Member postings for Peter G. Shaw

About 15 months ago, I bought two new laptops - one for everyday use with the other for backup purposes. Both came with Windows partially installed and requiring installation completing including setting up a Microsoft account. As some of you may know, I don't use Microsoft at all if I can help it, indeed I much prefer Linux Mint and other Open Source software. Anyway, I was somewhat concerned about the warranty but I found that in the instructions I received there was the possibility of completely removing Windows once installation was complete, along with the possibility of downloading the Windows installation onto a memory stick in case future installation was required.

So, I continued the installation, and somehow managed to convince Windows that I wasn't going to set up a Microsoft account. Eventually I had a working Windows and no account. At this point I downloaded and set up the memory sticks, one for each laptop. I followed this by loading Linux Mint on top of Windows. Job complete, and no Microsoft account.

As someone else above has intimated, I object strongly to people such as Microsoft attempting to control MY computer, a computer that I have paid good money for. Could you imagine the outcry if, eg Ford started to dictate which make of fuel you should use in your car? Do you remember a few years ago when car manufacturers were told that they could NOT force people to have their new car serviced by the main dealer? And that they had to honour the warranty as long as whoever did the service could show that the servicing had been done correctly? So why do Microsoft think they can get away with controlling what people do with their computers?

Sorry for the rant folks, it's just that I detest these American corporations who attempt to control our lives, Microsoft being just one of many such organisations.

Cheers,

Peter G. Shaw

Land & Sea (Fish & Chips) from a newspaper. Now that really does get the old memory cells going. Where I lived 60 or more years ago it was a staple after a Saturday night out. Eaten whilst walking the last half-mile home!

And, of course, just about every village used to have their own F&C shop.

Must stop this reminiscing, it isn't doing me any good.

Peter G. Shaw

Harold Hall's dti accessories will be found in:

MEW14 (Dec 1992) (or MEW 151/152 (Jun/Jul 2009) for a later version).

Also WSP 39, Ch.12.

HTH,

Peter G. Shaw

Yes Noel, Many years ago I had a Pug 405 with the 1905 diesel engine. It got to 135K before the head itself failed - porous aluminium I was told. Anyway, a new head and off it went to 165K before I got rid of the car due to rot.

Initial symptoms was water leaking from it, followed by a great spurt of water when I removed the radiator cap. Don't remember anything else other than the garage I used regularly expected this at any time from 80K onwards so 135K was considered quite good.

Far, far better than the blasted heap of scrap metal & plastic that followed it which the manufacturer called a car. Yes, I'm pointing the finger at you, Ford. Your horrible Focus diesel with the 1.8 ltr engine. Short tyre life, tram-lining, short clutch life (56K) and a "new" engine at 59K. It seems that the turbo failed, and sucked all the oil out of the engine and dumped it in the exhaust. Plus all the other failures which mercifully I've forgotten about. My first and definitely my last Ford.

FWIW, we now use a Toyota Avensis 1.8 petrol - 115K in 9 years from new. The same drivers, towing the same caravan, doing the same work, a world of difference. Next to no repairs, ok a couple of batteries and a few sets of tyres doing something like 30K a set, but that's about it. And 38mpg as against 42 for the Pug and 45 for the Ford.

Sorry about ther diatribe against the Ford. I do understand that I was unlucky and that, eg, my brother, has had nothing but perfection from his Fords. But it only takes one such event to turn me completely off Fords, not that I was particularly keen on them in the first place.

Cheers,

Peter G. Shaw

I was told by my GP that I was "an old man now". This was after bouncing off a ladder having run into it with a knee. I was 38!

I've also run into the "too old at 70" when asking about van hire.

I've also had to realise, for quite a few years now, that my children have their own lives and we, generally, are seldom a part of it. Having said that, it's nice that my grandsons do occasionally come and ask to use my equipment. Or maybe it's because it's readily available! It's also nice that my nearly 16 year old grandddaughter will still give her old grandad a hug, even if she does have to bend down to do it! She's 5'9" whilst I'm now 5'5" having slowly shrunk from 5'8".

There is one thing that I'm pleased about. My maternal grandfather retired at (I assume) 65. I was aged 6. He died in 1954 aged 70, and during those 5 years went from being a fully functioning adult male to someone who had to be told to do every little thing and had to be watched whilst he did it. I was told that he had "lost his memory". As you might expect, this created a rather frightening memory for me, and seeing other (non-related) people develop Alzheimer's hasn't helped. Fortunately, I've reached 79 with very little mental degradation although physically quite a lot. I think, in reality, the mental thing is more a case of I can't be bothered now.

