Burning US Trees In UK Power Stations
This story talks about a crazy idea of cutting down trees in the US and burning them in UK power stations.
I haven’t seen the numbers, but it does strike me as an extremely wasteful process, with all of the transport across the Atlantic. We would be much better off, using the subsidies promoting the use of this fuel, in insulating buildings and replacing those, that can never be made energy efficient.
A Very Bad Meal!
Today, I had lunch with a friend. Perhaps, though to say I had lunch is a bit much, as although my friend had s0me very tasty-looking crab cakes, I had nothing to go with my glass of wine.
C and I used to eat in All Bar One about four or five times a year and although, what I ate was generally a bit plain, it filled a hole.
My friend and I tried one of their bars today and the recipe has been totally glutenised, with things like salsa everywhere. All I was offered was a plain burger or a plain gammon with egg. The chips are now covered in wheat to make them crisper, whereas six or seven years ago they were fine. Or at least, I never had a reaction!
Perhaps the waitress got it all wrong and there was something else I could have had, but I doubt I’ll be going to All Bar One again, except perhaps for a drink. After all with Pizza Express being very gluten-free-friendly, I won’t need to go to All Bar One again.
So I went home hungry and made myself a delicious sandwich.
Is This How To Deal With The EDL?
This story tells what happened when EDL protesters turned up at a mosque in York.
The mosque offered the protesters tea and biscuits, they all had a chat, and then everything ended peacefully.
Let’s hope this episode sets a precedent.
Sorting Out My Energy
Every so often, I check up to see if I’ve got the best energy deal. As some companies are now offering smart meters, I wondered if I could get one of these thrown in.
So I checked one of the comparison sites and found, that I could save four hundred or so a year, by swapping to nPower.
As my current supplier is nPower, I found that strange, as I thought, I was supposed to be on the lowest tariff, according to new government legislation.
So I phoned them up and got changed onto the new tariff. The only downside is that there is now a £60 cancellation fee!
I can’t help thinking, that all of this has a touch of professional theft about it.
I think the moral of this story, is that you should check your energy bills against the rest of the industry probably twice a year.
You might be surprised, as I was, that one short phone call, saves you a few hundred pounds.
I still haven’t got my smart meter though! But then the big companies are reluctant to bring those in, as it will both cost them money for the meter and because savvy customers will cut their energy use.
I Know How Kevin Phillips Feels
It is being reported that Kevin Phillips penalty kick in the Championship Play-Off Final was worth £120,000,000.
I know to a certain amount how he feels today.
I was part of the team that sold Metier Management Systems to Lockheed for a similar sum in 1985., although with inflation it’s probably worth a lot more today.
As we went about the pre-sales process, we realised we had good methods and software, but everything was rather boring. So I was asked if I could create a version of Artemis with style and charisma. I did nothing else for six weeks, except write software, eat and sleep occasionally, but the result was that we received a lot more money, than we had decided we would accept.
It was the software and business equivalent of Kevin Phillips’s spot kick.
I also have two other characteristics that I share with Kevin. We’re both about the same height of 1.70 metres and we both performed our most important feats at just under forty years of age. He also is a man from North Hertfordshire, whereas I was brought up in that part of London, that used to have a Barnet, Herts postal address.
The Anonymous Widower 