Metric vs Imperial

This seems like such a petty thing to get wound up about but wound up is what I get. It might be because I’m a bit of a science bod or that I’m just easily annoyed. I have a few problems with measurement systems.

Firstly, why in this country have we got a flipping half arsed approach to metrication? A few years back suddenly you could no longer buy spirits in imperial measures. I’ve got no issues with this it’s just the fact that at the same time they didn’t metricate beer sales. I know loads of people think we shouldn’t get rid of the pint blah blah blah. Well we don’t have to, you can go up to the bar, (as they do in NZ) order a pint and they give you the metric equivalent, which is 568 ml. Or even better in my opinion we switch the litres and half litres and stuff the pint!

The fact we still use miles irritates the hell out of me. I know we have an extensive road system and all that and it would cost loads to replace all the road signs so why not as road signs need replacing put both miles and km on them. It just seems stupid that I learnt the metric system at school (I didn’t learn any imperial stuff) and that was a while ago I can tell you and then suddenly I leave school and I’m expected to just use the imperial system. We either should have stayed imperial or actually go metric not this strange limbo that seems to exist. It also annoys me that the imperial system is known as the ‘English’ system. Now some people may not know this but if you are using scientific software and you load it up for the first time it’ll ask you if you want SI units, (system international) or ‘English, (which is American imperial). Ahhhhhh!!!!!

Right next half subject, why is the capacity of rucksacks measured in litres? Why on earth would you want to fill it with liquid? Wouldn’t it be more sensible and easy to visualise to measure a rucksacks capacity in medium sized t-shirts or m&s y-fronts!! AND what the f**k is a tog?!!!! Who on earth thought that was a good measurement for a duvet? So from years of experience I realise that 10.5 is a summer duvet and up to 13 is a winter one. Why not dispense with the tog rating and just call them summer and winter or in-between.

Right that’s my mini rant over with. It seems on the one hand I want to rid this country of the imperial system for ever and on the other hand I want to get rid of stupid measurements.

OK just a bit more about lightbulbs. Why are they measured in the power they consume? This is outdated now with the advent of energy saving bulbs. They should be measured in brightness which I believe is unit called a lux. It seems particularly stupid that energy saving light bulbs have taken on this scale too, so we now have an 11watt energy saver that would give off the same brighness, (I think) as a 60watt non energy saver. As energy savers get more effcient this could go down further leaving everyone very confused.

I get the feeling I may add more to this entry.

The streets of Bromyard

I’ve just been for a lovely 5 mile run in the warm spring sunshine. It is just perfect running weather, not too hot just clear skies and nice sunshine to cheer me up. I’m going to miss not being to run around the lanes surrounding Bromyard when I move jobs. I won’t miss the hills! I need to have a quick look online to see if there are any nice parks in Solihull that I can have a little trot around at lunchtime. Hopefully the office will have a shower, this seems odd to others who don’t work in this buisness but when you come back from wading aorund in a filithy river you fancy a shower so it is quite normal for hydrology type offices to have them. I’ll miss the building too, it’s an old stone grammar school next to the church. My current office is very dark and dingy but I do love it.
Ah well, I’m missing the place already and I haven’t even left yet!! There is also a huge amount of stuff I won’t miss but I won’t go into that.

Blowers and Castles

Skirrid

Arty shot of white castle.

It’s strange the sun comes out and suddenly everything seems right with the world so I will pick up where I left off before all the shit started happening.

On Friday Bob went and picked his shiny new car up from Ford, then myself, Bob, Dev and KP went out for a couple of shandys at the Marwood. It is quite a good choice as it has good wine and also real ale. After sitting in the really irritating seat right by the door that people keep leaving open we ended up managing to sit on the big table in the window, the best seat in the house no less. We chatted about the normal rubbish, well actually no, we chatted about the issues in Northern Ireland, South Africa and Afghanistan. It’s amazing how you can come up with solutions to such complex issues when you had a couple. I can’t remember what our solutions were as we were pissed, I must remember to write them down next time.
Luckily we left early as Dev and KP had to get the bus back to the sticks. I imagine I may have been crawling home if I’d stayed in the pub much longer.

Next day Bob wanted to go out for a spin so rather the worse for wear we decided to go to Wales and walk up a hill. We stopped off in Bromyard at Legges to get hangover food. A sausage and bacon roll, oh my god it was gorgeous. There was so much meat I could hardly get my gob around it, (no filthy comments please). The sun was shining brightly but the wind was bitterly cold. We drove to the car park for the Skirrid, it was full. After a bit of tooing and froing we decided to look at some castles instead. There are lots of little castles dotted around the border, all of them ruins I think. We went to White Castle first, so called as it used to be rendered with white render, mostly all fallen off now.

We climbed to the top of what was left of the gatehouse and there was a stunning view of the Skirrid. The wind was so chilly though it made me glad that we hadn’t made more of an effort to walk up it.
We then drove down the road to Skenfrith and had a mooch around the castle there. There is even less of that one left, just the shells of a few towers.

Off we drove home and I had a little snooze before nipping out again. We met Dev and went to Huntingdon Hall to an evening with Henry Blofeld. I’m rather embarrassed to say I have never been to Huntingdon Hall before. It seems to be an old chapel that is in the style of a music hall. Anyway we were sat at the back in out own little compartment. On came Blowers and had us giggling about all sorts of stuff, how he had a Bond villain named after him and how he once got caught naked in a hotel. I can recommend it even for people who aren’t fond of cricket. We had a quick pint then and Dev dropped us off home.

Next day I ran 8.2 miles then we pottered around the garden the rest of the day. Well actually Bob pottered and I snoozed on the sofa. The weather was gorgeous, the wind had dissipated leaving just warm spring sunshine.

Now you may think this is too good to be true from what I can only describe myself as a miserable git recently. Well it is, my mum is poorly. She has had all the symptoms of vertigo, last time she got this she ended up having a heart attack. She apparently doesn’t have vertigo but is going for a CT scan to check everything is ok with her head. I’m a little concerned but she seems quite chipper so hopefully there is nothing to worry about. K has also been in contact, he couldn’t for a few days after those 2 soldiers were killed on Saturday as all the communications were down, (deliberately or not I don’t know). Anyway, I have had several emails and he seems fine. My heart stops every time I hear anything mentioned on the news but I guess I’m just going to have to get used to it.

News and stuff

Well I can write a few things now they are out in the open. Last Friday I went for an interview at the Environment Agency in Solihull in the flood forecasting department. Anyway, I got the job and told my boss on Tuesday that I was leaving. He took it really well bless him and actually sort of insinuated that it would probably be best for my career if I did go. After all I have been here for 8 years, (well with 6 months off in New Zealand). I feel like a weight has been lifted that is for sure but I could do with K here to discuss stuff with.

Bob has decided to apply to do an MSc at Aberystwyth in sustainability or some such. This means as of September I will be on my own in the house so may get a lodger to help with the bills. Well that is assuming he gets in which I’m sure he will.

I texted K’s lady a couple of days ago because of all the rubbish that has been happening in Northern Ireland. She is missing K dreadfully bless her. He’ll be back before we know it with a great tan demanding booze, (as well as other stuff I’m sure). Well I hope it flies by.

We went to see Waiting for Godot at Malvern on Tuesday night. Dr Bob had a couple of tickets spare so asked if we wanted to got. It had sold out months previously so we were very lucky. Ian Mckellen and Patrick Stewart were amazing especailly McKellen. Simon Callow was also in it as well as some other famous dude but I can’t remember his name. I really liked the play but Bob didn’t at all. It is odd I’ll give you that but Bob doesn’t like making up his own meaning for stuff whereas I do.

We are trying to get tickets to see Henry Blofeld at Huntigdon Hall on saturday, that should be good.

Is the dark rising or falling?

I can see light at the end of the tunnel and so I am feeling a bit more talkative. Some of the reasons why I was getting stressed will hopefully just disappear over the next few weeks. Others will not however, my dear cousin is now in sunnier climes and for a brief moment yesterday I actually said thank f**k for that. When I heard that 2 engineers had been shot dead at their barracks in Northern Ireland my heart stopped. I’m not going to get into a Northern Ireland discussion as it isn’t my place to do so. It is up to the people in NI to decide heir own destiny but nobody wants a return to the troubles. Anyway, so K is in Afghanistan for 6 months and I am having to deal with loads of shit without my confidante around giving me advice or normally just distracting me enough so my mind never rests on anything for too long.

Speaking of my mind, it has been up to its old tricks. I haven’t regressed back to full blown ED yet but I am getting the pre-ED symptoms of not really giving a shit about stuff anymore and not eating because I don’t really feel hungry. There is another symptom which I really don’t want to return but I have a horrible feeling it will. That’s another reason why I need K here to keep me on the straight and narrow. I sound a bit like a broken record but the dark clouds have been gathering again and it scares the life out of me that I might end up how I used to be. One of my main ways of ensuring that I don’t is to tell virtually everybody I know that I have had problems in the past and that way I have eyes watching me all the time. Some people see the signs better than others. Smally and Sarah do but I hardly see them anymore. There is nothing that can really be done to stop it, I know why I do it I just don’t know how to stop myself doing it. It’s a control thing. If I feel a situation has gone out of control I control myself to make up for it. I’m a sensible person and I have read so much on the subject matter that I believe sometimes I could go into counselling. Then something like this happens again!! Anyway, hopefully the change that is coming will sort me out, who knows!!??

On a different note, It was 6 years yesterday since my big bro died. Bob and I went around to my parents for lunch and nipped up to the grave to see him. It was so bitterly cold. It reminded me of the day he died. The sun was shining brightly but there was a biting wind coming from the north chilling you to the bone.

Update

Ok so I have deliberatly not been posting as things have been a bit shit recently. I will not post properly until things have sorted themsleves out. The one thing i will say is that stress has got it’s bad points epecially where I’m concerned but one good point is I’ve lost half a stone in 2 weeks. Woo hoo, bring on the stress.