Walking Thoughts

  You can’t have your cake and eat it. One of the things I increasingly appreciate about delivering environmental capital projects is that the engineering solution is only part of the story. Take storm tanks. Large storm tanks are an important part of protecting our bathing waters. During periods of heavy rainfall, they provide somewhere for excess flows to be held, reducing the likelihood of sewage spills into rivers and coastal waters. That is a good thing. Cleaner bathing waters are good for swimmers. Good for tourism. Good for local businesses. Good for people who live near the coast. And good for the environment. But there is a less attractive side to the solution. Storm tanks need to be cleaned. If they aren't, accumulated solids can become a source of unpleasant odours. Cleaning them requires operational activity — tanker movements, equipment, pumps, access and people. And because these tanks are often located close to the very coastal communities and recreational areas they...

  Why you can’t have your cake and eat it. One of the things I find interesting about engineering solutions to environmental problems is that solving one problem can create another. Take storm tanks. Large storm tanks are an important part of protecting our bathing waters. During periods of heavy rainfall, they provide somewhere for excess flows to be held, reducing the likelihood of sewage spills into rivers and coastal waters. That is a good thing. Cleaner bathing waters are good for swimmers. Good for tourism. Good for local businesses. Good for people who live near the coast. And good for the environment. But there is a less attractive side to the solution. Storm tanks need to be constructed. And once in use they need to be cleaned. If they aren't, accumulated solids can become a source of unpleasant odours. Cleaning them requires operational activity, including tanker movements, pumps, equipment and people. And because these tanks are often located close to the same coastal co...

  Victor has lived with  Type 1 diabetes for over six decades . Diagnosed at age 12 in 1962, he has managed his condition throughout his prolific stage and screen career while becoming a prominent advocate for diabetes awareness. During early stage performances like  Godspell , he kept honey, orange juice, or sugar packets on or near the stage to manage the unexpected blood sugar drops of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes (T1 diabetes) is an autoimmune disease. It can affect anyone at any age. It is not caused by diet or lifestyle. Undiagnosed T1 diabetes results in DKA, which is quickly fatal if not treated. There is no cure for Type 1 diabetes. It cannot be reversed. It is not caused by eating sweets and diabetics need to keep sweets and high sugar items nearby at all times, often eating sweets several times a day. Renowned Canadian actor Victor Garber, famous for roles in  Titanic  and  Alias , has lived with  Type 1 diabetes for over six decades . Diagnose...

  The tower is famously referenced in the history of East London's criminal underworld. In early 1968, a rival gang plot orchestrated by Micky Dixons set an ambush to assassinate the infamous gangster Reggie Kray right outside the lifts of Albert Bigg Point, where he was reportedly visiting a woman. While Reggie never showed up and survived the hit, this historical event has been detailed in several  Kray Twins true crime documentaries, historical deep-dives,  Because Albert Bigg Point sits directly along the Greenway in Stratford, its exterior and the surrounding concrete pathways are frequently captured in the background of London-based productions. It provides a distinct post-war, brutalist aesthetic. The building often appears as unintentional "B-roll" footage (background video) when television crews film transitional shots or drone footage of the East London skyline, the near-adjacent ArcelorMittal Orbit, or the London Olympic Stadium.

  Yes. I dug into the peer-reviewed literature rather than relying on the promotional claims around the technology. The picture is  much more interesting—and much less clear-cut—than “flying turbines are cheaper because the wind is better.” My conclusion is: The scientific evidence strongly supports the  resource advantage  of airborne wind. It does not yet provide equally strong evidence that airborne wind is cheaper than conventional wind at commercial scale. And for the  zeppelin/aerostat version specifically , the evidence is considerably thinner than for kite/aircraft-based AWE. 1. The high-altitude wind advantage is real This is the strongest part of the case. A peer-reviewed study by Bechtle et al. in  Renewable Energy  analysed seven years of ERA5 atmospheric data across Europe. It found that, compared with harvesting at conventional wind-turbine hub heights, accessing higher altitudes could roughly  double the wind-power density available...

  Ann was robbed of her teddy bear who had been her life long support as she lay dying in the hospice at thorpe Hall. Ann was not given her medication for her bipolar disorder so her last two weeks were marked by the return of her suffering from bipolar without the balancing effect of her lithium medication. Ann died in a shared room.  The other woman in the room died first. This was most distressing for Ann, As it brought home the reality that she was to die herself very soon. Ann Experienced this distress without the buffer of her lithium, so she experienced it with the full force of her bipolar. This was very distressing for everyone, For Ann, and for me. Ann was sedated on ketamine for the last 2 1/2 weeks of her life. So ann died of starvation under sedation, Not of the cancer which was killing her. She died without her beloved bear, Donald, Without the MEDS that controlled her bipolar disorder, And without food. That is why I do not support the sue ryder hospice at Thorp...