AndyID

I can get the floor off. I suspect one of the flexible joints has disintegrated. I'll replace the entire shaft if that's the case.

I think this is the culprit. When the engine is running there's a horrible scraping sound.

Auto - hydro-static drive. I think the transmission itself is OK but the drive shaft between the engine and the transmission has failed. Unfortunately it's under the floor and only accessible after removing a lot of the superstructure.

While walking Shona we met a neighbor who was hauling barrow loads of gravel to widen the road so I volunteered to bring the tractor along to haul the gravel. I had shifted quite a lot of it and was almost done when the tractor's transmission completely conked out. I suppose I can't really complain because I've had it for about sixteen years and I've never had any trouble with it.

That's certainly true. The snag is you might find yourself drawn into the 3-D printing vortex and you never actually build your layout. (Don't ask me how I know.) BTW, did you find those dimensions yet, or did I miss them?

Must be coming from here then.

I do realize you are greatly enameled of the newish 1:101.6 scale offerings (scales are ratios. Scales DO NOT HAVE UNITS - oops 😁) but I'm a bit curious about why you think that's really necessary. 1:100 is nominally 25% smaller than 00 which might seem like a big enough space reduction to justify it but it is a bit more complicated than that. 00 track is actually H0 gauge which means that all the complex elements are quite a bit smaller (e.g. turnouts are shorter) so from a purely track difference perspective the reduction in space (particularly length) is actually 14% less. Now, if you have been put off by layouts that used the old products from an outfit in Devon I don't blame you, but even they have learned the error of their ways and now actually manufacture 00 track and turnouts that look like actual UK track. Not only that, but there is an absolutely enormous amount of track, stock, locos in 00. I don't think there's too much yet in 1:100. Just some stuff to think about.

The last time I went I received a serious spanking from my dental hygienist for the state of my tooth pockets. After that I instituted a serious flossing regime which I think has made a difference. I'll find out next month if she agrees 🤣

I sometimes wonder why it's not called a teethbrush. Are you supposed to buy one for each tooth?

'twas I. I have to build my strength up for skiing. Two weeks at Aspen can take a lot out of a guy 🤣

Yes sir. We'll have that out in a jiffy. Which side was it again?

Not to mention a bit of surgery too 🤣

Coffee and cake time.

How much space is available for the entire layout including fiddle yard etc.? Even at 1:100 you might be surprised by how much space you will need. I can plonk something into Templot to get you started. I'm assuming you want the track to look as realistic as possible.

As previously mentioned the slinky squirrel deterrent on the bird feeder was ineffective. While I was getting my coffee I was watching the primary offender gorging himself at the feeder when the solution became obvious. The actual bird feeder needs to be at a different potential from the stand that it hangs from. The squirrel has his hind paws on the stand while holding the feeder with his front paws. An electric fence energizer should do the trick. I have found one that has a low energy output designed to deter squirrels and racoons.

Lorna was a student nurse at the Sufferin' General in Govan. One evening Fred Lawnmower, Lorna and I were chatting over some liquid refreshment. Fred was an orderly at a hospital and he and Lorna were discussing some of the the things they had observed. I passed out! (Fred was actually John Gilmour but one of our school pals gave him that nickname and it stuck).

Presumably the same voltage but twice the battery capacity?

If its for the crimbo tree lights there isn't anything to earth anyway.

In times of yore the trick was to remove the fuse at the distribution point and put it in your pocket. This was particularly important at any commercial or industrial location but good practice even at home. With the advent of circuit breakers that is not so easy but the ones used in the US can be unplugged at the breaker box. Then of course there's the 'orrible UK ring mains. Even when you think you've disconnected the line it might still be coming at you from the other direction. Having had a lot of experience with UK and US mains electricity over the years I have come to the conclusion that the US system is much better. 120 volt outlets do make electric kettles a good bit slower but 120 volts is much less likely to electrocute someone. 240 volts is FOUR times more dangerous. People are essentially resistors and the power dissipated in a resistor is proportional to the square of the voltage.

You could try that method in a pasta sauce too.

A popular dish in Scotland is, of course, mince and potatoes. I'm not sure how prevalent that is in other other places but if you do make it and you have a new-fangled electric pressure cooker you can easily take it to another level. The trick is to brown the mince (ground beef) to get a Maillard reaction on a lot of it. Bung it in the pressure cooker on the "Brown" stetting, break it down and stir it a lot while it's browning. Keep going until it's just beginning to stick to the bowl and keep stirring it for a bit longer. That's the reaction you want. You want it on a lot of the surfaces of the beef because it really enhances the flavor. After that add some stock and diced onion, chopped carrot if you wish and pressure cook on high for maybe 25 minutes.

I am in receipt of my first Christmas present. A daughter sent me a pair of socks. But not just any socks. These are electric socks. They have built in heating elements and rechargeable batteries.

Oh! That's what it meant. It thought it was the name of the proprietors or something 🤣 There is also a film from India called Enthiran.

I sympathize. It's not unusual for me to put the letters in the wrong order. I suspect I've always been a bit dsylexic.

We seem to do quite well with Big A orders. Maybe this is a popular route with the carrier drivers? They get a nice scenic drive in the country on roads that are never very busy 😀