It’s all been work, work lately and yesterday this old lady arrived at our depot to have some work done.
Class 37 Diesel- 37407 (Blackpool tower)
I’m not a train spotter, no way, but there is something special about these elderly beasts. No concern for clean air as they spew smoke and clag into the atmosphere, they are true old workhorses of the rail network and it’s always nice to see a well presented example arrive on site. this one was built in October of 1965 so it’s older than me (and better looking) here’s a little bit about it:
May 2019 – One of DRS’ most famous locomotives has been renamed ‘Blackpool Tower’ as part of the 125th anniversary celebrations for the North West’s most famous landmark.
The vintage ‘Class 37’ loco’ (37407) first carried the name back in the 1990s, when it became part of a fleet of locomotives running ‘seaside specials’ taking thousands of holiday makers and day trippers from Manchester Victoria Station to the seaside town known as the ‘Las Vegas of the North’.
Rail enthusiasts will be delighted to know that 37407 is one of several DRS locomotives that has been re-painted in the distinctive yellow and blue British Rail ‘large logo’ livery.
The locomotive will continue operating on the national rail network working on a range of DRS services, from freight and passenger services through to supporting the work to decommission and clean up the UK’s earliest nuclear sites.
Gov.uk
I spent the day yesterday ensuring “enthusiasts” behaved themselves and didn’t wander onto railway infrastructure, it’s fair to say it attracted a lot of attention.
Meaning just where the hell have the last six months gone. Sit back and blink and that’s half the year already gone. It’s amazing that once the better weather kicks in just how quick it just all seems to cascade by, if only you could put the brakes on time and just enjoy it a little bit longer.
The garden has bulked up after the perfect mix of rain and sunlight, and is about to abruptly burst into colour, some of them are impatiently exploding already and it’s starting to look lovely. But it will all be over too soon and that barren, bleak lack of colour will soon be on us. Oh for year round colour, if only.
Butterfly in my garden
The house is warming up, and as we are in quite an old house it’s the one time of the year when the environment isn’t controlled by the heating system, allowing a welcome break from the claws of the energy production companies. We now have the windows open.
That’s another issue. Opening windows. If like us you currently live near the intersection of two major road arteries then you will know what I’m on about. Opening the windows means you let every speeding, inconsiderate motoring manifestation into your home, like it or not. And the dirt and dust produced by vehicles throttling past your door 24hrs a day means no matter how much you dust, there will be more for you in a few minutes to remove. Maybe time goes so fast as the amount of toxicity we must be inhaling is controlling just how long we have left? Who knows?
Digitalis in the garden
Well the windows can’t stay open forever as you’d never get a good nights sleep if you wanted to, because of the boy racers and bike demons who constantly insist on revving their two and four wheeled steeds as they race off into the distant night.
We have a lovely family getaway coming up this month when about 18 of us are heading off to the East coast for a few days. The nice thing is that there is a great mix of ages from about 21 right up to the late 70s and that is wonderful, it’s great to know the youngsters want to spend time with us old farts, to be honest it’s pretty much down to them that this holiday is being arranged, oh and the usual organisational craft work of my dear wife.
On this holiday all the old fellahs, take a boat to float on the boating lake at Gorleston on the east coast. On the day we travel up, it’s always been a quick stopover and a tradition for two of the older members to float their radio controlled boats they have spent a lot of time and patience on. I’ve always jokingly threatened them that one day I’d build a submarine or military boat that would blow theirs out of the water. This year that veiled threat has been achieved and I will hopefully be joining the ranks of the family boating fraternity when I let my torpedo destroyer loose on the good folk of Gorleston. I’ve been building this boat since it was brought as a present for me by a very good family friend on my last birthday. Its construction has already been touched on, through my blog : PT109 wooden torpedo boat kit – construction and I’m hoping the build and testing of the boat will be completed and published within the next few days. It was always my goal to have it ready for this break. Let’s see what happens.
Pt109 boat kit
About now, is probably my favourite part of the year as I have discussed on here before, May & June, that period when spring kicks in and is a precursor to the oncoming summer. But as I’ve said earlier it is all over too soon.
And what a perfect canvas is currently in place for the ongoing sale of this property, yes that is in full swing now and the footprints of strangers should start being witnessed around this property very shortly….but in a way I’m not really bothered if it sells or not. I love this place apart from the negatives I’ve stated above, and as you can see they are few.
No doubt the Christmas stock is already sailing the oceans of the world to be in all our supermarkets very shortly. As if summer is not already short enough.
