Vague – where should it go? – Fooyah

February 1 2026

It’s Time To Fix Things

If you know me then you would be very much aware that this is probably a rant about how we need to become vegan socialists. However, this isn’t about fixing society. This is about things I need to fix in the home. I’m currently concentrating on the bathroom and I have got a list of issues that’s quite long. I don’t think any of them are urgent so I am going to do these things over time, do something every other weekend or so.

First I painted the radiator. It wasn’t looking good and needed some rust treatment. Then I spent a weekend getting two decent coats of titanium based paint onto it. I think it looks alright. It hasn’t made that much difference to the bathroom but I notice and it makes me happy.

Recently I am working on the ceiling. I have quite a bit of paint flaking off and some bubbles where the paint is definitely leaving the surface. So, I am in the process of scraping all the loose stuff off and then sealing the surface ready for paint. I think the paint will be over the next few evenings as I’m working on the sealing of the ceiling. Taking this little by little approach also keeps me happy as there isn’t too much disruption to my normal life.

I don’t like decorating. I don’t like the idea of having to move everything so that I can slap some paint on a surface. I don’t like the disruption. But, I have been telling myself that the end result will be pleasing and so I’m coping with that. I do not know what colour to do the walls in that room. I’ll leave that decision for another day.

December 7 2025December 6 2025

Visual Proof Of Stuff That Happened

My time at university was great. I met lifelong friends, learnt some stuff and, had a wonderful time. Oh, I also learnt stuff, I guess that’s meant to be the most important thing. I then used that knowledge to get professionally trained and now I pass my knowledge on to the latest generation. I don’t really teach them about aeronautics but I do try to help them get to a point when they can learn about it.

While at university I did some extra-curricula activities. I found hobbies that I enjoyed and people I liked being around. In my first year I found out about a radio station and joined that. I had a show on Thursdays and used that to play my favourite songs and learn about the technology. The radio station broadcast on a very low powered transmitter but the output was also piped into most of the kitchens in the halls of residence at the South Kensington campus. So there was a captive audience, if they turned the speakers up.

I learnt how to make radio jingles and the rules around the broadcast licence. I fronted the “Requests and Guests” show and even had posters up around college. In my second and third years I was an assistant station manager which meant I was responsible for the output for one day a week and had oversight of the station. At one point I wrote a radio soap opera with Jase and we performed the opening episode live in the station. There was not a second episode but it was excellent fun to do.

Also in my second year of university I was chairman of Aerosoc. Each department within City and Guld College had a social society and I ran one for a year. Fortunately my secretary did all the major organising of trips and visits so I don’t recall it being overly onerous. My position within the Union then meant that I represented students at the Royal Aeronautical Society. Occasionally students from around the country would meet and I represented Imperial at those meetings. I also because the student representative to the local branches of the RAeS. So I attended two conferences, one in Bournemouth and one in Chester. I was very much the youngest person at those so it was a strange experience but one I enjoyed. The conference in Chester had some other youngsters from RAeS headquarters and we had a great time together, especially as once the bar closed the beer taps were outside the security screen so we just kept drinking for free.

The above shield used to be placed on a wall at the entrance to Imperial College. However, about ten years after I left university the entrance was redesigned and the shields were stored away. Fortunately the CGCA has kept digital copies that are available online. During the second year the students’ union decided to create the post of Department Society Officer. This was to allow a smoother communication method from the departmental societies to the Union hierarchy. I applied for the job. I liked the idea of helping people who now had jobs similar to the ones I had just completed. When I say applied for the job I can’t remember the actual process but I did get the job.

It’s nice to see this shield. It lead to some interesting choices during the third year of university. Also, two of my closest friends are on painted on the wood and I’m still in touch with them thirty (or more) years later. Because of the work I did during the first six months of year 3 at Imperial I was persuaded by friends to apply to be elected to a sabbatical position in Imperial College Students’ Union. The argument was something like “most of us are going to be around for a forth year so why don’t you try out in the elections and spend another year with us”. This seemed a good argument and I reckoned I was going to be good at the job so I entered the race for election.

