Regularity

Make sure there’s a lock on that bureau, before the baby becomes a toddler…

I highlighted that to generate a response, and the ability to translate popped up. The translation “service” generated a far more surreal answer than I could have managed:

These are very circular arguments.

In context, wouldn’t that have been Micheal Gove?

Yes, but the article didn’t say that, and neither did I. Just wanted to be clear on that. Also, I think Corbyn’s problem was that he was/is Corbyn: didn’t need the press to alienate himself with large swathes of the electorate.

They were quoting approval ratings, not commenting on why, and simply pointing out that BoJo was deluding himself over his mandate: the article wasn’t about Corbyn.

The levels of self-delusion currently prevalent in what has been called the most successful party in western politics staggers belief. The Guardian has an interesting take on all this - Boris was actually less popular than his predecessor, but he was simply vastly more popular than Jeremy Corbyn. Otherwise, he didn’t really get the mandate he thinks he had. (Leaving aside that the mandate he had actually came from the electoral college known as the House of Commons.)

Were these wagons very restricted in their routing, or did they get around a lot?

Quite.

That’s (usefully) more specific than “some months”, but there’s no need to go beyond asking if anyone is aware of a problem, and to start making comparisons.

Yeah, I saw that, but didn’t have the time to type anything more as I had to do some work. I knew that absent myself, someone would pick that up. I am not so sure about that. He may believe it to be the case, but if so, he is heading for an unpleasant shock. More interestingly, we are in uncharted constitutional territory here. When the Commons has sorted out who is going to get their support, then that person is invited by the Monarch to form a Government. Given the number of vacant positions within and outside the cabinet, is the Prime Minister actually capable of running the Government? Should the Monarch ask him about this minor, trifling issue, in the guise of Head of State? I ask this, as our monarch is solely ceremonial, as all actual government is done in the sovereign’s name under the “Crown Prerogative”, and we have no clearly defined system for dealing with our current situation, absent a vote of no confidence in the PM. (Which does not mean there has to be a GE, just that the Conservative Party needs to sort itself out PDQ and choose someone to act as PM, if not party leader.) Pro tem, the permanent nature of the Civil Service means that Johnson can preside (effecting decisions already made) over the country, but governing (making new decisions) is a separate matter.

Fellow RMWebbers, Some of these issues may be due to unexpected events, such as illness or even death, so can we hold back on the speculation, comparisons and criticism that go beyond the OP?

There was a model of the GNR Horncastle branch in the MRC in the early 50s. This was cited as being unusual in being a model of a real prototype terminus (as well as being pregrouping and a BLT), IIRC. Not sure if there was much room on Maybank for scenery!

With Gove as Brutus?

So, he has finally got the message.

Aye, 3D print a whole layout by then.

That will attract everyone who hasn’t…

Famous military maxim: You can’t go into battle without a plan, but your plan won’t survive your first engagement with the “enemy”, so be prepared to throw it away.

“No. 1. The larch. The latch.”

This is going from the sublime (people with birds on their hats) to the ridiculous (Tartarians). But this is now purely in the realms of fantasy: Sir Kier Starmer has made a funny comment. No, that’s too much.

I’ve been not building a layout for a lot longer… ;)

Because until now, it looked like Boris’s bluster would see all of them through (as in to and beyond) the next general election. Now they think he is an electoral liability, because not only is he lying to the voters, but to them, and expecting them to cover for him.

Thanks for saying what many of us are thinking! Absorbing Australian bluntness is not always a bad thing!

You could just build an electronic whistle simulator: circuits used to be regularly published 40 years ago, so there must be some around with fewer components nowadays.

Work out how much you get paid (take home) per hour. Divide that into the £80, and you can see how many hours work was required to pay for this stuff. Then compare that with the number of hours you would need to build something of at least equivalent quality. (As a rough estimate, we work about 1,800 hours in a year. The median salary is about £24,000, which means £13.33 per hour before any deductions. That’s roughly £10 an hour. What could you build in 8 hours to that level of quality?) The next time you look at something RTR and think it “expensive”, think about the above, and realise that these are only expensive when viewed against your “hobby money”. They really are not expensive. Something made to that standard would require a very skilled craftsman, whose hourly rate would be much (hopefully, otherwise the skills involved not being valued by you). Not so expensive now, in terms of the maker. Once time has passed, it is gone, but investment in it means that it has value for the future*. Money can be replaced if spent or augmented if scarce (get an extra job/pay rise). Money can be used as a shortcut for time by buying RTR and kits, and saving potentially hundreds of hours against the cost of a handful of hours of work. * As a forthcoming father, the time you spend with your child is the most precious and the best investment in the future of all, but you do need to allow yourself and the mother personal time (together as well as individually) if only to maintain sanity.