Whatever the season is wherever you are on this little ball of rock floating around in space, enjoy it, have fun and always spare a friendly outlook to those looking in. It doesn’t last long, so enjoy it whilst you can.
I thought this was a very good post from the guys at Hackaday. Most of us who use the Windows platform will have probably come across this issue in the last year or so. Being told your perfectly good computer is not up to running Windows 11 when in fact it is probably more than capable.
Is it no wonder people are moving over to “The dark side” (Linux) in droves….
Until the release of Windows 11, the upgrade proposition for Windows operating systems was rather straightforward: you considered whether the current…
Yes I know I have been a bit absent from here recently, but believe me there is a lot still going on behind the scenes. Just remember that old analogy that people tell you of, when a Swan is gliding serenely around a lake, not making a ripple on the surface when underneath him his little feet are going like the clappers. That’s me at the moment that is.
Old disused railway that we still have to monitor
Continuing on from this post: Busy, Busy, sell! The estate agents have now pulled us well and truly into their orbit. Numerous requests for forms, ID and information, and not to forget their commission payments have been received and returned as requested. The pictures will be taken next Tuesday and we expect the old home to be on the market by next weekend. And this is where my absence from this site has been utilised in the last week or so.
The little jobs, yes those ones you have been putting off for a while but can’t be left any longer as before long you may well have strangers in your home that will pick up on the most minuscule piece of detail.
The swines!
Quite enjoyed it to be honest, window surrounds painted and tarted up, cupboards and closets tidied and painted, steps and floors varnished, I must admit the old home is looking lovely, and to top it all the wife has invited friends and family around this weekend for a little party in the garden, and guess what? This is when we are forecast the first rains for a month or so, typically just as the barbecue was coming out of hibernation. So now I have to put up the big gazebo just in case 🤦♂️
Moira SouthSome nice walks in Sth Derbyshire Gazebo now in place. Before the rain 🤦♂️
In between this all I have also been doing my daily work duties, nothing too out of the ordinary, just every day railway stuff, and I do have a few little projects about to come on line both photographic and hobby related that I have just been awaiting parts for to complete. I’ve squeezed in some nice little walks, but beyond that I’ve not really had much time for anything else.
Maybe a little sleep?
Nah, they’ll be plenty of time for sleep when I’m in my box, however a little rest would be nice, I’m hoping the wife’s soirée this weekend will allow some nice R&R.
Have a lovely weekend people, take care and stay safe.
This is going to be a football post, so for those not interested please turn away now.
We play Ipswich town today and there’s going to be a massive party down at the King Power Stadium. Tickets sold out weeks ago, when it became apparent that one player would be leaving us after 13 years of creating memories and mayhem.
Goodbye to the GOAT 🐐
That was this chap called Jamie Vardy who played for a little club in the East Midlands called Leicester City. It’s his last day with us today, and never did I think I’d see grown men pass tears at someone departing. I know I will see that today.
I only know this as I’ve heard the talk in the terraces over the last couple of years. I’ve heard fathers say to their sons,” Boy you never see me cry, but the day that he leaves the club I will be a mess”
He stirs emotions and fantastic memories in equal measures.
Sports in all countries stir up passions with the supporters, and on occasions an individual becomes a target for derision or is catapulted to the heights of being the greatest within that team’s history and that is what has happened here.
Like him or loathe him, to the supporters of our club he is a legend. He’s labelled as our greatest of all time (GOAT) and rightly so. We have had many fabulous players pass through our gates but none with the longevity and appeal of Vardy.
There is this aspect of football called “Shithousery” that he excels in. His celebrations after scoring are legendary, he mimics the crowd and he stirs emotions in all parts of the stadium, he is unique and there is simply no one else like him in the English football leagues.
He is our last player remaining that has connections to the Premier league winning team of the 2015/16 season. Today will be his last ever game in one of our shirts and it will be a sad day for sure.
Today is going to be a day of celebration as well, just like the premier league presentation, the club is promising a number of activities today and we are even being told to remain seated at the end of the game as more activities take place. What that is? No one knows.
And what better way to put it than having another of our legends talk about him
Tomorrow we will be a team without our most influential individual. We have had an awful season and it just seems to be getting worse. Next season will be interesting, we will be in a lower league once again, but missing the strength and leadership of this one guy. I know one person does not make a team, but one person can severely influence a team and we will need to find that individual again.