I made posters and placed them around the campus. They were defaced but I didn’t mind. I still have one somewhere and it’s got some original graffiti on it. I faced my opponents in hustings at various campuses and generally had an interesting time trying to persuade the electorate to vote for me. I was successful and became the second Deputy President (Clubs and Societies) of Imperial College Union. The time I spent doing that job after I completed my degree was incredibly formative. At times it was challenging but I learnt a lot and had so much fun. I got to live in student halls (again) for free but I wasn’t really around much for that social aspect of life. In the shared kitchen someone had created caricature sketches of each person in our zone but mine was empty because they just didn’t see me much it was labelled “never here man”.

The above wall exists in the Union Dining Hall in the student union building in Beit Quad, Imperial College. I was there recently and took this photograph. I don’t think I had a picture before this year and so this digital memory will last even if they decide to do bad things to the building. I’m on the right hand panel about a third of the way down. Somewhere in the mid nineties. After my sabbatical year I went to teacher training. Mainly because a friend said he enjoyed it and I applied to where he had studied. My plans weren’t to go into teaching in the state sector I was going to join the armed forces in the education branch but about four weeks into my first teaching practice I decided I loved it in schools and in schools is where I have stayed since.

October 30 2025

Aviation Collection Four

I do find aircraft inherently interesting. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s the idea of defying gravity (I know they don’t really do that but it’s a simpler explanation to what’s going on). I’ve recently mentioned these items at work and searched this site but they didn’t exist here. So this is to make up for that. There are a couple of other communications about the aviation collection, search them by the tags at the bottom of this page.

My first diecast model was a Northrop F5 Freedom Fighter. I bought one of these from a stall at North Weald many years ago. I can’t remember if it was an airshow or just some event I was at. That F5 represented the VF111 Sundowner United States Navy unit. I used to have it on display at work because I would use it for cadet type things, especially explaining the dynamics of aircraft and airflow. This model was lost. More accurately I think it was stolen. It was in my room and then it wasn’t. This was a shame but I knew I needed an F5 because they are cool and also it’s an F5.

I can’t remember which unit this F5 represents. It might be an aggressor squadron. It just looks nice. The second diecast aircraft I bought was from a stall at the Royal International Air Tattoo in 2019 (I think). I took my kids there and enjoyed the day I spent watching displays and seeing the static aircraft. I wanted a memento of this trip and so I bought an A400M at, what I thought was, a reasonable price.

The A400M sits atop my NAS drive in one of the tech corners of the house. It looks pretty there, guarding the dining room.

The third and final model I have is tiny. It’s a pretty small model of a small and cute plane. I’ve written about the Baby Bus here. I couldn’t find a British Airways version of this plane, there’s still an Air France version flying I think. But this is a lovely plane.

Those are my aircraft and apart from some trinkets I have from a 1980s Brize Norton that is pretty much it for collections related to aviation.

October 21 2025October 22 2025

Keg

Every now and then it’s well worth jumping around in front of a crowd and hitting things. I would always suggest that you do this in a safe space and also where everyone knows what’s going on. I did this recently and I had a great time. Not sure what to do if we play more songs though. How do I top that?

September 30 2025

Spooky Times

This morning it would have been spooky if I believed in any of that stuff. But I don’t so it wasn’t. It looked good though.

August 6 2025

Why Isn’t This Standardised?

Ever wondered why you sometimes press the wrong buttons on a number pad? This probably happens more if you regularly use a calculator and I do know I’m in a profession where calculator use is in its highest. But, the numbers on a calculator pad go in different directions to the numbers on a phone or keyboard number pad.

Above is a phone number pad. 1,2,3 starts at the top, this places 9 bottom right. This layout is because of stupid people, sorry: Americans, who when unfamiliar with a keypad preferred the 1 in the top left position. This was in contradiction to all cash registers, calculators, and computer keypads until that time. So, Bell Labs went with it.

