Pointless Spam
I just had a spam e-mail with the title – Never Pay For Auto Repair
I’m very tempted to reply to say that I don’t pay already, as I don’t have a car.
The Pianist With A Pipe
You don’t see many men smoking pipes these days and I was surprised to meet this gentleman as I walked to the bus.
The Pianist With A Pipe
It turned out he was the pianist; Lubomyr Melnyk, who’d given a concert last night just down the road at Cafe Oto.
I think, I’ve only seen one pipe smoker in the last three or so years and that was after Ipswich won at Bolton.
How Do You Choose An On-Line Bank Account?
If I want to choose a piece of software to say edit images, it is a fairly easy process.
I can usually try the software before I buy it and all of the charges are there in words of a couple of syllables.
If say, I want to use some form of system, to store those pictures on-line, it’s something very similar. Usually, I would try it for a few days, and if I didn’t like it, I could go and try another.
But what would Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC et al, say if I said, I’d like to try their on-line banking for a few days, to see if I liked their interface? I doubt they would be amused. Or even take me seriously!
I did try to get a pointer by typing “which on-line bank account has the best interface” into Google and all I got was adverts for on-line banking. But no serious study!
Someone should do one. I would, but I’m certain that the banks would wonder why I wanted accounts with all of them.
In other ways, the customer, who should be king, loses out all round.
An Olympic Boost For Rare British Dogs
This article in the Independent suggests that those rarer British dog breeds like the English Setter have had a boost in 2012.
And the Olympics could be the reason!
I see a couple of English setters round here and they really are the friendliest of dogs. We also had two, when our children were in their teens and you rarely find one, that can’t get on extremely well with everybody and especially children. They also don’t shed hair like other breeds, I could name.
Keeping Warm Outside
I have given up on the control system of my central heating and now use the damaged Mark 1 brain of a Control Engineer to switch the system on and off to keep the temperature where I want it. I have a nifty meter from Maplin’s, which gives me exact temperature and humidity.
Outside in the cold, I’ve turned to wearing my classic 1960s Liverpool University Engineering scarf. It’s all wool and I suspect, it’s rarely been cleaned, but it doesn’t smell too bad. Strangely, this morning, the BBC are at Hainsworth in Pudsey. They’re doing fairly well considering the recession, by selling cloth all over the world. They still make the all-wool cloth for university scarves like mine. They’ve also just said, that South Africa is the biggest market for blankets in the world.
I’ve also just ordered myself a cashmere football scarf in Ipswich Town’s colours from a company called Savile Rogue. If that doesn’t fix the weather nothing will.
The Evenings Are Getting Lighter
It’s now over a month since the Winter Solstice and the evenings are noticeably lighter. I took this picture just after 15:30.
The Evenings Are Getting Lighter
The jagged building is Cromwell Tower in the Barbican, where we brought up our family.
Unfortunately, It’s still cold today, but we can now look forward rather than back.
According to this web page, in January the day gets a whopping 72 minutes longer in London.
The Fountains Are Going Strong
As I passed through Victoria Park on the bus this morning, the fountains were alive with the joys of winter.
I didn’t take a picture then, as I was rather surprised to see them, but I did at Canary Wharf.
The Fountains At Canary Wharf
You’d think in this very cold weather, they’d be switched off.
Palm Trees In The Snow
I should have taken this picture of the palm trees in Hackney, a couple of days ago, before the snow started to melt.
Palm Trees In The Snow
Although, it’s cold January day, the flowers are already out.
Goats Cheese Closes Tunnel
This story from Norway, could almost be read as a classic spoof, like London bus found on the Moon from the Daily Sport. This is the first three paragraphs.
A road tunnel in Norway has been closed – by a lorry-load of burning cheese.
About 27 tonnes of caramelised brown goat cheese – a delicacy known as Brunost – caught light as it was being driven through the Brattli Tunnel at Tysfjord, northern Norway, last week.
The fire raged for five days and smouldering toxic gases were slowing the recovery operation, officials said.
I wonder if Waitrose stocks this cheese? Brunost sounds so dangerous, that it could be used as a substitute for Semtex.
Should We Have An In/Out Referendum On Europe?
Years ago in 1975, I voted to stay in Europe, in Harold Wilson’s referendum. It was the first time I’d ever voted in any political election.
I look upon our membership of the European Union, with the mind of a Control Engineer. Two things should be born in mind.
Uncertainty is one of the most difficult things, when it comes to making a system stable. And I think, we’d all like stable lives.
Trying to take a system through a discontinuity is dangerous! I use the example of riding a bicycle up and down a kerb. Or if you don’t ride one, how about driving a car over a sleeping policeman.
For me, the best way to control anything is lots of little actions applied regularly and often.
Look at the serious discontinuities, the world has experienced in the last few years, like the attacks of September 11, 2001 or the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. Our reaction was strong and as a control engineer, I think it could have been far too strong. We just panicked and made things worse.
The referendum on Europe would be a major step-change for us all to pass through, with many in favour and many against. Just the holding of the referendum might have either a lot of large positive or negative effects.
Let’s face it Europe has a lot of problems. Some like the budget and the non-sign-off of accounts are large problems in politicians of the out tendency, but they are the sort of problems, that in any large organisation, can generally be solved by hard negotiation.
One thing, that politicians seem to have ignored is the world in 2018, will be a very different place to that today. There is so much uncertainty!
The only good thing, is that a lot of that uncertainty will result in positive results for Britain, Europe and the whole planet.
Think about these issues before deciding on whether we should have a referendum.
1. Suppose Obama is replaced in 2016, by a very unacceptable president, who makes Mormon Mitt look like a liberal.
2. Will Scotland still be in the United Kingdom?
3. Will France be an economic powerhouse?
4. Will the banks still do all their traditional functions?
5. Wind turbines and nuclear power.
6. Airports and trains.
7. Where will the next big war be?
There is a lot of uncertainty, is the only thing you can say. And all David Cameron is doing is increasing it!
