The Anonymous Widower

Did A Day In A Class 350 Train Lower My INR?

Yesterday, I went to Birmingham to take pictures of the rebuilt Birmingham  University station.

  • I travelled by West Midlands Trains catching the 11:23 to Birmingham New Street station, where it arrived at 13:45.
  • Coming home, I caught the 15:36 from Birmingham New Street station, which arrived in Euston at 17:49.

So I spent nearly four and a half hours in the train.

This morning, when I measured my INR, it was only 1.8.

Did the weather and the train’s air-conditioning conspire to lower my INR by removing water from my body?

April 18, 2024 Posted by | Health, Transport/Travel | , , , | Leave a comment

A Manifesto For Liverpool City Region

The title of this post is the same as that of this document from the Heseltine Institute of Public Policy, Practice and Place.

The Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place. describes itself like this on its home page on the University of Liverpool web site.

An interdisciplinary research institute focusing on the development of sustainable and inclusive cities and city regions.

The main sections of the document are as follows.

  • How Can We Reduce Health Inequalities?
  • How Do We Meet Our Net Zero Goals?
  • How Can We Address The Cost Of Living Crisis?
  • How Can We Deliver Sustainable Mobility?
  • How Can We Address The Challenges And Meet The Opportunities Of Artificial Intelligence?
  • How Do We Build Enough New Homes In The Right Places?
  • How Should We Care For The Most Vulnerable In Society?
  • How Can We Maintain A Vibrant And Inclusive Cultural Life?
  • How Do We Restore Trust In Democracy?

These are nine very important questions and the document is worth a good read.

 

April 18, 2024 Posted by | Artificial Intelligence, World | , , , | Leave a comment

Hyundai Heavy Sets Sights On Scottish Floating Offshore Wind

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the sub-heading.

Major South Korean shipbuilder, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with two Scottish enterprise agencies which is expected to unlock expertise in the design and manufacture of floating offshore wind substructures.

These are the first three paragraphs.

Scottish Enterprise (SE) and Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE) signed the MoU with Hyundai Heavy in Edinburgh, described as a “vote of confidence” in Scotland, committing each other to pursue opportunities for floating offshore wind projects in Scotland.

This is the South Korean company’s first agreement in Europe on floating offshore wind manufacturing.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is the world’s largest shipbuilding company and a major manufacturer of equipment such as the floating substructures that form a critical part of the multi-billion offshore wind supply chain.

To say this is a big deal, could be a massive understatement, as my history with large Korean companies could say otherwise.

Around 1980, one of the first prestigious overseas projects, that was managed by Artemis was in Saudi Arabia.

  • This may have been something like the King Khaled City, but I can’t be sure.
  • Most of the hard work on the project was done by labour imported by Hyundai from South Korea.

After a few years, the Korean running Hyundai’s part of the project returned to Korea and he indicated that he would help us break into the Korean market.

Our salesman; Paul, with responsibility for Korea, who sadly passed away last year, told me this tale of doing business in the country.

Our Korean friend had bought a system for Hyundai in Korea and he organised a meeting for important Korean companies, so that Paul could present the system.

Everything went well, with our friend doing the necessary pieces of translation.

When he had finished, Paul asked if there were any questions.

The most common one was “Can we see the contract?”

Contracts were given out and after a cursory read, the leaders of Korean industry, all started signing the contracts.

So Paul asked our Korean friend, what was going on.

After a brief discussion, Paul was told. “If it’s good enough for Hyundai, it’s good enough for my company!”

And that was how we broke the Korean market.

Conclusion

In UK And South Korea Help Secure Millions For World’s Largest Monopile Factory, I talked about Korean company; SeAH Wind’s new monopile factory on Teesside.

In South Korea, UK Strengthen Offshore Wind Ties, I talk about a developing partnership.

In Mersey Tidal Project And Where It Is Up To Now, I talk about Korean involvement in the Mersey Tidal Project.

The Koreans are coming and Hyundai’s endorsement will help.

April 18, 2024 Posted by | Energy | , , , , , , , | 1 Comment