jonny777

Missed all the showers again today. Marvellous. 

I was pottering around the darker recesses of the back garden, near the old shed, and spied a dead rat on the ground. It was not particularly big, but I decided to leave it where it was because SWMBO goes a bit over the top if I try and double bag it and put it in the bin. 

Anyhow, an hour or so later I noticed a Magpie acting rather suspiciously in that area, and then it flew up into a nearby tree and was pecking vigorously at something, and eating it. I ventured out to the shed and inspected the area - the rat was not there any more. 

Oh well, nature has its own waste disposal system. That'll do for me. 

Dry and sunny again in North Somerset. We missed all the showers again yesterday, but cloud is developing again now and is beginning to look like giant cauliflowers (technical term). Actually the real technical term is Cumulus Congestus. 

Tomato logistics have been postponed until after storm 'mayday' which should have blown itself out by Tuesday afternoon, when the great troughs-filling marathon will commence. 

I may just slouch on the sofa in front of Murphy v Selby for the afternoon. 

That is what I thought, but their interpretation is obviously a bit lateral. 

This was part of the solid fuel email I received - "Please note, that the plastic bags will be cut open before we leave your premises in order to comply with the new legislation."

8 minutes ago, pH said:

Did you ever experience a big-city winter smog?

Yes thanks.

Do you live right by an 8-lane motorway? (Freeway, if you prefer). 

5 hours ago, C126 said:

Having heard this on the news to-day:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56949426

 

I just wanted to post a pean to the now 'guilty pleasure' of a coal fire at home.  We were brought up with heating from a Parkray, which while enclosed and burning smokeless fuel (Phurnacite, I think), is, like the smell of creosote, something I miss dearly.  I hope I am not alone in having enjoyed this experience; I know it is bad for the environment, but I miss a coal fire at home.  I wish we had a coal-fired range to cook on now, despite its inefficiencies and mess, to connect me to the 19th-century.  There is something 'elemental' about enjoying the warmth generated thus.  Anyway, I thought the moment should be marked somewhere, and I hope I am not the only one to mourn the age's passing.

That might be the BBC's take on the legalities of the situation, but I have just received an email from the coal merchants saying that they will continue to deliver sealed bagged house coal, but the drivers will cut the bags open before leaving the property. 

There are ways around the strict letter of the law, as speeding motorists and fox hunting farmers have shown everyone. 

On 28/04/2021 at 16:29, luckymucklebackit said:

If that Western was in Desert Sand Livery  would you be able to see it?

 

Yes, because it only became invisible in the Sahara. 

17 hours ago, Baby Deltic said:

Palace Gates -  Whitemoor coal workings were sometimes with pairs of class 15's, or Baby Deltic's or class 31's or the combination of Baby Deltic and 15.

Thanks for that info. It could be that working, instead of the Ashburton Grove one.

The Palace Gates evening working was 7J62, leaving around 19:20 and departing Hitchin at 21:04 but I don't have any other timings as it must have worked via Cambridge. However, the 15s are listed on the Whitemoor register at times which are 30 mins either side of midnight, and fit better with the Ashburton Grove service which ran 2 hours later in the evening. 

All this detail is great info. Thanks for the contributions. 

Dry and sunny in North Somerset at the moment. There were heavy showers around yesterday, but we missed them and my washing dried very quickly. There were several panic stations when very dark clouds appeared, but they passed by in an adjacent fashion. 

The idea of changing from winter to summer clothes made me smile. In the UK it would never be worth it. Anyhow, in my case denim jeans are denim jeans, whatever the weather; and a thick sweatshirt will be jettisoned for a thinner polo shirt if the temperatures rise into the mid-20s, but that is about it. 

I think this maybe outdoor tomato plant weekend, where 30-40 plants are put into large south facing troughs once cold nights are deemed to be a thing of the past, although the wet and windy bank holiday Monday scenario may delay this event until next Tuesday. Discussions with the Kamp Kommandant will no doubt be lengthy, and subtly framed, to ensure I take the blame for any errors made in the decisions once hindsight can be used with confidence. 

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

Afternoon all. 
 

Friday has been safely reached.  The computer wants to update (to something called Big Sur) so I am mistyping on the tiny screen which is not compatible with the large Gwiweral fingers. 

 

 

 

Big Sur is the Californian name for Mac OS 11. 

I have heard less than complementary quotes about it, but I can't tell you from experience as my processor is deemed to old to run the software, and I am coping quite nicely on OS 10.15.7 or Catalina as Apple would wish you to call it. 

I don't think you have to install it, but you will find that over time your older apps will slowly become out of date and eventually they will refuse to open. 

I have an external HDD onto which I have loaded 10.14 (Mojave); and I can use the Startup Disk option in System Preferences to restart my laptop with the older OS and run apps which are out of date on my more recent system. 

I find this helpful for a video editing program which I find extremely easy to use, but used to be free and this version has not been updated for years because they now want money for the more complex newer version. 

38 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

Negative Equity would also bite if you cannot keep up payments - the security is less than the loan so the bank taking back the home does not clear the debt - you'd be homeless and still in debt.

