JohnDMJ

Good Evening Awl, for it has the potential to develop into one! Shoes ordered at the shop on Saturday have arrived; will be in service tomorrow! Elsewhere: Sounds a familiar story, although my application to BREL was declined! Having flunked 'A' Levels, I was granted an Apprenticeship at British Hovercraft Corporation on the Isle of Wight. They had their own 'off the job' training school where I spent the first year and incorporated two evening classes and one HND day release. I will never forget my first fitting exercise: here's a flame cut steel block, FILE it to a rectangle xmm by ymm by zmm! Good thing they had an infinite supply of files!! Annoying irony was that my Father and the Training Manager had collaborated (obviously, with others) to devise the EP1 and EP2 training sessions to which I was now subject! They sponsored me through Uni and offered the facility to use their Lecture Room during vacations. With several fellow undergrads and access to the Company's Engineers, we didn't do to badly! All-in-all, a fantastic experience which, due to its diversity, has stood me in good stead to this day!

I am inclined to agree! I have it linked to my 'phone and find that there are times when I can be several yards away before it notifies me that I have just triggered motion at my front door! Regarding the battery, my door bell unit is connected to the two wires which used to feed the push-button; they seem to have kept it charged thus far! It also seems to be somewhat random. Recently, I had a guy come in to strim my back garden; I thing he triggered it once. However, within its sensing range, it failed to record that he also did the front garden! With the need for at least four other monitors, I'm looking for alternatives!

Good Afternoon Awl, Shopping shopped; car relieved of guano temporarily. Elsewhere: I find it difficult to comprehend the concept of a Professional Sportsperson (IMHO, Professional = Gets Paid for). As for the citation "for services to sport", it seems I'm getting enough goats to start a farm! Be aware that humidity also plays a role in the sensation of temperature.

Good AfterNOON, for it is now. Shopping shopped but should have started out about an hour earlier! Went to the shop for my shoes, checked it was still a current product (online suggests otherwise), asked the assistant for a pair in my size, reply: we're out of stock! He advised to got to the till and order them for delivery, which I did. Whilst at the till, another customer comes to pay at the adjacent till and, guess what, they buy the exact pair of shoes I wanted! Hopefully, my current pair won't have fallen to pieces before the new ones arrive next week! Elsewhere: Looks pretty well balanced a salad to me! Just accompany it with a slice of generously buttered toast!

Good Morning awl, for it seems still to be thus. Off to a greater local metropolis for the purchase of footwear and fodder soon. However: ISTR my dentist telling me that a porcelain crown is a coated gold crown, hence the price difference!

Good Night Awl! Probably the same old S (consider chicken, sheep, goat, bull) t, but it's another day!

Good Evening for it has thus far been a mediocre day. However, POTS day achieved! Two strange things noted on the local, full scale, parallel pieces of steel: a 387 operating a Brighton - Southampton Central - Brighton service and the Belmond Pullman operating a charter from London Victoria to Chichester and back. Elsewhere: Might be worth bringing to the attention of Trading Standards (not 'authentic' as advertised), the Food Standards and Hygiene mob and also, possibly, the Advertising Standards mob for false advertising? Have fun!

I chose that location in the vain hope that he wouldn't lose it! Perhaps the floor might have been a better suggestion!

Good Evening, for it seems to be turning out better than the day! A missed call from the hospital on both my land and mobile 'phones without a message on either is a worry as I don't know which department was trying to contact me about what. Added to that, the anticipation of an appointment which the maker of said appointment seems to have overlooked and not notified of its re-arrangement. Elsewhere: Far be it from me to offer a suggestion, but why not keep the list IN the suitcase until it has to be packed and then leave it on, say, your bed (where, hopefully, you'll find it patiently awaiting your return to unpack!), whilst you're away? However, @chrisf and logic ...?

