tetsudofan

Received my Kernow chocolate and cream version at lunchtime today: Running-in on analogue at the moment prior to being dcc-fitted. Keith

Nasty, never been keen on snakes, nearly stood on one in Japan. Keith

Following my episode with the Out-of-Hours Doctors just over a week got a call from the GP Surgery that they've got the results of the blood tests that I requested, my PSA reading has gone down to 0.8 from 1.1 last year. Will be getting a call from the GP on Friday to discuss things. As Spring has disappeared the azaleas in the garden are losing all their flowers : Don't know how that silver thing crept into the picture...…. Off to water the plants in the garden. Enjoy your evening. Keith

Yes, I can vouch for that, Honda did do 50cc, I owned one whilst I was living in Saigon. Have still got the owner manuals, one in English and one in Vietnamese: It didn't get souped-up but occasionally it got abused. Returned home one evening after a party (somewhat inebriated) with me in the middle and a short guy sitting on the tank and another larger guy sitting on the back seat. We tried it again when we were sober but couldn't manage it. The Vietnamese, being of smaller stature, could get a family of husband and wife and kids on one bike!! Keith

Looks like I've learnt something today, seems as though I've got a broiler on the upper oven of my gas cooker - but it seems to be a multi-purpose piece of kit - as well as using it to do the toast using the upper burner you can also use the lower burner as a mini-oven. The main oven below only has a lower burner so its just an oven. Does not get used much these days as I tend to live on salads and not cooked meals. If I do want a hot meal it normally goes in the microwave. Keith

Evening, was out in the garden late this afternoon running one of those things that move on strips of metal (brass in my case) and heard a rumbling noise and looked up to see a formation of nine fighter planes heading off in the direction of France. It was only when I got indoors and read the news realised that it must have been the French contribution to the fly past earlier in London in cooperation with the RAF. Looked quite impressive but no coloured contrails though. Keith

Evening all, have been busy in the garden the last few weeks starting with this: and ending with this: Had hoped to complete the work much quicker than happened but the disappearance of mortar mix down here in the far south east corner held up the work. Popped into Wickes on Friday after doing weekly shopping run at Sainsburys and found that they had some in stock which had only just arrived at the store. Over the weekend accumulated 18 bags (plus 7 bags of concrete mix) but when I popped into Wickes to get some building blocks this morning noticed that the mortar mix shelves were bare. The metal-work in the top picture will be re-cycled, its not been wasted...…... Keith

Guernsey managed to escape from the docks and managed to find itself a brake van: Keith

Had bit of a scare early this morning, went to the loo and seem as though I had overdosed on beetroot. Having had bladder/prostrate problems (which have been under control) you always think the worst and at that time in the morning you don't know what to do.. At 6:30am I phoned 111 and got through straight away. The guy took all my details and said that he would pass my details to the local out-of-hours doctors set-up who would then contact me. The phone rang at 6:45am and I explained what had happened and the doctor ran through all the symptoms etc. and suggested I visit my local Minor Injuries Clinic where I could see one of the Out-of-Hours doctors. Would I like an appointment at 10:00am or 11:00am? Chose the 10:00am slot and arrived on time together with a sample. Was handed a facemask and asked to wait whilst the doctor put on all his PPE gear. Few minutes later he was checking my pulse, blood pressure and body temperature that were all spot on. We chatted for sometime and he is sure, based upon my medical history, that its not what I thought it was. He thinks that I've got an infection for which he prescribed an antibiotic - the first antibiotic I've been prescribed for many, many years. Was on my home at 10:25am armed with a prescription and found a small pharmacy on the way who were able to dispense the antibiotics after which I had a pleasant walk home arriving back at 10:45am. The doctor did say that if something grotty should develop over the weekend I should, as I live by myself, phone 999. He also suggested that I should, to be on the safe side, contact my surgery (at which he used to be a partner but I never met him) early next week to arrange a PSA test which I normally have done annually in July/August. What has amazed me today was how quickly all of the above happened, especially how quickly the Out-of-Hours service reacted. This was in complete contrast to when I last had to contact the service when I was caring for my late Mother. At that time you had to call SEDOC (as it was called) who would then, within the next hour or so, phone back to discuss the problem and decide what action was to be taken. At the end I had no confidence in them. The 111 service has certainly worked for me today. Thank you NHS. Keith

Just ordered my chocolate and cream version from Kernow together with Bachmann PluX22 decoder so that the unit can be run pending the arrival/announcement of a "definitive" sound decoder from the sound specialists. Keith

