I clicked on a click-bait type link on Twitter a few days ago and watched a video for the Light Phone 2. It’s a lovely looking basic phone that does phone calls, messaging and alarms. This has got me thinking [a rare event I know!].
Perhaps it would be good to just have a phone. A device designed to make phone calls. Send the odd text message. Not a lot else.
This morning as I thought these things I felt a sense of release from the pressure of modern communication. There was a release growing. The freedom to be away from connections. The freedom to not know what is going on.
So, I’ve been looking at basic phones. I have a plan to use a basic phone. To get one and leave the smart phone at home and just have the basic phone. Get rid of the connections to the world. A chance to be free when I want to be.
I can edit this website at home. I can use a camera to take photos. I can read a book. I can removed myself from the constant drivel and pain that following the news brings at the moment. This is looking like a very real prospect for me. A chance to recapture my freedom and to learn to live my life again. And I say that as a committed tech follower.
Firstly: We’ve had plenty of warning that there was going to be snow. It wasn’t a surprise.
Secondly: People should have been prepared for the roads to become bad and for transport to be cancelled. BECAUSE WE HAD WARNING.
But, why doesn’t anything work when it snows?
Because you don’t spend LOADS of money on services that are going to sit idle for 360/365 days of the year. If you want everything to work “just fine” when there’s a lot of snow then bloody well pay for it. It will cost a lot of money. It just doesn’t make economical sense.
Hopefully, many services have plans for getting through the snow. Hospitals and emergency services are important and I somewhat suspect that they HAVE plans. Being forewarned about the snow means those plans can be enacted.
The weather over the last few days has been stunning. There’s a load of snow around and the whole of the county looks stunning. It has rather messed with my professional plans but, hey ho, I’m sure I’ll figure it out. The opportunity of being at home in daylight has meant that I have been for a couple of tentative runs since fucking my right Achilles. I am still walking and the Achilles seems intact. Not sure when I’ll next have a run but I’m pleased with the results so far.
So, these are the details of one of my runs. While I have been out I’ve taken many photos. I think they are gorgeous:
FrozenCold DayLense Flare
The countryside is stunning and I think that a couple of sub-zero temperature runs is just the way to celebrate the gloriousness of the whole thing. Ever wanted to know what snow does to trainers? The trainers are old, but waterproof and actually reasonably warm. I did notice today though that the sole is coming away so once they are dry I am going to glue them (again)!
Cold Trainers
I’m not too happy with having the heating on full time but it is the only way to keep my house warm. I guess I’ll have to pay for it over the rest of the year.
I also took some photos with the DSLR. This morning there was mist over the valley and it all looked just bloody gorgeous.
Mist and Snow
There was a dog walker out in the chill.
Winter Dog Walker
This concludes my winter pictures, until next time!
I wrote about watching a film in Boston in this communication and I also mentioned the place when explaining how far you can see from Tattershall Castle. I went for a proper look around, just to see what this place was like. Boston made its fortune many years ago and some parts of this town show that age old wealth. I guess the main problem at the moment is that the wealth is no longer around. This town struggles somewhat.
While driving back after seeing the film the other night I got a little bothered by the canals and roads and the utter straightness of this place. There were roads which were perfectly straight for about three miles, it’s a strange sensation when you are from the south east of this country.
Canal or Fen drain
This view gives an idea of the canal/drain, not the river Witham, I particularly like the roads either side and the tree lined avenue. Also, the complete lack of safety barrier which I’m sure would be knocking around down in my usual haunts. My first discovery was driving out past the windmill, somewhat a surprise, and I drove back in using this route to see the windmill in the daylight.
Boston Windmill
After I got parked in the town centre I went on the hunt for stuff. Also, I wanted to see the Stump up close. There was an area next to the river where the old customs house stands with a buoy for display. This lump of red steel was an original from The Wash and looked pretty. Boston had an unusual tidal surge in the past and the buoy was nearly covered in water, giving an indication of how bad floods can be for towns.
Saint Botolph’s Parochial Church of Boston wasn’t open by the time I got there and I suspect that I wouldn’t have been able to climb the tower but I am keen to have a go. It’s always worth getting up high in any town, it lends such perspective to human geography. There were plaques around the church celebrating the pilgrims who had headed off to the new lands of America to practise their religion freely. This country got rid of them because they were so damn weird and so they were sent away.