I took early retirement aged 51. I was, when all said and done, in a position to do it and the company wanted rid of staff. I did do a few years in a part-time job which in reality was not worth-while doing but it did at least get me out of the house. And, yes, I've had so far 28 years of retirement. However, I did make a mistake a few years ago and said something about pensions to my two oldest children. Never again! I got well and truly jumped on, and told that they would never have the same pension that I have. Since then, I have kept strangely quiet about finances! I wonder why.

I'm never asked for advice, especially when my children have far more experience of the rough and tumble of life than I've ever had. Occasionally a grandson might ask what I think, but that's only because I do have some experience & knowledge that no-one else in the family has. But in general, my certificates, such as they are, date from 1971 and before. And even then, I lot of what I learned has become obsolete. And that I do find dispiriting.

Old, obsolete, and outdated.

Perhaps I should creep away quietly and go lie down under a stone somewhere.

Peter G. Shaw

Ron Laden,

This might help your understanding of what you receive as I also get more than the Basic State Pension (BSP).

I must admit I don't really understand it either, and although I managed to check it for the first year, thereafter, well, I just gave up, doffed the cap and said "Thankyou". Anyway, after that bit of sarcasm...

I have a works pension. It's a bit of a mixup because early years were a Civil Service pension, whilst later years were not, yet we got an allownace for the CS pension. Anyway, there is (are?) various funny things going on such as Guaranteed Minimum Pension, Contracted Out Deduction, and a part of the works pension which is paid by the State. That part is itself subject to wildly varying increments, such as pension earned prior to a particular date has any increase paid by the State; between two set dates are paid partially by the State and partially by the employer, or rather the Pension Scheme; and any increments after the second date are paid according to yet another set of rules.

The end result is that I receive my works pension from the Pension Scheme, whilst I also receive a State Pension made up of the Basic State Pension plus this extra bit. In my case this amounts to about £172 p.w. My wife, who as stated earlier, receives the Basic State Pension plus a few pennies amounting to about £142 p.w. so in effect, I receive £30 p.w more than she does due to this convoluted system.

To other people,

My State Pension is untaxed, well it's not, but you know what I mean. In other words I receive it gross. It is, though, added to my works pension and is thus taxed that way.

One other point. Throughout my fully employed time, I paid a little bit towards a Widows & Orphans pension, even though I wasn't married in the early years. As of now, when I pop my clogs, my wife will receive 50% of my current works pension together with an increase in her Basic State Pension, about a 27.5% increase as far as I can tell. I believe this is due to the complicated arrangements associated with my Works Pension,

It's a most complicated subject, and I feel just like an ex-colleague, who, when I asked him how he checked the figures were correct, smiled sadly and said "I've no idea, I just receive it and say thankyou!"

Cheers,

Peter G. Shaw

Plus another one for Len Mason's books.

Peter G. Shaw

Hello,

I worked for 35 years and paid a reduced rate of NI. This was because the works pension guaranteed a minimum pension.

Aftet taking early retirement, I firstly had to pay Class 2 (I think it was) NI for those years when I was working as self-employed and not earning a great deal, and towards the end I also opted to pay one or more lump sum(s) to account for those years I hadn't paid for. During my last year before drawing my state pension, I did obtain a quote of what my state pension would be and this was low (by 1/45th I think). It turned out that the quote did not take into account that I was still paying NI in my last year, and sure enough, my state pension was exactly as expected.

In my wife's case, she has never, or almost never, worked in paying employment and instead gained credits for having children. This did not give a full entitlement and so she had to pay for, if memory serves me correctly, four out of six years. Needless to say, she paid the four cheapest years. She eventually received the full state retirement pension plus a few pennies from whatever it was called (graduated state pension perhaps?) earned in her early years.

So yes, we did receive the full amounts expected albeit with a few catching up payments for missed years. I should point out that we have been receiving state pensions for 14 years (me) and 11 years (boss lady) and hence our state pensions are the older versions and hence somewhat less than the new version.

(Which means that I should be receiving an extra 25p pw as from July next year. Oh frabjous day!)

Hope this helps. And enjoy it Andrew.

Peter G. Shaw

Edited for spelling mistakes.

