NGT6 1315

I was never pursued in any sense I could confirm either. Many years after completing school, however, my parents once mentioned to me that several female classmates had, in fact, been very fond of me, according to what had been related to them at parents' evenings. I had been fairly baffled by that, as my impression had always been about my having been far from "first choice" for the girls in our year.

Sounds like good news, Gordon! Keeping my fingers crossed for you that whatever else it may be, it can be treated well. "Are we being too literal?" – "No, you fool, we're following orders. We were told to comb the desert, so we're combing it!"

Mornin'... Mellow dreichness outside, but I'll be braving that in a few minutes in order to get my food purchases done. Breakfast and coffee after that! Later...

Wahoo – was it that long ago? Makes it so much harder to resist.

I do feel like this thought merits comment, but I'm not quite sure what to say, and even how to say it, as I can see your point... Though to give it a try, I personally think staying anchored to here and now, so to speak, is a healthy thing in such circumstances, though I am also well aware of how difficult it can be to see beyond such unhappy issues. Therefore, I would certainly not want to even try and declare my view as an universal imperative.

I'm getting hungry and will begin prepping something stir-fried Chinese style in a few minutes. I also am done with modding my 143 for the moment – having tried to give it what I think you could describe as a well-maintained, but not totally perfect look. Specifically, I tried to imitate patches of renewed paint in several places on the loco's body, as this is something commonly seen on locos around here in between major revisions. These patches often have different shades of the same basic colour, and different levels of brilliance, too, so I guess you could think of this little project as an intermediate step to actual weathering. This in turn is something I do intend to try some time, but would need a few sessions of practice for. Perhaps old coaches and wagons or scrap loco bodies might be suitable as training items...

Fingers crossed for your friend, DD – not sure what else to say right now...as is too often the case in situations like this one...

That's a funny little critter, Ian – would like to see some more images of it, if you could .

Entering Sheldon Cooper mode: It is a reasonable assumption that at any given time, there will be at least one pair of squirrels chasing each other in any tree to the south of any house anywhere within their habitats around the globe. I'm sure there'll be a big bill to pay for someone after all those electricity troubles are sorted, DD. Just what you don't need, indeed...

Morning all... Good to hear your trip went well thus far, Tony! I can see two squirrels chasing each other in a tree due south of the house and there is some fresh snow indeed. I think I'll get freshened up and head for the supermarket soon... Cheers!

Thanks, Jack, that might be worth a try, too! Actually, if the paint should end up slightly bleached after this procedure, it would add to the loco's appearance as stripped-off lettering is common enough over here.

As they might have said in the age of tall ships – Godspeed, Tony!

Morning all... That's a good idea, Mike... Don't know whether they have those pencils, but there's a combined paint/artist's supply shop around the corner, and a stationery shop, too. Might it be worth checking at hardware stores, too? Looking like it's nippy outside, so a hot coffee will be in order first.

I began a small modding job on my Roco 143 this afternoon, but found the acrylic traffic red paint wouldn't suffice to conceal a pair of cabside logos I need to get rid of. I couldn't find any primer in my paints stash, so I guess a trip to the hobby shop will be called for tomorrow. I also need some basalt grey as I found I had run out of it as well.

Indeed – wishing you a good and safe trip, Tony!

Morning all - chilly around here and a possibility of snow has been forecast. Slept fairly well, thankfully, but while part of me feels like I could as well catch another two hours, I don't think I could actually drift back to sleep. I bet that's exactly what some of the residents across the street from my school will be going through at times! I also keep wondering how many parents may be worrying about their children not getting enough physical exercise or indeed being overweight, while still keeping dropping them off as close to the school as they can...

This has me baffled, I admit. It does sound like they might have been survivalists... I do wonder how many of these may indeed exist all across Europe.

On another note: I finally managed to snap a 114 this afternoon... Must say it's quite cool to have those "Turbo Trabbis" around here, in addition to the numerous 143s. Essentially, the 114 – previously known as class 112.0 – is a 143 with an uprated power output of 4,220 kW rather than 3,720 kW, and a 160 kph top speed as opposed to 120 kph for the 143. There also are the similar class 112.1 locos, which have smaller, Bundesbahn style headlights, and are currently used in Schleswig-Holstein.

The mind boggles at what kind of ideas people not only can, but do, end up with...

Evening all... Having run another couple of errands at uni today, I again found myself wanting to spend some time railfanning before meeting up with SWMBO. Unfortunately, lighting conditions deteriorated quickly, militating against snapping moving trains. However, there are two images worth posting on here... In the sidings on the far side of Southern Station, I noticed this Mercedes Actros road-rail lorry, outfitted for tunnel inspections. Assuming it was there in preparation for inspecting the suburban railway tunnel, it but would have to carry out numerous shunting movements to reach the suburban tracks on the north side of the station. And after that, I finally managed to capture one of the class 114 electrics relocated to Frankfurt late last year. Here, 114 010 was on the last leg of its turn with RB 15621 inbound from Wächtersbach for Frankfurt Central Station. On the R50 line, formations pass from working short RegionalBahn (RB) stopping turns to Wächtersbach to long RegionalExpress (RE) semi-fast turns bound for Fulda and vice-versa – the set seen here next passing onto the RE 4542 service to Fulda, departing Central Station at 4:50 pm. These services are augmented by stopping services to Bad Soden-Salmünster and semi-fasts to Bebra at peak hours.

Oh, ask me how I know what you're talking about... A colleague once remarked how she was sure that, if they were given the chance, many parents of our pupils would indeed drive their cars right into the auditorium to drop off and pick up their kids. I do admit that, considering the bedlam going on outside the school in the mornings and at noon, I quite share her perspective.

The following image might be of interest for Robert: After a long time of disappointing stagnation, the renovation of the suburban station at Frankfurt Central Station has made significant progress over the past few weeks. The outer walls on the north side of platform 104 and the south side of platform 101 are being restyled to convey the impression of a foggy rainforest, while the rectangular pillars between platforms 102 and 103 have been painted light grey. The round pillars along the centrelines of either island platform will be tiled with a mosaic of grey granite. There will also be a new false ceiling made of sky grey metal grid elements suspended from the actual ceiling, the installation of which had been much delayed due to fire and smoke protection issues having to be resolved.

I successfully escaped the carnival parade at home which I think is due to start at 2.31 pm. I'm now sat in the cafeteria at uni and I assume many will be writing their end-of-term exams this week.

I have a notoriously bad memory when it comes to musicians in particular. I frequently find myself listening to some song I do know on the radio, but unable to name the band. Of course, this makes for rather many moments of enlightenment when I look up those songs, so to speak!

Morning all... I'm actually glad that I can use today to stop by at uni for asking one of my tutors a few questions – as this means I can completely avoid the Carnival parade that's running through my street! Nothing much in the way of further news right now, so I'll just say, have a good day, everyone...