Boston Stump from the River Witham
The Stump is certainly impressive in this barren flat landscape. It stands proud.
I’m not sure if it’s me but I noticed some strange things around the town. I’m possibly being slightly snobby here and I will have to declare that I haven’t really been in any town centre for probably a year, especially during the day time. I just don’t go into my local towns. There’s no need for me to head into the town centres and so my data set is rather limited.
There were many people using cash points. There were queues for the cash points. This was around 15:00 hrs on a Friday and maybe that is what happens in many towns but for some reason I was surprised and thought it was odd. I’m happy to be told I’m wrong, that this is a common occurrence around the country.
There also seemed to be many people smoking. I rarely go anywhere with a huge number of smokers and I suspect that my experience is somewhat limited. I could even smell smoke on me when I was back in my car. If I was so bothered I would go into towns near me during the daytime to get some comparative data, but this is unlikely, I doubt I will go. I don’t care enough about being wrong to want to check. This general hypothesis is not important to me.
Skywards
Here’s the stretch of straight road, almost 5 miles but with a very, very slight kink.
Straight
The longest part of this road had warning signs saying that the road was uneven and the speed limit was 40mph. This, is a good thing. The road was very uneven and any faster could cause losing control of the vehicle. I doubt this will be fixed as it acts as a deterrent to driving with excessive speed.
While driving around Boston I noticed some red signs marked “out ER”. I wasn’t sure what these were but a quick Google informed me that they are Evacuation Routes for when there is a high risk of flooding. This seems pretty reasonable to me. It is sensible to have these routes planned so that people are aware of how to escape. It’s also sensible to have plans in place, here’s a link to the Lincolnshire council explanation [this link was removed as the page location was changed, Jan 2020].
So, there’s been a shooting in the USA. There are always going to be shootings in the USA while guns are so easy to access. It’s really that simple. If you make guns easy for any idiot to purchase and use then they are going to use them. There should be a cooling off period and background checks. Oh, that and Mr Trump-Cunt removing the rules about the mentally ill buying guns.
It’s important to make sure that when news is presented that it is accurate and (preferably) unbiased. Even BBC R4 annoys me nowadays with John Humphries’s leading questions and stupid un-scientific knowledge. If I can shout at the radio “irrelevant” or “leading” or “biased” then the interviewer isn’t doing their job well.
I screen grabbed this from twitter:
News Issues
I am not trying to point out that there haven’t been enough school based shootings, but I do want to point out that if you are trying to make an argument then you should be correct in your figures. I do not know what the actual number is for school shootings. Honestly, the fact that there is a number for JUST THIS YEAR means something is fucked. But all news people surely have a duty to represent the truth as best as they can find it. It doesn’t take much research to get that the 18 figure is misleading and that’s when the NRA will fuck you over.
Yesterday I received a letter from the Air Commandant. It essentially says that my commission in the cadet forces has changed from being a member of the RAF VR(T) to now being a member of the RAFAC. I wrote about my original commission in this communication.
Commission Too
I also have to change the rank insignia I wear and I’ve got some stuff about that here. I now have colour matched rank slides for all my uniform.
Oh, a minor point, this communication is number 1250!
Last night I popped into town to see the band Arch Enemy. They are a Swedish heavy metal band [melodic death if you are interested] and played Koko, a theatre style venue about a mile away from Kings Cross. Koko is within easy walking distance of my terminus and so I don’t have to worry about getting the tube or missing my last train home. There were quite a few times when, as a teenager, I got stuck in London because once you get the tube back from Wembley to Liverpool Street the last train has gone.
Koko Glitterball
First band up were Tribulation. I wasn’t too sure what to expect as the last metal gig I went to was Gojira and I had an awful headache that night. I’ve seen mostly EBM stuff over the last few years.
Tribulation
My main comment about this band would be that if Spinal Tap have already represented your style of music then you shouldn’t be playing it. This band were like the world hadn’t gone anywhere or done anything for about 30 years. I fully expected a Stonehenge to come down from the ceiling. My notes from the evening describe this band as “gothic metal” and then “epic long boring metal”. It was all witches and stuff. It was a giggle I guess.
