On Being Whelmed ...

Today I have been considering this word:

Overwhelmed.

Some of us have been there, and there is a credible dictionary definition.

If you watch the Eurovision Song Contest, you might be underwhelmed.
Now, that last word does not appear in my English dictionary, but spell-check seems happy with it.

My question is: what is this verb ‘to whelm’?

That’s not in my dictionary either, and it is unrecognisable by spell-check.

I think it might be good to be continuously whelmed, don’t you?
Or, maybe, just occasionally.

More about trains ...

I like travelling by rail.

I always have.

Here is how I used to travel to school on a 101 class DMU:

(OK, that image is just of a model, but it is in the correct livery for the time …

and - just admire the immaculate track-work!)

I did not need to be at high speed.

Today I listened to a discussion on The Jeremy Vine Show.
(BBC, Radio 2.)

The proposed high-speed link between London and Birmingham will have a journey time of 45 minutes.

Wow, that’s impressive!
But the train won’t stop anywhere between the two termini.
“What use is that to someone who lives in the Chilterns?” asked one subscriber.

Anyway, why do people need to travel between two modern cities so rapidly?
In this age of advanced communication technology, who needs to go anywhere?
What about the telephone, fax, email and internet-based video links that facilitate near-instantaneous communication?
I accept that face-to-face meetings are sometimes necessary, but how many such meetings won’t wait until tomorrow?
Perhaps there are precious things/objects/documents that need to be delivered from hand to hand, and signatures required.
Fine, but what’s the rush?

Naturally, there will be the occasional wedding, funeral or family gathering that you feel obliged to attend.
You don’t have to do ‘day-return to Birmingham, please,’ do you?
(Particularly if the event is in some remote corner of Essex.)
You do your research, factor in your journey-time, and, if necessary, book a room at Premier Inn:

I live in a village on the outskirts of a provincial city on the South coast of England.
There is a railway station in the village, but half the trains don’t stop there, so we have an hourly service throughout the day, and two-hourly in the evening.
Here’s my magnificent local station:

It is worth visiting Bosham just to admire this fine architecture.

Occasionally I need to visit my dentist whose premises are in another village - three stations down the line. That train journey takes 14 minutes, and the timetable is usually reliable. Of course, because of an hourly service, I usually arrive at my dentist well before the appointment.

I don’t find that a problem because my dentist has a delightful receptionist who offers me coffee:

Oh, look, it's Tracey again - if she plays her cards right, she can have me!

Then I have to get home, and that often involves hanging around a drafty station, (that has no facilities,) for a bladder-challenging period of time.

I don’t need to go to London at the speed of sound.

I need a local transport system that operates frequently, on time, and stops where I need to be.

I don’t really care how long it takes

… as long as there’s a loo!

I Never Knew That ...

Now, there was I looking on the web for a song: 'I Wonder as I Wander'.
I always considered it to be traditional, but ...
Google came up with one John Jacob Niles, (1892 - 1980.)
Here he is:

I pursued this link http://www.john-jacob-niles.com/music.htm and discovered that Mr. Niles claims to have collected a snippet of the song in 1933 from an impoverished 'unwashed blond' girl, whom he reports to have been 'very lovely'.
Her name was Annie Morgan.
Perhaps she appeared thus:

JJN was clearly enchanted.
What man wouldn't be if she looked like that?
He claims to have added additional verses.
If you click on the above link, hit the 'play' option, and fast-forward to about 2min. 37secs, you will hear him sing and play it.
I was not engaged by the peculiar voice, and I continue to question the origin.
I have a book that simply entitles the piece 'Appalachian Carol', credited 'trad.', with no mention of JJN.

I continued in my search and came across a youtube post of another of JJN's recordings:
http://youtu.be/fMO-b8FM2OE
(The embed code seems to be corrupt.)
This is truly delightful.

Another Bicycle Story ...

I am charged with the task of servicing, and adding certain equipment to a bicycle.

I enjoy doing that sort of thing.

It’s a good bicycle:

I acquired some SKS ‘chromoplastic’ mudguards. They are supposed to be the best.
Here they are:

Unfortunately the front one comes with patented ‘secu-clips’. They are intended to release the guard from the front fork if you happen to run over excreta that sticks to the front tyre. You can see those black plastic bits on the ends of the stays on the carefully pre-assembled front guard; those are 'secu-clips'.
I was not impressed, and their inclusion in the system would have required the removal of 2 cm. from the stays.
Even after my decision to discard said clips, I needed to shorten the stays by 1 cm.
I discovered that a blunt hacksaw is not the best tool for such a task.

Only as small amount of blood-loss was involved in the final fitting:

Then I came to the rear mudguard, (no ‘secu-clips’ here,) and that went pretty smoothly. All the bits were there, and the stays were the correct length for a 700C wheel.
I took this photo later, after fitting the rear carrier.
See ... the mudguard even includes a reflector:

However, Ridgeback, the bike manufacturer, seems to have a strange idea about how to orientate those threaded M5 bosses on the frame.

I ended up improvising with cable ties. That worked, but I think this photo is out of focus, and might be upside-down:

The rear rack is a simple design, fairly easy to assemble and install:

Those of you who know about such things will observe that the rack is not horizontal, as recommended in the manufacturer’s instructions. The reason is that those flimsy, bendable pieces of metal that attach it to the seat-tube anchor points are not long enough.
That will have to do.
A great advantage of this particular carrier is that it has a mounting for a rear light, (see later.)

My client wanted a front basket.

“Are you sure?” I questioned.

I obtained one, and it was rather nice:

The fixing bracket, (only suitable for 25.4mm handlebars,) went on perfectly, occupying all the space that you would otherwise expect to accommodate other accessories, including your front light, (see later.)
The basket has a quick-release function – very good.

BUT! … You have to squash all your gear and brake cables behind it.

It took several hours of brake adjustment and gear-indexing to rectify the altered tension thereby generated.

THEN … you remove the basket and you’re back to square one!
That still makes no scientific sense to me.

LIGHTS!

Yes, my client wants lights; that's wise.

Having occupied all the available space on the handlebar, the front light had to go somewhere else. Here it is on the front fork:

The Q/R mounting does not foul the front wheel, but anyone wishing to remove the mounting will have to remove the wheel first.
You will, of course, notice that it is on the left.
That is because my client intends to ride the bike on the continent.

Now, have you ever noticed that rear cycle lights purchased in the UK will only fit on the right-hand side of your frame, unless you fit them upside-down - whereby they fall off?
Anyway, if you secure the lamp on the rear stay of the frame in the traditional manner, your rear pannier is now in the way.
I solved this difficulty by fitting a dusty old rear lamp to that wonderful bracket on the rear carrier that I mentioned earlier:

(Needs new batteries!)

So, now it's complete and looks thus:

I am rather pleased.

Tools required:

• 4 & 5mm spanner/socket
• 5mm hex-key
• Cross head screwdriver
• Cable-ties x 2
• Blunt hacksaw
• Sticking plaster!

Now I will pump up the tyres.

• Bicycle pump!