Messymascot's faith in humanity and ginger safe haven

[bigjonny]

By way of reference, First Class on the Belfast to Dublin train is around £40/50 extra and all that gets you is a table light; glass of orange juice; newspaper and table service from a menu. Really not worth it as you can pre-book a seat in normal class and walk up to the bar anyway (if you don’t want to wait on the trolley which also has beer and wine).

When we , 4 blokes in our 60’s not getting any slimmer, travel to London away games we usually use Avanti Standard Premium- wider seats and more leg room. They’re the same seats as first class but you don’t get any food or drink , it’s almost twice as much as Standard seats but we’re lucky enough to be able to afford it. If I travel north on Transpennine Express I usually go in first class, I get an extra 20% off advance tickets through the Health Service Discount scheme on top of my railcard discount , better seats and food and drink. 3 1/2 hours each way to Glasgow next week £76.80 return.

 

[kev]

Even a professional lip reader only picks up 30% of words accurately (so I learned today). Visual cues was a big thing I honed in on today in that we all rely on them heavily without realising. In that respect, for me, learning how to always speak to a person with hearing difficulties rather than their sign language interpreter will be difficult at first. It’s human nature to turn towards sound and movement but quite rude in this one to one context.

My late sister (who had good hearing) learned sign language many years ago when she was a secretary working at Remploy.

 

[Armaghtoffee]

When we , 4 blokes in our 60’s not getting any slimmer, travel to London away games we usually use Avanti Standard Premium- wider seats and more leg room. They’re the same seats as first class but you don’t get any food or drink , it’s almost twice as much as Standard seats but we’re lucky enough to be able to afford it. If I travel north on Transpennine Express I usually go in first class, I get an extra 20% off advance tickets through the Health Service Discount scheme on top of my railcard discount , better seats and food and drink. 3 1/2 hours each way to Glasgow next week £76.80 return.

3 1/2 journey is like a flight! For that duration I would be going for maximum comfort myself.

One thing you have over there that we don’t in Ireland is choice. Two train companies here, both government owned with joint co-operation for the cross-border line.

 

[Armaghtoffee]

My late sister (who had good hearing) learned sign language many years ago when she was a secretary working at Remploy.

It looked very complex to me but I will learn at least a simple greeting to be polite.

 

[summerisle]

Ooh lovely. I haven't been to Paris for years. If you have the time when you are there, get a train to Versaiiles. You won't regret it- especially with your love of old buildings. It is magnificent.

I got drunk in Paris once on some ridiculously cheap red wine, fell asleep and ended up at the end of the metro line at Orly airport. An irate ticket collector harangued me for about 10 minutes, gave up, and shoved me back on the return train. A beautiful city, what I saw of it.

---

 

[peteblue]

The Eurostar is something I think I would like to try as well someday. I like train travel in general and that would be quite a unique experience I think. I bet @peteblue has used it before?

I have indeed. My wife and I took it for me to deliver a speech and hold technical discussions at Lille University. We stayed there a few days and she got time to see the city and shop. We also had the head of NASA development as part of our group of speakers and we’d all get together for a meal each night. The train itself felt super smooth but no better than the Japanese bullet train. I’d forgotten all this until you mentioned it……

 

[blue1948]

TBH I may have been guilty of exaggeration for comic effect. with my last post A.T..
It is very annoying at times though.
My hearing in general is poor (despite the aids) but I manage OK in 1 to 1 interactions, it's much more of a problem in group situtions I can't actually 'lip read' but definately rely on visual cues. I have also become almost entirely reliant on subtitles when watching TV.

Do you have an apple device ? My son has coded an equalizer for apple devices ,you do the Sennheiser hearing test then instal his app from the store . I too need subtitles all the time ,for me it is almost impossible to pick up conversation if there is more than two of us . They also help the wife with accents .

