Oldddudders

Seen on Facebook: I thought my vasectomy would stop my wife having more babies, but apparently it just makes them come out a different colour.

Glad to see you aren't feeding them early!

Ok - how much to not publish copies on ERs, eh?

Yup. You were able to doze off in peace! Until that cat, aka the French National Nuisance, thought otherwise!

Here in France, of course, we keep the pictures taken on such occasions.....

Ian is of course a very fine name! And I'm still here, having failed the scan test, conducted in front of Sherry, who has gone home alone. Some wives would be grateful! Worse things really do happen at sea.

The smaller lamps are such an improvement. They now become a detail of the loco's appearance, rather than dominating it. The eternal struggle between signalmen and drivers was a feature of my time in Control, now more than 40 years ago. Suitable advice was regularly offered by each to the other, and on occasions the signalman would demand that the driver's words, lost on the wind in many cases, be repeated to him. Some diplomacy was called for!

I felt the Blue Box Empire announcement was one of consolidation and catchup, with only a modest set of truly new items. This kinda gives Hornby time to breathe - the floor will not be wiped with their name while they get their breath back.

Never, ever, spoil a good story for the sake of the truth!

Nice analysis, John.

The fuelling is quite simple. You've seen those In-air refuelling barges used by the military. It will be like one of those, but with a conveyor belt for the logs. Low-tech but effective. Isaac Newton will probably help out. Actually the Boeing statement is quite heartening. Lateral thinking of the right sort, surely. Nurse Delphine has the frizzies this morning. Much giggling by the other nurses when I commented, told her she looked belle. Being complimented by a 67-y-o Anglais with a bladder issue is every young Frenchwoman's dream, of course.

Having been shown the prototypes, I can confirm they are lovely. This is a lot less of a Rule 1 than many of us have accepted over the years.

Brecknell Willis? Faiveley?

Morning all Not having slept well since Tuesday night, I was quite a tired boy by bedtime, and settled down about 10. Amazed to wake up and hear trams running - 6 a.m.! I knew the nurse would be coming to withdraw the catheter, and sure enough it's been done. A brief discomfort while she did the deed, and a couple of mins of pain afterwards, but it soon eased and I am now comfortable. Now to hope that the bladder remembers what to do, and passing water resumes normality. If so I can go home. Regrettably the surgeon used the word 'fragile' about it when he visited last night, so this may not be my last stay in the clinique, I fear. We will see. Sherry visits later, and hopefully will whisk me back to Chez Nous. Hope everyone's weekend goes peacefully, and maybe we'll see Jock pop in.

It's all about uncertainty, really. Yes, been paying taxes here for a decade, while since my 65th birthday the UK picks up my healthcare costs anyway. But what would obtain if UK sets sail? No-one knows. As Tony S pointed out, there is a two-year notice period, so 2018 would be crunch time if things do get tricky. Just something to watch at this stage.

Marvellous to hear that Jock is on the up, thanks Flavio, and Gordon sounds very chipper for a man so recently laid low. RaR gets my vote for surprising age. Many Happy Returns seems the right thing to say to one 11 years further down the track than me! If the vote goes against continuing European Membership in June, I shall really relish being back among those nice people Barry gets to meet. Hopefully if I have to return we can find somewhere remote from such no-hopers. Come to think of it, it must have been part of the impetus to move to France in the first place!

And a wrong gear for every occasion. My mate had the gear lever - looooong, they were - come off in his hand. In second, natch.

I think I've seen him posting elsewhere recently. Not necessarily bad news.

I did wonder whether the withdrawal of trade samples was because some models are sold out before the mags reach the newsagents' shelves, thus creating demand which cannot be met. I certainly agree the tiny saving on the marketing budget is as nothing to getting a published thumbs-up. The comments about the performance of cheap 4- and 6-wheel chassis takes me back to some reasoning by Coachmann a couple of years back. He pointed out that an unsprung 6-wheel chassis can 'rock' about the centre axle, making dead-frog points a pain at low speed. Obviously 4-wheelers don't suffer from this. I certainly find my Kernow O2s and 0298s perform better than Bachmann's E4 in this respect.

I haven't entirely caught up yet, but thought a short update would be appropriate. The surgeon had expressed satisfaction before he left last night, and already thought the colour of my output (ooh!) looked very promising. This morning he has been in, endorsed his previous view, says I might be out tomorrow. The 0.9% chlorate of sodium - is that the same as NaCl? - that has been rinsing me through at about 5 litres per hour, is now withdrawn pro-tem. We will see. For the avoidance of doubt, the male extremity, when fitted with a catheter, is a pretty dismal specimen. Great to see Gordon's return. While hardly triumphant, a great deal better than he feared. And a real live Debs with her sense of humour intact is a delight. ERs has had worse days. A&E? My one visit to Tunbridge Wells was after I had hurt my knee. Other patients were more urgent. One attempted suicide, a Ford Fiesta inverted with 7 youngsters inside - no way was I more important than them! So when the chap with the stethoscope finally came to see me, felt the knee and said it didn't feel broken, it was all down to finding a radiographer or going home. The x-ray duly happened, and the kneecap was pronounced truly marbled - all fissures. I was in for a few days.... When I brought Deb into A&E here in LM in 2012, albeit with a referral from our GP, she was put on oxygen within 10 minutes, in a room after 30 for examination. Nothing could have saved her, but efforts were made. Hard to fault.

Hatton's are being a bit opportunistic advertising them in the same week Bachmann confessed they are still in the drawing office!

Good morning from Clinique Du Pre Sherry and I were up at 6, here before 8. I haven't eaten or drunk since last night, and now they tell me my op is programmed for 1600. For two pins I'd walk out. The surgery would not be happening if I hadn't gone back to the clinic to say all wasn't perfect and I now regret doing so. Blood sugar level and rationality are very closely linked in my case, so as one drops off the graph so does the other. I will be unbearable by 4.

I haven't tried the surname game. Not a lot of point when dad changed it in 1938, and didn't even tell us kids. He was from Newcastle, and his birth name was Salkeld. Sherry's maiden name was Fraser, which is how I knew her at skool, of course, where we met. The late, lamented Friends Reunited had a hand, as well. Her father was an Ulster Orangeman, complete with bowler hat and sash. His forebears had left Scotland in Mary Queen of Scots's reign, probably unwillingly.

Morning all Best wishes to those with ailments, be they transient or enduring. Nice to hear some successes among the latter, e.g. Mal's chemo. A damp morning, not as cold - but with thunder rumbling for the last couple of hours. In March? Coaches with people in are not new to me. The Mistral HO Picasso, released about 6 or 7 years ago, came with about 15 painted figures in situ. All Chinese figures tend to be rather brightly painted, so perhaps we can look forward to modelling threads identifying a route to toning them down. I added figures to some of my other French railcars, will not be doing so to the large number of Hornby Maunsells, which are unlit. Terminus. A good film by any standard, of course. And that earnest young man responding to a rather vague telephone enquiry, Gerry, went on to be my boss as Operating Officer for the South Eastern Division. Yes, he still had the squeaky voice. Christmas Cards from him and Ann stopped a few years back. The hay arrived yesterday, although I was out on my constituional walk with Alison, who will be looking after the dobbins while I am briefly in dock. I check in to the clinic at 0800 tomorrow, expect to be back in my room mid-afternoon. I think we have agreed a local anaesthetic will suffice, as last time. A few days before I can come home. Hope your week progressing smoothly.

Horrid news from Gordon. Having anything for the third time is surely unreasonable. Hope they get to the source soonest. I think DD's kettle is a Reichsbahn Class 52. They made an awful lot of them and they went al over Europe after the war.