Thanks for the memories “Vards” your 500th game for us today, let’s hope you continue to make records by scoring your 200th goal.
And all the very best in all you do outside of Filbert Way.
Hi there. It’s been a few days since I posted about the clock being the heartbeat of the home, my wife and I have finally arrived back into the East Midlands after she has had the break away with her friend, in West London.
I’ve gone back to work and have been doing the early morning stint, I’m currently on the second of two rest-days before I’m back on early shift again starting Tomorrow.
I have a lot to thank my wife’s friend for especially in arousing an interest in gardening that I have been trying to nurture for many years. Our current garden has taken almost 8 years of planning, planting and correcting mistakes to reach the maturity it displays today. A garden is a form of art, it’s not produced in a matter of days as numerous gardening programs would have you believe, it really takes years and needs a big commitment. When I went to collect my wife from London it had become apparent that she and her friend had pretty much visited about every garden centre in West London. The beautiful specimens of plants that greeted me on my arrival were testament to that. My wife had chosen all the plants and she was now genuinely interested in making the garden even more attractive.
Garden
There was a very slight caveat though….
In her time away and after having discussions with her friend she has made up her mind that we want to move to a new property a bit further away from the city. We had our current house valued before she went away, and we were sitting on that information that we were going to discuss on her return. This is when she broke it to me that she’d love to help me develop the “New Garden” and that is when I knew she had made her mind up.
I was ready to get things in motion, but being the cautious person that i am, I’ve asked her to look at a few options prior to putting the boards up, and we are currently going through these options. We need to get away from the city centre on health grounds, and it would certainly help to move away. Part one is a visit to the developer, and that is going to occur later today…after the new washing machine has arrived. Yep the trusty servant of the last nine years has seen its last load. Time for a new one.
It’s been a busy week for me as I’ve taken advantage of the gorgeous weather we have had for the last few days. Today we are back to the normal gloom and grey backdrop, so here I am putting pen to paper or is it finger to keyboard? You know what I mean.
New stone surrounds
I’ve given the garden a lot of attention, thinning out areas to allow sun into the slower growing plants as the bigger, quicker growers have been stealing all the sun. I’ve rescued a Rhododendron that had been engulfed by a Californian lilac bush, and repotted it into a large pot that now has a sunnier outlook at the front of the house. All bushes and hedges have now been trimmed and grasses cut and manicured.
I’ve finally got around to finishing off the stone surround to the garden room, a large bag of stone had been residing in the garden for at least 18 months and has now been disposed of, it opens up so much more room in the garden. On top of that I have rejigged the Hedgehog highways around the garden to allow them a better more secluded access and they are making full use of it at the moment if the noise at the food tray last night is anything to go by.
So today we begin the journey of looking at new homes. Not one I particularly enjoy as we have got this home and garden into a nice condition that I am both proud of and content with. And now there is the possibility of starting it all over again with a blank canvas that is both scary, and exciting in equal doses.
But fickle as the property business is, we may still be here in months or years to come so there is no point in getting carried away with it all, we need to still pour all our love and attention into this little home, and keep it comfortable as it has always been. We could still be here for ever more. And that’s no bad thing.
Stick with me on this one, I’ll get there eventually it’s a bit of a ramble but I promise I’ll get there.
It’s 04:45 in the morning and I am awake. I’m beside my lovely wife in a bed in her friend’s house in Sunbury west London. It’s a lovely old house with a beautiful back garden in one of Londons leafier suburbs. I’m awake as I’m listening to a beautiful dawn chorus where the birds have awoken and are obviously discussing avian issues quite vocally and beautifully through birdsong. It s a lovely sound and one of natures most pleasant daily occurrences, by the sounds of it it’s going to be a lovely sunny day.
I’m blessed with exceptionally good hearing. Some may call it a curse but to me it’s a godsend. My wife states that i,”Can hear a fly fart from 50ft away” and she’s probably not wrong to be honest. It’s a godsend, as it seems the female members of her family, yes all of them, have particularly bad hearing and my dear wife is in fact registered as partially deaf, and if it wasn’t for her super duper high tech hearing devices she would more than likely be totally deaf. Therefore, my superb hearing doubles as her safety blanket when I am with her. It’s just one of those strange coincidences in life when you are magically paired with someone to be their help, in their time of need. I’ve already stated in earlier posts how she has helped and nurtured me through our life together. There is truly a mystical tie that binds.