Reading about all the recent racial/discrimination discussions its interesting how such discrimination can sometimes get reversed. Having lived in Japan for many years there is a subtle form of discrimination against foreigners depending upon the words that are used to describe foreigners based upon the usage of the words comprised of: gai = outside koku = country jin = person If you are called a "gaijin" (the normal wording used by the average Japanese) its regarded as being rather rude as it basically means "outside person" On the other hand if you are called a "gaikokujin" it is regarded as being polite as it basically means "outside country person" During my trips to Hawaii with my Japanese partner at that time it would be interesting watching the reaction of the average Japanese tourist when I would say "look gaijin!!". Back here at home I'm a happy bunny as at last I've been able to buy some concrete and mortar mixes (which are used when muddling in the garden) which have been unobtainable at any of the normal suppliers. Popped into Homebase yesterday - no concrete or mortar mix, no idea when stocks would arrive but on visiting Wickes I was surprised that they had some on the shelves which, I was told, had only just arrived. Bearing that in mind, I got as much as I could safely get in the car and returned twice again so that I now have six bags of concrete mix and eighteen bags of mortar mix plus some aerated (Celcon) and heavier breeze blocks in stock!! Should keep me going for some time . Will be able to finish this: so that the blocks will be completely covered by the rock facing. Keith

A week or so ago there was talk of tanks on the thread. One day woke up and found a tank in the garden: Difficult to see at first, seems to blend in with the background...... Keith

Reminds me of my time in Saigon in 1968/69 when a couple of the girls working in the British Embassy were competing as to which of them would have the shortest skirt, they even when as far as having their knickers made of the same material as the skirts. Keith

Hi there, My Western Pullman has been parked on my layout since taking delivery from the retailer. It gets run from time-to-time and I've not encountered any noise problems from the motor, all I can hear are the sounds provided by the sound decoder. Gave the unit a run just now and it performs perfectly. Keith

Evening all, a week or so ago, the subject of collecting was mentioned. Despite not being a smoker and needing matches, collecting match boxes at hotels and restaurants was something I got into, at times it seemed to be a thing to do many years ago. During the weekend I came across some the boxes that I collected, never used and in pristine condition. The following picture shows some of them: For those interested from top left to bottom right: Kaufleuten Zurich Capitol Tokyu Hotel, Tokyo Yashiro Shabu Shabu House, Tokyo Some place in Korea Hotel Pulitzer, Amsterdam Rock'n Show & Beer Restaurant, Tokyo Ritz Carlton Hotel, Hong Kong Schweizerhof Hotel, Zurich Hotel de Premiere, Minowa, Japan Savoy Hotel, London Chinzan So Restaurant, Tokyo Tony Roma's Ribs Restaurant, Tokyo Al Palazzo Italian Restaurant, New York Iwata Ekimae Nobusi, Iwata, Japan Brienz Rothorn Bahn, Switzerland All hotels and restaurants I've visited, never did any swaps! Different to collecting stamps..... Keith

Its amazing how the garden can change from year to year. Ten years ago part of it looked like this: and this evening it looks like this: Keeps me out of trouble though!! Time for bed, pleasant dreams, Keith

Back in Japan many, many moons ago I was out shop gazing in Tokyo and suddenly made an impulse buy - and returned home this: Why I bought it I do not know but I did so had to give it a home and it remained with me until I left Japan twenty years ago. The penguin then got shipped (with my household goods etc. - it didn't have to swim on its own) to the UK and was put into semi-storage awaiting a time when it could be used here at home. It was not a simple change of plug, all the wiring etc. had to be changed as power in Japan is only 100volts. It went on my to do list Yesterday I had an electrician in to replace some fluorescent tubes and other light fittings etc. with LED equivalents. When confirming with him which tubes were to be replaced we passed the penguin and I asked him if it could convert to current UK standards. He had a look at it and thought it was doable. He returned after lunch with all the necessary bits and pieces and had it done in minutes! Result, one LED penguin to UK electrical standards. Looking at what he did I could have done it myself but left it for him to do it as I don't like playing around with electrical things..... unless they are 12 to 24 volts. Keith PS: the Mr. Whippy in the picture is a money box......

