chrisf

Reading about breakfast on cruises is encouraging. I have never been on one. Maybe one day. I get the impression that there is not much to see: oh, look, there's a wave. Feel free to tell me that this does them a great injustice. What of today? Sharon Shannon in concert this evening, another fodder run this morning and unspecified pottering in between. Maybe I can put some petrol in the car before the next price increase? Chris

I was at Doncaster show yesterday. From Bedford it is a round trip of 240 miles. The return journey on the A1 was extremely wet. I enjoyed the show and came home with some essential m*d*ll*ng requisites and a couple of books. As well as meeting a number of people I know - just what should happen at any half-decent show - I was pleased to meet RMwebber Erichill for the first time but, hopefully, not the last. Unfortunately despite a hefty dose of Radox I was suffering from a surfeit of aches and pains which made walking difficult. If I had not bought an advance ticket I would have thought twice about making the trip. My efforts to find a decent breakfast en route were, as usual for the A1, unsuccessful and I had to make do with a bap containing bacon and sausages. I made the mistake of thinking that I could rely on a service area to provide a decent plateful. Clearly the only guarantee of getting one is to cook my own at an ungodly hour. Today is Valentine’s Day. I have sent, and expect to receive, no cards. The week ahead sees a concert by Sharon Shannon at The Stables on Tuesday and a meeting of Chilterns Area Group on Wednesday, the latter with the aid of Zoom. One day the Group will meet face to face and I shall die of shock. Chris

I'm off to the Doncaster show quite soon. I hope that I find a dispenser of full English between here and there but as I am using the A1 I have my doubts. Chris

I'm very good at turning women off ... Chris

I had forgotten just how long one has to spend on the phone when buying travel insurance. The experience comes in two parts - talking to the agent and listening to the recorded message apologising that all our agents are speaking to earlier callers. Taken together, these occupied not far short of an hour yesterday morning. Thank goodness it was an 0800 number. The bill came to just under £36 for a six day trip. I do not know whether it is possible to pay less but convinced that it is possible to pay a lot more. What irritates me is having to discuss the pre-existing medical conditions in the sure and certain knowledge that neither of them will flare up during the holiday. My attitude to insurance is that it covers everything except what happens. I have it because the travel company insists. Only once have I ever made a claim on travel insurance. Guess what? The thieving bar stewards found an excuse not to pay out! This morning could be rather humdrum. Once I have scorched over to Tesco to buy the milk that I forgot on my last visit and put some petrol in the car to save time tomorrow morning on my way to Doncaster, there is the glittering prospect of ..... ironing. I also need to find my name badge, for the last opportunity to wear it was longer ago than I recall. I forget how long ago it was that I last made sandwiches to take with me on a day out. It could get quite exciting. Chris

An e-mail from an old school chum has drawn my attention to an item in the February issue of Buses Magazine reviewing a recently published book by Hugh Taylor about London trolleybus depots. In it is a reference to the murky past of yours truly, in particular how two 12 year old friends set about recording what was printed on trolleybus destination blinds. The fruits of our labours may be seen in a number of books about London trolleybuses. Little did either of us realise 60 years ago that they would be in such demand. There was a snippet on the early morning radio news indicating that the Australian government is concerned at the rapid decline of the koala population and have designated the hapless animals as endangered rather than vulnerable. Better late than never, say I. Part of the trouble is that the trees in which koalas live are being felled to make way for houses for humans. It should be possible to leave the trees in place and still build houses but this leads increasingly to koalas being killed by cars. Love them while you can. Chris

As one who has been known to use that expression I am sorry to learn that you feel that way. Chris