I dropped my wife off at her friends house about 11 days ago, just prior to me heading back north to begin a stint of night shifts. It’s allowed the two of them to have some real good time with each other to catch up and do the things they enjoy doing. Her friend as you would already know, if you follow my journal posts, had some quite serious issues last year with some mental health issues after the passing of her long time partner a couple of years back. The wife switched into full time angel mode to help her, and I remain so proud of them for what they have both achieved. You don’t just suddenly get better from such an episode, but she has improved so much she is pretty much back to the old her we used to know, and have always loved. Thankfully my wife has a constant eye on her, and is speaking to her at least 3-4 times a day, so there is really no chance of her sinking back into the abyss she has just come out from, as my wife firmly has hold of the support rope keeping her back from falling down once again.
The very clock I’m talking about
Now the clock analogy. I love clocks. Good old fashioned clocks that tick mechanically, not the digital versions that silently do their thing within the scope of silence. I’ve stated that my hearing is above par, and you’d think noise would be a curse. Well it is sometimes. In a silent house such as our own that has those very same digital clocks, I do hear everything. It’s an old house that makes noises. Pipes clank, floorboards creak and changes in temperature cause expansion and contraction noises all around. My hearing is such that I’m not at peace until I can associate a noise with the potential creator, yes I overthink even when I am attempting to sleep, i want total silence and that is not possible in an old house.
However at my wife’s friend’s house it is different. It’s an old house, digital clocks do not exist here and all clocks are mechanical, this house has a heartbeat. I have something to focus on and that comforts me into the most peaceful sleep, and awakes me at the other end with the most wonderful birdsong from outside. I love it.
When I delivered my wife here 11 days ago I had focussed on that clock heartbeat in our bedroom only to be mystified as to why, half way through the night the clock had stopped ticking, its heart had stopped. Why?
It became apparent the next morning that I looked at the clock that the hour hand was bent out of shape, and on its journey around the clock face the minute hand had clashed with it and it had come to an abrupt stop. This had occurred, and come to light when her friend had spoken with her step-son and found out that he hated the sound of a ticking clock and had fumbled in the night to hide it away causing the damage to the two hands.
Now as you know, I love fixing stuff and this item needed my help. The hands were very delicate and to be honest I didn’t think they were strong enough to take being bent back into shape. I used some tweezers and gently moved them back into position and I was able to restore that heartbeat.
I sit here now writing, getting great comfort from that ticking in the background. I don’t know why, I can only presume that like a child laying against its mothers breast, they gain great comfort from hearing their mothers heart beating. Maybe it’s the same with me? That constant, accurate non stop repetitive sound gives me something to focus on, turning my good hearing away from all the other little distractions that keep me awake.
I know one thing, I’m on the lookout for a good old fashioned mantle clock, or wall clock to have within listening distance of the bedroom at our house, that I can focus on.
I wish I could have been a horologist, working on clocks is tantamount to being a heart surgeon in my eyes. A most fantastic invention, and how I would love to be someone who looks after these fantastic mechanical masterpieces, however my eyesight is what lets me down here. But guess what? My wife’s eyesight is perfect. See, we are truly made for each other!
A title that sounds like an intro into the latest episode of Sesame Street, refers in reality to a question my wife has put to me over the last few days.
How many projects do you have on the go at present?
Now, she wasn’t asking how many types of different projects i get involved in, she was specifically asking due to the amount of deliveries that i am currently getting from online sale rooms and auction sites. I didn’t honestly think about it at the time, I wasn’t aware of the actual number, however i am now very aware.
A selection of outstanding repairs that I have in draft mode
And that number is 21. I have that amount of draft repair posts on this platform awaiting completion. Some are quite complex and demand time that i just don’t have at the moment, others are awaiting components that are needed to complete them. My wife, bless her has pointed out to me that rather than obtaining yet more items for repair, wouldn’t it be better if i just cleared the back log first? She is of course right, and a small selection of those draft posts awaiting attention can be seen in the photo above.
Not only do i have a back log, i also have a number of boxes that are full of now, fully operational items varying from microphones and cameras all the way through to a working music system. I think i need to break away from sentimentality and start to move some of these items on. To be honest this would be the best thing to do as it would release some funding for a few other projects that i wish to look into in the near future, and it would also create some extra space at home.
I love being busy that’s just me, knowing i have a batch of drafts awaiting allows me to spread my focus over a wider area of interest. I do pop into them all occasionally and just add a few lines here and there, or an item of interest that I’ve just remembered, so they are all in fact works in progress. I do need to concentrate on that backlog though, and maybe reduce that backlog to probably 5 or 6 repairs in total.