Above is a computer keypad with the numbers in the correct order. On a telephone the hash and asterisk keys were added because of forethought by the Bell engineers who thought phones could be used to link up computers.

And I’ve just learnt that the # key is called the pound symbol in north America. Which seems very strange at first but the # is just a lb done fancy. Sometimes you learn things every day and now I’m happy.

July 31 2025July 29 2025

Shut The Windows

The fields out the back of my house are delightful. They grow through the year and constantly change. It’s a delight to live here.

The row of terrace houses in the mid-distance of the above picture include my house. Now, the weather is warm and I love having the windows open, some I keep open for all the time as the fresh air is wonderful. But, one day a year the farmer will need to harvest the crop and so there is a lot of dust floating around in the air. I don’t want to have to clean all that up, I’ve made that mistake in the past.

As you can see there is a lot of dust behind the harvester. I keep the windows shut on this day, assuming that I am home and able to shut the windows.

In my youth, after my GCSEs and during the summer after my first year in the sixth form I worked on a farm in the village. I would drive a tractor around and carry the harvested crops from the fields to the grain store. It was long hours and hot, sweaty work. But, it was also good fun and character building I suppose. I enjoyed it. I learnt to drive tractors, and also trailers along with reversing. Good skills for life.

May 16 2025

That List Of Things

There are some things I want to do. But getting the getupandgo is a little harder than I would like it to be. I reckon that also the deadlines are self imposed rather than job related so the motivation is lacking a little. When I say deadlines they aren’t really deadlines. They are just things I’d like to do. Things I want to potter around and get done when I can rather than having to do them and be annoyed at doing it. These are things I want to enjoy doing.

I am working completing more of Gran Turismo 7. I have a few races left to complete in the standard offline race section. Over the weekend I completed an hour race around Spa and now I just have some little races to get completed. The problem with this is “what do you do when you’re done?”. I’ve heard stories of people winning the Big Competition and then they just feel lost because for all their life they’ve wanted to win the Big Competition. Once it’s completed they cry and lose direction. This could happen with GT. What do you do once you own all the cars and have golded every licence test? I think the licence tests will be next once I complete the standard races and I guess GT does have online mode but that can be frustrating. Then, what do I do once I’ve golded every licence? I shall return here and explain some time.

I’ve pretty much completed an excellent build in Minecraft, or at least something I’m quit proud of. There’s a little inside decoration I need to complete but then it will be done. What do I do then? I’d like to show it on YouTube with a voice over but that requires me to set up the OBS software again and that can be a pain. Then I need to script the video and complete the recording. Finally it needs to be edited, possibly, and then uploaded to YouTube. Maybe I will do this over the half term break coming up towards the end of May. Look for new video drops at the end of the month.

It would be nice to upload some new video of the flight simulator onto YouTube. Only to try and drive some more interaction with my channel. This is even harder than a Minecraft video because of the screen output resolutions and then trying to get the PC to record that. It also requires time and a little effort and the plans of what to do within the simulator. I’ll try and come up with a plan.

I keep buying books to read. But then I don’t read them. Books are special because they allow the transfer of knowledge from one person to another. Even fiction requires a transfer of ideas and settings. I enjoy reading. I like the stories. I like learning and having new ideas thrust upon me. I need to create time for me to settle and read a book. I nearly read some pages yesterday but I got side tracked by Fortnite. I was planning to read and relax for half an hour but I got called to game. You gotta play when you can.

I want to get fit. Or at least fitter than I am at the moment. I’ve been hampered since I knackered my back just before xmas. My mindset has gone from pain and lack of movement leading to a kinda – I’m old and these things happen maybe this is the rest of my life now – attitude to where I am now – I need to move and get fit to avoid this causing damage in the future – I think that’s a better attitude. It helps that the weather is nicer over the last month and I think my fitness has been improving with the short runs I’ve been doing. I want to be able to run 10k again without really thinking about it but I also need to realise that isn’t possible at the moment. I have to build up the fitness bit by bit and some is better than none. So I’ve reduced my expectations on how far I can run. My pace is hovering at a little over 6 minutes per km and I’m able to regularly run about 3 to 5 km. I’ll keep working at this and hopefully it will also get easier as I intend to lose some mass.

