Wittering
In case you were wondering, Dear Reader, it turned out H was trying to work out something for an amplifier which wasn't working, possibly because it had blown a fuse. That was why he asked me what the square root of 180 was the other night. He traced the circuit, which, fortunately, wasn't a complicated one. He couldn't contact the amp maker as they are now out of business. Finally it transpired that we needn't have gone to all that bother. Someone had 'borrowed' the fuse from the plug! Sometimes being an Engineer involves understanding circuits, sometimes it involves a bit of lateral thinking! But Real Engineering is like that.
Another Good Thing, kinda, is that the revision of timetable for the bus which H catches to and from work has succumbed to public (bus user) pressure. Sort of. The number of buses per day has been trimmed but, and this is the important thing, there will still be a bus running shortly after 4pm, so H will be able to catch that and arrive home at a sensible hour. The Not So Good News is that there is but the one bus in the morning and the one bus just after 4pm, whereas before there had been a couple he could catch, thus allowing a bit of leeway. Miss them now and it's another hour, at least, 'til the next bus. You know, considering the way the Government goes on about wanting to encourage people to use public transport rather than their own cars . . .
Way back when, well over twenty years ago, bus services were de-regulatedso that they could be run by private companies, the 'reason' given was 'to promote Competition'. Yes. Well. There was competition, and a lot of buses running frequently at reasonable prices, for a while. Then various bus operators amalgamated, larger companies took over smaller companies and the ability to change bus timetables every six weeks or so meant that bus 'services' were soon 'rationalised' and were soon being run to benefit Really Large bus company shareholders rather than bus passengers. This is Never a Good Thing. Prices went up alarmingly.
I can catch a bus here from near home to the beach. A journey of about 1 1/2 miles. For the same price I could catch a bus in Bristol from the centre of the city to where Mum used to live on the outskirts of the city. A good five or six mile journey. Price and the (in)frequency of relevant buses is why I usualy cycle around this city. It isn't that much fun on busy roads and side roads are a bit hairy, what with all the parked cars - both sides of the street, leaving just space for a car to pass me as I wobble along against the wind! That's the thing though. When you're on a push bike the wind always seems to come from in front, and it's not because I'm going fast!
Should I be visiting the beach I've found it well worth while consulting the current wind direction. If it's at all breezy here, centre of the city, then ithe wind's going to be quite strong down the Front. If there's at all an Easterly component in the wind direction I go one way. Should there be a Westerly component, much more likely, I go the other. We do, occasionally, get Northerly or Southerly components to the wind direction. Northerly generally means the fountain by the Castle will have frozen, and it's harder to cycle home, though I don't get quite so heated! Southerly is ok. When it's a Sou'Westerly gale force kind of wind the best thing is to stay at home. Yes, 'tis spectacular to watch the waves racing at the seashore seemingly trying to come ashore even over the sea defences. 'Tis good to stand on one of the banks (earthen, not financial) to feel the strength of the wind too. But, on the whole, 'tis best to stay at home. Sou'Westerly gales generally come with heavy rain. On a push bike! that's No Fun. At. All.
And Finally - and a totally different subject - felt owl ornaments. That's ornaments which look (a bit) like owls and are made from felt. Ok? I can just see one of those snowy owl ornaments being used as a 'gift topper' for a present involving anything Harry Potter! Oh look, there's even one with knitting. Looks like a needle-felted jobbie. Go have a shufti, Dear Reader. Should you have Small People at home at present and should you want to give them an interest other than computer games and TV, you could do worse than start a felt-owl-making project. Should you not have Small People with you why not make a few yourself? It's Christmas after all. Ok, then, try after Christmas when life's a little less hectic.
After which - y'all have a good day now!
Another Good Thing, kinda, is that the revision of timetable for the bus which H catches to and from work has succumbed to public (bus user) pressure. Sort of. The number of buses per day has been trimmed but, and this is the important thing, there will still be a bus running shortly after 4pm, so H will be able to catch that and arrive home at a sensible hour. The Not So Good News is that there is but the one bus in the morning and the one bus just after 4pm, whereas before there had been a couple he could catch, thus allowing a bit of leeway. Miss them now and it's another hour, at least, 'til the next bus. You know, considering the way the Government goes on about wanting to encourage people to use public transport rather than their own cars . . .
Way back when, well over twenty years ago, bus services were de-regulatedso that they could be run by private companies, the 'reason' given was 'to promote Competition'. Yes. Well. There was competition, and a lot of buses running frequently at reasonable prices, for a while. Then various bus operators amalgamated, larger companies took over smaller companies and the ability to change bus timetables every six weeks or so meant that bus 'services' were soon 'rationalised' and were soon being run to benefit Really Large bus company shareholders rather than bus passengers. This is Never a Good Thing. Prices went up alarmingly.
I can catch a bus here from near home to the beach. A journey of about 1 1/2 miles. For the same price I could catch a bus in Bristol from the centre of the city to where Mum used to live on the outskirts of the city. A good five or six mile journey. Price and the (in)frequency of relevant buses is why I usualy cycle around this city. It isn't that much fun on busy roads and side roads are a bit hairy, what with all the parked cars - both sides of the street, leaving just space for a car to pass me as I wobble along against the wind! That's the thing though. When you're on a push bike the wind always seems to come from in front, and it's not because I'm going fast!
Should I be visiting the beach I've found it well worth while consulting the current wind direction. If it's at all breezy here, centre of the city, then ithe wind's going to be quite strong down the Front. If there's at all an Easterly component in the wind direction I go one way. Should there be a Westerly component, much more likely, I go the other. We do, occasionally, get Northerly or Southerly components to the wind direction. Northerly generally means the fountain by the Castle will have frozen, and it's harder to cycle home, though I don't get quite so heated! Southerly is ok. When it's a Sou'Westerly gale force kind of wind the best thing is to stay at home. Yes, 'tis spectacular to watch the waves racing at the seashore seemingly trying to come ashore even over the sea defences. 'Tis good to stand on one of the banks (earthen, not financial) to feel the strength of the wind too. But, on the whole, 'tis best to stay at home. Sou'Westerly gales generally come with heavy rain. On a push bike! that's No Fun. At. All.
And Finally - and a totally different subject - felt owl ornaments. That's ornaments which look (a bit) like owls and are made from felt. Ok? I can just see one of those snowy owl ornaments being used as a 'gift topper' for a present involving anything Harry Potter! Oh look, there's even one with knitting. Looks like a needle-felted jobbie. Go have a shufti, Dear Reader. Should you have Small People at home at present and should you want to give them an interest other than computer games and TV, you could do worse than start a felt-owl-making project. Should you not have Small People with you why not make a few yourself? It's Christmas after all. Ok, then, try after Christmas when life's a little less hectic.
After which - y'all have a good day now!