It was brought home to me yesterday that I have led a very sheltered life. Many of my e-friends in this place are far more travelled than I will ever be and I am trying extremely hard not to be envious. Not liking airports is no help but I must grin and bear that or else I will not get to Mallorca in April. Thanks to that ruddy virus there is new paperwork to be done which some must find off-putting. My latest NHS Covid pass arrived yesterday. Unlike its predecessor, it is time limited and in two parts, domestic and travel. Both will need renewing before the first week in April, when my journey is due to take place, so a lot of work is being made for somebody. As the threat presented by Covid recedes the process may become less of a rigmarole but I'm not counting on it. As things stand, it will be much less trouble and cost a whole lot less to spend the festive season in Somerset instead of my beloved Switzerland. Meanwhile it will make sense to stay overnight at Gatwick the night before I fly. Although Thameslink is generally sound, there are potential obstacles to reaching Gatwick in time to take off at noon, especially on a Monday! Not as well known as it should be is the Law of Inverse Importance. In simple terms it states that the higher up you are the less your absence will be noticed. I discovered this way back in my working life, when it became clear that if the big boss was missing for any length of time nobody cared but if someone much more menial was missing the effects were felt much more widely. This morning there is an example in the real world. Someone Very Senior who is paid £1.4m is taking four months off, unpaid. If no-one in that person's organisation notices, why are they there? Answers on a £50 note! Chris

Coldgunnner, cancer is evil - no two ways about it. It is not just the patient that suffers but those left behind. My late father contracted lung cancer 20 years after he gave up smoking. How cruel is that? He was given between six and nine months after diagnosis but perhaps mercifully lasted only three. Almost 17 years after his passing it still hurts. I wish there was something I could say that would be of comfort to you. Chris

Mine says "print me" on it! Chris

Thanks for the advice. As there are direct trains from Bedford to Gatwick I see no need to use the car. I am rapidly coming to the view that it would be best to travel to Gatwick on the Sunday evening and find a hotel room. Chris

Some matters arising today. Bear, I might need accommodation at Gatwick in early April. I've been told when my flight takes off - just short of the crack of noon - but not how long I have to hang around the airport waiting for it to do so. Maybe I should find another excuse to phone the travel company. As for making marmalade, I do not eat enough of that wondrous confection for it to be a worthwhile task and, as I discovered the other day, it is cheap enough in the supermarket. There is, or was, a little shop in Sidmouth which sells marmalade made locally. As I type this I recall that my dad used to love marmalade and was pleased when I gave him loads of it for Christmas. I used to find many different flavours in my travels, including Welsh whisky IIRC. Zoom looms large in my life at present. Last night I enjoyed a presentation to the RCTS about the new build steam loco "Prince of Wales". This afternoon I am due to gather electronically with some chums to put the world to rights. Zoom does not yet allow one to enjoy a pint but it must only be a matter of time. Chris

I seldom drink wine and cannot recall when I last ate duck. I ought to eat more fish than I do and I am on the lookout for a decent book on how to cook it. When I do eat out, more often than not it is in a Wetherspoons. On Sunday next I will need to find somewhere on the A1 south of Doncaster where a decent full English may be had but I seem to recall that eating places on the Great North Road are few and far between. Wish me luck. Chris

My sympathy to the colleague who laments the absence of anything interesting on TV other than Countryfile. This is a more difficult task with the Olympics in season! Fortunately the likes of Call The Midwife have not been displaced. I should not say too much as it is well known that I spend too long watching TV. As I prepare to scorch off to the supernarket to buy some of the stuff that I forgot on the last visit, I hear on the radio of a substance called potato milk. Apart from wondering just how you milk a potato, I ask "why?". Not very adventurous, am I? Chris

Gentle readers are well enough aware, I think, that yours truly knows nothing about football and cares even less. That beng so, something strange happened yesterday afternoon. I was resting on my bed with a book and semi-consciously turned on the bedside radio. From it came the typically agitated sound of a commentator in full cry. I had stumbled upon the cup tie between Kidderminster Harriers and the Hammers. Oh, I grunted - but what's this? The tiny non-league side is ahead by one goal to nil! I spy giant killers. Something within me champions underdogs. I found myself paying more attention to the commentary and none on the book. Those who do follow the sport will know that Underdog Harriers ended up losing 2-1 after extra time: a shame, for it could so easily have been the other way round. In the week ahead there is little of note shown in the diary. On Tuesday I must try to enter Stalag Surgery for a Zoladex injection, the cornerstone of my treatment for prostate cancer. One of the two Zoom gatherings during the week will save me a trip to Hitchin, for the Royal Corps of Train Spotters has embraced technology at a time when other societies have laid it aside in favour of returning to draughty church halls. Meanwhile my thoughts stray from time to time to Iceland-the-country, wherein dwells the other half of a ruptured friendship. It's a bit early in the morning to toast absent friends ... Chris