My comments were not meant to be specific, but merely to suggest that industrial experience in a relevant environment to that in which one had been taught could give a (much) wider perspective of the subject. The examples quoted of others suggest: I'll let you draw your own conclusions, but practical experience in the field seems to be a common theme!

Ditto!

Good Evening Awl, Another interesting day; blustery but warm following showers overnight. Not sure I'd like to be on the Isle of Wight just now, though. https://www.islandecho.co.uk/homes-underwater-in-binstead-with-fire-crews-battling-the-flood/ Elsewhere: A lot of this type of comedy was written by 'insiders'! Laurie Wyman (Navy Lark) was ex-Navy. Yes Minister / Prime Minister was co written by Antony Jay, a former advisor to Margaret Thatcher, and Jonathan Lynn. Dad's Army: Jimmy Perry served in the Home Guard, whilst his co-writer, David Croft, served in the Royal Artillery. Blaster Bates and David Gunson have made a living recounting their work experiences, so, again, are factually based. When trying to educate the next generation, there is, arguably, no substitute for having done it yourself! IMHO, too many teachers are much too young to fully understand what they are trying to teach. School - University - Teacher Training College - Teaching Post gives no outside experience. In this context, George Bernard Shaw's "Those than can, do, those that can't..." etc. is not relevant.

Good Evening. When certifying anything as being 'fit for purpose', it is usually tested beyond its intended normal use; lifting hoists will have been tested above their rated capacity as a safeguard that they can handle their rating. The LGVs are no different; by testing to 10% overspeed, it is known that the line will handle running speed. IIRC, TVM430, the TGV's initial cab signalling system, was designed for 430kph. I can not speak for ETCS which seems to be taking over.

Good Evening Awl, for it may yet turn out to be so! Much achieved but with much frustration since I awoke at around 3:00 this morning! @chrisf: hope the next week lives up to long-held expectations. I found Tommy Cooper an acquired taste. His constant failure to 'succeed' was akin to Les Dawson's ability to play the piano deliberately out-of-key (that takes skill and a good understanding of music!) Olympics; what Olympics? Although I see pleasure in looking at Tom Daley (other professional sports participants are available), I derive no pleasure from watching so-called competitive sports. Actually competing is, however, a different kettle of fish! Ronnie Barker and Peter Sellers were, somewhat, unique in that no-one really knew their true identity! Whilst much of a comedian's repertoire has to be attributed to his/her scriptwriters, Barker wrote many of the Two Ronnie sketches under the pseudonym of Gerald Wiley. IIRC, Askey was scripted. One has to appreciate that there are different types of humour, often involving Double Entendres, Innuendo and Puns, amongst others! With most of what I refer to as the 'Sunday lunch Time Shows' (Navy Lark, Clitheroe Kid, Round the Horne, Much Binding in the Marsh, et alia), all had a team of script writers (Navy Lark's were, IIRC, ex Navy! so had an inside view!) (IIRC, Yes [Prime] Minister scripts were written by political advisors or civil servants (i.e. those in the know!)!) Deriving from David Frost's TW3, Monty Python produced a well presented satirical view on life! HHGG is my all-time favourite treatise on life! At Uni, I had listened to the original radio series; I then watched and enjoyed the BBC programme based on the first two books (HHGG and Restaurant at the end of the Universe). I have read all of Douglas Adam's original books and embrace many of the concepts therein (SEP is an obvious one!). IMHO, the (relatively) recently film version fell well short of the mark of the BBC transmission but this may have been deliberate, anticipating a sequel. All this on page 10042! However, when this thread arrives around page 101010, I, for one, will he a happy hitch hiker!

But aren't most of the NeuBauStrecke built in flattish tunnels?

Thanks, Mike! It had often puzzled me how the NeuBauStrecke in Switzerland could be classified as 'High Speed' at only 200 kph! Am I correct in thinking that, usually, lines are rated at at least 10% over line speed? (320kph tested to at least 352kph, for example) For the distance of 540km London to Edinburgh, a TGV at 320kph could cover that in 1hour 42minutes non-stop! But that's a discussion for another thread! (Several HS2 threads are available!)

