jamie92208

I still have a turntable and a good collection of vinyl. I listen to it when ironing as an aural anaesthetic. This week it was Sticky Fingers by the Stones turned up load with the ironing board positioned so that I was standing in the sweet spot between the speakers. Jamie

As already mentioned with the quality of the Thames in 1971 it improved it. In those days keg was all there was but a couple of years later after leaving student land behind and joining the force I took a days annual leave to join my former colleagues and play the part of a soon to graduate chemical engineer for a recruiting tour of Bass at Burton on Trent. They showed us round the brewery in the morning then took us to the hospitality bar for a long liquid lunch. Only Worthington E and Carling Black Label were on offer, but actually tasted good. Then a tour of the labs and finally we were shown into a whitewashed room with a brick shelf with some half pint glasses on it. Next to them was a brass tap. What's behind that. 15'000 gallons of draught Bass we were told. Half an hour later they came back for us. By then we had all developed a taste for real ale. Jamie

I once drank many pints of Red Barrel and didn't get drunk. I did say goodbye to it all in the Thames as the party was next to it then washed my mouth out with more Red Barrell. Jamie

Very interesting. Emily and Anne phoned home yesterday they are starting to get into their stride. Anne is now up to 8.5 mpd and Emily managed 86 metres in 4 days. Sushila and Caroline's rates vary considerably from month to month. That article explains a lot. Jamie

I don't know, having been subjected to the delicate aroma of unwashed socks in cell areas after the owners boots had been removed, the aroma of a good requefort would be a distinct improvement. One particular commu ity that I dare not mention were the worst. I'm sure that @br2975would@br2975would agree. Jamie

Thursday was the day of her op so after visiting I went down to the station again on my way home. I arrived to a chaotic car park as a southbound TGV from Paris was due. After managing to avoid a middle aged lady going the wrong way round the car park, I found a slot and headed for the platform as the cement train was just setting off as the TGV cleared the station. I managed to grab this shot. A rare beast a 77, no 29001. That's three out of a class of 6 in France. I got sorted and headed up the platform to my usual spot and a Yo Yo had appeared in the yard obviously shunting ballast wagons. 608205 based at Bordeaux. A 27 was in the yard waiting to head north. An hour later a G1206 came south. The Atlantiques are still seen regularly, here is one heading to Paris. The at 17.58 a freight appeared with 27065 towing 75402. Two more lines in the book. That headed north and brought my day to a close. I went again yesterday but forgot my camera. 4033 had returned with the cement train and a log train came south behind 4047. I also saw my first sybic for a while as 26180 came north with a long string of empty GEFCO car carriers. Jamie

There was another version that had the goat destroying a U boat that surfaced just offshore. I might even be able to type the words out if my forgettery ©Chrisf allows. Jamie

Good moaning from the Charente where it is damp and cool. I expect to be summoned to Angouleme at some point today to retrieve the boss from what I now know as the house of pain. Apparently a male general nurse knows better than her diabetologue and GP, as to how much insulin she needs. He also knows more than her pain management specialist and GP about analgesics. On a brighter note I wilbe talking to young Emily and her mums in a short while. Jamie

I seem to remember a Harrier pilot landing on a Spanish container ship in similar circumstance. I think that the shipping company claimed salvage rights. Jamie

Ryobi are similar with their 18v battery fitting all tools. Jamie

On Wednesday this week my good lady went into hospital in Angouleme for a shoulder replacement. It's just over 42 miles each way and of course as a dutiful spouse I have visited every day. Every cloud though has a silver lining and I have spent the late afternoons on the station watching whatever trains are running. The works at the northern end of the station are still ongoing so nothing run till after 4pm when the orange army head home. On Wednesday the cement train was waiting to head south when I got there behind 4033. However at 16.58 an infra train appeared with 22302 leading. Behind it, being towed dead, were 67513, 22383 and 67567 Not much train though. The low speed restriction at the north end meant that everything comes quite slowly through the platform. The Limoges bay was occupied though. 27016 was in a freight loop waiting for a path behind the local that left at 17.17 Then at 18.02 27091 with 60023 DIT headed north. A nd parked in the yard were two G 1206's, nos 769-4 and 768-6 lettered for R Vechetti. those and the 60's got me three lines in the book. I waited another hour or so but nothing else of interest came. Jamie

