How I Was Imprisoned In A Pizza Restaurant And Driven Home By The Metropolitan Police
At lunchtime today, I received a phone call, saying that my GP’s surgery could see me at 16:30 this afternoon, to discuss my lack of sleep, arthritis and various strains and pains.
My middle son; Henry had expressed a desire to be at such an appointment, so I said, that if he could chauffeur me to the GP, he could come along.
His diary co-operated and he duly arrived outside my house at 16:00.By the time of the GP’s appointment, we had parked conveniently outside the surgery and we had been ushered into the GP’s consulting room.
We had a good meeting and by just after five, we had broken up and agreed a comprehensive plan for the diagnosis of my problems.
Henry had three problems of his own.
- He had legal work to do for the morning.
- He needed to do some bits of shopping.
- He also said, that he was feeling rather hungry.
- I too was hungry and needed to do some shopping.
So I suggested we drive to Southgate Road and see if we could get a pizza in Sweet Thursday.
- They do gluten-free pizzas, so I would have no dietary worries.
- In previous meals, I have found the quality excellent.
- There are shops nearby, where we could shop, if we needed.
As I approached the restaurant, I decided we had made the right decision, as there was a parking space about twenty metres from the restaurant.
We both had similar meals.
- Ham and mushroom pizzas, although mine was gluten-free.
- I drunk a zero-alcohol Lucky Saint, whilst Henry had a Diet-Coke.
- We both finished off, with two scoops of appropriate ice cream.
It was only, when we had paid and tried to leave that we got a very big surprise.
Parked in front of the restaurant with its disabled ramp extended, like some beached airliner was a 141 bus, that was empty of passengers.
- There was broken glass at the front of the bus.
- Was this evidence, that the bus had hit something or somebody?
- The police had strung white tape everywhere.
- There were half-a-dozen police cars and ambulances blocking Southgate Road.
Henry’s car wouldn’t be going anywhere for some time, as it was blocked in by two ambulances and a police car with flashing blue lights.
- So, Henry and I each had a coffee, to pass the time.
- We also made friends with others trapped in the restaurant.
- Henry also obtained information from the police, that no-one would be moving, until it was known that no-one would be moving until the full state of the injuries of the person hit by the bus was known.
So Henry and I just sat there with several others on the hard chairs in front of the restaurant.
In the end, for me, it was over very quickly.
- I live about a kilometre North of the incident.
- Some were walking from the incident to the Balls Pond Road to get a bus.
- I am fairly sure, Henry had told the police, that it was far too far for me to walk with my arthritic hip.
I was put in the back of a police car and ferried home, at about 21:45.
Thanks to the Metropolitan Police.
I have some further thoughts.
Do I Drink Enough?
Since lunchtime, I have drunk the following.
- 4 x 330 ml – Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5 % Beer
- 1 x 330 ml – Lucky Saint 0.5 % Beer
- 300 ml – Assorted water and juices.
- 1 cup – coffee.
Is that enough?
I certainly slept better last night!
Articles From The Engineer
I generally read articles from The Engineer once a week.
Here’s a few that are worth reading.
12th Feburuary 2023 – Hydrogen Ambulance Set For London
A project led by hydrogen fuel specialists ULEMCo is aiming to deliver the UK’s first zero emission hydrogen ambulance later this year
There is an interesting discussion, as to whether hydrogen or battery ambulances are better. Range and hotel power issues seem to favour hydrogen.
11th May 2023 – Bramble Energy Secures £12m For Hydrogen Bus
Bramble Energy has joined forces with Equipmake, Aeristech and Bath University to develop a new hydrogen double-deck bus integrating its printed circuit board fuel cell (PCBFC) technology
Bramble Energy can create bespoke fuel cell stacks in a ‘matter of days at scale and low-cost’.
12th May 2023 – Cornish Geothermal Project Leads Government Heat Scheme
The UK’s first deep geothermal heat network is one of seven new projects to receive funding as part of a new government programme to decarbonise buildings across England.
The full list of projects to receive support today via the Green Heat Networks Fund is detailed.
17th May 2023 – Ricardo Joins Pan-European Hydrogen Shipping Consortium
UK engineering firm Ricardo is set to play a key role in the sustainable HYdrogen powered Shipping (sHYpS) project being funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe programme.
One thing that is disclosed in the article, is that Ricardo have a new 400kW hydrogen fuel cell test chamber at the company’s UK headquarters.
Should Hospitals Be The Power Backup Locations?
I was reading an article in The Times about how protestors were blocking roads in Central London and they’re inadvertently stopped an ambulance.
So this question occurred to me. Why I don’t know, but my mind has always jumped about and put thoughts together?
Consider.
- The latest generation of energy storage that could be used to back up the grid are coming down in physical size.
- Hospitals have complex power systems, as they use a lot of electricity.
- Hospitals need emergency power backup.
- Because of their high electrical use, hospitals will have a high capacity connection to the National Grid.
- Some modern treatments need a lot of electricity.
- Will ambulances be battery-powered and will need to be charged up, whilst delivering patients?
- Many bus routes terminate at the local hospital, so if the buses are battery-powered, these could be charged as well.
As an Electrical and Control Engineer, I feel that to put a town, city or are’s back-up battery at the hospital would be a sensible idea.
Hospitals should be designed to be health, energy and transport hubs for their communities.
Hydrogen-Powered Ambulance Drives Into Glasgow Ahead Of London Trial
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on New Atlas.
This is the first paragraph.
Back in February, ULEMCo and industry partners announced plans to design an electric rapid response ambulance for the UK’s NHS Trust that would run on batteries and hydrogen fuel cells. Now, the working prototype has driven into Glasgow to give global leaders attending the UN’s COP26 climate summit a closer look at the technology.
Surely, this is a good application of hydrogen power.
Could they be used in the scenario I proposed in Big London Hospital Was Close To Running Out Of Oxygen?
Hospitals would have an electrolyser, which would produce the following.
- High grade oxygen for the hospital.
- Hydrogen to power the vehicles and especially the ambulances.
Note.
- There would be no oxygen delivery problems.
- The excess hydrogen could be stored to use as an emergency power supply.
- Would it improve the air quality by the hospital?
I have checked with the world’s premier electrolyser company; ITM Power of Sheffield and my idea is feasible.