Nigel Was Here!
I took this photo outside a pub on Rochester High Street!
Nigel Was Here!
Yuck!
Although the High Street was generally tidy, there were places with a bit of an air of being run-down.
In some ways you can understand, why they voted for the kippers.
Walking Between Rochester And Strood Stations
I took the South Eastern Class 395 and explored Rochester.
I walked along the High Street, visited the cathedral, castle and the museum before crossing the Rochester Bridge to get the train home from Strood.
A Surprise For Bournemouth
I have always believed a story once told me by a hairdresser who used to work there, that Bournemouth does more blue rinses than any town in England.
So I was surprised to see this shop as I walked from Pokesdown station to Dean Court, down the rather less than salubrious shopping street, with its collection of shops which are not the best.
A Ukip Shop In Bournemouth
Who’d have thought that Bournemouth would be a hot-bed for kippers.
Using The Strange Property Of Water To Advantage
Most people, except perhaps those, who live in hot climates, know from their personal experience that ice floats on water. But most people don’t know that water is at its densest at 4°C. So water at this temperature sinks, but it rises at all others.
I once heard somebody use the existence of this property as a reason why God exists. He argued that if it didn’t, then life would have been impossible in water. It was all a bit contrived, but it is still as a strange property.
This morning, I was listening to Wake Up To Money, when a company called SureChill was mentioned. So I looked them up and found that they are using this property to create a new type of refrigerator. This page explains it all. This section describes the solution.
Sure Chill is a brand new kind of cooling system. It doesn’t need a constant power source. In an on-grid situation with intermittent power, it works perfectly well. In an off-grid situation, where a solar panel may be used, a Sure Chill powered refrigerator doesn’t even need a rechargeable battery. It shouldn’t work but it does. And it works beautifully.
Water surrounds a Sure Chill refrigeration compartment. When it has power, the water cools and forms ice above the compartment leaving only water at four degrees cooling the contents. When the power is switched off, the water warms and rises while the ice begins to melt, keeping only four-degree water cooling the contents of the compartment. So it has its own internal and entirely natural energy store that maintains a completely steady temperature. The system can operate like this, without power, for days and weeks.
People think physics is boring. Outside of Metier, I’ve done well in my career and made quite a bit of money by understanding the laws of physics that govern our lives.
My surprise at this idea, is that the technique could have been implemented in a refrigeration system decades ago. Artificial refrigeration was first performed by William Cullen in 1755. My bible; Nelkon amd Parker says that the maximum density of water was first measured by Thomas Charles Hope in 1804.
That is a long time from experimental proof to reality!
Devo Manc Explained
I found this article on the OpenDemocracy web site, which explains proposed political changes in Greater Manchester and the creation of a mayor over the whole area. This is the lead paragraph.
The announced Mayor for Greater Manchester doesn’t overturn the will of the people of Manchester. It is a new solution, designed in Greater Manchester, for Greater Manchester.
It does also seem that other commentators are using the term; Devo Manc.
I’ll believe it happens, when he or she is finally sworn in.
Allen Jones At The Royal Academy
It was Friends Day for the Allen Jones retrospective at the Royal Academy today.
Allen Jones At The Royal Academy
Some may not like Allen Jones‘s art such as Hat Stand, Table and Chair, but I like its forthright and almost jokey touch, which reminds me so much of good times with C, in the sixties and seventies.
I remember once seeing with C, a table inspired by Jones at Heals in Tottenham Court Road in probably the mid-seventies. She liked it, but the price was way above the level we could afford.
I pretty much know, that if she’d been there with me today, we’d have enjoyed it together.
But isn’t art meant to both amuse and make you think?
The BBC’s report certainly says it does that.
A Good Helping Of Turner
Yesterday, I went to see the Late Turner at the Tate Britain. I followed it up by seeing the film, Mr. Turner at the Barbican Cinema.
It was a good idea and I would recommend both the exhibition and the film to everyone.
Viewing The Poppies In The Rain
I went to The Tower today to see the poppies.
Seeing them in the rain, might have made the whole thing more poignant in a way.
But certainly rain or not, the field of ceramic poppies is truly spectacular.
Do You Have A Community Energy Partnership?
We all pay too much for our energy, because whatever the politicians do, the Big Six just use their muscle and highly-paid lawyers to get around every attempt that is made to force prices down.
They also can rely on our natural inertia to stop us changing.
So I was particularly pleased to see OVO has setup a community energy partnership in Sussex with Community Energy South.
Everyone should check out their local community energy partnership.
We’re only small consumers but we must give the Big Six as tough a time as possible.
Do you think large consumers of electricity like Network Rail, Transport for London, just roll over and pay what the Big Six think they will charge?
Peer-To-Peer Lending For The Non-Digital World
I was an early adopter of peer-to-peer lending in 2008 and now have a six figure sum invested, which returns me over five percent before tax.
Reading the letters about poor broad band and mobile phone coverage in today’s Sunday Times, it strikes me that many people are cut off from this sensible investment.
I could if I wanted to, set up my Zopa account, so that I perhaps looked at it once every blue moon.
Would it be an idea if one of the peer-to-peer lenders offered a minimal input product for those disconnected from the digital world?
Money would be paid in by a direct transfer or even a cheque paid in at a bank branch, if you still use one.
If you needed to check your account or perhaps withdraw a small amount of the interest and repayments that you have received as cash, you would just use a debit card in any ATM.
Obviously, you will still have the option to login normally, if you wanted.
The Anonymous Widower 