JohnDMJ

15 hours ago, Tony_S said:

… hot cross bunny

Annoyed rabbit at elevated temperature!

It seems that 1X01 has been scheduled again!

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:S73184/2021-12-24/detailed

Good Evening Awl,

4 hours ago, TheQ said:

Some of the old equipment I worked on in the RAF,  worked on a triple system, if any one of the 3 gave a different result, it got a red light and was automatically taken out of circuit..

Other later radar had BITE. Built, In, Test, Equipment. Which monitored what was happening, and reported to the user what was happening...

Not always the best policy. IIRC, the first space shuttle launch was aborted because one of the four computers disagreed with the others. Turned out the one was right and the other 3 were wrong!

3 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

I was always amused by the road signs in Portsmouth that simply said "Out of City".

Perfectly understandable!

Portsmouth is on Portsea Island and there are only 3 roads from it: M275 motorway, A3 via Hilsea and the A2030 Eastern Road.

That said, 'Out of City' could equally refer to the hovercraft to Ryde, the car ferry to Fishbourne, the Catamaran service to Ryde, or the Gosport Ferry and not forgetting the Continental ferry port!

Other than that, you're pretty much trapped on the island!!

Edit:

Whoops, forgot the Hayling Ferry!

Good Evening Awl, for it may have been thus!

A day of medical mystery has been suppressed. Plans for the 25th seem to revolve around a solitary large pack of Twiglets (Supply as yet undetermined!).

Looking forward to a large tin of Twiglets for the 25th and possible a cheese sandwich for the 26th!

My apologies. I seem to have triple posted due to a non-response on the 'submit reply' button!

Good Morning Awl, for it is just still thus.

Viruses have a habit of mutating and do not just go away. IMHO, flu is an excellent example as it comes around on a regular basis.

5 hours ago, chrisf said:

Here in the UK the final of Strictly Come Dancing takes place this evening.  For the first time an all-male couple is in the final.  The phenomenon of men dancing together is not unusual: think of morris sides, for instance.  In many social situations it is apparently more common to see ladies dancing together than gentlemen.  This may be because of an imbalance in the numbers of dancers or because some men - more than you might think - are shy.  I have never shone at ballroom-style dancing but used to enjoy ceilidh dancing, where a caller tells everyone what to do, the music plays and everyone gets it wrong together.  I may be doing some of that over Xmas if - big if - my courage does not desert me.  More likely, I suspect, is that I shall just watch.  Coward?  Moi?

 

Chris

Whilst Strictly Dumb Prancing does not feature on my view list, this link might provide some interest! https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/sci-tech/exhibition-shows-how-homosexuality-is-perfectly-natural-47178688?utm_content=o&utm_campaign=own-posts&utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR3XG48CGnNH9msfwaeZh0Xsm5OmpFhdpyw7mckDEkbC3PTZNAb8nWL7avw

Good Evening Awl, for this potential aspect does still exist!

Reading RMWeb at work is, for my role, not possible, so I can only comment (carefully) from home.

14 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Sadly, there are too many amongst the unemployed who are unemployable - for a whole host of reasons - some outside of the individual’s control, others well within an individual’s control. The problem facing most Western countries is how to address these reasons. Not an easy problem to solve…

When my (current) business laptop rebooted after the latest Windows update a (big) notification pop-up appeared urging me to “upgrade (free!) to Windows 11” remembering how long it takes Microsoft to bug-fix each new iteration of Windows, I clicked on “NO” (and will continue to refuse the “upgrade”)

Both. My first soufflé and my first cheese soufflé (though as you mention it, a sweet soufflé might be an alternative)

You call that indecent?
Where are the naked boiler tubes? The exposed firebox? The (pant, drool slaver) glistening inside motion???