I need to get the fence in my garden fixed. Or at least I need to work out if it’s my fence to get fixed. It’s been broken for a few months and now there are new people living next door. I don’t know if they care about the fence. I know I don’t. But I guess it needs to be done. I will have to order things to be delivered and then also spend a day putting them in place. It takes a certain amount of effort and I’m not sure if I care enough.

There are quite a few work related things on my To Do list but I don’t talk about work here. I’m not stupid. This is a very public environment and so work thoughts are kept for work things. This has pretty much always been my space for writing my ideas and thoughts. I doubt people can be bothered to search all the way through this site for the controversial stuff. If they do, I don’t mind I guess. I did once get told to remove a link to this site from my email signature because of my anti-religious views. Ha ha ha ha.

I think I might need to sort out the printer. I have a wireless printer. It doesn’t always reconnect to the network when it comes out of standby and so needs to be power-cycled. This is a minor irritant. I would rather have a cabled network printer but I haven’t searched yet and to be honest I don’t want to replace something that works perfectly well the rest of the time.

I also need to get in touch with EE. I can’t see my mobile account details when I log in and this has happened since I had my new broadband network installed. I reckon there’s some weird thing happening in their system and someone will have to tick a box somewhere. I have already tried their online messaging system to work this out and they told me I need to phone up! This requires a lot of effort and planning and time.

May 7 2025May 8 2025

Frites and Speculoos

A few years ago I met with friends and had a lovely time in Leuven. It was now time to do it again and Belgium is the epicentre of our existence. Actually, I’m not sure that’s true, I wonder if there’s a website that calculates the mean position of things [there are but I’m not sure they do what I want them to do – I might have to make it myself]. This time we met in Bruges. Much to the shame of half of us, the other half had not seen the film In Bruges so the city was a lovely surprise to us all. I had been there once before on a bike trip but didn’t really spend much time there.

Over the weekend we ate frites, waffles, chocolate and drank beer. We visited the Frites Museum, climbed the Bellfry Tower – 366 steps, took a boat tour around the canals, wondered why lots of places smelt of shit, tasted beer, ate in what was possibly a swingers restaurant/bar, bought beer and glasses from a beer shop, ate waffles, took photos, posted a picture of a door to Reddit, watched the world go by, walked a lot, talked a lot, laughed, and had a lovely relaxed time, just four old friends musing on the world.

Daryl didn’t want to climb the Belfry so if you look carefully in the picture you can see him walking across Grand-Place.

April 25 2025

End Of Door Progression

Recently I changed the contents of my lounge. The old sofa and chair were removed and taken away and then a new sofa was delivered. It was all quite stressful really but I’m getting used to the new stuff. One indirect result of losing the chair was the door to the dining room now opens to about 30cm away from closed position when measured at the largest gap – I don’t know what angular measure this is. I needed a doorstop.

So, while I thought about what type of thing to use as a doorstop I used a 1kg cube of tungsten that I had already bought. I’m going to use it as a thing of beauty and also at work in those lessons when I teach about density. But I didn’t want it to be the primary doorstop. So I started looking at aircraft stuff on eBay.

I really like the idea of aircraft based furniture but it’s quite expensive and always custom made so it’s not the sort of thing I can really afford. But for a doorstop I knew I just needed a lump of something that’s quite heavy and looks cool. I did see a brake piston from a 737 on eBay but then while scrolling past the tables and desks made from aircraft parts I found the perfect thing.

Door Stop - Harrier Wing Tip Wheel — Door Stop – Harrier Wing Tip Wheel

This is the a wheel from a Harrier aircraft. It’s a strange one, because along with the B52, the Harrier has wheels that drop down from the wing tips. The main wheels don’t give enough stability so there are extras from the wings. I like this object. I’m sure it’s going to bring me plenty of pleasure just by looking at it.