runs as required

A quick sit down to post on the way to continuing a day of ‘sweat equity’ trying to arrest the steady depreciation of our Tyneside house. I’m endeavouring to post only when I can offer something to raise a smile amongst you brave ERs.: I find the CEO robing herself meticulously mid morning here, preparing for the first in her season of trips to town for “Christmas meet ups” with past teams she’s been associated with over the years. Since its zonking down with rain I offer to run her, searching out her ‘bus pass’, up to the bus stop opposite the Co-op. But I have an ulterior motif – wife is a veggie, so I return with liver, streaky bacon and a new line in Bury black pudding with chilli. The cat and I scoffed the lot while listening to News at One* I’ve gone and left the kitch windows and door open downstairs to try and waft away the tell-tale smells before wife arrives back sometime after 16.00H. dh *thinking 'I’m damn glad I didn’t have to make a decision one way or another' – mind, I’d certainly vote that politicos in charge ought to have regular sojourns in the front line like war-correspondents do. “He led his regiment from behind – he found it less exciting”. the Modern Major-General”

OMG! The mutual support by posters on this thread is really most impressive. Not sure I am able to face up each day to the scope of Earl Risers. Today’s crop: coping with death, disease, disfigurement, didactic education choices, doctors’ surgeries, delays at rush hour on Southern Electric, erm… OK Derailed, can’t think of any more Ds. Disease and disfigurement: I’d be the last to claim any logical superiority, whereas wife seems to have spent her life dealing with such issues. Which are particularly difficult when it’s sister who is facing ever increasing bad news about lymph glands and masectomy (x 2). Yet sis-in-law coped – even seemed to relish engaging in discussions with Surgeons concerning the op and later reconstructive surgery (“I want ’em pert”); wig design and putting a face on to the world during the year or more of acute anxiety we have been enduring. The two sisters have always prided themselves over their appearance (they’ve long been termed the ‘Boxed Set’); yet each needs support about her vulnerabilities s School Choices: Our three kids forever criticise us for moving back from overseas to send them to a Gateshead comp (now an Academy in special measures). Yet I reckon the influence of the family and home gets ignored in all discussions about schooling – as if education is entirely down to teachers. Doctors’ Surgeries: Shipman temporarily caused small practices to be shunned. We suffered the anonymity of a large urban practice, always having to plead for appointments. Now following the retirement of wife’s trusted GP, we are signed up to a nearer small practice and the difference in sympathetic response is striking. Mind – I hear wife still using her sharp elbows. Delays at rush hour – apply for a job in West Cumbria. hat, coat dh

Nice to see Romford getting flagged up by Phil 1 Two of our local Geordie bell-ringers' tower hail from either end of the old 250 Epping-Hornchuch red T type petrol-engined single decker bus route. We instantly identified one anothers' accents and still get teased about ringing the 'free' and the 'fower' by the home grown lot. The Romford guy is regarded as a lot more use at fixing stuff than me, having been a Le Mans pit mechanic for years - I think with Ginettas. 2 My favourite Ian Dury line revealing intimate local knowledge is 'Home improvement expert Harold Hill / came home to find another fella's kippers in his grill'.. dh Ed: omitted vital highlighted word!

I think that good advice - remember there was a long interlude after Suez in '56, when all P&O and B.I. boats, as well as Shaw Saville etc. had to go the long way around Cape of Good Hope (Capetown and Durban) due to the canal being blocked. I don't recall it re-opening until the 1970s. It played havoc with shipping schedules. dh

Phew! This is my first genuine Early Riser post. Alarum set last night for 06.15 at ‘sleepover’ in son’s house (adjacent to old Heaton station, as both parents off on overnight work duties. On H&S duties, wor Dan was ‘off to Hull and Back’. This morning grand daughter needed to be fettled by just after 07.30 to walk to Heaton Manor Comp (a mile) away, collecting friends along the way . Pissing stair rods as she left – refused to be Mondeod to school or to consider a mac - ‘against the rules’ she claims. Eventually wife persuaded her to wear a light anorak. At 08.30 grandson was ferried down to Hotspur Primary right alongside the WCML Ouseburn viaduct. Then followed a monumental clear-up before retreating thru the front door trying to keep our duvet dry. Each parent rang repeatedly from opp. ends of the country to check we were following protocols. Back home now, hugging our old Aga, drinking ‘whisky macs’ after ducking back to ‘tak a lend’ of wor Dan’s bottle of Scotch. We may have a nap this afternoon after a tetchy sleep deprived night – are we too old to cope with other folk’s living patterns? dh

I'm not at all clear about this.I imagine procurement will be pretty much what has been emerging over the past few years : i.e. Some agency (using a consultant) will compile a 'performance spec' and the response will be assessed on whether it is 'in compliance'. On the Chinese delivering our nuclear power programme I have read that it is likely that in projects subsequent to Hinkley Point we will use Chinese reactors because they get delivered cheaper and quicker than the current French/ Finnish technology. I'm quite pleased I shall be enjoying my Big Sleep by then. dh