Disappointedly 
Pervy of Pudbury

As much as I enjoy a spot of retail therapy, I absolutely hate shopping with Mrs iD - especially if it involves buying clothes. Whatever the answer to the question “what do think of this [clothes item]” the answer will ALWAYS be wrong. Paradoxically, when I do buy Mrs iD a clothing gift (the latest being a lovely long - dog walking friendly - waterproof greatcoat) she invariably loves the item (the aforementioned greatcoat has seen extensive use during the recent rainstorms). Go figure!

 

A short walk with the doggies awaits, before an intensive morning at work before POETS. And now that the modelleisenbahnzimmer has been liberated from the oppressive yoke of Mrs iD and her cruel, sadistic minions, I can now start the Signalbox build I’ve promised a fellow ER. So some enjoyable m*****ing is foreseen for this weekend.

 

Happy POETS day to all

 

iD

I'll let you work out to which parts if the above I am referring, but

Windoze 11 - glad I opted for Ubuntu Linux!

my late Mum always respected my advice on what she bought clothing-wise, except for Dad's funeral; I said "NO!" but was ignored.

Good Evening Awl, for it had this prospect!

8 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

In news you may have missed ….. 

 

 

Another good Cornish boy gone. RIP Geoff / Jethro and thanks for all the laughter. 
 

As of today trains may safely stop at Camborne on Wednesdays. 

4 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

It wasn't for everyone.  

 

We met quite by chance one evening over beers in a St. Just pub.  His home patch as a former Levant miner.  I enjoyed hearing him recall one night at a Newquay holiday park where the audience wasn't quite within his comfort zone.  Walking onto the stage he spotted that most of the assembled number were young kids with parents    Without batting an eyelid "Right" he says "Pin back yer lugs coz this is gonna com thick 'n' fast!"  

 

He apparently ripped through his planned routine in half the normal time with the older members of the audience catching most of it but the younger ones turning to their parents to ask what was so funny!  

 

It definitely wasn't what we now call "Politically Correct".  But it was great rollicking humour with the audience normally in stitches.

 

He was a heavy drinker and a smoker; he was recorded as popping out of a venue one time for a smoke and in discussion with a handful of folk outside apparently said "I dunno why anyone pays to hear this $h1t" but pay they did and for over 50 years of live performances - not all of them comedic as he was also a handy singer from classic baritone to local and pub songs.  

 

A fitting tribute was spotted on Camborne station today.

 

 

 

 

Sad news!

Saw him both in Sandown and Southsea many times.

First time at Sandown, he autographed my cassette and laughed when I said "Train don't stop Sandown Wednesdays!"

Also, going to Camborne, wear the fox hat!

RIP.

5 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Agreed.  

 

The bin men - we don't even see them because of our respective hours but we don't think they are the same crew every time.  Some are clean and tidy while others leave anything spilled where it falls.  No tip.  

 

The postman - we see three on a regular basis but only one is "ours" and visits three to four times a week. Always with a cheerful whistle and a smile, always greeting everyone he knows by name in the village by their name.  In my case it's "Young Rick" though I suspect he is younger than I am.  There's always a friendly word when he knocks the door with a package which won't go through the recycling-slot .  And there's been a few times through the past couple of years when he has asked after the health and well-being of not only ourselves (if he hasn't seen us personally in a while) but others in the block and the village.  Never lost his smile and cheerful disposition all through the dark days.  He gets a decent Christmas tip from us.  

 

In the UK - restaurants (if the service and food merits it) around 5% and exceptionally 10% typically rounded to a £5-multiple.  Cafes - very seldom.  Hairdressers - I don't use one and have clipped my own hair for the past very many years.  Taxis - I seldom use one but usually round up; by how much depends on the fare and the service.  Uber - I have never tipped an Uber driver though the app allows one to do so.  Others - not really, no.  

 

In Australia - tipping is not expected though is appreciated.  Taxi drivers aren't as likely to give you the hard stare if you offer the exact fare neither are restaurants miffed if you don't leave anything.  Their staff don't (with very few exceptions that I was ever aware of) rely on tips to make a living wage as I am told is frequent in the USA and sometimes happens in the UK.  

