PupCam

Afternoon!

Parcelgate update:  3rd time lucky then!

The pergola has now been official declared as Open.     A supplementary exercise of refurbishing and re-siting the weather vane has now commenced.   This will involve  wire-brushing the old paint and rust off of the components, re-painting, mounting on a new steel pole and mounting said pole on the pergola.

RD brake shoes dropped through the letter box at precisely the time RM predicted (take copious notes DHL).   Now to peruse the workshop manual to find out how to fit them  and  get the RD on to the bike lift ready for surgery.

TTFN

Evening all, very late on parade today.

42 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

You have to request help with packing in most UK supermarkets, if it is available.

The first impossible task is to find any staff at all in most UK supermarkets now!

ION

Pergola re-construction is complete - Big tick

Parcelgate ......

Pressie ordered for SWMBO.    

Eventually notification received that it would be delivered by DHL.

Some days later DHL notification of parcel received.

Yesterday

      Early morning received text saying it would be delivered between 14:00 and 15:00.  

     16:00 message received saying "We're running late".

     Website tracking information stated "Delivering parcel 65 you are  delivery 89"

     18:00ish Tracking information removed

     19:00 message received stating "We've got your parcel in the delivery depot"

Today

      Early morning received text saying it would be delivered between 18:00 and 19:00.  

     Website tracking information eventually stated "Delivering parcel 29 you are  delivery 105"

     16:00ish Tracking information removed

      Waited until 19:30, put note on door stating "Can't wait any longer, leave it next door",  went down't pub for a meal

     20:00 message received stating "We've got your parcel in the delivery depot"

What a bunch!

Bedtime now.

Night All

Morning*   Afternoon All

7 hours ago, TheQ said:

On a sailing equivalent of ER, someone said no "2 stroke engine" had a decent engine sound, and they all sounded "tinny and revy" so I contributed a YouTube of  Napier Deltic🙂 plus a link to the wiki on Deltic engines.

How little some know.     Well done for enlightening them !

6 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Oh yes. The Cornish National Hole-digging Championships are in full swing. 
 

Likely winners are those who can dig the smallest hole, close the longest length of road, erect four-way traffic lights and then b****r off for ten days over Easter. Leaving no work in progress, no kit on site and miles of stationary traffic fuming about pointless closures.
 

Highly Commended goes to the recent set of lights just outside town which caused chaos through our narrow main street. Vehicles cannot pass so the inbound traffic met the outbound queue and couldn’t move thereby blocking the single lane through the lights. Those lights, incidentally, were for works off on a side road and had no business ever being on the main road. 
 

A potential winner goes to the ten-week duration of four-way lights at a minor crossroads on the main road. This was to allow the installation of a bus stop. It took that long for them to install five metres of kerb and erect a pole. Not only that but the bus stop has been sited right on the junction (where the Highway Code tells us we must not stop) meaning that if ever a bus stopped there it would block the entire junction. 
 

Why fit a bus stop now?  Thus is a rural location with just one house nearby. The next is over a mile away. And for good measure the bus route being withdrawn next week …..

A roundabout on the A6  not a million miles from Puppershire has for  the last 18 months or so been "Being improved".   This has caused monumental delays and thus inconvenienced  thousands of people (including myself).   Thank heavens it is nearly complete.    The improvements?       Pedestrian crossings with lights  on each of the 4 roads  close to where they join the roundabout,  300-400 yards of immaculate new pavements leading up to the roundabout, a protection lane for entry into a nearby petrol station (that's a tick by the way), a resurfaced and (allegedly) slightly enlarged roundabout and some new white lines.    The cost?   £8 MILLION POUNDS according to reports!!!      The justification?   To increase traffic capacity and flow at peak times.  Well, as the increase in size is extremely modest if indeed perceptible at all and the feeds  to and from it haven't changed I can't see that happening.    Mind you, all those light-controlled pedestrian crossings are going to aid flow aren't they?     Luckily because of where it is there are very few pedestrians to press the buttons or indeed spoil all those nice new pavements.    You may consider that to be a rant if you wish.