….. there seems to have been a recent influx of D65xx/Cl.33s appearing on my layout: Keith

I was about to send an email to my MP on Monday but by chance looked at one of the feeds and saw that my MP was one of the first (together with another local MP) to state their views which happened to be the same as mine. Quickly changed the content of my email saying that I was pleased to see what he had posted and that I agreed with him completely. Keith

Seems as though different councils are using different arrangements. I had a slot for today from 1:45pm to 3:00pm. They are doing five slots a day with 30 minutes break between each slot. They recommended turning up early, not leaving it to the last moment. I turned up at 1:30pm expecting to find a queue of cars but no, I was the only car there. A large tipper lorry was leaving the tip and as soon as he as out of the way a guy checked my car details, gave the thumbs-up to the guy standing by the gate and I was waved in. In normal times there is enough space for 9 cars a time (3 rows of three) but now it is now marked for 4 cars. Got rid of all my garden waste and other bits and pieces and was on my way out at 1:45pm at which time there were nine cars waiting. Spoke with one of the guys working there and he said that after some problems when the tip reopened the system seems to be working well. Only downside I can find is that you have to wait 25days before you can make another booking. Keith

Talking about rank reminds me of my time with The Chartered Bank (of India, Australia and China as it was called many years ago) when I joined in 1966 as a foreign staff probationer . Just after my 21st birthday (when you could the legally sign a contract) I was called to the Personnel Department and was told that I would be meeting the Court of Directors and later that week would be appointed to the covenanted staff as a Sub-accountant at the Hong Kong branch. When I arrived in Hong Kong I was No. 4 Officer in the Current Accounts Department. Things were quite formal those days, I called my superiors "Sir" and my subordinates called me "Sir". Things got interesting when I joined the Marine Division of the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police as a Constable (as our division was mainly European we had European constables and sergeants - the only ones in the HKAP). As it happened one of the local staff in the bank was also in the HKAP but was an Inspector in one of the land divisions so when we met at work he would address me as "Sir" but if we met in uniform on duty (which we did once) I had to salute and address him as "Sir". Keith

OK, that's possible, we did change around equipment. What I do remember is that I was most accurate with the AK47 Keith

Had a pleasant surprise this morning, my monthly pharmacy prescription was delivered by a ppe-equipped guy from EDF. Normally I request my prescription on EMI-access (as I did on Monday) and collect the prescription the following week from the local branch of Lloyds Pharmacy with is adjacent to the doctor's surgery. As I'm only a five minute walk away from the surgery/pharmacy I have no problem collecting the prescription in person. Only problem is nowadays I might have to wait up to 30 minutes to get into the pharmacy. I phoned the pharmacy this morning to thank them for having delivered the prescription and, after getting over the shock over having someone call them to say thankyou, they explained that they had been authorised to work with EDF and will be delivering future prescriptions for the length of the duration. Regarding Marmite etc. I'm definitely into Marmite (especially with dripping on toast) , detest peanut butter but can eat peanuts although prefer cashew nuts. Week or so ago there was talk about the AK47. This is the only weapon that I have held and fired: The picture was taken at the Saigon Police Firing Range back in 1968/69 when I was taken there by a couple of American guys in CDF (Community Development Foundation) but rumoured to be part of the CIA. The only other time I handled a firearm was during the Red Guard riots in 1967 in Hong Kong when, as a member of the Marine Division of the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police (before they became the Royal HKAP), we were mobilised one day when there was trouble on the border. Think that we were the only division of the HKAP that were not normally armed but in this case we were given a handgun and 5 bullets. Not having had much training in firearms the handgun went in one pocket and the bullets went in the other pocket. The Red Guard riots were the cause of me being moved from Hong Kong as when we were mobilised I was spending more time marine policing (despite not being able to swim!) than banking. The only way to get me out of the HKAP was to transfer me out of Hong Kong and bring in a replacement.... so they transferred me to Saigon where I arrived just after the Tet Offensive. Interesting times!! Keith

Seeing your marmite collection reminds me of one of my hobbies of the past.... collecting soap from the many hotels I've stayed in: A close-up shows that there was a good geographical spread of hotels: Only collected soap from hotels that I actually stayed in. Suppose if there was another pandemic and soap disappeared from the shelves I wouldn't have a problem. Another "hobby" was collecting small match boxes even though I did not smoke - I'll find the box one day. Keith

I've ordered the sound version. The problem, though, having heard the real thing operating in Lowestoft, they didn't make much noise. We used to walk down the harbour to get to the beach and one of these would creep up on us without any warning, turn around and there it was. Despite that I want a sound version, it might be quiet but that's better than no chuff chuff sound. It will be realistic!! Keith