This weekend sees the first of a series of tower runs, as focused hill runners charge up the 42 flights of stairs in , wait for it, Tower 42 in the City of London. The male winners are expecting to do it in about 4 minutes. That's ten flights a minute, one every 6 seconds!!
It takes me back a few years, this tower running, and like a lot of things the youth of today think they invented, they didn't.
In 1982, a chum of mine, Neil Brown and I embarked on an adventure to the Far East. We were both single having recently come out of relationships and decided to go away for a few weeks. Our mate Figs fixed us up with accommodation in Singapore with AMF Phil, a Spurs supporter, and we made our own plans from there.
We were both fairly fit blokes so to break up some of the days we decided to have our own 'SuperStars' competition over the duration of the holiday. We started off with swimming which I won by virtue of doing the breastroke leg first, and holding Neil off on the return freestyle. He then trounced me at tennis, even after giving me a 0-40 start each game!
His racquet skills came to the fore again in the squash, but it was a close fought thing which finished when my bat smashed against the wall in the deciding set. We were in Penang, Malaysia by now, having tied the beer can pyramid competition on the train from Kuala Lumpa.
The hotel had a giant chess set in the grounds, and so we incorporated that into our competition. We set up after breakfast and gained a few interested parties as they made their way to the beach. Imagine their surprise then when we were still playing when they trooped back for lunch.I managed to dig myself out of a big hole to win that one, which left Neil and I all square as we returned to Singapore prior to our flight home.
Now Phil and Anne, our hosts, lived on the 32 floor of a condo somewhere down Nathan Road so it seemed sensible to have a decider by running the tower. So Phil went down in the lift with each of us in turn and timed us as we charged up the stairs. It was close, but Neil beat me to take the FESP trophy and the bragging rights.
The difference of course with Tower racing is that everybody starts off at the same time, imagine the scrum at the first corner eh!
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
And now the weather in Norwegian
I am finally immortalised on YouTube.
I really thought I was doing well with the Portuguese bit, but when seeing it now it was a fairly disjointed stumble through the guttural and the expressive. Still, I tried and it was appreciated by the key participants and the locals.
Next challenge is to play the piano at number one daughters wedding next year. 'Chopsticks' might not be enough, so I need to start banging those ivories soonest.
I really thought I was doing well with the Portuguese bit, but when seeing it now it was a fairly disjointed stumble through the guttural and the expressive. Still, I tried and it was appreciated by the key participants and the locals.
Next challenge is to play the piano at number one daughters wedding next year. 'Chopsticks' might not be enough, so I need to start banging those ivories soonest.
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Put another jumper on
The Eastern European meter reader turned up at the door last week and I am waiting with much anxiety for the bills to arrive. I pay both gas and electricity by monthly standing order, so every now and then I get a wacking one off payment request to balance the books. I suspect it will arrive any time.
We have been in the house for about 8 years now and have three sources of energy drainage, The swimming pool, the domestic hot water and the heating. In that time my monthly outlay has almost doubled, so I have been motivated to investigate some of the alternative heat sources which are becoming the subject of much media discussion.
There are really only a few that I can consider, thermal/solar panels on the roof, a wind turbine on the house, or free standing in the garden, and a ground source heat pump.
The swimming pool would struggle to be heated by solar panels in the conventional way as the heat exchanger would need to be about twenty feet long. It would also struggle to work effectively during the Winter months. I could use it as a giant water storage source but the temperature would likely exceed the recommended level for the liner. Ground source heating is therefore the preferred option here.
The central heating is a real tricky one. The ground source heater would be able to do the necessary if we had under floor heating, but traditional radiators need much higher levels of heating to be able to heat effectively.
The domestic hot water could be supplemented by the solar panel solution, and that in turn could offset some of the central heating requirements by keeping the cylinder at a higher ambient temperature. we shall have to see.
All these systems will need pumps, so the attraction of wind power to reduce the electricity consumption has certain appeal. We don't live in Hill House without some blowy days. The trouble here is that the Energy Saving Trust web site is inconclusive when I enter my details, and when I discussed the matter with them they indicated a wind survey lasting a minimum of a year would be the best thing to do before outlaying the expense associated with a turbine.