6 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Laugh all you want. But CC knows how to make it hurt...

 

That front axle is looking rather dodgy!      I'm liking the concept of the double telescopic fork.   Could be a patent in there somewhere.  The super extended travel would help with the pot holes round here (but not on the A6 roundabout of course as that will be as smooth as a baby's b......)      Interesting that the AI has no concept (yet) of why things are as they are in the images it uses to train hence all of the glaring errors in the images.    Still, it's early days.

ION

I phoned the water company yesterday and the recorded message informed that they could provide a ring back service and I wouldn't lose my place in the queue so I thought I'll give that a go.     Ten minutes later I got the (automated) ring back with just the same message telling me they even offered a ring back service if I didn't want to wait.     For crying out loud, they rang me!    🤣     Anyway, I held the line and it was eventually answered by "Simon".      Simon was extremely helpful.   He looked at my bill and came to the same conclusion as me; the meter had ceased to be.    He explained the process and consequences of the replacement and he outlined a more than satisfactory resolution to the issue of the bill so top marks to him and a whoopee from me!   

The afternoon yesterday was so nice I felt obliged to go for a thrash on the RD.  As is often the case the route may have included dropping into Shuttleworth where I was treated to the added bonus of watching (and listening) to an engine test on the dH Comet.    What a beautiful aeroplane that is.

Back to today ...

My neighbour invited me and a couple of mates to join him on the VMCC's**   Thursday lunch run which was aiming for the Danish Camp.    Well, it would have been rude not to join in the fun.     The RD was going beautifully yesterday but on checking it over on my return I noticed that the rear brake had developed a tendency to stick on.     No doubt the rear brake shoes have got to their wear limit so replacements have been ordered.     So, an ideal opportunity to give the AJS a long overdue run.   Having got it started the other day after its prolonged slumber it started first (proper) kick.    We had a nice run out to the DC and I noted that the water level in the Great Ouse was back to something like normal today in marked contrast to our previous visit!      Whilst there I bumped into one of my former work colleagues and member of another What's Ap motorcycle group I'm in.   We'll catch up properly next week as he's organised a Pie & Pint night at a pub very close to Puppers' kennel 😀    It's all go being retired!

We thought we'd round lunch off by dropping into Old Warden for a coffee on the way home. 

No sooner had we arrived than my rain detector started operating and as you know Puppers doesn't do wet.    So we put our helmets back on and roared off for home.    It was a shame as rumour had it that they were shortly going to wheel out the lovely Percival Mew Gull seen in the hangar in the background for an engine test.       Anyway we managed to get home with out getting wet but guess what?   The rain came to nothing ....... TCs!    Oh well never mind.

TTFN

*    It was when I started the post!

**  Perhaps I ought to get round to actually joining the VMCC some time?

Morning All!

Main activity for the day is planning for a "Special Military Operation".    No it's not a war  😂

After that I might go and survey the last two timbers for the pergola and think about finishing it off.     Oh yes, I've got to phone the water company to suggest that there might be a teeny weeny error on their latest bill.  

TTFN

"The Pot Noodle Museum"  and "I went to the one in Osaka"  (said  il Dottore)  now  that has to be an oxymoron doesn't it? 🤣

Hey, nice E numbers! 😉

52 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

A busy watch this morning with everything wanting to transit the shipping lanes.  Far more trawlers than usual were out fishing, there was the usual assortment of freighters, ROROs / Anglo-European ferries and a tanker, the first crossing of the year for Scillonian III and the first two yachts of the year.  Apparently racing each other from Brittany to Ireland but not engaged in racing anyone else.  Good luck to them - that's not my idea of fun at all. 

I've rumbled you Rick!    This new "volunteering" business, protecting the coast is really just an excuse for a new form of train spotting (now there aren't many actual trains to spot) isn't it?    

Is there an equivalent of the Ian Allan  Combined Volume for boats?