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 26/09/2022 10:43:11

Well now, I am having to backtrack on what I have previously said. Mint 21 seemingly does have a few problems which, to me, appear unsurmountable. But then, in all fairness, I am using a somewhat hybrid setup, but I have not had these problems before. Anyway, I'm having to remove Mint 21 and use Mint 20.3 instead, the major difference being that End of Life for Mint 20.3 is 2025, rather than the 2027 of Mint 21. Oh well, c'est la vie, n'est ce pas?

The problems I have:

Unreadable desktop at times. I like a black desktop with no fancy graphics and use Mint-X or Mate as appropriate. I have done this for a few years now and have found it totally satisfactory. When selected, the icon & the undertext are both highlighted. Using Mint 21, this highlighting is extreme, such that both the icon and the text are obscured.

Loss of data. One of the advantages of modern computers is that of multi-tasking. I use this when copying data either from one hard drive to another, or inbetween computers. Normally, I can then do something else whilst the copying is going on. Under Mint 21, I was doing this when I attempted to delete some files. The system then completely obliterated on both the donor hard drive and the receiving hard drive all those files yet to be copied resulting in a complete loss of some data. Not good at all.

Problems with Wine. In addition to the DOS program mentioned above, which by the way works ok now with DOSEmu2, I also use DesignCad 3D Max v. 17.2 which is a Win 32 bit program. Now ok, this is another ancient program, dating back to 2005 or thereabouts but it works and does what I want, and whilst there is a modern version of the program, it is expensive. But, with Wine it works at about 98%, and the bits that don't work don't matter anyway. So, install Wine, and then DC17. The first time I set this up using Mint 21, it loaded Wine v.6.x.x. The next time, on a separate computer, it loaded Wine 7.x.x. I think I clashed with WineHQ's changeover, but I could not get it to run properly. Dropping back to Mint 20.3, and Wine installs using v. 7.x.x. and all seems ok, within reason!

Now, for historic reasons I also have a number of data files saved in the proprietary formats for both Paint Shop Pro v.7 (PSP) and for Lotus SmartSuite. Last time I tried, I was unable to read any of these files using either The Gimp or Libre Office as appropriate, so I loaded the original programs into Mint 19.3 (yes, not a mistake, 19.3) with the intention of using Wine and thus being able to open these old files. Attempting to do this, under Mint 20.3 or Mint 21 was not good which does rather suggest the problem may lie with Wine 7.x.x. Fortunately, I have now discovered that Libre Office can open the Smartsuite files and as PSP appears to be usable under Wine, then I will be able to convert those data files if necessary.

Apparently, it is possible to use earlier versions of Wine, according to something I came across on the WineHQ site, but it was too late to bother with. And anyway, it does seem that I may not need to bother.

Overall then, although my initial attempts to update to Mint 21 seemed possibly ok, all in all, it's not ok, and therefore I have had to revert to using Mint 20.3. Still, it isn't all bad - I've now got at least a further 2 1/2 years before reaching End of Life. So maybe Silly Old Duffer/Dave has a good point in not automatically upgrading to the newest and latest version of anything.

Cheers

Peter G. Shaw

The recommended procedure would appear to be to allow the epoxy to partially set and then use something like a razor blade to carefully cut away the excess adhesive. Methylated Spirits appears to be a solvent when freshly mixed, at least that's what I use to clean spatulas etc.

I quite agree with being lumbered with all sorts of repair jobs. I suppose that's the penalty for being practical! All you can do, I think, is to pretend that your expertise doesn't extend to such matters. Alternatively, start talking vaguely about insurance, ie you don't want to be responsible if it, whatever 'it' may be, fails again.

Good luck,

Peter G. Shaw

Nick,

I've just sent a long reply to Adrian explaining all about my DOS program. I'm not about to repeat it - it's too long & life's too short!

The bottom line is that I have tried Oracle's VM and although it worked, there were problems, more to do with all the excess computing required than anything else. That was a few years ago - it may have improved since then.

Dual Booting is ok, but it takes time and causes the shutdown of everything else. As of now, I can use all these non-Linux programs as if they were original Linux progs, even to the extent of having shortcuts on the Panel. Thus taking full advantage of multi-tasking & task swopping. Actually, I don't know if multi-tasking does indeed work, not that it matters - task swopping is the important bit.

