Off and On...

Tug in right direction for airlines on carbon emissions-Business-Industry Sectors-Engineering-TimesOnline [del.icio.us]

Delta Airlines invests in Wheeltug, a powerful electric motor which will make it possible for aeroplanes to taxi on the ground with their engines switched off. Times Online, Saturday 14 April 2007.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Man turns paper clip into house [del.icio.us]

Trading up with a vengeance!

Every house should have two toilets

We had a plumber in today, to fix a leaking pipe in the bathroom and to do some work on the toilet before it parted company with the waste pipe and caused a very unpleasant disaster. We are both incredibly grateful to the guy for coming out and doing the work (he's a friend of a friend and did it in his own time, charging us just for the materials), but it proved trickier than we all thought it would be, and so rather than being without a toilet for 2 or 3 hours, it was more like 8 hours.

I was dying for a cup of coffee, but didn't dare indulge while we didn't have a functioning loo (or even a connected up loo!). But even complete abstinence was almost not enough after 8 hours.

I always considered two toilets a bit of a luxury until now, but I'm rapidly revising that opinion after today!

Guidance for local authority websites

A nice article by JackP providing what seems to me to be good, common sense advice on creating a local authority website that is useful and interesting, and that people will actually use and come back to. Worth reading if you've got anything to do with managing, designing, developing or writing for a local authority website. Come to that, worth reading if you've got anything to do with managing, designing, developing or writing for any website!

http://www.thepickards.co.uk/Articles/Guidance_for_Local_Authority_websites.cfm

Qantas flight with a difference

Much startled yesterday lunchtime to see, in the sky over central London, a huge square banner advertising a Qantas sale, being towed by a helicopter which looked tiny in comparison to the size of the banner. Unfortunately I was using my mobile phone at the time, so wasn't able to take a picture of the thing, but if it reappears I'll try to get a photo to post on here.

Henny just a few days to go

Well, just a couple of days before my friend, Henny, sets off on her Arctic adventure, aiming to travel 250km by dog sled in 5 days - she leaves the UK on 29 January, coming back on 5 February (assuming she can persuade the huskies to pull the sled at all!). We all reckon she's mad, as she hates the cold, but she's also a loyal and caring friend, and she's doing this to raise money to help buy the specialised equipment that will make life just a little easier for the severely injured young son of one of our colleagues, and make it possible for him to go home for longer than a couple of days at a time.

Initially aiming to raise £3,000, she was completely taken aback by the response to her sponsorship page on the Just Giving website, and the total raise is now over £5,500, which is wonderful. The Bristol Royal Children's Hospital has already been able to start ordering some of that much needed but very expensive equipment as a result of her efforts.

She has started her own blog at http://iheni.wordpress.com where you can read more about the trip, and she is hoping to be able to send in live updates on her progress with the huskies, the sled, the reindeer soup, the cold, etc, etc. She'll also be taking photographs during the trip, and if she isn't able to post them to her blog as she goes, will certainly be posting them when she comes back, so do keep an eye on her blog over the next couple of weeks!

Sponsor Henny online | Read Henny's blog

Technorati: Fundraising | Sponsorship

Retsina & Mousaka (restaurant)

Last night, Chris and I went to the early evening showing at the cinema so that we could have a nice relaxed meal afterwards. We walked west along Uxbridge Road to the Greek restaurant Retsina & Mousaka.

We decided to have meat mezedes for two (£14.95 per person). The range of dishes was excellent, and the food was delicious. There was also far more than we could eat! But since the restaurant also provides a take away service, they very kindly put the remaining sausages, etc, in a carry out box so we could take them home.

It was extremely quiet when we were there, and so we got talking to the owner - turns out he usually closes down for a week around this time of year (because it's generally very quiet for restaurants, etc, so soon after Christmas and New Year) and heads off to Cyprus (I assume to visit his family). I think he was wishing he'd done the same this year, given how empty the restaurant was, but we were rather selfishly glad he hadn't, as we'd have missed a very enjoyable meal. He very generously offered us a drink on the house to round off the meal with our coffee, which offer we gratefully accepted! :)

All in all a very enjoyable evening, and Retsina & Mousaka is a restaurant we'll definitely be revisiting.