Forgot to mention, today is 22 years since I last went to work for pay, where has the time gone. Only 6 yrs and 8 months till I will have draw my pension for longer than I paid it. Even better I got paid for another three months due to accumulated leave etc. Jamie

Just back home from the hospital. I nearly walled a male nurse up. he refuses to give Beth more than 5 units of insulin before a meal when her prescription says 16. Also only paracetamol for pain. However she is in a better way today and has done some physio, the pain relief situation is dire so I actually agree with her that she would be better at home. The surgeon saw her and says she can come home when the pain is under control. Some economy with the truth may be needed. I have watched her manage pain for 30 years and trust her. Jamie Now back home.

That reminds me of an immortal few lines in one of the MASH books where Hawkeye uses the belly button to reconstruct another piece of anatomy then remarks ". She'll have to find somewhere else to put the salt next time she eats celery in bed". Jamie

Thanks Flavio. The main problem seems to be that the Anaesthetist that we saw 3 weeks ago who was good, wasn't the one who did the job on Thursday. He actually accused Beth of lying about her pain levels post op. It has taken several years to balance her current cocktail of pain meds and it was agreed that they would all continue unchanged. With top up post up as needed. This has not ha and thi gs have been substituted. We had the same problem in the UK and I nearly hit someone on one occasion. Not recommended. It took them three hours to bring her morning insulin today, after breakfast and physio had to be postponed due to high blood sugar. Thi gs seem to be calm g down but I will try not to wall anyone up this afternoon. Jamie

At times, the two machines on the Chiltern tunnels were getting 30 metres per day,each, double their design speed. There is some fantastic engineering going on. Jamie

Good moaning from the cool Charente. Hospital was visited yesterday and Beth has come through the op. But was in a lot of pain. I had to get a tad assertive to sort that out but some extra pain relief did arrive. The usual hospital problem arose. Due to her overall condition she is already on a cocktail of painkillers and staff don't believe that she needs extra on top of that. Hopefully things will improve. Today I'm off shopping. We have three medium sized Intermarche's alabout 1miles away then two much larger Leclercs0land a big Intermarche 2miles away. Online shopping does exist but is not hugely used. We do patronise the local market and have a fruit and veg van that calls round every fortnight. Much to do so Ttfn. Jamie

Thanks Bill, yes I went yesterday afternoon. Nearly 6 hours in theatre and in a lot of pain. However it seems to have gone OK. I sorted out a couple of things for her re her meds, I'm going again today. Hopefully things wilbe settling down. Jamiel

Yes I enjoyed listening to those at a dual language bingo session on Lanzagrotty. Jamie

And Saleignes/Romaziers was only on a metre gauge branch as well. Jamie

Attached to the photos that @Ron Ron Ron uploaded of the viaduct slide over the M42/M6 link road was a detailed map of the whole delta junction site which is huge. The file was rather large as well but I have managed to resize it and convert it to a jpg. I hadn't realised just how many separate structures are involved and have managed to get myself quite confused watching videos of the construction. I hope that this helps. Jamie The

Simon C has done a time lapse video showing the process of erecting past of the next section of the Colne Valley Viaduct. I rather liked it. Jamie

My GA recipient is hopefully well under now. From past experience of such occasions I am doing very little today. However Salmon and Asparagus are on the menu for lunch. Jamie

I see that you have very wisely left the decision making to the boss. You do not want to be spoken to in Swiss German too often. Gracefully accepting defeat in such matters is usually the best option and then getting the best peace treaty possible. I share your objection to open plan living. Some friends of ours have such a newly converted place in the village. One huge L shaped space with kitchen, dining sitting are and entrance hall in one plus a mezzanine where they play table tennis . You can tell that it is a second home as it's a huge space to heat in winter. As to the snoring problem I can empathise. Jamie

Simples, move to the Charente. The asparagus farm is open for direct sales now and they have a stall on the market on Sundays. I rather like Asparagus and there is a bag full in the fridge, however I hope you get your problem sorted. Beth is on her way to theatre soon, the washing is in and I've not done anything wrong so far today. I'm off visiting after lunch. Regards to all and of course Sundry. Jamie