Yes, that was the problem with past house price crashes and negative equity. They coincided with a recession when increasing numbers of workers were being made redundant. 

That is purely a small pilot scheme in order to test out the efficiency (or not) of the idea/latest technology. 

Thanks very much Chris. That is extremely useful. 

An oil train from Ipswich had not crossed my mind, but maybe a block train arrived from Immingham, and was tripped in parts to East Anglian destinations? 

More investigations are needed....

Welcome to 21st century England. 

Dry and sunny here in North Somerset, although the clouds are beginning to go vertical. 

I have had ear wax problems and also find Otex to be a great way of loosening the hardened variety. 

I remember having my ears syringed when I was in my 20s, and some rather un-nerving lumps of dark brown stuff emerged. It was only when I walked out into the street from the GP surgery that the noises hit me. The traffic sounds were so loud and far more complex noises than I had gotten used to. It was quite an un-nerving experience at first, to realise what I had not been able to hear a short while earlier. 

I now have tinnitus, which is like the worst continuous musical chord ever produced; but I have got used to it and only notice when I think about it. I blame loud music in the past, especially live concerts, and listening to albums on headphones with the volume on 12.

Oh well, life is not meant to be easy - or at least that is what I was told many decades ago.  

It still looks like a Wheatear to me. 

6 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

Airliners have several computers and backup systems constantly running, cross validating etc. multiple redundancy, yet we had the 737 max incidents and subsequent grounding. 

 

If I ever drove a self driving car (which I doubt) my hands would always be hovering over the wheel, eyes 100% on the road, foot near the brake !!!!

 

Brit15

The last time I hired a people carrier for a family occasion, the only one they had was automatic transmission, and had all manner of electronic gadgets.

After an hour or so, I grew to hate it. There was virtually nothing for me to do on motorways and dual carriageways, and I found my concentration drifting away from the road. 

I was glad to get back to my car with a manual gear box. 

Presumably, if I flash my headlights to allow an auto-drive vehicle out of a side street (pedants will rush to remind me this is not allowed in the highway code), it will ignore my unselfishness?  

I have done a search for a similar subject, but have found very little - so I thought I would try a new thread. 

My Whitemoor Junction box register for October 1967 has pairs of BTH Type 1s (Class 15s) arriving around midnight-ish on most weekdays. Looking at my Locoshed books for the era, one set are 34G Finsbury Park based, and the other are 32B Ipswich. I have an ECML WTT from that era, and 5J21 was the 2050 Ashburton Grove to Whitemoor. 

I realise that most of the London rubbish went to Blackbridge sidings as there are two separate weekday trains listed for there, 7B76 and 7B82, but does anyone have any info on the train to March which I suspect is the one the 15s were rostered for? 

Also does anyone have a 1967 winter East Anglian freight WTT; which might give a clue to the Ipswich - Whitemoor service? 

13 hours ago, jbqfc said:

 

are you sure it was a juvenile as the male feeds the female as part of the courtship i have been seeing lot of it this week 

 

John 

Yes, you could be right. Although from what I have seen of that behaviour before, the male gives a seed to the female's beak and she eats it however she fancies. 

In this recent event, the adult was pecking at the seed and feeding small pieces to the juvenile which had its beak open almost continually. 

It would not surprise me if a few birds were fooled by the warm weather at the end of March. Certainly next doors' starlings were, as I have heard nestlings under a dislodged tile there for around 10 days, and the noise is getting much louder now so the baby birds must be getting quite large. I didn't go outside yesterday much, as it rained, but I wouldn't be surprised to see juvenile starlings here before the end of April, which would be another rarity for the garden. 

It looks like a Wheatear. I was also at Brean Down (on Sunday) and I was convinced I heard a couple of Chiffchaffs in the hawthorn bushes. 

What amazed me was the number of Swallows flying over during the time I was there. 

Well knock me down with a feather. 

I have just spent 5 minutes watching an adult blue tit feeding a juvenile at my garden seed feeders. I don't think I have ever seen this in April, as I thought Blue Tits delayed their egg laying until May. 

All this and in steady rain with a temperature of 7C. I hope the baby blue tits avoid hypothermia. 

40 minutes ago, petethemole said:

 vaccine passport. They may be deemed discriminatory by some, but I will object strongly to being barred from a pub, cinema or "non-essential shop" etc. for not having an "App".  

Why? 

You would be barred from those places without a valid ticket, or an ID card to prove you were over 18 (if the entrance rules required that). Some people are barred from various premises if they are wearing jeans or trainers, or not wearing a tie. Is that not discriminatory?

I am not sure why prolonged lockdown has infected a number of people with the "I have the right to walk into any premises of my choosing without having to prove I am not going to infect everyone  inside with a deadly virus, it's my human right" attitude. 

The world changed in Jan/Feb 2020, and maybe there are some deluded souls who believe we are soon going to get back to how it was in 2019 and before; but we are not. The virus is not going to go away, and we have seen how quickly it can spread when restrictions are relaxed. Vaccines will cut this dramatically, but they will not eradicate the virus completely. That is going to take a lot of effort from humanity, and part of that effort will include having to put up with a few minor inconveniences such as carrying some form of recognition that you are certified to be virus-free.