For those who work ,
, , during this festive season :-
Thank you. :)
I used to, many moons ago, ((have to)) volunteer to work, in various roles in the BBC, during various holiday seasons (( I was single and it was the convention )) to keep the essential transmitters and VT machines etc rolling to keep the populace happy.
It amused me that I would kip in a corner on a makeshift bed when my shift ended because that was easier than trying to get home when the non-essential services like the tube, buses and rail were shut down !
PS
I refer to an era when the BBC actually had transmitters, studios and VT machines.
but I am in danger of becoming maudlin,
hic.
Good shift guys & a happy new year!
Gerard
And a special thank you to all those in the medical profession who right now are having to deal with the fallout from the celebrations.
God bless them all. :thumbsup:
And thanks to the Police and Security Services for providing a secure environment where thousands of inebriated souls can wake up this afternoon with no memory of last nights celebrations. :thumbsup:
Malcolm, you are not being maudlin but nostalgic !
I would like to thank all the public and private transport staff who are working today so that we can visit our friends/family, or get back home after last night's festivities.
Best regards,
Joe
ahhh, the joys of getting up at 05:00 to be at work by 06:00 to start a 12 hour shift. :'(
took the opportunity to change to nights as soon as I could.
Thank the great N gauge gods that I'm now retired.
Quote from: MalcolmAL on January 01, 2018, 12:30:50 AM
For those who work ,
, , during this festive season :-
Thank you. :)
I used to, many moons ago, ((have to)) volunteer to work, in various roles in the BBC, during various holiday seasons (( I was single and it was the convention )) to keep the essential transmitters and VT machines etc rolling to keep the populace happy.
It amused me that I would kip in a corner on a makeshift bed when my shift ended because that was easier than trying to get home when the non-essential services like the tube, buses and rail were shut down !
I too worked for Auntie in the 70s and 80s on shift, but in Brum, where on occasion I could walk to work. We had a 13 week rota pattern, which included 2 weeks of outside broadcasts. For me, that was over Christmas and New Year. Hence I was covering Cheltenham racing on New Years Day for 14 out of 16 New Years Days. I won't say I was always sober, but I turned up for work and did my shift.
Having Served in the Royal Navy and then spent far to many years in the security industry working Christmas and New Year I was grateful this year to be retired but I would like to thank all those in the Emergency and security services for their work over the Holidays. :thankyousign:
I was scheduling container ships which may-or may not-be carrying your latest wants, railway or otherwise, from China......
Martyn
Quote from: Malc on January 01, 2018, 12:18:47 PM
I too worked for Auntie in the 70s and 80s on shift, but in Brum, where on occasion I could walk to work. We had a 13 week rota pattern, which included 2 weeks of outside broadcasts. For me, that was over Christmas and New Year. Hence I was covering Cheltenham racing on New Years Day for 14 out of 16 New Years Days. I won't say I was always sober, but I turned up for work and did my shift.
I spent several New Years Days in Studio B9 of Broadcasting House mixing Sport on 2 (as it then was) and I live on the south coast so it would have been a long walk... I recall one very snowy December 31st trying to get to London. I think it took about five hours - such devotion to Auntie. How many more ex-Beeb folk on this forum?
Not ex beeb but ex services, and other jobs that required 365 days a year Manning, including keeping your gas supplies arriving from the north sea.
Even during RAF trade training we ended up working Christmas and New year as firemen... 12 years RAF and never a Christmas off. Although as a civi in Saudi I was lucky that my fixed work holiday system coincided with Christmas once.
Even as a maintenance man for Tesco I was required to work Christmas Eve and New year's Eve and between.
It's only the last 12 years I've not had to work holiday periods.
So in the last 43 years of work I've had, under half of the Christmases off.
About the same ratio here, half of them off. I was never in the services but spent some years as what they used to call scientific civilian attachment. That was on Navy weapons research. Then a lot of years on survey vessels all over the world. That was as a freelance consultant. I should say that those of us who were away from home over Christmas/New Year were generally treated very generously by the companies. I have to say that I generally enjoyed my years at sea. And, the world travel was a bonus.
I've done that part of the year in Australia, China, California, France, Norway, Holland, Texas, Iraq and a few others... (China was the most fun! We were stuck in harbour due to a typhoon - shame! LOL)
Happy New Year to all, whether you worked or not.....
Regards, Allan.....
@rogerdB (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=6299)
Quote from: rogerdB on January 01, 2018, 04:32:56 PM
How many more ex-Beeb folk on this forum?
In the 60's I worked in the BH area & TC but as an office Waller so had my Xmas & New Year off.
Ray
Quote from: REGP on January 01, 2018, 09:02:23 PM
In the 60's I worked in the BH area & TC
Ha! our paths may well have crossed ! So did I, VT under the fountain of TC, and in the BH area (next door, Henry Wood House to be precise. )
TC shift working (7 days per 2weeks rolling roster)was ok because I didnt have to travel in the rush, but then made the mistake of getting promoted into P&ID(TelRec), offices at HW which was 5days a week in and out with the rush which was no fun so I got out in '69 and moved to BAe in Bristol.
Reason I mentioned BBC in my op was to continue to be amused that keeping the masses entertained was(is) considered more important than travel infrastructure :D
x marks the spot of one of my Xmas', on a bleak Scottish hillside known as Kirk o' Shotts BBC Band 1 405line Tx, no fun walking from there !
(http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/60/3699-010118233121.jpeg)
a clip from a fine picture of the site by R.Lamont at http://www.lamont.me.uk/broadcast/kirkoshotts/ (http://www.lamont.me.uk/broadcast/kirkoshotts/)
Quote from: MalcolmAL on January 01, 2018, 11:37:32 PM
Quote from: REGP on January 01, 2018, 09:02:23 PM
In the 60's I worked in the BH area & TC
Ha! our paths may well have crossed ! So did I, VT under the fountain of TC, and in the BH area (next door, Henry Wood House to be precise. )
TC shift working (7 days per 2weeks rolling roster)was ok because I didnt have to travel in the rush, but then made the mistake of getting promoted into P&ID(TelRec), offices at HW which was 5days a week in and out with the rush which was no fun so I got out in '69 and moved to BAe in Bristol.
Reason I mentioned BBC in my op was to continue to be amused that keeping the masses entertained was(is) considered more important than travel infrastructure :D
x marks the spot of one of my Xmas', on a bleak Scottish hillside known as Kirk o' Shotts BBC Band 1 405line Tx, no fun walking from there !
(http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/60/3699-010118233121.jpeg)
a clip from a fine picture of the site by R.Lamont at http://www.lamont.me.uk/broadcast/kirkoshotts/ (http://www.lamont.me.uk/broadcast/kirkoshotts/)
I spent a couple of days in the OB room at Shotts in the late 70s, doing racing from Ayr (IIRC)