough Daylight come and we want go home .

Certainly not around here as many bus services are being cancelled due to a lack of drivers - I don't know the actual figures but I'm sure I saw an article that said they can double their wages by driving HGVs .

She was lucky to get in there in the first place - mum, dad, sister and father-in-law have all been taken from Grantham to Lincoln hospital on several occasions as they closed what was once a busy A&E so every time an ambulance is called, patients are taken to Lincoln even for minor problems. My sister was in a nursing home and occasionally had an epileptic fit - their protocol was to always phone for an ambulance. On more than one occasion she was pronounced fit and well on arrival at Lincoln and the ambulance was turned around and she was sent back to Grantham - what a waste! I stayed at the Shangri-La on my first trip to KL but for some reason I can't remember where I was the second time - I know it was close to the Petronas tower as we walked there for an evening meal overlooking the lake. When I was approaching retirement, it was suggested I might like to work less hours - come in for four days and not five but then I realised that all they were going to do was take each of those days off my holiday entitlement - so ten weeks of working reduced hours would mean giving up a two week holiday - they couldn't understand why I declined that offer. Once when we had a new manager she was a bit confused by the flexible working allowed previously - start any time you like, take whatever you need at lunch time and go home when your hours had been completed. Due to childcare and traffic difficulties this worked well for some staff as long as they were available during core hours. The new manager asked everyone to submit their proposed start and finish time which she entered onto a spreadsheet - one young lady was then told that she must not leave until 5.01pm every day as if she went at 5.00pm, she would be working five minutes less than everyone else. We were all pretty pi$$ed off by this as the person in question was a real hard worker and very often stayed much later than 5.00pm to finish off work. Likewise - I was a university administrator in the quality office checking the details for new programmes being proposed by the academic staff who were experts in their specialised subject (on a starting salary that was double my wage even after 20 years), and the paperwork was in some cases simply not fit for purpose and had to be returned to be rewritten. Of course they thought they knew best and ignored the advice so their proposals went to a validation panel of more senior staff who rejected the paperwork and imposed a number of conditions before it could go ahead. .

Click on the link to Harlequin's Track Plans - I just did for the first time and was most impressed - you may find that Phil has already produced a design that fits your requirements !! .

Perhaps you didn't see Andy's post earlier today - and particularly the highlighted section. There will be a less expensive alternative and so we'll have to wait and see if you think that is also too much, in which case you are stuck with the adverts. .

Click Here for Link to Custom Model Decals Seen them advertised but no personal experience of using them .

Can't you just phone Waddington and call up a drone strike . . . . . . . . . .

A bit like the restoration company that did a lot of work on my son's 1979 Mini - they did a great job on replacing various panels (most of front end) and the respray but then made a number of mistakes putting all the mechanicals back together. I drove it back and the steering didn't feel right - no split pin in the castle nut holding the hub together so the front wheel almost fell off. Some months later, a number of electrical problems seemed to indicate a poor earth and I suggested checking the earth strap between the engine and the body - but there wasn't one. Adjustable suspension (Hi-Lo) had been fitted and when it had all settled down, we went to make some adjustments to find there was no adjustment left as the butchers had used an angle-grinder to cut part of the thread off to make it fit !! These were so called experts who had previously had their work featured in Mini magazines.

I know I should not be suggesting that a former officer of the law should consider breaking the law that he had sworn to uphold but how many times have you travelled back to UK with a car load of 'stuff' and been stopped by Customs - I realise thing have changed following 'B' but are you still able to just drive though - and what would the chances be for a stop and search ? .

Thanks Andy - it just happened again. Opened up RMweb as usual and saw there was a notification (top right). Clicked on that to see it was your response - got the full page pop-up - back key to get back to content list and clicked on the notification a second time to go to your response and that is where I would have expected the 'blue line' to be as nobody else had replied between my post and yours - but it wasn't there. It's as if the software thinks I have already viewed the topic but I didn't as the full page pop-up prevented that first view so when I go back in again, it is as if I have already viewed everything. I'm sure if you switched off the adverts it wouldn't be a problem but we know that can't happen

Sorry to add to the list of little niggles that need looking at . . . . . . . A problem that I haven't seen mentioned and wondered if this was just me . . . . the first time I go from the list of topics in 'View New Content', I get the full page pop-up and then use the back arrow to go back to the previous screen (list of topics in VNC) and then click again on the black dot or star which should take me to the first unread reply. It has already been mentioned several times that the placement of the video advert corrupts this and so I sometimes need to scroll back to find the blue line which indicates which are new response. However - and this seems to be a more recent issue since we had the full page pop-up, the blue line is missing and so I have no idea which is a new reply except by trying to remember when I last looked at a topic and then scrolling back to see if I recognise any of the responses. This only happens to the first time I look at a topic from VNC when the pop-up appears - all other topics I view do have the blue line to indicate which are unread replies. To help with a diagnosis, using a PC with Win 10 and MS Edge, I always remain logged in and never delete Cookies. .