Next up were Wintersun. My notes are “surprisingly good” very well constructed songs and played well together. There was lots of gang vocals and ooohing going on in the songs. It wasn’t quite viking metal but it came close in structure. Quite a few songs were fast with lots of double bass drumming [which is fine except when it’s over-used like it was]. The slow song was shit, it irritated me.
Wintersun
At one point the singer was drinking from what looked like a disposable Costa cup and we could see the tea bag label sticking out! TEA!! The guy was drinking TEA. Whatever floats your boat I guess. It’s probably better than alcohol for the throat. Here’s a short clip of stuff:
Headliners were Arch Enemy. I didn’t write any notes about them at the time because I enjoyed the gig enough. They were a tight band and put on a great show.
Arch Enemy
The crowd was really up for the mosh pit and I was on the edge of it for a short while but it soon became apparent that my leg injury wouldn’t hold up. I did something stupid to my Achilles about three weeks ago and putting weight onto my toes is not a good idea. The way the mosh pit moved meant I was regularly stepping back to get my balance and this eventually would ruin my ability to walk. Also, by this time my back was hurting so sadly and like an old man I went upstairs to watch from above and rest my weary body.
Alissa White-Gluz
I’m not sure if this is the first metal band I have seen with a female lead singer but apart from being slim and curved there wasn’t a great deal of difference between her and a male singer. The band played for a solid ninety minutes and overall I was very impressed. I’d see them again. A very good collection of songs. This gig rates about a 7 on the Smith-Parish scale of GR.
Mathematics is used everywhere from telling us whether a drug’s effects are significant to calculating routes in satellite navigation devices. It also exists in the abstract, within the human mind and without practical use.
When will I use this mathematics I am learning?
In some ways if you feel the need to ask this question then you probably won’t. Arithmetic and basic number work will suffice for you.
However, we learn these things because they expand our understanding of the universe, because mathematics is a challenge and because we should learn for learning’s sake not because we are expected to. We learn for ourselves.
If you plan on becoming a scientist or engineer or similar then mathematics will be the language of your every minute’s work.
If you want more detailed examples and discussion about why there is mathematics then click here.
Last weekend was pretty busy. My cadets were taking part in the regional heats of a national competition. We decided to have a training day before and so headed to St Martins Plain on Friday afternoon.
SMP Block 20
Above is where the officers stay. The blocks are warm and good enough for a couple of nights. I wouldn’t really want to spend much longer than that there. To give you an idea here’s the inside view of a two-person room:
SMP Room
Yes, I do take a suitcase with me on these trips. It’s for holding stuff. I rarely have to carry things over distances so it makes sense to use it. The yellow lump is my boot polishing kit. You can’t see the carpet in detail but it is hard wearing stuff that also happens to be really sticky to fluff and stuff. Hoovering the carpet is a real chore! There is normally a single electricity outlet in these rooms so a multigang extension lead is a must.
After one night at SMP we got travelled to RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire. It was a journey of about two hours and Henlow was a place I hadn’t been to before. That Saturday night was spent in the Officers’ Mess which is a slight step up from the Army camp.
Officers’ Mess Henlow
Quite a few messes around the country look like this. They are lovely buildings with decent rooms and dining and drinking facilities.
Henlow Room
The room comparison is obvious. I wonder where I’d rather stay?
A Bar
Given these surroundings it’s hard not to want to live in a place like this. Lovely sofas and lovely prices.
Sunday morning we zoomed to RAF Halton for the cadets to take part in the Royal Air Squadron Trophy. They came second out of the contingents in the South East and so will represent the SE at the national finals in about a month.
This calendar year my passport runs out, during July. I want to get out of this place in August and so I need a new passport.
So, I looked online and found the information about how far in advance I can apply, what documentation I need and how much it costs to get free passage across non-existent lines between countries.
I had to do the following:
Fill in the online form
Pay £75 or so
Take a new photo
Send old passport back
Wait
I have to say the whole experience was really good. I could use my phone to take a new picture and upload that via the website. Then the money thing was easy also. Lastly I had to send my old passport back via the standard post.
Within two days of posting I had a text message telling me they had my old passport and that the forms and pictures had checked out and I should await my new passport. I do think this is impressive service for a government department. One more day passes and I am told the new passport is posted and should be with me shortly.
It turned up and was shortly followed by my old passport with the corner cut out.
You’ll be pleased to know that I still look like a thug.