A friend has recently gone to live in Iceland with his boyfriend. I hope that they will be very happy there. Closer to home, I should have been on the M6 this morning bound for the Stafford show. Sadly it has become part of the cancellation epidemic. Strictly speaking, it has been postponed but the new date clashes monumentally with something else. Oh well, less wear and tear on me and the car! Chris

The Apprentice continues to amaze me. Last night's losing team could not spell Arctic and did not know that penguins are not found there. Such is the future of commerce in the UK? Oh dear. Never mind, people: amid the Winter Olympics which will overflow from TV screens for the foreseeable there is yet another showing of the Titfield Thunderbolt this afternoon. Locking up drunken students? Come, come, Flavio! Anyone would think that you were never such a being. I have to give due credit to a certain friend of mine who was one about 10 years ago. How he managed to get a 2:1 I will never know. What's the betting that his parents never knew how much his prodigious alcohol consumption had cost them? Chris

After the war these sets were deployed on specific duties. In the London carriage working programme for summer 1955 , which may be viewed on Robert Carroll's site, they were described as "C sets". There were six diagrams for them taking them to such places as Uxbridge, Windsor, Aylesbury and "Slough Depot", which was Slough Trading Estate. Chris

Henwomble, surely ... Chris

It is just as well that almost two months will elapse before my trip to Mallorca. There are forms to be completed which are such that I see a rigmarole developing. I would love to see the normally ebullient travel expert Simon Calder holding forth on form filling, for I suspect that the task might remove the smile from his face. It may seem strange that a retired civil servant is griping about form filling. Perhaps it indicates thatsuch beings are human. I recall part of a poem on the subject: "Mid war and tumult, fire and storms, Give strength, O Lord, to dole out forms". Goodness me, what a typo-strewn piece I have just typed! It was in fluent Crabtree from end to end before I went back and corrected it. I should know better than to try to be coherent at this hour of the day. Never mind: a long hot bath with a liberal dose of Radox should cure the numerous aches and pains that plague me today. Chris

There was good news yesterday. My short break in Mallorca in April is to go ahead. A quick trip to the bank yesterday afternoon has ensured that I can pay for it and I plan to do so today. Then the fun starts. It is so long since I have needed travel insurance that I have forgotten where I bought it last time. I find it frustrating to have to give endless details about my pre-existing medical conditions in the sure and certain knowledge that none of them will kill me during the trip. It is my belief that insurance covers everything except what happens. Never mind: I intend to enjoy this short break. I shall experience SleazyJet for the first time and fly from Gatwick rather than the Stansted that I had feared. The other good news is that there was TV coverage of the birth of a baby koala at Longleat. Some have speculated that I might take a trip to view the dear little animal. Hmmm ... Chris I did try to post earlier but to no avail. Everything comes to he who waits!

You never know....... Chris

There are times when I wish that we were allowed to discuss politics here. Yesterday afternoon I was watching on TV the proceedings in the House of Commons. It was quite fun at times, especially when someone got a bit too passionate and was ejected by the Speaker. Who needs soap operas when real life is so exciting? Will there be excitement when I visit the supermarket later this morning? I doubt it, unless one othe key items on my list is out of stock. I aim to re-stock with porridge oats today. If they are not available I shall be reduced to Ready Brek. Heavens to Betsy! My thanks to PhilJW for posting the pic of the rainbow bus. I do not know Basildon, where it runs, at all well, but if the town's reputation be any guide it needs brightening up. What better way of doing that than a rainbow bus? Chris

It looks to be a quiet week. I have an LCGB meeting on Tuesday and apart from learning whether my trip to Mallorca in April will go ahead, that's about it, except for dashing around paying for it, arranging travel insurance and so on. In happier times the Stafford show would have been at the coming weekend. The good news is that it ihas been rearranged but the bad news is that it now clashes with something else. This comes from there being only 52 weekends in a year. I am duly grateful to Bear for tracking down Paul Veysey. However, if I were to make contact with him, would he remember me after what must be 40 years? Let me ponder that a bit longer ... Chris

I do believe it is, though he did not have a beard 40-odd years ago! Wow ... Chris