The Anonymous Widower

A Thought On The Texas Floods

I asked Google AI, if Texas is bad for natural disasters.

This was the reply.

Yes, Texas is known to be susceptible to a high number of natural disasters, particularly when compared to other states in the US. Texas experiences a wide variety of natural hazards, including hurricanes, floods, wildfires, tornadoes, hail storms, sinkholes, and droughts. The state has also experienced earthquakes, potentially linked to the extraction of natural resources like oil and gas.

I certainly wouldn’t want to live there, as my one experience of a bad storm in the UK nearly killed me. I wrote about my experiences in The Great Storm.

July 7, 2025 Posted by | News, World | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Historic Ye Olde Swiss Cottage Pub Calls Time

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

This is the sub-heading.

An historic north-west London pub which a Tube station and the surrounding area was named after has closed having been in business for nearly two centuries.

These paragraphs add detail to the story.

Campaigners are hoping Ye Olde Swiss Cottage can be saved after its operator, Samuel Smith’s Brewery, closed the pub on Saturday.

The brewery did not respond to BBC London’s questions over the fate of the uniquely designed pub.

Joanne Scott, from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), said its closure was a “real loss for the local community and also for London”.

Swiss Cottage Tube station and the local area both took their name from the pub which has stood on the site since the 1830s.

It is not known why it was designed in the style of a Swiss chalet but has become a local landmark.

As I was in the area today, visiiting Finchley Road coach stop and it was a lovely sunny day, I went and took these pictures.

Although in the early 1970s, c, myself and our three boys lived within walking distance of this pub, I can’t remember ever visiting it. If we did go out because of the expense of a babysitter, we usually went to the theatre, a cinema or a restaurant.

In those days, the only pub we visited regularly, was the New Merlin’s Cave, where we would go with friends to see George Melly and John Chilton’s Feetwarmers.

A

March 9, 2025 Posted by | News, Uncategorized, World | , , | Leave a comment

Bristol May Be First English City To Face Monthly Black Bin Collection

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.

This is the sub-heading.

More than 4,000 Bristolians are opposing the council’s plan to switch to a four-week cycle, which the city says would save money and be better for the environment

I live in Hackney and we still have two-weekly collections for recyclables and weekly for waste food.

These are my thoughts on Bristol.

As a widower, who lives alone , I don’t put much in my black bin, as I do recycle properly and use my waste food bin and green sack recycling fully.

I’ve also noticed, that a lot more items have been marked that they can go in the green sacks.

I am a coeliac and suffer from a vitamin B12 deficiency for which I get three-monthly injections at the GP. But that is not enough and I have found that one of M& S’s Liver and Bacon Ready Meals adds enough B12 to keep be going at full speed.

The trays of M & S’s Ready Meals are now recyclable and I suspect, they’re not the only packaging, that can now be recycled.

So as more and more packing is recycled, we can surely reduce the black bin frequency.

It would appear, that by making packaging more recyclable, we can make rubbish collection more efficient.

January 28, 2025 Posted by | Food, Health, News, Shopping | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lumo Launches A 0.5% Beer For The New Year In Partnership With A Newcastle Brewing Company

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Cumberland Gazette.

This is the sub-heading.

Lumo has launches a locally-sourced, low-alcohol beer in partnership with Newcastle’s Donzoko Brewing Company to be available on services between Edinburgh and London.

These two paragraphs add a bit more detail.

Big Nothing 0.5% will be available in time for the new year, aimed towards those taking part in giving up alcohol for Dry January. The addition is part of Lumo’s commitment to providing locally sourced onboard options as part of the catering offer on its services on the East Coast route.

The release of the drink comes after the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) reported a 45% increase in alcohol-related incidents during the festive period last year.

I shall be trying some of this beer next time I travel on Lumo.

December 30, 2024 Posted by | Food, News, Transport/Travel | , , , , , | 3 Comments

UK To Manufacture Gun Barrels For First Time In Ten Years

Yesterday, the UK government issued a press release, which is entitled Landmark UK-Germany Defence Agreement To Strengthen Our Security And Prosperity.