Not only that but it covers the notifications made if someone else replies to a topic whilst you are reading it, or there is a notification about a reaction to another topic where you have posted earlier. In both cases, as far as I can tell, the black line pops up for a second and is immediately covered again by the 50/50 white box or advert. .

They were on the way to the beach to meet several inflatables loaded with Turkey Pluckers to ensure that Bernard collects his Christmas bonus. .

I thought you were talking about TCP which is an Antiseptic Liquid which I remember having to gargle as a child for a sore throat! For those interested in the technical details the contents are "aqueous solution of Phenol 0.175% w/v and halogenated phenols 0.68% w/v". "Other ingredients: glycerol, concentrated phosphoric acid, quinoline yellow (E104) and purified water". "Halogenated phenols act on all pathogenic micro-organisms similarly and to approximately the same degree - i.e. they are non-specific, their activity is not appreciably reduced by the presence of relatively large amounts of non-living organic matter, their relatively simple chemical constitution means that their use is not liable to encourage the emergence of strains of micro-organisms adapted to resist their action". I didn't like the taste of TCP and I guess I don't like PTC either . . . . . . . .

Ellis Clark Trains posted on Facebook 21st October that they were going through final assembly and they were expecting them to leave the factory by the end of November - but no actual date given for when the boat may set sail - or when they are due in UK. .

I haven't seen Lemon Drizzle Cake mentioned for a day or two - so let's change that, as I can announce that a local Derbyshire Farm Shop make and bake the best LDC in the country . . . . . . . . . Click Here for Link to Local News Report . . . . . . .and it's available by Mail Order. Click Here for a Link to the Sales Page .

I haven't seen Lemon Drizzle Cake mentioned for a day or two - so let's change that, as I can announce that a local Derbyshire Farm Shop make and bake the best LDC in the country . . . . . . . . . Click Here for Link to Local News Article . . . . . . and it's available by mail order Click Here for Link to the Sales Page

Missed the programme and not sure if local news is available on 'catch-up TV'. Found this on the website. Click Here for Link to BBC News .

Hi Jay - I was reading about that and wondered if that was you. Hope it all works out OK for you .

I have a rough idea where you might live and if I'm correct, then going North for 30 minutes would mean you need a submarine rather than a bus, as I estimate you'll be several miles out at sea . . . . . . . . . . .

Looking at the Rail Engineer magazine article quoted on the previous page, I see that Arcola plan to use underfloor storage on their 314 conversion. Have a look near the end of the article in the link below - there is a drawing there of how they plan to make it all fit. Link to Rail Engineer Feb 2021 about Arcola 314 Conversion .

I'm a little puzzled by the order in which the names appear - it's almost alphabetical but not quite so it can't be in date order or house number and it can't be in order with a few unknowns added later (except perhaps for G Powis). Any ideas ? .

David - also look at the Pension Scheme - with some if you leave within x number of years from retirement due to redundancy, you can get an immediate full pension rather than wait until your pension scheme retirement age. Normally if you just leave early, the pension is reduced. When I was told my job was 'at risk' three years ago, I obviously applied and was rejected as I had 'a valuable knowledge and skills base' - but if that was the case why say my job was at risk - the real reason was that they wanted to reorganise, reduce staff numbers and give everyone new job descriptions, so virtually all the admin staff got the same letter. Not all applied and there were many like me who were disappointed. I made my feelings known - I felt it was age discrimination as they knew I was approaching retirement age and would be leaving anyway. The end result was that I was asked to stay on a bit later to ensure an 'orderly handover' and would be paid a couple of months extra. Redundancy rejected February - age 65 April - stayed at work to end of July - State pension (and Bus Pass!) in November as I was part of the transition year between retirement at 65 and 66. Work pension was due to start at age 65 and so when I left that was back dated to April. Good Luck with whatever you decide. Mike

Picking up on the comments about the 3MT a few months ago, there is a Lionheart advert in the latest Guild Gazette showing a CAD which is described as 'generally favourable' and is being 'reviewed' before they commit to tooling. Prices quoted are basic £575, with DCC £605 and with Sound £685.

At our October exhibition we had water dripping from the ceiling onto the O Gauge fiddle yard despite having the roof 'repaired' about 9 months ago. Fortunately Mr Bodgit and Mr Scarper had been removed from my contact list and so I got another recommended contractor to have a look - and he came back today to complete the job. Found two holes that had been covered with some sort of aluminium tape, a large pile of white mastic and a coating of black paint - problem was that all of this had lifted letting the water back in. He seems to have done a 'proper job' by scraping back the moss and previous sealant (that wasn't really sealant), priming the surrounding area, then firing up the blow torch to put 'Flashband' on followed by a real sealant that will probably last longer than the rest of the building. What we thought was a broken gutter bracket was actually undamaged but had been fitted with a really small screw which had pulled out of the plastic plug so that was sorted and he then cleaned out both the front and rear gutters - a good four hours work.