John Harris

A bit academic at the moment, but the primers Poundland sell (red oxide, grey, white and black) seem to work fine with most plastics and under most paints. And obviously only a quid. jh

Blimey, just as well, I was thinking of excuses for the chainsaw and MIG welder I picked-up at Lidl with my bread & milk. jh

”Foreign Food” being limited to the occasional Italian, Chinese and Indian restaurant (all serving dishes heavily modified from the originals to suit the British palate. The dishes served in most India restaurants (usually staffed by Bangladeshis) still bear no resemblance to those served in Indian homes, usually they are too sweet and too salty Chocolate Cigarettes (gone) I remember candy cigarettes, the only chocolate ones were one my Dad brought back from Germany. Sweets from large glass jars, weighed out into paper bags There are several sweet shops locally (East London) that sell loose sweets in paper bags. ”Proper” butchers with carcasses hanging in the window (pretty much disappeared today, I think) Likewise, there are several traditional butchers in my area. Double-Rovers (combined LT underground and bus pass) They are called 'One Day Travel Cards' and work on all TfL services. Wooden escalators The Kings Cross fire meant the removal of wooden escalators, probably for the best? Ham, cut off the bone as you waited (and whatever has happened to “York Ham”: boiled, de-rinded, rolled in yellow breadcrumbs and then sliced to order?) Ham 'off the bone' is available in most supermarkets, on the deli counter, plus specialist delicatessen shops. Cadbury’s Smash (instant mashed potato) You can still that in my local Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys. BabyCham (pseudo Champagne - marketed as being a “sophisticated” drink) It's called "Prosecco" these days. Black and White TV They still issue B&W TV licences, 7,000 in the latest figures. Milky Bars You can still get Milky Bars in various sizes. Skool Uniform of short trousers and blazer, plus cap (not forgetting white shirt, skool tie, knee-high socks and lace-up black leather shoes) Many junior and infants schools have uniforms with shorts, plus the rest. Leather satchels for skool. School style satchels are very fashionable, and expensive, albeit not for school children Proper plimsolls! Converse make "plimsolls", canvas lace-up or elasticated shoes. The wooden ruler and/or cane as punishment at skool Beating children was never really a good thing Walnut Whips (I haven’t seen those for ages..) Still made in various sizes. Dare I suggest you haven't been looking?

Of course, the brake dust will be everywhere, so the cat might be transferring more onto the car as it jumps up. jh

Prince August are still around, now based in Ireland. Now producing mythological figures from Ireland, though sadly short of UK stockists, only W. Hobby. jh

Perhaps newsagent should introduce a "no browsing" policy, as you can't really sanitise magazines or books. I'm not sure I'd want a magazine browsed by several other random people at the moment. Get a subscription, either printed or digital, far safer. jh

The term "professional" is often used on eBay, "pro built" or "professional standard" seems to be quite common on adverted for built-up kits. The problem is that in modelling there is no organisation regulating modellers, a doctor, lawyer or engineer would be a member of a professional body which regulates their respective roles, you can check that Doctor A is legitimate by looking on the BMA website. jh

There is a fascinating (to me anyway) video here that explains the problem with Teslas and repairs. In short, whereas Toyota, VAG, Ford, GM, etc. have been making cars in volume for years, Tesla have not and while their cars are technical masterpieces of design and innovation, they seem to lack the teams of production engineers with experience. Obviously, this will change and probably quite quickly, but their current cars are not so easy to repair compared with similar models from other manufacturers. jh

Models railways are not my only interest, I got this from eModels just now, "Hello Scale model enthusiasts. We have received guidance from our Government and they are encouraging mail order firms to stay open! So we will be staying open for mail order!" I note the word encouraging, I assume Boris wants to carry on building his model buses? jh

Good point. Well browsed copies on a newsagent's shelf might be best avoided too. jh

Well, there have been news reports that supermarket have no 'nearly out of date' produce to donate to foodbanks. jh

I would suggest it's a good time to take out a subscription. Over the counter sales will decline if people are not going out and as shops close 'for the duration'. jh

I used to work for the NHS, one of my colleagues was 75, the NHS is an odd institution in that respect. It is not unusual for workers to retire and come back part-time. When I worked in finance, at the Millennium we found someone still getting paid on the payroll who was born before 1900. jh

I now have a vision of the medics descending on ventilating patients like a F1 pit crew, accompanied by a manic (Murray Walker to show my age) commentary, "Bedpan in and out, Old catheters off, New ones on, oh, they can't find the vein" (*not strictly medically accurate). To be fair, having witnessed some interventions in A&E, it's not far from the truth. JH

Having seen the queues outside various supermarkets on the news, I wonder if those so eager to stock-up on toilet roll, sanitiser, bread, pasta, etc. have quite grasped that the scrum inside these stores is actually increasing their chances of catching the Covid-19 virus? I fully expect stories in the next couple of weeks of dodgy looking characters knocking on doors offering said items at inflated prices, because surely they can't be planning on keeping these foodstuffs fresh enough to use themselves in the next six months? JH