Technorati: Restaurants | Ealing | Reviews

Memoirs of a Geisha (film)

Chris and I went to see this film this evening, in Ealing. A beautiful film, beautifully shot. I felt it could have shown more of the customs and habits of the geisha world and of pre-WW2 Japanese society and culture, to put things more in context, but apart from that, I'd highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys visually beautiful films with an emphasis on the characters rather than action.

Technorati: Films | Cinema

Also available in white

Also available in white (view larger image in Flickr).

Inscribed by some local wit in the grime on the back door of an otherwise white van.

Respect

To the young black man who, a few minutes ago, I saw take his empty drink bottle with him as he got off the bus, and toss it in the litter bin by the bus stop - thank you. I really appreciate you doing that rather than leaving it on the floor of the bus or dropping it on the ground, for someone to trip on.

To the young white man I saw just a couple of minutes later at the next stop throw a similar empty bottle on the ground despite being just a few yards from a litter bin - shame on you. You show no respect for me? I have none for you.

Cat photos

In 1980, when I came home from the WRNS, I brought three Persian kittens with me - Lady, Zoey and Streak. When I was visiting my mother last week, we went through lots of old photographs, and found a set of photographs of these cats, which I scanned. I've now put these photographs online on The Penguin's Egg, for others who like photographs of cats.

Technorati: Cats

Family resemblances

Here are two photographs - one of my sister, Beth, at 16, and the other of my mother at the age of 3 or 4:

They could be photographs of the same person at different ages. I never realised until now just how much Beth takes after our mother!

Cracker busting Tamils?!

Going past the cinema in Southall, I spotted a hand written sign on the door:

"All Tamil show cancel cos of cracker busting incident."

What have they been up to?!

The generosity of friends and strangers

My friend and colleague at RNIB, Henny, originally set herself the target of raising £3,000 to help the paediatric intensive care unit at Bristol Royal Children's Hospital, where the severely injured young son of another RNIB colleague has been incredibly well cared for since he was involved in a car accident 6 months ago. But thanks to the amazing generosity of friends, relatives, colleagues, friends of friends, and those who simply read about her challenge on a blog somewhere, that target was reached just 11 days after she started to publicise what she was attempting to do. So just before Christmas, she raised the target to £4,500. But again, that target has now been passed, so she's increased it again, this time to £6,000.

From 29 January to 6 February, she will attempt to travel 250km in the Arctic by dog sled, handling and caring for the dog team herself. She's paying for the trip herself so that every penny raised through sponsorship can go to the hospital.

If you feel able to contribute, any amount large or small will be so welcome and will help the hospital to buy equipment and resources they might not otherwise be able to, which will ultimately benefit the young children who need the hospital's specialised services. Or if you have a blog or a website where you can mention her challenge, so others can contribute, that would be great too!

You can read more about this challenge, and donate directly online, at Henny's fundraising page on JustGiving.com.

Technorati: Sponsorship | Fundraising

Voicemail operational again

I haven't fixed the problem exactly, but I suddenly remembered that, in addition to "speed-dial" access to voicemail on my mobile phone, it's also possible to access it by dialling 123, and when I tried it, that worked. So at least I'll be able to access voicemail that way until I get the underlying problem fixed. I rather fear that I need to hand my phone in to an Orange Shop or send it off to Orange to have the operating system re-installed - there are a growing number of things that don't quite work the way they should.

But not tonight.

Southall

Southall (view larger image in Flickr).

And here we are back in bustling Southall.

On the bus

On the bus (view larger image in Flickr).

Well, I'm on a bus but I'm really tempted to get off again and wait for the next one. There's a piece of human excrement sitting behind me apparently saying the foulest things to a girl on his phone and I really don't want to have to listen to that all the way home.

Oh thank goodness he just got off. Good riddance. I hope she tells him to get lost - whatever kind of girl she is, no-one deserves to be spoken to like that.

Ealing Common station

Ealing Common station (view larger image in Flickr).

Made it. Now just a bus and a short walk.

Slowing down a bit

Just trundled slowly through Stamford Brook and now we've stopped for a few minutes. Some sort of delay up ahead. Hope it's not too severe. We're moving again, but slowly.

