Should You Need A Licence To Smoke?
It’s a bit radical, but the BBC has asked the question in this article on its web site.
I proposed it myself on an anti-smoking phone-in a few years back and it was generally well-accepted.
LED Street Lights In Sheffield
BBC Breakfast is covering this story in detail.
All street lights in the city are being converted to LED ones, that can be centrally controlled according to the conditions.
I can’t find the story anywhere on the web.
Does it show how low green issues sit in the minds of the average journalist?
Having used LED lights for years, I can’t understand this indifference to a technology that should be rolled out across the country.
An example was given, where Sheffield say they will change the light levels around evening football matches. Bright as they arrive and leave and low during the match.
How for instance are sensible lighting levels going to help in the fight against crime?
I Want A Warm Short-Sleeved Dressing Gown
I don’t use the dish-washer, as it was virtually broken by the tenants who lived here previously, I do the small amount of washing up by hand.
The only problem is that my dressing gown has sleeves that are long and thus get wet.
So where can I can a short sleeved dressing gown?
Thinking of tenants! Were they invented by the white goods manufacturers to wreck as many domestic appliances as they can?
Getting To Grips With The Killer Heating System
I think it is best to document what I have here first. Engineers have problems and try to solve them. Others have theories and try to prove them.
With any problem you start by writing down what you’ve got.
The Boiler
This is a fairly common Vaillant boiler.
The Boiler
It has been regularly serviced and when I took the house over I found that the control circuit was broken, so a new one was fitted.
I have no manuals for it, as is the case for everything else in this house.
It would appear to be running well.
Boiler Temperature And Pressure
But I have no idea if the temperature and pressure shown are correct.
The Control Timer
This is a pretty standard Honeywell product.
The Control Timer
It seems to work without trouble.
What the boxes underneath do, I know not!
The Downstairs Manifold
The pipes to the underfloor heating end up here.
The Downstairs Manifold
The pipes always seem to be warm when the boiler is on, with the individual zone controllers having no effect.
So in other words the only way to control the heating is from the master thermostat.
Upstairs there is a similar manifold, which is just as out of control. I’ve got it switched off, so I only have heating downstairs and let it find its way up the stairs.
My House Is Trying To Kill Me!
23:00 I’m sitting here with the heating off. I have the underfloor heating box open and the pipes are cold, so no heat is coming into the room from the heating. The air conditioning is off. But I can feel the temperature is rising.
I should say that I have a Maplin temperature meter and this agrees with the one in the air conditioning system. They are both saying 22°C and forty percent humidity.
I’ve checked and the boiler has shut down, but the temperature downstairs is going up and is now at 24°C and rising. All the floors downstairs are hot, when surely they should be cold as the boiler switched itself off an hour ago. In fact, I think I might have started to see the temperature rise start when it shut itself off at ten o’clock.
It’s the sort of story you read in horror films. But now we do know I was boiled as it actually gets hotter in this house overnight.
It also explains why I felt so much better in Liverpool. It wasn’t Liverpool, but it wasn’t being in this killer house.
23:30 – The meter was showing 25°C when I brought it upstairs and threw the windows wide open, which brought the temperature back to 22°C.
23:50 – The meter was showing 24°C downstairs and the floors are still hot. The air-con meter shows 20°C upstairs, but it seems rather hotter than that to me.
I shall be doing some serious investigating in the morning.
One conclusion is that neither the top or the bottom zones work. If the heating is on it piles heat out willy-nilly no matter what the settings of the thermostats.
Vapour Trails Over Hackney
I took this picture this morning.
Vapour Trails Over Hackney
They’re not normally this clear, but the sky was very blue at the time.
Busking On The Beach
It was a nice sunny day yesterday and this guy couldn’t resist getting his guitar out on the beach.
Busking On The Beach
He was just outside the National Theatre on the South Bank, sitting in the River Thames.
The guy is Tim Sidall or Flame Proof Moth.
Essex Road On The Up!
I took this picture yesterday of the Essex Road in Islington, as it approaches Balls Pond Road
Essex Road On The Up!
I remember when the area was very run-down in the 1970s, but now it’s on the up, with some quality shops and businesses.
What is missing though, is a decent coffee shop!
France Looks To Cable Cars
This article from the Guardian tells how France and other places are looking for cable-car solutions to urban transport problems.
As with many things, the way to a better future is to innovate and use good design.
An Open Letter From The Leader Of Blackpool Council
This letter written by the leader of Blackpool Council and published in the Blackpool Gazette has been discussed on the BBC.
I couldn’t resist penning a reply.
In 2011, to raise money for Cancer Research after the death of my wife and son from the disease, i visited all 92 Football and Premier League clubs alphabetically by public transport.
Of all the towns and cities I visited Blackpool was the worst and most visitor-unfriendly. Turn up at any station and try to get a bus to Bloomfield Road or even find a map. Compare the town to Bournemouth, where the public transport is easily understandable.
But after my experience of Blackpool, I kept asking people I met, within day trip distance, if they ever went to the town. A plumber from Wigan said that he never went although he had many times until a few years ago. But now if he wants a day by the sea, he’ll go to Liverpool or Southport.
Blackpool needs a real change of attitude and must look at everything it does to make sure that it does the best for everybody and every business in the town.
Incidentally, I’m an Ipswich Town supporter and travel to a lot of away games from London where I live. I’ve done Blackpool twice, but I suspect never again, when I can enjoy the friendly atmosphere in places like Barnsley, Burnley, Derby, Hull and Nottingham.
I’m also a coeliac, which means I must have gluten-free food. Last time in the town, all I found was a banana and a coffee. Compare this to the lovely meal I had in that noted holiday resort called Crewe.
As it is I think I kept it quite mild!