 

[Littlesue]

What about this for a stroke of luck!. Couple of weeks back I left a carrier bag on the bus. Inside were my fave pair of shoes and an apron. Because of the shoes I rang the lost property to see if they had been handed in but unfortunately they had not.
Yesterday I was a little early for bus so went into the town to browse in the shops. Went in the Heart Foundation charity shop and there on the shoe stand were my shoes!
I knew they were mine as there was a tiny white spot on the front which I had coloured in with a navy felt pen.
I got my shoes back! Even though it cost me £6. Someone must have taken my carrier off the bus and decided to dump it at a Charity shop

 

[blue1948]

Good morning all on this sunny day here ,I hope all are as well as can be and had a restful night . We saw our first pied flycatcher just before ,a sign of the summer hopefully . More bloods to give today and then the wait for a week as they must do a culture or similar so here's to hoping as I feel no different .
On the Finnish train system it is state owned and works to the minute hail rain or snow ,I have been on the metro in Helsinki but not mainline ,I wouldn't know how to arrange a ticket as it is all phone apps now so I use the car ! They get up to 200 kmp/h and I used to see them fly past as I was on a road next to the line.
Have a great day all COYB

 

[blue1948]

What about this for a stroke of luck!. Couple of weeks back I left a carrier bag on the bus. Inside were my fave pair of shoes and an apron. Because of the shoes I rang the lost property to see if they had been handed in but unfortunately they had not.
Yesterday I was a little early for bus so went into the town to browse in the shops. Went in the Heart Foundation charity shop and there on the shoe stand were my shoes!
I knew they were mine as there was a tiny white spot on the front which I had coloured in with a navy felt pen.
I got my shoes back! Even though it cost me £6. Someone must have taken my carrier off the bus and decided to dump it at a Charity shop

I was on the ferry from Finland to Estonia ( the Finns aren't too fond of Estonians because of the Russian link ) when I went to the loo I came back and there was a tannoy message for me to go to the main desk whereupon my wallet had been returned with a couple of hundred pounds still inside -by an Estonian guy .I gave him about 10% of the contents hoping he would do the same again ,afterwards realising he would have anyway !
So are you out dancing tonight with your "new "shoes ?

 

[Armaghtoffee]

What about this for a stroke of luck!. Couple of weeks back I left a carrier bag on the bus. Inside were my fave pair of shoes and an apron. Because of the shoes I rang the lost property to see if they had been handed in but unfortunately they had not.
Yesterday I was a little early for bus so went into the town to browse in the shops. Went in the Heart Foundation charity shop and there on the shoe stand were my shoes!
I knew they were mine as there was a tiny white spot on the front which I had coloured in with a navy felt pen.
I got my shoes back! Even though it cost me £6. Someone must have taken my carrier off the bus and decided to dump it at a Charity shop

Sounds like you are never to be parted Sue, in many ways, two kindred soles..

 

[Armaghtoffee]

Good morning all on this sunny day here ,I hope all are as well as can be and had a restful night . We saw our first pied flycatcher just before ,a sign of the summer hopefully . More bloods to give today and then the wait for a week as they must do a culture or similar so here's to hoping as I feel no different .
On the Finnish train system it is state owned and works to the minute hail rain or snow ,I have been on the metro in Helsinki but not mainline ,I wouldn't know how to arrange a ticket as it is all phone apps now so I use the car ! They get up to 200 kmp/h and I used to see them fly past as I was on a road next to the line.
Have a great day all COYB

I saw my first Swallows the other morning, an early sign of summer coming as you say. You could spend all day watching them swooping low to the ground like little fighter jets.

 

[kev]

Do you have an apple device ? My son has coded an equalizer for apple devices ,you do the Sennheiser hearing test then instal his app from the store . I too need subtitles all the time ,for me it is almost impossible to pick up conversation if there is more than two of us . They also help the wife with accents .

Thanks Blue,
Unfortunately no Apple devices.

 

[blue1948]

Sat at home after our walk with a tinto de verano about to lift my feet up outside in the sun . Hard to see but lots of wood anemone :-

 

[anjelikaferrett]

On my regular train commute, there are new houses built in the last 10 years right at the tracks. I just don’t get why someone would buy a new house so close to the line. In a lot of cases, the gardens are small and you are literally looking into people’s houses.

Our garden was very long so plenty of space. For the South Liverpool gang on here- Eastcote Road, off Brodie Avenue. You zoned out the train noise eventually. You literally did not hear them and slept soundly every night!