Cheers,

Peter G. Shaw

p.s. I've just realised that in various places aBOVE I've talked about using Mint 17. That should, of course, been Mint 19. Mint 17 has been EoL for a few years, whilst Mint 19 only becomes EoL next April. Sorry about that.

Hi,

I am in the somewhat unusual, or perhaps difficult might be more apt, position in that I use a DOS database program and a Win32 bit CAD program. In amongst other programs of course. The CAD program works more or less satisfactory via Wine. (More or less because with Mint 17 & earlier and Wine 5 and earlier, there were a tiny number of oddities which didn't really affect me. I haven't yet tried it out under Mint 21.) The DOS program has caused me problems in getting it working satisfactorily with earlier programs; ultimately, I found I could get a satisfactory setup using the original version of DOSEmu. Unfortunately, this progam would not work under Mint 20 or 21.

Mint 17.x becomes End of Life (EoL) in April of next year, so I set about trying to get the DOS program working under Mint 21 as this will give me five years before it becomes EoL again. I looked into the original DOSEmu - but no dice. I then looked into DOSEmu v.2. Now last time I tried this, I could not get it to work - there was a problem loading the DOS program. Since then DOSEmu v.2 has been considerably updated, and I'm pleased to say that my DOS program now seems to be working satisfactorily, I haven't yet had a full workout, but the signs are good.

A lot of people will ask me why I don't use this program, or that program, and why don't I just scrap the DOS program, and I suppose the CAD program, in favour of more modern equivalents. Fair enough if I could be assured of a satisfactory life in which to use them. As it is, aged 79, and with BigC, I really can't be bothered learning new programs. Plus, of course, they work, and work satisfactorily for me. End of story!

Other problems. I've only been changing over this week, so I haven't had that much experience yet. The only problem I have so far found is that using Mate desktop with a black screen, Mint X symbols & something else - can't remember what, I do have a problem that if I open a file from the desktop, the icon changes colour, whilst the title displayed under the icon changes to a very pale, almost white colour which makes the text almost unreadable. I have compared with a separate machine running Mint 17.3, and whilst under the exact same circumstances the colours do change, the text background does NOT obliterate the text. Of course, this may just be a setting somewhere but I've yet to find it. Any ideas anyone?

So, there we are. Is it worth it? Well, in my case yes since Mint 19 becomes EoL in 6 months time whilst Mint 21 becomes EoL in 2027 which may see me out - hopefully not, but there we are, I must face realities.

Cheers,

Peter G. Shaw

I’m a bit like other people here in that I’m not an engineer, merely a person with an interest in learning how to do things for myself – self-education by experimentation – and of doing it using a limited set of tooling. As part of this, I tend to spend my time learning how to best to use the tooling, and making, when necessary, additional bits of tooling. I’m not into CNC, 3D printing, or any of the other esoteric (esoteric to me, that is) production methods. There are a lot of techniques which can be used in a small amateur workshop that I haven’t tried, many of which I doubt that I will ever try due to old age and infirmity to say nothing of a lack of the extra tooling required to perform that task. But that doesn’t negate that fact that some of the articles do have some interest for me. Unfortunately, one current article reminds me of what is now a totally different life in a slowly dimming and long lost life!

Martin Kyte has struck a rather familiar note with me, and whilst I don’t know whether or not my articles, few though they may be, have met his requirements for “asides”, I have long considered that writing about problems, and how I overcame them was an essential part of what I was doing, indeed I have an article half written which is provisionally titled “Catastrophe Corner” just because if it could go wrong, then it did! It’s half written because I ran into a problem which diverted me onto something else so the original project is only half finished.

Nigel B,

But you only see one of your articles amongst many written by others. As intimated above, I have done a small number of articles, and it does give me a strange sense of frisson to see my name and an article of mine in print, especially as I make the proud "boast" of being someone who either dropped, or drastically failed any course/examination in any language, including English. Egotistic or what?

In general, I think MEW is ok as it is. Please leave the format well alone.

Cheers,

Peter G. Shaw

Edited to add an extra paragraph.

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 19/08/2022 15:31:20

I've just been to my GP surgery to see nursey-wursey and asked the question. Basically she doesn't know, and strongly intimated that she probably won't know until the stuff lands on ber desk along with "Here you are, get on with it."

Oh well, wait and see. Again1

Peter G. Shaw

I seem to recall the question of the "Tea Room" coming up fairly recently, and think it was stated that it was there just for non-engineering related subjects, such as would/may arise in countless Tea Rooms up and down the country. That, I think, is a worthwhile objective.

I would also like to point out that there are people, such as myself, who, having retired miss the ability to ask totally unrelated questions of work colleagues who happen to know something about the subject. A good example, for me, was when I was considering installing a shower - one of my colleagues had recently done just that. Showers were absolutely nothing to do with telecom engineering.

Another aspect, again as a result of leaving work, was the ability to have a good old row about something or other, and yet remain friends. I can no longer indulge in such antics. So "Up the Tearoom!".

Now, about the donation. My personal dislike of adverts is such that I ignore them. Completely, utterly, ignore them. I even go as far as recording TV programs so that I can skip over the ads. Hence, I never saw the Donate thingy.

I am well aware that in some situations, it's the ads that pay for the service I'm using. That doesn't mean I have to watch them. Some might ask how I find out about new devices. Simple, if what I've already got works, then I'm not about to change it unless it is faulty, and if so, then, and only then, will I go looking for information. But, you might ask, what if the new device is more efficient, or offers new features? How much more efficient is it? Should I replace a fully working 10 year old washer just because it's modern equivalent promises to save £x off my electric bill as long as I spend £y first? New features? What I've never had, I (might) never miss. Unfashionable in this day and age, I know, but there it is.

So, should I donate? Would I pay if I had to? I really don't know about the donations. It doesn't seem quite right. Paying for forum access. Hmm, that's a difficult one. Should it be part of a subscription model including one or other of the two magazines? I really don't know. I do like reading the forum, but quite how much I've learned is something else. Of course, how does one measure absorbed information, and let's face it, I will have absorbed some, even if it's only that Joe Bloggs doesn't know what he's talking about! (Mods, if we do have a Joe Bloggs, please substitutute as necessary, perhaps A.N Other?)

One thing I do like is that it can be thought provoking, even this thread!

Cheers,

Peter G. Shaw

Tony,

Have a look at https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits. This will confirm what I am saying.

Martin P,

Yes, I have noticed the same phenomenon. Doesn't make it right. And it is illegal - see above reference.

In respect of slow driving on that road, it is surely good manners to pull over and let people behind get ahead, after all, my grandsons, both of whom have passed a tractor driving test, tell me that they are supposed to do just that - and some of those tractors are capable of 40mph even when towing a full load.

Cheers,

Peter G. Shaw

Well, I see my original thread has effectively been resurrected, so a few more comments for discussion. Perhaps!!!

Let's start with caravans. I have one. I have had one for 32 years now. And before that I had a camping trailer and before that, well, courtesy of a very kind farmer who taught me to drive his tractor aged 13. And which usually had a trailer attached. So, I've been towing for 66 years. Doesn't make me perfect, but I do claim a lot of experience.

Anyway, I notice a trend to complain about caravans clogging up the highways. So, let's suppose I'm on a fairly level single carriage way in England and assuming I'm travelling at my legal speed limit, which is ??? Now suppose I'm a hgv driver on the exact same road travelling at his legal limit. Or a coach/bus driver. All three types of vehicles actually have the same maximum speed limit of 50mph, so why the opprobium leveled at caravans? Would people complain about the hgv or the bus?

Moving on swiftly...

Yesterday we travelled from Gargrave to Cockermouth via the A65, M6 and A66. Now the A65 apart from being a very busy road, is understandably a motorcyclist's dream. Indeed, it's quite an interesting road to drive and I quite like it - plenty to concentrate on whilst making progress. The M6. For the first time in my experience, there was a traffic jam at Junction 36, or rather on the approach roads/roundabouts from the A65 to the M6. I've seen delays before, but I've never had to start queueing before the first roundabout before.

After that, we had an uneventual trip up the M6, uneventful apart from the driver displaying "CLOG" tendencies, along with fixed speed of 70mph. Nothing wrong with the speed, but a tad frustrating when the nearside lane is empty and the driver is still in the centre lane!

Finally, the A66, Penrith to Cockermouth. Not a bad road, usually fast (ish), single carriageway, 60mph (or 50mph with a caravan (which we weren't by the way)) but we caught up with someone doing exactly 40 mph. No more, and no less And the traffic density is such that overtaking is somewhat fraught due to oncoming traffic. We were unable to overtake until we hit the short dual carraiageway section at Keswick. There really is no need for that sort of behaviour. That road is arguably the main feeder road into the northern Lakes and the West Coast industrial towns and therefore is not really a touristy type road. Why on earth these people cannot see the queue behind, and then pull over into a layby, I cannot understand. Sorry, rant over.

