Saturday, August 20, 2005

Squirrels, Gardens, and Pee Batteries


One kilogram of plutonium has the same explosive energy as two million kilograms of conventional explosive.

I guess that’s why we don’t want Iran with the stuff …….

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8am on a Saturday morning and some swine has a chainsaw running cutting down trees …. Large trees by the sounds of it …Trees so big there’s a “crack” and a long “crash” as the trees falls dead to the ground …. I hate people cutting down trees around my house … I want the trees all around us …I can’t see what’s being cut down either which is frustrating … It’s two houses up the hill at the back from our place so they’re not too close .. but still …

If it’s the Pine trees I can take that … Damned things are as much a pest here.. And at the moment full of pollen .. We have so much pollen around at the moment from the pines and the wattles and who knows what else that our blue car turns greeny-yellow from it … The cat walked over the bonnet leaving yellow paw prints across it … And we are breathing this stuff in … Just can’t be good ..

I hope they stop soon … I hope they are considering what they are doing .. Large trees can’t be replaced ..Not in our life time anyway ….

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And on a completely different subject …Singaporean Scientists have developed a battery powered by – Urine !!! It’s true !! All our power worries are over :O)

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0818_050818_urinebattery.html

To Quote the article from National Geographic
Urine is one of a number of bodily fluids rich in ions—electrically charged atoms. Researchers in Singapore leveraged this fact to produce a credit card-size battery (bottom) powered by urine. The device produces about 1.5 volts, the same as a standard AA battery, and can last for 90 minutes.

Now there’s something to impress your friends with at parties :O)

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Work – Well after all the complaining over the months rather than fix the problem they’ve moved me to another account … My replacement had fallen out with the account he was on and so a swap has been made …. And now he’s complaining about the workload and that he can’t keep up with the emails and the meetings and the demands and that it should be a two person account … Yeh right …The laugh of it is it’s the quietest its been for months at the moment …. So I have a new account to look after… Not really that busy I have to say but some good projects coming up so it will keep me interested for a while …

So I get to rest up a bit and re-charge … Can’t be too bad … I’m also looking at some training / seminars / courses to do and get my skillset / knowledge back up to speed …

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Your entire blood supply is filtered through your kidneys in four minutes.

Is that what makes them taste like yeuck ….

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As we’ve come into the full moon we’ve had a few days of cold nights but with sunny days accompanying them … The other morning McD snapped these pictures of the valley with the mist and fog rolling in…..

These Scenic Pictures were taken by McD - She went to great pains to ensure I understood I had to tell everyone that these were her pictures and not mine ....

McDs Pictures :O)


I think this is the last of the winter …I may be a bit too optimistic but the native plants have come into flower early such as the yellow Kowhai and the pure white native clematis..all good signs of an early spring … That’s not to say it’s t-shirts and sunbathing … Oh no – It means the spring rains and the spring winds will be along soon .. Oh joy :O) Mind you we’ve had so little rain in Wellington that we need some extra water in the lakes, reservoirs and rivers ….


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I see that in the UK they are to instigate a Squirrel 'apartheid' plan boosting the far cuter native English red squirrel against the less cute and far more aggressive American grey

To quote from the English Independent Newspaper
“Squirrel Nutkin lived "in a wood at the edge of a lake" with his many brothers and sisters. But, a century after Beatrix Potter wrote the tale, its hero - the red squirrel - is under serious threat.”


Borrowed from the great site - http://www.theoldministershouse.co.uk



Borrowed from the great site - http://www.wildfox.dabsol.co.uk/

I'd like to write more about this but the article costs 1 british pound and I can buy three complete newspapers over here for that .... So if you are that keen here is the article URL

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/

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We been working hard in the garden … Weeding and mulching the garden borders. It’s all looking a lot tidier. We even got a man in to help us with the drainage on the lawn area (where the grass packed up and left some time ago and the buttercup and other invasive weed moved in. He dug into the lawn …The spade stopped some 2 inches into it and as he lifted it it was pretty clear that under the lawn was a clay rock base where no water could seep… In fact under the clay it was dry as …the water just pooling in the soil laid down for the lawn !!! So after a lot of talk about drainage pipes and digging channels for drainage pipes right where we had worked these past few weeks. It turned inot talk of bringing a small bulldozer in to remove the soil and angle the lay of the clay base to drain the water away ….

So having pleasantly saying goodbye to the chap we will look at other alternatives that does not involve bulldozing our hard worked garden flat ……



Friday, August 12, 2005

So this is a blog - Just got to think about what the Sam I'll write about on here ...

I've been messing around on things other than this PC the past few weeks . Working in Computing, even if i'm not technical, ensures I'd rather do something completely different at all other times. And since this winter here in New Zealand has been so mild we've spent quite a bit of time in the garden hacking and pulling out the weeds and mulching in readiness for the spring that's already happening here a month or so early. Spring has sprung People !! Daffs are well out, pollyanthus in full flower, Camellias and early Rhodos at their peak ...

And I've not taken a single picture yet .................

Well not of the flowers or garden anyway ...

Here's a dramatic moonset we enjoyed early one morning from our decking...

Moonset 1

Here's the same one without editing

Moonset 2

Actually quite a bit has happened .. Work is changing - for the worse career wise .. Bugger ... Diet - HAHAHAHAHA !! Ahem ... Err diet starts again tomorrow ... Really ..... Booze consumption is up - Hic ...Healthy eating is almost non-existant... Exercise - Actually because of the gardening and shifting mulch and so on I'm getting quite a bit of exercise and fresh air ... You cannot understand how good it is for me to be outside and to sit on a large mound of sun-warmed garden mulch with a mug of tea in your hand :O) The size of the indent in the mulch is a bit depressing ....But hey! - you can;t have everything and you can always discuise the evidence having stood up again :O)

Anyway - I'll write more on all of that in the next few entries ... I've got to upload some of my travel pics as well so will post some interesting ones as I go along....

Did you know I collect old cigarette cards from the 1920s/30s ?? No - well thats probably because I've not told you !!! But I do, and recently have collected a good few hundreds - err thousand more..McD (my wonderful partner in life) has been helping me catalog them and slowly bring all the odds and sods together into complete sets .. They are quite interesting for their take on that time but also the subjects of the cards and in many cases the writings on the backs (so often damaged becase people stuck them into albums (the backs often being adhesive for this ) ... Any way subjects like Kings and queens of England to movie stars of the day to gardening hints to pictures of roses or dogs or wild birds ... One set depicts scenes from New Zealand - facinating insite of the times with pictures of volcanic geysers or farms or maori warriors etc ... Now there would be a photographers project - to reshoot the scenes today ... I might even have a go :O) Not sure where I'd get a shot of a maori warrior though ....

I've scanned a couple of cards that are drawings of dogs .. On the backs are poems relating to the pictures so I'll add them as well .....

An Uninvited Guest

An Uninvited Guest

"Awa' wi' ye! 'Tis no yer bane!"
Says Sandy with a savage grin.
"Go find a dupper o' yer ain;
Ye'll aye be gleg at stealin yin!"
Says Jock, "Nay, dinna fash yersel'
aboot a bane ye've picked sae clean.
Man, 'tis and easy thing to tell
That ye were born in Aberdeen!"
C.E.B.

Of course it helps if you speak Scotts I guess :O)

The Baby Show

The Baby Show
One, two, three, four, five
Little Scotties all alive.
Mother wishes you to know
This is just her baby show.
She expects a medal for
Every young competitor.
All are hers, this likely crowd ;
No outsiders are allowed.
C.E.B