A case of mistaken identity? Marklin and Trix are, in effect, the same company and produce 3-rail and two-rail versions of the same model. Marklin H0 are ONLY 3 rail! The model number you quote is for a Trix 2-rail locomotive. Why make two castings for the same locomotive model?

Good Afternoon. Watch and see!

third rail at high speed????!!!! Generally not much above 100mph, about half the normal TGV speed!

Good Evening, Awl, for it may be considered, by some, so to be! I'll start with comments: My car was 'on the cusp'! Whilst there is provision in the main firmware for a mobile 'phone, mine has a Parrot device fitted. @PupCam: I wish I could say the same! I am currently on a list for eye lid surgery to reduce the risk of the lashes scratching the eye ball and, following an Echocardiogram, referred to the Heart Failure Clinic with an estimated ejection fraction of less than 20% and a pulse in excess of 130bpm! "Life, don't talk to me about Life" - looks like I'll need more than the diodes down my left side to be replaced!

I started my apprenticeship with the British Hovercraft Corporation just at the time when, as my Father put it, they were sharpening their hacksaws to cut the original SRN4* in half to extend it! (* IRRC SRN - Saunders Roe Number) IIRC, hovercraft were used in the first Gulf war on both sides. All hovercraft are classified as low flying aircraft and carry a CAA G- registration. SRN2 was used in an experiment to test its effectiveness as a mine-resistant sweeper; being of aluminium construction, the mine had to be triggered; the SRN2 just bounced a bit! Early 80s, the AP188 (Advanced Project 188) was conceived and developed. Using welded (instead of the traditional, Swedish Airlines, experimented with an AP188 to provide services from Stockholm (IIRC) to its airport; the service was unaffected when the area froze solid! Canadian Coastguards use(d) a well-deck version of the AP188; fitted with a bow ramp, as they approach a casualty in the water, the ramp is lowered and used to 'scoop' it up onto the deck! Apologies if this repeats previous posts; I was just in the frame of mind for this at the time of post!

As previously seen in Switzerland:

My parents were Portsmuthians and, after several years away, in 1969, Dad was appointed as head of the Mechanical Engineering department of what was then Portsmouth Polytechnic; his office was in the anchor-shaped building just across the road railway from the USRG. I was also a post grad student there in the early 80s! For a time, I was an ACU&S qualified Scorer ( @Barry O can explain!) and I recorded matches for both Petersfield CC and Hampshire Cricket Board teams at said ground. It was one of the HCCC main grounds before the Rose Bowl was built; the others were at Southampton and Basingstoke and I have recorded matches at both! I tend to find that there are some towns or cities in which I am unable to get lost! Rugby, Portsmouth, (not so much these days) London and probably the Isle of Wight (although I have not been there for a while) number amongst these! Chichester, I am 'learning'; Brighton - no real need ATM! Fear ye not @zarniwoop! I also adopt the same policy for the simple reason that I am , effectively, a hermit and do not expect similar from others. I usually restrict myself to a click of the 'Like' or other appropriate buttons if I feel so inclined! Welcome to the thread and just go with the flow and be yourself!

Good Evening, and I seem to have missed many pages in the last 24 hours! La vie continue malgré tout! Elsewhere: Isn't that where Two Lips lives? Would that have been The United Services Recreation Ground adjacent to Burnaby Road and the railway embankment, possibly flanked on the Anglesea Road side by The Nuffield Club?

Good Evening, for it may yet become thus. A peaceful day oscillating from fridge to oven has been endured but am hoping that the predicted rainfall does not burst the banks of the local rivers! Elsewhere: Nice! I have a problem there; I tend to breathe through my mouth, especially when the schnoz is restricted by hazards like masks! Makes sense as they appreciate that not everyone wants to be tech-savvy! All I can say is: