Walking Thoughts

 I feel that when trauma happens early in life it establishes a pattern that maybe set apart from apparently everyone you’re never quite the same as everyone else.  I’m not saying that you’re not all there aren’t people out there Who would understand. It just feels that way. There’s a fight that starts At first I was fighting the men off. It was just before after my 11th birthday. On a break from primary school, such as the May half term, Or the summer term that followed. My parents were at work. One man broken through a little window. He was of stunted growth. He let the other men in. There were six in total. At first the ring leader pinned me down in my bedroom and kissed me. He looked really pleased and turned to the others and said, ‘look she’s doing it’. As an adult was pleased with what I was doing, I was confused. I was being pinned down and I was frightened, but apparently I was doing something to please a grown-up. They then took me into my parents bedroom. They pinne...

As someone who has returned to more traditional vegetarian foods after reducing plant-based meat alternatives, I found this paper on mycotoxins in UK meat substitutes and plant-based beverages particularly thought-provoking. I was struck by the headline finding that detectable mycotoxins were present, and fascinated by the possibile implications of chronic low-level co-exposure from highly processed composite foods. I am keen on selecting vegan alternatives. As the meat-free landscape changed in supermarkets, at first I was thrilled. Then I began to experience unexplained abdominal pain, with standard clinical investigations returning negative for an internal cause. Yet I’ve noticed a significant improvement after removing the newer plant-based meat alternatives from my diet. Of course that does not establish causation, and there are many possible explanations. But studies like this are a useful reminder that food systems are biochemically complex, and that “plant-based” and “healthy” ...

  Today I found myself reflecting on something quietly important about engineering delivery. I was reviewing a colleague’s scope for nutrient removal. One of those vital but often unsung areas of environmental investment that protects rivers from eutrophication and helps safeguard ecosystems, biodiversity and water quality for future generations. We discussed carbon reduction. We discussed treatment process options. We discussed how a concept evolves into something that can actually be procured, constructed and ultimately operated reliably in the real world. And it struck me that there are really two distinct forms of process engineering at play in capital delivery. There is process engineering for treatment design: The science. The chemistry. The hydraulics. The biological understanding. The art of creating a treatment solution that achieves environmental compliance and protects receiving watercourses. But there is also process engineering for procurement and construction: Transla...