ION

A  short thrash was thrashed with a stop off at a local bike shop.      Each year in the summer they hold a "Two stroke" day and invite a number of interesting two strokes to be displayed.  

Seems like a certain ~50 year old, RD200 has got an invitation ....  😀

Mrs Puppers has just visited the garage .........  😬

It would appear that I got a "Highly commended" for my Henry Hoovering this morning!      Now that is a result!

TTFN

Morning!

15 hours ago, Grizz said:

I would like offer my opening bid for the “Who’s got the poshest shed p’ss’ng up the wall competition” with this……

My shed / workshop has a shower and a bed. As well as a microwave and a bijou fridge freezer (both in matching black). 

30+ years ago I had a very "high technology" shed in the back garden for some work I was doing at the time.     It was insulated, dry lined, powered, had a couple of PCs,  Oscilloscopes, function generators, DMMs and other test equipment in it.    It was great and the fact that the junior Puppers were about 5 and 2 at the time and the shed was some way up our very long garden (the plot was ~350' long) was entirely coincidental 😂

When we moved, the shed was disassembled and moved with us where further aeronautical research was conducted for a time.    Unfortunately after that it just became a dumping ground for old carp and looking at the state of it now I fear its days are now numbered.

6 hours ago, TheQ said:

It's not even been a PAT (test) for many years it's official name is.

Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment” (ITEE)

Yes but it will forever be PAT testing.   Now, I must get on with* the Hoovering .....

* Actually a slight fib 'cos I've already done it, see later

4 hours ago, polybear said:

Someone mentioned on Radio 2 a short time ago they returned from Portugal with “an obscene amount of custard tarts”

Me thinks it’s about time a certain Bear investigated such items further - purely in the interests of science you understand…..

Now where can Bear obtain such things in the uk?

We happened to be in Waitrose yesterday and I decided I could no longer hold out on the provision of some PCTs.       The trouble was that when I found the most likely looking cabinet it was completely bereft of any such objects (or even the labels to go with them) and the remaining items didn't look anywhere near as appealing.     We did buy some "Extra Fruity" Hot Cross buns though which we had for breakfast.   They were a complete let down too!

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Or get them to deliver. There is a £40 minimum spend for delivery. Doesn’t all have to be cakes!

Oh, I think it does 🤣

ION

I spent most of Sunday machining the new lens mount for the Telecine machine and yesterday I got the machine going again with some new belts (aka O Rings) and a couple of other tweaks and installed and aligned as best I could the new lens + camera + tube combo.    Unfortunately despite some promising looking results from the original test lash-up the finished result doesn't cut the mustard and real sharp focus can not be attained plus there's some chromatic aberration to add insult to injury! 🤬      Looking more closely at the unmarked lens I'm beginning to think it was actually part of an old camcorder lens (knowing its source) and not a complete lens in its own right.  No doubt other elements in the zoom lens corrected the observed aberrations!    That' Turdy Curses with a capital T and a capital C!

Oh well, the hunt for a suitable lens continues.  What's the chance of me being able to re-use my new lens tube when I find one.    Pretty slim I reckon but then I'm a glass 7/8 empty sort of person.

Anyway, here's a few pics of the gadget and a sample capture (just to take our minds off food really)

I have spent this morning cleaning up the swarf invasion in the garage following the turning exercise.      @polybear  will be pleased to hear that the lathe would now pass a Robbie Stancombe** muster for cleanliness with all tools cleaned and stored.       Can't say the same for the rest of the garage, although  Henry the Hoover has been working overtime on the floor for fear of FOD being transferred into the house with the resultant consequences for the ear 'oles!

** Late, great, turning instructor from Hawker Siddeley Dynamics, Hatfield in the '70s.

Right, what to do next?     I'm tempted to go for a little ride while it's still dry.

TTFN

3 hours ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

 D&C police like dash cam footage .

 

 Sorry it starts in the middle .

 

 

 

Is it me or do those fines not have enough digits in them?        A few 4 or even 5 digit numbers might*make the idiots change their ways!

* A forlorn hope I suspect.