So I await details of companies who can provide such surveys, but I have been more successful with the other alternative sources as I have convinced a local ( well Welsh) company to come over next week and chat through what I could and could not do. The roof should take panels if the sun can get to them enough, but the garden is too small for a wired ground source system, so it would need to be bore holes. I await his comments with interest.
On the day British gas reduced their prices by 7%, but pundits were predicting a 25% cost hike over the next ten years, it is certainly time for Maison Weathers to join the 21st century
We have been in the house for about 8 years now and have three sources of energy drainage, The swimming pool, the domestic hot water and the heating. In that time my monthly outlay has almost doubled, so I have been motivated to investigate some of the alternative heat sources which are becoming the subject of much media discussion.
There are really only a few that I can consider, thermal/solar panels on the roof, a wind turbine on the house, or free standing in the garden, and a ground source heat pump.
The swimming pool would struggle to be heated by solar panels in the conventional way as the heat exchanger would need to be about twenty feet long. It would also struggle to work effectively during the Winter months. I could use it as a giant water storage source but the temperature would likely exceed the recommended level for the liner. Ground source heating is therefore the preferred option here.
The central heating is a real tricky one. The ground source heater would be able to do the necessary if we had under floor heating, but traditional radiators need much higher levels of heating to be able to heat effectively.
The domestic hot water could be supplemented by the solar panel solution, and that in turn could offset some of the central heating requirements by keeping the cylinder at a higher ambient temperature. we shall have to see.
All these systems will need pumps, so the attraction of wind power to reduce the electricity consumption has certain appeal. We don't live in Hill House without some blowy days. The trouble here is that the Energy Saving Trust web site is inconclusive when I enter my details, and when I discussed the matter with them they indicated a wind survey lasting a minimum of a year would be the best thing to do before outlaying the expense associated with a turbine.
So I await details of companies who can provide such surveys, but I have been more successful with the other alternative sources as I have convinced a local ( well Welsh) company to come over next week and chat through what I could and could not do. The roof should take panels if the sun can get to them enough, but the garden is too small for a wired ground source system, so it would need to be bore holes. I await his comments with interest.
On the day British gas reduced their prices by 7%, but pundits were predicting a 25% cost hike over the next ten years, it is certainly time for Maison Weathers to join the 21st century
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Oink like a pig!
It was my sister-in-laws special birthday last weekend so we all decamped to Swindon for a bit of a 'do' It was a good craic and gave me a chance to catch up with my young nephew Matthew. he has recently started at a new school a good way from where he lives, and he went there knowing nobody from his junior school. Its a scenario I can relate to as it happened to me.
He is a pretty reasonable footie player and the school is a rugger and hockey place so he has fallen back on his natural running ability and has just qualified to represent Wiltshire in the U14 National cross country championships. Now for a 12 year old that's pretty good. He indicated the national championships might be held in Truro, at at that point I was aghast.
I had to point out to him that the average Cornish person had an extra leg, much like a Manxman and could, therefore, run quicker, they were partial to high sixes,not high fives, and the extra eye they had also gave them a sight advantage, and a real problem for the optician if they needed glasses. He laughed and suggested I was joking, but I assured him that being a man of Plymouth I knew a thing or two about those imbreds from across the Tamar valley.
Now SWMBO over heard this, and confirmed that I had always maintained that if we heard duelling banjo's as we swung over the Saltash road bridge, then we were in real trouble. She did feel though that my comments, albeit in jest could be construed as racist.
Image my delight yesterday then, when it was ruled in court that Cornish people were not an ethnic group and could not, therefore, be racially abused. They are not really a part of England anyway, being a Duchy rather than a county, and now it is legit to make fun of them as they press their noses against Dingles window, wishing they could afford to buy something.......ogi ogi ogi.......