This is the sub-heading.

A landmark defence agreement will be signed by Defence Secretary John Healey MP and German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius in London today in a major moment for NATO, and European security and prosperity. It is the first-of-its-kind agreement between the UK and Germany on defence.

This introductory paragraph, lays down the tone and objectives of the agreement.

The signing of the Trinity House Agreement marks a fundamental shift in the UK’s relations with Germany and for European security. This agreement between Europe’s two biggest defence spenders will strengthen national security and economic growth in the face of growing Russian aggression and increasing threats.

It is a wide-ranging document, but in this post, I will concentrate on one topic; gun barrel manufacture, which is talked about in this paragraph.

The new partnership will help drive investment into the UK – with the agreement paving the way for a new artillery gun barrel factory to be opened in the UK, supporting more than 400 jobs and nearly half a billion-pounds boost to the British economy. The opening of the Rheinmetall factory will see the UK manufacture artillery gun barrels for the first time in 10 years, using British steel produced by Sheffield Forgemasters.

Will Putin and his supporters like being shot at by the best German-designed artillery pieces, built from the best Sheffield steel in a British factory?

When I first heard of this story I thought of one short and powerful six-letter word – energy.

Some may think, we have an idiotic energy policy, which is abandoning all our coal, gas and oil in favour of renewables.

  • We shut our last coal-fired power station a couple of weeks ago and I showed pictures of the last station in Last Of The Many.
  • Germany had fifty-eight coal-fired power stations in operation, as late as July 2023.
  • Germany has also lost all its cheap Russian gas.
  • Germany is also short of energy and what they’ve got is expensive.
  • It’s also likely, that making the quality of gun barrels, that will annoy Putin and his ilk will need a lot of energy.

So would it be better to move operations that need a lot of expensive energy out of Germany?

I’ve also read somewhere, that Germany intends to retire coal-fired energy generation by the end of the decade.

The Germans are also developing two massive hydrogen projects to replace the coal and cut their carbon dioxide emissions.

  • AquaVentus will harvest 10.3 GW of hydrogen from the North Sea and is described in this post called AquaVentus.
  • H2ercules will distribute the hydrogen and is described in this post called H2ercules.

Is it more affordable for the Germans to move high energy manufacturing to the energy?

I wonder, if the deal will eventually be something like this.

  • Rheinmetall will build the gun barrel factory, somewhere that is convenient for Sheffield and Germany and that has access to lots of energy.
  • The energy will need to be green to ease Germany’s Chancellor’s problem with the Greens.
  • Siemens recently built a train factory at Goole and surely that area of North Humberside and East Yorkshire with its large supplies of wind energy and hydrogen, backed up by the gas- and hydrogen-fired power stations at Keadby, would be a good location for an energy-consumptive business.
  • Sheffield Forgemasters might even build a factory next door, to tap into the energy of the area and reduce transport costs of the gun barrel blanks.
  • Sheffield Forgemasters’s steel may even come from British Steel at Scunthorpe. If British Steel make rails, that are good enough for German railways, then surely, it is a good enough starting material for German gun barrels.
  • The Port of Immingham is nearby for import and export of components and finished products.
  • All of the German activity in the area, will surely see flights develop to and from Germany at the nearby well-quipped Humberside Airport.
  • Hull Trains, LNER and TransPennine Express will increase their services to Doncaster, Hull, Lincoln, London, Manchester and Sheffield.
  • I wouldn’t be surprised to see a train service between London and Hull via Doncaster, a new Goole parkway station and Brough. It could even use battery-electric or hydrogen trains assembled by Siemens at their Goole factory.

Humberside could be becoming Little Germany, as it has what Germany needs – energy!

 

October 23, 2024 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen, News, World | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Gates Open On Thames Tideway Tunnel Super Sewer

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

This is the sub heading.

The first four sites along London’s new “super sewer” – officially known as the Thames Tideway Tunnel – have been brought into operation.

These are the first two paragraphs.

The valves, which operate like giant gates, are being used at four of the 21 locations that make up the system.

The rest are due to come online in the coming months, with the sewer operating at full capacity by 2025.

