On August 11th 1999, we completed the purchase of our first home in Melksham - No. 404, The Spa - an old semidetached 4 story Bath House from 1814 that was listed (grade 2) and we bought as a wreck.  We stood outside as it went dark in the middle of the day and listened and saw the rooks from the rookery in the neighbouring property start calling and with some concern as it became night-like for the m.

 
I recall seeing the 1999 eclipse from the cliffs very nearly at the southern most point in Devon.  I'm planning to view Wednesday's from somewhere near there too. 
Not being quite a total one, there's not the same level of hype and media lead doom mongering about the inability of the region to cope with the expected influx of visitors which ultimately didn't materialize (probably in part as a consequence of said media overkill). 
It'll be interesting to see how busy it gets where I am.

 
Verging slightly overseas, I have some anecdotal view of property transactions in France.

My sister lives in France. She sold her converted farmhouse near Bordeaux and moved to Normandy.  She recounted how the legal process for the financial transaction on the day was suspended, while the legal people left the room, and some fine-tuning was negotiated between the seller (my sister) and the purchasers (a family from England).

Apparently, that's how it's done in France.

 

Skyscanner offers various explanations for airline pricing including this:

 

That's natural pricing - or just pricing - isn't it? If you rock up to a little local market in much of the world, looking like a rich foreign tourist, you'll pay the rich-looking tourist price - much more that the locals pay. It's been like that since early antiquity! One of the first uses of writing was for laws and market regulations and records.

We've got used to open pricing - what it says on the label is what you (and everyone else) pay. That needs to be backed up by laws to enforce it. And there are exceptions, e.g. sales by private contract. The biggest example would be housing, where you can never be sure if you'd paid too much or if someone else did a special deal.

Incidentally, if we were logical the buyer would have professional advice on prices, as they need to make a judgement on every house. The seller, who usually has one, has a simple job (pick the best offer) unless they don't sell (in which case they need advice on the value to other buyers). But of course we're not logical in that sense.

 
Except for your bus ticket which may be bought by card at Warminster station ticket box.

Once on site, there's no wi-fi possible & don't expect much mobile coverage either

 
Only 33% off with 16-25 though - so not really an overlap

 
If I may also offer a timely reminder here, the whole event will be 'cash only', with no card transactions possible, due to the very seasonal nature of this event.

CfN. 

 
I decided to try out a month's RTT+ subscription - probably useful in months where I'm travelling a lot! There were a lot of delays on Southern but by catching earlier late-running trains I could reach the Solent area on time. So it could easily be argued the main bulk of delay was still down to GWR. But it's hard to say which delay was the 'seed' for Delay Repay purposes. Exactly the thing they shuold be working out between themselves. I think sometimes where it's uncertain the system looks at the first leg's TOC without considering the overall working.

Not sure if Delay Repay money comes entirely from the TOC that accepts the claim or comes down to the original ORCATS split.

 
Now illegal I believe as prices have to be displayed at first sight

 

In the light of information from II, maybe Mr Creosote was travelling first class that day. 

 
My understanding is that the buses at those locations will first travel in from the Warminster area, so you may not get such an early start as at Warminster area. That may not bother you.

The reason the say local residents is that there is no car parking provided, so they want those local enough to be able to catch a bus there to to do that or park in Warminster

 

Yes - but not with a Warminster start:

I can see no definition of "local residents" but in past years anyone has been able to join at Lavingon and I'm pretty sure that's how I will join this year, even though no longer a resident of East Lavington (a.k.a. Easteron). No 272 bus from across the road from us into Devizes, then 3A, 3X, 2 or X2 to Market Lavington or West Lavington.  Saves the early queues at Warminster.

 

... and I've chosen to apologize for some of my own appalling puns here in the past ...

CfN.

 
Thank you for posting that very timely reminder here, rogerw.

This time, I have every intention of actually attending that event: am I likely to meet any other Coffee Shop forum members - and indeed guest readers - there?

CfN. 

 

Sadly, pricing based on what people appear to be able to pay does exist and has for many years. I suspect I have seen it on airline fares where an enquiry gives a price, then (having checked with family) a couple of minutes later the fare offer is higher.  Do we also see elements of it where prices are available only to new customers?

Even before "internet days", living in a bigger house we got very familiar with quotations for the same service being - we felt - adjusted upwards having seen where we lived.   


Edit note: Minor typo corrected, for clarity. CfN. 

 

Hmm. 

Maybe Network Rail could use some of those engineering features in the UK, to resolve many of the level crossing and bridge bash issues we have here?  Would it also take out the 'Darwin Award candidates' from those pedestrians who squirm through / climb over closing level crossing gates? 

CfN. 

 
It's probably good to know that surveillance pricing exists. (I didn't.) Prices for items are not displayed and a system checks what it knows about someone and presents a personalised price for that person - which may take account of e.g. their pain point. It could be argued that dynamic pricing / surge pricing is on the way to this, but for the addition of the personal data aspect. It's easy to think how this could go south & become a 'mare for everyone if it crept in to transport ticketing.

Mark

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveillance_pricing

 

I'm old enough to remember when SWR, for marketing purposes, adopted a cartoon pigeon and seagull pair to represent their passengers and I immediately thought 'Ah, so that's what you think of us.'.

Mark

 

Not just one!

 
According to RTT just now.

 

The bid movement out of Newquay will be on Monday morning.  Music goes on till late tonight.

 

I would say it's pretty accurate most of the time.  If you have a sensor failure then it can lead to erroneous readings, but that's not too common.

 
Well you learn something new every day 

 
Just to bump this up. A reminder that this year's event is this coming Saturday, 15th August

 
It’s data available from IETs derived from sensors on the coaches. 

 

Basically then, it's chit or bust?

 
Have done Khabarovsk - Vladivostok on an overnight train. Interesting journey. Russian level crossing protection is brutal - a ramped sector plates that rise out of the roadway and presents its blunt edge to oncoming road traffic.

 
Staffed from 06:00 though the first train appears to be that one for Cardiff at eight.

Our hypothetical passenger for Aberdeen, if given a chit with an easement to vary their route, could travel on the next departure, the 08:45 for Waterloo and a relaxed connection into the 13:42 to Aberdeen from Kings Cross - this would get them into Aberdeen only half an hour or so after their original connecting service from Bristol.

(If their destination was Shetland, they'd have already been planning for a night and a day in Aberdeen as the ferry leaves at varying times between five and seven pm depending on the day, so, from Weymouth, that would need to be a weekday trip, via London - and with one of Graham's 'Plan 'b's in the back pocket.)

Mark

 
Answer: staffed on Sunday from 06:00 to 00:45. (Source: National Rail).

Mark

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/weymouth/