Euston station - now to head home

Euston station - now to head home (view larger image in Flickr).

Accessorize at Euston Station (view larger image in Flickr).

Bought a pair of lovely purple suede gloves that mummy said she'd like (must try to get them in the post promptly!), and while I was in Accessorize I discovered they've just started selling phone charms, so treated myself to a couple to go with the Korean good luck charm I got just over a year ago. And now down onto the Tube to get the Piccadilly Line to Ealing Common and then a bus for the final bit home!

Euston!

Euston! (view larger image in Flickr).

16.22 : a few mins early!

Milton Keynes Central

Milton Keynes Central (view larger image in Flickr).

15.50 : just over half an hour to Euston - nearly there. And would you believe - even in Milton Keynes station, no 3G signal.

Rugby

15.25 : just 1 hour to go. Oh, and as my phone seems to have lost all knowledge of how to access voicemail, best not leave any messages for me there until I get it fixed, as I simply won't be able to pick them up.

Recharging again :)

Well, it's been unbroken gray skies and low cloud all the way down so far.

On a brighter note though, I've discovered that power sockets are located next to seats at tables, so I've moved and the mobile is having a much needed recharge. All those abortive attempts to send emails had almost completely drained it of power.

Longboats

Longboats (view larger image in Flickr).

Interesting - just passed a stretch of canal with lots of longboats moored up.

Crewe

14.31 I'm definitely travelling east coast route if possible in the future - I didn't have anything like the same problem getting a decent signal when I travelled up last week - this is getting ridiculous! I'm giving up for now on the other two posts waiting to send, and leapfrogging them to send this one and catch up with myself.

Preston

Preston (view larger image in Flickr).

13.48 : these updates are piling up! Signal is just so patchy!

Lancaster

Lancaster (view larger image in Flickr).

13.30 : Another stop and short stay.

Oxenholme

Oxenholme (view larger image in Flickr).

13.16 impossible to send these emails - signal never there for long enough. Would be horrendous trying to speak to someone with a signal as intermittent as this.

Gray skies

Gray skies (view larger image in Flickr).

13.00 Low cloud is obscuring most of the scenery here as we head into the Lake District. Shame, as I particularly enjoy the views passing through this bit of the UK.

Penrith

Penrith (view larger image in Flickr).

12.50 : A short hop to Penrith, and a stop of only a minute.

Very patchy signal round here - might be a while before I manage to send this.

Carlisle

Carlisle (view larger image in Flickr).

Arrived a few minutes early, but I didn't quite feel brave enough to get off onto the platform to have a quick cigarette while the train waited for the scheduled departure time!

BBC NEWS | Wales | Tarantula in OAP home 'for weeks' [del.icio.us]

Eeeek!

BBC NEWS | England | Devon | Boar hunters retrieve one animal [del.icio.us]

Oh dear... just one out of 60 freed boar? Seems they may have been looking in the wrong place. There are also reports of two of animals being seen over 40 miles away from the farm where they were released by activists.

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Trial bid to stop belching cows [del.icio.us]

I suspect it may not actually be *belching* that is reduced. As kids we always secretly suspected that if you held it in, you'd expand, like a balloon. Seems maybe we were onto something, though not quite the way we thought.

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Internet lampposts to be trialled [del.icio.us]

Now this is what I call innovative.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Texting record for New Year's Eve [del.icio.us]

Well, now I know why it took so long for my Happy New Year messages to get through.

BBC NEWS | Technology | The year of the digital citizen [del.icio.us]

Interesting article about the growing participation of ordinary people in documenting and reporting what is happening around them.

Free Nature Pictures [del.icio.us]

Beautiful photographs available for use under a Creative Commons licence.

Designing a WordPress Template: The Content [del.icio.us]

Part 3 in this series of tutorials by cavemonkey50.

Designing a WordPress Template: Sidebar and More [del.icio.us]

Part 2 in this series of tutorials by cavemonkey50.

Designing a WordPress Template: The Basics [del.icio.us]

Part one of a series of tutorials by cavemonkey50. Very clear and easy to follow!

British Jew marries dolphin [del.icio.us]

You couldn't make it up.

Grid game (Flash) [del.icio.us]

Ridiculously addictive, of the "I'll just have one more go" variety.