ION

A drawing has been drawn of a device to be whittled out of a chunk of aluminium to hold a lens and a camera in precisely the right position (OK, there's a degree of flexibility built in to get the focus precise) on the butchered 1960's Standard 8 projector aka the telecine machine.

Much rooting around** finally produced an ideal chunk of 1.75" Dia  ali bar for the item.     It's been cut to length, set up in the 4 jaw chuck (it's a bit bigger than my 3 jaw ) and a start has been made to dress it up so that the travelling steady can be used to support it whilst it's machined.    Proper machining starts next time.

** Puppers' stock pile of chunky ali bar is now sadly depleted after all those telescope and other gadgets that have been made over recent months.     I need an economical source for a re-stock!

Got our water bill today.   According to the meter we've used 1m3 of water in the last year.   I wondered what the smell was.     

TTFN

Test flight complete.    All present and correct.      Bike back in garage.    Liquid sunshine has now fallen (with some vigour) and now replaced with the dry, bright variety.

Now to tackle the Telecine machine's new lens holder.

TTFN

Morning All!

I was almost an ER this morning and I was up and out in the garden about 8:30.   The neighbour currently has a not-fully-occupied skip on his drive and asked if I'd got anything I'd like to put in it.     Well, one old broken up pergola and some old wooden garden furniture later ...    I was going to lob it over the fence at a suitable position but then I thought the walk from the back garden out to the road and then down his drive would be good exercise so that's what I did.

After that I re-fitted the silencer on the RD and made improved mountings for the head temperature sensors.  The silencer looks good, sounds good and no longer emits blue smoke half way along its length.      Me thinks a short test flight might be in order 😀

TTFN

Good news!    The wallet survived the garden centre intact.

As it turned into rather a nice afternoon and I haven't been out on the bikes for a while I thought a short bimble (a bimblette maybe?) was in order.    

About 20 miles to Old Warden and back.

It would have been rude to miss a photo opportunity.

TTFN

Morning All

First, belated birthday and anniversary greeting to @New Haven Neil.

It was a busy day yesterday with about a 6 hour stretch working on the pergola which is a very long stretch indeed for Puppers these days.  I even missed my lunch!    However, I'm happy to report that after some extensive Wysteria weaving the main part of the pergola is complete and doing its job.   I've just got the extension on one side to do now which is one horizontal and one vertical.   Still, that can wait for another day.

Did I mention that a mate welded up a hole in one of the RD's silencers, I can't remember?    Anyway having received back just before our trip away last week I thought I'd have a go at painting it with heat resistant black paint.     I'd already wire-brushed all of the remaining black paint off (tougher job than I'd imagined it would be), roughed it up a bit with some coarse Emery cloth and it was dry and calm in the back garden.   Until I'd got the Workmate out 🙄

My friend had recommended using Simoniz Very High Temperature paint available in a rattle can.   He suggested warming the pipe up with a blow torch before painting so I did this particularly as the ambient temp was a bit on the low side.   The paint seemed to go on well and it's looking quite reasonable.   It's got to cure for 10+ hours so I'll leave it a day or two and then bolt it back on the bike and I can then go and make some more blue smoke.   Then I suppose I ought to remove the other one and re-paint that just to balance it up.

Whilst I was thinking about (and moving) motorcycles I thought I would start the AJ and the Beeza and get the oil lurking in their sumps back into their oil tanks, that's the trouble with old bikes.      The AJ was a bit reluctant as the sump was quite full as its not run for several weeks but we got there in the end.  I also noted that the battery is dead so it will need a replacement.    The Beeza started second go using my newly devised "Put it in 4th and wind it backwards up to compression using the back wheel"  aka the "Grubby Hand" method.     This is only necessary because it doesn't have a decompressor fitted and the kick start gearing makes it very difficult indeed to turn it over with the starter and stop just the other side of top dead centre.    The GH method saves Puppers from being worn to a frazzle trying to start it conventionally 😀

Right, I'm told we're off to the garden centre.    Wish the wallet luck!