Note.

  1. The BBC article contains a video.
  2. The Thames  Tideway has a web site.

Finally, more of London’s sewage is on its way to Beckton.

This map shows there’s even a lighthouse on the River Thames.

October 14, 2024 Posted by | News | , , | 1 Comment

Nicki Minaj Freed After Arrest At Amsterdam Airport

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC,

This is the sub-heading.

American rapper Nicki Minaj has been freed by police after being detained at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

These three paragraphs give more details.

Dutch police posted on X: “We have just released a 41-year-old American woman whom we arrested this afternoon at Schiphol on suspicion of exporting soft drugs.”

“The suspect was fined and can continue her journey.”

The artist had been due to fly to Manchester for a concert at the Co-op Live venue on Saturday evening.

Note.

  1. I think, she has been very lucky.
  2. She has been very disrespectable to her fans.
  3. As someone, who lost his son, partly because he smoked both cannabis and tobacco, I find her behaviour disgusting.

Let’s hope the Border Force send her back to Amsterdam, so that she realises the consequences of her stupid behaviour.

May 25, 2024 Posted by | News, World | , , , | 1 Comment

Northern Lights Stun UK In Spectacular Display

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

This is the sub-heading.

The Northern Lights have made a rare appearance across the UK, delighting sky watchers up and down the country.

These three paragraphs add more detail.

Excited onlookers shared pictures of the lights, also known as aurora borealis, visible right across the country, including the south coast of England – and if you missed it you are likely to have a chance to see it again on Saturday night.

They could be seen after one of the strongest geomagnetic storms for years hit Earth, with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issuing a rare solar storm warning.

Such storms increase people’s chances of seeing the lights.

But how did the weather effect me?

  • Yesterday, my INR was 2.4.
  • I then had a terrible night, as I tossed and turned.
  • I even had to get up twice in the middle of the night to remake the bed.
  • This is so unlike me.
  • In the morning my INR was 2.2.

Was the reduction because low pressure sucked the water out of my body?

That is nnot in itself dangerous, but I do think, that there will have been a lot of strokes last night.

I wrote about this in Do Thunderstorms Cause Strokes?.

May 11, 2024 Posted by | News | , , , , | 1 Comment

Wembley: Swan Rescued From Supermarket Roof In Ikea Bag

The title of this post, is the same as this article on the BBC.

This is the sub-heading.

A swan has been rescued from a London supermarket roof in an Ikea bag by a London Fire Brigade (LFB) rescue team.

These are the first three paragraphs.

The brigade said a swan sanctuary volunteer called them at 11:08 GMT on Wednesday after a member of the public spotted the bird from a block of flats.

The team used a 13.5m (44.3ft) ladder to reach the swan, which they called Steve, and alongside the volunteer helped secure the bird in the blue bag.

Once Steve was brought down it was checked over and found to be unhurt.

Another use for the multi-purpose IKEA bag.

March 28, 2024 Posted by | News | , , | 1 Comment

TCP Is Using Hydrogen To Create Cleaner Construction Sites

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Eastern Daily Press.

This is the sub-heading.

Air and noise pollution are challenges for every construction project. For green energy infrastructure developers especially, cutting emissions is a pressing conundrum.

These are the first four paragraphs.

Large-scale construction demands diesel-guzzling heavy plant and noisy diesel generators powering off-grid site work for years before a project generates its first clean energy.

Back in 2012, Andrew Barker identified hydrogen as a fuel of the future and a solution to pollution issues during construction projects in his Essex-based family business, Taylor Construction Plant (TCP Group).

His concerns about health issues caused by carbon emissions, combined with a drive to make a difference, led to game changing inventions using hydrogen to transform power for site operations – making sites better neighbours, with fewer health dangers to site workers and helping the drive against climate change.

He developed his first hydrogen powered product more than a decade ago – mobile lighting towers that are the flagship product for the business and first choice for building and maintenance projects across the UK on the mission to net zero.

It appears now Andrew Barker has a strong business, which can be found at this web site.

December 15, 2023 Posted by | Hydrogen, News | , , , , | Leave a comment