 

It does work in strange ways though.  As a bus driver I never expected to receive tips though my coach-driving colleagues usually did so as did I when on coach duties.  Very occasionally I was invited to "keep the change" even though it was often just a few small coins.  On one occasion when I made sure a couple of visitors got safely back to their accommodation having mis-read the timetable and having long missed their last bus "home" I was offered £5 for my trouble.  On another occasion I picked up two Americans for a 50p ride into town (that's 25p each - you could get on a bus in those days for that sort of money in some places); both had two large cloth-covered suitcases of top-dollar style and were very well dressed and be-jewelled.  Having charged them the princely sum of 50p to share my bus with assorted locals I was more than surprised to be offered a closed fist at the terminus with the words "Hey - have a cool one" ..... the fist duly revealed three £20 notes       That bought 30 "cool ones" back in the day   

I once attended a conference at a Holiday Centre on the Isle of Wight; the restaurant staff were used to having the same guests on a daily basis but the conference didn't work that way. One waitress had the audacity to ask for a tip; the recipient of the request replied: "I'll give you a tip: SMILE!"

In general, the only 'providers' I will tip are those that have failed to scalp me or cut my throat whilst wet shaving me!

Good Afternoon, for it seems to be thus now,

17 hours ago, Tony_S said:

A technician will call in just over a week.

Fantastic; a technician not an engineer!!!!!

15 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Good grief! That makes Ebeneezer Scrooge look like a wanton spendthrift!

Many decades ago when I first joined the industry at the beginning of my career, I started work at the British affiliate of a large multinational company. I joined on the 1st of December; just before Christmas we were all summoned to the works canteen where the MD said that “it had been a pretty good year and he hoped that we would enjoy Christmas, oh and by the way, please take a Christmas box with you”

Inside the box there was:

>One bottle of rum, one of whiskey, one of gin and one of port.

>Some wine

> One large tinned ham

> One large Christmas pudding

> One Christmas cake

> One box of chocolates

> A few other things which I do not recall,

and finally

>a £30 voucher for Marks and Sparks or someplace  similar.

From the ladies in the packing department to the head of research everyone in the company got the same box.

Not ever having experienced a “Christmas box” I was more than happily surprised to receive such largesse before Christmas.

Both the local (UK) affiliate MD and the head of personnel (that’s “personnel“ not HR) were pretty decent and down to earth blokes and really did “take care of us“. But all this came to a grinding halt a few years later when our parent company was acquired by an American conglomerate. After which, not only did the new American parent company do away with the Christmas box but they also did away with most of the personnel at our site!

I’ve had plenty of rewards, recognitions and bonuses over my career, but I will always regard my very first Christmas box in my very first job with a great deal of nostalgic affection.

 

For the second year, my benevolent employer has asked for our preferences of items to be included in a christmas hamper.

14 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

I will have a Crocodile burger please and make it snappy

12 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Since then London has provided no Christmas Day services. I never heard a definitive reason but common themes have been that it was too expensive to offer a free service which would have met the demand and that a return to charging fares would have been seen as uncharitable as well as requiring more staff to be on duty. In those days many London buses still had conductors taking fares. 

as @chrisf will testify, Switzerland run a near-normal service on 25th Dec and 1st Jan each year!

1 hour ago, big jim said:

New addition to the fleet 66799

 

possession train tomorrow rugby to bescot 

Still with its German DB-BASF number! https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/magento/rightlines-article/european_stock_numbering.html

The Code number tells you the rail height (almost!)

Code 80 is 80 thousands of an inch but for production purposes, Peco decided that Code 55 is a double edged sword where the visible track is 55 / 1000 of an inch high, the rail is actually 80 / 1000 of an inch so their 80 and 55 code rails can be intermingled!