TTFN

7 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Don’t retire. It’s not good for you! 

54 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

Bu88er!

I'm mighty glad that I did as soon as I was able and not hang around for NRD.     My main reason was the fact that too many of my former friends and colleagues did so and lasted months not years.    Where's the fun in that?  

In my case, not long after bailing out early Covid struck the world (which rather cramped everyone's style) and then shortly afterwards my "Significant health issue" occurred (usually referred to as the Great Inconvenience).    What was brought into  very sharp focus for me by my GI is you really, really, really don't know what's just around the corner and (for me at least) that this is it  and that life is not a rehearsal*.

Two of my really good friends who were short changed;

John (after we blagged a flight in a Tiger Moth, I think he enjoyed it) got 13 months after his NRD,  Stuey (on the footplate on the Bure Valley Railway) didn't quite make it.    

They were both well and truly cheated, two nicer chaps you couldn't wish to meet.

Go for it Robert!

Time for bed I fancy, night all.

* I appreciate that there are many who have differing perspectives on this which is fair enough but we'll not go down the route of forbidden topics

Afternoon!

I thought I might cut a couple of the cross beams for the pergola this morning.      It turned out that I didn't know when to stop so all 5 have been cut, given a good dousing in Creocote and positioned on the pergola after wrestling with the wayward and largely unsupported Wisteria.       I fear some prunage may still be required on final assemble but don't mention it to @Winslow Boy!

Anyway, at the finish I can claim to be "completely done in" so the planned trip to the hospital this afternoon for a blood test has been deferred until tomorrow (walk-in not an appointment so that's fine).   I'm (mostly) pleased with the way the pergola is progressing so a nice relaxing afternoon is being enjoyed.    Part of this lack of activity has included watching part of one of two free DVDs that came within a "bargain book" on the dH Comet Airliner I picked up at a garden centre (in Woking if anyone nearby fancies it) over the weekend.     The book obviously includes quite a bit about the investigations into the crashes of the early marks including photographs of the fatigue test tanks at Farnborough in which the cause was confirmed.    Having spent nearly a year of my my working life working on/in the corresponding tank at Hatfield (not on the Comet, I'm not THAT old!) it would have been rude not to buy it for the bargain price of £9.99.     

The two DVD "features" I've watched so far were both on the the work of the RAE.   One from the '60s and the other from the '80s and most interesting they were too.    The one from the '80s especially brought memories flooding back;   look there's an HP9835 computer just like the one I used to program!    And who can forget those Tektronix Graphics terminals?     Early ring laser gyros,  UV recorders, rows of manometers, things that suddenly go Whoosh! etc etc, what's not to like?     Those of you who have worked on aircraft, missiles or other military equipment will recall "the smells" associated with such kit.   I'm sure I could smell them whilst I was watching the videos but I hadn't realised Smelly Vision had been invented.     Overall, that impulse purchase has provided a jolly good result and I've not even really looked at the book yet.      There was also a book on LMS locomotive design as well which looked good but I didn't think I'd get away with buying two books without a getting stern look so the damage to the wallet was limited  .......

TTFN

Evening All

Been away for a few days on the south coast.    I've been keeping up with ERs but not commenting because that's far too much like hard work on the mobile!

We thought we'd go for a walk (more of a blow really) on the causeway around Emsworth Mill Pond which is normally quite a picturesque scene.      

Unfortunately someone had pulled the plug out* and it wasn't quite as picturesque as usual!

Unfortunately someone else had also pulled the plug out of the sea on the other side of the causeway so that wasn't very picturesque either!
 

Did I mention the wind?    Perishing! 🤣

Anyway it was a very nice few days away.  Shame the same can't be said for the return journey on the M25 today ......

*   I later wondered if the plug removal was part of necessary and recent "water management" activities to alleviate flooding further upstream?

TTFN

Evening All!

16 hours ago, polybear said:

ION....

One for @PupCam:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68426263

Ha!    You don't get that nonsense with a 1939 Beeza!