He is a pretty reasonable footie player and the school is a rugger and hockey place so he has fallen back on his natural running ability and has just qualified to represent Wiltshire in the U14 National cross country championships. Now for a 12 year old that's pretty good. He indicated the national championships might be held in Truro, at at that point I was aghast.
I had to point out to him that the average Cornish person had an extra leg, much like a Manxman and could, therefore, run quicker, they were partial to high sixes,not high fives, and the extra eye they had also gave them a sight advantage, and a real problem for the optician if they needed glasses. He laughed and suggested I was joking, but I assured him that being a man of Plymouth I knew a thing or two about those imbreds from across the Tamar valley.
Now SWMBO over heard this, and confirmed that I had always maintained that if we heard duelling banjo's as we swung over the Saltash road bridge, then we were in real trouble. She did feel though that my comments, albeit in jest could be construed as racist.
Image my delight yesterday then, when it was ruled in court that Cornish people were not an ethnic group and could not, therefore, be racially abused. They are not really a part of England anyway, being a Duchy rather than a county, and now it is legit to make fun of them as they press their noses against Dingles window, wishing they could afford to buy something.......ogi ogi ogi.......
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Its life Jim but not as we know it....
The director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor starts a Radio 4 series next week discussing the 100 items which in his opinion have helped shape civilisation. Now some of the list are known already. The Sutton Hoo helmet, the chronometer from HMS Beagle and the drawing by Durer of the first rhino to land in modern Europe where published in the Sunday Times preview article. The 100th and final item however, is yet to be decided and Neil wants your help. Will it be an i-phone, a recycling bin or something else which is a more recent influence? You can offer your nomination by e-mail to communications@britishmuseum.org.
I wonder what would have been to the fore front as far as my parents were concerned? Firstly the atomic bomb and the part it played in bringing the second world war to a close should be on the list. I remember we had a car and I was pushed round in a Silver Cross pram but they were probably luxury items of the time. The internal combustion engine though ought to be in the list. We also had a TV when they were introduced , and as with many items in the list it is questionable whether civilisation has improved for having been presented with it.
Of more practical use was the refrigerator which replaced the larder as the means of keeping food cool, and the bucket of water in which the milk used to stand, and at work my father used a biro instead of his fountain pen, and a slide rule pre-dated the pocket calculator.
An early item I remember was the introduction of central heating and the difference a radiator in the house made. It replaced coal fires and made the London smogs a thing of the past. It is ironic that its use these days is seen as contributing to global warming, and that the re-introduction of coal fired power stations may need to be accelerated.
So what about my 50 years of evolution? well, from a sporting point of view the gum shield and screw-in studs in football boots saved my teeth and feet from being wrecked.
The personal computer and afore mentioned mobile phone were must haves, and the introduction of credit cards and ATM banking facilities led to a step change in money management. The Freddie Laker Skytrain was an introduction to cheap air travel and helped make the world the smaller planet it is now. Skiing was introduced to the masses and ancient civilisations in South America became tourist destinations.
Space travel has unlocked many new and innovative scientific advances and what would we do without plastic, be it bottles, packaging or construction materials. Where does the first high rise tower block fit into the list, and was the Tardis real or imaginary?
Our first grandchild has indicated that young parents would put disposable nappies at the top of the list but where would DVD's fit in the hierarchy of music media pioneered by 78 and 45rpm vinyl recordings, the cassette tape, and Betamax video systems!!!
The camera never used to lie, but now with digital technology and PhotShop one can never be sure.
Many things I have mentioned, and other items on the list will, I suspect, question whether they have benefited our civilisation long term. Munitions, CCTV cameras, the cane and its abolition, the Human Rights Act and the aeroplane which flew into the World Trade Centre all come to mind. I wonder what the 100th item will turn out to be?
I wonder what would have been to the fore front as far as my parents were concerned? Firstly the atomic bomb and the part it played in bringing the second world war to a close should be on the list. I remember we had a car and I was pushed round in a Silver Cross pram but they were probably luxury items of the time. The internal combustion engine though ought to be in the list. We also had a TV when they were introduced , and as with many items in the list it is questionable whether civilisation has improved for having been presented with it.
