A Real Hedge Fund
I like this story about how the village of Bratton Fleming in Devon recycles garden waste as compost.
Surely this is the way to go forward with recycling, as those that recycle get rewarded. I’ve believed for a long time, that bottle and can banks should be linked to community projects.
Ups and Downs
I had a good morning in that I put some more IKEA furniture together and then took the bus up to Upper Street for the physio. I then had a quick lunch in Carluccio’s whilst I did the Suduko in my copy of The Times. I finished off the Fiendish one and then I did the Killer one that was supposed to take 65 minutes in about 30. After Waitrose for my weekend shopping, I came home and slept for three hours.
I felt good after the mental work, but now I’m tired again. Sometimes, I almost feel like I did before I was diagnosed as a coeliac, when I used to sleep a lot.
At least though my face seems a bit better as I write!
Life seems to be a series of ups and downs.
Dr. Rosemary Says It’s OK To Eat Eggs
Rosemary Leonard has just been recommending that we eat more eggs, saying that they have proteins that are good for your eyes and vitamins D and B12.
An interesting thing she said was that Mexicans eat the most eggs per person. Someone said, this was because Mexico is a poor country, but it would be interesting to know why.
For the Royal Wedding, a friend and his Mexican wife stayed. On knowing that I was a coeliac, she said that Mexicans don’t eat much bread. But they do eat maize-based tortillas.
Does anybody have any information on the numbers of coeliacs in Mexico and how they get on? I suppose that their diet will be ruined by their neighbour to the north.
3D Photography Is Not New
I found this fascinating article on the BBC website. It describes how 3D photography was used by the RAF in the Second World War to unlock the secrets of German missile sites.
I hope that those in the military use drones or high altitude aircraft equipped with such cameras for their reconnaissance today in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The technique might also be useful in assessing things like earthquake damage in remote areas.
Are There Any Delphi Programmers Out There?
Delphi was and in some peoples’ minds still is a visual programming system. On Wednesday, I bumped into an old friend on Moorgate. We had a coffee and I said that I was still ewriting software in a small way using Visual Basic 6.
He indicated that someone he knows, is looking for someone, who can program in Delphi.
Is this an indication that like good literature, good software systems never die?
Remember, that software is not like hardware in that it rarely has a shelf life. In fact application software usually is retired because you can’t find any hardware to run it on. At least with Windows, Microsoft seem to be providing the hooks into all new versions to run software like Visual Basic 6 and Delphi.
A few years ago, when I said to a senior executive of Microsoft, that I still programmed in Visual Basic 6, he said that Microsoft had lots of experienced programmers who still used the language, often in difficult situations, where something reliable and tricky was needed yesterday.
So perhaps, some programming languages and systems, are a bit like Shakespeare and Dickens. Not of this age, but still very much to be enjoyed.
The Garage Problem Solved
One of the things that has irritated ever since I have moved in has been the non-working door to my garage. Like many of the things in this house, the previous tenants had broken it. Several people have come to look at it and have usually suggested a new door at a cost of several hundred pounds. After e-mailing the manufacturer’s of the door control, Hörmann, they suggested I try their London distributors, Garage Doors Ltd.
I arranged a visit and yesterday, a guy came on time and an hour later, I had a working door. He also explained what had caused the problem and how I could put a remote control on the door. I like professionals like that, who do the things they are good at, explain what you do in words of one syllable and don’t try to sell you things you don’t or won’t need.
So if you need a garage door, and especially an automatic one, repaired, I would recommend the company.
So when I had a delivery a few hours later, it was just open the garage door and put everything inside.
The Anonymous Widower 