11 hours ago, polybear said:

....... piddled in the pool this time; for some strange reason I noticed that the slow lane was inhabited by just one Bear + A.N. Other from Lap 15 onwards.  I wonder why?

I do wish you'd stop doing that.

7 hours ago, polybear said:

 - including the dreaded once-fortnightly "Bike Oil" reminder, which involves revolving Harry the Honda's back wheel round and the engine over TDC/compression ten+ times whilst the bike is in top gear (750 DOHC, with the plugs in...) - gets everything turnin' & wobblin' in order to keep the engine free & lubricated.  Good for building up forepaw muscles too....

You do realise that bike's now got 19000 miles on the clock and it's not been out of the shed!

6 hours ago, Hroth said:

 I would have thought that Bear would have dived head-first into the cake, sending it flying everywhere, rather than bother with trying to manipulate it with a mouth held implement...

 

It would also have made a more dramatic picture!

Completely unbelievable picture.   Bear would never avoid a cake that big.    Must be a Deep Fake.    Next thing you know we'll be seeing a photo of "old pals"   Trump & Bear taking a selfie down the pub!

1 hour ago, woodenhead said:

Packed train, lady across from me has taken two seats and the guard does absolutely nothing even though it’s obvious what’s she done.

 

Some people are so selfish

I seem to be using the train far more now since the regular and frequent "Up the smoke" hospital visits than I did in the rest of my entire life.      The thing that really, really gets my goat and I see it on EVERY TRIP WITHOUT EXCEPTION are the INCONSIDERATE VERMIN who insist on using the opposite seat as a foot stool.  It isn't it's a seat for sitting on,  and who knows what sh*t you've been walking through beforehand.   Maybe it's just me ..... ?

ION

Busy, busy, busy.   

The morning (up to a latish lunch) was spent cutting, chiselling, filing and drilling pergola timbers and then erecting the first half of the second side.     All finished off with a very generous drowning in Creocote with special emphasis on the end-grain.      I was completely done-in at the end of it but it was a good job jobbed so that's a big tick.     After lunch was a trip to the (local) hospital for an appointment.   Due to unpublicized free parking arrangements this involves a walk (good) but I was already worn-out from this morning's exertions (bad) so I felt even more tired on my return.       Then before dinner I had to jump in Monty and drive to a friends house ~15 miles away with an RD200 silencer* that seems to have a hole where it shouldn't.  He's going to remove the hole with the aid of his TIG welder.     So that's used yet more energy!

* Used in a fairly loose manner

So time for bed said Zebedee

Night All

Evening All

Well, after what seems like months a short chug was chugged this morning on the Beeza over to Old Warden.      As I intend to take it with me as my "local transport" when I'm next on tour with that band I thought  I'd better give it a test run 🤣.     Although it's a lightweight machine, I'll leave it to the Roadies to load and unload it from the truck.     I will help of course - I'll carry the drip tray.  

All jokes aside, as I've been rather out of both energy and stamina for a couple of weeks I've been struggling to start the meagre little 250 * so this morning I enlisted the assistance of "staff" for the starting procedure.   It seemed to work.

After lunch a trip to Ampthill Park with Junior Puppers and the Junior Junior Puppers (is that another group?) for a walk and to let them use up some of their excess energy (wish they could just give it to me!).  I have to say the park is very good with some very nice walks and great views over some of Bedfordshire's extinct brick fields and is probably best remembered as the location of the Golden Hare buried treasure in the early '80s book Masquerade.   You may recall the position of the shadow of the cross of Catherin'e Cross on the Spring equinox marked the spot to start digging.

On our return a bit more Pergola timber preparation was undertaken.  I'm almost ready to put the first half of the second side up.   That will be a good milestone.

So, all-in-all quite a busy day for a worn out Puppers.

TTFN

* In  my defence I'll add that it is sans de-compressor and since the last re-build it does have plenty of compression and the kick start gearing does make positioning the piston in precisely the correct point in the cycle (immediately after TDC on the compression stroke)  rather tricky.   Well that's my excuse and you'll have to take it or leave it.