Of more practical use was the refrigerator which replaced the larder as the means of keeping food cool, and the bucket of water in which the milk used to stand, and at work my father used a biro instead of his fountain pen, and a slide rule pre-dated the pocket calculator.
An early item I remember was the introduction of central heating and the difference a radiator in the house made. It replaced coal fires and made the London smogs a thing of the past. It is ironic that its use these days is seen as contributing to global warming, and that the re-introduction of coal fired power stations may need to be accelerated.
So what about my 50 years of evolution? well, from a sporting point of view the gum shield and screw-in studs in football boots saved my teeth and feet from being wrecked.
The personal computer and afore mentioned mobile phone were must haves, and the introduction of credit cards and ATM banking facilities led to a step change in money management. The Freddie Laker Skytrain was an introduction to cheap air travel and helped make the world the smaller planet it is now. Skiing was introduced to the masses and ancient civilisations in South America became tourist destinations.
Space travel has unlocked many new and innovative scientific advances and what would we do without plastic, be it bottles, packaging or construction materials. Where does the first high rise tower block fit into the list, and was the Tardis real or imaginary?
Our first grandchild has indicated that young parents would put disposable nappies at the top of the list but where would DVD's fit in the hierarchy of music media pioneered by 78 and 45rpm vinyl recordings, the cassette tape, and Betamax video systems!!!
The camera never used to lie, but now with digital technology and PhotShop one can never be sure.
Many things I have mentioned, and other items on the list will, I suspect, question whether they have benefited our civilisation long term. Munitions, CCTV cameras, the cane and its abolition, the Human Rights Act and the aeroplane which flew into the World Trade Centre all come to mind. I wonder what the 100th item will turn out to be?
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Ooops, argh!
A belated happy New Year to all my readers, I will be back in the stirrups shortly.
My literary prowess has been somewhat diminished following an altercation with the road in Claughton Village as I went very quickly from the walking position to prone on backside. My left wrist took the full force and, at worse, I have cracked a bone, at best it is severely sprained.
Ouch!
My literary prowess has been somewhat diminished following an altercation with the road in Claughton Village as I went very quickly from the walking position to prone on backside. My left wrist took the full force and, at worse, I have cracked a bone, at best it is severely sprained.
Ouch!
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Fore! No surely more than that?
After a few pints in the pub I am fullof ideas for blog entries. A good sleep, however, and they have all vanished from my mind the next day. As this morning I am in the unusual position of remembering them, I though I should go to print sharpish. So here goes.
Tiger Woods is used to scoring a few birdies in his day to day working life, but the 9 and counting who have come out of the woodwork claiming to have had private lessons with the main man over the years is brewing up quite a storm , and Tiger probably feels at the moment that he has shot an albatross.
The ladies he has been philanderering with (good word that...ed) have all been well pubicised and will no doubt do kiss and tell for months to come.
What I want to know, though, is what part Tigers long term, and very loyal , caddy Steve Williams has played in all the goings on?
Correct me if I am wrong, but I understand the role of the caddy is to point out the projected target and indicate how far his man is away from it, he should then advise which club to use, and line his player up to the hole. He then cleans the club after the shot and puts the club back in the bag himself. He also keeps the score.
I think there is more to this than meets the eye.
Tiger Woods is used to scoring a few birdies in his day to day working life, but the 9 and counting who have come out of the woodwork claiming to have had private lessons with the main man over the years is brewing up quite a storm , and Tiger probably feels at the moment that he has shot an albatross.
The ladies he has been philanderering with (good word that...ed) have all been well pubicised and will no doubt do kiss and tell for months to come.
What I want to know, though, is what part Tigers long term, and very loyal , caddy Steve Williams has played in all the goings on?
Correct me if I am wrong, but I understand the role of the caddy is to point out the projected target and indicate how far his man is away from it, he should then advise which club to use, and line his player up to the hole. He then cleans the club after the shot and puts the club back in the bag himself. He also keeps the score.
I think there is more to this than meets the eye.
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