This whole website/ blog thing has been something that I have really put my heart into, I’m by no means an ace practitioner of blogging practices and I have never set out to be such a person, and will definitely never be one. I started this site purely for my own benefit, an extension to a journal i used to keep at home, that i may have discussed within these pages a few times previously. I’m not trying to teach anything, it’s a personal record of my failures, my learnings and achievements, and it just works just fine for me.
I really don’t understand how it has now gained a good few followers, I never expected that but I am eternally grateful to everyone who reads a post or comments upon them. That said i would still do the same if there was no one paying an interest in what is posted. Again, as stated earlier in this post, it was always set up as a personal journal. And it has worked for me. It has been a good well being tool.
So. I have temporarily agreed to cease any further purchases until I’ve got the backlog under control, and I’ve also agreed to employ a one in, one out policy in regards to all repairs and incoming projects, and believe me there are some quite complex ones to be published shortly.
Got exited originally as I thought this said favourite bands, had to sit back down and rethink my reply, as well as putting away my collection of R.E.M memorabilia.
So Brands it is then. I have no real affinity to brands to be totally honest, I have Apple devices, and Dyson devices at home but to be honest with you I would be just the same if they were Samsung phones or a Shark hoover, as long as they do the job I’m not that fussed.
Lindt shop Wembley
Chocolate though is a whole different topic. I love chocolate, but my go to brand has always been Lindt. I don’t think you can beat or replicate the taste of their offerings. I will actually go out of my way to purchase from their own shops. Some people prefer Cadbury chocolate, but to be honest if you go to any branch of Aldi and try their own brand fruit and nut bar you will be hooked. It actually has fruit within and that is something the Cadburys bar severely lacks.
So it’s Lindt chocolate for me. No contest.
And as for Coffee it can only be this bad boy.
Skull Crusher it does what it says on the bag
At work where we are fighting fatigue through long hours of working a 24hr Roster, you cannot beat this coffee. Too much and your heart rate is racing and you will be awake for the next millennium, just like a fine wine or good medicine it has to be taken in moderation. But by heck, does it make you alert. Just what you need, and that’s why we have a tea kitty that we all contribute to so we can keep a good stock of it at hand.
So no real fancy brand expense for me, as long as I have good Chocolate and good Coffee, then Dave’s a happy chap.
List the people you admire and look to for advice…
I guess we will all at some time look to a mixture of people for different kinds of advice.
Contentment
For emotional advice there is no one but my wife who I’d turn to in the first instance. I think for her, I’d fit that bill as well, heck, we’ve been together so long we sometimes know each other better than we know ourselves. She’s my confidante and I know anything we discuss stays totally between us. She’s just such an understanding and calm influence for me. I need that sometimes. Don’t misunderstand me, when she cracks she goes full loop de loop, and is known in the family as the Rottweiler, you just don’t cross her. And when this does rarely occur I’m the one that calms her. God, we were truly meant to be together to keep each other at peace. So far so good.
At work I’m in probably the best work team I have known in all my working days. We are always there for each other, there is always support for each other 24hrs a day, and when things get a bit too much, there is always a calming elder figure to talk to. I guess that is why it’s recognised in our organisation that our depot pretty much runs itself, with no issues and no need for guidance, we self manage and are a well oiled machine in all aspects. The guys I work with are just the most fantastic, supportive and caring bunch you could ever work with. And a combined fabulous sense of humour doesn’t go unnoticed.
Work
Outside of these two highlighted above, I look to some older and much wiser friends, elders of my life if you like for that additional advice, that advice that sometimes you just have to run past someone on the fringes of your group, to see if you are thinking it all out correctly, and addressing any issues logically.
I don’t really look to anyone else in my family group for advice, but saying that it is sometimes good to discuss approaches to issues with the younger members of the family to see their reactions and ways of dealing with similar issues. Sometimes they just seem to have a less tangled and somewhat easier approach to problem solving. Some times though they don’t.
So here I guess I am saying, that I can advise the younger generation from an experienced point of view, but at the same time I must be open to learning from them. It really is two way traffic.
Advice must be listened to and acted on, if we are to learn how to deal with a multitude of problems/ issues. Taking advice and not following through with it achieves noting and leaves you empty and confused. And that is where the “What ifs” arise. Good advice can definitely alleviate doubt.
Foxes Den 
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