22 hours ago, DenysW said:

Trains please,

But only under the wrath of the Awl!

8 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

It’s not only newspapers. Even in my field, which is full of really, really smart people, the standard of English is pretty grim: writing reports in the future tense when recounting the results of a study that has already been completed (so everything should be written in the past tense); unnecessary use of acronyms or - worse - introducing acronyms into a text without any explanation of meaning (YKWIM*); use of multiple big words when the same information can be communicated in fewer, simple, straightforward words. (Sometimes, however, a slightly longer - but still straightforward - word is better than a short word. The particular example I have in mind is “per” as “in “per this“ and “per that“, where “according to“ is better and clearer). The key is to using straightforward and understandable English (nb Whenever I am reviewing a document where there is the excessive and unnecessary use of “per”, I am tempted to write “what’s with the misspelled cat noises?“)

One thing that really makes me “light up and go tilt“ is the use of “prior to“  what’s wrong with plain, simple  “before“?

And if that is how really smart people can write, I am so glad that I am not on Twitter as it seems to be awash with the terminally stoopid

*You Know What I Mean. You should never assume that the reader of any scientific report knows all of the acronyms that are scattered throughout the document. Golden rule: first use of acronym is preceded by the acronym being spelt out.

Reports of tests / experiments should always be written in the passive tense: "this was tested; this was found; this was the result"!

Never, as seems to be too common these days, "I done this and that happened"!

14 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

And moving on to a more modelling issue, I am building a signal box for a chum and we are in disagreement about whether or not the building should have an interior. I maintain that to have even a passing stab at realism, any model building should have, at least, dividing walls to avoid that whole plastic box look, even if one doesn’t go “Full Pendon”.  

 

“Interior or not interior, that is the question”

10 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

This is one of the problems of building something for a friend rather than as a professional model maker.

 

You have your friendship to consider, whereas the professional model maker has his reputation to defend.

 

Pointing out the signal box made for your layout by the world famous box builder, Ianto Codpiece, that is lacking an interior, working block bells, the fully interlocked and working lever frame and the 'box cat using the litter tray, would immediately be considered inferior to his other works of art as seen in MRJ. The impact on his business could be devastating.

 

However, if it's pointed out as the signal box made by 'my friend Bobby Bodger', then suitable cooing noises will be made and nothing more will be thought or said.

 

So the question should be are you a Codpiece or a Bodger?

The interior of the prototype box has never been seen by me so how it would look is pure speculation. Since the box closed to general working, a panel was installed in an office on Platform 1 of the station and even this has been superseded.

I will be more than happy with an empty shell but an exterior construction which reflects my memories and visions of this box for display (without the Castrol advert!).

Good Evening Awl, for POTS day is drawing to a close.

Having not used the car for several weeks, must ensure that it is in working order to take to its MOT and Service venue next week; this includes the insertion of petrol over the weekend.

In previous news:

11 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Exquisite pedantry, my dear Sir, utterly exquisite. 
It used to be that if you signed something off, you were responsible. Clearly not.

You are wasted in your current job, Sirrah: Whitehall beckons!

10 hours ago, AndyID said:

Beeching simply did what he was asked to do. His job was to identify how BR could stop hemorrhaging huge amounts of money when the UK economy was in the toilet. (We might mention how much the US helped the reconstruction of Europe while it pretty much ignored the UK but that would be getting far too political.)

 

The vision of the UK's future was the government's responsibility, not Beeching's. He was just the accountant or, if you prefer, the fall guy.

 

IMHO the gigantic mistake the UK government made was giving up the right of ways. That's the real asset. The cost of track and stock is peanuts by comparison.

This is evidenced in that not all of his recommendations were implemented. Given he was a PhD and not a 'doctor', cuts were not in his remit, just presenting the cases for each line.

Good  Morning, for it has that potential.

POTS day about to start; note the lack of the 'E'!