That fact interests me. Originally a TOWIE myself (though also being a Dave, my wife likes me to keep quiet about it ) I got to wondering where that point is. I always thought the highest point in Essex was in the Gogmagogs up near the Cambs border. But if we're thinking Estuary lands then there's Laindon hill and near the Blackwater estuary also Danbury Common - up behind where my grandma lived at....wait for it: Butts Green! dh Ed usual pea poor Grammer

About Jock's single malt(s) - I'm with Dave have the bottle room temp ready by the fire - 'Norwich' as we used to happily say. dh

If I were DJM I'd get back at Hornby with a Q1 The only loco built for racing in Britain - that should make it sell! That and its clerestory cab roof. Another good looking NER engine, this one built in Getusahead dh

Why do both DJM and Hornby go head to head on the Q6 ? Q7 anyone ? dh

Interesting - there's been a Geordie version of 'Downfall' circulating since 2009 about Hitler buying the 'wrang hoos' as Gateshead rationalised its secondary schools here I imagine the clip exists as an app that clever souls can add text subtitles to. dh ED syntax

Bonjo (as they say in Malta) Thanks Jock for the above supportive post about my TF (false ?) memory. 1 The reason I jumped to 1966 was because that was 'World Cup Year'. We'd just collected a new Renault 4 from the Paris factory with roll back roof and everywhere we went in Malta people would drag us out and shake hands saying 'The English are still the masters!'. Very embarassing for someone who never ever understood the offside rule. At least no one does that anywhere these days. 2 I've since checked the web for images (I can't find my old 'half frame' transport slides) and I'm sure the Texan pair that were so friendly included Jim Hall. I'd already seen Phil Hill a number of times before - quite a compact man - I'd have been filled with awe by him. I wonder whether Phil Hill was staying at a proper hotel down at the coast. dh

Oh Dear! You're absolutely right, it was '67; I remember now, I kept disappearing off leaving wife literally holding the new baby Malteser, born in Dec.1966. Never ever trust old men's recollections! dh

Thanks Jock for that info about Chapparal the following year; I didn't realise he managed to win!. Porsche were always dominant year after year in Sicily - they even produce a special short wheelbase team of racers for the Targa. They seemed to bring Tuetonic consistency to what was otherwise a very hot blooded event. The time I was lucky to encounter JH, he was enjoying the whole experience and couldn't believe how much he had to learn about Sicily. He couldn't manage to find the right gearing for his very special transmission in time for the race and ran well down on speed. Nevertheless he certainly won the crowd over - even eclipsing the vociferous 'Avanti Vaccarella' fans just outside Cerda in the mountains where I watched the race.. dh

One great highlight in my life was crossing from Malta to Sicily in 1966 to watch the Targa Florio (it involved a marvellous FS train ride from Catania right across the island via Enna to Cerda, with quite a bit of steam still operating). What I found was exactly as you described - only on narrow winding Sicilian mountain roads like the Cat & Fiddle or Hartside - and with cars like 330 P4 Ferraris and Porsches weaving amongst the 3 wheeler Apes and the goat herds. Best of all was coming across the amazing US Chaparral (I think the first car with a wing) being calmly fettled outside a b&b on the course at the outskirts of the village by Jim Hall a big laconic Texan in a 10 gallon hat. He was campaigning Europe in a classic step-side truck with the Chaparral wedged in along with a few bags of tools. He was keen to use me as a go-between to try to find out something of what was going on. He couldn't believe he could just blast it out for a try out, until I and all the locals persuaded him I was hugely impressed by his capabilities - such a polite old-world gracious guy harbouring all those revolutionary ideas. dh

Sorry thats my poor English. Apple are profiteering thieves. dh

Apart from the really big themes Early Risers shares with the Russian novel (Trains, Life and Death) I do enjoy following the 'sub themes': local weather, early closing in Wales or yet more commuting glitches in South London... And I've just noticed another I'm going to contribute to: Big Shopping! We went to IKEA today - its only 2 miles away - on the site of Derwenthaugh coke works. But I haven't been for about 4-5 years and had forgotten what a total experience it is. I levered a reluctant wife into coming too - the mission was to sort out our hotch potch of decaying lighting, much of it left over since the last of the kids finally left home. I'd read an article on changing to LEDs, but wanted to drag poor wife into complicity. We really enjoyed the jaunt - from playing the game of nominating who we thought deserved to be imprisoned in the various living rooms on show, to soft toys (Grandma being eaten by the Wolf), and even people-watching while eating Swedish meatballs and mash in the cafe - for under a tenner. Apart from lighting, one item I needed was a replacement kitchen cabinet 'plinth' gap closer that had disintegrated after a dying dishwasher lapsed into incontinence. 'Discontinued' the guy told us, but it can be specially ordered from the old stock IKEA keeps in a warehouse in Sweden - I thought that nugget of info deserved to be better known. I reckon IKEA has an extraordinary business going. It even eclipses Apple in delivering (often challenging) 'design for living' at rock bottom prices. dh Ed: typos