Hmm,

Cheers,

Peter G. Shaw

Hi Nick,

I quite agree about the shame visited upon the children of unmarried mothers, but it happened, and there's nothing we can do about other than laugh at it and shake our heads in disbelief. The real irony of my mother's state was that when she herself came to want to get married, her man, my father, was deemed not good enough for my grandparents daughter: he was a lorry driver who left school aged 13/14 whilst she had attended possibly a grammar school and matriculated (the forerunner of GSCE's). This, of course, was from a couple who themselves were unmarried and he was, let's face it, an adulterer. This resulted in all sorts of goings on, including the conception of yours truly, threats to send her away to have the child and give it up for adoption, she was 22 by the way. Ultimately, my father put his foot down and said either marry me, or I'll never speak to you again. They stayed together for over 50 years, had three other children, so who was right and who was wrong?

Ok, I admit it, it appears that Henry's Radio might have been on Edgware Rd. My excuse is that it was 50 years ago!

Cheers,

Peter G. Shaw

Apparently, the earliest underground railways used a cut & cover method to get underground. And they used to follow the streets - I suppose less hassle than going underneath buidlings. So they weren't that deep.

Initially they were steam powered with all the effects that produced. The episode I watched yesterday, was partially about the first electric train - apparently it wasn't powerful enough for the bends and slopes it encountered. They did show the interior of the electric locomotive, and by today's standards it was positively lethal with unguarded control equipment.

Nick,

My mother was, I think, a true cockney being born within earshot of Bow Bells. Her father was a Leeds lad and how he got to London we shall never know, but he did along with his legal wife with whom he had a son. As he was a pen-pusher employee with the LMS, and this was around the time of WWI, I do wonder if that had something to do with it. He left his legal wife, I understand she refused a divorce, and took up with a 25 year old spinster whose family had ended up in the Workhouse, eventually moving back to Yorkshire with partner & daughter. They never did get married which made my mother illegitimate, something she, as we now realise, understandably hid for the whole of her life.

I have some memories of being taken to Dagenham in July 1948 when we stayed with my mother's aunt & family. Her son, my mother's cousin, was a fireman on the railway and he took me to see his engine and to give me a short footplate ride. I also remember being taken to see an old woman in the basement of a building. I've no idea who she was, and I'll never now know, but on reflection, I doubt very much that it was my grandfather's legal wife, which leads me to suspect it might have been my mother's grandmother and therefore my great grandmother.

It's funny that you mention buying mobile disco equipment in the '70's. The only time I have ever voluntarily been to London was to Tottenham Court Rd in probably 1972. That was to visit Heathkit who had a shop there along with Henry's Radio, Lasky's and one or two others (G.W. Smith?). We parked our car at Winbledon and took the tube, along with our 6 month old Golden Retriever who had never been on a bus, let alone a growling tube train, |and believe me, when a 80lb Golden Retriever digs his feet in, he takes some shifting. Mind you, after the 5th tube ride of the day, after he had realised it wasn't going to eat him, he trotted on and off as if he'd being doing it all his life.

Peter G. Shaw

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 26/07/2022 11:04:28

Is anyone else watching this series? If so, what do you think?

As someone who has lived all his life in the North, I have to say that I have absolutely no interest in London, indeed the last time I went, or to be precise, passed through, was on my way from Leeds to Brighton in the late ‘80’s, yet I find this series of programmes quite fascinating although somewhat light on detail. But I suppose there has to be some restrictions on what can be shown in a 45 minute long programme. (One hour including adverts.) In particular the thought of all those trains hurtling along in tunnels many metres deep is, really, well outside of my comprehension.

I have seen Tim Dunn, one of the two presenters, before on another railway programme, and found that the background music, or what passes for music, was obtrusively loud such that at times Dunn was almost drowned out by it. I’m pleased to say that the current series, of which there are two, are much better. As far as Dunn is concerned, I find him a bit too exitable – he could take lessons from Rob Bell who presents programmes such as these much better.

Siddy Holloway, the other presenter, I find somewhat girlish with “wows” & “just look at these” cluttering up her speech. Otherwise, quite good.

Cheers.

Peter G. Shaw