Elsewhere:

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

By any standard, even by those of those more deferential times, the survey of BR passenger use was definitely - to borrow a phrase from our resident constable - “a fit up“. Only being a small boy when Beeching wielded his axe, I obviously wasn’t aware of the discussions, if any, that may have occurred in the newspapers about Beeching and his methodology. But surely somebody at the time pointed out how dodgy the whole exercise was?

 

Point of Order, Sir.

Beeching did not wield the axe; he merely put his name to a summary report on which others in government acted

Good Evening Awl,

Just an observation:

3 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

You might like to consider this organisation as a distribution  partner. If you’d informed me early this week i could have opened up negotiations personally for a small one off payment of course  . A missed opportunity for CC Industries GmbH.

Reminds me of the KLF!

Good Evening Awl,

Just one observation (or is it 5?):

9 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I wonder whether in your study of pharmacology you indulged in too much practical.  Such thoughts fortunately  aren't yet punishable via Madame Guillotine.  There is obviously only one rule, engines should be red.

 

Jamie

Jam(ie)es The Red Engine?

Good Afternoon, for it now seems thus.

I was talking with a customer yesterday who has a stand at the Portsmouth show. That was the first I'd heard about it this year, so the diary was a tad ineffectual!

7 hours ago, chrisf said:

Instead, I shall be driving to Portsmouth for the model railway show, which I find is usually one of the better ones.

It is my loss not to have had breakfast with you as has in recent years become a habit!

Good Evening Awl, for it has that possibility.

Another week completed via PIVOT and POTS and the prospect of another starting in two days' time.

Elsewhere:

6 hours ago, Andrew P said:

I drank Canada Dry once, they weren't happy.

5 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Ladeeez an Gennelmen Yes, we have another contender for the Early Risers @JohnDMJ Groan of The Year Award

I'm filing for theft! I've had that thought in my mind since the mid 1970s when that was the main thirst quencher during my time in France!

2 hours ago, BoD said:

 

It depends where you store that second hard drive.  If stored next to your computer, or even in the same building,  it's not much use in the case of fire or flood (heaven forbid).  Those treasured files/photos would probably be the last thing on your mind in such circumstances but eventually you are likely to  want them again.  

 

Apart from my weekly backup (I don't normally have a high enough throughput to need more often) I backup to a another hard drive, usually monthly, and that drive is stored at my daughter's house.  Actually I use two hard dives for that purpose so as I drop off the latest backup I take the other one away for the next backup. Belt and braces? Me?

It also depends on your needs of a backup.

If, like me, you are single, no dependants and getting on a bit, your data's probably only of use to you, its loss is of little consequence to the rest of the world so why bother with a backup.

If I upgrade my [computer's] operating system, I'll remove the existing core (HDD or SSD) drive and fit a new one then restore the data from the old one. If I lose any data in the process, either I restore it or it wasn't that important anyway!

Good Evening,

I see the food debate continues and offer (not offal) as follows:

Liver and bacon, a school staple, yes please

Kidneys  Ditto or in a steak and kidney pie..

Black pudding, some versions are better than others... but generally not impressed..

Tripe,  never tried it

Lungs and heart, useful to feed the Dog

Haggis.  tried it once; overrated IMHO..

and to add:

Ox Tail and Ox Tongue, yum.

Now for the cruncher:

11 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Like most offal, liver is inedible if not properly cooked (and leaving it in the pan until is dried and leathery doesn’t much help). Properly cooked, liver, kidneys and sweetbreads are most delicious (and when in a haggis, lungs and heart are delicious as well). The only things I don’t really like are brains and tripe - although I’ve only tasted either once (may try again)

A bit like Brussels Sprouts! Cook them properly and they're delicious; boil them to death and you've wasted your money buying them!

8 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

So you mean vegan restaurants don't have real vegans on the menu then?

I like restaurants which have a Children's' Menu; I could never eat a whole one.