Love the 71 heading the fourgon (and I think the CIWL wagon lits) in the above. Just as I remember it (and the Golden Arrow) heading right past the office window by my drawing board at Regent House, Stockwell Road, Brixton in about 1965. Occasionally the whole beautiful shebang would stall over the gap between two conductor rails right in front of us because the 71 was too short to bridge across compared to a lowly 4SUB! It must have been really difficult for the motorman to judge momentum; I wonder why they didn't fit shoes to another vehicle in the formation and connect through. dh

Wow! Mentioned in dispatches Jock's closing Single Malt G'night post. Thank You. Compared to the rest of you, little worthy of posting happens to me. And I only meant to post once (about hearing the ghost of a Gresley 'streak' while clearing leaves), when I read of Simon's frustration at a password being demanded when you are most stressed and least capable of remembering it. Anyway such a cold wet Sunday dawned that only 4 of us reported this morning for ringing 8 churchbells. i was the only Heathen - normally we comfortably outnumber the Christians (belltowers have long been suspected Heretic hideouts). As for culture: We are off to the the Sage this afternoon with tickets passed on to us by a friend who is unable to go. I had to ferry her to and from A&E last week after she'd had a fall exiting her shower. The new concert halls were always meant to be sited in Newcastle (on the Old Cattle Market just west of Central Station) but were filched south of the river by Gateshead in its campaign, that began with the Angel of the North, to gain cultural recognition. Keep warm everyone on a bleak November Sunday. dh Ed: typos

It's been a bright but raw cold Saturday here on Tyneside. I was ordered out on gardening duty this afternoon despite overnight snow still lingering on grass areas shaded by holly from the sun. I swear I heard a Gresley (or Britannia) chime whistle from the N&C line a few hundred yards down below along the riverside, but checking later on line I couldn't find any steam special listed for today. It may have been a light engine working, I've happened across such transfers before along 'our' line. dh

This always annoys me - I think it is because some code Microsoft has added is supposed to detect a new wifi connection and triggers a password check to confirm it hasn't been stolen.It is particularly annoying using Microsoft Hotmail - the whole idea of it was that it was for travellers always on the move. dh

I blame Saab cars for my eldest being a complete nutcase about accumulating eccentric cars. I used to take him (aged about 4-5), to see the East African Safari where it looped down into Tanzania near us. His favourite was always the Erik Carlsson tortoise-shaped Saab. 'Roop poop poop' he always called Saab cars - and named our young pup of a dog 'roop pup pup' (his mum never understood why the dog got its name). These days this son, now in his 50s, wastes a huge amount of time, effort and money on trying to get one Dino engined Stratos on the road from a series of crashed wrecks and bits. dh

Thanks for an interesting reply. I've just remembered a confrontation I had right at the end of my infrastructure project involvement. It was on a proposal for a new settlement and connexions for mineral extraction/processing in Africa (the sort of projects China now delivers within about 4-5 years!). We'd submitted a costing of our proposals and got confronted by a bevvy of US Business School Doctorates (MIT and Harvard). They told us bluntly we didn't understand the process. They arbitarily 'moderated' our costing to what they judged a 'threshold' figure that would trigger Government and various Agencies approval and support. They told us the 'real' cost could be faced up to later.... I've often wondered whether such 'psychological' thinking on costing is common now in bidding within the market economy. dh

Has anybody picked up on this story of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee laying into Network Rail about poor programming and cost over-runs? In particular they criiticise the Regulator for simply 'signing off' project costings without undertaking detailed 'due diligence' checking. Presumably Network Rail were using their Consultants' project costings. I'm trying to think back 40 odd years to when I was involved in costings - we could never have afforded to have 3 teams of cost planners all working separately on compiling project costs of major infrastructure projects. We prided ourselves on all sitting down together to break the project down into operational task sequences and trying to find cost information on those. It got exciting when estimating for very remote 'up country' undeveloped regions or projects on remote Oceanic islands. dh

Do you know the date of that quote? I am interested because the famous psychotherapist Wilfred Bion (commander of one of those First World War early tanks) began reassuring angst ridden patients sometime in the 1930s about the "good enough mother". The danger being clearly that a mother in striving for perfection would screw up the entire family. Just when you thought this post way OT: I'm definitely going to get one of those Oxford Adams Radials. I've always loved pre Grouping models, so much more delicate and unfamiliar. dh